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If you're a serious strength or physique athlete, you've surely heard that supplements can help you get the most from your intense training sessions and on-point diet. But which supplements? The market is overstuffed like a bodybuilder in a child's blazer! You might be tempted to wander through a digital forest of get-big blogs and personal guru websites, but unfortunately those places can often be rife with misinformation. Fortunately, we're here to set the record straight. Knowing what to take, how much to take, and when to take it will help you squeeze every ounce of results from your hard work, so let's zero in on the right supplement stack for your needs. If your goal is to get as mass, these seven products will help you do it. WHEY PROTEIN POWDER Why it made the list: Whey tops the list of mass-gain supplements because it's the most crucial for pushing protein synthesis. Whey is a milk protein that has a high level of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs,

Well, you're going to need more than a 4-minute song to get the job done; you're going to need the proper fuel. Food has long been used to increase sexual desire (hey, a healthy pour of wine never hurt, either), but did you know there are foods that can actually improve your performance?  CRUCIFEROUS VEGETABLES Let us put it this way, your mom knew the benefits of green vegetables way before you did. If you are diagnosed with low test levels, you should have listened to your mom when she tried to feed you some healthy cruciferous vegetables. Increasing the amount of broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower in your diet rids the body of excess estrogen, thus increasing testosterone. A study found that diets high in indole-3-carbinol, a component of cruciferous vegetables, increases the excretion of estradiol (one of the most important estrogen hormones) in men by up to 50 percent. Crucifers are also high in fiber, which can help with weight control, and losing weight can also incr

It's the same old story at the gym: For months, you've seen the same group of guys doing bench presses—two, three, and sometimes four days a week (in which case, that's probably all they do at the gym). And how do they look? Exactly the same as when you first saw them. They pyramid up in weight, starting with eight reps of 185, then six reps of 205, maybe three reps of 215, and then one rep of 225, which their buddies have to deadlift off their chests before it kills them. Every. Single. Week. Sure, they look like they're making progress. But they're training with heart but not brains, and that's why they plateau for years at a time—failing to increase their pressing strength and chest size. Hopefully, you're not a member of the aforementioned group. So if you're looking for a way to add size to your chest, it's time to adopt these key strategies. Incline Dumbbell Press Lagging upper chest? No problem, the incline dumbbell press will ta

The fitness industry is a crazy business, especially when it comes to abs. For example, if you want to reveal your six-pack. Everyone wants to have a great physique, and whether male or female the number one area of the body most people want to improve the most is their midsection. Whether you're a female who simply wants to flatten and tighten your tummy, or you're a male who wants to lose the belly belly and carve out some awesome abs, we all want our midsections to be slimmer, tighter and more attractive. Most people go about developing lean abdominals and sculpting an athletic six-pack the wrong way. I get frustrated when I see males and females in the gym working hard but not working correctly to achieve their goals. I've lost count of the number I've had times in a gym and see a guy crunch up and down quickly without control then quit when their lower back gives in, well before their abs has been asked to any work of substance whatsoever. Minimise momentum The

Training hard means you’re pushing the weights every workout and you get after it.  Training smart is sometims a little more difficult to accept.  Training smart means you’re picking the right exercises for you and you’re not being restricted to what everyone else is doing. A good coach is going to take you off benching with a barbell if your technique is bad or it’s causing some pain in your shoulders.  While your boys are hitting bench, you’re hitting neutral grip bench or dumbbells or a Swiss bar.  That is absolutely fine.  In fact, it’s really smart.  The goal is to get stronger and stay healthy.  Not beat your body up and force your joints outside of their limitations with certain exercises.  There’s always a different bar and there’s always a different exercise. Close Grip Bench Press Do you start your upper body pushing day with bench press? Once you’ve finished your flat bench press workout, try a couple of sets of close-gripped bench pressing to warm up your tri

Most of us want to lose belly fat and build sexy abs, but sadly, most people go about it the wrong way. By that I mean, most people crank out thousands of crunches, sit-ups and other ab exercises that do little to burn belly fat while placing increased stress on the lower back. You can think of your abs as a beautiful window and the layer of fat covering your abs (and you have one) as a set of curtains. You can't see the window until you get rid of that curtain. The reason crunches can't do that for you is because they're simply too small a movement to burn many calories, and you need to burn calories to finally shed that belly fat. If you're going to work your abs, you might as well work them in a way that will accomplish that for you, instead of doing one thing (like cardio) to burn calories and another (like crunches) to work your abs. So you’ve probably been working out a lot and regularly doing ab workouts, and each of your other muscle groups has grown, but tho

From a purely cosmetic angle, lagging forearms can kill the overall look of your arms. Sure, there are certain bluffs that can be employed to offset that imbalance like wearing sleeveless shirts and tank tops as often as possible. However, up here in the true north, those with poor forearm development are eventually left with a choice – look like a fool and get hypothermia in December or do something about it.  From a performance angle, both in and out of the weight room, grip and forearm strength can do a lot of good. Whether you’re a domestic worker, or a mixed martial artist, having claws of death puts you one step ahead when carrying loads, grappling with an opponent or performing submission holds. All this being said, here are a few tricks that are sure to make your forearms more impressive in terms of both looks and functionality. The Best Forearm Exercises Loaded Carries Trap bar carry Reverse thumbless preacher curl Farmers walk/static Hold Palms-up over-bench wrist curl Ham

When you're working out several times a week to get fit and lose weight, you want a routine that offers maximum results in the minimum amount of time. Exercise scientists have been hard at work on this particular issue, and now years of research indicates that the following 6 moves—done properly—are all you need to achieve the slim, taut body you're after. Pushups Push-ups is among the most popular weight loss exercises. The fact however is that they've to be done correctly to yield positive results. Push-ups strengthen the shoulders, triceps and the chest areas. Barbell Squat With your feet firmly planted on the floor shoulder-width apart, rest a racked barbell comfortably on the upper portion of the back — not the neck. Grasp the bar approx. one foot outside the shoulders and step outwards from the barbell rack. Draw your shoulders back and tighten the core, and slowly squat downwards until your quads are parallel with the ground. Powerfully accelerate upwards to a full

The upper chest is the most stubborn chest area to grow, meaning that it needs plenty of extra stimulation, compared to the mid and lower pecs which get more action due to their involvement in many upper body exercises. Therefore, achieving a balanced, full look of the upper body, requires focusing a big part of your chest training on movement that effectively work the upper chest. Needless to mention, increased size and strength in the upper chest is not only going to improve your aesthetics – more importantly, it will translate to increased strength in all of your major lifts. You’ve probably tried to push your upper pecs to grow with the help of incline barbell/dumbbell presses, incline cable flies and similar machine exercises, but since you’re reading this article, we can assume that you’re doing some wrong. The truth is that these basic movements are all you need for stellar chest growth, but you need to learn how to use them in a way that unlocks their full potential. Here ar

Turning your arm workout into a high-intensity interval session makes the most of your time in the gym, both with a shorter bout overall (just 15 minutes!) and by adding even more value to those single-joint moves like curls and tricep extensions. “The moves in this workout are designed to maximize fat burn while targeting specific muscle groups in the upper body for optimum results,” says Derek DeGrazio, trainer and managing partner of Barry’s Bootcamp South Florida. Choose dumbbells that you can safely move with good form for the full minute of each strength move. 1 minute jump rope 1 minute walking planks 1 minute jump rope 1 minute tricep dips 1 minute jump rope 1 minute bicep curls 1 minute jump rope 1 minute overhead press 1 minute jump rope 1 minute hammer curls 1 minute alternating overhead press

Protein powder is a popular go-to after a workout: Put in a shaker cup, add water, shake, and you have a portable drink to revitalize your muscles and energy. Or add it to a blender with milk, fruit, greens, nut butter, or other fun add-ins, and it’s an anytime snack or meal replacement. (And a delicious one at that.) But the supplement isn’t only for liquids—it can also be used to make a variety of dishes, from muffins and cupcakes to burgers and lasagna to dips and doughnuts and more! Check out these protein powder recipes (use your favorite powder if you don’t like the one called for), and experience how delicious it is to take a break from the shaker cup! 1 -Milk – Just use milk instead of water for more flavor, more thickness, and more calories. Try goat’s milk for an extra health kick. 2 -Cream – Use instead of milk or water for way more flavor and calories. 3 -Fruit – Blend it up and it’s called a fruit smoothie. Try strawberries and bananas. Add fruit to just about all of th

Many athletes and strength coaches question the effectiveness of arm training. For quite some time, arm training has been completely frowned upon. Yes, you should focus more strongly on pillar development—i.e, your hips, core and shoulders—and your arms should not take up the majority of your training. That said, I believe that there is a place for direct biceps and triceps training in a well-rounded athletic development program. Weekly gym-based training time with our athletes comes at a premium, so it's important to train the arms in an effective and efficient way. Compared to the big foundational compound movements like the Squat, Press and Hip Hinge, the arms play a minor role in overall athletic development and sport-specific skill enhancement. The arms usually receive ample amounts of strength training stimulus from the big movements. But athletes often lack a metabolic stress-based training stimulus—a.k.a. the pump effect. Below is a brief description of the exercises to

Creatine is a metabolite produced in the body that is composed of three  amino acids: l-methionine, l-arginine and l-glycine. About 95 percent of the concentration is found in skeletal muscle in two forms: creatine phosphate and free chemically unbound creatine. The other 5 percent of the creatine stored in the body is found in the brain, heart and testes. The body of a sedentary person metabolizes an average of 2 grams of creatine a day. Bodybuilders, because of their high-intensity training, metabolize higher amounts than that. Creatine is generally found in red meats and to some extent in certain types of fish. But it would be hard to get the amount of creatine necessary for performance enhancement from food because even though 2.2 pounds of red meat or tuna contain about 4 to 5 grams of creatine, the compound is destroyed with cooking. Therefore, the best way to get creatine is by taking it as a supplement. Let's first establish what creatine actually is. In bri

Maybe you're jumping on the vegan bandwagon, trying to lighten your carbon footprint, or simply scaling back on meat because you're sketched out by the factory-farmed stuff. Whatever your reason, relying less on animal products can be a great first step in upping your intake of nutrient-rich whole foods and crowding out overly processed crap. But how are you going to get enough protein? Don't sweat it—we did the math for you. Here, we've ranked 12 of the highest-protein veggies, legumes, and minimally processed meat alternatives, like tempeh, for your convenience. Spinach You might already know spinach as a popular "super food", but now you can eat it knowing that it is also a great source of protein, too. This vegetable is loaded with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants and within that deep dark green color is also plenty of protein. Peas Not only are peas one of my favorite kitchen additions, but they are an excellent source of protein. Peas

Admit it – you're not satisfied with the size of your arms. Despite the rainbow of medium-sized UnderArmour shirts that you wear to the mall in a valiant effort to impress the high school girls, you're not fooling anyone, least of all yourself. You're not alone. Poll a hundred meatheads and it's unlikely you'll find a single lifter who's satisfied with his arm development. The fact is, hundreds of thousands of lifters grew up admiring Arnold's guns and aspired to one day achieve his level of jaw-dropping arm-growth – to no avail. Sadly, most lifters just don't ever obtain impressive arm development. There's one rule of Big-Arms Training: You must focus on getting stronger at compound exercises. And when we say compound movements, we mean exactly that; exercises that involve multiple joints, allow you to use the most external load, and give you the most bang for-your-gettin-gunny-buck.   program for bigger arms : Day 1 : Chest and Triceps Day 2 :Bac

Ample energy and a steady stomach are two keys to a great workout. But people often skip pre-exercise meals due to lack of time or not knowing what to eat, says Manuel Villacorta, registered dietitian and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. No more excuses: These tummy-friendly options have ideal amounts of carbs and protein to keep you fueled, and they're easy to prepare on-the-fly. A whole-wheat bagel with jam: "Simple carbs burn quickly, like paper, while complex carbs burn like wood and take a little longer to provide energy," Villacorta says. An easy-to-digest whole-grain bagel with jam or a drizzle of honey combines both types of carbs—a perfect way to fuel your workout from start to finish, he says. Protein shake with added carbs: Premade protein shake mixes are an easy on-the-go snack, and a good way to reap protein's benefits while adding carbs to stay energized. Aim for a 4:1 carb-to-protein ratio with 10 to 20 grams of protein, advises Sk

Legs are the often neglected part of the physique, so when you set yourself apart and devote time and attention to training these major muscles, it won’t go unnoticed. The great thing about leg training is that because it is so intense, you’ll be giving yourself a cardiovascular workout with each set you do and on top of that, you’ll be stimulating a greater release of the primary muscle building hormones, testosterone and growth hormone. Simply put, leg training should not be skipped. If you want to take your leg training up a notch, here are four techniques that you can use for superior growth and development. Love The Leg Press Leg presses can also emphasize the quads, but you'll want to follow the same rationale about keeping your feet low on the sled. Sure, it's harder than using a higher foot position, but if you're looking to zero-in on the quads, keep it low. You can use a closer foot position to target the outer quads to a greater degree. Use a wider stance to w

Obtaining a six-pack doesn’t happen overnight, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be accomplished! For your abs to appear, you must minimize your body fat. The key to minimizing body fat is a healthy diet and smart workout routine. This blog will shed light on three abdominal exercises to help shred your abs. Before we talk about the for techniques moves to shred your abs, we will discuss the muscles that make up your abs. The first muscle is the rectus abdominis, it’s the muscle we think of when imaging a great looking midsection. However, two other muscles make up your abs: the transverse abdominis and the obliques. The transverse abdominis is located behind the rectus abdominis and isn’t visible, but it can help develop your abs and strengthen your core. Obliques allow us to move in numerous directions and support the core during common motions and heavy lifting. Generations of humans have been experimenting to find the ultimate shredded abs formula. Many have tried, many have failed

The following 5 day workout routine is based on a 5 day split. Using this routine, you will train one bodypart per day for a duration of 5 days. There are two main advantages to using this type of routine. Legs Train your legs on the first day of the week. The reason for this is two-fold: first, leg training will be your hardest workout, so you should do it when your energy levels are high. Second, many people choose to bench press on a Monday, which means you likely won't have to queue for the squat rack. Start your workout with five sets of five heavy squats. According to Charles Poliquin, owner of the Poliquin Performance Center for elite athletes, rumors that squats are bad for your knees or back are untrue. However, to prevent injury, you must do them with proper form. After squats, perform leg presses, hamstring curls and calf raises, for four to six sets of eight to 20 repetitions each.  Back Bodybuilders typically train the muscles opposing the chest during the second w

Beginners perform fewer exercises and sets per workout so as not to overtrain. A beginner leg workout includes exercises for the thighs and lower legs, but not multiple exercises for each individual muscle group. Only do this leg workout once per week as a beginner, and work your way up to two leg workouts. Keep Your Body Well Fuelled Legs are the largest muscle groups in the body so require a lot of energy. Make sure you consume a meal rich in both protein & in carbohydrates (the body’s main energy source) before training. Once you have finished the workout, replenish your body with a good source of protein, shakes are a great option as they enter the body quickly and are well absorbed. Stretch/ Warm Up A good leg workout is very demanding on the body so you want to make sure you get your body as ready as possible for what you are about to do to it. Making sure you are warmed will not only allow you to have a better range of movement when training but can also reduce the chance