If you want to know how to train your back, this is a great guide to back training. You will learn more from reading the following articles than you could ever learn on your own time. These tips will take your back training to a completely new level.

• Flex Lewis: Old-school Training with New School Thinking. This article takes some old-school techniques and spins them in a new way. It is great reading and will teach you a lot about training your back.
• 2011 Road to Mr. Olympia: Phil Heath's Back Workout. The back training techniques of Mr. Olympia, Phil Heath. You will learn how Phil sculpted his incredible contest winning back.
• Get Mile Wide! The 5-move Plan to Building Lats That Blot the Sun. This article discusses the sacrifices and intensity necessary to build a huge back.
• How to Train Your Back Muscles – Project Swole. This article discusses how to get a V shape and how to train for intensity. It gives you a list of the 5 best back exercises.

From my perspective, back training is about mixing heavy weights with lighter weights. When doing the heavier weights you can sacrifice form just slightly. When using lighter weights we need to focus on the squeeze in the muscle and getting the most out of every single repetition. By hitting the back muscles from many different angles you are able to build the V shape that everyone desires. Change up what you are doing on a regular basis so that your back muscles will continually get shocked into growing.

Nothing happens overnight. You are going to have to put the time in at the gym, but you will not be sorry if you follow these tips. Take your time and do it right. Stay focused and train hard. That's going to be the key to your back growth in the long run.

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• The Role of Time Under Tension
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Today I’d like to share with you my 6 favorite back exercises for mass building. Your job is to leave your own list of 6 items in the comments or on your own blog that relate to the topic this week. If you decide to put the list on your own blog, be sure to leave a comment with a link to your blog. Please note that permission is NOT granted top copy the question to a forum or message board for the purpose of having the readers participate in the answering of the topic.

Topic for Saturday, February 18, 2012: Favorite back exercises for mass building.

1. Deadlift
2. Bent over barbell row
3. Seated Cable Row
4. T-Bar Row
5. 2 arm standing bent dumbbell row
6. One arm lat pull down

If you have a Saturday Sharing you'd like to see, send me an email. I would love to feature it in the future.

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Circuit Training changed my life!!  Previous to training in circuits I had lifted about three days a week and ran about 6 days a week.  Now I circuit train 3 times a week and that’s my cardio and my strength training all in one!!  I lost about 10 pounds, but it was all fat. 

Here’s the Top 5 Benefits of Circuit Training:

1.  TORCH FAT!  THE FASTEST WAY POSSIBLE TO GET LEAN!!  According to the National Academy of Sports Medicine, studies have shown that circuit training can be just as beneficial or even MORE beneficial as cardiovascular exercise to improve overall conditioning.  It produces equal or greater caloric expenditure than steady state cardio, increases strength levels and produces a greater caloric after-burn.

2. INCREASE STRENGTH AND MUSCLE!  Using moderately heavy weights to challenge yourself in a circuit-style workout will not only increase your heart rate, but it also pushes you to use more power from your muscles, thus making you stronger!  This also increases your muscle mass and we all know more muscle = less fat!

3. SAVES YOU TIME!  And time is of the essence since we have such busy lives!  If you train in circuits your heart rate will be elevated through the entire workout thus making it a cardiovascular workout.  But you are also doing your strength training too.  You can do an entire day of circuit training for certain muscle groups like a chest/ back day, or you can do a full-body circuit style workout.

4. WORKS YOUR ENTIRE BODY!  Like I said, you can design your circuits to just include two or three muscle groups, or you can design the workout to work your whole body.  This of course saves you time, but it will also be a really tough workout!  From head to toe, you will feel the burn!  Try the workout below to see what I mean

5. MAKE IT HIIT!  If you have been following me for a while you know what I mean when I say HIIT. If you don’t you need to read this blog. Throw in a set of plyometric exercises like squat jumps or burpees, or something dynamic like medball slams and voila.. now you have done your cardio, your HIIT and your strength training!

TRY THIS WORKOUT TO GET YOUR CIRCUIT TRAINED LEAN BODY!!!

Chest flyes x 12

Single arm dumbbell row x 10 each arm

Squat jumps x 15

Bicycle crunches x 30

Repeat for 3 rounds.

Lat pulldown x 12

Military Press x 8

Burpee/ push up combo x 10

sit ups x 20

Repeat for 3 rounds.

The Get In Shape Girl

For more workouts like this, Come Train with Me!!

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If you are like me, you want to have that great X shape that you see on the professional bodybuilding stages around the world. A big part of attaining that shape is the look of your shoulders. Putting mass on the shoulder area is difficult only because of the high potential for injury in that area. I want to present to you the following list of how to build awesome shoulders.

• Building Shoulders Like Boulders. This article from a drug free natural bodybuilding magazine site explains the function and anatomy of the shoulders and then tells you about the various shoulder exercises and what part of the shoulder they hit. It finishes with a description of shoulder training principles.
• The Best Shoulder Exercises & Workout Tips for Powerful Deltoids. A great article with some innovative shoulder training tips. A must-read for building shoulder mass.
• Deltoid Training Tips: Shoulder Workouts for Mass. This article discusses some great ways to build mass in the shoulder area.
• The Best Shoulder Building Workouts and Tips. A collection of the best shoulder training tips from the Bodybuilding.com Forum.
• 5 More Shoulder Saving Tips. An article that focuses on the safe way to build mass in the shoulders.

Each of the above articles focuses on the concept of keeping the shoulder area healthy. You want to stretch your shoulders out carefully because mobility in that area is essential for building mass safely. I personally recommend the Rotater for this very purpose. It is a simple device that really helps with both shoulder flexibility and rotater cuff strengthening. It is designed to improve the health of your shoulders.

If you want to build mass in the shoulders, take the time to take good care of your shoulders. Keep them healthy because a damaged shoulder will cause problems with most every other lift you want to do.

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I hear the excuse all the time that there is no time in a busy schedule to workout. I am going to tell you that the busier you are, the more you need a good workout schedule in your life. Working out will reduce the stress that the busy schedule causes. It will help balance your life. Quite simply, it is something you need in your life. The fact is that we all make time for those things that are important to us. It is time to make working out something you find important so that you will make the time for it. Here are some tips for doing just that.

• Get up earlier. If your alarm goes off at 7:00 a.m. on the usual morning, simply set it an hour earlier and use that time to hit the gym. Starting your day off with a great workout is an awesome thing.
• Make it an appointment with yourself. We tend to honor appointments. Thus, put your workouts in your calendar as an appointment. Mark the time as busy. Then make an effort to never break an appointment with yourself.
• Walk more places. We are a mobile society and tend to drive everywhere we go. Change that behavior. Walk to the corner market. Walk to work if possible. Walk to pick the kids up at school. You will burn additional calories in doing so.
• Find a training partner. If you have someone else depending upon you to show up at the gym you are more likely to be consistent. Find a workout partner and tell them your goals. Have them hold you accountable for those goals. By doing this you will make time to meet the partner and stick to your plan.
• Watch less television. Our society is addicted to television. You could shave 1 hour off your television time and use that time for working out.

These are just 5 ideas for how to find time to workout. I am sure that if you use your creativity you could come up with several more. What ideas can you think of? Share them in the comments below.

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