Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee Bio
Bruce Jun Fan Lee was born in the hour of the Dragon, between 6 and 8 a.m., in the year of the Dragon on November 27, 1940 at the Jackson Street Hospital in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Today, a plaque in the hospital’sentry commemorates the place of his birth. Bruce’s birth, in the hour and the year of the Dragon, is a powerful symbol in Chinese astrology. It would be a strong omen of the powerful life that was to be lived by Bruce Lee and the explosive impact his life would have on countless others.Bruce was the fourth child born to Lee Hoi Chuen and his wife Grace Ho. He had two older sisters, Phoebe and Agnes, an older brother, Peter, and a younger brother, Robert. Lee Hoi Chuen was, by profession, a comedian in the Chinese opera and an actor in Cantonese films. At the time Bruce was born, Mr. and Mrs. Lee were on tour with the opera company in the United States. Thus, it was fortuitous for Bruce’s future that his birth took place in America, as he would return 18 years later to claim his birthright of American citizenship.Bruce’s parents gave him the name “Jun Fan.” Since it is Chinese custom to put the surname first, Bruce’s full name is written Lee Jun Fan. The true meaning of Jun Fan deserves an explanation as it, too, would foretell the journey of the newly born Lee son. Literally, JUN means “to arouse to the active state” or “to make prosperous.”It was a common middle name used by Hong Kong Chinese boys in those days, understandably because China and the Chinese people were very vulnerable at that time, and everyone, including Bruce’s parents, wanted the“sleeping lion of the East” to wake up. The FAN syllable refers to the Chinese name for San Francisco, but its true meaning is “fence of a garden” or “bordering subordinate countries of a big country.” During the period of the Ching Dynasty (1644-1911), many Chinese immigrated to Hawaii and San Francisco as laborers, and the implication became that the United States was FAN of the Great Ching Empire.Thus the true meaning of Bruce’s name--JUN FAN--was “to arouse and make FAN (the United States)prosperous.” The gut feeling of many Chinese at that time, who felt suppressed by and inferior to foreign powers,was that they wished to outshine the more superior countries and regain the Golden Age of China. Bruce’s parents wanted Bruce to have his name shine and shake the foreign countries, which he certainly succeeded in doing.The English name, BRUCE, was given to the baby boy by a nurse in the Jackson Street Hospital although he was never to use this name until he entered secondary school and began his study of the English language. The story goes that on the first day of English class, the students were asked to write down their English names, and Bruce, not knowing his name, copied the name of the student next to him. His family almost never used the name Bruce, especially in his growing up years when his nickname in the family was “SAI FON,” which literally means Little Peacock. This is a girl’s nickname, but in being applied to Bruce, it had a serious purpose. The first-born child of Mr. and Mrs. Lee had been a boy who did not survive infancy. Their belief was that if the gods did not favor the birth of a male child, the babe might be taken away. Thus, the name, Little Peacock, was used as a ruse to fool the gods into thinking that Bruce was a girl. It was a term of great affection within the family circle.At the age of three months, Lee Hoi Chuen, his wife Grace and baby Bruce returned to Hong Kong where Bruce would be raised until the age of 18. Probably because of the long ocean voyage and the change in climates,Bruce was not a strong child in his very early years, a condition that would change when he took up the study of gung fu at the age of 13. (Bruce always spelled his Chinese martial art as GUNG FU, which is the Cantonese pronunciation of the more commonly spelled Kung Fu, a Mandarin pronunciation.) Bruce’s most prominent memory of his early years was the occupation of Hong Kong by the Japanese during the World War II years(1941-1945). The residence of the Lee family was a flat at 218 Nathan Road in Kowloon directly across the street from the military encampment of the Japanese. Bruce’s mother often told the story of young Bruce, less than 5years old, leaning precariously off the balcony of their home raising his fist to the Japanese Zeros circling above.Another nickname the family often applied to Bruce was “Mo Si Ting” which means “never sits still” and aptly described his personality.The Japanese occupation was Bruce’s first prescient memory, but Hong Kong had been a British Crown Colony since the late 1800’s. The English returned to power at the end of the war. It is not hard to see why young Bruce would have rebellious feelings toward foreign usurpation of his homeland. In his teenage years Bruce was exposed to the common practice of unfriendly taunting by English school boys who appeared to feel superior to the Chinese. It is not surprising that Bruce and his friends retaliated by returning the taunts and sometimes getting into fights with the English boys. This atmosphere laid the background for Bruce to begin his study of martial arts.At the age of 13, Bruce was introduced to Master Yip Man, a teacher of the Wing Chun style of gung fu. For five years Bruce studied diligently and became very proficient. He greatly revered Yip Man as a master teacher and wise man and frequently visited with him in later years. When he first took up gung fu, he used his new skills to pummel his adversaries, but it did not take long for Bruce to learn that the real value of martial arts training is that the skills of physical combat instill confidence to the point that one does not feel the constant need to defend one’s honor through fighting.In high school, Bruce, now no longer a weak child, was beginning to hone his body through hard training.One of his accomplishments was winning an inter school Boxing Championship against an English student in which the Marquis of Queensbury rules were followed and no kicking was allowed. Given the graceful movements, which would later be spectacularly displayed in his films, it is no surprise that Bruce was also a terrific dancer, and in1958 he won the Hong Kong Cha Cha Championship. He studied dancing as assiduously as he did gung fu, keeping a notebook in which he had noted 108 different cha cha steps. It is easy to see that Bruce possessed the traits of self-discipline and hard work which would later hold him in good stead, even though at this stage he was not among the best academic students in the class.In addition to his studies, gung fu and dancing, Bruce had another side interest during his school years. He was a child actor under the tutelage of his father who must have known from an early age that Bruce had a streak of showmanship. Bruce’s very first role was as a babe in arms as he was carried onto the stage. By the time he was 18, he had appeared in 20 films. In those days movie making was not particularly glamorous or remunerative in Hong Kong, but Bruce loved acting. His mother often told stories of how Bruce was impossible to wake up to go to school, but just a tap on the shoulder at midnight would rouse him from his bed to go to the film studio. Movies were most often made at night in Hong Kong in order to minimize the sounds of the city. At the age of 18, Bruce was looking for new vistas in his life, as were his parents who were discouraged that Bruce had not made more progress academically. It was common practice for high school graduates to go overseas to attend colleges, but that required excellent grades. Bruce’s brother and sister had come to the United States on student visas for their higher education. Although Bruce had not formally graduated from high school, and was more interested in gung fu, dancing and acting, his family decided that it was time for him to return to the land of his birth and find his future there. In April of 1959, with $100 in his pocket, Bruce boarded a steamship in the American Presidents Line and began his voyage to San Francisco. His passage was in the lower decks of the ship,but it didn’t take long for Bruce to be invited up to the first class accommodations to teach the passengers the cha cha. Landing in San Francisco, Bruce was armed with the knowledge that his dancing abilities might provide him a living, so his first job was as a dance instructor. One of his first students was Bob Lee, brother of James Y. Lee, who would become Bruce’s great friend, colleague in the martial arts, and eventually partner and Assistant Instructor of the Oakland Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute.Bruce did not stay long in San Francisco, but traveled to Seattle where a family friend, Ruby Chow, had a restaurant and had promised Bruce a job and living quarters above the restaurant. By now Bruce had left his acting and dancing passions behind and was intent on furthering his education. He enrolled at Edison Technical School where he fulfilled the requirements for the equivalent of high school graduation and then enrolled at the University of Washington. Typical of his personality traits, he attacked learning colloquial English as he had his martial arts training. Not content to speak like a foreigner, he applied himself to learning idiosyncrasies of speech.His library contained numerous books, underlined and dog-eared on common English idiomatic phrases. Although he never quite lost the hint of an English accent when speaking, his ability to turn a phrase or “be cool” was amazing for one who did not speak a word of the language until the age of 12. Bruce’s written English skills exceeded his spoken language abilities at first because he had been well tutored in the King’s proper English prosein Hong Kong. When his wife-to-be met him at the University of Washington, he easily edited her English papers for correct grammar and syntax.At the university, Bruce majored in philosophy. His passion for gung fu inspired a desire to delve into the philosophical underpinnings of the arts. Many of his written essays during those years would relate philosophical principles to certain martial arts techniques. For instance, he wrote often about the principles of yin and yang and how they could translate into hard and soft physical movements. In this way he was completing his education as a true martial artist in the time-honored Chinese sense of one whose knowledge encompasses the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of the arts.In the three years that Bruce studied at the university, he supported himself by teaching gung fu, having by this time given up working in the restaurant, stuffing newspapers or various other odd jobs. He and a few of his new friends would meet in parking lots, garages or any open space and play around with gung fu techniques. Inthe late ‘50’s and early ‘60’s, “gung fu” was an unknown term; in fact, the only physical art that might be listed in the yellow pages was Judo. Even the name “karate” was not a familiar term. The small group of friends was intrigued by this art called gung fu. One of the first students in this group was Jesse Glover who continues to teach some of Bruce’s early techniques to this day. It was during this period that Bruce and Taky Kimura became friends.Not only would Taky become Bruce’s gung fu student and the first Assistant Instructor he ever had, but the friendship forged between the two men was a source of love and strength for both of them. Taky Kimura has continued to be Bruce’s staunch supporter, devoting endless hours to preserving his art and philosophy throughout the 30 years since Bruce’s passing.The small circle of friends that Bruce had made encouraged him to open a real school of gung fu and charge a nominal sum for teaching in order to support himself while attending school. Renting a small basement room with a half door entry from 8th Street in Seattle’s Chinatown, Bruce decided to call his school the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute. In 1963, having established a dedicated group of students and having given numerous demonstrations at the university, Bruce thought he might attract more students by opening a larger school at 4750 University Way where he also lived in a small room in the back of the kwoon.One of his students in 1963 was a freshman at the University of Washington, Linda Emery. Linda knew who Bruce was from his guest lectures in Chinese philosophy at Garfield High School, and in the summer after graduating, at the urging of her Chinese girlfriend, Sue Ann Kay, Linda started taking gung fu lessons. It wasn’tlong before the instructor became more interesting than the lessons. Bruce and Linda were married in 1964. By this time, Bruce had decided to make a career out of teaching gung fu. His plan involved opening a number of schools around the country and training assistant instructors to teach in his absence. Leaving his Seattle school in the hands of Taky Kimura, Bruce and Linda moved to Oakland where Bruce opened his second school with JamesLee. The two men had formed a friendship over the years with each traveling frequently between Seattle and Oakland. James was a gung fu man from way back, but when he saw Bruce’s stuff he was so impressed that he wanted to join with him in starting a school. Thus the second branch of the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute was founded.Having now been in the United States for five years, Bruce had left behind any thought of acting as a career,and devoted himself completely to his choice of martial arts as a profession. Up to this time Bruce’s gung fu consisted mostly of wing chun techniques and theory he had learned from Yip Man. Gradually though, because of his burgeoning interest in the philosophy of martial arts and his desire for self improvement, he was expanding his repertoire. A particular incident accelerated his process of self-exploration. In 1964 Bruce was challenged by some gung fu men from San Francisco who objected to his teaching of non-Chinese students. Bruce accepted the challenge and the men arrived at the kwoon in Oakland on the appointed day for the face off. The terms were that if Bruce were defeated he would stop teaching the non Chinese. It was a short fight with the gung fu man from The City giving up when Bruce had him pinned to the floor after about three minutes. The significance of this fight was that Bruce was extremely disappointed in his own performance. Even though he had won, he was winded and discouraged about his inability to put the man away in under three minutes. This marked a turning point for Bruce in his exploration of his martial art and the enhancement of his physical fitness. Thus began the evolution of Jeet Kune Do.Just as Bruce was cementing his plans to expand his martial arts schools, fate stepped in to move his life in another direction. In the preceding years Bruce had made the acquaintance of Ed Parker, widely regarded as the father of American Kenpo. In August of 1964, Ed invited Bruce to Long Beach, CA to give a demonstration at his First International Karate Tournament. Bruce’s exhibition was spectacular. He used Taky as his partner and demonstrated his blindfolded chi sao techniques. At one point he used a member of the audience to show the power of his one-inch punch. Such was Bruce’s charisma that he spoke conversationally, injecting humor into his comments while at the same time emphatically demonstrating his power, precision and speed.A member of the audience was Jay Sebring, a well-known hair stylist to the stars. As fate would have it, the following week, Jay was styling the hair of William Dozier, an established producer. Mr. Dozier mentioned to Jay that he was looking for an actor to play the part of Charlie Chan’s son in a series to be entitled, “Number One Son.” Jay told the producer about having seen this spectacular young Chinese man giving a gung fu demonstration just a few nights before. Mr. Dozier obtained a copy of the film that was taken at Ed Parker’s tournament. The next week he called Bruce at home in Oakland and invited him to come to Los Angeles for a screen test.Bruce’s screen test was impressive, but in the meantime plans for “Number One Son” had been scuttled. Mr.Dozier was now immersed in the production of the “Batman” TV series, but still he wanted to hang onto Bruce. The plan was that if Batman was successful for more than one season, then Dozier wanted to capitalize on the popularity of another comic book character, “The Green Hornet” with Bruce playing the part of Kato. To keep Bruce from signing with someone else, Mr. Dozier paid him an $1,800 option for one year.About this time things were changing in Bruce’s personal life as well. His own number one son, Brandon Bruce Lee, was born February 1, 1965. One week later Bruce’s father, Lee Hoi Chuen, died in Hong Kong. Bruce was pleased that his father had known about the birth of the first grandchild in the Lee family. Given these events and the arrival of the lump sum option money, Bruce decided it was time to make a trip to Hong Kong to visit his mother and introduce the family to both Linda and Brandon. They stayed in the family flat on Nathan Road for four months. While there Bruce was able to “play gung fu” with Master Yip Man and the students of the wing chun school.Upon leaving Hong Kong, Bruce and his family traveled to Seattle where they stayed with Linda’s family for another four months. During this time Bruce spent a great deal of time with Taky and the students at the Seattle school. After Seattle, the family moved back to James Lee’s house in Oakland for several months before making the move to Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, he got better acquainted with Dan Inosanto whom he had known through Ed Parker. It was not long before Bruce opened his third gung fu school with Dan as his assistant instructor. During this entire year of traveling and working closely with his best gung fu colleagues, Bruce was going through a period of intense self-exploration. Bruce was always a goal setter. However, he was never obstinate about his goals and if the wind changed, he could steer his life on a different course. He was in a period of transition at this time, deciding whether to make acting his career or continue on the path of opening nationwide schools of gung fu. His decision was to focus on acting and see if he could turn it into a productive career. He often said his passion was pursuit of the martial arts, but his career choice was film making.The chief reason that Bruce turned his attention to acting was that he had lost interest in spreading his way of martial arts in a wide scale manner. He had begun to see that if his schools became more numerous, he would lose control of the quality of the teaching. Bruce loved to teach gung fu, and he loved his students. Countless hours were spent in his backyard or in the kwoon, one on one with students. They were like members of the family. His love for his martial arts was not something he wanted to turn into a business.In 1966, production started on “The Green Hornet.” The filming lasted for six months, the series for one season, and that was the end of it. Bruce’s take home pay was $313 a week, which seemed like a lot of money at the time. When they first started filming, the cameras were not able to record the fight scenes clearly because of Bruce’s speed. They asked him to slow down to capture the action. Bruce’s gung fu moves thrilled audiences, and the series became a sought-after collector item in later years. Bruce maintained a friendship with Van Williams who played the part of Britt Reid.The years between 1967 and 1971 were lean years for the Lee family. Bruce worked hard at furthering his acting career and did get some roles in a few TV series and films. (See Filmography) To support the family, Brucetaught private lessons in Jeet Kune Do, often to people in the entertainment industry. Some of his clients includedSteve McQueen, James Coburn, Stirling Silliphant, Sy Weintraub, Ted Ashley, Joe Hyams, James Garner andothers.A great blessing was the arrival of a daughter, Shannon Emery Lee, on April 19, 1969. She brought great joyinto the Lee household and soon had her daddy around her little finger.During this time Bruce continued the process he had started in Oakland in 1964, the evolution of his way ofmartial arts, which he called Jeet Kune Do, “The Way of The Intercepting Fist.” He read and wrote extensively histhoughts about physical combat, the psychology of fighting, the philosophical roots of martial arts, and aboutmotivation, self-actualization and liberation of the individual. Thanks to this period in his life, which was at timesfrustrating, we know more about the mind of Bruce Lee through his writings.Bruce was devoted to physical culture and trained devotedly. In addition to actual sparring with his students,he believed in strenuous aerobic workouts and weight training. His abdominal and forearm workouts wereparticularly intense. There was rarely a time when Bruce was doing nothing—in fact, he was often seen reading abook, doing forearm curls and watching a boxing film at the same time. He also paid strict attention to his foodconsumption and took vitamins and Chinese herbs at times. It was actually his zealousness that led to aninjury that was to become a chronic source of pain for the rest of his life. On a day in 1970, without warming up,something he always did, Bruce picked up a 125-pound barbell and did a “good morning” exercise. That consistsof resting the barbell on one’s shoulders and bending straight over at the waist. After much pain and many tests, itwas determined that he had sustained an injury to the fourth sacral nerve. He was ordered to complete bed restand told that undoubtedly he would never do gung fu again. For the next six months, Bruce stayed in bed. It wasan extremely frustrating, depressing and painful time, and a time to redefine goals. It was also during this timethat he did a great deal of the writing that has been preserved. After several months, Bruce instituted his ownrecovery program and began walking, gingerly at first, and gradually built up his strength. He was determinedthat he would do his beloved gung fu again. As can be seen by his later films, he did recover full use of his body,but he constantly had to take measures like icing, massage and rest to take care of his back.Bruce was always imagining story ideas. One of the projects he had been working on was the idea of atelevision series set in the Old West, featuring an Eastern monk who roamed the countryside solving problems. Hepitched the idea at Warner Bros. and it was enthusiastically received. The producers talked at great length to Bruceabout the proposed series always with the intent that Bruce would play the role of the Eastern wise man. In theend, the role was not offered to Bruce; instead it went to David Carradine. The series was “Kung Fu.” The studioclaimed that a Chinese man was not a bankable star at that time. Hugely disappointed, Bruce sought other ways tobreak down the studio doors.Along with two of his students, Stirling Silliphant, the famed writer, and actor, James Coburn, Brucecollaborated on a script for which he wrote the original story line. The three of them met weekly to refine thescript. It was to be called “The Silent Flute.” Again, Warner Bros. was interested and sent the three to India to lookfor locations. Unfortunately the right locations could not be found, the studio backed off, and the project was puton the back burner. Thwarted again in his effort to make a go of his acting career, Bruce devised a new approachto his goal.In 1970, when Bruce was getting his strength back from his back injury, he took a trip to Hong Kong with sonBrandon, age five. He was surprised when he was greeted as “Kato,” the local boy who had been on American TV.He was asked to appear on TV talk shows. He was not aware that Hong Kong film producers were viewing him withinterest. In 1971, about the time that “The Silent Flute” failed to materialize, Hong Kong producer Raymond Chowcontacted Bruce to interest him in doing two films for Golden Harvest. Bruce decided to do it, reasoning that if hecouldn’t enter the front door of the American studios, he would go to Hong Kong, establish himself there and comeback in through the side door.In the summer of 1971, Bruce left Los Angeles to fly to Hong Kong, then on to Thailand for the making of“The Big Boss,” later called “Fists of Fury.” Between Hong Kong and Thailand, producer Run Run Shaw attemptedto intercede and woo Bruce away from Golden Harvest. But Bruce had signed a deal so he stayed with RaymondChow. Bruce’s family did not accompany him on this trip because the village where the film was made was notsuitable for small children. It was also felt that if this film was not a hit, Bruce might be back in L.A. sooner thanexpected. Although the working conditions were difficult, and the production quality substandard to what Brucewas accustomed, “The Big Boss” was a huge success. The premier took place at midnight, as was Hong Kongcustom. Chinese audiences are infamous for expressing their emotions during films—both positive and negative.The entire cast and production team were very nervous, no one more so than Bruce. At the end of the showing, theentire audience was silent for a moment, then erupted in cheers and hailed their new hero who was viewing fromthe back of the theater.In September of 1971, with filming set to commence on the second of the contractual films, Bruce moved hisfamily over to Hong Kong and prepared to sell their Los Angeles home. “Fist of Fury,” also called “ChineseConnection” was an even bigger success than the first film breaking all-time box office records. Now that Brucehad completed his contract with Golden Harvest, and had become a bankable commodity, he could begin to havemore input into the quality of his films. For the third film, he formed a partnership with Raymond Chow, calledConcord Productions. Not only did Bruce write “The Way of the Dragon,” also called “Return of the Dragon,” buthe directed and produced it as well. Once again, the film broke records and now, Hollywood was listening.In the fall of 1972, Bruce began filming “The Game of Death,” a story he once again envisioned. The filmingwas interrupted by the culmination of a deal with Warner Bros. to make the first ever Hong Kong-American coproduction.The deal was facilitated mainly by Bruce’s personal relationship with Warner Bros. president, TedAshley and by Bruce’s successes in Hong Kong. It was an exciting moment and a turning point in Hong Kong’s filmindustry. “The Game of Death” was put on hold to make way for the filming of “Enter the Dragon.”Filming “Enter the Dragon” was not an easy undertaking. The American cast and crew and their Chinesecounterparts experienced language problems and production difficulties. It was a stressful time for Bruce too as hewanted the film to be especially good and well accepted by Western audiences.“Enter the Dragon” was due to premier at Hollywood’s Chinese theater in August of 1973. Unfortunately,Bruce would not live to see the opening of his film, nor would he experience the accumulated success of more thanthirty years of all his films’ popularity.On July 20, 1973, Bruce had a minor headache. He was offered a prescription painkiller called Equagesic.After taking the pill, he went to lie down and lapsed into a coma. He was unable to be revived. Extensive forensicpathology was done to determine the cause of his death, which was not immediately apparent. A nine-daycoroner’s inquest was held with testimony given by renowned pathologists flown in from around the world. Thedetermination was that Bruce had a hypersensitive reaction to an ingredient in the pain medication that caused aswelling of the fluid on the brain, resulting in a coma and death.The world lost a brilliant star and an evolved human being that day. His spirit remains an inspiration to untoldnumbers of people around the world.
Bruce Lee Filmography
1941
Golden Gate Girl
1948
Wealth Is Like A Dream
1949
Sai See in the Dream
The Story of Fan Lei-fa
1950
Blooms and Butterflies
The Kid a.k.a. My Son A-Chang
1951
Infancy
1953
A Son Is Born a.k.a. The Guiding Light
A Mother Remembers a.k.a. A Mother’s Tears
Blame it on Father
A Myriad Homes
In the Face of Demolition
1955
Love (Part1)
Love (Part 2)
An Orphan’s Tragedy
The Faithful Wife
Orphan’s Song
The More the Merrier a.k.a. We Owe It to Our Children
1956
The Wise Guys Who Fool Around
Too Late for Divorce
1957
The Thunderstorm
Darling Girl
1960
The Orphan
1966
The Green Hornet (Kato)
1967
Ironside (guest star)
1968
The Wrecking Crew (technical director)
Marlowe (supporting)
Blondie (guest star)
1971
The Big Boss a.k.a. Fists of Fury
1972
Fist of Fury a.k.a. The Chinese Connection
The Way of the Dragon a.k.a. Return of the Dragon
The Game of Death (unfinished)
1973
Enter the Dragon
1978
The Game of Death (completed posthumously by Golden Harvest)
Monday, September 29, 2008
Forearms
A very important muscle group, this muscle aids you in almost every exercise you can possibly do. They support your hands, especially when your lifting all that heavy weight.
Working out the forearms can be very easy. Some exercises workout the forearms as a secondary muscle, for some this will be enough to develop a good sized forearm, but for others training the forearms will be a 3 time a week thing!!
In order to develop forearms you need to push them hard, but at the same time not to the extreme because you can run the chance of tearing a ligament.
*Note*
If you have big arms, please develop some forearms!!!! It looks too funny
Traps (trapezius)
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Abdominals (Stomatch)
It seems that now days everyone is looking for the 10 or even 5 minute ab workout. I'll be the first one to bust your bubble. It takes a bit of effort, especially in the food department.
One thing people must keep in mind is that the stomach is located right underneath the abs. You must be thinking to yourself, well that is obvious, and it is, but people cant put together that the fat will be stored in that area quicker than any other, since its the closest.
The best way to remove the layer of fat that covers the abdominals is CARDIO, there is no quicker way, no matter what anyone tells you!
For many bodybuilders the abdominals are the last muscle group to work on, this is obviously because its done in the cutting stage where the body has a minimal in body fat.
To strengthen the abs add resistance
2 warm-up sets of 12 reps of Ab Crunch Machine
2 failure sets of 8-12 reps of Ab Crunch Machine
1 warm-up set of 12 reps of Cable Crunches
2 failure sets of 8-12 reps of Cable Crunches
1 failure set of Side Crunches 12-20 reps (to both sides)
2 sets of 30+ reps on Trunk Twists
2 failure sets of 8-12 reps Ab Crunch Machine
1 warm-up set of 12 reps of Crunches
2 failure sets of 8-12 reps of Crunches (do on decline bench or with weight on chest is extra resistance is needed)
1 failure set of Side Crunches 12-20 reps (to both sides)
2 sets of 30+ reps of Trunk Twists
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Triceps Workouts
Monday, September 22, 2008
Back Workouts...
Dead lifts,
A fundamental workout, its just to complete not to include in your regular workout routine, if you dont even like doing back, just do this one exercise and you will be set. Well not really, but like I said if you dont want to workout your back, this is your best bet for muscular development throughout your back.
Keep in mind that dead lifts workout more than just your lower and upper back, they also target your legs greatly(if done correctly).
In my opinion, its best to start off with dead lifts right off the bat, since it is going to drain most of your power!
Dead lifts are known to develop overall body thickness, this is because of its movement, it commences from the floor and ends above your knees. This itself puts a lot of stress throughout the entire body, therefore making it work overtime with every rep.
A poorly executed deadlift can quickly result in injury: strained muscles, compressed vertebrae, even pinched nerves or damage to the spinal cord. So take great care in learning the deadlift well before moving into heavy loads.
***Proper Way to Dead lift***
Feet need to be shoulder width apart, index finger should be near position line on bar. Your butt needs to be parallel with the floor, this helps with initial lift. First you push with your legs while your back is as straight as possible and your head is looking upwards to the ceiling(less stress on neck). The rep ends when the bar passes the knees, and you are able to lock out.
****Warning*** It is advised to use an exercise belt for this workout.
Pull ups,
One of the best workouts for your upper back can only be known as the pull up, its quite simple to understand the function of the exercise. Its main focus is on the latissimus dorsi(lats). Inner and outer grip pull ups are the two main options here.
I recommend that your second exercise for a back day should be pull ups, since they too require a little getting used to. It seems to get easier if you keep practicing this workout. I have met people who couldnt even do a single pull up and after a couple of weeks of trying hard they were able to perform at least 10 good pull ups. So dont worry if you cant do many pull ups, keep trying! (and if you think you are over weight and it would be impossible for you, think again, I personally know someone who can do 20 pull ups and he weighs in at 285lbs!!!!)
Seated Cable Rows,
Very effective for the mid back section, also good for thickening the back muscles. Many bodybuilders love this machine, ask Arnold, he will tell you! It gives you the "brick wall" look that many top professional judges look for.
This exercise also targets the lower back if desired.
Remember to keep knees slightly bent and your back as staright as possible. By doing this, you will target the muscles on your back a lot better.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
"Top Steroids"
Along with the many who professionally "abuse" steroids, there also are those who have no idea what they are doing and are just wasting money and of course putting their lives in jeopardy. Using steroids properly is not that simple, there are many key factors that one must understand before beginning a cycle.
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One important fact is, DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW TO WORKOUT WHILE ON STEROID CYCLE? Many people dont understand that 80 to 90 percent of the results are going to come from the workouts and not just inflation due to water retention. Depending on the cycle you are on you need to workout accordingly,
If you are considering a bulking cycle,
Your workouts will need to consist of heavy lifting but at the same time you will need to include a lot of high reps as a burnout set. Why? Well its quite simple, since your body is expanding greatly, you need to make sure you are building quality muscle. While heavy lifting will give you a good solid look, the high reps will cut down on the water retention, and that is the key!!! When you get off your cycle there will be some loss in size (mostly water). So if you did your high reps when you where on your cycle, you wont lose as much!!!!
** IMPORTANT FOR USERS **
A very effective way of using bulking Testosterone based steroids, your cycle should be a bit longer than usual 8-10 weeks long, but here is the key, do not exceed more than 1cc or 250mgs per week, as some may know, this is a very low dose. Ill explain why this works wonders, the low dose will allow your body to gradually increase in size, this is good, because this way you can work on those high reps to catch up to your body's progress. So by the end of the 10 weeks the quality of muscle will be maximized, with a very low chance of losing any significant amount of size.
If you are considering a cutting cycle,
Cutting cycles are part of every bodybuilders life. There are many different cycles one may consider, but keep in mind some are quite painful! And the worst part is that the painful ones are the most effective!
If you heard of the "roid" called Winstrol Depot, drug name: Stanozolol, then you might know that it needs to be injected everyday... Yes everyday!!!(if you want professional results). There is also a pill version to this drug, but unfortunately much less effective. The problem with Winstrol is that its intra-muscular, therefore you are going to need at least a 21 gauge needle, that has a depth of an inch and a half. Now, most people inject in the upper right quadrant of the buttocks, this is good, since there is a good amount of muscle and fat. Pain is minimal in this section but when you need to inject them everyday or every other day(switching cheeks) it can be quite the "pain in the ass."
Another option is local site injection with winstrol depot, for localized gains, some people say that this is not possible, that it does not work! Maybe, but dont tell that to some top bodybuilders in the industry who believe in this theory greatly.
Out of all the top Steroids available, Winstrol seems to be the top pick for cutting besides, diuretics. Recomended dose is 1cc or 50mgs a day. Even though many have reported a dose of 2 to 3 cc's a day (advanced levels).
Top Bulking Steroids,
1. Anadrol 50, aka D-bol, Dianabol 50mgs.
2. Testosterone Suspension.
3. Trenbolone 200
4. Testosterone E and C
5. Sustanon 250
6. Nandrolone Decanoate
Top Cutting Steroids,
1. Winstrol Depot
2. EQUIPOISE
3. Trenbolone 75 Acetate
4. Trenbolone 200
5. MASTERON
6. Anavar
7. HALOTESTIN
8. HGH (not a steroid)
Most Muscular...
Muscle Dog
-Many of you have seen or heard about Wendy the whippet, a dog with a rare genetic mutation that has led to her being called the Arnold Schwarzenegger of dogs.
The genetic mutation is a deficiency in myostatin, which is a growth factor that limits muscle tissue growth.
But that rare genetic defect does not occur only in the whippet breed. In fact, it can and has occurred in other animals… even in humans themselves!
Belgian Blues
Belgian Blue cattle are a beef breed from Belgium, known in French as Race de la Moyenne et Haute Belgique. Alternative names include Belgian Blue-White, Belgian White and Blue Pied, Belgian White Blue, Blue and Blue Belgian. The sculpted, heavily muscled appearance is known as "doubled muscled", and is a trait shared by the Piedmontese breed. They are named for their typically blue-grey mottled hair colour, although they can be white or even black.
The Belgian Blue has a natural mutation of the gene that codes for myostatin, a protein that counteracts muscle growth. The truncated myostatin is unable to function in this capacity. This mutation also interferes with fat deposition, resulting in very lean meat. They are often unable to give birth naturally, requiring a caesarean section.
The breed originated in central and upper Belgium in the nineteenth century, from crossing local cattle with Shorthorn cattle from Great Britain and probably with Charolais cattle. At first there were milking strains and beef strains of the breed. The modern beef breed was developed in the 1950s by Professor Hanset, working at an AI centre in Liege province.
Critics call Belgian blues "monster cows" and some countries, including Denmark, have advocated eliminating the strain
Friday, September 19, 2008
Chest Workouts
I'm sure this muscle group is the most popular among all others, and why not, its a great part of the body to develop.
Remember this: Hey, how much can you bench?... And your response was at least 50 lbs above what you can actually do!
The Bench Press has been a very interesting piece of equipment, there is many tricks to the bench press, I have a couple of tricks myself that I will be sharing later on this page. Its quite a simple machine with a simple idea, lift the weight, place it on your chest and press. Now, how many people do you think are doing it properly? Probably not too many! How about you, the reader of this blog? See for yourself...
Steps to bench pressing,
1. Most bars have a finger mark in form of a line, use this line to figure a comfortable width for benching, most people are comfortable with either their middle finger or their second to last finger.
2. Make sure you are positioned evenly on the bench so you wont sway from side to side! Always keep your feet planted on the floor, this is crucial for balance. Your back needs to be flat on the bench at all times(unless you are a power lifter or performing a max... discussed in another section of the blog.)
3. THE BAR NEEDS TO TOUCH YOUR CHEST!! It does not count unless you do this!, I cant begin to tell you how much this irritates me. If you cant handle the weight then simply go with a weight you can. *Note* For competition bench pressing, the lift will be considered null or not completed.
4. Breathing, very important. When you first lift the bar from its resting position you will need to inhale and as it touches your chest and you begin to press, exhale.
5. Shoulders, its very important to understand that a great deal of pressure is being placed on the shoulders while benching, so in order to avoid the many shoulder injuries from performing such an exercise, STRETCH!!! And one more thing which is probably more important than stretching itself, keep your elbows in while you bench. Most people bench with their arms pointing out as if they were gonna take flight in any second. That would be the wrong thing to do! Like I said keep them in!!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Top Sex Tips 4 men
2. Teeth are as important as the groin and armpits. Don’t forget to brush them after your bath. When kissing a girl, or even sitting close to her, she won’t want to smell your bad breath or notice salad between your teeth any more than she’ll want to smell yesterday’s sweat.
3. Avoid a heavy meal before sex. Oysters and asparagus are assumed to be aphrodisiacs, but this is only because of visual or olfactory associations. Champagne is a better bet, but choose a less acidic one, lest exotic Kama Sutra-style acts cause indigestion.
4. Be careful with drinks. We all know drinking increases a man’s desire but decreases his ability, but not everyone realises it also affects a woman’s sexual response. More than two or three drinks and some women may be loving but physiologically limited.
5. Any penile discharge or sore, however apparently trivial, means that sex is out. Chlamydia in the male may be almost symptom-free. It may show only as a mild inflammation of the end of the penis, so that the lips are stuck together in the morning.
6. Always use a condom with a new partner, even if she seems as innocent as a nun. Regular partners should still have chlamydia and blood tests.
7. Men fear judgment, whether by colleagues in the office, teammates in the changing room or, above all, by a new girlfriend. Penis size can worry some men. Remember that someone’s penis always looks smaller to the owner than to an onlooker. Women may prefer a medium-size but thick penis but, if a lover is attentive, even if offering a button rather than a baton, it won’t matter.
8. Don’t rush into sex and focus attention immediately on the genitalia. Take it slowly. Learn to massage. This can easily shade into great foreplay, especially if your partner is tired or stressed. Use plenty of lubrication.
9. Make certain that your partner knows how attractive you find her by paying as much attention to kissing her, complimenting her and generally spoiling her. Don’t neglect the breasts and other erogenous zones.
10. Both sexes have off days. Most men occasionally have poor or tardy erections and even fit, athletic, overenthusiastic men, as well as the inexperienced and anxious, may suffer premature ejaculation.
11. There’s no substitute for excitement. The range of lubricants on the market can add slip and slide, but should never be used as a short cut.
12. There’s more to sex than pushing the right button. Men have discovered that the key to female orgasm is clitoral stimulation, and many now rub the lamp rather than poking around inside it. The upside is that women are climaxing more often but the increase in emphasis on genital manipulation has made for some very mechanical sex. Going straight to the erogenous zones is the equivalent of fast forward. Men who focus on left breast, right breast, genitals, reduce their partner to a set of body parts.
13. Though clitoral orgasm is easy to achieve, most women want to experience penetrative orgasm. Intercourse is the ultimate connection between man and woman and the sensation of fullness that it creates is intensely pleasurable.
14. Women are slow burners. They take longer to become aroused and get as much pleasure, if not more, out of tenderness, kissing and cuddling. Though quickie sex has its place, for women on the whole, the longer sex takes, the better it feels. If arousal is allowed to build gradually, it floods the whole body rather than being confined to the genital area and a delayed orgasm is infinitely more powerful than an orgasm induced by five minutes of digital manipulation.
15. Sexual gymnastics are often distracting. Chopping and changing positions and techniques can make a woman’s sexual excitement plummet.
16. Thrusting for hours without climaxing doesn’t make you a stud muffin. It does make the vagina numb and sore.
17. Don’t assume your partner is comfortable in her own skin. A survey of 3,500 British women, by the bathroom equipment company SHUC, found that one woman in ten feels so embarrassed about her body that she turns the lights out before taking off her clothes. The average woman still spends a lot of time every day beating herself up about her weight and looks. Nakedness increases that vulnerability, so be sensitive to her insecurities and, if you think that your partner looks great, for God’s sake tell her.
18. Be polite. Never nudge your partner’s head towards your nether regions. During fellatio don’t thrust into your partner’s mouth, don’t hold the side of her head – and definitely warn her when you think you are going to come. With regard to orgasm, always operate a ladies-first policy.
19. Put a little X in your sex. Watching steamy movies with your partner will increase the chance that you will have sex.
20. Remember to take your socks off
Shoulder Workouts
In my opinion shoulders are very important, they give the illusion of a wider back, which is very crucial for many bodybuilders who were not born with a great wall of china for a back!
Keep in mind that the shoulders are involved in many exercises that we perform at the gym, so with that in mind, we must be very careful when in comes to working them out!!
The shoulder consists of 3 major groups, medial, anterior and posterior deltoids. Now knowing this, we must focus our attention to each group.
Medial Deltoids:
Biggest muscle of the shoulder, this is the muscle located in the middle of both posterior and anterior deltoids and is the muscle that gives the illusion of a wider back!!
Anterior Deltoid:
The front of your shoulders (the one connected to your chest). This muscle needs to be defined in order to see properly and have the illusion of separation from the chest.
Posterior Deltoid:
The back of your shoulder muscles, hard to achieve a good separation from this muscle but if done, the result is: wider looking shoulders, good profile look.
Shoulder Workouts...
1. Shoulder Press,(dumbbells or barbell)
Good exercise to start off with, great for size and strength; this exercise targets well the posterior and anterior deltoids. ( A good warm-up before this exercise is extremely recommended) For this workout 4 sets should be good enough, with maybe a good burn out right after your 4th set.
***Proper way of performing the shoulder press exercise***
Use a regular 90 degree workout bench, keep back as close as possible to the bench, keep legs about shoulder width apart, and when performing a rep make sure that the elbows reach at a min. of 90 degrees before you begin to press.
2. Side raises or aka shoulder dumbbell flyes
Its a good idea to focus a lot on this exercise, for most people its the difference between regular shoulders and monster shoulders. Its also a good idea to do both arms at the same time, this will help you workout every little fiber of muscle in this area. After the shoulder raises with the dumbbells, I recommend to finish them off with a couple of sets from the machine shoulder raises.(very effective)
***Make sure to keep arms slightly bent, so that the elbows dont experience a great deal of unnecessary pressure***
3. Bent Over Dumbbell Flyes
This particular exercise is great for your posterior deltoids; like I mentioned before, this will make your shoulders look a lot bigger! All you need to do is throw in 3 to 4 sets of this workout in every shoulder day you do and your all set!(You can also use the cable pulls for this exercise)
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Bicep Workouts
The Biceps...
Quite the controversial muscle to workout, many people have completely different ideas on how to workout this muscle group. Ill agree, there is many ways on working them out, but what techniques work for you? The key to this muscle group is finding out what develops your biceps and what doesn't work for you. It is also said that over working this muscle can cause a reverse effect. I believe that this is not true, my theory for biceps is quite simple, work them out until they dont work anymore.
Now you may ask yourself what biceps exercises should I do? Well I can give you my 3 top picks for bicep workouts.
1. Barbell curls:
A very important workout to start off with, it targets the entire bicep, and is perfect for developing large biceps muscles. Now this does not mean its a wonder workout, especially if you dont perform them properly. This exercise should be done with heavy weights, with a total of 4 sets, and maybe a burnout at the end. Im not going to get too specific with the reps you should do for each set, but you need to know that heavy is the way to go, never let your muscles get used to a certain weight, challenge them with the next set with even more weight!!!
** How to do Barbell Curls Properly**
Keep hands about shoulder width apart, do not sway back and forth while performing your reps, keep your back straight, and keep knees bent for extra pushing power if needed. The bar should start where your biceps are fully extended, and reach to the highest point possible (do not move elbows forward, keep them by your side).
2. "21's" or 21 reps
A lot people consider this exercise to be the most effective for bicep muscle workout because it delivers growth and definition, obviously a strong contender when it comes to results!
4 sets of this workout should be more than enough!
**How to perform 21's**
The reps are divided into three sets of seven reps, performed in a row without resting with a barbell or a easy bar. Your first set will begin with 7 reps reaching about the same spot where your belly button is and back down, until you hit the magic number 7, then you go for another set that starts at your belly button and goes to the highest point you can possibly contact your biceps (without moving elbows from your sides). Now for your last 7 reps, these start from the bottom and end all the way at the top (full motion). Its a tough workout but the results are just amazing!
3. Hammer curls (side and straight)
This exercise targets the outer parts of the bicep muscle, quite effective when talking about diameter of the upper arms.
I prefer to do side hammer curls, I believe them to be more effective. I believe they gave me an extra 1/2 " on diameter on my biceps in less than 2 months.
Hammer curls are quite simple to perform, all you have to do is stand or sit straight, grab some dumbbells and start curling without twisting your wrists. The side hammers are a little different, same starting point, but instead of straight up the barbell comes up to the chest, as if you were flexing in front of a mirror.
Leg Workouts
Since the leg muscles have many parts to them, its not that easy to get a "full pump" workout, many people think that if they wake up next morning feeling sore they did enough, and to be honest, I agree, but then here is the problem... if you have been working out for many yrs., and you just dont feel the same pain you felt when u first started, then you my friend are not hitting the legs hard enough anymore. Keep in mind the legs get a good hammering all day long, and for the most part are used to being stressed for long periods of time!! What does this mean? Well nothing good of course lol, but more hard training to get those legs to explode.
Example of Leg workout day,
1st exercise: Leg squats
I believe that leg squats is the best way to start a leg workout, it frees up testosterone, therefore releasing it to other muscles for growth. Squats are also a great leg workout because it involves many parts of the leg muscles, not to mention the back as well, its great for creating mass throughout the leg.
You should start your squats at a low weight so that you are properly stretched out and the blood is flowing properly, also important to practice your stance and body positioning.
When you are ready to start....
-(heavy, for mass)- The best way to start is a set of 10 reps, now when I say 10 reps I mean that you are barely gonna make it to 10!! (very important), your second set, should consist of going heavier, but this time we are going for 8 reps, third set should be heavier once again but for 6 reps this time. Your forth set will be a bit difficult because the weight will increase again, and your going for 4 reps solid without a spot (but always have someone spotting you).
By this point your legs should feel like jello, lol, but your not done! 1 more set of this, and I promise that this set is the most important.
Its basically the burn set, 1st we got the expansion, now we are going for the intense burn. Ok, this is what you need to do, set a weight you can handle for about 12 to 15 reps, keep in mind the workout you just did, and factor that into this last set.
-(light, high reps, toning)- This is from a males perspective, keep in mind that yours legs will not get toned so easily if you dont include a good cardio workout with a combination of a good leg workout. I would recommend a workout of 4 sets that consist of sets between 20 to 25 reps each, I know it sounds high and it is, so stop complaining about it because that is the first problem about people who want to tone up. Toning is not easy, its harder than bulking for most people, therefore most of us need to push our bodies hard to see the results.
(*** Very important info. in order for a squat to be considered a proper rep. you will need to place your feet about shoulder width apart or more, and drop your buttocks until it creates a 90 degree line with your legs.***)
2nd leg workout,
This exercise is a favorite among many body builders, the leg press. Its easier on the knees and has a fluid motion that target the quads and hamstrings quite nicely. Now the same idea goes here, the only difference is that when you get used to this machine it will get extremely easier and you will be able to stack the weight high, but keep in mind to do this exercise properly, this means your knees better come pretty close to touching your chest before you even decide to push it back up again! 3 to 4 sets here will do the trick, if you want mass go heavy 12, 10, 8, 6, 4reps. And if toning is your goal, high reps of 20-25, 3 sets.
3rd leg workout
Now we will concentrate on the hamstrings, this muscle is very important if you want to develop a strong squat and a good size to your legs. For this muscle I recommend hamstring curls; it targets them perfectly. This exercise is hard to do if you are not used to it. Here I recommend 4 sets of heavy weight and a burn out at the end. For people looking to tone, 5 sets of 20-25 should do well here.
4th leg workout
By this point your legs are pretty much done and if they are not, you need to do something about how much weight your putting on the bar.
So, whats left? The calves!!! The hardest muscle to develop on your whole body if you are not genetically gifted with big calves already! This is no joke, there is a lot of work that needs to be put in for developing great big calves. Hey, even Arnold himself had trouble with this part, so dont feel discouraged.
I am going to tell you how to develop calves, its quite simple!
1st thing you need to know is that calves are being used for almost everything you do, so they are used to hard labor! What does that mean, well if you have small calves, you are gonna have to go extremely heavy weight, and work them out at least 3 days a week. There are many stories on how to develop your calves, like for example, plastic surgery, localized injections of steroids like winstrol, developing scar tissue, and I am not going to say that none of these methods dont work, but I rather develop something with hard work and dedication. But if you decide to do it any other way, feel free to ask me about it.
Sample Workout (For Size)
1. 5 sets of squats (last set, burnout)
2. 3 to 4 sets of leg press (heavy)
3. 3 sets of leg extentions (heavy)
4. 3 sets of leg curls (hamstrings)(heavy)
5. 5 to 6 sets of calve raises (extremely heavy)
*and if you feel you still have energy left, which you shouldn't! But just in case you do, finish it off with leg lunges.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Advice for Working out, the proper way!
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