Michele Maroldo

Are you looking for an exercise routine but you don’t know where to begin? Have you been working out and your normal regime is getting old and tired? Maybe you only have a limited time you can exercise. Whether you’re looking to lose weight, get firm and toned, or gain muscle mass these example routines will work into whatever schedule you may have.

People always ask me what the best workout routine is. The truth is, there is no best routine. A good routine is one in which works for you, that you can stick to, and that helps you reach your goals.

In building a good routine you must first decide how much time you can reasonably devote to your program per week. Some people cannot function unless they go to the gym every day and others may only be able to get in a workout once a week. If you’re like most people, you fall somewhere in between. I’ll start with a 7-day-a-week program and work down to 1. The more days per week you can train, the less you’ll train a particular body part. This is more suitable for building muscle mass. Your body parts should be sore enough that they need a week to repair, so train them hard. If toning is your goal then you’ll need less intensity so you can train that body part again. You should never train the same body part two days in a row. Your muscles need at least one day to rest and repair. The exception to this rule is the abdominal muscles, which can be trained every day but personally I’ve always gotten more success giving them a rest too.

(more…)

I feel like I shouldn’t have to write about these things, that everyone should know these little facts and tidbits all on their own. And yet, another trip to the gym reveals that which I’ve always known: not everyone knows proper gym etiquette.

Here are the top 10 things to remember while training at the gym:

1. Do not stare. Aside from being very impolite, it’s quite distracting and can make one feel self conscious.
2. Don’t ask the same people all the time for a spot. Although it’s important and necessary to use a spotter for some sets, you’ll find some guys heading for the other side of the room the moment you enter the gym to keep away from you.
3. If someone is super-setting or doing interval training, do not ask to work in. This totally defeats the purpose of little or no rest between sets.
4. If you have a question for an experienced bodybuilder in the gym, ask quickly or find out if you can ask them when they’re finished training. A simple question often leads to a lengthy conversation and by that time the person’s muscles will have cooled down and concentration will have broken.
5. When a person is using a piece of equipment, especially flat-benching, don’t walk too closely to them. It’s very distracting to be lying on a bench with 300lbs over your head and someone walks by so close that you can tell what brand of deodorant they’re wearing, or not wearing.
6. (more…)

In a society built on extremes, filled with obsessions, and living on compulsions, why is it that a woman is thought of as extra-ordinary for building the muscles of her body? Who ever said bodybuilding was created explicitly for men? What gives people the right to think that just because a woman develops her muscles she’s trying to be a man? Where is it written that it is not attractive for a woman to have curves, veins, bulging biceps, and rock hard abs? And finally, when will it be acceptable for a woman to go beyond the desire to be Barbie-doll thin and experience the outer limits of her body?

We are all created with muscles on our skeletal frame, including women. Bodybuilding is just that, building your body. Creating, forming, sculpting like a great artist, to push yourself beyond the limits of what you think you can handle. To build strength, stamina, and the look that you never thought possible.

Male or female, bodybuilding is a beautiful way of sculpting one’s image to create a masterpiece of the human body.