Fitness Exposé

Bodybuilding Secrets Exposed

You are here: Home / Blog

Review: The Quad Blaster

By Leave a Comment

Several years ago I had lower back surgery to repair a ruptured disc.  As a result of that surgery, I’ve been continually concerned with potential injuries to my back.  At the same time, I want to make my quads grow larger.  Everyone told me to squat and squat heavy in order to gain quad size. 

I gave the squat idea a try, but every time I got to a higher weight where I could really work my quads, I’d get a muscle spasm.  I’ve come to decide that those injuries were caused by my fear of getting hurt.  As Skip Lacour would say, I let my head take over when my body should have.  Whatever the cause, I was very hesitant to do squats as a result of all the problems I’d experienced.  I thought all hope was lost until…enter the Quad Blaster.

image

The Quad Blaster is a very simple, but effective device for growing your quads.  It can completely replace the squat in your workout routine or just supplement it.  Alwyn Cosgrove has called the Quad Blaster an iso-compound exercise because it works like a compound movement and an isolation movement at the same time.

This device was invented and patented by Carlos DeJesus, a world champion natural bodybuilder.  Carlos used this device to grow massive thighs during his competition years.

carlospose

Carlos had suffered from lower back pain and was trying to find ways he could squat without pain.  Eventually he was diagnosed with a degenerative disc disease which meant no more barbell squats for him.  He was a competitive bodybuilder and knew he was going to need something good to make his quads grow. 

As a result of his own personal issues, Carlos invented the Quad Blaster in 1974.  By 1979 he had the plans copyrighted and in 2000 he had the device patented. 

Through the use of the Quad Blaster, Carlos was able to win the 1981 Natural Mr. USA, the 1981 Natural Mr. North America and the 1985 Professional Natural Mr. World.

When I first tried the Quad Blaster I was pretty amazed at how well it worked my legs with just my own body weight.  You get into the machiquadsketchne with your feet close together.  It mimics a narrow stance squat, which is an extremely quad-dominant exercise.  Your body travels in a very vertical stance.  You are able to add weight as necessary to increase the intensity of the exercise.  You can either hold a dumbbell in the front or a barbell in the back to make this an extremely intense exercise.   If you stick to proper form a 50 lb. dumbbell will be extremely difficult for you to complete. 

I started using the Quad Blaster and after 24 weeks I had increased my quads on both sides by more than 2 inches.  The definition I got was incredible as well.  I now use the Quad Blaster in all of my leg workouts.  It works as advertised.  To quote the sales page, the Quad Blaster is:

 

  • Intense.  This is the most intense workout for the thighs.  Don’t be decieved by the simplicity of this machine. Once you’ve tried it, nothing else compares.
  • Safe.    You don't need to put heavy-duty weights on your back. Because of the beauty of design, The Quad Blaster generates immense difficulty through leverage so that holding a 10-pound dumbbell translates to 200 pounds to your thighs. This will save your back and knees. It's so well designed that even put through the worst of trails by a World Champion; even he couldn't damage or break it, even with years of use.
  • Portable/Light Weight.  Because the total weight is about 15 pounds The Quad Blaster is easily portable and perfect for travel. The side handle makes it easy to pick up and go. Most will especially appreciate this feature. Not exactly what you can do with a bulky machine!
  • Compact.  The Quad Blaster is compact enough that it fits in the back seat of your car, in the trunk, or under your bed.
  • Affordable.  Priced so that everyone can afford one. There are three ways you can get one. Pick the one that is right for you so you can jump-start your leg training by having your very own Quad Blaster.

If you want some serious quad growth, get yourself a Quad Blaster.  You will not be sorry that you did. 

You can buy one full assembled, buy a kit that you assemble yourself or you can buy the plans to do the entire thing on your own.

quadblaster_ecover_final2

Related Posts:

Joint Venture or Monetization Scheme?

By Leave a Comment

Today I was pondering something regarding the fitness industry and it inspired me to write this post.  As most of you know, the fitness industry is a multi-billion dollar industry.  There is alot of money to be made by someone with a large list of prospects.  A common teaching of internet gurus is to get involved with a joint venture (JV) to assist with building your list of prospects. 

I am active on Facebook and Twitter and enjoy interacting with people in both places.  From time to time I get joint venture offers on Facebook.  I’ve generally ignored them for a multitude of reasons.  For some reason this past week I decided to investiate one.  I believe what inspired me is the fact that this joint venture is aimed directly at fitness professionals. 

I filled out the form for this “free” joint venture opportunity and hit the submit button.  I was taken to a page that began to pitch me on buying into another part of the joint venture opportunity.  By spending $17 I would be guaranteed a place in the joint venture opportunity.  I would get special preference for placement on the joint venture page when the launch occurred.  I decided that I did not want to spend $17, so I clicked the “no thanks” button.  Amazingly, I was sent to an almost identical pitch page that told me that I could get the same thing for just $7. 

Think about what I just told you.  What would have happened if I had decided to pay the $17 right off the bat?  I would have paid $10 extra for something that I could have gotten for $7.  To me, that is a rip off, plain and simple.  I’m betting you wonder why I am bringing this topic up.  I bet you are not seeing the connection to the fitness industry in general.

Well, my friend, this is becoming more and more common in the fitness industry.  It is not just happening with joint venture opportunities.  Fitness gurus are offering their products at $89.95 and when you say you don’t want it (by either clicking on “no thanks” or by trying to navigate away from their site) they offer to sell you the program for $49.95.  That’s right, just for saying no you save $40.00.  This bothers me.

If you are really selling your product for $49.95 just do so right up front.  In fact, I think people should offer their product at a price they want and then allow the customer to add or subtract from the price if they feel the product is either worthy of more money or so bad that it should have cost less money.  This will force the gurus to make products that are effective and do what they claim they do.  It is a new form of a guarantee.

As the consumer, you can get this to happen.  If you try a product and don’t feel it lives up to the hype, return it for a full refund and then communicate to the author what you feel the program was really worth. Tell the author that you would have paid another amount had that offer been available.  If enough people were to do this it would soon become a method for paying on programs.  The authors would then work very hard on their product because they’d want to maximize their income.  Everyone would win.

Related Posts:

Mobility vs Flexibility – Part 2

By 1 Comment

In our last newsletter, we discussed mobility vs flexibility and how our bodies are a collection of joints, some requiring mobility and others requiring stability.  We covered the need for mobility through the ankle and the hip.  In this newsletter we are going to talk about knee stability, thoracic mobility, and shoulder health.

The knee demands stability.  The knee as a joint has very little rotational ability.  It's movement is basically that of a hinge.  Basic movements that require this hinging movements of the knee are squats and dead lifts.  Most issues involving pain in the knee are usually the result of a dysfunction either above or below.    Solve the ankle mobility problem and a lot of knee issues will clear up.   Start looking at mobility of the hip and the knee will benefit.

The thoracic spine or mid back area is not as well studied yet as some of the other areas such as hips, lumbar spine and knees.  It is however, proving to be a critical component in maintaining a healthy lumbar and cervical spine.   For the golfers out there, this is especially important.  In the golf swing you need you need to be able to separate the upper body from lower body.  During the backswing your pelvis needs to be stable allowing the shoulders to turn.  If you are unable to separate the upper and lower body, you will be limited as to how much shoulder turn you can perform.  This is where thoracic mobility is important – to allow movement through the back while keeping the pelvis stable.

Last but not least is the shoulder or gleno-humeral joint.   Also closely connected to the health of the shoulder is the area of the shoulder blade (the sacpulo-thoracic joint).  You cannot discuss shoulder health without talking about the stability of the shoulder blades which directly reflects the health of the rotator cuff.  The scapula, rotator cuff and shoulder is an area that whole exercise physiology textbooks are written about.  In order to have a shoulder that allows mobility, you need to have a stable base first.    Without a stable base provided by the scapular muscles, the shoulder joint can become quite immobile, causing decreased range of motion and pain. 

?
The scapular stabilizers (lower trapezius, rhomboids, serratus, levator scapula) are responsible to hold and lock the shoulders in the right position for the shoulder to function properly.    Some of the exercises that we use to strengthen these various muscles are as follows.  All rowing movements will help to strengthen the trapezius and rhomboids.  We will instruct clients to pinch the shoulder blade prior to initiating any rowing movements.  When you pinch your shoulder blades together, the rhomboid muscles in the middle of your upper back activate.  These muscles originate along the spine (C7 and T1) and then attach themselves to the inner border of your shoulder blades.  The pinching action will pull the shoulder blades together and this in turn with other muscles throughout the upper back and shoulder (rotator cuff) will cause the shoulder to sit in an anatomically correct position allowing proper function of the shoulder.

Other exercises that benefit the shoulder joint are the lat pull down and prone trap raise.  We also have variations along those exercises that we use (stiff arm pull downs, high pulley rows).   Often with these exercises we will instruct clients to “pull their shoulders to their hips”.  This prevents the shrugging so often seen with these exercises and once again helps to maintain the shoulder in a healthy position.  The muscles primarily responsible for this are the middle and lower trapezius.  The trapezius muscle is a large muscle that originates at the skull , the spine of C7 and all the thoracic vertebrae .  It then inserts along the rear of the shoulder, the scapular spine and part of the clavicle.  The  trapezius muscle's main responsibility is to keep the scapula down (no shrugging) and to maintain stability to allow shoulder mobility.

So, this is starting to turn in Anatomy 101 and I may have gotten a bit off track.  The scapular and shoulder, as I mentioned are worthy of a book on their own.  I am sure either you personally or someone you knows has had, does have or will have shoulder problems.  It is probably the most common problem we see in  and out of the gym.  And because of so much of what we need to do the keep healthy and strong, involves the shoulder, we much be diligent about the work necessary to keep the this joint healthy.

Till next time,

Narina Prokosch, RN CPT

“Monitoring, Mentoring, Motivation”

Related Articles:

Mobility vs. Flexibility, Part 1 –  What's the Diff?

Movement Matters

Related Posts:

Combat the Fat Week 5 Update

By 1 Comment

image

This is the start of my sixth week on Combat the Fat.  The results so far have been good, but not what I wanted, so I am making some changes.  I am not changing the program itself because I want to see how that works, but I am making some adjustments to my eating.

While the program states that there is no need to count calories, I have a feeling that I have been overconsuming calorically.  Thus, starting today I will be calculating my caloric intake.  I will aim to keep it down to 2200 calories.  My maintenance level is 3100 calories, so this will be a nice deficit.  I am also going to add something that I had originally planned to add from the beginning—several sessions each week of Max-OT cardio.  With the amount of cardio already being done on this program, the addition of these intense Max-OT cardio sessions will give me the boost I think is missing from my training.

I have found the nutrition program to be very easy to follow.  As stated, the only flaw I see so far is that he does not have you count calories at all. This is a problem for me because I am hitting this program after coming off of a bulk and I think I’ve lost touch with how many calories will help me cut down.

I can report some definite positive results in my strength through the use of this extremely unorthodox program.  That’s right, I tested my 1 rep max on the flat barbell bench press and it is up about 25 pounds.  My previous max was 205 lbs. and just last week I hit 230 lbs.  I can see changes in my shoulders as well.  I’ve lost 3 inches in my abdominal area and several percent of body fat. 

Being the analytical personality that I am, I’ve learned alot from the approaches to training that this program teaches.  I have learned to push myself even harder than I used to and that (if you have followed my blog) is an accomplishment in itself.

Week 5 of this program saw me go from Advanced Level 1 to Advanced Level 2.  The addition of some exercises in the pyramids caused a massive increase in intensity.  It has been an amazing experience. Just when the workouts were getting routine, there’s a new twist added that takes things to a new level.

Please come back next week for the next installment of the Combat the Fat update.  Find out if the changes I am making work any better.

Related Posts:

Mobility vs Flexibility, Part 1 – What’s the Diff?

By 1 Comment

Often during our warm up routines that we have our clients perform at the gym, clients will mention feeling a stretch in certain muscles during some of the drills.   This will then lead to an explanation of what it is we are hoping to accomplish during the warm up and what you should be feeling.   We go through several drills prior to a more dynamic warm up that will lead into the strength portion of your workout.  The drills are specifically designed to increase mobility through a joint.    You need a certain amount of mobility or the ability to move your joints through a normal range of motion.  But what is mobility and what is flexibility?

In a nutshell mobility is the ability of the joint to move through a range of motion and flexibility is the ability of the muscle to stretch to allow movement.  In this article we are going to deal with mobility.  Physical Therapist Gray Cook's (1) analysis of the body and its function is by means of a series of joints.  Each joint has a specific function and is prone to specific dysfunctions.  He devised a table that describes the body on a joint-by-joint basis from the bottom up:

Ankle Mobility
Knee Stability
Hip Mobility
Lumbar Spine stability
Thoracic Spine mobility (upper back)
Gleno-humeral stability (shoulder)

?
As you can see from this chart the joints alternate between mobility and stability.  Injuries and problems occur when the joints lose the ability to perform their specific function be it mobility or stability.    For our clients we will go through ankle range of motion testing.  To do this we have clients kneel on the floor in a lunge position.  We then ask them to push forward with their knee over their toe, keeping the heel down.  We then used a stick from knee to ground to measure distance the knee moved past the toes.  We know that a good range of motion for the ankle is 4″ or more past your toe.  If your ankle lacks the mobility it needs, when  we ask you to perform exercises such as squats or lunges, you either will not be able to perform these exercises correctly , or you will get knee pain when you do perform them.  For this reason, we have included 3 specific ankle mobility drills (ankle rolls, knee to wall, toes on foam roller) in our warm up routine.  We also know in our own unscientific test that performing these ankle drills does work.  We had one client go from 1/2″ ankle mobility to 3″ ankle mobility in both ankles in a 3 month period.

The hips must be mobile in all planes of movement (front to back, side to side and rotational).  If the hip loses its ability to be mobile, you get low back pain.  Most lower back pain is not caused  by a weak back, it is most often caused by a tight and immobile hip.  To work on increasing hip mobility, we will go through a series of hip drills (leg swings front to back and side to side; wide squats).  With some clients we will also use a form of lunge on a block.  This exercise is called a dynamic warm up in that we are using body weight and a little momentum to increase the range of movement in the lunge.  We also use everyone's favorite exercise – the Bulgarian squat – to increase the hip's range of motion.

The lumbar spine or “low back” needs to be stable.  Great strides have been made in recent years in understanding the function of low back.  Shirley Sahrmann (2) and Porterfield and De Rosa (3)say that increasing range of motion through the lumbar spine isn't recommended and can be dangerous.  For our clients we do not do rotational exercises where the pelvis is staying locked and you are twisting side to side.   Our warm up at the very beginning of our program is rotating, but we also need  to ensure your whole hip and foot are rotating to the direction you are moving the ball.   So, the rotation is happening through the hip, not the lower back.  Also for you golfers, the cable chop exercise is also done rotating the hip and foot to the  direction you are moving.  In other words you are “leading with the hips” not the lower back or the shoulders.  

 

This should help explain the difference between mobility and flexibility and the need to have both.  But, ways to improve each of them are different.

 

Till next time,

Narina Prokosch, RN CPT

“Monitoring, Mentoring, Motivation”

Related Posts:

Mobility vs. Flexibility, Part 2

Movement Matters

Related Posts:

New eBook!