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

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A Question About The "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss" Program The "Metabolic Surge" program is all about losing fat as quickly as possible while keeping and even BUILDING muscle mass. If you haven't read about it, you can do so here: http://www.fitstep.com/metabolic-surge/metabolic-surge-rapid-fat-loss.htm Naturally, when a program like this comes out, you have questions! To help you decide whether this program is right for you, I'm going to be bringing you some of the most frequently asked questions about the program. QUESTION: Does this program require that you go to a gym or can I do the program effectively at home? ANSWER: The "Metabolic Surge" program can be done very effectively at home. Naturally, the more equipment you have access to, the more variety of exercises you'll be able to do during the program but it's certainly NOT a requirement that you go to the gym. The training program in the book lays it all out in a very easy-to-understand fashion, organizing the training sessions by bodypart, number of sets and reps, and specific training techniques. All you have to do is determine which exercise you'd like to use, selecting from any of the ones you have available to you at home. This could be bodyweight lunges, push-ups, bench dips or any others that you know! If you have a simple set of dumbells and/or a bench, you can greatly increase the number of exercises you can do as well. Click this link to learn more now! http://www.fitstep.com/metabolic-surge/metabolic-surge-rapid-fat-loss.htm

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How To Be The Best Spotter in The Gym There's more to spotting than simply pulling up on the bar or pushing up on the elbows. There is an art and science to effective spotting. Learn the best techniques here!

Spotting is an important aspect of weightlifting safety, yet it's not something that is ever taught to gymgoers. Having a spotter gives you security and a little extra help to push yourself harder.

Here are some guidelines and rules-of-thumb, both for spotters and for lifters, that will make you a much better (and much safer) spotter.

1. Ask how the person you are spotting wants to be spotted. Some people, when doing dumbell exercises such as the bench press, prefer to be spotted at the elbows by pushing up from underneath with their elbows in your palms, while others prefer the wrists (pulling up on them). Neither way is necessarily right or wrong, it is a matter of preference.

2. Determine the rep range the person is going to be working in. If you start spotting at five reps and they're doing ten, you've just ruined a set. If, on the other hand, you had to start spotting at five and they said ten, they may be expecting another five forced reps out of you.

3. Never take the weight away from the person (unless they really need it taken away for safety reasons). This is especially true on barbell exercises when you're spotting on the bar. Do not pull or push so hard on the bar (unless they ask) that it takes the tension off the muscles. Good spotting means you just add enough force to keep the bar moving. When spotting exercises such as curls, spot by placing your hands under the lifters hands and pushing up on their hands rather than lifting on the bar itself. This will ensure you don't take the weight away as you spot.

4. Find out if the person is going to do any set extension techniques, e.g. negatives, drop sets, forced reps, etc. You should know exactly what's going on so you can be prepared for it. You don't want to mistake an intensity technique for muscular failure that requires a spot.

5. Don't scream encouragement at the person without first making sure they want that kind of thing. It can be very distracting and not everyone likes it or needs it.

6. When spotting on bench press, be sure to wipe the sweat off your face beforehand so you don't drip on the person during their set (not a nice thing to experience). Also, don't lean over them excessively. This can be distracting.

7. As well on bench, ask if the person wants help lifting the bar off the rack. Also, do not spot with one arm in a sort of one arm deadlift. This is a poor balance point and the pull is often uneven. This unbalancing can cause failure for the person lifting the weight.

8. Spot around the waist on squats, not on the bar. Lower yourself as they go down and follow them up. Help them rack the bar if they need help but never push them forward if they're not ready to move.

9. When it is possible for you to spot yourself (e.g. 1 arm exercises, standing on a chair for chins, etc.), do it. You know better then anyone how much help you need. On the other hand, if you have a tendency to go easy on yourself and bail out too soon, get a spotter to force you to work.

10. When spotting on dumbell bench press, do not push inward on the elbows or the dumbells may cave in on their chest. Always push up.

11. There are exercises where you shouldn't spot people, e.g. deadlifts, hyperextensions, crunches, power cleans, etc. If someone asks you to spot them on these, politely decline.

12. Sometimes a person may ask you to hand them a dumbell on exercises like dumbell bench, incline presses, shoulder presses, etc. Pick up the dumbell with your hands on the weight plate, not the handle itself. If you pick the weight up by the handle and try to hand it over that way, you and the lifter will have to try and somehow trade hand positions on the handle before they can lift the weight. This is not safe at all even with light weights but especially with maximal weights. An easy way to lift a heavy dumbell up to your shoulder level so you can hand it over is to pick it up first on the outside of the plates with both hands, then deadlift it to a standing position. Now rest the handle of the dumbell on one of your thighs, kick that leg up, throwing the dumbell up to your upper chest. Set it in their hand from there.

13. On some machines such as the pec deck, for example, it is better to spot by lifting the weight stack itself (watch your hands!). This keeps the tension on the muscle far better during the set. Do not place your hands underneath the plates, however. Just grasp the weight plates on the sides and push up to help. This should only be used for light help, not for full-power forced reps.

14. When using two spotters (e.g. for heavy squats or bench), have one at each end of the bar and ensure they pull up simultaneously. An unbalanced load can mean trouble.

15. If you need a spotter on every set of every exercise you do, you are either working too hard or not hard enough. On one hand, doing too many forced reps will rapidly overtrain you, while on the other hand, letting the spotter do much of the work will prevent progress. Try doing a few sets completely on your own (without any spot at all) to see if you are actually doing all the work. It is not good to be overly dependent on spotting outside of what is necessary for safety reasons. If you can't lift the weight by yourself then you shouldn't be doing it at all. The exception to this is negative training and legitimate forced reps.

16. A good spotting technique is the finger spot. If, for example, you are spotting someone on bench press and the bar is slowing down and almost stopped, use only your two index fingers underneath the bar. This is often more of a mental boost for the lifter than an actual spot. At this point, apply just enough pressure to keep the bar moving. If the fingers aren't enough, grip the bar and continue to help just enough to keep it moving. This will make the lifter do much more of the work themselves. They'll either love your spotting or never ask you to do it again!

17. When spotting, ease up as the lifter moves past the sticking point and into the stronger range of motion. For example, when spotting on bench, help just through the sticking point, then, as the leverage improves, reduce your help as the bar comes up, letting up completely as the bar comes to the top. To increase the value of the set, you may even want to lean on the bar a little as it comes to the top (check with your lifter first before doing this). This will help increase lockout power.

18. If you see someone struggling with a weight, don't run over and yank the weight up. This can be dangerous for the trainer and tends to make people angry. Make your presence known but don't help until the trainer signals you for help. If you see someone being crushed under a bench press, however, that is when you should run over and help without asking.

19. When spotting, focus all your attention on the set, no matter who walks by or who talks to you. You are responsible for ensuring the safety of the lifter.

20. Don't spot until it is absolutely necessary. The most productive part of a set is near the end where the lifter is struggling with the weight. By helping too soon, you will reduce the effectiveness of the set.

21. Don't base the amount weight you use totally on the strength of your spotter. You should be using your own strength for your sets. This is not to say you shouldn't have a strong spotter, though. Another exception is dumbell spotting where the spotter must hand the weight to you. Obviously, you'll need to find someone strong enough to be able to do that effectively.

22. Machines that have foot levers to help you get the weight into position can be used to spot yourself. If you can get the coordination right, you can use the lever to catapult the weight out of the bottom position.

23. Spotting is okay for beginners learning form and limitations but only for safety, not for excess reps. This is one of the major mistakes beginning trainers make when starting a training program. Overuse of forced reps, i.e. unnecessary spotting, can lead to burnout and excessive soreness. In these cases, spotting should only be used to keep the lifter safe, not to push them harder.

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As you can see, there's more to spotting than simply pulling on a bar or pushing on the elbows. A good spot should maximize the results and safety of the lifter.

Remember these guidelines the next time someone asks you for a spot or the next you ask someone else for a spot!

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The AllAround Wrist Roller - Training Equipment Review This unique piece of equipment is designed to build forearm and wrist strength in all angles and patterns of movement. Is it effective? Can it improve your training and performance?

Improving wrist and forearm strength can have a tremendous impact on both your weight training and your sports performance, e.g. your golf swing. Regular forearm training, however, can limit you to just a few movement patterns.

A new product called the AllAround Wrist Roller addresses this limitation by allowing you to work not only wrist flexion and extension but also rotation, a movement that is extremely hard to work with regular training methods.

The question is, "does the AllAround Wrist Roller effectively build strength in these movement patterns?" After all, it's one thing to exercise those patterns, but it's another to actually do it effectively.

The design of the AllAround Wrist Roller is deceptively simple: it's two plastic balls mounted on the ends of a two-piece bar. This middle bar has a resistance screw that you can tighten or loosen, depending on how much resistance you want for the exercise. It's this simple design that allows you to work a large variety of wrist and forearm patterns of movement.

You can visualize the construction of the AllAround Wrist Roller with this diagram (the "O"'s are the plastic ends and dashes are the middle bars):

O--O

By gripping the padded center bars and twisting like you're wringing a towel, you can work the flexion and extension functions of the forearms.

When you grip the outsides of the plastic balls and twist, you're working lateral flexion and extension of the wrists (you can try this movement if you turn your hands so that your thumbs are pointing up then pretend that you're unscrewing something).

Because the ends of the roller are round, you can vary how the exercise works by where you place your hands and how you orient the roller as you use it.

But the main question we need to answer is "does this machine effectively work the wrists and forearms?"

The answer is "yes." The AllAround Wrist Roller is extremely effective for building wrist and forearm strength. Regular use of this equipment can not only greatly enhance your weight training by allowing you to grip heavier weights for longer periods of time, it also has the potential to greatly increase your sports performance. Increased forearm and wrist strength has the potential to increase golf drive distance, throwing power and batting power!

I've found the unique and innovative design of the All Around Wrist Roller to very effectively work not only the rotational aspect of the forearms, but also the wrists, which are very difficult to hit with regular forearm training. It's this rotational training that really makes the difference in sports performance and has the potential to take your forearm development to a much higher level.

To learn more about the AllAround Wrist Roller, please click on the following link:

http://www.fitstep.com/goto/wrist-roller.htm

If you decide to get this excellent piece of forearm training equipment, please select "BetterU" as your referrer on the purchase page.

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NEW!! Training Equipment Reviews at Fitstep.com! Thinking about trying out a certain piece of specialized training equipment but want to know if it's good or not before you buy it? It can be extremely hard to find informative reviews on unique training equipment. Most reviewing sites deal in treadmills, stair machines, regular weight machines and the like. My aim with these reviews is different: to bring you soilid information on some of the most innovative training equipment you can find! Have a look and read through the reviews I currently have posted. You can even send me suggestions for unique equipment you'd like to see reviewed! I will make sure you know EXACTLY what you're getting when it comes to purchasing new training equipment. Click on the following link to have a look right now! http://www.fitstep.com/fitness-equipment-reviews/fitness-equipment-reviews.htm

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Secret Training Tip #709 - How to Improvise a Shoulder Press Machine Out of 2 Bars and a Power Rack A good shoulder press machine is hard to find. Learn how to take common gym equipment and put together a shoulder press "machine" that even beats machines specifically designed for it!

The benefits of the shoulder press machine are many: improved shoulder strength and muscle mass, no need to kick dumbells up to your shoulders, increased stability, etc.

But many gyms are sorely lacking when it comes to shoulder press machines. They may not have one at all or one that simply doesn't work well.

What would you say if I were to tell you that you can not only very easily make your own shoulder press out of common gym equipment, it actually works even better than machines specifically designed for shoulder pressing!

How To Build It:

In order to build this, you'll need two Olympic Bars (one bar will do if you don't have two but you'll then you'll have to do the exercise one arm at a time), a power rack and some weight plates. Nothing fancy here.

Note: there will be a link at the end of the article with set-up pictures you can use for reference. These will really help you visualize the setup and the exercise performance.

Essentially, you'll be using the two bars, set inside the rack, as levers. You'll be outside the rack to either the left or right side, facing in, pushing up on the ends of the two bars as though they were the handles of a machine.

To maximize the effectiveness of this exercise, we'll need a rather specific setup. Once you know how to set the exercise up, you'll find it's just as quick as any other rack exercise setup.

Start by setting a flat bench beside the rack, with the end about a foot from the side of the rack. This is what you'll be sitting on as you do the exercise. Next, we'll be setting the height of your safety rails in the rack. The height will vary somewhat, depending on how tall you are.

Sit on your bench, facing the rack, and set the safety rail right in front of you to a little above your shoulder height. The other safety rail should be set about 2 feet higher than this rail. Having the other end higher is necessary for proper and safe functioning of the movement. The two Olympic bars should not go much higher than horizontal at the top of the movement. This is especially important if the safety rails on your rack are smooth metal. If the bars go higher than horizontal, you may end up sliding them forward rather than up.

Set the two bars on the rails in the rack, about shoulder-width apart (approximately 2 feet). They will be angled down towards the bench at about a 35 degree angle.

In order to ensure that the bars don't slide, pull the collars of the bars against the top safety rail. I also highly recommend putting a 10 pound weight plate on the ends with a collar to toally eliminate the possibility of the bar slipping down.

Do a practice rep without any weight plates on the lower ends to make sure the setup feels good. Sit on the end the bench and place the heels of your hands under the ends of the two bars. Now wrap your fingers around the ends of the bars. You may have to lift the bars up a little to get into the start position.

Perform a shoulder press movement from there. Start with your hands in the normal shoulder-width position. As you press up, bring your hands together overhead in an arc.

This freedom of movement is one of the most valuable benefits of this set-up. Most machines don't allow you to do this--they lock your hands into position like a barbell, increasing the stress on your shoulder joints.

Dumbells do allow this freedom of movement but it's very difficult to get very heavy dumbells up into position. With this exercise you get the best of both worlds...the ability to use more weight, like a machine, and the increased freedom of movement like dumbells.

Now it's time to add some weight to the bars. Use smaller sized plates (5, 10, and 25 pounders, at the most) so you don't bang them together at the top. If the plates are larger, you won't be able to bring them together as close, which will limit the effectiveness of the exercise.

Start adding weight conservatively - remember, you're also lifting the weight of the bars as well.

It is EXTREMELY important that you use very solid collars on the bars on the lower ends. The bars are at a steep angle and the potential for the weights to slide off is great. Check for signs of slippage between sets (gaps between the weight plates and the bar collars).

Perform the seated shoulder press as you normally would on a machine. You've now got yourself a shoulder press machine!

Why This Exercise Is So Effective:

As I mentioned above, one of the major benefits of this setup is the freedom of movement you get with the bars. Unlike machines and like dumbells, you are able to bring your hands together at the top of the movement.

Another advantage of this setup over a regular machine or barbell is the independent movement of the bars. This eliminates the problem of the stronger side helping out the weaker side too much and creating strength imbalances. It also allows you to perform both one arm presses and alternating arm presses very easily.

The possibility of using more weight, like a barbell or machine, without having to get those weights up to shoulder position on your own power, like with dumbells, is a tremendous advantage as well.

Conclusion:

A good shoulder press machine is hard to find. Why not build your own machine that actually works better! All you need is a couple of bars and a rack.

Click the following link now to view pictures of the setup and exercise in action:

http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Newsletter-archives/issue29-press.htm

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Have You Tried 100% Pure Liquid Egg Whites? If so, I'd love to get your feedback on how the product is working for you. Let me know how you're using it, what kind of results you've been getting and how you like it! If you haven't tried it yet, what are you waiting for! Click this link right now for more information: http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/eggwhites-ideas.htm It's truly one of the most effective protein products I've ever used.

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The Complete Gym Personality Guide - Part 2 From the Hindenburg to the Fountainhead to Mr. Sweaty Bench, these are more of the people that you meet when you're lifting at the gym.

Continued from last month's issue, you're sure to recognize many, if not all, of these personalities from the gym.

1. Taking Up Space

If you've been to a gym and watched somebody just kind of standing around looking lost, then you've seen this type. They work their way slowly from one end of the gym to the other, getting in the way and doing a few half-hearted dumbell curls every 10 minutes.

2. The Copycat

You can have some fun with the Copycat. When you notice them watching what you're doing (because you know they're going to copy you), do something extremely goofy and pretend that it works incredibly well. Chances are, when you've moved on to your next exercise, the Copycat is going to try it. Just like dueling banjos.

3. The Hindenburg

If you're having gastrointenstinal difficulties, don't do squats (or sit-ups). That just doesn't work out well for anybody. The humanity!

4. The Wannabe Powerlifter

Powerlifting is a tremendous sport. Watching somebody who is trying to powerlift but doesn't know how and is doing it all wrong can be tremendously funny. If you've ever watched somebody cinch a belt up so tight they look like a wasp then do a knee-buckling quarter squat with way too much weight, you know what I'm talking about.

5. The Pro

"There is only one right way to do things and everything else everybody does is all wrong and I'm the only who knows what they're doing and if you don't like it I'm going to take my dumbells and go home."

6. The Ignorant Personal Trainer

Every gym has them and I don't have any idea how they slip through the cracks. They teach bad exercises and poor form to unfortunate clients who just don't know any better. Then they answer their cell phone while they're spotting!

7. Fountainhead

Stop hogging the water fountain and let someone else have a turn! Fill up your water bottle at home - don't stand there for five minutes while the trickle from the fountain slowly fills your gallon jug. That goes double for backwashing into the fountain.

8. Mr. Sweaty Bench

If you sweat so much that you slide off the back end a FLAT bench when you lie down, bring a towel, for crying out loud! And please, please, PLEASE wipe it off when you're done. Don't make me have to invent a standing bench press exercise.

9. The Inventor

Sometimes new exercises or techniques work and sometimes they land you right on your head. The Inventor will get back up and try again, sometimes performing the most incredibly effective movements you've never seen. I know because I am an Inventor! But put together a bad Inventor and a Copycat and you've got trouble!

10. The Houseguest

If you've ever seen someone walk into the gym carrying a gym bag big enough to stash a body in and full of so much stuff that they could live on an island for a month, you've seen the Houseguest at work. Three hours later, when they leave the gym, they even have the keys to lock up.

11. Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

No need to carry that dumbell to your bench, just roll it! After all, that's why they're round, right?

12. Beyond B.O.

It's not a crime to take a shower. If a cloud follows you around like Pig Pen in the Charlie Brown comics, you may want to look into that bathing thing.

You can read last months "Gym Personalities" at the following link:

http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Newsletter-archives/issue28.htm

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