Bodybuilding Tips and Tricks

The important thing to know about Arginine is that it is converted into nitric oxide (NO) in the body. Why do we care about NO as a bodybuilder? Well, because NO is involved in, among other things, the process of vasodilation, which is the process that increases blood flow to muscles. Supplementing with L-Arginine can provide you with some terrific pumps in the gym, as a large amount of blood is forced into the muscles, allowing for better delivery of nutrients and oxygen. Since I’ve started supplementing with Arginine, I feel like my muscles are about to pop they are so full and pumped during my workout. It’s great! As the icing on the cake, Arginine can also help to boost growth hormones as well.

Dosage: Take 3-5 grams in the morning, before workouts and at bedtime. Arginine works best when taken on an empty stomach so try to take it an hour before a meal or a pre-workout protein shake.

The brand I’m currently using:
NOW L-Arginine, 120 Tablets

Glutamine is one of the most plentiful amino acids in the body and great addition to your supplement “tool box”. Supplementing with L-Glutamine will:

- Aid in muscle recovery and growth
- Buffer fatigue-inducing chemicals that occur during exercise so you can workout harder and longer
- Promote normal digestion and immune function
- Insure that your muscles are not broken for fuel (catabolysis) in order to access the stored glutamine

Here’s the brand Im currently using:
NOW L-Glutamine Caps, 240 Capsules

Dose: Start out with 2-3 grams a day. Eventually, you want to work up to work up to 5 grams, taken in the morning, before and after you workout, and at bedtime.

The two best times to perform cardio are:

- First thing in the morning before you’ve eaten anything
OR
- Immediately following your weight workout

In both cases, you are more likely to burn fat because your glycogen energy stores are depleted, in one case by a night of sleep (and lack of food) and in the other by your weight training routine. If you’re concerned about not having enough energy or about possibly burning muscle when performing cardio at these times, supplement with 20-25 grams of whey protein, 3-5 grams of L-Glutamine, and 3-5 grams of L-Carnitine beforehand.

Simply put, L-Carnitine promotes fat burning. L-Carnitine encourages the body to burn stored fat for energy rather than carbohydrates. It does this by forcing fat into the muscular cells. Carnitine is the only nutrient that can transport fat to the part of the cell that will burn it, the mitochondria. If you can’t get fat into the mitochondria, you can’t burn it. So without carnitine, no fat burning can occur. Optimal carnitine levels, on the other hand, allow the body to burn fat at an optimal rate.

In addition to it’s help with fat burning, benefits of supplementing L-Carnitine include:

- More energy to exercise and increases endurance and performance
- Increased energy levels
- Decreased cholesterol and triglycerides
- Reduced food cravings
- Better heart and liver health
- Promotion of healthy circulation

Dosage: In order to maximize the fat burning capabilities of L-Carnitine, take 3-5 grams before and after your workouts. Here’s the brand I’m currently using:
NOW L-Carnitine, 1000mg/100 Tablets

Interval training refers to varying the intensity of your workload during cardio sessions. This can be done by upping the speed or the level on the machine at regular intervals throughout the workout. For instance, on a treadmill, you might try a brisk walk or jog for a minute followed by sprinting for a minute and then go back to the jog, etc. You can also apply this technique to a stair stepper, an elliptical, or a cross trainer. Proceed at a moderate pace for a prescribed period of time (typically 1-2 minutes), then kick things up to a fast and furious pace for another prescribed period (typically around 60 seconds), then return to moderate pace. Rinse and repeat. Research shows that not only does training in this manner burn more calories during the actual cardio session, it also increases your calorie-burning during the hours following your training.

You’ve probably already heard of Creatine; it’s one of the most highly touted bodybuilding and athletic supplements to come around in the past decade. Studies have shown that it can significantly increase muscle size and strength. Basically, what it does is provide you with quick energy that you need for powerful muscle contractions and it also allows your muscles to hold more water…which makes them stronger and fuller…which ultimately stimulates additional muscle growth. The specific brand I use is:
IDS Muscle Volumizer, 30 Servings, Fruit Punch
(of course, you can choose whichever flavor ya like!)

I particularly recommend this brand because it’s formulated in such a way as to eliminate the gastric distress (cramping, etc.) that some people experience when taking creatine. As far as dosing, you should take 3-5 grams of creatine before and immediately after your workouts.

Most gyms have a T-bar machine you can use to perform this exercise. If yours does not, or if you’re working out at home, load up one end of a barbell with weight and brace the other end so it’s stable (placing another weight plate on top of it or bracing it in the corner usually works for me). Place a close grip handle around the barbell and perform the exercise this way (the T-bar machine is much better, but you’ve got to work with what you’ve got). I will be describing the wide-grip T-bar machine version.

Performance: Stand on the T-bar apparatus with your feet roughly shoulder-width apart and your knees slightly bent. Take a wide, overhand grip on the handles. Be sure to keep your chest up and back arched throughout the movement. Slowly pull the weight upward to your chest, feeling the contraction in your back. Squeeze your shoulderblades together at the top of the movement for an intense contraction. Slowly reverse the motion and lower to a full stretch at the bottom. Repeat for reps.

Muscle Emphasis: latissimus dorsi, erector spinae, biceps, brachialis, forearm flexors, secondary stress is on the posterior deltoids and trapezius

The pre-exhaust technique involves working a muscle group using an isolation move before before moving on to a heavier compound joint exercise. This goes against a basic rule of beginning bodybuilding which tells us that a good rule of thumb is to perform heavy multi-joint exercises first, then move on to the lighter isolation moves. There is a method to the madness though. The pre-exhaust technique allows us to fatigue the targeted muscle group so that when we perform the heavier compound joint movement, the targeted muscle will be the first to fail as opposed to the secondary accessory that are used in the exercise.

Let’s look, for example, at using the pre-exhaust principle for chest. To isolate the chest muscle, we’ll start off with a move that eliminates the accessory muscles often used in chest moves like the triceps and shoulders. Pectoral flyes are a good choice (I like to do these on the pec-deck machine for pre-exhaust work, but dumbbells work fine too). Once you’ve finished your flye sets, move on to a heavy compound lift like incline or flat bench barbell presses. Because you’ve already pre-fatigued your chest with the flyes, your chest should give out before your triceps and shoulders, thus ensuring a complete workout of the pectoral region. Often, in chest and back work, you may find some of the accessory muscles involved in the movement (triceps and biceps respectively) giving out before the larger muscle you’re trying to target does. The pre-exhaust technique is a way around this problem and a great way of busting through plateaus to boot. Give it a try!

Here are some other examples of pre-exhaust movements for various other bodyparts:

Back: Pre-exhaust with Straight-arm Pulldowns or Machine Pullovers, then move to Lat Pulldowns or Barbell Rows

Legs: Pre-exhaust with Leg Extensions or Leg Curls, then move to Squats or Leg Presses

Biceps: Pre-exhaust with Concentratrion Curls, then move to Barbell Curls

Triceps: Pre-exhaust with Dumbbell Kickbacks, then move to Skull Crushers

Shoulders: Pre-exhaust with Lateral Raises or Front Raises, then move to Shoulder Presses

Note: I recommend beginners avoid using pre-exhaust in their routines as it could possibly lead to overtraining. Intermediate lifters can use the technique, but should be careful of how frequently they employ it in their routines. Using it every workout can lead to overtraining.

When I first started chest training, one of the things that eluded me was the defined line of muscle on the outer pecs that runs from the bottom of your sternum up to the armpit. Decline flyes, when performed either with dumbbells or using a cable apparatus, are the best exercise for bringing this part of your pectorals up to speed. It takes a bit of time to get the technique down, but once you do, the results are well worth it. Check it out.

Performance: Set a decline bench to a 30-45 degree angle. Choose a relatively light weight to get used to the movement, eventually you’ll want to work up to a weight that allows you to perform 2-3 sets of 12-15 reps. Grasp the dumbbells and lay back on the decline bench (you may find it easier to have a spotter hand you the dumbbells, but you can also place them on your thighs and roll down if a spotter is not available). Start out with your arms extended directly above you and the dumbbells in a neutral grip, hands about shoulder-width apart and elbows bent very slightly. Rotate your thumbs outward about 90 degrees so the heels of your hands angle toward each other. At this point, you should focus on feeling the squeeze in the outer portion of your pecs. To begin a rep, lower the weights slowly toward the floor, leading with your elbows. Concentrate on feeling a stretch in your chest. At the bottom of the movement, pause for a moment, then contract your outer pecs to drive the weights back up. Stop when your hands reach the starting position (the heels of your hands should still be angled toward each other, elbows still slightly bent) and squeeze your pecs hard, then go directly into the next rep.

Emphasis: outer portion of the pectorals

The leg press is an excellent mass builder for legs that is somewhat similar to the squat. One difference is that the leg press totally isolates the lower body while the squat also requires you to stabilize your torso throughout the squatting movement.

Performance: Start the exercise with your feet shoulder-width apart in the center of the footplate. Unrack the weight and slowly lower it, bringing your knees toward your chest. Stop just before your hips curl off the pad. Your lower back should be pressed firmly against the seat’s backpad throughout the entire movement. Pause a moment, then press through your heels to bring the weight back to the starting position. Repeat for reps.

Muscle Emphasis: quadriceps and glutes