Bodybuilding Tips and Tricks

Discipline. It’s what drives any good training program. The discipline to go to the gym rain or shine, tired or energetic. The discipline to push yourself during your workout and not just “go through the motions”. The discipline to watch your diet every day and supplement properly. Here’s a fantastic article from David Robson over at bodybuilding.com addressing just that: discipline. I think it will inspire you both in the gym and perhaps even outside the gym as well. Check it out here.

Drag curls are one of my favorite bicep exercises but one that I see very few people at the gym performing. These were popularized by trainer, Vince Gironda (aka The Iron Guru) and are great for blasting your outer biceps and building huge guns. Start out by holding a barbell much as you would for standard standing barbell curls. Next, pull your elbows straight back behind your body. This should result in your arms being bent at roughly a 90 degree angle and the barbell being around the level of your belly button. Now, slowly curl the bar upwards to lower pec level, hold for a sec and squeeze your biceps, then return to the starting position. Repeat for reps. The barbell should be lightly touching (or nearly so) your abdomen during the exercise, hence where the name comes from (you’re “dragging” the bar up your torso). The range of motion is much smaller than normal barbell curls as you are only really moving the weight from your belly button to the bottom of your pecs, but the strain in your biceps and the results these produce are extra large. I like to perform these at the end of my bicep workout and go for high reps (15-25) for the ultimate final burn in my bi’s.

I just recently started using BSN NOExplode and I love it. It’s contains a great “cocktail” of supplements including creatine and elements that increase nitric oxide (NO dilates the blood vessels to allow more oxygen and nutrients to be delivered to the muscle tissue) and lots of other great stuff. In addition to the physical benefits this product provides, I’ve been noticing an increase mental focus during my training sessions which is *always* a good thing =) Check out the product info page here for more details and pick up some NOXplode today for some intense workouts and results.

Here’s a great article from Michael Kurilla over at bodybuilding.com. It discusses the science behind interval training (something I’ve touched on in my fat burning section) and really gives some great information about the exercise physiology of burning fats opposed to carb and protein, how to determine you maximum fat burning zone, and howto adjust your diet to burn more fat. A great read!

Check out the article here. This is part 1, be sure to check out parts 2 and 3 linked up at the top of the page.

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.