Body Building Means Survival For the Fittest

A story hit the headlines recently in the US of a man who proved the better in the face of a potential tragedy. The man was a brick layer was said to have suffered serious burns soon after an underground power supply cable struck him. The incident happened while he was erecting a wall where it was reported that he was literally thrown fifteen feet backwards and immediately set ablaze by the traumatizing shock. He was rushed to the nearest hospital soon after and treated. Body builders had a lot of pride in their faces that evening, when the doctors who operated on the man confirmed that the man had survived the first degree burns covering a massive forty per cent of his entire body. According to the doctor's confirmation to his family, it was the huge hard toned muscles that had literally soaked the largest bulk of electricity shock and protected his delicate tissues. The body builder saved his life when he made body building his favorite hobby.

In yet another incident, a thirty year old man was shocked to meet his wife at the door when he showed up from work. The impatient woman was so furious and reprimanding to the man simply because the man had developed a belly and he was sexually loosing touch. According to gossip columns in the local media, the woman had just finished watching a soap opera in which her favorite male character had been shot wearing only his shorts and therefore portraying a perfect set of six cubes. The woman flashed divorce papers across the man's face before demanding for an explanation. The best he got was a lift of his shirt and a question well exclaimed; what is this? In a months time unconfirmed rumors had it that, the woman had become a second wife to a local footballer and was living a happy life.

It's common to hear men idling in topics of either their favorite girl or how they would wish to look like. A description is normally unique for every individual. A lady passing by will be analyzed from bottom to top and might end up even being evaluated simply as either fit or unfit. All this will depend on the body building strategies that the lady in question might have taken prior to the unannounced evaluation. All a person needs to understand is that not in body building alone are we different but in all aspects of life. But what many people ask after failing to live up to family expectations, is what body building has to do with the family. It is important to check out on such issues than to keep them hidden within the self. Majority of people are uninformed about body building.

Muscles are important in helping one improve efficiency in day to day activities especially those parts of the body useful in carrying out duties such as the back, chest and legs. Body building allows a fast muscle development and growth in these parts. They hold huge and large muscles for the main body and by concentrating body building efforts on such regions the results will be a plus.

Dane Fletcher

Dane Fletcher is the world's most prolific bodybuilding and fitness expert and is currently the executive editor for BodybuildingToday.com. If you are looking for more bodybuilding tips or information on weight training, or supplementation, please visit http://www.BodybuildingToday.com, the bodybuilding and fitness authority site with hundreds of articles available FREE to help you meet your goals

Simple and Effective Female Bodybuilding

I wanted to talk to you about simple and effective female bodybuilding. This is a great sport for anyone to get into, but it is a sport that is dominated by men. The weight rooms are usually dominated by men, the trainers are men and all the information available is designed for the male body. It can be rough for a woman to learn how to get involved and do this correctly. I've learned in my near decade of training that simplicity is the key to being an effective bodybuilder. You need to follow a very simple plan that will provide real results. I'm going to share with you information on simple and effective female bodybuilding.

The simple philosophy that you need to understand is that your diet is what will determine your results, not necessarily what you do in the gym. Having a great workout is a good thing to do, but without a proper diet than you're just wasting a lot of time. You have to start eating smaller meals more often. This will help you keep food in your system at all times to build muscle. You have to keep your carbohydrates high around a workout, so you have more energy for that workout.

Simple and effective female bodybuilding isn't about spending hours in the gym because that's a waste of time. The key is to do compound exercises that work a lot more of the body and give you much more stimulation. More stimulation with less exercise is definitely a good goal.

Learn more about Bodybuilding For Women Elle Nash

Ensuring a Holistic Approach During Bodybuilding

One of the most neglected areas of the body during bodybuilding is the lower parts of the body. The reason is easy to predict. You are always on the move and hardly feel the urge to exercise your legs. You will feel tired most of the time from the many trips you have to make to and from work. In case you drive to work, it appears that once you walk for a few meters.

There are many things you should to ensure that this does not arise, one of which is making sure you have a program in place all the time. Once you have the program, you need to adhere to it or it will lose its meaning. You may sometimes have to make ad adjustments whenever your job commitments bar you from making it to the bodybuilding station on time. A good program should put into consideration various factors. The parts of the body to be exercised are one such factor. You need to make sure that your body is in a position to withstand the pressures that come with what is in the programme. This saves you from reluctance of going to the gym whenever a certain muscle bodybuilding is to be put into consideration.

It is the norm that once you get into the gym, you will engage in more than one exercise. This is a good way to try and gauge your level of resistance and threshold. If you find that you nearly collapse immediately after the first set of warm-ups, then there is a problem with either your health or the attitude you have towards the whole programme. There are various combinations to consider. You may combine dumbbells with weight which are meant with the forearm. This is the most common combination among beginners. For more experienced bodybuilders, an additional bench press is mandatory. Another common combination is the legs workouts and the abdomen exercise. Back exercises can alternatively be combined with press-ups. Ten reps for each set would not be a very bad idea. To be on the safe side as a beginner, learn to be prepared every time you plan to get into the gym.

It is easier to begin the exercises at a time when your level of motivation is at its highest. If it's your first time t get into the gym, you will have to rely on the gym instructor as your expectations may differ with the reality on the ground. To begin with, there are many hazards that you will be exposed to in your efforts to ensure consistency based on the program. Therefore the aspect of the ideas provided to you by the instructor will be valuable for your consistency in the long run. Bodybuilding requires setting up of goals and realizing them but not at all cost. Naturally, the gym instructor will tell you what to eat, what to avoid where to seek additional supplements in case your health is deteriorating and what he thinks of your overall progress.

Dane Fletcher

Dane Fletcher is the world's most prolific bodybuilding and fitness expert and is currently the executive editor for BodybuildingToday.com. If you are looking for more bodybuilding tips or information on weight training, or supplementation, please visit http://www.BodybuildingToday.com, the bodybuilding and fitness authority site with hundreds of articles available FREE to help you meet your goals

Bodybuilding Begins With Your Family Being Fit

Even with the spotlight placed squarely on the benefits of bodybuilding exercises the media exposes, to the detrimental hazards of lack of an physical fitness and the all too clear increase in obesity and overweight cases, people have not fully embraced bodybuilding exercising as a routine. Physical fitness is not a priority activity especially among the youths today. Majority of children and teenagers spend their days sit on a desk at school, playing computer games at home, enjoying video games with friends and watching TV and movies the rest of the time. Their lives are so dormant and so indoor that it is not a wonder that 80% percent of them are overweight.

This is further compounded by the modern fast food lifestyles. The consequences are obese children with diabetes and other complex health conditions. Children need aerobic exercises to build flexible movement, challenge the heart rate, stretch muscles and burn the junk in their systems. Ideally, children and adolescents require 60 minutes at the very least in physical activities daily.

Exercises keep children fit, a step a time for wholesome bodybuilding, loses unnecessary weight, builds strong bones, develops the muscle system, lowers blood pressure and amplifies circulation. Active children sleep soundly at night and are more alert at school during the day. This goes a long way to improve a child's self-esteem. High self-esteem is crucial for a child because it builds them up to strong-willed and stable young adults, eventually. Inactive children will therefore end up being depression cases as a result of low self esteem and anxiety.

It can however prove to be a challenge getting a modern inactive child to forego indoor passive games and interested in active exercises. But the trick is to find a particular activity that the child enjoys and which feels cool to him and his friends. Find something that they would consider popular and trend setting. Modern youth are fascinated to the extreme by hip hop music and its associated culture to eh extent that they exclusively watch hip hop music videos, glued to their iPods and dressed like they see their idols do on TV. Consequently, hip hop dance is very popular and can be the perfect route to get your child to incorporate exercising with their interests. Dances develop physical fitness, creativity of a child and psychological balance. Within an hour of dancing a child can burn over 400 calories and even more.

Also it is advisable to facilitate your children to have private lessons in various popular games like tennis, golf, skating or swimming. Private training has numerous benefits especially for beginners because it offers the child freedom to learn at a comfortable fitness speeds. Group learning is often times too fast or even slow for the personalized, specifically tailored pace of individual children. Personalized guidance guarantees the constant assurance and patience, crucial in motivating children to achieve preset fitness goals.

Ensure that bodybuilding exercises are conveniently scheduled at optimal times as a daily routine and that the children remain inspired and thus making workouts to be a passion in a safe environment. This will make them fit, emotionally balanced and highly self confident, bringing out the real qualities resident in your child.

Dane Fletcher

Dane Fletcher is the world's most prolific bodybuilding and fitness expert and is currently the executive editor for BodybuildingToday.com. If you are looking for more bodybuilding tips or information on weight training, or supplementation, please visit http://www.BodybuildingToday.com, the bodybuilding and fitness authority site with hundreds of articles available FREE to help you meet your goals

3 Women Figure Competition Secrets

Women figure competitions are an exciting event. You will get a rush when you are under those lights that can't be easily recreated. When you get a chance to compete you want to make the most of the opportunity. To do this you need to make sure that you are able to take every competitive advantage available. This article is going to give you 3 figure competition secrets that will put you in the optimal position to win the competition. That is if you are willing to make the commitment and put in the work.

Obviously you need to make sure you are following a solid diet and have a good workout routine. If you are not doing this then any secret I could offer would be worthless. You will not be successful. You have to start with the basics and get in shape. The only way to do this is through hard work. However, once you get this down you can implement these 3 secrets.

Secret 1:

In the end these competitions come down to posing. The secret here is probably the most important you can learn. You have to pose to the audience. This means making eye contact. They need to see that you are looking at them while you pose. This will engage the audience and score you extra points. Commonly competitors just look around everywhere and basically ignore the audience. Do not make this mistake. You need to play to the audience and involve them in what you are doing. This will go a long way in increasing your chances of winning.

Secret 2:

You need to choose music that is going to play to your strengths and rev up the audience. You want to get them excited. I have seen competitions where competitors play songs like My Way and The Impossible Dream. These have really been powerful pieces of music. These songs got the audience pumped up. The music you choose is a powerful weapon in your performance. If you choose the wrong music you will bore people and end up with a snore fest. Obviously this will probably guarantee that you won't win. Make sure that you pick exciting music that everyone can get behind.

Secret 3:

When you have your routine all worked out have someone video tape you doing it before the competition. This will allow you to critique yourself and implement any changes that are necessary. You cannot know if your poses have the effect that you want them to have unless you can see them from the perspective of the audience. Filming yourself and then watching is the best way to do this. Don't be embarrassed watching film is a major part of sports at every level. Watching film and making adjustments is a proven way to improve performance.

Obviously there is a lot more you need to know to prepare for a competition. Below you will find a resource that will teach you everything you need to know to make sure you perform a winning routine every time.

You can achieve your goal of entering a figure competition. Click here to read a review of a resource that will show you what you need to know to get ready for a figure competition and be successful. Stop standing in your own way and get started right now!

Lou Brock

How to Body Build - Bodybuilding For Beginners!

So you want to learn how to body-build to get "jacked" for the ladies, huh? Come on, admit it..

That's alright though, whatever your reason may be - I'll show you how to do it. Bodybuilding is a great activity to take up but it's like anything else in life - in order to be successful, you have to work hard.

Patience grasshopper, patience. Results don't come overnight and actually, results aren't even guaranteed for a lot of people - but that's only because they don't take the time to educate themselves like you're doing now.

You can spend all day in the gym pumping iron and still not get results. Actually, if you spend all day in the gym, you won't get results - you'll be overtraining. That's right, if you over train, you won't get results. If you under train, you won't get results either - and training is just one aspect of bodybuilding.

You still have to consider your nutrition and even your rest. In case you couldn't tell, there's a lot to it! So where do you start? Well, here are a few quick guidelines that will help you get started..

How To Body-Build

Some Basic Guidelines..

• Increase Your Protein Intake
• Limit Your Intake Of Sugar And Saturated Fat
• Train Muscle Groups In Order From Largest To Smallest
• Allow At Least 48 Hours To Elapse Before Training The Same Body Part Again
• Utilize A Proper Training Split
• Start Your Workouts With "Compound" Exercises
• Eat Frequent, Nutrient Dense Meals (Every 3 Hours Is Ideal)
• Keep Your Workout Sessions Under 55 Minutes In Duration

The list goes on and on..

Still Confused?

That's alright, I expect you to be. There's a lot of information to digest but if bodybuilding is something you'd like to get serious about, it's certainly worth investing some time into learning how to do it right

So Where Can You Learn More?

Well, it's your lucky day. For a limited time, you'll be able to get an advanced, pre-sale copy of "Jacked Tactics" for free!

Jacked Tactics is a comprehensive bodybuilding guide and by the time you're done reading it, your training knowledge will be impressive to say the least

And if you work hard and implement what you learn, you'll certainly get "jacked"

You Can Learn More About "Jacked Tactics" Here.

How To Body-Build - A Complete Bodybuilding Guide!

Enjoy!

Bill Forestell

Tabata Training For Bodybuilders

Tabata Interval Training is an interval scheme developed by Dr. Izumi Tabata, which consists of performing 20 seconds of work, followed by 10 seconds rest. Tabata training can be an amazing method of improving ones level of athletic conditioning, and dropping fat. There are also some who've reported increases in lean muscle mass. This is possible due to the amount of Lactic Acid being released into the blood stream, although I would not suggest making Tabata training the core of your mass gain program. The number one reason for this is that it is a very brutal training system that will burn you out quickly if you are not careful.

Progress Slowly

As mentioned earlier, Tabata is brutal. It's better off to start off slow. I would start off with performing bodyweight Tabata workouts, once per week. I've designed a very simple, 10-week training program to help you get used to basic Tabata training:

Choose 3-4 compound exercises. Suggested exercises are pushups, pullups, and bodyweight squats.

Week One - Perform 3 sets of each exercise with 30 seconds work, 60 seconds rest
Week Two - Perform 4 sets of each exercise with 30 seconds work, 60 seconds rest
Week Three - Perform 4 sets of each exercise with 30 seconds work, 45 seconds rest
Week Four - Perform 5 sets of each exercise with 30 seconds work, 45 seconds rest
Week Five - Perform 5 sets of each exercise with 30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest
Week Six - Perform 6 sets of each exercise with 30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest
Week Seven - Perform 6 sets of each exercise with 30 seconds work, 15 seconds rest
Week Eight - Perform 7 sets of each exercise with 30 seconds work, 15 seconds rest
Week Nine - Perform 7 sets of each exercise with 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest
Week Ten - Perform 8 sets of each exercise with 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest

Tabata Training Splits

I know Bodybuilders love to split up their training program. After the initial 10 weeks of training, your body should be used to the intensity level of Tabata training. Here are a few sample training splits you can use with Tabata training:

3 Days per Week Training

Day One: Upper Body Day Two: Tabata Day Three: Lower Body

4 Days per Week Training

Day One: Upper Body Day Two: Tabata Day Three: Lower Body Day Four: Tabata

5 Days per Week Training

Day One: Upper Body Push Day Two: Tabata Day Three: Upper Body Pull Day Four: Tabata Day Five: Lower Body

Tabata with Weights

You do not have to use exclusively bodyweight exercises for Tabata training. You can use weights, however you should follow some basic rules:

• Use Compound exercises such as Overhead Presses and Flat Bench Press.
• Dumbbells and Kettlebells work best as opposed to Barbells.
• Avoid machine and isolation exercises.

Creating your Own Tabata Workouts

Success with Tabata is consistently using more difficult exercises. I would personally stick to bodyweight training for Tabata before experimenting with other exercises. However, I have identified 9 dumbbell exercises that work great with Tabata training:

1. Dumbbell Thruster
2. Dumbbell Snatch
3. Dumbbell Clean and Press
4. Dumbbell Lunge
5. Dumbbell Squat
6. Dumbbell Flat Bench Press
7. Dumbbell Overhead Squat
8. Dumbbell Push Jerk
9. Dumbbell Renegade Rows

I hope this basic tutorial proved helpful in starting out with Tabata training.

Parth Shah

Parth Shah is an average joe who's tired of all the nonsense he sees in mainstream health and fitness media. His thoughts, ideas, and philosophy can be found on his website, ShahTraining.com (Feed - http://feeds.feedburner.com/shahtraining/UQuk)

Benefits of Training With Proper Bodybuilding Gear

Life is composed of the things we do for ourselves and even for others, but at times we tend to be copycats to what many people do especially from the popular culture that tarnishes the individual image. If there is one thing that most people like doing is to copy exactly what others have done and they fear to be original. In body building the worst thing that you can ever do is to 'fit is someone's shoe' just like the saying goes. Taking common advice liturgy literally can cause a lot of trouble for many. Body building is an individual choice and in no way can two people copy each other directly.

It is true that some people may want to look like the successful people but always take precautions in this. There is usually body building which is normal and there is what one may name 'Arnold Schwarzenegger' form of body building. Definitely, these two cannot be the same. Always feel free to try out any of them provided you know where it is taking you, with its benefits and dangers. Safety measures remain common in any of them in order to practice healthy body building.

The 'Arnold Schwarzenegger' form of body building may not suit for everyone. There is a group of people who can simply make it without too many vigorous exercises or steroids intended for muscle build up. For many people their body building work outs do not need any use of drugs, they are just normal, bear in mind that there are dangerous to life when you adopt steroids for body building and there for take precautions if your type is not as complicated for competitions take it cool and practice it as a gradual process, you may find yourself in trouble of having diseases emanating from steroid use. Let every one work be your way and not a copy from others.

Always bear in mind that bodies are different and not all bodies are expected to be that big and this is natured. Even if they are pampered with all sorts of initiatives they still won't change as rapid as many people may want. At time a lot of muscles can result to inability of the body to hold and carry the extra weight and thus resulting to the bone structure suffering the effect of the overload. As a result they can ache and at times the individuals may suffer arthritis or serious problems just because of trying out 'Arnold Schwarzenegger' style of body building that does not even suit you.

What is important in all these is to know and understand your body even before starting any type listed above. Remember that any choice you make can influence you the rest of your life and bear in mind that what you start is very difficult to stop or even reverse. With respect to body building any method adopted tends to be very much addictive and hence it calls for a lot of keen interest in the choice. Also take time to learn what you can handle and what can challenge you and surely with this you can make the best decision ever that will not compromise your body building plans.

Dane Fletcher

Dane Fletcher is the world's most prolific bodybuilding and fitness expert and is currently the executive editor for BodybuildingToday.com. If you are looking for more bodybuilding tips or information on weight training, or supplementation, please visit http://www.BodybuildingToday.com, the bodybuilding and fitness authority site with hundreds of articles available FREE to help you meet your goals

Bodybuilding in College - Eating on Campus at the Cafeteria

Here are a few basic guidelines to follow when eating at your schools' cafeteria.

Chicken Breast

Giving you around 25 grams of protein and only 4 grams of fat per chicken breast, it is always a great choice. Make sure you are looking for sources of chicken that are broiled, grilled, sautéed...basically anything but fried chicken, or chicken that has too much "mystery" sauce on it (you know you have seen that chicken) . You want to be looking for the plainest looking chicken breast. A lot of cafeterias actually have a grill section where you can get a plain grilled chicken breast. Also if you wish to add any flavor to the chicken, try some low-fat healthy condiments such as lemon juice and pepper, ketchup or barbeque sauce. Avoid dipping your chicken in ranch dressing (yes I have seen people do this, which on another note, don't dip your pizza in it either). It will simply make you fat, not muscular.

Eggs

Ok, so with eggs it is pretty simple. Avoid too many scrambled eggs and fried eggs. Although the yolk of the egg is high in proteins and nutrients, it is also very high in saturated fats. That said if you get an omelet made only with egg whites you have a lot of protein with a lot less fat, compared to an omelet with whole yolks in them. Typically, I will reach for the hard boiled eggs. First, they are not cooked in any time of oil, second I can grab about eight of them take the yolks out and eat just the egg white. Note, I do not want to say the yolk is bad because it is not since it is also rich in protein and nutrients, but if I am already eating fats from other sources such as milk or meats, I will not need any more. So balance out, eat some egg yolks but maybe drop the whole milk.

Red Meats

Hamburgers in college are amazing. They are delicious. However, although I won't say not to eat them, because even I do, just keep in mind that most colleges typically use 20% fat meat in their hamburgers, so one will provide you with a whole lot of saturated fats. Try and choose white meats such as chicken and fish, but also cheat in a hamburger every once in a while so you can stay sane and add some extra calories those days when you really need them. Another suggestion is that if you are going for the hamburgers maybe get a few, but lose the buns and eat them with some brown rice or potatoes.

Steak is a great option in the cafeteria, since it will typically be leaner than the hamburgers. And it wont come with all the nummy cheese and bread that make it much less healthy.

Salads

Salads can be a great source of fiber, vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants. You can never eat too many vegetables. This is one thing that many college people forget. When you are consuming more food than regular trying to build mass, you also need to eat more vegetables maintain an alkaline body state as well as to get that very needed fiber to help in the digestion of all those proteins and carbs you will be eating. So when reaching for salads just remember the greener the better (spinach! I'm a big fan) and avoid fatty dressings like ranch, Italian, etc. Use vinegar dressings or olive oil, low-fat dressings are ok just look at how much fat is in the other food you plan to eat, every gram adds up.

Cereals, Breads, other Cabs

Try and choose unprocessed cereals and breads such as bran cereal or whole wheat bread. This way you can lessen unneeded insulin spikes, although after workout you may want to reach for the white bread and the Rice Krispies for a change. For breakfast, oatmeal is also a good alternative to sugary cereals (I like my oatmeal with cinnamon, honey and flax meal).

Because you are going to be pounding heavy a** weights in the gym everyday, make sure you are getting a good amount of healthy carbs into your diet. Colleges typically serve carbs in the forms of french fries and pizza.Try to avoid these most the time because of their high concentration of "bad" fats. Choose things like rice, baked yams or potatoes, and pasta. These will give you the fuel much needed without the loaded fat.

Conclusion

Follow these basic tips and you'll be in good shape to start packing on some good size and keeping your fat deposits low. Visit Bodybuilding at College to read more articles and buy your favorite supplements and good prices.

Alexander C.

Bodybuilding at College is a growing site that provides college students with bodybuilding articles and supplement reviews

Anaerobic Training Approach to Bodybuilding

There are always differences among professional on the best measures to adopt in order to gain muscles as a bodybuilder. It is a common belief among many people that anaerobic training holds the key to increased muscle mass. It is also taken as truth the suggestion that anaerobic training will lead to greater chances of enhanced endurance levels and long-term muscle consolidation. Due to the higher levels of testosterone in men than women, there is ease of achieving hypertrophy in the former group.

Taking increased dosages of testosterone is another common option which makes many body builders reliant on anabolic steroids for maximum muscle growth. Medical prescription is a requirement which ensures that all those bodybuilders who violate this rule are disqualified from taking pert in future competitions. Steroid users get an unfair advantage in competitions and this beats the rationale behind competitions.

Taking of substances containing anabolic steroids is a sure way of increasing results, but has severe psychological consequences. The health issues raised are the greatest hindrance to their acceptance within bodybuilding fraternity. There are some basic guiding principles which have been agreed on by experts in this field. The problem is that are sometimes contradicted by new research. For instance, progressive overload viewed by many as the most compelling principle behind success of hypertrophy, such that you only need to increase the reps weight-lifting measures and number of sets in order to get growth. This creates a situation where experts come up with complicated arrangements involving reps, sets and weights in order to provide a winning bodybuilding formula. For example you need to keep the number of sets the same by doing more reps and keeping the weight constant. For instance, it is a common belief that 15 reps will not be enough to increase your body weight. Just make sure that the efforts are enough to stimulate growth.

Damage of muscle fibers as a result of hypertrophy is called micro trauma. The muscles damaged are the tiny ones. When micro trauma takes place, due to strenuous training, the response provoked by the body is that involving overcompensation. This is replacement of the damaged tissues with others and even adding more as a bodily defensive mechanism. This prevents future muscle damage. This is why you have to have to overload your body system in order to experience any form of growth. As the body overcompensates, the general trend is towards adaptation. With adaptation comes resistance to stress.

For every bodybuilder, anaerobic exercises can be made intense enough to initiate an anaerobic mechanism. It is also important as a measure geared towards increasing resistance and reducing the stress that characterizes newcomers into bodybuilding. Skeletal muscles are the greatest victims of micro trauma. The new muscles combine with older cells and they are strengthened in the process. The satellite muscles are believed to be the secret that comes with success in muscle hypertrophy. They are key to the increase in the size of sarcomeric cells and they lake the cell as a whole appear larger and more compact.

Dane Fletcher

Dane Fletcher is the world's most prolific bodybuilding and fitness expert and is currently the executive editor for BodybuildingToday.com. If you are looking for more bodybuilding tips or information on weight training, or supplementation, please visit http://www.BodybuildingToday.com, the bodybuilding and fitness authority site with hundreds of articles available FREE to help you meet your goals

Mass-Building Routine For Stellar Biceps

Very often, bodybuilders will make the decision to develop a truly standout body part. They know that balance and symmetry is important - but they come to the realization that for their own personal satisfaction and happiness, it's time to come up with one body part that just makes the judges, friends, and family stop in amazement. For this sake of this article, we're going to focus upon biceps.

Let's give biceps their own day, and let's make it count! We'll train 5 of 6 days a week, and we'll continue the rest of our routine as normal. But we will torture those biceps into growth with a lot of sets, a lot of movements, and more intensity than we've ever seen. Let's design a custom biceps workout for growth.

Barbell curls

Use the EZ-curl bar for these, as you're going to be training heavy and you don't want to risk any inflammation of the wrist. Keep the rep range in the 6 to 8 solid form repetitions, and then end each and every set with 2 to 3 sloppy reps. Your form can go to the wolves - use the back and hips to raise the weight, the keep very strict form when lowering the weight for negatives.

Alternate dumbbell curls

There should be textbook form. You're just completing 4 sets of these to build and maintain that solid foundation of biceps muscle that is needed before you can build upon it with isolation movements, as will be the three exercises that follow.

Hanging alternate dumbbell curls from a 45 degree incline bench

Lie face down on an incline bench. Let your arms hang down, and start with a 20 pound dumbbell in each hand. Of course this will seem to light, but this pumping set will really allow you to focus upon the feel of the movement and prepare for your other upcoming sets. Complete 3 to 5 sets of this movement in the 10 to 12 repetition range.

Seated concentration dumbbell curls

It's time to feel the burn! One arm at a time, with your elbow placed upon your thigh, complete these burning sets of concentration curls. Try to feel the burn in every single muscle fiber you have. Keep your music loud and try not to even think about the repetitions. Your only goal is to just keep that weight moving and to feel the burn in every ounce of your being.

Cable bar curls

At this point, you should be thoroughly exhausted. On all sets, you'll want to use slow form and focus on the burn. Curl until you can't move those arms anymore!

Remember, the biceps will be trained on their own day, so you don't have to leave anything in the tank for triceps, forearms, or cardio. You spend an hour on biceps, and you shuffle off to the showers and grab a whey shake. Reward yourself with a nice T-bone steak that night as well - your body will be able to make great use of the protein and fats following this tough workout!

Dane Fletcher

Dane Fletcher is the world's most prolific bodybuilding and fitness expert and is currently the executive editor for BodybuildingToday.com. If you are looking for more bodybuilding tips or information on weight training, or supplementation, please visit http://www.BodybuildingToday.com, the bodybuilding and fitness authority site with hundreds of articles available FREE to help you meet your goals

College Level Bodybuilding Tips

This time is your time, from birth to age 18 it's been about you and your family, after graduation it's all about getting a good job, finding a better half and eventually settling down. However, from the age of 18 until whenever the time is that you graduate - you get to make every decision for what you're going to do and who you're going to be. Whether it's earning your degree, finding your calling in life, or finding yourself.

All of the decisions you make during the time that you spend in college will most likely decide where you spend your time working and making a difference for the next 30 years, who your colleagues and friends are going to be, and the person the world sees you as. If you are spending your time in college drinking without break and eating without concern, you will leave college with a very unhappy liver, a much larger belly, and no outline or pattern for how you eat, drink, workout and basically take care of your body. These effects may not be present now, but bad habits formed now will really take affect once your metabolism starts to slow around age 25. The decisions you make in college about your body will no doubt lay the foundation for your physical behavior for the years to come.

While in college, it's beneficial to develop a strong foundation of disciplined eating, consistent training, and healthy sleep patterns. When you leave school and really begin to work and/or start a family, there is an endless amount of things that will deter you from keeping and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. If a plan is developed throughout college on dieting and exercising while balancing the rest of your life, it will be easier once you're out of college. Each day will be started automatically with a healthy breakfast, which will give you mental clarity and physical strength that the majority of people neglect. A time for exercise and working out will already have a slot in your schedule, instead of going week to week trying to plan when you'll work out.

During the college years, your testosterone is at the highest level it will ever be. This is a huge advantage. Most older men would give anything to have the natural high levels of testosterone that you have in your body at this time. Many universities have excellent weight training facilities, and buffet cafeterias full of all the protein and clean carb sources that are needed for muscle building. Time is also a factor; you will most likely have more time to concentrate on you body during college.

College is an ideal time to take advantage of building your body into what you want. You don't want to become obsessed with it, but little decisions throughout the day can have huge benefits over the course of college, as well as the rest of your life. So be sure to take advantage of all the healthy opportunities you can find!

Dane Fletcher

Dane Fletcher is the world's most prolific bodybuilding and fitness expert and is currently the executive editor for BodybuildingToday.com. If you are looking for more bodybuilding tips or information on weight training, or supplementation, please visit http://www.BodybuildingToday.com, the bodybuilding and fitness authority site with hundreds of articles available FREE to help you meet your goals

Diet Supplementation For Female Bodybuilders

The most essential elements for women bodybuilders are vitamins and mineral formulas. To be specific, vitamin C should be divided into 3 equal portions and each portion should be taken after every meal throughout the day. This means during breakfast, lunch and supper.

Calcium is the most appropriate of all minerals to the female bodybuilder. The compound from which it is absorbed into the body is called calcium citrate. To add onto the minerals, you ought to take Chromium Picolinate which is best taken together with the necessary fatty acids which come from many animals such as fish and cattle. In fish, the products are called fish oil. Other options include extra virgin olive oil and flax-seed oil.

To boost the effectiveness of these supplements, it is advisable that women bodybuilders use meal replacement procedures of their choice which should go hand in hand with the supplementation program. The rationale for this is to add the valuable calories and protein content to the body in order to aid with the demanding metabolic needs of the female bodybuilder. Moreover, women, especially those who are not anywhere near the menopause bracket, usually go through a mineral loss period when they undergo their menses. These lost minerals need to be replaced because at no one time should the bodybuilder's body be in a starvation mode.

Supplementation has been found to aid in the enhancement of performance although many upcoming bodybuilders continue to treat supplements with too much scepticism. For those who are not afraid, (and there is honestly no need for fear because the record of supplementation is straight), it is recommended that you go for Creatine or alternatively, you may choose Glutamine. These are the two supplements which can supplement each other and are also most effective if they are administered one after the other in your supplementation schedule. This means that you may take Creatine for the first week and then switch to Glutamine in the second week. This gives you the much-needed space for the female bodybuilder to evaluate which one is best for her.

These two supplements generally share the same qualities and it is these same qualities which are mirrored in the anabolic steroids. You may experience a feeling of freshness and alertness which are also the case with anabolic steroids. Other intrinsic effects include increased sugar levels, and an increased metabolic rate. They are without side effects as they don't have the features of hormones.

Alternatively, there is an alternative for the wary female bodybuilder who is not comfortable with all the above options for one reason or the other. The option of bonus supplementation is another avenue you can try on and see if it will help you achieve your fitness dream. Their role is to aid with the arduous task of burning excess fat while at the same time providing the stamina and motivation for more and more workouts. These include bodybuilding faq which aid in the abs fat burnouts, the Rox Review and Tetra Review, both of which are ideal for general bodybuilding and fat-burning needs.

Dane Fletcher

Dane Fletcher is the world's most prolific bodybuilding and fitness expert and is currently the executive editor for BodybuildingToday.com. If you are looking for more bodybuilding tips or information on weight training, or supplementation, please visit http://www.BodybuildingToday.com, the bodybuilding and fitness authority site with hundreds of articles available FREE to help you meet your goals

Effects of Muscle Hypertrophy on Bodybuilders

Muscle hypertrophy refers to growth as well as increase in the size and volume of muscle cells. Muscle hypertrophy is of great significance to bodybuilders and is affected by age, nutrition, steroids and exercises. The latter factor is the one that is of concern to most bodybuilders. During adolescence, hypertrophy takes place at the highest rate. There are other short terms which are common to most bodybuilders among them strength training and anaerobic exercises. These measures all strengthen the muscles which are involved in respiration.

On the other hand, aerobic exercises have a lower intensity and are not ideal for muscle hypertrophy. It can lead to long-term increase in the size of muscles because protein intake increases immediately after exercising. Endurance training in athletes results in drastic reduction of body fat, requiring an increased intake of amino acids and carbohydrates.

Two types of muscle hypertrophy are common. One is sarcoplasmic hypertrophy which results in increase in the amount of sarcoplasmic fluid within the muscle cells. This is often accompanied by growth in the size of muscle cells. Myofibrillar hypertrophy leads to muscular strength and this comes with increased muscle size. Myofibrillar hypertrophy is divided into two processes. One of them leads to increase in the volume of nuclei within the muscle tissue while the other leads to growth and increase in the contractile material which is supported by an individual nucleus. This second process is the usual way of defining muscle hypertrophy.

Hypertrophy that arises as a result of strength training among bodybuilders is a combination of two processes one of which is contraction. The other process is experienced by professional athletes and endurance athletes. It results in neural drive which stimulates the muscle contraction process. Measurable gains can be realized once the bodybuilder learns how to use the muscles for his own fitness benefits. The second process refers to the unregulated mechanism, which is rather difficult to explain in general terms. It is best elaborated using terms such as up-regulation which begins to trigger a ubiquitous messenger mechanism into action. Genes have a lot to do with what happens to the muscles including their growth. It only becomes difficult when one is trying why muscle hypertrophy as a result of strength training fails to occur in some of us and cannot necessarily be well compared to gains accruing from actual strength of the body muscles. Furthermore it is not possible for muscles to grow in size without increasing in strength.

Muscle fibers are made up of myofibrils which are maintained through protein synthesis. There is a limit to the size of a mature fibril. After this size is reached, it splits these events are observed even inside every muscle fiber. In other words, hypertrophy occurs as a result of growth of each muscle cell and not an increase in the number of individual cells. When the rate of uptake of amino acids by muscles decreases, there is an inhibition of protein synthesis. This makes muscle hypertrophy a very integral approach of understanding how bodybuilding can be enhanced.

Dane Fletcher

Dane Fletcher is the world's most prolific bodybuilding and fitness expert and is currently the executive editor for BodybuildingToday.com. If you are looking for more bodybuilding tips or information on weight training, or supplementation, please visit http://www.BodybuildingToday.com, the bodybuilding and fitness authority site with hundreds of articles available FREE to help you meet your goals

How to Build Muscular Biceps

Many bodybuilders would wish to get big biceps because they are admired by many people. Biceps and triceps are very important because they show your bodybuilding progress. Therefore if you are a novice bodybuilder you need to remember to change your training routine so that it can include workouts targeting the biceps. People who have big biceps usually like flexing them because they show how strong they are. Women are also attracted to men who have big biceps and it is the reason why bodybuilders with big biceps are in huge demand among women.

If you want to increase your biceps this article will help you achieve this, all you need to do is follow the following training routine;

1. Direct bicep exercises

If you want to succeed in bodybuilding then you need to learn and understand the concept that less is more in bodybuilding. You need to keep this in mind when you are working your biceps. For your biceps to increase steadily, you should not perform a lot of reps and sets. You can implement three training methods if you want train your biceps: Standing-barbell curls- You should start this type of exercise with warming up first by performing at least twenty reps, then perform the sets as follows;

• Set 1: 1 by 8 reps (at 50% of personal maximum)
• Set 2: 1 by 8 reps (at 60% of personal maximum)
• Set 3: 1 by 8 reps (at 70% of personal maximum)
• Set 4: 1 by 8 reps (at 80% of personal maximum) Seated-dumbbell curls
• Set 1: 1 by 10 reps (at 60% of personal maximum)
• Set 1: 1 by 10 reps (at 70% of personal maximum)
• Set 1: 1 by 8 reps (at 80% of personal maximum)
• Set 1: 1 by 8 reps (at 80% of personal maximum) Preacher curls: 4 sets by 12 reps

2. Indirect biceps exercises

Compound exercises are very important when it comes to building the biceps. In fact when it comes to building the triceps and biceps this type of exercise is more effective than concentration curls. You should use heavy weights when performing compound exercises to train the biceps since the results will be better. For the biceps to respond and grow you need to give them adequate rest and proper training at the same time, here is a simple method of performing compound exercise;

• Chin-ups: 3 sets by the 12 reps
• Reverse-gripped Barbell Bent-over-rows: 4 sets by the 8 reps
• Seated-cable pulley-rows: 4 sets by the 12 reps
• Standing-dumbbell shrugs: 4 sets by the 12 reps

3. Eat properly

If you want to increase your biceps you need to eat a proper balanced diet. The diet should contain plenty of proteins. Proteins are the building blocks of muscles and are therefore very important. The other thing you need to include in your diet is carbohydrates. Carbohydrates will help you add more calories. Calories are the fuel of the body which enables a person to train intensely. Carbohydrates also contain glycogen which is used to build muscles.

Dane Fletcher

Dane Fletcher is the world's most prolific bodybuilding and fitness expert and is currently the executive editor for BodybuildingToday.com. If you are looking for more bodybuilding tips or information on weight training, or supplementation, please visit http://www.BodybuildingToday.com, the bodybuilding and fitness authority site with hundreds of articles available FREE to help you meet your goals

Adventure Sports: Bungee Jumping

Bungee jumping is an adventurous sport where the participant jumps from a great height while he is connected to a large rubber rope. The jump can be made from the top of a tall building, bridge or crane. To bring in more adrenalin rush, jump can be made from a moving object like helicopter or a hot air balloon.

Bungee word was developed in 1930, which meant rubber eraser. The idea originated from dwellers of the Pentecost Island, who used to tie vines to their ankles and jumped from tall wooden platforms. The vine was substituted by elastic cord. Members of the Dangerous Sports club made the first official bungee jumping on April 1, 1979 from the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol. Initially they were arrested, but later on they appeared on television and jumped from many places including hot air balloon and mobile cranes, in 1982.

A J Hackett of New Zealand did the first commercial bungee jumping in 1986, from Auckland's Greenhithe Bridge. After that he made numerous jumps from famous monuments like the Eiffel Tower. The first bungee jumping site was laid in Queenstown, New Zealand, on the Kawarau Bridge.

The rubber rope absorbs the complete energy of the fall and when the rope snaps back, the jumper flies in the upward direction. The process of oscillation continues until all energy is utilized. The rubber rope is covered with cloth and has hooks on both the end. It is a specially designed braided shock cord. A tough outer cover encloses many latex strands. The function of the tough outer cover is to provide durability. Some consider using unbraided cords without the tough outer cover, which delivers a longer and softer bounce. Commercial operators are forced to use body harness to ensure safety in case of accidents.

Variations to traditionally bungee jumping are catapult, twin tower, bungee running and bungee trampoline. In catapult, the jumper is placed on the ground and the cord is stretched, usually with the help of a crane, and then the jumper is released and he goes shooting up in the air. Twin towers employs two oblique cords. Bungee running, as the name suggests involves running and not jumping. The rope is attached to the participant and he runs as far as possible on an inflatable surface. The point maximum reached is marked with the help of a Velcro-backed marker, after which the runner gets pulled back to his initial position. Two or more people are involved in this and it is more like a running competition. Bungee Trampoline has a mix of bungee and trampolining. The body is fitted into a harness attached to a trampoline, which in turn is attached to a bungee. When the participant begins to jump he goes higher than a normal trampoline would.

Bungee jumping has been incorporated in many movies and video albums. The most famous of all is the James Bond movie, Golden Eye, which was released in 1995. The movie opens with Bond jumping from a dam in Russia. The jump was no special effect and was genuine.

Like other sports, bungee jumping has its share of possible injuries. The reason for most of them is human error, along with failure of safety harness, miscalculation of elasticity of the rope and improper connection of the cord. Possible injuries are body entangling with the rope, rope burn, dislocations, eye trauma, uterine prolapsed, back injury, pinched fingers and bruises. Jumper's age, weight, experience, and location should be reviewed before the jump, as a safety measure.

Art Sports: Sumo Wrestling

Sumo wrestlers, who are also known as “Rikishi”, compete with each other in wrestling in a circular area. This martial art originated in Japan centuries ago and has a great religious importance in the country. It has some traditional rituals involved such as using salt to purify, which is part of the Shinto religion. Sumo wrestling of Japan even has influence on martial arts of its neighboring countries like Korean Ssireum, Chinese Shuai jiao, and Mongolian wrestling.

Sumo was known as Sumai in the 8th century. Back then the rules involved were less in number and men used to fight till death. That is the reason why the wrestler who looses in a match is referred to as Shini-tai or dead body. Even today some of the shrines conduct ritual dance where a man wrestles with a Kami or a Shinto God. This contest was known as Sumai no Sechie or Sumai party. This ritual was also held in the imperial court and it was a must for the representatives of every province to attend this ceremony. Sumo was also a part of the training for the warriors and that’s the reason that originally sumo wrestlers were samurai.

In the initial years, to win, one Rikishi had to throw the other. Later on, the concept of pushing the opponent outside the ring was introduced. The size of the ring or Dohyo was defined in the sixteenth century. When both the wrestlers touch the ground at the same time, the one in the superior position is declared as the winner. Other way of determining the winner is that whoever uses Kinjite or illegal methods and whoever’s belts get undone are declared looser immediately. The Dohyo is usually filled with clay and sand. After each tournament, the sand is cleared and given as souvenirs to fans. It is the responsibility of the Yobidashi to prepare the ring for each match and even for training stables.

The clothing worn by Rikishi of old times also was also different from those worn by today’s Rikishi. Wrestlers used to wear loose loincloths unlike present day wrestlers who wear firm clothing called Mawashi. The rules and regulations of the games were developed completely in the Edo period and is pretty much the same till now. Sumo matches lasts for just few minutes because it will be very easy for the stronger wrestler to either throw down or push his opponent out of the ring. Apart from having wrestling skill, a huge body mass is a great advantage.

Oyakata or retired sumo wrestlers have formed the Japan Sumo Association. This association is responsible for holding tournaments and training wrestlers. Wrestlers are given ranks and their promotion or demotion entirely depends on their performances in the previous grand sumo tournaments. The six divisions in descending order are Makuuchi, Juryo, Makushita, Sandanme, Jonidan and Jonokuchi.

Every year six Grand Sumo tournaments or Honbasho are held. Three of these are conducted at The Sumo Hall or Ryogoku Kokugikan, one in Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka each. Foreigners are also a part of these tournaments. The first foreigner to participate was Takamiyama from Hawaii.

Sumo wrestlers maintain long hairs which are tied in a topknot, like the samurais of the Edo Period. Depending on the rank of the Rikishi, dresses differ. They also wear geta or wooden sandals. Beginners are expected to help with the chores in the Sekitori and are made to get up early than senior wrestlers. Rikishis skips their breakfast and have a large lunch called Chakonabe. It consists of different kinds of meat, fish, rice and vegetables. They take excessive amount of food along with beer to increase their weights. But this practice has ill-effects on the health, which was discovered recently. A sumo lives ten years shorter than ordinary Japanese. They often complain of high blood pressure, heart diseases and diabetes. Considering this the weight standards have been decreased tremendously in recent times.

Babe Ruth: A Short Bio

George Herman Ruth, Jr. is the legendary baseball player of the United States. He had many nicknames like Babe, The Sultan of Swat, The Colossus of Clout and The Great Bambino. An American Major League baseball player, Ruth was one of the famous baseball players of all times and according to many he is the no.1 player in history.

Born to Kate Schamberger Ruth and George Herman Ruth, Babe Ruth was a native of Maryland. He was admitted in St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, where he met Brother Matthias who cultivated his interest in the game of baseball. He taught him to hit, field and even pitch.

Ruth started his career as a starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, he spent most of his an outfielder with the New York Yankees, starting form 1920. With the Red Sox he won eighty-nine games and lost forty-six. He played as an outfielder in one hundred and eleven games and he broke the record of Ned Williamson by hitting twenty-nine runs, which is the maximum number of runs in a single season, in 1919.

Red Sox owner sold Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1920. He turned out to be the golden duck for the team as in the next fifteen season, he not only lead the league by walks, runs, home runs, and RBI but also placed it in the top ten in slugging percentage, batting average, and total bases. The team even won seven American League Pennants and four World Series titles. In 1921, he made a record by hitting fifty nine home runs in a single season which he broke himself by hitting sixty in 1927. Nobody else could break this record for the next thirty-four years.

Ruth also appeared in many movies and he became a very popular media figure. He featured in the silent era films like Speedy and Pride of the Yankees.

Ruth's health began deteriorating in 1946 when he developed a malignant tumor that spread over his neck and his left carotid artery. He received many treatments during which he lost eighty pounds. At that time Dr. Brian Hutchings had developed a new drug named teropterin, which showed improvement in leukemia patients. Ruth was induced with this experimental drug, which gave him headaches, hoarseness and swallowing problems. From June 1947, he was given injections, which proved to bring improvements in his health. His case was also discussed at the fourth Annual internal research congress, but now his conditions is being recognized as nasopharyngeal carcinoma, which is a very rare tumor located near the Eustachian tube for which the patient should be given radiation therapy and concurrent chemotherapy.

During his marriage to Helen Woodford, Ruth adopted a daughter. But after his separation with his first wife, whom he married in 1914, in early 1920s, she died in a house fire. He married actress Claire Hodgson on April 17, 1929, with whom he stayed till death. Ruth liked to spend his winters in Florida playing golf. After his retirement from the game he settled in a winter beachfront home in Florida. Babe Ruth expired at the age of fifty-three, on August 16, 1948.

He was elected as the baseball's Greatest Player Ever in 1969, on professional Baseball's hundredth anniversary. The Sporting News in 1998 ranked babe Ruth No.1 in the list of Baseball's 100 Greatest Players. In 1999, his fans named him to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

Games in the Ancient Olympics

The Olympics were initially a one-day event until 684 BC, after which it became a three-day event. Again, after the fifth century BC, it became a five-day event. During the Ancient Olympics, any type of game related to running was given importance. The very first game in the Olympiad was the "Stade race", a sprint of about 190 meters.

The "Pentathlon", unlike the modern pentathlon, was an event consisting of five competitions, namely "Stadion" or short foot race, Long Jump, Wrestling, Javelin Throw and Discus Throw. All five of them were considered beneficial for wars also and the training for them was part of the military practice. The athletes who used to compete in the pentathlon were considered to be very skillful. Except Wrestling, the rest four were held at the Stadion or the stadium.

The Stade or Stadion race was an old foot race about 180 meters to 200 meter long. The place it was conducted was known as Stadion; from which the English word stadium was derived. It was very big and at a time about twenty athletes could run. On the blow of the trumpet, the runner stood in the standing position with their arms stretched out, unlike today's runners who take the crouch position when about to start. Officials used to stand at the start and at the end to see to it that there were no false starts or any kind of cheating. In the case of a tie, there used to be a re-run. Any runner who broke the rules was punished. The winner of the Stadion race was the champion of the whole Olympic games.

The Diaulos race consisted of two Stades and was four hundred meter long. The Dolichos race consisted of seven to twenty four Stades. The other running events were Hippios and Hoplitodromos.

Athletes of Javelin Throw, instead of holding the shaft of the Javelin itself, used leather strap called Amentum. Javelin was a spear like rod usually made out of metal and wood. In Discus Throw, the Discus was made of stone, iron, bronze or lead. This game is like the modern freestyle Discus Throw. Five throws were allowed to the Discus and Javelin Throw athletes and the longest one was counted.

In the Long Jump, the participant to launch him or her and to increase the range of jump used weights called halters. The weights were held till the end of the jump and at the end they were ejected backwards. The jumps consisted of five different leaps, which is more similar to the modern triple jump. Here, too, the participants were given five attempts and the longest jump was considered.

The Wrestling Ring was a sand pit and was held outside the Temple of Zeus. It was a game of great military importance as it was combated without weapons. The winner was declared when the opponent admits defeat.

The boxers initially wrapped Himantes or soft straps, made out of Ox Hide, around their fingers, knuckles, and wrists to be able to give a firm punch. Later on the straps became hard which caused major injuries. The Sphairai were similar to Himantes and had pads inside to protect the knuckles, but on the outside they were really hard. After that Oxys were used which had many thick leather bands wrapped around the hand and forearms. The leather braces covered the complete hand so as to give a stronger punch.

The old form of martial arts was known as Pankration and was started in the Olympics of 648 BC. The word Pankration was derived from two other words, pan and kratos. Pan meant all and kratos meant strength. It was a combination of boxing and wrestling. At that time, this was one of the hardest sports. Philosopher Plato had won this game twice.

The Equestrian events consisted of chariot and horse races and were conducted in a flat and large open space, called Hippodrome. In both of them, there was great danger to both the driver and the horse, because there was a big probability of getting injured, which might even lead to death. The winner of these events was rewarded with a slave woman and a Cauldron (a big vessel).

Cycling Great - Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong, born on September 18, 1971 is a professional road-racing cyclist. He started his career by winning in an adult competition at the age of twelve. He was initially a tri-athlete and was ranked #1 in 1987-88 Tri-Fred. He attained the status of professional tri-athlete and in 1989 and 1990; he became the sprint course triathlon champion. He finished the race at fourteenth position in the 1992 Summer Olympics. He became the youngest rider to get the World Road Race championship.

He won the most prestigious race, Tour de France, seven times consecutively, from 1999-2005. By this, he broke the previous record set by Miguel Indurian, who won the race five times consecutively. ABC titled him as the Wide World Sports Athlete of the Year in 1999. Sports Illustrated magazine honored him by naming him as the Sportsman of the year in 2002. For four consecutively years, from 2002-2005 he was named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year. BBC, in 2003, gave him the Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality Award.

He underwent brain and testicular surgery for getting treatment for testicular cancer, in 1996. The nonseminomatous testicular cancer was detected at the third stage and the cancer had spread to his brain, lungs and abdomen. His chances of living were only three percent and he opted for a dangerous chemotherapy so as to resume his career. His tremendous recovery and his success inspired him to lay the foundation of his charity, Lance Armstrong Foundation, in 1997. He went back to cycling after three years to win for the first time in Tour de France title by beating Alex Zulle by seven minutes and thirty-seven seconds. He was yet to win over Marco Pantani and Jan Ullrich who were big personalities in cycling and didn't attend due to some health issues.

Armstrong faced both of them in 2000, and Armstrong defeated both of them by six minutes and two seconds. He continued to do so in the next four consecutive years. Some people doubt his achievements and say that Armstrong took performance-enhancing drugs to win in some cases. But none of them could be verified with good evidence.

He supported his victories by stating that he had trained for months together in Spain. He aimed only for the Tour de France and didn't participate in any other competition, which gave him the chance to train for one hundred and eighty days at a stretch. During that period former cyclist Chris Carmichael, who was also his coach, trained him.

Armstrong was able to retain higher cadence in a lower gear when compared to past champions who utilized a high gear and brute strength. High cadence leads to less leg muscles fatigue when compared to lower cadence, which leads to severe leg muscle contractions. He also had a high aerobic threshold. His high pedaling cadence was attributed to his low lactate level, which was his most unusual quality.

Although his team wasn't that strong initially in the Tour de France, his later victories brought up the team level. Armstrong is part of the US Postal Service cycling team. But his team member weren't a match to his caliber and often he was isolated. He strengthened the team by making sponsors and equipment suppliers to work in harmony. Instead of getting his bicycle parts being designed by different companies who hardly interact with each other, he made the sponsors and suppliers to work closely so as get complete advantage of all the resources. Many in the cycling circuit later adapted this approach.

Born as Lance Edward Gunderson, appeared in the movies Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, in 2004, and You, Me and Dupree, in 2006. Armstrong took his retirement at the closing of the 2005 Tour de France racing event, on July 24, 2005. After retirement he concentrated on his charity foundation and has taken part in many marathons.

Heroes of the Ancient Olympic Games

The ancient Olympics were an event where participants from all over Greece and as far as the Mediterranean participated. It started in 776 BC. Married women and slaves were banned from participating and watching the Olympics in ancient Greece. Only free young males had the right to be a part of the Olympic games, despite their social status. Many famous personalities participated and supported the games. This was a very prestigious event and the winner was awarded with an Olive Wreath, also known as Kotinos and big celebrations in their home place. They were awarded by large sum of money and poets used to write poems to signify their talents.

The king of Macedonia and son of Amyndas, Alexander I; the general from Megara, Orsippos; philosopher Plato; philosopher Socrates; philosopher Pythagoras; philosopher Aristotle; philosopher Democritus; the member of the royal family from Rhodes, Diagoras; the father of medicine, Hippocrates; shepherd Polymnistor, are some of the well-known athletes of ancient Greece.

Goddess of fertility and Priestess of Demeter were honored during the games and was given a seating position just next to the stadium altar. Only married women were not allowed to be spectators or participants at the Olympic games. But unwed women were allowed to watch the events. Whoever dared to break the rules was thrown from the top of the cliff.

Women were finally given a chance to participate in the Herean Games, which was conducted to honor the wife of Zeus, Hera. It started with foot races initially. Hippodameia made an administrators' committee consisting of sixteen women. The sixteen females were considered to be peacemakers from Elis and Pisa.

Among the well-known athletes, Milon was a very versatile athlete. He was the pupil of philosopher and mathematician, Pythagoras. He was from Kroton, South Italy. He had won six Wreaths in Olympic Wrestling, which still remains one of a kind victory till this date. His first victory was in the youth wrestling event and the rest five were in the men-wrestling event. He won ten championships in the Isthmian games, nine championships in the Nemean games and seven championships in the Pythain games. He even won in many of the other events.

Also born in Kroton, South Italy, Astylos had won six victory Olive Wreaths in a total of three Olympic games. He was very good at the Stade race and Diaulos race. He represented Kroton in the first Olympic and he won in that, for which the residents of Kroton honored him. After that, he took part in two of the Olympics as a citizen of Syracuse. The Krotons disgraced him by tearing down his statue and replacing his house with a prison.

Leonidas won four times consecutively at the Olympiads. He was from Phodes and was the most well known runner. He was a champion in Stade race, Armour race and Dialous race. In all, he won twelve Olympics Wreaths. He was a great hero for the people.

The first woman known to be a winner at the Olympics was Kyniska of Sparta. She was the daughter of King Archidamos. In the 96th and the 97th Olympic games, she also won the horse chariot race.

Melankomas was from Karia and was a winner in the Olympic boxing championship. He was a very hard working athlete. He used to do vigorous training by fighting for two days continuously with out lowering his hands. He was known for his swift moves and he used to win without even getting a single blow from his opponent.

Discontinued Sports in Olympics

The Olympics had lots of games, which are no longer included in today's Olympics. The games, which were once a part of the Olympics, are golf, polo, rugby, tug-of-war, cricket, croquet, jeu de paume, power boating, rackets, rink-hockey, lacrosse, basque pelote, roque, and water skiing.

Golf is one of the finest games in the world and is played in almost hundred countries of the world. It has been considered as an international game from the mid-19th century. Golf was held in the 1900 and 1904 Olympics. In the 1900 Olympics, there were separate games for men and women.

Polo is the oldest mounted sport, dating back to many centuries. It is believed to have originated in Asia especially in India, China and ancient Persia. Polo was part of the Olympic games in 1900, 1908, 1920, 1924 and 1936.

Two teams who use netted sticks to pass and catch the rubber ball in order to score play lacrosse.

Cricket is the second popular game in the world and it is supposed to have originated in the thirteenth century. Two teams consisting of eleven members who play it using a bat, ball and wicket play this game. The match is played on a flat and open grass long strip of field named as pitch. Stumps are three vertical wooden sticks placed parallel to each other, at both the ends of the pitch and two small wooden pieces are placed on top the three sticks. This structure is known as the wicket. The bowler, from the fielding team, aims a leather ball at one of the wickets. The batsman, from the opposing team, tries to hit the ball away from the wicket, with the help of a wooden bat. The other team members of the fielding team spread themselves on the field in order to catch the ball, which was hit by the batsman. If they are successful in catching the ball before it hits the ground, the batsman is out. In the meanwhile, after hitting the ball with the bat, the batsman runs from one wicket to another and the numbers of runs made are counted. The winning teams scores the maximum number of runs.

Croquet is a game of French origin. It utilizes a mallet and balls and is played in a grass arena. The mallet through hoops, which are planted in the field, hits the balls. It was part of the 1900 Summer Olympics. Roque is the American version of croquet. It was included in the 1904 United States Summer Olympics.

Initially tug-of-war was considered as a product of the track and field athletics program, but later it was given the status of a separate sport. Tug-of-war was included in the Olympic games of 1900, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1912, and 1920.

Jue de paume means game of palm and is the French version of lawn tennis. It is played without racquets, as the player hits the ball with his hands. Jue de paume was added in the 1908 Summer Olympics.

In Basque pelote, two opponents team face each other and there is a net between the two. Both the team exchange ball and if one player drops the ball, the other team scores. It is also similar to lawn tennis. It was supposed to have originated in the Greek era. In the 1900 Paris Olympic games, Basque pelote was a part of it.

Rugby is the earlier versions of football; here the ball is not carried but kicked. It originated in mid-19th century in Britain. The rugby union was considered to be beginner version where as rugby league was considered to be the professional version. In 1995, rugby union was made an open sport by the International Rugby Board. Rugby union was a part of the 1900, 1908, 1920 and 1924 Olympics games. Water skiing started in 1922. The athletes straps boards on their feet and get pulled by a powerboat around a set of course.

Basketball and its Rules

Basketball was invented in a pursuit for an indoor game, which would provide complete fitness. Dr James Naismith, a Canadian physical instructor, wrote down the basic rule for the game after initial rejection of many ideas, at a YMCA Training School. This game was officially played for the first time on January 20, 1892, in the YMCA Gymnasium, at Springfield College. Women began playing basketball in 1892, at Smith College, and different sets of rules were laid down for them.

This is a team sport where two teams, consisting of nine members each, throw ball into a ten-foot high basket of the opponent in order to get a score. While one team member aims for the basket, member of the other team prevents him from doing so. The team that has the highest score wins the game. The ball is dribbled and carried forward. In competitive basketball variation there are lot of regulations and the handling of the ball is restricted. Less regulated versions have been developed for recreational purposes and in some countries, this game is considered as a spectator sport.

Initially a soccer ball was used in basketball after which a brown colored ball was introduced. But to increase the visibility of the ball to the players and spectators alike the color was changed to orange, in 1950s by Tony Hinkle. Initially dribbling wasn't a part of the game. It was included in the game in the 1950s.

Different versions have different rules and time limits. According to NBA, some of the rules have been discussed here. The basketball court should be 94 X 50 feet. There should be baskets on two opposite ends of the court. The court is either made out of wood or cement. The ten feet high basket is made out of steel rim with a net attached. One score, also called shot, is counted as two points or three points when aimed from a distance of 7.24 meter. The game is divided into four quarters which each of them with a time limit of twelve minutes.

A break of fifteen minutes is allowed after the first two quarter and in between each quarter, there is a break of two minutes. In the third quarter, both the teams exchange their baskets. At a time five members of each team are present on the court. Permission is given to have up to seven substitutes. Other than the coach assistant coaches, statisticians, managers, trainers and doctors assists a team. Other equipments, other than the ball, required during the game are scoreboard, score sheets, clocks, stop clocks, whistles, and alternating possession arrows.

The male and the female player require to wear a pair of shorts and a jersey with clear number printed on the front and the back. High-top sneakers can be worn to provide extra ankle support. Sometimes the coach can request clock stoppages in between the game, if he wants to discuss something important with his team members. Usually three referees watch over the game. Other things like timekeeping, fouls by an individual or a team, score, team possession arrow, shot clock and player substitutions are taken care of by the table officials.

Over the period of time, various positions have been developed in basketball. Initially there were one guard, two forwards, and two centers or two guards, two forwards, and one center. Later on point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward and center positions were added.

Actions, which lead to violations are double dribbling, traveling, and carrying the ball and shot clock. Foul is illegal physical contact with the opponent team members, which would hinder them.

The other variations of the professional basketball are wheelchair basketball for the physically handicapped, water basketball to be played in a swimming pool, beach basketball which has very few or no regulations, half court game which has only one basket, and street ball and one-on-one which has two players and smaller court.

Art Sports: Wrestling

Wrestling is a sport involving two competitors competing to show their physical strength. This form of martial arts is as old as the mountains. Military are given training in wrestling as a part of self-defense systems. Folk people, who used lethal weapons as part of ritual fighting, also practiced it. Professional wrestling uses techniques like holding, clinching, leverage and locking.

The act of wrestling has been mentioned in many religious scriptures such as Old Testament Book of Genesis, where Jacob wrestles with the angel, The Mahabharata, where Bhima and Jarasandha wrestle. In recorded history, Chinese wrestling or Shuai Jiao is the oldest form of wrestling continuing since four thousand years, which the Yellow Emperor deployed to defeat rebel Chih Yui and his army. Both the armies wore horned helmet to aim with at the opponent. This early form was called Jiao Ti. Hands replaced the horns later. According to documented evidence on the tomb of the Old Kingdom philosopher Ptahhotep, Egyptians and Nubian wrestlers used to engage in wrestling for competitive purpose, around 2300 BC. Later during the Greek era, 1100 BC - 146 BC, Greek wrestling was practiced in competition where one wrestler would force his competitor to the ground and made him accept defeat or used to push him out of the boundary. When the Romans conquered Greece, they inherited the martial art and gave it their name, Roman wrestling.

Wrestling can be broadly divided into two categories, International wrestling and folk wrestling. International wrestling includes freestyle wrestling, sambo, Greco-roman wrestling, beach wrestling, judo and grappling. Freestyle wrestling is a part of the Olympics sports. It is a form of amateur wrestling where two wrestlers of the same weight class compete with each other. A wrestler is declared a winner when he defeats his opponent by five methods. They are winning by fall, winning by superiority, winning by decision, winning by injury and winning by disqualification. The basic rule is that a wrestler can hold the legs of his opponent and trip him. A good wrestler is quick and has good maneuvering skills. It is the only form of international wrestling meant for women.

In Greco-Roman style, a wrestler cannot hold his opponents leg and trip him and nor can he hold the opponent below his waist. It is also a type of amateur wrestling which is part of the Olympics. Grappling or submission wrestling involves no strikes, Gripping, handling and controlling defeats the opponent. There are many grappling techniques involved. Grappling can be practiced while standing or when on the ground. They are known as stand-up grappling and ground grappling respectively. The types of grappling are catch wrestling, luta livre, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, jujutsu, pankration and shoot wrestling.

Japanese martial art or Judo originated in the late nineteenth century, in Japan. The opponent is thrown to the ground and is forced to accept defeat by choking or joint locking.

The unique characteristic of beach wrestling is that the wrestlers wrestle inside a ring filled with sand. Heavy and light are the only two weight class categories. Wrestlers wearing swimsuits throw the opponent to the ground, to get on their backs. Women are also practicing this game.

Sambo is the modern martial art that developed in Soviet Union and is one of the amateur wrestling.

There are many versions of folk wrestling depending on the location of origin and culture in the specified area. Folk wrestling is yet to receive the status of International wrestling.

Adventure Sports: Rock Climbing

Rock climbing is a sport, which involves climbing steep rocks. This sport originated in the nineteenth century in Saxony, Lake District of England. After Walter Parry Haskett Smith climbed Napes Needle alone for the first time, many people were attracted and it later converted to sports in England, in 1880s and by 1930s some two hundred climbing resorts opened in the Elbsandstein region. As the sport evolved grading system was introduced to analyze different levels of difficulties while climbing. Both the safety equipments and climbing techniques have been evolved with the passage of time.

A climber should be mentally and physically be strong to overcome difficulties and having extensive knowledge can make the task easier. Initially the climbers can learn in pairs, while one learns to climb the other can belay or feed the rope from either end of the rock structure. Incase the climber falls, the belayer can lock off the rope. When multiple climbers climb, the leader can connect a rope with carabiners or quickdraws as a protection measure. A more risky method, simul-climbing, involves the leader and the team members to move at the same time, giving less time to belay the rope.

There are many variations to the traditional rock climbing. They can be broadly classified into free climbing and aid climbing. Climbers do not use any kind of equipment in free climbing and in aid climbing; equipments are used to support the weight of the body against the rocks, which have less natural formation.

In lead climbing, the leader of the group of climber ties the rope to his body and starts to climb the rock structure first, followed by his other team members who have the same rope tied to their individual bodies. In traditional lead climbing, the leader places bolts into the rock to ascend and the followers use the same bolts. The cleaner is responsible to remove the bolts so that no trace is left of the path taken. If any of the climbers' slips or falls, they will lower themselves on to the ground to start over again, instead on resting on the rope.

In sport lead climbing, bolts are already laid into the rocks so the leader doesn't have to carry extra equipment with him. But in this case, there is a risk of bolts rusting as they are laid before hand, and if precaution isn't taken it can be dangerous. If any of the climbers falls, he will rest on the rope and will try to climb again.

When a rope is suspended from an anchor, which is placed on the top of the rock structure, this technique of climbing is known as top rope climbing. This involves a solo climber who is belayed from either the top or the bottom of the hill.

Short climbs on tough boulders is known as bouldering. Some climbers use safety ropes, which are dropped above them and some, find bouldering mat more useful. In case a climber falls, spotting from the ground level by other climbers can break his fall.

Solo climbing involves a single climber who uses rope and protection devices to get to the top of the stone structure. Free solo climbing involves a single climber who uses nothing but natural features of the rock formation to ascend.

Since rock climbing has become more of a lifestyle now, indoor climbing has been on the rise. It is also a good way to get started. An environment is created indoor with the help of wood, plastic and fiberglass.

Rock climbing can be hazardous from environment point of view. Because bolts are driven into the rocks, this can be really harmful if done on a large scale. Other than this, soil erosion, garbage, human excretion, damage to native plants by introduction of foreign plant which grow from the seeds brought by clothing and shoes, etc. are other possible harmful effects. To reduce these effects, it is recommended to practice clean climbing.