Athlete off-season Strength Training Workout

The athlete strength training workout includes exercises for each muscle group, with a particular emphasis on compound exercises, to cause maximum muscle stimulation in athlete. There is equal emphasis on lower and upper-body exercises to build balanced muscle development. Moderate to heavy weights should be used and the prescribed sets and reps are designed to develop muscle strength and hypertrophy (muscle size).

You may change the exercises according to your particular athletic event. This program is more suitable for sprinting events but the amount of upper-body work should be increased and lower-body work reduced for events such as javelin or discus. Longer distance running events require more muscular endurance and less muscle mass, so the reps should be increased and the weights reduced.

Frequency: 3/week on non-consecutive days, alternating workout(lower body) a workout 2 (upper body).

Workout Time: Apr. 45 min (excluding warm-up and stretching). Click for doing warm up and it's exercises.

Rest: 60-90 s between sets and 1-2 min between exercises.

Training Tempo: 2 counts for the concentric (lifting) action; 3 counts for the eccentric (lowering) action.

Warm Up

The exercises which we do to warm up our bodies are called warm-ups. Before starting any exercise doing warm-up is very necessary, this gives flexibility to our body and the exercises which we will do further will performed more strongly and perfectly. To warm up our body it is not necessary to use an equipment.

The different warm up exercises are:

Body Twisting

First stand firmly on the ground with open legs. Now keep both of your hands on your waist. Now twist your body 20 times left and 20 times right. Depending on the strength of your body the number of reps and be reduced or increased.

Body Up-Down

Stand firmly on the ground with open legs. Keep your right hand near your chest. Now bending your left hand towards the left side, try to touch the ground. Now do the same for the right. Do this exercise 12-15 times.

Cycling

Lie on the ground straight facing upwards. Now lift your legs one by one and then move them like a bicycle. Do this exercise 15-20 times and then do some rest and then do it again.

Sit-Ups

Sit-Ups have a great importance in warm-up. With it legs aswell as the whole body gets effected. To do this stand straight. Now keep your both hands on your waist. Now lift your toes and take your body down and then come up. I the beginning do this exercise 15-20 times and then increase the number according to your body strength.

Make your back strong

Lie down on the ground facing upwards. Now keep both of your hands on your thighs. Now without removing your hands from your thighs, move your legs ,head and chest upwards to the maximum. Do this exercise 8-10 times. You can increase or decrease the number of reps according to your body strength.

Exercise of Breath

Stand with your heals joint and toes spread. Now take a lot of air inside and keep the air in your mouth for as much time as you can and then release it slowly slowly. Now raise your hands high above a do the same exercise. Now start running standing at one place. The pace of running in the beginning should be slow and then increase the pace of running. This whole exercise should be done atleast 15-20 minutes. This exercise gives the best results in the morning in the fresh air.

Chinning the bar

Hang daily on a bar of atleast 2 feet height more than you. This will increase your height also. In health clubs or gyms height of these bars can be adjusted according to your height. Now while hanging, with your hands strength lift your body upwards and then come down slowly slowly. This exercise is also called pull-ups. Repeat this exercise 4-6 times and then gradually increase the number of reps.

Chest Development

Spread your hands equal to the width of your chest and then place your palm on a wall or some other solid thing. Now move your chest towards the wall and then stop there and stop your breath inside and then release it slowly slowly and then come backwards. Do this exercise 15-20 times and then gradually increase the number of reps according to your strength.

Male Bodybuilding

Body building has been the sports for both males and females since quite long and has gained immense popularity all over the world today. Body building could be defined as the sport that entails both mind and body for attaining the desired goals by the intending body builders of any gender. Building that huge yet perfectly balanced stature is indeed a great sprint by all means. When any male sets the goal of building the carved stature and monitor the progress of the subsequent months, it is obvious an ecstasy.

Male body builders have the discrete benefit as compared to their female corresponding persons merely due to the simple or not so simple hormone known as testosterone. The hormone testosterone motivates muscle amplification, growth of bones and even enhances the levels of red blood cells in the man's blood stream. In short, the testosterone hormone helps males in working out more passionately and hence builds the muscle rather easily.

The males should be well aware that most of the foods that they ingest nowadays are estrogenic. Such foods could drastically affect the male ability to build muscles. The males are usually required to plan their workouts for exercising various muscle groups on different days. Planning the ample rest is also equally important factor anyway. They should opt for the recommended sets of work outs on every alternate days of the week.

Also it is necessary to ensure that the muscle groups to be exercised should be different everyday. Such practice permits for the effective workout for the typical muscle group and ample rest for permitting the required time for the body to repair muscle and ultimately make the muscles larger. The workouts itself are the all about the concentration and repetition. Each of the workouts must take repletion to the extent of common center of lift or pull muscle collapse. When you exercise during the next session on that very muscle group, the weights or replications are required to be increased. Hence better maintain proper records of each and every workout that you exercise. Thus the male body building procedure is very simple yet highly effectual.

The male body building exercise is the rather improved type of weightlifting since it considers the inspiration of the artistic body shape, abs, tone and mass of the total body. Some of the males consider the body building as the sport. There are just four significant features worth taking care of in the male body building exercise and that are: Nutrition, Convalescence, supplementation and Exercise.

The person must acclimatize with the best training procedure for attaining the optimal results in male body building, abs and body full workout. The zenith clandestine to the successful male body building is of course the ideal nutrition and appropriate supplementation. However, almost every male body builder believes that if they are not growing, then they are not eating sufficient quantum of the right kind of the foods.

The male body building also emphasizes not only on nutrition and exercise but also equally on convalescence as it is significant factor needed to keep in proper shape. Often people miss this out and ultimately lose muscle even after so much of hard work.

Misconceptions on Bodybuilding

Body building exercises include strength training or power training as well as some aerobics. Body building is basically done for improving the body muscle mass. Numerous hypes and advertisements suggest statements to swindle making us doubt whether we are using proper training techniques and diets. They are nothing but just body building myths that are mostly misleading or vague and lead people induced to buy hopeless products and ultimately train less effectively and thereby producing poor results. Given below are some of the most commonly used misconceptions regarding body building.

Lifting weights never work the heart
This is of course wrong information as by lifting weights with moderately brief resting periods of 1 to 2 minutes would indeed raise the heart beats pretty over the hundred counts each minute. For instance, performing the thorough leg workout with the brief interval between the sets will positively make the heart rates working profoundly. The heart will contract faster and the total cardiovascular system would rise providing you the ultimate body workout. Any rigorous weightlifting session that lasts 20 minutes or more than that with brief stop over of 1 to 2 minutes is the ideal workout with the sound weightlifting session.

The muscles would turn to fat when the training is abandoned
This is the also the total misunderstanding as in fact, when the person gives up training, the muscles usually contract and ultimately soften up, but if the calorie intake is reduced by keeping the diet lean, the person would hardly gain even a pound excess. Ensure to diminish the calories consumption while maintaining the lean diet in case if you are not really doing any physical activities. All the surplus nutrients that have been ingested are stored as fats and are difficult to shred out. Actually mere 5 gm of excess fat daily stored in the system over 365 days would end up extremely odd by the year end. Hence regular physical activities are recommended to be done with maintained diet plans.

Getting big by slicing all at a time
In rare cases the persons with great genetics grow big while remaining comparatively sliced. But the general people have to gain optimal muscle mass to the best possible by consequently slicing down the body fat amount for attaining the desired shape.

Body building may stop the child's growth
This is partially wrong thinking as of course is the child of 12 year is lifting the excessively heavy weights on routine basis; there are chances that his growth spurt is affected. But if the child lifts light to moderate weights under strict supervision in proper form, it would help him strengthening the bones besides improving his cardiovascular abilities.

Weight lifting makes big faster
Lifting weights only cannot make anyone grow his muscle big enough. The perfect combination of three main elements can only help getting the muscles bigger and harder. For this, plenty of proteins and complex carbohydrates are required to be ingested accompanied by proper rest periods allowed to the muscles for restoring and grow thoroughly.

Steroids and supplements help getting big
This is totally wrong conception as anyone is not recommended taking steroids or supplements without researching its pros and cons. Further, taking any such elements without good workout routine is of no use, anyway.

Bodybuilding Clothing

Workout and exercise is very important for maintaining the overall health and fitness. Similarly choosing the appropriate body building clothes for workout is also equally important. Properly designed and comfortable set of body building clothes provide ease and comforts during the workouts and exercises. Actually, the clothes that the body builder wears for the workouts could have the impact on the efficacy of his exercise program. Anyway, there are people who just do not realize the importance of body building clothing and simply put on any common trousers and t-shirt that are readily available. Even while selecting your clothing for exercising and building muscles, certain considerations are worth taking care of.

The most vital feature while choosing or finding the best clothing is comfort levels. For any effective work out it is required to be able to have free body movements without any obstructions or discomfort. Hence selecting the clothing that permits you restraint free performances are considered to be the most ideal body building clothing. There is hardly any difference between the selections that males, females or teenagers should make. Eventually the best choice has to be the universally accepted and recognized body building clothing is shorts and simple tank top anyway. Such clothes easily permit the body move freely in any directions or angles and also allow the body muscles function without any obstacle that are usually experienced from the tighter fitting clothing.

Sweating is one more significant feature worth considering while selecting the body building clothing, so the fabric of such clothing should be such that help you absorb the sweat away from the body permitting your muscles to burn extra fats easily. The more the body sweats, the more the fat is lost or burnt. Spandex is the recommended fabric as that is believed to be effective enough keeping the sweat in as it can easily hold the body heat. The exerciser should wear the Spandex made sweat pants, but in case if the person sweats more than average then Reebok would be the ideal choice for body building clothes as such clothing gives off peppermint scent when the body sweats. There would be hardly any body builder who would anyway compromise with his clothing at least for the competition he intends to participate in.

Simultaneously it is also equally important for the body builders who are likely to participate in any competitions, exhibiting their body parts and muscles the maximum possible, of course within the legitimate manners anyway. Hence it is rather essential choosing a sort of swim suits in some gracious color that helps the body builders exhibit their sculpted body to the best possible extent. Eventually, if you have not made ideal choice of the body building clothing then it could greatly affect your workout and reduction of the excess body fat as well. Hence, so far the selection of your clothing is concerned; it should be given prime importance. Comfort level has great importance in the life for any activities. Thus choosing the appropriate body building clothing could well be stated as one of the vital component of body building workout.

Diet and Nutrition

Diet and Nutrition are one of, if not, the most important part of getting the body you want. You have to eat good to look good. But if you go that extra mile and eat great... you guessed it, you can look great! No matter what your goals are, 1 thing is the same. You need protein, and you don't need fat. Thats the most important rule here. Stay away from fatty foods. Cookies, chips, candy, chocolate, cake, fast food, fried food etc. Not all fat is bad for you though. There is a healthy fat. This fat can be found in fish, nuts and some oils such as flax seed oil.
Eating to lose weight

The first nutritional demand of your body is energy. Without adequate energy, your body will convert muscle protein into energy to feed your brain, nervous system and red blood cells. These particular tissues do not possess the metabolic machinery to burn fat. They only burn carbohydrate. When your intake of carbohydrate falls below these tissues demand, the body begins to convert tissue protein into carbohydrate to meet their need. The net result is a loss of muscle tissue. Yes, the scale may say you have lost "weight", but you have lost the very tissue that burns fat. Muscle tissue burns 70% of the fat in your body; so losing muscle sacrifices your ability to burn body fat. In fact, the "weight" you lose on a diet can represent up to 10 to 20% of those pounds in muscle loss.

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Eating to build muscle

First of all try to Include as much variety in your bodybuilding diet as you possibly can. It's recommended you consume five to six medium size meals during the day rather than two or three big ones. Try to Include a large amount of high quality protein in your bodybuilding diet and cut out as much animal fat as possible. Also, the lighter you cook your foods, the more nutrients will be retained. It's also key to consume lots of natural carbs found in grains, breads, fruits and veggies. Multivitamin-multimineral supplements are also very important as they contain digestive enzymes (this will aid in protein synthesis). Avoid junk food and empty calories (sugar). Try to stay away from soda and beer as they are packed with empty calories. Whatever you do don't miss meals! Missing meals puts your body in a fat-storing mode.

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Muscle Building Nutriton

Strength training and good nutrition go hand in hand. There is little point sweating it out, giving it your all in the gym, unless you support your training programme with sufficient fuel and nutrients. Strength training simply provides the stimulus for muscle growth - your diet provides the raw materials for new muscle.

This topic explains what you should eat to maximise muscle and minimise fat. It covers seven key topics - carbohydrate, protein, fat, fluid, vitamins and minerals, antioxidants and supplements - each of which addresses the issues most relevant to strength trainers to give you the straight facts about eating before, during and after training, what and how much you should drink, and which supplements are most helpful for reaching your goals.

Nutritional tip # 3 - Eat 5-6 small meals a day.

Unlike most people's string of painfully low-calorie days, which puts the body in a fat-storing mode since it has no idea when it will be fed next, eating a small meal every three hours keeps our muscles in a fat-burning mode since they're receiving a steady but not excessive supply of nutrients. This practice also helps increase our energy levels and fight the hungry feeling that often leads to cheating with fat-building, between-meal snacks. Eating only 2-3 large meals a day like most people, however, can overwhelm our bodies. Since they can only use a certain amount of food at a time, the remainder will usually be stored as fat.
Here's an example schedule.
Breakfast: eggs, whole-wheat toast, fruit etc.
Mid-morning: protein shake such as Myoplex (I eat this meal in my P.E. class)
Lunch: sandwich (meat, veggies, and whole-wheat bread) fruit or veggies etc.
Mid-afternoon: anything that's good and healthy (I eat this one after school)
Post workout: something with lots of protein- i.e. protein shake, protein bar etc.
Supper: a good meal with protein and some whole grains and veggies.
Nutritional tip # 4 - Consume lots of carbohydrates.

Consume at least 3 to 4 grams of carbohydrates per pound of bodyweight each day. Make sure that most of these carbohydrates come from comples sources such as pasta, rice, oatmeal, potatoes and yams and fibrous veggies such as broccoli and asparagus. The only time you should be feeding your body fast acting carbs is immediately after your workouts.
Nutritional tip # 5 - Keep good fats in your meal plan.

While TV tells us that eating fat makes you fat, the reality of the situation is that since the "fat-free" craze began, studies are showing that Americans continue to get fatter and fatter. While limiting fat intake is a good idea, totally eliminating it is not. Besides being necessary for healthy skin and hair, fat is involved in the production of many hormones, including testosterone. That's why it's almost impossible to build muscle mass when on an extremely low fat diet. Fat also lowers the glycemic index of many high carb foods, so we don't get that huge fat-producing insulin surge commonly associated with eating fat-free goodies by themselves. More importantly, we need a certain amount of fat to process body fat metabolism. In other words, eating too little fat makes it harder for us to burn unwanted fat.
Nutritional tip # 6 - Don't starve yourself.

Simply put, fat gains and losses are mathematical events. You're not going to look like a sleek, defined racehorse if you eat like a pig. It's important to eat enough good foods to maintain lean muscle mass, but not overindulging to the point of increasing fat storage. Since this line is an easy one to cross, I recommend writing down in a small notebook the calorie content and macronutrient breakdown (grams of protein, carbohydrates, and fat) of what you eat. This technique also helps keep me more focused on my goal.
Nutritional tip # 7 - Diet ratio.

Your diet ratio should be 50 to 55% carbohydrates, 25 to 30% protein and 15 to 20% fat.
Nutritional tip # 8 - Drink lot of water.

Drink water...lots of it! I try to drink at least 2 gallons a day during and in between my meals. Muscle is composed of 70 percent water. A high protein diet and intense exercise require more water since these are dehydrating activities. Water is needed to transport vitamins, minerals, and supplements and even foods throughout our bodies. if our water intake is too low, muscle fullness decreases and a toxic buildup of ammonia, urea, and other waste products can result. Contrary to popular belief, restricting water intake can actually lead to more water retention than providing the body with a steady supply.
Nutritional tip # 9 - Consume more calories.

When boosting your caloric intake, gradually increase the amount of calories over a period of 7 to 10 days. This way, you are using the extra calories as fuel as opposed to storing it as fat. If you find yourself stuck, gradually increase the amount of calories per day.
Nutritional tip # 10 - Eat whole grains.

No more white bread and flower. Eat whole-wheat bread and cook with whole-wheat flower. You will get more nutrients from them and they take longer to digest, so they stick with you longer.
Nutritional tip # 11 - No meals within two hours of bedtime.

To prevent unwanted fat storage, I eat my biggest meals early in the day when I'm most active. I particularly limit my carbohydrate foods in later meals. I've found eating too close to bedtime is a good way to lose definition since my body doesn't burn the same level of calories during the sleeping maintenance mode as it does during the waking hours.

Use these 11 nutritional tips to increase your size and strength.

Calisthenics - Calisthenics Workouts and Exercise Program for a complete fitness workout routine

Calisthenics exercise are also known as body strengthening exercises. Calisthenics is a type of exercise consisting of a variety of simple movements usually performed without weights or some other equipment that are used to increase body strength, endurance and flexibility using the weight of one's own body for resistance. Calisthenics has been originally oriented from gymnastics. Organized systems of calisthenics in America took a back seat to competitive sports after the Battle of the Systems during which states mandated physical education systems.

Calisthenics workout help to raise your fitness levels by strengthening a variety of muscle throughout your body, including both the cardiac and skeletal muscles. By raising heart-beat rate, they contribute to improved heart health and lower risk of cardiovascular disease.

Calisthenics is performed on stage therefore requiring detailed choreography and often under limited space conditions. In addition to the team events there is also a solo activity known as the Graceful Calisthenic Competitor or Graceful girl. "Graceful girl" is designed to enhance the dancers grace and poise, flexibility, appearance, ability to interpret music into dance and dance ability.

Calisthenics Exercise

Calisthenics exercise concentrate on specific areas of the body. For example, situps target the abdominal muscles, while push-ups concentrate mostly on the pectoral muscles. Other examples, include jumping jacks, any floor exercises or gymnastics and leg lifts.

Calisthenics exercise is evaluated, each with specific time parameters and specific exercise form mechanics. Everyone must exercise till any of the following things occur - either muscle failure or time completion - whichever occurs first. The goal of all the persons here is to do as many "good form" repetitions as possible in the time allotted or when muscle failure is reached.

NOTE FOR PERFORMING CALISTHENICS WORKOUT MORE EFFICIENTLY

While performing calisthenics a proper routine must be followed, otherwise the person will lead to injury. Exercise routine is strictly enforced during the calisthenics training. You must take atleast a 3 minute break between each calisthenics workout.

How can I reduce my excess of weight by doing Calisthenics?

In order to reduce your weight fast by calisthenics, it is very important to follow a strict calorie-controlled diet plan, containing an adequate supply of essential nutrients like carbs and protein, as well as a full range of vitamins, minerals and herbs. And if you combine that strict calorie controlled plan with calisthenics workout and your weight reduction would beverly fast. Remember, a well-nourished body loses weight faster. In addition to this, for more better results if you write your weight loss stats for every week then when you will see your weight loss stats afterwards (that you had lost so much ponds of weight), it would be a great source for increasing your motivation towards workout.

Some of the Calisthenics Workouts that you can perform:

Dumbbell Calf Raises

SETUP: Hold a dumbbell in your left hand and stand on top of a box, heels hanging off the edge. Maintain you balance by grasping a sturdy object or wall, and lift your right foot so that you are standing only on your left foot.

MOVEMENT: Flex your calf to raise your body, then lower to the start. And repeat this four times.

Shoulder Press

Sit on adjustable bench after setting the back to an 85-degree angle. Grasp a dumbbell in one hand and position the weight beside your shoulder, with your palm facing forward. Place your fee hand or your waist and spread your feet comfortably to maintain balance. Press the weight upward to full around extension, pause briefly and then lower the dumbbell back down to the starting position; repeat complete 8-12 repetitions and then switch arms for the same amount. Perform 2-4 sites per arm.

Push-ups

Push ups exercise is mainly performed for building chest, shoulders and triceps. Lie face down on the floor hands about shoulder width apart keep your palms turned inward slightly, push-up until your arms are straight, lower and repeat for reps.

To make it more difficult elevate your feet. Also, try different hand placements (closer together or farther apart). They can also be done between chairs, this was the favorite exercise of Charles Atlas. Another variation is Dips between parallel bars.

Shrugs

Stand upright, holding a dumbbell beside your thigh in one hand with your palm facing in. Place your free hand on your hip and spread your legs to hip width to maintain your balance.

Keeping your torso erect, lift your shoulder upward in a shrugging motion. Pause briefly at the highest comfortable point and then lower the shoulder back down to the stretched starting position and then repeat the whole procedure. Remember to keep your arm straight at all times. Complete 10-12 repetitions and then switch arms for the same amount. Perform 2-4 set per arm.

Hyper-Extensions

Use hyper extensions for your calisthenics workouts. Hyper Extension bench should be used for this purpose. If your gym doesn't have one, lie force down, crosswise, on a high bench so your torso is over the edge of the bench. Have your partner hold, sit, or in some way place resistance on your legs to counter balance the weight of your torso.

Place a light weight behind your neck and bend over at the waist. Slowly, raise your torso using your erector spine muscles untill your have come as high as possible. That should activate the greatest percentage of momentarily available muscle fibres, but to ensure that they were responsible for raising your torso, hold the fully contracted position for a distinct pause before lowering yourself slowly, in 4 seconds, back to the starting position. Repeat for your ISR, and then decrease the resistance and perform four more.

Grip Exercise

To build forearms and hand strength. Use a pocket hand gripper (which will get easily from any store which keeps sports and bodybuilding related things), or a hard rubber ball that fits in your hand, squeeze as hard as you can, relax and repeat for many reps.