I think it’s better to get nutrition from foods than supplements, but there is also room for supplementation. In general, I don’t think poor absorption of nutrients from supplements is the primary reason for this. The major problem, rather, is that the interactions between nutrients are complex and whole foods are most likely far more than the sums of their parts.
I know a lot of highly qualified trainers that just can’t seem to get or retain clients. It’s not that they lack the knowledge required to help people reach their goals, but they seem to lack the communication skills. Something just seems to be missing. Talk to me about the psychology of training athletes/clients. How important is a trainer’s communication skills compared to his/her understanding of exercise science and program design?
Here’s what you need to know… You don’t need to choose between squats or leg presses. A smart lifter knows that exercises are just tools and simply uses the right tool for the job. While the leg press may not be as “hard” as the squat, it’s in a class by itself for sheer leg […]
Here’s what you need to know… While calf size is somewhat genetically determined, a little creativity and daily training can go a long way. Pair every set of gastrocnemius or soleus raises with a set of tibialis anterior raises. Keep the reps of the standard raises fairly low and vary your foot position. For the […]
Boyce’s Choices: Top 10 Assistance Exercises The glory belongs to the big lifts. Whether you’re reading articles written by a powerlifting enthusiast, a bodybuilding specialist, or a guy who just wants to help people move better, it’s commonly accepted by the intelligent training world that you don’t know what you’re talking about if you don’t […]
I am very pleased to have this month’s feature interview be with the one and only Mike Francois. Mike is viewed by many to have been an uncrowned Mr. Olympia. To those here in Columbus, Ohio, Mike is also known as a highly intelligent, character driven man that we all aspire to be like. Mike, can you tell us a little about your background and how you actually got into the sport of bodybuilding, I think it might surprise many of my readers!
Here’s what you need to know… Squats can’t be beat for big legs, but that doesn’t mean you should do them first in your workout. Hamstring curls, lying or seated, can pump the hamstrings with blood, making squats feel sturdier. Prioritizing the hamstrings will give them that much-desired “hang” that defines well-developed legs. Read More
I’m originally from Moscow, Russia, but I’ve lived most of my life in the U.S. I started lifting weights in high school to get stronger for wrestling (I was in the 103lb class my freshman year!), but pretty soon I was more into lifting than I was into wrestling. By early undergrad I weighed 200lbs, and I was quite the bench presser, so a martial arts mentor of mine talked me into competing in powerlifting. I loved powerlifting, and was competitive until around 2007, when I started reading bodybuilding magazines.
How to Train Through Chronic Injuries It’s not always a cakewalk to be a regular in the gym, training hard, and attempting to train smart. If you’ve got a history of “bad shoulders”, for example, chances are something is going to nefariously sneak its way in to bother you at some point. The same goes […]
Jamie Pinder trains legs in preparation for the 2013 Olympia!
My passion is coaching hardcore iron heads. I train some of the strongest and most muscular athletes in the world in person at Metroflex Gym in Arlington, Texas, and via the Internet. I have Master’s degree in Exercise Science. I did my first powerlifting meet at 14 years old. Even though football and track were my primary sports in high school, I always lifted heavy and trained like a powerlifter.
August 2013: Complexes for Fat Loss The simultaneous effort for maintaining or even building strength and muscle, along with burning fat has eluded many. For good reason – usually they’re two territories that have very little carryover. Training for strength usually means heavy weights, moderately high rest intervals, and limited fat burning potential as a […]
I am very happy to have this month’s expert interview with John Ivy. John is the former Department Chair of Kinesiology and Health Education and Professor Emeritus at the University of Texas. He has had over 170 research papers and review articles published. He also still has his research lab and continues to work with graduate students. John is an expert in nutrient timing, which as you all know is near and dear to my heart. Most importantly, I have a feeling we are all going to learn a thing or two from this discussion!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYz5FA7spcs
July 2013: A Closer Look at Your Hips In the movies, there’s always that character who’s in the wrong place at the wrong time. The guy who gets the bad rap just for being there, and for being the easiest dude to blame for the heist. In the case of the human body, the “bad […]
I basically began training to get stronger for wrestling back in high school. I started looking through all of the muscle magazines for tips to get bigger and stronger and that’s how I came across the sport of bodybuilding. After digging a little deeper I came across the articles of Layne Norton and that’s really who turned me onto science and natural bodybuilding.
The Mountain Dog of training John Meadows killing it with a two hour leg workout in preparation for the 2013 Masters Nationals.
June 2013: Eggs Demystified With some of the highest biological value protein obtainable from a whole-food source, whole-egg protein is gram for gram one of the best muscle-building proteins out there. In recent years, the variety eggs available through local farms and grocery stores have literally exploded, however. A quick trip to the grocery isle […]
My shoulder genetics are pretty pathetic. For years I did numerous overhead-pressing variations with regularity and included enough lateral raises to get championship width several times over, but I just didn’t seem to get any serious shoulder thickness or size. My problem was that I believed that growth only happened in the 8 to 12 […]
I have been training or about 28 years, competing for about 20 and working to get bodybuilders into top condition for almost 12 years.
I started out like most others by falling in love with the sport at a young age and wanting to be as big and ripped as I could be.