Heather Fawcett fitness model, glamor model

By: Layne Norton

Here's a question. What makes a bodybuilder a bodybuilder? Is a bodybuilder a big guy? Is a bodybuilder a ripped guy? No. A bodybuilder is big and ripped.

Anyone can get big (barring a severe thyroid problem), all you've gotta do is eat. But being big and ripped is something not many people achieve. One goal gets in the way of another. Either people become so pre-occupied with getting big that they become excessively fat, or they become so pre-occupied with getting cut that they lose any size they had gained.

It's almost impossible to get big and ripped at the same time (unless your using steroids and growth hormone) So you must cycle the two. You must devote a certain amount of time to gaining weight and then a certain amount of time to cutting fat. In this article I will show you how to get ripped without losing your hard earned muscle.

Burning Fat

The most obvious thing that must be done is that calories must be reduced to burn fat. I have found that a diet consisting of high protein, low (but not extremely low) carbohydrate, and moderate fat is the best for burning fat. I will analyze each nutrient and how it should be adjusted to burn fat.

Protein:

Since you will be cutting a lot of calories from carbs and fat out you will need to increase your protein intake to prevent muscle breakdown. A bodybuilder who weighs between 180-190 should consume no less than 250g of protein per day. 275g of protein per day would actually be optimal. The extra protein can be used as energy and will protect the body from using the muscle protein for fuel.

Gal Ferreira figure competitor, fitness model, glamor model

By: Jennifer Nicole Lee

It's that time again! Yes, the time when we make our New Year's Resolutions. After stuffing the turkey, and ourselves, we are finally fed up with "feeling fat" and ready to make the necessary changes, such as exercising more and eating less. We are eager to make our New Year's Resolutions, but the question is, do we keep them? The sad truth is that our New Year's Resolutions usually lasts only from 3 to 14 days! Yes, it's quite pathetic that the span of our new goals shorter than a pair of Richard Simmons pants!

But this year, it's going to be different! Because you, yes I am talking to you, are reading my article! I'm not going to let you down, so keep reading! I know you really want to make a difference and create positive changes in your life because you are taking the time to read this! So this year, don't resolve, but rather evolve. Don't make a resolution, but rather create your evolution by actually implementing and executing the changes that are necessary to create the life and body of your dreams!

I love these following words of wisdom: "It's not knowing what to do, but rather doing what you know!"

On my countless consultations with people from around the world, the one thing that really startles me is that most of my clients know what to do! But sadly enough they DON'T do what they know! That's were my tough love comes in, and I coach them to success! But what I actually am doing is irritating their pain enough, causing them to take action. And you too, savor your "sadness" of being where you are NOW, so you will actually do something about it!

My 4 week, 28 day guide is your ammunition for fighting and winning the war on fat! It's what you need for when you are stuck in a rut, and you need that motivational kick in the butt! And why 4 weeks do you ask? Well, it's been scientifically proven that it takes approximately 28 days for a new habit to stick, thus creating a new habit!

This is my "JNL" Approved Step by Step guide, broken down into 4 weeks, which if executed correctly, will give you an excellent jump start for the entire rest of the year. Start my "JNL New Year's Evolution" Guide when you are ready, and ideally right after the New Year begins, so you may start off the year with a super strong start.

Elise Firestone fitness model, glamor model

If any of the following applys to you, you are officially a gym idiot.

1. If Your weekly workout routine reads as follows you are officially a gym idiot.

Monday:Chest and Biceps
Tuesday: Chest and Biceps
Wednesday: Chest and Biceps
Thursday: Chest and Biceps
Friday: Chest and Biceps
Saturday: Chest and Biceps

2. If you use the follwing set/rep scheme on any exercise you are officially a gym idiot. For example....

Barbell Curl 50 x 125

3. If you bench 300 pounds on a vertical bench machine and walk around like that's more impressive than the guy benching 230 pounds of free weights you are officially a gym idiot.

4. If you consider 45 minutes of cardio before your weight training session a warm up you are offically a gym idiot.

5. If you go to McDonalds and order a big mac with a medium diet coke and insist you are still cutting you are officially a gym idiot.

6. If you train, lets say chest on monday and triceps on tuesday, you are officially a gym idiot.

7. If you have ever uttered the phrase "I'm going to cut 40 pounds of bodyweight while increasing my muscle mass, you are officially a gym idiot.

8. If you believe that creatine is a steroid, you are offically a gym idiot.

9. If you believe that endless sets of crunches will get you a six pack you are officially a gym idiot.

10. If you squat 450 with the worst form known to man, you are offically a gym idiot.

There are many more examples of what constitutes a gym idiot, but these ten signs are a starting point.

Aleisha Hart figure competitor,fitness model

By: Bill Dobbins

The development of the hyper-muscular female body is chainging our culture's views of what is attractive, sexy and feminine about women's bodies.

There is a revolution in progress, but most people haven't noticed. This revolution is about the female body, and its most obvious manifestation is the elite, modern, female bodybuilder.

Our Culture

Our culture has celebrated the athletic male body for thousands of year. The sport of bodybuilding for men was officially created more than 60 years ago in 1940. But we have never in the past had comparable images or concepts of the strong, athletic female body. Of course, in real life, women themselves had to be strong. Most women - most people - throughout history have been farmers, and in families that worked the land women traditionally labored hard alongside their men. There was no place for a weak and pampered female when having to struggle against nature.

But while the aesthetic beauty of the male athletic body has always been a common subject of art, women have not received the same treatment. Woman was Eve, or the Virgin Mary or Venus - but the few so-called "amazons" we see in historic art tend to be what we would today describe as "beefy," and often depicted as mutilated and disfigured by the removal of a breast, supposedly to give them an advantage as archers.

What could be a better symbol of the judgment of society that women have to sacrifice their femininity if they chose to undertake activities commonly reserved to men?

However, throughout the 20th century the role of women in general began to be questioned and re-examined. Women gained the right to vote, to own property, to enter into politics, science, education and into professions long reserved for men. Toward the end of the century women began more and more to excel at sports, to the point where female Olympic athletes of today are breaking records set by men as late as the 1950s and 1960s.

Denise Masino IFBB Pro female bodybuilder