The Original Muscle Weight Gain & Muscle Building Blog!!

According to the American Council on Exercise, stretching is an important aspect of your weight lifting routine aimed at building muscle and gaining weight. Instead of heading straight to the showers after your intense workout routine, take a few minutes to work on your flexibility. Stretching moves are very important in increasing your range of motion, releasing muscle tension and soreness, reducing your risk of injury and increasing physical and mental relaxation. Stretch slowly with no bouncing whatsoever. Remember to breath throughout the movements.

The more agile your muscles are the easier it will be to create a good pump and burn needed to build muscle mass naturally and gain weight fast.

According to The Tan Sheet, some supplements contain prescription drugs that could be dangerous or get you busted during a drug test. In the past few years a significant number of weight lifters were caught for taking the banned anabolic steroid nandrolone, also known as Deca or Deca Durabolin. Those who are informed know that this particular anabolic steroid can stay in blood system for more than 6 months after stopping usage, mainly done for muscle building and weight gain purposes.

However, what was found in some of these cases was that these trainers took bodybuilding supplements contaminated (known as “spiking”) with small amounts of nandrolone. The Food and Drug Administration, also known as the FDA, announced that it plans to step up efforts to eliminate illegal ingredients in food supplements and enforce regulations against supplement makers who make unsubstantiated health claims for their products.

I know, I know. You’ve heard it over a billion times that you must drink water and to all of its benefits. Well, hey, here’s one more for you.

According to a column in Mens Health, water is a powerful lifting aid. University of Connecticut researchers discovered that men who hydrated with water before lifting completed 17% more reps per set during a lower body workout than thirsty exercisers.

Turns out, your nervous system slows your muscle activation when you’re not adequately hydrated, continues to report the column.

My take: I completely agree with the fact that the majority of us do not drink enough water. The advantages that water provides are way too many not to drink it. I mean, c’mon, it’s free (unless you’re foolish enough to shell out $2.00 for tap water just because it comes in some fancy looking water with a beautiful water fall on the label). Water is one of the few substances that can actually make a difference in your muscle building / weight gain goals.

In my latest article I discuss some of the reasons that muscle building workouts can have the side effect of getting rid of chronic pain without the use of NSAIDs or other painkillers.

Read the new article here:
Get Rid of Chronic Pain By Weight Lifting

According to a column in MuscleMag International, researchers have discovered that eating garlic appears to boost our natural supply of hydrogen sulfide, which acts as an antioxidant and transmits cellular signals that relax blood vessels and increase blood flow. Boosting hydrogen sulfide production may help to protect against various cancers, including breast, prostate and colon cancer. Higher concentrations of hydrogen sulfide may also protect your heart.

The downside of a garlic-rich diet, continues to report MuscleMag, is that to take advantage of all of its benefits, you’d have to consume 8-12 cloves every day. You could simply add garlic to every meal you eat throughout the day, but you’d have to deal with the bad breath that comes with eating it. Maximize garlic’s health benefits when cooking with it by crushing the cloves at room temperature and letting them sit for about 15 minutes to allow the trigger of an enzyme reaction that boosts garlic’s healthy compounds.

Hey, even though your primary objective may be muscle building or gaining weight naturally, you must have healthy heart that will pump nutrient-rich blood to the working muscles.

On Saturday the 23rd of February, Biggest Loser Trainer, Kim Lyons and IFBB Pro Bodybuilder, Gunter Schlierkamp will be at the grand opening of the Max Muscle store in Denver, Colorado. There’s even a possibility that Phil Heath perhaps may make an appearance, being that he is the newly crowned IronMan Pro champion and is from the Denver Area.

It’s unbelievable how everyone has made carbs public enemy #1……….then wonder why they can’t gain any muscle weight.

Read my latest article to have more light shed on this matter:
Latest muscle building article

According to a column in MuscleMag, olive oil is touted as being healthy for your heart, but it is also beneficial for your stomach. Researchers at Valme University Hospital in Seville, Spain, combined virgin olive oil with H. pylori, which causes most peptic ulcers and come types of stomach cancer, in a test tube containing acid similar to that found in your stomach. The oil killed eight different strains of the powerful bacteria, 3 of which even antibiotics couldn’t defeat.

Olive oil’s high level of polyphenols is credited for the results.

My take: hey, anything that keeps your digestive system and internals organs running smoothly is always going to bode well for your muscle building / weight gaining goals.

This weekend, professional bodybuilder Phil Heath won in decisive manner. Adding at least 15 pounds of new muscle in the last year, definitely bringing up body parts that he considered needed some working on, such has his shoulders, is now laying to rest any doubts to whether if he is the next big thing in bodybuilding or not. Amazing how someone who has only competed in 3 or 4 professional bodybuilding competitions, yet has won 3 of them.

There are some pros that compete for years and years on end and never rich the top…….much less as quickly as Phil Heath. Stay tuned for more to come with this individual, namely, the fast approaching 2008 Arnold Classic.

Here are the results of this competition:

15.Ray Arde
14.JoJo Ntiforo
13.Khalid Almohsinawi
12.David Henry
11.Will Harris
10. King Kamali
9. Troy Alves
8. Toney Freeman
7. Eddie Abbew
6. Desmond Miller
5. Johnnie Jackson
4. Silvio Samuel
3. Mo Elmoussawi
2. Gustavo Badell
1. Phil Heath

According to a story at FoxNews.com, Aditya “Romeo” Dev of Phagwara, India, is a little person who is only 2 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs not even 20 pounds, yet he causes a lot of stir on a daily basis when he works out at the local gym.

In 2006, after months of intense exercise, the Guinness Book of World Records named Dev the smallest bodybuilder on the planet.

It’s individuals like Aditya that are true inspiration, because he doesn’t let anything stand in his way of reaching his muscle building goals. If someone that only weighs 20 pounds and is less than 3 feet tall can engage in a healthy weight gaining (of muscle, of course) lifestyle, why not all of us.

Two quick news bits for today’s Muscle Weight Gain & Muscle Building Blog:

First, there’s been two very tragic deaths recently. According to reports by GetBig, Dr. Bruce Nadler, who has assisted several competitive bodybuilders, is said to have shot and killed his wife Terri, and then turned around and committed suicide. This is said to have occured in the Park La Brea area of Los Angeles on Saturday. Both individuals were 61 years old.

And in lighter news, the muscle building radio show Professional Bodybuilding Weekly has announced that on tonight’s episode they will be talking legend Bob Paris, and will be discussing the upcoming IronMan competition.

If you’re like me, sleeping can be a task onto itself. Many of us have a degree of difficulty in getting good night’s sleep. Sleep, without a shadow of a doubt, is very important because it is an essential piece of the muscle building - recuperation puzzle.

Magnesium MAY help some individuals sleep better. This mineral helps the body produce melatonin, which is a substance found in the brain that tells the body to “chill out”. Some recommend to take 200 mgs in the late evening.

According to GetBig.com, Erik “The Viking” Fromm was found dead at his Wisconsin home last night. It has not been found out or made public what was the exact cause of his untimely and sudden death. Erik was a consistent top 10 NPC Super-Heavyweight Bodybuilder.

Erik has appeared on many advertisements and photos in leading bodybuilding muscle magazines. He was only 36 years old! Incredibly sad and tragic, to say the least. More will be posted on this Muscle Weight Gain & Muscle Building Blog as it’s released.