If you like to go on really long vacations like me then you know if you’re not careful you could lose most of your muscles while you’re gone. Usually there is a gym nearby but if you’re in remote places it can be tough.  Check out the shot of my jungalow in thailand, nice digs =)

Here are 4 exercises you can do from pretty much anywhere:

Push Ups – you know em, you love em , 50 is a nice number =)

Chin Ups – (aka pull ups), find a bar somewhere or bring a portable one that can fit in any doorway, check out this guy Todd Mei, he has the world record for pull-ups, did 700 in a hour!!! How many people at home right now can’t even do 20 and this guy does 700… Wow.

Triceps with a Chair & Couch – not sure the official name on this but have a chair 4 feet away from your couch, your hands are behind your back on the edge of the chair and your feet are on the couch, bring your butt down towards the floor and then back to chair level, if too easy put some weights on your lap.

Ab Killer – laying on your back with your
legs up and your head and arms up

In the beginning when we start going to the gym, you might prefer just to have a handful of exercises and become familiar and comfortable doing them. After all, you want to perform each exercise in the right way so that you don’t risk any torn or damaged muscles. This is why it can be so helpful to have a personal trainer too with you in the beginning. Of course, having a personal trainer gives you a lot more motivation as well which can be extremely helpful when we’re starting out.

Some people prefer to try out a whole range of different exercises right of the bat and in this way, find those that they prefer.

This is nothing I recommend, even though I know that some people like the variety and feels it makes the training more fun and entertaining. But, if you want to really get the most out of your training your better off doing fewer exercises and to do them properly. As time goes by and you get more experienced, you’ll be able to add more specific exercises.

The advantage of having only a few exercises in the beginning is that you’ll learn how to do each one of them better and it’s also easier to keep track of your progress. If you have a lot of different exercises you might forget how much you were lifting last time and you might not be able to know how much more you should add to your weights etc. A training log, which is something I highly recommend, easily takes care of this issue.

It’s best is to see your training as a learning curve. Allow it to unfold and don’t expect to be a master straight away. Luckily there are lots of people that have more experience than you and those are the ones you want to learn from.

My favorite exercises came to me with time and a lot of them I got recommended by my personal trainer and others around me who knew more than me. Then I integrated them into my training routine and found out how it suited me to work with them. Experiment and let the process come naturally and you’ll do great.

[TAG-Tec]muscles[/TAG-Tec] [TAG-Tec]excercise[/TAG-Tec]

So what are the secrets?

First of all, train your mind. This may seem a bit weird to some but I promise you, if your mind is not focused on muscle gain you will become sloppy and start to miss out on doing your training properly. Remind yourself over and over again what your goal is and keep your focus on that. Imagine how good it will feel to have the body you have dreamed of etc. If you are not interested in bulking up, then what’s the point? Make sure it is something you do because you want to do it, make it fun. You will start to include more and more things into your lifestyle that will be of great aid when you are to gain muscles.

Alright then, so you are focused and motivated, you know what you want. What then is the fastest way to success from here? Now you have to have a good training technique to get the most out of the hours spent in the gym. Make sure you train with intensity. No use to spend long hours at the gym – you are better off spending 30-45 minutes each time and work out hard this time. The fewer reps the better in general if you are after big muscles. After you have done a set of 6-8 reps you should not be able to make another one, this is how heavy the weights should be to maximize the results.

Another important aspect that you want to bring to your lifestyle is to eat properly. If you don’t have the right building blocks for your muscles they won’t be able to grow. Eat food that are high in protein, a good idea is to add a few protein shakes to your diet each day. You also want to increase the amount of calories you eat every day and with a few extra protein shakes to your daily diet, this will be taken care of easily.

Last and also important is to sleep properly every night. Make sure you get a good amount of sleep, 7-8 hours at least. This is the time when your muscles grow the most and if you make sure you have a good rest you make it easier for the body to do its thing and repair and build up the muscle tissue in your body.