Tag Archives: Muscle Building

Jason Ferruggia build bigger traps

When you ask the question of how to build big traps, the discussion usually starts and finishes with dead lifts. This is the number 1 mass builder, and it will pack huge slabs of beef on your traps faster than any other exercise there is. Take a look at power lifters, and you will see that you cannot avoid building huge traps when you do a lot of dead lifts.

While the dead lift is definitely the king of all trap building exercises, an argument could also be made that Olympic lifts are equally as effective. I would tend to agree with this, if it were not for the fact that Olympic lifts are much harder to teach and learn than dead lifts are, which moves them down to second place on the list. Just about everyone can do at least a partial range dead-lift properly. Not everyone is able to clean or snatch properly.

Finally, you have shrugs. While it’s supposed to be a very simple and straight forward movement there is actually a great deal of confusion over how to build big traps with shrugs. Can you believe that few people seem to be able to agree on how they should be done. On the one hand you have the camp that says you need to go as heavy as possible, and do partial reps, just by heaving the weight up. Of course there’s the camp that says you need to go light, by getting a full range of motion, try to get your shoulders as close to touching your ears as possible, and hold it for at least a second.

So who is right and who is wrong? – they both are!.

To try and understand where the answer lies lets take a look at the athletes with the biggest traps: power lifters and Olympic lifters

Power lifters have huge traps because of all the dead-lifts they do. Dead-lifts are heavy duty. There is no shrugging movement at all. Olympic lifters usually lift relatively lighter weights explosively, and with a range of motion that does indeed have them bringing their traps to their ears.

Looking at these two groups, what does this tell us about shrugs and the proper way to do them?

What it tells us is, the best way to get huge traps is to dead lift and also Olympic lift.

BUT… what if you can not do either of those exercises due to back or shoulder problems, or you just want more to have more variety in your trap training routine? Then you have little or no choice but to shrug. Traps are the most important, the most intimidating, and the impressive body part there is and you can’t walk around with none.

So then, exactly how do you do shrugs and which camp is right? To a certain extent they both are. Occasionally you should try going heavy for low reps, cheat the weight up. Then on another day of the week go lighter for higher reps with a complete range of motion and exaggerated contraction and hold at the top.

I suppose another option is to do both variations in one workout. You could always start with a lighter weight, doing about 10-12 reps, bringing your shoulders as high as they can comfortably go. With each set add extra weight, and work your way down to the point where you can only get five partial reps, with a little cheat at the end. You could start with the heavier sets first, and lighten them as you go.

Dead lifts and Olympic lifts should always be your first answer to the question of how to build big traps. But sometimes shrugs can be very effective as well. Be sure to go straight up and down, and don’t roll your shoulders back and forth. That’s for idiots who don’t have a full understanding of how gravity works.

Jason Ferruggia is a world famous fitness expert who is world renowned for his ability to help people build muscle as fast as possible. He is the head training adviser for Men’s Fitness Magazine where he has his own monthly column dedicated to muscle building. For much more info on How to Build Muscle Fast, check out muscle gaining secrets.

Muscle on a low protein vegetarian diet

There are many reasons why you should all consider becoming a vegetarian and they are:

  •  The negative effects on the environment and the contribution to global warming i.e methane from cattle.
  •  The contribution to world hunger.
  •  Forest clearance for cattle ranching.
  •  The cruelty to animals issue.
  •  The thought of eating dead animal carcasses make them feel ill.
  •  Health reasons.

The question that plagues so many of us, is, “how do you build muscle on a vegetarian diet?” People often wonder if it can be done and I am here to tell you that it can.

First of all, humans were probably intended to be herbivores and not carnivores. Physiologically speaking, we have all the characteristics of a herbivore and none of the characteristics of a carnivore. We have the teeth, jaws, digestive enzymes, low stomach acidity, and the small intestine length of a herbivore. Probably the most disturbing and revolting of those is the small intestine length to body length ratio. Carnivores have a small intestine that is 3-6 times body length. This is because meat goes rotten quite quickly, and needs to pass through the body quickly. Unfortunately, humans have a small intestine length of 10-11 times body length. What this means is that long after the meat has gone off, it’s still in your body rotting away and contributing to untold number of diseases.

When you add in all the chemicals and other unhealthy substances that our meat contains these days (just think of the antibiotics and vaccines that the animal receives), oh and how about growth hormones, pain killers etc. You can see that eating meat might not be in the best interest of those interested in remaining healthy long into the future.

With that out of the way let’s move on to the question of how to build muscle on a vegetarian diet. As I have mentioned plenty of times in the past, and I will say it again that high protein diets are a scam. You really don’t need that much protein to build muscle. Although many people thought he was off his head. Mike Mentzer first told us that, back in the mid 90’s. I once asked him his thoughts on protein intake, his reply was “That’s the biggest scam under the sun! Nobody needs that much protein. Muscles are 70% water. The only reason you read about the benefits of high protein area because that’s what everybody sells! Well It’s all a big lie!”

Say what you will about Mike, but I think he was ahead of his time and you have to respect him for that.

In all fairness, having  a vegetarian lifestyle should not affect your strength gains at all. In reality it shouldn’t really affect your size gains much either. As you know, you need a caloric surplus to build muscle. To do this as a vegetarian, you need to focus on good fats like nuts, oils and avocados, starchy carbs like oatmeal, sweet potatoes, pasta and brown rice and for protein sources you will be limited to dairy and fish (if you eat them) or if you are a true vegan- beans, legumes, quinoa, soya, hemp protein, nuts, etc. Even though your protein will be lower than that of most meat eaters you can still build plenty of muscle.

Look at guys in jail. Walk into any prison and take a look at the weight pit. You will see some of the biggest, most jacked guys you will ever see. Ask yourself how many grams of quality protein do you think they eating per day? Very little, I can assure you that. Someone I know, used to be a prison guard, and he told me of how big and strong the guys were. “How can they get so big with no protein” I asked.

He told me that he had no idea because all they had to eat was grits, fake potatoes, rice and a small serving or two a day of very low quality beef, offal or a meat substitute. So maybe they were getting 90 grams of protein per day. Yet they were huge.

You do not need high protein diets to build muscle.

When it comes to adding muscle while maintaining body fat, this is the only area of your regime where you may have difficulty. Because it will be impossible to get all the calories you need from veggies and fruits. You are going to need to pile down the starchy carbohydrates like rice and bread. If you are lean, this shouldn’t be a problem. Because your insulin sensitivity is lower when you are fatter, you may have trouble staying lean by eating all those starchy carbohydrates. This may slow down your size gains because you may end up with a buddha belly in no time.

To combat this problem, I would recommend carbohydrate cycling the way a normal meat eater would do it. Have super high carbs on training days and limit your starchy carbs on non training days. Maybe one day per week, only have vegetables as your carbs and eat nuts, and beans and fish and eggs that day.

Building a great physique on a vegetarian diet is really possible. Clarence Bass and Bill Pearl were vegetarians and a couple other legendary bodybuilders were as well. Robert Dos Remedios, is vegetarian and is a lean 240 pounds and in incredible shape. Jon Hinds is a committed vegan, in his mid 40’s, and is jacked and strong as could be. Georges Laraque – NHL, The greatest tight end in NFL history, Tony Gonzalez is also a vegetarian, it hasn’t done him any harm in the least.

For lots more information and ideas, on how to build muscle especially meat free ideas. Visit Jason Ferruggia’s web site.

Post workout nutrition for a better body.

Post workout nutrition ideas for healthy shakes, to help build muscle and enhance fat loss.

I was wondering about what is best to consume after a workout, to get nutrients back into my tired muscles. So I emailed Mike Geary who sent me a reply which I based this article on.

Your probably sick of hearing it. But your post-workout meal may very well be your most important meal of the day.

The reason is that when you have finished with an intense workout. You’re about to enter a catabolic state where your muscle’s glycogen is depleted. At this point increased cortisol levels, are beginning to excessively break down muscle tissue. This situation is not good, and the only way to reverse this catabolic state (and promote an anabolic state). Is to consume a quickly digestible post workout meal (can be a shake or smoothie) as soon as you can after training.

The goal is to choose a meal with easily digestible quick carbs to replenish muscle glycogen as well as quickly digestible protein to provide the amino acids needed to jump start muscular repair. The surge into the bloodstream of carbohydrates, and amino acids from this quickly digested meal promotes an insulin spike from the pancreas, which carries nutrients into the muscle cells.

Good post workout nutrition should mean that each meal contains between 300-500 calories to get the best response. A good example would be, a 120-lb female may only need a 300-calorie meal, when a 200-lb male may need a 500-calorie post-workout meal. Your post-workout meal should also contain anywhere from a 2:1 to a 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein. While the majority of your other daily meals should contain a source of healthy fats. Keep the fat content of your post-workout meal to a bare minimum. Since fat slows the absorption of the meal, which is the exact opposite of what you want after a workout.

When deciding what you want to make for your post workout meal. The first thing to realize is that you don’t need any of these expensive post workout supplement formulations, that all those fancy ads will tell you, that you absolutely need. I prefer to make my own post-workout shakes from natural ingredients instead of using a commercial mixture, since many of them are low quality with hidden ingredients.

For the shakes, here are some things to keep in mind if you try it…

A good source of quickly digestible natural carbohydrates such as frozen bananas, pineapples, honey, or organic maple syrup are perfect to promote an insulin response that will promote muscle glycogen replenishment, and a general anabolic (muscle building) effect. The more you can do to assist the muscle repair process. The more you will increase your metabolic rate and that can help you to lose fat as well.

The best source of quickly digestible protein is a quality non-denatured whey protein and some fat-free or low-fat yogurt. Here are a couple ideas for delicious post-workout smoothies that will kick start your recovery process:

Chocolate Banana – blend together

  • 1 cup water
  • ½ cup milk (I prefer organic grass-fed milk for max health benefits)
  • one and a half frozen bananas
  • 2 tbsp organic maple syrup
  • 30 grams chocolate whey protein powder – 38 g protein, 72 g carbs, 1.5 g fat, 450 calories.

Pineapple Vanilla – blend together

  • 1 cup water
  • ½ cup vanilla yogurt
  • one cup frozen pineapples
  • 2 tbsp honey (preferably raw)
  • 30 grams vanilla whey protein powder – 35 g protein, 71 g carbs, 1 g fat, 430 calories.

When choosing a good whey protein, you need to realise that the quality vastly differs between brands and types. Most whey proteins are produced under high heat processes that destroy some of the fragile nutritional components of the whey. The best whey I’ve found is this great new grass fed RAW whey protein. As this is from grass-fed cows, it has higher levels of muscle building and fat burning CLA conjugated linoleic acid.

When looking to lose body fat, keep in mind that post-workout meals should have the opposite characteristics of all of your other meals throughout each day. While your post-workout meals should have quick high glycemic index carbohydrates, as well as quickly digested proteins. Your other meals throughout the day should be comprised of low glycemic index, slowly digested carbs and slow release proteins.

These are powerful strategies towards developing a lean muscular body with a low body fat percentage. Post-workout meals are great for satisfying even the worst sweet tooth. Since this is the one time of the day where you can get away with eating extra sugars without adding inches to your gut. Instead, it goes straight to the muscles. But only if your workout was high intensity, and involved resistance training for large portions of the body. However if all you did was low intensity cardio, you don’t need to make this type of post-workout shake.

For a more detailed nutritional analysis, with more of these various powerful post workout nutrition dietary strategies. Can be found in Mike’s best-selling No1 rated fitness ebook in the world, The Truth About Six Pack Abs.

Importance of muscle building nutrition

It’s been said many many times that nutrition is responsible for at least 75% of your muscle building effort. I think that is dramatically overstating the obvious, but nutrition is critically important to your muscle building efforts. Without the proper muscle building nutrition you will never build the physique you desire. Below are listed a few easy to follow muscle building nutrition rules that will help you get bigger and leaner. Follow these rules and you will see results, ignore them and you could be in for years of frustration.

• Eat small meals every 2-3 hours. Eating this way helps keeps your body in an anabolic state, and keeps your metabolism running along at high speeds so that you don’t get fat. If you need 3,000 calories per day to build muscle. Then it is much more effective to have five 600 calorie meals, or six five hundred calorie meals than it is to have three larger 1,000 calorie meals. Doing that will lead to fat accumulation and also has you going too long without eating which only leads to muscle loss.

• Build your meals around lean protein. Proteins (Amino acids) are what builds muscle, so every time you sit down to eat should eat certain types of proteins. This should be the primary goal of every meal. Once you have covered that, then you can add starch, vegetables and healthy fats. As the daily protein needs, you should take one gram per kilogram of body weight per day. The only time you need more than that is when you are dieting and carbohydrates are very low.

• Eat vegetables at every meal except breakfast. There are incredibly healthy because they provide lots of nutrients and fiber, they also slow down the absorption of your meals leading to less body fat accumulation.

• Eat organic foods whenever possible. There is so much artificial junk in the food we eat these days that it is really a very wise decision to eat organic as often as you can. This includes meats, fruits, veggies and grains.

• Avoid sugar, artificial sweeteners and saturated fats as much as possible (with the exception of coconut oil). Consumption of saturated fat and sugar is what leads to a wide range of health problems and diseases. Too much saturated fat and sugar also leads to inflammation in the body and can actually aggravate the nagging injuries and lead to further pain. Many people actually feel a reduction in pain in back when they cut saturated fat and sugar diet.

• Some saturated fat in meat is fine from time to time, but you should really try to cut sugar and artificial sweeteners. Although they do not talk much in this country USA, there is much evidence that artificial sweeteners are not the least bit healthy – quite the opposite!.

• Eat most of your carbs at breakfast and immediately before and after your workout. These are the times when your insulin sensitivity is at it’s highest, and when you will use carbs most efficiently with the least risk for body fat gain. Don’t be scared to eat some carbohydrates at this time because most of them will be used for building muscle and will not usually add to body fat accumulation.

• Drink at least a half gallon of water per day preferably bottled water. Doing this keeps you well hydrated which keeps your performance levels high. Even a slight decrease in hydration will cause a drop in performance. About half a gallon is a good start but anything upto a gallon is usually better, especially in the summer.

• Pay close attention to your sodium intake. When I say that I mean in the opposite direction that most people and doctors will think I mean it. I think you must be sure that your sodium intake is adequate. This is especially true for athletes who play in the summer when it’s hot and you sweat a lot. Without adequate sodium intake, your performance suffers greatly. Sodium levels also help maintain adequate strength levels during a diet.

This article was written by Jason Ferruggia who is a world famous fitness expert, well known and admired for his ability to help people build muscle as fast as possible. He is also the head training adviser for Men’s Fitness Magazine, where he also has his own monthly column dedicated to muscle building. To get more muscle building nutrition tips, and to access his training program, check out. Renegade Diet Program.

Jason Ferruggia's Renegade Diet