One of the most important things when building a good physique is having defined abs that are visible. Visible abs are the hallmark of a well built body and are also one of the more ambiguous muscle groups when it comes to how to train them. It is often that said that “abs are made in the kitchen” but that’s not entirely true. Your eating habits play a role in wether or not you have visible abs but are…
In the interest of making strength and muscle gains, supplements are often turned to. You can build muscle and get stronger without taking supplements as long as you have a good diet. But by taking supplements, you will have more control over your nutrient intake and better be able to optimize your results. Supplements also can help balance your hormones, increase your energy, lower stress and catabolic hormones, improve recovery, and increase testosterone. All of these benefits make supplementation…
Typically, most people train 5-6 days per week with one 1-2 hour session each day. An alternative is to break up the workouts and have one session in the morning and one session later in the evening. The advantages to a training style like this are volume, having more energy for each training session, and saving time. There are drawbacks as well but as long as this split fits your routine the best, there are not any major reasons…
When in a caloric deficit, implementing cardio allows you to get away with a higher number of calorie you can consume per day. The problem is, cardio is often difficult and takes time to do. Running on a treadmill and doing jumprope doesn’t provide the same stimulation that lifting weights does. Therefore, cardio is often set aside and not done. The truth is, cardio is great for burning fat and when on a cut it is one of the…
Tongkat Ali (Eurycoma Longifolia) is a plant found commonly in Southeast Asia. Among the locals, tongkat ali, or longjack, is seen as the most powerful herb for medicinal and wellbeing usage. The roots of tongkat ali grow 3-4 feet into the ground and are what is used for consumption. Tongkat ali is an adaptogen, meaning it works to help rebalance hormones and optimize the overall function of the body. This herb has been used for thousands of years to…
As a weightlifter and someone who cares about their physique, the state of being lean and muscular is the ultimate goal. Wether you bulk and cut or simply undergo the feat of trying to simultaneously do both, the end objective is almost always to have low body fat and high amounts of muscle. This is because when you are at a low level of body fat, you look very defined and your muscles are much more visible since there…
Red light therapy, or photobiomodulation, is a very well researched and applicable method of accomplishing a number of things in the body. RLT is categorized as a “complementary medecine” but is speculated by many to hold a place in conventional medicine soon. It’s current uses are mainly for curing disease but as RLT has become more mainstream, it is being found that these kind of near-infrared wavelengths have multiple uses beyond just treating illness. As lifters, we frequently concern…
When training at home, bodyweight exercises are the key for building muscle. There are the well-known exercises like the push-up, sit-up, and squat, but there are also variations to these exercises that allow a great amount of muscle fibers to be recruited by increasing the resistance of the exercise. The following exercises can be combined into a full-body workout that could be done 2-3 times a week. When doing full-body workouts, if you are truly hitting every muscle, you…
Pine bark extract (pycnogenol) is an adaptogen and natural supplement that is sourced from the maritime pine tree growing in Southwest France. This tree is defined by it’s long needles and typically grows 90-120 feet tall. In France, pine bark extract is used to treat a variety of ailments such as ADHD, cognitive decline, and erectile dysfunction. As opposed to adderall or ritalin, pine bark extract can be used as a natural way to treat low attention spans and…
Stretching is one of the most overlooked facets of fitness. Many weightlifters choose to set aside mobility work and stretching and simply focus on lifting. This choice ultimately disadvantages you if you plan on lifting for long periods of time. By not stretching, you will not hit the absolute ceiling of your potential from training. This is because stretching allows you to execute movements with better form, send nutrients to muscles more effectively, prevent injury over time, and improve…
