Powerlifting is the quickest way to build strength. Bodybuilding is the quickest way to build muscle mass. Whilst muscle mass and strength are linked, powerlifters are generally much stronger than bodybuilders. The reason for this is because bodybuilders generally train their muscles to a high intensity aiming for a skin bursting muscle pump, where increasing the actual weight used is more of a secondary objective to training intensity. The idea is to make a light weight feel as heavy as possible. Pretty much the opposite applies for powerlifting, where the idea is to use maximum power to lift the heaviest weight possible as fast as you can. In terms of training, typical bodybuilding and powerlifting routines are as follows:

1. Bodybuilding Routine: 4-6 weight training sessions per week, rep range 10-12, time per set 40-60 seconds, 10-20 exercises per session, 1-3 sets per exercise. Routines generally involve isolation exercises, supersets, dropsets, super slow sets, pre-exhaustions, post-exhaustions, etc.
2. Powerlifting Routine: 3-4 weight training sessions per week, rep range 1-5, time per set 5-15 seconds, 4-8 exercises per session, 5+ sets of compound exercises, 2-3 sets of assistance exercises. Routines are based around squats, deadlifts, presses and pulls, with 3-5 minutes rest between sets. A trainee powerlifter usually starts off 2 days per week doing something like:

   5 x 5 Squats
   5 x 5 Bench Press
   2 x 5 Incline Dumbbell Press
   2 x 5 Dumbbell Flies

Prilepin’s Table

Prilepin’s Table shows the optimum range of total sets and reps on a particular compound exercise like squats, relative to your 1 rep max for building power in minimum time. Watch this:

Applying Prilepin’s Table to the bench press over an 8 week cycle, you would start in the 65-70% of your 1RM range, aiming for maximum speed with control completing the relevant number of sets and reps. Build up to 90%+ of your 1RM by week 5 or 6. Continue aiming for maximum speed under control, but by now, your total reps will be about 7 over 4-7 work sets. The aim would be to smash through your plateau, so that you can return back to your bodybuilding routine, lifting heavier weights, thereby achieving a higher intensity and stimulating more muscle mass.

Assuming:

1. your diet contains plenty of clean calories and is moderate to high carb and high protein – use protein supplements!;
2. you sleep 8 hours every night; and
3. you train with maximum effort

then you should gain a lot of strength over the 8 week cycle. Personally, I gained 37.5Kg on my bench 1RM and bigger numbers on the squat and deadlift.

You don’t get that same tight muscle tone with powerlifting and the higher carb diet results in fat gains, but as a bodybuilder, you should know how to shift the fat and retain the muscle shouldn’t you??! If not, read some of our other articles.

Regards,

Martin Procter

We all know the best exercises for your back are deadlifts, barbell rows and pull-ups, which are sufficient for all the powerlifters out there. However, for the bodybuilders among us, we need that extra bit of isolation and focused intensity to really draw out the definition and striations in your lats and the rest of your back.

The problem

After completing your multiple joint, compound movements as above, it is highly likely that your forearms are over pumped and your grip strength is fatigued, making it difficult to complete a good work set on your back using exercises such as cable pulldowns, cable rows, hammer strength pullovers and their variants, etc. as your grip can give way before your back muscles have received the extra stimulus required to trigger muscle growth.

The solution

If you are lucky enough to have the Nautilus Pullover machine in your gym, then 3 high intensity sets on this awesome apparatus will get your back pumped on a completely full range of motion. If not, the alternative is to perform sets of Serratus Pulldowns for the fully contracted range of motion and dumbbell pullovers for the fully extended range of motion. All three exercises require no grip strength and can be completed with a high intensity even when you have skin bursting forearm pumps and can’t even close the grip on your hands. On the Nautilus Pullovers, you are pulling with your elbows, which does not involve grip strength at all.

Try these exercises out for sets of 12, 10 then 8 slow reps all to failure on the same weight, with a 30 second gap for maximum muscle pumps. As a side effect of the Serratus Pulldowns and the Dumbbell Pullovers, your abs get a good workout at the same time.

An explanation of how to do the Exercises

1. Nautilus Pullover Machine – a seated pullover, where your elbows rest on a pad, which you pullover from above your head at full extension down to past your sides for full contraction. This exercise isolates the back muscles, removing the grip/arm involvement. The machine has a seatbelt to keep you in place if you use extra heavy weights.
2. Serratus Pulldowns – Using a high setting on a cable crossover machine, or equivalent, use the T-bar and stand on your knees 2-3 feet back from the machine, reaching up so you can just grab the bar. Pull the weight down smoothly using an arcing motion until the bar hits your hips, then allow to raise back to around eye level taking about 2-3 seconds, then pulldown again. Adjust your setback from the machine to find the most stable position.
3. Dumbbell Pullovers – Lay across a bench, with your upper back resting on the bench and your body perpendicular to the bench. Put both hands round a dumbbell, with hands overlapping, holding the dumbbell on the plates, rather than the handle. Using an arcing motion again, lower the weight behind your head until it touches the floor (if your range of motion permits) and arc back up until the dumbbell is nearly above your head (maintaining constant tension) and then lower again slowly and smoothly. Start with a light weight to avoid neck injuries and increase the weight as quickly as your lats can handle it.

Regards,

Promart Supplements

If you are trying to pack on some extra muscle mass, but getting nowhere, then why not try copying what some of the guys have done from Promart Supplements? Some simple changes to your diet and training and you will see quicker size and strength gains than ever.

1. Increase your daily protein intake to at least 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight per day, using a quality whey protein powder such as Allmax Isoflex – Whey Isolate
2. Add a small sprinkle of sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds (high in protein and good fats) to your protein shakes 2-3 times per day (using blender)
3. Increase carbohydrates in your diet by eating more noodles, pasta, rice, potatoes, rice cakes, spaghetti, bread, etc.
4. For supper, have 2 slices of wholemeal toast with peanut butter and a pint of semi skimmed milk before bed
5. Go to the gym 2 or 3 times per week, no more


Lift Heavy Free Weights For Bigger Muscles

6. Lift extra heavy weights for 5 sets of 5 reps on two big exercises, such as squats, deadlifts, bench press, barbell rows, dips, pullups, etc., followed by 2 sets of 5 reps on two assistance exercises, such as triceps extensions, close grip presses, standing barbell curls, calf raise, shrugs, pulldowns, etc.
7. Use perfect form, warm up for each exercise, then lift with maximum power, using minimum effort on the negative phase of each rep. Form MUST be perfect, or you will get injured, resulting in you losing all the hard earned muscle you gained to start with.

You should be able to increase weight for about 6-8 weeks with the above power lifting style training tips. Aim for 5% extra weight per week. After 6-8 weeks, you will be more than ready to go back to slower, more emphasised reps, as it can take its toll training as above. You may gain a little bit of fat, but it’s worth it for the extra muscle size and strength. Once you go back to bodybuilding, you can cut your carbs a bit and maybe add a bit of early morning cardio to show all the new muscle.

Regards,

Martin

One of the main reasons men go to the gym is to get stronger. However, after training for a while you can lose sight of your original goals and float between bodybuilding, powerlifting, fitness training and any other form of training that takes your interest.

If you are trying to re-focus on that goal of increasing your power and getting stronger, quickly, and assuming your diet and lifestyle is in order, then you need to do the following:

• Lift heavy weights 3 times per week, no more
• Start your routines with:
  • 5 sets of deadlifts on workout 1
  • 5 sets of bench press on workout 2
  • 5 sets of squats on workout 3
• Do 5 reps per set, using perfect form and explosive lifting style
• Spend no more than 50 minutes in the gym
• Never train on consecutive days
• Increase weight progressively, by around 2% to 5% per week
• Use multiple joint exercises only and avoid isolation exercises

Obviously, a lot more comes into play, such as calorie intake, protein consumption, protein supplements, general diet, hydration, rest, sleep, stress levels, training focus and intensity, genetics, age, bodybuilding supplements, etc., but this article is intended to give you some quick tips only. If you want more detailed tips, check out our Top 50 Bodybuilding Tips article.

Our most popular supplement aimed at helping you increase muscle mass and strength quickly is Allmax Quickmass.

Regards,

Promart Supplements

Whether you are a bodybuilder or a powerlifter, when you are trying to gain significant additional muscle mass, you absolutely have to consume extra calories. If you have been following the Promart Blog for a while, then you will also know for every extra 100 calories you consume per day, the calories should come from 12-13g carbs, 7-8g protein and about 2g fat (= 50/30/20 macronutrient split). Consuming about 20 calories per day for every pound of bodyweight on a 50/30/20 split, will allow your body to gain lots of muscle if you give your muscles the required stimulus for growth, i.e. heavy, multiple joint, compound lifts for low reps, with explosive power.

This is the routine I am following, as you can see on My Journey from being a Bodybuilder to becoming a Powerlifter. Whilst I am gaining muscle and strength at the fastest rate of my whole life, I have also gained fat, not much – just an inch or so over my abs, but I have more fat on my stomach than ever in my life. Being honest, I’ve had a few big mac meals with milkshakes over the past couple of weeks and whilst my diet has been good, it’s also been bad. I therefore have the issue where I am getting strong, but also getting fat – and I don’t like it!

Fat Burning Proposals

To get rid of the fat, this is what I am going to do and you could do the same…

1. Cut sugar out of my diet completely, other than a small piece of fruit (fructose in fruit is a type of sugar) on a morning and after training when a small amount of sugar isn’t a problem
2. Cut out any food that isn’t cooked from basic ingredients at home – this results in less sugar, less salt, less bad fats, more good fats, more fibre, more vitamins and minerals, more protein, etc.
3. Spread my calories out more throughout the day, to avoid allowing my body to store the additional calories as fat
4. Use an ECA stack fat burner (Universal Animal Cuts, p.s. discount code is “march3″) to raise performance and burn more calories
5. Drink much more water to increase hydration for better lifts and to increase metabolism
6. Drink green tea without sugar, instead of tea and coffee with sugar to increase metabolism
7. Do a 40 minute jog at 5:30am, four mornings per week to burn fat at the most suitable time of day and most hormonally correct time of day for fat loss

I will continue powerlifting, but the fat burning proposals above should allow me to reduce body fat a few percent in a few weeks, to bring back my definition and get rid of my gut. I won’t cut my calories though or train differently, so I should continue to progress on the weights. I am going to start using Quickmass, as it offers lots of benefits in terms of powerlifting and bodybuilding, but I will use half servings twice as often to fit in with point 3 above.

Regards,

Martin Procter
Promart Supplements

If you are new to training and want some very brief advice as to how to get started, then here is what you need to do…

Everything You Need To Know In Just 1 Paragraph!

Lift heavy weights for 10-12 reps per set, for 12-18 total sets per session for the first 2-3 weeks, then go to 3 times per week for a further 4 weeks. Aim to increase weight by 2.5% per week on all exercise (could be more), whilst staying within your rep range. From week 6 decide if you want to go into bodybuilding (for appearance then strength) or powerlifting (for strength then appearance). Either route, you need a good diet with plenty of protein, i.e. at least 1g per pound of bodyweight per day, every day. You need 15-20 calories per pound of bodyweight per day (depending upon the individual) to increase muscle mass and gain weight. Plenty of sleep, water, fruit, veg, no stress, no alcohol, plenty of effort, strict form and you should make excellent progress.

A Typical Training Routine for the First Couple of Weeks:

MONDAY
Leg Press – 5 sets of 10-12 reps
Bench Press – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Shoulder Press – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Barbell Curls – 2 sets of 10-12 reps
Triceps Extensions – 2 sets of 10-12 reps

FRIDAY
Pulldowns – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Cable Rows – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Shrugs – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Calf Raise – 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Ab Crunches – 3 sets of 10-12 extra slow reps (constant tension)

Training Tips
For your first couple of weeks, I would recommend using machines on moderate weight, so that you get results, but don’t get injuries. Personally, the only time I’ve ever got injured, is during my first couple of weeks back at the gym when I try to lift too heavy, too quickly.

After 2-3 weeks, move onto a 3 days per week program, using free weights wherever possible, with perfect form. The benefit of free weights are that you control the line of movement, rather than the machine. This avoids putting undue stress on your joints by following a fixed range of motion that doesn’t fit with your body. Machines do however keep you close to a good range of motion – especially the higher quality machines from brands such as Sportesse – which is good enough in your first couple of weeks, using lighter weights, to get a feel for the movements and to strengthen up a little, ready for the free weights. There are some good machine exercises that can always be used to good effect, such as Nautilus Pullovers, Cable Rows, etc. but free weights are where you will build the most muscle mass.

Take around 1-2 seconds to lift the weight on each rep and 2-4 seconds to lower the weight on each rep, with no stopping, keeping constant muscle tension and using a smooth rep cadence, with perfect form.

A Typical Training Routine for Weeks 3 to 6:

MONDAY
Squats – 5 sets of 8-10 reps
Leg Press – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Calf Raise – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Hanging Leg Raises – 2 sets of 8-10 reps
Ab Crunches – 2 sets of 8-10 reps (hold a small 2.5Kg+ plate on your chest if required)

WEDNESDAY
Barbell Bench Press – 5 sets of 8-10 reps
Shoulder Press – 5 sets of 8-10 reps
Lying EZ Extensions – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Dumbbell Lateral Raises – 2 sets of 8-10 reps

FRIDAY
Barbell Rows – 5 sets of 8-10 reps
Barbell Deadlifts – 5 sets of 8-10 reps
Pulldowns – 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Barbell Shrugs – 2 sets of 8-10 reps

Further training tips and notes
Each set will take around 40 seconds to complete, so with about 2-3 minutes rest between sets, each workout will last 45-50 minutes, which is perfect. Any longer and your body gets stressed and releases a stress hormone called Cortisol, which is associated with catabolism = muscle loss. Keep workout under 50-55 minutes and follow them up with a protein shake to keep your body in an anabolic environment, so it is continually building muscle. Note: this is the reason bodybuilders eat small, high protein meals every 3 hours – to keep their bodies in an anabolic environment – DO NOT underestimate how important this part of your program is to your overall progress.

By the end of week 6, you should have gained a lot of muscle and strength. It is now that you can decide whether to go into bodybuilding or powerlifting, as you will be much more familiar with each exercise and how to lift with perfect form, to avoid injuries. A follow up article to this article will compare bodybuilding and powerlifting routines, with examples and typical progress over the following 10 weeks. A link to the article will appear below when available…

Article link: (will be published on or before 31st March 2011)

Regards,

Promart Supplements

Sometimes it can be hard to make it to the gym for certain reasons, such as not having a car, not having enough money or not having enough time. We’ve all been there. So what do you do? You can either sit at home and let your muscles waste away, or do some exercises at home. All you need are a pair of dumbbells and enough iron to make a low rep set of dumbbell lunges difficult. For under £100, you can buy some spinlock dumbbells and about 70Kg of plates. Obviously an adjustable weight bench and 7ft bar would be much better, but this article just covers the best exercises at home, with a pair of dumbbells only.

Once you have some dumbbells, the best exercises you can perform are deadlifts, lunges, shoulder press, dumbbell rows, skull crushers, various biceps curls and triceps extensions exercises, dumbbell shrugs and lateral raises. You can also supplement these exercises with pressups and pullups (pullup bars that fit in doorways cost under £10 from Argos). All of these exercises cover all of the large muscle groups, so if you train smart, you should be able to gain some good muscle at home, exercising 3-4 times per week. If you find the weights are too light, then do some pre-exhaustions or other supersets, such as

1. Shoulders: lateral raises (holding a plate in each hand) immediately followed by dumbbell press
2. Legs: Super-slow set of deadlifts, immediately followed by dumbbell lunges
3. Back: Pullups, immediately followed by bent over single dumbbell rows (holding spinlock part in each hand)
4. Chest: Bullworker, immediately followed by strict, full range slow pressups
5. Biceps: Three sets of preacher curls alternating hands, with no rest between sets, achieving failure on each set
6. Triceps: Skull crushers (using single dumbbell, laying on floor, holding spinlock part), immediately followed by close grip pressups

Using supplements, such as whey protein powders or creatine would improve results, but are not required.

Let me know how you get on.

Regards,

Gareth, Promart Supplements

When I was about 18 in the late 90s, I started my first proper bodybuilding routine, following the guidance of Dr Ellington Darden PhD in his book ‘Massive Muscle in 10 Weeks’. Dr Darden is most popular for his HIT routines, which are all about high training intensity and this was the basis of the book I was following.

The idea was to train Monday, Wednesday and Friday every week, for 50-60 minutes, with very high intensity, but very slow and controlled reps. There were 10 routines, with one routine per week. Week 1 was something like:

Week 1 Leg Extensions Leg Curl Calf Raise Leg Press or Squat Reverse Leg Raises Lateral Raise Shoulder Press Pullups Barbell Rows Bench Press Triceps Extension Deadlift

"Massive Muscle In 10 Weeks"

The idea was to do 1 work set of each exercise, taking 2 seconds in the positive phase and 4 seconds in the negative phase of each rep, for a total of 7-8 reps, using a weight which results in absolute failure after this many reps. To work out your ideal number of reps, do the bench press to failure on 80% of your one rep max. However many reps you complete beciomes your target rep range. For me, this number was about 7-8.

Anyway, I was hooked on this book and looked at it every day over the first week before and after training. However, I felt as though 13 sets wasn’t enough. But, at the same time, after leaving the gym after each session, I knew deep down, that I could have tried harder. I’m not saying I wasn’t trying, as sweat was dripping off my chin and I reached failure on every set. However, I knew I could get into my muscles more and focus more. Each session for the next few weeks gradually became more intense and I felt closer to the perfect workout every time. I also noticed huge gains on my quads, I’m talking around 1.5-2 inches of muscle in 3-4 weeks. I also gained an inch on the biceps and my delts were bigger than ever. At this point, I was more committed to bodybuilding than ever and I knew it would be a life long passion. Anyway, I continued on the routine, with targeted weeks, starting on shoulder supersets, back supersets or leg supersets, followed by 9-10 exercises like week 1. Unfortunately, around week 9, I broke my wrist playing football on the ice, so I had to take 3 months off training.

When my wrist recovered, the frustration of not being able to train for 3 months made me train more intense than ever and I went up to 15 stones (210lbs) of solid muscle. The only supplements I used were meal replacements, namely CNP Pro MR, 3 times per day and AST VP2 whey protein once per day. My body fat levels were down to around 8%. Anyway, it is about 6 years since I’ve been in such good shape and trying to get back there is tough. I have only been to the gym about 20 times in the past 12 months. When I do get to the gym, I still train at maximum intensity. Perhaps it is related to the mind-muscle link, which I have developed, but when I go to the gym I can train so intense that I’m dizzy within 10 minutes and have to leave. I typically ache for about a week after my first session, but this reduces each session and my time in the gym increases up to 1 hour within about 3-5 sessions and I can look completely different in just a fortnight. The problem is that in the last 12 months, I have stopped and started like this about 4 times, due to work/life commitments.

Anyway, the point I am trying to make in this article is that getting into bodybuilding can happen in many ways, but the best way is to find a good routine, that works for you when you are new to bodybuilding. Massive Muscles in 10 Weeks worked great for me and I recommend it to all of my readers who are new to bodybuilding – if you can get a copy. Getting results makes it all worthwhile. Following silly routines in magazines and training 6 days a week is no good for anyone but drug enhanced genetically gifted pro bodybuilders. If you accept that training harder, but training less is the way forward, then maybe you’ll get into bodybuilding yourself.

Further, whether it is related to the mind-muscle link, muscle memory or any other phenomena, every time I go back to the gym the results come quicker. For me, assuming you eat enough protein and consume a calorie surplus, controlled intensity is the number one factor when it comes to gains in the gym. Don’t let all the other facts and fiction distract you, 95% of what you need to know is covered in the previous sentence.

Regards,

Martin Procter
Promart Supplements

p.s. Other than Dr Darden, there are a number of people promoting HIT style training methods, including Pete Sisco, Mike Mentzer (RIP) and Dorian Yates. Each have their own spin on HIT style training, with Mike Mentzer’s Muscle in Minutes book possibly being the most controversial, recommending up to 10 days between gym sessions. Either he trained 100x more intense than myself, or he had genetics on a par with Ronnie Coleman.

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

Bigger, stronger triceps means you can lift heavier weights on pressing exercises such as shoulder press and bench presses. So, in a round-about way, training your triceps will lead to gains on your pressing exercises, meaning bigger, stronger delts and pecs. You also get bigger arms as a side effect.

Here are some supersets that really add mass and strength to your triceps:

1. Weighted super slow one-rep dips: take 30 seconds to lower and 30 seconds to lift back up
2. Close grip bench press: Use 3/4 of your bench press weight and hold the bar with your thumbs 8 inches apart and keep your elbows close to your sides.
3. Lying EZ Extensions… better known as skull crushers and for good reason! Point your elbows straight to the ceiling and keep them there. Lower the weight by bending your elbow joint only, to isolate the triceps and eliminate shoulder/lat involvement.

Perform 1 of the exercise above at the start of every workout for 3 sets and you should see gains within 2 weeks, assuming your diet is good and you get plenty of rest.

In terms of you diet, you need a calorific surplus, sufficient protein intake, plenty of fruit and veg to optimise your body’s performance and adequate hydration. Protein intake needs to be spread out evenly throughout the day to maximise the amount of protein that can be metabolized. In terms of rest, you need 8-9 hours sleep per night and to avoid stressful situations.

Using protein shakes, protein powder and creatine supplements are all great ways of maximising results.