muscles

A strong and healthy back reaches beyond how much weight you can lat pull. It encompasses a solid range of motion, proper posture, identifying weaknesses or imbalances, and correcting them. Considering the back has 40 muscles both large and small starting at the top of the neck and all the way...

By: Matt Weik While you may no longer be a spring chicken, you’re by no means old. Yet, when you wake up each morning, you feel like you’re 96, and just about every part of your body hurts. Why? There are actually some valid reasons why you’re stiff and sore when you wake up, and many of them...

"Who woulda thought OVERTRAINING is a real thing?!”... If you thought the same thing, give this article a read because this can happen to anyone whether you are new to lifting or have been training for 15+ years… and if you are competitive like me, this is far more likely to happen to you...

The quads, hamstrings, and glute muscles should be the focus of your leg training because training them will give you the most bang for your exercise buck. But there is one muscle group that is neglected from the usual leg day workout; the adductor muscles. Adductor exercises are often...

What is Irradiation? Find out how to apply this technique to your workouts for a simple alteration that will really pack a punch! Stand up and make a fist as hard as you possibly can. Go ahead, squeeze! Okay, what did you feel? If you truly squeezed your hardest, you probably felt all of the...

Everyone wants to figure out how to create the best muscle building split. Learn how you can do so and train optimally with these simple guidelines. The ideal training schedule is something we are all searching for. If you can establish this then it’s a foundational piece of the muscle building...

What is Irradiation? Find out how to apply this technique to your workouts for a simple alteration that will really pack a punch! Stand up and make a fist as hard as you possibly can. Go ahead, squeeze! Okay, what did you feel? If you truly squeezed your hardest, you probably felt all of the...

Has your progress stalled while on your quest to put on lean muscle mass? Check out these 4 tips to bust through those plateaus and put on more muscle mass! Head over to the mirror, strip down to your “skivvies,” and take a good, long and critical look at yourself. Meticulously analyze your...

The six-pack muscle, the rectus abdominals gets all the attention, and rightly so. When your diet is dialed in and you’re strong and lean, the six-pack is the center of the attention. But the two muscles on either side of your rectus abs called the oblique muscles are either an afterthought and...

by Matt Weik Not sure if you’ve heard of the latest trend in self-massage tools, but it’s called a “massage gun,” and it is basically a portable electric muscle massager. These nifty devices are just one of the countless pieces of equipment that you can use, along with your bodyweight and...

by Matt Weik Regardless of whether you’re a beginner doing your first workout or an experienced lifter on a strict regimen, one thing you will encounter is post-workout muscle soreness. If you’re pushing yourself, you can count on experiencing some sort of soreness following a grueling workout...

Although walking up (or down) the stairs after leg day can be a grueling task, there’s nothing more painfully satisfying than when the post-workout muscle soreness hits. It gives the feeling of accomplishment and confirmation that you put in the work. On the other hand, if you’ve ever wondered...

Strength athletes will get more reps out of their sets if they stretch their muscles between sets. And we're not talking about the muscles you're training, but their antagonists. So when you're training the latissimi dorsi you need to stretch the pectoralis major. Sports scientists at the...

Creatine Grows Some Body Parts Faster Amazingly, creatine works better for certain muscles than it does for others. Take a look at this new science. Creatine may be an outlier, though. Not only has it been shown in previous studies to increase upper body strength more than lower body strength...

The strength of the lower back, glutes, and hamstrings form the foundation of lower body movement. These muscles as a unit allow you to run, jump, hinge, and squat like a rockstar. There are plenty of great exercises, like the reverse hyperextension, that train these important muscles but...

Let’s face it, having a thick neck can be quite imposing. Besides giving you that intimidating middle linebacker look, it’s an indication of the dedication and hard work in the gym. Those massive traps make someone look like the Incredible Hulk without turning green. But a massive yoke isn’t...

A round butt can be one of the most attractive body parts of the female body. Especially since her wider hips, the more acute angle at which her thigh bones attach to the pelvis, create that particular way of walking that singer Tennessee Ernie Ford referred to as having “quite a hitch in her...

I get this question a lot: Is there a difference between abs and core training? And the quick answer is yes! A better answer, however, would be, Yes, but … Technically, the abdominals are part of the larger “core” group of muscles. Most folks consider the abs to be the small muscles in the...

Strength Training Any strength training program should apply six basic laws of training to ensure adaptation and keep people who embark on training free from Injury. Especially the young and inexperienced trainers who decide to train without proper instruction from qualified training instructors...

I think it’s safe to say that for those of us who are working to build better bodies through bodybuilding and or fitness, out of all the muscle groups we work so hard to develop, the muscles of the arms seem to be the most universally admired. Whenever a bodybuilder is asked in public to make a...