Bodybuilding and forced repetitions seem to go hand in hand, but this is not necessarily true. Many bodybuilders believe they have to push themselves harder and harder with as many repetitions as possible. Forced repetitions mean that you can do the sets of exercises easier than you could so you keep on going.

Forced repetitions can lead to damaged muscles. This is why most bodybuilders have a training partner. The partner is not there to help you lift the weights, but is there to offer motivation and encouragement. The training partner should do no more than is necessary to allow you to complete three repetitions using the proper form. Forced reps should be avoided until you have mastered the proper form and technique of weightlifting. It is only when you reach the intermediate stage that you should do them until just before you reach muscle exhaustion. When you have become more experienced you will know how to recognize the signs of fatigue in your own body.

The mindset of the bodybuilder is more important than the equipment you use. Thinking positive is how you have to get started. Even before you start your workout, you should stop and think about why you are doing this and what you want to accomplish. This provides the motivation, but you do have to know the proper ways to look after your body when exercising.

Days of weightlifting can get you down if you don’t see immediate results. Sculpting the perfect body takes time and you have to stay positive even during the downtimes.

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Tags: exercises

Yesterday in the gym, I saw a girl drinking a sugar-free Red Bull. All in the name of “energy”, I bet.

But is Red Bull really an energy drink? What about coffee? Tea? Gatorade? Milk? Protein powders?

Technically, some of those are and some aren’t. By definition, an ‘energy’ drink really should contain energy - and by that I mean, calories. So tea, coffee, sugar-free Red Bull, and diet soda are not energy drinks, by that definition.

But really, when people talk about energy levels, they are really referring to their level of mental alertness or mental arousal. (And find out how exercise can increase your alertness below…)

And when people generally think about energy drinks, they are referring to products that contain caffeine.

The problem with many energy drinks is that they contain too much sugar or too much caffeine. So while the short-term effects are huge increases in energy (i.e. feeling wired or even jittery), the longer term effects can be a crash and burn in your energy.

Everybody’s suffered the “energy crash” after having too much caffeine or sugar. One minute you are bouncing around getting things done, and the next, you just want to slump into a chair and zonk out.

That’s why my vote for the best energy drink goes to Green Tea. With smaller amounts of caffeine than coffee, and no sugar, Green Tea tends to give you a more sustained and less dramatic increase in mental alertness (also known as energy for our purposes).

Plus, the list of health benefits of Green Tea is getting longer every day. I have at least 3 cups of Green Tea each day. It’s a great replacement for coffee, soda, and diet sodas. After all, you never know what the ’scientific study of the day’ is going to say about sodas and coffee, but you always know that the Green Tea research is going to be positive.

(You can also choose decaf Green Tea, but depending on the decaffenation process, you could lose some of the health benefits).

Two other ‘energy-supporting’ drinks are protein shakes and good old water. Neither of these will boost your energy levels dramatically, but more importantly, they won’t sap your energy levels either.

Plus, everyone should know by now the importance of getting enough protein and enough water each day.

So if you are slumping mid-morning or late in the afternoon, here’s what I would use as my energy-boosting, increased productivity snack.

1 cup of Green Tea (organic if possible)

2 cups of ice-cold water (I have to have it cold!)

1 scoop of protein powder in 1.5 cups of water

1oz of almonds

That will get you through your meeting, your commute to the gym, or through the last phases of whatever project you are working on. I guarantee it, it works for me, or at least it does according to the readers…

And exercise can also give you a boost. The next time you need an instant ‘pick me up’, try going through a 5-minute bodyweight circuit one time instead of ordering up a coffee. I guarantee you’ll be wide-eyed and ready to rock thanks to these bodyweight exercises. And you’ll have a sustained energy boost without the crash and burn.

Use a healthy lifestyle to increase your energy.

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit TurbulenceTraining.com TurbulenceTraining.com

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Many people are so preoccupied with their fat gut, chubby thighs or flabby arms, they don’t even think about fat in the back as being a problem. The one exception I often encounter is women who are aware that they have unsightly rolls of fat spilling from under their bra straps, and want to do something about it.

Men and women both, though, can improve their looks tremendously by developing a well-toned back. As with excess fat anywhere, reducing back fat will also be good for your health.

There are exercises you can do with inexpensive dumbbells that will help you sculpt an attractive back, one you will be proud to show to the world. You ladies might even be tempted to start wearing that low-backed party dress again.

Before I describe these “dumb” exercises for your back, understand that, technically, fat cannot be spot-reduced. If you have rolls of fat on your back, it means you have too much fat on your body, period. You should combine dieting and cardiovascular exercise to burn off fat all around, then use the dumbbell exercises to strengthen and define your back muscles.

One of the many low-carb diets may work for you. But I prefer for people to adopt a fat-losing diet that takes into account their unique physiology, nutritional requirements, body type and lifestyle. Such an individualized diet plan is not often found in the mass-marketed diet books, but there are resources on the Internet that can help you develop one for yourself.

To educate yourself on what fat is, how you accumulate it, and how to tailor a diet and exercise program that will maximize fat loss for your individual circumstances, there’s a great e-book available you can download from the Web. I’ve reviewed this e-book elsewhere and it gets my highest recommendation.

Now, to those dumbbell exercises for your back …

The “Dumb” Deadlift: You should be standing with your feet a few inches apart from one another. Grasping a dumbbell in each hand, arms at your sides, bend forward from your hips until the dumbbells are in front of your ankles. Tense your lower body, then raise yourself back to a standing position, keeping the weights hanging down at arm’s length. Repeat at least a dozen times. Do two to three sets of this exercise, resting 30 seconds between sets.

The deadlift works the latissimus dorsi muscles, commonly called the lats, the largest muscles of the back. Well developed lats will make your waist appear smaller while creating a tight looking back.

The deadlift also works the erector spinae, a group of muscles supporting the spinal column. Developing the erectors will make your lower back look more attractive.

But wait, there’s more! The deadlift also works the gluteal muscles, hamstrings, quadriceps, trapezius, obliques, abdominals and forearms. It is truly a great all-around exercise.

The “Dumb” Power Clean: Place two dumbbells on the floor next to each other and stand just behind them. Bend your knees and squat, grabbing a dumbbell in each hand with an underhand grip. Stand up, bringing the dumbbells off the floor and allowing them to settle near the fronts of your hips. Quickly, “shrug” the dumbbells up to chest height while you rise up on your toes, then bend your knees a little in order to get “below” the weights (the dumbbells should rest across the front of your shoulders). Pause, then perform the same steps in reverse as you return the weights to the floor. Do 12 repetitions, rest 30 seconds, then do 12 more repetitions.

The power clean is another great multiple-muscle exercise, working the lower back along with the thighs, hips, trapezius, abdominals, shoulders, forearms and biceps.

The “Dumb” One-Arm Row: Stand with your right side to an exercise bench or some other low, stable surface. Take a dumbbell in your left hand. Bending at the waist, rest your right hand and knee on the bench and let your left arm (holding the weight) hang straight down. Slowly lift the dumbbell up close to your body until it reaches your chest. Then lower it until your left arm is straight again. Repeat at least 12 times. After this set, switch sides, holding the dumbbell in your right hand to work your right arm.

The one-arm row works the middle back and the lats. It also works the rhomboid muscles, which originate on the spinal column and attach to the middle part of the scapula. The job of the rhomboids is to aid squeezing the shoulder blades together. If you develop them even a little, they will help your back to look fabulous.

The “Dumb” Pullover: Lie flat on an exercise bench with your butt resting on the very end and your feet flat on floor. Take a dumbbell and hold it with both hands as high above your chest as you can. With elbows slightly bent, slowly lower the dumbbell backward over your head until you feel a stretch in your sides. Then slowly bring the dumbbell back up until it’s again high up over your chest. Repeat 12 to 15 times.

The pullover works the upper back. It also works the lower pectorals and triceps.

Denny Waldarmo is a fitness coach who writes on exercise and diet topics. If you are seriously interested in losing fat, you owe it to yourself to read his recent review of one of the best downloadable e-books on the subject:

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Tags: diet, exercises

There is no question that conservative therapy is the best option for those suffering with a Repetitive Strain Injury. From Trigger Finger to Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, conservative therapy produces the best results, limited side effects (if any), quicker results and long-lasting relief.

There are many types of conservative treatments that provide a variety of positive benefits to the user. Massage Therapy is a terrific conservative treatment that provides good results by itself, and even greater results when combined with a stretch and exercise routine.

Massage is used to help relax and lengthen tight, restrictive muscles, break down scar tissue in injured muscles, reduce adhesions on affected tendons at their point of attachment to the muscle or to the bone, remove toxins from muscles and increase overall circulation and nutrient delivery to the associated tissues. All of these wonderful benefits help overworked muscles to relax and injured muscles to recover. The problem is this. Massage Therapy does not correct the muscle imbalances causing the Repetitive Strain Injury. Massage Therapy can greatly assist the rehabilitation / treatment process, but once a muscle has been injured and has atrophied to any significant degree, or a muscle has gone into a state of chronic hypertonicity, other therapeutic elements must be added to the treatment regimen in order to completely eliminate the Repetitive Strain Injury.

An integral part of treating Repetitive Strain Injuries is the implementation of a stretch and exercise routine specifically designed to create structural integrity and muscle balance where the injury exists. If the injury is Tennis Elbow, there must be an equality of strength between the wrist and elbow flexors, wrist and elbow extensors, and wrist and forearm pronators and supinators. By creating strong flexible muscles surrounding the specific joint, that joint will no longer be highly susceptible to Repetitive Strain Injuries.

The integration of Massage Therapy, stretches, exercises and hydrotherapy is a highly effective treatment protocol for many types of injuries. An example of a treatment sequence for a ‘chronic injury’, no matter the affected area, should follow along these lines:

Hydrotherapy Heat - Heat to increase circulation
to the area, making the soft tissues relaxed and pliable.

Massage Phase-I – Specific massage treatment
utilizing Trigger Point Release techniques to release muscle spasm and Transverse
Friction Massage to break down adhesions.

Stretch – Stretch overly restrictive tissues
to increase their length and reduce their compression of underlying tissues.

Exercise – Perform strengthening exercises
for the affected tissues in order to reduce tensile strain on the injured area,
heal micro-tears and increase healing nutrients to the injured area. Strong
muscles create stability and prevent future reoccurrence of micro-tears to
a previously affected area.

Massage Phase-II – Perform light Petrissage
and Effleurage towards the heart to remove the toxins created from undergoing
Trigger Point Release, Transverse Friction Massage, stretches and exercises.

Hydrotherapy Cold – Cool the injured tissues
in an elongated position as to not lose range-of-motion (ROM) of the affected
tissues and to further remove toxins from the area.

Massage Therapy and the involvement of the techniques listed above are very effective in eliminating chronic Repetitive Strain Injuries. Any one element by itself is OK, but by implementing several sound conservative techniques, the success rate of the treatment increases dramatically. Remember, when injuries are present, choose the “Conservative Alternative”.

Jeff P. Anliker, LMT, is a Therapist and Inventor of Therapeutic Exercise Products that are utilized by Corporations, Consumers and Medical Facilities around the world for the prevention and rehabilitation of repetitive strain injuries. repetitive-strain.com repetitive-strain.com

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