I can still remember sitting at a table with two wanna be bodybuilders in University and listening to their conversation as they ate three pieces of leftover grilled chicken with a large side of cottage cheese (This after-workout eating menu should have been hint #34 to change my approach with regards to fitness but I was a sucker for trying to get lean and mean back then).

The terms and language thrown around in discussing their current workout routine made them sound like they attended a private middle school on Mars. I felt intimidated to jump in and tell them I did 50 push-ups and sit-ups last night before bed.

[You don't need to be a smarty pants to understand fitness lingo... Kinda of looks like Jennifer Love Hewitt in disguise?]

For those who watch The Biggest Loser, read through the latest Fitness magazines, or follow one of the fat loss programs reviewed here, you’ll be familiar with this language. For others just starting out, it’s time to stop feeling embarrassed – read through the glossary below to help you decode some popular gym jargon. (more…)

Training biceps is fun, especially for guys. The feeling of curling a weight and the ensuing pump after just one set feels pretty damn good.

But there are downfalls.

Let me explain using my informercial voice:

Tired of standing in line for the preacher curl machine? Or the bicep cable curls machine? I know I am.

Working out at your local fitness centre can be awesome and frustrating in the same workout session. Awesome because you have a ton of fitness resources under one roof but also frustrating when the number of bodies out numbers the equipment.

[A crowded beach always beats a crowded gym... Except maybe the one above! Honey, where are the towels?]

I know the most common suggestion I hear in response to crowds in the gym is to pack up and try a different time of day.

Without dropping a couple of choice explectives, I’ll say “forget that“!

You are at the gym to train for a limited period of time so train you shall. Also, what if this is the only time of day you can make it to the gym?
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The time, or rest between sets, (a series of exercises done consecutively i.e. he did 4 sets of 10 reps on the bench press) is an important factor in your ability to complete a workout.

Very often the question raised on the gym floor is, how long should I wait after completing a set to start another set?

The answer is: It depends on your goals.

[Do you frequently spend your rest periods looking at yourself in the mirror or at the hottie on the treadmill? Stop! Focus on the time between your sets and you'll get more done (fat loss and muscle building) in less time!]

More Rest For More Strength

For example, when I’m training with Vince DelMonte’s No Nonsense Muscle Building program, I’m looking to increase my strength and build muscle so the rest period is a bit longer – up to three minutes for exercises like squats and heavy dumbbell work.

Less Rest for Fast Fat Loss?

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I see more flat stomach and six-pack ab infomercials everyday that revolve around the classic crunch move.

We all know this move: lie on the floor on your back, grab the back of your head with your hands and pull it two inches off the floor. I think it’s safe to say this method does not work very well for building your 6-pack abs and flattening out your stomach.

[There's nothing intense about this exercise. Look at this poor girl's facial expression! Not another time wasting crunch, please...]

Aside from them being useless for getting six pack abs, the crunch movement itself is actually harmful to your spine and lower back. Every single time you perform a crunch, you are doing what the world’s leading experts on back pain describe as a dangerous motion.

Research shows every time you crunch, you do what is called spinal flexion, and spinal flexion compresses the disks between your vertebrae. If you do that too much, you could end up with a herniated disc. It’s the same motion as rounding your back to pick up something off the floor, and you probably know someone who has hurt their back that way!

Total body ab exercises are more effective.

Instead of wasting your life lying on your back doing an exercise that you can do hundreds of times, you need to replace crunches and all those other 1980s aerobics style exercises with better, total body ab exercises to get more results in less time.

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Welcome to the Gun Show” or ”The Beach is That Way” or how about ”I’m Busy Sculpting My Guns“.

There is no other muscle group that has earned more nicknames. When looking in the mirror, every guy imagines a set of bulging biceps. Yes, I’m guilty too!

The days are far from gone when you walk into the gym and see 8 out of 10 guys doing bicep curls all at the same time with the same determination to add even a quarter of an inch to their biceps. Training biceps has become almost an obsessive habit in the gym. I’ve seen guys spend entire gym sessions bent over doing concentration curls while starring in the mirror thinking they are somewhat special.

”

[Thought you'd see some bodybuilder dude with 24" pythons and a fake tan? Very few athletes and so called bodybuilders sport the muscular definition of Rafa Nadal's arms.]

Even more hilarious is seeing guys buying and wearing tight t-shirts in the hope of making their arms “look” bigger. Kinda of sad, but the allure of strong, mountainous biceps will never go away and why should it?

After all, they are a man’s most prized possession and one of women’s most desired body parts on a man!

But if every guy is obsessing over their biceps and dedicating entire training sessions with classic bodybuilding techniques such as forced reps, drop sets, and 21’s…. why do they still have little to show for their efforts?

Let’s examine five of the most common problems with bicep training:

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