Dragon Flag

Contraindications:

• Improper performance can lead to injuries.Do your research before trying this exercise.
• Attempting this movement without the required physical ability can lead to injuries.Make sure you've got enough core stability ( Plank - 75 sec., Side plank 55 sec. ) and also you should be able to easily perform reverse crunches.
• This exercise requires tension through the whole body, which can lead to cramps.Make sure you're getting your magnesium.
• Can lead to neck problems if the trainee is lacking mobility/is utilizing improper technique.
• Can worsen the widespread "forward head" posture problem.

Muscles

Agonists

• Latissimus dorsi

Synergists

• Teres Major
• Pectoralis minor
• Deltoid posterior
• Rhomboids

Stabilizers

• Rectus abdominis
• Obliques
• Iliopsoas
• Tensor Fasciae Latae
• Sartorius
• Comb muscle
• Adductors
• Triceps Brachii
• Biceps Brachii
• Pectoralis Major
• Wrist Flexors
• Rectus Femoris
• Erector Spinae
• Gastronemius, Soleus
• Gluteus

Variations

• Can be performed on a bench .
• Can be performed on an incline bench, in order to increase the difficulty.
• Can be performed on a decline bench, in order to decrease the difficulty.
• Can be performed on the ground, provided there is a counter-weight.
• Can be performed on a pylon.

For beginners:

• Bent knees;
• In a stride;
• Cheating your way up and performing the negative.

Method of execution

performance:

1. Lie on your back on a bench.
2. Take hold of the bench.
3. Tighten your whole body and begin to raise yourself from the bench until you reach a "vertical" position.
4. Lower your body to the horizontal.

Comments and recommendations

• Tighten your abs and do not allow waist extension.
• Tighten your butt and bring your bring your pelvis in.
• Keep your knees straight and your ankles deployed in a plantar flexion.
• Keep your back straight, shoulders back and down.
• If you can not maintain regular breathing during this exercise, don't do it.

Relevancy

The Dragon Flag exercise is a great way to demonstrate the power of the core and attract attention in the gym or out doors. The effect is enhanced if you're shirtless with a sixpack.

Usually people who can perform this exercise already have enough core stability and they don't really need it, so it would be better for them to focus their training in another direction.

For people who can't do it, exercises like the planks and leg raises are recommended.

Pole acrobats and street fitness artists would benefit from this exercises functional benefits.They can incorporate in into their workouts and shows.

Full body tension is always accompanied by a high energy expenditure. In other words this exercise would be beneficial for people that are trying to lose fat.

This exercise should be performed at the end of the workout, or in the last super-set.

Read More

Quick high protein tasty yogurt desert recepy for bodybuilding and fitness.

First I'd like to apologize about not posting much recently i will start posting regularly again soon i'm having some issues these days.

For this high protein fitness desert you will need : 

* 200g. low fat greek yogurt
* 1 scoop of protein powder[pref. chocolate]

* a hand full of blueberries+strawberries[If you are using frozen berries like i am just microwave them for 15 seconds and they're ready to eat]
* Optional: tbsp. of oatmeal/muesli.
NOTE:Measurements don't have to be exact.
Stir all this up and it's ready to eat.

Nutritional facts:

 226 calories.
 11.5g fat.
 10g carbohydrates.
 34g protein.
 NOTE:For those nutritional facts I've used plain greek yogurt if you use low fat one you will have even less calories/fats.
Enjoy!

Read More

Intermittent fasting to build muscle and lose fat.

Intermittent fasting or IF

Hello guys, let's talk about IF.If you follow any fitness channel/blog/magazine you probably already know what Intermittent fasting is.Basically it is fasting for 16-24 hours and then eating your macros in a smaller than usual period of time.

An example of IF can be:
1st and ussualy biggest meal of the day-1PM
2nd meal of the day-4PM
3rd meal of the day-8PM
4th and last meal of the day-9PM

Fast from 9PM to 1PM the next day which is 16 hours of fasting.

Which results in weight loss.

Does it really work?

Well let's think about this for a second.Will you lose fat if i don't eat for extended periods of time?

What do you think?Of course you will lose fat.

Will you lose all your muscle?Will your body cannibalise all your muscle?NO!Come on guys really?All of that is a bunch of bullshit that the supplement companies want you to believe.When you have your last meal of the day at lets say 9PM it will take it until the next morning to digest all the food you ate.And also your body doesn't go off eating your muscle as it's first source of energy when you fast.That is what fat is for.Plus the majority of weight loss that comes from IF is that people tend to consume less food while on it.I don't know about you but i used to have those little snacks every time i go to the kitchen.You know a little bit of that a little bit of this.I used to think that it's okay because having those little snacks will boost my metabolism etc...
Plus i'm sure not many of you can go eat 6 meals per day.You either have to carry food with you everywhere you go or you will just have to buy something which is rarely going to fit in your macros.

What about hunger?

Well you might feel hunger the first few days but it's nothing intense.Just get a calorie free buble gum or  drink a lot of water and you won't feel hunger at all.Pretty much after the first week hunger disappears.

Are there any health benefits?

It has been said that fasting has many health benefins as it lets your body clean it self.But personally i believe that there hasn't been enough research on fasting to prove that on 100%.I can speak from personal experience that IF actually helped me with my acne.I never had huge amounts of acne but the amount of piples that i have have drastically decreased.Keep in mind i am eating even more sugar than before when i was on my regular diet.

Intermittent fasting comes in wide variety of forms.

Some people fast for 20 hours and then have an 4 hour window to eat.Other people fast for 24 hours and so on.IF can be used for fat loss, lean gaining of muscle mass and maintaining current weight.

You can learn more about Intermittent fasting on the leangains website.

And remember keep things simple don't over complicate things :)Building muscle and losing weight isn't rocket science.

Read More

Fitness goals and epic mix.

1. Sup ,this is covering my current state and my future goals.

I'm pretty satistified with my bodyfat at the moment.

Going to go to a lean bulk while doing intermittent fasting at the end of the summer.Pretty much my goals are to gain 2 kilos of lean muscle over the course of 8 months while staying under 15% bodyfat.And maintain after that in my opinion a lot of muscle on a young frame doesn't look very good.Gonna take some pictures and blog them next time i go to the gym.

(credits of the picture go to theshoupguy from bodybuilding.com)
The only supps i'm using are whey protein and a multivitamin.Green tea and fennel tea(to counter bloating).

Thinking of making video blogs aswell in the near future just need to get the hang of this thing first :)).

And As Promised.

>The mix<

Read More

Hello everyone, first time blogging lets see how this turns out.. :]

Hi,
My name is Nikolai, I'm from Bulgaria I'm going to be blogging about my fitness progress,music, and anything else i consider interesting. :)I speak bulgarian(my native language),english and french(not perfectly).I hope this goes well.

On my first post i'd like to promote Ro >http://kingofweb.com/users/rosannapansino< Vote for her please! It's for charity every vote helps it's really close guys.Help her out!

(source of picture-poptower.com)

This is Ro(Rosanna Pansino) If you don't care about charity just do it cause she's awesome :D
Stay tuned for my next blog if your interested in my fitness goals and an epic mix of a few awesome tracks[free download] I'll post an awesome track and on a few occasions i'll post epic mixes on every blog i make from here on. :)

Read More