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How to Experiment Properly

May 10, 2017 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

The Experiment of One

Experiment with your fitness when you need to lose weight. Can’t fit your dress for an event? Ashamed to flaunt your Christmas belly with your beach attire? If you’re having a similar dilemma, shedding some weight for these eventful moments may (or should have) crossed your mind. You may now want to experiment with ways to reduce your weight in record time regardless of the process, as long as you achieve desirable results.

Let’s discuss some ways on how to experiment properly on losing those extra pounds to get your dream beach bod.

Regular Exercise is an Experiment

Good old exercise is still the way to go. Thirty minutes up to an hour of moderate exercise every day can help keep fat away. Cardio exercises are the best fat burners, but you should also throw in some weight training focused on strengthening your muscles.

Knowing that you should exercise regularly isn’t enough to just go and lift those barbells like a superhero. Experimenting on your own routine can strain muscle tissues, or worse, cause unnecessary injuries. Seek guidance from trained fitness professionals as they can help you create a workout plan suitable for your body’s condition and weight goals.

Pacing is also important. It gives your muscles time to rest and grow, preparing them for the next level of your workout routine.

Proper Diet is an Experiment

The idea behind losing weight through dieting is burning more calories than the amount you ingest for replenishment. Dr. Dansinger, consultant of “The Biggest Loser” show, mentions this can be done by minimizing intake of starchy food, sweets, fats from meat, and dairy foods, while increasing ingestion of fruits, soy products, chicken breasts, fish, veggies, non-fat dairy foods, egg whites, and lean meat. Still, the effects of this type of diet plan may take some time to show and impatience may lead you to experiment with your own diet program. The go-to plan: crash diet.
People usually experiment on crash dieting which drastically reduces food intake for a short period of time. Some crash diets also include radical exercise routines for further hasten weight loss.

Crash diets are considered by many dieticians a risky way to lose those extra pounds because of the so-called ‘yo-yo’ effect. This is the fluctuation caused by the sudden alteration of the body’s metabolism rate, forcing it to look for other sources of energy to keep important body functions running.

Those who have tried experimenting on this diet lost some pounds during the first few weeks but had a harder time losing more the longer they go with the diet plan. After reaching a plateau, they experience the ‘yo-yo’ effect, recovering the weight they lost, with some gaining even more than they had shed.

The correct way to start on a diet is to consult your doctor for an appropriate weight loss plan. Gradually reducing your food intake and limiting yourself to nutritionally healthier options, gives your body time to eventually adjust to this new routine, preventing the adverse effects of fluctuations in metabolism rate. Combine this with proper exercise and you’ll get wonderful results.

Prescription Drugs

Belviq, orlistat, phentermine, Saxenda – these are some of the known weight loss medications available in the market. These diet drugs promise a fast and safe route to losing weight which is what exactly people looking for nowadays. However, as much as possible, avoid them and just go with the first two methods we mentioned above.

Diet drugs are last resort options and shouldn’t even be in the equation of your weight loss experiment. This is because diet pills are usually given to those suffering from obesity and those who have medical conditions like high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. Hoping these can instantly reduce your weight with the least amount of effort is wishful thinking.

Be careful in taking prescription drugs for weight loss. Even though they’ve passed clinical trials, these may cause allergic reactions or other side effects like diarrhea, headache, fatigue, seizures, and tremors; some even cause increased chances of suicidal thoughts. Make sure to consult your doctor first and give them your complete medical history so they’ll know what medications will be suitable for you.

The idea is to experiment and find what works best for you and then stick to that for a period of time. All exercise and diet changes take time to show the desired results. Give them that time so they can show you exactly how effective they are.

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Filed Under: Experiment of One

Monday Madness: Go Beyond!

May 8, 2017 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

Go Beyond

My mentor, Carlos DeJesus, always says “Go beyond” when asked how to train. Carlos has explained that this means knowing the difference between discomfort and pain. He instructs that too many people stop a set because of discomfort. This is a bad approach. Yes, if you are feeling actual pain, it is time to stop, but if it is merely discomfort you must go beyond.

All muscle groups can benefit from this approach, but some benefit more than others. I will discuss below what this go beyond approach works best for.

Go Beyond for Calves

Anyone who has trained their calves with intensity knows that discomfort rapidly builds up in your calves. I see so many who stop their set as soon as the discomfort starts. Instead, push past. Go beyond the discomfort. You will  notice rapid changes in your calves if you do this every single time. What you are feeling is lactic acid. Please be sure to know the difference between discomfort and pain and you're good to go.

Go Beyond for Biceps

Biceps are a small muscle and they tend to feel very sore very fast. Like the calves, this is just discomfort and should be treated as such. Go beyond the discomfort. Push those biceps to their ultimate failure. Don't be scared into stopping just because of some discomfort.

Go Beyond for Good Results

The most successful bodybuilders and gym goers are those who are in tune with their body. By listening to what your body says, you will achieve amazing results by applying the go beyond principle. You will also experience a massive pump by using the go beyond principle.

Have you ever gone beyond? Tell us your experience in the comments below.

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Filed Under: Experiment of One, Featured

Crazy Tips for a Crazy Big Chest

April 26, 2017 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

Maximizing chest growth requires a clear strategy. I have four crazy tips for a crazy big chest. Follow these tips and you will see your chest begin to respond.

Use Many Different Angles

When training your chest it is important to hit the muscle from different angles. The best advice is to focus on incline angles. You must change the angles from time to time. You can make it an extreme angle or a less extreme angle. It will continue to stimulate growth in your chest if you do this.

Proper Range of Motion

When doing chest exercises it might surprise you to hear that you should not use 100% ROM. This tends to take the focus off the pecs and that's not what you want. As an example, locking out turns the exercise into a triceps dominant exercise. Going too deep with dumbbells turns it into an anterior deltoid exercise. You want to work within the ROM where you can actually feel your pecs working. Keep an eye on range of motion and it will impact the growth you achieve.

Rep Ranges

When training the chest, modify your rep ranges. You are able to use low, medium and high rep ranges with your pecs. Studies show the pecs respond the best to moderate and high rep ranges. When using high rep ranges you can really focus on the muscle contraction. This will help you isolate the pecs more efficiently which helps them grow.

Iso-metric Contractions

We return to the topic of actual muscle recruitment and isolation. The pecs respond well to focusing on iso-metric contractions. This really helps you improve that connection between the CNS and actual muscle fibers, which over time leads to improved muscle fiber recruitment within the area. I personally do some hammer press movements one arm at a time, but I really squeeze hard at the top of the movement to recruit the maximum number of fibers. It is quite effective.

Conclusion

The attack plan for the pecs should include many different angles, the proper ROM, changing up the rep ranges and getting a good strong contraction of the muscle. Focus on this as you train your pecs and you will begin to see immediate improvement.

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Filed Under: Training

Monday Madness: Assault the Abdominals

March 27, 2017 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

Everybody wants a six pack, but nobody wants to take the time to assault the abdominals. The abs respond to intense exercise just like any other part of your body. Today I am going to show you how to launch an all out assault on the abdominals.

Explanation of the Workout

You are going to be doing a series of 5 exercises. You are going to squeeze your abs hard during each set of these exercises. This will take you about 20 minutes and should be inserted into your training plan every other week. Use 1 minute between sets to rest. Push hard!

The Workout

Exercise Sets Reps
Bicycle Crunches 3 12
Hanging Leg Raises 3 12
Back Extensions 3 12
Barbell Rollout 3 12
Cable Wood Chopper 3 12

Discussion of Workout

This workout is aimed at completely fatiguing your core. It will have your core screaming for mercy! Don't ignore your core! I guarantee that if you hit this workout consistently you are going to see improvements in the other big lifts you do (squats, deadlifts, etc.).

You can also add other ab workouts to your routine. Just do this one every other week as it is very intense and will require some time for your abs to recover.

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Filed Under: Featured, Training

Supplements that Work

March 24, 2017 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

Supplements that work…something so many of us want to know about. The supplement companies just want to take your money away. They will tell you anything to get you to buy. Today i am going to tell you about the supplements that actually work. These shouldn't surprise anyone, but this very short list should go a long way towards helping you with your goals.

In my experience there are really only 5 supplements that work as advertised.

  1. Whey protein
  2. Creatine
  3. Beta Alanine
  4. BCAA
  5. Multi-vitamins

Whey protein

While there is nothing special about protein powder, they are a great way to insure you get enough protein in your diet. They also serve as a clean way to add to your daily caloric intake. Whey protein digests quickly and is highly bio-available. I personally go to True Nutrition for my whey protein. I use the Team Skip blend because it tastes great and is a mix of whey and casein protein. I have had great results with it so far.

Creatine

Creatine is effective at increasing muscle protein synthesis, and it improves power output, which also helps increase muscle growth. How does creatine work? For those who remember their high school biology, creatine acts as an extra reservoir for phosphate groups. When your body starts running out of readily available ATP (for example, when lifting weights), creatine can help donate some phosphate to ADP (to give your body more ATP). In terms of real-life application, creatine basically gives your cells a bit more extra energy. Taking creatine can also cause 5-10 lbs of water-weight gain. The stress from extra water causes muscle cells to grow faster.

Beta Alanine

Beta alanine is not quite as effective as creatine, but it definitely helps maximize your potential. Beta alanine is an amino acid which is turned into carnosine in the muscles. Carnosine protects muscle cells from excess acidity, like the kind that’s produced during intense exercise. Researchers in one study observed an increase in muscle growth after beta-alanine supplementation, even after they controlled for the extra work people supplementing beta-alanine could do in the gym. That means that beta-alanine might help you build muscle on top of its ability to increase endurance.

BCAA

I swear by BCAA supplementation. There are those who say it is useless because you get BCAAs in the protein you eat, but I find that using BCAAs consistently during and after a weight training session brings about some impressive results. The best progress I've had came when I was religiously using BCAAs during and after my training sessions. They protect muscle when doing cardio. They help me get through my workouts.

Multi-vitamins

I know we should be getting our nutritional value from the food we eat, but in today's society the extra help is useful. I did research and wound up with the Kirkland brand of multi-vitamins. I find that I have much more energy when I am consistently taking multi-vitamins every single morning.

If the supplement isn't on this list it is likely it doesn't work as advertised. Buy those at your own risk.

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Filed Under: Featured, Supplements

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