Bodybuilding Tips and Tricks

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.

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.

One of the most important elements of a bodybuilding training regimen is variety. There are many ways to keep things fresh and prevent your gains from hitting a plateau (I’ll be adding more articles on these in the future). Today, let’s look at altering our workout routines over the period of roughly 4-6 months. Considering the following plans:

Cycle 1
Whole Body
Cardio
Whole Body
Cardio
Whole Body
Cardio
Rest

Cycle 2
Chest, Triceps, Shoulders
Cardio
Back, Biceps, Calves
Cardio
Hams, Glutes, Abs
Cardio
Rest

Cycle 3
Chest, Triceps
Back, Biceps
Cardio
Legs, Abs
Shoulders, Traps
Cardio
Rest

Cycle 4
Chest
Back/Cardio
Triceps/Cardio
Biceps/Cardio
Legs/Abs
Shoulders, Traps
Rest

Stick with each of these cycles for 4-6 weeks or until you feel that your gains have plateaued, then move on to the next cycle. As you can see, in each cycle the amount of bodyparts worked (and how often they’re worked per week) changes from program to program. So, we start with Cycle 1 working the whole body a few times a week and move onto Cycle 4 with only one bodypart being worked per day, once a week. In order to keep things logistically practical, you should alter the number of exercises you are performing per bodypart depending on which cycle you are following. Thus, when I’m doing a whole body routine, I will typically only do 1 exercise per bodypart while Cycle 4’s routine will find me doing 4 or even 5 sets per bodypart. These are of course just sample routines to illustrate the principle; you can make up your own combinations and decide where and when you’d like to fit in your cardio as you see fit.

“Running the Rack” is an advanced technique which will totally fry your targeted muscle group. To “run the rack”, you’ll perform multiple sets back to back with no rest in between. For each set, you’ll go to failure, then decrease the weight and immediately do another set to failure. You’ll repeat this process until you’ve completed your prescribed number of sets. As an example, someone doing alternating dumbbell curls might start with 50lbs (in each hand) and work to failure, go immediately to 40lbs. to failure, and then drop to 30lbs. and finally 20lbs. to finish up. You just need to determine how many sets you want to complete beforehand so you know what weight to start with and how much to decrease it by each set. This is an excellent technique to employ if you want to really “feel the burn” but, like most advanced techniques, running the rack should only be attempted by experienced lifters and should not be performed every workout (this will help you avoid overtraining).

Many people (myself included) find working out to be an awesome, stress-relieving experience. Not only does exercising get those euphoria-inducing endorphins flowing, it can also clear and focus your mind. Problems that seemed huge and unweildy before you entered the gym may seem insignificant and easily solved post-workout. Even if the problem’s still a doozy once you’re through working up a sweat, at least you were able to take your mind off of it for a short time.

Despite these stress-relieving effects, some people find the gym to be downright stress-inducing. Going into a gym, especially as a beginner, can be very intimidating. Maybe you’re not totally happy with the way you look or you feel out of place. Maybe you’re unsure of what you should be doing or how to use the equipment and you’re afraid you’re going to make a fool of yourself. Or maybe you’ve got your whole workout planned out when you go into the gym, but it’s usually crowded and someone seems to always be on the piece of equipment you want to use and it’s driving you nuts! If you can relate to any of these examples, I’d like to offer you some techniques to make yourself and your workout better.

First, if you’re nervous, try to focus on your goals. In other words, the reason you joined the gym and decided to start working out. Remember, most things that are worth having in life take a lot of hard work to achieve and a great body is no different. Don’t let a case of the nerves screw up your long-term goals for a better you. Stay focused. On a more practical, less cerebral level, get educated. The more you know about working out and the equipment around you, the more comfortable and confident you’ll be. Read books and magazines and check out websites (like this one and many others) to become as knowledgable as you can. Think about any test you’ve ever taken…when do you feel more comfortable and confident? When you know the material like the back of your hand or when you haven’t studied at all and have no idea what you’re doing? In my proper form article I talk more about educating yourself on any exercises you’d like to work into your routine, but the bottom line is: the more you know, the better you’ll feel.

If you’re a person who’s very organized and likes to plan out their workouts ahead of time, congratulations. This is definitely an important part of bodybuilding. However, if, as I mentioned earlier, you get very stressed out when another person is on the machine you had planned to use, let me offer you this advice. If someone’s on “your” machine, don’t stress about it. Just look at it as something that will add variety to your workout. You should be mixing things up as much as you can anyway, and this will provide you the perfect opportunity to do just that. The best way to go about it, and what I personally do, is to have a sort of Rolodex of alternate exercises for each bodypart (or parts of bodyparts) in the ol’ noggin (once again becoming knowledgable comes into play bigtime!). Let me give you an example using a chest routine. I’ll list the “preferred” exercise order with just some of the alternative exercises that could be swapped in and out if need be.

Incline Barbell Press
Alternatives: Smith Machine Incline Press, Hammer Strength Machine Incline Press, Incline Press with Dumbbells, Circuit Incline Press, Push-ups with feet raised

Flat-Bench Barbell Press
Alternatives: Smith Machine Flat-Bench Press, Dumbbell Flat-Bench Press, Hammer Strength Seated Press, Circuit Chest Press, Push-ups

Smith Machine Decline Press
Alternatives: Dumbbell Decline Press, Push-ups with hands raised

Dumbbell Pectoral Flyes
Alternatives: Cable Flyes, Pec-Deck Flyes

As you can see, if you encounter any problems with a member of the gym clientele beating you to your intended destination, you can quickly and easily substitute another exercise into the routine in it’s place without effecting the efficacy of your workout in the slightest. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3. Hope these strategies help and here’s to bigger, badder, and more stress-free workouts!

Most gyms I’ve been in have a Smith Machine available for members and the Smith can certainly be a very valuable tool in your bodybuilding routine. Basically, the Smith Machine is a large rack-like apparatus with a barbell attached to the front of it. The barbell is in a slot, on a track, and as such it can only move in the vertical plane (i.e. up and down). There are small knobs or cylinders protruding on either side of the Smith right by the barbell track and hooks on the barbell itself allow you to use the knobs to rack the weight at various points as the bar moves up and down.

The Smith Machine has several advantages and uses. Because of the way the machine is designed, it eliminates the need for many of the stabilizer muscles you normally would have to recruit when performing certain exercises using free weights. What this means is two things: 1) you’ll be able to more effectively *isolate* a particular muscle group and really work it over well and 2) you’ll be able to lift quite a bit heavier using the Smith than when using normal free weights. In addition, an added benefit is that, for all practical purposes, the Smith Machine eliminates the need for a spotter since you can rack the weight easily on your own at anytime during the performance of the exercise.

I find the Smith Machine is excellent for:

- breaking out of plateaus
- lifting heavier weight than you normally would be able to (this is often an integral part of pushing through the aforementioned plateaus)
- isolating a particular muscle group
- getting the “feel” and form down for a particular exercise before attempting it without the Smith
- increasing safety during exercise performance and eliminating the need for a spotter

Some exercises I like to perform using a Smith Machine are:
- Shoulder Presses
- Bent Over Barbell Rows
- Incline, Decline, and Flat Bench Presses
- Squats
- Barbell Shrugs

You can experiment with other exercises on your own as well.

Maybe you’ve been intimidated by the large Smith Machine in the past, but now that you’re armed with some knowledge and some recommended exercises, try working the Smith Machine into your routine. I think you’ll be happy with the results.

Pyramiding is a useful technique commonly employed to organize and maximize your workouts. Basically, pyramiding refers to gradually increasing or decreasing the number of reps being performed and/or the amount of weight being used from set to set. There are many methods and techniques that make use of pyramiding. Let’s take a look at a few examples to give you an idea of how to work pyramiding into your routine.

One commonly used pyramiding method is involves decreasing the amount of reps being performed while simultaneously increasing the weight being used from set to set. For instance, let’s say you’re doing standing dumbbell curls. Your 4 set routine might look something like this:

-Warmup set-
Set 1
25lbs. - 15 reps
Set 2
30lbs. - 12 reps
Set 3
35lbs. - 10 reps
Set 4
40lbs. - 8 reps

You could also theoretically reverse this technique and up the reps while steadily decreasing the weight each set. Additionally, if you’re an advanced lifter and you like performing a lot of sets of one exercise (like 8-10 or so), you can go really wild with it and apply the theory forward and reverse like so:

Set 1
25lbs. - 15 reps
Set 2
30lbs. - 12 reps
Set 3
35lbs. - 10 reps
Set 4
40lbs. - 8 reps
Set 5
35lbs. - 10 reps
Set 6
30lbs. - 12 reps
Set 7
25lbs. - 15 reps
Set 8
20lbs. - to failure

Another pyramiding method involves keeping the repetitions constant while gradually decreasing the weight used. For each set, you will lower the amount of weight *just* enough so that you can perform the target number of reps. It’s also possible to start light and pyramid the weight up, again keeping the reps constant (Set 1 would 50% of your 10 rep max, Set 2 75%, and Set 3 100% of your 10 rep maximum). Research has shown that pyramiding the weight up results in a slightly greater increase in strength than pyramiding the weight down, but you should incorporate both methods into your workouts, cycling them every 6-8 weeks.

That’s also a good note to end on: keep things fresh. All of these pyramiding techniques have theories behind them (for instance, starting with your heaviest weight first has you lifting the most weight when you’re freshest while decreasing the reps while simultaneously increasing the weight has you working both the slow-twitch [low weight, high rep] and fast-twitch [heavy weight, low rep] muscle fibers throughout the course of your sets), but the main goal is the same: to keep your muscles guessing and prevent your workouts from becoming stale. It’s the only way to avoid stagnancy and plateaus.

Most gyms have some sort of cable apparatus available to its members and cables can be a great way of isolating large muscle groups (such as the chest, back, and shoulders) and really burning them out. Most mass-building free weight maneuvers require the recruitment of other secondary muscles to assist you in the movement, which takes some of the emphasis off of the targeted area. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as these free weight exercises will help you build strength and size, but to really etch in the detail, you’ll want to more accurately isolate the muscle group you’re working. Cables are a very effective way of doing this.

I use cables quite a bit in my workouts so I’m a big proponent of them. I typically put cable exercises at the end of my workout (although you can work them in anywhere you want) when I want to totally fry the target muscle or do a “burnout” set. The continuous tension, lighter weight, and higher reps that cable training typically employs will help you hit every last muscle fiber and really rip up your physique. Some of my favorite cable exercises are cable curls (biceps), tricep pressdowns (triceps), cable crossovers and pectoral flyes (chest), and lateral raises (delts). A couple of do’s and don’ts: Do use cables to isolate larger muscle groups and add detail and definition. Do use a relatively light weight that will allow you to perform a higher number of reps (around 12-20). Don’t use cables as a beginner to build up mass and strength. Stick to the compound movements like bench press, squats, rows, deadlifts, etc. Don’t lift too heavy when doing cable work. Typically, this will cause you to miss the point of cable training. A notable exception are exercises like lat pulldowns or cable rows, which are great mass-building back exercies and respond well to heavy weight training.