dane_fletcher

These days, it seems that we are busier than ever before. Time is always short, and we can never seem to find the time to train adequately, eat every 2.5 to 3 hours, sleep 8 hours, along with the other demands that life throws at us. If running out of time is preventing you from eating all of your meals on time, you should utilize a few of these bodybuilding snacks to give your body the protein required for muscle building & recovery at any time, at home or on the road.

Whey protein shakes
Immediately upon waking, after a workout, or just anytime you need a muscle building boost and can’t get to food, 2 scoops of whey protein mixed with water from a fountain can deliver 40+ grams of muscle building protein to your muscle fibers very quickly. The lack of fat means it’ll get to work fast in the digestive track, but won’t leave you feeling bloated and slow. Keep whey powder in a shaker in your backpack or car, and add water whenever you need it!

Casein protein shakes
If you are going to be away from all food for a few hours, or if it is bedtime, then casein protein might be the way to go. You can enjoy 8 hours of slow digesting protein goodness thanks to the higher fat content and nature of the protein itself. It’s a little tougher on the stomach, but will keep your muscles from shrinking as they enter that starvation mode that a lack of food will deliver.

Beef jerky
It’s a little high in fat, sodium, and a few other things which the health nut in your might reject, but if you’re hiking, training, or stuck in traffic, jerky gives your body plenty of protein for building muscle, and it tastes pretty good at the same time. Always keep some jerky on hand. Even if its not the ideal food, it lasts for years and can be eaten in a snap!

Lunch meat
Turkey, chicken, roast beef, salami, pastrami, and every other kind of ‘-ami’ available for just a few bucks, always ready to give you a handful of fat digesting protein whenever you need it. Add a little cheese for fats, carbs, and energy as well!

Hard boiled egg whites
You have to keep them refrigerated, and nobody ever claimed peeling them was any picnic, and the smell, well… Once you wade past the reasons to avoid hard boiled eggs, you can begin to appreciate the highly convenient, healthy, quickly digested nature of boiled eggs whites!

Protein bars
They’re cheap, they’re easy, and after 25 years of trial and error, they are finally delicious! Pick up a case from your local grocery store for less than 2 bucks a bar, and always keep one or two on hand. Now only will they deliver the protein you need, but many offer fat and carbs at levels useful for the energy needs required for training as well!

Source: Top Six Muscle Building Snacks | pmXfit

With a record-breaking 109 competitors in six divisions, the 2012 New York Pro promised to be one for the ages. It didn’t disappoint, as Cedric McMillan, Kevin English, Candice Keene, India Paulino, Mark Anthony Wingson and Julianna Malacarne all came away with wins in their respective divisions at the Tribecca Performing Arts Center on Saturday night.

Check out the prejuding & placings for the competitors!

Results

Mens open
1. Cedric McMillan*
2. Johnnie Jackson
3. Steve Kuclo
4. Juan Morel
5. Jonathan Delarosa
6. Vaughan Ettienne
7. Tomáš Bureš
8. Mohammed Touri
9. Jeff Long
10. Sean Allan
11. Wendell Floyd

Kevin English, winner of -212lbs



-212lbs Top 3 Comparisons



-212lbs
1. Kevin English*
2. Sami al Haddad
3. Jose Raymond
4. Marco Rivera
5. Guy Cisternino
6. Mboya Edwards
7. Raul Carrasco
8. Nathan DeTracy
9. Milton Holloway
10. Panexca Pierre
11. Luis Santiago
12. Luis Santa
13. Naor Ziv

Finals





Cedric McMillan, Winner of Mens open



2nd, Johnnie Jackson



3rd, Steve Kuclo



Women's Figure
1. Candice Keene*
2. Heather Dees
3. Ava Cowan
4. Monica Specking
5. Candice John
6. Andrea Cantone
7. Aleisha Hart
8. Tara Scotti
9. Allison Frahn
10. Mona Muresan
11. Angela Mraz
12. Jacqueline Hoppe
13. Caroline Hernandez
14. Maria Luisa Baeza-Diaz
15. Melisa Brooke Erickson
16. Angelica Nebbia
16. Eleni Plakitsi
16. Elizabeth Maurice
16. Ginette Delhaes
16. Katherynne Ramirez
16. Laura Tolonen
16. Leah Berti
16. Melanie Becker De Palma
16. Patrice Vignola
16. Ryan Hays-Althoff
16. Thea Erichsen
16. Tiffany Archer
16. Yolando Sauri

Women's Bikini
1. India Paulino*
2. Jaime Baird
3. Yeshaira Robles
4. Abigail Burrows
5. Diana Graham
6. Taylor Matheny
7. Tawna Eubanks
8. Jessica Arevalo
9. Juliana Daniell
10. Talia Terese
11. Kristy Robbins
12. Heather Nappi
13. Bernadett Matassa
14. Kristal Martin
15. Skye Taylor
16. Cecile Palacios
16. Janet Harding
16. Melinda Janiszweski



Women's Physique
1. Juliana Malacarne
2. Teresita Morales
3. Penpraghai Tiangngok
4. Ayanna Carroll
5. Joele Smith
6. Jennifer Smythe
7. Melissa DiBernardo
8. Carrie Simmons
9. Jennifer Hernandez
10. Stacy Simons-McDowell
11. Jane Santos
12. Jillian Reville
13. Marilena Echohawk
14. Karen Gatto
15. Cassandra Floyd
16. Aurélia Grožajová
16. Dana Linn Bailey
16. Dayana Cadeau
16. Debbie Barrable-Leung
16. Heather Grace
16. Laura Boisacq
16. Louise Rogers
16. Maria Allegro
16. Marina Lopez
16. Michelle Blank
16. Nathalie Falk
16. Petra Měrtl
16. Rose Anne Duvigneaud
16. Tammy Patnode

Men's Physique
1. Mark Anthony Wingson
2. Colin Humphrey
3. Eddie Baird
4. Angelo Morasca
5. Anthony Scotti
6. Douglas Peaney
7. Ryan Hughes
8. Matthew Acton
9. Craig Capurso
10. Angel Cordero

Source

Tightening up your midsection is one thing. Toss in a couple of sets of crunches each week, cut back on the soda, and voila, you’ve changed things for the better. But building up a sliced and diced set of abs is a much greater challenge. Are you ready to push your body to a new level, and get your abs sharper than they’ve ever been before?

First you will want to clean up your diet - in a big way. Yes, you can cut out a little bit of junk and see some subtle change. But you need to do more. Begin by cutting back the obvious items which you don’t belong for health reasons - fast food, soda, and other obvious snacks and junk food. Then, begin cutting back on the carbohydrates - just 500 calories per day from your baseline number - until you reach a point where the scale starts showing some weight loss.

Addressing your cardiovascular exercise will be your next step. Initially, you’ll want to use something like 4-5 walks per week, each lasting 20 minutes at a moderate pace. Add to that three weekly sessions of more intense cardio using an elliptical or stair stepper.

Have you used supplements before? Now is the time! ECA, or a combination of 25 mg ephedrine, stacked with 350 mg aspirin, and 200 mg of caffeine is combined to deliver fat loss, appetite suppression, and metabolic boost. You can also locate a variety of OTC supplements.

Finally, one of the most important aspects is training - specifically abdominal training. You’ll want to hit your upper, side and lower abdominals at least four times per week. Use crunches for upper abs, along with rope crunches and machine crunches. Side abdominals are best hit with broomstick twists, which will allow you to train them without much resistance. Using heavy weight will result in a thickening of the midsection, which will harm your symmetry. You’re trying to get your abs tighter, remember? Finally, use leg raises and frog kicks for the lower abdominals.

Give it time and be patient. When you implement all 4 of these changes, you will likely see an initial loss of water weight, and you’ll be highly encouraged. Then, you’ll have a bit of a bounce back, where a little weight may return - and that can be frustrating. Always keep the weights low (or use none at all) and the repetitions high for best abdominal development results!

Source: pmxfit

Top 10 Exercises You Should Be Using Each Week | PMXFIT

There is plenty of room for variation when it comes to lifting weights. The gym is packed with a myriad of machines that are dedicated to targeting the muscles of your body from every possible angle and direction. However, amongst the jungle of lifting options at your collective fingertips, sits ten core movements which should be used every week. These are core, compound, fundamental exercises which have been tried and true to really build up that muscle mass foundation. Without it, you can tone and pump all you want, but you aren’t going to make any real changes in terms of muscle size. So without further adieu, let’s check out these ten core essential compound exercises.

Squat
The single most effective exercise ever conceived. Warm up and keep your knees loose, and you will add plenty of weight to your legs and everywhere else as well!

Deadlift
Pick up the barbell and put it down. Build up your back, arms, legs, shoulder and gain muscle weight.

Barbell Curls
Keep your back straight and your form pure. You don’t have to go too heavy on this movement. Just focus upon slowly curling each rep and flexing the biceps muscle at the top of the movement.

Crunches
Avoid situps (bad for the back) but embrace crunches. They build up your midsection, helping you to look better with your shirt off, and avoid injury through greater overall core strength!

Chins
This simple exercise involves pulling the entire body up, and uses most of the muscles of the body as a result. This exercise starts difficulat but becomes easier with time as your strength increases.

Military Press
Build up your shoulders and really develop a thickness to your upper body that will be visible from any angle with this highly effective mass building exercise.

Calf Raises
Build up your lower legs by using as heavy a weight as you can for this movement. Remember that your legs are very used to lifting your light body weight all week long. It’s time to challenge them!

Skull Crushers
This exercise is exactly what it sounds like. If the bar slips, you might end up with a crushed skull. But if used correctly, lying on the bench pressing the EZ-curl bar over the head for triceps development is a great way to add thickness and size to your upper arms in a way that cables just cannot deliver.

Dumbbell Rows
This exercise is great for isolating the lats, or that cobra back appearance to your body. Go heavy with lots of sets and reps for best results!

Lying Leg Raises
Many people will train their upper abdominals with crunches every week, but neglect developing their lower abdominals. This diminishes their overall appearance while at the same time putting them at risk for hernia injury. Use this movement weekly!

Surefire Ways To Get Rid Of Belly Fat! | via PMXFIT

There is nothing sexier than a well-sculpted midsection. A six-pack (or even an eight-pack) set of abs is a legendary feature of either gender, but can be one of the hardest things for a person to obtain. Here are some surefire ways to get rid of belly fat.

Diet
Above all, the foods you eat are the #1 factor in getting rid of belly fat. Most experts agree that nutrition is responsible for up to 90% of the success you see when it comes to your physique. Your daily meals should include protein sources such as eggs, lean beef, chicken, milk, and whey protein. Your carbohydrate sources should include rice, pasta, beans and plenty of vegetables and fruits. Fat should come from almonds, natural peanut butter, and fish oil. The less processed a food, the greater an impact it will have upon your fat loss goals. So keep the foods lean and natural, and you’ll have abs in no time!

Cardio
You’ve got to burn the fat you have in order for the abs beneath to show, and cardio will help speed up that process. Twenty-five to thirty-five minutes of low-impact, moderate intensity cardio, completed immediately upon waking in the morning, is more than ideal.

Train the abs
You cannot ‘spot reduce’ fat. It’s impossible to burn fat from the midsection only - it has to come from all over. However, you can use crunches, leg raises, broomstick twists, and other abdominal exercises to tone and shape up this area so that the muscles underneath will emerge faster and looking better as a result of your cardio and diet efforts!

Supplements
ECA (a stack of 25 mg ephedrine, 200 mg caffeine, and 250 mg aspirin) is a popular fat burner, but you can also find great success with over-the-counter fat burners. Stick with those products with solid reputations, and don’t use them all year round.

Get a tan
Physically, the abs will still be the same abs you woke up with in the morning. However, darker skin tone will result in greater shadowing, better visual interpretation of the midsection, and an overall better appearance of the abs.

Patience
Remember that the first time you diet down to get rid of the belly fat will be the toughest. After that, your metabolism will know how to ‘kick in’ when its time for another cutting phase. Maintain your patience and consistency during your cutting times, even on days when you seem to be fatter or puffier than usual due to water retention. In the end, after a few months of effort, you’ll be sliced and diced and ready to show off that brand new midsection of yours!

Are you ready to firm up your upper arms, maybe add an inch or two to your biceps? If you have your rest & nutrition in check, then it’s all just a matter of getting your biceps training right if you want to see some new growth. Here are some techniques you should consider using to bump up your biceps!

“I go, you go”
You’ll need a training buddy for this workout, and he/she will have to be someone with similar levels of strength. Grab a barbell with a weight which will allow 10 to 12 repetitions. Complete your repetitions, then pass it to your buddy so he can do his reps. Only instead of him putting it back on the rack, he will hand it back to you. You’ve had 45 seconds of rest, so you should be able to eke out 7 or 8 more repetitions. You pass him the bar, and he struggles with a few more. This process continues, the two of you taking turns completing as many reps as possible without the weight hitting the floor. By the end, 5 or 6 minutes in, you will both be struggling to complete even a single additional repetition, and the pump you have will be insane. This is a great way to finish up a workout!

Down the Rack
Start at the 60s and complete as many dumbbell curls as possible. Step to the left to the 55s or 50s, and repeat. Continue moving down the dumbbell rack, curling at each interval until you’d down to the 15s or 10s, struggling to move that dumbbell a single inch.

Iso/Compound training
Choose an isolation movement such as seated DB concentration curls. Complete your 10 reps with each arm, then grab a barbell and blast out 8 to 12 reps with the heavy barbell for standard standing barbell curls. Placing the isolation movement first ensures your biceps will be isolated and torched by the concentration curls, and will do MORE of the work on the compound movement of biceps barbell curls. Instead of the back, shoulders, and forearms grabbing an unfair share of the work, you will have the biceps working harder than ever.

Super Slow Curls
6 seconds on the positive/work part of the curl repetition, and 3 seconds on the negative/down part of the rep. It’s that simple. Knock out 6 to 8 repetitions with somewhat reduced weight and greatly reduced velocity when moving the weight, and observe muscle fibers firing that you didn’t even know you had!

Remember that these techniques should be used in addition to a standard 12-set biceps workout, completed once each week. Stick with two compound exercises for 4 sets of 8 to 12, followed with one isolation exercise for 4 sets of 10 to 15 repetitions. Use these four techniques to help reach results faster. And as always, make sure you’re eating plenty of protein and clean carbs, and enjoying 8 hours of sleep each night to give your body plenty of time to grow & recover!

5 Diet Strategies To Relieve Stress | PMXFIT

Is stress slowing down your muscle building and fat loss goals? You can always work to alleviate stress by addressing your diet practices. Here are some strategies you can employ!

A glass of wine
The benefits of a glass of wine at dinner are well-documented, but what tops that list is the reduction in risk of heart disease. It turns out wine does a great deal to reduce stress in the body. Red wine is best, and you should always be sure to follow it with two glasses of water, as wine is known to dehydrate very quickly. If you find yourself relieving stress a little too much with 3-4 glasses of wine a night, you are working against your productivity goals.

Add more fiber
Much of the distress you feel may be internal, as a result of decade of food waste taking form in your insides. Enjoy kale, spinach, and other leafy greens for a week and you’ll likely notice a huge change in how you feel, both physically and mentally. Imagine that 5 pound knot that has been in your stomach for your entire adult life suddenly completely disappearing! That is what fiber will do!

Faster digesting proteins
The more fat is contained in the food, the longer a protein will take to digest. This places more stress upon your digestive system. Choose low-fat or fat-free options such as chicken, egg whites or whey, and you’ll be moving the proteins through your body faster, keeping the stresses upon your digestion to a minimum.

Eat the foods you like!
Enjoying the things you do is half the battle in alleviating stress. And while it’s true that oats and boiled chicken breast might technically be the best foods for your progress, they might not taste good to you. Why should every meal be an unpleasant ordeal? Instead, you should choose the foods you love, and enjoy every meal. As long as they support your fat burning and muscle building goals, eat anything you’d like!

Vary the foods you eat
Protein doesn’t always digest easily in the body, and fats can always make the digestive process a tad sticky. The stomach will produce enzymes to process the foods we eat, but it is important that we give the stomach a nice varied mix of foods to ensure it doesn’t get lazy at the same time. Just as you mix up your weight and cardio training to keep the body guessing, you should change up the foods you eat on a regular basis to keep the stomach enzymes on their toes.

Commonly Overlooked Abdominal Exercises That Really Work! | via PMXFIT

Building a tight midsection isn’t rocket science. You choose 3 or 4 days each week at the tail end of your workout, and you devote 10 to 15 minutes to training them. And then, you forget about them. They grow. It’s easy! However, if you want to do it right, and grow the midsection to its potential, then you are going to need to hit them with some standard, as well as some not-so-standard exercises.

Of course, the standard ab exercises go without saying. Crunches work great for building up the upper abdominals. Lying leg raises hit the lower abdominals. Broomstick twists are popular for hitting the side abdominals, known as the obliques. Let’s examine two commonly overlooked abdominal exercises which really deliver some terrific results in terms of overall abdominal development, targeting all areas of the midsection.

Roman Chair Sit-Ups
This gym station was highly popular with bodybuilders in the 1960s and 1970s, but has seemed to fall by the wayside in the last decade. Sure, gyms are packed with new machines allowing one to target the abs from any angle. But Roman Chair Sit-ups have remained a constant in building up OVERALL midsection core strength and ab wall development. Use the machine and pause for a split second at the top and bottom of each repetition. This exercise target the lower abs a tad more, as you really push the overall midsection past the point of standard crunching.

Rope Crunches
Find the triceps cable press-down, hit your knees, and crunch away! Specifically, this movement will aim at the upper abs more than the lower, but the soreness will be felt in the lower and side abs as well. Keep your repetitions slow and deliberate, crunching at the lowest point and pausing for just a second to recruit as many muscle fibers as possible. Sets should be 15 to 25 reps for both of these exercises.

Remember that building up the abdominal muscle is only half of the battle when it comes to developing a crisp midsection. You must also shed the body fat which currently sits atop your midsection muscles. This can be achieved using three factors - diet, supplementation, and cardiovascular exercise. Restrict your daily calories by 300 to 500 to shed ½ to 1 pound per week. Careful use of supplements and stacks like ECA will help greatly as well. Finally, you will want to add cardiovascular exercise to your training routine. Four sessions per week of 20 to 30 minutes, immediately upon waking, will burn a great deal of body fat and bring your newly developed abs to light for the world to see!

5 Ways To Grow Stronger In Only One Month! | PMXFIT

Are you ready to get stronger - and do it in only a month? Here are some quick and painless techniques you can employ in order to bump up your body’s strength in only four weeks!

Squat twice each week
This highly effective exercise will build your muscles and strength like none other - but you really have to nail each set in order to deliver the kind of growth stimulus needed to grow stronger. Instead of being under this constant pressure to perform at PEAK ability, why not settle for 80% in each of TWO weekly squat sessions? Your muscles will grow bigger and harder, and the strength will follow as well, and you will not have to strive with stress to reach full muscular failure with each squat workout.

Do better every time
Use a journal to write down your progress with each workout. Add a .5 or a 1 pound plate to the bar each time, forcing your body to do just a little better each time. It is this new challenge of strength that will lead to sustainable long term increases in strength. Moving the same amount of weight, every workout week in and week out, will never lead to any strength increases.

Get big
Your muscles cannot grow stronger unless they grow bigger. And in order for them to get bigger, you need to have a caloric surplus in your diet. Add a steak and a baked potato to your morning and evening routine, cut back on your cardiovascular exercise, and really give your muscles a chance to grow BIGGER so that they can become STRONGER.

Drink more water
Your muscles are able to perform better - move more weight - when they are fully hydrated. Many Americans live in a perpetually dehydrated state and don’t even know it. If you are lifting weights and using caffeine products, there is a good chance your body is already in need of much more water than the bodies of your untrained peers. You should be consuming ¾ to 1 full gallon of water each day for best results!

Train with a buddy
Safety and motivation are two good reasons to train with a buddy when hitting the major muscle groups with the heavy lifts such as squat and bench press. Safety means you are able to go for an extra repetition or three without fear of the weight crushing your head or rib cage should your muscle fail mid-repetition. The motivation arises from seeing someone roughly your size and strength knocking out two more repetitions than you - and suddenly you develop the intensity and desire to complete THREE more reps the next time you’re on the bench. Train with a buddy for safer and greater results!

Tips for Getting Leaner in One Week | PMXFIT.com

Do you have a special occasion coming up? Do you need to look a lot lighter and tighter, and you only have a week to achieve it? Never fear! Check out these tips for tightening up your appearance and losing 5 pounds of fat and water - in just one week!

Slash the calories - but only by a bit
Cutting back your daily calories by about 700 will help you to pull 2-3 pounds from your waistline in a week while doing minimal damage to the muscle you have worked so hard to build. You’ll want to limit your carb and fat intake to reduce these calories, while keeping your protein intake very high. Cut carbs after 2 pm for best results!

Keep hitting the weights
You’re going to want to build up muscle to look as solid as possible, so hit the weight 5 to 6 days this week. Heavy compound exercises such as squats, bench press, and deadlifts should be the centerpiece of your weight training week.

Get a tan
Every cut on your body looks deeper and harder when you are tan. An actual sun tan looks best, but if you’re afraid of damaging your skin, you can always opt for a spray tan. They take about 5 minutes to complete, and will leave you nice and bronzed for 5-7 days for minimal cost.

Run a week of ECA
Stacking up 200 mg caffeine, 325 mg aspirin, and 25 mg ephedrine, taken twice per day, will immediately pull water from your skin, bump your metabolism, and give you the energy to do cardio even when you’re enjoying fewer calories. ECA is very effective and highly popular. You can pick up all of the components at any grocery store or pharmacy.

Bump up your water
The more water you drink, the faster it is removed from your body. Depriving yourself of water to look leaner will only force your body to hold more of it. Stay lean while drinking up to one gallon per day, spaced out into 1-2 cups per hour throughout.

Lots of greens
Eating a great deal of lettuce and fiber will flush out some of the food that has found its way to your intestines. This will make your waistline smaller, which will make you look better in pictures or in person!

30 minutes cardio per day
Six days this week - elliptical or stair stair stepper - is your best bet!

Granted, if you’re currently sitting at 30% body fat and carry about 40 pounds more fat than you need, then a single week of crash cutting isn’t going to help you all that much. But if you’re sitting at 12 to 15 percent body fat and are looking to shave down some fat and cut a little water for a photo shoot, cruise, wedding, or other special event, then using these tips will help you to get on your way!