Free Training ebooks

In my previous post on free ebooks I gave you links to diet and supplement ebooks. And this time i present to you some good training books.

All the best

Max-OT

Lee Hayward Writer's Best

Maximize Muscle Gain and Fat Loss

5 Star Arm Workouts

Power-Type Strength Training for Middle Aged Adults

Biglee at Mr.TamilNadu 2008

I did not hire a professional camera man, so here i present to you some videos shot by my close friend Rahul Pradeep.

The Musical posing round



The Final comparison



Related Articles:
Mr.TamilNadu 2008

Soy Protein – Good or Bad?

Soy is fairly inexpensive protein source and has a complete amino acid profile. It is in fact regarded as the best vegetarian protein source. Then why many bodybuilders fear it?

In fact even I used to fear soy protein but not any more!! As I don’t hold any degree for nutrition I will simply lay down the results of some research and some quick facts. After reading this, I am sure that I will leave you with a clear mind to make a wise decision. In all the places I will be using whey as reference as most of us consider whey as the best protein. hy Soy? The PDCAAS score

In all the protein related stories on the net or papers, egg white protein is taken as reference(egg white protein is regarded as complete and is given a neutral score of 1 in all reference). One of the most accurate protein quality measuring factor is Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score(PDCAAS). Having PDCAAS as a reference, in comparison to egg both soy and whey share the same score. Many people consider beef as perfect protein, but even beef scores only 0.92 in PDCAAS in comparison to “1” of Soy, which leaves us with a positive attitude towards reading further. 

Essential Amino Acids

Essential amino acids(EAA) are group of amino acids which can’t be prepared by our body and needs to be supplemented through diet. This is the reason why experts suggest us to take a gram or even more of protein per pound of bodyweight. Many of the bodybuilders consider “whey gold standard” as the best protein source in the world. But “whey” necessarily need not be the “best”. To get a clear picture of the amino acid profile look at the table below.

 EAA - Soy vs. Whey Protein

Soy Vs. Whey Protein	mg EAA per g of Protein
Amino Acid	Soy Protein	Whey Protein
Isoleucine (BCAA)	49mg	54mg
Leucine (BCAA)	82mg	89mg
Valine (BCAA)	48mg	82mg
Histidine	19mg	16mg
Lysine	64mg	88mg
Methionine	26mg	32mg
Phenylalanine	38mg	32mg
Threonine	38mg	65mg
Tryptophan	14mg	22mg
Totals	378mg	480mg

 

The Arginine Factor 

Arginine is a non-essential amino acid which helps in fighting both physical and mental fatigue. Arginine is used in the preparation of nitric oxide which relaxes the blood vessels and helps the body get rid of the toxic substances like ammonia and also used in the preparation of glutamine and creatine by our body. Studies have shown that arginine is used in the formation of protein and it also stimulates the release of growth hormone and prolactin(Prolactin (PRL) or Luteotropic hormone (LTH) is a peptide hormone primarily associated with lactation). And the list goes on and on…

This is the reason why the nitric oxide(NO) supplements evolved in the industry and claimed skin bursting pumping experience in the gym. So here instead of saying much about soy I present to you a table which establishes the amount of arginine per 100g of whey and soy.

Arginine - Soy vs. Whey Protein

Soy Vs. Whey Protein	Arginine per 100g of Protein
Soy Protein	7.6g
Whey Protein	2.9g

 

The Glutamine ratio 

Glutamine is a non-essential amino acid which acts as a cell volumizer by hydrating the muscle cells. In addition to this glutamine is also known to increase the nitric oxide balance in the body, increases the growth hormone production and also known to exhibit anti-catabolic effects.

So a bodybuilder looking to get solid gains consume 3-5g of glutamine 2-3 times a day. So here I present to you a table that shows the amount of glutamine per 100g of soy and whey. 

Glutamine - Soy vs. Whey Protein

Soy Vs. Whey Protein	Glutamine per 100g of Protein
Soy Protein Concentrate	10.5g
Whey Protein Concentrate	4.9g

 

The Estrogen connection

In addition to arginine and glutamine, soy also contains Isoflavones. Isoflavones help to reduce soreness and inflammation and thus improve recovery. They also show powerful antioxidant capabilities. But this is the compound which has given soy the ‘feminizing’ character in the bodybuilding arena. There are many scientific studies which state that isoflavones increase the female hormone count and reduce the level of testosterone and more specifically reduces muscle growth. But there are only a handful of studies which concludes about the estrogen effects but most of the studies conclude that there is no adverse effect on the levels of testosterone or muscle growth due to isoflavones. 

In a 2007 issue of the journal of international society of sports medicine, researchers reported that subjects who were fed either with soy or whey or a combination of both(while also following a resistance training program) showed no differences in free and total testosterone levels – all groups also made similar gains in lean muscle mass. The findings thus concluded that soy was in fact not an inferior source of protein as suggested by earlier studies. 

Soy is made up of three major isoflavones called fenistein, glycitein and daidzein which are also referred to as phytoestrogens (meaning plant estrogens) and are similar to the chemical make up of our body’s own natural hormones estorgen. But research has shown that they are very weak (approximately 1000 times weaker than estrogen). 

“While isoflavones do act to regulate the production and levels of estrogen within the body, for them to actually increase the body’s estrogen levels, and thus compete with the anabolic effects of testosterone, a person would have to consume incredibly large amounts for very long period of time,” says Bodybuilding nutritionist CHAD NICHOLLS (nutritionist of 8 times Mr.Olympia Ronnie Coleman) 

Since numerous people supplementing with soy got similar effects like whey, if they had negative effects on testosterone, gains wouldn’t be the case. Basically the effects of feminizing compounds were tricky with explanation: the pseudo-like estrogen may attempt to battle with testosterone, but they are not strong enough to battle with testosterone and produce a negative effect. So just as whey can build muscle, soy can also build muscle. 

References 

Kalman, D. et al.(2007)Effect of protein source and resistance training on body composition and sex hormones. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 

Cadow, D.G. et al.(2006). Effect of Whey and Soy Protein Supplementation Combined with Resistance Training in Young Adults. International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism.

Mr.TamilNadu 2008

Event : Mr. TamilNadu 2008

Venue: Nehru Stadium, Chennai

Weighing in: 22 Nov 2008, 3.00 PM

Pre-judging: 23 Nov 2008, 1.00 PM

Final show: 23 Nov 2008, 10.00 PM

Weight class: 75-80kg 

Bodyweight for the show : 79.300 Kg

Featured bodybuilder: Murali Vijayakumar (Biglee Murali)

Contest placing: 1st in the category

Here are some pictures for you.

Related Articles:

Biglee at Mr.TamilNadu 2008

Free Nutrition & Supplement E-books

Knowledge is power and I wish to share the knowledge with all of my web site viewers. So here I have consolidated a list of free e-books on supplements and nutrition available on the internet.

The late Iron Guru, Vince Gironda would say, Nutrition is almost 80% of fitness.
So here are the links to 5 excellent books on nutrition and supplements.


Bodybuilding and Fitness Supplement Guide

Big Fat Lies (Fat Loss Lies)

The Whey it is

Bodybuilding Recipes

Effects of Creatine

Important bodybuilding lesson – Training prioritization

Hi Lee,

What would you say is the most important thing for a bodybuilder? I respect your advise and I am eagerly awaiting your esteemed reply.

Regards,
Ashwin


Biglee:
Dude, you really asked a very tricky question!

I would say that the most important thing is to make a realistic workout and diet plan and positively work towards it without wasting time.

I too had a question like you when I started out bodybuilding seriously and learned to prioritize my training from the “Iron Guru “Vince Gironda’s Books.

For example, if your calves are lagging behind other bodyparts, then you will concentrate on calf workouts more than other bodyparts.

But what actually most of the people do is that calves are often left to the end of the workouts. They hardly do some miserable workouts for calves and at times they skip the sessions.
It does not make any sense. So training the calves at the beginning of the workout when you can give 100% to it would make more sense and you could workout more efficiently in bringing your calves in par with other bodyparts.

So the most important thing that a bodybuilder should learn is to prioritize his training and diet plans to suit him.

Train hard and reach your genetic potential.

All the best

Bodybuilding Wallpaper collection

Bodybuilding Classic wallpaper - Featuring Arnold, Franco colombo, Frank Zane, dave Draperand friends
Eddie Robinson

Kevin Levrone

This is what i call ripped bodybuilder !!!

Ronnie- The Unbelievable compared with The Myth- Sergio Oliva

Ronnie the Beast

The huge arms of Arnold

Branch Warren - Mr Thick

Dennis sergovskiy - The ultimate definition

Dennis Wolf, or should i say Dennis Monstor

Last but not least, My favourite Dorian yates with all time great Arnold Schwarzenegger

From fat to fit

Jay:

My problem area is my stomach -.-

I do about 100 sit ups a day and have been doing so for a few weeks now. 

I was just wondering, I’ve read many sources and they all tell me different things and...

When you do for example these sit ups, do you create abs beneath a layer of visible fat or does the fat get burnt away as well?
 
Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

 

Biglee:

Hey Jay,

Spot reduction of fats is not possible.

Let me give you an example.

If you pick up a mug of water from a tub of stored water, where does the water come into the mug? Is it from the top, bottom or where? Similarly it’s tough to judge the spots from where fats are pulled out. Nature knows best and the laws of nature cannot be broken either.

Generally women have a tendency to store lots of fat around their stomach, hips and butt. It is nature’s choice to help them in maternity and heat radiation. 

So when you do sit ups, it induces work from the stomach muscles and tones them up. But the calories burnt will never be pulled from abs alone. It will be pulled out from the whole body. So for natures choice, the fats will be pulled out lastly from the mid section. 

A better approach to attain physical goal would be to do cardio activities like walking or jogging thrice a week. Train abs and other body parts on non cardio days.

some thing like -------
Monday, Wednesday and Friday -> weight training and abs
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday -> cardio
Sunday -> Rest

And do not worry about weight training. Women won’t put on lots of muscle as women do not have the right hormone for it. They lack testosterone and they won’t put on much muscle. Instead weights will improve your posture and womanly shapes. To understand better read this one – Weight training for women.

Diet plays a very vital role in it as much as your workout. To make some adjustments to your current diet, consider the guidelines given here – Fat loss diet for all.

Have a nice time in attaining your physique goal. And enjoy what you do.

All the best

Mr Olympia 2008

Place	Name	Country
1	Dexter Jackson	USA
2	Jay Cutler	USA
3	Phil Heath	USA
4	Dennis Wolf	Germany
5	Toney Freeman	USA
6	Melvin Anthony	USA
7	Silvio Samuel	Spain
8	Dennis James	USA
9	Moe Elmoussawi	New Zealand
10	Gustavo Badell	Puerto Rico

Many of the leading bodybuilders have given their reviews on this event, so I will not give in much of writing. Everyone witnessed many new things on state this year. 

One being the raining Mr.Olympia Jay cutler was dethroned (not much to say) and the other is what I would like to call as the Ronnie coleman effect. 

Till last year every bodybuilder was bringing in a bigger package, may be the fear of standing near a guy weighting 300 lbs in dry and contest shape. But this year it was all different. Most of the bodybuilders were weighing in 15-25 lbs lesser than the previous Olympia and most of them had brought in a streamlined waist look and it was really nice to witness that kind of package from everyone. Professional bodybuilding is taking a new detour again towards aesthetics. 

In My opinion, Phill Heath was toe to toe with Dexter Jackson and he beat Both Jay and Dexter in many poses. And the German mass monster Dennis wolf also brought in a very tight package. The two youngsters, Phill and Dennis are men to watch in the upcoming Olympia’s for a long time.That’s all I have to say now. 

Here are some awesome black and white Olympia wallpapers and photos and some comparisons too.

   Phill Heath 

                                                                      Dennis James

                                                                    Dennis wolf

                                                         
                                                               Dexter Jackson

                                                                         Jay Cutler

Dorian Yates Workout Photos

I just thought that more that just watching some photographs of Dorian posint, his workout photos would be more inspirationsa. Hence we have a small collection here.

The Bodybuilding Diet

In the recent past, a lot of people approach me to make their diet plan. And most of them want their diet to be made up with considerations to factors like cost, time to prepare and availability. Before discussing about the diet in detail I want to make few points clear.

Here they are,

• You cannot add even a drop of muscle without providing extra calories to your body.

• Professional bodybuilders spend loads of money on fancy supplements and other stuffs. But you know what? We shell out the money from our pocket and they don’t. They have sponsors to take care of it. So we need to plan it wise. I am a competitive bodybuilder and even I do not take supplements all year round.

• I hear many people saying that bodybuilding diet is tough, but for many bodybuilders it is a lifestyle. I never find my diet hard cos I love it.

• I will consider the person reading this would train hard and sensible enough to induce growth. Training and diet are twins which put your body on the anabolic environment. If you fall short in any one of these, you will not progress.

Having said that, I will outline few factors influencing your diet. I will also give you a sample diet which you can have as a guide and make necessary adjustments to it to suit your needs.

Quality calories = Quality muscle

If you do not fuel your body, you will never grow. Protein, carbs and fats are sources to build your body and if you do not provide enough calories from quality food, you will never grow. I stress on the words quality calories because the goal of a bodybuilder here is to add as much muscle mass as possible without adding much fat. So the source of calories really does matter. For example a person providing the extra calories from lean protein sources like chicken, egg whites etc has the probability of gaining more muscle than a person adding a couple of extra pizzas to his diet.

In general, Add 10-15% more calories to your general requirement. Hard-gainers can add up to 20% extra calories, and Mesomorph can also add up to 15% extra calories to their diet. But endomorphs like me should strive with minimal excess calories. I add no more than 500 calories per day while bulking up. And I try to give all the extra calories from protein. Bu this I do not mean that one should cut out the carb sources like yams, potatoes, oats etc. Carbs are also highly essential, but by adding the extra calories from protein we can be sure that we will add lean muscle mass and minimum fat.

The Meal frequency

I have said this earlier and I will say this again and again, shoot your meal frequency. Eat at least 5-6 meals a day. In general you need at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. A 180 lbs person consuming 3 meals of 60g protein each has very less probability of adding quality muscle compared to a person eating 6 meals of 30g protein each.

Why is it so?

• 
  By eating frequent meals we increase our metabolism and hence we minimize the chances of adding excess fats.
• By eating small frequent meals we increase the absorption of food into the blood stream.
• By eating frequent meals we keep the nitrogen balance high. So our body is in high anabolic environment constantly.
• By eating large meals with less frequency , the blood insulin levels spike up and the food is transported immediately and the amino acid levels in the blood drops down quickly and hence the growth process slows down. As a bodybuilder this would be the least desirable thing that you would prefer.
• 
  

Meal guidelines

Most of the people who discuss with me about diet are students and can’t spend much money on fancy supplements. So I always prefer suggesting easily available protein and complex carb sources. The meal should contain lean protein sources like egg whites, lean cuts of meat, nuts etc

While planning a meal one has to consider about all food elements to make food a balanced one.

• Protein
• Carbs
• Fats
• Fiber

As a general rule of the thumb, each meal can contain lean protein source of the size of your open palm. Carb source to the size of closed fist. And remember, fats are always hidden in our food sources. And adding a table spoon of olive oil or fish oil for cooking food would take care of the fat sources. Add any seasonal fruit in a meal or two to supply extra vitamins and add green veggies in any number of meals as you like and there are no limits to the amount of green veggies that you can consume, as long as you can eat them.

Bodybuilding Lifestyle Sample Diet chart

Meal 1: 1 cup boiled oats with an apple and 4 egg whites and 2 whole eggs

Meal 2: A hand full of nuts (peanuts or almonds) with lemon juice.

Meal 3: 1 cup rice, 200-250 grams of fish (or) Chicken and a vegetable salad.

Meal4: Post workout meal – a protein shake or 2 glasses of milk.

Meal5: 200-250 grams of red meat, one boiled potato and spinach

Meal6: 50 grams of cottage cheese or peanut butter with vegetables

(note - The diet is exampled out for a person weighting 180 lbs and training 3-4 days a week and moderate metabolism guy)

Quick tips:

Fast food – In the real world it is not possible to have prepared meals always in hand, so at times we have to eat outside. Order sensibly for foods which have high ratios of protein compared to carbs and fats. Instead of having fried rice with fried meat, I would order some variety of bread with which ever meat could be availed with minimal oil in the dish. Avoid excess sauces and other things to keep your diet in a healthy limit. Bodybuilding is a lifestyle and you cannot screw it up.

Cheating – Cheating is not a bad thing at all. Cheating is good if we do it properly. For example I would eat an extra cheese pizza once a month to provide me some extra calories and boost up my metabolism. But if you eat a high cheese pizza with a bottle of coke twice a week it will not be cheating for growth but screwing up your muscle gain and you would have gained a lot of fats before you could realize.

Water - Water is considered the elixir of life. So always try to keep yourself hydrated and carry a bottle of water with you. You will never drink more than what you can. Do not worry and always carry a bottle of water along.

So these are some of the most important guidelines that I follow while making my diet. And you will also be getting some amazing results following these guidelines.

All the best!!

Train hard,

Eat harder

3 Days Workout Split #3

THE WORKOUT SPLIT
Workout	Muscle Groups	Total Sets
Day-1	Chest / Triceps / Biceps	7/6/6
Day-2	Legs / Abs / Forearms	12/4/4
Day-3	Back / Shoulders	9/6
THE WORKOUT
Workout #1 - Chest / Biceps / Triceps
Exercise	Sets / Reps	Target
Cable Crossovers	2 / 8-12	Lower Chest
Flat Bench Press	3 / 6-12	Chest
Flat Dumbbell Flies	2 / 8-12	Middle Chest
Biceps Peak	3 / 6-12	Dumbbell Concentration Curls
Outer Biceps	3 / 6-12	Narrow-Grip Preacher Curls
Triceps Outer Head	2 / 6-12	Rope Pushdowns
Flat-Bench Barbell Extensions	2 / 6-12	Triceps Inner Head
Standing Triceps Presses	2 / 6-12	Overall Mass
Workout #2 - Legs / Abs / Forearms
Exercise	Sets / Reps	Target
Leg Extensions	3 / 6-12	Lower Thigh Development
Lunges	3 / 6-12	Inner Thigh Development / Hamstrings
Hack Squats	3 / 6-12	Front Sweep of Thighs
Leg Press Calf Raises	3 / 6-12	Gastrocnemius Muscles
Crunches	4 / Preference, Failure	Lower Abs
Reverse Curls with a Barbell	4 / 6-12	Upper Forearms / Wrist Extensor Muscles
Workout #3 - Back / Shoulders
Exercise	Sets / Reps	Target
Seated Cable Rows	3 / 6-12	Lat Development
Close-Grip Chin-Ups	3 / 6-12	Lower Lat Development
T-Bar Rows	3 / 6-12	Middle Back Thickness / Outer Back Development
Rear Dumbbell Raises	3 / 6-12	Posterior (Rear) Deltoid Head
Barbell (Military) Press	3 / 6-12	Anterior (Front) Deltoid Head

Related posts

3 Days Workout Split #1

3 Days Workout Split #2