Benny from London asked: “I really want to get a nice wide V-taper back like Arnie, Ronnie Coleman and Bruce Lee. What are the best exercsies to widen my back and lats?”

This is a great question that I thought I would answer for everyone.

About widening your back

The wide v-taper back is one of bodybuilding’s most prized posessions. Many people think it is because of Ronnie Coleman’s perfectly developed back muscles that he was so successful at winning so many Mr. Olympia titles in a row.

I think they are right.

But out of all the famous backs in the world I think Bruce Lee’s is the most popular. When he did his signature cobra flex in Way of the Dragon millions of people were inspired to develop a v-taper back.

Training the back is quite difficult but can be very rewarding. The feeling of a sore back after a good workout is second to none. If you want to start making widening your back the goal of your back workouts then this post is a good place for you to start.

There is something very important that you should now about widening your back:

It is not so much which exercises you do but how you do them that counts.

Let me explain. Take the chin up as our example. The chin is one of the best back building exercises there is. However, you will work a different part of your back depending on where you put your hands. This means that the same exercise can work many different functions for the back. In this post I will show you not only what are the best exercises, but how you should do them to maximize your results.

The best exercises to widen the back

The best exercises to widen the back are the one’s that target the lats and cause them to grow faster than the rhomboids.

1. The wide grip chin up
If your shoulders can handle this exercise it is hands down one of the best exercises there is. Some people (me included) cannot handle too many wide grip chin ups as it puts a lot of pressure on the shoulders. If you think this might be you try starting with about a shoulder width grip and work your way out.

The main trick with the chin up is to pretend you are pulling yourself up by your elbows. Really make sure you are tensing your lats and closing your shoulder blades. If you keep the reps nice and slow and remember these two tips your will feel a greater contraction in your lats.

You should also start to add weight to your feet or waist as soon as you can do more than about 10 reps. If you do this your back will explode into some really amazing growth.

2. Bent over rows
The bent over row is probably the favorite of most bodybuilders for building the lats. It is a lot easier to do than the chin up (people are lazy!) and it hits the lats pretty well.

The problem with the bent over row is that it is hard to get the technique right. Most of the time when I see people doing it at the gym they are doing some retarded version which ends up working their posterior deltoids instead of the back.

If you want to do it properly don’t try to be too tough. Use a light weight, keep your back straight and work on the contraction of the muscles as opposed to the lifting itself. Back training is mostly a mind game.

Conclusion
These are the two best exercises for widening your back by developing your lats muscles. In both exercises experiment with an underhand and an overhand grip and try different hand grip widths. By mixing it up your back will be forced to grow and adapt.

The triceps are just about the easiest muscle to train. You can always get a good burn with the right mix of exercises. However, there are a few simple things you can do to make your triceps workout much more effective.

5 Tricep Blasting Workout Tips

If you want to make your triceps workout a little bit more intense then try a few of these tips. They will help you build strength, size and power faster than usual.

1. Stretch them out
Stretching your triceps before, during and after a workout is a simple tip that can allow you to make a heck of a lot more progress. The tricep muscles respond really well to a good stretch and are particularly pleased when you stretch them after a workout. It allows the muscle to recouperate faster and will minimize muscle soreness meaning you can get back to training much quicker.

2. Reduce the weight
What the…! Reduce the weight? I knew you would be shocked by this one. In actual fact the triceps are one of those muscles that respond really well to perfect technique. One of the best ways you can muck up your perfect technique is to add too much weight too quickly. It forced you to cheat and do your reps with a little bit more momentum. Not good. Reduce the weight on your triceps exercise and focus on getting a good smooth motion with very tight contraction. You will see better results.

3. Do more dips
People often fail to realize that the bulk of tricep building gets done when you are working out your chest. Although the isolation exercises like pushdowns and kickbacks are good, the heavy dips and bench press type exercises are even better. The weighted dip is one of the best ways to really get your triceps working. It is especially good if you are stuck on a bit of a plateau.

4. Hit them first
If you are anything like me you probably have a huge set of pecs and some less impressive triceps. For too many years I concentrated on the pecs and other chest building exercises and forgot to give the triceps the attention they deserved. If you want to inspire some new growth try doing your triceps exercises first in the workout while they are fresh and full of power.

5. Decrease rest time
I have had particular success with my triceps by reducing the amount of time I rest inbetween sets. The triceps love being flooded with blood (like the shoulders) and reducing the rest time and reducing the weight you use is one of the best ways to do this. If you can push through a little bit of pain and are disciplined enough to keep your technique tight then decreasing your rest time is a great tricep blaster.

Conclusion
It is always good to change up your workout with some new tips and creativity. Don’t be afraid to try something new. The triceps respond really well to change and love to be challenged. Hit them hard!

So your on a weight loss kick but you are not losing much weight. Evil calories are everywhere and you are struggling to beat them. When every calorie matters try implementing a few of these ways to reduce those evil calories.

(I apologize in advance to all the sensitive religious people this post offends)

8 Ways to Reduce Your Daily Evil Calorie Intake

These 8 tips are not hard to do. It will take a little bit of guts in some cases but most of you should find them pretty simple.

8. Don’t break bread
Many people have a sandwich at lunch time and a bit of bread with dinner. Get rid of it. Take all the vegetables and meats and cheeses out of the bread and throw it into a bowl. Now it is a salad! There goes a days worth of carbs and a truck load of sugar and bleech that most commercial bread companies use.

7. Make a plan and treat it like a diet bible
A good idea is to make a daily or weekly plan and do all your shopping in advance. Write out everything you are going to eat for the day and stick to it like it is your diet bible. If you plan well this is a good way to avoid snacks and cut out excess calories.

6. Have a second serve of saintly vegetables
If you have a meal full of vegetables it is a good idea to go back for seconds. These saintly foods keep you full and are full of goodies like fiber, vitamins and minerals. It is okay to fill up on these because they are calories that come with benefits. It will also stop you from snacking later.

5. Shop after a meal
When you go to the shop on an empty stomach it is just like inviting evil calorie rich foods into your home. Go out for a healthy meal first and then go to the shop. I guarantee it will protect you from the evils of chocolate bars and packets of chips. It is like holy water to a vampire.

4. Banaish evil salad dressings
Salad dressings are essentially like adding some sugar to your carrot. If you are on a weight loss diet you are probably eating a lot of nice salads with some delicious salad dressing on top. Bad idea. Most commercially made salad dressings are full of added sugar. Try replacing them with lemon, olive oil, chilli or some other homemade solution.

3. Walk more
The more exercise you can do the better. Every little bit helps. If you walk to the shops instead of driving you burn off a couple of hundred calories. Carrying the bags works your arms out and helps keep your metabolism firing.

2. Low fat is where the devil lives
Low fat products are often full of added sugar. Think about it. That market the product as being healthy and low in fat and then people think it is good for their waistline. Shame. While it might be low in fat it sure as hell ain’t good for your waistline. Many low fat foods are sky high in sugar. Be careful what you eat.

1. Swap Coke for holy water
This is the most important thing you can do if you want to cut out some unneccesary calories from your day. It takes about 30 minutes on the treadmill to burn off a single can of Coke. Cut it out and make your job a whole lot easier. Water keeps you healthy and never adds any calories to your diet.