Eat Train Sleep

The squat is one of the best muscle building exercises out there.  However, its also one of the most difficult to execute safely and effectively.

I recently read a good post by Dante of DC Training fame, who presented a good analogy for executing a squat.  He described the execution as a similar movement to lifting up a swiss ball by squatting down (rather than bending over).  The legs would be shoulder width apart and feet facing out and you would drop your ass down between your feet, with your knees travelling out the way (and around the swiss ball, rather than your knees travelling forward into the ball).  This way, a lot of stress is taken off the knees and the back does not need to bend over as much.  It also allows you to go deeper.

The following youtube video is the best example Ive seen of executing a squat, with some heavy poundages:

The Perfect Squat

Having worked hard for 6 months at the start of 2008 to achieve a lean physique, I was pleased with the results, hitting 5% body fat back in July. I decided to return to a mass building routine to try and increase my size and strength.

However, 3 months into the routine I realised I wasn’t making much progress above what I had achieved previously. My strength and muscle wasn’t really increasing much, but my body fat was. Becoming a bit disillusioned with my training, I decided I had to take a completely new approach – at least to renew my interest if nothing else.

…read more

A question many people ask is “How often should you train abs?“. And this question gets a wide range of replies. Many people suggest that the abs benefit from being trained almost every day, whereas others don’t differentiate it from any other muscle group and suggest …read more

When I started out on my long and arduous body building journey, I built a training routine around exercises with a specified weight, set and rep scheme. I stuck to this religiously, simply executing the number of reps I had planned irrespective of whether I had more in me to push out a few extra. And, initially, this worked well for me. …read more

I was under a barbell some time last week, forcing out some shoulder presses and I suddenly realised that Id gone for one rep too many. With nobody in sight to help with a spot I had to use a little body English to force the bar up onto the rack. …read more

Until a while ago, I never used a training log book. I never thought that there was a need. I’ve been training for so long that I have quite a good memory when it comes to keeping track of weights and reps from workout to workout. …read more

“I don’t train abs, I’m bulking up. I’ll train them when I’m on a diet.”

I hear this statement in the gym often. It’s said by people who believe that when they are bulking, they will inevitably be carrying a bit of fat, so there is no point in building up the abs as they won’t be visible. They may as well only concentrate on them when they get lean enough to actually be able to see them.

…read more

Welcome to my blog….

Over the coming posts I hope to give you an insight into the monotonous world of a casually obsessed gym goer. I will be discussing my experiences, opinions and observations on a range of topics, from training routines and exercise techniques to diet planning, supplementation and lifestyle.

But first of all, as this is my first post, a good place to start would be a bit of background on me….

…read more

On my quest for a lean physique, I’ve tried many different machines for my cardio for weight loss workouts. - From rowers, to cross trainers, from exercise bikes to treadmills. And I’ve found that with any of these machines that I’ve used, the result has been exactly the same.

Let’s take a typical session on the treadmill for example …read more

In Measured Progress Part 1 – Body Fat, The Missing Measurement, I discussed the various measurements that should be used to track progress. This post I will discuss how to take one of the most important of them measurements – body fat.

Body fat is probably the most essential measurement that a body builder can use to chart their progress. Yet, having said this, it is probably the most underused measurement – how many people in the gym know their real body fat percentage compared to either their body weight, max bench press or bicep circumference. Not many, right?

This may come down to many reasons …read more