The Infonian

To engage 650 muscles with only 1 dumbell, try this simple workout:

Beginning with a 15-pound dumbbell. Use slightly heavier dumbells as you advance, but don’t use dumbells heavy enough that require you to rest between exercises.

Complete the circuit by doing each exercise for 45 seconds. Rest 1 minute. Repeat 2 or 3 times.

1. Woodchopper
Keeping your arms straight and feet just beyond shoulder-width, start with a dumbbell above your right shoulder. Bend your knees and powerfully twist your torso left as you pull your arms down and across your body. When your hands reach beyond your left ankle, reverse the movement to bring the dumbell to the starting position. Then switch sides. Always contracting your abs to avoid injury.

2. Arms-out squat
Standing with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, grab a dumbbell by the ends and hold it directly out from your eyes. Now press the ends together as you simultaneously thrust your hips back, bend your knees, and lower your body until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Pause, then drive your legs back up.

3. Standing pressout
Keeping your feet at shoulder-width, grip a dumbbell by its ends and hold it by your chest. Try to press the ends together as you simultaneously trust the dumbbell away from your body and slightly up to eye level until your arms are straight out. Pause, and pull the dumbbell back as you pull your shoulder blades together.

4. Towel row
Secure a towel around a dumbbell’s handle. Grasp an end of the towel with each hand and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. Bend at your hips, keep your lower back straight, and lower your torso until it’s almost parallel to the floor. Pull the towel ends to either side of your abdomen. Pause and lower the towel.

By not incorporating reps in this speed routine, you’ll concentrate on form and activate more muscle fibers, says creator C.J. Murphy, co-owner of Total Performance Sports in Everett, Massachusetts. Complete the circuit by doing each exercise for 45 seconds. Rest 1 minute. Repeat 2 or 3 times.

You might presume Rest Pause Training is the way a few guys at the gym take long rests in between their sets of bicep curls, talking with their buddies way more than they should. The reality of rest pause training is far from using your resting time to catch up on the latest bodybuilding gossip. In fact, the Weider’s Principle of Rest Pause Training entails tricking the target muscle into going way beyond failure with a weight that you would generally be able to lift for only a few reps.

============================================

This Infonian.com article is brought to you by Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle, the #1 best selling diet ebook, which teaches you how to burn fat naturally, without supplements or drugs. Learn from a natural bodybuilding champion how to lose stubborn fat and turbo-charge your metabolism by visiting: http://www.burnthefat.com

If you’re enjoying this completely free fitness library, please consider supporting our cause by also visiting our sponsor’s link above.

============================================

This trickery is a result of both chemical and psychological reactions. The brief rest periods encourage the muscles rapidly recover by permitting them to refill their stock of phosphocreatine, the same molecule that’s excited when you supplement with creatine. Using this additional shot of energy, the muscle can contract with added power, making bigger force and additional reps. Using this strategy, you WILL get increases in strength and size, along with a bigger ego.

Weider’s Principle of Rest Pause Training is generally used in two ways.

You could train for size by repping to failure, resting for 10-15 seconds, then repeating this until repping to failure once again. Doing this 2-3 times per set causes the muscles to contract overtime and forces the chemical alterations within muscle cells that produce growth.

You can also train for strength by using a weight which allows you to accomplish 3-5 reps, then doing one rep, rack the weight and wait 15 seconds, then do another rep. Repeat this until you complete 4-6 reps overall. This is one rest-pause set for strength.

Instead of keeping the spotlight on either size or strength, we have created for you an alternating rest pause training routine that modifies the two workouts to give you the chance to train for both hypertrophy and strength gains. To simplify this for you, lets look at one-arm and one-leg weightlifting exercises.

Utilizing the dumbbell curl as an instance: Pick a weight that your able to use to finish 6-8 reps. Then complete 3 reps with your right arm, do the same with your left arm. Switch arms again for another 3 reps. Endure in this style, doing 3 rest-pause sets for 3 reps, then two rest-pause sets for 2 reps, finishing off with one rest-pause set for one rep.

After completion, you will have endured 14 reps on each arm with a weight that you could generally complete only 6-8 reps. This method forces not only the target muscle/s to grow but also encourages their pure strength. Studies show that when executing unilateral exercises, your able to lift more than 50% what you could lift with both limbs! If these numbers don’t tell you to incorporate Rest Pause Training into your workout routine, then you might as well be the guy in the intro of this article.

Almost anyone that’s picked up a set of weights has or will experience symptoms of over-training at one point in there muscle building program. Over-training can lead to serious injury, chronic fatigue, and even muscle loss.

Over-training is very common amongst athletes and particularly bodybuilders, since they figure that training as much as possible is the fastest way to massive muscle gains.

This couldn’t be any further from the truth however…

Training too much, or at too high of an intensity will lead to over-training.

Now this doesn’t mean you don’t have to put plenty of effort in to see some decent results… Whether you are a bodybuilder, athlete, or just someone that wants to add some additional mass to your frame, you need to train hard and be consistent-that’s a given. In order to get the most out of your genetics, you have to progressively overload the muscles by increasing the weight and / or intensity of each weight training workout.

The problem is however, that many of us increase the intensity of our workouts or get insufficient amounts of rest, or even worse, a combination of both. The trick is finding the right balance between workout volume and intensity, and rest and recovery. And that is exactly what I’ll cover in this article.
The Effects of Over-Training on Bodybuilders

First, let’s take a look at some of the effects of over-training and how one can prevent over-training from happening in the first place.

The Effects of Over-training on the Nervous System

Over-training effects both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems in the following negative ways:

If you are experiencing more than one of the symptoms outlined above, you may be in a state of over-training, and should evaluate your routine as soon as possible.

The Effects of Over-training on Hormone Levels

Many studies have indicated that over-training negatively effects the levels of hormones, as well as the hormone response in the body.  Since hormones play such an important role in the muscle building process, this can have a detrimental effect on your training progress.

Over-training has been show to:

The Effects of Over-training on the Immune System

perhaps one of the most alarming repercussions of over-training is it’s negative impact on the immune system-you’re bodies first defense against harmful viruses and bacteria.

Over-training can drastically decrease the levels of antibodies and lymphocytes in your body, making you much more susceptible to illness.  Simply put, this means that if you are in a state of over-training, you are much more likely to get sick.  Since you will have to skip workouts while you are sick, your muscle building progress will slow considerably.The Effects of Over-training on the Metabolic System

Here is a list of how over-training can  effect the metabolic system.  These symptoms are the ones that are most commonly discussed, and are ones we can’t ignore:

Is it Worse to Over-Train With Cardio or Weight Training?

Any form of over-training is a bad thing, however, I’ve personally experienced both types of over-training and can honestly say that over-training in the weight room is much worse, and much more prevalent than over-training through cardiovascular training.

Here are some of the reasons why:

How do I Determine if I’m Over-training?

Determining if you’re currently over-training is fairly simple.   If you’re in tune with your body, you can often see the signs of over-training before they get serious.  If you are losing interest in workouts, are having trouble sleeping, and feel weak and irritable, you may be in a state of over-training and should take a week or more off.

If you are experiencing two or more of the symptoms outlined earlier in the article, this should raise a red flag.

Another variable you can use to determine if you are over-training is by tracking the performance of your workouts.

Has your physical performance improved compared to your last workout?

For example, let’s say last workout you were able to perform 8 pull-ups using your body-weight, but were only able to perform 6 pull-ups the following week.  This means that you have not “out done” your previous workout, have not fully recovered, and therefore are likely over-training.  You nave to re-asses your program and make modifications so that you see progress every workout.

How Can I Prevent Over-training?

n order to avoid over-training, you need to take a multi-facited approach.  Determining the correct training volume and intensity, eating the right foods, and getting the right amount of rest and recovery must all be taken in to consideration.  Now let’s take a look at each of those factors in more detail.

Correct Training Volume

Determining the correct training volume can be difficult, especially when you are first starting out.  You have to determine how much weight to lift, how many repetitions and set to perform for every single workout.

You need to use your own judgment in this case, based on your recovery ability and your recovery methods.  Remember that the goal is that you improve every single workout, and if this isn’t happening, you have to decrease the intensity of your workouts.

This is where many people go wrong though.  You begin your workout and realize that you have not fully recovered.  You can either continue to train at a lower intensity than the previous workout, or skip the workout entirely.

As hard as it may be, skipping the workout is the right way to go.  Just turn around and go home!  Your body is telling you that it needs more rest, and you must listen to it!

There is no point in training at a lower intensity, further breaking down the muscle tissue.   By doing this you will increase your risk of injury, and make it harder for your body to fully recovery for your next training session

Proper Nutrition

Your diet plays a huge role in your muscle building program.  It helps regulate hormone levels, provides energy, and provides the raw building blocks that are used to create new tissue.

Here are some dietary recommendations that will limit the chance of over-training:

• Do not skip breakfast.  This is one of the most important meals of the day.  Skipping breakfast is very catabolic, and can promote muscle loss.
• Never let yourself get hungry.  If you’re trying to build muscle mass, you have to constantly feed your body quality foods so that it never has the chance catabolize muscle tissue.
• Unless you are trying to build muscle and lose fat, make sure you have eaten prior to your training session and are not hungry.
• Have the largest meal of the day within an hour after your workout.  Do this every single workout!
• Consider taking proven supplements like creatine, and antioxidants to increase performance and fight free radicals.
• Eat every 2-3 hours to ensure that your body remains in an anabolic state.
• Keep glycogen levels at full capacity to inhibit muscle tissue breakdown.

Rest & Recovery

Rest and recovery is essential when it comes to avoiding over-training.  Make sure that you get at least 7 hours of sleep each night, and that you are on a consistent schedule.  As for recovery time, it’s important that you have days off between weight training workouts.  Try to have one rest day between weight training workouts, and never train the same muscle groups on consecutive days.

As a beginner, it’s often difficult to get into weight training and working out. Most beginners (including me when I was a beginner) don’t want to approach the big guys and ask them questions about workouts and what they’re doing. In today’s article we’re going to look at the top 10 bicep workout and bicep exercise mistakes. The aim of this article is to help people who are new to bicep workout and bicep training techniques. This will ensure that bicep workout and exercise beginners build the most muscle in the time they spend in the gym.

Bicep workout mistake #1 – Bad technique

I go on and on about this on eBicep.com that bicep exercise technique is very important to build big biceps. If you cheat during by swinging the weight or not lifting the full range of motion you are only cheating yourself. For details on how to do each bicep exercise correctly, see Vince Delmonte’s bicep exercises section.

Bicep workout mistake #2 – Too many sets!

There have never been a rule that says more sets = bigger biceps. It’s all about quality or training. You are better off doing 15 sets of quality bicep workout exercises than doing 30 sets of poor form rubbish. You need to concentrate on every rep of every set, watch your bicep muscle as you pull the weight up – focus on it. Just remember, a small amount of quality training will build bigger muscles than a large amount of poor quality training.

Bicep workout mistake #3 – Overtraining

Overtraining so very common, especially in a competitive environment like bodybuilding. As a general rule for all muscle groups (not just biceps): if the muscles you are about to trainare still sore from your last workout, don’t train them. Simple as that. As you’ll see from my next point, resting is more important than training.

Bicep workout mistake #4 - Not enough rest

To someone new to working out, this just sounds plain stupid. Buy as experienced muscle builders know, rest is a very important part of building your muscles. When you workout your bicep muscles you’re actually breaking and tearing them (that’s why they “pump up”). And when you rest and sleep your muscle grow and repair. Not enough rest = not enough muscle growth. rest up!

Bicep workout mistake #5 – High reps / light weights

One of the most commonly asked questions in muscle building is, “how many reps should I do to build the most muscle?”. There’s is no straight answer to this because there’s so many variables. There is 1 common rule though, heavier weights/less reps = bigger and stronger muscles. So to get the most out of your bicep workout, drop the reps down to 6-8 on your big bicep exercises and do a few extra sets.

Bicep workout mistake #6 – Same old routine

After a few months of doing the same workout, your muscles will get accustomed to the workout and stop growing. This is called a plateau, and every muscle builder hit’s it at some stage. You need to mix up your bicep workouts every 2-3 months. Change days, change exercises, workout your biceps with a different muscle group. Mix it up, you’ll see and feel the difference!

Bicep workout mistake #7 – Pre-exhausted biceps

It’s important when planning your bicep workout that you don’t work any other body parts that use the biceps before your bicep workout. For example, a big mistake I see all the time is training the back then the biceps. This is not good for your biceps because all the back exercises use biceps as a secondary muscle group. So don’t train your back before your biceps, or vice versa. Train your back and biceps on separate days.

Bicep workout mistake #8 – Wrong exercise order

If you have read our bicep workout page you’ll see that we always do our biggest bicep exercises at the beginning of the workout. These are the heaviest weight movers and need the most energy. So stick to your big exercises like bicep curl at the start of your bicep workout and follow with the smaller exercises.

Bicep workout mistake #9 – Not enough rest between sets

You need to make sure you have adequate rest between sets, other you wont be able to left heavy weights, and you will not be able to grow as much muscle. For the bigger bicep sets a longer rest is OK, take what you need and don’t rush it. If your workout is taking to long, split it over a few days.

Bicep workout mistake #10 – Poor eating

You know the saying, “eat big to get big”, well it’s true. In particular you need to eat as much protein as possible and complex carbohydrates. You need to eat small meals, more often. For more information see our food to eat to build muscle article.

Peter Simpson has been a personal trainer and muscle builder for more than 9 years. For Bicep Workout and Bicep Exercise guides see Peter’s 100% dedicated bicep workout site eBicep.com

Author: Peter Simpson

Dumbbells are one of the most useful and versatile pieces of exercise equipment you can own. They can be used to effectively train any body part and are ideal for anyone, regardless of skill level, age, training capacity or fitness goals. A good set of dumbbells is just about all you need to achieve your fitness goals in the privacy and comfort of your own home. They offer significant cost savings over a gym membership-plus you don’t have to waste time and gas getting there. And with dumbbells there’s no need to spend thousands of dollars on fancy, hi-tech fitness machines advertised on television or magazines.

In shopping for dumbbells you’ve got to do it right. It’s easy to wind up spending a lot more money on dumbbells than necessary so your homework and don’t get ripped off.

In the past, dumbbells were basically little more than metal bars with a couple of iron weights attached to the sides. Functional yes, but the old-style dumbbells were not particularly well-suited for the average home gym. Not only were they unsightly, but storage was often a problem and they were also prone to rolling around and just generally getting in the way. Today though, there are a wide variety of styles, shapes and weights.

First off, dumbbells today are available with both fixed and variable weights. The variable varieties have a clamp or screw-type fixture on the ends of the bar to hold the weights in place. Variable-style dumbbells typically support up to about 50 pounds, making them ideal for the person with somewhat aggressive fitness goals. For the beginner or persons who are primarily looking to tone their bodies or maybe just lose a few pounds, fixed-weight dumbbells may be the best route to go.

Fixed-weight dumbbells are available in a broad range of styles-and colors too. The weights are usually hex- or octagon shaped to reduce the chances that they’ll roll around. Also, in many of the varieties developed specifically for the home, the weights are covered in rubber or vinyl, which considerably lowers the risk of damaging your floor or furniture when you set them down.

For the person frequently on the go who wants to be able to workout in the hotel room, aqua dumbbells may be the right piece of equipment for you. When empty, these innovative dumbbells weigh just a few ounces, take up minimal space and fit easily into a briefcase or duffel bag. To use them, you just fill them up with water and you’re all set to work out. They range in weight up to a maximum of about 16 pounds.

Before rushing out and buying a set of dumbbells, take time to think about your goals, where you’ll be working out and where you’ll be storing them-especially if you live in a condominium or apartment with limited space.

If general fitness or toning up is your goal then you won’t want a lot of weight-up to about 12 pounds for women and maybe up to 20 pounds for men. You’ll want a few different increments of weight though so you can vary your workouts. For women and older folks two-pound increments are ideal-for men, five-pound increments should work well.

So once you’ve made those decisions you can embark on a quest for the right dumbbells for you. My first rule of thumb is this: Keep it simple. Start small, establish a foundation and upgrade from there if necessary.

You might consider buying your first set of dumbbells used. There are plenty of people out there who bought nice dumbbells only to have them being used as doorstops six months later. Take advantage of their lack of commitment and enjoy the savings.

Depending on the style, quantity and where you buy them, a new set of dumbbells can cost anywhere from $1 per pound up to about $2.50 per pound. Sometimes you can find bargains online, but keep in mind weights can be costly to ship. We’ve seen some competitive prices at an equipment site called TheBenchPress.com. There is a link on the left hand navigation column entitled, “Dumbbells”. It’s worth comparing prices before purchasing.

On the other hand, a used set of dumbbells might run from as little as 25 cents a pound up to maybe 50 cents a pound. You can find really good deals on used dumbbells by scanning classified ads. If there are any stores in your area that sell used fitness equipment you should check them out as well-don’t forget thrift shops and garage sales too.

Now you’re equipped with the basic information you need to go about setting up your own home gym with dumbbells that are right for your needs and goals-and without getting ripped off. Stay tuned for the next lesson were we’ll reveal the best space saving dumbbell set around!

Author: Mike Westerdal