Overtraining? Pissed Off? Military and Personal Sports Training Gone Wrong

Are you getting ready for military bootcamp? Navy Seal Buds Training? Or an endurance event like the Marine Marathon or Ironman event? Or are you simply trying to stay in shape so when you strap on that Kevlar vest you know you’re ready for anything that comes your way?

In any case, guys that try too hard, too fast with their personal sports training programs can end up tired, fatigued, burnt out, and actually have trouble concentrating when it matters the most.

These are just some of the signs that you might be overtraining.

How Do I Look?

One of my favorite classic skits from Saturday Night Live was when comedian, Billy Crystal, played Fernando, a superficial and overtly sexual latin night club performer who greeted everyone with the phrase, “Dahling, you look mahvelous.”  His character lived by a personal credo that it was always “better to look good than to feel good.”  Maybe we all have a little Fernando in each of us with our desire to look good.  While I don’t believe we are all vain and self-​​absorbed like Fernando, could it be that we put a bigger price tag on our outward appearance than our inner health?  This month, let’s focus on ways to feel good from the inside out starting with our body composition.

The Best Bodybuilding Supplements to Build Muscle When You Sleep

You do not build muscle while you are exercising in a fitness center. The body builds muscle soon after you workout once it can get over your workout routines, using power and size in order to deal with the additional intensity. Typically the ideal time the body has for the purpose of recovery as well as muscle development is actually as you sleep. Using the best bodybuilding supplements at night will certainly actually assist you to develop more muscle whilst you sleep.

Office Workouts: The Co-​​Worker Drop

If you are like most people, you spend most of your days sitting in a cubicle or office with your only exercise being a trip to the bathroom.  This constant sitting literally takes years off your life.  Even though the gym may be only a couple miles away, it seems like a hundred miles while stuck in the office.  Don’t worry, I have invented the perfect solution, I call this workout the Co-​​Worker Drop. All you need are some co-​​workers to play along.

The Mini Workout Plateau Buster– We Put it to the Test!

By Sergeant Michael Volkin (aka: The Volkinator) of Strength Stack 52

A typical gym workout lasts 30 minutes to 1 hour, and often includes significant weight-lifting. If exercises are performed incorrectly, the load on the muscles and stress on the joints of these repeated movements causes both short and long-​​term damage to your body.

Most people continue to work out despite a known injury, aching back, or sore muscles because of the improved appearance of their physique as a result of the working out. However, over time, the improved appearance becomes harder to maintain and a “plateau” eventually occurs.

A workout plateau is when someone continues to exercise and sees diminishing returns on the improvement of their physique.  In addition to these hardships, a gym workout causes a time constraint for many would-​​be gym goers. In addition to the 30 to 60 minute workout, the average gym member has to factor in the time for driving and parking.

Recently, several scientific studies – see Further Reading below – have been conducted which analyzes the optimal duration and intensity for a proper workout.  Some experts claim high intensity and fast workouts are the most beneficial, others claim slow meticulous movements with heavy loads is the easiest way to maintain a great physique and optimal health.

Busted! 5 Fitness and Health Tips That May Make You Cry

You read articles, watch videos and listen to the experts. But 100% of what you hear isn’t necessarily accurate. We often get channeled into a mindset that certain aspects of health and/​or fitness work or don’t work. Here are five of the most common myths busted!

Strength Diet Tips: What to Include, What to Eliminate

What does your strength diet look like? Protein, carbs and good fats, right? Seems simple. Most people know that to build muscle they need protein to support growth. So the logical conclusion is to eat more protein. They want endurance, they eat more carbs.

So what’s on your plate to build strength?

Meat, glorious meat…or a good mix of veggies and legumes will give you enough complete proteins to achieve your goal. And “common knowledge” tells us that pasta will give us the carbs.

ps….yes, you can get carbs for other sources too…

But how can you explain less –than-​​stellar-​​fitness even though you’re doing all that? Why are you not getting the performance results that you really want?

Adding Flex to your Gym Military Training Program

Most gym training programs look like this: pre-​​workout drink, a little bit of a warm up on the bike or treadmill, hit the weights, work up a sweat, and then head home for a post-​​workout meal including protein, glutamine, BCAA, and the best dietary supplements to enhance the work you just put in.

You feel good, your muscles are pumped and all in all it’s a good day at the “office”, right?

Wrong!

What’s missing from this otherwise normal military gym training routine is stretching. Face it, we all have an urge to just skip this part of the workout. After an intense workout, slowing down to stretch can seem a little anti-​​climactic.

But your flexibility has more benefits than the low amount of exertion suggests.

Does Bodybuilding Destroy your Heart?

When a celebrity bodybuilder drops dead from a heart attack, it quickly hits the front page of the papers and becomes the topic of the day for many news outlets online.

Armchair health experts and licensed doctors and nutritional experts debate about why an athlete or bodybuilder after years of training and maintaining a healthy looking physique would drop dead of a heart attack or have by-​​pass surgery to unclog arteries. Non-​​exercisers may relish in the news. Finally, another reason for them to remain sedentary! But bodybuilders that want to build muscles and athletes that are training for endurance and performance want to know if they can find a bodybuilding supplement that works to gain muscle, enhance performance, and still protect the heart.

Can you have it all?

Eating Sugar to Build Muscle?

Not everyone agrees that you can get everything you need to build muscle before, during and after military training simply by eating regular food. But most people would think that you lost your mind if you suggested that sugar is a great way to build muscle.

But did you know that an early study revealed that sugar in its raw, natural state contains chromium?

Yes…chromium!  I know that you’ve heard of the “magic” of chromium picolinate to build lean muscle mass. And while there is some evidence that it works, the question is whether or not you should be taking a dietary supplement that contains chromium to give you the best results when you’re training for a military sport, getting ready for bootcamp, or just want to stay fit.

Is Chromium Picolinate the Answer for Lean Muscle Growth?

When you take supplements or vitamins in sport or to get ready for military training, there are two basic things to consider. 1) Are they safe? 2) Do they work?

On the first point, most would agree that no short term gains using unsafe products are worth long term health risks. Additionally, a soldier can risk more than his or her own health if you have a negative reaction to a supplement that you’re taking. You can risk the mission, and the safety of your unit.

On the second point, that answer can be a little more difficult. Lifestyle, nutrition, your baseline health, and your unique body makeup can affect how much benefit you’re going to get from supplements and vitamins in sport.

Can Sports Diets Enhance Military Training?

Why should a soldier follow a sports diet? Just because you wear combat boots and fatigues instead of Nike® running shoes and Adidas® sports apparel doesn’t mean that the physical and nutritional needs of your bodies are much different. In fact, I would argue that a soldier demands even more from their body since your “playground” is not always climate controlled. You must face elements, natural and man-​​made, that other don’t.

Little Known Hardgainer Supplement to Build Muscle

Are you struggling to gain any kind of size?

Are you just another SKINNY dude busting a gut lifting tiny weights in the gym?

Think your genetics SUCK?

I know that feeling all too well!

Well here’s something that can really help prime your body for fast muscle growth…

Confused on Mixing Pullups /​ Pushups into Program

Here is a very commonly asked question about adding calisthenics like pushups, dips, and pullups into a standard weight training program.  The answer is that is can be done but it is not recommended one of the ways it is asked in this question:

“Stew, I am a little confused about adding pullups and pushups into my weight training program.  I mean should I mix them into the days I do upperbody like bench press and pulldowns or should I do them on separate days in between?”

Unusual “Dual Position” Biceps Exercise

When people ask you “How much can you bench?”, you know you can fudge the number a bit.

But when you’re asked to flex your pipes, those biceps don’t lie.

They’re either big…or they’re not!

Few people know that to really get the bi’s growing, you have to train them effectively and that means hitting them with “dual position” targeting – meaning from both the “stretch” and “contracted” positions – so you can really target all of the biceps’ muscle fibers.

Here’s an unusual biceps exercise you can add to your mass-​​building program that will help you do just that…

Cardio or Weights? Which Comes First?

by Bill Goins

One of the most frequently asked questions I get as a fitness professional is, “If I am going to do my cardio and strength training on the same day, which comes first?”

Experts are definitely split on this issue. The majority of fitness experts will advise you to do the cardio after the weight training, because if you do cardio first, it uses up much of the energy source for your anaerobic work (strength training) and fatigues the muscles before their most strenuous activity. This same view holds that strength training first will deplete the muscles’ stored carbohydrates (glycogen or sugar), and therefore, will enhance fat burning during the cardio workout due to the lack of available sugar for fuel.

The Best Equipment is You

Go to any gym and what do you see?

Bodybuilding and fitness equipment fills every square inch that’s not already occupied with sweaty bodies.

But do you really need all this equipment to sculpt, tone, and carve you into body perfection?

In my opinion, the absolute best bodybuilding equipment you could ever use for building muscle and burning fat at the same time is your own body!

The 5 Best Beginner Bodybuilding Tips

Everyone (even Arnold) had to start somewhere, right?

For the beginner, bodybuilding can be confusing.

All those machines… all those metal plates… all those no-​​neck brutes to laugh at you if you find yourself flipping around like a hooked bass when the barbell is resting on your Adam’s Apple after an unsuccessful last rep.

Spare yourself the embarrassment and you’ll also get faster results from your muscle-​​building workout.

Follow these 5 powerful beginner bodybuilding tips and you can enter the upper ranks of gym rats at your local iron jungle in no time…

Simple Bodybuilding Supplements That Work!

Accelerated advancements in muscle building over the past few years have sparked a surge in supplements to help bodybuilders achieve better results faster.

However, unless you’re a lab geek, it’s virtually impossible to keep up with what’s really working, what’s hype, and whether it’s a good fit for your muscle-​​building program.

Fact is, “muscle-​​building” covers a pretty large area yet there are several factors that go into optimizing your growth…

…and the best bodybuilding supplements support each of those factors.

Building Muscle Mass: How Many Reps?

A lot of people who are going to the gym for building muscle mass get this wrong…

They confuse “bodybuilding training” with “strength training”.

But training to build muscle and training to gain strength is NOT the same thing my friend!

Don’t get me wrong…strength training will make you stronger and it will help you pack on a little more size.

But if you’re trying to pack on LOTS of extra muscle, this type of training will actually hold you back from maximizing your muscle gains.