|
|
Natural
Bodybuilding is Good for What Ails You
Author: Tom Venuto
Publisher: Natural Bodybuilding & Fitness
I admit it, I'm a muscle-head through and through. No
step-aerobics, model fluff, distance running, circuit training,
stair climbing wimpy workouts for me, no sir! Just give
me cold, hard iron, and lots of it and I'm happy! Now don't
get me wrong, cardiovascular workouts do have their place
in a bodybuilder's regimen, especially before competitions.
But bodybuilding is first and foremost about building muscle,
and muscle is built from pumping iron. I know this might
ruffle a few feathers - in fact I can hear all the pencilnecks
and white lab coat types protesting: "You need aerobics
to be healthy, it's good for you, it will increase VO2 Max,
improve cholesterol, decrease bad cholesterol, lower blood
pressure, etc., etc."
This is all well and good, but I've always felt instinctively
that weight training makes you healthier. Of course, I couldn't
prove my hypothesis. You need concrete evidence from double-blind
studies, placebo's, and control groups - all that good scientific
stuff I couldn't be bothered with. All I know is that over
the past decade, we muscleheads have received our vindication.
Scientific research has finally proven what we, the hardcore
bodybuilders, have always known: Strength training does
improve your health!
|
|
|
Scientists, physicians, and health professionals have always
been reluctant to admit there were any physiological health
benefits of resistance training. Most clinicians are ultra-conservative
and will not accept any assumptions as facts until they
are proven through tedious research. At one time it was
even believed that bodybuilders were at higher risk of cardiovascular
disease and hypertension than sedentary individuals. Not
to mention the fact that all weight lifters were considered
dumb, slow and muscle-bound. Years ago, scientific proof
of bodybuilding's benefits did not exist. New evidence,
however, has now proven the cynics wrong. A review of the current research published recently in
the journal Strength and Conditioning showed improvements
in incidence of coronary heart disease, colon cancer, osteoporosis,
and diabetes in bodybuilders. Of particular interest is
the effect of strength training on coronary heart disease
(CHD), which is one of the biggest killers in the United
States. One important risk factor for the development of
CHD is the blood lipid profile, specifically the ratio of
good to bad cholesterol.
It is well known that people with high cholesterol are
more likely to have the old ticker give out on them. In
the past, some studies on well-conditioned bodybuilders
concluded that these athletes possessed a less favorable
blood lipid profile than aerobically trained athletes or
even sedentary individuals. Chalk one up for the pencilnecks.
It is now believed that these studies failed to take into
account the negative effects of steroids, which many of
the test subjects may have been using. The positive health
benefits of the strength training programs were negated
by the detrimental effects of the anabolic steroids. It
is well documented that anabolic steroids increase the risk
of cardiovascular disease by raising the amount of low-density
lipoprotein (LDL) "bad" cholesterol in the blood.
|
|
|
BB4U Recommends: Tom Venuto's Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle |
To truly succeed at losing body fat and most important of all, keeping that fat off, you need a plan - a program to help you succeed. If you're looking for an effective fat loss program, look no further. With Tom's Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle program, and you could achieve the results you desire.
We at bodybuildingforyou.com highly recommend Tom Venuto's "Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle" program. Just take a look at Tom's photo to the right. Tom's straight |
|
| forward approach to burning fat and building muscle will help you build muscle, lose fat, and keep the fat off. |
|
|
Other factors that were not controlled included individual
differences in diet and genetic background. In other words,
the study participants who had a family history of heart
disease and were eating Big Macs and french fries skewed
the test results. Since none of you reading this are taking
steroids or eating fatty foods you don't have to worry about
a thing. Or do you?
Because of the flaws in the methodology of these earlier
studies, more research was needed. Investigations conducted
by Dr. Michael Stone of Appalachian State University, Dr.
Ben Hurley of the University of Maryland, and Dr. William
Evans of Tufts University has confirmed that strength training
utilizing weight bearing, large muscle mass exercises has
a positive impact on blood lipids comparable to those produced
from aerobic types of exercise. The research also showed
improvements in body composition, glucose metabolism, and
bone mineralization. Chalk one up for the muscle-heads.
One health concern bodybuilders have always had is the
relationship between strength training and blood pressure.
After all, when you've got that leg press loaded up with
ten plates on each side and you're pushing with all your
might, you often turn several shades of pink, red, and purple.
Kind of makes you wonder if this is a good practice for
you doesn't it?
|
|
|
|
BB4U Recommends: Pete Sisco's Maximum Strength |
Pete Sisco is the developer of Power Factor Training and Static Contraction Training - over 200,000 people worldwide have trained using Pete's methods.
In just 10 weeks of Static Contraction training, trainees (hardcore bodybuilders who had been lifting "heavy" for a long time and averaged 38years old) achieved the following average gains:
- 51.3% increase static strength
- 27.6% increase in one-rep max in full range of motion! (without doing full range lifts for 10 weeks!)
|
|
- 34.3% increase in ten-rep max in full range of motion! (see above)
- gained 9.0 pounds of new muscle (one subject gained 29 pounds of muscle!)
- gained 1/2 inch on each biceps, 1.1 inches on chest, and 1.2 inches on shoulders
- lost 4.9 pounds of fat & lost 0.4 inches on waist
Have you had size and strength gains like the above in the last 10 weeks? With Pete's no-nonsense, scientific approach to bodybuilding and strength training you can achieve your goals and go beyond.
>> Click here for Pete Sisco's Maximum Strength Program << |
|
Unfortunately, there isn't any evidence to show that strength
training might decrease resting blood pressure. On the positive
side, the latest research shows that despite a short-term
increase in blood pressure during intense weight training,
this does not lead to long-term increases in resting levels.
So don't worry about those heavy leg presses that make your
head feel like it's going to explode and your eyeballs pop
out - the discomfort is only temporary.
Another major victory for the pro-bodybuilding side was
won in 1990 when the American College of Sports Medicine
(ACSM) added weight training to their position paper on
"The Recommended Quality and Quantity of Exercise for
Developing and Maintaining Fitness in Healthy Adults."
The ACSM is one of the world's most prestigious exercise
and sports medicine organizations. They're kind of like
the E.F. Hutton of the fitness world: When the ACSM speaks,
people listen. Their previous position paper only included
cardiovascular training in its exercise recommendations
because there wasn't enough published research verifying
the benefits of strength training. The 1990 document included
weight training. Chalk another one up for the muscleheads.
Based on all the latest research, it appears that what
natural bodybuilders have known all along is now finally
being accepted as truth by the scientific community. While
the indiscriminate use of anabolic steroids seems to negate
most of the beneficial health effects of weight training,
NATURAL bodybuilding is clearly good for what ails you!
>>
Click here for Tom's Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle program
|
|
|
|
About the Author
Tom Venuto is an NSCA-certified personal trainer, certified
strength and conditioning specialist, lifetime natural bodybuilder,
and author of the #1 best-selling e-book "Burn the
Fat, Feed The Muscle" (BFFM). Tom has written over
170 articles and has been featured in IRONMAN Magazine,
Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development, Muscle-Zine,
Olympian’s News (in Italian), Exercise for Men and
Men’s Exercise. For information on Tom's "Burn
The Fa Feed the Musclet" e-book, click
here
>>
Click here for Tom's Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle program |
|
|
Bowflex & Total Gym Home Gym |
|
Bowflex Ultimate Home Gym
The Bowflex Ultimate 2 Home Gym is a total-body solution that delivers everything you could possibly imagine for great fitness results. It offers 95 exercises and includes a lat tower, leg extension/leg curl station, preacher curl attachment, integrated squat station and more. Click here for the BowFlex Ultimate 2 |
|
Bowflex Revolution Home Gym
The Bowflex Revolution home gym comes with over 100 exercises with a built-in cardio rowing workout. It includes preacher curl attachment, 5 position foot harness, hand grips, leg press plate, instructional manual, and much more Click here for the Bowflex Revolution |
|
Total Gym Home Gym With Total Gym, you target all major fitness areas with just one workout: resistance training, cardio training and stretching. Everything your body needs on just ONE machine.
>> Click here for Total Gym - As Seen on TV with Chuck Norris & Christie Brinkley. 10% OFF with Promo Code: 11001  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
