Walk into any gym and will notice that 90% of the people are struggling to make even modest gains in muscle and strength.  You will also notice that 90% of the people train by themselves.  The interesting thing is, the people who train alone are also the people who are struggling for gains!

This is not a coincidence.  The big guys at your gym are the ones who train with a partner or group and usually know just about everyone at the gym.  This is because having a training partner or group benefits your efforts in several ways.

Accountability.  This is one of the main benefits of having a training partner, especially if you struggle with getting to the gym consistently.  Knowing that someone else is there counting-on you will make a huge difference.

Motivation.  While just getting to the gym can be tough, I know a lot of guys who just don’t give 110% every time they’re in the gym.  Did you give a 110% during your last workout?  Would someone encouraging you to get that last rep or add some more weight have helped?

Objective advice.  We all find it difficult to look at ourselves objectively.  Some of us are overly critical, while others can’t see their true faults.  Having an objective person that goes through every set of the workout with you is a huge benefit.  Sure, you may think you need to focus on hitting bench more frequently, but when your training partner points out that your legs look like twigs you might change your mind.

Competition.  In my mind this is the best benefit of all.  Competition between you and your training partner can turn a terrible workout into a great one.  Sometimes you walk into the gym tired from work and you’ve already resigned yourself to simply doing the same weights you did at the previous workout.  But when your training partner slaps on an extra 10 pounds you know it’s time to step it up.

So those are the main reasons why having a training partner will help you.  So why don’t you have one?

I have found the most common excuse is, “I don’t know anyone with my goals.”
The simple solution to this is to post an ad with your lifting stats, goals, and phone number at the gym.  Or ask the guy who you always get to spot you on bench press.  This takes some balls to ask, but the benefits are worth it.  Besides, are you really that scared of being rejected by a guy?

I find the best training partner is someone who is slightly stronger than you.  This will increase your motivation and competitive drive.  However some people are worried that someone stronger won’t want to train with them.  If that’s the case you can always pick the weakest guy in the gym.  It’s not optimal, but it’s better than training alone.

When people think of building their pecs the first exercise that comes to mind is the bench press.  Now, I love the bench press as much as the next guy, but the bottom-line is that the bench press is not really the best choice for your chest muscle building program.  At least not the way most people perform it.

If you are serious about building your chest, here are some tips to turn the bench press into a pec-building beast:

1. Use a wide grip

For shorter guys, put your pinkies on the rings, or thereabouts.  For taller guys you may go as wide as index fingers on the rings.  Widening of the grip increases the stretch on the pecs which increases their involvement in the lift.  If you typically use a fairly close grip then you will be probably be weaker with a wide grip.  Because of this, make sure to warm-up and work-up in weight slowly.  Don’t just jump to your usual weight or you’ll be asking for an injury.

2. Squeeze the bar together

By pushing your hands together throughout the movement you increase the recruitment of the pectoral muscle fibers.  Please note that your hands don’t actually move during the movement because you are gripping the bar tightly.  But by isometrically pushing your hands toward each other you will get a similar effect to doing flyes.

3. Bring to nipple line or higher

Make sure to touch the bar on your chest at the nipple line or even higher.  This increases the activation of the chest muscles and limits triceps involvement to a degree.  You can even go as high as the collarbone, but the weight you use will have to be much lighter than usual.

Summary

All of these tips run counter to what most people do with the bench press.  This is because people get caught-up in how much weight they can move.  These tips will definitely decrease your strength in the bench press, but they will also increase the stress on your pecs so that they can grow.  This turns the bench press into a great exercise for your chest muscle building program.

Please note that all of these tips put the shoulder in a slightly more compromised position than a traditional bench press.  If you have any shoulder problems at all you should not use these variations.  Even if your shoulders are healthy make sure to perform these variations with lighter weight and higher reps than you would for a normal bench press.  This will allow you to get the most benefit from the exercise without fear of injury.
Keep in mind that while changing one exercise may moderately improve your progress over the short-term, long-term success and huge increases in muscle and strength require you to follow a synergistic training and nutrition program.

If you want to make a powerful first impression, either in your daily life or at the gym, you need to spend more time working on your shoulder muscles. The shoulders are important because they cap your (hopefully) well-developed arms, and frame your expansive chest. Broad shoulders carry connotations of power, dominance, and masculinity. This may come from the Greek God Atlas, who was always depicted as carrying the world on his expansive shoulders.

Seated and Standing Shoulder Press

This exercise surpasses all the others when it comes to building your deltoids. This is because it is one of the few exercises that afford enough leverage to lift large loads. When performed in a careful, controlled, manner, this press will offer you round, well-toned, impressive deltoid muscles.

There are several variations of the military press. One suggests that the best way to utilize the down movement is to lower the bar to the back of the neck. Another claims that the best way to utilize the down movement is to lower the bar to clavicle height at the front of the body. Both variations of the downward movement are advantageous in different ways. The advantage of lowering the bar to the back of the neck is that the shoulder muscles stretch deeper, meaning that the lateral and anterior deltoids get plentiful stimulation due to the positioning of the shoulder socket. The advantage of lowering the bar to the clavicle is that this position is actually safer for the shoulder socket. This position however, isolates the anterior deltoid whilst exercising the upper pectoral as a synergist.

Lateral Dumbbell Raises

Lateral Raises are often sadly under-utilized by more experienced bodybuilders. Such users tend to use them as a muscle-defining or shaping technique, rather than as a tool to develop added mass and strength in their shoulders.  The raises target the lateral and posterior deltoid muscles. As a lifting beginner, it might be hard to provide your muscles with enough weight resistance to feel like you are getting enough stimulation. Over time however and when the correct techniques utilized, you will begin to see sizeable gains in your deltoids.

There are several different ways to perform Lateral Dumbbell Raises, and your choice may depend on the amount of equipment you have available. A cable machine can be used or free weights. You have the flexibility to decide whether you want to sit or stand, and also whether to exercise both arms at one time, or spend time on each arm individually.

Whatever your choice might be, the movement is basically the same. You should securely hold your dumbbells at hip level. The inverted nature of your palms will ensure that the dumbbells are parallel. Extend your arms and raise them until your weights are level with your shoulder. At this point, they will be perpendicular to the ground. If you elevate the weight higher than your shoulder, you will put unnecessary strain on your shoulder socket.

You should never swing the weights. It is the careful, continuous, controlled movement, both to the
shoulders and back to the hip that strains the muscle and gives you maximum gains. If you are having difficulty with your technique, use a mirror or ask someone to help you with this.

Upright Rows

The rows target the traps with the lateral and posterior deltoids. They are common exercises for both beginners and advanced lifters, and are often seen in the gym setting. Upright rows are easily performed and highly effective. The mixture of heavy loads and good posture make them a staple in many routines.

There are many different aids you can use to perform this shoulder exercise. The cable machine, and dumbbells are oftentimes used, but the barbells tend to better suit beginners, as they leave little room for poor technique. Use a secure overhand grip on the barbell, which should be resting at your waist. Holding the bar tight to your abdomen, lift the weight vertically, and finally rest it around chin height. Your eyes should be focusing straight forward at all times.

Heavy Barbell Shrugs

Historically, many experienced bodybuilders have exercised the trap muscles as part of their back routine. It has long been argued, that for efficiency reasons, the traps should instead become part of the shoulder workout routine. Your aim is to develop expansive, angular trap muscles, which can be difficult to do because of their nature and position. Heavy loads are needed to utilize the shrugs to the maximum effect.

You will need an Olympic barbell and a standing barbell rack to perform this exercise. Grip the bar overhand with one hand, and underhand with the other. This is known as an alternate grip. Carefully rise to a straight standing position using a shrugging motion. Take care to strain your trapezius  muscles and not your back.

The shrugging movement can be achieved by rolling the shoulder in a rotating arc, or by simply shrugging vertically. You can try shrugging both ways and see which way you prefer – though it should be noted that cartilage problems can occur if the rotating method is not done in the correct way. This is because the weight of the barbell can overstrain the joint.

Earlier in the article, it was mentioned that the shoulders are a key part of the physique. The mentioned shoulder exercises and workouts will make an effective addition to any routine, but they do not by any means represent an exhaustive list.

The triceps muscles make up over three quarters of the upper arm, yet they are often times neglected by bodybuilders who underestimate their value. If you want to make your upper arm look strong, muscular, and powerful, you will want to work on building muscle mass in your triceps.

There are a great number of exercises which work to exercise the triceps, some of them do so directly and some of them work indirectly. In technical terms, these are either isolating exercises which solely work the designated muscle, or compound exercises which aim to work larger muscle groups, but use the triceps as synergists. To maximally exercise your triceps, your routine will need to be populated with a good mixture of both types of exercise.

Here are some of the best exercises for stimulating your triceps:

Seated Overhead Tricep Extension (Overhead Raise)

There are several variations of this exercise, including seated and standing versions. The seated version will provide you with a greater degree of stability. The best way to do this exercise is by using a single heavy dumbbell, though you can use a barbell, or a cable machine if you so choose.

Sit on a supportive bench chair and securely grab the dumbbell using both hands. The dumbbell handle should be vertical. Extend your arms until the dumbbell is directly above the crown of your head. To effectively utilize this exercise, your upper arm should be vertical, and stay that way through completion of the motion.Bend your elbow and reach behind your head with the weight. The elbows should be tightly pressed into your ears at all times during the exercise. Stretch your muscle fibers deeply by reaching as far behind your head as you can, while still maintaining a straight position with your arms.

If you use a barbell, you might find it more difficult to maneuver it into a suitable position during set up. It is much easier to use a smaller weight, or dumbbell, than attempting to load weight onto the bar and then hold it safely above the head. If you perform this movement correctly, you will quickly experience great gains in your triceps. The beauty of this exercise is its simplicity. Should you have difficulty with the positioning, ask someone to spot for you, or sit in front of a mirror to be sure your upper arm is vertical at all times.

Close Grip Bench Press (Close Bench)

There are several pieces of equipment you can choose from to perform this exercise. You can use an Olympic bench with a full-sized bar, or a free standing bench with a bent curl bar. The curl bar is safer for the wrist joints, but the full-sized bar will allow you to bear more weight. Either of these set ups will give you the same results; you just need to decide what is preferable to you.

This exercise is identical to the Flat Bench Press, except for the positioning of your hands. The Close Bench employs a narrower grip; ideally you should place your hands no wider than bench width – around six inches apart. You should take your grip around the middle of the bar, and elevate the bar to a point directly above your eye-line. When you do the down movement of this exercise, the bar should be level with your lower chest.

Dips

Dips are simple yet effective exercises which are highly recommended for developing the three muscle bundles in the triceps, the pectoral muscles, and also the deltoids. The outer pectorals which are situated next to the armpit will receive ample secondary stimulation.  Dips are most easily performed on the parallel bars which can be found at most gyms. You will place your feet on the pads provided, grasp the bars which should be around your hip height, and then simply lift yourself off the footpads. Your arms will be straight at the height of the movement, and then bent at a 90 degree angle as you lower yourself back to the starting position. Your triceps will be working continuously to control your ascent and descent during this exercise.

In the event that your gym does not have parallel bars, you can use two benches as an effective alternative. Using a sitting-type position, place your feet on one bench, and grip the other bench using your hands. Your body weight should all be distributed on your hands and feet. You can then lower your weight between the benches by bending the tricep muscles, and then return yourself to the starting position by pushing down with your hands on the bench.

For a beginner or intermediate lifter, the body weight may provide enough resistance to allow your tricep muscles to grow. There will come a point as you advance, that you find that you need more weight than your body is able to provide. In this case, you can attach a specially designed weight belt around your waist from which you can hang more weights. Without a training partner or a good spotter, this can be exceptionally hard to do by yourself.

Whether you include some or all of these exercises in your upper body workout, you need to push your triceps to their limits without causing them injury. If you make a conscious effort to squeeze the whole tricep as you exercise, you will notice a rapid increase in muscle mass, and soon be the proud owner of impressive arms.

Most workouts focus on legs, arms, and abs. This tends to leave out a very important part of your body: your back. Back exercises not only develop a strong back, but they also help prevent injury.

With a stronger back, every day activities will be much easier to manage from working to raising children to simply going out to enjoy life. The back is comprised of three major muscle groups to include the following:

Latissimus Dorsi – These muscles are found on the sides of the back, which are used for extension, rotation, and pulling arms in toward the body

Erector Spinae – Known as the lower back, this actually has three muscles, all running the entire length of the back starting at the neck and going to the buttocks. This group of muscles is used for flexibility and extension for the upper body along with rotation.

Rhomboids – These muscles are made up of minor and major muscles that go between the shoulder blades to help with rotation, retraction, and elevation of the shoulder blades, the very muscles used to maintain proper posture

For a strong back, you can do back exercises specific for this muscle group three days a week. If you are lifting very heavy weights make sure to do six to eight repititions and work out every other day in order to rest your muscles. You’ll achieve both strength and endurance and decrease the risk for injury.

The key to back exercises is to do the right type of training. Typically, this would include things such as a dumbbell row, rear deltoid row, and seated row, along with reverse flies, pull downs, and back extensions. To achieve the strength wanted, it is important to do a number of different exercises specific to the back. By varying the type of back exercises being done every month, you will find that you continue to see results rather than hit plateaus.

Beginners should start out with one to two exercises that consist of two sets, each with fourteen to sixteen repetitions. For intermediate and advanced people, it is important to choose one to two different exercises, two to three sets, and then repetitions would be anywhere from eight to twelve. The most important thing to remember for back exercises is that the weights should not be so heavy that the targeted repetitions cannot be completed.

Here are two excellent back exercises:

1. Rows – This works on the Latissimus Dorsi while building stronger biceps. Start by tipping forward so the upper body is at a 45-degree angle. Then with the weights down by the side, pull the elbows up even toward the body.

2. Reverse Flies – Sitting on a bench or ball with the back straight, hold a dumbbell in each hand. Pull your arms upward to your upper mid-section.

By now you have probably heard about the benefits of taking a multi-vitamin/mineral supplement.  If not, the basic reasoning is that a multi will prevent and treat any nutrient deficiencies you may have.  These deficiencies are a result of a less than optimal diet as well as some factors outside of our control (lower mineral levels in soil, higher stress levels of modern life, etc.).

While I wholeheartedly agree with the premise behind recommending a multi-vitamin/mineral as one of the top muscle building supplements, I believe that simply recommending that you take a multi isn’t enough.

This is because the recommendation of a daily multi simply leads most people to go the drug store and pick-up the cheapest brand they can find.  You may be thinking, “Aren’t all multi-vitamins the same since most contain about 100% of the daily value of most nutrients?”

Unfortunately this is not the case.  We have all heard the saying, “You are what you eat.”  Unfortunately this isn’t the truth with multi-vitamins.  A more fitting saying for multi-vitamins is, “You are what you absorb.”

You see, there are three reasons why cheap, drug-store multis are inferior to higher-quality multi-vitamins, and all of them have to do with absorption of nutrients:

1. Compression

The typical drug store vitamins are usually made so that you only have to take one pill per day.  To fit all of the nutrients into one pill there is some serious and heating and compression that takes place during the manufacturing process.  This not only damages some of the fragile vitamins and minerals, but it also creates a pill that is so hard and dense that your body can’t break it down and absorb it.

2. Mineral Forms

If you look at the label of a multi-vitamin you will see various nutrients listed.  For example, if you look at magnesium you will see that next to the word “magnesium” there are the specific forms of magnesium listed in parentheses.  The problem is that not all forms of minerals are absorbed the same.  In fact, the commonly used oxide form has the lowest absorption rate!  Remember, it doesn’t matter if you are taking 100% of the recommended daily value if you’re only absorbing a fraction of that!

3. Vitamin Overload

This is another problem with those one pill multis.  Sure, they have 100% of the daily value of some nutrients, but you are getting all of these nutrients at one time!  Remember that this is the DAILY value.  This means that it should be taken throughout the day, not in one big dose.  These big once-a-day mega-doses are ineffective for absorption and keeping nutrient levels high throughout the day.

The Solution

There are many good brands of multi-vitamins available.  However, you are not likely to find them in the drug store.  Instead, check with your medical practitioner.  There are brands which sell their products only through medical professionals and these tend to be of a higher quality.  If you can’t obtain one of these brands, simply look for a multi-vitamin that requires you take more than 1 pill per day (usually 4-8 is the norm).  This is a good sign that the vitamin is of higher quality.

Most of all, you should feel a big difference within the first week of taking a high-quality multi-vitamin.  If you don’t notice an increase in energy and well-being then you made need to switch.

If you take these steps then you will see why multi-vitamins/minerals are one of the top muscle building supplements.
For specific recommendations of which brands to use please refer to the No B.S. Supplement Guide from Athletic Muscle Building.

The benefits of strength training are powerful, and strength training needs to be a part of any fitness program.

1. Reduces health risks. Strength training helps prevent cardiovascular disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, low back pain, and certain types of cancer. Even if you already suffer from one of these ailments, strength training can help alleviate the ailment. Strength training also strengthens the immune system, making you less susceptible to colds and flus.

2. Keeps you strong. People who don’t exercise regularly can lose up to 80% of their strength by age 65. More than one-fourth of American men and two-thirds of American women over age 75 can’t lift an object heavier than 15 pounds. This loss of strength is not the normal result of aging, it’s primarily the result of a sedentary lifestyle. Strength training is the best way to prevent the loss of strength.

3. Strengthens bones. It’s estimated that over 200 million people worldwide suffer from osteoporosis. 30-50% of women and 15-30% of men will suffer a fracture related to osteoporosis in their lifetime. Bone loss parallels muscle loss, it’s primarily the result of a sedentary lifestyle. Consuming dairy products and taking calcium supplements is not enough. Bones not challenged by weight bearing exercise will become soft and brittle. Strength training will increase the strength and density of your bones more than any other type of exercise, and if you’ve already lost some
bone, strength training can help restore some of it.

4. Decreases body fat. Strength training is just as important as aerobic exercise and healthy eating when it comes to losing body fat. Strength training builds lean muscle mass, and the more lean muscle mass you have the higher your metabolism will be. A higher metabolism causes your body to burn more fat throughout the day, even when you’re at rest.

5. Improves appearance. Strength training is the most effective way to build, shape, and define your body. Whether you want a leaner, more toned body, or a bigger, more powerful body, strength training will give you the look your after.

When I started reading bodybuilding magazines in the late ’80s and early ’90s, a new buzzword had hit the scene. Every pro bodybuilder was claiming within published articles to have a “mind/muscle connection” during workouts.

I’d be reading an article by Greg Zulak or some other popular writer of the time and there’d be the quote from the Olympia competitor:

“Uh… yeah Greg, whenever I do my sets, I make sure to get that mind-muscle connection.”

Or Greg would say it for him: ‘Joe O’Competitor says he makes sure to first get a good mind-muscle connection with every set he does.’

This kind of ambiguous crap would drive me crazy. And why shouldn’t it? Most young guys pick up bodybuilding magazines with the idea that the pages will contain answers to something that becomes an increasingly puzzling phenomenon: ‘how to make every workout count and continuously build muscle mass.’ Claiming that some fuzzy cognitive ritual was playing even a remote role in creating those steroid-built bodies was enough to provoke anyone to relegate the magazine’s pages to barbeque start-up kindling.

But those printed ambiguities never discouraged me from seeking out a true mind-muscle connection. Most of us have a nagging feeling that our minds are more interconnected with our bodies than we acknowledge enough to exploit for our benefit. This nagging feeling consumed me. It caused me to search. I wanted to know how I could truly use the power of my mind to help build a more powerful and visually appealing body. What did my search produce? It resulted in the following discoveries:

1. A true ‘mind/muscle connection’ is a deep-seated belief in a muscle’s performance abilities during a bodybuilding workout.

2. Muscles can be coaxed to perform better during workouts through subconscious training – resulting in better muscle growth.

3. The subconscious mind can be ‘conditioned’ to enhance muscle recuperation between workouts – resulting in better muscle growth.

4. A bodybuilding workout mind/muscle connection can only be of long-term benefit when synergistically combined with optimal workout/recuperation techniques.

Let’s start with number one; A Deep-Seated Belief in the Muscle’s Workout Performance Abilities

An effective mind/muscle connection isn’t the practice of just creating a zombie-like focus on a muscle as you watch it work. That kind of “connection” will be of little benefit. What you really need is a deep-seated (subconscious) belief in that muscle’s ability to perform at the critical points in your workouts. It’s during pivotal points of threshold-breaking sets and reps that you need to call on empowering beliefs from your subconscious mind. Those beliefs need to be automatically driven, via neuro-transmitters, to the fibers of the working muscles. This is a tall order – yet easily accomplished with the right techniques or equipment.

Muscles can be coaxed to perform better during Workouts through Subconscious Training

Many of us are familiar with a strange phenomenon: We begin using a new bodybuilding supplement that promises us the world. We notice it making a positive difference for a few weeks. Then as suddenly as we experienced the surge in progress – that progress begins to wane before it comes to a screeching halt.

We know this as the “placebo effect”. Yet the connection that so few trainees seem to make is the implications this effect has for harnessing the power of the subconscious mind. If ‘believing’ that a bodybuilding supplement will work can make it so (albeit temporarily), then how much can your muscles grow if they had this subconscious belief indefinitely? Better yet, how can you create this belief indefinitely?

The answer lies within a technique referred to as “anchoring”. When you condition your mind to believe in optimal workout performance before going to the gym, you can “anchor” these beliefs to one of your five senses. Then, at critical stages in your workout, you can “fire off” the anchor in order to perform like a world class athlete in your quest for muscle.

It’s beyond the scope of this article to describe ‘anchoring’. Just know – it’s the ultimate technique for creating a mind-muscle connection.

The Subconscious Mind can be ‘conditioned’ to enhance muscle recuperation between Workouts

A boost in bodybuilding workout performance will produce little without adequate muscle recuperation between workouts. When improved workout performance is combined with faster recuperation, speedier muscle growth is the natural result.

The mind can definitely be conditioned to embrace and enjoy the habits that lead to faster recuperation. Aside from conditioning the subconscious to enjoy muscle building eating habits, it can also be taught to automatically reduce stress. This reduction of stress is essential to reducing cortisol levels. Since cortisol is a catabolic hormone (meaning it breaks down muscle tissue), keeping it on the low side is a big key to muscle gains.

Stress is not so much what happens in our lives as how we interpret those happenings and internalize them subconsciously. If your subconscious mind is conditioned to make these interpretations in a less stressful manner, you can have a lot going on in your life (with much hanging in the balance) and still sleep well and make terrific bodybuilding gains.

A bodybuilding mind-muscle connection can only be of long-term benefit when synergistically combined with optimal workout/recuperation techniques.

Successful natural bodybuilding results from synergism; it’s the reward of mixing an optimal combination of effective “ingredients”. If just one of these crucial ingredients is missing or not optimally executed, muscle growth plateaus.

This is what many beginners don’t understand. They spend money thinking just one “magic bullet supplement” will give them huge gains. It’d be to their benefit to learn that even steroid users “on cycle” have been known to over-train and plateau. If an anabolic drug can’t compensate for ineffective training, imagine how powerless such training renders whey protein… or nitric oxide supplements… or a mind/muscle connection.

However, when a ‘mind-muscle connection’ (i.e. mind training for bodybuilding workouts) is combined with just the right training techniques – look out; a powerful mixture is formed. This potent amalgamation is the best force I know of for conquering the challenge of augmenting an underdeveloped musculature (aka; a skinny body).

There are ways to very easily incorporate mind training into an optimal workout program. I suggest seeking them out for more muscle growth and less wasted money on supplements. Especially since some of those expensive supplements create little more than a ‘temporary mind gain’.

One of the most rewarding things about being a fitness trainer is empowering someone to accomplish their goals and watching them do it. Everyone has a different reason for embracing a fitness lifestyle, but the outcomes are pretty much always the same. The person feels better and has more confidence because the body they live in is vibrant, healthy and able. One thing’s for sure, mentoring someone to transform is great fun.

My husband Dave and I live in an interesting community. It is full of “expats” (people who do not live in their home culture). As such, my fitness clients are from everywhere. This makes for interesting communication challenges and requires some different mentoring and leadership skills. One group that I have is a group of young Japanese women who don’t speak much English and I, unfortunately, have very little Japanese. We use lots of body language! Oops, I digress.

Getting to the idea that fitness is a “great equalizer“. What does this mean? It means that doing it means getting better at it. This applies to everyone – no matter what level they start from. As an example, I currently have 2 clients that joined me about the same time. Both are women. One is 55 and has always been sedentary except for light housework and walking. The other is a thirty year old dancer who became overweight over a period of about 10 years. The older lady is motivated because she is having health problems from her lack of activity and extra body fat. The younger lady is motivated to become leaner and stay active.

When I met the older client, I thought she was much older than her years by the way she moved and the way she talked about what she could and couldn’t do. When she started exercising, she moved slowly. Her joints were stiff and her brain to body communication was slow. She started at level one. Within weeks, however, she was moving well and fluently. She has since reported that her blood pressure is lower and she says she feels so much better. This week in step aerobics class, she was keeping up with the much younger participants!

The younger client is really seeing body changes and feeling different. She is becoming leaner and has radiance to her skin that is remarkable. She plans to run a 10K race in 2 months. She is looking good and feeling good!

The great equalizer: Both started about 2 months ago. Both are consistently exercising and making healthier food choices. Both are beginning to see and feel results after 2 months – within the scope and realistic expectations that they had when they began.

The greatest thing to witness through this transformation is what I like to call “the side effects”. When I talk to both of these ladies about what they are doing, I feel their happiness and their sense of empowerment about taking charge of their own health. It is hard work, but the rewards are tangible and visible. The changes are emotional as well as physical!

Last night Dave and I were talking about his fitness “transformation”. You see, he decided 7 years ago (age 41) that, although he was exercising and eating well, he wasn’t as fit as he would like to be. So he embarked on a journey of transformation. He was so excited about his change that he wrote a book about it! (Read about his experience at http://www.fitnessantiaging.com). He and I started dating after he had “transformed”. I said to him that I am not sure I would have dated him if he didn’t keep himself fit.

Ok, ok… even I’ll admit that this sounds superficial, but for me it’s not. Why? Although I DO appreciate a man (or woman) with a fit body – it’s much more than that. A person who keeps him or herself fit has an aura about them – a sense of empowerment about their own health and body. And let’s face it, empowered people are attractive people!

So, congratulations to all of you out there who have recently made the decision to embrace a fitness lifestyle. Enjoy the journey!

Seven great building muscle tips that will turn any guy from scrawny to strong. Find out how to build bigger muscle in less time.

Warm-up

Warm-ups are vital to any physical activity. Try some light exercise and stretching for 5 to 10 minutes that will get your heart rate up and loosen your muscles. Warm-ups will reduce the risk of injury and prepare your muscles to lift more.

Use DumbbellsDumbbells allow for a much better range of motion, whereas if you use a machine you’re limited. With just a set of dumbbells you can workout any part of your body with several different exercises. Compared to a machine where you usually can do one workout for one body part. This will save you a lot of money and time by not going out and purchasing different exercise equipment for each body part. This will also save tons of space and give you a lot more room to workout.

Supersets Using supersets with lifting is one of the best things I can suggest to you if you want to learn how to build big muscles. They set a higher tone for your workout, and will get you in and out of the gym quicker then you ever thought possible. A superset is where you perform two exercises back to back without a rest in between them. You need to rest at least 30 seconds between each superset. This will maximize your results in less time at the gym or at home.

Get Your RestThis is essential if you want to build bigger muscle. When you are weight lifting you are tearing the fiber in your muscle tissue. Your body builds muscle during recovery, not when you are working out. You should start out going to the gym three days a week, making sure you get at least 48 hours rest in between each workout.

High IntensityYou need to lift heavier weights for high intensity training. This will take your body out of its comfort zone thus becoming stronger. Make sure you are keeping your reps very low, and your workout challenging. Distance runners train with small weights and high reps because they don’t want to build bigger muscle. Keep this in mind when your at the gym.

Proper FormYou not only need good form to achieve better results, but it will also prevent injury and soreness. Look up the exercise on the internet or simply ask someone if you’re doing it right. Don’t second-guess yourself on this, find out before.

Don’t Waste TimeI see too much of people on their cell phones when they should be working out, or chatting with a group of friends. You will be much more productive and focused with your workout if you go alone and leave your phone off for the short time you are there.