No abdominal machines or gadgets work as effective and safe as a stability ball. Here’s why…

When you sit in a machine, it stabilizes your body and your stabilizer muscles are not called into action. Not training your body to integrate other muscles to work together with the abdominal and deep core muscles creates strength imbalances and leads to injuries over the long term.

The benefits of training with stability ball include:

1. enhances balance, stability and control of deep muscles.

There are deep abdominal and back muscles that work as stabilizers for entire body. These muscles work together to protect spine and help with daily activities eg: lifting, throwing, bending, reaching, etc. When training with a swiss ball, the nature and instability improves centre of balance and activate stabilizer muscles. Unconditioned stabilizer muscles can lead to injury.

2. improves posture and support around joints.

Training with stability ball involves full range of motion and recruits additional muscle groups to maintain proper form. As the ball moves freely, it creates a wider range of motion for working the joints and keeping them flexible.

3 . greater muscle strength and endurance.

I’ve been training with stability ball for several years, and teach fitball classes twice a week. It’s an excellent piece of fitness equipment that I can’t live without. A simple ball indeed, but with many uses. It can be used not only for abdominal workout, but also total body workout.

In Firm & Flatten Your Abs, David Grisaffi explains the importance of core training. A complete abdominal training should not only focus on working superficial muscles (that gives the six-pack appearance), it must also strengthen and develop the underlying muscles. Strengthening the hidden muscles is crucial to preventing injury and improving physical performance. A core training program decreases the likelihood of back pain, neck pain, incontinence, ruptured disks, torn muscles and strained ligaments.

Your abdominal workout is not limited to crunches, sit ups and leg raises only. There are hundreds of exercises you can do for the core and abdominals. You don’t need fancy gym equipment. Most of the ab exercises in Firm & Flatten Your Abs can be done at home with a stability ball and bench only. A few of the abdominal exercises require cable apparatus which can be replaced with a light dumbbell.

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Personally, I find weight training builds muscle but not strength. Again, I’m speaking from my experience and for myself only. My upper body is weak, a common problem for most females. I manage to build strength in my shoulders, chest and arms by doing chest and tricep (close grip) push ups on toes (started on knees when I wasn’t strong enough).

Craig Ballantyne’s Turbulence Training program (deluxe edition) offers many types of bodyweight workouts. I decided to try Bodyweight Turbulence Training Phase 2: Circuit Training Conditioning from the bonus book, Bodyweight TT 6-month Manual. There are 6 phases in this manual, from beginner to various advanced workout, where each phase is performed for 4 weeks before moving on.

I didn’t get to do Phase 2… because while in a hurry to go to the gym, I wrote down Bodyweight Turbulence Training Phase 3: Advanced Bodyweight Strength Training (workout A) instead! Only noticed my mistake only when I was at the gym. Anyway, I just went ahead with the Phase 3 bodyweight workout… which was tough and challenging. There are 5 supersets in a circuit. No rest between 2 exercises in a superset. Perform 3 rounds of each superset, with 1 minute rest after a superset, before moving to the next/new superset. Number of reps shown in bracket.

A1: Prisoner squat (15)

A2: Feet on ball push up (12)

B1: Bulgarian split squat (24)

B2: Chin up (Max 1)

C1: 1-leg ball curl (20)

C2: Spiderman push up (12)

D1: Walking lunge (24)

D2: Side plank leg lift (10)

E1: Rotate lunge (16)

E2: Ball jacknife (15)

This is only workout A.

There are 3 workouts in Phase 3: workout A, B & C, to be performed with a rest day in between.

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I just had soft boiled eggs for breakfast: 4 whites and 1 yolk.

For many years, I was led to believe that egg yolks would raise blood cholesterol levels and whole egg consumption should be limited to 3 per week. My impression was:

egg yolk = unhealthy!

I rarely ate whole eggs then as I didn’t wanna get high cholesterol.

One day, I read in the newspaper that dietary cholesterol in yolks does not necessary increase blood cholesterol levels. In addition, scientific research has not shown an association between egg consumption and heart disease. Good news!

But what about the effect of whole eggs on fat loss? My dear friend, Tom Venuto, shares his views in the following article “Whole Eggs: Dietary Evil or the New Superfood”.

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Whole Eggs: Dietary Evil or the New Superfood
By Tom Venuto
www.BurnTheFat.com

QUESTION: Tom, I’m really confused about eggs. I’m not even sure if you’re going to be able to answer this or not, but to me and I’m sure others, it’s a very confusing and important topic. I only use egg whites because I did believe that the yolks are bad because of cholesterol and saturated fat. But with the studies coming out saying we are missing all of the best nutrients by throwing the yolks out it is very confusing. Could you please help clarify this issue? I have attached an article I got from another e-book author for your reference about what I’ve been reading, which spurred my frustration to contact you.

ANSWER: It’s overly simplistic to say that the saturated or animal fats cause heart disease. It’s even more simplistic and incorrect to say that foods high in dietary cholesterol such as egg yolks, will always lead to an increase in cholesterol in the blood.

Many other factors are involved, including the type of saturated fat, individual genetics, current health status, exercise and the big picture of what else is consumed in the rest of the diet.Research Says Eggs Are Not Evil

Recent research has been showing that the cholesterol in eggs is handled by most people’s bodies in a way that doesn’t cause heart disease and that dietary cholesterol does not necessarily translate to increased blood cholesterol or an unfavorable ratio of HDL to LDL cholesterol.

After a recent study published in The Journal Of Nutrition, Dr. Robert Nicolosi at the University of Massachusetts said, “Our data shows that eating an egg a day is not a factor for raising cholesterol.”

A study reported at the 2006 experimental biology meeting in San Francisco made similar findings. The researchers discovered that when people ate three or more eggs per day, the amount of low density lipoprotein (LDL) in their bloodstream did in fact increase as previously reported.

However they also found that the subjects actually made bigger LDL particles which were less likely to enter artery walls and build up as artery-clogging plaque.

As a result of these and similar findings, head researcher Christine Green said that a growing body of scientific evidence suggests that eggs should not be considered a “dietary evil.”Whole Eggs Have “Super-Food” Qualities

Whole eggs have a lot going for them nutritionally speaking. The egg yolks contain a highly bioavailable source of lutein and zeaxanthin which are carotenoids that protect against cataracts and macular degeneration.

Eggs are a great source of high biological value, complete protein and the protein is split almost evenly between the yolk and the white. One large egg contains 6.3 grams of protein with 3.5 grams in the white and 2.8 grams in the yolk.

Although whole eggs appear to have been exonerated, it still may not be wise to suggest that anyone can eat eggs in unlimited quantities, for both health and body composition reasons.

Dr. Udo Erasumus in his book, Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill, said that in 70% of the affluent populations of the world, increased cholesterol consumption decreases cholesterol production in the body through a regulating feedback system that protects them. The other 30% of the population may not have adequate feedback, and are wise to limit their dietary cholesterol consumption.Unlimited egg consumption is also not wise from a caloric perspective. In a fat burning program, you need to consider calories as well as nutritional value and health impact.

Whole Eggs And Fat Loss

Whole eggs are not low calorie foods - they’re fairly calorie dense, while egg whites are extremely low in calories, which is why egg whites are one of the top choices for lean protein on fat loss and bodybuilding diets.

Now that this news about the health value of whole eggs is starting to become more widely circulated, bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts have been criticized for their long held practice of throwing away the egg yolks.

However, In all my years of training and consulting, even back in the late 1980’s, and 1990’s I’ve never thrown away all my yolks.

My menu plans typically contain one or two whole eggs with 8-12 egg whites. I know that’s a lot, but that’s a man-sized bodybuilder meal. For non-bodybuilders or people with lower calorie needs, it might be one whole egg and 3-6 whites.

Why do I do this? Because this provides the high protein without so many calories.Take a look at this egg white - egg yolk comparison:

3 whole large eggs: 225 calories, 18.9 g protein, 15 g fat
8 egg whites & 1 whole egg: 211 calories, 34.3 g protein, 5 g fatDo you see what was accomplished here? I didn’t remove egg yolks because I’m afraid of cholesterol. I removed most of the egg yolks because I was on a calorie budget and I was on a higher protein diet and I wanted more protein with fewer calories. Make sense?

Another reason that bodybuilders use liquid egg whites so often is for convenience. They can pour them from the carton right into the fry pan and they don’t have to do all that shell cracking and egg white separating.

Let me leave you with a funny story.
Whole Eggs - “Better Than Steroids?”

When I started bodybuilding as a teenager, I latched onto the teachings of a bodybuilding guru trainer from North Hollywood named Vince Gironda.

Gironda trained all the top movie stars back in his day including Erik Estrada, Clint Eastwood, Tommy Chong, Carl “Apollo Creed” Weathers and too many others to mention.

He was also the Trainer of bodybuilding champions such as Larry Scott, the First Mr. Olympia, and believe it or not, he was Arnold’s first trainer when Joe Weider sent the budding young star to America from Austria.Gironda had been saying from day one (back in the 1950’s and 1960’s) that the whole egg was “nature’s perfect food” and he compared them to “natural steroids.”

On some of his low carb “muscle definition” diets, he said you could eat as many whole eggs as you wanted and even scramble them in butter. He said that he had some of his champion bodybuilders on up to three dozen eggs a day!I didn’t really understand what a ketogenic diet was at the time, but being an obedient, guru-following teenage bodybuilder, desperate for muscle, I did what he said. I ate up to 3 dozen whole eggs a day for months on end.

Well, there was no miraculous steroid-like effect, and I didn’t drop dead of a heart attack either.One thing I did notice is that I DID NOT LOSE FAT like Gironda said I would.

The reason should be obvious: three dozen whole eggs is 2700 calories (more if you use extra large or jumbo eggs). I was at nearly maintenance calories from the eggs alone, and eggs weren’t the only thing I was eating.Gironda, like many other low carb gurus, did not place any restrictions on calories, only on foods. Gironda was a genius, years ahead of his time, but this was the flaw in his program. Even on low carb diets, you STILL need a caloric deficit to lose body fat.

Thus, my approach changed and I started removing yolks to keep me more easily within my caloric deficit without losing the quality protein… but I never cut all the yolks because of their nutritional value.

To this day, I still keep one or two yolks in my omelettes and scrambles… sometimes more, as long as it fits in my calorie budget.

Get crackin!

Tom Venuto
Fat Loss Coach
www.BurnTheFat.com

P.S. One last thing. Keep in mind that the quality of the egg is only as good as the quality of the bird it came from. This is why many health experts recommend free range eggs and/or omega-3 eggs.

P.P.S. For more information about fat burning nutrition, visit: www.BurnTheFat.com

About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilder, certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) and a certified personal trainer (CPT). Tom is the author of “Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using methods of the world’s best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com

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This morning, I did the 6-minute ab supersets by Craig Ballantyne (watch how he does it in the video below) after my weight training.

There are 4 abdominal exercises and 2 supersets.

1st superset:
Exercise 1: side plank
Exercise 2: stability ball roll out

2nd superset:
Exercise 3: Bird dog
Exercise 4: Cross body mountain climber

Each superset is performed twice with 30 seconds rest after completing 2 exercises. The 2 supersets are done within 6 minutes.

Personally, I find crunch free abdominal exercises are very effective for conditioning my abs. In the past, I used to do lots of crunches and sit ups on the floor but with minimal results.

In Craig Ballantyne’s Turbulence Training For Abs program, he offers superb crunch free belly fat burning workouts using bodyweight abs exercises and interval training to lose stomach fat, burn calories and get 6-pack abs.

All exercises in Turbulence Training For Abs can be done at home using a stability ball and dumbells.

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Mark it down.

Make a plaque, put it on your wall.

Get it tattooed on your arm.

Because…

Monday, Sept. 22nd is the day you’ll remember as being THE day when you turned your health around.

Perhaps…

You have everything in life. Great spouse, wonderful kids, job you enjoy, comfortable house. A great life.

But you’re tired. You’re a little heavy. Can’t keep up with the kids. Falling asleep after lunch everyday at your desk. Indigestion. Can’t sleep at night. Blood pressure creeping up.
Pants ain’t fitting. Bathing suit unworn for 3 seasons now. Sick and tired of looking and feeling like you do.

This is your chance to change it all.

Today is the final, absolute last chance to start your 12 full weeks of the Turbulence Training Transformation Contest.

Just imagine the difference you can make between now and Dec. 14th by doing a body transformation that will change your life, because…

=> You could get a raise, since research shows that overweight folks are discriminated against when it comes to income.

=> It will give you the confidence to meet the love of your life.

=> Losing fat has already given so many Turbulence Training users more freedom, less embarrassment, and more happiness.

And remember…

The Contest is Free.

BUT it ends 12 weeks from today…so start now!

AND…

You don’t have to spend any money.

You don’t have to “register” anywhere.

You don’t even need to post your photos on the Internet if you don’t want to…

All you need to do is…

1) Start using the Turbulence Training workouts ASAP.

2) Send in your before and after photos by Dec. 14th, along with your 300-word story about how the contest changed your life.

Take a look at the details and then stop wasting time.

Get started changing your body right now. It’s never too late.

Click this link to get the proven TT exercise & diet system:

Turbulence Training

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I perform the medicine ball slam as part of my explosive ab workout. Here’s how I do it:

1. Start position: Hold medicine ball with your arms extended overhead.
2. In one continuous motion, bring the ball down in front of you like you are chopping wood.
3. You will have to bend at your knees (or squat) to complete this.
4. Drive the ball up to starting position and repeat.

The difference between this ab exercise and the one described by Craig below is that I don’t move my legs. My feet are shoulder-width (or slightly more) apart. These 2 variations of medicine ball slam are equally effective.

Try it out yourself!

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A new research study showed that doing ab exercises “faster” (aka explosively) lead to more work done by the ab muscles.

Here’s what you need to know about this study, and why this info is both good and bad.

First of all, there are two ways to increase the amount of muscle used in any movement. One is to increase the resistance, and the second is to increase the velocity.

Both require more muscle fibers to produce force, and more importantly, recruit your fast twitch muscles. However, while this is an interesting report about the abs, we have to be careful not to take it to extremes.

First, explosive movements cause more muscle damage, and that means more muscle soreness.

Second, you can’t talk about the abs without talking about the low-back and spine. Your low-back and abs want endurance for health and safety, but we want maximum abdominal recruitment for six pack abs.

So here’s the best way to keep everyone happy…

a) do only one explosive ab movement per workout
b) do at least one ab endurance exercise per workout

Explosive Ab Exercises

-> Medicine ball slams
-> Sledgehammer swings
-> Kettlebell swings
-> Sandbag swings
-> Band pulldowns

A medicine ball slam is just like an angry soccer throw in.

Hold the ball at waist height, step forward with one leg while raising the ball overhead (stretching your abs), as you plant your foot, reverse your arm direction and contract your abs and drive the medicine ball into the ground. Pick the ball up and repeat for 6 reps.

After you’ve done your explosive ab exercise, you can do something like a plank, side plank, or plank with your arms on the ball for your abdominal endurance exercise.

That will help you work more of your abs while supporting your “core” muscles - plus you don’t have to suffer the dishonor of crunches.

About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training For Abs workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit Turbulence Training For Abs website.

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Assuming that you are on a clean diet, you can overcome weight loss plateau by increasing energy expenditure and hence calories burned. Consider changing the type, intensity, frequency and duration of cardio and/or weight training.

Need workout ideas? Check out the following workout videos at:

==> Workout Videos

You’ll find circuit training, high intensity interval training, ab exercises, butt exercises, hotel room workout, shoulder mobility exercises, etc.

Have fun!

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I change my workouts regularly to avoid weight loss plateau. These new workouts really left me huffing and puffing. That’s what I wanted. The higher the intensity, the higher the heart rate and the more fat you burn.

The new workouts encompass free weights and bodyweight exercises that work every part of your body. They are just 2 of the several workouts designed by Vince Del Monte in his new “Your Six Pack Quest” program which will be released to the public very soon.

Thanks to my buddy, Vince, I’ve had the opportunity to view the whole program (before anyone else does) …

Amazing!

Want to know the pros and cons of this program? Stay tuned…

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At least 7 scientific studies have provided strong evidence that energy containing beverages (i.e., “liquid calories”) do not properly activate the satiety mechanisms in the body and brain and do not satisfy the appetite as well as food in solid form.

Epidemiological research also supports a positive association between calorie-containing beverage consumption and increased body weight or body mass index. New research now suggests that soda may not be the only culprit…

The primary source of liquid calories in the United States Diet is carbohydrate, namely soda. Now running a close second are specialty and dessert coffees. Did you know that a 16 ounce Frappucino can contain 500 calories or even more! That’s one-third of a typical female’s daily calorie intake while on a fat loss program.

A recent study at Purdue University published in the International Journal of Obesity set out to learn even more about this bodyfat - liquid calories relationship.

Researchers compared solid and beverage forms of foods composed primarily of carbohydrate, fat or protein in order to document the independent effect of food form in foods with different dominant macronutrient sources.

Based on previous research, some experts have recommended targeting specific beverages as being “worse” than others. High fructose corn syrup and soda has been singled out the most and you’ve probably seen that yourself in the news.

There’s no question that soda has been on top of the “hit list” for some time now, by virtue of the amounts and frequency of consumption alone.

However, this recent study says that from a pure energy balance perspective, we should be cautious about ALL liquid calories, not just soda and not just carbohydrates!

Fruit juice for example, appears to be an obvious improvement over soda, so many people have swapped out their soda for fruit juice. However, when fruit juice is compared to an equal amount of calories from whole fruit, the whole fruit satisfies appetite better (largely due to the bulk and fiber content), and so you tend to eat fewer calories for the day.

[On an interesting side note, soup does not seem to apply; soup has higher satiety value than calorie containing beverages, possibly for mere cognitive reasons.]

If you were to meticulously track your calories from beverages and you made sure that your calories remained the same for the day, whether liquid or solid, there would probably be little or no difference in your body composition.

But that’s not what usually happens in free-living humans. Most people do not accurately track or report their caloric intake. Our mistake is that we tend to drink calories IN ADDITION TO our usual food intake, not instead of it.

Men are especially guilty of this when they drink alcohol - Men tend to drink AND eat, while women tend to drink INSTEAD OF eating.

This new research found that with all three macronutrients - protein, carbs or fat - daily calorie intake was significantly greater when the beverage form was consumed as compared to the solid.

Yes, it’s true! Even protein drinks did not satisfy the appetite the way that protein foods did!

While you would think that protein drinks are purely a good thing, because protein foods have been proven to reduce appetite and increase satiety, if you turn a solid protein food into a protein drink, it loses it’s appetite suppressive properties in the same way that happens when you turn fruit into fruit juice.

[NOTE: After weight training workouts, liquid nutrition may have benefits that outweigh any downside, especially on muscle-gaining programs]

Why do liquid calories fail to elicit the same response as whole foods? reasons include:

• high calorie density
• lower satiety value
• more calories ingested in short period of time
• lower demand for oral processing
• shorter gastrointestinal transit times
• energy in beverages has greater bioaccessibility and bioavailability
• mechanisms may include cognitive, orosensory, digestive, metabolic, endocrine and neural influences (human appetite is a complex thing!!!)
• last but not least, nowhere in our history have our ancestors had access to large amounts of liquid calories. Alcohol may have been around as far back as several thousand years BC, but even that is a blip on the evolutionary calendar of humanity.

As a result, our genetic code has never developed the physiological mechanisms to properly register the caloric content in liquids the way it does when you eat, chew and swallow whole foods.

Bottom line: This study suggests that we shouldn’t just target one type of liquid calories such as soda. If you’re trying to beat body fat, it’s wise to limit all types of liquid calories and eat whole foods as much as possible.

Start by ditching the soda. Then ditch the high calorie dessert coffees. Then cut back on the alcohol. From there, be cautious even about milk, juice and protein drinks.

Drink water or tea instead, or limited amounts of black coffee - without all the high calorie extras.

If you do consume any beverages that contain calories, such as protein shakes, be sure to account for those calories meticulously and be sure you don’t drink them in addition to your usual food intake, but in place of an equal amount of food calories.

Remember, those protein shakes you might be drinking are called “meal replacements” not “free calories!”

For many years I have suggested focusing primarily on whole foods rather than liquids, even protein shakes. Unlike so many other fat reduction programs, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle does not require any kind of liquid meal replacement or protein drinks and our company does not exist to sell supplements; we are here to educate you and millions of others about the realities of body fat loss.

We now have even more scientific data that confirms what Burn The Fat has been teaching all along.

I hope you found this helpful. You can learn more about “Burn The Fat” at Burn The Fat website

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
Fat Loss Coach
Burn The Fat

Reference: Effects of food form on appetite and energy intake in lean and obese young adults. International Journal of Obesity. 2007 Nov (11):1688-95. Mourao DM, Bressan J, Campbell WW, Mattes RD. Department of Foods and Nutrition, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2059, USA.

About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilder, certified personal trainer and freelance fitness writer. Tom is the author of “Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world’s best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: burn the fat website

Tags: calories,, liquid, calories,, protein, drink,, shake,, smoothie,, lose, weight,, loose, weight,, weight, loss,, fat, loss,, burn, the, fat,, burn, the, fat, feed, the, muscle,, BFFM,, tom, venuto

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It’s one thing for someone who sits at a computer all day and never exercises to have back pain, but for a bodybuilder, someone who
spends hours and hours each week pouring everything they’ve got into building muscle, it should be criminal!

The reason we say this is because, if you are going to spend so much time, money, and energy trying to build the “perfect body”, you have
to make sure that you not only look good, but also feel good…

We’ve identified what we call “Bodybuilding Sins” that lead to back pain, sciatic pain, and other injuries… read em and take action now
if you are serious about bodybuilding and are fed up with your back pain.

Because there is so much information to share with you, we’ve broken it down into a series of 5 articles, each covering a different
component of how back pain affects bodybuilders.

Here’s a breakdown of the articles to look for:

1. Article #1 - Choosing The WRONG Exercises (below)
2. Article #2 - Training Variations for Pain Relief and Maximum Results
3. Article #3 - Targeted Stretching
4. Article #4 - Targeted Exercises
5. Article #5 - Rest, Recovery, and Injury Prevention

Article #1 - Choosing the WRONG Exercises

Get ready, this is gonna hurt! The exercises most bodybuilders focus on the most, are the ones that cause the most problems…
hopefully, you’re different.

But before we share with you what those exercise are, let’s talk real quickly about what bodybuilding is…

The goal of bodybuilding isn’t to get as big as you can, or at least to us it isn’t and shouldn’t be, but to build a balanced body that is as strong as possible in every way. For example, while being freakishly big may get people’s attention, it serves you no purpose at all…
while on the other hand, what if you were not only big, but also extremely strong and powerful, lightning fast, flexible, and agile enough to kick ass if needed?

So many bodybuilders build massive amounts of muscle yet are so unbelievably weak and inflexible… for example, we know a guy who can bench press over 350 lbs but can’t do a measly 50 push-ups!

The point is, the exercises you choose and how you perform them not only determine how big, strong, and flexible you are, but also affect how your body functions and whether or not you suffer from aches, pains, and injuries like back pain and sciatic pain.

Ok, here they are… the exercises that create the most problems and are most likely to lead to back pain:

1. Bench Press

2. Leg Extension

So, any of your favorites on this list?

While there are others, these are the two that cause the most damage.

There are several reasons why these exercises made our list of the “worst bodybuilding exercises”. First, both of them target areas that already tend to get worked a lot in everyday life and often times are overdeveloped…

and by focusing so much on these exercises you end up creating muscle imbalances, or worsening existing muscle imbalances, which pull your bones and joints out of their normal position…

and this leads to uneven pressure and wear and tear on your muscle, ligaments, tendons, bones, and joints and will sooner or later lead a break down or injury.

For example, chronic overuse of the bench press, coupled with little or no exercises targeting the upper back, leads to an overdevelopment of the chest and a lack of strength and development in the upper back…

This all too common combination leads to what we call “Turtle Back”. You know what we’re talking about, when the shoulders are pulled so far forward, lats are as wide as barn, and from behind, their back looks like a giant sea turtle shell!

This “Turtle Back” posture can create neck, upper back, and shoulder pain and injuries faster than you can pop an Advil!

Plus, how many times during your day are you forced to lie on your back and push up a bar loaded with weights? There are so many better exercises for chest development that not only stimulate more muscle, but also build more usable strength.

Now let’s talk about the fabulous thigh builder, the leg extension…

Not only does it place an unbelievable amount of strain on the knee joint, but it also will quickly overdevelop the quads, which are already getting far more work than their counterpart, the hamstrings.

An imbalance between the quadriceps and hamstrings, which is also extremely common in bodybuilders, is a key contributor to back pain. This imbalance is easily identifiable by what people often call “Bubble Butt” or “Ghetto Booty”.

So hopefully you can see how important it is to choose your exercises wisely. We strongly recommend you cut out these exercises, or at least cut back on using them and add in targeted exercises for the opposing muscle groups and targeted stretches for those tight, overdeveloped muscles.

The key to eliminating back pain, or any other ache, pain or injury for that matter, is to bring your body closer to balance…

What good is muscle if you can’t use it? How many more workouts are you going to miss because of back, neck, or shoulder pain?
How much bigger and stronger could you be if back pain and other injuries weren’t ruining your training?

Just imagine how bad things will be 10, 20, or 30 years from now if you don’t make changes to your training now… but don’t take our word for it, ask some of the older bodybuilders who are paying the price now… you can spot them easily at the gym because they limp around trying to find something they CAN do.

Click here for Part II of this article:
“Training Variations for Pain Relief and Maximum Results”

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