Steroids are Evil Quote of the Day: Sprinter Dwain Chambers

Disgraced British sprinter Dwain Chambers resorts to demonizing anabolic steroids in his autobiographical account of his use of performance-enhancing drugs to become a faster sprinter in ”Race Against Me: My Story” (”Chambers describes himself as ‘walking junkie’,” March 2).

“There were enough drugs in there to kill an elephant and I didn’t have a clue whether they were legal or not. I was a walking junkie,” Chambers writes. “I had tubes of stuff that were known only to me as ‘The Clear’ and ‘The Cream,’ along with a few bottles of EPO and HGH, which were in ice packs as they needed to be kept cool.”

Chambers also blames BALCO mastermind Victor Conte and the “devil” for convincingly encouraging him to use undetectable designer steroids.

“He said I had the potential to be a gold medalist, he could make me the fastest man in the world. He put me at ease, explaining the benefits of a new designer drug, tetrahydrogestrinone (THG),” Chambers writes. “The devil was sowing the seeds for my conversion to the dark side of athletics: a world of deceit and lying.”

Chambers served a two-year suspension from track competition and a permanent ban from Olympic competition after testing positive for THG. He continues to compete at elite track competitions.


steriod side effect of steriod

weight loss - free information on losing weight

When you think of weight loss and losing weight, the first things that probably come to your mind are either those "lose weight fast !!" articles that are in every magazine and newspaper in the world that never work and are written by some personal training idiot that has no idea what they're talking about... or maybe you're thinking of all of those weight loss pills that claim to be safe and allow you to "eat whatever you want and still lose weight because the pill will do all of the work for you" or whatever stupid line they are using to get you to buy their useless unsafe weight loss product. Or, maybe you're thinking of rice cakes and never eating and being hungry all day long.

Well, if you are thinking any of those things, forget it! Forget all of it!

What I am about to give you is totally FREE, detailed, easy to understand information on weight loss and losing weight and how to lose weight and fat without using any type of pill or supplement, without using some "fitness magazine" diet, and by eating not 1, not 2, not 3, but 5 meals a day! Sound impossible? Sound too good to be true? Sound like I'm going to make you buy my "book" or order my "product" first before I tell you? Well I'm not! I don't have a book and I don't a have product. I am not trying to sell you a damn thing! What I am trying to do, no... what I am GOING to do, is tell you exactly how you can lose weight. Enjoy...

Weight loss is simple, burn more calories then you consume. If you can fully understand that then you are on your way to losing weight. There are 6 simple steps. Here they are:

1) Count how many calories you eat in a normal day. That's right, wake up, and eat like you would normally eat and count the calories in everything you eat and everything you drink and keep track of it on a piece of paper or on the computer some where. You might be thinking to yourself, "yeah right, I'm not gonna sit around counting calories all day." Well, if you're thinking that, then you're obviously not dedicated enough to losing weight. If this is the case, then feel free to go waste your money on the newest useless weight loss pill. But, if you are dedicated enough to take 10 minutes out of your day and count the calories, then keep on reading.

2) At the end of that day, add up the number of calories you ate/drank. Be as exact as possible. Once you add it all up, you now have the total number of calories you consume daily. Also, weigh yourself.

3) Starting the day after you counted calories, eat 500 calories LESS then you normally do. So, lets pretend that the day you counted calories you counted 2000. For the rest of the week, you would eat 1500 calories a day. Understand? All you have to do is subtract 500 from the total number of calories you consume in a normal day, and eat this new number of calories every day for the next 7 days.

4) Instead of eating 3 big meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner), or eating all day all the time, spread those calories out over 5 smaller meals. Eat one meal every 2 and a half to 3 hours. Doing this will speed up your metabolism.

5) Cardio. Cardio is an important part of weight loss. If you're serious about losing weight, but don't want to do the cardio workouts, then you are requiring your diet to do all of the work. Jog, walk, swim, jump rope, ride a bike, take an aerobics class, whatever... cardio + proper diet = better than just doing one of the two. All it takes is 30 minutes a day, 3 - 5 days a week. I say 3-5 days a week because I don't know if you have 5 pounds to lose, or if you have 50 pounds to lose. So, depending on how much your looking to lose, figure it out. 3 times a week is good starting point though. (For information on the most effective time of the day to do your cardio workout, read doing cardio for maximum weight loss)

6) At the end of that week, weigh yourself. You'll notice a difference just after one week! Now, don't expect to see a 20 pound difference. Losing anymore then 1 or 2 pounds a week is unhealthly. So look for a 1 or 2 pound weight loss at the end of the week. Don't sound like much? You can lose 5-8 pounds a month! That's around 75lbs a year! So if you have A LOT of weight to lose, you can lose it. If have just a few pounds to lose, you can lose it.

Tags: weight lose, abs workout, cutting tips

Kill The Old Myth

In response to my articles, one man has written me:

"It is also SO encouraging to learn that you/we can create muscle mass at an older age and progress in body building or strength training!!......I get excited just reading about it. The old mythology told us to 'give it up' as we age. Your dedication and success are so inspiring and are a great kick in the butt for me.....there really is no excuse not to try!!! Thanks for that too."

That message fires me up to kick more butts off the couches and rocking chairs and into the vibrant vital life of bodybuilding. It validates the reason for my writings. You all know the myth of which he writes. Well-meaning folks believe it is their duty to 'take care of the old folks,' to give them an easy time in their 'last years'. It is their understanding that as one gets up in years, he should have less vitality because his bones, muscles and nerves are tired and need rest. "He has paid his dues", they say, "now we should see that he enjoys some leisure in the years (months?) he has left."

Well-intentioned charitable agencies similarly promote this myth. Examples are found in churches such as the one I attend which has a program launched to build a 'retirement center' for seniors. It is full of concepts that are intended make life easy for the residents. I have advanced the idea to the church leaders that while some seniors do need care givers, their plans should include assisting capable residents to become rejuvenated through a vigorous exercise program. My written offer to work with them in this respect has been met with absolute silence. It is my suspicion that it is more self-satisfying for them to make life easier for the 'old folks' than to promote their physical, mental, social rejuvenation. To provide for the latter might just elevate the seniors to a less dependant vitality, decreasing the 'market' of seniors needing assistance in their 'last years.'

The blame for perpetuating the myth is shared by some seniors themselves. Probably because, believing the myth, they are eager to allow themselves to vegetate, relaxing on the couch or rocking chair. In many there is a certain weariness born of years of meeting the challenges of life. The opportunity to be able to relax and have others discharge the obligations rising from the challenges becomes appealing.

I am here to tell you that the myth that we should surrender to 'old age', accepting without a whimper inabilities which we are told are inevitable, is dead wrong.

First off, the idea that a person must use his bones, muscles and nerves less as he ages, has it all backwards. The human body is a wonderful creation, which responds favorably to the challenges given it. That is, when you exert your muscles, bones or nerves beyond what they can handle, and then rest a bit, the body then goes to work to increase the muscles bones or nerves to be ready to meet the next like challenge to them. In other words, they grow and improve when they have the need to do so. The contrary also holds: if you do not require your body to do more, it will become even less able. This being the truth, contrary to the old myth, a person should not take it easy as the years mount. Rather, he should work out, challenging his body to respond, as it shall, with growth.

Some personal trainers make a mistake in their training of seniors. They are afraid to really work out the senior trainee. I know this to be true from my own experience. In my first days of working out to reclaim vital life, a young, well-intentioned but inexperienced trainer guided me. I have previously mentioned that I started out with very light exercises. I did. That is so because the trainer believed that he had to "go easy on the old man". Although I had clearance from my doctors, the trainer believed that if I 'over exerted' I might have a heart attack or a stroke or something. I think his concern was as much for himself as it was for me. He didn't want an emergency on his watch!

I had to ask him repeatedly to train me harder, expect more of me. His reluctance to do that was one of the reasons I found a real bodybuilder trainer who expects no less of me than he does of his younger clients. "Ask and you shall receive" is a better guide. If you are really serious about developing your physique through bodybuilding, you will be unable to do it unless both you and your trainer make demands in your training that go beyond, far beyond what the myth says of seniors. If much is demanded of you, much will be achieved. To ask little is to insure that the ravages of age will continue to be manifested. In this age is not a consideration at all.

Remember the focus of these articles. The young as well as seniors, I am told, follow their philosophy, with interest. Still, the primary goal of these articles is to be of help to those who have reached advanced years of life and/or have some serious medical diagnosis. These I am encouraging to take charge of their lives through bodybuilding so that they may move from a vegetative state of 'waiting for the end'. I call upon them to heed the truth of the old hymn's words,

"Lay hold on life, and it shall be Thy joy and crown eternally."

Kill the myth that tells us you cannot increase muscle mass at an older age and progress in body building or strength training!! You not only can, but your body demands that you must. If you accept the myth, you will only become progressively older in mind, spirit and body. If you take charge of your life through bodybuilding, you will become living proof of the error of the myth. Your muscles will respond to the demands and grow, supported accompanied by the equal growth of your mind and spirit. Who will have the victory: the false myth or your desire for rejuvenation?

Tags: Fitness, Build Body, Improve Body

4Exercises To Build Your 6 Pack

Whether it's out at the beach, on stage at a physique competition, or any other public place where bodies are dressed scantily clad, the physiques that stand out among all the rest are those that posses rock-hard wash board abdominal muscles. When we come across shirtless bodies, the very first place our eyes are instantly drawn to is the abdomen. After-all, the abdominal muscles are the center piece of the entire body and are a major indication of top level fitness and conditioning.

Most people wouldn't argue that a well sculpted mid section is also a major sexual trigger to the opposite sex. This is why you see wash board stomachs in underwear and swim wear ads. The sex appeal of 6-pack abs is universally acknowledged, therefore, making that image a superb marketing tool.

When the ancient Greeks built statues of God's and hero's, they sculpted them with rippling, 6-pack abdominal muscles because to them this represented divine power and strength. Likewise, all the super-hero's featured in comic books and movies are never void of wash board abs. It is unlikely that you will ever see a Spartan or Gladiator movie featuring pot-bellied warriors going to battle. Perhaps you would see that at a Green Bay Packer game though! I'm not talking out on the field either; I'm talking about the concession stands! Yuk-yuk




Chad Shaw: The Abdominal Muscles Are The Center Piece Of The Entire Body And Are A Major Indication Of Top Level Fitness And Conditioning.
Achieving 6-pack abs is a multifaceted effort that requires consistency in clean eating, cardiovascular training, and of course a well devised weight training regimen that includes some effective stomach shredding, fat torching exercises. Many people seem to be at a loss when it comes to selecting the most effective exercises to sculpt their 6-pack, so I'm going to take the guess work out of this problem and list for you the 6 best exercises to help you obtain your 6-pack for summer

Exercise 1. Cable Crunches

Purpose: To develop the upper and lower Rectus abdominis.

Execution: Attach a rope to an overhead pulley. Grasp each end of the rope, one end in each hand. Kneel down, holding the rope in front of your forehead, bend and curl your torso downward, rounding your back and moving your head towards your knees while feeling your abdominal muscles crunch together. Keep squeezing your ab muscles at the end of the movement for about 3 seconds, then release and slowly return to the starting position.




Exercise 2. V-Sit With Weighted-Medicine Ball Twist

Purpose: To shape and develop the External obliques, Intercostals, and Pectineus.

Execution: Sit on the floor while holding a medicine ball between your hands and your feet out in front of you. Bend your knees slightly and lift your feet so that they are suspended slightly off the ground while at the same time keeping your ankles together. Lean back so that your torso is approximately 45 degrees to the floor.





Hold the medicine ball out straight out from your chest with your arms slightly bent and then twist your torso over to one side as far as you can, bringing the medicine ball towards the floor on that side of your body, pause for a moment, then twist your torso in the opposite direction as far as you can while bringing the medicine ball towards the floor on that side of your body. Repeat this movement over, alternating side to side until you reach failure.

Exercise 3. Hanging Knee Raises

Purpose: To shape and develop the lower Rectus abdominis.

Execution: If available, secure your arms in arm harnesses attached to the chin up bar, or if you have no arm harnesses, then grasp the chin up bar using an over-hand grip. Allow your body to hang straight down keeping your feet together.

Next, curl your knees up towards your chest while keeping your legs together. Once your curled your knees up as high as you can, pause for a couple seconds while squeezing your lower abdominals, then slowly lower your feet back towards the floor as your legs straighten out again, bringing you back to the starting position.






Exercise 4. V-Ins Or Seated Leg Tucks

Purpose: To develop the upper and lower Rectus abdominis.

Execution: Sit crosswise on a bench holding on to the sides for support. Slightly raise your legs and bend your knees and lean backward at about a 45 degree angle. Using a scissor like movement, curl your upper body toward your pelvis, while rounding your back, and simultaneously lift your knees up towards your head, making your body look like a V shape (hence the name V-ins.)

Feel your upper and lower abdominals crunch together as your pelvis and rib cage squeeze together. From this position, lower your knees and torso back to the starting position.

abs workout

Cycling Supplements

If you have taken creatine, ephedra, or any other supplement non-stop for the past year or so, raise your hand? If you're a serious lifter and you're not raising your hand, then you shame on you. Most serious lifters believe that when they are "off" of supplements that their physiques will literally go down the drain. I firmly believe this because I have encountered many serious lifters who believed that supplements could make or break their physiques.

At one point in time, I was one of these believers. However, I have realized the error of my ways and turned to cycling my supplements. Before I give you examples of supplement cycling, I would like to address a very important biological point. Without getting scientific, the human body is a fascinating piece of biological machinery. It is smart. Smarter than we choose to believe. When our bodies are exposed to exogenous substances such as supplements, alcohol, drugs, etc, it builds a tolerance. This tolerance requires us to consume more and more of the product in order to get the desired effect.

This characteristic stems from receptor attenuation. You see, our body is full of receptors which have the ability to bind to specific receptor agonists and antagonists. Receptor agonists activate the receptors while antagonists do the exact opposite. So the more receptors you flood over the time, the more they become desensitized. This can lead to receptor burnout which can cause a myriad problems. So basically, abuse of a substance is a no-no.


Cycling Creatine

Creatine is one of the most popular sports supplements in the industry today. Why? Because it works. I've read countless articles which suggests creatine's effectiveness and not one which suggests that creatine is detrimental to the human body. However, all of the articles I have read involve the use of 20 grams of creatine utilizing a one month on, X amount of time off system. So the subjects all took 20 grams of creatine in divided doses throughout the day for an entire month and then took some time off. The time varied from study to study but for the sake of receptor attenuation, I would take at least 2 weeks off. If you've ever tried creatine, then you will know how quickly you can make gains when you first introduce it to your system.

However, these gains began to diminish over time because your body simply got accustomed to the creatine. Now if you would "cycle" creatine, so to speak, then theoretically, you could make gains similar to the ones you made when you initially began creatine intake. There are numerous ways to cycle creatine and I will suggest a few ways which were successful for me in the past.

1. 20 grams for one month straight divided into four 5 gram doses while taking 2 weeks off in between cycles.
2. 10 grams after working out every day for 6 weeks and then taking 2 weeks off.
3. 5 grams after working out every day for 8 weeks and then taking 2 weeks off.

Now you may cycle your creatine differently and if this different method works for you, then stick with it until it stops working. Remember that I am merely sharing with you some of my successful cycles with creatine.

Tags: Supplements Muscle Building, Cycling Supplements, Cycling Creatine

How To Take Anabolic Steriod

If you are going to take anabolic steroids, then you should do it properly or forget it. If steroids aren't used correctly, they can cause those dangerous negative side effects you hear about and can cause you to lose even 30% of your gained weight when you discontinue using them. Below is some basic information, however we recommend you to check out steroid e-books.

"Stacking" steroids is a term used when at the same time two or more anabolic steroids are used together. "Steroid cycle" is reffered to the time period in which a user is using anabolic steroids. Athletes normally stack steroids together and take additional supplements in order to maximize the results of their cycle. It has a very well known fact that stacks cause an even more dramatic effect on the muscle than taking only one type of steroid alone.

Another point of stacking two or more steroids together is that each one has a somehow different effect and thus you can see the muscle/strength gaining effects of each different steroid at the same time. Sometimes cycles may include taking one particular steroid at the beginning and finishing your cycle with another steroid, in order to enhance the desired results. Stacks have been used for years and have without a doubt proven to be a more effective way to build quality muscle than when using only one type of steroid, however begginers should start their first or second cycle with one steroid only. We also have to note that when using more steroids in a stack or cycle, the risk of negative side effects increases - that's why anti-estrogen drugs exist, the non-anabolic drugs which users normally use during or immediatelly after their cycle in order to minimize these steroid side effects.

Usual cycle period normally from 6 to 12 weeks and an average off-cycle period (the time being off of the steroids), should be at least 10 to 12 weeks. Bodybuilders and athletes use these patterns to minimize negative side effects which may arise from long term use or overdose. The standard is 2 cycles a year, which is best you can do to keep side effects to a minimum. During the off-cycle period, the body will restore it's natural hormone production and safely recover from a stress that occurred during cycle period.

Cycling is also very important to insure effectiveness of anabolic steroids. If you keep taking any steroid for too long, receptor sites in the tissue will fail to recognize it. This however is not noticed if cycles are done correctly. Some users recommend keeping cycles rather short, about 6-8 weeks in length. Some evidence has shown that receptor sites downgrade occurs in as little as 3 weeks. and that the positive nitrogen balance, a primary anabolic effect of a steroid, will not be present if the dosage is not continually increased. When cycles are extremely long, a receptor site gets so over stimulated, that it can even fail to respond to endogenous androgens, meaning that in this state you could use large dosages and not get any results. That's why steroid cycles are taken in patterns, commonly known as pyramiding. It means a user should start with a small dosage and increase it weekly for example. A peak is in the middle of the cycle period and that's when a maximum dosage should be taken (i.e., week 6 in a 12-week cycle). After that a dosage should be decreased in a similar or same pattern as it was increased, back to the minimal dosage, in order to restore the body to it's pre-cycle stage and not to avoid any rapid changes. Check out some of our steroid cycles which we have put together especially for beginners.

Tags: Anabolic Steroid, Anabolic Steroid Types, Anabolic Steroid Use

Cutting body fat

Often full body workouts will be your best bet when you're looking for intense fat loss because of the fact that they will allow you to workout with the greatest frequency, yet still have plenty of time left over to recover.

Since you are going to have a reduced calorie intake when working towards fat loss, this does mean fewer reserves left over to recover, making it even more important that you are watching the total volume you are doing. If your workout includes a very high number of sets, you are going to struggle to come back as strong with each session.

Designing a full body workout for cutting can be tricky for some people, especially if they are involved in any other types of exercise such as cardio or an outside sport. Since each full body workout will be working every muscle group in the body, you have to watch what form of exercise you will be doing the day after to make sure you're not shorting yourself of the 48 hour recovery period.

Here are three different variations of full body workouts for cutting that you can make use of.

1. Low Volume Compound Workout

The following is essentially a reduced volume workout that targets muscle maintenance without much glycogen depletion.

If you're utilizing a lower carbohydrate cutting diet, this will be the best approach to take since it won't leave your muscles drained. You really must pay attention when doing your workouts to what type of diet you're following as this will have a very large influence on overall program design.





If You're Utilizing A Lower Carbohydrate Cutting Diet, This Will Be The
Best Approach To Take Since It Won't Leave Your Muscles Drained.

For the following set-up, your primary aim is to maintain the previous weight you had been using on the bar so you keep your strength level constant. Make a note that you will not get as large of a 'muscle pump' after this workout since it is in the lower rep range and uses fewer sets. Furthermore, when on a reduced carbohydrate diet it's also expected that you'll experience a decrease in muscle pump, so all factors working together may leave you a little flat.

Apart from the psychological issue of dealing with that, it will have no implication on the effectiveness of the program, so it's not something you really need to worry about anyway.

Tags: Body Building, Cuttings Tips, Body Fitness

The Changing Face Of The Atkins Diet.

The popular "Atkins Diet" used to be known by many as the steak and eggs diet, where you basically ate as much protein and fat as your body could handle while disregarding carbohydrates from your diet and overlooking where your fat was coming from.

People who were following the plan regularly filled their plates with bacon, cheese, high fat meats, mayonnaise - basically anything that was protein and fat. The more the better.

The theory behind this was that because protein and fat are both more satiating, you wouldn't be as hungry and therefore wouldn't take in as many total calories and would see a weight loss. Furthermore, since you weren't supplying your body with any carbohydrates, you would have a higher chance of staying in fat burning mode (since carbohydrates cause an insulin spike and put a halt to fat burning).

The problem however that came about as a result of this diet, was that many people started worrying about their overall health, particularly with respect to heart disease and high blood pressure as it is well known that high saturated fat intakes can aggravate these conditions.

So now, Atkins has revitalized their approach. They are no longer just focusing on foods that are high in protein and fat, but are taking a more well rounded approach to their diet guidelines and touting the importance of healthy carbohydrates and fats combined with protein.

Tags: Atkins Diet Plan, Atkins Diet Chart, Atkins Diet plt