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Love and Appreciate Muscle Fatigue!

Fatigue is the necessary ingredient for muscle growth and a rapid increase in strength. A typical workout will require you to rest and take off a day or two between workouts so your muscles can recover.

For example, once you’ve begun training the biceps and arms, you won’t see a noticeable change in size right away, yet your body is working continuously to increase the thickness of the muscle fiber. A muscle fiber is thinner than a human hair but can support up to 1,000 times its own weight, so increasing volume in the muscle fiber causes hypertrophy (increase in mass), which then allows for more force production.

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Anymore, Dumbbell weight sets are a necessity in any home gym. If you’ve been pounding away for years on a bike or treadmill doing your cardio exercises – faithfully – but your fitness level has reached a plateau, what can you do? The answer lies in varying your workout by exercising with free weights, i.e., dumb bells and barbells.

Use Free weights to advance your training

Most fitness trainers will tell you that dumbbell exercises are a must in weight lifting. To get an idea of what they can do for you, imagine how muscles work together when opposing each other.

On any given lift, one muscle is contracting and another is relaxing, such as the biceps and triceps when performing a biceps curl with a dumbbell in each hand. Since the tricep must be move as well, the bicep is not completely isolated. Hence, doing multiple sets of repetitive exercises using dumbbells will work the target muscle — but it goes a step further.

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Exercises for the heart, body and mind

Sit cross-legged with your hands on your knees. Focus on your breath, while keeping your back straight, and allow your knees to gently lower to the floor. Take five to ten slow, deep breaths. On the next inhale, raise your arms over your head. As you exhale, bring the arms down slowly.

You’ve just experienced a beginning yoga pose called Sukhansana. Simple, yet amazingly effective. Ashtanga yoga’s dynamic exercises blend breathing and movement allowing your inner essence to unfold naturally, without strain. Some call it the most physical yoga, yet with proper instruction, the workouts are an efficient and, best of all, pain-free way to achieve total fitness.

The Most Talked About Form of Yoga Today

What seemed to evolve from the om-chanting flower children of the sixties has actually been around for centuries and remains enormously popular today. Celebrities such as Madonna, Sting, and Demi Moore are devoted to the daily practice of Ashtanga Yoga, also known as Power Yoga. In North America alone, over 18 million Americans are reported to be practicing some form of yoga and are reaping the benefits of improvements in strength, flexibility, weight control, increased cardiovascular and energy levels, an enhanced immune system, and stress reduction. (more…)

For many man, a washboard butt means that the only protruding shape on their derriere is the lumpy wallet in their pants pocket.

Guys, if this describes you, then you need to do some work to bulk up. For women, the problem is just the opposite: the glutes tend to run heavy because the butt has become a fat storehouse.

First let’s look at the muscles. The gluteals are your butt, which are comprised of three muscles. The largest is the gluteus maximus, the major stabilizer of the pelvis in charge of straightening the hip joint. The medius and the minimus are beneath the maximus. All together these three muscles help you move your thigh out to the side of your body (abduction) as well as rotate and extend the leg.

Men who have a flat bottom need to follow a very different lifting program than women who need to reduce this area. For a man’s type of body you should aim for mass butt building exercises that include squats with heavier weights.

Exercises for the Flat-Bottomed

If your moon is not full and you want to bulk up the back end, your weight lifting regime should be about doing fewer reps (8 to 10) but using heavier weights.

Here’s a just a sampling of exercises you should consider.

Squats

The barbell squat will aid both glute and quadriceps strength. Position your feet about one to two inches past your shoulder width and lower yourself down, in a slow controlled motion, and squat to a parallel position.

Once you’re in this deep squat, clench your glutes as you rise up to the start position. This exercise works just about the entire lower body, but if your quads fatigue before the glutes do, check your leg positioning to better isolate the glutes. Do three sets of 10 reps, working to muscle failure.

Enjoy!

You can do this with a The Smith Machine ( right) which combines the use of free weights with the safety and control of a rack without the need for a spotter. The Smith Machine has been building better bodies for decades and can get you where you want to be… Bigger, Faster and Stronger.

Stiff-Legged Dead Lift

While standing, hold a straight bar and keep your feet about shoulder-width apart. Keep your knees soft. Slowly lean forward from the waist until you feel a good stretch in the hamstrings.

Then clench your glutes, contract your abs and keep your head up as you rise up to the start position. Do three sets of 10 reps.

Hack Squat Machine

As you work your quads, glutes, and calves, the engineered smoothness of the Leg Press / Hack Squat Machine spares your bones and joints.

To use: sit in the sled and position your feet higher on the platform than you normally do, because now you’ll want to put the load on the glutes.

Make sure you lower the weight a little, to keep from stressing your knees.

You need to perform a deep squat (knees to the ears) to force yourself into a great degree of hip flexion, and then extend out of it.

Angled Leg Press

This machine incorporates a unique 7-degree design to ease the stress and strain on the back and joints. Lie comfortably on your back, position your feet on the bar and press, and extend up.

Whether you work with free weights or on the Angled Leg Press, all of these types of lifts need to be done with what is called progressive overload.

The idea is to push the muscles beyond their normal demands so that they will adapt by becoming stronger and building more muscle fibers.

The result: a rounder rump.

An Awesome Set of Glutes

No matter which body shape you have, do the exercises to some level of muscle fatigue. Feeling a burn or some discomfort is a good thing but if you lift until you can no longer move, you’ve probably gone too far.

If you’re an athlete you’ll benefit from training the glutes as their development will increase your speed and power. Whatever your motives, the glut workouts for men mentioned here will improve muscularity and functional strength for anyone who does them.

Women! Don’t forget to work your buns as well!

Recommended Reading:

101 Ways to motivate yourself and get in shape. Number 43 may surprise you. Read all 101 NOW at Bodybuilding.com!

Because Too much tush is a turn-off!

Maybe you’ve dreamed about having the kind of buns the models have, but you haven’t been exactly motivated to tone the tush. Motiviation? The thought of your upcoming beach vacation should inspire you to get into swimsuit shape.

In addition to weekly cardio and a proper daily diet, you should perform some easy exercises that can be done at home or in a gym to get your gluts in great shape.

If you’re looking to firm up the buns, pay special attention to the following exercises. You want to be sure to use higher reps (15 to 20) and lighter weights. And don’t dilute the workout by letting your glutes relax and simply pushing with the legs. Get intense! It is critical to use a mind-to-muscle connection when working the glutes.

Design a routine that will kick your butt

Women who want to reduce the size of a large fanny need to stay away from lifting heavy weights. Instead, the focus should be on doing shaping and reducing exercises that include lunges with light weights, or no weights at all. And don’t fall for the myth that many women seem to have; you will not “bulk up” if you lift weights. In fact, you will actually lose dress sizes if you train properly with weights.

Here’s a sample of the routines women can do to work the glutes:

Raised leg curls Get down on the floor on all fours. Raise your left leg to about butt level and extend it straight, away from your body and roughly parallel to the floor. Curl your heel toward your butt until your lower leg is perpendicular to the floor. Keep your thigh parallel to the ground. Later on, you can add a pair of ankle weights to increase the load. You can also use a leg curl machine if you find this floor exercise is too difficult.

Standing Kickback Hold the back of a chair or bench for balance. With your feet together, rotate your right foot to the right with all the rotation coming from your hip joint. Slowly lift the right let behind you keeping the knee soft but not bent. The actual movement will only be a slight lift. Inhale and slowly lower the leg to the starting position. Repeat with the other leg. You can also use a cable machine or wear ankle weights.

Lunges Using Dumbbells, hold a dumbbell in each hand at your sides. Bring one leg forward; making sure that your bent knee does not go past your toes. Lower yourself in a controlled manner until your back knee is close to the ground. Push on your front leg while squeezing your buttocks to help you move back up to the starting position. Complete all reps on one leg then switch to work the other. You can do this stationary, or as walking lunges.

Butt Squeezes This is an excellent way to increase the muscle tone of the glutes. Butt squeezes (isotension) require no equipment, no time worries, and you can do them anywhere-even standing in line at the grocery store. Do them standing or seated by simply contracting your glute muscles, and holding the squeeze for as long as possible. Then relax and repeat. Try to do three sets of 15 reps, and do them often!

And on the machine…

The Stair Climber In addition to a great aerobic workout, climbing on a high-impact Stair Climber / Stepper targets your butt, hips and thighs. Elliptical cross trainers are also effective since your legs and hips move constantly (like cycling) giving you a full range of motion in the muscles. Increase the machine’s resistance and you’ll get a good muscular workout, and a great cardio workout, but without killing your knees.

Work hard to achieve that tight tush

Women need to focus on being more intense while most men, who tend to ignore working out the lower body completely, need to do some work on the butt and legs. Just remember that you need to squeeze hard at each peak contraction when doing reps. Gluteal muscles go deep and you need to reach those far removed fibers to see real results.

Even if your aim is purely aesthetic – and not for athletic performance – putting in the gym time can give you reason to look forward to those revealing days at the beach.

Recommended Reading:

101 Ways to motivate yourself and get in shape. Number 43 may surprise you. Read all 101 NOW at Bodybuilding.com!

Great legs aren’t just for show. Training the quadriceps muscles should be an integral part of your fitness routine since they are important for virtually every lower body movement.

The quadricep group (quads) is made up of four muscles that run along the front of the thigh. (Specifically, they are the Quadriceps femoris group comprised of the rectus femoris, vastus intermedius, vastus medialis, vastus lateralis.) They all share the quadriceps tendon that encloses the kneecap, and these muscles have one primary function: to extend and straighten the leg.

Yet, a strong set of quads also helps to protect your hips and knees, and toning these big muscles will have a tremendous effect on your appearance.

Exercises to tone the quad group

Whether you want to become a better runner, protect your knees or develop better-looking legs peeking out from under shorts or a miniskirt, try these exercises. The three most common quadriceps exercises are step-ups, lunges and squats.

Begin your workout with the step-ups. Repeat the exercise to fatigue. Move directly to lunges and perform 12 to 20 reps. Then move on to squats and do 12 to 20 reps. For the lunge and the squat, you can use hand weights to increase intensity. Repeat the entire set two or three times depending on your level of fitness.

Step-ups – Place your right foot on a step and your left foot on the floor. Push off as little as possible with the left foot as you step up. (You’ll now have two feet on the step.) Lower your left foot back down to the floor. Work with body weight only, and repeat to muscle fatigue regardless of the number of reps. Step-ups are a great toning exercise, and they also serve as a warm-up for lunges and squats.

Lunges - Step forward with one leg. The back heel can lift off the ground as the weight of the body is over the front foot. The front knee should not be further forward than your toes and the back knee can be dropped as low as the ground, but don’t rest it on the ground. When you have reached a comfortable position try holding there for a few seconds. Return to the upright position with your feet side by side. Repeat the exercise five times, then change legs. You can also do this exercise with a dumbbell in each hand.

The following squat exercises are good because they hit all “four heads” of the quadriceps-the rectus femoris and vasti muscles: lateralis, medialis and intermedius. The rectus femoris runs down the center of your thigh and functions as both a hip flexor and a knee extensor. It crosses your knee and hip joints, attaching at your pelvis and below your kneecap. The vasti muscles-the lateralis and medialis (on either side of your knee) and the intermedius (beneath the rectus femoris)-run from the top of your thigh down to the knee and work only to extend your knee. Squats are the main muscle bulking exercise for the quads and there are many variations using machines, free weights, wall sits, and the floor. Here are a few examples:

Floor Squats – Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, your arms at your side. Inhale and swing your hands slightly forward for balance while bending at the knees and hips to a sitting position. Your butt shouldn’t drop below the level of your knees and your knees should not extend past your toes. Exhale and slowly return to a standing position, dropping your hands to your sides. Repeat to fatigue. You can also use dumbbells with this exercise.

Seated Leg Press and Leg Press Sled – With your feet placed in the center of the foot plate about shoulder-width apart, exhale and push on the foot plate, fully extending the sled. Do not straighten the knee so that it locks into extension; also don’t bend the knee into your chest. You can vary the position of your feet on the foot plate to adjust the muscles being worked; place your feet at the top, middle and lower part of the plate, in order to work all of your quadricep muscles. Choose a weight that allows you to do 12 to 20 repetitions comfortably.

Wall Slide – Stand with your back against the wall with your feet shoulder-width apart, about foot away from the wall. Bend your knees to a half-squat position, keeping your back in contact with wall and your heels on the ground. Lower yourself to a 60 degree angle; pause, then lower another two inches down. You should be about thigh parallel now. This exercise can be even more effective when doing it with one leg at a time and should be performed until the legs are fatigued. Make sure that your gluts and stomach are held tight.

You can also use a large Swiss ball pressed between your back and the wall. Use the same guidelines as above, keeping your back in contact with the ball while it travels freely up and down the wall.

One Leg Dumbbell Squats – Position yourself with one foot firmly placed on a step box, in order to increase the range of movement for the exercise, or you can simply bend one leg. Holding onto either a chair, or keeping your hands against a wall, lower yourself down, keeping your back straight and head up. When doing any squat-style exercise, you need to avoid extending your knee past your toes, and focus on taking your butt to the floor rather than bending your leg. Repeat to fatigue doing 12 to 20 reps.

Heels Raised Squats – Performing squats with your heels raised one to two inches on a solid platform will force your quadriceps to work through a different range of motion, as your knees are extended pass your toes. For good balance you should aim to perform this method with your legs wide, with a bar placed behind your neck, also in a wide arm grip. Keep your back straight, contract your buttocks, and push down with your heels to smoothly lift yourself back up to the starting position. Repeat for desired amount of reps.

And the machines…


The Leg Extension machine is a better exercise for toning than for bulking up. The Leg Curl is best to do last in a sequence of three exercises, after the squat and the leg press.

The leg extension machine is a safe quadriceps exercise for most people who don’t experience ACL problems in their knees.

Use a variation in strength exercises such as dumbbell lunges, barbell step-ups, and single leg squats which are much better choices since they are kinetic chain exercises. The only athletic movement the leg extension is functional for is kicking, which requires a powerful isolated quadriceps contraction.

The adductor and abductor machines will work your inner and outer thighs, but those are smaller muscle groups. Concentrate on the larger leg muscles to improve the firmness of your legs.

To really shape and define your thighs, it’s important to utilize all four quad muscles in your workouts. If you typically use only the leg-extension machine at your gym, you’ve been working these muscles solely as knee extensors, without involving the rectus femoris as a hip flexor, missing a chance to shape and tone your thighs.

If your goal is to sculpt a long lean body from the waist down, then concentrate on doing high reps combined with low weights which will build endurance but won’t create a gain in muscle mass. Moves such as squats and step-ups allow you to put even more emphasis on the lateral and medial quad muscles for the most visible results.

When Your Quads Take Out Your Knees

Many runners complain about achy knees and one of the best ways to prevent knee injuries, or to protect an already injured knee (e.g., a torn meniscus or degenerative joint disease), is to build up the quads. If this describes you-if you ache under the knee-cap, and it hurts to straighten your knee after it’s been bent for awhile-maybe your knees aren’t the problem.

Patello-Femoral Syndrome (PFS) is a condition caused by the patella (knee cap) not tracking properly over the thigh bone. The patella normally rides in a groove on the femur, and gives leverage to the quads on the front of the thigh. With PFS, the outside quad muscle overpowers the inner medial muscle, and this pulls the patella out of its groove.

If you’ve got knee pain after exercising, it could mean your quads are tight, and doing some serious stretching after your workout may help. Give it a try. Your knees will thank you for it.

Stretch the Thighs After Your Workout

The exercises listed above are likely to cause stiffness in the quartets. If you work these muscles without also stretching them they’ll get short and tight pretty quick, so do the classic quad stretch: stand straight and grab hold of a stationary object for balance. Grab the right ankle with the right hand and pull upwards toward the buttock, keeping the knees together, the hips rotated forward, the trunk fully upright and the standing foot pointed forward. Hold for the pose for at least 15 seconds. Then repeat on the left side.

Stretch Stretch Stretch!!

People are so crunched for time that they just want to get their workout over with and they don’t realize how important a few minutes of stretching the quads mean to the knees. Plan on spending just 5 to 7 minutes stretching both before and after exercise or activity, and you’ll find it helps prevent soreness and injury, and will enhances muscle tone to give your thighs a more sculpted look.