The way to look ABS-olutely Great!

A six pack is not an easy goal to reach. Contrary to what is often thought, it takes more than abdominal exercises to get a six pack. Ultimately, your fat percentage should also be low enough to see your abdominal muscles. Food plays an important role in this.  Please read through my blog page that talks about a diet focused on muscle-building, so that you can very easily calculate your own customized diet and plan exactly what to eat when in the form of a diet chart.

Even though you are relatively slim, if you can not see your muscles in your stomach, then it means that there is still too much fat to reveal a six pack.

However, if your diet is already in order and you are already actively reducing your fat percentage, then training your abs is definitely the next step. And to help you with that, I've made a list of the best abdominal exercises.

Role of Creatine in Muscle Building

On lists of 'essential supplements' you often come across creatine. There are therefore many people who just take the stuff because it just seems to belong to it. On the other side of the spectrum there are also people who do not use supplements at all. For example, they assume that it will not do anything.

In both cases a lot of improvement is possible! And certainly with creatine, which can sometimes be useful. In today's article we answer all questions about it. What is creatine? How do you use it? And perhaps most importantly: do you need it?

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What is creatine?

Creatine is a so-called organic nitrogen compound. That may sound a bit scary, but the material naturally occurs in your own body. Your liver takes care of the production, based on a number of amino acids. In addition, you always get something inside through your food. These are available mainly in meat and fish.

Creatine plays a role in the energy supply of especially your muscles. 95% of your body stock is stored there: when you have to exercise briefly and explosively, your muscles can use it. The rest is spread over your heart, brain and genitals.

What does creatine do?

As mentioned before, creatine is mainly used in heavy efforts. For your muscles, it is an energy supply that can be used to extract lightning speed when needed. In other words: if you are really exercising with maximum weights, then creatine would definitely make a difference. Of course you always have a body's stock of it.

By taking an extra supplement, however, you ensure that the stock is maximally standard. And that means that during training you can give a little more than if you would have saved a little less creatine. In this way you press more repetitions, with more results as a result.

Does creatine really help?

What is above is of course the theoretical story. Of many supplements you can also think of why they should do something, but that does not always mean that the difference is noticeable. However, creatine is a substance that many people do notice. Approximately three-quarters of strength athletes achieve better results.

However, it differs per person how big the difference is. For example, if you already eat a lot of meat and fish, your stocks are probably already quite full. The creatine will then do less than with vegetarians. Advanced strength athletes also have much more to offer than beginners. If you have been developing your muscles for a short time, that small boost is just not that significant.

Some of us are, by nature, Ectomorphs. An ectomorph is typically someone who naturally has a fast metabolism and has to work extra hard to gain muscle mass. In order to gain muscle mass, Ectomorphs need to eat more. But because the ectomorphs naturally have a fast metabolism, it can sometimes be difficult to eat above the energy requirement. In such a situation Creatine just might be your saviour. Creatine gives Ectomorphs the ability to overcome the difficulty in building muscle.  

Do I have to use creatine?

Of course that does not mean that creatine is a must-have for all strength athletes. You can do well without it. But are you an advanced strength athlete, and are you looking for an extra incentive? Then this is one of the few that can really do what he promises. That does not mean of course that his supplement will double your muscles immediately.

Is creatine healthy?

So far the question 'what is creatine?' We now come to the next point, namely: how do you use creatine? A first question is of course whether the stuff is actually not unhealthy. Fortunately, we can be brief about this: research has not yet found any significant disadvantages. That is of course subject to the condition that you use the creatine in a reasonable way.

Like most things in life, taking too much of this supplement is unhealthy. In the case of creatine overuse, your liver and kidneys become considerably overloaded. But with proper discretion, creatine use would not cause any damage in your body.

Break periods

It is wise, however, not to use creatine as a lifelong supplement. There is very little research that establishes the exact effects of really long-term and constant use. But scientists still fear that it could weaken the body's production of creatine. That is, of course, annoying, because nobody wants to be dependent supplements.

The usual approach is to use the supplement no more than six weeks in a row. It is then advised to observe a four-week break period. In this manner you prevent the body's natural production of creatine from being disturbed too much.

Drink enough Fluids!

The other important conditions for safe use of creatine is that you drink enough with it. Creatine is stored in the muscles with the help of moisture. You therefore consume extra water, which could lead to dehydration. Muscle cramps and an irritated stomach can also be part of the side effects.

So make sure you get at least that two liters of water daily! If you suffer from side effects in the beginning, it may be wise to drink a little more. If the side effects persist, it is of course better to just stop with the supplement.

The best creatine

Then one last frequently asked question: what is the best creatine? We can imagine that you quickly get confused, because there is a lot of creatine for sale.Every kind also makes the most beautiful claims, so what do you have to believe? My suggestion is to keep it nice and normal and just choose standard creatine monohydrate.

That is often the cheapest and best available type. For the time being there are few indications that more advanced products work better. Choose a trusted brand of good quality, even though that may not be the most advantageous. This way you can be sure that you will receive an effective and safe product. Click here to try out your first Bottle.

Perfecting the Squat

The Squat implementation and technique tips

The Squat, also known as knee flexion, is one of the most important fitness exercises. It is the most effective exercise for both strength and muscle building. In fact, everyone should incorporate the Squat into his or her training schedule. Unfortunately the Squat is often skipped in the gym, where it is a tendency that the focus is mainly on training the upper body. Also, many people do not know exactly how to perform a good Squat. It is a technically difficult exercise; so many people try to avoid doing it. Read on quickly to learn the good Squat version and avoid injuries!

This secret has allowed serious bodybuilders to build muscle tissue and increase their energy during workouts, and get ripped faster. Click here to learn more.

Which muscles do you train with the Squat?

Before you decide whether squats are useful for you, you obviously need to know which muscles you train with. Squats are also called "the mother of exercises" because they train many different muscles. That's why squats will almost always fit into your workout, whatever your fitness goal. With squats train the following muscles:

•  The erector spinae (back muscles)
•  The gluteus maximus (large gluteal muscle)
•  The hamstrings
•  The quadriceps

The erector spinae (back muscles)

The erector spinae or back stretcher is a group of long back muscles that is important for stretching and bending the back (as the name of this muscle group probably already suggested). When you do a squat, you contract these muscles when you go up and when you go down. This means that these back muscles are actually continuously busy during squatting.

Training your back muscles is very important if you also want to train your abdominal muscles. If you train only your abdominal muscles, but not your back muscles, you can, as it were, "bend" backwards in posture.

The gluteus maximus (large gluteal muscle)

The squat is known as an exercise with which you train your buttocks, and this is certainly not a myth. Squatting is one of the best ways to train the gluteus maximus. This is the largest of the three gluteals, and also the muscle that largely determines the shape of the buttocks. If you want to work on this, there is no better exercise than the squat.

Buttock muscles are generally seen as attractive in both men and women. In women, they provide rounder, larger-looking buttocks, which most men find very beautiful, but women can also particularly appreciate a muscular buttocks in men.

The hamstrings

The hamstrings, also called the “back thigh muscles”, is a collective name for the three muscles that are located at the back of the upper leg. These muscles run from your buttocks to your lower leg. During squats you use these muscles very intensively to keep your body up.

Hamstrings are often seen as the measurement of how agile someone is, and are important in activities such as football, running, cycling and swimming. In addition, it is very important to train these muscles if you also train the rest of the muscles in your body: if you neglect your hamstrings, your legs will seem weird, small and out of proportion to the rest of your body.

The quadriceps

The quadriceps, also called the four-headed thigh muscle, is a muscle that sits at the front of your thigh, just on the other side of the thigh than the hamstring. The function they perform at squats is very similar to the function of the hamstrings, and so these muscles are also highly trained by this exercise. The benefits of well-trained quadriceps are very similar to those of hamstrings.

Other Benefits of squats

Besides the fact that squatting for many muscles is a very effective training method, the exercise has even more advantages. I will briefly discuss two of these benefits, namely:

•  The production of testosterone and growth hormone
•  Effective burning of body fat

The production of testosterone and growth hormone

When you exercise, you always make testosterone and growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor 1. In people who squat, however, the production of these substances appears to be a lot higher than with people who only do other exercises. This not only has a positive effect on the aforementioned muscle groups, but on all of the muscle building in your body.

People with more testosterone and growth hormone in their bodies can build muscle mass more easily, so also in other places in your body you will find that by doing squats you will suddenly become more muscular.

For the women who are afraid that this will give them a very masculine figure; do not worry about this, because you need a lot more testosterone than you could ever produce by way of squats.

Effective burning of body fat

If you want a more muscular look, it helps the visibility of your muscles enormously if you lose some fat. Fortunately, squats are ideal for burning body fat. During this intensive exercise you burn a lot of calories.

Myths about Squats

The knees may not come directly above the toes during the Squat

Many fitness instructors are of the opinion that during the Squat “your knees should never be positioned directly above your toes”. However, scientific evidence has never been provided before. No research has shown that permanent damage occurs if your knees exactly vertically above your toes. If you are forced to keep your toes behind your knees, you will put extra strain on your hips and lower back, which is not good. 

In conclusion, we can say that your knees may be slightly ahead of your toes. So make sure you have a Squat where your movement is as natural as possible and (only when you really need it) the knees are slightly ahead of your toes.

Squatting is bad for your knees

Unfortunately, it is sometimes thought that strength training is bad for your joints . The Squat would be too high a load for your knee joint. But this is a myth. It is said that the Squat is bad for your knees, however, a correct Squat version provides a strengthening of the muscles around your knee. This makes your knee stronger and more resilient in its entirety. For comparison; when running, there is much more pressure on your knees than during Squatting. With a Squat in correct shape, the power is divided over your leg muscles and hips.

Learning the correct Squat execution

Well, a Squat cannot harm your knees. But how do you perform a perfect Squat now? Follow the instructions below about your posture and you will soon notice that you are making progress -

o    Head: When you are standing upright, you choose a point right in front of you / something above you, here you keep watching during the entire exercise.

o    Shoulders: By squeezing your shoulder blades together, you will create a kind of ridge where the barbell / bar can stay on. 

o    Chest: During the Squat you try to keep the chest as upright as possible. As if you very confidently push your chest forward.

o    Hands: The position of your hands is important. Position them so that you have enough control over the rod and at the same time your elbow angle is sufficient to carry the barbell and the weight. Make sure that you do not place your hands too far apart.

o    Abdominal and lower back muscles: Provide a neutral, slightly concave, posture in your back. Keep on tightening your stomach and lower back muscles.

o    Hips and Thighs: Move your hips backwards. "Sit" like you would in a chair. However, you do not sit completely on the ground, but you keep squatting above the ground at the point where your thighs are about as straight as the ground.

o    Knees: Make your knees bend straight down, do not allow them to move too far inwards or outwards. It is important that you do not let your knees protrude beyond your toes. If you do, you will have difficulty keeping your balance, and you will train your muscles less effectively.

o    Feet: Put your feet down on shoulder width, or slightly wider. Your toes point forwards or outwards by 30 degrees. During the entire Squat your feet stay flat on the ground to maintain sufficient stability.

Variants of the Squat

By experimenting with your posture with the Squat you can put more emphasis on certain muscles. The Quadriceps in any case with every Squat variant fully participate.

o    Deeper = More activity in Gluteus and Hamstrings

o    Broader = More activity in Gluteus and Adductors

Sumo Squat ; Feet wide and outward. Less heavy for the lower back, but due to the lack of depth, less activity in the hamstrings.

Front Squat ; Place the rod on the front of your shoulders. For athletes with a vulnerable knee joint or limited flexibility in the shoulders, the front squat may be better suited than the back squat. But it does not matter for your legs.

Overhead Squat ; Hold the rod over your head. This is a slightly more difficult exercise and especially good for stability and flexibility.

Half Squat ; Stay slightly above parallel (90 degrees). Focus on the quads. Less effective than the Full Squat version.

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Upper Body Training

You have not grown up to stay small . With this attitude, many of us train our eyes every day, hunting for the perfect body. But whether it is in the gym with state of the art equipment, or at home in the garage with a rusty dumbbell set, you have many hundreds of exercises to choose from. As a result, many of us waste precious time and energy on exercises that do not put much effort on the muscles where you want more muscle mass. Any successful bodybuilder or power-lifter can tell you that there are only a few exercises that have been used for decades to build mass. The rest of the exercises are fun to do, but can never be used to replace these basic exercises.

In this blog we discuss the best "tried and tested" exercises for more muscle mass . 

Part 1: the upper body

1. Bench press

Simple as it may seem, but by far the most popular exercise in the gym, this classic is the way to work on your muscle mass. The reason for the popularity of the bench press is that with this exercise you tackle a number of very important muscles, namely the pectoralis major (chest), anterior deltoid (shoulders) and the triceps.

Requirements : weight bench and dumbbell set

Sets and Reps : 3-4 sets of 6-10 reps. Warm up first with a light weight or only with the rod.

Technique : injuries often occur in bench pressures, so it is very important that you perform this exercise in a technically correct manner. Take the rod 10 to 15 cm wider than shoulder width. Bring your shoulder blades together, and make your lower back hollow so that you rest on your upper back. Put your feet far apart for maximum stability and then bring the rod down to your chest. Lower the rod completely to the chest, and as soon as the rod touches your chest, push it up again with full force. It does not matter how fast the bar goes up, if the movement is as explosive as possible. Make sure that the movement is straight up, and that the bar stays above your chest.

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2. Incline press

The incline press , or slanted bench press, is the best way to train the top of your chest muscles and gain more muscle mass. Because your body is slightly directed upwards, the rod makes a slightly smaller angle with respect to your chest, so you train more on the top of the chest. In jargon this is also called " training your top ". You will notice that you can push less with the incline press than with the flat bench press. Often this is about 2/3 of the weight that you use in the flat bench press.

Requirements : weight bench with adjustable backrest and dumbbell set

Sets and Reps : 3-4 sets of 6-10 reps

Technique : for a maximum result, you use the same technique to a large extent as with the bench press. So: grip 10 to 15 cm wider than shoulder width, hollow back and wide position with the legs for maximum support. Bring the rod to the top of your chest, and then push the rod full of explosive upwards. Keep your bottom on the bench during the exercise.

3. Military press

Where you took part of the shoulder with the incline press, you can take it full at the military press. The military press is therefore the shortest route to an impressive shoulder . To build maximum muscle mass with this exercise, it is important that you perform this standing , and therefore not sitting. You will find yourself standing with this exercise putting your whole body to work, from your palm to your heels. If you have not done this exercise so often, start with a light weight. If you are advanced and the military press really does heavy, it is advisable to use a belt that you put on your stomach and lower back.

Requirements : dumbbell set and possibly belt

Sets and Reps : 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps

Technique : Grab the bar slightly wider than shoulder width. The position of the feet is right next to each other, slightly narrower than shoulder width. Bag your knees, pick up the bar with the well- defined grip (palms facing down), and place it on your chest so that your palms face forward. Tighten your core and your buttocks to prevent hyper-extension of your spine. Now push the rod straight upwards until your arms are straight. After this you let the rod drop back to the starting position on your chest.

4. Weighted dips (weighted dips)

The dip is an exercise that should not be missed in any workout. With the dip you train several important muscles: the pectoralis major, anterior deltoid and the triceps. When you can easily do 10 normal dips, it is time for the next step to create real muscle mass: "weighted dips", or weighted dips. You can add extra weight to yourself in different ways. The most obvious is to use a weight vest . If you do not have a weight vest, clamp a dumbell between your crossed legs, that works fine too.

Requirements : dipping bars or dip station , and weight vest / dumbell

Sets and Reps : 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps

Technology : important is that the grip on the dipping bars is slightly wider than shoulder width. Come from the floor and stretch your arms completely. This is the starting position. Now lower yourself until your upper arms are parallel to the floor (ie in horizontal position). Make sure that your elbows remain with your body; so do not let them out.

5. Weighted pull ups (weighted pull ups)

Just like the dip, the pull-up is a tried and tested exercise, which should not be missed in your workout. In the pull-ups you train many muscles but mainly the latissimus dorsi , or the wing muscle . Too often the workout is only aimed at training the front of the body, and the pull-up is simply neglected. However, the real men are distinguished by the pull-ups , which fit well in your ears! No wings = no V-shape. For maximum mass training it is important to add weight to your pull ups. This can be done by using a weight vest. If you do not have a weight vest, clamp a dumbell between your crossed legs, that works fine too.

Requirements : chin-up bar , weight vest (or dumbell)

Sets and Reps : 3-4 sets of 6-10 reps

Technique : Grasp the pull-up bar wide (minimum) shoulder width with a well-defined handle. Extend the arms and come loose from the ground. This is the " dead hang " starting position. Now pull up and try to go to the bar with your chest. This means that your chin is above the bar anyway. Do not try to go to the bar with your shoulders, which can lead to shoulder injuries. So: chest to the rod and shoulders backwards. Keep your elbows facing the ground. If you have been above the bar with your chin, you will drop back to the "dead hang" position. from this position with outstretched arms, you do your next rep.

6. Bent Over Row (BOR)

The Bent Over Row, or simply the "BOR" in fitness jargon, is a very important mass exercise that should not be missing in any training schedule. The BOR is more or less the counterpart of the Bench Press : where you use the Bench Press to increase the pushing force (the "push") in the upper body, use the BOR to increase the pulling force (the "pull") in the upper body to increase. The muscles you train with the BOR are the latissimus dorsi, trapezius, rhomboid muscles and the biceps.

Requirements : dumbbell set

Sets and Reps : 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps

Technique : the BOR you come across in many different variations, but if you want to go for maximum muscle building , we advise you to stand in the " power position ": feet on shoulder width, knees slightly bent, a pronounced grip slightly wider than shoulder width , upper body bent over at a 45-degree angle to your legs, and a hollow back. Now pull the barbell straight up to your plexus. You can also pull the bar to your belly button, or alternate both. Then you lower the rod again, and then pull it up again. Keep your elbows close to your body. Remember that your back remains in the same position and throughout the entire exercise , otherwise the risk of back injuries increases. Do you want to grab more biceps in this exercise? Then do the BOR with a scooped grip instead of a well-trained handle.

"This Skinny Kid With Asthma Achieved a 452 lbs Bench Press & Packed On 75 Pounds Of Muscle Mass In The Process!" Click Here to find out how.