Everyone hates stubborn fat. For example if you go through a cut, you can easily loose fat and get down your body fat percentage with the right diet and training. But when you get to the end, the last layer of fat is extremely stubborn and hard to lose. This would be on the top of your lower abs and some other places.

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First thing you need to understand is that you can loose fat by spot reduction. Spot reduction simply means loosing fat from a specific targeted spot. For example you cannot just do a bunch of crunches in the hopes to loose fat over your abs and get them to reveal them. In terms of body fat, you loose it randomly depending on genetics. Some people loose fat first in the upper body and then their lower body. For other people it is different.

L carnitine is probably one of the most talked about supplement. There are always new studies on the subject. L carnitine is a quaternary ammonium compound bio synthesized from the amino acid lysine and methionine. In support of energy metabolism, carnitine transports long-chain fatty acids into mitochondria to be oxidized for energy production, and also participates in removing products of metabolism from cells. Given its key metabolic roles, carnitine is concentrated in tissues like skeletal and cardiac muscle that metabolize fatty acids as an energy source. Healthy individuals, including strict vegetarians, synthesize enough L-cartinine in vivo to not require supplementation.

Benifits

• It will boost your anabolic state
• Helps improve athletic ability
• It may improve symptoms for heart disease
• It enhances brain function
• Increases brain oxygen
• Targets fatty acids allowing to burn more fat

The best way to take L carnitine is to take it before your workout, although it does not matter when you take it. I personally like to split it up and take it in the morning and before going to bed. You should take about 300-500 mg daily in terms of dosage. Cardio is not fun and no one like to do it. But cardio can make all the difference in the world when it comes down to shredding. I would recommend you increase your cardio as you are decreasing your calories every two weeks. When I am going through a cut I try to push myself on cardio. I hate cardio so I try to burn 150-200 calories each day.

To end… One thing I like to think in terms of fitness is that you will get out what you put in. Fitness is all about being honest with yourself, being honest about the work that you are putting in. There are many things in life that you have no control over. For example no matter how much effort you put in a relationship or at work or basically anything else… there are no guaranteed results. However with fitness that is not the case. You get out what you put in.

First thing I would suggest is that you need to have reasonable expectations. For example how much muscle mass can you expect to gain? Based on a study if you train properly, you can expect to put on 20-25 pounds of muscle mass. But once your body gets used to the training, you will experience progress slower and less than when you first started out. Based on the same study in your second year you can gain 10-12 pounds and 5-6 pounds in your second year.

Next one is obvious, you need to keep your diet in check. Keep a track of your macros, and shoot for a balanced diet with fats, proteins, and carbs. Very basic estimation of protein intake is to consume 1 gram of protein for 1 pound of body weight. It is not necessarily useful to take in extra protein as your body cannot absorb it and will flush it out.

Another important thing would be to utilize micro nutrients in your diet. Most people do not pay attention to this. Everything from rest, training, and hormones are affected by micro nutrients. There are many vitamins and minerals that are great for performance. I suggest taking a good multi vitamin or eating veggies every day. Another important thing is to split your meals. This ensures a steady supply of nutrients to your body. This is very useful when it comes to the protein intake. Your body can only absorb a certain amount of protein at a time. If you space out your meals and protein intake this will be a more efficient way of consuming protein.

Next would be to lift heavy. I have talked about this before as well. To ensure muscle building when it comes to lifting is to make sure your body doesn’t get used to your workouts and the best way to do that is to increase weight on your lifts often. Ideally this would be to increase weight each week but that is not very ideal so it’s important to attempt PRs each month or once every two months in my opinion.

There are other method to ensure that your body does not get used to your workouts. For example drop sets, burnout set, and super sets are a good way to change things up. Another thing you can do is to increase volume. Have a week where you increase the volume on all your lifts. Lastly I would say is that compound lifts are vital to muscle growth. Compound lift do not target a specific muscle but they workout many muscles and these are the lift you can go really heavy on. They activate core, lower body, and upper body. And they also help release human growth hormone which is directly related to muscle growth.

To end… One thing I like to think in terms of fitness is that you will get out what you put in. Fitness is all about being honest with yourself, being honest about the work that you are putting in. There are many things in life that you have no control over. For example no matter how much effort you put in a relationship or at work or basically anything else… there are no guaranteed results. However with fitness that is not the case. You get out what you put in.

You have probably heard of the many benefits that come with taking omega 3s. Omega 3s have shown to help improve brain functions and to a higher cognitive capacity in people. But some studies suggest that can also hep build muscle.

Omega 3s or more commonly known as fish oil can help build muscle as suggested by some recent studies. Omega 3s have anti inflammatory properties. The recent studies done essentially show that when a person adds Omega 3s to their diet, it can help spare muscle tissue that can be associated with muscle wasting diseases.

It becomes even more interesting because the potential is unlimited when a person incorporates Omega 3s into their diet along with proper muscle building diet.

Another benefit of Omega 3s is the fact that they help reduce soreness and improve muscle recovery. This can essentially mean that you can increase your workout volume. For example instead of hitting each muscle group once a week, you can now easily hit it twice every week.

Omega 3s also improve energy expenditure. This can also help you increase your workout intensity. Increasing intensity and volume means there is a better chance for muscle growth. Some studies even show that Omega 3s can aid in fat loss.

Now the question is how you take Omega 3s. Most studies have the subjects taking anywhere from 4-6 grams each day. Based on research the optimal dosage is 3000-4000 milligrams each day. I personally like to take them with breakfast.

There are tons of foods rich in omega 3:

• Mackerel with 4107mg per serving
• Salmon with 4023mg per serving
• Herring with 3181mg per serving
• Cod liver with 2664mg per serving
• Sardines with 2205mg per serving
• Oysters with 565mg per serving

In conclusion yes you can take Omega 3s and they will prove to be very beatifically not only in muscle building but will improve overall health. But the important thing to note is that you have to dictate the process. It is on you how you incorporate the benefits and apply it to muscle building.

To end… One thing I like to think in terms of fitness is that you will get out what you put in. Fitness is all about being honest with yourself, being honest about the work that you are putting in. There are many things in life that you have no control over. For example no matter how much effort you put in a relationship or at work or basically anything else… there are no guaranteed results. However with fitness that is not the case. You get out what you put in.

After watching a 1000 videos I have taken different exercises to build up very own arm workout. Let’s get into it.

Warm up

Like any other muscle group, we will start by warming up. I recommend a couple sets for very light dumbbell curls and super set them body weight dips. Warming up is very important. Think the guy who can lift the most amount of weight. Even that guy warms up with the bar.

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Close grip bench

This is by far the best tricep exercise out there. This is where you wanna go heavy. You wanna adjust your grip as close as possible but not so close that you are uncomfortable. Think about regular push ups vs close grip push ups. This is the same way you want to treat close grip bench. 2 warm up sets and 3 working sets should do the trick.

Heavy curls

This is the heavy exercise for biceps. You want to warm up with a set and do 10-12 reps. Next 3 working sets of as heavy as you can possibly can go. Now this is where you wanna be careful. You want to do 3 sets of 3-5 reps but need to make sure that you keep your form. There is no need to go all out on this one if you are gonna bend your back each rep. Form is key here, eventually you will develop a mind muscle connection and form will come naturally.

Tricep cable pushdowns

Next up we have cable push downs. This is my favorite tricep exercise. For this one use the cable for push downs. Pull down the cable and hold it at a 90 degree angle. This is the starting position, and you want to extend out and hold. When you come back up you need to stop at 90 degrees. This exercise is the best exercise to pump your arms. Sometimes I like to super set these with light weight curls.

Hammer curls

This is my favorite exercise period. And in my opinion the best exercise for biceps specially when you want to get a good pump going. I love this one in particular because you do not need to keep form on this one. You just need to go heavy. Just go heavy on these even if you have to swing. But make sure you contract and develop that mind muscle connection.

These are my top 4 exercises for arms but there are many others. For example preacher curls and skull crushers are great. I believe that people need to have specific exercises. Not everything will work for everyone.

For me arm day is all about the pump. I know a lot of people look badly at chasing the pump, but I strongly disagree with them. I chase the pump! You take a good supplement like citrilluine malate and a good arm workout will make your arms look massive and all the forearm veins will pop up making you look bad ass.

To end… One thing I like to think in terms of fitness is that you will get out what you put in. Fitness is all about being honest with yourself, being honest about the work that you are putting in. There are many things in life that you have no control over. For example no matter how much effort you put in a relationship or at work or basically anything else… there are no guaranteed results. However with fitness that is not the case. You get out what you put in.

A few weeks back Hafthor Björnsson announced that he was going to attempt a new world record on the dead lift. Before Covid-19 ruined everything, Thor was going to go down to Dubai to attempt the world record lift. But due to covid, the event was off. This did not stop him…

Now he will attempt the world record locally in Iceland. On May 2nd, Thor will attempt a 501 KG dead lift. The previous world record of 500KG was accomplished by Eddie Hall. Right after completing the 500 KG dead lift, Eddie Hall retired, leaving behind a pretty big challenge for anyone to beat his record.

Why is this a big deal?

In the world of strongmen there are many events, but the dead lift event is the biggest of all of them. Even thought there are so many other lifts, dead lift basically decide who the strongest man on the planet is. How much are these guys dead lifting? Well I would say a normal person can dead lift anywhere from 0-225 pounds. Someone who is into bodybuilding could dead lift anywhere from 225-405 pounds. That is what is considered normal. Obviously there are plenty of people out there that can dead lift a lot more. But the 500 KG record comes out to 1,100 pounds roughly. That is a big deal. Another fact is that it is really hard to go up in weight after you max out on dead lifts, after a certain point you move up very slowly.

Controversy

When Thor announced that he was going to attempt the world record from his home gym, this did not sit well with Eddie Hall as Eddie holds the current world record. He called out Thor in a controversial video, saying that Thor cannot be trusted and more. Basically the point he was making was that, if Thor successfully gets the lift done, it should not be counted as a world record.

This caused a debate in the fitness world, causing a lot of people to get behind it and weigh in with their opinions. These included opinions from some strongmen and pro bodybuilders along with fitness youtubers.

One prominent opinion was of Brian Shaw’s. Brian Shaw is another strongman, who was the world’s strongest man for quite some time. His argument was mainly around the fact that no one should be allowed to attempt an official world record at home. He said that in a competition, when you are up against so many people and there is a crowd, this can break the best competitors. Brian Shaw said that there are way too many factors in a competition that are simply avoided at home.

My opinion.

I personally cannot wait for May 2nd, and for Thor to attempt the world record. I think it will be an amazing accomplishment. I also think the people who think this should not be an official world record are right. The world record should be attempted in a competition against other competitors. All said and done Thor said he will attempt 520 KG rather than 501 KG if he gets 200k followers on Twitch. I think that’s a power move! Personally I am very excited to tune in.

To end… One thing I like to think in terms of fitness is that you will get out what you put in. Fitness is all about being honest with yourself, being honest about the work that you are putting in. There are many things in life that you have no control over. For example no matter how much effort you put in a relationship or at work or basically anything else… there are no guaranteed results. However with fitness that is not the case. You get out what you put in.

While we are all quarantined and stuck at home, we should not give up fitness. Here are the best things you can do at home without a gym

Skipping

This is the ultimate form of cardio that you can do at home, without needing any treadmills or stair master. It is also the most efficient form of cardio. A study found that just 10 minutes a day with the rope was the same as 30 minutes of running.

Dumbbell Squats

Hold a dumbbell in each hand and squat. Simple as that. Squats overall are one of the best compound exercises. They not only workout your legs but also your core among other muscles. While we can’t stack plates on and do regular squats, this will have to do in the meantime. My recommendation is to increase the rep range. If you do not have dumbbells, try doing a 100 air squats.

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Farmer walks

One of my favorite exercises. Grab a dumbbell or heavy object in each hand and walk a certain distance. Farmer walks workout everything your forearms, traps, back, core, and legs. It is a great excessive to build your grip strength for when you get back in the gym and attempt those dead lift PRs.

Burpees

I hated burpees in high school but it is a very effective exercise. It is great at burning fat, it is like cardio but better. No equipment needed. It helps in ramping up your heart rate and will make you sweat.

Lateral raises

This is the best shoulder workout, to get your shoulders popping outwards. You do not need heavy dumbbells, you will need anywhere from 15-20 pounds and 4-5 sets of these will give you a great shoulder workout.

Dumbbell curls

Grab those dumbbells and do bicep curls till you can go no more. For curls you do not need a lot of weight. Low weight with proper form and high reps will go a very long way and give you a great pump.

Push ups

How can we forget push ups. The most popular home exercise on the planet. Close grip push ups are phenomenal for triceps, while wide grip push ups are great for getting a good chest workout in. Going to failure on each will have to be the ‘chest day’ for now.

One thing I like to think in terms of fitness is that you will get out what you put in. Fitness is all about being honest with yourself, being honest about the work that you are putting in. There are many things in life that you have no control over. For example no matter how much effort you put in a relationship or at work or basically anything else… there are no guaranteed results. However with fitness that is not the case. You get out what you put in.

I really on apps for everything. I have a set of apps to monitor and trade the stock market, I have apps to track my financials, daily planners, and I also rely on a set of apps for fitness and bodybuilding purposes as well. In this blog I would like to share some of my favourite fitness related apps.

My fitness pal

This is a must have. It does not matter what your fitness goal is, either way you should have this app. It comes with all kinds of features that help you keep tabs on your workouts, but more importantly it helps you track your calories. Any food you can think of, this app will have the calories, and the macros embedded. You just have to select the foods you consume daily and it will show you total calories, total macros, and your goals accordingly. Overall my number one app for fitness. Here is a link to see how it works in depth.

Sworkit

This app will help you plan your workout routine. Along with that this app will help you set fitness goals. This is an ideal to keep track of your progress to achieve future goals. It will give you a six week fitness plan to follow and crush those goals.

Jefit

This app is for people who live at the gym. This application has roughly 1500 workouts, and each of them are explained in detail. Not only that you will be able to access a virtual video of how to perform those exercises with proper form. There is no need to lookup a youtube video in the middle of your workout to check out if you are doing something wrong.

Charity Miles

This one I keep around for some extra motivation. Every now and then I need to do cardio, and this is where this app comes in. The whole point of this app is to give away money to charity each time you run. The more you run the more money will be donated to charity. There are additional apps like this that you can look into, that pay you to track footsteps.

Spotify

Nothing helps me better during a workout like music. Music brings a whole another level of motivation that helps me crush my workout. There are certain songs that I believe help me set personal records and I can not attempt PRs without those songs. This is one is a must!

Lastly apps can help with your fitness goals but you have to put in the work. One thing I like to think in terms of fitness is that you will get out what you put in. Fitness is all about being honest with yourself, being honest about the work that you are putting in. There are many things in life that you have no control over. For example no matter how much effort you put in a relationship or at work or basically anything else… there are no guaranteed results. However with fitness that is not the case. You get out what you put in.

What is one thing you need to build muscle? It’s testosterone. Think about people who take testosterone, otherwise known as roids. They boost testosterone almost 3-4 times than a normal persons maximum limit. It helps bone density, boosts energy levels, improves stamina and overall strength. Increasing testosterone can make a huge difference when it comes to building muscle.

Obviously there is no natural way to boost testosterone as much as you would from anabolic steroids, but you can do a lot to make sure your body is producing the maximum amount. And this way there will be zero side affects.

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First and foremost you need to make sure, you have lower stress levels. You need to make sure your cortisol levels are low. There are a ton of supplements that you can get to make sure they are low and you have low amounts of stress. My favorite one is Ashwaghanda. I have talked about this supplement in my previous blogs as well. This is by far one of my favorite supplements. Essentially it is a Himalayan herb that kind of looks like a tomato. It helps with stress levels and has a ton of other great benefits. I recommend the KSM-66. This supplement overall makes you feel better, relieves stress. Click here to see more benefits of this supplement.

Next thing I would say is to make sure you are eating healthy. You need to make sure you are eating healthy fats. These include mono saturated and polyunsaturated fats. You need to make sure that 20-25% of your daily calories are coming from healthy fats. Some good sources include but are not limited to Olive oil, cashews, avocados, flax seed. I will include a link here to more foods.

To increase testosterone you need to lift heavy. Most of the stuff you would hear to build muscle overlaps with boosting natural testosterone. It’s a biological reflex for your body. The harder situation your body through, the more testosterone it will produce as a result. High intensity is important overall. I would suggest incorporating compound lifts into your workouts more often. These would include stuff like deadlifts, squats, bench press, shrugs, and farmer walks.

Next thing that is very important is sleep. This is the time when your body repairs itself. And also when the body produces HGH and testosterone. While we are at it, limiting alcohol consumption will also help with testosterone levels.

Lastly I would recommend taking a good test booster. It can make all the difference in the world. A good test booster will have things like tribulus, fenugreek, ashwaghanda, and maybe some citrilluine/ arginine for blood flow.

These are the most important factors I can think of at the moment. If you have any comments, concerns, thoughts, or questions please reach out to me. As always I will ask you to start somewhere, do something, and to use what you have.

I’m not gonna lie, deadlifts are very risky. Perhaps the most risky lift. But that doesn’t change the fact that it is also the single most important lift. If you look up deadlifts on the internet, you’ll see people pulling massive amounts of weight. In fact it is the main even in the strongman competitions. Currently the world record for the heaviest deadlift is held by Eddie Hall. Dude pulled a 500KG deadlift. Seeing guys like Eddie Hall may gave people an impression that only massive guys can attempt deadlifts. This is not true at all. In this blog I want to go over some reasons to deadlift once a week.

Deadlifting is a compound exercise. It is by far one of the most effective thing you can do in the gym. It targets almost every muscle in the back. Not only this, it also strengthens your core and is effective on your legs mainly quads. Doing deadlifts trains your body to work in conjunction.

If you think about it, deadlifting is simply picking up a heavy object off the ground. It is simple yet very useful. The most important thing here is form. The right posture is key when doing deadlifts. You want to make sure that your back is not rounding out when you attempt this lift. This is very important, because there is a chance you can get hurt. You need to make sure you’re chest is out and up and you’re back is flat. In high school my weightlifting coach used to call this form the booty arch. You stick your butt out and make sure your back is flat to ensure you do this with proper form.

One of the main reasons I love deadlifting is due to the fact that the body releases growth hormones when you deadlift. This helps you get stronger everywhere and growth hormones will help you build muscle.

One thing I will say… is to leave your ego out of this particular lift. Take time to practice your perfect hinge position. If done right, over time, you will gain size and strength with this lift. This will improve the overall quality of life. Nothing beats the sensation of getting a max on deadlifts. But like I said, you do not wanna involve your ego in this lift, as this particular lift can hurt you in the gym.

I know it is currently hard to go to the gym during quarantine. But this is the best time to start. You can go for a run and burn some fat. Doing something is better than doing nothing. As always remember the best advice is to start where you are, do what you can, and use what you have.

Consistency is key when it comes down to fitness and bodybuilding. You need to follow a routine depending on your goal and be consistent with it. But in this blog I would like to share some rules of fitness that can be implemented whether you are bulking or cutting. These will help either way.

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Eat
Whether you are in a caloric surplus or deficit, you need to eat with purpose. You can prepare meals if that is something you are interested in.

Stop tracking your weight
This is something I have mentioned in my previous blogs as well but there is absolutely no need to weigh yourself everyday. Or even at all! The most important thing is fat loss. You can invest in a tool that calculates a body fat percentage calculator. No real need for it but that is a much better thing to keep track of as opposed to weighing yourself.

Do what you enjoy
I personally love bodybuilding and lifting heavy, but you don’t have to do that if you are not into it. There are other activities like zumba, running, or swimming. The most important thing is to enjoy what you are doing so you can incorporate it into your life long time. Fitness can be something that you look forward to each day after work or school.

Rest day
I was to stress the importance of taking a rest day. You need to give your muscles a chance to rest and recover. When you lift weight, you break your muscles and they require sometime to heal. To clarify a rest day is only for exercising and not from dieting. Diet should remain consistent no matter what.

Follow a plan
Like I mentioned it is important to stay consistent. Following a good diet and workout can make all the difference in the world. If you are like me where you have to balance life with school and work, a plan can be very important to have a plan.

Drink water
Drink as much water as you can. One thing that I have noticed is that you get a really good pump at the gym if you drink more water. It is also a very helpful tool to get rid of fat from your body.

Sleep!
You will need to get enough sleep. I believe that is very important. Your muscles will heal during the time you sleep.

I know it is currently hard to go to the gym during quarantine. But this is the best time to start. You can go for a run and burn some fat. Doing something is better than doing nothing. As always remember the best advice is to start where you are, do what you can, and use what you have.