Believe me… I hated leg workouts. Until I realize the true potential that a simple set of squats could unleash.

Frankly… I see the same people on the leg press machine, leg extensions, doing lunges and doing squats week after week. But for every other muscle group, it's like a new day. There are the familiar faces of course, but there are always new people. It's like working legs is an exclusive club.

And yet that is 50% of your body! Your entire lower body you will neglect because:

US Navy 030514-N-3228G-003 Aviation Maintenance Administrationman 2nd Class George F. Stowe IIIuses a military press to work his legs muscles during a workout (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You don't like working legs
You don't want bigger legs
Your legs are big enough

But let's suppose… you do work legs. And without much weight at all. Just enough to stimulate your entire body propelling it into new levels of growth. Do you think that is possible?

How can doing squats increase our bench press? If you are stuck on bicep curls, how can incorporating legs into your routine break you thru those plateaus?

I'm here to tell you right now, as you read this, that doing leg workouts is a whole lot more than just getting bigger, more toned, or stronger legs.

Think about it. Testosterone is a primary ingredient of building muscle. So you do a hard set of tricep pushdowns. Your body responds by making more testosterone. Let's just guess at 10% more for the day. Phew. Hard workout. Good job!

Do you qualify as one of those people?

But… let's say you do a set of breathing squats at 100% intensity.

You just boosted your testosterone production 1000%.

Do you think I'm being facetious?

But back to the purpose of this question. Working your legs isn't an option. It's something you do. So you don't want bigger legs? Fine. Don't pile on the weight. Don't overload them. Just stimulate your metabolism, and stimulate your body changing. So you don't like legs? Get over it.

Fact is, by incorporating legs into your workout, you will see more gains in 6 weeks then most people do in 3 months.

Don't take my word for it. Look around at your gym? The guy with a huge upper body and tiny chicken legs. Do you want to look like that? Who are the bigger guys in your gym? Who are the women that you most want to look like? I can assure you those people do legs. Any top notch physique does legs.

Doing a cardio machine that uses legs is not the same.

So that's why working your legs is so important. Please do not make excuses. You do not have to train to failure where you cannot walk. You don't have to squat 600 lbs. You simply must train the 50% of your body that pretty much 80% of everybody just doesn't do.

Next time you are in the gym take a good look around. Notice the leg equipment. Notice the same people using that week after week.

Become one of the individuals at your gym that trains legs and discover the secret to growth.

HERE ARE THE REASONS WHY WORKING EVERY MUSCLE - NOT JUST CERTAIN ONES - IS THE SUPERIOR METHOD OF GETTING THE RESULTS YOU WANT:

1- Builds lean muscle
2- Reduces body fat levels
3- Increases energy
4- Balances blood sugar in the body
5- Increases neuromuscular efficiency
6- Improves sexual performance
7- Lowers cholesterol in the body
8- Protects against heart disease
9- Improves mood

The secret to figuring out how much protein you need is not by just taking some number you found like 30g and apply it to yourself. If everybody had the same needs we would all be the same. And we both know that just isn?t true. Each person is slightly different.

Let me explain. We?ve all heard that a person can only digest 25-30g of protein in one sitting. B.S.!

Just think about it. Does an IFBB professional bodybuilder intake the same amount of protein as the guy who?s 135 lbs just starting out? Even if there is a 200 lb weight difference?

The answer might shock you. NO

Needless to say, so many people just take some number, multiply that by their body weight and that?s what they think they need a day. Tell me, if a person is 35% body fat, should they use their weight or their lean weight to figure out how much protein they need?

Simple. Lean weight. Your daily protein requirements are based on your lean body weight. And how do you figure out your lean body weight?

Use the skin fold caliper home test. Go back to Question #2.

Step 1:
Take your body weight in pounds
Example: 194 lbs

Step 2:
Find your body fat % using one of the methods in Question #2
Example: 15.7% (which is .157 for the step below)

Step 3:
Take your body weight in pounds and subtract the % body fat
Example: 194 lbs – (194 x .157 = 30.45 lbs of fat) = 163.54 lbs of lean body weight

Step 4:
Take your lean body weight and multiply by 1.14
Example: 163.54 lbs x 1.14 = 186.4g of protein a day

Step 5:
Divide your daily protein requirements by 5-6 meals and that is what your protein target is for each meal.
Example: 186.4/6 meals = 31.07g of protein per meal
As you will see, a person who is 286 lbs of lean body weight will require a lot more protein. And a person who is 286 lbs should not be consuming the same amount of protein if their percentage of body fat is 35%.
But why use 1.14 for protein requirements?

The Recommended Daily Allowances (RDA) is 0.8g of protein. But that?s been shown to be too low for active athletes.

Some sites will recommend 2.0g of protein. But that seems a bit high and your body will have trouble absorbing that not to mention you will probably have a lot of excess calories which can lead to fat gains.

1.14-1.5 is the most efficient range for most active, healthy adults. This range will help build muscle but not lead you into a high protein diet. Feel free to adjust within that range if you feel you need more protein.

This is the point in the article where I could go into a long and unusually boring dissertation
about muscle physiology: Muscle fiber types, controversies over whether the muscle gets
larger or divides into new muscle cells, or both.

Number of reps, volume of training, concentric, eccentric, isometric, etc.: this is important
information for the research scientist, but not all that relevant to the hard training bodybuilder.
I mean, what are we looking for here? In a nut shell, what we want is the correct level of
stimulation to a muscle to make it larger, right? Too little stimulus and the muscle won’t grow.

Too much stimulus and the muscle doesn't grow, or worse yet, gets smaller due to injury or
inability to recuperate. The proper stimulus within a given period of time is what we are looking
for.

This brings me to another point. It is not the amount of actual weight that is the most important
factor to muscle growth, but the actual amount of stress or tension the muscle must endure
during the rep that is the crucial stimulus for growth. But some might ask “ Doesn't using
more weight mean more stress on the muscle?”

The answer is no.

If you take 405 lbs. off the rack when bench pressing and bring it down quickly without control,
bounce it off your chest and lock the elbows out hard at the top for one rep, are you
creating more stimulus to the pec muscles than if you took 300 lbs. off the rack and brought it
down with full control, pressed it up without any bounce or momentum, and did not lock the
elbows out at the top for ten reps?

I think the answer to that question is obvious, and we will examine this particular topic in the
coming sections.

The point I am trying to make here is that weight is only a factor within the variable of how

the rep itself is performed. All things being equal (i.e., each rep is performed correctly for that
exercise) weight does matter.

The more weight you can use in a given exercise, with correct form, in a given time period, for
a specified number of reps, the more stimulus for growth the muscle will experience. However,
using more weight for the sheer sake of using more weight, not taking into account how
the rep is performed, does NOT equal more stress on the muscle.

When we talk about a stimulus for growth, we must look beyond the simple micro-environment
of the muscle fiber in question. This is where bodybuilders and scientists often fall short
when trying to examine the topic of muscle growth. An examination at the level of the muscle
fiber, where the actual damage occurs, is obviously important for any study of why and how
muscles grow from weight training.

However, it is not the only factor involved leading to the increase in size and/or number of
muscle fibers in response to weight training.

When we train with weights using sufficient loads and intensity, we cause micro-trauma to
the muscle fiber(s). That is, at the level of the fiber itself, we have caused a certain amount of
controlled damage to the fibers involved.

However, muscle growth is far more involved than simple breakdown and repair. This is the
point in the report where we need to look at the concept known as the “metabolic cost of exercise.”
This concept, though complex if you map it all out, can still be reduced to its most basic
definition: Muscle growth is not a local event that happens exclusively at the level of the
muscle fiber, but is ultimately a systemic response to exercise that leads to muscle growth.

So what exactly is meant by “systemic?”

It means that when we lift a weight several things happen. At the level of the muscle, there
is controlled damage to the myofiber during muscular contraction. This damage (known as
micro-trauma) leads to remodeling (growth) of the muscle predominantly takes place during
the eccentric (negative) part of the rep.

Simply put, at the local level of the muscle fiber, it is the lowering
(negative) part of the exercise that is responsible for most of the
damage to the fiber that (hopefully) leads to muscle hypertrophy
and increases in strength.

From this information we can conclude that a controlled rep,
where the weight is lowered under full control, is a particularly
important part of a properly executed rep.

Now this is what is happening at the local level of the muscle fiber,
but as I said before, muscle growth is ultimately controlled by
the effects exercise has on the entire system. For example, as any
bodybuilder knows, growth hormone is one of several anabolic
hormones important for increasing muscle mass and shedding
body fat.

Growth hormone is a key anabolic and lipolytic (fat mobilizing) hormone that many bodybuilders
are injecting pre-contest and off season to build additional mass and burn fat. However,
growth hormone (GH), insulin, human growth factor one (IGF-1), and to a lesser degree
testosterone, can be partially manipulated by diet and exercise, so don’t think an elephant
pituitary extract enema is the only way you will ever add new muscle!

The metabolic costs of exercise can be shown in this example: When we lift weights we cause
a rise in lactic acid. Research suggests that the signal to release growth hormone in response
to exercise is related to the level of lactic acid in the blood. It is a system-wide response to the
exercise (i.e. the increasing level of lactic acid in the blood) that causes growth hormone to
be released.

In fact, the body produces many metabolites and metabolic byproducts in response to weight
lifting that contribute to the growth of lean tissues being trained.
What does this tell us?

It tells us that weight training does not just cause controlled damage to muscle fibers to stimulate
growth but has a systemic effect. It suggests weight training has a high metabolic cost
that stimulates the entire body to respond to the exercise in a positive way.

Another example of a systemic response to weight training is not commonly appreciated.

When a person first starts to train with weights, their strength climbs rather quickly, yet they
put on relatively little muscle. What is going on here? Scientists have postulated that this early
rise in strength in response to weight lifting takes place from an improved efficiency of the
nervous system, that it is a neural adaptive response.

Personally, I believe that the efficiency of the nervous system continues to play an important
role in the process of building muscle even after many years of training, but that’s another
story.

You see, this is an example that demonstrates it is not only what happens to the muscles
themselves when we train, but what happens to our entire system when we train. The nervous
system becomes more efficient, the endocrine system responds, and various enzymatic pathways
are affected. The body’s response to weight training is clearly not a local event relegated
simply to its direct effects on muscle fiber but is actively promoting a systemic response.
These are a few examples of how the systemic response to exercise leads to increases in size
and strength. The metabolic cost of exercise probably plays as crucial a role in muscle growth
as does the local stimulation to the muscles (i.e. myofiber damage caused by intense muscle
contraction).

When it comes to building muscle I like to keep things simple. It’s easy to get caught up in the hype of hot new products and exercises that promise to be the next best thing in muscle building. Theses fancy exercises and products use long “scientific like” words and explanations to show you they work to build the most muscle.

In this article I am going to get back to basics. I am going to show your three muscle building exercises you can’t afford not to do and why you should be doing them. These three exercises are the grass roots of building muscle and are essential for any serious training program.

You might find it hard to believe, but with these three exercises alone you can pack on a serious amount of muscle. I refer to these exercises as the “core” to any good program. When I start planning I muscle building program for a client I always start with these three basic exercises and build the program around them.

3 core muscle building exercises:

Squat

parallel squat (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The squat is the biggest exercise for packing on serious poundage. There’s no argument about it. The squat is primarily a leg building exercise. You start the exercise with a barbell resting across your shoulders standing straight up. Then bending at the knees and hips you lower the barbell down until your thighs are almost parallel to the floor. And then push the barbell back to the starting position.

The main muscle groups pulled into action for the squat are your quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes. Secondary muscle groups include the lower back, adductors and to a certain extent your shoulder muscles. As you can see many muscle groups are recruited for this exercise making it the biggest exercise and biggest potential muscle builder.
Like all the core muscle building exercises, you should make the squat the first exercise you do on your leg training day. Because it’s the biggest exercise you want your legs to be fresh and ready. If muscle building is your goal, aim for about 8-12 reps on the squat. Because you’ll be lifting heavy weights a good warm up is vital. Squatting is very stressful for the lower body, especially the knees, so 5-10 minutes on the treadmill and some lights squats first up are recommended.

English: an exercise of chest (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bench Press

The bench pres is the king of upper body building exercises. For years the bench press has been used to measure a lifter’s strength. How many times have you been asked “how much do you bench?” I bet you’ve never been asked how much do you squat or how many chin ups can you do.

The bench is a simple yet extremely powerful exercise that targets the entire chest (pectorals), front shoulders (deltoids) and triceps. To perform a bench press you must lie on your back on a flat bench, grip the barbell at slightly wider than shoulder grip and press the bar straight down to your chest.

The bench press is the biggest upper body builder because it allows you to move the most amount of weight possible. This is its advantage over the dumbbell press. With the help of a spotter you can also push yourself to lift heavier weights. There are also other advanced bench press techniques like board presses, bench press negatives and chain presses. See our link at the bottom for more details.

Wide grip Chin Up

If you were only going to do one exercise to work your back this would be it. The wide grip chin up is the ultimate test of a lifters power to weight ratio. This muscle building exercise is very demanding on the body.

English: an exercise of upper back and biceps (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The wide grip chin up primarily hits the lats, but also targets the entire upper back, biceps and forearms. To execute this exercise you need a chin up bar or assisted chin up machine. Hold the bar in a wide grip (greater than shoulder width) with your palms facing away from your body. Start in a “hanging” position with your arms fully extended. Pull yourself up until your can get your chin over the bar and lower back to starting position.

Most people will not be able to do wide grip chin ups without some lat/back training first. You can use the assisted chin up machine or lat pull down machine to strengthen your lats before attempting wide grip chin ups. This is the most demanding back exercise you can do so it must be the first exercise in your session.

When you should be doing these exercises

Like I mentioned previously in this article, these exercises are the biggest muscle builders and also the most taxing on your body so they must be done at the beginning of your workout to get the maximum benefits. I recommend that you do up to 5 sets on each exercise and vary the way you perform these sets each week. For example, the first week you do pyramid up sets, the second week you pyramid down and the third week you do straight sets. This keeps your muscles from getting accustomed to your routine. Good luck packing on some serious pounds!

What Should I be Doing in the Gym?

What are “Compound Lifts”?

How Often Should I Lift Weights?

How Many Sets and Reps Should I Do During Workouts to Build Muscle?

If your abs look good, your whole body looks good. Having Big arms and chest is one thing but having rock hard defined abs is so another.

Everyone knows that nothing turns heads like a defined full set of abs. And hey, chicks love em. What more needs to be said.


Contrary to popular belief, the abs or Rectus Abdominis is really only one muscle. It stretches from the top of your pelvis up to your ribcage. The "six-pack" as it is called is merely sections of this one muscle.

Dispelling the Ab Myths:

The action of any muscle is simply to contract. And as you can't contract half your bicep or quad, it makes sense that you cannot contract half your abs as well. Therefore the myths about "upper ab" and "lower ab" training are total nonsense. I'm not discounting those training methods but the simple fact is that if you can't see your lower abs, it just means you've got fat covering them, not that you need to work them harder.

Say goodbye to hanging knee-raises, straight-leg raises, and any other type of leg raises for building your abs. They simply don't work. The primary role of your abs is to stabilize your body. When you raise your leg for example, your hip flexors pull on your spine and arch it forward/downward. Your abs stabilize this action by resisting and essentially keeping your back from breaking. Take note that this is the static action of the abs. It doesn't build or strengthen. Leg raising exercises only feel like they are effectively working your abs because of the repeated strain and exhaustion of your muscle producing catabolic, lactic acid build up. Search for "lactic acid" at http://www.muscle-body.com for more information.

What Really Works:

What does strengthen your abs is what strengthens any other muscle in your body. Contraction! In this case - Decreasing the distance between your rib cage and your pelvis.

So we come back to the good old sit-up. But there are a few things to keep in mind.

Firstly, forget about the cool all-the-way-up sit-ups you see in the movies. Your abs are fully contracted when your shoulders are about 5 to 6 inches off the ground. So don't bother trying to impress or outperform someone by touching your elbows to your knees. It does nothing for you. Crunches as they are sometimes called are the way to go.

Secondly, don't wedge your feet under something to help you get up. You don't need to do this if you are doing crunches properly anyway. Your legs should be at 90 degrees to each other and your knees at 45 degrees to your waist. If you need to, use something to press your heels back against to stabilize yourself. This way you will use your hamstrings instead of your hip flexors which will keep the focus on your abs.

Thirdly, keep your hands lightly held against the side of your head or crossed on your chest. Don't clasp them together behind your head or neck. If you do you will be tempted to pull with your hands to get the last few reps out, which will put unnecessary strain on this fragile part of the spine.

Alternative:

Another good exercise for abs is kneeling crunches. You will need special equipment to perform this exercise. This is where you kneel and contract your abs so that your upper body arches forward/downward. You hold a rope attached to a pulley with weights for extra resistance. Most gyms will have a rope attachment to the triceps pull down to perform this exercise. The idea is to lock your arms against your upper body so that you pull down only with your abs and not your arms.

Ab Training Devices:

In 2 words - Forget it.

You don't need them. Most of them do nothing for you. Building muscle is hard and it hurts. Most of these devices are designed to take the pressure off your body making the exercise seem easy and con you into thinking you are really targeting your muscles. Don't believe the hype. Ab training is definitely hard work but definitely worth it's reward.

The Secret:


The difficulty in obtaining great abs is not so much building the muscle. It's cutting enough fat from your body for them to show. You probably know by now that spot-reduction of fat simply doesn't work here. In order to show those abs you need overall fat loss.