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Monday Madness: Stretching Like Gumby

March 20, 2017 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

flexibility

Today's Monday Madness is aimed at helping you get flexible and fast without spending hours a day stretching. The way you are going to accomplish this is by following the four steps I outline below.

Determine Your Flexibility Needs

You first need to determine why you need to be more flexible. Some common reasons are listed directly below.

  • Decrease muscle soreness after a workout
  • Decrease the risk of injury
  • Improve performance
  • Improve range of motion
  • Reduce pain

Find your personal reason for needing more flexibility and you will more likely stick to it.

Find What's Holding You Back

Once you have a goal in mind your next step is to determine what is stopping you from achieving it.You may have a difficult time bending forward to touch your toes, and that would naturally make you think that your hamstrings are too tight but there are quite a few other things that could be restrictors as well, such as your low back, hip flexors, glutes, etc.

You will need a good way to quickly assess what is specifically binding up your movement.

The best way I’ve found to do that is to go through a targeted series of positions that tests your whole body, and to note where you feel most restricted.

  • Squat
  • Cross legged sitting
  • Hip flexion
  • Knee flexion
  • Neck motions

Once you complete these movements you will have a good idea of where to focus your stretching time.

Slow Down to Reach Flexibility Faster

This is where patience comes into play. You have to take your time when stretching. Don't overdo it. By taking your time you will accomplish your goals in a shorter amount of time.

Be as Consistent as Possible with Your Plan

At this point you have everything in place and just need to do the work. Be consistent. Consistency is the key to all things.

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Filed Under: Experiment of One, Featured

Do Your Research or Perish

March 17, 2017 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

do your research or perish

Do your research or perish. It sounds dire, doesn't it? I chose the title specifically because so many people jump into things without researching what it is they want to do. If someone approaches you about Beach Body or Herbalife or one of the dozens of other fitness companies, do you jump right in or do you check things out first? If you don't do your research you are sure to miss all your goals.

Research Product Ingredients

When you are presented with a new product you always need to check out the ingredients. There are many things on the market today that contain things that might hinder your goals. It is so very important to understand this when deciding what products to use. By way of example, let's examine the ingredients from the Shakeology Chocolate flavor.

The firShakeology ingredients listst thing I notice about this product is that it lists whey as a proprietary superfood. I find this intriguing. I also notice that it contains only 17 grams of protein per serving, far below a standard whey shake. We also see that this product contains pea protein,and  brown rice protein in a proprietary blend. To me that's an instant red flag. How much whey is there in this thing? How much pea protein? How much brown rice protein? We don't know because it is part of a proprietary blend.

Next I see the product contains camu camu, a product high in vitamin c that alleges to improve the immune system. The serving size should be 1/2 a teaspoon, but we have no idea how much is in this product because, once again, it is part of a proprietary blend. This is another red flag for me.

Maca root is yet another ingredient in this product. It alleges to help with sexual function, mental focus and a boost for the immune system. How much is in this product? We have no idea because it is listed as part of a proprietary blend. More red flags for me!

Due to all the red flags, I am pretty sure what research will reveal, but we should conduct the research regardless. Going to Google and typing in “third party scientific proof for shakeology” yields many articles. The first result is an obvious advertisement for a Beach Body affiliate. The next article comes from the Huffington Post and it is quite helpful. This article points out there are no legitimate third party studies of Shakeology. It suggests a “back to basics” approach where you simply eat less, but continue to eat whole foods. I personally agree with this approach. The final article I reviewed makes some great points about the contents of Shakeology. It turns out that the whey protein (which is the major component of Shakeology) comes from a less than desireable source. The article compares Shakeology to making a salad and then topping it with a ton of Oreo cookies. Yes, the salad is healthy, but those Oreo cookies ruin it all. The article even points out some problems with the vegan version of Shakeology.

“Holy phytic acid. Oat, rice, quinoa and amaranth are all loaded with lectins and phytic acid, gut irritants and enzyme inhibitors. Phytic acid binds to calcium, zinc, iron, manganese, magnesium and other minerals, preventing them from being absorbed.”

Now, armed with our research, we can safely turn down any suggestion that we use Shakeology.

Research Saves You Time

By doing a little bit of research we have saved ourselves a major hassle and a lot of money. While there are many good ingredients in Shakeology, they don't offset the problems that exist with the product. The research we did has shown us that we won't get the results we are after with Shakeology.

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Filed Under: Diet & Fat Loss, Featured

Contest Preparation Explained

March 15, 2017 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

Many people think that contest preparation is exactly like losing weight. When contest preparation is explained you find that it is so much more than losing weight. Contest preparation is a science. It involves so many different aspects and is something that should be supervised by a coach.

How is Contest Preparation Different from Losing Weight

The goal of contest preparation is to bring the best physique possible to the stage. This means the fat is below 10% and your muscles are full and vascular. The presentation is the most important. It is not about achieving a scale weight.

Getting Your Mind Right for Contest Preparation

Ask anyone who has competed and they will tell you: Your mind starts playing games with you. You will start to feel like you are too skinny or too fat, that you need to eat more or less, that you need to do more cardio, and so on. As your prep evolves, you may experience physical and mental fatigue, become moody, and start taking your frustrations out on people around you.

Always stay calm and remember that you picked this path. Stay focused on the positives and don't let the negatives derail you. Small steps add up over time, so even small victories are still progress. If you don't enjoy the journey, then what's the point in even competing?

Don't Withdraw Socially

Having a support group can make the prep process so much smoother. Let your family and friends know what you're doing and what the plan is before you begin preparation. However, it's important to remember that not everyone's life revolves around training, cardio, and diet. So if all you do is talk about the contest and what you're doing to prepare, trust me, you'll become irritating as hell. Keep your friends and family in the loop, but if they're not competitors, they won't understand what you're going through, nor should they.

On the other hand, a buddy or significant other who trains, cooks, and chats with you can make all the difference in your experience. Remember, though, you're the one doing the contest, so you can't rely on anyone else to be responsible.

Focus on the End Result

You need to focus on the end result. Remember that you are competing against yourself and nobody else. You want to be a better version of yourself.

 

 

 

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Filed Under: Contest Preparation, Featured

Monday Madness: Massive Calves

March 13, 2017 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

Today we will discuss how you can build massive calves. Before getting into specifics let's discuss some key things about building calves.

Calves are extremely stubborn because they carry you around all day. This means you are going to need to hit them with some severe intensity for them to grow. Guide yourself through the discomfort and go beyond that discomfort. Now, I am not talking about actual pain, I am talking about the burning discomfort you feel when pushing the calves. You MUST go beyond!

Your calves will grow if you force them to. It is a matter of finding the intensity level that works for your body.

The Workout

Exercise Sets and Reps
Standing Calf Raise 2×15; 1×25; 1xfailure
Donkey Calf Raise 3×20
Leg Press Calf Raise 3×20
Seated Calf Raise 1×100

How to Execute the Workout

This session requires maximum intensity! You are going to push your calves like never before. In your first exercise you will do 2 sets that get you just to 15 reps. You will then do another set of 25. On the final set, go all the way to positive failure. This workout has 4 exercises. On the final exercise you are going to find a weight you can do for 10 repetitions, but you are going to aim for 100 repetitions. It is OK to pause 10 seconds when required, but keep going until you reach 100 repetitions. This is going to really shock your calves and their response will be to grow.

Do this training once per week only! That 100 rep set is shocking your calves and they won't recover fully for a week.

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Filed Under: Featured, Training

Monday Madness: My Mean Leg Torture Training

June 13, 2016 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

Leg training

Leg training is neglected by so many. I believe you need to train all body parts to maintain symmetry. Today we present a torturous leg training workout that will have you crying by the end.

The Workout

Exercise Sets Reps
Leg extensions 3 15
Single Leg extensions 4 20
Hack squats 4 15
Back Squats 5 8
Lying hamstring curls 4 15
Seated hamstring curls 4 15
Stiff Leg Deadlifts 5 8
Front Squats 2 15
Back Squats 2 15
Leg press 3 50

The Workout Described

This training will hit your hamstrings and your quads. It is going to be brutal because the approach is to kill those quads and hamstrings with volume. Starting out with leg extensions at a high rep range will mean using light weight and warming up the muscle. Follow this up with single leg extensions, again with high reps, but this time aimed at pumping blood into the quads. The hack squats will continue to pump blood into the quads. Next up is 5 sets of 8 repetitions for back squats. The weight should be moderately heavy. Push hard to get all the repetitions. Now you should feel like your quads are balloons.

Next we hit the hamstrings. We start out with lying leg curls to warm up the muscle. We then go to seated hamstring curls to start the pump. We finish off the hamstrings with heavy stiff legged deadlifts. We then return to the quads with front squats, back squats and leg press. When finished your legs will be engorged with blood. The pump should be insane!

Leg training like this is aimed at pushing blood into the muscle to help the muscle grow. You have to really push hard to get your legs to grow.

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Filed Under: Featured, Training

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