I recently picked up these gloves after losing my last set, and so far I must say I’m very very happy. I’m the kind of guy who kills gloves.

Generally, my gloves last for about 6 months to one year before they’re literally falling apart, with wholes over any spot that a callus would love to exist.

These are undoubtedly the strongest gloves I’ve ever used, and they have wrist wraps for added support. While they are pretty expensive in comparison to my usual gloves, I have a feeling that they will last much much longer.

They also have little fins on each finger, while this may look silly, it does help taking the gloves off much faster.

The only cons are that using wrist straps while wearing these gloves is pretty difficult (as they need to wrap around the wraps).

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Drop sets are a great way to increase the intensity of your workout. What they are, is a set immediately after your last set, of lower weight. I generally try to go for the highest weight which I can do for 12 reps.

Who should use the drop set? People looking to gain MASS. Drop sets do not add strength, or speed, or any other true athletic ability, they’re essentially solely for a cosmetic purpose.

Whats the science behind drop sets? According to Tom Venuto, drop sets are all about hitting all the muscle fibers within the muscle, to essentially stimulate growth.

The way this works is, with each set you hit different fibers, so after reaching your max weight, each subsequent drop set is hitting “reserved” fibers.

Ensuring you hit all these fibers will stimulate greater muscle growth, as all the fibers have been “ripped” meaning when they are all repaired, they will all be larger than before (i.e. the science behind muscle growth).

Don’t forget an important diet always plays a major roll in fitness however, and you need to consume the proper amount of protein (in food, or whey) to successfully repair your muscles.

I’m often asked the question, “What should I do at the gym to lose weight?” I always find this question interesting, because there are so many options.

Personally, I feel the best way to lose weight is through the food you eat. It is extremely difficult to lose weight when you have a bad diet, please keep that in mind.

The simple math, is you must expend more calories than you consume.

If you’re doing that in your current diet, you wont need to add any additional exercise to your current routine (daily life) to lose weight.

There are 3500 calories in 1 pound of fat.

What does this mean? It’s simple, if every day you burn 100 more calories than you eat, you will lose 1 pound of fat in 35 days.

If you’re not interested in changing your diet at all, and you really just want to know how to lose weight through a lot of hard work, read on.

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If you couldn’t tell from any of my previous articles, or my “about me” page, then let me say it again.

I have a constant goal to gain muscle mass

This past summer, I decided to look for a new workout program which focused in gaining lean mass. I found HST, which stands for Hypertrophy-Specific Training (which essentially means muscle growing training).

While this workout may be prime for gaining mass, it can not do it alone. Just like drinking protein without lifting weights will not add muscle, exercising without consuming more calories than you burn will not add muscle.

This is simple math, and the basics of nutrition.

Therefore, if your goal is to gain muscle, your first step (assuming you’re already on some type of workout regiment) should be ensuring that you have a proper diet. This means you’re hitting all your nutritional requirements, and consuming more calories then you burn. I may sound like a broken record, but its the bottom line. You are what you eat, and if you don’t eat enough, you won’t get any bigger.

Read on to learn all about HST. Read the rest of this entry »

There are a lot of great activities you can do to get some awesome exercise outside of the gym. My favorite is rock climbing.

Some gym’s have “endless walls,” and some gyms are rock climbing gyms. Both of these can be great alternatives to rock climbing outside.

I’ve always been a big advocate for the theory that, if you spent all day rock climbing, or swimming, or anything else that intense, you would get ripped.

Rock climbing works the following muscles groups at a minimum: Wrists, Forearms, Shoulders, Biceps, Back, Legs, and Abdominals. It’s essentially a full body workout, and is both aerobic and anaerobic. This means rock climbing can be used for strength training, toning, and cardiovascular activity. It will also greatly improve your endurance.

According to healthatoz.com:

“Ascending a natural or artificial rock wall burns up to 700 calories an hour if you weigh 140 pounds or up to 974 calories an hour if you weigh 190 pounds. Rock-climbing sessions tend to last at least two or three hours. However, due to its great intensity and physical demand, duration is more limited than most activities.”

If you plan on rock climbing any time soon, continue reading on to see some great exercises which can prepare you.
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Everybody wants “10 minute abs” but lets be serious, thats stupid. Working out and exercise in general isn’t supposed to be easy, otherwise they’d call it baby-time. Abs are an interesting muscle, and they really don’t need that much work, because if any fat is covering them, you’re really not going to be able to see them anyway.

Generally speaking, bodyfat levels need to drop below 10% for a man and 15% for a woman for the abs to really show through. (MuscleMedia)

However, if you still want to try and give your abs the best work out of all time (which will make them more defined, and hits upon ALL sections of your abs, you should try this workout. As a warning, I’ve never met anyone who was able to do this on their first try, so if you do, let me know.

The workout I’ll be showing you is referred to as the “ab bootcamp” and is written by Muscle Media, read on to see instructions and my personal spin on the workout for even greater efficiency. Read the rest of this entry »

I decided an “exercise of the day” would be a fun addition to our blog, so without further ado:

Today’s exercise is the Incline dumbbell curl.

This is currently my favorite bicep exercise, and its hard as hell. I like to do it first or second on my arms day, so I can give it as much energy as possible. I’ll usually do a a reverse cables triceps exercise immediately following. Instruction after the break.

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So, after about 8 years with some no longer white k-swiss standard kicks (it was pretty disgusting, or so I was told), I decided it was time for some new gym shoes.

After a quick search around I found the “Nike Huarache TR 07 Men’s Training Shoe” which is currently on clearance at Nike.com for $44.99

From Nike’s website:

“The shoes have premium leather and nubuk upper for durability and stability.

They have a dynamic innersleeve with TPU heel chassis and a forefoot support strap for lightweight flexibility, support and lockdown.

Full-length Phylon midsole with a forefoot TPU support frame delivers responsive cushioning and stability. Full-length Nike propulsion plate in outsole for support solid rubber and Phylite outsole for traction and response.”

I’m going to buy them in a few days, at which point I’ll write a review, if anyone already has these, a review in the comments would be great!

A professor at CCNY for a physiological psych class told his class about bananas.? He said the expression “going bananas” is from the effects of bananas on the brain.? Read on:

Never, put your banana in the refrigerator!!!
This is interesting.
After reading this, you’ll never look at a banana in the same way again.

Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy.

Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world’s leading athletes.

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