There will be times when you are still panting a bit after 2 or 3 minutes, due to poor lung conditioning or the fact you’re just using heavy compound movements. After all, you’re going to breath a lot harder (and longer) from a set of 20 rep squats, than you will with 6 reps of calf raises, right? So it’s tough to put a clock on a movement’s required rest period. Nonetheless, there are some guidelines which apply to rest periods when training.

Under One Minute
If you’re training for a show, looking to shed body fat while maintaining your existing levels of muscle mass, then taking 45 to 60 seconds of rest between sets may be optimal. The muscle group never loses its pump, the blood never leaves the region. The vascularity you desire develops as a result. You’ll be panting your entire workout, but you’ll be leaner as a result while keeping your muscle.

One to Two minutes
This is the standard time it’ll take a lifter to get that heart rate back down to normal, and the time most lifters will employ in the gym. You don’t need a stopwatch for this. You usually have a feeling for when strength is going to be back to normal. The muscle group is still very pumped, but certainly not as engorged as it was immediately after the set, at which time it would have been impossible to hammer out another repetition.

More Than Three Minutes
If you are using extremely heavy compound lifts, or practicing a powerlifting weightlifting routine, then you may delve deep into the recesses of 3+ minutes of rest between sets. This won’t serve your bodybuilding goals all that much, but will help you to become a lot stronger, if that is your eventual goal. The pump isn’t the key here – the destruction of muscle fibers is what matters here. Choose your rest periods wisely, the results you see will be dependent upon them!

In May 2012, The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) warned marketers about a compound known as DMAA – Dimethylamylamine – which is an ingredient in many workout booster drinks found in gyms. The FDA may plan on following Canada’s actions of banning the substance in the future, but for now is just releasing warnings. The FDAA feels the DMAA in the drinks may lead to increases in blood pressure, cause shortness of breath, or lead to heart disease. This is caused by a narrowing of the blood vessels and arteries, which causes blood pressure elevation.

Of course, marketers call the ingredient safe. And if you’ve ever run an ECA stack, you’ll probably agree that is way more powerful and blood restrictive than anything that can come out of a supplement bottle. It appears the problem here may be the same issues faced by Ephedra when it took its beating publicly – over use. Moderate use of these accelerant supplements can give you some of the best workouts of your life. However, taking them several times per day, while engaging in other dangerous behavior, can lead to some health risks.

The bottom line is that workout booster supplements are effective as long as you are healthy, and they are used moderately, and never abused. There will always be people that are allergic to any supplement or food, just as there will always be people who abuse everything from butter to Coca-Cola. Perhaps it isn’t wise to punish an entire industry as well as tens of thousands of avid health-conscious weight lifters who use these supplements. If you’re healthy, use them while you can. If you’re not sure, see a doctor. Have him check your blood pressure and perhaps run a blood panel to ensure your health is where it should be. If you have a family history of some medical issues popping up early, then those should be of particular concern. Keep training, and stay lean!

Eggs are a very potent, complete, and popular food for delivering protein to the body. Unfortunately, they don’t arrive to the table in the easiest format. In fact, they’re quite runny in their natural shell format. They can be fried or scrambled, but then they need to be served immediately. This is fine if you have a stove and sink nearby, but this isn’t always the case. There are going to be times when you’re on the road, stick in a meeting, or otherwise detained from a kitchen. For that time, when you need protein and eggs are the option you desire, hard-boiled eggs are the way to go.

You should prepare hard boiled eggs the night before you plan on eating them. They will last for days, but fresh is always the preferable way to go. Boil them for about 20 minutes (5 minutes warm up and 15 minutes boiling) is maximum cooking time. Some people will choose an egg boiled for much less time – all the way down to a “minute egg” – but that is a personal preference. Immediately rinse them in cool water and peel as soon as possible. This is perhaps the most tedious task when it comes to hard boiled eggs – peeling them!

In the morning, they rock with oatmeal. You can cut them up in some fat-free mayonnaise for egg salad at lunch. Slice & dice them with your garden salad with dinner. And, all day you can snack on an egg or two from your cooler any time you want a protein fix. Each egg brings about 6 grams of protein. Egg whites are zero fat and are therefore digested very quickly. Add them in all day long as you see fit! And there’s nothing wrong with eating an egg or two in the middle of the night when you awaken to use the restroom!

Remember that SOME egg yellows are okay and even advisable in your diet – just don’t choose to consume twelve per day. Enjoying 2 to 3 each day won’t adversely affect your health, unless you have a major issue with cholesterol, which would probably be genetic. Use hard boiled eggs frequently throughout your day to ensure your body is enjoying the proteins needed for muscle growth. Now get crackin’!

Start by committing to NOT changing a thing for 2 weeks. During that time, you will be writing down everything you eat – every meal, every snack, every supplement and every protein shake. Use a spreadsheet like Excel, or preferably a Smartphone app to calculate the calories as well as the grams of protein, carbohydrate, and fat that you are consuming each day. Average them out for the 14 days you are recording, to reach that magic number of calories, protein, carbs and fat that you have ALREADY been consuming each day. This is your current daily intake, and the numbers you require to maintain your current body weight, as well as fat and muscle composition.

Next, you have to do your measurements. This involves weighing yourself, but also using a tape measure to assess accurate readings of your chest, leg, arm, calf, and most importantly – waist measurements. And if your gym or personal trainer has access to a body fat measurement tool – use it! These numbers will be useful as you begin to start making changes to your diet – and changes start happening to your body – so that you can observe if the change you see is positive or negative. Once you begin a diet, you might lose 10 pounds in a month. But if you also lose an inch off your arm size while gaining an inch on your waist, then you’ll know the number need to be radically adjusted.

Most diets will require the user to gradually remove 500 calories per day, for a total of 3500 calories per week. Keep an eye on your carbohydrate intake levels. Remember that it should be carbs and some fats which are reduced when cutting out calories from your diet. Protein should remain constant, or even bumped up, so that you can keep that much mass despite eventually being in a caloric deficit on a daily basis. Above all, record your results and keep a positive attitude as you work to lose body fat on a gradual and consistent basis.

How often should I be using barbell rows
Unless you have a nagging injury, this exercise should be used with every back workout, usually once per week for 4 sets of 8 to 12 repetitions. There may be times each year when you want to spend 6 to 8 weeks away from the heavy compound movements and wish to give your joints a rest.

Are barbell rows dangerous?
When using extremely heavy weight, the lifter can be at risk for two injuries in particular. The bent over nature of the exercise lends to risk with AC and RC joints, and many lifters who use a sudden, jerking, explosive lifting motion have suffered from torn biceps.

What kind of form should be used with barbell rows?
There are two main variations of the movement which adhere to radically different forms. For the first, your body should be either at a 45 degree angle (for barbell or Yates rows) and you should pull the weight up to your waist while keeping the grip narrow. Alternatively, the Pendlay rows are completed at a 90 degree angle, with the rear end out and the back as straight as possible. Alternate versions of this movement to hit the muscle fibers from as many angles as possible.

What kind of grip should I be using?
Lifters will use both overhand and underhand grips for barbell rows. The overhand is the most popular grip to avoid a torn biceps, but the underhand grip will target the traps and lower lats a bit more.

How can I get better results from barbell rows?
This is a tough exercise which requires the use of many muscles of the back, shoulders, biceps and forearms, as well as the tendons and ligaments. You will want to make sure you have all your ducks in a row in terms of nutrition and rest. A diet rich in protein (steak, eggs, chicken, whey, and fish) along with carbohydrates (pasta, rice and potatoes) along with 7.5 to 8.5 hours of sleep each night will ensure you have the energy to train as well as the tools to recover.

Inconsistent Sleep
This is perhaps the top item holding back trainers from optimal success – getting enough sleep. Life is full of opportunity, options, and obstacles, and we address them on a daily basis in order to get the most out of our time here. Sometimes, staying up late to read about a new bodybuilding diet or training system can lead to huge changes in our progress, and sometimes it can result in us being too groggy the next day to adequately train. Find a standard bedtime and stick to it. Turn off the television and any other distractions and focus your energies on getting enough sleep on a consistent basis – 7 days per week!

Overdoing Cardio
It is a very good thing to stay active and get lean. It is a very bad thing when your cardio efforts result in a loss of the muscle mass you’ve worked hard to build. Additionally, the central nervous system can only take so much treadmill damage until you start to overtrain altogether, completely hampering your recovery efforts. Stick with 3 to 4 sessions per week of 25 to 40 minutes of moderate cardio, and stop there. If you need to use more to get lean, it’s time to re-address your diet!

Alcohol Consumption
It’s a fact that alcohol is a part of society and always will be. And we’ve all read that a little red wine with dinner makes for a healthier heart. But going overboard and hitting the town with friends a few days per week will cause a decline in your testosterone levels, will disrupt sleep, will dehydrate your body, and will hold back training progress.

Changing Workout Systems Too Frequently
It’s always good to mix things up. We’ve always been told that the most effective workout system for us is probably the one we’re NOT currently using, right? However, changing up systems every other week will never give your body the chance to actually grow to meet the new demands being inflicted upon it. Stick with each program for 6 to 8 weeks before trying another.

Natural Vs. Assisted Status
Those lifters choosing to use anabolic steroids and/or human growth hormone are going to recover at a rate twice that of a natural lifter. Sure, there are a variety of additional risks and other factors they must consider. However, it is always imperative that the natural lifter never hold himself to the same standards (or training demands) of the chemically assisted trainer – you’re simply on two different playing fields!

This is a standard cutting diet delivering about 2,500 calories per day. Tailor it to meet your individual needs. This meal plan is designed for a 200 pound male individual. You can vary foods to match your budget, available food choices, and personal preferences, as long as your are using reasonable and applicable substitutes. Six ounces of fish can replace six ounces of chicken, but you can’t exactly choose a stack of cookies instead. So without further delay, let’s check out a cutting diet for bodybuilders.

Meal #1: 6 Egg Whites + 2 Whole Eggs. Add to 1 Cup Oatmeal and 1 Banana. You should also include a Multi Vitamin and Mineral Supplement with this meal. Totals Calories = 500.

Meal #2: 3 ounces Sirloin Steak, one medium potato, and 4 ounces tuna. Total Calories = 400.

Meal #3: One Cup of Brown Rice Four Ounces Chicken Breast, one handful almonds. Total Calories = 550

Meal #4: Meal Replacement shake, one rice cake, one piece fruit. Total Calories = 400

Meal #5: Two scoops whey protein powder, 1 cup juice. Total Calories = 600

Meal #6: Garden green salad with 6 ounces chicken breast. Total Calories = 250

Meal #7: 8 ounces low-fat Cottage Cheese. Total Calories = 150

If this is your first diet, then you may see outstanding results much quicker than planned. Perhaps your body will respond negatively however, resisting the reduction in calories. Everyone will be different in terms of the body’s response. Be sure to record your results so that you will know for the next diet what worked, and what did not.

Remember that diet alone will not result in a brand new sliced & diced physique. You must also give your body plenty of reasons to burn these calories – Mainly, in the form of cardiovascular exercise! Opt for 4 sessions each week of cardio, using a mix of treadmill, talking, stair stepper, elliptical, and rowing machines to hit your body from as many angles as possible. Train for 20 to 40 minutes at a moderate rate, but not so fast that you are burning up your hard-earned muscle!

First you will want to clean up your diet – in a big way. Yes, you can cut out a little bit of junk and see some subtle change. But you need to do more. Begin by cutting back the obvious items which you don’t belong for health reasons – fast food, soda, and other obvious snacks and junk food. Then, begin cutting back on the carbohydrates – just 500 calories per day from your baseline number – until you reach a point where the scale starts showing some weight loss.

Addressing your cardiovascular exercise will be your next step. Initially, you’ll want to use something like 4-5 walks per week, each lasting 20 minutes at a moderate pace. Add to that three weekly sessions of more intense cardio using an elliptical or stair stepper.

Have you used supplements before? Now is the time! ECA, or a combination of 25 mg ephedrine, stacked with 350 mg aspirin, and 200 mg of caffeine is combined to deliver fat loss, appetite suppression, and metabolic boost. You can also locate a variety of OTC supplements.

Finally, one of the most important aspects is training – specifically abdominal training. You’ll want to hit your upper, side and lower abdominals at least four times per week. Use crunches for upper abs, along with rope crunches and machine crunches. Side abdominals are best hit with broomstick twists, which will allow you to train them without much resistance. Using heavy weight will result in a thickening of the midsection, which will harm your symmetry. You’re trying to get your abs tighter, remember? Finally, use leg raises and frog kicks for the lower abdominals.

Give it time and be patient. When you implement all 4 of these changes, you will likely see an initial loss of water weight, and you’ll be highly encouraged. Then, you’ll have a bit of a bounce back, where a little weight may return – and that can be frustrating. Always keep the weights low (or use none at all) and the repetitions high for best abdominal development results!

Forearms are a tricky muscle group when it comes to symmetry. Many bodybuilders prefer slightly smaller forearms than can be developed, because they feel this makes the biceps and triceps appear bigger. We’ve all seen athletes will over-developed forearms. Even if they have impressive upper arms, they still look terrible in many poses as a result. For this reason, a lot of athletes will error on the side of caution and avoid training them altogether. This isn’t always a mistake, but it can be.

The use of SEO, site injections, and oils to improve the size of the upper arms has also brought greater scrutiny to the forearm debate. Many top bodybuilders with naturally small arms will use oil in their biceps and triceps to add some size – resulting in a situation where their forearms will look even smaller than before! Choose your poison wisely here! You can always scale back your forearms training if they grow too large, and the training regimen detailed next can help you to add thickness and vascularity to your forearms (as well as strength) in 4 to 6 weeks. But you cannot make up for weak forearms in a week or two, as you diet down to a show and realize they look like sticks. Build them up in the off-season to prevent this dilemma!

Let’s examine some of the exercises you should be using to better improve your forearms from all angles. Over-hand wrist curls and Underhand wrist curls should be used for 3-4 sets of 10 to 20 repetitions. Keep the weight light – just 10 to 25 pounds per side of the Olympic bar. You’re not trying to destroy your forearms and kill your grip for the week – you just want to stimulate them. Don’t’ forget about hammer curls – or zottman curls – as well as the variety of cable movements and any unique machines your gym may possess.

Poorly developed forearms can also lead to injury at worst, and lagging progress in other areas at best. Consider exercises such as the deadlift. Those lifters with little to no real wrist or grip strength will fail on this movement before their back gives out – because their hands give out. Their back development will suffer as a result. Don’t let this happen to you. Even if you don’t train the forearms to failure, you should still be hitting them moderately to ensure they are safely developed.

Compound movements
There are the exercises which hit ALL of the sections of the shoulders. Think of the major Olympic or powerlifting lifts such as the overhead clean, jerk and press. All of the 3 heads of the deltoids are hit when using these movements, as well as a slew of other muscle groups too. Seated dumbbell and barbell (as well as machine versions) military press fall into this category as well.

Front deltoids are usually targeted following the pressing compound movements. Seated or standing dumbbell or cable raises to the front nail this muscle group perfectly, as does the ever unpopular barbell front raise. Choose 1 exercise of 4-5 sets for this muscle group.

Side deltoids
Dumbbell or cable side raises – with the elbows slightly bent – are very popular for hitting the side deltoids. Stick with 2 exercises, each consisting of 3-5 sets of 8 to 15 repetitions.

Rear deltoids
Often overlooked yet essential for complete development, the rear delts are nailed with the standard 45 degree dumbbell raises. There are also other machines specifically designed for this muscle group in your gym. And, when all else fails, spin around on the cable chest flye machine to hit the rear delts in a very deliberate manner. One exercise of 4 sets should be plenty, unless you have a deficiency in this muscle group at the moment.

Don’t neglect your traps when training your shoulders so hard. They are the sheet of muscle connecting the neck to the shoulder and should be trained on shoulder or back day. Use dumbbell or barbell shrugs – high weight with low repetitions – to target this very growth-resistant muscle group.

Remember that your shoulders receive a bit of a workout with everything you do in the gym pertaining to upper body. Chest, back, and even upper arm days are usually going to deliver some layover effect to your shoulders as they work in a support role for you.