If you want to really increase your vertical leap you need some great increase vertical workouts to follow. This means that you have to be able to follow directions when it comes to your vertical training programs. You will not get results if you continue to train the way you have always been training. You need strength training exercises as well as plyometric exercises. Forget about isomeric workouts because they are useless for any athlete or any individual.

You can’t believe that every jump program you find will work because that will never be the case. You have a lot of Internet marketers trying to create jump higher programs because they see the money in it. These people don’t know what they are doing or what they are talking about. They simply make a very pretty looking website and then people believe them because of the money they spent on their graphic design for their site and ebook. Don’t be fooled by these people. Make sure the creator of any vertical training program you buy has a degree from a University or has serious experience. A former high school or college basketball player does not count as qualified experience.

There is a lot of science behind jump training and jumping exercises and you have to be aware of what works and what doesn’t. There are jump programs out there that will train your vertical leap where you can jump 10 inches higher in 10 weeks. The Jump Mentor is one of the top rated vertical training programs out there right now.

Many people confuse isometric exercises with plyometric exercises and they couldn’t be more different. An isometric is kind of a strength training workout but not really. Nobody really uses this method because it just doesn’t work well. An athlete won’t use it because it’s kind of a ridiculous concept if you understand how the body works. With isometric strength training, you aren’t moving anything, it’s like pushing against a parked car. It will not really improve strength and it for sure won’t help your speed or quickness.

The reality is that women benefit greatly from lifting weights just like men. You can’t simply think that jogging will make your body more tone and lean. If you want a tight lean body, you will have to start working for it.

I recommend that you start by doing squats with real weight. You should be able to do squats with 100 pounds within the first month of trying them. Start light and make sure you have proper form before attempting to go up in weight. You want firm legs? Do heavy squats and your legs will be the firmest they have ever been.

Pull-ups are another great exercise that most women cannot do. If you can train enough in order to do even a couple of pull-ups with your body weight, you will look drastically different. This will get rid of that fat that folds over the top of your bra. Pull-ups build muscle in your lats and you will have a much better shape.

Volleyball and basketball strength and conditioning coaches use plyometrics to teach their athletes how to jump higher while football coaches use plyometric training to improve speed on the field.

Speed and quickness are needed whether you are running a route or trying to jump higher than your competition. The faster you can exert force against the ground, the higher you will jump in the air.

Plyometric exercises have been around since the 70’s but the science behind the workout has grown by leaps and bonds in the past 3 years. Thanks to technology and better educated coaches and athletes there have been new records set in vertical jump height.

The average college basketball and volleyball athlete now jumps an average of 3 inches higher than collegiate athletes from 5 years ago. The average jump height is going up because they athletes have amazing vertical jump workout routines that work better than previous workouts.

Plyometrics are leading the field in jump training and one of the most well known experts in jump training is Cade Orvin. Cade has created jump programs for professional beach volleyball players that resulted in spectacular results. Beach volleyball players are the best jumpers in the world and their training has remained secret until now.

Click Here to see the program that Cade Orvin uses to train professional beach volleyball players to jump higher.

Why is Diet Coke Bad For You?

You might be thinking that diet soda is not bad because there are zero calories, how can something without any calories make you gain weight? Does diet coke make you fat? Well let me answer that question with a question: Have you ever seen an obese person that doesn’t drink coke or diet coke? Or have you ever seen an obese individual that doesn’t drink carbonation? I’m not saying that coke and carbonation are the only things that cause obesity but they are definitely some of the highest contributors to the problem.

Let me explain what happens when you drink diet coke. The diet coke uses artificial sweetener to trick you into thinking it is sweet, well you aren’t the only thing being tricked. Your body is also tricked and so the body releases insulin because it thinks there is a ton of sugar going around. Insulin then tells the fat cells to absorb everything so that you will have some extra fat for later. So you then covert that “fake sugar” into fat to be used at a later time when you need it. Great idea right? Well, guess what? You will never use those stores of fat because you always have diet coke, so your body always thinks it has tons of sugar, so you store more of it. This cycle repeats itself and you continue to gain weight.

So how do you lose the weight you gained from drinking diet coke? You drink water and exercise. It’s as simple as that. A diet coke every week will not have nearly the effect that a coke everyday will have. If you want to be in better health you need to exercise and drink plenty of water. Eat your calories, don’t drink them. With diet coke health risks outweigh any type of benefits.

Never pay money to a local college or any online college or university to become a personal trainer. The fact is that all you have to do to become a certified personal trainer is pass an accredited test offered at a testing center near you. There dozens of personal trainer certifications that you can get, some are legit and some are just to take your money.

A couple that are accepted at every gym I have ever been to are ACSM and NASM. Taking either of those tests will qualify you to be trainer at whatever gym you would like. Once again, you do NOT need to enroll in any type of classes to take these tests. Simply buy their book from ebay, study and then take the test wherever it is given near you. Once you pass that test you are qualified to work as a trainer.

Even graduates from accredited Universities in the health field have to pay some money to go take one of those tests, which is ludicrous because a bachelors degree from a University (not a local or online college) is much more qualifying than a simple test.

There is no such thing as a degree in Personal Training and do not be scammed by colleges or websites that say otherwise.

Is diet coke bad for you? Yes it is. Just because something is free of calories doesn’t mean that it won’t trigger other processes in your body to store extra fat in the long run. You find me an obese person that doesn’t drink coke or diet coke and you will be the first to find such a person.

So naturally one of the rules to lose 20 lbs in 30 days is to not drink any calories. You can get your calories from food but don’t drink them. Most of the calories you drink are not healthy calories so it’s best to avoid all of them.

The next rule is to eat healthy meats (sorry vegetarians). Healthy meats include chicken, tuna fish, salmon (or any lean fish or meat). I would recommend you get creative using chicken and fish for meals everyday.

Next is to eat 4 to 5 times a day. If you eat 3 times a day you will not have the desire results. Eat more often but eat better foods and overall less calories in a whole day.

Eat fat sparingly is the next rule to losing 20 lbs in 1 month. Fat is not evil, you need it to feel full and function properly. But when you are eating a lot of chicken and tuna you will not have room for fatty foods.

Now we get to Carbs. Carbohydrates are used for energy and you need them but you have to eat the good carbs and not the bad which are mostly the “white carbs”. So stay clear of white carbs and you are good to go.

The typical guy loves to do 2 exercises at the gym and they are the bench press and the bicep curl. You might be surprised to know that bicep curls are one of the least important exercises to having a great looking upper body.

Your biceps get a decent workout when you are training your back but most guys don’t train their back enough and over train their chest. One thing you need to try is to switch up your workout because right now you probably train your chest on Monday because you love doing bench press so much. So from now on, Monday will be your back training day.

What exercises will workout your back?

Pull-ups will work the lats which are part of the back, they are the muscles that make you look like a cobra. They make you appear wider from the front view. Also lat pull-downs will do the same and that way you can do more or less weight than your body weight.

Traps are a part of the back. They are called the trapezius and they are the muscles that look like they are on top of your shoulders. The muscle actually originates from that little bump on the back of your head (external occipital protuberance) and the insert on the spine at your lower back. To get big traps the best exercises are shrugs and kettlebell swings.

There is not one specific exercise that can count as the best back workout but a combination of the 2 exercises above will make for a great routine for your back.

When building muscle it is very important that you do leg exercises. The legs make up the majority of muscle in your body and building leg muscle will help your whole body gain muscle.

So how do you overcome a plateau with your bench press? By doing leg workouts! Yes you read that correctly, if you do leg exercises you will get stronger in all areas of your body.

Lets look at some of the best and worst leg workouts.

Good Leg Exercises:
Squats
Lunges
Hamstring Curls
Cleans
Calf Raises

Bad Leg Exercises
Leg Extensions
One leg squats
Deep Squats

You are probably wondering why they have machines for leg extensions if they are so bad. Well, if you do really light weight they are okay and can strengthen your ligaments and tendons. They will also build muscle on the front of your legs. The bad thing is that the human body is not designed to lift a lot of weight in that manner and it should be avoided because it will put unusual strain on your knee.

One leg squats are bad because they put too much pressure on your knee as well as deep squats. The thigh should never be parallel with the ground when doing a squat, that would cause an angle in the knee of way less than 90 degrees and that is not good. When your knee is bent, the amount of weight the knee feels is 7 times the amount of weight above the knee. So if you weight 200 pounds, 150 will be above you knee and that means without any weight on your back your knee is squatting 1,050 pounds!

When doing a fully body workout routine you need to make sure that you don’t tire the smaller muscles before working out the larger muscle groups. Lets look at the correct order for all full body workouts:

1. Leg Exercises
2. Chest Workouts
3. Back Exercises
4. Shoulder Workouts
5. Bicep Exercises
6. Tricep Workouts
7. Calf Exercises
8. Stomach Workouts can be done at anytime in the workout.

This is a proper order for a full body workout that won’t tire one body part before you workout the major muscles.

Remember that weight loss is not always the goal to track progress.  Many times you can take 2 people that are the same weight but look completely different.  You need to focus on where you want changes and try to add or lose inches in those areas.  Weight is a non-issue when it comes to how you look and feel and about your body.  I have seen strong looking guys that have broad shoulders and don’t weigh much. I have also seen girls that weigh a little extra but they are lean and don’t have fat on them.