Can you answer Howl H’s question about Bodybuilding?:

I would like to become a lot stronger. What is more useful for strength: barbells or dumb bells?

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Barbell rowing has been the primary exercise to thicken the upper back for a long time. While this is an excellent exercise, it is not the only option. Using a large selection of back exercises in your routine will assist in recruiting many kinds of different muscles in the back, not to mention adding a little flavor to your work out as well. The following are some basic exercises that are very beneficial to the back.

Hammer Strength Machine Rows

This is widely used in the gym for a couple of reasons. First of all, they make the trainer maintain the correct range of movement during the exercise. There are no variables, it stays the same throughout the whole motion, and you can’t cheat. There is a constant path of motion. Second of all, the exercise itself is really safe. For a lot of the barbell and dumbbell exercises, the first heavy lift can lead to back injuries. Since the machine controls the entire motion, the chance of an injury is very low.

Cable Rows

This exercise lets the trainer have constant tension on the back muscles. There isn’t any time to rest when the weight stops moving. The bar places the exact amount of tension during every aspect of the lift.

Dumbbell Rows

These are a very popular choice because they let the trainer single out the lat muscle on the side of the body on which the exercise is concentrated. The dumbbell can be pulled up as far as the trainer wants, so the movements range has practically no limit. This is a very beneficial exercise for bodybuilders who are training their back.

Incline Dumbbell Rows

This exercise is almost identical to dumbbell rows, except now the trainer is lying face down on an incline bench. This will let the body remain tight while the lats lift up the weight from a steeper angle, igniting more of a variety of muscle fibers than normal dumbbell rows.

Two Arm Dumbbell Rows

This exercise can reduce the amount of focus a good trainer usually applies to an exercise. This is because they are now using both arms at the same time. The main attraction of this exercise is that it lets each arm be trained the same way. Some trainers will favor one arm over the other when doing exercises, which can lead to proportion issues in the future.

T-Bar Rows

This exercise is done on the T-bar machine. A lot of top-level bodybuilders use this exercise because it gets gains for the thickness of the center back more than most other exercises.



Thanks to Dane Fletcher for contributing this article to our Bodybuilding blog:

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If you’re a little guy, like I was only 6 months ago(132lbs) it’s probably because you eat like one! A good bodybuilding diet is all you need, and maybe some extra ‘you know what’ downstairs! The majority of small guys out there are small people they eat small, not because they don’t train hard enough, but because they don’t eat like how real men do. I know I didn’t until I learnt how much I really needed to eat in order to gain some muscle mass.

Breakfast

I don’t care what anyone says, breakfast is the MOST IMPORTANT meal of the day. I know a lot of little guys out there that don’t even eat breakfast! They go 3 hours without a meal from when they wake up, which is absolutely crazy! You’re teaching your body that it doesn’t need to eat and as a result it can stay small because it has no muscle to feed!

For breakfast 6 months ago I remember that all I ate was a small bowl of cereal. Now I eat a large bowl of cereal plus 4 eggs and two pieces of toast, as well as a protein shake and guess what? That’s not even much. I’m sure there’s someone reading this that eats way more than that and I plan to start eating more too. Increasing the amount of food in a day, combined with a heavy weight training regime is the only way to push through a plateau. So with that, make sure you always take time to eat a massive breakfast(you should be nauseous afterward).

Other Meals During The Day

Now I know you’ve definitely heard this one, but in order to put on any significant weight, you should be eating at least 6 solid meals a day. If you’re not and you can’t imagine eating that many times during the day, then let me break it down for you:

- Breakfast(make sure it’s a big one!)

- Prelunch(as I like to call it)

- Lunch

- Post lunch(pre workout)

- Post workout

- Dinner

There’s 6 manageable meals and if you think you can’t handle that, then you don’t really deserve to be big, sorry if that sounded a little harsh but it needed to be said! I eat 7 meals a day at the moment, one more after dinner, which you should seriously consider once you have gotten over the initial plateau and you’ve stopped gaining again.



Thanks to Dane Stanton for contributing this article to our Bodybuilding blog:

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Can you answer Derek G’s question about Bodybuilding?:

I’ve been around sports all my life, but I also love helping others and I would love to make a lot of money. I don’t know how to use one or the other or combine them to make a lot of money. Can anyone help me cuz i’m so damn frustrated!!!!

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Can you answer J’s question about Bodybuilding?:

I’m a mid-twenties woman and just getting back into excersizing cause I am really fat. I need to lose about 30 lbs and tone all over, but I don’t know how to do it. I want to try weight lifting, but I have never done it before, and I have a lot of questions:

Is it better to do many reps with low weights or a few reps with heavy weights?
I usually jog a couple miles 3 or 4 times a week. Should I do this before or after lifting?
Do I need to warm up or stretch before I start lifting?
How many times a week should I go to the gym?

I am completely lost. Any advice will help!

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