Hey you, yeah I’m talking to you pencil neck. Stop what you’re doing and come over here. I’m going to let you in on a secret. Are you ready? Here it comes. Those 28 sets of Bicep curls and Tricep pushdowns you just did…suck! Maybe you already knew that but for those of you who don’t, I am going to give you some advice. Who knows, maybe you will learn something that can be applied to putting on loads of muscle or maybe you just want to put a few finishing touches on your physique. Seriously though, I am not always this nasty. Just ask anyone I have pissed off. That story is for another day though. Like I was saying, overloading your Bicep’s and Triceps’ day after day often equals negative results. What might these negative results be you ask? How about: overtraining your muscles, becoming vulnerable to a greater level and amount of injuries or preventing your muscles from recovering properly. Doesn’t sound too good does it? Wait! Before you end up throwing a temper and destroying your Jonas Brother’s posters, I want to help. Seriously, put the scissors down and let’s talk.
Take this thought into consideration, working out is like falling off a bike and scraping your knee. Your muscle tissue tears during intense physical activity and requires a recovery process. The recovery process allows muscle tissue to repair and rebuild. This results in increased strength and greater muscle tissue content. Sounds pretty badass, right? When you scrape your knee, the skin tissue tears and will also require a recovery process. Over time, the scrape on your knee will progress into a scab and eventually result into a scar. However, if you continuously end up scraping your knee, the injury becomes worse and has a greater chance of becoming infected. This prevents the skin tissue from repairing efficiently. Building muscle tissue sounds a lot more tempting though.

Below I will provide you with advice to correct and prevent these problems.

Minimize your training to four or five days
Placing your body under repeated amounts of stress day after day will only drive you into the ground. This means increasing stress levels, reducing energy output and losing motivation. This is bad news not only for you but the rest of the neighbourhood as well. What about the professional athlete’s you might ask? Well are you a professional athlete? Didn’t think so. Do yourself and your body a favour and take a day or two away from training.

Get in and get out!
Training periods shouldn’t consist of a two hour or greater session. If this is the case, you have a problem. You are either performing too many sets and reps or the social aspect of the gym has become too distracting. Also, the stress hormone cortisol will be released within your body. Cortisol places your body into a catabolic state. This means your body is literally burning hard earned muscle for fuel!

Train smaller muscle groups in moderation.
For all of you Bicep curl fans out there, I know you are disappointed. You must take into consideration that the biceps and triceps are a smaller muscle group and do not require a great deal of isolation. By overtraining these muscle groups continuously, your arms will not grow. Besides, the majority of your training routine should include exercises that focus on multiple muscle groups. For instance, let’s take the pull up. The main muscle worked during this exercise is the latissimus dorsi, while the bicep wins the award for second place. As a final tip, try to incorporate multiple muscle exercises into your training program.

Proper Supplementation
Applying the proper supplementation to your training protocol is a crucial aspect in order to prevent over training. Post-workout (after) your body undergoes a state of catabolism (the breakdown of muscle tissue for fuel) and requires a source of fast digesting protein in order to prevent this from occurring. When amino acids (building blocks of protein) are transported to the muscles, this flips the switch on catabolism and creates an anabolic (muscle building) state.

There you have it; hopefully you learned something new to jam into that meathead mind of yours. As a final note, we also recommend going ahead and destroying those posters of the Jonas Brother’s anyway.

Continued Success,

Josh Buchan

Pre-workout supplementation is an important factor in maximizing the effectiveness of a workout. Infinite Labs has virtually perfected this with Juggernaut. It works because of the quality of its main ingredients:

Arginine – Nitric Oxide production and vasodilatation.
Beta Alanine – Buffer lactic acid and prolonged endurance.
Creatine – Increase strength and power.
Caffeine – Improve mental focus and increase workout intensity.
Glycerol – Prevents dehydration, fatigue, increases endurance, and is the perfect compliment to the hypertrophic, myovascular expansion (Muscle blood flow) complex.

These ingredients are mixed in a Waxymaize carbohydrate blend, which minimizes digestion so that they can be delivered to the working muscles where they are needed. Compared to other pre-workout drinks the taste is actually pretty good in Crimson Punch, Orange and Raspberry Lemon.

Train Smart,
Alex Mateu

The Quadruple threat of the C’s

I can come to the conclusion that you have been in the gym for awhile now and have shed blood, sweat and tears to put on massive pounds of muscle on to your frame. However, what if this doesn’t apply to you? Maybe you are “that guy” who has to drag every inch and pound of his being to face the demons of the gym. Take a step back and rethink the reason as to why you ever first set a foot on the inside of a weight room. Whatever reason comes to mind, I have a feeling we can both agree on the fact that no one enjoys doing something that they are forced to do. The feeling is similar to a 12 year old child being denied tickets to a Justin Bieber concert. But that is another story. Anyways, back to business. Let’s face it no one on the face of the earth is perfect (Insert self reference joke here). We are all genetically different. This was determined before we even had a chance to crap our first pair of Huggies diapers. You were given this set of genetics and this is what you have to deal with, so quit your complaining. This being said, that doesn’t mean you can’t build a head turning physique or reach any other goals. There are many crucial aspects in order to achieve any particular goal though. Let’s discuss and review these aspects or the four C’s as I like to call them.

1. Commitment

Don’t be surprised to see this on the list. How do you expect to reach a goal or be successful if there is no potential source of commitment? Realistically, nothing will happen or change if you don’t take it upon yourself to put effort and time into your goal. Write down a list of possible goals you would like to achieve. This can range anywhere from learning to fly a plane to getting the girl of your dreams. Record notes of what obstacles and challenges you will have to face and what steps you can take towards dealing with them.

2. Confidence

This aspect is straight forward. If you don’t believe that you can achieve a goal, than why would anyone else? Confidence gives us the feeling we that are in control and we posses the power to accomplish anything we do.

3. Compassion

What drives you or motivates you towards taking the steps to achieve your goals? Briefly think about this and record them, referring back to them when ever you feel in doubt to remind yourself why you have come this far and why you must not quit.

4. Criticism

Last, but not least! Criticism can be viewed multiple ways. In one individual’s opinion, criticism can be taken as a negative comment and is often overlooked. After all, why would you want to be judged by someone that you barely know or have known for a long period of time? The second way in which criticism is taken by people is in a positive manner. These are the individual’s that grow and excel by listening to advice from other’s that have had a greater level of experience in a certain aspect. However, this is not always the case. For example, would you rather take advice from a certified personal trainer or your training buddy in the gym? While you and your buddy may have known each other for a while and built a level of trust, there is a greater probability that you would achieve greater potential from seeking assistance or advice from an individual educated and experienced in that certain aspect. With that being said, learn to take constructive criticism! Ask for opinions or questions if you are unsure. Just keep in mind that you cannot base everything around other opinions and understand that in some cases you will have to make decisions for yourself. That is what makes us all unique individuals.

Continued Success,

Josh Buchan

Many young guys get involved with weight training in the hopes of gaining bodyweight and adding muscle mass. There many aspects to take into consideration when someone has this goal-in order of importance are nutrition, training and supplementation. Consistency among all of these areas should lead to a desired weight gain.
Proper nutrition is essential to gaining muscle mass regardless of someone’s training status but is especially important to the teenage strength trainer. Simply put, you need to eat more meals, and eat more at each meal. When I was smaller I would literally eat until I felt sick and would often spend my entire lunch hour eating. Strive for 5 to 6 meals a day. Eat breakfast. Each meal should contain protein (chicken, canned tuna, beef etc) and carbohydrates (rice, potatoes, pasta etc). The carbs are needed to fuel workouts while proteins build muscle as a result of training. Eat vegetables and fruit to maintain good health but load up on quality protein and carbs. There is no secret to nutrition; you simply need to eat big to be big.
Many young guys lack the general knowledge of how to train intelligently. They workout too often, for too long and neglect muscle groups too often, too long, I’ve seen more guys go to the gym and just hammer out bench presses and curls all day long. This is not conducive to sizeable weight gain. They need to incorporate other heavy compound movements to their regime, such as; Bent-Over Rows, Military Presses, Incline/Bench Presses, Leg Presses, Deadlifts and Squats.
Intense leg and back work is especially important because most of the body’s natural Testosterone and GH production. A good rule of thumb is that if the exercise is more difficult, it will yield better results when done in proper form.

The last important factor in weight gain is proper supplementation. They are most effective when a lifter has surpassed the beginner stage and has committed to a proper nutritional program. Supplements won’t compensate poor nutritional habits. For example, many teenagers will complain that a weight gain powder does not work; meanwhile they don’t eat enough in the first place. In my own experience, the products that have been most effective are a protein (weight gain powder) Creatine, BCAAS, and pre-work-out drink (N.O. or caffeine).

Recently I have experienced success with Waxy Maize carbohydrate, fish oil, Beta-Alanine and TMA. When used properly these products can maximize strength gains and muscle growth.

Train Smart,
Alex Mateu