The neck muscles are one of the most neglected muscle groups when it comes to training. When first starting to lift, the biceps, chest, and abs are the muscles that are usually concentrated on the most. Over time, as you progress in training these muscles, your physique will begin to look unbalanced, so you begin to add in legs, shoulders, triceps, back, and other muscle groups in order to attain a body composition that is more consistent and well-rounded….
Ginger, or Zingiber officinale, is a tropical plant mainly found in Southeast Asia. Although all of the plant is edible, the root stem of the ginger plant is most commonly eaten and holds all the benefits of consuming ginger. Ginger is one of the most popular natural supplements and has been eaten for tens of thousands of years. The use of ginger as a tonic is recorded as far back as ancient China, where it was taken for lessening…
When on a cut, the largest worry is usually muscle and strength loss. After bulking for months and adding on size, losing all that progress is a formidable prospect. While no one loses all their muscle mass and strength as soon as they start eating below their maintenance calories, some muscle loss and loss of strength is to be expected from remaining in a negative energy balance for an extended period of time. This is because when you are…
Taurine is an amino acid commonly found in energy drinks, pre-workouts, and other popular supplement blends. The body synthesizes taurine on its own, making taurine a nonessential amino acid. Taurine is sometimes also called a “conditionally essential amino acid” because it not used to build proteins and is needed by neonates (newborn infants). Taurine is included in many energy drinks and pre-workout supplements because it has a calming effect but also can boost muscle endurance and performance. For most…
The three common strategies of eating to improve your physique are bulking, cutting, and maintaining. Bulking is done by eating more calories than the body burns per day to build muscle, cutting is done by eating less calories than you are burning per day to lose fat, and maintaining is done by eating at maintenance calories so you neither gain nor lose weight. There are multiple approaches to bulking. The main ways to bulk that are used are clean…
After a long night out, hitting the gym the next day is often at the bottom of the list of things you want to do. It is much more appealing to go back to bed, scroll through social media, or binge eat while investigating your phone for evidence of what happened in the last 16 hours. Despite the allure of taking it easy when hungover, in most cases it is better to train. While some circumstances call for a…
A slim waist is a much sought after component of the male physique. The smaller your waist is, the more aesthetic and muscular you look. A smaller waist enhances your physique by improving the shoulders-to-waist ratio. The shoulders-to-waist ratio is generally one of the first things noticed about your body and has been found by studies to be one of the single most attractive physical characteristics of a man. For bodybuilders, a slim waist will elevate the results of…
DHEA is a steroid hormone commonly taken by elderly people to replenish levels of sex hormones such as testosterone and estrogen. DHEA is naturally produced in the brain, adrenal glands, and testes but rapidly declines with age. DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) functions as a precursor to testosterone in men and estrogen in women. Excess testosterone from DHEA converts mainly to (dihydrotestosterone) and ADG (androstanediol-glucuronide). Since the adrenal glands produce both cortisol and DHEA, higher DHEA levels reduce levels of cortisol and…
What to eat, when to eat, and how much to eat can be a source of confusion for many people. There are many diets that claim to increase your health and energy, and eating advice experts who claim to have all the answers to your individual dietary troubles. From intermittent fasting to no-carb dieting, it can be hard to discern what actually is beneficial to eat and why. The solution to this challenge, as well as to most other…
Workouts are generally sorted into push, pull, and legs. Push workouts activate the chest, shoulders, and triceps using the bench press, shoulder press, and a tricep isolation exercise. Pull workouts activate the back, traps, rear delts, and biceps using the deadlift, row, and a bicep isolation exercise. And leg workouts activate the quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves using the squat, leg extension, leg curl, and calf raise. Of course, there are other exercises to hit all these muscles but…
