GETTINGPUMPED!

General Guidelines For Training
By Bryan S. Kimble

It seems that there is a lot of confusion among lifters about HIT, or High Intensity Training, style workouts.  There are many variations among HIT advocates, but there is one overriding commonality. They all espouse brief, hard work done infrequently while using good form. 
HIT can be summed up in the following general guidelines:

1. Train with a high level of intensity - give 100% each set to reach momentary muscular failure!
2. Follow the “double progression” technique in regards to repetitions and weight.
3. Perform only 1 to 3 sets of each exercise.
4. Reach concentric (positive) muscular failure within a prescribed number of repetitions.
5. Work only to concentric (positive) muscular failure in each set.
6. Perform each repetition with proper form to avoid injury.
7. Use a full range of motion to promote safety and development.
8. Train for no more than one hour per workout.
9. Move quickly [1-3 minutes] between sets.
10. Exercise the major muscle groups (i.e. your hips, legs and upper
torso) first in a workout.
11. Do not work your body on successive days - you need 1-2 days rest between workouts.
12. Get ample rest after each training session - your muscles get stronger while you recover from your workout, not in the gym.
13. Take periodic layoffs to help avoid overtraining.
14. As you get stronger decrease the frequency of workouts and/or amount of sets per workout.
15. Use high intensity and advanced techniques [such as follows] sparingly and infrequently:
• Breakdowns
• Super-slow reps
• Pre-exhaustion
• Negatives
• 1 1/4 reps
16. Perform a proper warm-up and cool down for each workout.
17. Keep Accurate Training Records.
18. Get a good training partner.
19. Do not try to “mimic” a sports skill in the weight room.
20. Avoid orthopaedically unsound movements to prevent injuries.

Don’t Quit!

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill, When the funds are low and the debts are high, And you want to smile, but you have to sigh, When care is pressing you down a bit, Rest, if you must - but don’t you quit

Life is queer with its twists and turns, As everyone of us sometimes learns, And many a failure turns about When he might’ve won had he stuck it out; Don’t give up, though the pace seems slow - You might succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor’s cup.
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down, How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out -
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt - And you never can tell how close you are, It may be near when it seems afar; So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit - It’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.

Author Unknown

Food Separation
by Don Lemmon

You have to learn to combine/mix/separate your foods correctly meal per meal to get anywhere with yourself. The stomach has no means by which to separate poorly combined foods. The digestive processes of protein, carbohydrate and fat food groups is so different that digestion cannot occur efficiently if the wrong food groups are in the stomach at the same time. For instance, the enzymes that act upon carbohydrates are not the ones that act upon proteins and fats. It isn’t a bucket of acid like you think it is down there. The body wasn’t designed to release all the different fluids needed to breakdown all the different types of foods at once. Come to respect digestive enzymes and their limitations. Once you do, as I have witnessed countless times before, you will achieve that dream body in a fraction of the time and see not only food allergies almost completely disappear but health become restored. Why? Because you’re finally allowing yourself to receive nourishment from properly digested meals and foods.

Improperly mixed foods sit in your digestive tract and spoil.
They go undigested. You receive little or none of the nutrients you are needing and expecting to get that are in those foods this way. Not only is that a waste but the spoiling process creates toxins and other poisons that can make you sick. That is why you should try not to let more than 2 1/2 hours go between feedings all day, every day. (Assuming it takes 1/2 hour to finish each meal, and scheduling meals 3 hours apart.) In case something doesn’t get efficiently digested, then that last meal can be pushed through your digestive tract by another incoming meal. Think of the food in your stomach as a clog in a drain. Something must be put on top of that food to shove it through by applying enough pressure behind it that moves it down and out your drainage (digestive) system.

You need to be able to receive your nourishment and that is unfortunately only possible in bits and pieces that you can handle, not from handfuls of pills or buffet style meals, but from frequent, properly mixed meals. Properly combine your foods if for only this one last reason (not just to remain healthy, but) to live longer and you will watch all of your needs be met at the same time. Once you determined how to fit all six feedings a day into your schedule (or at least five), remember to also alternate between two or three carbohydrate and three protein/fat meals. Two of your meals are actually snacks, not full meals. Try cottage cheese, or peanut butter (no sugar added) on celery as a snack or fruit and yogurt. If you can’t do three snacks and have time for only five feedings, plan either breakfast and lunch OR both snacks being the carb meals. You should never have two carbohydrate feedings in a row. That sets off a trigger response for your body to burn muscle tissue and store fat, where as the opposite, two fat/protein meals in a row, is optimal and gets you burning fat instead but there has to be twice the calories in fat there are from protein.

Sounds good, but it’s confusing because you haven’t heard this before? Beats me why not. But what I have taught you thus far should have explained to most of you why what you do may work and why what some of you are doing cannot. Then again, I know some are still panicking because it looks as though I suggest one of those higher fat diets or something completely off the wall like that.

If you have been mixing proteins, fats and carbohydrates on a diet, all you have to do to get started is to place the carbs you eat in meals separate from the proteins and fats. It’s pretty darn simple.

Power of Supersetting
By Zach Bashore

Training the same way everyday can become boring and may even lead to burnout. With all of the available training methods, it is hard to choose which one works best. Try all of them and determine which works best for your body. I am going to tell you about one training method used by bodybuilders to develop a great body. That style is called supersetting.

Supersetting is doing two different exercises back to back without stopping for rest. There are numerous benefits to supersetting. It shocks your body in doing something different.
Doing the same same exercises every week can be boring and should be altered to suit the trainee’s needs. Supersetting is an easy way to try something different. If you`re short on time, it is one of the quickest ways of getting in a workout.

Supersetting is a great way to add muscle mass to your body. It will also be benefiting from an aerobic workout since switching from different exercises will keep your body guessing. This could even lead to fat loss as your body is metabolising more calories.

Supersetting every training can lead to boredom just as easily as any wokrout program available. The key is not allowing your body to adapt. So change your workout around. No two gym sessions should ever be the same.

You need to be extra careful while doing supersets as the rotation of exercises, in a fatigued state, is dangerous. Use common sense, don’t try to lift more than what you can handle and you should be on your way to achieving a great body.

Aspartame Information
By Zach Bashore

Aspartame can be found in many diet sodas and sugar free candies.
The makers of these products claim that they are healthier because they contain fewer calories and less sugar. But is aspartame actually healthier? This article is going to explain what aspartame is, known side effects associated with consuming, and how these side effects occur.

Aspartame is the methyl ester of amino acids, aspartic acid and phenylalanine. Aspartame is mostly used to give people a “sweet taste” that is craved when on a diet. But with all the known side effects associated with consuming, it makes you wonder if it’s even worth using.

The main problem associated with consuming aspartame is the problems it can cause you mentally. The following list sums up the known side effects that consumption of aspartame can bring:

* seizures and convulsions
* brain cancer
* dizziness
* phobias
* tremors
* severe headaches
* personality changes
* panic attacks
* memory loss
* irritability
* confusion
* insomnia
* depression
* chronic fatigue

Aspartame can even lead to physical problems such as:

* birth defects
* burning urination & other urination problems
* parkinson’s disease
* arthritis
* bloating
* slurring of speech
* infection susceptibility
* rapid heart beat
* joint pain
* asthma
* diarrhea
* fat gain
* high blood pressure
* chest pains

The above side effects happen because methanol is released in the small intestine when the methyl group of aspartame encounters the enzyme chymotrypsin. The methanol is then turned to formaldehyde, which is then converted to formic acid. To give you an example of how dangerous this is,  think of formic acid as an ant sting poison, which it is primarily used for. It is also used to strip epoxy and urethane coatings, just what your body doesn’t need!
When aspartame is consumed, the ingredients flow straight to your brain, leaving you with all the above symptoms.

Aspartame’s dangers don’t effect everyone, but for the vast majority of us, we should stay away from it.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN !!!!!

Breathing As A Life Style
By Arthur ten Berge

I have given breathing clinics since more than 15 years ago now, as an integral part of “internal” and “external” martial art work outs.

Whatever our diet & excercise plans the basis for fitness & health through energy is good breathing.

Make goodbreathing into a life style. Whatever you are doing, get aware once in a while how shallow and irregularly you have been breathing for the past period of time.

Then start good breathing.

Straighten your back, then exhale consciously. Try to flatten your belly and expell as much air as possible. You’re then actually using your diaphragm again!

Inhale, and get conscious of your belly getting out. Make it into as big a balloon as possible. Actually you’re again using the diaphragm to do this ballooning.

Repeat for at least 3 minutes. During the days and weeks, extend that period of conscious good breathing.

When done daily several times, you will suddenly experience that you have been doing this good breathing unconsciously for some time already. Keep doing it consciously now, for a long time.

Somewhere it has grown into a inconscious habit, your life style.

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Quadriceps Development
by Zach Bashore

Let`s face it, a body with chicken legs looks awful and is the cornerstone of all bodybuilding jokes. There is nothing worse than going to the gym and seeing a bodybuilder with a huge up body and legs that look as if they`ve never been trained before. Prior knowledge dramatically influences a son`s decision to train legs and if they don`t know how to proly train them, then what is the use of doing it? This article is intended for readers who are interested in improving their knowledge of the quadriceps muscle and learn pro exercises
to make them bigger and more toned.

The quadriceps muscle consists of many different sections. The psaos major and minor allows for flexion and lateral rotation. The iliacus also allows flexion and lateral rotation, while the rectus femoris allows for flexion and extension. When your hip is flexed, the vastus medialis, intermedius, and lateralis all allow for extension. The adductor magnus helps the quad rotate laterally and allows for adduction. Finally, the adductor brevis and lognus both allow for adduction, medial rotation, and flexion. These sections may be hard to understand but it`s important information if you`re looking to build great quads. [Read more →]

Overtraining: Your #1 Enemy
By Bryan Kimble

Overtraining is the trainee’s number one “enemy” next to training injuries. Overtraining results from an imbalance between the amount of stress applied to your body and your ability to adapt to it. Overtraining results in losses in muscular size and strength as well as actually increases the probability of illness/injuries.

Here is a list of some of the symptoms of overtraining:
· Decreased muscle size and strength
· Longer-than-average recovery time after a workout
· Elevated waking pulse rate
· Elevated morning blood pressure
· Increased joint and muscle aches
· Headaches
· Hand tremors
· Tiredness
· Listlessness
· Insomnia
· Loss or decrease in appetite
· Injury
· Illness

We live in a world where most people accept the axiom that is a little is good, a lot is better. That is not necessarily true. Too much exercise will reduce the body’s resources [e.g. protein stores in our immune and skeletal systems] and allow the above mentioned to start to take place. You can actually train yourself to get weaker! There have been many research studies done over the past fifty years that show that athletes can
actually overtrain themselves into illness! Thus the logical conclusion would be that high intensity strength training should be limited to one hour or less per training session to restrict the amount of protein destruction. There is another and far more important reason to limit your time spent training - your time for more essential aspects of life, such as your church, family, friends, work, etc..

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Pump It UP

“The Pump: A commonly used bodybuilding term. ‘The pump’ occurs when your muscles swell up beyond their normal size by a considerable amount. Looking at yourself in the mirror, you will look bigger, and likely show appear more vascular and defined as well as being more confident in yourself. A good pump can be felt and noticed for a long time after workout if done properly. Oxygen and nutrients will continually to be brought into the area being exercised during intense weight training activity. Blood is forced into the area being exercised but not drawn out. This extra blood stays in there for some period, causing it to swell and appear noticeably bigger.”

This routine is a serious program that will increase your strength by leaps and bounds. And it will also give you size gains like you have never seen, the pumps you will get will make you feel like your muscles are going to burst. [Read more →]