If you are looking to burn fat and build muscle strength, then you need a combination of cardio exercises and weight training to make it happen. For people that are limited in free time, this may seam overwhelming to accomplish on a regular basis. However, here are some exercise tips to help you save time.

Take up walking or jogging. These exercises save you time because you need the least amount of equipment to get started. All you need is a pair of running shoes and warm clothes.

While jogging is optimal for fat loss, walking is the perfect exercise to start with. It gets your blood flowing and helps you burn fat. Walking is a great starter exercise because it is low impact and likely to extend or injure yourself. However, walking should not be the “end all” for your exercise regimen. You need to be working your way up to running.

Since walking is such a low impact exercise you may not be exerting yourself as you need to. So, make sure you set goals and build up to jogging or running. You’ll have less injury and you’ll build your endurance with this approach. You will be surprised what you’ll be able to do in a few weeks.

Also, you don’t have to spend a long time with cardio. What you have to remember is: the faster you move, the more intense the session is. So 20 minutes of combining walking and running will benefit you greatly and be effective.

The next step is to add a strength training routine. The best way to have an effective routine that saves you time is to have a home gym equipped with a bench and dumbbells.

Dumbbells are a great way to increase muscle tone because they allow you to perform many exercises that tax your muscles at many different angles. Dumbbells are effective for both men and women because you can have many different weight variations.

Exercising at home saves you time because you can workout at your convenience. You will need to schedule your workouts at a time that’s best for you and commit to it. You can get a good work out with dumbbells within 20 minutes to a half an hour.

The best approach is to build up to a fast paced workout with minimal rest. This way you are provided a challenge. However be careful not to exceed your capabilities so you minimize soreness and chance of injury.

John Purfield
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/weight-loss-workout-routines-tips-to-help-combine-cardio-and-strength-training-92774.html

Looking for the best workout program to get rock hard abs? Read the article and find out here. Burning fat and gaining muscle is likely the primary reason many people take up some type of cardiovascular training. Over 50% of the people who perform cardio in an attempt to burn fat are wasting their hours and hours of time! Most people are not performing the right type of cardio workouts.

Doing exercises is one thing and doing the correct exercises, the correct way, in the correct numbers, with the proper target set in the mind is another thing. Always follow the latter and benefits are bound to come.

If you combine exercise and simple changes in your nutrition you could easily lose more weight faster. You should keep in mind three important points while taking up any exercise regimen.

• You must do things that you will be able to stick with.
• It does not do any good to you to work hard to lose weight only to put it back on later. That’s why many diets do not work- they are not changes that you can stick to. The rule is just to concentrate on simple and easy changes. Changes that you can stick to that will make sense for your lifestyle.
• When such a concept is adopted and followed you find that with simple changes you will be able to lose weight and keep it off.

The largest amount of calories burning comes from your basic metabolism. To speed up the metabolism you need to choose the right workout program. While researching for the best workout program to get rock hard abs you will find a number of workout programs. It becomes very hard to select the one that meet your desired goal.

Remember you can’t get a ripped abs and muscle overnight. You need a complete comprehensive guide that will help you to shape your body in a healthier way. You have to strictly follow the rules and guidelines given in the program to succeed in your goal.

Exercise benefits are too many. But to get the full benefits you must know the correct way to exercise and how not to overdo it. Workout programs designed by fitness expert, health consultants and gym instructors can only give proper instruction and guidelines on how to get started. If you are really serious to get rock hard abs, here you will find some of the finest workout program to burn fat and get ripped six pack abs fast.

Check out the most popular workout program on – How to Get Rock Hard Abs. Looking for how to Eat All You Want and Still Lose Weight? Know Home Remedies for Weight Loss to lose your body fat naturally.

Nick Mutt
http://www.articlesbase.com/wellness-articles/best-workout-program-to-get-rock-hard-abs-702176.html

Losing fat and gaining muscle should always go hand in hand. Unfortunately, if you only practice aerobics, such as walking, using a treadmill, etc. you will only lose weight and not gain much muscle at all. That is why it is so important to add weight training to your workout routine. Aerobic exercise combined with weight training is the key to losing weight and gaining muscle. Your body will do this simultaneously when you regularly (at least three times a week) practice weight training and aerobic exercise.

1) How fat loss and gaining muscle are essential to maintaining the ideal body weight and for a great physique – Fat loss and muscle gain are essential for getting you to your ideal body weight and maintaining a great physique. For each pound of muscle you gain, you will increase your metabolism, which is highly important in losing weight. The more muscle you have in your body, the more weight (fat) you will lose, even when you are doing nothing at all. When you increase your metabolism in this way, your body will help you burn off unnecessary fat even while you are sleeping.

2) Fat loss and muscle gain are best done in two cycles: muscle gain in the first cycle and fat loss in the second cycle. Since gaining muscle boosts your metabolism you will have more energy to workout and maintain your exercise regimen. Start off slow and keep increasing the weights or sets to help your body to keep gaining muscle. This doesn’t mean that aerobic exercise is not important, it is. You should keep up with your aerobic exercise as well.

3) Tips and strategies to gain muscle mass through diet, exercise and supplementation – There are many ways to gain muscle and lose fat. One is through your diet.

You will need to make a lifestyle change in your eating habits. Make plans to clean out your kitchen of processed foods and other unhealthy foods and go grocery shopping. Shop around the perimeter of the store first. This is where most grocery stores keep all of the healthy foods such as dairy, fruits, vegetables, fish and meats. Use this space to do most of your grocery shopping in. Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and fend off unnecessary hunger.

Second is exercise. You must maintain a healthy routine of both weight training and aerobic exercise in order to boost your metabolism, lose fat and gain muscle.

Third are supplements. These are important because they will help you get all of the nutrients you can from your healthy foods. Start with a daily multivitamin, but be sure to check with your medical professional as some have added herbs that can interact poorly with your body or medicines.

Fat loss and muscle gain are possible provided you are willing to put in the effort required in this endeavor. I’m not going to tell you it’s easy and you will see results overnight. You won’t. You need to work hard at this and stick with eating healthy and exercising on a regular basis.

Mike Singh
http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/how-to-lose-weight-and-gain-muscle-119931.html

Flexibility is the range of movement that you have in your joints. Some say that this definition should only apply if there is no exterior help to move the joint, but this is not correct. If your joints have a greater degree of movement when aided by an external force, then that degree of movement defines the flexibility.

Hence, if you strengthen you muscles, and these act as the external force, then the flexibility of your joints will allow a greater range of movement than were your muscles unable to exert that degree of force.

To put it simply, if you have a great degree of flexibility in your joints, then the stronger you are, the more you will be able to put that flexibility to use in the range of movement you have at your disposal. It goes without saying that the more flexibility you have in a martial art the better.

However, people do not have the same range of flexibility throughout their bodies. Even more specifically, flexibility in one range or direction of motion at a specific joint does not imply flexibility in another. Hence that fact that you have complete ability to complete perfect front splits does not infer that you have the same control over side splits, even though it is the same hip joint that is involved. The two are not connected. A suitable flexibility exercise program, therefore, should be designed to provide good flexibility in all joints in all directions of movement, relevant to the martial art studied.

Flexibility training should be carried out in conjunction with strength training in order that the range of flexibility achieved can be used to its full potential by the muscles that move the bones in the joints. There is no truth in the belief that you must trade flexibility and strength. Supreme strength simply means supreme use of the flexibility gained through training.

However there is more than this in a martial art. Tension and relaxation are of supreme importance. Tension is equated with power and strength while relaxation is equated with speed and flexibility. Russian Cossacks used to train with their sabres by standing waist deep in water and slicing into the water with their blades. As they became weary they would learn to relax on the downstroke and tense and use their power on at the moment of strike.

The results were incredible and awesome. A Cossack could slice a man from shoulder down to saddle with one strike with only a light sabre. All due to using relaxation and power at the correct times. This can be simulated by using a large rubber eraser. About three inches by an inch square is about right. Hold it in the fist and explosively compress it. Do this using your core power. Compress hard with maximum explosion, just as if you were punching. Then relax just as quickly. Repeat this during the day – explosive compression and quick relaxation. Eventually you be able to carry out this rapid-fire tight-loose-tight sequence without thought.

This is a relaxation technique, but cannot replace the experience of the fight since fear of being hit cannot help tighten you up. However, if you do this for a few hours every day (easier than you think since the eraser can be carried in your pocket) you will find that you can relax your fist until the moment of the strike when you require maximum power.

Whether in boxing or karate, this will improve your performance and strength. Combine this with your flexibility training and you will be on the first rung of achieving greatness in karate or any other explosive martial art. Russian training methods help you to develop this total control over relaxation and explosive power in the use of your strength and flexibility.

Peter Nisbet
http://www.articlesbase.com/sports-and-fitness-articles/flexibility-and-strength-in-martial-arts-108193.html

Most workout programs, in my opinion, are examples of cardio body building and are wrongly based on bodybuilder isolation movement exercises and marathoner extended aerobic training.

This is NOT the path to optimum fitness excellence!

The cardio body building combination is actually the biggest training mistake you can make.

Now before you get angry…

There is absolutely nothing wrong with training like a Bodybuilder or Marathoner… especially if you are a Bodybuilder or Marathoner.

I am just proposing that the training philosophies of Bodybuilders and Marathoners are not the path to an optimum level of fitness where all of the physical skills of cardiorespiratory endurance, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, accuracy and toughness are improved… Whether you adhere to the philosophy of each group alone or in combination.

I know this goes against most physical training protocols used in commercial gyms around the world that adhere to the cardio body building combination as the training methods of choice.

It is easy to see how these training protocols came to be combined…

In an attempt to improve fitness on a more general level for the non-professional fitness enthusiast, gyms and health clubs throughout the world have prescribed the typical cardio body building program of isolated movement strength training and extended aerobic training sessions.

The belief was that if isolated movement weight training is effective for Bodybuilders, and extended aerobic sessions are effective for Marathoners, that a combination of the two training methods would give the general fitness enthusiast the best of both worlds.

The fact is, Bodybuilding training methods are more concerned with muscle growth than muscular strength, power and endurance… and both of these training methods almost completely ignore the other physical abilities like coordination, agility, balance, accuracy and flexibility.

It is no wonder why millions of people participating in cardio body building inspired fitness programs fail to meet their over-all fitness goals… They are making a big training mistake.

On a personal Note…

I am guilty of training in the cardio body building fashion in my younger years in preparation for wrestling season.

I would lift weights using isolation exercises and run long distances to increase aerobic capacity.

I quickly learned in the first week of practice that the inflated muscles and aerobic capacity that I gained through cardio body building training did little or nothing to provide the fitness level needed for my chosen sport.

Oh well, there is nothing I can do about that now… but there is something that YOU can do to improve your physical training in preparation for sport, work, life.

Reflect on your current workout program…

If your current workout program looks like the cardio body building protocol described above… don’t despair.

Any exercise is better than none, so you have not completely wasted your time.

In fact… the isolated movement strength training has given you some degree of strength, and the aerobic exercise is an essential base of fitness.

However, to improve your physical training and optimize your performance you must be prepared to radically change the methods you use in pursuit of strength, conditioning and fitness excellence.

Be honest with yourself… are you getting the most out of your current cardio body building physical training program?

Are the exercises and methods you are using best suited to improve over-all fitness… or do they only focus on muscular size and cardiorespiratory endurance?

Ask yourself this question…

Is your current physical fitness training program based on the acceptable and deliberate compromise of competence and ability to perform in ALL the areas of cardiorespiratory endurance, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, accuracy and toughness to produce optimum performance results under the greatest amount of circumstances?

If not, it is probably based on the cardio body building fallacy… and your physical training can be greatly improved.

If your goal of physical training is to inflate your muscles and perform monotonous, single intensity aerobic exercise for extended periods of time… do nothing.

If your goal of physical training is to become a better human being suited to successfully overcome the random challenges of sport, work and life… It is time to change your physical fitness training program to one not based on the cardio body building fallacy.

Eddie Lomax
http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/the-cardio-body-building-fallacy-11139.html

RESISTANCE TRAINING SERIES-KEYS TO EXPLOSIVE GAINS

Success in Variation

By Rob Rayburn, Personal Fitness Trainer

Bodybuilders and competitive athletes whose goals often are increased strength, power, and/or more muscle mass typically will utilize heavy resistance to get there. Competitive power-lifters will use similar training principles that are based on low-volume repetitions and high intensity resistance (one to three repetition maximum sets are common).

In fact, if you are an aspiring young bodybuilder or competitive athlete seeking improved performance, you are going to have to put forth some serious work to achieve those goals. There are a whole myriad of training techniques one can employ to achieve any particular goal; so many, in fact, that It would require more than a single page article to discuss them all at length. This particular article will address one of the most critical components of any successful personal training program…variation.

Variation simply refers to any changes made to an existing fitness routine.  The human body goes through a very defined series of changes when one begins a dedicated personal fitness routine. The first step is shock; the shock of either a new routine, and/or the initial load placed upon the body. It is during the shock phase that the muscles grow and gains are achieved. In a fairly short period of time (as little as two – three weeks in some cases), without changing the exercise stimuli, the body becomes accustomed to the present load and begins to adapt. It is during this second phase that you realize that those sets are not nearly as difficult to perform as they were in the beginning. If subtle changes aren’t made to the routine as the body continues to adapt, the last phase-staleness begins. There will be no significant gains after the routine becomes stale without making some changes. In order to avoid staleness, it is imperative that variation remains a major part of any fitness routine.

Any reputable personal trainer carries a whole arsenal of training methods and techniques in his or her repertoire, all designed and implemented to achieve a healthy variety of stimuli. Training stimuli are significant because each individual muscle group requires a particular sort of stimuli to recruit the maximum number of fast-twitch muscle fibers that are major factors in significant muscle growth.

For example:

An individual performing standing biceps curls does so with the intent of stimulating the fast-twitch fibers of the biceps in an effort to increase strength, power, endurance, or muscle mass of the biceps. While traditional biceps curls are certainly effective in reaching those gains, a seated preacher curl (machine or bench) will provide the same gains via a different stimulus. This variation is significant in targeting the biceps because the technique is somewhat different from the standing biceps curl mentioned earlier.

As you can see, variety is one of the primary keys to continued gains and success. It also helps ensure that you won’t get burned out or bored with your training routine. Burnout and boredom can lead to missed training days, which ultimately will cancel out any significant gains made in a relatively short period of time.

Robert Rayburn Jr
http://www.articlesbase.com/muscle-building-articles/resistance-training-serieskeys-to-explosive-gains-672443.html

 

 

Well, it’s already December and it’s time for my annual fitness year in review. Sadly, it appears as though the fitness industry as a whole has again failed to produce any significant results on a broad scale to effectively reverse the scary obesity epidemic that is plaguing our society. More specifically, the sickening fact that American adults keep getting fatter, more lethargic, and less healthy has mirrored the unabated deterioration in the health and fitness of our youth population. However, on a positive note, I feel that 2009 will be host to several growing fitness trends that will provide the long-term answers to solve this ever-growing problem:

 

Fitness Future #1- Fitness Boot Camps Will Continue To Increase

 

Fitness Boot camps are probably the hottest thing in the fitness game right now, especially in the light of the current economic recession. The group training business model creates the ultimate win-win for trainers and clients making the one-on-one alternative obsolete. Fitness trainers get to work with more people at a time. Fitness clients are able to better access personal training services in a unique and dynamic team environment that provides better social support and accountability for only a the third of the cost of typical one-on-one training rates.

 

Fitness Future #2- Interval Training Kills Aerobic Training For Improved Fat Loss And Fitness 100% Of The Time

 

High-Intensity Interval Training is rapidly gaining popularity as the best form of improving both fitness and fat loss. With interval training, the focus is on the intensity of exercise (quality), not how long you “workout” (quantity). Intervals consist of alternating between shorts bouts of all out high-intensity effort and active recovery periods for a much quicker and focused amount of time (typically 10-20 minutes of intervals works best). This approach is scientifically proven to burn nine times more fat AND lead to faster improvements in fitness than the aerobic alternative.


Fitness Future #3- Lean Protein And Fiber Are The Carb Addict’s Answer For Improved Health, Performance, and Body Composition

 

The overwhelming scientific literature proving the fat burning benefits of a diet high in lean protein and fiber is finally catching the eye of mainstream consumers. Protein is the most important part of each and every meal or snack you consume. Protein builds and maintains muscle, allows your body to preferentially burn fat, increases metabolism through the thermic effect of feeding, and fills you up. Fiber (ideally obtained from fruits and vegetables, specifically green vegetables) helps slow digestion for a more steady supply of nutrients and sustained energy, prevents overeating at each meal, and helps keep you more full between meals. Thus by combining protein and fiber every two to four hours, you provide your body with the optimal one-two belly fat burning punch for a leaner and healthier new you!

 

 

 

 

Nancy Carlson
http://www.articlesbase.com/weight-loss-articles/new-hampshire-fitness-expert-predicts-your-fitness-future-for-2009-684572.html

“How To Make Your Direct Marketing Writing Efforts Walk, Talk, And Breathe”

4 Strategies Every Health, Fitness, and Small Business Owner Should Know About To Win With Customers, Clients, And Champions

Now here are some ways to help you to perfect, polish, and strengthen your writing efforts. Apply these tools to your tool box and you’ll create writing that walks, talks, and breathes!

Use A Thesaurus

Obvious, isn’t it? You’ve probally used a thesaurus at some time or another. Most writers use it for the wrong reasons they still think writing has to be intellectual. In my experience making things to complex for my audience to read turns them off. Keeping things simple seems to always work best for results. Use a thesaurus to keep your writing simple and direct. Afterall, we are not writing to one another well at least I think we aren’t or are we?

Use a Simile Book

A simile, by the way, is a phrase used to compare two different ideas. For example: “as compelling as a gun to your head” that is using a simile. A simile can give your reader a nice jolt they might be reading along and suddenly you make a comparison that surprises him. Thats electrifying! When using similes, try and make your own words. Add this to your tool box of tricks and watch your readership increase.

Use a Book Of Analogies

“Become a writing wizard.” Turn your writing into spells no mortal can resist!”
Find books that inspire you to create power writing. Certainly when you do you’ll find words tickling  your mind into creating juicy new phrases. One must read is: The Analogy Book of Related Words By Selma Glasser. Use this book as your word- storming partner and watch the excitement of your crowd soar Guaranteed!

Use a Book Of Quotes

If anything else lets face it Quotes look good on page, don’t they?

Let us resolve to be masters, not victims , of our history, controlling our own destiny without giving way to blind suspicions and emotions.

– John F. Kennedy

Two reasons to use quotes are they are visually appealing and they create dialogue and dialogue is alive. Try these strategies out for size and have fun with your writing the rest will take care of it self.

Your Friend In Health And Fitness,

Natalie Pyles

Fitness & Nutrition Expert, Wellness Coach, Author, Speaker, Health, Fitness, & Small Business Owner Sales & Marketing Consultant

Natalie Pyles
http://www.articlesbase.com/advertising-articles/quothow-to-make-your-direct-marketing-writing-efforts-walk-talk-and-breathequot-692587.html

What’s the number one excuse women give for not exercising? “Not enough time.”

Whether you are a student, mom, career woman, grandma, or any combination of these, chances are that you don’t take enough time for yourself. You give your time to your husband, children, friends, employer, your home, and give yourself the leftovers. The problem is, there isn’t much time left over. That’s why so many women are finding 30-minute exercise programs to be the answer they are looking for.

“I joined because I can get my whole workout done in half an hour” said Deverl Shippy, a member at Pick Up The Pace in Nampa. “At a regular gym, you have to wait for the machines you want and end up spending an hour and a half, or longer, before you feel like you did anything. Thirty minutes fits my schedule much better.”

Our doctors tell us we should exercise, and we know we should, but the idea of heading to the gym for an hour or two just isn’t feasible for most of us. And if we try to develop a program at home, we find too many distractions. After five minutes on the treadmill, we remember the load of clothes in the washer waiting for the dryer. The floor needs to be mopped. The dishwasher should be emptied. The baby starts crying. Dinner should be started. Your list goes on and on.

Most health clubs offering a 30-minute workout are similar in that they provide a combination of strength training and aerobic exercise, referred to as ‘circuit training’. In thirty minutes you will work all the major muscle groups in your body, as well as improving your cardiovascular health. This is good news for busy women.

The circuit consists of hydraulic machines and aerobic stations arranged in a circular pattern. Participants rotate around the circle, moving to the next station when prompted by a cue CD. There is no designated starting point or time. You join the circuit whenever you arrive, and exit the circuit when you have completed your workout.

The half-hour workout will burn between 411 and 824 calories, depending on the effort you put into it. In addition to the calories burned each time you do the workout, you are improving your metabolism by adding lean muscle tissue, which will help your body burn more fat and keep it off.

But time isn’t the only benefit to the women’s only club format.

“I feel comfortable with the all-women atmosphere” said Shontel Jarvis of Nampa. “The camaraderie between the ladies makes it fun. I don’t feel like I need to impress anyone. I can come after just getting out of bed and they’re still glad to see me.” Shontel is happy with the results she’s seeing as well. In less than three months, she’s dropped 28 pounds and has lost 19 inches. “The benefits of exercise are going to last me a lifetime.”

The half-hour program is enough for most women. Those who want more are encouraged to exercise longer or supplement their routine with additional cardio programs such as walking. As always, before starting any exercise plan, consult with your physician.

Tracie Johanson
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/everyone-has-time-for-this-exercise-program-59292.html

Most neophytes don’t know how to get started in bodybuilding they spend many years doing the wrong things before they learn what the right things are. In this article I will address one of the mistakes the newbie’s make and give a simple antidote to the problem of developing strength and size as a bodybuilder.

You can find more articles on training and a question and answer section, written by real bodybuilders at http://fire-iron-online.com Check it out and get your bodybuilding problems solved

I think before we go any further its important to understand that strength training for a bodybuilder is not the same as for other athletes. A bodybuilder must develop strength while building muscle size, shape and endurance, and on many occasions these goals are exclusive of each other. So let’s start this discussion with how to choose the correct weight.

What does your trainer mean when he says light weight, moderate or heavy? How do you know by the weight what rep count you should use? I’ll try to simplify this all too confusing problem in just a few lines.

Heavy weight is any amount that is so heavy that on your first set you can only complete 6 to 8 reps. I think it goes to reason that on your second and third set you will not be able to complete as many.

Moderate weight is any amount that is so heavy that on your first set you can only complete 8- 12 reps. Of course less on the following sets. Finally, light weight is any amount that is so heavy that on your first set you can only complete 15-25 reps

Now there is one more thing that I want to address that is strength. Understand this, just because you are getting bigger does not mean you are getting stronger; however, if you are getting stronger you are getting bigger even if you can’t see the size increase! Finally, train to get stronger, but not for strength, if you understand the principles of the Progressive Resistance System this will make more sense

The four days per week workout, the four days per week is called a split routine, because the body is split into four sections Unlike a lot of trainers I think there is a relationship between growth and total amount of sets completed in a week’s time. On the three day routine you had 9 set for chest, back and quads, and six set for shoulders. In this routine the weekly sets will range between 12 and 16 per body part.

In no way do I advocate the High Intensity Training (HIT) methods that you’ll find in all over the internet. I don’t deny how well they work; I just feel much of the injury throughout my career has come as a result of working out with too much intensity. Age and wisdom has taught me to the never to even advocate the negative or forced reps for any reason I personally call them injury reps! But let’s move on to what will work.

Some important things to understand about this routine

1. Workouts are never longer than 1 hour! Never!

2. Dips are done with no weight, except "bench dips" if you have a partner

3. "Max" represents the most you can do correctly (never do forced reps)

4. Unless I specify dumbbells, use only barbell

5. Shoulder press are done to the front of the chest not behind the neck See article my article on shoulder injuries

6. Lat pull downs are done at shoulder width never wider and only to the front of the chest.

7. Seated row are done either on a seated row machine or on seated on a low cable row machine. If doing them on a low cable row machine lean forward only enough to full extend your arms keep lower back arched. Never let the shoulders roll forward for that "extra stretch"

8. Barbell curls are done in smoothly never jerky or fast.

9. Leg press are done with full range of motion your calf should touch your hamstring at the stretched position.

10. Leg curls should be contracted until heel touches you butt.

11. Seated calf raises this exercise is harder than it appears. Calf should get a full stretch at the bottom of the movement, and completely contracted at the top.

12. Warm up and cool down with about 10 t 15 minutes of stationary bike or ski machine (I only do low or no impact aerobics, never run, never stairs,)

13. Stretch only after you have completed the workout and only for the muscles worked that day.

Workout 1 Monday

Dips 4 set of 8-12 reps Bench press 4 set of 8-12 reps Dumbbell Shoulder Press 4 set of 8-12 reps Shoulder Shrugs 4 set of 8-12 reps

Workout 2 Tuesday

Pull Ups 4sets of 6-8 Reps Lat pull downs 4 sets of 8-12 reps Seated Rows 4 sets of 8-12 reps Seated Calf Raises 4 sets of 15-25 reps

Workout 3 Thursday (after one day rest)

Hack Squats 4 sets of 15-25 reps Leg Press 4sets of 15-25 reps Leg Curls 4 sets of 8-12 reps Standing Calf Raises 4 sets of 15-25 reps

Workout 4 Friday

Barbell Curls 3 sets of 8-12 reps Dumbbell Curls 3 sets of 8-12 reps Bench Dips 4 sets of 8-12 Reps Close Grip Bench Press 4 sets of 8-12 reps

Troy Pearsall
http://www.articlesbase.com/muscle-building-articles/newbies-guide-to-developing-strength-and-size-in-bodybuilding-140311.html

If you have a skinny frame and wish to add some muscles to different sections of your body I would suggest you take squats seriously. Lot of heavy lifters and serious body builders swear by squats and it is known to work the most muscles in your body. About 75% of the muscles in your body will be worked while using the different variations of squat. It is difficult for me to enunciate the exact form which you should develop while working on the squats. If are going to use weights on the bar, which is of course what I would recommend, you should be careful about you form else you will end up hurting yourself.

The squat is definitely the most painful exercise in the body building routing but anything which involves more pain has its gains in the long term. You can not only strengthen you leg muscles and back muscles but will also provide strength to your trunk. Depending upon the squats you are performing it is also possible to add muscles to you neck region and the shoulder region. Make sure you perform high rep squats else the purpose is defeated. if you want to get bigger and more muscular around the entire body there is nothing which will work better than high rep squats.

There are various types of squats which are performed by most body builder and all of them have their advantages. Let me enlist a few of them for you to try out. A word of advice here, make sure you understand the proper form to execute the below squats. Form places a very important role in deciding the muscle regions which get stimulated and also avoid injury, at time major injuries, which result from sloppy form. The different types of squats you can try out as a part of your body building routing are as below

<b>Power lifting squat: </b> This involves placing the bar slightly down the back with a torso lean. The descend is performed in a pattern similar to sitting on a chair and ascend is performed while keeping the bar inline with the ankles. The lower back strength improves to a very high extent.

<b>Front squat: </b> The bar is placed in front parallel to the chest. The bar is supported by crossing the hands across the shoulders. The descend and ascend is similar to the power lifting squat . The torso strength would be the determining factor for the amount of weight you can take up during this squat.

<b>Plie squat: </b> Grasping a single dumbbell take a wide stance and squat down with the dumbbell between your legs. Drive down as far as you possibly can while balancing the dumbbell and ascend once you reach your limit. You will need to do more reps with this squat to increase its effectiveness.

<b>Box squat: </b> This is a slightly different squat from the normal. Here the bar is kept at parallel with the knees while squatting. The bar is placed on the shoulders touching the back portion of the neck. The squats are then performed by sitting on a lower chair or stool, the height of the stool should be till your knees and not more. This exercise works the hamstring muscles.

You can try all of the above squats with empty bar initially till you get your act together and have perfected the form. There might be an initial pain in the shoulder regions but that’s normal don’t let that stop you from carrying on. If possible avoid the usage of manta ray as it would defeat the purpose of strengthening your torso. Make sure you use a powerful rack where you can place the bar only you reach your threshold while performing the reps. You can even perform the squats outdoors so you can drop the bar once your are done with your reps.

Go on now and hit the squat mat!

Marcus Peter
http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/body-building-through-squats-743779.html