A ton of men and women are searching the web hoping to uncover best ab exercises to help them get an awesome six pack. While it’s certainly true that you need to construct abdominal training routines that give you the ability to target the different muscles in your abdominals, everybody hopefully knows by now that the only way to get awesome six pack abs is to burn off waist flab and focus on lowering your body fat levels.

While it would be great to believe all of the infomercials and ads put together to get us to think that there is a quick fix, the truth of the matter is that no ab roller device, fat melting pill or six pack ab exercise will be able to take the place of good old fashioned hard work! So put all of your thoughts about electro-stimulation shock devices and cheesy ab rollers out of your mind.  If you want six pack abs, you’re going to have to get down to work by putting the effective ab work outs listed below to use!

There really are a bunch of good movements that focus on the muscles in your abdominals very effectively, so it’s challenging to cut down the list to only a couple of what I believe to be the most effective abdominal exercises. In order to put this list together, I  selected ab exercises that put an focus on one of the big muscles in your abs, while requiring effort from the other abdominal muscles as well.  That way you’re able to hit all of your abdominal muscles in one easy workout without having to get creative with your ab workout.

The Best Ab Exercises And Pointers

The Best Ab Exercises For The Rectus Abdominous

1.    Hanging Leg Raises
2.    Hanging Knee Raises
3.    Hip Thrusts
4.    Weighted Crunches
5.    Weighted Decline Crunches
6.    Cable Crunches

The Number 1 Abdominal Exercises For The Obliques

1.    Saxon Side Bends
2.    Russian Twists
3.    Exercise Ball Side Crunches

The Best Ab Exercises For Your Transverse Abdominous

1. Stomach Vacuums

If  you understand that you’re going to have to learn how to burn fat right away when you begin your abs workouts, then you’re going to have a better than average chance at getting a six pack.  Just take a some of the best ab exercises listed on this page and slip them into your ab workouts. This will ensure that your ab workouts are effective, complete and target all of the muscles in your mid section at the same time.


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If you’re dying to gain chest muscles and give yourself that fat free athletic body that you’ve always desired?  If so there are a couple of fundamental tips that you should keep in mind in order to increase the muscle building power of your chest weightlifting workouts and start carving out that thick muscular (and most certainly eye catching) chest that you’ve always wanted. Listed below are a few tips that when put to use will allow you to move towards your goal of a bigger more muscular chest.

While most guys won’t just say that they want to tone up their pecs, the the bottom line is that I don’t know of any other body part that attracts  more attention from the ladies than ripped and shredded pecs.  If you’re dying to snag the attention of the ladies, increase your confidence levels and just feel good about the way you look with your shirt off, then you  really need to focus on building up your chest muscles!

Identify The Top Notch Chest Exercises

If you really want to build chest muscles fast, then you need to make sure that your workouts incorporate different pectoral exercises that target your pectoral muscles from a multitude of different angles.  This is really the only way to firm up your pecs and build chest muscles that stand out! This is the first place to start when it comes to increasing the size of your chest muscles. You need to learn how to perform the most effective chest building exercises with decent form.

There no substitute for adequate muscle building stimulation, especially when it comes to forcing your chest muscles grow! Make sure and take the time to learn how to create muscle growth in your chest through decent exercise selection.

Below are a few chest exercises that most guys completely skip over. These chest exercises are also the ones that lead to serious pectoral development if incorporated on a regular basis.

  • Bench Press
  • Dumbbell Bench Press
  • Incline Press
  • Dumbbell Incline Press

The upper body exercises above are the proven “winners” when it comes to making your pecs grow.  My advice is to avoid any pectoral exercise (at least for the time being) that isn’t on the list above, until you build some chest muscle.  After you’ve achieved a bit of success, then you can start to get fancy and experiment with different upper body exercises. However, unless you actually begin seeing some growth in your chest muscles stick with the basic exercises.

Preparing Mentally To Build Chest Muscles

While the basic pressing pectoral exercises like; Bench Press, Incline Press and Decline Press all do a good job of hammering the major muscles in your pecs, the bottom line is that most guys perform these exercises, but see little to no results. Sure it’s still important to design your pec workouts around the pressing movements, you also need to learn how to go into your your chest workouts with the proper amount of focus if you want to see results above and beyond what you’ve already accomplished.

If you really want to build a sexier chest quickly then you need to be ready to get after it in the gym.  Nothing will happen in the way of building muscle mass or losing body fat unless you learn how to work hard at the things that are going to lead to the results that you desire.

Before you go to the gym for your next upper body workout spend some time getting mentally ready.  If you want to build muscles, then you need to be able to train with enough focus to force your body to lay down some new muscle mass.  The only way to force your chest muscles to grow,is to hit them with something that they’ve never felt before with each new workout.

If you just take the time to  pick the best pec exercises a you’ll be able to start working towards your goal of a thicker more muscular chest in no time.   With a little hard work, you’ll be surprised at how quickly you can change your pecs!


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Chest DipsWeighted chest dips are one of the exercises that most people don’t even consider when they sit down to plan out their chest workouts. While dips are traditionally considered a triceps movement, the fact of the matter is that with a few small adjustments to the position of your body during the bottom phase of this exercise, you can isolate you pectoral muscles and seriously target your chest!

I personally think so highly of chest dips that I try to incorporate them into every one of my chest workouts.  It’s a great movement that really doesn’t get the notoriety (as a chest exercise) that it deserves. If you’re serious about packing on some solid mass in your upper body then you need to learn how to perform chest dips with correct form and make it a point to incorporate them into your chest training program.

While chest dips and dips in general have been traditionally thought of as a body weight exercise, you won’t be able to get the biggest muscle building benefit from this movement until you start performing chest dips with some form of weights. However, in order to get the level of strength that you’re going to need in order to perform weighted dips correctly, it’s a good idea to perform at least a couple of workouts of body weight dips in order to learn the proper form and increase your level of muscular strength so that you don’t actually wind up hurting yourself once you increase the training weight.

In order to incorporate weights into this exercise you’re going to need a weight lifting belt that allows you to hang some type of resistance between your legs.  The most common type of equipment that see in the gyms these days is a basic weight lifting belt with two round metal rings in the front that allows you to run a chain through them and, then hang the weight on the chain.  These belts can be purchased ready to go, or you can retro fit one of your own weight belts.

The main benefit of weighted dips lies in the fact that you can really stretch out your chest muscles during the bottom portion of this movement in a very systematic way.  This allows for more blood flow through your pectoral muscles, while increasing your range of motion and improving your pectoral flexibility. But you do have to be careful to not overextend the range of this exercise, as you can hurt your shoulders or tear your pectoral muscles if you don’t use good form.

In order to get the most out of chest dips and and really stimulate some amazing pectoral growth, you’ve absolutely got to learn how to perform weighted dips with decent form. Make sure to practice this exercise a few times before you even try to increase the weight.  You might find that you need to build up a base level of strength before you move on to more intense chest dips.  If that’s the case don’t lose any sleep over it, just focus on performing your dips with proper form and your strength will improve.

Here’s how to complete dips in order to stimulate some serious pectoral development:

1.) Place your hands on the parallel bars spaced out to shoulder width
2.) Straighten your arms in order to lift your feet off of the foot stands
3.) Tilt your body forward while slowly lowering yourself (this is what takes the emphasis off of your triceps and places the bulk of the load on to your pectorals)
4.) Continue lowering your body until the bottom of your chest is even with your hands
5.) Push your body back to the starting position by extending your arms while focusing on tilting forward as much as possible.

If you want to build a bigger chest, then you’ve got to add chest dips to your workouts.  Not only will they help you improve your range of motion in your upper body, but you’ll be able to stimulate your pectoral muscles to strengthen and grow like never before!


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Bicep WorkoutWhile everybody wants to believe that there is some type of most effective bicep workout that’s guaranteed to help them gain muscle mass in their arms, the truth is that the idea of the single best bicep workout for everyone is a myth. Everybody has a body that responds differently and because of this, muscle growth occurs for everybody by different things.  Even though one particular bicep workout may make my arms explode with new muscle mass, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s guaranteed to help you build bigger biceps.  That said, there are a few biceps exercises that you should include in your arm routines if you really want to force your biceps to grow.

A massive pair of biceps is certainly impressive, but forcing your arms to grow can be a lot more complicated than most people realize.  While the common 5 sets of 5 reps of dumbbell curls is fine for beginners and even some intermediate trainers, you’ve got to learn how to take your arm workouts up a notch if you really want to build big arms.

Here are a few bicep training tips that have helped me to pack on over 3 inches to my arms over the years.  Each of these arm workout tips is tried and true in the trenches and I guarantee that they will help you build bigger arms.  Read through each of these tips and start implementing them one by one – before you know it your arm workouts will be forcing your body to build some serious muscle mass and everyone will be keeping their eyes on your arms!

1.) My first tip for an effective bicep workout may seem like it’s completely unrelated to the process of training your biceps, but it’s important to your success.  If you’re serious about forcing your arms to grow, then you need to make sure that you’re performing heavy dead-lifts to failure One time each week. I’m not sure why this works but, I think it has something to do with the amount of testosterone and growth hormone that are released in your body when you perform heavy squats to failure. But rest assured it’s very effective for increasing the size of the muscles in your arms. In the past I’ve experienced an increase in the size of my biceps and triceps by 1.5″ – 2″ inches by really focusing in on my heavy squatting…while not even training by biceps at all!

2.) Also make sure that your bicep workouts are designed around the most effective growth inducing free weights exercises. If you don’t piece together your arm workouts around the right exercises, your arms simply will not grow – basic stuff.  Stick with the bicep exercises that allow you to train “hard and heavy” through a complete range of motion.

The Most Effective Bicep Exercises

  1. Barbell Curl
  2. EZ Bar Curl
  3. Alternating Dumbbell Curl
  4. Hammer Curl
  5. Dumbbell Incline Curl
  6. Cable Curls
  7. Preacher Curl
  8. Dumbbell Preacher Curl

90% of my personal bicep workouts start with either ez bar curls or barbell curls.  These basic bicep exercises allow me to train my arms hard with heavy weights.  If you consistently pound your biceps with heavy weights, they’ll have no choice but to respond by getting bigger and stronger!

3.) Perform each set of your bicep workout in the 6 – 8 repetition range.   6 -8 reps is in the accepted “muscle building” rep range, but closer to the lower side.  Focusing your arm workouts in this repetition range will allow you to stimulate as much muscle growth as possible by pounding your biceps with heavy weights. Whenever I perform bicep workouts built around this rep range, I almost always see dramatic results.

4.) Design your bicep workout so that you perform only 2 – 6 sets of 2 exercises max. This will force you to keep your workout to as reasonable amount of time while making sure that your biceps get the work they need to lay down new muscle mass. Also make sure to rest for 1.5 – 3 minutes between sets so that your muscles are totally recovered for the next set.

5.) Hit the gym to blast through your bicep workout only 1 time each week.  If you insist on training your arms more frequently than this you’re going to have a really hard time packing on any muscle mass in your arms. Sure you can get away with it for awhile, but eventually you’re going to hit a wall and actually start losing strength and size in your arms. Instead of taking the volume approach to your bicep workouts, focus on making each workout as efficient as possible – this is the key to stimulating muscle growth. Get in to the gym, get through your workout then get out of the gym as quickly as possible so that you can focus on feeding your body the nutrients that it needs to pack on muscle mass.

Take these simple bicep workout tips and run with them…Your arms will start to grow quickly. I know that this advice seems too basic to work, but it’s extremely effective for building big biceps quickly.


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Barbell CurlThe straight bar curl is one of the first bodybuilding exercises that a lot of people are introduced to when they first start working out. While there are probably at least 5 muscle building exercises that can allow your arms to grow quicker than  barbell curls alone, a lot of people think that they need to be performing hard core bicep workouts that include 10 – 20 sets of isolation style bicep exercises in order to build bigger arms.

If you need a good solid bicep specific exercise that will literally force you to gain muscle mass and increase the shape of your arms, there is no better movement to stick into your training routine than heavy basic curls.  While I usually like to promote compound exercises for building muscle mass, I don’t consider the straight bar curl to be a compound movement. It is however, as close as you’re going to get to a compound exercise that specifically targets your biceps.

Aside from targeting the muscles in your biceps, the straight bar curl also involves a few other muscles in your shoulders, back and chest, as well as a bunch of stabilizer muscles. While most of these additional muscles have limited involvement in making the weight move through the course of this exercise, simply getting a few of the bigger muscle groups in your upper body working at the same time will produce a more anabolic environment in your biceps and will over time lead to bigger arms.

The big benefit to performing barbell curls is that you can lift very heavy weight, which in turn stimulates new muscle growth with each and every. Even with good form, you will be able to hit your biceps with a much heavier weight than you would with any other bicep exercise. Just in case you haven’t caught on yet, training with heavy weights through a complete range of motion is the best way to stimulate new muscle growth and increase your strength levels – so stick with what works here and focus on hitting your biceps hard and heavy!

I always make it a point to include heavy straight bar curls into each of my bicep workouts so that I can make sure and stimulate new growth each time I blast my biceps.  In order to get the most out of this exercise, create your biceps workout so that you’re performing heavy basic curls before you jump into  any isolation exercises.  This will allow you to make sure that you’re working your arms with heavy enough weight to make them grow before you incorporate any lighter weight isolation exercises. I will typically perform anywhere from 2 – 4 sets of barbell curls followed by  2 – 3 sets of some other isolation style exercise in order to round out my bicep workouts.

How To Perform The Basic Barbell Curl

If you really want to build bigger arms, you need to learn how to perform the straight bar curl with god form.  If you neglect your form you will eventually wind up hurting yourself and you may not be able to lift at all. So make it a point to learn how to train with proper   form.

In order to perform the barbell curl:

1.) Spread your feet out about shoulder width apart
2.) Bend at the knees and grasp the bar with an underhand grip
3.) Stand upright with the barbell hanging in front of you
4.) Hold your back straight with your shoulders back
5.) Curl the barbell up to the top of your shoulders
6.) Pause for a second and then lower the barbell (under control) back down to the starting position

If you really want to build big biceps and you want to do it quickly, then the simple basic curl should be a staple in your everyday bicep workouts.  While there is certainly nothing too exciting about performing barbell curls, over time you will be able to pack on some serious muscle mass on your arms.


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Regardless of whether you simply want to shed the flab, firm up your pecs and get rid of the “man boob” look, or your goal is to pack on a ton of chest muscle, then you absolutely must be focusing on the most effective pectoral exercises on a regular basis.  While running into the gym and jumping from chest exercise to chest exercise without a decent plan can actually help you build your pecs to some degree.  However if you really want to build thick muscular pecs that you can be proud of, then you need to create your chest workouts around most effective pec exercises and ditch the longer list of crappy pectoral exercises.

No matter what body part you want to focus your attention on, I feel that you’re much better off picking with the pec exercises that allow you to train with heavy weights through a complete range of motion that incorporates muscle fibers from many different body parts. When it comes to chest training, I really like to focus on the basic chest presses that involves the muscles of the shoulder and chest at the same time.

I just feel that you get the most out of each workout training this way than you would by trying to singularly isolate each and every muscle group.  If you try to work out for chest growth by focusing on isolation movements that don’t work in your deltoids, you get to a point where you just chant get your pecs to grow because you’re training with very light weights.

Here are my choices for the best all around pectoral exercises.  Learn how to perform each of these chest exercises with correct form and start utilizing them in all of your chest workouts.  Not only will you begin to instantly feel a difference in the size and strength of your pecs, and after a few weeks of determined effort, people will start to notice your bigger, stronger chest muscles.

The Most Effective Pectoral Exercises

1.  Bar Bell Bench Press – This is the universal grandfather of all pec exercises. Stimulating muscles from your chest, delts and triceps this awesome pectoral exercise will help you gain some serious chest muscle quickly!

To perform the barbell bench press – Lie on your back on a flat bench with your butt in contact with the bench and your feet flat on the ground. Grab the bar with an overhand grip spaced just wider than shoulder width. Slowly lower the barbell in a slow and controlled manner until it’s located just below your nipples. Extend you arms upward while pushing the weight until the bar is in the starting position.

2. The Incline Press – The incline press is another timeless (and extremely effective) pec exercise that can help you get your pecs into amazing shape. The barbell incline press places and emphasis on the muscles in your chest and shoulders.

To perform the incline press: Sit on an inclined bench set to between 45 and 60 degrees. I personally like to lower the angle of the bench even lower to somewhere between 35 and 40 degrees because it allows me to train with much heavier weights than I can train with if the angle of the bench is steeper. Just give this pec exercise a try and see what works best for you..

Grab the barbell with an overhand grip that is slightly wider than shoulder width. Lower the bar in a slow and controlled manner to the top of your chest. Make sure that your back and butt are in contact with the bench during the entire movement. Press the weight up until the bar is back in the starting position. Make sure to avoid any aching in your back during this exercise.

3. Weighted Chest Dips – When performed properly weighted dips are one of the most effective chest exercises. Chest dips target your chest muscles while incorporating Your delts at the same time.  One of the really cool things about dips is that when performed properly, they allow you to really stretch out your pecs and deltoids at the bottom of the exercise, which can help to increase the range of motion of your shoulder joints.

To perform chest dips: Hang from the parallel bars with your arms fully extended and you legs curled up behind you. Bend your elbows and lower your body slowly until your chest is level with the parallel bars, then press down and lift your body back up to the starting position. In order to place more of an emphasis on your pectoralis and less on your triceps, lean forward through the complete movement.

If I had to narrow my list down to only 3 pectoral exercises to make up the bulk of my chest workouts, bench press, incline press (as well as the dumbbell equivalents) and chest dips would be the exercises I’d go with.  Not only do these basic chest exercises require little in the way of fancy equipment, but they are the most effective exercises for building a powerful muscular chest.


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