relative strength advantage -

by Yavor - January 21, 2012June 2, 2021

Walking for Weight Loss – Effective or a Waste of Time?

Many people consider walking for weight loss as an ineffective form of low-impact exercise for out of shape folks. I was one of those people. I was wrong. In this article I will share my experience using walking to get in shape in the spring of 2011 during a high stress period in my life when all other forms of higher intensity exercise were out of the question.

The reason most think that walking for weight loss isn’t really a good way to get in shpe is that it seems too easy to give results. The activity in itself doesn’t burn a lot of calories if you do it for 10 or 15 minutes 3 times per week.

Why Walking for Weight Loss Works

by Yavor - January 17, 2012May 30, 2015

Is the L-Pull-up the Most Bang for Your Buck Chin-up Variation?

I first discovered the l-pull up while working out in my neighborhood in my teens. The father of one of my buddies was cranking out 15-20 reps of this pullup variation where he was sticking his legs in front of him instead of letting them hang loosely.

And let me tell you, the guy was built! He told us stories of doing handstand walks around the block when he was our age. Even now, some 10-15 years later, the guy is still in kick ass shape.

It took me a while to get a hang of these but it was worth it. Various L-position holds, like the ones described in the new Convict Conditioning 2 give your abs a run for their money. In, fact, I think the l-pull up covers probably half of your body’s muscles. Talk about being efficient. Another reason I like these pullups is that you can’t cheat or kip with them. It’s a move that demands total control of your body.

What’s the L-Pull up

by Yavor - January 15, 2012June 2, 2015

Daniel Craig’s Body Transformation in Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall

Daniel Craig’s Body Transformation in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace as James Bond has been quite an inspiration for many guys looking to get fitter. Not to mention that his scene emerging from the water in his first Bond movie resulted in more than a few gasps from the female audience.

“The name’s Bond… James Bond”

Daniel Craig bulked up significantly for his first role. For the second movie, he was a bit leaner, a bit less no-neck. The reason for this was that his Bond was now portraying a more refined version of the agent.

Daniel Craig’s Body Transformation Trainer

by Yavor - January 5, 2012June 2, 2015

Jake Gyllenhaal’s Body Transformation: Workout Routine for Prince of Persia Dissected

Jake Gyllenhaal’s Body Transformation for Prince of Persia was once again the work of Simon Waterson, who also trained Daniel Craig and Chris Evans among others. Jake got a pretty muscular upper body and shoulders.

First things first, Jake Gyllenhaal didn’t not start out being out of shape when preparing for Prince of Persia. In fact, he was already in pretty good shape from the physical training for the movie Jarhead, which is pretty good by the way.

Jake admits that he cycles, runs long distance (10-12km) which is a pretty decent cardiovascular conditioning that also has the nice side effect of keeping him with a low body fat percentage to look good on camera.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s Body Transformation Schedule

by Yavor - December 17, 2011June 2, 2015

Blake Lively’s Bikini Body Secrets: Her Workout and Diet for Green Lantern Revealed

Blake Lively’s Bikini Body has become quite an inspiration for women these days. The girl is a fantastic fitness role model with her slim and feminine physique. For her role in Green Lantern Blake got in an even better shape with the help of her celeb personal trainer Bobby Strom.

Among Bobby Strom’s clients are A-list celebrities like Britney Spears (in her fit and sexy period), Shakira, Beyonce, Scarlett Jonahsson (for her role in Iron Man 2), Jessica Biel, Jennifer Lopez, Leslie Mann, Elle Mcpherson… He also worked with Ryan Reynolds for Green Lantern.

Blake Lively’s Bikini Body Diet

by Yavor - October 12, 2011May 24, 2015

The Best Pushup Workout Routine in the Universe

So I was watching the fantastic Batman Begins and got inspired to create new pushup workout; I came up with what I consider the best pushup workout routine. And I’ve tried many, many pushup routines. Hey, if pushups are good enough for Bruce Wayne, they are good enough for me.

They are making a third Batman movie with Christian Bale. I’m stoked. As a side note – if you haven’t seen Batman Begins, please do so. It is even better on my second viewing.

Back to pushups. Why do I consider this routine the best one? It works fast, it is flexible – adapts to your schedule. It avoids overuse injuries. And, you can take it as far as you decide.

The Best Pushup Workout Routine

by Yavor - October 1, 2011June 2, 2015

Gaining Muscle By Stuffing Yourself Like A Pig Is A Stupid Idea

A few years ago I was reading this book called Ultimate Diet Secrets from Dr. Gregory Ellis, a nutritional expert. The book itself is a very detailed explanation of the process of losing fat.

On a side note, smart and cute girls hate it when guys get fat and bulky LOL. No seriously, they hate it. Back to Dr. Ellis: He details energy metabolism at a cellular level and offers a practical way to lose weight with a low carbohydrate diet (under 100g of carbohydrates per day), as well as some energy shortage from eating less and exercising a bit more.

The author had interwoven his personal fitness story in between the dry biochemical background. So anyway, what reminded me of this book was the author’s physical culture journey. There are two types of people who develop a keen interest in the workings of the human body.

The First Kind Are Folks Who Are Natural Athletes

by Yavor - September 24, 2011May 24, 2015

Barbell Lunge 101: A Beginner’s Guide

The barbell lunge is probably one of the most effective and yet most problematic barbell exercises. The benefits of doing exercises for your legs one leg at a time are numerous. You will develop better coordination, get rid of muscle imbalance between your limbs and last but not least become athletic in a very functional manner.

In fact after a good barbell lunge workout, done correctly, you will feel the exercise right in the areas sued for sprinting, jumping and climbing stairs.

The reason for the article however is that I see many people do barbell lunges with severe motion in the knee. This both hinders proper muscular balance of the complete leg musculature and places you at a greater risk of a knee injury.

What is the Barbell Lunge

by Yavor - September 19, 2011May 30, 2015

Cumulative Fatigue – the Real Secret of Fast Muscle Growth

Fast muscle growth – is it really possible? If you ask most people who try working out for a few months without actually achieving anything, fast muscle growth is just hype.

If you focus part of your workouts on this kind of training you will experience very fat muscle growth, especially if you haven’t been training in this way before. As strength coach Charles Poliquin likes to say, the best workout is the one you haven’t been doing.

What he means is that we adapt to a certain kind of training so changing something in the workout every few weeks or months ensures continued progress.

Fast Muscle Growth with Cumulative Fatigue?

by Yavor - September 14, 2011June 2, 2015

The Kettlebell Swing – Kick Ass Exercise for a Kick Ass Body

The kettlebell swing is quite possibly the easiest and at the same time most effective tool when it comes to training the whole body for multiple fitness qualities at the same time. When done for high volume of reps it makes you sweat and huff and puff thus making you fitter and leaner at the same time. The high rep kettlebell swing burns tons of calories and trains your heart and lungs.

swing

Not only that, the swing is one of the most effective exercises to train your posterior chain – the back of the legs. At the same time, when done with a moderately heavy weight it trains your grip. Of course if you don’t have access to a kettlebell right now you could try using a dumbbell just to feel how taxing this exercise is.

Above is a short video I filmed a few years back showing the kettlebell swing from a few different directions. Note how the lower back is nice and tight, how the hips go back and then forward. Also observe the position of the bell. The bottom is pointing away from me. At the top of the swing I exhale and brace my abs more like Bruce Lee was about to punch me.

What is the Kettlebell Swing

by Yavor - September 13, 2011May 24, 2015

Chris Evans’s Workout History – Fantastic Four, Captain America and Beyond

The Captain America workout. Chris Evans gained about between 20 lbs of muscle for his role in the movie while at the same time dropping his body fat percentage from 12.5 to 8 percent. Even though the actual physical training is by far the most important thing when it comes to getting more muscle, you really have to eat more in order to weigh more on the scale.

Chris did it by eating skinless chicken, turkey and fish in huge quantities and lots and lots of salad and all sorts of green vegetables.

Chris Evans’ Workout for Captain America

by Yavor - February 28, 2011May 24, 2015

How to Unleash Your Pull-up Work Out Potential with Lat Activation

So what is lat activation and why should you bother with it in your pull up workout? Trying to do pulling movements with the arms instead of the much more powerful back muscles is like driving a car with the emergency break stuck. If you don’t learn to use the lats on chin ups, you will never master them.

However, if you do learn how to feel, contract and use the lats, you will kick ass in the gym when it comes to pull ups or chin ups. Not only that, you will also get a killer v shape back because the lats will grow nice and wide.

How to Start Using the Lats

by Yavor - February 25, 2011December 20, 2020

How to Make Chest Muscle Exercises Effective

I received a question from Mike, a reader of the site regarding a way to make chest muscle exercises effective. Mike’s problem was that he wasn’t feeling his chest work enough. His triceps was taking over and he was concerned if his form was off.

Before going further, here’s what you will miss if you don’t read the article. You won’t find out how to activate your pecs, the chest muscle, when doing trying to build it up with chest muscle exercises. What’s worse, you might hurt your shoulders from doing one of the most famous chest builders incorrectly.

If you read on, you will discover how to build square muscular pecs like the ones of a gladiator. Your chest muscles will be muscular but not bulky as if you had man boobs. The lower and outer part of the pecs will be clearly outlined, standing out in bold relief.

What Are the Best Chest Muscle Exercises

by Yavor - January 29, 2011June 2, 2015

How to Get a Body Like Olivia Wilde in Tron – Her Weight Training and Cardio Workouts

Olivia Wilde likes to maintain a healthy weight -she’s 110lbs. But for Tron: Legacy she had to go the extra mile and get super fit to be able to wear the hot Tron suit.

No doubt many of you’ve already seen the smash hit Tron and Olivia Wilde’s body hugging outfit that forced her to keep a steady weight during filming so she could fit in the suit.

Questions is – how did Olivia Wilde prepare for the role of sexy warrior Quorra in Tron. The answer is that she worked her ass off. She would be in the gym five or six days each week. Her workout included a mixture of cardio training, lifting weights and also martial arts.

Olivia Wilde’s Weight Training and Cardio Workout

by Yavor - October 29, 2010August 5, 2017

Lat Contraction – Can This Technique Be the Key to Shoulder Health and Freaky Pushing Power?

Some people complain that bench presses are hurting their shoulders. Even more people than that complain that the parallel bar dip, one of the best upper body exercises, is bad for their shoulders.

Well, in this article I will reveal a technique I’ve been using for years to save my shoulders from excess stress when doing bench presses and dips. If you use this method, you will never hurt your shoulders with these movements and you will skyrocket your strength in the weighted dip, the bench press and other upper body pressing movements.

In the photo above Bruce Lee has been kind enough to demonstrate the lat contraction. I think the photo is from Enter the Dragon, possibly his best movie and (still) a very entertaining one at that.