The Power of the Barbell - Elite Strength Training For the Serious Athlete!

There is no doubt that a lot of us have limited resources and time with the fast-paced lives that many of us lead in today's world. Perhaps you are an athlete, but you feel that your strength level has suffered lately due to the lack of time to get to a gym. No worries because your answer is here. I run into people all of the time that have an old barbell set that does nothing but collect dust in their garage or basement. This simple set of weights is all you need for a killer strength program.

To start, get that barbell and weight set out into an open area to where you can put it to use and knock off the dust! Don't worry about a lack of equipment, because being innovative and training on your feet is the best way to get into athletic shape! The only other thing that you might want to invest in is a good rubber mat that is thick enough to protect your flooring from the banging weights.

I would recommend that you work on a simple program by combining as many push/pull combinations with the barbell as you can think of. All you have to do is to be effective by combining the two movements back to back. For instance, you may want to do a set of cleans and follow up this set by including a set of push jerks. This is a great push/pull combo. It gets your body working in an athletically explosive manner which is essential for optimal fitness, core strength, and power. By combining the push/pull method you will also properly develop more balance in strength and a symmetrically developed body.

Remember that you don't have to have a ton of equipment to be effective. Olympic lifting, deadlifts, and squats all serve as highly effective lifts that are sure to keep you sharp. Feel free to continue reading more of my articles to get additional ideas on training.

To learn more about Kettlebells, Fitness, and achieving Total Mind-Blowing Strength come and visit me at http://www.efandps.com To be one of my members and to receive more tips on INSANE BODY CONSTRUCTION please visit me at:http://www.efandps.com/www.efandps.com/Brandons_Members_Newsletter.html I'm Brandon Richey the Strength and Conditioning Pro!

Strength Training - Groups Vs Doing it Alone!

Having specialized and played for years in team sports I have had plenty of experience with sharing pain, blood, sweat, and tears in a group setting. I am also aware that there are plenty of individual sports and people that just prefer to engage in physical activity by themselves. In the following article I want to address the importance of team unity and the motivation of the group factor when pursuing a goal!

Like I said, I have been in vigorous training environments in the past whether preparing in the off-season for football or baseball, or by training athletes and getting involved with team oriented fitness programs. I have always considered myself as somewhat "driven" when it came to my own personal journey towards physical dominance, but it was never easy and I am a professional that specializes in doing this for a living. Based on this I want to point out the importance of having a training partner or group when trying to push yourself to the next level. From what I remember about those crazy early mornings in boot camp and football camp it was miserable.

The only comfort or solace that I had was knowing that I wasn't the only one that was miserable when I looked around and saw how bad off my friends were. This is why I would encourage you to get involved with a friend or friends if you are truly serious about taking your journey of personal physical dominance to the next level. Share your glory with others. Earn and obtain the respect, honor, and discipline of your friends and peers as you ascend to greek-god status.

Remember, if you aren't even motivated to drive to the gym how do you expect to make this journey riding solo? This is why I am a big supporter of groups over the individual. Enjoy my friends!

To learn more about Kettlebells, Fitness, and achieving Total Mind-Blowing Strength come and visit me at http://www.efandps.com To be one of my members and to receive more tips on INSANE BODY CONSTRUCTION please visit me at:http://www.efandps.com/www.efandps.com/Brandons_Members_Newsletter.html I'm Brandon Richey the Strength and Conditioning Pro!

Strength Training For Golfers - The Importance of Letting Go of Past Misconceptions on Working Out!

Say goodbye, to the "old school" mindset of yesteryear! Today the truth is that the fitter, stronger, and better conditioned you are, the better you are going to be in your sport irregardless of what your sport is. You have to forget about how working out will inhibit your performance by limiting your range of motion. If you get stiff from training your body then you have a poorly planned training program in the first place.

Specificity of training is the key to improving athletic performance. You have to have a well-structured meaningful plan in order to truly gain the benefit you desire. Don't be illogical. Its just like starting to play golf. Do you tell a person that is about to swing at a golf ball for the first time to just grab the club and swing? Of course not, there is a process to it. A certain set of skills have to be learned before one can hit the ball well. Your strength and conditioning program is no different. You have to learn a set of lifts and movements and obtain an understanding of the human body before blindly attempting to train. Golf fitness and strength training is more important today than ever before. My favorite example of how fitness and strength training is so beneficial for today's golfer can be summed up in one single example, Tiger Woods! He is no question the most successful golfer on the circuit and one of the best of all time, but he is also the fittest.

Strength training is one of the most commonly overlooked variables I see in golfers. Take the time to get better. Even if you just leisurely enjoy playing the game, kill two birds with one stone and get involved with a strength and conditioning program to improve both your game and your health.

To learn more about Kettlebells, Fitness, and achieving Total Mind-Blowing Strength come and visit me at http://www.efandps.com To be one of my members and to receive more tips on INSANE BODY CONSTRUCTION please visit me at:http://www.efandps.com/www.efandps.com/Brandons_Members_Newsletter.html I'm Brandon Richey the Strength and Conditioning Pro!

Rhythm Squats - An Absolutely Sick Way to Pack on Serious Muscle and Improve Endurance!

I have been training for a long time and I know that certain exercises standout in my mind when I think about overwhelming physical torture and gaining big results. One of the exercises that come to mind when I am thinking this way would be the infamous rhythm squats. Rhythm squats are a tremendous drill for helping you develop muscular power and endurance.

To start, this drill can be modified and changed up to suit many variations, but for the sake of this article I am going to talk about the most commonly known Romanian rhythm squats with a barbell. To begin, you will need the availability of a squat rack, barbell, and a couple of resistance bands. You will want to attach the resistance bands to the ends of the barbell and to the floor with a significant amount of weight on the bar. Next, you will want to walk underneath the bar and pull it off of the rack.

From here the objective is to only perform a rhythmic quarter squat motion up and down, hence the name rhythm squats. The objective is to perform 50 repetitions. The key is to perform the first 10 reps by keeping your feet flat to the floor. For the second 10 reps squat and pop up onto your toes (or balls of your feet) for 10 reps. For the third 10 go back to a flat foot position. You see the pattern here. Keep alternating this throughout the full 50 rep run! This is where you will see how muscle building will not be a problem when including these into your arsenal of training.

Make sure that you work on your rhythm squats on the days you want to drastically step up the intensity of of your workouts for big results. Train hard and watch your power production sore my friends!

To learn more about Kettlebells, Fitness, and achieving Total Mind-Blowing Strength come and visit me at: http://www.efandps.com To be one of my members and to receive more tips on INSANE BODY CONSTRUCTION please visit me at:http://www.efandps.com/www.efandps.com/Brandons_Members_Newsletter.html I'm Brandon Richey the Strength and Conditioning Pro!

Women's Strength Training - The Importance of Training With Intensity!

  http://ryanowen.wordpress.com/

I ran across this nice picture on my good friend Ryan's Blog. Check out his blog above. Like me Ryan understands the importance of training intensity for women and ladies this little beauty above says it all! This is the result of smart training and motivation. 

Yes, ladies I am addressing you and you only in this article. I have had to break down many barriers with women when it comes to fitness and strength training. I constantly find myself repeating the same thing over and over with skeptical women when it comes to my fitness and strength program. My philosophy on training is not a philosophy based on blind guessing. It has come from years of studying, training, coaching, compiling a series of principles, experiences, and field tested measures that have been backed up with scientific fact!

Years and years of training, education, and experience pretty much bleed the same result when it comes to people. If you really want something and are willing to make the sacrifice for it no matter what then you will succeed. The question I usually get bombarded with from women has to do with training intensity. Intensity is a good thing. If you have read any of my past material then you know the importance of body tension when it comes to building strength. You should then also know the importance of raising ones' level of perceived exertion when it comes to burning fat and weight-loss. Knowing these 2 particular variables training intensity accomplishes both! If you lift a heavier weight your body reacts to the load by tensing up. This is what strength training and toning are all about. You also exert yourself more when you do tense up, therefore you speed up your heart-rate and blood pressure and burn more calories. An example could be deadlifting a heavier weight, swinging a bigger kettlebell, or utilizing your own body-weight to increase your INTENSITY.

Now please use this lesson to apply to your personal strength program. If you do and plan your strength training workouts well I promise you will get those results! The only thing that I ask from you is that if I can make you this promise that you will make me your promise by telling your girlfriends.

To learn more about Kettlebells, Fitness, and achieving Total Mind-Blowing Strength come and visit me at http://www.efandps.com To be one of my members and to receive more tips on INSANE BODY CONSTRUCTION please visit me at:http://www.efandps.com/www.efandps.com/Brandons_Members_Newsletter.html I'm Brandon Richey the Strength and Conditioning Pro!