The latest news, updates and advice from Plus 50 Fitness Guide, Jim Karger http://www.jimkarger.com/ "If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it." http://www.jimkarger.com Tue, 06 Apr 2010 00:45:33 BST "If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain." http://www.jimkarger.com Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:27:59 UTC "If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain." http://www.jimkarger.com Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:27:39 UTC "What you measure...you control. What you DON'T measure...you accept." http://www.jimkarger.com Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:19:44 UTC "You need to make a commitment, and once you make it, then life will give you some answers." http://www.jimkarger.com Sat, 06 Mar 2010 23:24:50 UTC "The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials." http://www.jimkarger.com Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:53:11 UTC "Passion is the love of turning BEING into ACTION. Passion is the fire to express who we really ARE, so never deny passion because it just denies who you ARE and who you want to BE." http://www.jimkarger.com Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:49:35 UTC "What keeps so many people back is simply unwillingness to pay the price to make the exertion, the effort to sacrifice their ease and comfort." http://www.jimkarger.com Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:41:59 UTC What gets measured get done. This applies to every area of our lives. What are you measuring? http://www.jimkarger.com Wed, 24 Feb 2010 01:42:28 UTC “Effort is only effort when it begins to hurt.” http://www.jimkarger.com Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:10:27 UTC "Arrogance not only prevents you from seeing the big picture, it makes you think your view is the big picture." http://www.jimkarger.com Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:07:30 UTC "If you enjoy the process, it's your dream. If you are are enduring it, desperate for the result, it's somebody else's." http://www.jimkarger.com Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:01:22 UTC "Learn how to nourish your body. Without energy to pursue your passion and purpose, not much else matters." http://www.jimkarger.com Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:59:47 UTC "It is not enough to be around people who WANT to help you. You also need to be around people who CAN help you." http://www.jimkarger.com Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:58:06 UTC "Things may happen to you, but the only things that matter are the things that happen in you." http://www.jimkarger.com Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:57:17 UTC "Finding Oneself" is a misconception. A self is not discovered but formed by deliberate contemplation and action." http://www.jimkarger.com Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:38:36 UTC "If you don't have confidence, you'll always find a way not to win." http://www.jimkarger.com Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:36:36 UTC "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." http://www.jimkarger.com Thu, 04 Feb 2010 02:44:15 UTC "If you plan on being anything less than you are capable of being, you will probably be unhappy all the days of your life." http://www.jimkarger.com Thu, 04 Feb 2010 02:41:32 UTC "If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door." http://www.jimkarger.com Thu, 04 Feb 2010 02:39:54 UTC "It is often merely for an excuse that we say things are impossible." http://www.jimkarger.com Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:02:03 UTC 95% of your emotions are determined by how you interpret events to yourself." http://www.jimkarger.com Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:17:36 UTC "Hell begins on the day when God grants us a clear vision of all that we might have achieved. Heaven begins on the day we recognize that we can still achieve it." http://www.jimkarger.com Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:57:10 UTC "It's not what happens to you that determines how far you will go in life ;it is how you handle what happens to you." http://www.jimkarger.com Tue, 02 Feb 2010 02:17:13 UTC "You have to decide in life if you want to influence people or impress them". http://www.jimkarger.com Tue, 02 Feb 2010 02:16:08 UTC "If you have the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed." http://www.jimkarger.com Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:15:10 UTC “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams…live the life you’ve imagined..” http://www.jimkarger.com Mon, 01 Feb 2010 19:14:33 UTC "Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes." http://www.jimkarger.com Sun, 31 Jan 2010 02:11:02 UTC "We improve ourselves by victories over ourself. There must be contests, and you must win." http://www.jimkarger.com Sun, 31 Jan 2010 02:08:44 UTC “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment”. http://www.jimkarger.com Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:57:23 UTC “I just use my muscles as a conversation piece, like someone walking a cheetah down 42nd Street.” http://www.jimkarger.com Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:52:45 UTC “We all have great inner power. The power is self-faith. There’s really an attitude to winning. You have to see yourself winning before you win. And you have to be hungry. You have to want to conquer.” http://www.jimkarger.com Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:52:05 UTC “The last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides the champion from someone else who is not a champion. That’s what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they’ll go through the pain no matter what happens.” http://www.jimkarger.com Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:51:31 UTC “The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something, you can do it, as long as you really believe 100 percent.” http://www.jimkarger.com Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:51:08 UTC “It’s simple, if it jiggles, it’s fat.” http://www.jimkarger.com Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:50:27 UTC "We are creatures of our thinking. We can talk ourselves into defeat or we can talk ourselves into victory." http://www.jimkarger.com Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:27:26 UTC "We are creatures of our thinking. We can talk ourselves into defeat or we can talk ourselves into victory." http://www.jimkarger.com Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:27:23 UTC "I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom." http://www.jimkarger.com Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:35:54 UTC "Jealousy is the tribute mediocrity pays to genius." http://www.jimkarger.com Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:24:25 UTC "Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go." http://www.jimkarger.com Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:39:21 UTC "Our minds can shape the way a thing will be because we act according to our expectations." http://www.jimkarger.com Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:29:48 UTC "You can't make a weak man strong by making a strong man weak". http://www.jimkarger.com Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:28:50 UTC "Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude". http://www.jimkarger.com Mon, 25 Jan 2010 01:29:09 UTC "When you have the enthusiasm and the passion, you end up figuring out how to excel" http://www.jimkarger.com Mon, 25 Jan 2010 01:27:26 UTC "If you have the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed." http://www.jimkarger.com Mon, 25 Jan 2010 01:26:08 UTC "The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible." http://www.jimkarger.com Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:17:01 UTC "We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate." http://www.jimkarger.com Sun, 24 Jan 2010 19:17:28 UTC "The results you achieve will be in direct proportion to the effort you apply." http://www.jimkarger.com Sun, 24 Jan 2010 19:15:45 UTC "What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals." http://www.jimkarger.com Sun, 24 Jan 2010 19:02:46 UTC "Forget mistakes. Forget failure. Forget everything except what you're going to do now and do it. Today is your lucky day." http://www.jimkarger.com Sat, 23 Jan 2010 20:39:42 UTC "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." http://www.jimkarger.com Thu, 21 Jan 2010 03:29:51 UTC "In absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia." http://www.jimkarger.com Thu, 21 Jan 2010 03:20:10 UTC "What we think, what we know, or what we believe, is of little consequence. The only thing of consequence is what we do." http://www.jimkarger.com Thu, 21 Jan 2010 03:19:09 UTC "If we all did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves.” http://www.jimkarger.com Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:00:05 UTC "You need to make a commitment, and once you make it, then life will give you some answers." http://www.jimkarger.com Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:36:53 UTC "The only thing that costs more than your dream is the cost of not having one." http://www.jimkarger.com Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:37:36 UTC "Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment." http://www.jimkarger.com Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:28:19 UTC "When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." http://www.jimkarger.com Tue, 19 Jan 2010 01:52:00 UTC "I had rather attempt something great and fail, than to attempt nothing at all and succeed." http://www.jimkarger.com Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:39:09 UTC "Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow." http://www.jimkarger.com Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:36:47 UTC If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it. http://www.jimkarger.com Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:17:05 UTC Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. http://www.jimkarger.com Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:10:54 UTC Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure. http://www.jimkarger.com Sun, 17 Jan 2010 22:59:16 UTC Stop thinking in terms of limitations and start thinking in terms of possibilities. http://www.jimkarger.com Sun, 17 Jan 2010 19:04:10 UTC Rowing harder doesn't help if the boat is headed in the wrong direction. http://www.jimkarger.com Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:46:41 UTC Go the extra mile, it's one stretch of highway where there are never any traffic jams. http://www.jimkarger.com Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:49:58 UTC We must make automatic and habitual, as early as possible, as many useful actions as we can...in the acquisition of a new habit, we must take car to launch ourselves with as strong and decided initiative as possible. Never suffer an exception to occur till the new habit is securely rooted in your life. http://www.jimkarger.com Sat, 16 Jan 2010 23:36:54 UTC The minute a man ceases to grow, no matter what his years, that minute he begins to be old. http://www.jimkarger.com Sat, 16 Jan 2010 23:34:38 UTC There is but one cause of human failure. And that is man's lack of faith in his true Self. http://www.jimkarger.com Sat, 16 Jan 2010 23:31:59 UTC We forget that every good that is worth possessing must be paid for in strokes of daily effort. We postpone and postpone, until those smiling possibilities are dead. http://www.jimkarger.com Sat, 16 Jan 2010 23:30:05 UTC If you care enough for a result, you will most certainly attain it. http://www.jimkarger.com Sat, 16 Jan 2010 23:29:03 UTC All roads lead to success when you know how and when to change direction. http://www.jimkarger.com Sat, 16 Jan 2010 22:47:42 UTC Sophistication is understanding the difference between trinkets and treasures. http://www.jimkarger.com?link=2 Sat, 16 Jan 2010 22:42:44 UTC Your goals, minus your doubts, equal your reality! http://www.jimkarger.com Sat, 16 Jan 2010 22:41:46 UTC Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending. http://www.jimkarger.com Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:26:22 UTC A person that does not value your time will not value your advice. http://www.jimkarger.com Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:10:52 UTC We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit. http://www.jimkarger.com Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:02:37 UTC It's never too late to become what you might have been. http://www.jimkarger.com Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:02:14 UTC Success is the doing, not the getting; in the trying, not the triumph. Success is a personal standard, reaching for the highest that is in us, becoming all that we can be. If we do our best, we are a success. Success is the maximum utilization of the ability that you have. http://www.jimkarger.com Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:01:51 UTC Each day brings with it the miracle of a new beginning. Many of the moments ahead will be marvelously disguised as ordinary days, but each one of us has the chance to make something extraordinary out of them. http://www.jimkarger.com Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:01:20 UTC Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly. http://www.jimkarger.com Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:00:35 UTC Most people are just trying to get through the day. Sophisticated people learn how to get from the day. http://www.jimkarger.com Fri, 15 Jan 2010 20:59:51 UTC posted by Fitness Diet Insider - January 12th, 2010 BUILDING MUSCLE IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE Have you ever wondered why long-term prisoners incarcerated in correctional facilities all seem to be so BIG and POWERFUL? Do you think they know something about building muscle that you don’t? In fact, they don’t know any more than you do, but believe it or not, despite their obvious problem (being in PRISON) they have several ADVANTAGES over you. Prisoners who bulk up and build muscle in jail are using a few OVERLOOKED workout principles that most fitness gurus either think are too OBVIOUS to mention, or haven’t put any thought into. BUILDING MUSCLE TAKES TIME If there is one thing prisoners have a lot of, it’s time. They’re not going anyplace fast. Many skinny guys get excited about working out and bulking up, but after a month or two they give up and lose interest. Instead of COMMITTING to a long-term process, they jump from one thing to the next without putting in the time needed to see results. If you want to succeed, be like a prisoner: in it for the long haul. BUILDING MUSCLE REQUIRES CONSISTENCY There are very few surprises in prison. You wake up, eat your breakfast, rest a bit, eat lunch, rest some more, WORK OUT, eat dinner, try to avoid dropping the soap in the shower, and sleep for eight or ten hours. While this may not be the perfect schedule for a busy and productive business-oriented go-getter, it’s great for people who want to build muscle. CONSISTENCY is the key to reaching your fitness goals. Make the time to exercise and don’t let anything or anyone derail your plans. EAT LIKE A PRISONER On the first day of their prison sentence, many convicts are led into the lock-up skinny, undernourished, and scrawny. It’s no wonder they get picked on. But on the day of release (for those lucky enough to get out), they’re barely recognizable because they are bigger, stronger, and more powerful. What is the SECRET to this almost magical transformation? It is the prison diet. For maybe the first time in their miserable lives, these convicts are getting three square meals per day; meals prepared by dietitians who provide well-balanced, nutritionally-sound menus that provide the prisoners with everything their bodies need to be healthy and strong. You want muscles, but they don’t grow on trees. And even if they did, there are no trees in prison. You have to eat like a prisoner and consistently get good-quality food in the quantity that will make you gain weight. WORK OUT SMART, NOT STUPIDLY Prisoners are not concerned with aesthetics or GOOD LOOKS. For obvious reasons, most of them probably want to look tough and mean rather than pretty and attractive. Consequently, they use the exercises that make them strong, powerful, and big instead of exercises that build showy but nearly useless muscles. Prisoners use compound exercises like squats, pushups, and pull-ups to bulk up their bodies and develop a base of strength that translates into real-world RESULTS. If it doesn’t work, prisoners don’t waste time with it. Nobody said they were not lazy; they do what they have to to survive. WANT TO KNOW MORE THAN ANY PRISONER? Prisoners are good at following directions. If someone tells them to work out in a certain way, that’s what they do. But they probably don’t understand WHY IT WORKS. When you are ready to understand the WHY behind the WAY to bulk up skinny guys just think about the things that maximum-security prisoners do… No need to go to prison to learn this stuff either! Thu, 14 Jan 2010 2:41:19 CST Forget mistakes. Forget failure. Forget everything except what you're going to do now and do it. Today is your lucky day. http://www.jimkarger.com Thu, 14 Jan 2010 02:38:11 UTC You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream http://www.jimkarger.com Thu, 14 Jan 2010 01:34:08 UTC Champions aren't born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work http://www.jimkarger.com Thu, 14 Jan 2010 01:26:00 UTC Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. http://www.jimkarger.com Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:04:00 UTC Get all the latest updates about my workout routines, diet plans and observations on health and fitness from Twitter http://twitter.com/plus50fitness Fri, 08 Jan 2010 17:22:00 UTC The Smith machine shoulder press is one of the mainstays of my shoulder workouts. Important here is range of motion which should be full but don't lock out at the top or rest at the bottom of the motion. 4 sets, working up until you reach a weight where you struggle on reps 6 - 8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b326OLwfiwA Sun, 27 Dec 2009 17:22:00 UTC Without this, I couldn't get through 24 - 28 taxing sets in a workout. In this drink I use an NO supplement. (I like White Flood but there are others.) I also put in Glutamine, an essential amino acid of which there needs to be enough so you don't start eating your own muscle, and Creatine, one of the only supplements that is proven to work when it comes to building muscle. These three ingredients and water and I'm ready. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X57Teg1VDzw Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:22:00 UTC Smith machine flat bench is the answer to the dangers associated with free bench. Yeah, I know it may not work the "core" as much but for building chest I've found it just as effective. This, along with flat bench dumbbell presses are essentials to chest development. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GcEwi0WTEA Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:22:00 UTC This is Meal 1 everyday, every single day and I never get tired of it. Syntha-6 is BSN's high-tech time-released protein. Good stuff and tastes great, too. Bob's Red Mill 5 Grain cereal tastes great and the combo is unbeatable. Add a little unsweetened cocoa powder to the chocolate flavored Syntha-6 and you have a real treat and you'll be ready to hit the gym. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YOBLYcrQCE Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:22:00 UTC The triceps rope push down is great in working the outside head of the tricep, but only if you push down hard enough that the handles go out and away from each other at the bottom of the motion. As with all exercises on our current split, it's 4 sets of these, heavier each set until I struggle to get 8-10 reps on the 4th set. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxaNoEmUBzs Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:22:00 UTC This is sometimes Meal 2. You need carbohydrate within 45 minutes of completing your workout, so when you get home from the gym in the morning, fire up a batch of these (2 scoops of Met-Rx Pancake Mix) and you have both a great source of carb and some protein to boot. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sTNPJfXAys Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:22:00 UTC Leg presses are always a part of our leg workout. Don't be like most guys and load it up with a lot of plates and then only be able to handle a 6"" move. The goal here is all the way up and all the way down where your knees hit your chest or come very close. Note: This and hack squats are fundamental, along with Smith machine or free squats. Warning: I've only had two significant injuries this year and one was on the leg press machine. Have a spotter -- always have a spotter on this machine. If you're doing it heavy enough, then it means you're doing it heavy enough to get caught down on the last set. Without a spotter to help you up, you're in deep trouble. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVI_fj7Os-s Sat, 12 Dec 2009 9:24:00 UTC