Happy Halloween from Johnny Bravo!

Happy Halloween from Johnny Bravo!

Be safe, have fun, and don't do anything I wouldn't do...

(Dam I'm pretty!)

More pics at:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=171330&id=502320147&l=3132aef311

Bodybuilding Video Talk Show Replay Posted...

You can watch the replay and also download the MP3 podcast of our Oct. 29 Total Fitness Bodybuilding Talk Show at:

http://www.LeeHayward.com/tv

Stiff Leg Deadlifts - awesome exercise for building up the legs

The hamstrings are a weak link for a lot of people. But by including stiff leg deadlifts in your workouts you'll be able to fix that problem.

The stiff leg deadlift is one of my favorite hamstring exercises for building strong muscular legs, because it works the hams through a full range of motion and you can lift fairly heavy.

The key is to really getting the most out of it is to emphasis the stretch in the bottom portion of the lift. To do this I like to stand on a step or a box to allow for a deeper range of motion.



For more awesome exercises you should get a copy of my Total Fitness Bodybuilding DVD Training System. On this 2 disc DVD set I cover over 100 muscle building exercises in great detail and provide sample workout program that you can follow based on your training experience level.

To get your copy just visit the link below:
http://www.LeeHayward.com/dvd

How Would You Like Increased Grip Strength?

For a lot of people the weak link in their training programs is their grip strength. I mean let's face it, your grip is what connects you to the weights for at least 80% of your exercises. The only places where your grip really doesn't come into play is with some leg and ab exercises. But for all barbell, dumbbell, cable, and most machine exercises your grip is critical.

And the cool thing is that if you increase your grip strength, you'll increase your strength in virtually every exercise that requires you to grab the weights. This will really help to spur on new muscle growth all over and take your physique to the next level of strength and muscularity.

Not only that but you'll also pack on some size to your forearms as well. And that is really cool because out of all the muscles of the body, the forearms are the most visible. Anytime you roll up your sleeves people are going to take notice, and if you have thick muscular forearms then that instantly shows that you are strong and have paid your dues in the gym.

One of the fastest and easiest ways to quickly build up your grip and forearm strength is with Heavy Duty Hand Grippers. I've been seriously training Heavy Grippers since 2004 and I just can't say enough good things about them. But just the other day I got an e-mail from one of my customers and it really helped to drive the whole message home.

Hey Lee,

I just wanted to give a little testimonial on my experience with the Heavy Grip Hand Grippers.

I've been strength training on and off for years, and used to train in MMA. I initially purchased the 200 LBS hand gripper a few months back, and was hardly able to squeeze out any reps, so I demoted myself to the 150, worked my way up to the 200, and am now squeezing out 8-10 reps on the 250 pounder after just a few months.

I'll be purchasing a 300 pounder soon enough, and then hope to graduate to the 350.

Thanks for the excellent product. I was able to up the weight in my kettlebell training due to my increased grip strength.

Thumbs up!
Ray Baron

If you'd like to get your very own set of Heavy Grips hand grippers and take your grip and forearm strength to the next level then click on the link below:

http://www.leehayward.com/heavygrips.htm

And for a limited time I'm also giving away a killer Hand Gripper Training Manual that shows the exact gripper workouts I personally followed to develop the hand strength to close the Heavy Grips 350 pound hand gripper in just 3 months!

Nutrition Or Training - Which Is More Important?

This is a guest post by bodybuilding and fitness expert Tom Venuto. Author of Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle at: http://www.BurnTheFatProgram.com

Nutrition Or Training - Which Is More Important?

Legendary bodybuilding trainer Vince, "The Iron Guru" Gironda was famous for saying, "Bodybuilding is 80% nutrition!" But is this really true or is it just another fitness and bodybuilding myth passed down like gospel without ever being questioned? Which is really more important, nutrition or training? This IS an interesting question and I believe there is a definite answer:

The first thing I would say is that you cannot separate nutrition and training. The two work together synergistically. Regardless of your goals - gaining muscle, losing fat, athletic conditioning, whatever -you will get less than-optimal or even non-existent results without paying attention paid to both.

In fact, I like to look at gaining muscle or losing fat in three parts - weight training, cardio training and nutrition - with each part like a leg of a three legged stool. pull ANY one of the legs off the stool, and guess what happens?

In reality, it's impossible to put a specific percentage on which is more important - how could we possibly know such a number to the digit?

Nutrition and training are both important, but at certain stages of your training progress, I do believe placing more attention on one component over the other can create larger improvements. Let me explain:

If you're a beginner and you don't posses nutritional knowledge, then mastering nutrition is far more important than training and should become your number one priority. I say this because improving a poor diet can create rapid, quantum leaps in fat loss and muscle building progress.

For example, if you've been skipping meals and only eating 2 times per day, jumping your meal frequency up to 5 or 6 smaller meals a day will transform your physique very rapidly.

If you're still eating lots of processed fats and refined sugars, cutting them out and replacing them with good fats like the omega threes found in fish and unrefined foods like fruits, vegetables and whole grains will make an enormous and noticeable difference in your physique very quickly.

If your diet is low in protein, simply adding a complete protein food like chicken breast, fish or egg whites at each meal will muscle you up fast.

No matter how hard you train or what type of training routine you're on, it's all in vain if you don't provide yourself with the right nutritional support.

In beginners (or in advanced trainees who are still eating poorly), these changes in diet are more likely to result in great improvements than a change in training.

The muscular and nervous systems of a beginner are unaccustomed to exercise. Therefore, just about any training program can cause muscle growth and strength development to occur because it's all a "shock" to the untrained body.

You can almost always find ways to tweak your nutrition to higher and higher levels, but once you’ve mastered all the nutritional basics, then further improvements in your diet don't have as great of an impact as those initial important changes...

Eating more than six meals will have minimal effect. Eating more protein ad infinitum won't help. Once you're eating low fat, going to zero fat won't help more - it will probably hurt. If you're eating a wide variety of foods and taking a good multi vitamin/mineral, then more supplements probably wont help much either. If you're already eating natural complex carbs and lean proteins every three hours, there's not too much more you can do other than continue to be consistent day after day...

At this point, as an intermediate or advanced trainee who has the nutrition in place, changes in your training become much more important, relatively speaking. Your training must become downright scientific.

Except for the changes that need to be made between an "off season" muscle growth diet and a "precontest" cutting diet, the diet won't and can't change much - it will remain fairly constant.

But you can continue to pump up the intensity of your training and improve the efficiency of your workouts almost without limit. In fact, the more advanced you become, the more crucial training progression and variation becomes because the well-trained body adapts so quickly.

According to powerlifter Dave Tate, an advanced lifter may adapt to a routine within 1-2 weeks. That's why elite lifters rotate exercises constantly and use as many as 300 different variations on exercises.

Strength coach Ian King says that unless you're a beginner, you'll adapt to any training routine within 3-4 weeks. Coach Charles Poliquin says that you'll adapt within 5-6 workouts.

So, to answer the question, while nutrition is ALWAYS critically important, it's more important to emphasize for the beginner (or the person whose diet is still a "mess"), while training is more important for the advanced person... (in my opinion).

It's not that nutrition ever ceases to be important, the point is, further improvements in nutrition won't have as much impact once you already have all the fundamentals in place.

Once you've mastered nutrition, then it's all about keeping that nutrition consistent and progressively increasing the efficiency and intensity of your workouts, and mastering the art of planned workout variation, which is also known as "periodization."

The bottom line: There's a saying among strength coaches and personal trainers...

"You can't out-train a lousy diet!"

If your nutrition program is your weakest area, either because you're just starting out or you simply don't have the nutritional knowledge you know you need to get results, then be sure to take a look at the Burn The Fat Program

About The Author:

Tom Venuto is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, an NSCA-certified personal trainer (CPT), certified strength & conditioning specialist (CSCS), and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, "Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle." Fat Burning Secrets of the World's Best Bodybuilders and Fitness Models.

http://www.BurnTheFatProgram.com

20 Rep Squat Program

In this video I cover the classic 20 rep squat program. Also known as "Squats and Milk" by a lot of the old time bodybuilders. This is a killer workout that will literally force your body to grow like nothing else.



For more info you can check out my 20 rep squat routine article at:
http://www.leehayward.com/squats.htm

Check Out The Guns LOL

Last night we had another live Total Fitness Bodybuilding Talk Show and the replay is posted up for you to check out at:

http://www.leehayward.com/tv