September 24, 2009 in Articles by James Dawson Martin
SimplyShredded.com Ab Feature
Hello everyone,
I just wanted to let you know that you can view a feature ab workout and article written by yours truly over at www.simplyshredded.com
September 24, 2009 in Supplements by James Dawson Martin
How to be safe in the supplement world
Have you ever heard that old saying.. ‘if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it’, or ‘they don’t make them like the old days’. Both of these sayings apply to what I am about to write.. And what I am about to write applies to the fitness and supplement industry, whom are making money producing products with a lot of hype and a whole lot less results.
When it comes to what has really changed the fitness and bodybuilding world, steroids would have to come up as number 1 – Designer steroids, experiments with larger doses of steroids, combing steroids, etc.
All of which are now more widely available and are known to be used in the competitive bodybuilding industry.
Now, certain supplement companies like to promote bodybuilders and industry fitness competitors as figures and spokespersons to their supplement lines and products. By doing so, and by adding some scientific words to new ingredients and products without any real proof, reel in some unsuspecting people into purchasing these products.
Wrong, huh? It is extremely wrong. Not only do these companies get away with it – they make hundreds of thousands of dollars.. If not millions!
This is where the two sayings apply..
There are a simple few key supplements that have stood the test of time – protein supplements, creatine powders, essential fatty acid products, and multi-vitamins.. With certain additional fat burners, herbals, and Nitric oxide products added to the mix as of late.
You see, nitric oxide and most effective fat burners are still relatively new products.. But in an industry that is this competitive and this sly, they are ancient. Why? Because certain companies know they can get away with branding an ineffective product and market it without truth, and make a sale.
What does all this mean?
It means that you should stick to heavily researching products before you purchase them. Check out forums like bodybuilding.com or at jamesdawsonmartin.com (supplement reviews will be posted here in the near future) and look at reviews from other unbiased consumers.
It also means that your baseline supplements should be FOOD, whey protein, a good multi-vitamin, a creatine powder, and essential fatty acid capsules or flax seed oil if you do not get enough essential fats from your diet.
Remember, research all supplements you are thinking of taking before you buy.
Do not trust magazine supplement advertisments, as these mean very little in the ways of scientific truth. Most of the time, the spokesmodel is paid to advertise a product he or she does not even use.
Below I will list some effective products, personally used, to get you started.
Whey protein:
Creatine:
Nitric Oxide:
Multi-Vitamin:
Thanks for reading,
James
www.JamesDawsonMartin.com
September 23, 2009 in Biceps & Triceps by James Dawson Martin
Biceps & Triceps
So… let’s say you are like me. You visit the gym 5 times a week, you workout every muscle group from your shoulders to your calves. You workout your arms once a week and you never put them before any other muscle group.
But, having said this, you walk into a bar, meet some buddies and hang out. You aren’t in the gym anymore.. You are in a bar or out with friends wearing a t-shirt and a pair of jeans..
What do you think is the first thing about your body/physique that will get mentioned?
‘How big are those arms’, ‘flex your biceps’, etc.
Regardless of working out your whole body, people are always going to want to know how to get a big chest, arms, abs, etc. Why? Because those are the ’show and tell’ muscles…and probably because arms have always been a genetic standing point for myself.
Anyways, enough of that.
Here it is:
Working out the arms:
What we are working out (the muscles of the arms):
Biceps: The bicep is made up of two parts (known as heads) – the short head and the long head. The short is the inner part, the long is the outter part. All my exercises will take into account each part of the biceps and tricep muscle strands.
Triceps: The tricep is the largest part of the arm. It is made up of three heads or strands of muscle tissue and takes up around three fifths of your upper arm – It is bigger than the bicep and should therefore be a large focus in your goal to get toned, defined, or even larger arms. Many people think the bicep is the only muscle of the arm.
How we work them:
Biceps are usually worked in a curling method. Either curling a dumbbell or barbell from our waists and up to just below are chins. Chin ups with a pullup bar are technically also another curling method exercise for biceps.
Triceps are usually worked in a pressing method.
However, all exercises that work both parts will be mentioned below.
Why we work them:
This one is easy. We work them in the gym because lifting weights breaks down and shocks our muscle tissue. I could go on about myosin/actin filaments and the creatine phosphate system, etc. but the aim here is wanting to know how we get big arms…. So, once we go home, rest and eat (protein for muscle rebuilding, carbohydrates for energy reserves) our muscles repair and rebuild stronger and bigger over the course of the year.
Sample Arm Routine:
**Do the bicep exercise, all sets and reps and then move onto the tricep exercise. Every other week do the first tricep exercise before the first bicep exercise, and follow it that way**
Bicep exercise:
Barbell curls 3 sets of 8-10 reps
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Biceps/BBCurl.html
Tricep exercise:
Closegrip bench press 3 sets of 8-10 reps
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Triceps/BBCloseGripBenchPress.html
Bicep exercise:
Seated dumbbell curls 2 sets of 8-12 reps
http://www.shapefit.com/biceps-exercises-seated-dumbbell-curls.html
Tricep exercise:
Overhead two arm or one arm tricep extensions 2 sets of 8-12 reps
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/alive/img/mar06/motionG031906.gif
http://www.totalfitnesssolutions.com/overhead1.jpg
Bicep exercise:
Cable curls or bent over concentration curls 3 sets of 10-12 reps **alternate between these two exercises every other week**
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Biceps/CBCurl.html
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Brachialis/DBConcentrationCurl.html
Tricep exercise:
Pushdowns (either with a straight bar or a rope) 3 sets of 10-14 reps
http://www.shapefit.com/triceps-exercises-triceps-pushdowns-with-rope-attachment.html (don’t lean too far forward or you will work your chest more than your triceps) keep a little straighter.
http://www.shapefit.com/triceps-exercises-triceps-pushdowns.html
I personally find it best and most manageable to train both biceps and triceps together, although you can effectively train triceps with chest (they are both pressing exercise body parts and both work the same muscle groups on larger or smaller scales) and biceps with back (for the same reasons).
I prefer to work biceps with triceps because I can flow through the exercises better. The pump is also greater.
Most importantly:
Use correct form. Do not swing the weight about, lift in a controlled way and do the same for lowering the weight. You don’t have to do this really slowly and strictly, but do not swing enough so that your back is arching and your shoulders are doing more of the exercise than your arms! Just enough so that you are working the arms and using enough weight to make them grow.
Having said this, throw in a few ‘cheating sets’ (more weight, less form) to shock the triceps and biceps into additional growth.
After that, stretch out, go home, eat and rest.. And watch your arms shape up & grow.
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- ~ Coming next week
"Sorry everyone! I came down with sickness/flu & fever this past week. I have not been able to workout for a full week now, so my workout journal has been put on hold until next week.
I will be in Mexico until March 6th and then I will be ramping this workout journal up better than ever!
Week one will consist of supplement breakdowns, my goals and routines for the next" - Read all Journal Weeks »
