Upper Body Workout

Perform 3 sets and 15 repetitions each.

Shoulders

Standing Straight Arm Raises

Stand grasping dumbbells in at sides. Proceed to raise arms out in front of you. Pause, then lower to starting position.

Obliques

Side Twists

Lie with your back on a bench or Swiss ball, legs bent and feet flat, with hands behind head. Proceed to raise the head and shoulders a few inches and twist to the right. Pause, then lower to starting position and next rise and twist to the left.

Abdominals

Front Crunches

Lie with your back on a bench or Swiss ball, legs bent and feet flat, with hands behind head. Proceed to raise the head and shoulders a few inches. Pause, then lower to starting position.

Biceps

Alternate Side Curls

Stand grasping dumbbells palms in at sides. Proceed to curl the left weight up to the side until bicep meets forearm. Pause, then lower to starting position and next curl the right weight up.

Chest

Lying Flyes

Lie with your back on a bench or Swiss ball, legs bent and feet flat with hands grasping dumbbells out to sides. Proceed to bring arms together over the chest. Pause, then return to starting position.

Back

Seated Bent Over Flyers

Sit on a bench or Swiss ball, grasping dumbbells palms in at calf level. Proceed to raise them out to sides until arms are parallel to the ground, keeping the upper body slightly bent over. Pause, then lower to starting position.

Forearms

Wrist Twists

Lie on your back on a bench or Swiss ball, grasping dumbbells at arms length over the chest, palms in. Proceed to twist wrists so palms face out. Pause, then twist wrists so palms face back. Pause, then return to starting position.

Deep Knee Bends: This exercise targets the entire thigh muscle group and helps to firm the buttocks. With your heels resting on a raised support (a piece of wood about 2 inches), slowly, while keeping your back straight, descend to the floor until your buttock touches the back of your legs. Depending on your level of endurance (always listen to your body while exercising), repeat this up and down movement 20 times while outstretching your arms for balance. Repeat these sets three times, resting in between until your breathing has returned to normal. This is a high wind exercise so know your limit.

Reverse Leg Lift: This exercise targets the entire back leg, from the calf to the buttocks. While holding onto the back of a chair in an upright position, bend your knee slightly and in a kicking motion bring the back of your leg up and behind you in a lifting motion. Holding your leg out behind you shows the muscle group working, most of which are in the buttocks muscles when the leg is outstretched and in the hams and quads when the leg is bending. Ladies, this is the primo exercise for trimming and defining your buttocks. Do three sets of 15 reps with this exercise. This particular exercise does not require a lot of wind.

Half Push Ups: Find a stationary backrest that you can use to push your upper body weight. With legs out stretched and arms apart, lean into the rest and push away in a standard push up method. The further your arms are apart, the more work is performed on the pectoral muscles. The closer your arms are together, the more work is performed on the bicep and tricep muscles (those behind the arm). The greater the lean, the harder the workout. This exercise will maintain and define your upper chest and arms. This is a moderate wind exercise and should not be much of a problem.

These three exercises can be done at home or in your office. They will, in conjunction with walking or jogging keep you in pretty good shape for a minimal amount of work.

This article will describe some of the muscles which exist in your body so that you can use a mirror in order to identify them. I will start by describing two muscles which exist in your neck which include the trapezius and the levator scapulae. The trapezius scapulae lies between the neck nape and the shoulder while the levator scapula runs along the first cervical vertebrae found on the neck. The next sets of muscles we are going to look at are found on your shoulders and are referred to as the deltoid muscles. The deltoid muscles are categorized as anterior deltoids, middle deltoids and posterior deltoids. There are also another set of muscles associated with the delts which are called the cuff muscles. They are found close to the anterior deltoids and extend from the armpits.

We then come to your chest area where we find the biggest set of muscles known as the pectoral muscles. It is of utmost importance that you workout the chest muscles since they determine the amount of upper body strength you are going to have. If you do not have enough upper body strength you will not be able to train for long and also your training intensity will be compromised. Therefore you need to focus on your traps, pecs, and delts in order to increase the strength of your upper body.

When we come to your arms there are two very important muscles which are the triceps and the biceps. This muscles are very important because when properly trained they greatly improve the body physique of a person since they are very conspicuous. The triceps are located on the back side of the arm and extend from the shoulder to the elbow while the biceps are located in the front area of the arm and also extend from the shoulder to the elbow. We then come to the stomach area where we find the abdominal muscles or the six packs as they are commonly referred to. Moving further downwards to the leg area we come across the quadriceps, hamstrings and the calf muscles. it is very important to work out these three muscles because they will enable you to develop lower body strength which is very important for a bodybuilder.

If you too are a skinny hardgainer or ectomorph, and wondering how you can beat your skinny genes and get big strong leg muscles, then follow the 3 steps below and you’ll see massive gains in your leg muscles in no time.

How To Get Bigger Legs #1 – Compound Beats Isolation Every Time

Compound exercises that work multiple muscle groups, such as Squats and Deadlifts, are simply the best way to build big leg muscles fast. This is because more muscle fibres are stimulated and worked per exercise than in isolation exercises such as leg extensions and curls.

Make compound exercises the core of your workout routine both lower body and upper body and you’ll pack on muscle much faster than by performing isolation exercises.

The additional testosterone flowing through your body from the extra muscle tissue stimulus will also help you to build muscle faster than you would by simply doing loads of leg extensions, which many folks make the mistake of doing when they go to the gym.

How To Get Bigger Legs #2 – Progressive Overload

The second step in how to get bigger legs is to harness the principle of Progressive Overload. This is a weight training principle that shows how continually increasing the weight you lift over time is directly related to continued muscle growth and development.

Not adhering to this principle will see you enjoy initial muscle gains to begin with, only to plateau off and struggle to gain much more size, as your body gets used to the weight being lifted and sees no reason to increase strength or muscle size.

Aim to lift more weight each and every time you step into the gym, making sure you maintain good lifting technique, and keep your rest time between sets consistent. By harnessing the power of progressive overload you cannot fail to gain size and get bigger legs.

How To Get Bigger Legs #3 – Reduce Your Cardio To Avoid Fatigue

Too much cardio is a big reason why many skinny hardgainers fail to gain significant muscle size quickly, and why they are hamper their progress in getting bigger leg muscles.

If you’re performing a lot of cardio and still trying to go all out with your lower body workout exercises like Squats and Deadlifts, you’re more than likely fatiguing your leg muscles too quickly and not making the most of the lifting exercises. Or worse, you could be overtraining your leg muscles and not allowing them sufficient rest and recuperation time – which is really when we build muscle.

Cut down your cardio to a couple of times per week for the next few weeks, and you’ll see much bigger and faster gains in your leg muscles.

Diet is one of the most important aspects of bodybuilding and therefore it is very important for beginners to know what they should be including in their diet.

A proper bodybuilding diet generally consists of 40% carbohydrates, 40% proteins and 20% healthy fats. This balance in your diet is designed to lose body fat while adding on muscle.

The body’s main source of energy comes from carbohydrates and on the bodybuilding diet these carbohydrates should come mainly from complex carbohydrates like oatmeal, brown rice and sweet potatoes. These should be eaten in combination with fibrous sources like green beans and broccoli.

Proteins are the building blocks of the body’s tissues, and are therefore extremely important for bodybuilders. As a beginner in bodybuilding, the proteins that you should focus on are chicken, turkey, tuna and lean red meats.

Fats are what the body uses for the manufacture of hormones. Fats also lubricate joints, help with brain function and should mainly come from menstruated and polyunsaturated sources. Extra virgin olive oil and flax seen oil should be the main source of fats in the bodybuilding for beginner’s diet.

When it comes to the proper work out for beginning bodybuilders, a lot of mistakes are made. Many beginners believe that they can immediately start using the routines used by professional bodybuilders, when they should instead be focusing on using a routine geared for their own level.

This routine consists mainly on exercises that use a pair of dumbbells and a bench and should be done on 3 non consecutive days a week.

Perform the following exercises, doing 2 sets of 10-12 reps with one minute of rest time in between the sets, moving up to 3 sets of each after 4 weeks.

75 Degree Incline Dumbbell Bench Press, Dumbbell Bench Press, One Arm Rows, Dumbbell Pullovers, Bent Over Lateral Raises, Dumbbell Upright Rows, Dumbbell Curls, Overhead Triceps Extensions, Leg Extensions, Dumbbell Squats, Dumbbell Lunges (Press with heels), Lying Leg Curls and Calf Raises

Use the days that you are not doing you weight training to do cardio workouts of about 20-30 minutes and add in 4 sets of leg raises and Swiss ball crunches in order to tone and define you abdominals.

In order to get the most out of this weight training routine you need to ease it in as you are beginning the bodybuilding for beginner’s diet.

The goal of the bodybuilding routine presented below is to lose fat and gain muscle tone by adding a moderate amount of muscle tissue to the body while providing a fast pace that is conductive to fat loss.

Perform this routine 3 days a week with a day of rest in between (alternate between days 1 & 2). Do 20-30 minutes of aerobics first thing in the morning on the rest days. This routine is only for people in excellent cardiovascular shape who have been training for at least 6 months. If you are an absolute beginner, please read my article on Getting Started. If you have been training for at least 3 months but less than 6, then please take a look at my suggested Intermediate Routine.

This routine is performed using tri-sets, which is the same thing as a superset (two exercises executed once after the other with no rest in between) but with three exercises instead. Therefore, you will be performing three exercises one after the other and then resting 1 minute after the 3rd one in the sequence before starting back at the beginning.

Day 1

Tri Set 1:

75 Degree Incline Dumbbell Press

One Arm Dumbbell Rows

Bent Over Lateral Raises

Tri Set 2:

45 Degree Incline Dumbbell Press

Two Arm Dumbbell Rows

Pullovers

Tri Set 3:

Leg Raise

Crunches

Frog Kicks

Day 2

Tri Set 1:

Dumbbell Upright Rows

Dumbbell Curls

Overhead Dumbbell Triceps Extensions

Tri Set 2:

Incline Dumbbell Curls

Lying Dumbbell Triceps Extensions

Lunges

Tri Set 3:

Dumbbell Squats

Stiff Legged Dead lifts

Dumbbell Calf Raises

Instructions On How To Progress

* Weeks 1-2: Do 2 sets per exercise of 12-15 reps. After the first tri-set is done 2 times, go on to the second tri set and so on.

* Week 3-4: Do 3 sets per exercise of 10-12 reps.

* Week 5-6: Do 4 sets per exercise of 8-10 reps.

* After week 6, you can start the cycle all over and use different exercises if desired.

* Ladies that wish to emphasize their legs and abs can substitute Triset #3 from Day 1 by Lunges, Leg Extensions and Leg Curls. The abdominals tri-set can be performed on the days off prior to doing the cardiovascular exercise.

* If you wish to train with weights four days a week, then perform Day 1 on Mondays and Thursdays, Day 2 on Tuesdays and Fridays and on the days off do your cardio. Alternatively, you can also do Day 1 on Mondays and Fridays, and Day 2 on Wednesdays and Saturdays with cardio on the rest days.

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Hugo Rivera

Guide since 2005

Hugo Rivera

Bodybuilding Guide

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