Basic Training For Building A Big, Muscular Chest

By Mark G. Winston

An essential element to having an impressive upper body is broad, densely muscled chest. In this article, I'll give you the basics of how to get pectoral development that's sure to give you the strength and appearance that you desire!

Warming Up
One of the most important elements of any weight lifting activity is preparing your body for the work ahead. Before starting your chest workouts you must make sure that you warm up properly. Given the risk of injury, this portion of your chest training is absolutely essential. I recommend that you warm up with 1 or 2 sets of 12-15 pushups prior your chest training sessions. Even if you're starting your chest training after you've trained other body parts, don't be fooled into thinking that you're already "warmed up" and that your pecs are ready for an intense workout. Remember, a few minutes devoted to warming up is time well spent as this preliminary exercise can prevent muscle pain or serious injury.

The Pyramid Principle
When you begin training your chest, you'll need to discover how much weight you must lift to stimulate maximum growth. The absolute amount of weight will vary with each exercise according to your strength and endurance levels. Having said this, there are certain chest exercises that you shouldn't perform with heavy weight. These exercises include dumbbell and cable cross over flys which put intensely isolated resistance on the "pec-delt tie-ins" located at the intersection of your chest and shoulders.

To build pectoral mass you should instead focus on flat bench and incline dumbbell presses, parallel bar dips and weighted pushups. As a guideline to the relative amount of weight that you should use to stimulate muscle growth, I've found that 70-85 percent of my "one-rep" maximum with proper technique is best for these purposes. In other words, if your one-rep maximum for dumbbell bench press is 100 pounds (i.e., two 50 pound dumbbells), you should initially complete your work sets with dumbbells ranging from about 35 to 45 pounds.

During the mass building phase of your chest workouts, the "pyramid principle" requires you to progressively increase the amount of weight lifted during your work sets. As you increase the amount of weight, you decrease the number of repetitions performed in each set. A sample pyramid set for doing dumbbell bench press with a one-rep maximum of 100 pounds would be the following:

• Set #1 - 10 reps x 30-35 pound dumbbells
• Set #2 - 8 reps x 35-40 pound dumbbells
• Set #3 - 6 reps x 40-45 pound dumbbells
• 1-rep maximum - 50 pound dumbbells.

If you can't work with 70-85 percent of your one-rep maximum at the beginning of your chest building program, don't worry about it. Just find an amount of weight that challenges you to complete 10, 8 and 6 repetitions and gradually increase the resistance from that point. You don't need to try a one-rep maximum lift in every workout, but this "power-check" allows you to monitor your strength increases and ensure that you're using enough weight during your work sets.

When your one-rep maximum increases or you find that you can do more than 10, 8 or 6 reps as you pyramid through your work sets, then it's time to increase the amount of weight for each of these sets to continue stimulating muscle growth. The pyramid principle is simple and essential to building a big, muscular chest. You should apply it throughout the mass building phase of your chest training efforts.

Mark G. Winston, "The Master Gunslinger," is author of the ground-breaking training manual, "GO For Your GUNS - 7 Simple Secrets to AWESOME ARMS." He has also created GOforyourGUNS.com, a bodybuilding and fitness website dedicated entirely to helping you build big, muscular arms. Mark's forthcoming book will be jammed with workouts and training techniques to help you build the big, muscular arms that you deserve! To learn about the GO For Your GUNS bodybuilding system and get free arm training tips that really work, visit http://www.GOforyourGUNS.com

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Yoga Teacher Training Aspects - Teach your Students about Tranquility

By Paul Jerard

Yoga has been shrouded in mysticism for thousands of years. This is not a bad thing, as the goals of Yoga are far beyond the pictures you see on the covers of Yoga magazines today. So, what are the real goals of Yoga?

Should you go into a long speech about Atman (the soul or true self), and the divine cosmic being (Brahman) becoming one? To be honest, I did once see a Yoga teacher go into an "elevator speech" about the union of self and the "Absolute," but he successfully scared his prospective students away, before their first lesson.

In a nut shell, there are many goals of Yoga, but make it simple for people who walk in the door. Just say: "Tranquility" and they will understand. Tranquility is just one word, which thoroughly explains what a student should be able to expect from his or her first Yoga class, and the following classes, as well.

The initial benefits of physically-oriented classes are balance, muscle tone, improved circulation, and a sense of well being. These are the most basic benefits of Hatha Yoga practice, and they yield a sense of harmony with the world around us.

So, when do you tell them about all the other fantastic benefits? Please let your students "enjoy the ride," as you did. Just because you can show them the deeper aspects, does not mean it is time to do so. Let them develop a sense of self-observance, bliss, wholeness, and tranquility, without all the dogma.

The Yoga teacher's mission is to guide students, when they need our help. We can accomplish this by letting them breathe and practice beyond the classroom. This is the only way a student can become self-sufficient. We cannot hover over our students like concerned foster parents, because we would take away their joy of discovering.

Ultimately, the best students will discover the "teacher within them." When this is accomplished, our students have learned the meaning of "Union." At this point, the student is seriously dedicated to his or her personal practice. Then, the serious questions will come, because an advanced student of Yoga will experience self-realization and spiritual growth.

If the questions do not come to you, do not worry about it. If a teacher constantly chatters, with free advice, no one will listen, because it is free. Loving parents also make this mistake, because they want to protect their children, but free advice is often ignored. Yoga teachers are no different. Keep your explanations simple and show your
students the way - when they are ready.

© Copyright 2008 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of Yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of Yoga Teacher Training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA.
http://www.aurawellnesscenter.com He has been a certified Master Yoga Teacher since 1995. To receive a Free Yoga e-Book: "Yoga in Practice," and a Free Yoga Newsletter, please visit: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

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The Easy Approach To Training For Aggressive Dogs

By Taron Fox

The Easy Approach To Training for Aggressive Dogs
Puppies are extremely cute. Aggressive behavior from a puppy is often mistaken by the owner as playful behavior, but as a puppy grows into a dog aggressive playful behavior can become very intimidating and they need to learn, training for aggressive dogs techniques before its too late.

Not all-training methods suit aggression in dogs, some of these methods can make it worse. Obtaining the correct knowledge in dog training for aggressive behavior can turn an intimidating dog into a life long friend.

Training for aggressive dogs needs a professional approach, plus professional techniques. A good place to start is at veterinarians to determine the behavior is not medical or environmental.
Once these factors are dismissed knowledgeable proven techniques on how to treat aggressive dog behavior is the next step.

As an aggressive dog owner, always take into account the responsibilities and dangers while training for aggressive dogs. Be especially aware of the public and strangers that are unfamiliar to your dog and act responsibly by not putting others in danger, or by putting your dog into stressful or anxious situations. Socializing your dog with other dogs and humans can help tremendously, but precautions must be taken for example muzzles and strong leads that reduce the risk of injury to others.

A time-tested advice given by vets in training for aggressive dog behavior is to get your dog spayed or neutered, this can take a lot of the natural aggression away.

A lot of dog owners turn to punishment or confinement as a first reaction to aggressive dog behavior. Punishment only causes more fear and anxiety, leading to more aggression. An already aggressive dog further punished could attack.

Many owners ask how to help an aggressive dog. Aggression is usually learned and encouraged as a puppy, in games such as tug of war, when a dog can gain the upper hand over his owner. Its important to determine you are in charge right from the start.

A dog trained to act on command will often be more loyal and happier in his environment and is less likely to challenge his owner for dominance. Many owners see their dogs as equals this often gives messages to the dog to challenge for dominance, taking control of the owner if given a chance.

A really good way that is a great help in training aggressive dogs, is plenty of praise and compliments when he behaves correctly. Dogs love praise and take pleasure in pleasing their owners and following their commands when properly rewarded.

Training aggressive dogs is not an overnight task and can take time and patience. Persistence will turn an aggressive dog into a happy, well-trained loyal companion, which will make it worthwhile for both of you in the end.

Never give up on an aggressive dog. Click here to discover the easy approach to training for aggressive dogs.

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Strength Training - Strong Muscles Build Faster Metabolism

By Anne Mcdonald

There are many sound reasons for including a large element of strength training in your overall fitness program.

Strength training is sometimes referred to as resistance training because muscles and groups of muscles are isolated and worked against some form of resistance.

Sometimes the resistance takes the form of our own body weight, sometimes the fixed weights on the machines in the gym and sometimes free or hand held weights.

Use it or lose it
Having toned, active muscles means that they are functionally fit. This means that he everyday demands made of them such as lifting, bending and stretching can be met without fear of strain or injury. In our everyday lives we don't often have cause to use all our muscles to their maximum.

A good example is that we rarely need to lift weight above our heads. We design our homes and storage systems so that we don't often have to do that because it's difficult.

The result is that the muscles in our shoulders hardly ever have to work really hard and so become weak. So then our shoulder joints become vulnerable if we put any strain on them so we find even more ways to avoid using them.

Strong muscles build faster metabolism
Toned, active muscles demand far more of our calorific intake than inert muscle and stored body fat. The more lean muscle we have, the higher our metabolic rate which is the speed at which our body converts the food we eat into useable energy.

When we work our muscles, they grow to meet the demand we put upon them. If we work them regularly and keep them toned and active, we can, not only improve our metabolic rate but maintain it at that improved rate also.

If we encourage our body to develop a greater percentage of lean muscle by regularly working out with weights, we will need more calories to maintain the extra muscle. If at the same time we eat a healthy diet that contains fewer calories than we are used to, we will encourage our body to use our stored fat as fuel.

In fact the only really effective fat burning exercises are those used in a full body weight training workout.

If we try to lose weight by dieting alone without systematically working our muscles, we will certainly lose some lean muscle tissue as well as body fat. This will in turn result in lowered metabolism which will make losing weight and keeping it off more and more difficult.

Another important and desirable side effect of weight training is that recent observations suggest that strength training puts sufficient demands on our bones to encourage an increase in bone density. This is particularly useful for women who tend to lose bone density post menopause as oestrogen levels dwindle.

What to do and how to get started
The two main ways to workout with weights are to use the fixed weight machines at the gym or to use hand held weights at the gym or at home.

You get the best all round weight training workout using hand held weights. Because you're not strapped into a machine you have to use all your muscles to maintain your posture and balance whilst isolating the particular muscles you are working. If you learn to use a fit ball to help support yourself while using your weights you also get the opportunity to work all the core muscles of your torso at the same time.

Some reliable tips
You must learn the correct techniques involved in strength training and understand exactly what it is you are trying to do. You need a good program to follow, either one on one with a fitness professional or a program designed and illustrated by a fitness professional.
If you don't get it right it won't be effective and you could strain muscles and damage joints.

There are plenty of people in gyms up and down the country as you are reading this who are sweating away at their weight training workouts, using the wrong techniques and achieving absolutely nothing. Don't ever be tempted to try to learn from them.

The commonest mistake, usually for men, is to use weights that are far too heavy so that the only way to lift them is to put a strain on their backs or joints. They usually find that when they use the correct technique which is designed to protect their back and joints while isolating and working the muscle, they simply can't do it with that enormous weight anyway. Then they find that all that sweating and grunting they've been doing is quite unnecessary!

Many women on the other hand make the opposite mistake of doing their weight training exercises with weights that are way too small in the mistaken belief that they are much weaker and more delicate than they really are. If you regularly carry a couple or more of carrier bags of shopping weighing at least four kilos in one hand and a hefty toddler on the opposite hip, why on earth would you do your weights workout with a pair of one and a half kilo weights? This won't do you any good at all.

Follow a program that explains how to determine what weight you need for each exercise. Make sure that your weight training is part of an overall fitness program that includes cardio work, core strength and stretching. Add a good warm up and cool down and enjoy!

Anne McDonald has been a personal fitness trainer for the past 6 years and has more recently qualified as a life coach. As well as one on one training she operates her website http://www.workoutforlife.net providing fitness and weight loss programs for her online clients.
All her online programs come with her personal support and coaching if needed over the phone and by email.

You are welcome to use this article as long as you reproduce all of it and include this bio and link to her website.

Website Design Training For Rewarding Career

By Michael Bustamante

If you are someone who enjoys creating interesting designs and layouts on computers, you could benefit from website design training. In the contemporary world of computers and Internet marketing, training in website design can lead you to an exciting and rewarding career as a professional website designer.

Website design training focuses primarily on the areas of graphic art and electronic media. You will become familiar with the latest web design and computer-based design and illustration software, which may include GoLive, DreamWeaver, and FrontPage. You will learn how to use HTML, XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript; you will also learn about e-commerce, Internet marketing, scripting and authoring. The goal of website design training is to teach you to create web pages and websites that look good and are easily navigated.

The field of website design is constantly changing and evolving, and it is important that you receive an education in website design that is current and up-to-date. Before you begin your website design education, make sure your chosen school will be able to teach you the latest techniques and methods used by professional website designers.

The website designing course will most likely cover Visual Art, Graphic Design, Web Design, and Computer Aided Design (CAD), among other related subjects. Website design training from a two-year program will lead to an Associate degree, which will be adequate for an entry-level position; however, an advanced degree would greatly increase your knowledge and skills for better employment opportunities. You could continue your website design education at a four-year college to obtain a Bachelor degree (BA) or a Master degree (MA).

If you are interested in learning what it takes to be a professional website designer, you can begin researching website design training today. For in-depth information about Website Design Training, please take a moment to visit our website today.

DISCLAIMER: Above is a GENERAL OVERVIEW and may or may not reflect specific practices, courses and/or services associated with ANY ONE particular school(s) that is or is not advertised on SchoolsGalore.com.

Michael Bustamante is a staff writer for Media Positive Communications, Inc. Visit our Directory of Vocational Schools and find Training in Website Design, as well as Colleges, Universities, Vocational Schools, and Online Schools at SchoolsGalore.com

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