Muscle Memory

Muscle memory is one of the best assets very top athlete possesses. Please don’t mistake this to be some form of memory stored in your muscles but rather is something which is stored in your brain. The muscle memory is developed through constant repetitive activity be it like endless amount of time spent in the gym training each part of your body or practicing the perfect swing of the club for golf it all contributes to muscle memory.

 Muscle memory more like a procedural memory developed due to repetitive moment, but the down side of this if one practices an incorrect move repetitively be it an incorrect form in exercising a specific muscle group the mind registers it and cannot differentiate between a correct form and an incorrect one. Muscle memory forms an integral part in one’s life as we need this right from riding bicycle to weight training to typing on key board. Have you ever wondered how these elite level athletes are able to get in shape compared to that of the general public? That’s because they spent years training and perfecting their body and skill, when they begin training again from a long break they retain the muscles or are able to stimulate muscle growth quickly compared to others. It’s all because of muscle memory, that’s why I say one should not only quantity but also “quality of the quantity”.

8 weeks body transformation challenge

8 weeks body transformation challenge

8 weeks body transformation challenge

High Intensity Training (HIT) Explained

High intensity training is one of the best method’s to put on quality muscle mass and definition, if not the best. It was found by Arthur Jones who experimented with this form of training with top bodybuilders of the era. He was the inventor of the Nautilus; many well know bodybuilders trained under his guidance like Casey Viator, mike mentzer and Ray Mentzer. It was Mike Mentzer who popularized this form of training and added his own observation to the HIT theory and perfected it.  Mike advocated and trained his clients no more than 7-9 sets per workout and further reduced the training by reducing the number days trained per week; 3 days per week sometimes even less depending on the gains. Mike advocated HIT training a lot and held many seminars’s and shot training videos. The man who took the HIT method to the top and revolutionized the sport of bodybuilding was Dorian Yates. 6 consecutive times Mr. Olympia and a big follower of HIT method.

The principle of this training method was that one should train brief, infrequent and with all intensity. It was believed that training with high intensity and to a point where it would create muscular failure momentarily yielded great gains and results. Since its intensity which is the key in this form of training, the training volume and duration of training is very brief compared to traditional volume training where one performs numerous sets and repetitions with low intensity. We all know that training stimulates muscle growth by recruiting new muscle fibers but rest and nutrition is what makes them grow. Adequate rest has to be provided for the body to heal and grow and endure the taxing from next intense workout. Hence a great emphasis is placed on rest and recuperation.

A typical HIT Workout can be like focusing one single muscle group to may be a minor muscle group in addition, like Back with Biceps. Again a great emphasis is placed on form and technique as it’s just not moving weights but lifting with perfect form and in slow and controlled fashion rather than jerking the weight. I strongly believe one should be training no more than 45 minutes, if they are aiming to build quality muscle mass naturally. We all more or less have access to same nutritional information but what separate us are the training methods to some degree and most importantly the intensity. Try High Intensity Training for good 4-6 months and see the results.

Steroids In 60’s To Present Day

Like it or not steroids has been a big part of bodybuilding culture, but steroid use was nothing in 60’s and 70’s compared to today. 60’s and 70’s produced classic physiques like John Grimek, Steve Reeves, Clancy Ross and George Eiferman who embodied not only ascetic bodies but were also very strong men. They had more of compound exercises and weight lifting routines in their workout program and less or no steroids compared to today’s standard.

The 70’s was the peak of bodybuilding with greats like Bill Pearl, Larry Scott, Dave Draper, Reg Park, Sergio Oliva, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, Frank Zane, Franco Columbu and Ken Waller and many more. Each one of them had unique physique and had their own trade mark when it came to standing out on a competition stage. Even though it was the Austrian Oak who put bodybuilding on the map through his awesome personality and extraordinary achievements, each one of these other legends have contributed and paved way for bodybuilding to be in the mainstream. The era was more of hard work and toil in the gym to create these awesome physiques rather than become chemical infected bloated bodies.

The steroids available during 60’s and 70’s was dosage of D-Bol , deca , Androl, Anavar and Winstrol. The pro’s then were probably cycling once in two years or a year at the most. Contrary to today where pro’s hardly get of the cycle. Today’s pro’s have access to and use TEST,D--Bol , deca , Androl, Anavar and Winstrol, IU's, HALOTESTIN, ARIMIDEX, CYTOMEL, Growth Hormone and Insulin and whole lot of other stuff.

This is the main reason you see the difference is physique and difference in weight to a great degree. Arnold weighed around 225 – 235 pounds for competition, where as when you see guys like Ronnie Coleman outweighs Arnold by 60- 70 pounds. The reason for this no big secret it’s because of the evolution of Steroids. 

The sport which embodied Greek God Physique has been reduced to mere competition of being the biggest mass monster. The pro’s cannot be blamed to as at the end of the day its business and many support their living by pro bodybuilders so they need to go with the flow.

History and Evolution of World’s Strongest Man

World’s strongest man or WSM events are not only highly entertaining but also create awe; as to what human body is capable of doing. The event in which we mortal humans perform superhuman tasks, be it dead lifting 900 pounds or pulling a truck or airplane. The first WSM was developed in the year 1977 by David Webster and his role was taken over by Dr Douglas Edmund  both of whom were responsible for organizing the events and arranging competitors.

Competitors were invited from various disciplines ranging from bodybuilding, power lifting and other heavy events like Highland games. Eight men competed in this unique sport with different events emphasizing brute strength (static events) and cardio conditioning (moving heavy objects from point A to B in stipulated time). The sport was a unique blend of strength and athleticism, even though foundation of the sport remain emphasized the same but new events were always introduced to make the WSM challenging and very interesting. 

Some of the events in WSM are loading Race, Atlas stones, truck and airplane Pull, overhead press, fingal Fingers, Power stairs, car carry, Hercules hold and farmer’s walk. Now coming to the some of the strongest men in the history of WSM were Jon Pall Sigmarsson, Svend Karlsen, Mariusz Pudzianowski, Jouko Ahola, Magnus ver Magnusson and bill kazmaier.

 Winners of WSM:

Mariusz Pudzianowski - 5 WSM Titles

Jon Pall Sigmarsson - 4 WSM Titles

Bill kazmaier - 3 WSM Titles

Magnus ver Magnusson - 4 WSM Titles

Jouko Ahola - 2 WSM Titles

Geoff Capes - 2 WSM Titles.

My personal favorite strongman was always Jon Pall Sigmarsson, one of the strongest man pound for pound and a great person.  

Execution of 360 Degree Kick

The 360 Kick is a very Famous Martial arts Move. It’s a vital aspect of many forms of martial arts like taekwondo. A 360 kick sometimes is also referred as Jump spin kick. This Kick was very popularized by martial arts movie legend Jean Claude Van damme aka JCVD. Many of his movies demonstrate this Kick to great effect adding to stunning visual effect it has on screen. 

Michael Jai White is one of the best Martial artists in the movie business, watch “Universal soldier The Return” and you will see one of these kicks. In a real life scenario may be like in street fights these elaborate moves aren’t required and have a limited application due to the space constraints and the hard surface. But yes over all it helps one’s balance, co-ordination and dexterity. But yes a highly skilled taekwondo practitioner can use it anywhere.  

Diet and preparation for marathoners

The great thing about marathon is it’s not only a physical endurance test but also a test of your mental toughness. Less than 1 % of the people in the world are able to do well in marathon and finish it, so you are already a winner if you are able to finish the full marathon. The preparation can be broken down into two aspects that are diet and training.

When it comes to diet make sure you eat quality protein and a combination of raw vegetables and fruits. Do eat salads and grains which is very beneficial for training. If you are a vegetarian then you could use soya and whey as a replacement for animal protein. I would suggest increasing the ratio of the carbohydrate compared to that of protein and fats. Say, 70% of carbohydrate, 25% of protein and 5% of fat.

                                         

Ideal food runners to eat would be pasta that will take the number one spot. Pasta is a starchy carbohydrate which releases energy slowly and is low glycemic index is also beneficial for people with diabetes. Fish is an excellent source of lean protein especially salmon which is the king of fish.  Eggs are another excellent source of protein which should be the staple source of protein for any athlete. Fruits like orange and apple can be added to the list. Broccoli, spinach, dark green cabbage, peppers and sweet potatoes can also fit in the long and important list of nutritional requirements of a distance runner.

Training is the something which people find most difficult to adhere too. Now it’s vital to condition one's mind to run distance as it’s the body that gives away first so if you train your body to listen to your mind rather than the mind listening to the body, then anything can be accomplished.

Running three to four times per week on an average is a good away to build endurance and avoid the injuries most common to first-time marathoners. Then progressively run up to 30 miles per week, I would suggest you to schedule you plan for 16 weeks so that by the 16^th week you are ready and are equipped with stamina and the conditioning to finish a full marathon without a hindrance. As a final note planning and rest and recuperation is also critical.               

Yoga for bodybuilding and martial arts

Yoga is a holistic approach of uniting one's body, mind and spirit. It also means union with god and letting go of one's ego, but that’s on a philosophical note. I would like to say yoga is a beautiful combination of art and science. It’s science, because it teaches you the methods to control body and mind. It becomes an art when it’s practiced spontaneously. However at this point we focus on hatha yoga, which are bodily postures. Hatha Yoga is about mastering the energy in the body and focuses on health and purifying the body. Its world renowned, that yoga has numerous health benefits and helps relax from stress and rigors of life. 

Hatha yoga is like the yin-yang, which is always opposing energies like the fire and water. It teaches the practitioner to balance the mind and body through body postures also known as 'asanas'. These asana’s teaches us poise, balance and strength. Hatha yoga has six limbs which are asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, Samadhi. You can find numerous articles on these postures by the yoga experts on the web. My emphasis of this article is to add yoga to your arsenal, be it in body building or martial arts to reap benefits and excel.

Yoga can be utilized in bodybuilding and martial arts specially to prevent injuries and to help quicker recuperation from your workout fatigue. Yoga stretches are apt for muscle groups that don’t respond to weight training exercises. It helps strengthen tendons and thus helps in expanding its reflex threshold which otherwise contracts and leads to injury. Yoga helps you not only to build abdominal muscles but also helps in having great control over your body which is quite essential in posing. Certain poses like legs up the wall can relieve chronic soreness experienced post lifting heavy weights. Virasana, aids knee joints.

As for martial arts, yoga can be very beneficial in terms of flexibility needed to do the high leaps, kicks and to help dexterity. It is very efficient for grappling and strengthening ligaments and tendons. Apart from helping in physical combat its greater benefit lie’s in mental warfare. Stress situation will be at its peak in a fight if you don’t know how to control and calm down, be it in a combat sport or a street fight situation Yoga helps you to focus more and controls the body’s reaction to stress. 

Here is a best yoga mat i use with thick high density and anti- tear. http://amzn.to/2rhr93T

Tribute to Bruce Lee

Today is Bruce Lee’s death anniversary, even though the cause of his death is unclear and has various interpretations to it; what really is fascinating is the way Bruce lived his life. Bruce conquered the whole world with his charisma and his martial arts skills. He was not only a great martial artist but also was a philosopher. He was an actor, director, writer, author and choreographer, most of all he was a perfectionist.

Few of the famous quotes of  Bruce lee:

“Empty your mind; be formless, shapeless – like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, and it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”

“It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.”

“To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.”

Bruce lee formed JKD or Jeet Kun Do, which has very direct and non classical moments. He also referred it as style without style or “the art of fighting without fighting”. Bruce lee is the pioneer of mixed martial arts and he showed the world not to be rigid with one style or form but to be open and use whatever is useful and let go of things which are not. Bruce lee’s approach towards training and an unparalleled skill and proficiency in martial arts resulted in creation of one of the best physique’s world has ever seen, not only was it good but also strong. He was able to perform super human feats such as two finger push-ups, and one-inch punch. These feats are yet to be equaled.

-Bruce's striking speed from 3 feet away was five hundredths of a second.

-Bruce could throw grains of rice up into the air and then catch them in mid-flight using chopsticks.

-Bruce did press ups using only 2 fingers.

-Bruce could thrust his fingers through unopened cans of Coca-Cola. (This was when soft drinks cans were made of steel much thicker than today's aluminum cans).

-Bruce was able to explode 100lb bags with a simple sidekick.

-Bruce would ride for 45 minutes (10 Miles) on a stationary bike.

He was the first to bring kung fu and JKD skills and philosophy on screen without any aid of special effects. He paved way for future action super stars like Jackie Chan, Jet lee, Jean Claude van damme and many more. Bruce not only influenced martial artists but also people from all walks of life. He was, is and always will be an inspiration for millions of fans around the world.

Flab to 6 Pack Abs

Well summers here and it’s time to get ripped and flaunt your six packs! The most desired body part that people want to have is the washboard six pack abs. Most of the people are relatively able to achieve a toned body with hard work and Dedication, however fail to achieve the six pack abs.

Now what is so elusive about six pack abs? The fact of the matter is people lack the understanding of training and most importantly the nutrition to achieve wash board abs. I don’t want to tell you people that it’s 80 percent diet and 20 percent training and stuff like that, its like “train diligently and diet religiously”. Well that being said I am not advising to do endless sit-ups or starve you to Death. The key to getting a toned body with a six pack is real simple, it takes three things:

1. Diet.

2. Cardio.

3. Weight Training.

Diet:

Try to eat as clean as possible, as in quality over quantity. Try to eat small but frequent meals, say 5 meals a day. Now that kicks your metabolism and the greater the metabolism the more fat your burn. You need to tailor your nutrition plan in such a way that you get a combination of protein, fat and carbs at each meal. Consumption of carbs has to be moderate, stick to complex carbs and foods like brown rice, yams and fruits and vegetables they are great source of energy. Stay away from bread, pasta and cookies, you need to lower your fat intake however you can add olive oil and salmon as a source to get fat into your nutrition. When it comes to proteins stick to lean protein source such as chicken, tuna and egg whites. Another important thing is to drink lots of water, I suggest at least one gallon of water a day. I don’t want to suggest any supplements, as I feel that until unless you are a competitive bodybuilder you don’t require any supplements.

Cardio:

The most important thing to get a six pack is to have a low body fat, which means you have to do lots of cardio vascular workouts to shed the excess baggage you’re carrying. Your body fat percentage needs to be somewhere around 6 to 8 percent to your abs to be visible or else all the hard training and the time spent in quest of six packs goes in vain. Choose your way of getting your cardio vascular workout, be it running on a treadmill or cycling, stair master etc. I suggest you people to do 2 to 3 times a week of cardio.  You can refer to my article “ABC of Getting Ripped”.

Weight training:

Well, all I want to emphasis in regards to training with weights is to maintain proper form when lifting weights and feel each rep and each set. Use relatively few exercises, use exercises which work for you and forget the rest of the exercises. Knowing what works for your body and what doesn’t is very important. Most importantly consistence is the key in training along with dedication. You can find tons of workout articles online to suit your needs.

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Fit at 50

Fitness is an ongoing process which requires lots of dedication and discipline. This article is dedicated to top five people who are fit despite being fifty and symbolize the physical culture. The kind of drive required to be in top shape at fifty is no joke, one needs to focus on lots of areas like weight training ,cardio and nutrition; figuring a way to work around injuries or at least not to trigger an old injury. The top five fit celebrities on my list are Jackie Chan, Jean Claude Van Damme, Sylvester Stallone, Dolph lundgren and Madonna.

Jackie Chan needs no introduction; he’s a stuntman, actor, director and action choreographer. Jackie is known for his breath taking action and stunt sequences, the nature of his stunts are so dangerous that no insurance company insures him in movies in which he performs his own stunts. Jackie has been injured numerous times while performing stunts; he almost died while filming armour of god he fell from a tree and fractured his skull. Jackie has a back ground in martial arts, acrobatics and ballet. He always emphasizes on exercising everyday and working on flexibility. He’s mantra of fitness is more of rigors and regular exercise rather than too much focus on dieting. According to Jackie boxing is one of the best ways to get in shape and can be a great stress buster. Jackie still continues to do death defining stunts and is in top shape for a 57 year old.

Known as the “muscles from Brussels” Jean Claude van damme aka JCVD, started martial arts from the age of ten. His styles consist of kick boxing, Muay Thai, shotokan karate and taekwondo. While studying martial arts and ballet van damme added weight training to his regime. In many of his movies he displaces his perfect physique and flexibility, thus ruling out the theory of weight training make’s one muscle bound. Now 50, van damme looks 10 years younger than what he is and his physique gets better and better day by day. He still can do the famous 360 degree helicopter kick and the splits he’s know for, he’s scheduled to fight Olympic gold medalist Khamsing who’s 38 years old. The fight is rumored to take place in Bangkok; it will be a Muay Thai fight.

Sylvester Stallone aka Sly is an inspiration both in the world of fitness and movie making. He is a classic example to prove what can be accomplished with sheer determination and hard work. Bodybuilding god Arnold Schwarzenegger once quoted “Sly has awesome will power”. Sly has a physique that can easy put a 25 year old to shame; he has had his fair share of injuries from his incredible physical pursuits. While filming training scenes for the movie rocky 4 sly had tore his pectoralis resulting in four hour operation. Sly has displayed great physique in his movies like Rambo, rocky and specialist. Sly always had an apollonian physique, no wonder he was inspired to take up weight training after watching “Hercules in chains” starring Steve reeves. Sly is in incredible shape for a 65 year old and is currently training for the movie expendables 2. 

  

Dolph lundgren is a Swedish actor, director and martial artist. He holds a 3^rd Dan black belt in kyokushin karate and was European champion in 1980 and 1981. His breakthrough in movies came when he starred in rocky 4, co-starring as villain with Sylvester Stallone. Dolph is very similar to van damme in terms of martial artist turning into action super star however Dolph is a huge guy towering at 6’5’’ and weighs anywhere from 225 to 240 pounds. His awesome physique can be seen in movies like rocky 4, he-man and universal soldier co-starring with van damme. Dolph follows straight weight training routine with martial arts training.

Madonna the pop icon, actress and entrepreneur she’s also know for her incredible passion for fitness besides her super music career. While age is catching up with her, she takes pride in keeping herself in top fitness condition. She practices ashtanga yoga, which is very intense form of yoga that build’s great cardio and helps to retain muscle. She also does karate, running, cycling and occasionally horse riding. Her lifelong commitment to health and fitness is commendable job and at 53 years of age she is an inspiration to many women.