Must Buy Products!

Today I will be going over two products that I 100% think you should buy.  I have talked about Eric Cressey in the past, with his 16 week strength book.  That book was called "Maximum Strength" and it was a 16 week plan to becoming stronger.  That book offered variations in frequency, volume, planning, exercises, reps/sets, and it offered deloads.  Overall, it is an absolute must purchase.  However, if you are looking for an even more advanced/updated version of that book then you should definitely check out   This is an updated version of his 16 week maximum strength book and it could be a great purchase if you see that your results are slowing.  Eric Cressey is a leader in the strength training community and his newest addition, "Show and Go Training" will without a doubt improve your strength beyond any other products you purchase. Click Here! to buy now!


















The next product that I find to have value is a product that will allow you to unlock your hip flexors.  Tight hip flexors can cause a ton of problems, such as back pain, poor mobility, and a loss of strength.  If you are able to improve the flexibility in your hip flexors, you will see your squat numbers fly through the roof, along with your deadlift.   Again, in order to truly improve your strength, you must have the flexibility to go along with it.  If you are to buy both of these products listed above, you will soon have the strength you could only dream of.  Not only that, but you're body will thank you because you will get rid of all of those aches and pains you have. Click Here! to buy now!

Top 3 Supplements For Strength

Supplements

Today I will be going over the top 3 supplements you should be taking if you are interested in becoming stronger.  Note: It is not necessary to take supplements to get stronger.  Every once in a while I will take a few months off of supplements, but I feel like my progress usually isn't as great when I am cycling off of the supplements.  If you want to become stronger in a more efficient manner, these three supplements will do just that for you.  These products can all be bought from GNC.



1. The first supplement that I am going to recommend is protein from Optimum Nutrition.  This protein can be found at a variety of places, but I will usually buy this product at GNC.  If you are a member at GNC, you will even get a discounted price when purchasing.  The reason I chose this protein from GNC as the greatest supplement for strength increases is because protein is what is going to build muscle.  If your protein intake is too low, then you just won't gain as much muscle.  Optimum Nutrition's protein is great because it does not have a ton of filler ingredients like a lot of other suppliers have.  This protein is 100% whey, which means that it contains more BCAA's (branched chain amino acids) than any other form of protein, which will increase muscle protein synthesis.  This protein is going to give you your greatest bang for your buck.














2.  The next supplement that I am going to recommend is a pre-workout.  There are many different types of pre-workouts on the market. I find that pre-workouts can help to create motivation to go to the gym on days that you are feeling lazy.  I have experimented with pre-workouts such as C4, Jack3d, coffee, and Muscle Pharm Assault.  If you are looking for a pre-workout that is going to be the cheapest for you, then a simple cup of coffee before hitting the gym can be a great idea.  The problem that coffee may have though is that it has the tendency to dehydrate you.  If you are able to keep a bottle of water with you at all times during the gym, you should be fine.  If you are looking for something a little stronger than coffee, then I would recommend Muscle Pharm Assault.  This is the healthiest pre-workout of all of the ones I have listed above.  This pre-workout is FDA approved and NCAA approved, making it one of the healthier pre-workouts.  All in all, if you are looking to take your workout to the next level, it would be wise to invest in either some coffee of some Muscle Pharm Assault.  Since I am currently a college student, I don't have too much money.  I will usually make a cup of coffee before going to the gym and I think it works great for me.
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3. The first supplement that I am going to recommend is creatine monohydrate.  There is a lot of conversation that goes along with whether or not to take creatine.  Some say that it has negative effects on your long term health, or that your body will become accustomed to the creatine (your body actually produces creatine naturally) and others will say that creatine is completely safe.  Research has been done and it has been scientifically proven that creatine will make you stronger.  My advice would be to start off taking 5 grams a day and continue this for two months.  Once those two months are over, cycle off of it for another two months, then continue taking it again.  The best brand of creatine monohydrate to get is from GNC, and you can either get the pill form or the flavorless mix.  I will usually buy the flavorless mix and then mix it in with my protein shakes after a workout.

Recommendation Of Liquid Chalk

A Must Use Product


Today I am going to focus on a product that will take your strength through the roof.  I have talked about it on one of my pages, but I can't emphasize it's importance.  The product I am talking about is liquid chalk.  This product comes in a small tube that can easily be carried around in your gym bag.  It also only costs $8.00.  The reason I recommend this product so often is because the thing that holds most people back in the deadlift is their grip.

Most of the times, people will have no problem lifting the weight, but you will notice that peoples grips will fail.  Especially at commercial gyms, the bars will often times be extremely slippery.  The only way to combat this is with chalk.  If your gym allows the use of real chalk, then you should definitely use that.  Since most gyms don't allow the use of real chalk though, liquid chalk is your next best bet.  You can probably imagine that it would be difficult to hold 400 + pounds in your hands, but some people are so strong that they do it for multiple reps.

This is why liquid chalk is so important!  The way to get stronger is with reps.  If your grip is holding you back, you will never get in your rep work.  There is no feeling worse than knowing you can complete all of your reps, but the bar is slipping out of your hands.  I struggled with this for years until I came across liquid chalk.  I couldn't believe how much it helped my grip and because of this my strength increased instantly.

Again, for anyone interested in liquid chalk (I highly recommend it) I will provide the link right here.  You will no longer have to worry about your grip holding back your deadlift.



Now that you have your liquid chalk, you should think about buying one more product.  That product comes from Everyday Fitness and it is a phone case for your new iPhone Plus 6.  Accidents happen while working out.  Your headphones get tangled on your pants while deadlifting, benching, or squatting, and the next thing you know your phone is shattered on the ground.  Get Everyday Fitness' phone case to protect your phone during your toughest sets.  Buy it here

Review Of Gold's Gym Express

A Gym For Those In A Hurry

Today I will be giving a review on Gold's Gym Express located in Normal Illinois.  First thing is first, the location of the gym is great.  It is located on College Avenue and it is by a variety of stores.  It also has a parking lot that is often times empty, which calls for easy parking.  Overall, the location and the ease of getting to and from the gym is a big plus.



Once entering the gym, you will notice a friendly atmosphere and a great staff.  The staff at Gold's Gym are all very nice and they are willing to help you on an array of topics.  The layout of the gym is very practical.  They have an area for cardio, which features a lot of treadmills and some ellipticals, along with rowing machines.

 They also have a free weight section.  This features a wide range of dumbbells, going up to 100 pounds.  Another area features some machines that allow you to add resistance (examples: leg press machine, hamstring curl machine, and pushing and pulling machines).  Another feature they have is a group training area where you can work in a group of people and perform challenges set by a personal trainer.  All in all, the environment is great.  They have tanning beds, personal trainers, TVs, free weights, machines, and cardio machines.

If I could give one recommendation, it would be to add an additional squat rack.  Gold's Gym Express only has one squat rack, which makes it hard to finish work outs in time because you are waiting on the person in front of you.  To balance this negative out, the price of the membership is only $10 a month.
If you are interested, HERE IS THE LINK TO SIGN UP

Why My Fitness Blog Is Great

Why My Blog Is Great

Today I will be talking about my personal fitness blog.  In the past I have done an analysis on other's blogs, but today I will be doing an analysis on my own.  Although I still do not have too many blog posts, I will continue to post new blogs with important information.  

My blog is more suited towards a specific niche market, which is for those whom are looking to become stronger.  In my opinion, everyone can always be stronger.  Not only will it improve the way you look, but it will make everyday life easier, it will improve your mood, and it will make you healthier.  It has also been proven that it will help you as you grow older, strengthening your bones and preventing osteoporosis.  

I love to talk about fitness and I love to help people get stronger.  Fitness is great because it is something that can be easily tracked and your results are based on how hard you work.  If you are going to the gym only a few times a month, you will never see progress.  My blog is here to motivate you to want to go to the gym and it is here to give you information on how to improve your strength gains.

This blog focuses mainly on strength, but at times I will talk about things like diet and ways to become healthier.  I have a big passion for powerlifting and this translates into everything I say in my blog.  There is a clear distinction between bodybuilding and powerlifting.  Bodybuilding is working out in order to look better, while powerlifting is working out in order to become stronger.  My blog is for the sole purpose of getting you stronger.  I provide tips on how to perform certain exercises correctly, how to vary intensity and volume, and I provide information on how to get stronger.  

Bodybuilding.com blog link

Increase Strength As Quickly As Possible

Today I read a blog about how to get stronger in 31 days.  This blog featured 10 areas to increase your strength in a short amount of time.  I will go over these top 10 areas, then I am going to add 3 ways that I think were missed.  To save on time, I will go through and list these and I will also provide a link so you can read in depth how these will help you.  The link is provided here.

1. Use free weights and compound movements
2. Learn perfect technique
3. Use low repetition range
4. Warm up properly
5. Increase your resistance every time you train.
6. Train your weak points
7. Limit your exercise selection
8. Train like a strongman
9. Eat
10. Supplement wisely

I believe that these are all solid ways to improve your strength.  In my opinion though, you should not want to try to increase your strength by a lot in a limited amount of time.  Strength comes with time.  You are not going to see incredible gains in a short amount of time.  Rather, you should program your workout to try to make small gains every month.  The goal is long term, not short term.  I am going to now include 3 areas that were missed.

11. Rest-  Without proper rest, you will never get stronger. You are going to have to get proper rest in order to become stronger.  It isn't a race to get as strong as possible.

12. Foam roll-  This will not only loosen your muscles up for your workout, but it will also prevent injuries.  You should spend 10-15 minutes foam rolling before every workout.  Not only this, but you should also do it on off days.  This will help get of soreness and it will get you ready for your next workout.  You can buy a cheap foam roller from Amazon.

13. Vary your volume and rep range-  I think an area that was missed was varying your rep range and volume.  Going with a higher rep range will make your muscles grow larger, due to hypertrophy.  Low rep ranges will work your fast twitch muscles, allowing you to lift more weight.  The key is to lift the weight as quickly as possible.  If you are doing high rep ranges, you should try to focus on going slow, and working on contracting your muscles.  Doing both of these will help your muscles grow and become stronger.