Pre-exhaustive sets

I recently found a very interesting article that mentions the use of pre-exhaustive sets which bodybuilders generally use to get "buff"(excuse the expression), it basically uses the main muscle for longer taking it to full exhaustion.

Eg. Before doing bench press working the chest, you should do a number of pre-exhaustive exercises such as wide arm dumbell flies which involves the surrounding muscles such as the arms etc. to assist in the development, then you should go onto the bench press which will isolate that the pectoral muscle and give it a longer workout allowing it to develop fully.

Read the entire article here

Incredible muscles

How to gain weight

Weight gain is something that isn't easy to do and you probably know this already.The key to weight gain is to do everything BIG. You have to eat big, to lift big, to get big. Say that over and over again in your head until you fully understand it. A lot of people think weightlifting is the key to gaining weight, and I won't argue, it is an extremely important part. BUT, there is another thing that is just as important when it comes to how to gain weight, and that is your diet.

So, to put it as simply as possible, there are 5 simple steps to how to gain weight, and here they are:

1) Count how many calories you eat in a normal day. Don't change anything, just eat like you normally would and count how many calories you consumed. This is an extremely important step, so try to be as exact as possible. Also, weigh yourself.

2) Starting the day after you counted calories, eat 500 calories MORE then you normally do. So, lets pretend that the day you counted calories you counted 2000. For the rest of the week, you would now eat 2500 calories a day. Instead of eating 3 big meals a day or eating all day all the time, spread those calories out over 5-6 smaller meals. Eat one meal every 2 and a half to 3 hours. To get big, you have to eat big! Remember that.

3) Weightlifting! Get in the gym and lift! This is another important step to how to gain weight, so make sure you are doing it correctly.

4) At the end of that week, weigh yourself. You'll notice you're gaining just after one week! Now, don't expect to see a 10lb increase. Gaining anymore then 1 or 2 pounds a week is unhealthy and means you're putting on way to much fat. So look for 1 or 2 pound gains at the end of the week. Don't sound like much? You can be gaining 5-8 pounds a month!

5) Heres an important one. At some point, you will stop seeing weight gain. At this point, you will have to eat even more. So, when you stop gaining for at least 2 weeks, it means it is time to start eating an extra 250 calories a day. Every time you see you haven't gained weight for at least 2 weeks, add an extra 250 calories.

More tips for how to gain weight (extremely important!)

- Stay away from bad fat! Even though weight gain is your goal, you don't want to be gaining fat and eating junk. Get rid of the chips and candy. No more fast food, nothing fried. Stick to high protein, low (saturated) fat foods like tuna fish (and other seafood), chicken breast, turkey, lean meats, rice, pasta, fruits and vegetables, nuts, flax seed oil, etc.

- Track your progress! Weighing yourself once a week is extremely important, but so is figuring out if the weight you are gaining is muscle or fat. In order to know this information, you need to also track your body fat percentage!

- WATER! Drink water! Drink around a half gallon a day, more if you can. Yes that's a lot of water, but it's that water that will give you the energy you need to gain that weight!

- Sleep! YES! Sleep! The easiest, yet most over looked step. Get at least 8 hours of sleep a night. You're gonna need it!

Now the concern some people have about how to gain weight, is how to do it without putting on extra fat. Let me tell you how, YOU CAN'T! Unless you are using steroids, it is basically impossible to gain weight without putting on a little bit of extra fat. But hey, if you want to see some weight gain, Well then dont care about the little bit of extra fat you might put on while gaining. You will be able to burn that off later on!

History of Dumbbells

The first type of dumbbell were probably nals from India, club shaped equipment that, like today's dumbbells, were usually in pairs. Nals were used for more than 1,000 years. Modern dumbbells were derived from 16th century churches in England, when men realized that pulling the weighted ropes that rang church bells resulted in larger muscles. The wealthy started installing these pulleys and weighted ropes in their homes. The pulleys and weighted ropes were called "bells." But because there were no real bells attached to the ropes, they began to be called "dumb-bells," as the bells were always silent. By the early 19th century, this equipment came to resemble the dumbbells of today. The pulley and ropes had disappeared, leaving only the weights.

Advantages of Dumbbells

Using dumbbells can improve balance and posture.

You do not have to climb on and off machines when you use dumbbells.

Dumbbells can take up less space than resistance machines or barbells, a real advantage if you work out at home and have a limited space.

You will have a great range of movement when working out with dumbbells than when working out with barbells.

Dumbbells can be safer than barbells when combining weight training and cardio training. If you loose your balance, it can be much safer to drop dumbbells than it is to drop barbells.

Adding dumbbells to you exercise routine on days that alternate with barbells will help prevent boredom.

Dumbbells are easy to incorporate into a cardio routine.

Using dumbbells allows you to work on one limb at a time rather than both of your arms or legs, simultaneously.

Dumbbells can be used to work out the entire body