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Pull ups are hard, but they are one of the few true tests of strength. I say this because some powerlifters can bench 600 or squat 800, but they also weigh 300+ and can barely manage 5 pull ups. This is one of the few exercises where you can measure relative fitness by comparing the ratio of the number of pull ups completed to bodyweight.

Some of you might get mad at me, talking about powerlifters training for strength rather than endurance, but the fact of the matter is that when I was powerlifting I could still do 15 pull ups at 195 lbs.

Now, let me take you back to high school gym class; the year was 1993, I was 15 years old. Mr. Buatti the gym teacher, who happens to bare a striking resemblance to Coach Buzzcut, called my name to stand up in front of the class and do an many pull ups as I can. The football jocks each knocked out from 10 to 20 and the wiry tough kid with only 3 fingers on one hand completed 14 of them. I got 3. It was humiliating.

Now we come back to the present. Recently I started doing pull ups again after a year layoff. On my first set, I got 5 reps. A week later I was up to 8 reps. Just yesterday I did a set of 11 reps. But I want more. I have done 18 pull ups before; I have also done 5 pull ups with a 45 lb plate hanging off a belt. So, how can I get back to that place? How can YOU get to that place?

The Pyramid Pull Up Strategy

This is the description of a little program that I have used to increase my pull ups quickly in the past.

Here are the instructions:

1. Start by doing one pull up.
2. Rest for 10 seconds, but don’t hang there. Stand on something and take all the tension off your arms and back.
3. Do one pull up more than you did in the previous step.
4. Go back to step 2 and repeat until you can’t complete the required reps.
5. Take a break for 2 minutes and do it again. Complete 2-3 sets.

You might feel weak because normally you can do 10 or 12 pull ups in a set, and you finish this exercise with a set of 6. We need to look at an example to see why this is so effective.

Normally I could do 3 sets of 11, 9, and 7 reps for a total of 27 reps at bodyweight. Using the pyramid I ended up doing sets of 1,2,3,4,5,6 then 1,2,3,4,3 and 1,2,3,1 for a total of 41 reps at bodyweight in nearly the same amount of time. That’s nearly a 50% increase in the number of reps in just one day!

Which protocol do you think will force your body to adapt and grow stronger?

Try completing a pull up pyramid twice a week for 1 month then see what your new 1 set max is. Over the course of 4 weeks I have gone from 5 reps to 11 reps by doing the pyramid once a week and 1 regular set of pull ups every other morning.

Steve Hanson has 10 years experience in the fields of exercise science and sports nutrition. He writes articles on all forms of athletic training and nutritional theories. View the blog to learn more about your favorite exercise and nutrition topics.

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Let me tell you about a recent conversation with one of my friends over IM. This guy used to lift with me back in college, but he is working on his own business right now and hasn’t touched a weight in almost a year. So they guy goes out and gets a gym membership and starts training again last Monday.

This is how the conversation went down:

friend: my muscles hurt
friend: chest and tris are killing me
friend: i can barely move
friend: i didn’t push that hard
friend: i just did as much as i could
friend: what can i do to recover faster?

My friend here is suffering from a little something called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, or DOMS.

What is DOMS?

DOMS is sore, stiff and painful feelings in muscles, which occur 24-48 hours following intense exercise. DOMS is almost always guaranteed to set in when an individual trains too hard during their first couple workouts after a long layoff. This discomfort is more prevalent following overloaded eccentric (the negative portion of the rep) muscle activity, where the muscles are placed under a load that is typically too heavy to lift, or super-slow eccentric activity where the muscle fibers are forced to flex and contract at the same time.

A typical example is when the load becomes too heavy on a bench press, the spotter lifts the weight for the trainee, and lowers it slowly under control. This just tears up and really damages muscle fibers.

The following are thought to be responsible for DOMS:

* Small tears in the muscle or connective tissues between the fibers, usually from excessive intensity or eccentric training.
* Overly aggressive exercise by an untrained individual or by a detrained athlete, in the initial stages of a new program.
* Muscle spasms or cramping, which may starve the muscle of the nutrients it needs to recover.
* Dehydration during and after a workout. Be sure to drink your electrolyte fluids!
* The build up of lactic acid and other waste product production during training. Many experts agree that lactic acid has nothing to do with DOMS, but it may contribute a small amount due to lactic acid accumulation hindering delivery of essential nutrients to the muscles.

How to Prevent DOMS

The first basic rule of recovering from DOMS is to be pro-active in preventing DOMS in the first place.

Take these steps to prevent DOMS:

* Drink an electrolyte-based fluid during your workout. Gatorade is the most popular.
* Drink a post-workout drink within 20 minutes of the end of your workout
* Warm up for a couple minutes prior to intense exercise.
* Cool down and stretch for 10-15 minutes after intense exercise.
* Avoid forced negative reps.
* Avoid super slow negative reps.
* Avoid assisted negative reps. (get the idea?)
* Take it easy during your first week of training, or your first week back to training after a layoff.

How to Recover from DOMS

If you are not able to avoid DOMS and now must suffer through it for a couple days.

Here are a couple ways to get through DOMS faster:

* Light exercise to stimulate blood flow. Either cardio exercise or weightlifting with very light weights.
* Time. The pain will go away after a couple days.
* Gentle massage, or better yet deep tissue massage.
* Alternating hot and cold showers. 2 minutes each.
* Alternating hot pack / ice pack treatments. 5 minutes each.
* Ice cube massage or ice bath.
* Hydrotherapy or spa baths.
* Use a foam roller on the sore areas.

If you are lifting with the proper intensity, you will ultimately experience DOMS on one occasion or another. By taking steps to both prevent and treat DOMS, you should be able to minimize the pain. Best of luck!

Steve Hanson has 10 years experience in the fields of exercise science and sports nutrition. He writes articles on all forms of athletic training and nutritional theories. View the blog to learn more about your favorite exercise and nutrition topics.

Articles on Conditioning, Weightlifting, Powerlifting, Strongman, Diet, Nutrition, and Martial Arts :: Project Swole

If you are looking for a way to reduce the pain you feel from a sports injury when you are working out, consider investing in a TENS unit. These devices can help you control your pain so that you can get the most out of your workout. TENS units are widely used in the physical therapy field to help patients control their pain while they rehabilitate their muscles. With the proper training, you can benefit from this same technology at home or at your favorite gym.

What Is a TENS Unit?

TENS stands for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation. A TENS unit uses electrical shocks to block pain signals that are being sent to the brain. It can also stimulate the body to create endorphins, which can increase the body’s ability to perform physical exercise.

How TENS Units Work

TENS units come with small electrode pads that already have gel on them. These are placed on the area that is experiencing pain. The small electrical shock delivered by the device will trigger the nerves in the area. Most users will feel a tingling sensation when they turn the device on. This can block the signal of pain to the brain when used at high dosages. Lower dosages are what trigger endorphin creation.

Who Can Use TENS Units?

Anyone can use a TENS unit with the proper training. However, since these do involve the use of electrical current, you should not use them without medical oversight. If you are recovering from a sports related injury, however, consider asking your physical therapist if you can be trained to use a TENS unit as you return to your sports training program. The device is going to be the most effective for athletes who are suffering from pain due to nerve damage. The common aches and pains that come from a rigorous workout are not what this device is intended to help.

Some people should not use a TENS unit, however. Children should not use the device, as its safety on growing bodies has not yet been tested. Any people with pacemakers or other similar electrical devices inside their bodies should never use a TENS unit. It can interfere with the proper functioning of the device, which can be life threatening.

Safety Concerns When Using a TENS Unit

TENS units are considered safe when used properly. However, there are certain places on the body where they should not be used. The electrodes should never be placed near the eyes or mouth. They also should not be placed on the temples. In fact, it is best not to use them on the face at all, as they could easily be placed too close to one of these sensitive areas.

The front of the neck is another place that the device should not be used. If you have any open wounds, do not put the electrode on them. Never place the device over the belly of a pregnant woman. In fact, pregnant women should not use a TENS device without first consulting with their obstetrician.

Once you have been trained by your doctor or physical therapist as to the best way to use the TENS device in your training program, make sure you resist the temptation to turn the frequency up too high. Remember, there is a limit to the pain relief you can experience with at TENS unit. Putting the frequency too high will actually cause you to have more pain. If you notice your muscles contracting near the electrodes, it is set too high. Otherwise, as long as you are properly trained and have followed these safety rules, you can use a TENS unit to reduce the pain from a past injury as you continue your workout routine.

Tone-a-matic is an exclusive supplier of EMS devices and TENS units devices to help assist in toning and reshaping your muscles.

No matter how strong your individual parts are, they must be able to work as a whole to be complete. This is an applied understanding of physical training through function. Since core strength has become the new catch phrase of the fitness industry, I feel as though it is my job to teach you the truth about it.

* How can I train the body as a unit and why is core strength important?

The human body needs to be conditioned entirely to build balance. Without balance, there is imbalance, and truthfully that is where most injuries occur. Prior to any physical training program, you should seek out a professional who can diagnose imbalance within the body. This serves as tremendous injury prevention and will save you time.

* What does muscular imbalance look like?

For example, most people that focus their only concentration on what they can see. The muscles of the back tend to get ignored and replaced with an overindulgence of chest training. This is primarily because trainees can see their chest muscles in the mirror. It is however difficult to see the back muscles unless there are multiple mirrors.

When the chest muscles are imbalanced with that of the back muscles, injury is prone and will occur. This is when the all too common rotator cuff muscles are injured. By the way, there are four rotator cuff muscles that all serve to protect the shoulders joints. As stated previously, this is why the human body must be conditioned as whole. Any imbalance can create a negative pitfall and truthfully, you do not need that in your life.

Once a trainee understands optimal muscle balance, serious progress occurs. The muscles and connective tissues of the midsection are the most important for our body function. They serve to protect our vital organs and allow us to move through unpredictable patterns. In short, the more core strength you have, the more movement, stability, and mobility you will have.

* What is Core Strength?

Core strength implies that a trainee has an optimal balance of abdominal and back muscular strength. However, most trainees have abdominal muscles that are much stronger than their back muscles. This is because most people spend their time performing thousands of repetitions for the abdominals and they neglect the balance to build their back. This is amazing since our main weakness as a bipedal species is our lower back. Look at the elderly and the first thing you will see is a lack of posture. That alone should be enough for you to consider postural training as of this minute.

* How can Core Strength be developed?

While there is an infinite count of exercises for core improvement, I will give you a roadmap to apply to your favorite movements. The general rule in core strength is to understand that the midsection keeps you upright. If you want strong posture, you should train your lower back two times before you train your abdominals. In short, focus on your lower back strength because the average person has neglected it for their entire life.

Dave Lemanczyk is the c.e.o. of dave lemanczyk llc, a leading developer of superior human performance products in todays fitness industry.
http://www.kegconditioning.com

Getting yourself a better regimen of training with weights is not very difficult. But making sure that you have the right information regarding the optimal way to build those muscles is a must.

Numerous people fail at their attempts to gain that superstar body because they do not know the best way to body build.

Before you take the plunge, try to get hold of as much information that you can. That can often be found in numerous training guides and body building books.

Once you have uncovered that, just follow these 5 simple steps and watch your body amazingly transform!

1) Take A Break About Once Every 2 Months: Though you might think that a break from your exercise schedule will upset all your plans, the truth is that if you maintain the same diet and not weight train for some time, you will actually return with loads of extra energy and strength. You might even get bigger!

Most people are afraid to take this step due to the fear of losing their strength and muscle mass. However, this could not be farther from the truth. Thinking positively and following this tip, the benefits will speak for themselves.

2) Each Muscle Group Should Come Under Training Every Few Days: The ideal timeframe is basically toning a set of muscles for 5 days and then letting them rest for the following few days. This break time is known as the Growth Recovery Period (GRP) and is actually when your muscles repair and improve themselves.

Breaking up your body building regimen so that each muscle group gets toned is a bit difficult to do at first. However, a failure to work out such an exercise schedule might lead to bad side-effects including fatigue and loss of appetite.

3) As Much Intensity As You Can Muster: This is probably the most important aspect of your weight training and you might be shocked to learn that 95% of the population lacks in the right intensity in each session. Intensity is one of the most important features of the body building regimen.

Intense weight training is what separates the men from the boys. Remember that though it might be exhausting and painful at first, your muscles will never develop if you don’t strain them enough.

4) A Daily 30-45 Minute Workout Session: Once you have figured out the intensity part and also the kind of exercise suitable for your body, each weight training session should not be more than 45 minutes in duration.

Taking 45 minutes off from your busy schedule for 5 days a week is not much to ask for and you might end up having an enviable body.

5) Not More Than 2 Muscle Groups In Each Time Period: Remember that the key to successful body building is not to strain more than 2 muscle groups at a time.

Once you muster up that technique and work out regularly for 45 minutes a day, a superb body will no longer remain a distant dream.

Following these 5 simple steps will actually tone your muscles with the least amount of hassles and effort. With so many weight training guides and programs on the market today, it can be a daunting task to find and follow one that is most ideal to your needs and desired outcome.

But if you can follow these 5 simple techniques and set aside just half an hour per day, you can start building the body that you want. It will not turn you into a hulk overnight, but it certainly is a start in the right direction!

Alan Largo is the creator and administrator of Big Muscle Builder and strives to assist others identify with their current physique through informative reviews. You’re invited to visit Big Muscle Builder to read his most recent article review.

If you want to whip yourself into shape and achieve some muscle growth it can be a slow process, which may require more effort than most people want to invest in it.

As anyone who has ever tried bodybuilding knows, muscles develop slowly over time with regular work outs.

Frequent work outs are a must to build muscles in a controlled way. Bodybuilding trainers usually recommend that you have a routine that you do at least 3-4 times a week to see significant muscle development.

There are many different exercises, and weight training that you can perform to tone the muscles the way you want.

Conversing with a professional bodybuilding trainer about the best way to achieve the muscle growth you want is a very wise decision. They will be able to give you many different pointers for improving your muscle building.

Local gyms offer experienced trainers who will help you set up the routine you need to get the results you seek.

In order to build muscle in a controlled way you need to be educated on the proper techniques of what exercises need to be done to target the body parts you want to target.

There are many different web sites, and blogs that will offer you helpful pointers getting you started in the right direction.

One important thing to remember is that when you are weight lifting your body needs time to recover; this is why experts suggest one day weight lifting, then a day of aerobic exercises in between allowing your muscles a chance to relax and recuperate.

If you are not an expert bodybuilder you will probably not know how your body is going to react to vigorous training until you actually begin your program.

That is a good reason to take it fairly easy at the beginning. Overworking or straining your muscles can have long term effects that will actually retard the process of building muscle.

Therefore begin by setting your expectations fairly low so you can meet them gradually a little at a time. Then as you achieve your initial objectives you can gradually ramp them up.

You’ll be surprised how fast you will get past the initial phase and begin attempting more serious bodybuilding.

Your trainer can help you set your muscle building goals, and can help map out a plan to acheive them. For many people it is also helpful to have a buddy to work out with.

This is a good way to stay focused on your goals and enables you to keep everything in perspective so you are less likely to give up before you hardly get going.

You might also consider the impact of bodybuilding supplements on your training objectives. Discuss this with your trainer or coach, and search the internet for as much information as you can find.

If you are serious about muscle building and building a better physique most experts agree that bodybuilding supplements can assist you to attain your goals more rapidly.

Muscle building supplements such as prohormones when added to one’s intensive training and diet routine will result in you piling on muscle much quicker.

For detailed information on bodybuilding products and muscle growth supplements visit BodyBuildingFactory.com - where you’ll find a complete catalogue of bodybuilding supplements, as well as extensive product articles, customer reviews, and product advice. Article source - Build Your Online Business.