November 2007 Muscle Building & Fitness Tips

Each month Mark Smith (aka Suarus) puts together a list muscle building and fitness tips to help you pack on more muscle, strip fat and make the most of your time in the gym. Most of the tips you see here have been contributed by our forum members. November's tips are listed below:

November Training & Workout Tips

1. Using an olympic bar as a change from using an EZ bar or a straight bar will give you biceps a big boost.
   Tip by: Big t
2. Wide-grip pullups are the best exercise for creating the "V" shape.
   Tip by: Forum members
3. Don’t do stupid ‘ego exercises’ like pushups on your knuckles. These will only damage your joints and hinder you progress.
   Tip by: Saurus
4. If you want good abs, don’t do situps. This exercise uses hip flexors and can cause lower back pain. Crunches are far better.
   Tip by: Doug
5. For best abs development, use a variety of exercises, including decline situps, flat situps, leg raises, weighted situps and turning movements into your ab routine.
   Tip by: Saurus
6. To avoid injury, relax your neck while doing upright rows. If some eye candy walks by, resist the temptation to look. Doing so may cause a strain to your neck which you may not soon forget.
   Tip by: Yitmy
7. Don’t leave tricep kickbacks out of your tricep workout. They’re still one of the most effective exercises for the tri’s!
   Tip by: Saurus

November Fitness & Weight Loss Tips

1. Don't waste your calories on drinks. Drink low-calorie or no calorie drinks instead (preferably water).
   Tip by: Doug
2. The best way to cut up is train hard, keep weights as high as you can to keep your lean body mass, slightly lower your calorie intake to under what your body burn off, and increase cardio.
   Tip by: Doug

November Supplements Tips

1. Dextrose (glucose) is very cheap from health stores, and it will pay you to look around for it rather than buying expensive ‘simple carbs.’
   Tip by: Forum members
2. Glutamine tips:
   ● Use a glutamine peptide supplement especially right after a hard exercise session since glutamine stores in muscle can be depleted up to 40 percent after exhaustive exercise.
   ● Load by taking 35 grams of glutamine daily* (5 grams one hour before training, 15 grams right after training, and then 15 grams before bedtime) for seven days. Then cut back to 15 grams daily (10 grams after a workout and 5 grams before bedtime).
   ● Try not to consume too much sodium with your glutamine as sodium entering the muscle cell actually causes glutamine to be released into the blood stream (out of the muscle cell).
   Tip by: Doug

November Diet & Nutrition Tips

1. Soluble fiber helps to stabilize blood sugar levels because it slows down the rate at which glucose is absorbed into the blood stream.
   Tip by: Doug
2. If you tend to eat a lot of the same food (as bodybuilders do), or if you are dieting and your calorie intake falls below maintenance levels, then be sure to take a daily multivitamin and mineral complex, as there is a good chance that you will be nutrient deficient.
   Tip by: Doug
3. Some useful conversion factors:
   1 gram fat = 9 kCal
   1 gram carbs = 4 kCal
   1 gram protein = 4 kCal
   1 gram alcohol = 7 kCal
   1 lb = 0.45 kg
   1 kg = 2.2 lb
   1 kCal = 4.18 kJ
   1 kJ = 0.24 kCal
   Tip by: Saurus
4. You should always train on an empty stomach. Sort the meals out so that your last meal is approx 3 hrs before training and then immediately after training get your next meal which should be a protein/carb drink. Training with food in the stomach causes gastrointestinal distress. A protein drink can be taken closer to training as liquid empties from the stomach quicker.
   Tip by: Doug
5. For vegetarians, there are other sources of protein than meat. Vegetable proteins are found in nuts, seeds, grains, legumes, soy milk, quinoa, tofu, avocado's etc.
   Tip by: Doug

November Women's Fitness Tips

1. Breasts cancer studies have shown that essential fatty acids keep breasts healthier. Buy an essential oil supplement rich in Omega’s 3, 6 and 9 and use it as an oily dressing over a salad.
   Tip by: Forum members
2. You should not work your abs every day. Your abs are just like any other muscle group if you are working them to exhaustion (which is the best way to develop muscle tone), they’ll need about 48 hours of recovery time between workouts.
   Tip by: Saurus
3. Once you have strengthened your abdominal muscles, add ankle weights to your legs during your routine to increase resistance and build definition.
   Tip by: Forum members

These tips are put together every month by Mark Smith (aka Saurus). If you want to chat to Mark you can catch him over at our muscle building forum. Come an join the webs fastest growing community of muscle building and fitness enthusiasts!

What more tips? Join the forum for free!