Tuesday, July 19, 2011

How To Get An Attractive Body Like A Swimmer


Obtaining a swimmers body like an Olympic swimmer is a ambition a lot of people have got but they feel it takes hours of work to attain. Luckily it is not as tricky to get such a attractive shape.

Between males and females there is a consensus that one of the most appealing bodies are those of athletes, particularly gymnasts, sprinters and particularly swimmers. The reason why this particular frame can be regarded as very captivating are 1) it isn't too muscular and 2) it's symmetrically proportional.

Whenever we picture a person such as an Olympian swimmer we think of somebody who actually spends a long time each day, 7 days weekly swimming, performing infinite cardio, perhaps lifting weights eating healthily, etc. Because ninety nine percent of people aren't within this class of the top athlete it's easy to believe developing a swimmers body might be beyond our reach.

How Will You Get A Swimmers Body

May be you are thinking that this answer will be to Begin SWIMMING. Well let me tell you that you don't should jump in a pool and go swimming. You can if you wish to yet it's not necessary.

The secret in attaining this physique is in the kind of exercise sessions you do.

You should transform your physical exercises in the following manner:


•Perform aerobic workouts in short intense intervals.
•Do weight training in lower reps with heavier weight.


The Way Your Cardio Workouts Need To Be Structured

Pick any kind of cardiovascular exercise workout or exercise. That exercise can be swimming, sprinting, stationary bicycle, jump rope, home treadmill, elliptical, it is your choice and it can be any sort of cardiovascular exercise.


•Warm up in a light speed for ten mins
•Perform at the speed about 80 % of your maximum for one minute
•Go slow for just two minutes
•Go fast for one minute
•Slow for 2 minutes


Continue this specific sequence for a total of fifteen minutes then cool off by simply doing cardio at a slow pace for ten to fifteen minutes.

How To Do Resistance Training To Look Like A Swimmer

You can use dumbbells, barbells, free weights, machines, resistance bands, kettlebells, or body weight exercises. Just use the type of work out equipment that you desire. Your exercises really should be short and intense. Do not perform resistance training more than one hour. Your repetitions need to be in the range of four to five reps and four sets for each exercise.

Understanding how to obtain a swimmers body is not so tough and does not require long workout routines. With simply following some tips one can learn to look like an Olympic swimmer and never having to jump in a pool.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Using A Pull Up Bar To Build Upper Body Strength


One of the pieces of equipment that is rarely used in any gym is the pull up bar. Although the pull up bar is not the most popular it really should be. The benefits of pull up bars are many when it comes to developing upper body strength.

Excuses Given For Avoiding Pull Up Bars

So often the excuse that is given for someone avoiding the bar is that it is very difficult performing a single repetition.

A second excuse that is given is that working on back muscles is not too important.

Although it is true that performing one repetition can be difficult at first, the truth is the body adapts very quickly when it is forced to perform pull ups. If you can not perform pull ups you can always do chin ups exercises and develop more strength before doing pull ups.

It Is Important To Work On Your Back

Back muscles are very important in upper body strength and in body achieving upper body symmetry.

Have you ever seen a guy with a big chest but his upper body looked out of proportion? Well it is very likely that his shoulders and back were underdeveloped. Or have you seen a women with a fit lower body but a weak or too small upper body? Well, the back and shoulders were probably underdeveloped.

Having a well developed back gives an appearance of a strong upper body and the body then looks symmetrical.

How Does A Pull Up Bar Develop Upper Body Strength?

Although very often people find it hard to believe, pull ups exercises done on a pull up bar they develop overall upper body strength. As you perform pull ups you are forcing the body to adapt to to lifting heavy weight.

In order to lift the body up different muscles are engaged. Muscles like the biceps are secondary muscles being worked. The fact you are working on your back is also forcing your biceps to get a workout and thus develop more muscle. Another muscle group that is stimulated are the rear delts or rear deloids. This muscle group is part of the shoulders but it is a muscle group that ties in to the back muscles.

As you can see, this exercise gets several muscle groups involved and is in a way a "bigger bang for your buck."

How Often Should You Do Pull Ups?

I recommend doing back exercises once a week. If you want to do them twice in a week you should allow at least 48 hours between back workouts.

Pull ups should be done early in your back workout in order to get the most out of them. You should also do them before doing biceps if you happen to do biceps and back on the same day. If you do biceps before pull ups you will have a hard time lifting your body weight.

The number of repetitions I recommend is anywhere in the range of 8 to 10. If you can't up too high then you can simply do as many as you can even if it is only one or two reps.

So there you have it. Include pull up bar exercises and you will increase your upper body strength.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Should You Do Crunches To Get Six Pack Abs?

Is there a point to doing a lot of crunches if you want to get six pack abs or is it true that you can get a flat stomach by ignoring ab exercises?

Although many people will spend more time doing crunches than any other exercises combined, it is important to know that this might be setting you back. Getting a six pack set of abs has nothing to do with crunches.

The factors you should consider:

1.having a diet low in fat
2.doing weight training
3.doing high intensity type cardio

These three factors are more important than doing crunches or ab work for core strength. The most important factor is eating less fat. Refined sugars and high fat diets will keep you from having ripped abs regardless of how many crunches you do.

Weight training a strong component as it has been shown to burn more calories when combined with cardiovascular exercise. Ideally you want to do weight training with every muscle group. Never neglect one muscle group and give priority to another.

High intensity cardio is the final piece of the puzzle. Sure steady state cardio like a good jog will help but your results will take longer to show. If you want to torch the fat faster than you ever thought possible then the best option is doing short burst of intense cardio, also referred to as interval training. Interval training can be done with any type of cardio workout: swimming, running, jumping rope, skating, you name it.

If you want to do crunches simply do 3 to 4 sets of 12 to 15 repetitions and you will be fine.

So there you have it. That is all it takes to get the six pack abs you have always wanted.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Why You Should Include Deadlifts In Your Workouts

If you have never tried deadlift exercises or are afraid to attempt them because you might get injured you should reconsider. Deadlift exercises should be a staple of your weight lifting workouts.

In order to avoid some of the fears of getting injured your best option is to start with light weight in the beginning and increase the load over time. You never want to start heavy, as this will surely cause injury. By strengthening the lower back area with this exercise you will be preventing future back problems.

Too often people working out will focus much of their attention on either the upper body or the lower body and of course the abs. However, doing deadlifts are very important as they strengthen the lower back area and are also excellent as a total body workout.

Another advantage in using this exercise is the fact that it stimulates muscle growth throughout the body, both the upper and lower. Multi joint workouts help trigger growth hormone and this in turn stimulates muscle growth. Single joint movements like leg extensions and bicep curls or triceps extensions do not offer this added benefit.

As you can see there are great benefits with performing deadlift exercises for lower back including: more muscle growth and the prevention of lower back injuries.

Next time you feel like skipping out on this workout think again. So go ahead and grab that barbell. Your body will thank you in the long run.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Are Resistance Bands As Effective As Weights In Strength Training?


Perhaps you have seen a piece of workout equipment called resistance bands at your local gym while you were busy doing strength training. These colored pieces of elastic tubing are popular among a small group of gym goers but are not as popular as they probably should be.
So is strength training with resistance bands as effective as some people claim they are?
Resistance band training is a good alternative to weights. Although many people think that resistance bands come in only one type of resistance the truth is they come in various.
These bands are colored coded and come in various thickness levels. The thicker a band is the heavier it feels as you pull on them. Using these bands give the same effect as using weights for strength training.

Advantage of Resistance Bands

One primary advantage to using bands is they are not stable. Although this may sound counter intuitive the truth is that this is a benefit as it forces the muscle to work on other muscles that help with stability.
The important thing to focus with strength training is putting muscles in constant tension so that the muscle breaks down and grows again. Resistance bands do exactly this the same way that weights do.
Try it some time and I'm sure you won't regret it.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

How To Use Muscle Confusion Workouts Effectively For Fat Loss And Muscle Gain

The best way to use muscle confusion workouts effectively if you want to burn fat and gain muscle is by using the following steps:

* Change the weight of each exercise with each workout: I am not saying you have to double the weight but simply adding 5 pounds will work wonders.
* Use a new piece of equipment: It is always fun to try a new piece of equipment you have never used. Try barbells, dumbells, or smith machines, nautilus, well you get the picture. Every few workouts use a different piece of equipment.
* Switch up the order of your exercises: if you like to start with triceps pulldowns first then next time put it in the middle of your workout or at the end. Experiment with the order of your exercises.

Change your workouts every 2-3 weeks by making these small adjustments and your plateaus will disappear. If you want to see results apply these steps for muscle confusion and your workouts will find that this is the fastest way to burn fat.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Get Bigger Biceps With These Easy Exercises

If you have been looking for the best biceps exercises here they are:
1. Standing EZ Bar Curls: Grab an EZ bar and hold it with both hands using a palm up grip. Begin with your arms relaxed and extended down. I recommend a shoulder width grip rather than a narrow grip. Bring the arms up slowly and down slowly.
2. Incline Bench Dumbbell Curls: Sit on an incline bench slightly angled from an upright position. Grab a pair of dumbbells and let your arms hang straight down. Perform a biceps curl either one at a time or with both arms at the same time. Squeeze the muscle at the top and lower the weight slowly.
3. Concentration Curls: This exercise is done using one dumbbell at a time. Sit on a bench and have the arm holding the dumbbell rest against the leg. The arm should be hanging down and relaxed. Proceed to curl the dumbbell in a slow and controlled motion.
4. Hammer Strength Curls: This exercise is performed much like a standing dumbbell curl. The difference in this exercise is you will hold the dumbbells with the palms in.
5. Preacher Curls: Use a preacher bench to rest the arms on the padding. Your chest will press up against the padding as you curl the weight. Use a straight bar or an EZ bar.
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