Effective Workout Routines for Men
February 15, 2012 by admin
Filed under Featured, Workout Routines for Men
Effective Workout Routines for Men To Build Muscle And Lose Fat
In today’s world of hectic and stressful life, it is very important that you must know the effective workout routines for men. Be sure to do some exercises regularly. These workout routines can be done at home and it can help you in maintaining the fitness level that you want without spending too much money and time. You can even perform these exercises at home by yourself.
There are a lot of effective workout routines for men at home that you can do. In fact, you do not have to join a gym or any fitness club in order to make yourself fit. These home workouts are probably better compared to those performed at the gym because you are only using your body weight while performing them. If you workout in a gym and you do not have any prior knowledge about the machines that you will use on the workouts then chances are you might damage your joints or obtain some injuries. Excessive stress on the body joints can result to serious consequences.
Advantages of Effective Workout Routines for Men
- Workouts done at home are much safer than those done at the gym.
- Bodybuilding exercises and stretching exercises are proven to be highly effective if proper guidelines are followed and proper care is observed.
The most effective workout routines for men can be categorized into back, chest, leg and shoulder workouts. These exercises can help you in keeping a fit body. Workout routines for men done at home are quite simple and yet effective. These workout routines can help you in muscle building as well as developing a strong body.
Some of the Effective Workout Routines for Men
- Push-ups are considered as the most common types of workouts that you can do at home. This type of exercise can strengthen your chest muscles. The inverted push-up is another type of push up exercise that can help in strengthening your shoulder muscles.
- Side to side lunge is a form of exercise that can strengthen your leg muscles.
- Body weight squats are the exercises for the muscles of the thighs and the legs particularly the glutes, hamstring and quads.
- Deadlift is a type of weightlifting exercise which is done with the use of a barbell. This is the best exercise for stretching your thighs and back.
These effective workout routines for men are quite easy to perform at home. These exercises do not require too much time. Some people use these workout routines as their most effective weight loss workout routines. Some people want to lose weight because they are tired of the criticisms made by some people or they just simply want to boost their self-esteem. If you want to be successful in doing these workout routines then you need to have hard work and discipline. Your weight loss goals cannot be achieved by pills or dietary supplements. All you have to do is to make some changes in your daily routine. Effective workout routines for men are the easiest and most economical way of maintaining a healthy body.
Stop Wasting Your Time with Worthless Treadmill and Elliptical Machine Workouts!
October 1, 2010 by admin
Filed under Workout Routines for Men
Have you ever considered if treadmill or elliptical workouts are actually that effective… or are there more fun and more effective exercise methods?
Now that I pissed off all of the treadmill and elliptical machine worshipers… let me say that if you truly enjoy mindlessly pumping away on a treadmill or elliptical (or exercise bike for that matter too), then by all means, keep doing what you enjoy, because enjoying your exercise is one of the most important aspects to sticking with any exercise program…
However, don’t say that I didn’t warn you that you were wasting your time with all that mindless cardio machine boredom.
If I haven’t mentioned it before, I don’t believe in cardio machines, and to be quite honest, I don’t think I’ve personally used a treadmill, elliptical, or exercise bike for at least the last 7-8 years or so.
As a matter of fact, I don’t even use cardio machines anymore for warmups before a workout (did before occasionally)… Nowadays, I prefer to do dumbbell or kettlebell snatches and swings mixed with bodyweight exercises as the perfect full body warmup at the beginning of my workouts.
So why do I have such hatred for cardio machines? Well, here goes:
1) Treadmills, ellipticals, and exercise bikes are mind-blowingly BOOOORING!
2) Mindless steady state cardio exercise while watching tv or reading creates a mind / body disconnect resulting in poor results from your exercise routine
3) I’ve seen studies that indicated that treadmill running may be less effective than outdoor running for various reasons such as stride abnormalities on treadmills vs natural running, slightly less caloric burn compared to outdoor running, etc.
(although I never recommend just “jogging” anyway… variable intensity walks / runs or sprints are so much more effective, training your heart rate in a much wider range instead of just the same pace during the entire workout).
4) Treadmills and ellipticals are ridiculously expensive and a waste of money for people that workout at home… there’s so many better options for home workouts you could have spent your money on rather than wasting it on a treadmill, bike, or elliptical.
The perfect home gym setup is MUCH cheaper… there’s no reason you need anything other than a jump rope, bodyweight exercises, a few dumbbells, stability ball, maybe a few kettlebells (if you want to get fancy), and perhaps high tension bands for some more variety. And of course… the great outdoors has some of the best workout options of all… hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, skiing, sports, and more!
By the way, here are some great adjustable dumbbells which can save you big time cash if you’re setting up your own home gym.
5) Treadmills and elliptical machines are just a very ineffective way to workout compared to other options. Why should you do treadmill or elliptical workouts when you can get better results by doing more interesting forms of training that actually stimulate a fat-burning hormonal response and stimulate your metabolism to a greater extent.
So what are the alternatives to treadmills and elliptical trainers? Here are some of my favorite types of alternative exercises:
- jumping rope – great mind / body connection (try speed jumping, crosses, double jumps once you get skilled at it)
- bodyweight training – bodyweight squats, pushups, lunges, jumps, bear crawls, mountain climbers and jumpers, planks, and the list goes on and on
- kettlebell training – nothing will get your heart pounding like high repetition KB swings and snatches or clean & presses (can be done with dumbbells too, but I prefer KBs)
- outdoor wind sprinting (the ultimate for a rock hard ripped body… just look at the chiseled powerful bodies of world class sprinters, and compare that to the weakling withered physique of a typical marathoner… nuff said!)
- hill sprinting (yet another classic for a rock hard powerful body)
- rowing machine (ok, I don’t really lump this in as a “cardio” machine like treadmills and ellipticals… I think the rowing machine is actually a great full body workout that actually uses resistance)
- sprint style swimming workouts (a more muscular workout than steady state distance swimming… I actually love the upper body pump I get from sprint style swimming) – this is the same concept as sprinting vs jogging but in a pool instead
- heavy bag punching / kicking workout, speed bag, rebound bag… all great forms of training and much more interesting than boring cardio machines (requires an intense mind / body connection)
- shadow boxing… awesome workout, but if you’re shy, this is best done at home since you’ll get some crazy stares doing this at a typical gym from people who think they’re “too cool” for stuff like that.
Well, I hope that helps give you ideas on how you can get away from all of these mindless and ineffective treadmill and elliptical trainer machines (and exercise bike) workouts that are just wasting your time and energy that could be better spent on more effective workouts.
If you don’t already have a copy of my Truth about Six Pack Abs program, you can see some of the incredible reviews and results people are getting with Truth about Abs here
You can check out the common questions and answers about this super-effective fat loss program here
Have a great one, and get out there and actually ENJOY your workouts!
Don’t be lazy, be lean.
Kettlebell Workout Routines For Men
September 29, 2010 by admin
Filed under Workout Routines for Men
Kettlebell Workouts can help men build strength, muscle, and drop fat. Guys tend to get stronger faster then women do, and so they need to be constantly challenged with more weight and varied exercises.
With Kettlebells, you don’t need to continue to add weight – as adding weight is difficult with Kettlebells. However, there are so many unique movements that you do with Kettlebells, that you can continue to get stronger and add muscle.
Here’s an advanced strength and muscle workout using some unique Kettlebell movements:
3 rounds of:
- Getup Situp, 5 reps each hand, 30 seconds rest
- Floor Chest Press, 5 reps each hand, 30 seconds rest
- Lawnmower Rows, 5 reps each hand, 30 seconds rest
- Rolling Pistol Squats, 5 reps each hand, 30 seconds rest
- Partner Assisted Eccentric Swings, 5 reps each hand, 30 seconds rest
Now, some of these movements are brutally hard. So you can substitute the movements for easier ones that you already know how to perform. I’ll go over a few that you may have not see before:
Getup Situp
The getup situp is similar to a Turkish Get up except that you do not stand all the way up. The idea is to start off in a lying down position with the Kettlebell extended out over your head, and then simply perform a situp while keeping the Kettlebell locked out over head.
Lawnmower Rows
Stand with your feet wider than shoulder width apart. Grab a Kettlebell with your right hand. Bend your body to the left side, placing your left forearm on your left thigh. Bend your knee slightly and keep your back straight.
Perform a row, starting the pull from near your left foot. This looks you’re starting a lawnmower engine.
Rolling Pistol Squats
If you can’t do pistols, then do these with two feet. Hold the Kettlebell in front of your body with two hands, each on the side of the handle. Perform squat. At the bottom position of the squat, roll back.
Then roll forwards back into squat position and stand up. (Make sure the Kettlebell doesn’t hit you in the head).
One of the best Kettlebell programs I’ve come across is Kettlebell Revolution. You can learn more about this powerful training program on my blog, ShahTraining.com.
The Importance of Shoulder Exercises For Men – 3 Effective Workout Routines
September 29, 2010 by admin
Filed under Workout Routines for Men
Some men concentrate on toning their abs since it’s the ‘in thing’ to do, while others focus on simply doing lower body workouts in a bid to show off those leg muscles on the beach. However, one of the most neglected regions of the male body, which supports the back and the upper body is the shoulder line; this must be exercised regularly and in a correct way for fitness results to be enduring and beneficial, not to mention give a great full body sculpting look!
Properly designed shoulder exercises for men, explain professional trainers, are aimed at empowering those on the program to work out core muscle groups located in the shoulder region besides the back and the upper body. Regular everyday exercises do not usually have the scope of working out these muscle groups while the lower legs or even the arms may be given a workout even without realizing this is carried out, such as when climbing stairs or carrying your groceries back home. This is the main reason why men need to understand the importance of performing regular shoulder exercises.
There are 2 main kinds of shoulder exercises. The first includes those that offer strength training and muscle-building success. Take the help of basic exercise equipment such as dumbbell rows, doing overhead presses, or utilizing any other form of weights in the exercise session. Sometimes these shoulder exercises are referred to as resistance training, but these are the same as muscle building routines because they are based on the principle of using the weight’s resistance for boosting muscle mass. Depending on the body composition of a man, a gym instructor may begin him off on a program that requires him to repeat exercises without using any weight other than his natural body load, for the resistance training.
The second type of shoulder exercise involves stretching, targeting the muscles along the shoulder line to be worked out as opposed to helping in building muscle mass. For men who have recently gone through surgery and need to enhance their posture, these types of shoulder exercises are recommended along with basic ‘asanas’ of Yoga or Pilates, which are also based on the principle of stretching the upper body to aid in self-training, recovery and gentle toning.
If you follow the 3 super effective shoulder exercises given below, you are sure to enjoy the admiring glances that will come your way with a toned, straight back that improves your posture and makes your midsection look slimmer.
Exercise no. 1 – Use the shoulder press machine for best work out of your shoulder, upper back and biceps. Sit comfortably, modify the weight stack to suit your program, press overhead and follow through from once a week, building up to thrice a week for best results.
Exercise no. 2 – Try out the upright row; with your feet placed at shoulder-width from each other, hold the barbell from the middle of a barbell and keep palms facing in, slowly lifting it to the chin then lowering it, all the while ensuring you keep your back straight and knees relaxed.
Exercise no. 3 – Shrug it off! Literally, you can do shrugs regularly for improving your shoulders; just hold a dumbbell in your hands, keep the same start posture as above and keeping your arms at the sides with palms facing inwards, torso straight, just lift your shoulders as close to your ears as possible before lowering them slowly.
Shannen Lee has been a freelance writer for the last 3 years. Check out her most recent writing here on the Chocolate Diamond Rings website, where you can read her review on selecting the best chocolate diamond engagement rings.