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[Aldo Raine]

12 Tasty Ways To Make Almonds Part Of Your Muscle Building Diet

With a nutrient profile that's hard to beat, if this tasty superfood doesn't have it's place in your diet yet, here's 12 ways to incorporate it.




Almonds are the seed of a species of tree that is native to the Middle East and South Asia. One cup of these delicious nuts contains approximately 24g of muscle building protein, 24g of carbohydrates, 56g of healthy fats and a whopping 12g of fiber.
Not only is this superfood a great choice for fitness buffs because of the stellar macros, but these nuts give you a mountain of health benefits too:

• They are an excellent source of Vitamin E which is important for keeping your immune system strong.
• They are an excellent source of many minerals including, but not limited to;
  • Iron – provides oxygen to your muscles and supports a healthy metabolism
  • Calcium – essential for bone growth.
  • Zinc – helps keep your immune system strong.
  • Magnesium – helps maintain muscle function.
  
  
• Packed with B-Complex Vitamins – which help with cell metabolism. Meaning they help your muscles maintain their structure and grow.
• Are a gluten-free option for people with wheat allergies or celiac disease.

So, how can these little power-packed nuts help you build muscle? With protein being one of the primary components in building muscle, almonds are a great ‘go-to’ source for that. Plus, they are an easy snack to pack on the go!
They are also an excellent source of monounsaturated fats (aka MUFA’s). The MUFA’s found in almonds help you control your appetite. They also help to control both your insulin levels and blood sugar levels; two factors that, if too high, can contribute to the storage of body fat.
Almonds used to be found only as whole nuts, but times have changed and they're now available in a variety of forms and flavors:

• You can buy them as whole nuts, slivered, chopped or ground.
• They are available in raw, blanched, roasted and toasted varieties. A roasted or toasted nut will have a bit more of a nutty taste to it versus a raw or blanched nut.
• They are available plain, lightly salted, salted, cinnamon coated, habanero pepper flavored, chipotle, pumpkin spice and so many more flavors. The flavored varieties are normally found with the other nuts and snacks at your local grocery store.
• If you're a fan of peanut butter, then you should give almond butter a try. Just like peanut butter, you can buy spreadable almond butter at any local grocery store. As with whole almonds, almond butter can be found raw, roasted or flavored from companies like Nuts N More who give their fortified butters a double dose of protein with added whey.

• You can purchase almond milk which is great for making smoothies, oatmeal or having a bowl of protein cereal for breakfast. Just be cautious when buying almond milk because many companies add a lot of unnecessary sugars. You want to look for the unsweetened variety which can be found either on the shelf in the health food section or in larger cartons in the refrigerated section with the other dairy free milk.
• As mentioned above, almonds are available ground. This is also known as almond flour or almond meal. Almond flour used to only be available in specialty stores, but you can now find it in the health food section of almost all local grocery stores. Almond flour/meal is excellent in baking protein packed muffins, breads, pancakes, etc. Almond flour works especially well when baking with whey protein powder, which has a tendency to dry out your baked goods. It is also an excellent choice if you are following gluten free or lower carbohydrate diet.

The good thing is that because there are so many options when adding almonds to your meal plan, you don’t have to rely solely on eating them out of a ziplock bag while on the run! Here are 12 tasty ways that you can add these powerful nuts into your daily muscle building plan:


1. OATMEAL

Create your bowl of morning oatmeal by mixing oats, protein powder, and almond milk. Top oats with crushed almonds such as Blue Diamond Toasted Coconut Almonds for extra flavor and crunch!

2. CRISPY CHICKEN

Toss almond flour with your favorite seasoning. Dip your chicken breast strips in egg white and then roll in your seasoned almond flour. Bake at 375 until desired doneness.


3. CHOCOLATE-COVERED ALMONDS

Toss your almonds in melted dark chocolate to create a chocolate almond treat.


4. MUFFINS

Make a fresh batch of homemade apple spice muffins (or any other flavor) by replacing ¼ cup of regular flour with ¼ cup almond flour. The combinations of flavors for muffins are endless: blueberry, banana nut, pumpkin spice, etc.

5. PANCAKES & WAFFLES

Make flavorful pancakes and waffles using a combination of almond flour, protein powder and eggs.


6. "QUESADILLA"

Layer 1 tortilla with Nuts N More Almond Butter, sliced banana and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Heat in a nonstick skillet until golden and gooey.


7. PARFAIT

Combine layers of greek yogurt, fresh fruit, whole grain cereal and toasted almonds for a power packed snack. You can even add some shaved dark chocolate for a double dose of superfoods.

8. BE LIKE ELVIS - SORT OF

Get funky like the king with your lunch time sandwich: Spread almond butter on whole grain bread, top with sliced banana and cooked bacon. Toast it up until golden and your taste buds are SINGING!


9. APPLE CRUNCH

Dessert couldn’t be more comforting! Chop up 1 apple and sauté in coconut oil over medium heat. Sprinkle with cinnamon and oats. Sauté for additional 1-2 minutes. Remove from pan and top with crush almonds for crunch and a dollop of whipped cream.


10. CHICKEN SALAD

Power up your lunch with a hearty chicken salad. Combine greek yogurt, mayo, chopped celery, shredded chicken breast, garlic powder, slivered almonds and dried cranberries for a salty and sweet lunch time treat.

11. SIDE DISH

Whip up a healthy Asian Slaw as a side dish. Shred cabbage, scallions and cilantro. Create a dressing of oil, vinegar, stevia and soy sauce. Toss your veggies with your dressing and top with toasted almond slivers.


12. COOKIES

Bake up a batch of deliciousness using this recipe for Almond Butter Cookies as a healthy dessert option.

[Aldo Raine]

Your Body Type - Ectomorph, Mesomorph or Endomorph?

Body type influences how you respond to diet and training. Understand your body type in order to plan your muscle building training and diet program.

Image courtesy of Govt. of Western Aust. Dept. of Health

When I first got into the muscle building scene I was overwhelmed by the amount of different training programs, bodybuilding supplements, diets, articles and information there was out there. There were so many conflicting diets and training programs available and I had no idea what I “should” be doing. The result of this was about 6 months in the gym with little gains and almost no motivation to workout anymore.
I was at a complete loss and about to throw in the towel and give up. Then a guy in the gym gave me a magazine and told me to read the article in there about body types. So I did and it opened my eyes up to the reason why I wasn’t making any gains in the gym.
I am a true ectomorph (classic hardgainer) and my bodyweight was 60.2kg (132.5lbs) when I first walked into a gym. I had no idea about body types back then. I assumed (like most beginners do) that the more I worked out the bigger I would get. Thinking that “more was better” I started following a program designed for an elite bodybuilder. This resulted in gains of about 1.7kg in 6 months.
After reading the body type article in that magazine I started to understand more about how my body type worked, my metabolism, and gaining weight. Being an ectomorph I need to focus on calorie intake, long rest periods, and minimum cardio. It was only then I started making some real gains and I’ve never looked back.
So it’s important to be able to identify and understand your body type. Different body types require different training methods and diet plans. So listed below are the 3 male body types: ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorph, along with their characteristics.

Ectomorph

An ectomorph is a typical skinny guy. Ecto’s have a light build with small joints and lean muscle. Usually ectomorph’s have long thin limbs with stringy muscles. Shoulders tend to be thin with little width.

Typical traits of an ectomorph:

• Small “delicate” frame and bone structure
• Classic “hardgainer”
• Flat chest
• Small shoulders
• Thin
• Lean muscle mass
• Finds it hard to gain weight
• Fast metabolism

Ectomorphs find it very hard to gain weight. They have a fast metabolism which burns up calories very quickly. Ecto’s need a huge amount of calories in order to gain weight. Workouts should be short and intense focusing on big muscle groups. Supplements are definitely recommended. Ectomorphs should eat before bed to prevent muscle catabolism during the night. Generally, ectomorphs can lose fat very easily which makes cutting back to lean muscle easier for them.

Mesomorph

A mesomorph has a large bone structure, large muscles and a naturally athletic physique. Mesomorphs are the best body type for bodybuilding. They find it quite easy to gain and lose weight. They are naturally strong which is the perfect platform for building muscle.
Typical traits on a Mesomorph:

• Athletic
• Generally hard body
• Well defined muscles
• Rectangular shaped body
• Strong
• Gains muscle easily
• Gains fat more easily than ectomorphs

The mesomorph body type responds the best to weight training. Gains are usually seen very quickly, especially for beginners. The downside to mesomorphs is they gain fat more easily than ectomorphs. This means they must watch their calorie intake. Usually a combination of weight training and cardio works best for mesomorphs.

Endomorph

The endomorph body type is solid and generally soft. Endomorphs gain fat very easily. Endo’s are usually of a shorter build with thick arms and legs. Muscles are strong, especially the upper legs. Endomorphs find they are naturally strong in leg exercises like the squat.
Typical traits of an Endomorph:

• Soft and round body
• Gains muscle and fat very easily
• Is generally short
• "Stocky" build
• Round physique
• Finds it hard to lose fat
• Slow metabolism
• Muscles not so well defined

When it comes to training endomorphs find it very easy to gain weight. Unfortunately, a large portion of this weight is fat not muscle. To keep fat gain to a minimum, endomorphs must always train cardio as well as weights. Usually supplements may not be needed as long as the person has a high protein intake in their diet.

A Combination of Body Types

These body types aren’t set in stone. In fact, most guys have a combination of two body types. These combinations are either ectomorph/mesomorph or mesomorph/endomorph. It is not uncommon to find a pure mesomorph that gains weight like an endomorph for example.

So which body type are you?

Given the information above you should be able to identify your body type. You may also want to optimize your diet and training to suit your body type.
One final point I want to mention is that no matter what your body type you can build a big, ripped, muscular physique. Even the skinniest of guys can bulk up. Yes, it’s harder but if you’re willing to put in the hard work it can be done. I have about the skinniest natural build possible and at the time of writing this article I have gained about 30kg (66lbs) of lean muscle mass.

[Aldo Raine]

3 Keys to a Big, Injury-Free Bench Press

Here's what you need to know...

• Because of too much machine work and isolation exercises, the ability to co-activate muscles surrounding a joint has been utterly lost.
• Without the ability to tap into these synergies, your performances and orthopedic health will be capped.
• An optimal set-up for shoulder movements includes neuromuscular activation, joint centration, and spiral tension loading.
• Neuromuscular activation can be achieved through dynamic speed work focused on acceleration, such as med-ball chest press throws.
• Joint centration requires proper shoulder packing, which will maximize the length-tension relationships of the surrounding soft tissues.
• Spiral tension loading involves using the smaller motor units of the fingers, hand, and wrist to activate larger contractile units for maximal strength performance.

An Epidemic of Pain and Dysfunction

These days you'll be hard pressed to walk into any type of specialty gym across the country and see people moving iron on the bench press without grimacing from shoulder and/or elbow pain.
There has to be more to this dysfunctional story. What's more, there has to be (and there is) a fix.

You're Hurting Yourself

The lack of quality movement patterns and technical mechanics is to blame for a majority of injuries. If this sounds all too familiar, listen up. The bench press isn't the problem, it's the way you're doing it, or rather, not doing it!

Related:  Do-it-yourself treatment for injuries

What we've forgotten is that even the most seemingly pristine mechanical movements usually lack synergistic "three-dimensional" muscle actions. Without the ability to tap into these synergies, your performances and orthopedic health will be capped by a very low glass ceiling.
The Problem With The Planes We Train

Your muscles are oblique in nature and don't function only in the three cardinal planes of motion that are heavily emphasized in training.

There's a difference between using the properties of 3D muscle tissue mechanics in an external way and using them internally as the best strength athletes in the world have instinctively mastered through years of self-experimentation.
You must also acknowledge that when you train you're not just training your muscular system. Muscles represent only a fraction of the entire training spectrum.

Other soft tissues, along with the neuromuscular system, are also involved in high-level training. This becomes clearly evident as the training intensities and loads increase and setting new PRs gets harder and harder to achieve.
And let's not forget about the role played by the deep fascia that we're just starting to learn about. It can also enhance strength and power performances.

Optimizing Movement

The question remains, how do some lifters stay healthy moving absurd amounts of iron, while others continue to get injured under loads that wouldn't impress the personal training manager at Planet Fitness?
The use of synergistic movement patterns combined with optimizing authentic internal movement capacities is the answer.

The human body was designed to dynamically stabilize mobile joints while under extreme loading in order to potentiate the maximal force and tension necessary to complete a given task.
Unfortunately, through the popularization of machine work and isolation exercises, the ability to co-activate muscles surrounding a joint has been lost.

Set Up For Success

In order to achieve the type of internally driven force potentials our bodies are truly capable of, we must first lay a foundation for tissue synergies and enhance the way we prep our bodies for success.
As any great power athlete will tell you, when the loads imposed on the body become near maximal, the set-up becomes the most pivotal aspect of the lift. Without a proper set-up, you're leaving yourself vulnerable for injury while also leaving potential iron off the bar.

Related:  More on setting up for the bench press

An optimal set-up for shoulder-emphasized movements such as heavy presses requires a proper set-up that includes three things:

• Neuromuscular Activation
• Joint Centration
• Spiral Tension Loading

1. Neuromuscular Activation

Proper activation techniques should place an emphasis on all the active musculature in a given movement.
Though both sides of a joint must be prepped for successful strength and power performances, they're not programmed the same. This lack of differentiation will leave you under or over prepared for your primary strength or power movements.
The shortening agonist muscle group must be able to recruit a maximal amount of motor units under extreme loading. Without pre-fatiguing the tissues involved in the primary movement, all available fibers must be turned on. This can be achieved through dynamic speed work focused on acceleration, such as med-ball chest press throws.
These throws should be programmed with lighter loading, lower rep ranges, and a significant amount of rest between sets. Maximizing ball speed is the goal, and will translate extremely well into your primary pressing movement of the day.
If you train with a partner, the preferred activation pattern is lying supine on the bench. If you're a lone wolf, a good activation can still be generated while in the standing position.
Using isolated movements that increase tension will activate the stabilizers to become highly responsive. Programming sub-maximal loads for mid rep ranges between 8-12 can generate the activity that will yield the best performances in the primary strength movement. The tempo of these movements are the focus, so don't rush your reps.
Less exciting traditional posterior rotator cuff strength movements, such as the Y-T-I complex and rear deltoid flyes, can also be an effective and efficient way to activate the antagonist group for a heavy pressing motion.

2. Joint Centration

The shoulder girdle is one of the most anatomically intimidating regions of the human body. It's comprised of four synergistic joints, all required to function with pristine rhythm, mobility, and stability.
Each of these four joints must play an active roll in either dynamic mobility or stability. This is necessary in order for the other three adjacent joints to optimally function.
If this seems like a lot to account for every time you hit the bench, you're right. It's not likely, nor necessary, to treat each of the four shoulder joints individually. The key is to position your body so that the primary actions of each of these joints can kick in automatically at the most advantageous times, creating a synergistic effect.
Achieving proper shoulder packing will maximize length-tension relationships of the surrounding soft tissues. While the open packed position of the shoulder is used primarily in traditional rehab for taking pressure and tension off muscles, tendons, and joint capsules that have been insulted, the closed, packed position provides the polar opposite effect.
The closed, packed shoulder position occurs naturally when the shoulder is depressed and externally rotated. In this position, muscles, ligaments, fascia and joint capsules increase their tension, thus stabilizing the shoulder joint strongly into the socket. This magic position is a true representation of joint centration.
When loads become maximal, the battle is won or lost before the first rep ever occurs. What the strongest people in the world have mastered over time is how to externally rotate their shoulders while setting up for a rep. The cue, "screw the shoulders down" helps achieve this position.

3. Spiral Tension Loading

Achieving PRs and pushing the limits of your body requires that every single available motor unit throughout the kinetic chain be firing in a synergistic rhythmical sequence.
You may think that activating your finger flexors during a press wouldn't make that much of a difference during a near-maximal bench, but if you're fighting for every pound, every single active fiber counts.
More so, utilizing the smaller motor units of the fingers, hands, and wrists to position and activate larger contractile units up the chain can enhance strength performances.
The rest of the joints in the chain must also achieve a semi-externally rotated position for maximal strength performances. This position is the reason for many old school bench-pressing tips such as "pull the bar apart," and "squeeze the life out of the bar."
However, just squeezing the bar harder won't yield the position or results we're striving to achieve.
In the last decade, more coaches, therapists, and trainees have been tapping into these readily available and easily achievable techniques to enhance movement patterns and strength outputs.
Try using these techniques to achieve proper stabilization and tensional loading and see where it takes you.

[Aldo Raine]

5 Simple Ways to Get Stronger

Here's what you need to know...

• Grip is the weak point for most lifters. To improve it, train with thick bars.
• The suitcase carry is the answer to all things core related. Find a heavy dumbbell or kettlebell. Pick it up and walk away.
• 80 pounds is a good carry-weight for men and 50 works for women. Today, you'll notice your grip strength. Tomorrow, you'll notice your obliques.
• When used for a six-week period, there's nothing that can cure a strength deficit better than isometrics.
• A few months a year, simply try to get stronger. Do fewer reps and more load. Then crank up the reps but don't drop back too far on the load.
• Load is king, but it's a tyrant. After the initial spurt of progress, cycle or periodize your training to keep progress moving forward.

You Need a Bigger Glass

Getting seriously strong takes some time, but there's an upside to strength that I learned from Brett Jones:
"Absolute strength is the glass. Everything else is the liquid inside the glass. The bigger the glass, the more of everything else you can do."
What this means is that the stronger you are, the more athletic qualities you can add to what you can do. In that spirit, here are the "secrets" to strength:

1. Test and Build Your Grip Strength

I wouldn't have mentioned this years ago because when I grew up we used to play on monkey bars and challenge ourselves to pull-up tests. We grew up with strong grips. In fact, I'd never even heard of straps until after I'd been Olympic lifting for a few months.

But that was then. Weak grips seem to be epidemic nowadays. Luckily, the hands are amazing feats of engineering. Your brain uses a lot of its energy and wiring to make the hands work better. So, we can learn to engage our brains more by focusing on our grip.

Take the Grip Test

First, test your grip. Everyone should be able to hang from the pull-up bar for at least thirty seconds. Some of us will discover just from this test how lousy our grip might be and how jacked up our shoulder girdle has become.
But that's a simplified test. The actual test is this:
Hang from the bar for thirty seconds. When the timer rings, do a pull-up. If you can do that, you're not too bad.
But let's push it a little. Without letting go, drop back down and hang for another thirty and do a second pull-up. For the true crazies, let's see who can do 10 of these 30-second hang pull-ups.

Few can. Gripping is the weak point for most trainees. To improve it, train with thick bars. My first thick bar deadlift told me how far I needed to go, despite all my hours on the monkey bars.

There are lots of bonuses from doing deadlifts, curls, and rows with thick bars, including learning how to achieve perfect positions in lifting. But what I came away with was this: The thick bar was a simple trick to build superior strength.
If you don't have a thick bar, use adaptors. Or, go cheap and split a PVC pipe of appropriate width and length and slip it over a standard barbell. A two-inch grip is difficult and the three-inch is brutal.

2. Work on Core Strength

I hate the name "core," but you know what I mean when I say it. Getting strong in the area between your legs and head is more than just doing some crunches for your six pack. Most of the time, you should train core and grip strength together.
The suitcase carry is my stock answer to all things core related. Find a reasonably heavy dumbbell or kettlebell. Just one. Pick it up and walk away. And that's it.
Men should use at least 80 pounds and women can usually use around 50. Today, you'll notice your grip strength. Tomorrow, you'll notice your obliques.

Related:  The Secret of Loaded Carries

Now let's go back to grip strength. The upside of testing it with the pull-up is that you also were testing your core. I have dip rings in my backyard and I get a fabulous workout just playing on the rings. Monkey bars provide the same grip/core workout as does rope climbing and most gymnastics work.
I work with an All-Star catcher and he credits early gymnastics training and racing on BMX bicycles for his success in baseball. Both disciplines train the grip and core without actually training the grip and core. That's the key here: Get the work in on these two areas and enjoy the general improvement throughout your system.
Add some suitcase walks, increase your pull-ups, and you'll develop your grip and core strength.

3. Use Isometrics

I had the opportunity to speak with Dick Smith years ago. Smith was part of the great revolution of lifting in the early 1960's. He was there for the "pink pill" [the steroid Dianabol], but he also was the leader in applying isometric work to strength training, specifically the Olympic lifts.
Isometrics work. Yes, they were overhyped for a long time, but pushing as hard as you can against something that won't move is a way to train your nervous system to light up. Smith emphasized three points in adopting isometrics:

• No overtraining!
• Motivation!
• Flexibility!

In this case, flexibility referred to a quality of the mind. He wanted you tothink when it came to training.
Dick still laments the loss of isometric work in the USA. Most people just didn't get it. Why? Isometrics didn't make you feel tired. So, people would start to add in more work and soon it was a few sets here and a few sets there until they were doing entirely too much.
The problem, according to Dick, was that most people just float through in training their weak points. "With isometrics, you focus there." Sure, that kind of workout doesn't feel like much, but it puts a huge load on recovery ability.
Dick warned people to train hard in the racks, but nobody listened to how simple isometrics could be and we tossed it to the side.

Related:  Isometric Exercises That Work

Isometrics do require some equipment. They also require some honesty about where your weak points are. But, when used for about a six-week period, nothing can cure a strength deficit better.
In my case, my weak point was when the bar was at 34 inches in the front squat. I attacked it with six dedicated weeks of isometrics. I just loaded the bar up with everything I had so I couldn't move it and did one isometric set for 12 seconds (give or take), twice a week for a few weeks.
I never missed a clean and jerk recovery for the rest of my active career.
Isometrics work. Do them.

4. Follow the "Rule of 10"

If I could make everybody start lifting from scratch, I'd insist that we start with fixed weight bars.
Or, like we had in our college weight room, a total lack of small plates. When we wanted to go up in load, we often had only two 25-pound plates we could add. And let me tell you, fifty-pound increases challenge your strength!
When I first lifted, most people had the 110-pound weight set you bought from Sears. We'd work up to 110 for one ugly single press. Over the span of the next few weeks, we'd work purely on our strength as the reps climbed from one to five or so. Then, the reps would climb up from that and visible muscle would appear as we moved into the hypertrophy range.

That taught me a lot about strength and it's reflected in my "Rule of Ten." It refers to doing approximately ten working reps in a strength workout. The classic heavy workouts follow this rule:
5 sets of 2
3 sets of 3
2 sets of 5.

It's hard to go heavy for more than ten reps.
Take a few months a year of simply trying to get stronger: fewer reps and more load. Then, with your newfound strength, crank up the reps but don't drop back too far on the load. That's the ticket to both strength and size.

5. Add Load, But Have a Plan

I believe in adding load. But, keep this in mind: load can be anything. Sure, barbells, dumbbells and kettlebells are the most obvious examples, but chains, bands, and even hand pressure are all load.
The issue most lifters have is that they'll sacrifice anything and everything else (health, fitness, and life) to increase load. The problem is, only beginners can really increase load each workout or each week; the rest of us have to coax it along.

So, strength training lives in a dichotomous world. On one hand, increasing load is the proof, the measurement, and the reward for training intelligently. On the other hand, increasing load leads to missing lifts.
I know this: Every injury I've ever sustained on the lifting platform was from a missed lift.
So, load is king, but it's a tyrant. After the initial spurt of progress, most of us need to cycle or periodize our training somehow to keep progress moving ahead. After a few months of following a percentage program, I find the shift to something like Escalating Density Training to be rejuvenating.

[Aldo Raine]

Demolish Your Genetic Limits

Here's what you need to know...

• Drop sets increase tension on a muscle and metabolic stress. Fatigue a muscle with one heavy set, then immediately do several more reps with lighter weight.
• Emphasize the eccentric (lowering) phase of a lift to increase time under tension. Do heavy negatives at the end of a final set of an exercise.
• If you're isolating a muscle, stretch the opposing muscle for increased power output.
• Be intentional about backing off for a period of time. Deload according to your needs.
• If your goal is to hit a PR, develop an external focus. If your goal is to build muscle, focus internally for a greater mind-muscle connection.

Beginner Gains

When you first start training, progress comes quickly. Almost any routine leads to more strength and hypertrophy.
But over time improvements diminish. Despite this, many lifters continue to train the same way for years without progress.

Continual muscle and strength gains require you to adopt a scientific approach to training. Follow these strategies and get on the fast track to a better body.

1. Do Drop Sets

Mechanical tension (i.e. the force exerted on a muscle) provides the primary stimulus for muscle growth. It's the reason lifting weights increases muscle size while aerobic exercise doesn't.
There simply isn't enough tension on the muscles during cardio to stimulate a hypertrophic adaptation. But there's compelling evidence that factors other than tension are also involved in the growth process. Metabolic stress is one of them.

Metabolic stress involves the buildup of metabolites (such as lactate, hydrogen ions, and phosphate ions) and a reduction in pH levels as a result of intensive anaerobic exercise.

Although the exact mechanisms aren't clear, researchers believe increased fiber recruitment, acute elevations in anabolic hormones, alterations in myokines, and cell swelling all play a role in this process.

Theoretically, routines that generate high levels of mechanical tension in combination with significant metabolic stress are best for maximizing growth.

Metabolic stress is heightened during training that relies on fast glycolysis (the anaerobic breakdown of carbohydrate) as the primary source of energy. The fast glycolytic energy system is predominant in activities that last approximately 30-120 seconds – between half a minute and a minute and a half.

With resistance training, this would be sets performed with moderate to higher reps. There's also a prolonged compression of blood vessels during such training, which further reduces oxygen delivery to working muscles and heightens metabolic stress.

So how can you take advantage of this info? One proven strategy is to use drop sets in your training.
What to do: Perform a heavy set of reps to fatigue (generally in the 3-10 rep range) and then immediately decrease the weight and do several more reps. This will substantially increase metabolic stress and increase anabolism.
How to do it: When you train, take a set to momentary muscular failure, immediately lighten the load by approximately 20 to 25%, and perform as many additional reps as possible with this reduced weight.
For an even greater metabolic effect, perform double drop sets by reducing the load another 20 to 25% and then repping out to fatigue.

A word of caution: While drop sets are a highly effective technique, they can also be extremely taxing to your neuromuscular system. Use them sparingly in the context of a periodized routine.
Don't make every damn exercise a drop set. Try to limit their use to a select few sets in a given microcycle, making sure to stay in tune with your body for any signs of overtraining.

2. Maximize Negatives

Don't just focus on the concentric portion of a lift while ignoring the negative (eccentric) component. Resistance training is not just about lifting weights; lowering them can be equally, if not more, important.
Research shows that negatives have a greater affect on muscle hypertrophy than concentric training, and there's evidence that maximal growth isn't attained unless eccentric muscle actions are performed.

This may be related to eccentrics being primarily responsible for muscle damage. Although muscle damage can be detrimental to short-term performance, the associated inflammation and increased protein turnover have been shown to cause long-term hypertrophic adaptations.

Related:  The Rep Bible

Many believe that structural changes associated with muscle damage influence gene expression, resulting in a strengthening of the muscle that protects it against further injury.
Eccentric training also heightens metabolic stress, with the greatest increases noted when training at higher eccentric intensities. These factors help to explain why negatives promote greater post-exercise anabolic signaling than concentric training, leading to heightened protein synthesis.

What to do: Include some heavy negatives in your routine, preferably at the end of your last set of a given exercise.
How to do it: Load up the bar with an amount equal to approximately 105 to 125% of your concentric maximum and perform as many negative reps as you can.

Given that a muscle isn't fully fatigued during concentric training, this supramaximal stimulus helps to elicit greater motor unit fatigue, thus providing a greater hypertrophic stimulus.
Aim for a 2-3 second tempo, making sure to lower the weight under control. A couple of heavy negative sets added to your usual routine are all that's required to spur growth.

You'll need a spotter to help lift the weight once you lower it since it's a supramaximal lift. As with drop sets, however, this strategy is highly taxing to the neuromuscular system so use the technique sparingly.

3. Stretch the Opposing Muscle

Research shows that too much static stretching can decrease strength and power when performed immediately before training.
Think of shooting a rubber band. If you stretch out the band, it won't travel as far as it would if it were taut. Same thing happens in the muscle – reduce its stiffness and force production declines.
Another theorized mechanism involves decreased neural drive and a subsequent reduction in the number of motor units available for contraction.
But what if we turn things around and focus on stretching the opposing muscle (i.e. the antagonist) rather than the agonist? That means you'd stretch your quads before training your hamstrings. Or stretch your triceps before training your biceps.

By increasing antagonist compliance and reducing neural drive, its force production would be inhibited, thereby decreasing interference during agonist contraction. Hypothetically, this allows the agonist to produce greater force, thereby enhancing performance.

Research shows this actually works in practice. Research shows that measures of vertical jump height and power are significantly greater when testing is preceded by antagonist stretching, compared to a no-stretching trial in a well-designed study of trained lifters.

What to do: Before performing a lift, statically stretch the antagonist muscle for approximately 15 seconds. Perform 3-4 sets of the targeted stretch, taking about 10 seconds between stretching bouts, and then continue immediately to your work set.

Try to minimize time between the final set of stretching and the initiation of your lift. This will ensure that the antagonist remains maximally inhibited throughout the lift, thereby optimizing gains.

4. Deload as Needed

Check out any gym and you'll invariably see lifters taking a balls-to-the-wall approach to lifting. They'll go to failure on every set, usually with a few forced reps. Volume and intensity remains perpetually high.
Problem is, this type of training can limit results.

Yes, training hard and heavy is essential to grow bigger and stronger. It's the basis of the overload principle, which states that you need to challenge your muscles beyond their present capacity for them to adapt.
But if you think repeatedly going all-out all the time with consistently high volume loads is the key to getting jacked, think again.

Studies show that such an approach can impair resting IGF-1 and testosterone production while chronically elevating cortisol levels, leading to overtraining and psychological burnout.
Results slow or regress to the point that you actually lose precious muscle and strength.

Related:  The Truth about Soreness

Crank the RPMs in your car up into the red zone for too long and you'll eventually blow the motor, right? Well, your body is no different. It needs time to regenerate resources. You come back strong and refreshed, and progress continues on an upward trend.

What to do: Structure your routine so that it includes regular "unloading" periods of reduced intensity and volume interspersed throughout a given training period.
Try to keep things regimented. A strategy that works well is to gradually increase intensity and/or volume over the course of a training block (generally a month or so) and then follow with an unloading week.

This is referred to as step-loading, where your effort increases and decreases to produce a wave-like training pattern. Similarly, periodize training to failure so that it's done occasionally rather than on every set.

Key point: Keep in mind that recuperative abilities are individualized. Genetics, nutritional supplementation, the use of anabolics, and other factors play a role in the process. So make sure you're in tune with your body and adjust the frequency of unloading cycles based on individual response.

5. Refocus For Your Goal

Your focus impacts your motor learning.
There are two kinds of attentional focus: internal and external. An internal focus involves placing your attention on a specific body movement, while an external focus involves concentrating on the effects your actions have on your surroundings.

There's research showing that an external focus tends to promote superior results when learning a new skill compared to an internal focus.

This is consistent with the belief that an internal focus causes interference with the automatic control processes that regulate the performance (i.e. overthinking the technique of an exercise). Whereas an external focus of attention allows the neuromuscular system to naturally self-organize movement.

The thinking goes that your neuromuscular system will inherently find the best motor pattern to carry out a task provided that you focus on the desired outcome. The result is improved force production and skill accuracy.
This doesn't mean you should never use an internal focus.

Studies show that the use of a mind-muscle connection where you consciously channel your focus on the target muscle increases EMG activity of that muscle. This indicates that you can improve motor unit recruitment, and thus enhance muscle development, by employing an internal focus of attention.

Related:  Feeling the Muscle vs. Moving the Weight

Bottom line is that both an external and internal focus can have a place in your routine, and their use should be based on your training goal.
What to do: Adopt an external focus when your goal is maximal strength or power. Envision the endpoint of the lift and concentrate on driving the weight up as explosively as possible to reach that endpoint.
Provided you understand proper exercise form, your neuromuscular system will do the rest.

But if you're looking to increase hypertrophy, focus directly on the target muscle and feel it work throughout the duration of the movement. In this way, you'll maximize recruitment of the target musculature while minimizing ancillary muscle involvement.

While some lucky SOB's can pack on muscle with relative ease, most mere mortals have to get a little crafty to keep piling on the plates and the pounds.

Give these five tips serious consideration and kiss your muscle-building plateau goodbye.

References

1. Schoenfeld BJ. The mechanisms of muscle hypertrophy and their application to resistance training. J Strength Cond Res. 2010 Oct;24(10):2857-72.
2. Goto K, Sato K, Takamatsu K. A single set of low intensity resistance exercise immediately following high intensity resistance exercise stimulates growth hormone secretion in men. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2003 Jun;43(2):243-9.
3. Hather BM, Tesch PA, Buchanan P, Dudley GA. Influence of eccentric actions on skeletal muscle adaptations to resistance training. Acta Physiol Scand. 1991 10;143(2):177-85.
4. Roig M, O'Brien K, Kirk G, Murray R, McKinnon P, Shadgan B, et al. The effects of eccentric versus concentric resistance training on muscle strength and mass in healthy adults: A systematic review with meta-analysis. Br J Sports Med. 2009 08;43(8):556-68.
5. Evans WJ, Cannon JG. The metabolic effects of exercise-induced muscle damage. Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 1991;19:99-9125.
6. Wernig A, Irintchev A, Weisshaupt P. Muscle injury, cross-sectional area and fibre type distribution in mouse soleus after intermittent wheel-running. J Physiol. 1990 Sep;428:639-52.
7. Barash IA, Mathew L, Ryan AF, Chen J, Lieber RL. Rapid muscle-specific gene expression changes after a single bout of eccentric contractions in the mouse. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2004 Feb;286(2):C355-64.
8. Moore DR, Phillips SM, Babraj JA, Smith K, Rennie MJ. Myofibrillar and collagen protein synthesis in human skeletal muscle in young men after maximal shortening and lengthening contractions. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2005 06;288(6):1153-9.
9. Nelson AG, Allen JD, Cornwell A, Kokkonen J. Inhibition of maximal voluntary isometric torque production by acute stretching is joint-angle specific. Res Q Exerc Sport. 2001 Mar;72(1):68-70.
10. Behm DG, Button DC, Butt JC. Factors affecting force loss with prolonged stretching. Can J Appl Physiol. 2001 Jun;26(3):261-72.
11. Kokkonen J, Nelson AG, Cornwell A. Acute muscle stretching inhibits maximal strength performance. Res Q Exerc Sport. 1998 Dec;69(4):411-5.
12. Sandberg JB, Wagner DR, Willardson JM, Smith GA. Acute effects of antagonist stretching on jump height, torque, and electromyography of agonist musculature. J Strength Cond Res. 2012 May;26(5):1249-56.
13. Fry AC, Kraemer WJ. Resistance exercise overtraining and overreaching. neuroendocrine responses. Sports Med. 1997 Feb;23(2):106-29.
14. Izquierdo M, Ibanez J, Gonzalez-Badillo JJ, Hakkinen K, Ratamess NA, Kraemer WJ, et al. Differential effects of strength training leading to failure versus not to failure on hormonal responses, strength, and muscle power gains. J Appl Physiol. 2006 May;100(5):1647-56.
15. Wulf G, Hoss M, Prinz W. Instructions for motor learning: Differential effects of internal versus external focus of attention. J Mot Behav. 1998 Jun 1;30(2):169-79.
16. Wulf G, Lauterbach B, Toole T. The learning advantages of an external focus of attention in golf. Res Q Exerc Sport. 1999 Jun;70(2):120-6.
17. Snyder BJ, Leech JR. Voluntary increase in latissimus dorsi muscle activity during the lat pull-down following expert instruction. J Strength Cond Res. 2009 Nov;23(8):2204-9.
18. Lewis CL, Sahrmann SA. Muscle activation and movement patterns during prone hip extension exercise in women. J Athl Train. 2009 May-Jun;44(3):238-48

[Aldo Raine]

The 3 Essential Workout Methods for Muscle

Here's what you need to know...

• There are three mechanisms of hypertrophy: mechanical tension, metabolic stress, and muscle damage. If you neglect any one of them, you're leaving a lot of growth on the table.
• Mechanical tension equates to muscular force. There's a "sweet spot" shy of the 1RM where mechanical tension is at its highest.
• For optimal metabolic stress ("the pump"), maintain constant tension on the muscles by reversing directions just short of lockout or just before bottoming out.
• To incur muscle damage, adjust volume according to your training split. Too much will leave you overly sore and unable to recover in time for the next workout.
• The most versatile lifts are those that can be manipulated to target each of the three mechanisms. The basic big lifts do the trick.
• Use all three of these mechanisms in a single workout, or cycle through them over the course of a week.

The 3 Ways to Grow Muscle

Ask the baddest dudes at your gym for advice on adding muscle and you'll probably get mixed responses.
"Just lift heavy," the powerlifters will tell you.
"Go for the pump," the bodybuilders will say.
"Do something different," the CrossFitters will advise.
There's a good deal of validity to each of these suggestions, but for optimal development you'll need a combination of all three.
In fact, a 2010 review paper by Brad Schoenfeld showed that there are three mechanisms of hypertrophy – mechanical tension, metabolic stress, and muscle damage – which line up neatly with the above maxims.

1. Mechanical Tension: Go Heavy

Mechanical tension means good old-fashioned heavy lifting. You want to generate the largest muscle force possible through a full range of motion.
You might think that the heavier you lift, the more mechanical tension. That's true only to a certain extent. For example, a 2013 study by Pinto, et al. found that muscle activation in an isometric bench press task topped out at 90% of maximal voluntary contraction.
This finding suggests that most lifters have some "sweet spot" below the one-rep max for which mechanical tension on the targeted muscles is at its highest. Adding additional weight won't increase mechanical tension and may actually shift it away from the desired muscles and onto passive structures or other muscles.
So, the lifters in the study would be better off working at 90% of their max and not more, as they'll be able to perform more reps with the same or higher tension, thereby producing more time under maximum tension.

Finding the Sweet Spot

The sweet spot will vary from person to person and even from lift to lift. For an advanced lifter with favorable anthropometry and strict form on a particular lift, the sweet spot might be on the low end of the 3-8 rep range.
For a less experienced lifter whose form erodes as he goes heavy – or even an experienced lifter whose body proportions aren't ideal for a certain lift – the sweet spot may shift up to the 5-12 rep range.
Some lifts, like rows and hip thrusts, are better suited for slightly higher reps regardless of the lifter's limb lengths and technical prowess.
Pilot data has shown that some lifters' glute activation rises almost linearly along with load, whereas some lifters will max out their peak glute activation with as low as 50% of their 1RM.
With these lifters, further increases in load bring about increases in muscle activation in other synergistic muscles, but not the prime movers. However, a recent paper by Vigotsky et al. showed a fairly linear increase in hamstring activation with increasing loads in the good morning exercise, so it all depends on the movement.
How do you know where your unique sweet spot is for a particular movement? Use your intuition, and let technique be your guide. If your form goes to hell or you can't lock a weight out fully, then it's too heavy.

Related:  More on mechanical tension

To maximize mechanical tension, strategic pauses can also be implemented, as in the bottom position of the bench press, right after lift-off in the deadlift, and at the end-range of the hip thrust.
Here are the parameters for mechanical tension:
Sets 3-8
Reps 3-8 or 5-12 (depending on the lifter and the lift)
Tempo 2/0/1/0, 2/0/1/3, or 2/3/1/0
Rest 2-3 minutes
Tempo indicate the amount of time in seconds allotted to the eccentric (negative), transition, concentric (lifting), and second transition phases.

2. Metabolic Stress: Go for Pump and Burn

Metabolic stress is essentially training for the pump or a big burn.
The key is to keep constant tension on the muscles by maintaining a continuous cadence (no rest between reps) and reversing direction just short of lockout or just before bottoming out, depending on the exercise's strength curve.
This way, as blood gets pumped into the muscles by the arteries, the steady muscular contractions will prevent the veins from letting blood escape, resulting in high levels of metabolic stress and cell swelling.
To maintain constant tension on the muscles for exercises with descending or constant strength curves (exercises that get harder or stay the same throughout the concentric phase) like hip thrusts and inverted rows, reverse direction just prior to bottoming out.
For exercises with ascending strength curves (exercises that get easier throughout the concentric phase) such as squats and stiff-legged deadlifts, reverse direction just short of lockout, and add accommodating resistance in the form of bands or chains. For even higher levels of metabolic stress, incorporate strategic pauses in the bottom position of these lifts.
When training for the pump, take sets to momentary muscular failure for moderate to high reps with short rest periods in between.
A pump routine would look like this:
Sets 3-4
Reps 12-20+ (to momentary muscular failure)
Tempo 1/0/1/0 or 2/3/1/0
Rest less than 1 minute

3. Muscle Damage: Focus on the Negative

Muscle damage corresponds roughly with soreness. It's elicited by slow negatives, extended range of motion, and high tension in the stretched position of the muscle. Variety in exercise selection also does the trick.
Too much muscle damage can be cripplingly counterproductive, though, so training volume must be tuned according to your training split and frequency. If you utilize a body part split where you're working a muscle once a week, go to town with up to five sets of an exercise focused on muscle damage. After all, you have a whole week to recover.
In contrast, if your split requires you to work a muscle or movement multiple times per week, you simply can't afford to get that sore. If your muscles haven't healed by the time you go to train them again, your performance will undoubtedly be impaired.
In this case, to induce a lesser but still significant degree of muscle damage, you might perform as few as two sets of a particular exercise in order to be healed in time to train again in a couple of days.
A muscle damage routine would look like this:
Sets 2-5 (depending on training frequency)
Reps 8-12
Tempo 4/0/1/0
Rest 1-2 minutes

Small Tweaks on the Big Lifts

While certain lifts lend themselves better to one mechanism than the others, the most versatile movements are the ones for which each of the three mechanisms of hypertrophy can be selectively targeted with just a subtle tweak in how you do it.
Lo and behold, the basic big lifts – squat, deadlift, hip thrust, bench press, overhead press, pull-up, and row – are well suited for this very purpose.
Here's a breakdown of the modifications needed for each lift in order to evoke the various mechanisms of hypertrophy. Perform the exercise with the sets, reps, tempos, and additional instructions indicated below.
Regardless of the intended mechanism, perform all exercise variations with a direct focus on the targeted muscle. Never use so heavy a weight that you lose the mind-muscle connection.

Exercise	Variation	Sets	Reps	Tempo
Squat
Mechanical Tension	Barbell Front Squat	3-8	3-8	2/0/1/0
Metabolic Stress	Paused Barbell Front Squat Reverse direction just short of lockout	3-4	8-12+	2/3/1/0
Muscle Damage	Deep Barbell Front Squat	2-5	8-12	4/0/1/0
Deadlift
Mechanical Tension	Dead-Stop Barbell Deadlift	3-8	3-8	2/0/1/2
Metabolic Stress	Touch-and-Go Barbell Deadlift Reverse direction just short of lockout	3-4	12-20+	1/0/1/0
Muscle Damage	Dumbbell Stiff-Legged Deadlift	2-5	8-12	4/0/1/0
Hip Thrust
Mechanical Tension	Paused Barbell Hip Thrust	3-5	5-12	2/0/1/3
Metabolic Stress	Band or Barbell Hip Thrust Reverse direction just above the floor	3-4	12-20+	1/0/1/0
Muscle Damage	Barbell Hip Thrust Use a bench for increased ROM	2-5	8-12	4/0/1/0
Bench Press
Mechanical Tension	Paused Barbell Bench Press	3-8	3-8	2/3/1/0
Metabolic Stress	Touch-and-Go Barbell Bench Press Reverse direction just short of lockout	3-4	12-20+	1/0/1/0
Muscle Damage	Dumbbell Bench Press As large a ROM as comfortable	2-5	8-12	4/0/1/0
Overhead Press
Mechanical Tension	Barbell Overhead Press	3-8	3-8	2/0/1/0
Metabolic Stress	Barbell Overhead Press Reverse direction just short of lockout	3-4	12-20+	1/0/1/0
Muscle Damage	Seated Dumbbell Arnold Press	2-5	8-12	4/0/1/0
Pull-Ups
Mechanical Tension	Paused Weighted Pull-Up	3-8	3-8	2/0/1/3
Metabolic Stress	Bodyweight or Band-Assisted Pull-Up Reverse direction prior to bottoming out	3-4	12-20+	1/0/1/0
Muscle Damage	Sternum Pull-Up	2-5	8-12	4/0/1/0
Row
Mechanical Tension	Pendlay Row	3-5	5-12	2/0/1/3
Metabolic Stress	Kroc Row	3-4	12-20+	1/0/1/0
Muscle Damage	Suspension Trainer Inverted Row Externally rotate the handles during the concentric phase	2-5	8-12	4/0/1/0

Related:  More on the Kroc Row and Pendlay Row

Planning Your Workouts

Don't leave growth on the table. You' re probably already doing most of the exercises above. All it takes is a small tweak in execution – be it a longer eccentric phase, the addition of strategic pauses, or an increase in reps – and big gains are yours for the taking.
Because the three mechanisms of hypertrophy feed off one another, it's best to follow a daily undulating or concurrent periodization scheme, as opposed to a linear model.
Undulating Periodization: Cycle through the three mechanisms over the course of a week: one day for mechanical tension, the next for metabolic stress, and the third for muscle damage.
Concurrent Periodization: Emphasize mechanical tension at the beginning of the workout or for the first few sets of an exercise. Then transition to metabolic stress and muscle damage later in the session or on the last couple of back-off sets of each movement.

[Aldo Raine]

Schouderklachten checklist.

Ga het weekend aan de nieuwe sectie beginnen

[rain]

Ik kan niet wachten.

Wordt het dan met linkjes?
Dat wordt wel overzichtelijker dan de grote stukken tekst.

[Aldo Raine]

Ik kan niet wachten.

Wordt het dan met linkjes?
Dat wordt wel overzichtelijker dan de grote stukken tekst.

Misschien wel makkelijker ja.

[rain]

Bv een sectie voeding, trainingsvormen(anabolen ) etc
Eigenlijk hetzelfde principe als de beginpagina van Bodynet,maar dan met linkjes naar interessante artikelen en/of onderzoeken zoals jij nu al plaatst.
Al zou ik niet iedereen alles laten dumpen daar.
Dat ontaardt al snel in zinloze discussies.

[diasog]

Bv een sectie voeding, trainingsvormen(anabolen ) etc
Eigenlijk hetzelfde principe als de beginpagina van Bodynet,maar dan met linkjes naar interessante artikelen en/of onderzoeken zoals jij nu al plaatst.
Al zou ik niet iedereen alles laten dumpen daar.
Dat ontaardt al snel in zinloze discussies.

Gewoon een gesloten topic van maken en een ander topic om te discussiëren en linkjes voor te stellen. Als de mods dat dan waardig vinden voor dat gesloten topic zetten ze dat erin.
Misschien zo iets?

[Aldo Raine]

Bv een sectie voeding, trainingsvormen(anabolen ) etc
Eigenlijk hetzelfde principe als de beginpagina van Bodynet,maar dan met linkjes naar interessante artikelen en/of onderzoeken zoals jij nu al plaatst.
Al zou ik niet iedereen alles laten dumpen daar.
Dat ontaardt al snel in zinloze discussies.

Ach de zinloze discussies worden gehouden door mensen die alleen maar onderbuikgevoelens neergooien in je standaard creatine, whey, BCAA's topics. Dus ik denk niet dat we daar ons zorgen om hoeven te maken.

zal een gewoon sub forum worden per onderwerp een apart topic voorlopig gewoon open. Blijft een discussie forum

[Aldo Raine]

zal een gewoon sub forum worden per onderwerp een apart topic voorlopig gewoon open. Blijft een discussie forum

Ik zal is kijken of ik de huidige informatie kan bundelen per onderwerp. Dan kunnen de informatie/trainingsschema databasen verwijderd worden. Ik denk dat ik bij training dan een Big Three, Compound en isolatie kopje maak. En een apart trainingsschema database weer aanmaak. Zal ik deze week of volgende week even regelen.