Category Archives: Bodybuilding

Training and exercise

Tony Hortons very effective Body weight conditioning and muscle building Workout

The idea of going shirtlesson any occasion can sendguys rushingto the gym to squeeze in as many last-minute workoutsas possible. But that plan isnt always the most efficientroute to take.To get you in the best shape of your life,we picked the brain of Tony Horton, the mastermind behind P90X Opens a New Window. .

The point that I like to stress with this workout is that you can do this anywhere, says Horton. He addsyou dont need to go to the gym, use equipment, or get help from a trainer.You need an imagination. If you dont have an imagination if youre not a human, if youre not near earth, and there is no gravity where you are you cannot do that routine. But if any of those things are in play, you have no excuses.

Hortonprefers doing three to sixrounds of the following exercises, never repeating the same movetwice.Here, hewalks us throughhis Simple 4, a.k.a. the No Excuses Workout, tohelp youget thebodyyou wantyear-round.

RELATED: The 30-Minute Bodyweight Workout

Tony Hortons Simple 4

Three rounds is 12 exercises. It can happen in less than 20 minutes pretty easily. You go through all four, you take a short 30 second to 1-minute break, do the next four, and then you get that break, and then the next four. And then you do sixrounds that thing will last you 50 minutes if you want to do it.

Move #1: Push-ups
Take a push-upthat you can do. Do as many as you can with good form wide, narrow, feet apart, feet together, with one arm, plyometric, spinning, I dont care what it is. Just do something where you are on the deck and off your knees. Say youve got 100 pounds to lose and youve been doing push-ups on your knees forever: Get off your knees and get in a plank and hold the plank. Do little 1-inch push-ups or half-inch push-ups just something where you are forced to engage your stomach and core. You cant do that on your knees. You eliminate a critical part of the exercise. So anybody and everybody, regardless of their level, get down on the deck and do as many as you can until they get ugly.

RELATED: The Proven Way to Lose Your Gut

Move #2: Cardio
Your next move is something cardio in-place. You can do jumping jacks, you can run in place, you can march in place, you can throw punches and kicks. Whatever you want to do. Free-form it, change it up, I dont care. Everybody knows what a jumping jack and running-in-place looks like. Everybody knows what simulated jump-roping looks like. And then you can throw punches or kicks and knees if youre a mixed martial arts background for instance. Do that for 60 seconds. If you have the option to create on the spot, as long as youre working hard, thats money. And that really opens it up to a lot of people as opposed to me telling you, OK. You can do a military push-up. Go all the way down. And a lot of people cant do it, so you give them an option to do whatever they want to do.

Move #3: Legs
Youve done your upper, cardio, and now you have to do your legs. You can do walking lunges, forward lunges, step-back lunges, skipping lunges, plyometric lunges, squats. You can do isometric chair against the wall. You can do a leg raise, wall squats, you can do side lunges. I dont care, but whatever you do, the idea here with the leg exercise, which is different than the cardio exercise, is this is more muscle improvement. So with cardio, youre not jumping up and youre not going down. Youre up on your feet and youre moving its more heart and lung. Now you are going to get deeper into it with some leg movements. And you want your lunges to be deep, your squatsto be deep, and you want to be somewhere between 20 and 40 repetitions depending on the individual.

Move #4: Abs/core
Your last move is your absorcoremove. And you can do crunches,scissors, and isometric forearm planks, whatever. You can do a boat pose. You can do anything where you are either on your back, on your butt, or on your front side or belly. Typically, if youre going to do an isometric on your forearm or plank-type movement, try to hang in there for 45 to 60 seconds. If youre going to do something on your back or your butt where youre doing crunches or you are doing sit-ups or crunches or scissors or flutter-kicks, you want to get somewhere between the 20- and 40-rep range. Everybody is different. Some people are going to burn out right at 20. Some are going to go all the way to 40.

RELATED: 100 Ways to Live to 100

How Horton Does It:
Whenever I do this Simple 4, I never repeat the same exercise twice.The first time, Ill do military, second time Ill do wide push-ups, third time Ill do side-to-side plyometrics. I usually like the third round the hardest. And the same thing: The first round, Ill do standard jumping jacks, mellow. Then the second time around, Ill sprint in place and get my heart rate up. And the third round, Ill do jab-cross-downstrike sprawls, so Ill get pretty heavy into the martial arts on the third round of cardio.

And on the leg stuff, Ill start out with basic deep squats. And maybe the second round, Ill go to plyometric lunges. On the third round, Ill do full single-leg deep jump squats, and thats really only on one leg, so its, like, 10 or 15 on one leg, 10 or 15 on the other leg. So Im always turning up the volume with every one. And then once you do that for about three or fourweeks, then you go to fourrounds, then you go to fiverounds, then go to sixrounds. You do sixrounds of that, and youll get the best workout of your life.

How to Build Strong, Heroic Pecs!

Do you know what is quite likely the easiest muscle group inyour body to bulk up? The one you can attack from at least a dozen differentangles? The one that responds very quickly (and grows very fast) ifyou train it just right?Aw, you guessed it it is, of course, the featured muscle group ofthis blog post column: your pecsthe muscles that make up your chest,which include the pectoralis major, pectoralis minor, subclavius, and serratusanterior. Continue reading How to Build Strong, Heroic Pecs!

10 Tried and True Fundamentals of Building a Better Body

Do you remember what it was like when you first began your weight training? Do you remember looking for info in all the wrong places? Or reading the entire body of weightlifting mags and looking for some clarity, hoping someone or something would say, Here is the way to physical perfection? No such luck, right? There was about as much chance of finding a common thread of knowledge in the bodybuilding magazines as there are politicians who tell the truth. People in the gym werent much help, either, were they? You might have gravitated to the biggest guy in the gym for advice, the guy who looked like he just walked off the set of Quest for Fire, but most of his progress was the result of pharmaceutical experiments so radical theyd make Mr. Hyde run screaming into the streets of London. As the years passed, you learned a lot through trial and error, and you probably made progress, despite all the conflicting messages in the mags and on the street. We like to think with the birth of the internet, the heavy oak door of confusion has been pushed open wide enough to let at least a beam of light come shining through. Continue reading 10 Tried and True Fundamentals of Building a Better Body

How to gain muscle faster with ‘time under tension’ training guest blogge Jeremey DuVall, M.S., C.P.T.

Feeling stuck at the gym? Try this muscle-pumping method to stimulate new growth.

The average gym-going guy looking to build some muscle and size probably does 3-4 sets of anywhere from 6-10 reps. Thats a pretty large range for a workout, even before you consider factors like how fast or how intensely you’re lifting. By focusing on timed sets rather than hitting a specific number of reps, you can directly influence the intensity of the set and spur huge gains in size and strength. Continue reading How to gain muscle faster with ‘time under tension’ training guest blogge Jeremey DuVall, M.S., C.P.T.

The Invention of the Battle Ropes and the TRX Suspension trainer

How did the TRX suspension trainer come about??? The suspension TRX trainer was created by the Navy SEALs and since adopted by premier athletes across the globe, TRX is scientifically proven to improve total-body strength, stability, and even cardiovascular health. Since day one, TRX has empowered people of all kinds to be their best selves, never limited by constraints of time, place, or physical ability. Continue reading The Invention of the Battle Ropes and the TRX Suspension trainer

Physical Transformation of Bruce Randell

mr-universe-bruce-randall

Mr. Universe Bruce Randall (IGaS 11/4/59, 1 of 3)

Mr. Universe 1959 Bruce Randall amazing body transformations

 

The transformation story of Mr. Universe Bruce Randall is not a new one. As you can see by the footage supplied that this transformation took place back in 1959.

Here below is everything you need to know about Bruce Randall.

 

  • Born August 17, 1931, died August 23, 2010.
  • Started weight training at age 21.
  • His height is 6ft 2in.
  • His first interest was weight lifting not bodybuilding.
  • Through extreme training and diet (he drank 12-14 quarts of milk a day), in quest to lift the heaviest weight possible, he bulked up to 425 lbswith a 64 inch-waist.
  • He found out that his squat and overall strength were largely affected by his bodyweight. At a bodyweight of 380 lbs he was able to squat 680 lbs (no belt-no suit-no wraps real squat).
  • On January 3, 1953, he weighed 203 pounds.
  • On August 2, 1955, he weighed 401 poundsin his tee-shirt, slacks and loafers.
  • By March 20th, 1956, he found himself down to a svelte 183 pounds. This was a weight loss of 218 pounds in only 32 weeks(8 months).
  • Went up to 223 pounds to win Mr. Universe 1959.
  • He said that if he wanted to gain again he could weigh 500 lbs in 18 months time. He feel that at 500 lbs he could have deadlift 1,000 pounds.

By the time his weight hit 380 pounds, Bruce was pushing the following weight:

  • Military Press 375 pounds
  • Squat 680 pounds
  • Good Morning 685 pounds (Bent knees, back parallel to the floor)
  • Deadlift 770 pounds
  • Barbell Curl 228 pounds
  • Dumbbell Bench Press 220 pound dumbbells x 2 reps
  • Bench Press 482 pounds (with a 3 second pause on the chest)
  • Decline Dumbbell Bench Press 220 pound dumbbells x one rep
  • Front Squat 1,320 pounds

But he looked upon himself as a big“bulk of rock”and his barbells and dumbbells were his“hammer and chisel”as though he were a sculptor.

Bodybuilding Titles

Mr America – AAU, 13th

1957

Mr America – AAU, 6th

1958

Universe – Pro – NABBA, Tall, 2nd

1959

Universe – Pro – NABBA, Tall, 1st
Universe – Pro – NABBA,Overall Winner

No gastric bypass surgery, no lipo, no fat burners

In resume:

  • Bruce Randall wents from 203 lbs to 425 lbs in 2 1/2 years.
  • Dropped 218 pounds in 8 months.
  • 4 years after being a 400-pounder, he won Mr. Universe 1959 while weighing 223 pounds.

 

Bruce Randall vs.PYGOD

Just like mister Randall, I understood that the heavier you get the stronger you will become. I aimed to be a 500-pound version ofMark Henry. Nothing less!

Well, mister Randall bulked up a lot faster and fatter than me. It took me 5 years to bulk-up to 285 pounds from 159 pounds. I’ve gained 126 lbs in 5 years while he gained 200 lbs in 2 1/2 years.

Mister Randall dropped a record 218 pounds in 8 months!!!
Yours truly needed over a year to lost 100 pounds.

As we both can attest,bulking up is a lot harder than cutting down.

Unlike me, mister Randall stated that he was confortable carrying 400 pounds around. While at 325 pounds I felt like shit!! I felt heavy, breathless, bloated from too much forced feeding. I had gastric reflux, seemed intolerant to everything (lactose, fructose, food in general). I was sick and tired of overfeeding myself!! I was suffering from heel ailments (pine de Lenoir) and had to wear foot orthotics because I was too heavy for my small bone structure.

The transformation story of Mr. Universe Bruce Randall is not a new one. As you can see by the footage supplied that this transformation took place back in 1959.

Rich Piana Passes Away Friday August 25 2017 (8-25-2017)

 

 

COLUMBUS, OH – MARCH 06: Rich Piana attends the Arnold Sports Festival 2015 – Day 2 on March 6, 2015 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images)

BodybuilderRich Piana has died just two weeks after being placed in a medically induced coma. He was 46. The former Mr. Californias death was confirmed Friday morning in a Facebook post by his estranged wife Sara Piana. Im in tears writing this that @1dayumay has just passed away, Sara wrote. I can barely believe this I am so saddened & heartbroken that he didnt make it. Continue reading Rich Piana Passes Away Friday August 25 2017 (8-25-2017)

Train with John Doe Bodybuilder from JohnDoebodybuilder.com

We are truly blessed in many ways to be living in the Internet age. There was a time when all of our training information came from muscle magazines. Many of us would read articles or purchase the latest training course being offered and did the best we could to piece it together. Hiring some one to help us out with our training and diet was not that easy to find and if you were lucky enough to find someone you would have to pay through the teeth for such service. Continue reading Train with John Doe Bodybuilder from JohnDoebodybuilder.com

Steroids In CrossFit – John Romano Interview and What is Cross Fit

For this segment we will be listening to a podcast interview with John Romano’s thoughts on drus use in the relatively new sport of Cross fit.CrossFit is a branded fitness regimen created by Greg Glassman and is a registered trademark of CrossFit, Inc., which was founded by Greg Glassman and Lauren Jenai in 2000. Promoted as both a physical exercise philosophy and also as a competitive fitness sport, CrossFit workouts incorporate elements from high-intensity interval training, Olympic weightlifting, plyometrics, powerlifting, gymnastics, girevoy sport, calisthenics, strongman, and other exercises. It is practiced by members of over 13,000 affiliated gyms, roughly half of which are located in the United States, and by individuals who complete daily workouts (otherwise known as “WODs” or “workouts of the day”). Continue reading Steroids In CrossFit – John Romano Interview and What is Cross Fit

Joe Defranco’s Limber 11

In this post, I would like to share with you Joe Defranco’s limber 11. For those who may not know who Joe Defranco’s is; Joe Defranco is a highly sought after strength trainer from New Jersey. Also, Joe DeFranco is the founder and owner of the world-famous DeFrancos Gym. For the past two decades, athletes from around the world have hired Joe because of his remarkable ability to improve strength, speed, power, mobility, agility and sport-specific endurance. Joes training techniques have been featured in and on ESPN, Spike TV, NFL Network, WWE Network, Mens Health Magazine, Mens Fitness Magazine and in the NY Times best-selling book, The 4-Hour Body. His resume includes NFL players from all 32 teams, Major League baseball players, WWE superstars, UFC fighters, Olympic athletes and college All-Americans. Continue reading Joe Defranco’s Limber 11