During Workout Supplements

Intra-Workout supplement

Now that we have discussed the benefits of pre workout supplements, we will talk about intra-workout or during workout supplements. Lets talk about why you would benefit from taking an intra workout supplement. These supplements are meant to increase your "Pump". How they increase your pump is simple. Nitric Oxide is the key determining factor in how many nutrients reach your muscle cells as well as enabling how quickly your body can buffer lactic acid. Lactic acid is the "Burn" sensation you feel when working out which ultimately makes you lose strength. The more Nitric Oxide, the less burn, as well as the more nutrients. Your muscles need nutrients to use, so the more nutrients you get the more you can lift. See how this is starting to make sense? Supplements like Hemavol 
     

and supplements like Yok3d   

are the ones that will increase your pump while lifting. The main difference between these lifting supplements and pre workout supplements are that the pre workout supplements are meant to give you energy and increase heart rate. As I said before, the intra workout supplements are simply meant to help you maintain your pumps and not get sore during your lifts to allow you to lift for longer. The longer you lift the more you rip your muscles, the more they grow the better results you see.  I am a strong believer of taking these sorts of supplements to get all you can out of a lift. As long as you take the recommended dosage, you will be okay.

Supps... or no supps

Pre-Workout Supplements

To take workout supplements or to not? Pre-Work out, during, or after? How bad are they really? Some people believe they are bad for you, and some people really do not worry because the results out weight the consequences. Where do you stand on the matter?  There are supplements strictly for energy during the work out. Some of these workout supplements include Jack3d, NoXplode, and C4. Some of those supplements can still be purchased, while some of them cant. That is what I will be covering in this blog. 

                      

Do you see those bottles right above, yeah those ones, that is a pre workout supplement that is used more than any other in the world (USP Labs). The bottle on the left is the original Jack3d. It blew everybody's minds with the pre-workout pumps you could get from it. It has won many awards and was rated the best, yes I said was. That was all before it was reported "that it has been linked to high blood pressure, headaches, vomiting, stroke and even death." This is because of 1,3 dimethylamylamine, well at least that is the ingredient that USP labs took out of jack3d to create Jack3d micro which is there new product. 

How would you feel if you had a heart attack due to a product that you were taking and was given no warning towards the effects that could injure you? If you ask me, do not abuse a product and it will not abuse you. I am sure someone took to much of a jack3d and that is why they were injured. It increases your heart rate with the recommended dose, and when you take more that will just increase it even more. I am no doctor, but I bet a unnaturally high heart rate could cause you to go to the hospital. People abuse it after they know there is a recommended dose and get hurt then sue and get it taken off the market. Get a big check and are happy about it. I am all for the workout supplement, but that could be just me.

http://usplabsdirect.com/jack3d.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2194656/Jack3d-sports-supplement-banned-Britain-fears-lethal-effects.html

Shoulders part 2.

Shoulders

Today is your second exercise for shoulders. Remember we keep mixing up the different workouts because when muscle memory kicks in it gets easier to lift the same thing over and over. The easier it gets the less you're working out your muscle and less progress you make.  Your next 3 exercises will consist of the first two having 3 sets a peace with reps of 10,8,6.  The last exercise you do is going to be a burn out. Burn outs are the best way to cut a muscle up because you're doing light weight many more times then you would do a normal lift. The first exercise is Military press. 

- Military Press

This exercise is perfect for shoulders. Hits all parts of your shoulders as well as triceps and upper chest. Like I said above, you will be doing 3 sets with reps of 10,8,6. Always have a spotter handy, this is not an exercise you want to fail on and have all that weight drop on you. 

1. Sit on a bench with back support in a squat rack. Position a barbell at a height that is just above your head. Grab the barbell with a pronated grip (palms facing forward).
2. Once you pick up the barbell with the correct grip width, lift the bar up over your head by locking your arms. Hold at about shoulder level and slightly in front of your head. This is your starting position.
3. Lower the bar down to the shoulders slowly as you inhale.
4. Lift the bar back up to the starting position as you exhale.
5. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.         

That is how you perform this exercise.

Next is Arnold Dumbbell press, and yes this exercise Arnold Schwarzenegger invented that is why it is called the Arnold dumbbell press. This exercise hits Triceps and Shoulders. Again you will do 3 sets with reps of 10,8,6. Go with whatever weight you can complete the amount of reps listed. This is how you perform this exercise:

1. Sit on an exercise bench with back support and hold two dumbbells in front of you at about upper chest level with your palms facing your body and your elbows bent. Tip: Your arms should be next to your torso. The starting position should look like the contracted portion of a dumbbell curl.
2. Now to perform the movement, raise the dumbbells as you rotate the palms of your hands until they are facing forward.
3. Continue lifting the dumbbells until your arms are extended above you in straight arm position. Breathe out as you perform this portion of the movement.
4. After a second pause at the top, begin to lower the dumbbells to the original position by rotating the palms of your hands towards you. Tip: The left arm will be rotated in a counter clockwise manner while the right one will be rotated clockwise. Breathe in as you perform this portion of the movement.
5. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

 - Arnold Dumbbell Press

The final exercise is called battling ropes. Here is how it looks before I even begin to talk about it because I know you're wondering what does this look like.
- Battling Ropes
This exercise is a burn out. You will not be going for reps here. You will do 3 sets, first set you will perform this exercise for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Second set you will go down to 1 minute, and third you will continue to go down to 45 seconds. Go at your own pace, go hard enough to make sure you are getting a work out but slow enough so you will complete the time per set. This exercise not only works out your shoulders but hits every muscle in your arms as well as your chest and core. Here is how you do it:

1. For this exercise you will need a heavy rope anchored at its center 15-20 feet away. Standing in front of the rope, take an end in each hand with your arms extended at your side. This will be your starting position.
2. Initiate the movement by rapidly raising one arm to shoulder level as quickly as you can.
3. As you let that arm drop to the starting position, raise the opposite side.
4. Continue alternating your left and right arms, whipping the ropes up and down as fast as you can. 

(all images taken from google) 

Back day part 2

Back/Traps

If you did the exercises in my last back and traps post then thats good! But it is time to change it up. Lets start with traps since I am really excited to show you this next exercise, Head Harness!

- Head harness raises

There is no better way in my opinion to grow your neck than using a head harness. You have to purchase this since it cant be done like shrugs, but the results are amazing! Do as many sets and reps as you feel comfortable since some people's traps are significantly stronger than others. I would start with 2 sets but go as you please. Try not to go too heavy with this exercise at first or you will be sore for a week I promise. 

I have recently start doing incline bench pull on back days. Some gyms have machines for this exercise where you can simply stack weight on, lift it off the stand, and you pull up as many time as possible before setting it back down on the stand which is perfect for lifting by yourself. - Incline bench pull

If your gym does not have this I also know another way for you to perform an alternative to this exercise but still great none the less. What you do is take a flat bench, put one end in the corner where 2 walls meet, lift the opposite end up between your legs while you squat and put as much weight as you feel possible than lift to your chest. I would love to show you a picture but I cannot seam to find one so hopefully I described it well enough for you to perform next lift. Both those lifts are great for working every part of your back, just watch out where you put your chest on the bench because some times you tend to lose breath depending on if your chest is too high on it.

Biceps Part 2/Forearm

Alternative Bicep/Forearm 

Looking back at my previous blogs I saw I could include a few more bicep workouts for you to use, whoever you may be.  Hammer curls and normal dumbbell curls are key to anybodies main bicep day. Other great exercises for you to try out are preacher curls and standing bar curls. Preacher curls are very good for extending your bicep just like hammer curls do. Standing bar curls are your standard curl that gives you that big knot everybody looks for in a muscular arm. Both exercises should be 3+ sets.  Add weight every set and lower your reps every set. I try to do 10,8,6 but if you start on lighter weight do 12,10,8 reps. Here is how you perform both exercises: - Preacher curls

(you can do variations of one arm Dumbbell preachers back to straight bar)

- Standing bar curls

Now onto forearms! Forearms are great for improving almost every other exercise. Having stronger forearms allows you to grip things much easier. Holding a flat bar while doing bench becomes easier so you can focus on performing a perfect bench lift. Holding dumbbells becomes easier when doing shrugs so you can do more reps. And not to mention forearms are completely underrated when it comes to making your arms look bigger. I am going to start with reverse barbell curls. - Reverse barbell curl

Follow the same reps and sets as above. This exercise allows you get more mass on top of your arm and get that defined line along the top of it. The second benefit is that it hits your biceps too so you are actually working out more than one muscle group. Now to hit the bottom part of your forearm. Barbell wrist curl is perfect for hitting the bottom of your forearms and give yourself mass on it. 

   - Barbell wrist curl

All of these images are straight off of google. These all show you the perfect range of motion you should be moving the weights as well as the position you should be in when performing the lifts.

abbs continued

Ab workout continued

Now here is an ab routine that is meant to be quick and painless, okay well maybe not painless that is kind of what we are looking to do here. In my last post I knew not everybody would want to work out abs for a very long time so here is a perfect routine for those who just like to hit abs as a warm up or right at the end of a work out right before they leave.

Lets begin.  I will post pictures of how to perform each of these workouts at the end. First we start with one minute bicycles. Lift your arms above your head and begin moving both legs in a pedaling motion. Reverse the direction of your pedal after 30 seconds. After that go into one minute pulse ups. Lie flat on the floor with your hands to each side. Raise your legs straight to the ceiling and slowly lift your hips off the floor. Keep your toes pointed towards the ceiling. Slowly lower your legs to the floor and repeat. Remember to take breaks when needed. One minute oblique side bends are next. Lying on your side, position your body with a slight bend at your waist. With hands behind your head, slowly lift your legs and torso towards the ceiling. This is a very awkward work out but gets easier as time goes on. Practice makes perfect! Fourth is V ups for one minute. SLOW SLOW SLOW that is the key to this one. Lying on the floor with hands above your head, slowly lift yourself up as if you were doing a sit-up and touch your toes. Slowly bring your body back to the floor while simultaneously lifting your legs about 30 degrees off the floor. With hands still behind your head, slowly lift your body again and touch your toes without bringing your legs to the ground. Hold for a moment and return to the starting position. The last minute is the one minute twist! Now this exercise is meant to be FAST FAST FAST! With knees bent, raise your legs about six inches off the floor. Move your upper body in a twisting motion side to side, touching both hands on the floor. The faster you go the harder it gets. Feel free to add Dumbbells if it gets to become too easy. 

- Bicycle.

- Pulse ups

- Side Bends

- V ups

- Twist