Grow That Muscle: Build A Quality Body

Beginners Guide To Getting Big Forearms [Updated For 2018]

By

Popeye, Arnold and Mike Mentzer all had them: big forearms. For a lot of guys, getting big forearms is a huge challenge. Huge forearms are one of the first thing people notice, it brings respect and shows strength. If your forearms aren’t getting bigger, I’ll show you the best ways to grow your forearms and get results.

 

Personally it wasn’t until I started doing certain forearms exercises (that I’ll outline below) that I finally achieved substantial growth. I hear so many times from guys in the gym “oh I can’t grow my forearms, I’ve tried everything!”. Well obviously you haven’t tried everything if you still haven’t grown your forearms! 

 For some, it’s a hard muscle to grow (like your calves) but it doesn’t have to be. 

 

So what does it come down to?

[Read more…]

Fit Simplify Resistance Loop Exercise Bands Review

By

Exercise bands are all the rage nowadays; they’re cheap and effective. Everyone has them in their gym bag, but do you? Which ones do you buy?

The one thing that most gym goers go wrong is not warming up properly. This can lead to serious injury that can keep you out of the gym, pretty much the opposite of what you want. This is where resistance bands come in. The resistance loop bands I’ll be reviewing today is the Fit Simplify Resistance Loop Exercise Bands.

The Importance of Warming Up

As I mentioned earlier, if you don’t warm up properly before exercising, it can lead to injury that can leave out of the gym. You should gently warm up your muscles before weightlifting, which entails gradually increasing your heart rate and blood circulation.

Stretching prepares your muscles for the pain you’re going to put them through. It also raises the temperature in your muscles.

Why do you want to raise the temperature of your muscles?

Hemoglobin, a protein in your blood that transports oxygen, releases more oxygen into your muscles when at a higher temperature.

Again, why should I care?

More oxygen = better performance, it’s that simple.

You’ve probably seen dudes warm up in the gym in hoodies, sweating buckets. If you’ve ever seen Rocky, he always warms up in a gray hoodie and sweatpants.

The increase of temperature by wearing a heavy piece of clothing warms up your muscles (duh!). This allows your muscles to contract quicker and respond to stimulus faster. If you’ve ever been in the freezing cold in the dead of a Canadian winter, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Your extremities, such as your hands and feet, won’t react as fast. Heart rate is slowed, reaction time and strength are decreased.

Performance in the gym needs to be 100%, that’s why you’re there in the first place. To increase performance, you probably already drink a pre workout drink. But have you heard about using salt for a performance increase? Read my other article on  Why I Put Salt in My Preworkout and Why You Should Too.

Something that isn’t mentioned frequently with warming up is mentally preparing yourself for the exercise. So many gym goers (myself included unfortunately) step foot in the gym and instantly want to move some heavy-ass weight. You want to prepare yourself for that next personal record, so you want to get in the mindset as well. Try to think about the technique of the exercise you’re going to perform while warming up. Go through the motions so you don’t get caught up in yourself.

Fit Simplify Resistance Exercise Loop Bands Review

You can’t really go wrong with these bands, and you don’t need anything more complicated either. The bands themselves are 12” by 2” wide and are made of latex (not rubber), so you don’t get that funny chemical smell.

Included are five different bands at different strengths. As per Amazon, these are the resistances per band:

    • Green (x-Light) 2-4 lbs (thickness is 0.4 mm)
    • Blue (Light) 6-8 lbs (thickness is 0.60 mm)
    • Yellow (Medium) 10-12 lbs (thickness is 0.80 mm)
    • Red (Heavy) 15 – 20 lbs (thickness is 1.0 mm)
  • Black (x-Heavy) 25 – 30 lbs (thickness is 1.2 mm)

In my normal gym sessions, I’ll generally use the bands before any chest or shoulder exercises. Check out my other article Ultimate Guide To Growing Your Upper Chest on how to warm up before chest exercises.

The best part about these loop bands is that they’re so flexible in use. You can hit pretty much any body part with these, and that’s why they should be a staple in your warm up routine.

For legs, I like to start with lateral band walks or X band walks. Lateral band walks are super simple to set up too, just step in the loop and start stepping sideways.

If you want more tension, try the X band walk. This is a very similar exercise, except that you make a small loop with the band to hold on to and step on the band instead of wrapping it around your ankles.

For lower back exercises, banded hyperextensions are king. If you have issues holding a plate to your chest during hyperextensions, this is your next step. They add constant tension, so you don’t have to rely on gravity to do it’s work. Plus if you want to make the exercise more challenging, just use a heavier band!

The bands themselves are made well, and feel comfortable against your skin. The last thing you want is ripping the outer layer of your skin off as you attempt to warm up in excruciating pain (let’s avoid that completely). Also included is a lifetime guarantee for the bands, in the event that you become super Hulk and stretch the bands beyond belief.

Where can I buy the bands?

You can buy Fit Simplify Resistance Loop Bands on Amazon, check them out below.

Keep them in your gym bag so you’ll always bring them to the gym. Make it a habit to stretch every little muscle before jumping into weightlifting.

Injuries are lessened when you dynamically stretch before exercising, increasing muscle activation and blood flow.

The Ultimate Bodybuilder’s Guide to Fast Food [2018 Edition]

By

Fast food and bodybuilding just don’t mix, but what happens if you desperately need a cheat meal? You should already know how bad fast food is for your body, but let’s say you want to indulge: what do you eat? I’ll show you the best fast food restaurants to eat at if you want to keep your gains and feel fat.

Ignoring the obvious, fast food is one of the worst things you can put into your body. High in saturated fat, cholesterol and calories, it’s nutritionally dense but cheap. Available pretty much every time and everywhere, fast food is ubiquitous. You can’t enter a mall or drive down a main street without seeing the Golden Arches.

 

If you’re out travelling or just plain hungry, you’ve probably thought about getting a nice delicious, greasy, cheesy hamburger but you don’t. You don’t because it’s shit food and your plain chicken breast and broccoli hits your macros better than it ever could. But let’s say you want to indulge and treat yourself, what do you eat? Let’s jump in to the best fast food choices that bodybuilders would eat.

[Read more…]

Switch Up Your Deadlifts With The Reeves Deadlift, The Forearm Destroyer

By

You’ve probably heard of sumo, Romanian and snatch grip deadlifting techniques, but have you heard of the Reeves deadlift? It’s a killer exercise to nail your upper back and work your forearms. In this article I’ll show you what the Reeves deadlift is and why it’s a great exercise.

Reeves Deadlift technique

 

 

Deadlifting, in the general sense, works many different muscles. This is why it’s called a compound exercise. Deadlifting will hit your quads, hamstrings and back (and a whole lot of other smaller muscles!).

 

Your posterior chain, which is is a group of muscles running from your calves to your rear delts, is used primarily when deadlifting.

 

The reason why deadlifting is such a great exercise is because it has real world applications and explosively works your posterior chain muscles.

 

For example, on the beginning of the lift, your quads will take dominance in raising the weight off the ground, which then engages your glutes and hamstrings. During the lift, your back muscles engage (lats) then the trapezius muscles.

 

Since you will be gripping the shit out of the bar, you’ll feel the burn in your forearms. The deadlift isn’t an exercise that works your biceps, shoulders or forearms as other exercises. This is where the Reeves deadlift comes in.

[Read more…]

The Ultimate Guide To Growing Your Upper Chest: Best Exercises

By

A powerful and full upper chest is what really makes your body pop out from others. A big chest is the manliest muscle you can have, and in this article I’ll show you the best upper chest exercises and how to build a stronger upper chest.

 

Having a big chest is one thing, but having a well-developed upper chest that pops out is another.

Have you ever looked in the mirror and felt that something was missing? A full upper chest is what is going to bring your physique together.

 

We go to the gym to look good (most of us anyway), so why wouldn’t you workout a muscle that makes you look big?

Take a look at this:

 

Look how much wider a big upper chest makes you look!

 

Even going back to classic bodybuilders, you can see how round and full their chests are.

 

You’ve probably asked yourself why you haven’t heard of an upper chest muscle. That’s because it doesn’t exist. Your chest is a muscle group that includes the pectoralis major and pectoralis minor.

[Read more…]