Golden days of bodybuilding: Steve Reeves

Golden days of bodybuilding are a new series where we take a look back at the who’s who of bodybuilding and reliving the golden days of bodybuilding which inspires and educated us. The training, era, diet and controversies and the trump.

Steve Reeves is not only a legend in bodybuilding but also a great ambassador for the sport of bodybuilding. He inspired millions of people to train and body build, he also paved way for future bodybuilding legends and opened doors and mind into training the bodybuilding way. Steve reeves workout, Steve reeves diet and his movies are in demand to this day.

Steve Reeves was an ex-Army man, who was also Mr. America 1947 and Mr. Universe 1950. He represented the Apollonian physique, he was chiseled like a Greek statue. He could just walk down the beach and make jaws drop in disbelief. He inspired many future champions and actors like frank Zane and Sylvester Stallone.

Steve reeves believed training no more than 3 to 4 days a week and believed in rest and recuperation. He didn't believe in high protein diet. He believed in setting up goals and making sure achieving them no matter what! He did lot of super sets and trained opposing muscles for great pump and maintain the workout intensity.Please also visit my YouTube Channel to see previous videos on these great champions. 

After becoming a legend in bodybuilding he ventured into movies, he did Tarzan movies and starred in Hercules unchained. He did turn down the role of playing James Bond in the movie Dr. No and A fist full of dollars.

He was a true legend and bodybuilding icon from the golden days of bodybuilding. 

Strategically losing weight without dieting hard

Dieting hard is surely one of the ways to losing weight but let’s not forget that’s not the only way! You can lose weight by strategically planning and then most importantly executing it. We all are not the same; some people are able to go through the grind and most are not! Here are few strategies to lose weight without dieting hard.

Don’t be on a crash diet

You don’t need to crash diet and do some drastic changes in your dietary habit instantly, as it might cause more harm than good. Crash dieting is extremely harmful on one’s health and can reverse the weight loss when you’re off the extreme dieting, thus brings you back to the same point where you started from.

Set short term goals and Stay committed

The most important thing is placing you to succeed and setting up short term goals and then see them through by being committed. Commitment is the biggest challenge that people face when they are dieting for weight loss or on a weight training program. When you have a proper plan, you envision things clearly and you know where to reach and how. By having short term goal, it’s easier to see progress and results on a regular basic and you are able to figure out whether the things are going your way or are you falling behind.

Plan and prepare your meals

Planning what to eat and preparing meals for days ahead is not only good but an excellent way to stay away from eating at café’s and dinners. This eliminates one from eating junk food and is not hard on your wallet too. By doing the above you can eat healthy food, eat on time and save money.

Eat small meals and Track your Macro’s

It’s always better to eat 4 to five meals a day rather than 2 or 3 heavy meals. It helps you in increasing your metabolism which is vital in burning fat and thus helps in shedding weight. I suggest having 3 to 4 meals and 1 or 2 snacks; this will help your body to breakdown the food quickly and release energy quickly compared to that of large meals. Take advantage of technology and use fitness Apps, like myfitnesspal to track your macros.

Stay Hydrated and eat super food

Water is not only essential to stay hydrated but also helps a great deal in losing weight and maintaining a slim waist. Drink at least 2 to 3 gallons of water a day, certainly it takes a bit of time if you are not used to drinking so much water.eat lots of super food, they are rich in vitamins and nutrients needed to fuel and strengthen your body. Some of the super foods are Kale, salmon and Blueberries.

Cut down on sugar and do Cardio

Last but not the least cut down on sugar and do cardio at least 2 to 3 days a week. If you are into any sport, it’s icing on the cake as staying active burns more calories especially if you are playing a sport.

You can check out my YouTube channel for training videos or email me for training tips.

Should We Watch Crossfit Games

Should we watch crossfit Games? Hell yes! Crossfit has become a global sensation since its inception. I think most of us would have heard the word crossfit at least, if not familiar with it. Well it’s a sport, yes sport which has a global audience and is quickly becoming new means of becoming fit.

Crossfit is a principal strength and conditioning program designed to achieve optimal physical health and fit body. It involves Olympic style of lifting and gymnastics, snatch, deadlifts, clean and jerk are done on a regular basis. Their following and audience is growing in large number every year and has become a hit thing among the general public who wants to get in shape.

Why do they have so much of following is the question I suppose? Well the answer is pretty simple. The physique displayed by these top crossfit athletes are not only outstanding but also gives the general public an opinion that these physique can be achieved by doing crossfit and one need not necessarily be an athlete.

Crossfit has a huge audience and the athletes entering the preliminaries can be close to approximately 200,000 people. It’s a sporting event which takes weeks together to finish and is more like a fitness festival. You get to see some great events and fierce competition, also comradery which is something good. It’s a televised sport and also one can watch it on YouTube. Everyone sports a six packs and fit body, many number of women take part in the competition and they are equally strong. Women in crossfit are stronger than average man and give men run for their money in the competition.

There will be records broken and some great performances and there will also be some surprising elements in the contest, overall its great entertainment and an event not to be missed. 

Fitness at 40 to 60 and beyond

Fitness at 40 is something very easily achievable, of course when I say easy it does include dedication, desire and commitment. We all know the importance of being fit and leading a healthy lifestyle. Most teenagers can get away with a bad lifestyle and skipping exercising or following a rigors training routine. It becomes a totally different ball game when we are 40 and above, we don’t have the same stamina and strength when you are turning old.

I often here the phrase “over the hill” , well let me tell you , there is no such thing as over the hill when you are 40 to 50 year range at least. Yes, you will have to work extra hard, be committed to a training and nutritional program. But I don’t see that as a problem when you are goal oriented and driven to be in best shape possible and be healthy. The only challenge I see is staying focused and being on track despite your busy schedule. That’s where time management and HIT style for training comes into picture.

Surely you can’t train on HIT system like a 20 or 24 year old as it will be very taxing, but HIT training program has to be tailored according to your needs and schedule. I do train my clients on HIT system and tailor it accordingly. You can check out my YouTube channel for training videos or email me for training tips. Now as I was saying there are certain things which change in our body as we grow old, those are metabolism, energy levels, bone density, flexibility are some of them. The metabolism starts to slow down as we age and hence we tend to hold more fat compared to that of 24 year old person. Higher the metabolic rate the more fat you burn.

Most importantly we are more prone to injuries as we grow old than compared to that of when we were young. So training around injuries and train injury free are most important. This is where dieting, training and supplementation come into picture. As long as one takes care of these three components, you can achieve Fitness at 40 to 60 and beyond. 

Can Bodybuilding be a Mainstream Sport?

I am huge bodybuilding fan and one question on everybody’s mind is Can Bodybuilding be a Mainstream Sport? Many people put in lot of effort to bring this sport of bodybuilding to where it is today. Right from Joe weider to Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Joe as we all know, put bodybuilding in the magazines to videos, stage shows, you name it and he did it. Yes, he made fortune out of it, who wouldn't? Why shouldn't one? He inspired many legendary bodybuilders from Larry Scott to Arnold, Reg Park and gave them an opportunity to have money, fame and stardom.

Arnold did the same, be it through his movies, seminars or even the Arnold classic show. Arnold Classic is the second best and popular show next to Mr. Olympia. Joe weider and Arnold Schwarzenegger did everything to bring the sport of bodybuilding from a sub-culture to an almost mainstream sport.

In the 90’s, bodybuilding shows were live on ESPN and even there was a show called “American Muscle”. But unfortunately, bodybuilding took a different route and there were drug problem. They started to reward the mass monsters over the Aesthetic physiques. Instead of rewarding physiques like Frank Zane and Francis benfatto the shows started to be more inclined towards mass monsters.

A 270 or 280 pounds bodybuilder can’t impress an aspiring bodybuilder or a teen bodybuilder compared to that of a Zane kind of physique, it’s a work of art. One of the major reasons why bodybuilding hasn’t become a mainstream sport is because the mass monsters don’t appeal to general public. They know they can’t look like that until unless they have the genetics and do other “other stuff” what they have to do to get there, they will never look like that!

Mr Olympia 2015

Mr Olympia 2015 predictions, I believe there will be a major upset in this year’s Mr Olympia. Kai Greene will take away the title from Phil heath. Kai has paid his dues and truly deserves the title; I hope we will have a break in the Mr. Olympia pattern where someone wins the title 4 times, 6 times in a row and a new champion will be crowned in the sport of bodybuilding.

My pick for top five are:

1. kai greene

2. phil heath

3. shawn rhoden

4. dexter jackson 

5. Dennis Wolf       

Z Press

Z Press is performed by sitting flat on the floor and knee has to be kept straight; you need trunk strength to perform this exercise. It improves flexor mobility and strengthens lumbar spine. It’s performed in the same fashion as that of overhead press but legs are taken out of the equation. It helps with overcoming overhead press plateau and builds triceps strength. It’s a hard exercise but a very effective one.   

   

Please let me know whether you do Z Press exercise? If so, please share your experience and how beneficial this exercise has been to you?

If you like this video Please share, subscribe and like the video. I would love to hear your feedback and point of view on this topic.

Workout Routines and Back Development

Workout Routines and Back Development!First of all, I want to thank all of my subscribers, viewers, Google+ friends and my fellow youtubers who have constantly supported me and motivated me. My channel has got 100 subscribers recently which wouldn't have been possible without all you support.

I have been working on back thickness and more detail on the back muscle. I wanted to share the progress and see what I can achieve in the coming weeks.

If you like this video Please share, subscribe and like the video. I would love to hear your feedback.