Women: Don’t Be Afraid of Bodybuilding

 

Bodybuilding is increasingly becoming popular with women, defying myths that it is a boys only sport.

 

 

LaTosha Evans is busy working out. But if you look closer, you can see she's actually in training. Training for her latest competition with the sport she has recently fell in love with one rep at a time.

 

"I've probably been working out close to 4 months prepping for this particular competition. 5-6 days a week", says Evans.

 

The Southern Natural Championships is the second event for the mother of three and she says she is glad to breakdown the stereotypes of women and bodybuilding to future generations.

 

"My particular category is bikini which is a lighter build", adds Evans. "They have other including figure for girls who have more muscle than I do. We also actually have body building women, which some people ask really? Yeah we do and they are really, really defined. Really cut and beautiful women in this competition."

 

Evans is usually accompanied by her high school daughter Alexis at the gym who has also taken interest in the sport. When it's not Alexis, it's Evans husband Antwan. Either way Evans says she's not alone in this team effort.

 

Evans explains, "It's a complete lifestyle change for the entire family including the kids. As far as prepping food, everybody has to do that. There are no cheat meals, because I will only be cheating myself. The whole family eats clean and healthy now."

 

So Evans continues to work hard in and out of the weight room for a chance at a possible trophy as well as a fitness level she can be proud of.

 

"It's not how you lift or how you look in your suit or what your hair is", explains Evans. It's your confidence on the stage and how you present that to the judges. So I have definitely worked on my stage presence. I plan to bring Tosha to the stage and hopefully this time I bring back a trophy."

9 THINGS RICH PEOPLE DO DIFFERENTLY EACH DAY

What you do today matters. In fact, your daily habits may be a major determinant of your wealth.

 

"The metaphor I like is the avalanche," says Thomas Corley, the author of "Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits Of Wealthy Individuals." "These habits are like snowflakes — they build up, and then you have an avalanche of success."

 

Corley spent five years studying the lives of both rich people (defined as having an annual income of $160,000 or more and a liquid net worth of $3.2 million or more) and poor people (defined as having an annual income of $35,000 or less and a liquid net worth of $5,000 or less).

 

He managed to segment out what he calls "rich habits" and "poverty habits," meaning the tendencies of those who fit in each group. But, Corley explains, everyone has some rich habits and some poverty habits. "The key is to get more than 50% to be rich habits," he says.

 

And what are those rich habits that are so influential? Here are a few:

 

1. Rich people always keep their goals in sight.
"I focus on my goals every day."
Rich people who agree: 62%
Poor people who agree: 6%

 

Not only do wealthy people set annual and monthly goals, but 67% of them put those goals in writing. "It blew me away," says Corley. "I thought a goal was a broad objective, but the wealthy said a wish is not a goal." A goal is only a goal, he says, if it has two things: It's achievable, and there's a physical action you can take to pursue it.

 

2. And they know what needs to be done today.
"I maintain a daily to-do list."
Rich people who agree: 81%
Poor people who agree: 19%

 

Not only do the wealthy keep to-do lists, but 67% of them complete 70% or more of those listed tasks each day.

 

3. They don't watch TV.

"I watch TV one hour or less per day."
Rich people who agree: 67%
Poor people who agree: 23%

 

Similarly, only 6% of the wealthy watch reality shows, compared to 78% of the poor. "The common variable among the wealthy is how they make productive use of their time," explains Corley. "They wealthy are not avoiding watching TV because they have some superior human discipline or willpower. They just don't think about watching much TV because they are engaged in some other habitual daily behavior — reading."

 

4. They read … but not for fun.
"I love reading."
Rich people who agree: 86%
Poor people who agree: 26%

 

Sure, rich people love reading, but they favor nonfiction — in particular, self-improvement books. "The rich are voracious readers on how to improve themselves," says Corley. In fact, 88% of them read for self-improvement for 30 minutes each day, compared to 2% of poor people.

 

5. Plus, they're big into audio books.
"I listen to audio books during the commute to work."
Rich people who agree: 63%
Poor people who agree: 5%

 

Even if you aren't into audiobooks, you can make the most of your commute with any of these commute-friendly self-improvement activities.

 

6. They make a point of going above and beyond at the office.
"I do more than my job requires."
Rich people who agree: 81%
Poor people who agree: 17%

 

It's worth noting that while 86% of rich people (compared to 43% of poor) work an average of 50 or more hours a week, only 6% of the wealthy people surveyed found themselves unhappy because of work.

 

7. They aren't hoping to win the jackpot.
"I play the lottery regularly."
Rich people who agree: 6%
Poor people who agree: 77%

 

That's not to say that the wealthy are always playing it safe with their money. "Most of these people were business owners who put their own money on the table and took financial risks," explains Corley. "People like this aren't afraid to take risks."

 

8. They watch their waistline.
"I count calories every day."
Rich people who agree: 57%
Poor people who agree: 5%

 

Wealthy people value their health, says Corley. "One of the individuals in my study was about 68 and worth about $78 million. I asked why he didn't retire, and he looked at me like I was from Mars. He said, 'I've spent the last 45 years exercising every single day and watching what I eat because I knew the end of my career would be my biggest earning years.' If he can extend his career four to five years beyond everyone else, that's about $7 million for him."

 

9. And they take care of their smiles.
"I floss every day."
Rich people who agree: 62%
Poor people who agree: 16%

OCCLUSION TRAINING

 Some of the top trainers in bodybuilding are currently employing occlusion training or blood flow restriction training, as it is also called. It's a technique in which the upper arm or upper leg is wrapped with a compression sleeve, knee wrap, or wrist wrap, to the point where the veins are mildly compressed, but not so tightly that the arteries are restricted.

 

According to Dr. Layne Newton, Blood Flow Restriction training when performed properly allows one to use much lower weights than normal training protocols and still achieve sizable anabolic training responses. If you can find the perfect line between "tight" and "too tight," you create a state in the muscle where the blood can get into the muscle through the arteries, but has trouble exiting the muscle through the veins. Metabolic by-product accumulation is primary mechanism by which occlusion training produces hypertrophy. These metabolic by-products would normally be ‘washed out’ by normal blood flow, but occlusion allows them to accumulate near the muscle.  In other words, occlusion training drives more total blood into the muscle. Dr. Jacob Wilson cited three major reasons why this is beneficial.

 

Occlusion training engorges muscle cells with so much fluid that the muscle cells are forced to stretch and expand. You may think you've experienced "skin-tearing" muscle pumps during blood-gorging sets, but this technique could make you rethink what a pump can be.

 

The accumulation of blood in the muscle lowers the cellular oxygen levels and makes your muscles feel weaker. In response, your body recruits the larger fast-twitch muscle fibers, which are more receptive to growth.

 

Finally, when oxygen is low, lactic acid rapidly accumulates in the muscle. This may sound bad—and I'll be honest, it doesn't feel great—but some recent studies have shown that lactic acid by itself can increase protein synthesis and spur muscle growth.

 

BFR training is very difficult even though the loads are very light. It is easily the most painful form of training I have ever performed. As always, before starting any kind of new training protocol, you should talk with a medical professional. BFR can be performed for the thighs, calves, upper arms, and forearms using a blood pressure cuff or tightly wrapped knee wraps (more practical). To occlude the thighs and upper arms, wrap at approximately 70% of maximum tightness around the uppermost part of the muscles. To occlude the calves or forearms wrap at approximately 70% of maximum tightness just below the knee or elbow.

 

Perform 3-5 sets to muscular failure with 20-50% of your 1 rep max on a given exercise with the muscle occluded the entire time. Rest periods should be 30-60 seconds between sets. After the final set remove the wraps and restore blood flow to the muscle. A word of advice, be prepared for a lot of pain and if you do not find yourself in excruciating pain, the odds are the wraps are not tight enough. Try blood flow restriction training and take your training to another hypertrophic dimension

 

 

 

 

 

3 TECHNIQUES TO TURBO CHARGE YOUR MUSCLE GAINS

I believe in squeezing out the maximum benefit from each workout session. Here are my 3 favorite training techniques to get the most from each and every exercise, in no particular order. These strategies will make your existing training routine more effective and diverse when it needs a boost.

 

Pre-exhaust training

 

Pre-exhaust training utilizes isolation movements to tire out a specific muscle group before moving on to a compound movement. For example, you could perform a chest fly before the bench press, or leg extensions before you squat. I usually carry out 100 tricep pushdowns and cable curls to warm up my arms and hit the muscles deeply.

 

 

The pre-exhaust method is one of my favorite training techniques for several reasons. First, by significantly fatiguing the isolated muscle group, it forces the fresh muscles to pick up the slack during the compound movement. The fatigued muscle gets pushed beyond what it would have been able to do without the pre-exhaust sets, and you don't have to sacrifice the full-body strength stimulus of, say, a bench press by trying to make it into a chest isolation exercise.

 

Supersets

 

A superset is two exercises performed back to back with no rest between the exercises. Supersets can increase your workout density, shorten your workout duration, spur new growth, and deliver an incredible pump. You can pair exercises for the same muscle group, like a triceps push-down and close-grip bench press, or pair movements for opposing muscle groups, like biceps curls and triceps push-downs.

 

I love to use this technique in conjunction with the pre-exhaust technique. As shown by the triceps push-down and close-grip bench press example above, I like to perform an isolation exercise to pre-exhaust a muscle and then immediately follow it with a compound move. This drives the target muscle past the point of failure and results in a killer pump.

 

Rest- Pause Training

 

Rest-pause training incorporates a brief rest period, or even a couple of rest periods, during a single set. This allows you to move a heavier weight for more reps than you could in a straight set. You allow your muscles to partially recover, but not completely, before you hammer them with another barrage of heavy reps.

For example, if you were to perform rest-pause on a set of triceps push-downs, you would first perform reps until you reach failure or a predetermined number of reps, and then you would rack or hold the weight, take an extremely brief rest period of 5-15 seconds, and rep to failure again. The brief rest allows you to extend your set and overload the working muscle.

Rest-pause sounds simple, and it is, but I would warn you to pay close attention to your form. Don't use such a heavy weight that you have to get sloppy to move it. While some people go crazy with rest-pauses and use them in multiple sets on a regular basis, I advise you limit them to a single set of each exercise you perform. Rest-pause is an overload technique, not a replacement for straight sets.

 

Incorporating these techniques into your training program will supercharge your muscle gains, building ip more muscle whilst giving you razor sharp definition.

 

TYRE FLIPPING: PROS AND CONS

 

 

There's no doubt about it: Tire flips are one of the coolest-looking exercises you can possibly do. Tire training is one of the best total body strength and conditioning workouts that a person can do. You use your total body when you flip the tire, and by varying the distance you flip the tire and time you flip the tire you can get a great aerobic workout. However, it is also one of the most dangerous moves you can concieve of if not performed properly.

 

 

When you flip the tire it is best to start with the tire flat on the ground. Place your fingers and hands as far under the tire as you can in this position and keep your hands about shoulder width apart. Squat down and then while pulling the tire up with your arms and back explode out of the bottom position. As the tire comes up you should have enough momentum that you can change your hands from a pulling to a pushing position and push the tire all the way over. Immediately after the tire is pushed over and flat start the process again.

Florida-based personal trainer Rob Simonelli agrees. "Tire flips are best used for folks who'll have to flip tires in some sort of strength competition," he said. Furthermore, hardly anyone has the hip mobility to do it right. Just about everyone, including Strongman competitors, goes into lumbar kyphosis -- a rounded lower back -- when they bend down to grip the tire.

World-famous, Boston-based strength coach Mike Boyle said, "Most people don't have bad backs. They've got bad hip mobility, which causes their bad back."

When it's used as a training exercise, the goal is to work the posterior-chain muscles, like the lower back and the hamstrings. That's something you can accomplish very well with deadlifts. According to some authors ,the only real benefit to doing tire flips is the fact they're often done outside, where other people can see you doing these stunningly badass exercises. But "because it's badass" isn't necessarily a good reason to do it.

 



PULL UP MANIA

THE HOTTEST FITNESS TRENDS ROCKING THE WORLD

 

 

When it comes to fitness trends, they're constantly evolving. Millenials are leaning toward new forms of fitness, such as obstacle races and marathons.  From Zumba to CrossFit it seems like new forms of exercises are being brought to our attention daily. This new wave of personal fitness aligns with key millennial values  i.e the communal mindset and an active lifestyle. Millennials are an on-the-go generation and are loyal to brands that can keep up with them and adapt to their multitasking way of life. In order to be healthy and active you must find an activity you enjoy partaking in.

 

So, if you still haven't found that fitness niche, don't worry. Step outside your comfort zone and try something new. With trends in the industry popping up so frequently, you're bound to find one that you enjoy sweating to. Smartphone fitness apps have taken over the market and are connecting millennials through a new form of communication that has never before been used in the fitness industry.

 

1. Social Fitness

 

For those ages 12-30, playing sports is as much about socialization as it is about perspiration. The Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association’s annual report found that millennials are more likely to partake in physical activity that is more focused on togetherness instead of competition. In 2011, millennial participation in cycling and aerobics (usually done in groups) rose by 30 percent and 20 percent respectively. For millennials, group fitness creates an environment where everyone helps to push each other to be their best instead of competing for a victory.

 

2. Computerised Fitness

 

People are using their personal technologies to track their health often on a daily and even minute-by-minute basis. By monitoring the activity of friends, family and other individuals, you can emulate their healthy habits, workouts, style, and favorite foods. Following a registered dietitian or fitness expert on Instagram, for example, can be a treasure trove of valuable information on healthy foods to eat and exercises to try. Not everything fitness-related on social media is rainbows and unicorns. Some posts on social media can be downright toxic. Plus, watching your favorite athlete make regular progress can motivate you.