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Articles by Alex Miller

Browse published articles attributed to Alex Miller, with full-archive search.

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By Alex MillerOct 8, 20111 topic

The Six Best Shoulder Exercises

There are about a half dozen of what may be called the best shoulder exercises. Powerlifters, Olympic weight lifters, and bodybuilders work on their shoulders for somewhat different reasons. Bodybuilders want to get that wide-at-the-shoulder look tapered down lats to a slim waist V shape. The Powerlifters and Olympic weight lifters work on shoulder exercises to toughen up that part of their body so as to avoid shoulder injuries when training for and performing their major lif

Primary topic: Body Building

1,078 views5/5 (1)

By Alex MillerOct 10, 20111 topic

Elbow Pain When Weight Lifting

Feeling elbow pain in your weight lifting endeavors can be very annoying and frustrating, let alone maybe downright excruciating. Usually the pain becomes chronic, that is, it seems to never go away. You may be given the advice by a health care professional to rest completely by not lifting weights at all for awhile. Then, you start lifting again and the pain is back. Sometimes just turning a door handle or picking up a small object is painful. First of all, take the mystery

Primary topic: Pain Management

Pain Management

4,120 views

By Alex MillerSep 29, 20111 topic

Barbell Exercises: The Big 5

Both beginning and advanced weight training programs alike utilize 5 basic barbell exercises. All you need is a barbell with various amounts of plates, a bench and some kind of squat support. The Big Five Lifts The big five lifts are Squats, Deadlifts, Flat Bench Press, Overhead Press and Rows and are called such because: 1) Each exercise is a compound exercise that hits all the major muscle groups 2) More weight can be utilized with these lifts than with their variations

Primary topic: Body Building

1,855 views

By Alex MillerSep 6, 20111 topic

Strength Training for Beginners—Are You Tired of Calisthenics Yet?

Strength training for beginners can be filled with a lot of misconceptions. You might think that after 6 months you will look like a fitness model with rippling chest, back, and bicep muscles, legs like tree trunks and a washboard waist. Then you think about it a while longer and think, “No, that’s not going to happen that soon. I’ll train real hard and give it about two years. Yea, that’s it. I’ll do whatever it takes for two years of hard training using this or that method

Primary topic: Fitness and Exercise

Fitness and Exercise

1,468 views

By Alex MillerSep 16, 20111 topic

Circuit Training Versus Traditional Weight Training

Even if you are new to weight training, you have probably heard of the debate between circuit training versus traditional weight training. You may be confused as to what protocol to follow. Do you lift light weights or heavy weights? How long do you rest in between sets? Which exercises should go together? How long should a workout last? Is this bodybuilding? Traditional Training In traditional training, one set of an exercise is performed for a repetition range of 6 to 12 r

Primary topic: Body Building

1,319 views

By Alex MillerOct 28, 20111 topic

Add Some Weights to Your Mixed Martial Arts Training

Masutatsu Oyama’s Expirament with Mixed Martial Arts and Weight Training Decades ago, the late Mas(utatsu) Oyama, founder of Kyokushinkai Karate, and arguably the undocumented godfather of mixed martial arts, once conducted an informal test between two of his students to determine what kind of physical conditioning was best for hand to hand combat performance. The first student’s preparation for the competition consisted mostly of calisthenics as background conditioning. The

Primary topic: Martial Arts

1,282 views

By Alex MillerRecently published1 topic

11 Tips to Make Flying the Best Part of Your Business Trip

In my 25-plus years of travel experience, I have learned that being adaptable and well-prepared can smooth out any travel hiccups, which is especially important for business trips. But it helps even on leisure trips. Last year, when my wife and I were flying from Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City, I managed to avoid a big setback by thinking on my feet. During my research for the trip, I’d come across information from several major traveling resources indicating that my wife, Erin, would not need a visa because she was a U.S. citizen.

Primary topic: Travel

1,150 views

By Alex MillerSep 26, 20111 topic

Benefits of Kettlebell Training–The Cannon Balls with the Handles

Kettlebell Training originated in Russia. They were used in strong man competitions for sport and/or entertainment. Some say they’re just the Russian version of a dumbbell. Decades ago when some American coaches saw what their superior Baltic counterparts were training their athletes with for certain strength competitions, they began slowly to incorporate kettlebells into their programs. Although it seems like they have been around much longer, kettlebells were supposedly not

Primary topic: Exercise Equipment

Exercise Equipment

1,107 views

By Alex MillerSep 28, 2011Topic pending

Do you need a Weightlifting Belt? What Do YOU Think?

Data on Weight Lifting Belts are Many Times Anecdotal There was once a study made with airline baggage handlers and weightlifting belts. They had different control groups meaning, there was a group given belts to wear during their regular lifting activities, a second group was not given belts but, rather, educated in how to lift and, a third group that was not given belts or any lifting education. This convoluted study (not even worth citing) turned out to be inconclusive be

Primary topic: Sep 28, 2011

Sep 28, 2011

1,095 views

By Alex MillerSep 30, 20111 topic

Barbell Exercises –Some Variations Of The Big Five

The Big Five lifts are the Squat, Deadlift, Bench Press, Press, and the Row. Some variations of The Big Five are listed below. They are done as either additional exercises, assistance exercises or to be done just for a change. Press Variations 1)Incline (bench) Press: Back in the day, the famous strength and conditioning Coach Bill Starr recommended 3 main exercises for football players and track and field athletes: The Squat, the Power Clean and the Incline Press. The incl

Primary topic: Body Building

1,077 views

By Alex MillerSep 23, 20111 topic

Bodybuilding Workout Routines-Some Guidelines

Many bodybuilding workout routines are very rich in techniques and principles such as doing slow negatives to increase hypertrophy or doing supersets which help work opposing muscle groups more thoroughly and at the same time decrease workout time. Unlike powerlifting and Olympic weight lifting, bodybuilding training's goal is not to develop strength in movements but rather muscle size. There is much to learn. Here are some simple guidelines. Don't Change Your Bodybuilding W

Primary topic: Fitness and Exercise

Fitness and Exercise

1,018 views

By Alex MillerSep 19, 20111 topic

High Intensity Training FAQs

Anyone a least a little bit knowledgeable about High Intensity Training has heard the names of Arthur Jones and Mike Mentzer, to name a couple proponents. Nautilus founder and exercise promoter Arthur Jones made high intensity training popular in the 1970s. Later on, a bodybuilder named Mike Mentzer put his own spin on H.I.T. and came up with a training discipline called Heavy Duty. Although Mentzer died in 2001, his fans still abound online extolling the virtues of his famou

Primary topic: Body Building

1,018 views

By Alex MillerOct 10, 20111 topic

Shoulder Injuries and Weight Lifting

Of all the places on your body to be injured, shoulder injuries in weight lifting will render your upper body strength next to useless. If your shoulder is badly hurt, you will have a challenging time pulling or pushing anything heavy. According to a particular study with elite powerlifters, the most commonly injured areas when lifting iron are the shoulders, lower back and knees. The study also found that if you are older tha 40 then you chance of an upper body injury was a

Primary topic: Body Building

1,013 views

By Alex MillerOct 9, 20111 topic

Weight Training Injuries: A Bummer for Your Gym Life

How Do Common Weight Training Injuries Occur? The 3 usual areas particular to weight training injuries are the shoulders, the back and the knees. The shoulders can have rotator cuff issues. The lower back can have a bad sprain or possibly a bulging disk resulting in the sciatic nerve being aggravated. The knees can develop sprains and cartilage wear and tear. How do injuries occur? It may happen like this: You have been weight training for some years. One day you’re doing r

Primary topic: Body Building

967 views

By Alex MillerSep 21, 20111 topic

Speed Strength Training—To be Fast, You Need to be Strong First!

To explai Speed Strength Training it is first necessary to explain the nature of strength. There are many people who are naturally strong but for most of us, strength is a learned skill in which we have to condition our central nervous system and motor units to become stronger by using resistance training. By the same token, most of us have to learn how to be fast. Strength and conditioning experts have touted for years that speed and strength are interrelated. Take a strong

Primary topic: Fitness and Exercise

Fitness and Exercise

939 views

By Alex MillerOct 14, 20111 topic

Planning Recovery for Strength Training Workouts

There is more written about how to perform strength training workouts than about recovery. Most everything you read about weight training is about how to get a good workout, what is the best method to work a particular muscle group, how to get a good pump, etc. Although it is true that the purpose of a strength training workout is to safely break down tissue as quickly as possible, it is also true that if this is carried too far, you may eventually suffer from overtraining. M

Primary topic: Body Building

936 views

By Alex MillerSep 18, 20111 topic

A Beginner’s Strength Training Routine

There is no such thing as a beginner’s exercise because an exercise can always be made harder in order to perform it. Most exercises serve some purpose. The value of an exercise is dependent on the goals you set for yourself. One interesting note: A beginner’s strength training routine for women is not necessarily different than a man’s workout. An exercise plan for beginners begins with first acclimating your muscles and central nervous system to resistance training. This i

Primary topic: Body Building

935 views

By Alex MillerSep 22, 20111 topic

Free Weights Exercises versus Machines

In the world of fitness today there’s an issue about free weights exercises versus machines. This is about whether or not training with free weights exercises is superior or inferior to training with weight machines or other high-tech apparatus. This old argument has in fact been going on for years. Both sides have some merit. It’s the battle of free weights versus machines and typically one of bodybuilding’s longest running debates but anyone interested in strength training

Primary topic: Body Building

911 views

By Alex MillerSep 20, 20111 topic

Maximal Effort Training-Once More, With Feeling!

If you want to get stronger and faster you might want to fit maximal effort (ME) style training into your strength building program. This is when you try to regularly increase the maximum amount of weight you can do for one repetition in lifts such as the Deadlift, the Squat and the Bench press. If you have never done ME training before, it would be best that you work on getting real strong with conventional weight training and/or high intensity training (H.I.T.). ME training

Primary topic: Body Building

879 views

By Alex MillerOct 16, 20111 topic

Sports Nutrition FAQs

Why is Sports Nutrition Important? Athletes need to focus in on sports nutrition including what kind of supplements to take if they are to be competitive and on top of their game. They not only need to know the required ratios of organic nutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates and fats but also when to take them. This is especially true of extreme sports in which strength and endurance activities may require above average consumption of nutrients. Why Does Sports Nutritio

Primary topic: Nutrition

845 views

By Alex MillerOct 16, 20111 topic

The Significance of Nutrient Ratios

What are the best nutrient ratios of carbohydrates to proteins to fats? Before delving into that let’s first see what these nutrients are all about: The Importance of Carbohydrates in Nutrient Ratios Eating in our society today revolves around diets that are high in carbohydrates and rightly so, because the world’s population has never been greater than it is at this time. Generally speaking, carbs are very inexpensive. They keep vast populations of the world alive and nour

Primary topic: Nutrition

845 views

By Alex MillerSep 23, 20111 topic

Become a Personal Trainer and Call Yourself Jack

Interest in becoming a personal trainer has grown rapidly along with the general public interest in being in better physical shape. If you want to pursue this occupation, you must like working with people and not be shy. As far back as 1936, one of the first (if not THE first) personal trainers was the late Jack Lalanne who was way ahead of his time. He was a true visionary in that he believed many of the problems of the world could be solved with sound nutrition and exercis

Primary topic: Fitness and Exercise

Fitness and Exercise

831 views

By Alex MillerSep 13, 20111 topic

Gym Workouts with Etiquette

So, you’re thinking about joining a fitness center for some serious gym workouts? One main reason why serious bodybuilders join gyms is so they can move quickly from one machine to the next to work out with more intensity in less time. There is something called super-setting when you perform two or more exercises using opposing muscle groups back to back such as when, for example, you first do a bench press on the smith machine and then immediately work your pulling muscles

Primary topic: Body Building

830 views

By Alex MillerOct 17, 20111 topic

Super-Size Me: The Search for the Secret of Supercompensation

The goal of your body is not one of supercompensation. The body’s goal is to continue its survival by staying in a state of homeostasis (balance). Your goal as the “driver” of the body, who wants to constantly physically improve, is not to be balanced or to remain the same. As a weight trainer, you always want to be getting stronger. Many iron lovers regularly work their bodies well past fatigue and into a state of neuromuscular exhaustion two to six days every week. You wis

Primary topic: Body Building

799 views

By Alex MillerOct 16, 20111 topic

Exercise and Hydration: Fill ‘er Up

Most weight trainers and exercise enthusiasts underestimate the importance of hydration. You can’t live a week without staying hydrated. Water helps to regulate temperature, protects/buffers vital internal organs and is useful to our digestive system. It is in well over half of our bodily tissue. Muscles are composed of 75% of it. The Institute of Medicine says that Americans get approximately 80% of their daily hydration requirements from water intake and other beverages and

Primary topic: Nutrition

797 views

By Alex MillerOct 27, 20111 topic

Sleep—The Forgotten Recovery Aid

If you have been bitten by the weight training bug, sleep may be the last thing on your mind. You have probably devoured all reading materials that instruct you how to efficiently tear down muscle cells. In fact, you search for new methods for this form of constructive self-torture, don’t you? In fact, after a workout, perhaps you mentally chastise yourself thinking up ways you missed at better damaging the muscle fibers. What does not kill you makes you stronger, right? On t

Primary topic: Fitness and Exercise

Fitness and Exercise

774 views

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