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Training articles on bodyparts 

ABDOMINALS

Lately I have been having a new obsession, my abs. I think at some point that is everyone’s obsession. When I was younger I had really nice abs or at least I think I did. Now that I’m getting a little older I have to actually work at trying to keep my abs. Nothing defines a well muscled body better than a well defined six or eight pack. The large rounded shoulders, the hulking chest and even the nice butt just are not complete with out a nice set of abs to go along in the mix. Everyone wants them and everyone admires them. To top it off a good strong set of abs will make you stronger in all other parts of your body. You want to squat more… strengthen your abs, you want a stronger back … strengthen your abs you even want to be more athletic …strengthen you abs. The question is: how do you get them back or even how do you get them in the first place. Well believe it or not it actually is simpler than you would think. I guess the first initial response would be do hundreds of sit ups a day and you’ll be good to go. Fact is nothing could be further from the truth. Hundreds of sit ups a day would end up doing you more harm than good in the long run because your muscles would not have adequate recovery time and you are not hitting enough different ab muscles. The first part of learning to get a six pack is learning what muscles to hit. The muscles you need to concentrate on are the Rectus Abdominal (the all mighty six pack), the Transverse Abdominal (the muscles that pull your stomach in and out), ant the Internal and External Obliques (those nice cuts that run along the sides). The Rectus Abdominal is what I call the six pack muscles. They are the part of the abs that shape the six pack, or in some peoples cases the eight pack. I should note that weather you have a four or six or eight pack is purely genetic and based on how your muscles are banned together by connective tissue. I personally have more of a four than six. It’s just a genetic thing, because even when my abs were at their very best it was always hard for five and six to come in. These are the muscles that control mostly crunching and sit up type movements. The Transverse Abdominal acts as a natural belt and helps keep you abs pulled in tight. This is the probably the most important muscle for trunk stability. Usually people with bad backs and or “beer bellies” have weak transverse abdominal. Lean to strengthen your transverse abdominal and you will automatically shrink your waist size. The Internal and External Obliques are those great looking muscles that run down your sides. Besides looking really good their main function is to stabilize your abs and rotate your torso. Strong obliques help pull in the abs from the sides also giving a slimmer appearance to the waistline. Abdominal Chart Now that you know the muscles to target for a six pack, it’s time to learn what to do to get that six pack. The most important thing you can do to get a six pack is…………..EAT A PROPER DIET!!!! I repeat EAT A PROPER DIET!!!! No amount of ab work will help you in your goal unless you learn to control your eating. You do not want a diet that is high in fats and excess carbohydrates, if you are tying to get lean. You a good amount of protein in you diet with low fat and moderate amounts of carbohydrates. You want to avoid sugary foods and a lot of processed stuff which will wreak havoc on your six pack. If you can’t follow a proper diet I would not recommend wasting your time. A second thing you want to do is drink plenty of water. Water not only keeps you vitalized but drinking water helps remove excess water and toxins from the body. This is especially helpful to those who tend to hold excess water around the midsection. The exercises: I recommend training the abs no more than three times a week on alternate days. Abs are smaller muscles and you don’t want to over train them. I also recommend four exercises per ab workout. You want to concentrate on hitting the Rectus, the Transverse, and Internal and External abdominal each workout.
 
For your Rectus Abdominal you could chose one of the following:
Crunches 4 sets 0f 20 (if you can’t do 20 start at 10 and work your way up by one rep each week)
Lying Leg Lifts 4 sets of 10
Ab Crunch Machine 4 sets of 10
For your Transverse abdominal: Ab Pull Ins 4 sets of 20
Pull in your abdominals as far as you can a hold for one second before you release For you Internal and External Obliques:
Bar twist 4 sets of 20 Place a bar on your shoulders and slowly twist from side to side. These can even be done with a broomstick.
Side Bends 4 sets of 20 These can also be done with a bar, broomstick, or just your bodyweight. Slowly bend from side to side flexing your abs.
 
These are some of the things I recommend to help you get your six pack. Always remember to keep your diet in check, have a solid abdominal training program and a little extra cardio would not hurt either. The one other thing I can say is to be patient. Patience is a virtue. Even with a proper diet and a solid abdominal program it is still going to take a few weeks for your hard work to shine through. Now go out and get your self a six pack and I don’t mean beer.

Mini Training Feature #2 Biceps

 

 

It’s time to introduce you to a muscle that needs no introduction. This muscle is arguably the most famous of all muscles. People who have no clue about muscles even know this muscle. It is the world famous Bicep. People love to flex their biceps. Girls, guys, children, you name it people love flexing that muscle in their arm. Just think soon as someone says let me see your muscles, how many people immediately flex their biceps. Not only is the bicep extremely popular but it has the looks to go along with its popularity. What muscle looks better than a cut up set of arms with good biceps? In the looks department biceps may come second only to a good set of abs and sometimes that can be debated. It’s a muscle that can draw attention to itself even in a long sleeve shirt. It is a muscle that thru time has become synonymous with hard work and power.

 

Now that we agree the bicep is extremely popular and eye candy for a lot of people, what does the bicep really do?

The bicep is made up of two heads. The word bicep does originate from the Latin phrase “two headed of the arm”. The two head of the bicep are the short head (inner) and the long head (outer). The biceps main function is to move the forearm towards the shoulder. Any type of lifting upwards or towards you involves the biceps. The secondary function of the bicep is supination of the forearm. This means turning the hand from a palms-down position to a palms-up position. All types of pulling movements use the biceps to some degree.

The next question is how you should train the most popular muscle on the planet. The first thing people should understand is that the bicep is a small muscle. Yes even people with 21 inch biceps understand that compared to their other muscle the bicep is proportionally small.  Since the bicep is small you want to avoid over training it. Sometimes you see people doing tons and tons of curls and wonder why their biceps do not grow and the simple answer is over training. I would recommend three exercises for biceps maybe four exercises if you are a little bit more advanced in your training. I also wouldn’t recommend any more than 3 to 4 sets per exercise.  You want to make sure you hit both heads of the bicep to some degree.

 

Here are four basic exercises you can do to help build up your biceps.

Barbell Curls-4 sets of 8-10

Barbell Curls are the best overall mass builder for biceps. Barbell Curls hit both heads with a lot direct impact.

Preacher Curls 4-sets of 8-10

Preacher Curls are excellent for building a nice rounded peak on the top of your biceps.

Hammer Curls 4 sets 8-10

Hammer curls place more impact on the short bicep head. These can be done with either dumbbells, cable attachments, or in some cases specialty barbells.

Dumbbell Curls 3-4 sets of 8-10 reps

This is probably the most well know of exercises. They are great mass builders and also great at shaping the muscles.

There are a whole variety of other exercises that can be used to build your biceps. Every once in a while you could mix up your exercises, just make sure you keep your total exercises between 3 and 4.  

 

Today we learned a little about “Mr. Popular” .We learned a little about how he works, why people love him, and how to build him up.  Just remember that although the bicep is a two headed muscle, it is a smaller muscle so you don’t want to over train it. You want to make sure you keep your exercises between 3 and 4 exercises and you want to give your bicep adequate rest. Now you can start building up some nice arms.

 

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Training Mini Feature #3 Traps

This time we explore the trapezius or "traps". That muscle that protrudes off of the shoulders at the neck. The traps help give that powerfull look that makes the shoulder area look more massive and impressive.

 Trapezius gets its name from its trapezium-like shape when looking at both muscles at once: the corners being the neck, the two shoulders, and the thoracic vertebra.

The trapezius has 3 functional regions: The superior region (descending part) supports the weight of the upper limb. The intermediate region (transverse part) retracts the scapulae. The inferior region (ascending part) medially rotates and depresses the scapulae. 

Because the fibers in the traps run in different directions, it has a variety of actions, including:

  • scapular elevation (shrugging up or lifting the shoulders)
  • scapular retraction (drawing the shoulder blades toward the midline)
  • scapular depression (pulling the shoulder blades down

Trap anatomy

Well developed traps help greatly in improving upper body strength. Traps not only help with pulling and or lifting but also help in opening up the upper chest for better breathing.

There are not a wide variety of exercises used to develope the traps but hitting them from different angles can vastly improve your trap developement.

Shrugs are probably the best known and most direct way to hit the traps. Different ways of shrugging however developes different parts of the traps.

 

Barbell Shrug Behind The Back
These focus mainly on part of your upper traps and the center of your traps. Hold a barbell behind your back with your palms facing backwards. “Shrug” your shoulders upward as high as you can and squeeze it for a second. Then lower the bar all the way down as far as you can. To get the barbell into position, you can rest it on a power rack or bench and then pick it up from there. You can also do these with dumbbells or the smith machine. The Smith machine can allow you to lean forward a little more for a longer range of motion. Do 4 sets of 8-12 reps.

Barbell Shrug
These hit mainly the front part of your traps and the upper part of your traps. Hold a barbell with both hands in front of you with your hands a little wider than shoulder width apart. Keep your feet at shoulder width. Stand straight up with the bar hanging at arms length. Droop shoulders down as much as possible to start. Raise your shoulders up as far as you can go. All movements should act directly against the force of gravity and therefore any semicircular motion of the shoulders (a common error) is wasted effort since there is no resistance in the horizontal movement. This also places unnecessary stress on the rotator cuffs and shoulder girdle. Can also be done with dumbbells. Do 4 sets of 8-12 reps.

Behind the Back Upright Barbell Row

These hit your traps in the center and lower parts. Standing upright, grasp a barbell with your hands about shoulder width apart. Let the bar hang straight down behind you. Keep your body and wrists straight. Pull the bar straight up towards your back, keeping it close to your body. Concentrate on either pulling with your traps or the back of your shoulders, depending on what you want to work most. Lower slowly to the starting position. If you use a smith machine you can lean forward a little for better range of motion.   The targeted muscles are Traps, Biceps, and Shoulders. Do 4 sets of 8-12 reps.

You may not need a wide range of exercises to develope great traps just learning how to hit them from different angles for better results.