Note:  Fit4everyoung.com is starting several new series on building up and toning the body. These series will appear frequently on our site. We will be starting with the first series, focusing on the Upper Body and throughout the next several weeks, we will focus on the Lower Body as well as the additional aspects of all-over body building.

The chest muscles starts from the attachments along your collarbone, breast bone, and ribs and it attaches to each side of your body by a large tendon through your shoulder joint, into your upper arm bone. In order to build up your chest, you need to properly exercise the pectoralis muscle. Remember that any exercise you do must be done correctly. Not only can you severely injure yourself with improper exercise techniques, you also do not benefit from the exercise as much as you should.

Here is a basic overview of the various exercises that you can do to build up your upper body and chest area. This is not a complete list but will help get you started on working out the chest area.

Push Ups
A basic exercise, push ups work the entire chest area. Lie face down on the floor and place your hands on each side of your body. Keep your arms and torso in a straight line and push yourself up, supporting your upper body on your arms. Slowly lower yourself to the ground until your chest is about an inch or so from the floor. Hold the position for a second and then push back into starting position. Repeat as able. Push ups are a good warm up exercise and can also be beneficial at the end of a routine.

Bench Presses
Performing bench press exercises, you will work your entire pectoral region, plus build up you deltoids and triceps. Using a weight bench and the proper weights, you lie on the bench with your feet flat to the floor on the sides of the bench. It is important to remember that working with a weight bench, it is good practice to have a partner to spot you in the event you need help lifting the barbell. Grab the bar in you hands at a space slightly wider than the width of your shoulders. To lift the barbell, straighten your arms and lift up, holding the bar at arms-length from your chest. Lower the barbell until it reaches your chest, keeping your elbows tucked and your upper arms at a 45-degree angle. If you keep your arms straight out, you will place too much strain on your shoulders. When the bar reaches your chest, push up into the starting position.  Repeat this measure 4-5 times in the beginning and then work to increase the repetitions over the next few workouts. If you do not have a proper weight bench, you can substitute using dumbbells instead of the barbells.

Incline Bench Press
Using the same techniques as you would with the standard bench press, you incline the seat of the bench at a 45 degree angle. The simple motion of inclining the bench will allow you to work more of your upper chest muscles.

Dips
To work the entire chest area but focus especially on the lower chest, you can use the dip technique to build up your chest. Using parallel bars, grab the bars with the palms of your heads, straighten your arms, and bend your knees. Pull your entire body up off the ground and support yourself between the bars, feet off of the floor. Lean your torso slightly forward as you continue to slowly bend your arms and lower your body between the bars so that your elbows are at a 90 degree angle. Hold this position for a second then push yourself back up to the starting position. Repeat 4-5 times and build up the repetition over the next few weeks.

© 2009, FIT FOR EVER. All rights reserved.

The function of the biceps is to lift your arm, perform the curling motion, and to twist the wrist downward. The biceps brachii is a two-headed muscle which starts under the deltoid and ends just beneath the elbow.  The tricep muscles comprise about two-thirds of the overall arm mass. The function of the tricep muscle is to work opposite of the biceps in order to straighten the arm and twist the wrist upward. The tricep muscle stretches along the back of the upper arm. There are three heads to the muscle, called the long head, the lateral head, and the medial head. The long head is attached to the inner part of your scapula, the lateral and medial heads are attached to the main upper arm bone, known as the humerus.

Important Points About Arm Exercises
When developing and defining the arm muscles, it is important to understand how the muscles all work together and comprehend the actions of each individual group. You should not only focus on one particular group but look to develop all of the arm muscles completely. Arm exercises should be performed with much attention to proper form. Focus on compound movements over isolation exercises and choose heavier weights with less repetition over lighter weights and more reps. You will also need to permit at least a full week for arm muscles complete recovery.

The Exercise Groups
There are different kinds of exercises you can use to begin building strength in your arm muscles.

Antagonist Supersets – this involves combining a bicep and tricep exercise with little or no rest between the exercises.

Same Muscle Superset – this involves two exercises for the same muscles back to back with little or rest in between.

Tri Sets – this involves three exercises for the same muscles performed one after the other with little to no rest in between. The tri sets are advanced from the supersets as they are more difficult and intense of a work out.

Basic Arm Workouts

BICEPS

Barbell Curls
A fundamental bicep exercise, barbell curls are one of the best ways for a person of any level to build and maintain bicep muscles. These curls will help build overall muscle mass in the biceps.

To Do:
Grab the bar with an underhanded grip, hands shoulder-width apart. Curl the bar up and high as soon as you can, keeping your elbows still. Extend your arms to get back into the starting position.  A closer grip will work the outer head of the triceps. Remember to keep perfect form and avoid jerky, unstable movements.

Dumbbell Curls
This exercise builds the overall muscle mass in the biceps, giving more definition to the biceps.

To Do:
Taking a dumbbell in each hand, sit on the edge of the bench at arms length. Curl the arms, bringing them to maximum contraction and then lower the dumbbell, using the same arm, extending your arms fully.

Concentration Curls
This exercise is one of the best to build biceps peak. Concentration curls are a power exercise. As much weight as possible should be used with the strictest form.

To Do:
Bend at your torso and hold a dumbbell in one hand and rest your other arm on your knee. Curl your arm to the max and twist your wrist so your little finger is lower than your thumb. Curl the dumbbell back into the start position.

TRICEPS

Lying Tricep Extensions
This exercise helps to develop complete triceps by building overall muscle mass.

To Do:
Lie on a bench with your feet flat on the bench and knees bent. Hold a bar with an overhand grip with your hands 10 inches apart. Press the weights u until your arms are locked. Keep your elbows still s you move the bar back into the start position.

Seated Tricep Press
This exercise is used to build the overall muscle mass of the tricep.

To Do:
Sit on a bench and hold a barbell straight over your head, keeping your back straight. Lower he bar down behind your next in an arc, keeping elbows stationary. Press the bar upwards then return to starting position.

FOREARMS

Barbell Wrist Curls
An isolation exercise used  to exercise the forearms. Helps to build inner side muscles of the forearms.

To Do:

Sit on one end of a bench holding the barbell with an underhanded grip. Rest your forearms on the bench, hanging the wrists and the hands holding the barbell. Curl your wrists and feel the forearm muscles contract. Lower the weights as far as the forearm muscle will stretch.

In addition to these basic exercises for arm building, there are many others you can use and advance to for a regular arm workout routine.

© 2009, FIT FOR EVER. All rights reserved.

To develop our mid-section to the max, you need to develop each muscle group in proportion to the other muscle groups, notably the legs, back and pectoral muscles. The muscles of the mid-section include the rectus abdominus, intercostals and the external obliques. The muscles can be developed into the kind of body you are looking for through a variety of high-intensity exercises. If you are developing your abs specifically for competition, every striation, contour, and angle must be enhanced and brought out.

ABDOMINAL MUSCLES
To create well-defined, fully developed abdominal muscles, you can follow the following tips:

• Set consistent workouts and stick with it.

• Focus on each individual set.

• Start with basic movements including crunches, reverse crunches, and sit ups.

• To sculpt the abdominal areas, perform 10-15 minutes of Roman Chair exercises.

INTERCOSTALS/SERRATUS ANTERIOR MUSCLES
To exercise the intercostal and serratus anterior muscles, you can follow the following tips:

• Crunching workouts will work these muscle groups and help develop the areas. Try twisting crunches and add twists to the other crunching exercises you perform.

OBLIQUES
To develop your oblique muscles, use the following tips:

• Use twisting exercises, including side bends, seated twists, and twisting crunches.

• Be sure you are tensing the entire oblique region completely during the contraction part of the ecercise.

• To build bigger obliques, use resistence but keep in mind that most bodybuilders do not want to develop obliques too big and perfer to maintain a v-shaped torso.

Recommended Ab Exercises

Roman Chair
Hang from a chin up bar or use the leg raise bench. Raise your knees as high as you can, curling your pelvis forward. Hold the position at the top and then lower your legs down towards the ground. Make sure you are using your ab muscles to pull your legs up and not just momentum. For more advanced exercise, raise up legs in a straight position.

Crunches
Lie down on the floor and lift your feet from the ground, so your calves form a 90 degree angle with the floor. Place your hands behind your neck (or cross them in front of you) and slowly raise your head  and your torso up toward your knees, leaving your legs as stationary as possible. Focus completely on both the concentric and eccentric portions of the movement for the most effective workout.  Perform as many crunches as you can until the burn is too much to complete a full controlled rep.

Twisting Crunches
With feet raised, make your calves form a 90 degree angle with the floor. Crunch forward but instead of going straight forward, twist to one side then down, then to the other side then down. Take your elbows behind your head and crunch touching your elbow to the opposite knee on each progressive rep, switching sides each time.

Reverse Crunches
This exercise is good for the lower abs which are usually the most under-developed part of the abs. Lie on a flat bench. With your back on the bench and your hands gripping the top of the bench by your head, lift your bent legs  up to your elbows, slowly and then lower them back so that your feet lie flat on the bench.

Leg Exercises
There is a variety of leg exercises that can be used to develop the abdominal muscles. Some of these exercises include leg raises, flat bench leg raises, bent-knee flat bench leg raises, hanging leg raises, twisting hanging leg raises, side leg raises, bench kickbacks and rear leg scissors.

© 2009, FIT FOR EVER. All rights reserved.

The shoulder muscle, also called the deltoid, is a difficult muscle to build but a well-defined deltoid can really enhance the overall look of the body. Developing the shoulder muscle does require correct movement and training in order to provide optimum results. You need to work in the proper order and use the correct form at all time.

The deltoid is made up of three heads: posterior, anterior, and lateral. There are several exercises that can be done to increase strength and mass development which we will discover here.

Developing the Overall Shoulder Region

In order to work the entire deltoid, use the shoulder press exercise. Press from the front instead of the back. Lift heavy weights along with the natural alignment of the body to help reduce injuries. Using motions like behind the neck pressing is one such unnatural movement that can cause damage if the weight is too heavy.

Other Exercises for Shoulder Development

Lateral Raises
To enhance to symmetry of your shoulders, use lateral raises as the second training step. To perform the exercise, hold a dumbbell in each hand and then elevate until both dumbbells are parallel to the floor, being careful to not to lift to high.

Front Raises
To add size to the anterior head of the deltoid, use front raise exercises. Using a shoulder-width grip and solid body alignment, bring the weight bar from the lowered position and hang it in front of your legs. Then raise the bar parallel to the floor straight out in front of you.

Bent-Over Lateral Raises
To add size to the back of your shoulders, bend over at your hips and grasp a moderate weight dumbbell in each hand. Keeping your upper body parallel to the floor and slowly bring each dumbbell up to your side, being careful to not elevate the dumbbells passed your body in parallel form. Work on contracting and squeezing your shoulder blades together, keeping tension throughout the exercises.

These deltoid exercises can also be performed on a machine. To get the best results and the most enhanced shoulders, keep training regularly and increase the weight during the shoulder press with each session. You will begin to see progress on your routines as well as the intended results of stronger, more well-defined deltoids.

© 2009, FIT FOR EVER. All rights reserved.

There are five basic exercises you can perform regularly to build great legs. The results of these exercises will be rather quick if done consistently. Here are the five basics to include in your workout to focus on your legs:

Walking Uphill
This exercise is great for cardio training, while at the same time toning the legs and glutes at the same time. As you move uphill, you are working out the leg muscles, making them stronger and more shapely. It is highly recommended that you perfomr the proper amount of stretching before and after this exercise, as keeping legs in motion for more than 30 minutes can cause cramping, stiffness, and pain, especially if you are just starting out.
Step Ups
To perform this exercise, you will need a bench or a box to step up on. Holding dumbbells in each hand, take one leg and place it on the bench and use it to bring the other leg up. You can step back down in the reverse manner. You can also use the opposite foot which you started with, and start stepping down. Continue to switch feet after you have completed each set to keep balanced.

Full Squats
Perform a full squat with feet shoulder-length apart and squat down as far as you can go, keeping dumbbells in your hand or using a barbell across the back. As you get comfortable in doing the exercise, try intensifying the routine by pausing for a second or two before rising to full standing position.

One-Legged Split Squats
Using a bench, prop one leg behind you on a bench while standing with your other leg straight underneath you. Hold dumbbells at your side, bending the leg you are standing on slowly, moving into the squat position. Go as low as you can comfortably and then rise up to re-straighten your leg again in standing position. Do as many sets as you can on one foot and then switch to the other leg. To target your quad area, keep your standing leg directly underneath your center and if you want to work the hamstrings, keep your standing leg even farther away from the bent leg behind you.

Raised Dead Lifts
Using a barbell or set of dumbbells, stand with your feet raised on a board or other surface. Lifting the barbells or dumbbells up, the tension you have created with your raised feet will increase the exercise’s intensity, developing your hamstring muscles.

It is recommended that you do not perform all of these exercises during the same session or you may be come strained and overtrained. It is better to rotate these exercises throughout your regimen for more productive workout and better looking, stronger legs.

© 2009, FIT FOR EVER. All rights reserved.

Here are 4 basic exercises you can do for strength, toning, and shaping:

Squats
One of the best exercises for toning and shaping are the squats. Start by standing with a barbell resting across your upper back and shoulders. Keep your hands wider than a shoulder-width apart.  Pull back your shoulders, contracting your lower back muscles and take and hold a deep breath. Slowly bend at your knees and looking straight in front of you, incline your torso forward and squat down until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Push through your heels to bring yourself back up, while contracting your glutes. Be sure to take deep breaths. Repeat 10 reps and continue to build on how many you can do.

Hamstring Curls
Lie face down on the leg curl machine. Place the back of your ankle below the padded lever, leeping your knees off of the bench. Raise the lever with your legs towards your glutes, squeezing your muscles as you go Remember to raise and lower the lever at a controlled speed. Repeat 10 reps and build on to how many you can do over time.

Glutes Kickback
On your hands and knees, keep your knees bent at 90 degrees and your thighs perpendicular to the floor. Keep your head up and lift your tight leg back and in an upward motion until your foot is over your head. Squeeze your glute muscle and then slower lower your leg to start. Switch legs and repeat 10 times until you can build up to more reps over time.

Lunges
Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, keeping your feet pointed straight ahead. Using a barbell or dumbbells, bend at your knees. Start by stepping out with your left foot, keeping your leg centered over your ankle. Try to keep your balance by pushing off with your heel and not your toes. Come back to the start position and keep focused on keeping your knee and hip straight. Work one leg at a time instead of switching during reps.

© 2009, FIT FOR EVER. All rights reserved.

Over the last several weeks, we have provided exercise and training tips and today, as the final wrap up to the series, we will cover some additional tips for your bodybuilding work out. Thanks for sticking with us and we hope to bring you additional series in the near future.

When you are working to train and strengthen your body doing any kind of routine or exercise, there is always the possibility that injury can occur, especially if you are just getting started. There are many first aid kits of all varieties available for sale in the sporting good stores and other retail locations but there is also nothing stopping you from putting something together yourself.

Here is list of basic items you can add to your kit in order to be prepared for any incident or accident:

Instant Ice Packs/Heat Packs
In the event you sprain or bruise a muscle, you can use an instant ice pack to keep the swelling down. It is best to have more than one instant ice pack on hand and keep some other ice packs stored in your freezer for continued use. Also keep on hand some instant heat packs for the same reason.

Bandages
It’s always good to have a supply of different sized bandages in case you get s scrape or cut. It will help to keep it from getting infected or bleeding further. You should also keep on hand some wrapping bandages in case of a sprain or a twist. Waterproof tape can also be handy to have on hand.

Iodine
In the event you have an open wound, iodine is known to help the healing process. It fights off infection and can be used with a bandage to keep the wound clean.

Antibacterial Cream
Like with iodine, antibacterial creams will help keep infections at bay on an open would. It will also help to help heal the scrape or cut.

Sunblock
If you are working outside for any part of your training, it is important to remember to protect your skin from UV rays. Use sunscreen liberally on all exposed parts of the body to prevent burns and potential skin cancer.

Pain Relievers
Whenever there is an injury, whether internal or external, there will likely be pain that can further interrupt your training routine. Keep a bottle of your personal choice of pain reliever to help with pain from injuries or excess.

Muscle Rub
If you are just starting out, your muscles may be stretched more than normal and cause a lot of discomfort and pain. An analgesic lotion or cream can help ease some of the pain and help relax the muscles.

Keep your supplies in a bag that is easy to carry with you to the gym and travel with you when you go. It doesn’t have to be anything expensive. Be sure that whatever you use up, you promptly replace it so you have it when you need it next time.

© 2009, FIT FOR EVER. All rights reserved.

From the homepage, a web visitor is presented with four main options for accessing information: the store, the SuperSite, the BodySpace and the Forums.

In the store, you have access to over 8,500 different products designed for your health and fitness needs – supplements, clothing and accessories.  When reading comments about Bodybuilding.com on Amazon – many customers who have made purchases from the store complained that they receive the wrong items.  Almost all said they received their orders fast, and that when the orders were wrong they were corrected immediately.  The prices of the products are just average – you can probably find the same products for cheaper at other stores and online fitness websites.

The SuperSite is where the main content of the site is.   There are over 25,000 pages of articles about bodybuilding, fitness, and health.  More than just the general information you find on any fitness website, you can learn strategies for staying fit when on vacation, how to improve your self confidence,  tips for bodybuilding competitions, and hundreds of other topics designed to give you health information you can use in real life situations.  If reading articles isn’t exactly your thing, you can also access thousands of videos, including complete video series on various topics and how-to instructional exercise videos, workout guides for beginners through experienced, and diet plans to help you get off and running quickly.

You can separate the content within the SuperSite by goal – whether you’re looking to lose weight or build muscle.  This helps you focus on your personal goals and avoid being overwhelmed by too much information.

BodySpace is like a MySpace or Facebook for fitness lovers.  It helps you track your progress and communicate with other like-minded individuals.  In fact, you can communicate with more than 230,000 people through their member profiles and become part of a community of individuals looking to lose weight, become stronger, and live healthier lifestyles.  Within the BodySpace portion of the website, you can also start your own fitness blog.

The Forums give you a place to quickly ask questions, and answer questions of other members.  More than one million members participate in the Bodybuilding.com forums, giving you access to the information you need in real time.  Everything is organized into categories so you can find what you’re looking for without searching through hundreds of thousands of forum posts.  You want to be careful when reading information in the forum – as it is participant based and most everyone who participates is not a fitness or health expert – some of the information you read here may be incorrect.

© 2009, FIT FOR EVER. All rights reserved.