This is going to be the first entry in my “how to” series. I will be writing many how to guides in the future, hopefully answering a lot of the questions that the reader of this blog have. Today I’m going to be showing you how to improve your grip strength.

Grip strength is so important, not just for weight training but for many sports like rock climbing, MMA, wrestling, powerlifting, strongman etc. Good grip strength is essential for all weight trainers, and there are some good exercises available that will help you increase your gripping power!

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Should you do your cardio before or after your weight training? This is another question I’ve seen asked time and time again. For some reason (I have no idea why!), it has always been common place for weight training to follow cardio. This is the wrong way to do it, no matter what your goal, cardio should always be done after weight training and here’s why…

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It’s Q&A time again! I got the same question 3 times this week, so I think I should address it here since the answer was the same for each of the 3 people that wrote in and asked the question. The questions all went something like this:

“I have been working out for X months. I have been training hard using X workout routine and taking X supplements . I am not getting any bigger!? I have put on [insert small weight here] pounds in [insert long time here]. I should be getting bigger but I’m not growing. Please help!”

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Just a quick post today to let everyone know that I added a new tips section with a whole bunch of solid tips to help you achieve your goals!

I’m sure there are plenty more tips that ya’ll know so leave them in the comments at the bottom of the tips page.

Click here to view the new tips page!

Today I’m going to talk about beating plateaus and bringing up lagging body parts using pre exhaust training. Lagging body parts, we’ve all got them. Plateaus, we’ve all experienced them. Both these situations require that your training be that bit more intense, to stimulate more muscle growth. Enter, pre exhausting!

What is pre exhausting?

Pre exhausting involves exhausting a muscle with an isolation exercise, then hitting it with a big compound exercise with no rest in between sets. Sounds hard? It is, and it needs to be. Pre exhausting is often used by professional bodybuilders to bring up lagging body parts in the lead up to shows, and as I mentioned above, it’s great for busting through plateaus where your muscle either hasn’t increased in size, or strength.

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If you want to grow bigger you have to eat more calories that you burn, every day. For some people that’s easy, but for others it can be a huge task! There are loads of ways you can ensure you get the calories you need to grow, even if you have a busy lifestyle. I have received a number of emails from readers telling me “it’s impossible to eat that much”, or “I don’t get time to eat that much”. If you have that problem, help is at hand!

Calories are essential for growth. Don’t get enough calories and you don’t grow, simple as that. So if you’re not prepared to eat the food and take the supplements that your body needs you may as well give up now. Not ready to give up? Great, here’s some tips for you!

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The events calendar for natural bodybuilding in the UK has just been released. Below you’ll find a list of all the natural bodybuilding events being held and the dates.

If you’re interested I urge you to head down and support the natural scene. These guys don’t use steroids, HGH or any pharmaecutical drugs to achieve awesome physiques. To check out some of the top natural bodybuilders check out the awesome natural physiques post I made.

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Today I thought I’d post up a few of the muscle building resources that I use from around the web! So here’s the list:

•  Workout Routines over at Muscle&Strength. Loads of sites have routines, but the ones on this site are well thought out and tailored for different goals, experience etc.
• For calorie tracking I use FitDay (not always the most accurate, but their tools are easy to use). I’d definitely check them out if you’re losing weight especially.
• I read the Natural Bodybuilding Forum at Muscle&Strength every day. A bunch of really good guys there with a no BS attitude to getting bigger and fitter.
• 4 Supplement Reviews has decent reviews of different bodybuilding supplements which I read via RSS. They have also launched a new section where users can post their reviews as comments which is usually pretty interesting.
• Dave Draper’s blog – there’s usually something interesting to read here. Again, I use RSS to keep up with posts easily.
• Joe DiAngelo is a personal trainer from NYC who gets awesome results with his clients. His blog is always a good read.

That’s about it. If you want to add any sites to this list leave them in  the comments!

You’ve probably heard the term on bodybuilding sites and magazines, but what exactly does hypertrophy mean? Muscle hypertrophy is a scientific term for the growth and increase of the size of muscle cells. Hypertrophy is what we train for, to grow new lean muscle!

Natural hypertrophy is at its peak during puberty, and usually stops in the late teen to early twenties. Muscle hypertrophy can be increased with the use of weight training. High intensity anaerobic exercise has been shown as the best type of exercise for hypertrophy.

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We’ve all been there…reading through articles and coming across words and thinking, “what the hell does that mean?”. I’ve created a list of popular bodybuilding and fitness terms and slang and I explain the meaning of each one. Enjoy!

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