89
Your goals and your current level of progress determine the number of sets and reps.
Possible Goals
Training for strength, power, endurance and hypertrophy all require a different number of sets and reps:
Strength (how much weight your muscle can move) is best developed by lifting as much weight as possible. This is probably best achieved with 5 or less ...
25
So the big hubbub surrounding bodybuilding and one hour is the hormone cortisol. This is going to be a bit long-winded, but bear with me.
What's cortisol and why is it important?
Well, first we need to know a little bit about how muscle tissues work in an anaerobic state. (An anaerobic state is where you're working so hard your body can't supply oxygen ...
23
Peer reviewed literature on testosterone appears to have inconsistent conclusions, however, the well designed studies all agree that abstinence raises T.
Some studies say that masturbation raises T, and some that abstinence does so. But the well-designed studies all conclude that abstinence raises the baseline amount of T in your body. Well designed studies ...
18
While the penis itself isn't a muscle that can be trained, but simply speaking just a sponge for blood, there are three muscles that are responsible for supporting ejaculation and maintaining an erection via compression of blood vessels.
Musculus retractor penis
It doesn't seem like this muscle is important in humans, the english wikipedia article doesn't ...
17
The bizarre thing about delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is that we still don't really know what causes it. Though people like to attribute it to lactic acid buildup, that's probably a misconception. As stated in the article:
Researchers who have examined lactate levels right after exercise found little correlation with the level of muscle soreness ...
16
Not all sugars are the same. Glucose is a monosaccharide, and is easily utilized by nearly all cells of the body for energy. Fructose, also a monosaccharide, is not: it is almost exclusively metabolized by the liver. Excess consumption of fructose causes a variety of problems that would not occur with glucose consumption.
Sucrose ("table sugar" or "cane ...
15
Typical compression clothing, in my experience, won't give you much direct performance benefit (running faster, lifting heavier etc).
The reason I wear compression shirts/shorts are mainly for comfort and temperature control.
If it's really cold out, compression heat clothes can help you stay warm and limber. And if it's really hot, long-sleeve compression ...
15
You're right that a pound of fat and a pound of muscle both weigh a pound, but a pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat. So, if you have the same volume of muscle and fat, the muscle will weigh more. If you're working out a lot, you may be toning up and getting smaller but still gaining weight - this is because you're converting fat to ...
14
"Feeling a burn" during a workout just means that you're working endurance instead of strength or power. From my layman's understanding, which may be wrong, it's because you're no longer producing force anaerobically. Notice that you'll rarely experience that sensation on the first few reps, which is when (if you're using a challenging weight) you're doing ...
14
The problem is, I am not that fat to remove fat from other part of my body
Don't worry about that. Your body knows itself better than you do, and it is very good at what it does. If it needs to burn fat for energy, it won't deprive an area of essential fats when it could go across the street to an area with an abundance of fat. That's probably a bad analogy,...
14
What is minimal? We can minimize equipment, we can minimize time, but to determine the minimal exercises we need to know more about who is asking the question. Someone who is morbidly obese with emphysema would have a minimum workout of "walk to the end of the driveway every day". An Olympic athlete might have ten workouts a week just to keep from regressing....
11
After lifting a bit longer and more recent information I learned while reading Dr. Kilgore and Rippetoe's Practical Programming book, there are a couple potential culprits for stalls. I do recommend getting the book by the way as the first half of it is dedicated to understanding the theory of adaptation, what happens when we exercise, and the type of ...
11
I have to disagree with Christopher Bibbs assertion that you are limited to the same weight by performing bodyweight only exercises. It is not how much weight in total that you have at your disposal but rather how much force you are able exert on particularly groups of muscles that will determine how close to maximal a loading you can apply to them. There ...
11
Don'ts
The biggest mistake people make when learning to flip, is that they try to flip into pools and onto mattresses.
This is a mistake because it doesn't prepare you for the inevitable challenge of having to spot your landing. And it takes away the need to really cushion the landing with your legs. And this needs to be practiced.
Dos
Trampolines is a ...
10
I think that your best bet for this kind of arrangement is going to be a setup similar to many of the "fitness trails" that are available in many public parks.
These are exercise/fitness paths that can be completed at a walking through running pace, with various stations at predetermined intervals to target various muscle groups and agility/power training, ...
10
Divide your dose. Have some before and some after your workout. Unlike fat and carbohydrates your body can't store protein. If it doesn't get absorbed it gets passed through your digestive tract, your liver, your kidneys, etc. This not only wastes protein/ supplements and money it also taxes your machine by forcing it to process something that it can't ...
10
The same principles apply whether you're a 20 year-old, 40 year-old, or a 60 year-old. Exercise is always good. The only difference between the age groups is the amount of intensity you should allow yourself.
In general
I'm 40 now, but ever since 30 I've been concerned about being fit when I get to age 60-80. The thought of shuffling everywhere instead ...
10
First of all, you're not working out the other half of your body...your legs. When you're a natural lifter (no anabolic supplements like 90% of the instagram and gym rat population), the most efficient way to grow is systematically, maybe even the only way. For those not using buckets of steroids, hypertrophy (muscle growth) is not a localized process. For ...
10
If you're goal is strength than in between sets you should rest. Catch your breath. Have some water. Nibble on some sort of calories. Load more weight on the bar. Then go again. Not sure why you're waiting 3 to 5 minutes between sets as a beginner unless its training with partner / partners that are going in that time. In which case help them load their ...
9
Carbs post workout are a good thing. If you've exerted yourself you have depleted all your quick reserves and you need to replenish them. However simple carbs (like a candy bar, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, etc) are never a good idea unless you are dangerously hypoglycemic--a condition that diabetics have to deal with occasionally. The processed carbs ...
9
Sorry to disappoint you, but having lots of time is not necessary at all for getting your body in top shape, and it won't contribute to your gains. For better or worse, the program I recommend (based on current scientific research) simply doesn't take very long:
Strength training with standard compound exercises, which are bench press, squat, deadlift and ...
9
No, there is no need to wear it. It doesn't prevent a hernia.
Even one doctor told me once not to wear it, because the testicles are held too close to the body. It is not good because when our body temperature rises, they need to stay away from body. While doing workout our body temperature rises greatly so it's bad to wear it during workout.
9
First, this is not immediate cause for alarm.
It is rather common as far as post-workout complications go, and is not, to my knowledge, an indicator of more serious problems.
Second, the reason for this.
Your skeletal muscles are controlled by motor nerves. Each motor nerve controls a large group of muscle cells. Of importance is that these groups overlap,...
9
While there is no specific exercise that will do this general good aerobic conditioning will help. So, keep going to the gym and stay healthy and you should have long, happy sex for years to come.
From WebMD:
The study showed that men over age 50 who kept physically active had a 30% lower risk of impotence than men who were inactive. As men age, the ...
9
Having a protein before your workout will allow you to have more energy, resulting in your workouts feeling stronger, but you will not burn as much fat when you workout.
After your workouts, it is commonly accepted that your body acts like a sponge for about an hour while your muscles attempt to collect nutrients to repair what was torn down during the ...
9
The body uses two different energy systems to fuel the body’s activity or exercise.
Anaerobic - First the body uses the anaerobic system which has energy ready to go as soon as you start to use your muscles. Anaerobic means without oxygen.
Aerobic - The second energy system, the aerobic system, kicks in when your short term, initial energy from the ...
9
Each 5x5 (or 3x5) program has its own protocol for when you start stalling like you are doing. One of the more common ones, StrongLifts 5x5, suggests the following protocol for when you stall:
Attempt the same weight up to 3 times
After the 3rd time, take 10% off the bar and work back up
If you hit the wall 3x like this, switch to 3x5 and work your way up
...
8
Spot reduction (i.e., fat loss targeted to a particular of the body) is a myth. The areas from which fat is removed through metabolism are almost exclusively a function of genetics and hormones, and the particular exercise regimen that you employ cannot significantly alter your body's distribution of adipose tissue. Just continue to exercise and maintain a ...
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