4 Simple Keys To Developing A Wide, Muscular Back

www.MuscleGainTruth.com

It never ceases to amaze me how incredibly misguided the vast majority of the population is in the gym. Everyone is desperate for that wide, powerful and muscular physique, yet very few understand how to properly channel their efforts to get there.

For most aspiring lifters, it's all about building a huge chest and arms. Week after week they slave away on endless sets of bench presses and barbell curls in search of the rippling muscle gains they want so badly.

Not surprisingly, those gains never appear in any significant form.

While a well developed chest and arms is clearly an important part of any complete physique, the truth is that these muscles only play a small role when compared to a much larger, much more intricate muscle group that most people severely neglect in their training programs.

I am, of course, talking about the major muscles of the back: the lats, traps, spinal erectors, rhomboids and lower back.

It's obvious why most lifters neglect these all-too-important muscles…

1) The back is not a “showy” muscle and you can't see it in the mirror.
2) Back training is far more stressful and taxing to the body than chest or arm training.
3) Most lifters are simply unaware of how important the development of these muscles really is.

Allow me to let you in on a little secret…

If you want to appear as wide, thick and powerful as you possibly can, nothing will allow you to achieve this goal faster than a well developed back.

In fact, 70% of your upper body muscle mass resides in this area!

Nothing can replace the upper body thickening effect of big, bulging lats and a set of wide, tall trapezius muscles.

Please, get up off that bench press and put down that EZ-curl bar for just a moment and let me share a simple, step-by-step workout that you can use to build the muscular back you so desperately need.

There are 4 major movements that you must perform to properly develop your back…

1) Deadlifts – I cannot possibly stress the importance of this lift enough. There is not a single exercise out there that can even come close to matching the effectiveness of a basic, bent-legged barbell deadlift.

The deadlift will work you from finger to neck to toe and is irreplaceable in developing strong, thick back muscles. The deadlift will stimulate growth throughout the entire back complex and should be the cornerstone of your routine.

2) A vertical pulling movement – These exercises mainly target the lat muscles and will help you to attain that wide, v-tapered look from behind. Examples of vertical pulling movements are chin-ups (overhand or underhand), lat pulldowns and v-bar pulldowns.

To get the most bang for your buck I recommend a basic overhand chin-up. This is the bread and butter of vertical pulling movements and will stimulate growth in the lats like no other exercise.

3) A horizontal pulling movement – Otherwise referred to as “rows”, horizontal pulling movements place their emphasis on the upper/middle portion of the back and also stimulate the lats. There are a ton of different rowing movements to choose from: bent over barbell rows, dumbbell rows, seated machine rows and cable rows just to name a few.

For maximum results, stick to a basic freeweight rowing movement. I usually recommend bent over barbell rows, but bent over dumbbell rows are an acceptable choice as well.

4) A shrugging movement – While not quite as important as the above mentioned lifts, a shrugging movement should still be performed at the end of the workout to target the upper traps and develop that mountainous, diamond-shaped look from behind. A basic barbell or dumbbell shrug will do the trick.


Okay, let's put it all together…

Deadlifts – 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps
Overhand Chin-Ups – 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps
Bent Over Barbell Rows – 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps
Barbell Shrugs – 2 Sets of 10 to 12 reps

For optimal gains in back size and strength, the above routine is ideal.

It may not seem like a lot, but as long as you take every set to muscular failure and focus on quality rather than quantity, this routine provides more than enough stimulation for maximum back growth. I've used this same routine for many years and continue to see steady progress in both back size and strength.

Make sure to keep a written record of every workout that you perform, and focus each week on increasing either the weight that you lift or the number of reps that you perform within the given rep range.

Perform this workout once per week with full effort and I guarantee that your upper body will appear thicker, wider and more muscular than ever before.

What about specific routines for the chest? What about the biceps, triceps and shoulders? How about the thighs, calves and abs?

For specific training information on each of these body parts make sure to visit my webpage below and find out how you can finally get the rock-solid muscle gains you deserve without spending endless hours in the gym...


About The Author

Once an awkward, pencil-necked "social reject", Sean Nalewanyj is now a renowned bodybuilding expert, fitness author, and creator of the most celebrated natural bodybuilding program online today: "The Muscle Gain Truth No-Fail System".

If you can spare just 24 minutes a day, then you too can build a powerful new head-turning body that will skyrocket your confidence, drive gorgeous women crazy, and leave your friends, family and co-workers staring in disbelief... ALL in just a matter of months: www.MuscleGainTruth.com

Catapult Your Muscle Gains With Proper Post-Workout Nutrition

www.MuscleGainTruth.com

The post-workout period is without a doubt the most critical time to take advantage of proper muscle-building nutrition. We’ll define the post workout period as the 3 hours that immediately follows an intense workout. It is during this time when the body is most primed for nutrient absorption and the muscles will literally act like a sponge, soaking up everything you present them with.

By feeding your body with the proper nutrients from both whole foods and supplements during this all-too important time frame you will greatly increase your muscle gains and improve your recovery time.

Let’s take a quick look at what needs to be accomplished after an intense workout:

1) Muscle breakdown must be minimized and the body must be put back into an anabolic, muscle-building state.

2) Blood sugar and glycogen levels must be restored.

3) Free radicals must be neutralized.

4) The muscles must be fed with proper nutrients to facilitate recovery and growth.

This can be accomplished by consuming 2 special “post-workout meals”.

The first meal should be consumed entirely in liquid form. Your body is in a high state of stress, literally starving for nutrients, and you need to replenish this imbalance in the fastest way possible. A liquid meal will be digested quicker than any other and will allow your body to start rebuilding itself immediately.

This post-workout shake should ideally contain the following:

1) 30-40 grams of whey protein.
2) 70-80 grams of simple sugar. (Dextrose is a great sugar to use)
3) 5 grams of creatine.
4) 5 grams of glutamine.

All of these ingredients should be mixed in water and consumed within half an hour of completing your workout. I would also suggest taking a high-potency multivitamin along with the shake. This simple liquid meal will go a long way in accelerating the muscle growth process and helping you to recover.

About 45 minutes to an hour after your post-workout shake, you should consume your second post-workout meal, which should come from whole foods. This meal should be rich in protein and high glycemic carbohydrates.

High glycemic carbohydrates are those that are broken down rapidly into the bloodstream. Some examples include, potatoes, white rice or rice cakes. Here are a couple of examples of what your second post-workout meal might look like:

1) 6oz steak, 1 potato, 1 glass of orange juice
2) 1 can of tuna, 100g rice cakes, 1 glass of grapefruit juice

This meal will continue to provide your starving muscles with the nutrients they require in order to synthesize new muscle tissue and restore glycogen levels. After this second meal there is still about 2 hours or so to take advantage of as best you can.Your goal in this 3-hour window is to consume as much high quality protein and high glycemic carbohydrates as you can.

Most lifters highly underestimate the value of the post-workout period and hinder their gains as a result. One of the biggest mistakes you could possibly make would be to ignore the value of this 3-hour period and to slack off on your protein and carb intake.

Treat the post-workout period with respect and prepare for a noticeable boost in your muscle size and strength gains.

There are also 3 other highly important times throughout the day to pay special attention to the foods and supplements that you consume. Visit my website by clicking the link below to find out what they are, and how to properly approach these periods for the best possible results...

About The Author

Once an awkward, pencil-necked "social reject", Sean Nalewanyj is now a renowned bodybuilding expert, fitness author, and creator of the most celebrated natural bodybuilding program online today: "The Muscle Gain Truth No-Fail System".

If you can spare just 24 minutes a day, then you too can build a powerful new head-turning body that will skyrocket your confidence, drive gorgeous women crazy, and leave your friends, family and co-workers staring in disbelief... ALL in just a matter of months: www.MuscleGainTruth.com

2 Simple Steps To Ripped, Shredded Muscles

www.MuscleGainTruth.com

Picture this scenario...

You've been training your tail off for the past 4 months, trying to pack on as much muscle size as you possibly can. You've bulked up considerably and are quite happy with the size you've been able to achieve.

There's just one problem...

Along with all of that solid, lean muscle you've gained, you notice that you've also packed on some excess body fat in the process.

Let's face it, no matter how "huge" you might be, no one wants to be walking around with a soft, smooth and flabby body. After most trainees have finished their "bulking" phase, they decide that it's time to "cut down" and strip off the excess body fat that they gained due to their high calorie, muscle-building diet.

How do they usually go about this?

They lighten up the weights and perform higher reps.

This has always been a widely accepted method of “cutting down” and if you ask most trainers in the gym they’ll tell you that “heavy weights bulk up the muscle and lighter weights define the muscle”.

Do you want to know the reality behind the “light weight and high reps” method of obtaining a ripped and defined physique?

It is completely, totally and utterly DEAD WRONG.

It couldn’t be farther from the truth. In fact, there is no logical basis for this way of training whatsoever, and whoever dreamt up this downright ridiculous way of thinking has caused the vast majority of lifters to waste their time and impede their progress in the gym.

Let me clear this up once and for all: you CANNOT spot reduce. In other words, it is physically impossible to target fat loss from a specific area on your body. Performing bench presses with light resistance and high repetitions will not magically burn fat off of your chest or cause it to appear harder and more defined.

Every single time you wrap your hands around a barbell, dumbbell or cable, your goal is to stimulate as much muscle growth as you possibly can. There are no special, secret weightlifting exercises that will “define” your muscles or cause them to become more “ripped”.

Training with weights builds muscle mass, end of story.

So how exactly do you “define” a muscle?

The only way to “define” a muscle is by lowering your body fat percentage in order to make your muscles more visible. Body fat reduction can be achieved in two ways:

1) Modify your diet.

You'll need to create a slight caloric deficit within your body to stimulate the fat burning process. This can usually be achieved by lowering your overall caloric intake to around 11-13x your bodyweight and focusing on consuming smaller meals more frequently throughout the day. This will keep your metabolism naturally raised at all times and will keep your body in a constant fat burning state.

2) Perform proper cardio workouts.

Let go of the traditional method of moderate intensity cardio in 30-45 minute durations. If you want to maximize your body’s fat burning capacity and also minimize the muscle loss that inevitably accompanies a fat burning cycle, focus on shorter, 15-minute cardio workouts performed 3-5 times per week at a high level of intensity.

That’s all there is to it, folks. Take the notion of “light weight and higher reps” and throw it right out the window, down the street and around the corner. Following this misguided method will only cause you to lose muscle mass and strength, and will not assist you in burning fat or defining your physique.

If you're looking for the complete inside scoop on maximizing your muscle gains and lowering your body fat levels, check out my website by clicking the link below. You'll have a chance to download my 250-page e-book "The Truth About Building Muscle" as well as a special fat burning course entitled "Metabolic Blast"...

About The Author

Once an awkward, pencil-necked "social reject", Sean Nalewanyj is now a renowned bodybuilding expert, fitness author, and creator of the most celebrated natural bodybuilding program online today: "The Muscle Gain Truth No-Fail System".

If you can spare just 24 minutes a day, then you too can build a powerful new head-turning body that will skyrocket your confidence, drive gorgeous women crazy, and leave your friends, family and co-workers staring in disbelief... ALL in just a matter of months: www.MuscleGainTruth.com

The Dramatic Muscle-Building Benefits Of Glutamine

www.MuscleGainTruth.com

Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid found in the human body and is arguably the most important in the process of building muscle and gaining strength.

It can be found naturally in food sources such as beans, poultry, fish and dairy products, but in order to consume a highly beneficial amount you should probably consider buying it in powdered form as a nutritional supplement. Most serious weightlifters and bodybuilders would consider glutamine as one of the most important supplements out there, and for good reason.

What exactly does glutamine do, and how is this beneficial to the muscle growth process?

Glutamine is best known for being an “anti-catabolic” agent. What this means is that rather than directly promoting the growth of new muscle tissue, glutamine works by preserving the muscle tissue that you have already built.

You see, muscle breakdown is occurring all the time. This naturally happens when you train intensely, when you don’t provide your body with enough protein or during the time that you are sleeping. This process is completely natural and is to be expected.

However, if you are training and eating properly, then your body is also synthesizing new muscle tissue throughout the day. Your overall muscle gains can be calculated by taking the rate of muscle growth and subtracting the rate of muscle breakdown. Glutamine helps by minimizing the rate of muscle breakdown, resulting in greater overall net gains in muscle mass.

Glutamine is also highly beneficial in the positive effect that it has on the immune system. Not only are your muscles heavily stressed from your workouts, but your entire immune system is stressed as well. Glutamine will help you to recover quicker in between your workouts and will also help to prevent you from getting sick.

I would recommend supplementing with 10 grams of glutamine daily in order to see the best results. Although glutamine will not provide any immediately noticeable results, you will definitely achieve greater muscle gains in the long term by using it.

Here are the two most important times to supplement with glutamine:

1) Within 30 minutes of completing your workout.

After an intense workout your body’s glutamine levels can drop by as much as 50%. In order to restore these levels the body will typically tap into the glutamine reservoirs within your muscle tissue. You should consume 5 grams at this time in order to keep your hard earned muscle in tact.

2) Right before bed.

Taking 5 grams of glutamine right before you decide to doze off will help to minimize muscle breakdown while you sleep and will also increase your body’s natural secretion of growth hormone, a powerful anabolic substance.

Here is a quick recap of the recommended dosages:

Workout Days: 5 grams post-workout, 5 grams before bed.
Non-Workout Days: 5 grams with an afternoon meal, 5 grams before bed.

Although glutamine will not provide any instant, dramatic muscle increases, you should be able to see by now that it is quite important in the overall muscle-building process and is a supplement that no serious weightlifter should be without.

If you're interested in learning about 4 other highly effective supplements that I would definitely recommend including in your program, click the link below to visit my website. I'll also teach you about several heavily marketed muscle-building supplements that you should steer clear of, and this could potentially save you hundreds or even thousands of your hard-earned dollars...

About The Author

Once an awkward, pencil-necked "social reject", Sean Nalewanyj is now a renowned bodybuilding expert, fitness author, and creator of the most celebrated natural bodybuilding program online today: "The Muscle Gain Truth No-Fail System".

If you can spare just 24 minutes a day, then you too can build a powerful new head-turning body that will skyrocket your confidence, drive gorgeous women crazy, and leave your friends, family and co-workers staring in disbelief... ALL in just a matter of months: www.MuscleGainTruth.com

How To Build A Ripped, Rock-solid Chest

www.MuscleGainTruth.com

Everyone wants a huge chest, plain and simple. It is all too common to see inexperienced lifters slaving away on endless sets of bench presses and cable crossovers in search of full, thick pecs. The reality is that there is nothing complicated about building an impressive chest. The bottom line for huge chest gains is consistency, effort and steady progression in weight and repetitions.

To stimulate the chest using weights you will be using one of two motions: a press or a flye. If you want the greatest bang for your buck from your chest workouts, the true gains lie in your pressing movements.

Flyes may have their place from time to time, but nothing can compare to the overall anabolic effect of high intensity pressing movements. I’m talking about the basic, bread-and-butter lifts such as heavy barbell presses, dumbbell presses and wide-grip dips.

There are no secrets, magic formulas or killer techniques that will "shock" your chest into massive growth. Stick to your basic presses, focus on overload and progression, and I promise that you will see impressive gains.

Here are the most effective lifts for packing muscle onto the chest:

Flat/Incline/Decline Barbell Bench Press:

A standard barbell press is the meat and potatoes of any effective chest routine. This basic compound movement will allow you to handle the most weight through the given range of motion. The incline press will shift more of the stress to the upper region of the chest while the decline does the opposite, targeting the lower/outer region. The flat bench press works the upper and lower regions equally. I highly recommend a standard barbell press as a basic component of your chest routine.

Flat/Incline/Decline Dumbbell Press:

Dumbbell presses are another basic and highly effective movement for stimulating chest development. The main advantage that they have over the barbell is that they allow you to move through a more natural range of motion, helping to prevent shoulder injuries. They also prevent strength imbalances from occurring since one arm can't cheat for the other. The only drawback is that you are not able to handle as much weight. In any case, a standard dumbbell press is an awesome movement that allows for great chest stimulation.

Wide-Grip Dips:

An amazing movement for the chest that is often overlooked. Make sure to use a wider grip and lean forward to shift the stress from the triceps onto the pectorals. If pressing your own body weight is not sufficient then you can always add resistance using a weight belt. Dips are an excellent compound movement for overall chest development.

Here are a couple sample chest routines:

1) Flat Barbell Bench Press: 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps
Incline Dumbbell Press: 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps
Wide-Grip Dips: 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps

2) Incline Barbell Bench Press: 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps
Wide-Grip Dips: 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps
Flat Dumbbell Press: 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps

All sets should stay within the 5-7 rep range and should be taken to complete muscular failure. Write down the details of each workout you perform and focus on progressing in either weight or reps from week to week.

To learn about the proper methods for training all of your other muscle groups, visit my website by clicking the link below. You can gain instant access to a complete online video lesson series outlining the most effective techniques for training your shoulders, arms, back, legs and abs, all in step-by-step detail.

About The Author

Once an awkward, pencil-necked "social reject", Sean Nalewanyj is now a renowned bodybuilding expert, fitness author, and creator of the most celebrated natural bodybuilding program online today: "The Muscle Gain Truth No-Fail System".

If you can spare just 24 minutes a day, then you too can build a powerful new head-turning body that will skyrocket your confidence, drive gorgeous women crazy, and leave your friends, family and co-workers staring in disbelief... ALL in just a matter of months: www.MuscleGainTruth.com

Wimp Out In The Gym And Your Gains Will Be Gone in 60 Seconds

www.MuscleGainTruth.com

The margin of time that determines muscle building success or failure in the gym is a heck of a lot shorter than you might think. Just as fraction-of-a-second moments during a 100 metre dash will make or break a sprinter's race, fraction-of-a-second moments will also make or break your body's muscle growth response in the gym.

In fact, your entire margin of success in the gym can ultimately be reduced to just a short time span of 60 seconds. That's correct, how you choose to handle a short 60 second time period during your workouts will translate to either poor, mediocre or significant muscle building results.

Although each entire workout will last for about an hour, only 60 seconds of that actual time will determine what kind of gains you achieve.

You may be scratching your head right now and wondering what the heck I'm talking about, but allow me to explain…

You see, every individual set that you perform in the gym is ultimately being performed for the benefits that will be achieved on the last 1-2 reps. Muscles respond to stress, and the only truly stressful reps that actually trigger your body's muscle building mechanisms are those at the end of each set when the body is on the brink of muscular failure.

If a given set consists of 6 reps, then reps 1-4 are only performed in order to get to reps 5 and 6. Reps 1-4 will do very little in terms of stimulating muscular growth, but are necessary to perform in order to overload the muscles on reps 5 and 6.

In other words, it is only the very last 1-2 reps that will ultimately yield a muscle building response from the body. The longer you can push yourself to battle the weights during this small time frame at the end of each set, the greater results you will achieve.

Any of you who have read my articles know that I'm a big advocate of training to muscular failure. There is simply no better way to trigger your body's adaptive responses than to train until your muscles cannot move the weight another inch.

The closer and closer that you can come to muscular failure, the more dramatically your body will respond. This time frame is literally measured in single seconds. If you drop the weights 5-6 seconds earlier than the next guy (the margin is probably even smaller than this), you'll be significantly sacrificing your muscle growth.

So, where did the 60-second time frame come from?

Well, if we assume that you perform 10 total all out sets per workout and have a margin of 6 seconds between success/failure per set, this gives you 60 seconds of total time per workout to either battle through with full effort or to surrender and settle for mediocre results.

It really is true; your bodybuilding success is literally measured by the short, precise moments at the very end of each set and the amount of effort you are willing to exert during this time.

If you can force yourself to train to all out muscular failure, you'll achieve the best results possible. If you drop the weight 3 seconds before muscular failure, your growth will be compromised. If you drop the weight 8 seconds before muscular failure, your growth will be compromised even further.

If we multiply our 60-second figure by my recommended number of 3 workouts per week, this means that your bodybuilding success in the gym will literally be measured by how you choose to handle one short 3 minute long period per week.

I bet you never thought of it this way before!

You must train hard and with full effort at all times. When the weight feels heavy and your muscles ache and burn with discomfort, you must push through and continue until true muscular failure is reached.

If you stop short, even a second short, your gains will be compromised.

Keep this in mind at all times in the gym and you'll experience better results than ever before.

If you want to learn some awesome psychological techniques for breaking through the pain barrier and “mentally numbing” the discomfort associated with hard training, make sure to visit my website using the link below for details...

About The Author

Once an awkward, pencil-necked "social reject", Sean Nalewanyj is now a renowned bodybuilding expert, fitness author, and creator of the most celebrated natural bodybuilding program online today: "The Muscle Gain Truth No-Fail System".

If you can spare just 24 minutes a day, then you too can build a powerful new head-turning body that will skyrocket your confidence, drive gorgeous women crazy, and leave your friends, family and co-workers staring in disbelief... ALL in just a matter of months: www.MuscleGainTruth.com

FREE sample chapters of Muscle Gain Truth

FREE sample chapters of Muscle Gain Truth are now available for you to view online or download. The file is an ".exe" type that will open a small viewer application.

Click on the link below to view or download:

Muscle Gain Truth Sample Chapters


Screenshots


Muscle Gain Truth Sample Chapters



Muscle Gain Truth Sample Chapters




Muscle Gain Truth Sample Chapters