FREE Fitness Articles For Your Website! Increase your site traffic now! Use the professionally-written fat loss, muscle-building and exercise articles you find in the BetterU News Archive FREE on your website. Click here for details

NOTE: All articles in BetterU News are written by Nick Nilsson -
http://www.fitstep.com/ unless otherwise credited.

---

Training on the Edge - Learn How Overtraining on Purpose Can Get You Maximum Results FAST! We've always been told that it's bad to overtrain. Guess what? Overtraining on purpose is where the REAL results are.

Overtraining is NOT evil. Overtraining can be exactly what you need to achieve continuous and rapid results in your training.

But first, what is overtraining? Overtraining is, most simply, training too much. Your body is unable to recover from the volume or frequency of training and begins to break down. You not only lose motivation to train, you become more susceptible to injury and illness, and you may even start to go backwards in your training, getting smaller and weaker on almost a daily basis.

So how can overtraining possibly be good for you? I'll tell you.

It all begins with the incredible adaptive power of your body. As you become more advanced in weight training, you will generally notice that you cannot make consistent gains for a long period of time on one training system. Your body quickly adapts to whatever training system you're using and hits a plateau. To get around this, it's usually recommended that you change your program every three to six weeks.

The question now is how to use this adaptive ability to your advantage.

It's really quite simple. You gradually build up to a state of temporary overtraining, then, when you're overtrained and your adaptive processes are working to their fullest capacity for recovery, you back off. This backing off results in what is called overcompensation.

Imagine you're driving a car and climbing a hill with the gas pedal to the floor. You're giving it everything you've got but you're still going up slowly. This is similar to overtraining. When you reach the top, the going gets a lot easier. If you keep the gas pedal on the floor when you go over the top and head down, you're going to go a lot faster very quickly. This is overcompensation and this is where the results are.

On a normal program, you work a bodypart, it becomes temporarily weaker, then becomes stronger as it overcompensates so you can lift more next time. What a normal program does on a small, local basis, this overtraining program does on a full body, systemic basis.

Sound good? We're not done. Now we're going to harness the power of overtraining by using what I call "Controlled Overtraining."

The overtraining or ramping phase of this Controlled Overtraining program lasts three weeks, which is about the time it takes the body to adapt to a training program. It then backs off to a fairly easy phase for three weeks.

Notes:

- Take all sets to failure. The rep ranges are simply guidelines - if you can get more reps, do them.
- Be sure to keep your workout time to less than 45 minutes for best results. Much longer and you will break yourself down too much.
- Use a timer or stopwatch to time your rest between sets. It is critical to the success of the program to keep your rest periods consistent.

Visit the following link for a day-to-day, set-by-set outline of how this training program works. Reading through the program will give you a good idea of how it all comes together.

http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Newsletter-archives/issue22-ot.htm

As you can see, you start out doing 3 sets for your bodyparts the first week, 4 sets the second week, and 5 sets the third week. While you're increasing the volume, you're simultaneously decreasing the rest period. This gradually builds you up to overtraining.

For the next three weeks, you decrease the sets and reps and increase the rest periods. This allows you to recover from the overtraining and take advantage of the overcompensation that occurs when the body is still working at dealing with the hard work and then you cut the hard work. Though it may feel like you're hardly doing anything at all, you should see some great results.

Continue this lower-volume training for at least three weeks. If, at the end of those three weeks, you are still making progress, keep going! Don't cut yourself off from any results. This phase could last as long as 6 weeks or more. When you start to slow down, however, it's time to ramp back up to overtraining. Keeping up this cycling of volume and intensity is a strategy that gives consistent results over long periods of time.

The first time you do the program, keep it exactly as it is. This will give you the best, practical experience as to how the program feels.

After that, you can try playing with the numbers a little following this general outline, perhaps starting at 3 minutes rest for the first week, 90 seconds the second week, and then dropping down to 30 seconds by the third week.

If you do decide to play with the numbers, be absolutely certain to reduce your training volume and increase your rest periods for the second three-week phase. If you don't, you will continue to overtrain yourself and you will break down.

The program that I've outlined uses a rep system called Micro-Periodization (Periodization is the cycling of rep ranges. It is traditionally conducted over a period of months, e.g. three months high reps, three months, medium reps, three months low reps.). Dividing the week into three separate phases, such as in this program, is called Micro-Periodization. It is an extremely effective format for building strength and muscle mass.

---

As you can see, overtraining is not always the horrible thing it's often made out to be. Training on the edge is where the real results are. Those who shy away from it will never make as good of progress as those who embrace it!

Want more articles like this? Subscribe to BetterU News now!

---

The Training Partner: Best Friend or Worst Nightmare? A good training partner can help you immensely in your workouts but a bad one can spell disaster. Before you decide if you want a partner, you need this information.

A good training partner can be a great asset to your training but if you get stuck with a bad one, it could lead you down the road to frustration. Be selective when choosing a training partner. Not every person is a good one (some can be downright horrible!). Here a few things to look out for:

1. Punctual - Nothing is more frustrating than waiting to start a workout when you're ready to go but your partner is late.

2. Dependable - Choose someone who you are sure will show up for every scheduled workout or who will call you if they can't make it. It is a drain on your valuable energy (especially before training) to have to constantly remind and harass.

3. No personality conflict - It is obviously not a good idea to train with someone who annoys you, unless of course you want to focus that negative energy into your training. If you dread going to work out because you can't stand your partner, soon you may not work out at all.

4. Similar strength levels - Look for someone who is at the same or a little above your strength level. When your strength is the similar, you won't have to constantly switch weights. If they are stronger, it will motivate you to use heavier weights. It is okay to lift with someone who is much stronger or much weaker than you, but be prepared to do a lot of weight switching.

5. Training level - If you are a beginner, try to find someone who knows what they are doing. You will get more out of your training than if you train with another beginner.

6. Motivation - Find someone with a similar motivation level as you. It you are gung-ho and your partner is ho-hum, you will be dragged down and your progress will suffer. If you are both "psycho," you can get some incredible workouts though! If you are moderately intense and lift with someone who is much more intense and willing to drive you, it can spur you onto much greater intensity.

7. Attitude - Get a partner with a positive attitude. This is very important. If they constantly say that something is impossible or that they can't or you can't do something, you may end up believing them. Do not train with someone who is satisfied with no improvement.

8. Open mind - Get a partner with an open mind. Someone who has to do things his or her way all the time, will not listen to you and will not change his or her mind is not a good partner to have. In every partnership, one person will tend to be the leader. The leader should take into account the needs and feelings of the other partner not totally ignore them.

9. Overpartnering - Do not get too many training partners. Sometimes a group of friends want to work out together. This is okay if there aren't too many of you. You won't get a good workout if you always have to wait for your partners to do their sets and you will probably end up talking too much. Three in a group is probably the most you can deal with and even that is probably pushing it.

10. Spotting - Get someone you feel comfortable with spotting you. One of the main roles of a training partner is spotting and if you don't trust them, there's not much point in having them around to help.

11. Male/female training partners - Members of the opposite gender often make excellent training partners. Showing off is good motivator for using heavier weights or working harder. One of the obvious drawbacks might be the differing amounts of weight used. If there is only one bench press available and one benches 300 pounds while the other benches 95 pounds, changing the weight is going to take awhile. This can be solved by having one person doing dumbell presses on the same bench rather than barbell presses.

While there are a number of advantages to having a training partner such as spotting, motivation, and companionship, there are also advantages to working alone, e.g. self-reliance, self-focus, no hassles over schedule, no one to wait for, etc. In the end, it is really up to you whether or not you want or need a training partner.

Want more articles like this? Subscribe to BetterU News now!

---

Secret Training Tip #961 - Hanging Dumbell Leg Curls Need a new hamstring and inner thigh exercise? Have I got one for you! This unique hamstring exercise will give you an extremely intense contraction. It's the perfect exercise to finish off your legs.

If you've ever done concentration curls for your biceps, you know exactly how intense the contraction can be. If you've ever done them without your arm braced against your leg, you know that the contraction can be even stronger. This exercise gives you this kind of intense contraction for the hamstrings. The execution of the exercise also provides a great inner thigh workout!

To do this exercise, you will need either a chin-up bar (if your grip is strong) or a hanging abdominal chair (the one that has a back-rest and two padded arm rests but no seat - used to do leg raises). Your legs will be hanging free as you're doing the exercise (there will be a link with pictures of this exercise at the end of this article). The Ab Chair variation will eliminate grip strength as a factor, allowing you to concentrate completely on your hamstrings. The chin-up bar hanging, however, will help to greatly improve your grip strength.

There will be a link to pictures of this set-up at the end of the article.

Start with a fairly light dumbell to get an idea of how the exercise works and what amount of weight you can use for it.

Set a dumbell horizontally between your ankles with the front plates at the top of your feet and the handle directly between your ankles and pinch your feet together to support it. It is this pinching that will really hit the inner thighs hard.

Now comes the tricky part. You will need to reach up and hang from the chin-up bar or set yourself in the Ab Chair while keeping the dumbell pinched in between your feet. You can stand on a bench or box to do this exercise or you can also do this in reverse order. Set the dumbell on the bench or box, get into hanging position/ab chair position, then reach out with your legs and pinch the dumbell between your ankles. You will need to stand the dumbell on end in order to accomplish this. You won't be able to get your feet under the dumbell plates otherwise. Alternatively, you can have a spotter set the dumbell between your feet while you're hanging.

Be sure you have a good grip on the bar/chair then leg curl the dumbell up behind you. Squeeze your hamstrings as hard as you can at the top (you most likely won't have a choice at this point!) then lower the dumbell back down slowly. The movement is an exact duplicate of the bent-over, free-hanging dumbell concentration curl for the biceps of your arm. You should feel a strong contraction in your hamstrings from the curl movement and a good burn starting in your inner thighs from the effort of keeping the dumbell pinched and supported.

To prevent forward motion of your knees, have a spotter brace your thighs so you don't swing forward during the movement. Keeping your thighs from swinging forward (and your hips from flexing) also serves to keep the hip extended throughout the movement, which will increase the contraction.

If you don't have a partner available to brace your thighs, you can accomplish this in the power rack. Set another bar at thigh level in the rack so you can use that to brace against.

A good variation of the Hanging Dumbell Leg Curl is to almost do a hanging knee raise with a dumbell between your feet. Your knees will come slightly up in front and you'll pull the dumbell straight up, not in an arc like in the regular version.

This version involves your hip flexors so you must concentrate on pulling the dumbell straight up to your butt as high as you can, pulling up with your hamstrings rather than with your hip flexors. The hip flexor assistance and improved leverage will allow you to use much heavier weight for this version of the exercise.

Give the Hanging Dumbell Leg Curl a try on your next leg training day. It's certain to give you one of the strongest contractions you've ever felt in your hamstrings.

To view pictures of this exercise in action, including set-up, go to:

http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Newsletter-archives/issue22-curl.htm

Want more articles like this? Subscribe to BetterU News now!

---

38 Pieces of Interesting and Useful Training Trivia to Make You The Life of the Party. Impress your friends! Impress your family! These unique training tidbits will improve your training, health and nutrition knowledge instantly!

1. Fit people tend to sweat more and sooner than unfit people. Their bodies are more efficient at cooling.

2. When people start training as a result of a New Year's Resolution, 60% have quit by Valentine's Day.

3. If your workout clothes smell like ammonia after a workout, you're burning a lot of protein for fuel. Ammonia is a byproduct of protein metabolism. This is not a good thing, as burning protein means you may be burning your muscle tissue for energy instead of carbohydrates or bodyfat.

4. Men tend to overestimate their strength while women tend to underestimate their strength.

5. To determine if your scale is correct, set a dumbell or a weight plate on it. If the numbers don't match, try another weight and see if it's off by the same amount. Adjust your scale accordingly.

6. Sometimes a barbell exercise causes pain while the dumbell version doesn't. This occurs most often with the bench press and the shoulder press. Dumbell don't lock your joints into a certain pattern of movement.

7. There is no evidence to support the argument that machines are safer than free weights, according to studies.

8. More bodyparts overlap in upper body training than lower body training, giving legs more recovery time. That's why you may continue to progress in leg training while your upper body plateaus.

9. High-level endurance training (e.g. marathon training) reduces testosterone levels by 15 - 40%.

10. Eating post-workout carbohydrates and protein increases Growth Hormone levels.

11. Acclimation to exercising in the heat can take about 10 to 14 days. For each two days of not exercising in heat, one day of acclimation is lost.

12. There is an indirect effect on other muscles when you work a muscle. The bigger the muscle, the greater the carryover. This is one reason you should not neglect leg training as the largest muscles in the body are found in the legs and will have the greatest impact on the rest of your body.

13. The initial adaptation to weight training is neuromuscular (in the nervous system). Your muscles are basically learning how to fire efficiently. This is why beginning trainers are often very shaky when they first start lifting weights. Their muscles haven't learned how to activate properly.

14. Holding your breath during an exercise to temporarily increase intra-abdominal pressure is called the Valsalva maneuver. While it can be effective in temporarily increasing strength and stability, it can be very dangerous, especially if you have high blood pressure. It is, with few exceptions, better to breathe while lifting.

15. Training intensity is properly measured as a percentage of a person's One Rep Max (the most weight they can lift for a single rep). A high intensity means a high percentage. It is technically not a subjective measure of effort or facial expression.

16. The best performances in strength competitions are seen in the afternoon and early evening. This may be due to increased muscle temperature later in the day. A lower temperature may increase endurance however. Endurance training may therefore be more effective when done in the morning.

17. Shorter rest periods (less than 1 minute) will result in an increase in the hormones related to muscle growth. However, lower rest periods will result in decreased strength during your workout. You will get hypertrophy (muscle growth) at the expense of strength.

18. The intestine is the single largest receptor of Growth Hormone in the body. This is why people who take frequent Growth Hormone injections often have distended (bloated) abdomens. Natural levels of Growth Hormone don't result in this effect.

19. After a high volume of aerobic work, fast-twitch muscle fibers (the larger more powerful fibers) can act like slow-twitch muscle fibers (the smaller, more endurance-oriented fibers). This doesn't work the other way, though. If your goal is to gain muscle, decrease the frequency of your aerobic work. The converted fast-twitch muscles can revert to their original form after about 4 to 8 months of aerobic detraining.

20. The hormone Insulin signals the body that there is enough sugar in the blood to be burned for energy. This prevents the fat cells from releasing fat. The hormone Glucagon, which unlocks fat stores, can't be released when insulin is present.

21. The number of fat cells in our body is predetermined by genetics, however, prolonged overfeeding can cause fat cells to split into more cells, especially during the teen years. The more you have, the more you have available to fill up and the greater your potential for obesity.

22. Men have about 18 times higher levels of testosterone than women. Men with higher natural testosterone levels gain muscle faster. People who have a harder time gaining muscle have lower testosterone levels.

23. The more deficient you are in vitamins and minerals the more of an effect you will notice from supplementation. Be careful not to overdo it and take too much though.

24. Strenuous exercise can double mineral loss. Increased sweating is a major cause of this.

25. Vitamin capsules are generally better than tablets as tablets can be compressed so hard as to be indigestible.

26. Minerals that enhance sleep, recovery, healing, regeneration and growth like zinc and magnesium should be taken on an empty stomach before bed. The body's maximum daily release of Growth Hormone occurs 90 minutes into sleep. Zinc and magnesium may increase the effects of G.H. and peak absorption of these minerals occurs after 90 minutes. Take 20-30 mg of zinc and 400-500mg of magnesium.

27. Sodium and calcium are removed via the same mechanism in the body therefore when you increase your sodium intake, your body strives to maintain balance by excreting more sodium. When 1 molecule of sodium goes, it takes a molecule of calcium with it. This can decrease bone mass in the long term. If you have osteoporosis or wish to prevent it, decrease your sodium intake.

28. Be careful what you eat grapefruit with. Naringin (an enzyme found in grapefruits - also called naringenin) may increase the power of some drugs. It deactivates enzymes in your stomach that normally break down drugs. When mixed with alcohol, test subjects ended up with four times more alcohol in the blood.

29. Canned grapefruit juice contains twice the naringin (see above) of fresh grapefruit.

30. Many people are overweight because they are malnourished. Their body craves nutrients so they are hungry. What they eat doesn't supply the nutrients they need so they are still hungry. Empty-calorie food is the culprit.

31. 20% of the calories in protein are used for digestion and assimilation. 8% of the calories of carbs are used. The number is only 2% for fat.

32. Alcohol acts as a direct toxin to type 2 fast-twitch fibers, though it doesn't affect slow twitch fibers much. It increases protein breakdown and decreases IGF-1 levels in blood and muscles.

33. Alcohol (even a little) before sleep inhibits Growth Hormone secretion by up to 75%.

34. Reduce your alcohol intake if you are interested in weight loss. One bottle of wine equals one six pack of beer. It can add 625 to 1100 calories to your diet. It is also very easily stored as fat.

35. Two bananas a day for a week can reduce blood pressure 10%, due to their high potassium content.

Want more articles like this? Subscribe to BetterU News now!

Want More Powerful Fitness Information? Read another issue of BetterU News now!