If you’re an ectomorph then you probably have skinny arms. These are what show when you’re wearing a t-shirt, so it’s natural that you’d want to work toward bigger arms. That said, I recommend that you follow a full workout plan, but read on if you want to work toward bigger arms.

The arm is made up of two primary muscles – the biceps and the triceps. A lot of people think doing curls is going to make your arms huge. This couldn’t be further from the truth. It will help add mass to your arm, but it’s important to note that the tricep makes up 2/3 of your arm. It is also the easier muscle to build up. You also have the option of building up your forearm, which’ll make the entire mass look bigger – this is even more overlooked than the tricep.

That doesn’t mean you should neglect your biceps! In fact, I recommend you work both and do so consistently.

The standard bicep curl is good, but it can be modified to gain even more mass. I suggest doing incline bicep curls, where you sit in an inclined seat and do curls that way. You can also do hammer curls, which is where you hold the dumbbell perpendicular to the ground. These are fantastic because they also heavily work your forearm, so you’re hitting both at once. Preacher curls are another great part that’ll work the brachialis, which’ll make the bridge between your upper arm and forearm larger.

For your triceps I recommend close grip bench press, if you can get the form down. This is a fantastic exercise. What you do is go into the bench and grab the bar with 4-6 inches of space between your hands. Grip the bar tightly and lower it down to your chest – make sure you don’t bring it to your stomach. Then push it back up. When you lower the bar you can flare your elbows out slightly. Another good tricep workout are the tricep cable pulldowns. Cable exercises are good because there’s always tension on the muscle, which means you’re always getting a work out. I’d also recommend skull crushers.

Your forearms will naturally grow in size, but there are a few exercises that can help. The barbell reverse wrist curl is pretty good. You basically sit down and hold onto a barbell and then use your wrists to lift it up. You can find pictures by Googling the term. Another good way to build up your biceps and your forearms is to do chin ups. These are the same as pull ups except your palms face you.

If you do do these exercises then you’ll have big arms in no time.

Steroids have been illegal for some time now and everyone knows the potency of the real thing but legal steroids and their alternatives are quickly catching up as a viable alternative to the black market illegal steroids.

Over the last few years the serious body builders have been using the alternative legal steroids and achieving amazing results. Legal steroids like Androstenedione ( andro), 1-AD,1-test and 4-Androstenedione are the closest thing to real steroids and these are available legally. These alternative steroids when used correctly are both a safe and effective way to enhance and boost strength, energy and muscle recovery.

The first legal steroid that body builders used and promoted was Androstenedione. This is also known as a prohormone and was first used by East German athletes to enhance their performance and was their secret weapon for some time.

Andro works in the following way. As a result of an enzyme conversion in the liver Andro exerts an anabolic effect. The enzyme in the liver acts on the molecular structure of Andro and from this reaction it converts, in a completely natural process, the andro into testosterone.

Since the introduction of Andro which was considered to be the first steroid alternative there have been many other related products over the last few years. There has and is much debate whether increasing the amount of Andro will increase the effect but as with any drug it is dangerous to start altering the dosage unless supervised by qualified people.

On January 20th, 2005 the US Federal Gorvenment’s ban on prohormones took effect. This included the Androstenedione ( andro), 1-AD. Body builders must now look to other alternatives to enhance their programs.

DHEA Pre-Cursor Hormone is one of the alternatives at the present. As a pre-cursor hormone, it leads to the production of other hormones and as a supplement has shown some awesome results. DHEA supplements act as an anti aging by maintaining the levels of DHEA that occur naturally in the body that decrease as we get older.

Anyone considering using a product containing DHEA should first check the laws of their own country as they vary from one country to another.

Power Yoga sounds so uniquely American. We tend to want to do everything quickly and we want results now. This form of yoga was developed to help people gain physical strength and flexibility. Hatha Yoga, which Power Yoga is derived, is a challenging workout with athletic movements that help you energetically flow from one posture to the next. The system provides a challenge for both beginners and advanced students alike. It’s an intense invigorating workout where you can burn up to 800 calories in one class!

Power yoga combines strength, movement and mental focus to keep you in the moment. It works effectively on many levels. There is the physical power generated by the kinetic action; this develops the strength and endurance. There is the mental power generated by the intense focus on breathing and balance. Last is the spiritual power that drives the physical and mental effort with emotional force.

These three aspects to Power Yoga are designed to strengthen your entire body, fortify your mental outlook and develop your will power. By working out at a vigorous pace, you develop strength and flexibility with an emphasis on abs, back, hips and pelvis. Our other section is called Soul of Strength which is a fast-moving program with a distinctly different set of challenges.

Power yoga describes a vigorous, fitness-based approach to vinyasa-style yoga. Most practices are closely modeled on the Ashtanga style of practice. The term “power yoga” became popular in the mid 90’s, when U.S. yoga teachers wanted to make Ashtanga yoga to be user-friendly by American practitioners.

These classes can vary widely from teacher to teacher. However, it will most likely appeal to people who are already quite fit, enjoy exercising, and want a minimal amount of chanting and meditation with their yoga.

Power yoga is accessible through technology. It can be practiced in your own home through use of videos and books. The first step is to create a personal working space where you can stretch out comfortably without interruptions. You can also employ soothing music or appropriate scents to augment your yoga workout. This is the way to gain an understanding of yoga if you cannot make the studio.

To be a complete workout you need to do strength training as well as raise your heart rate for an extended period. Power Yoga will build strength and raise your heart rate enough to make it a viable form of all-around exercise.

If you plan to make Power Yoga your primary form of exercise for weight loss, you must perform a daily 45 minute session six days a week or a vigorous 90-minute yoga class at least three times a week. To reach your weight loss goals you need to eat at least 6 small meals daily and consume calories below your daily requirement.

Maintain your consistency by performing at home on those days when you can’t make a studio class. Work out with a video or audio if you are a beginner. When you are ready to plan your own workouts, use these yoga sequencing ideas to help you come up with yoga sessions of varying lengths that will fit your schedule.

Do you want a simple trick to build biceps fast? Biceps brachii, or simply biceps, is a muscle located on the front of the upper arm. It works across three joints – namely, proximal radioulnar joint, humeroulnar joint (elbow), and the glenohumeral joint (shoulder). Anatomically speaking, it has several functions which make it significant to the human body. Biceps can flex the elbow and rotate the forearm. It is also the muscle which can be easily seen when walking down the street. Men tired of skinny arms want to develop big biceps. But can men build biceps fast? How is it possible? Want to know how to get arm muscles fast?

The biceps can be strengthened by using resistance training. It is a form of strength training that makes use of resistance to compel contraction of muscles. However, building biceps fast should be done carefully. Just like any other programs in building muscles fast, the body needs enough nutritional intakes to fuel its growth. It is also necessary to define the frequency of exercises first. Make use of the progressive overload concept to challenge it beyond the status quo. For beginners aiming to build biceps fast, doing two exercises of two sets is fine with six to ten repetitions. Sets and repetitions can be increased as the stamina increases. If you want to build muscles fast, use heavier resistance with less reps. This will help you build bigger biceps fast.

You can build biceps fast by doing standing bar curls, one-armed bicep curls, incline bicep curls, and hammer curls. The standing bar curls, for example, work out the flexing parts of the elbow muscle. To do so, hold the bar with the grip at shoulder width and then lock the elbow. Extend the arms straight by pointing it at the floor and slowly lift the bar to the chest with a curl. Tightening all the muscles especially at the core will help. Slowly lower the bar to the original position and repeat. You can also do variations of these exercises by changing the grips and hand positions.

To build biceps faster, allow it to rely more on strength by slowly lifting the weights. Squeeze the biceps for one to two seconds while it is on its peak during exercises. Concentrate on hitting the muscle fibers by always using a full range of motion. Some exercises also indirectly work the biceps. Challenge the biceps but do not overdo it. Bear in mind that bicep muscles do not build during workouts but rather during rest. Rest is essential to build biceps fast.

Which is the best bicep workout for size? There are many people who have struggled for a long time to the big biceps of their dream. Many are frustrated because after doing bicep exercises without results. One reason why this happens is that they might not be doing the right exercises. In fact there are more bicep workouts than the rest of the upper body put together. You should be doing the best bicep workout for size if you want to increase the size of your biceps. But the question that comes up immediately is which the best bicep workout for size is. Here are a few suggestions.

Close-grip chin-up

In your search for the best bicep workout for size, you will come across the close-grip chin-up many times. This workout is one of the closed chain exercises. In closed chain exercises the hand and the legs do not move but the rest of the body moves. This kind of exercise has been proven to stimulate the muscles to growth. This makes the close-grip chin-up perhaps the best bicep workout for size.

Barbell Curl

This is another workout for building big biceps. The barbell curl is done by holding the barbell in front with the knees slightly bent. The elbows should be kept at your side. Curl up the weight as high as possible without moving your elbows. The bar should be around the mid-chest for this exercise to be effective. If the bar is too high your elbows will swing in far out. Squeeze the biceps as you lift the bar and lower it gradually. Don’t allow your arms to straighten before you start all over again.

Cable bicep curls

It is said that free weight exercise are the best for bicep development, but cable exercises such as the cable bicep curls have the advantage of putting more tension as you do the motion lift. You feel the weight better at the top of the lift because you get to squeeze the biceps harder as compared to the barbell curl. You cannot rely on this alone for big biceps but when combined with other bicep exercises you get fantastic results.

Remember that knowing the best bicep workout for size is not a guarantee for having huge biceps. It takes hard work to grow muscles. In addition you cannot grow muscles if you don’t eat the right kind of food. Your diet should contain more protein if you want bigger biceps.

If you’re interested in training your trapezius muscles, then you’ve come to the right article. For in this article I will describe how to perform 3 trapezius exercises which can either be used for bodybuilding purposes or for regular muscle tone. But first, why is strengthening the trapezius muscles important?

There are 2 main reasons: the first is that it’s an important muscle group which lends support to your entire upper body. The second reason is that, when fully developed, the trapezius is one of the most impressive muscle groups there is. That’s why exercises for your traps (short for trapezious) are so popular in gyms everywhere.

Working the trapzius muscles can be done with several traps exercises. In this article I’ll share just 3.

3 Exercises For Trapezius Muscles

1. Clean and Jerk – This is a massive exercise which should be done with great care and attention, but it’s a highly effective trapezius exercise. You start by standing over a bar bell with your feet wide apart.

a. You bend over and grip the bar with both hands at slightly over shoulder width.

b. You pull the bar off the ground with straight arms.

c. You then pull the bar upwards letting the bar bounce of your thighs and raising it to shoulder level while performing a deep knee bend while keeping your back as straight as possible. The bar should now rest on the front of your shoulders with both hands gripping it tightly.

d. You now jerk the bar upwards over your head while bringing one foot forward and the other backwards for stability. Then, while maintaining the bar over your head, you bring both feet together.

2. The shrug – This is a limited movement exercise which can be done with dumbbells, or with a barbell. The basic principle is the same for all variations. While grabbing the dumbbells or barbell, you let your shoulders relax. Then, you raise them upwards as much as possible while keeping the dumbbells close to your body. You hold for a few seconds and then return to the starting position.

3. Upright Row – This exercise can be done with a barbell, cable, or dumbells. This is an exercise which must be done with care to avoid the danger of injury to your wrists or back.

a. You grasp the barbell with both hands and hold it before your body with both arms totally extended and relaxed.

b. You lift the barbell, while keeping it close to your body, until your elbows and forearms are at shoulder level.

c. Hold for a second or two and then slowly lower the barbell to the starting position.

Each of these exercises should be done if you wish to create a well rounded trapezious workout. If you wish to engage in some bodybuild trapezious workouts do short sets with as much weight as you can handle properly. If you just want to tone your muscles go for longer sets of these trapezious exercises.

We are all obsessed with building sleeve-busting muscles. But there are things you do not know about your biceps. In this piece of information, I will provide you with a few details about the biceps.

Long Parallel Muscle Fibers

Most muscle fibers are shaped like feathers when seen under the microscope. This shape is called pinnated. But the biceps can be a bit different. The muscle fibers of biceps are long parallel fibers. This is what gives them the ability to bulge when flexed.

Is the structure of the muscle fiber important? Even by simply devoting just a little time to your biceps, compared with other muscle groups that require much attention, you will be guaranteed that this go a long way to help them grow.

Cephalic Vein

The cephalic vein is the visible vein that crosses the biceps of most elite athletes and bodybuilders. But this vein has nothing to do with your strength or your capacity to perform heavy arm curls. The key to making this vein pop is to decrease your body fat to below 15 percent. The vein can be more pronounced in one arm than in the other.

One Pound of Muscle

The biceps of an average guy are roughly one pound of muscle. Combining both arms, this is only equivalent to about 3 percent of the total muscle mass in the entire body. This is a good guide to show a perspective of your workout. You do not need to be obsessed with the biceps when working out. You can only devote about 3% of your total body workout for the biceps and you are good to go.

While the days of kicking sand in a skinny guy’s face may have long gone, the fear and apprehension that we get from taking our shirts off on a busy beach are still very much here, so figuring out how to get a beach body is a major skinny guy question.

Let’s face it, the beach is the ultimate stage…there’s no hiding anywhere, so looking at your best is seriously important. And you know, that’s where girls go to look for guys, so you might as well be the one to stand out.

For skinny guys, the most important area to build muscle on is the upper body as this is the most noticeable, and tends to be where your bones stick out the most (my collar bones were my own personal nightmare!)

Here is a great upper body workout that will show you how to get a beach body fast – expect major gains within weeks.

How To Get A Beach Body Skinny Guy Workout – Upper Body

An ideal upper body workout for skinny guys will work on the 5 major muscle groups, and work each of them no more than 3 times per week, as rest is an essential part of muscle growth.

You need to make sure that you are lifting heavy weights – try to get a friend or gym partner who can spot you, as your final reps should be almost impossible to do. The rep numbers I’ve given are just a guide – if you can only manage 6 on your last set, don’t worry.

Make sure you always warm up and cool down sufficiently and stretch to avoid injury.

Chest

Chest Press – this is the ultimate chest and upper body compound exercise when thinking how to get a beach body…expect massive growth and size from this one. You can also add some variety some days by inclining the bench to build your upper pec muscles (these were great for hiding my collar bones that I mentioned earlier)

Perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps

Back

Bent Over Barbell Rows – these can also be performed with dumbbells instead of a barbell. Make sure you don’t curl you back on this; keep your abs tight and focus all the movement on your upper back muscles.

Perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps

Close Grip Chin-Ups can be performed instead if you don’t have access to a gym.

Shoulders

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press – these are fantastic for building big shoulders and trapezius muscles (those that join your neck and your shoulders), and will help you to get a beach body fast.

Focus on utilizing your shoulder muscles and avoid “cheating” by using your lower back muscles – that will only serve to cause you injury.

Perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps

Biceps

Standing Barbell Curls – like the bench press, this is probably one of the most famous exercises in any gym, and a real game-changer when thinking about how to get a beach body. Grab the bar in an underhand grip and lift by “squeezing” the biceps. Don’t rock backwards and forwards like most guys do – it doesn’t help you to build muscle quickly and can cause you injury.

Perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps

Triceps

Dips – these can be performed with your heels on the ground or raised on a bench (the higher they are the more difficult the exercise).

Perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps

(If you have any wrist problems – try performing Tricep Press Downs instead, using an overhand grip on a cable machine at the gym)

Weight training is a common type of strength training for developing the size and strength of the skeletal muscles. It uses gravity to resist the force generated by the skeletal muscles through eccentric and concentric contraction. Weight training uses a variety of specialized equipment (including weighted bars, dumbbells, and weighted stacks) to target specific muscles and types of movements.

There are many advantages as well as disadvantages to using free weights when weight training. Here are a few advantages:

• Helps develop better balance. Using free weights for weight training requires that you use more than one muscle group for each exercise. For example, when performing a seated bicep curl, you are not only using your shoulders, but you are also using your abs and your legs for stabilization.

• Conditions muscles used in life situations. Other forms of strength training, like exercise machines, help condition muscles that you will probably only use in the gym.

• Allows for a greater range of motion. When exercising on a machine, the machine guides you through the actual movement performed in the exercise. When using free weights, you must have control in your movements. This is great because is promotes more of a conditioning for the muscles.

There are also some disadvantages to using free weights for strength training. Here are just a few:

• Free weight training is generally for people who are more experienced with strength training. Novices should use machines in order to get the basic strength and conditioning. Then training with these weights should be applied.

• This type of training is not as safe as other forms of strength training. It can be unsafe to perform these exercises without a spotter. If you perform the exercise and use the incorrect motion you may need a spotter to help you so that you can prevent injury.

Free weight exercises are great for those people who want to be fit for life. Most of the top bodybuilders and fitness experts use this type of training in their training programs. This training strategies are great for improving balance and getting that complete range of motion. Free weights are arguably the best form of strength training for the muscles and for life.

In the book, Better Than Steroids, Dr. Warren Willey proposes that a NATURAL trainer can actually get results superior to a steroid user IF the natural trainer follows a proper training and nutrition program.

In this article I’ll let you know if the doctor delivers or if this book fails to live up to the hype.

Dr. Wiley contents that part of the reason steroid users get such great results is because you tend to eat better and train harder while you’re taking steroids. On page 21 he claims…

“I am going to teach you how to mimic anabolic steroids using diet and exercise!”

Next, he mentions a success story from one of this clients. No names are given, and no before and after pictures are presented. The client is simply listed as “L.D.”

In just 12 weeks, L.D. went from 182 pounds at 16.1% body fat to 177 pounds at 5.5% body fat. Which means L.D. not only lost 19.56 pounds of fat, he also gained 14.57 pounds of muscle AT THE SAME TIME!

Here’s the kicker: Dr. Wiley says LD was 60 years old at the time of this study and that he’s had other clients who have gained 30 pounds of lean muscle WHILE dropping 60 pounds of fat by following the same principles.

Now at this point, I’m smell something funny. Smells like Bull Sh*t.

But let’s continue. Doc goes on to talk about the importance of water and that food can actually be used as a drug. I liked this part of the book because all too often we forget just how powerful food can be. Food can be used to spike or depress insulin – just like a drug. And by timing your food intake (eating high carbohydrate foods around the time of your workout and reducing carbs during the rest of the day) you can take advantage of the drug-like qualities of food. Good stuff here.

Then Willey talks about how to calculate your recommended daily calorie intake and even provides 4 different eating plans. The eating plans are as follows:

Isocaloric: Splitting your daily caloric intake evenly among fats, carbs and protein.

Keto Run: Eating ultra-low carbs for 7-14 days at a time.

The modified Carb Drop: Doing a Keto run and then following it up with a carb load.

The Zig Zag: Eating high calories one day, then low calories the next day.

Overall, nothing groundbreaking here. In fact, I saw many similarities between these recommendations and Dan Duchaine’s recommendations in his book Underground BodyOpus. Both talk about using an isocaloric approach at first, then a super low carb diet when weight loss stalls and then adding weekend carb ups to allow you to gain muscle while stripping off fat.

The next few chapters cover pre and post workout meals.

Then we get to Chapter 12: Glycogen Supercompensation.

For me, this is where the book falls apart.

Willey opens with the following case study detailing the experiences of “C.V.” (Again, no full name or photos shown.)

C.V. started out 200 pounds and 8.9% body fat. He then did 10 days of super low carb dieting followed by 48 hours of high carb eating.

He ended up at 212 pounds and 8.0% body fat. On the surface, this looks impressive. And Dr. Warren Willey exclaims…

“There are no typos in the above chart! CV gained 12.8 pounds of muscle in a 48-hour load and actually lost some body fat!”

But this is just flat out wrong. He didn’t gain 12.8 pounds of muscle. He’s just holding water. Because that’s what happens when you cut carbs drastically low and then flood your system with a high dose of carbohydrates – your body ends up holding extra water.

And that’s fine – often times this is a good thing. But you can’t confuse holding extra water with building muscle. Willey is a medical doctor – he should understand the difference between muscle and bloat.

But apparently he doesn’t because he goes on to list even more examples of successful clients. In each case, it’s clear what happens – the client ends up holding excess water for a couple days and Willey chalks it up as “muscle gain”.

But it’s not. You don’t gain 12 pounds of muscle in two days. No one does. Not even steroid users.

From there, the rest of the book gives some bodybuilding routines that sound like something out of a Joe Weider mag – Giant sets, super sets, 21’s, pre-exhaust training, etc.

Oddly enough, this style of bodybuilding training usually works better for steroid users than it does for natural trainers.

Overall – the book fails to deliver on it’s main promise: Willey proves you can hold extra water for a few days by carb-loading, but fails to prove that his strategies can help you gain muscle and certainly fails to prove that these strategies can yield better results than steroids.

So I’d save your money and skip this book. If you want more information on carb loading and glycogen super compensation, track down a copy of Dan Duchaine’s Underground Bodyopus. The book is now 15 years old but Duchaine does a better job of mapping out the principles behind glycogen super compensation.