Increasing your Bench Press

1. Power Up Your Triceps

I would say in about 80% of cases where guys have asked me for increasing bench press tips, their triceps have been holding them back. You need to hit your triceps hard with big exercises like close grip bench press and skullcrushers. Don’t waste your with cable machines, stick to heavy dumbbells and barbells.

2. Shock Your Chest Into Growth

I know it’s easy to stay with the routine your comfortable with. Ask yourself this question: “Am I really training out of my comfort zone?” Most people are not. Yes, they train hard but they’re not pushing themselves as hard as they are capable of. So switch your workout up, vary the intensity. Vary the rest between sets. Do supersets. Do 30 pushups at the end of each set. Get the picture?

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The Warm Up and Cool Down

Warming up and cooling down correctly are two of the most important things you can do in a gym. Not only are they essential for their injury preventing qualities, but they also serve to increase flexibility, increase the intensity and volume of weights lifted and speed up recovery time from the workout. So why is it that countless times in the gym I see people ignoring the warm up and jumping straight into a heavy set?

Others do 5 minutes on a treadmill, one 'lighter' set and some static stretches and then lunge into a full weights session. This is both an inefficient way to start your workout and the fast track to injury.

So why should we warm up before training?
An efficient warm up had been proved to facilitate a better workout in numerous ways, such as:

·         Shortened response times and increased contractile speed in muscle fibres

·         More energy efficient contractions, due to the lower viscosity of warmed muscles that cause resistance to muscular force production

·         Reduction of muscle stiffness thus reducing the chance of injury

·         Greater oxygen uptake into myoglobin due to haemoglobin releasing oxygen more readily at higher muscle temperatures

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Motivation: STOP Making Excuses

Want inspiration and motivation to workout? Tired of repeating the same old excuses over and over to avoid burning a sweat and working hard? Then watch this video and listen to Matt Scott:

How To: Deadlift Effectively and With Proper Technique

The deadlift is perhaps the most everyday applicable exercise there is. The deadlift is even more applicable to everyday life than the bench press. How many times do you pick up something heavy at work or at your home? Probably a lot. This is basically what you're doing with the deadlift. You're picking up a heavy amount of weight straight off the ground.

The deadlift is another for those trying to build muscle and gain strength. All powerlifting lifts will benefit from the deadlift. Why? Because a properly performed dead lift is another massive muscle building exercise! Weight lifting programs are meant to build as much strength as possible, and since the deadlift works the largest muscles in the body (your back and legs), the best powerlifting and muscle building programs utilise this lift.

The muscles you'll build with the deadlift

The deadlift works the largest muscles of the body. With the deadlift you'll...

• Work more large muscles than you would with the squat or the bench press
• Work the hamstrings, glutes, and quads. You'll build well-rounded leg strength.
• Increase your grip strength. In order to hold the weight, you need a strong grip. The deadlift will help increase that grip strength.

How to perform the deadlift safely and effectively

Proper dead lift technique is important if you want to deadlift without injury, even more important than proper bench press technique. You can injure more, larger muscles with the dead lift than you can with the bench press or almost any other lift.

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Funny Video of the Day: Training Emissions

Ever wondered what a high intake of protein can do to you? Mark Ruhl shows all:

The 10 Best and Cheapest Sources of Protein for Muscle Building

As we all know, the main source of building muscle is a good intake of protein, but what you may not know is which source are best. If you want to build your physique, a good rule of thumb is that you need at least 1g protein per pound of your own bodyweight. For example if you weigh 180 pounds, you will want to be eating at least 180g protein a day. Knowing how much protein to eat is easy, but actually taking action and eating your protein requirements is much harder to do.

For some of us, we can’t afford to be buying meal replacement drinks from the store every time you want to consume protein. The better alternative is to get them from foods such as red meat, fish, poultry, dairy, and nuts. Below are the 10 best and cheapest sources of protein for building muscle.

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New Years resolution? Wanting to burn fat fast? Try HIIT Training!

Still thinking about getting into shape for the summer, are we? Some of us think about it until mid-September and finally say, “Why bother? The summer is already over.” Personally, I have a problem with the getting-in-shape approach to fitness, health and well-being. It carries with it a temporary connotation, as if getting in shape is something we casually gain and lose on a regular basis. Here today, gone tomorrow and here today again… more like here today and gone for good, if we don’t watch out. Make health and fitness a lifestyle and you’ll shine like the summer’s sun every day.

You know the drill. Eat right and exercise regularly, smaller meals more often, more protein and fresh vegetables and fruit. Yeah, yeah. Aerobics (ugh) till I drop… Uh, oh. Wrong. Big wrong. Boy, have I fought this concept of physical fitness with a sword and a shield. Run, jump, dance, step, spin, jog… more, more… you’re going to evaporate. Stop all that cardio nonsense — unless you just love it like chocolate and can’t stop — and apply it with logic and intelligence. Let me explain something briefly.

THE CARDIO BOOM

In the mid-70s when mainstream America was first turning on to fitness, somebody came up with the running craze; lotsa carbohydrates to fuel the running machine, lean bodies, marathons, 10-Ks, 5-Ks, cardiovascular rules, run, run, run, burn fat, kill calories. The books and the doctors said so. Fit or fat, aerobic enzymes, classes on the hour, run, Jane, run. We became fully indoctrinated.

The world of industry and commerce and big bucks took the cue and built the machines to keep us hopping. They invent new ones each year and streamline the old ones like Ford and BMW. Aerobics is big business. Aerobics is over-rated. Aerobic work needs to be sent to the back of the room and behave according to our needs. Bridle the frantic creature and make it work for you.

It seems as if the whole world forgot about muscles, protein, and lifting weights for a quarter of a century. Twenty-five years of frustration has led us, thank goodness, to some very sound thinking and dandy cardio procedures.

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a salvation for those determined to improve cardiovascular health, burn fat and spare muscle, sanity and time.


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Schwarzenegger's Incredible Arm Routine Revealed!

Ever wondered how Arnie managed to work his arms to the physical peak they were in? Wonder no more, as the article below tells a great story to how he went about achieving his goal.

Austrian Alps: Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Incredible Secret Arm Routine Revealed

Creating a Resistance Training Routine

When you’re starting a resistance training program, there are guidelines to consider when you plan your routine. If you follow them, you’ll see better progress and reduce your risk of injury. You should change your training program every 5-8 workouts to prevent reaching strength plateaus and reduce the risk of injuries like tendinitis.

Here a 6 basic rules to stick to that will maximise your output over time:

• Start with your weak spots. The strength of the muscles you train at the beginning of your workout will improve the most. So if you feel your shoulders are weaker than your chest muscles for example, do the shoulder press before the chest press.
• Train larger muscle groups before smaller muscle groups. For example, do squats (quadriceps) before sit-ups (rectus abdominus) and chin-ups (latissimus dorsi – upper back) before curls (biceps). If you train smaller muscles first, you’ll fatigue the auxiliary muscles and in turn limit your ability to train the larger muscles to the fullest.
• Alternate upper body exercises with lower body exercises. This is a good way to fit a lot of exercises in when you don’t have a lot of time. Plus alternating between upper and lower body exercises vastly increases the metabolic boost that you’ll get from the workout. In other words, you’ll burn a heck of a lot of calories and continue to do so for up to 38 hours after you’re done.
• Do any low-rep exercises (used to increase maximal strength) at the beginning of your workout. Maximal strength is defined as using 5 repetitions or less. Always perform the lower reps exercises before the higher reps exercises. This will enhance the progress of both goals.
• Train opposing muscle groups together. By alternating between opposing muscles, pressing and pulling movements for example, you can increase both the efficiency and effect of the workout. You’ll also save time because you won’t need to rest as long in between sets of different activities such as the chest press and seated rows. And when one opposing muscle relaxes, the opposite is contracted so you’re better able to increase strength since there’s less resistance from the opposing muscle group.
• Complete any power weightlifting movements first. If you do any quick lifting movements with a barbell such as power snatches, power cleans, push-jerks or sled chest presses (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, you probably don’t do them) it’s important to do them at the beginning of your session. They’re very technical and require a lot of coordination, which can decrease with fatigue later on in your workout.

Why is it important to warm up before exercise?

A warm up is the act of preparing for an athletic event or workout by exercising or practicing for a short time beforehand. Warming up helps reduce your risk of injury and the aches and pains that come with exercise. The physiological reason to warm up is to assist your circulatory system in pumping oxygen-rich blood to your working muscles. The idea is to increase circulation throughout the body in a gradual manner. A proper warm up safely prepares the body for the increased demands of exercise. Cold muscles do not absorb shock or impact as well, and are more susceptible to injury.

A warm-up helps you prepare both mentally and physically for exercise and reduces the chance of injury. During a warm up, any injury or illness you have can often be recognised, and further injury prevented. Other benefits of a proper warm up include:

• Increased movement of blood through your tissues, making the muscles more pliable.
• Increased delivery of oxygen and nutrients to your muscles. This prevents you from getting out of breath early or too easily.
• Prepares your muscles for stretching.
• Prepares your heart for an increase in activity, preventing a rapid increase in blood pressure.
• Prepares you mentally for the upcoming exercise.
• Primes your nerve-to-muscle pathways to be ready for exercise.
• Improved coordination and reaction times.

A low impact exercise, such as biking or walking or using an elliptical or rowing machine (my favourite for moderate warm up) is the best way to warm up.

Protein Bar Recipe

For anyone working out, we all know it is important to get a good source of protein each day, but at times this can prove difficult or you just don't have the time. This is where I discovered the wonders of protein bars, and how they proved to be a great snack or even meal replacement each day.

The main issue with protein bars though is price, where many charge £1+ per bar or even multi-packs of 24 can cost around £20. This is when I decided it was time to try a create my own protein bars, and after trying many different recipes (ones that required no cooking/baking skills) I found the perfect 10 minutes recipe that tastes great!

All you'll need is:

100-150ml semi-skimmed milk

2 Table Spoons Peanut Butter

Vanilla Extract

2 Table Spoons of Honey

60g Dark Chocolate

50g Protein Whey

75g Oats

Chopped Almonds

Grease Proof Paper

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Welcome to Mens Healthiness!

Hello world!

Welcome to this new and great blog which I have created that will not only be a great resource to me, by also to you, the all important reader!

This blog is aimed at mens health in general, whereby I will look at a number of different aspects of the male body and life and how it is shaping myself to become an all round healthier, physically stronger and active individual.

I will talk about a range of areas, such as:

• Workout plans
• Meal plans
• Supplement and vitamins
• Challenges to push yourself
• And much, much more!

Finally, you may be wondering why you should read this blog? Well I'll be talking through personal experiences throughout my life and how certain aspects I have been able to change have made myself a fitter and stronger individual, not only physically, but also mentally. Along with what I am learning as each day and week passes and what keeps me embracing each day.

A great little motto I always like to stick to, "Treat each day as if it is your last, start each day as if it is your first".

I hope I'll get many of you to visit my blog regularly and look forward to posting my first post within the coming days!