Category — Exercises

With most sports, the more time you spend away from the game, the harder it is when you do return. I remember stepping back onto the court after graduating college. I had not played basketball in over 2 months. Just shooting the ball felt weird. The good news was that everything came back to me once I regained that muscle memory.

Sometimes doing some training before you step back onto the court will do wonders for your skillset and your ability to regain your “touch.” I found an article that outlines some basketball exercises that can help you develop muscles and gain strength in key areas that will allow you to perform at a higher level.

Personal trainer Sean Green takes you through the five movements that will transform your game.

I think many weightlifters would agree that leg muscles in general are the toughest muscles to develop. Mainly because we’re walking on them all day and they’re already experiencing a good amount of contraction. So, it takes quite a bit of shock and variation to see significant growth.

MensHealth.com has highlighted a few tips that can be applied to your leg workouts that may jumpstart growth. These tips focus on a few adjustments to standard leg exercises that allow for better form and in turn, bigger gains. Personally, I’ve had some moderate success in training calves and quadriceps by performing about 4 sets of high repititions (20-25) using minimal weight.

The thing about muscle building is that there is not just one way to be successful, that’s why I’m curious as to how other people have found success with building leg muscles.

Share your stories and comments below.

A few years ago I hit a rut in my workouts. I wasn’t seeing any considerable gains and I was stuck in the same routines. Then I called my brother, a personal trainer in New Jersey, and he suggested I try the pyramid technique for my large muscle groups (chest, arms, back). It totally transformed how I workout.

The pyramid technique allows you to get a maximum amount of reps through multiple sets and still allows you to finish off with a “failure set” so you get a major “pump” with each exercise.

For instance, let’s say you start off with dumbell flys for your chest. You’ll start off with a weight that allows you to do 12-15 reps comfortably. Then you slightly increase the weight and do 10-12 reps for your 2nd set. Then for your 3rd set you increase the weight a bit more and do 8-10 reps. For the 4th set you increase again and complete 6-8 reps. Then, for the 5th and final set you go back up to the 1st set weight and drop it down slightly and pump out 20-25 reps (or until failure).

That’s the technique in a nutshell. There are many variations and expert weight lifters can do 6 or 7 sets if they wish. Just make sure you finish off with a high rep set on a lighter weight than the 1st set.

Baseball has been called a “game of inches” and those few inches can be the difference between winning and losing. In order to gain an edge you have to develop a winning exercise program. Evan Waters at Bodybuilding.com has constructed a fitness regimen for baseball players or those just looking to develop the physique of one.

The program is mostly strength-training based focusing on ways to develop and maintain strength throughout the upper body, lower body, and the core. If you had to choose between those three areas the latter two are the most important in terms of baseball specific moves.  A strong core and lower body allows for more power in hitting and throwing. Mostly every baseball move derives from the core therefore it’s very important to develop that area.

On the field, the program outlines a few drills (30-yard dash, throwing with a weighted ball, and long toss) that will complement your work in the gym.

Everybody wants washboard abs, but how do we get them? It’s like everything when it comes to muscle building; there are hundreds of ways to get ripped and lean. But which ones are the best, not only in terms of results, but for the well being of your body?

Most of us know that getting your abdominals ripped and allowing them show consists mostly of dieting and eating the proper foods. But to have them “pop” you need to focus on the right regimen and exercises.

AskMen.com answers FAQs regarding ab workouts and techniques. You’ll find that when it comes to frequency more is not necessarily better and the amount of repetitions you do depends on your goal. Like most muscles, your abs need to be tricked and shocked so doing the same ab exercise over and over is not going to do much in terms of helping the muscle grow.

A strong abdominal section and core is one of the keys to a healthy, injury free body and physique.

Hitting plateaus can be frustrating, especially when it seems like you’re not making anymore gains. For me, my shoulders have always been an area that has needed constant “shocking” and exercise variation. We’ve all done military presses and shoulder rows, but MensHealth.com has come up with a variation on the pushup that will help you breakthrough those stalemates and experience serious shoulder gains.

It’s called a jackknife pushup and it works by training your chest and shoulders while maintaining core stabilization throughout. It trains each shoulder individually which also helps to eliminate any imbalances you may have.

They also offer a modified version of the exercise so you can slowly work your way to mastering it.

Bodybuilding.com lists the best types of workouts for football players. They feature two different programs contstructed by a couple of the site’s avid readers and amateur football players.

Being that most positions in football require short, explosive bursts rather than sustained ones, the first workout promotes the 5 x 5 routine (5 sets of 5 repetitions) allowing for 20-40 seconds of rest between each set. It also stresses the importance of a “total body” workout which can help prevent injuries by targeting every muscle group.

The workout incorporates weightlifting, plyometrics, running, and agility drills. This isn’t just a workout for prospective NFL players, anyone from weekend warriors to casual flag football players can reap the benefits!

Myatt Murphy and Mike Mejia at MensHealth.com say that the key to making your biceps “pop” is variation in your exercises (see Close-Grip Chinup and Towel Inverted Row. 

Don’t continue to do the same bicep workout each time; mix it up a bit! In order for those veins to show you need to have your body fat under 15%.

The anatomy of your biceps’ fibers are tailor made to bulge out, all you have to do is work them out!