Alexander Zass -- Isometric Workouts

Alexander Zass, who was also known as the -- Amazing Samson -- is considered to be the father of modern-day isometric exercise.

It is claimed that he built his incredible physique while a prisoner of war. He was chained by his hands and legs, and the only exercise he could do was pulling against his chains. In essence, an isometric contraction.

After his escape from prison, he became a circus strongman and traveled all around Europe performing feats of strength.

Interestingly enough, Alexander Zass refused to do feats of strength that required lifting weights. In fact, most people of his day felt that he acquired his physique by using free weights. However, Alexander Zass would publicly deny that his strength was the result of weightlifting.

Weightlifters of that day were very upset with his statements.

You see they all believed that he had developed his physique and strength by lifting weights. And that accounted for his ability to perform strongman stunts such as -- bursting chains that were wrapped around his chest. Little did they know that he acquired the skill while a prisoner of war .

Here Are Some Additional Facts about This Old-Time Strongman

Zass, born in Poland but later on relocated to Russia. Was captured by the German army during World War I and imprisoned. Finally, he escaped prison and returned to Russia.

Not much is known about his childhood days. Except for the fact that he first became impressed with strength and strong men -- when the circus came into town. Watching the circus performers motivated young Zass to begin exercising.

At first, he would climb trees to gain strength in his upper body. Later on he created some barbells and dumbbells and began working out with them.

He was one of the first individuals that spoke about the concept of creating "Tendon Strength." In his book... "Samson Systems and Methods" he expounded on the idea that in order to be truly strong your tendons -- must be as strong or stronger than your muscles. That is what probably lead to his development of isometric exercise.

He concluded that in order to become strong you must develop your connective tissues -- the tendons -- before concentrating on strengthening the muscle fibers.

He reasoned that the best method to accomplish this was isometric exercise.

One of the interesting things that happened to him while in prison (because he escaped so often) is that they placed guards inside the cell with him. Unfortunately, for them it didn't work.

It is safe to assume that it is in prison where he learned how to break chains. Later on he developed an isometric workout that used a chain like device.

He even published a training program and instructional course that detailed his use of isometrics employing chains.

After the war, he visited London and performed his incredible feats of strength. The newspapers gave him the name -- Amazing Samson. He immediately became a superstar of his day.

As a result, he enjoyed a boom in the sale of his training courses and isometric exercise programs.

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Bruce Lee's Body Building Workout and Diet

Bruce Lee created a martial art called "Jeet Kune Do" or the "Way of the Intercepting Fist." However, as well know as he is in the martial arts... he is highly regarded for his physical abilities and ripped physique. The Bruce Lee body has become an icon for what an action star should look like today.

Let's face it, audiences are no longer willing to accept an actor who puts on a "Muscle Suit." From Brad Pitt to Will Smith -- it seems every A-list Hollywood actor has been emulating the muscular yet ripped Lee type of physique. What made him great was a combination of his workouts and his diet program.

The Bruce Lee Diet Plan

Lee always consumed a lot of Chinese food which are high in fiber.

Some foods that are high in fiber are:

* Fruits
* Vegetables,
* Breads,
* Beans
* Cereals

These foods are also high in antioxidants and will help cleanse your body.

Like many bodybuilders today, he usually ate 6 times per day. This kept his blood sugar level stable and his metabolism burning at a higher rate. He was also a big fan of keeping his body adequately hydrated -- by and large he drank 11 to 12 glasses of water per day.

In addition, from his bodybuilder friend... learned of the importance of maintaining a high protein, low carbohydrate diet. (Bruce Lee loved protein supplements and would routinely down 1 to 2 protein shakes per day.)

The key to gaining muscle -- besides working out... is in consuming enough protein. Protein makes up anywhere between 15 to 20% of our bodyweight. The bottom line is that protein is indispensable and it's the raw material that is needed to build muscle and other bodily tissues.

Of course, in his day one of the most popular protein supplements was casein. Today, we know that whey protein can keep us in a positive nitrogen balance state easier and quicker than using just casein protein.

The Bruce Lee Workout

His workouts were intense. Even Joe Weider... "The King of Bodybuilding" remarked that Bruce Lee's body was light years ahead of it's time. Bruce incorporated many different components into his workout program. Isometrics, free weights, yoga, and bodyweight exercises just to mention a few. Bruce Lee abandoned free weights really early on in his training. He felt that having big bodybuilder muscles was of no advantage to a martial artist. He focused more on what he referred to as "Functional Strength."

He realized very early on that isometric exercise was able to provide him with superior strength gains. He also used an "Isometric Power Rack" for a while in his training program. If anything defines Bruce Lee it's his ability to think outside the box. His mentality of... "use what works and discard what doesn't" -- has made him an innovator in many different fields.

For example, Bruce used every known isometric exercise device available in his training including a device that was then called the Tensolator. Using isometric exercise equipment was something that he made part of his training routine. And in fact, so have many mixed martial arts practitioners today!

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Abdominal Exercise Machines - 5 Proven Steps to Help You Choosing Abdominal Exercise Machine

Do you really need abdominal exercise machines to have six pack abs?

The answer is both yes and no. In a world obsessed with having six pack abs, even Hollywood celebrities have joined in.

It used to be that if you had acting talent that was enough. Today however, it seems -- that every Hollywood celebrity is ripped and lean in front of the camera.

Now a lot of people will tell you that they are just "genetically superior" to the rest of us mortals. Or, they will tell you that these people have nothing better to do than to live in the gym.

The reality is that you and I can have a flat, or even a ripped six pack abs stomachs. It just takes some common sense eating and the right abdominal exercise machines.

One of the best ways to have a flat and sculpted stomach is to use isometric exercise. The advantage of isometric exercises is that it strengthens the stomach muscles but does not increase their size.

Many individuals make the mistake of using resistance when doing stomach exercises. All this does is increase the actual stomach muscle. In other words, you have just increased the circumference of your waist.

The idea -- if you ask me -- is to have a slim, lean and small waist... does that make sense?

So at this point you may be asking yourself... "what are the best abdominal exercise machines ?"

To help you out I have put together 5 key tips and strategies to help you select the best abdominal exercise machines.

1. Flat Stomach Diet - no matter how much exercise you do you will never -- ever reduce the size of your stomach. If you don't cut back on the amount of carbohydrates and fats that you eat. Look, nobody ever said having a flat stomach was going to be easy.

But it doesn't have to be hard. Making the right food choices is so not so much about giving up your favorite foods -- as it is about knowing what foods to eat.

2. Choose a Good Ab Exerciser - when choosing your ab exercise machines, look for one that has a decent warranty. Some of the ab exercises on the market today are just complete pieces of junk. If you can, try to get an abdominal exerciser that has at least a one-year warranty

3. How to Get Maximum Results - familiarize yourself with isometric exercise. Using isometrics for your stomach exercises will quickly strengthen your stomach muscles and reduce belly fat.

4. Don't Be Overly Price Sensitive - when shopping for abdominal exercise machines look for quality over price. These are not very expensive exercisers, so get the best bang for your buck.

5. Variety Is the Spice of Life - choose an exercise device that can perform as many abdominal exercises as possible. Why you ask? The biggest problem -- besides time -- is that you'll get bored with the exercises.

The more variety or quantity of exercises that you can perform -- the greater the chance that you'll stick to your abdominal exercise program.

These 5 tips will help you in choosing the best abdominal exercise equipment. Just use your common sense and stick to your workouts.

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Isometric Exercise Equipment - Discover How to Get Ripped and 7 Seconds Using Isometric Exercise Equipment

Why are millions of Americans and for that matter — individuals worldwide using Isometric Exercise Equipment?

Perhaps it's because Isometrics has been rediscovered. In the fitness and exercise world , nothing is ever lost.

In fact, physical therapists, strength & conditioning coaches and power lifters have been using isometric training for years.

Bet that you didn't know that right? Well, read this article and find out the truth about isometric exercise equipment.

Here's the facts, the most effective way to increase your strength and muscle size is to use isometrics and an isometric exerciser.

There have been many old-time strongman that used isometrics as part of their workout program. The most famous is — Charles Atlas.

99 Pound Weaklings Apply Here

While the Charles Atlas "Dynamic Tension Course" is not a complete isometric workout it does include isometric exercises. Alexander Zass, an old-time strongman used isometrics while in prison. He was a prisoner of war during World War I and was kept chained in his cell.

The only way he could exercise was by pulling against his chains — little did he know that this was isometric exercise. Later on Zass created a muscle building course that used his own version of "chains" to perform isometric training.

The reason why many of these old-time strongman used isometric exercise equipment was because free hand isometrics is pretty much the same as doing push ups with your own bodyweight. After a while, your body becomes accustomed to the same resistance and you begin to plateau.

The Number One Principle In Strength Training Is…

Progressive resistance simply means that you continue to add weight or resistance to the exercise in order to put more stress on the muscle and force it to grow. That's how muscles work. Anyone that tells you otherwise, is playing you for a fool.

There many different types of isometric equipment on the market today. Here are two that you may be familiar with.

• Dumbbells or Barbells with the aid of an "isometric power rack"
• Exercise or Resistance Bands
• Isometric Exerciser (they are very inexpensive.)

Isometric Exercisers have numerous advantages over free weights or resistance bands. The main thing is that with any exercise program you need to incorporate progressive resistance if you are ever going to build any significant strength or muscle size.

This is true whether you're a man or woman -- that is the truth!

Why Are My Muscles Not Growing

Have you ever wondered why are my muscles not growing?

Many guys when they first start working out tend to overtrain. After a month or two this question always comes up... "Why Are My Muscles Not Growing ?"

It's Monday morning and you just walked into the gym. Up first is chest. You load up the barbell and you lay down on the bench. You begin performing repetition after repetition of chest presses until you cannot do anymore.

You look at yourself in the mirror and realize that your chest is not growing at all. In fact, your body is not responding the way you would like to your workout program.

This probably happened even though you believe you were doing everything correctly. You're pushing yourself in every workout -- you don't miss any workouts and still no results!

What's wrong you ask yourself.

5 Top Reasons Why Your Muscles Are Not Growing

In this article I will reveal to you the top 5 reasons why your muscles stopped growing and how to get your muscles growing again! Let's get started.

1. Many times the fact that you are pushing yourself real really hard is what stops you from making any muscle gains. Muscles actually do not grow when you're working out -- they grow when they are resting. Never ever train the same muscle group more than once per week and make sure you get eight hours or more of sleep every night.

2. One of the unknown "blocks" to muscle growth is working out for too long a period of time. After 45 minutes to an hour of intense training course levels will increase. I am talking about resistance training not cardio -- let's get that right. After approximately 45 minutes of training your body will release Cortisol. Cortisol is a known agent that destroys muscle cells.

3. As mentioned earlier sleep is very critical to your bodybuilding success. Make sure you do not skip on this vital component.

4. Consuming too much alcohol is another big culprit in stopping your muscles from growing. An occasional beer is okay however, no alcohol binging if you want to gain muscle mass and strength.

5. This one in my opinion is the biggest problem that most people have. Your diet! No matter how you do it you need to consume enough high quality protein. Protein is what your muscles use to repair themselves. If you're training heavy-- you should consume 1 g of protein for each pound of your body weight minimum. 1 1/2 to 2 g of protein is preferred. Many fitness models and bodybuilders use whey protein supplements to get enough protein in their diet.

While bodybuilding supplements are not a substitute for eating high protein healthy foods they are however a quick and easy way to guarantee that you meet your nutritional requirements.

An investment in a good blender and a quality whey protein powder will get you the muscle growth you're looking for.

There are other reasons why your "muscles are not growing" however, these top five tips are in my opinion the most important ones.

Apply them and you will find your muscles responding again.