If you really want to kick start your metabolism to the next level, then you ought to be sure that the following three exercises are right there at the heart of your muscle building program. Not only do they kick in your metabolism but also take your testosterone level to its new heights.

The three exercises are:

• Bench Presses
• Dead Lifts
• Squats

These three exercises have been mentioned by a lot of expert bodybuilders and trainers as the wonder exercises.

The problem is that most of beginners and amateur trainers believe that these exercises are meant for more hardcore bodybuilders and not for them. However, this should not be taken as anything more than a myth. Including the above three exercises in your muscle building program is a sure shot way of boosting your testosterone level. The three exercises mentioned are compound exercises. This means that they don’t focus on just one muscle group but simulate a relatively larger number of muscle groups together. This results in better growth and increased strength. The positive effect of these exercises on your metabolism rate has already been mentioned.

Whenever you take upon these exercise you should try to follow the high intensity method, this implies that you should be putting your hundred percent efforts into each of them. Each of your set should take your muscles to a level where they can’t take any more. The rest period should be limited to the time it takes for your muscles to be ready for the next set. One easy way of determining this is to monitor your heart beat. Wait for it to return to a normal rate that you may experience while walking fast. For starters taking a one minute rest may prove to be a good criteria.

The three exercises mentioned form part of almost every well designed muscle building program. However some of the beginners or trainers try to develop their own bodybuilding programs instead of going for a professionally designed program or training. It is for those users to understand that if they miss out these three exercises, they may miss out on a lot of growth. I recommend that you read this review of best muscle building programs. This should guide you out as to what muscle building programs are available online. Also, it should act as a filter for you to select upon the muscle building programs that are genuinely good and not there just for money making purpose. In case you are a beginner and need more information on bodybuilding programs I suggest that you read this article on bodybuilding programs for beginners. These articles will also help you make a better choice about the kind of bodybuilding program that may be best suitable for you.

Nick K

If you are looking for a free bodybuilding software to monitor your daily workouts and also to maintain a daily log of your body stats then you can download this free bodybuilding software.

So you look like a stick, and would like to be as big as the guys in the muscle magazines. Do you know where to start? I have a very controversial way to get huge, but there is no miracle in this. No, you won’t be using steroids or any expensive supplements. Protein power is all you really need, and creatine is a plus, but not necessary.

First, you’ll be powerlifting. Yes, you read it right. Stop reading magazines that tell you to do 3 sets of 10 reps of (exercise type here). They are not for hardgainers. They are meant for people who are already big, but not yet muscular, and people who were blessed with natural born power. Some people can bench 300+ the very first day they touch weights, while hardgainers like you and me can barely bench over 100 for 1 rep. Lets say you can’t barbell curl more than 50 lbs. for 10 reps, while the guy in the magazine is doing 100 lbs. for 10 reps, who has better benefits for doing 10 reps? Do you get my point why you shouldn’t follow the workouts in the muscle magazines?

Ok, we are going to go back to the topic of powerlifting. Before you start building mass and muscles, you must build up your strength as your priority. Don’t get confused as most beginners do, but building a lot of strength doesn’t mean you would get huge. There are powerlifters out there who are benching 500+ weighing no more than 180 lbs. They usually don’t do more than 5 reps for any types of exercises. You might be asking yourself how are you going to get big from powerlifting then? You will start from powerlifting and end with bodybuilding. Don’t even think about bodybuilding to look great till you can bench over 300, squat over 400, and deadlift over 400. If you are benching 100 lbs. right now for 8-10 reps, and you think by next year you’ll be able to bench 200 lbs. for 8-10 reps, keep dreaming. Ten years later you’ll probably be able to bench 110 lbs. for 8-10 reps if you keep doing what you are doing.

How to start powerlifting? You will stick to moves like bench press, squats, deadlifts, military press, close-grip bench press, barbell bicep curls, bent-over barbell rows, and dips. I might have skipped some, but they are all great for strength training. If you are benching 100 lbs 8-10 times comfortably, you can easily bench 105 lbs. 5 reps for 5 sets. Now, avoid rushing to try and bench 110 lbs. You need a lot of patience to build up strength, and to become a bodybuilder too.

For first week, bench 105 lbs. 5 reps for 5 sets (just using 105 lbs. for example, if you can comfortably bench more for the same reps and sets, go for it). Please allow 2-3 minutes rest for strength training for recovery. If you can bench 105 lbs. 5 reps for 5 sets, and you know you could have done more reps on your last set, do it till failure. In this case, you are ready to bench 110 lbs. 5 reps for 5 sets next week. If you are struggling to do 5 reps of 105 lbs., but you are able to finish 4 reps, you are fine. In this case, you are not going to bench 110 lbs. next week, but stay at the same weight to do 5 reps of 5 sets. By next week, it should become easy to do. If you are still struggling to get 5 reps in, you might be getting lack of sleep, not eating sufficiently, or overtraining. You get stronger when you are resting/sleeping, and not working out everyday in hopes to get bigger.

Here are a few important tips to build strength:

1.) Do very low reps and heavy weights - no more than 5 reps per set.

2.) Rest 2-3 minutes per set - this is strength training; be patient!

3.) Get atleast 7 hours of sleep (recommend 8+).

4.) Load up more on carbs and proteins. Before and after you exercise (within 2 hours), stay away from saturated fat like cheeseburgers and fries. They make you feel exhausted and extremely slow to recover from working out. Your best bets are whole-grains, fruits, and protein shakes before working out. Don’t workout on a full stomach either.

5.) Do one body part per week. If you benched Monday, wait till next Monday to work on chest again.

My example for benching 5 sets of 5 reps goes for everything else like squats, deadlifts, etc. Again, if you are not ready to increase 5 lbs., don’t do it. Being a fool will most likely lead to injury. You might be powerlifting for more than a year because there is no miracle in building a very nice body. This is the honest truth to drug-free bodybuilding without the use of steroids.

Kai L.

For tips on bulking up / cardio / diet / workouts / and motivation go to my fitness blog - http://chinesemuscles.blogspot.com

My e-mail address is chinesemuscles@gmail.com

Rest Time Between Sets has always been a controversial topic. It has been a matter of debate among all bodybuilders from different parts of the world. And now it seems the debate has been carried over to online bodybuilding programs and forums too. Well, the reason is pretty obvious, there is simply no fixed answer to this question.

Quite a lot it depends on the goals, so a bodybuilding program meant for skinny guys trying to pull up some muscle mass
will advice for very small periods of rest as compared to a bodybuilding program that is more meant for increasing strength.

During workouts, its not absolute weight that matters, rather it is the relative weight that counts. So, its more important as to how much difficult it is for your muscles. When you finish a set, your muscles should be totally exhausted. Starting a new set immediately is pointless. You should start your next set when your muscles have regained enough strength to give 100% to next set, but not so long that they have achieved 100% recovery.

For most people, this is normally between 1-2 minutes ,and if you need a precise amount of time, then you can choose with 1 minute of rest between sets and adjust later. You will pretty soon start understanding or feeling when your muscles are ready for the next set. Please remember that although you can easily play around and experiment with this time but you should not have a relaxed approach towards this limit. Keeping a time gap which is either too small or too large will surely hamper your muscle growth.

If the break is too short, then your muscles will still be too sore and therefore you won’t be able to lift as much as you should. Also, waiting too long is bad as it decreased the relative muscle growth.

If you are looking for more information on resting time between sets then I suggest that you read “the musclehead guide”, you can also read this the musclehead review.

You can also read about other top bodybuilding authors like Sean Nalewanyj and Vince Delmonte. These are all top bodybuilders and each of them have a highly successful bodybuilding program as per the need of user.

Nick Clipton

Proper rest is one of the most important ingredient in any good bodybuilding recipe. However still most of the beginners tend to avoid it. They think by resting they are letting their muscles cool down. Also, to some it gives a guilty feeling of running away from the exercises or hard work. Somehow, it seems they associate bodybuilding with either their college routine or job routine, they feel they will be penalized if they take up a break in between. Quite contradictory to what it actually is.

However, lets see what bodybuilding authors like Sean Nalewanyj or The Musclehead, by taking those two names I mean those authors who have really good online bodybuilding programs, have to say about it.

In words of Sean Nalewanyj (Quoted From Truth About Building Muscles):
“Highly intensive training places very large amounts of stress on your body and if you fail to give the muscles adequate time to recover and heal in between workouts you will end up doing yourself more harm than good.

In words of The Musclehead (Quoted From The Musclehead Guide To Godlike Physique):
“your rest period should also be increased to however long you need to be able to lift at full strength again.”

I hope that conveys the idea in quite a simple manner. Rest is as vital as workouts or diet, in no case should you neglect it or act as a miser when it comes to giving your body proper rest. Also when we say rest we don’t mean the rest between sets or reps. Ideally you should be taking a week off after training for 8 weeks a part of recovery process.

First of all, this rest provides your joints and connective tissues the much-needed break. All of those sets taken to muscular failure will have a negative, cumulative effect on those delicate joints, and if you aren’t careful you may end up with an injury. Among all the ways to prevent yourself from getting injured, taking proper rest is one of best ways.

Similarly, your immune system also gets a break.

Also taking a week off in between gives you a much needed mental break.It will not only increase your focus when you return but also help you put in more concentrated efforts.

If you wish to read more of such bodybuilding secrets, you can opt for their bodybuilding programs. You can read more on this musclehead review. Similarly you can use this link for more information on Muscle Gain Truth.

By the way, if you are already following a bodybuilding program then you can also use this free software for bodybuilding programs. It helps you keep track of your progress including “REST”.

Nick K

Just what is natural bodybuilding? Well, as the name implies, it is a form of bodybuilding where you work to build the size and strength of your muscles naturally without relying on performance enhancing products. Natural bodybuilding does not mean all supplements are off limits, however, since dietary supplements such as protein supplements, glutamine and creatine are still allowed. Instead, the main focus is on building muscle through proper diet and by using the correct muscle building workouts to achieve your results.

What makes bodybuilding naturally a good thing? Well, first off, it is much better for your body because you aren’t pumping it full of weird, foreign drugs. Not only that, but it can give you greater satisfaction when you look in the mirror and see your results because you can be proud of the fact that you did it all on your own without resorting to drugs or performance enhancers. In addition, going the natural route allows you to compete in natural bodybuilding competitions that would otherwise be off limits to you.

One of the best benefits of natural bodybuilding is that it is a lot easier on your wallet since you aren’t blowing tons of money on drugs that just don’t give the results that they promise.

Any type of bodybuilding is tough and it can be discouraging when you don’t see the results that you want as quickly as you want them. As you progress there will be days where you just fee like giving up and don’t think you will ever reach your goals. To help combat this it is important to track your results from the beginning. Jot down your measurements and take photos along your bodybuilding journey. When you are having a bad day going back and looking at how far you have come can be really motivational and can help you over a slump. Not only that, but tracking your results can help you spot where you might be going wrong in your training or diet and make adjustments accordingly.

When doing natural bodybuilding it is very important to eat the right combinations of foods and balance your fats, protein and carbs in order to maximize your results. You also need to do full body workouts instead of falling into the common trap of just working out part of your body. By working out your whole body you will actually see results faster than if you just focus on your arms or your abs.

In order to get the body you want you need to be sure to set goals. Don’t just set a long term goal of where you want to be in the end, either. Set smaller goals along the way so that you can reach those more easily and stay motivated to stick with it until the end. If you only have a long term goal it can easily feel like it is taking far to long to reach it and you can feel frustrated and give up. If you have smaller goals along the way, though, you can reach those and see results which will keep you motivated while at the same time moving you further along toward your long term goal.

If you are serious about building muscle naturally, you should check out the Muscle Building Guide. You can learn more at http://www.musclebuildingguide.info