Bodybuilding 101: The Total Body Workout

The trend in bodybuilding over the past many years has been to train one body part at a time, once a week. While this protocol can be very effective, it often can lead to overtraining and it requires a heavy commitment of time. If you find yourself too busy to make it to the gym 5-6 times per week or you feel that your body is overtrained and you need a refreshing change, the total body workout may be just the thing you need.

At first you may wonder how you can ever work your whole body in one workout. After all, most people are so accustomed to performing 4-5 exercises per body part for around 12-20 sets that they cannot imagine properly training a body part with anything less. This mindset must be opened up. In working your whole body in one workout, you will be performing only 1-2 exercises and 4-6 sets per body part. However, the training frequency will be 3 times per week.

The total body workout involves a focus on basic, multi-joint movements. These exercises stimulate the most response from the body in terms of not only the muscle fibres recruited, but also in the release of the necessary hormones to promote muscular growth. Also, working all major muscle groups in one session will have a synergistic effect on your body's response to the training session. In short, your body should respond well to this type of training, especially if it is a drastic change from what you have been currently doing.

The key is to keep the training sessions relatively short (less than one hour) and intense. Work the large muscle groups first (legs, chest, and back) and then the smaller muscle groups (shoulders and arms). By focusing on basic, compound movements you will provide your body with the maximum recruitment of muscle fibres in the shortest amount of time. For example, when you train chest with bench or incline presses, you are also recruiting heavy work from the shoulders (especially the front deltoids) and triceps. This is efficient training. Combined with sufficient intensity, it will create really good results.

With this program, leg training simply cannot be neglected. The simple old-fashioned barbell squat is the best bodybuilding exercise, period. Regular intense squats performed in good form will stimulate muscular growth over your whole body. As a matter of fact, most individuals would benefit from a routine focused on just squats, deadlifts, bench, bentover rows, and chins. These exercises work because they stimulate muscle growth. These are what the old-time greats focused on. So do them.

Here are the exercises r commended for the Total Body Workout:

Quads: Squats, Leg Press, Hack Squats

Chest: Bench press, Incline press, dips (presses may be performed with dumbbells or barbells)

Back: Deadlifts, Chins, Pulldowns, Bentover Rows, T-Bar Rows

For a sample workout, simply choose 1-2 of these basic movements for each body part and perform no greater than 6 sets. For example, a workout could consist of squats for 5x5, bench press for 3x8, incline press for 3x8, chins for 3x10 and bentover rows for 3x8. You get the idea? It's pretty straightforward. By the way, a 5x5 or 3x8 protocols works really well for the total body workout.

You can follow these basic movements with the following isolation exercises:

Hamstrings: Lying or seated ham curls

Calves: Seated or standing calf raises

Shoulders: Shoulder Press (dumbbell or barbell), lateral or front raises

Arms: Dumbell or preacher curls, lying triceps extension, triceps pushdowns

Abs: Crunches

For the routine, simply choose 2-3 of these muscle groups and perform 2-3 sets of your favourite isolation exercise. The next workout, do the other 2-3 muscle groups. For example, if you did shoulders and arms one workout (at the end of your legs, chest, back routine) do hams, calves and abs the next workout.

The total body workout should be performed 3 times per week on alternate days. A Monday-Wednesday-Friday routine works well and it leaves the weekends free for you weekend warriors. The important thing is to remember never to do the same exercise twice in a row. So if you did squats, barbell bench and chins and barbell rows on Monday, change it to leg press, dumbbell incline press, pulldowns and deadlifts on Wednesday. This is an easy routine to follow.

If you are looking to get maximum results with limited time, this routine rocks! If you are looking for a change or something new to stimulate new growth and strength, the total body workout could be just the ticket. Give it a try - you may just love it! Now get to the gym and train with intensity!

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Body Building

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Healthy Snacks for a Health Conscious America

Being active during the hot summer months can make it difficult to stay healthy and hydrated. Maintaining a sufficient level of nutrients such as water, sodium, vitamins, and minerals can mean getting the best out of the short hot summer months rather than b coming ill and missing all the fun. There are healthy convenient snacks that can actually help active people stay healthy during the summer by helping to replenish nutrients important to help the body stay in good health.

There is a small company in Oshkosh, WI, who produce lean meat snack strips, which are shelf stable making them a convenient snack for in the car, on the golf course, or while doing daily chores. The strips are either skinless chicken breast or beef sirloin. Each strip has from 220 to 340 mg of sodium and eight to ten grams of lean protein. While each strip has 15-20 mg (5%-7% of daily value) of cholesterol there is only 1-2 grams of fat (2%-3% of daily value), .5 grams of saturated fat (only in the sirloin strip), and no trans fat. According to the American Heart Association small amounts of cholesterol are important because it helps produce vitamin D, some hormones, and to build many other important substances in the human body. The strips have a very small amount of cholesterol and almost no fat which make each strip healthy for any one and everyone.

Another health benefits that lean meat snacks have is the amount protein that each strip contains. The protein is important for people who are physically active because they need anywhere from 60-75 grams of protein to repair the muscle damage that occurs during physical activity. From Nancy Clarks article The Power of Protein Protein, protein is needed to make red blood cells, produce hormones, boost your immune system, and help keep hair, fingernails, and skin healthy. Each strip has eight to ten grams of lean meat protein which is ideal for not only athletes, but also people who are exercising on a regular basis to sustain a healthy life style or lose weight, and people just trying to eat healthy.

While most people assume sodium is bad causing high blood pressure and other ailments sodium for the active person is very important. Sodium is important to transmit nerve impulses for proper muscle function along with helping maintain a healthy balance of water in the body, which is important for human survival. Salt and the Ultraendurance Athlete by Mark Jerkins explains that sodium is especially important for a person who is active because there is a lot of water and sodium lost while a person sweats and the balance can be disrupted causing nausea, cramps, or other weaknesses. This is often called Hyponatremia which is a low concentration of sodium in the blood. The strips not only have a healthy dose of protein for the average person, but also have a good amount of sodium for active people to maintain healthy levels in their body.

Although these snack strips are a convenient healthy snack alternative they are also a great source of protein and nutrients for athletes, people who are trying to lose weight, and for healthy minded people in general. Most importantly, however, is that they taste great. Each flavor of strip is packed with spices so that each bite has a burst of flavor.

Sarah J. DeVillers Silver Creek Specialty Meats, Inc. Setting A New Standard for Old Fashion Quality. -click here 1-800-729-2849

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