Articles & Guides
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Train Smarter: What You Need To Know About Pre-Workout Ingredients
Pre-workout (PWO) powders have become increasingly popular over the past decade. Athletes, bodybuilders, and fitness and physique competitors religiously swig back pre-workouts to maximize their gains. The market has been flooded with a wide range of pre-workout formulas and ingredients. To cut thro...
Powerlifting Meets: Myths And Misconceptions
Right off the bat, let me define my position clearly. I believe that every able-bodied adult, (and some that are not so able-bodied) should compete in some form of athletic competition, at least once during their lifetime. My hope is that this article will: Put a weight in the hands of someone...
Power. Rep Range. Shock. Time to Grow Without Plateau
For those of you out there that have been training for more than a couple of years, I'd like you to take a little trip down memory lane with me... Remember back in the beginning, when you first started training, when new muscle and more power came almost every week? When the main goal at every train...
Not A Bodybuilder? How Posing Can Help You Get In Shape Quicker
As a competitive bodybuilder, posing to me is as much part of the sport as training, diet and sleep. But what about the regular gym rat, who most likely will never step on stage? I am convinced that posing can help anyone anyone during their quest for a better physique, which is why I have all my cl...
4 Strategies for Breaking Through Muscle Building Plateaus
There’s no arguing that the two simplest and best ways to apply progressive overload to strength training are by going heavier and doing more reps. And, as every experienced lifter knows, when you’re first starting out, it’s pretty much a guarantee that you’ll be able to do at least one of those two...
Plyometrics: The Missing Piece in Your Programming Puzzle
Do you write your own programs? Unless you’re blessed to know an individual with an adequate knowledge of strength and conditioning or a background in exercise physiology, you’re going to have a tough time composing a solid training program which is designed for your individual weaknesses, preferenc...
Become a Plank Pro and Achieve an Iron Core
There’s a reason why the most basic exercises are usually the most effective ones for building strength - they are easy to master and they work. What's the first exercise that comes to mind when you think of a leg workout? I’m willing to bet the answer is squats. And just like the bench press comes...
Video: PHD-4 Workout System With RJ Perkins
IFPA professional natural bodybuilder and Scivation-sponsored athlete RJ Perkins brings you his Power Hyper Deload training regimen. RJ formulated this training routine for those looking to be bigger, stronger, and develop a well balanced physique. If you are looking to push your body beyond physica...
The Perfect Superset: A Simple & Effective Template
Supersets have flooded the fitness scene in the past decade as a more feasible way to increase the amount of work done in a session without tacking on additional time. This day and age, if you haven’t yet gravitated towards putting yourself through a superset in your training out of sheer physical c...
How to Pick the Perfect Deadlift Variation for Your Body Type
As I spend more time in the industry, I notice how sorely it’s lacking educational content that transcends the classic “lifter’s body type”. For some reason, we’ve found it normal to appeal to the average proportions and dimensions and let the outliers fend for themselves as far as fumbling for the...
Deadlifts Hurt Your Back? Here Are 4 Pain Free Alternatives
No one can deny the host of benefits from deadlifts in any muscle building program. However, the main issue which arises for many lifters is that the traditional barbell deadlift leaves their lower backs beat up to the point of chronic injury and fatigue, ultimately limiting the use of this variatio...
Squats Hurt Your Back? Here’s 7 Pain-Free Alternatives
The back squat is readily viewed as one of the most simplistic and traditional exercises taught by many strength coaches to new, able bodied clients. The truth is, it’s a bit more complex an animal than people give it credit for. Some lifters may not be able to back squat properly due to their anthr...
Overtraining 101 - What You Need To Know
I hear the word “overtraining” thrown about all over the place these days. Some people say training 5 days is overtraining, 12+ sets is overtraining, full body workouts are overtraining, 2 body parts is overtraining…you get the picture. There are so many muscle building and weight training programs...
Overtraining - Why Less Is More
It is often the case that when someone discovers the gym for the first time and really gets into training they will work out for hours upon end hitting the same body part 3-4 times per week, training 7 days a week. This article will explore the reasons behind over training, it’s easy to be told ‘You...
Overtraining Symptoms: Are You A Victim?
These days, you can't spend more than five minutes in a locker room, or read three pages in a magazine without coming across the term "overtraining." In a way, overtraining seems to be like sub-prime mortgages: nobody really knows what it is, but it sure is responsible for some bad things. So today...
How to Optimize Nutrition & Rest for Muscle Recovery
The recovery process cannot be understated and is one of the most important factors contributing to strength gains. In fact, repeated bouts of resistance training can be detrimental if the hours proceeding the gym aren't handled properly. A typical recovery period for resistance trained muscles is a...
Optimally Training For Muscle Hypertrophy: A Deeper Dive
EVERY muscle mag that you pick up these days will have an exclusive interview with Joe or Jane Bodybuilder on their revolutionary new training program that will pack on more muscle than one knows what to do with. Get online and search “muscle building programs” and hundreds of styles and methods, a...
Opposites Attract: How To Train With A Partner And Bring Up Both People's Weak Points!
Aren't we cute? Damn right we are! Marc Lobliner and Rob Moran are training partners. They are both competitive bodybuilders with Rob being a WNBF Pro and Marc being a National Level NPC Bodybuilder. While structurally similar, they have weak points to bring up, as does everyone! But, although they...
Strength Training Among Older Adults
While jogging, running, swimming and other forms of aerobics have always been very popular among older adults, lifting weights and strength training is largely ignored. Research has shown that exercises involving weight lifting are safe and effective for men and women of all ages, including those th...
The Often Forgotten Exercise: The Dumbbell Pullover!
I have an old bodybuilding book called Beef It - Upping Your Muscle Mass. It was published by Musclemag International owner Robert Kennedy, and it has to be from the very early 1980's. When I first picked up this book when I was about 19 years old, I came across an exercise that looked really weird....
Not Seeing Results In The Gym? You Might Be A Non-Responder
Key Points Differences in training response can vary from 5% - 30% in both strength and hypertrophy. Non-responders often have a genetic profile that reacts like that of inflammation rather than muscle growth. Non-responders exist, but still may show some physiological response to tr...
No Gym? No Problem!
Are you tired of going to the gym everyday and doing the same thing without getting results? Well, it is Summer time, a great time of year to get outside and do something a little different. In our society too many people think that they can only train using a weight set, but barbells and dumbbells...
A New Look At Old School Volume Training
Old school volume training. Remember the good old days when you would flip open a bodybuilding magazine, see a crazy-long routine by Arnold Schwarzenegger or Ronnie Coleman, and think that by following it you would get massive. How wrong we were. Yes we. I’ve made the same mistakes you have. I’m sur...
Need Some Workout Variety? Try These Strength Building Exercises
Power Clean and Press We have all seen this exercise in the Olympics or maybe in high school athletics. This is one of the greatest full body exercises there is; however, in my experience there are not many people that do these. It is a very simple exercise to perform but it is difficult. How to d...