Athlete Spotlight
Athlete Elite Spotlight: Nixlot Dameus
Nixlot Dameus, a respected Elite Athlete and gym owner in Philadelphia, sits down with us to discuss his rise through fitness and where he draws his inspiration and drive. Nixlot runs through his favorite Gaspari products to keep him going through his busy schedule and talks about his mentality around training.
Athlete Elite Spotlight: Leland DeVaughn Jr
In this week's episode of Athlete Elite Spotlight, we have Leland DeVaughn Jr. joining us to explain his life in the world of bodybuilding. Leland gives his favorite Gaspari products to take on prep, as well as a look inside his life as he works his life around fitness.
Athlete Elite Spotlight: Jordan Wise
Jordan Wise, a new addition to #TeamGaspari sits down to share with us his journey in fitness, some of his favorite Gaspari Nutrition products, and where he hopes to go in this bodybuilding lifestyle
Richie's Old School Training Tips
Arnold Press
Rich Gaspari and #TeamGaspari Elite Athlete Zeek Andrews demonstrate the proper way to do the Arnold Press, made famous by legendary bodybuilder, Arnold Schwarzenegger.Try it out for yourself and see how combining old school techniques will improve your workouts.
Two Arm Dumbbell Row for Thickness
Rich Gaspari shares in this segment of Old School Training Techniques how a two armed dumbbell row can be used to increase the thickness in your back and arms.Moving slowly through a workout is incredibly beneficial and helps you maximize the energy you put into every workout. Rich demonstrates here the proper way to do a two armed dumbbell row for increasing your thickness. When combined with our other training techniques, prepare to see the difference!
3 Parts of the Triceps Old School Training Techniques
In this segment of Old School Training Techniques, Rich Gaspari explains the three unique parts of the triceps, along with how to train each individual partCombining these exercises into your triceps days will help build every part of your triceps, to make sure all three parts are as strong as possible!
Supplement Corner
Supplement Corner: HMB
HMB is the acronym for a mega complicated word: beta-hydroxy beta-methylbutyrate. HMB has gained a lot of popularity as a dietary supplement in the health and fitness community for its potential to aid muscle growth and recovery. HMB does occur naturally in the body – when your body breaks down the branched chain amino acid, leucine, that’s essential for protein synthesis and muscle repair But. As with all naturally occurring substances, the body just doesn't produce enough of it for our needs, so we must supplement HMB to realize its effect. Several studies looked at the effects of taking HMB with creatine in resistance trained athletes and found that taking 3 grams of HMB, along with varying doses of creatine, significantly improved strength and high intensity exercise performance. It also aided muscle growth and reduced body fat. These studies demonstrated that taking supplemental HMB can affect lean body mass by...
Supplement Corner: Glutamine
Glutamine is another amino acid naturally produced by the body. But, even though it's the most abundant, at times we still don't make enough of it for a hard training athlete. That's why it’s considered a “conditionally essential amino acid.” Glutamine is found in meat and other animal products. Consuming these foods is the simplest way to get high amounts of it. Physical stress is very hard on the body and effects a lot of our systems. The two most important to us is our digestive system and our immune system. Glutamine has shown to support many of the body's processes, particularly good digestive function and good gut health. It also plays a roll in fueling the body by sending nitrogen and carbon to many different parts of the body. It is estimated that a typical high animal sourced protein diet contains 3 to 6 grams per day. However,...
Supplement Corner: BCAA's
Branched-chain amino acids, or BCAAs, are a group of three essential amino acids: leucine, isoleucine and valine. These BCAAs, particularly leucine, have shown to be the key nutrient for turning on protein synthesis in muscle. As you exercise, amino acids, particularly the branched chains, gradually deplete. If this goes on long enough, muscle protein breakdown occurs and you go from muscle building to tearing it down. Since branched chain aminos are already broken down into individual amino acids, they are utilized immediately. As soon as they hit the small intestine they're immediately absorbed into the blood stream and on their way to where you need them – muscle. When you're supplementing BCAAs, bear in mind that the 2:1:1 Ratio of leucine to valine to isoleucine is the only ratio that has scientifically backed studies to show that BCAAs positively effects protein synthesis after training. However, more recent studies...
Gaspari Kitchen
Steamed Chilean Sea Bass
Soup
Stretch your meal's volume by making soup.When calories are restricted it seems like cravings and the will to stuff yourself increase. How can you stretch those meager diet portions? Make soup! For very few added calories, you can get a lot of milage bit of a little bit of food.Recipe: 1 cup chopped celery 1 cup chopped carrot 1 cup canned plum tomatoes 1 1/2 cups chopped onion 1 cup sliced mushrooms 8 oz chicken breast, cut into chunks 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp black pepper 1 tbsp extra virgin oil 4 cups chicken stock 1 tbsp chopped basil Directions: Heat 1 TBS olive oil to a pre heated 4 quart sauce pan and add the onion, salt and pepper. Lower the heat and cook the onion until it's browned and well caramelized. Add the chicken and sauté with the onion until the chicken turns white - about three min. Then add the chicken...
Rice Pizza
Gaspari Blog
When I Train Alone I Prefer To Be By Myself...
When you own the gym, you can train alone, but there’s no such thing as training by yourself. I sold the last of my shares of my gym in Mexico in 2018. However, I still get requests for stories about owning a gym in Mexico. This offering is not so much a story per se, but more of a brief rant about something many people might not ever consider - training in the gym you own. While my preference is to train alone, my members made sure didn’t train by myself. Their advances/ interruptions were innocent enough, sometimes the intent was merely getting a moment of my time to discuss important issues, such as how much nicer the steam room would look if there were a row of colored tiles around the door. While such a thought never even crossed my mind, it was a powerful enough of a thought...
Want To Pack An Inch On Your Arms?
Arms, particularly the biceps, are one of those body parts that either grow easily, or are incredibly stubborn and difficult to gain size. Everyone wants big biceps, but not everyone can seem to grow them. The internet is full of all kinds of routines that aim to build a cannon ball biceps and no shortage of people trying to see if they can get their biceps to grow. The problem is, these folks are relying on one of the smallest muscle in the upper arm structure to do all the talking. While the triceps make up about 70% of the upper arm mass, there’s other underlying muscles, beside the biceps, that can help the cause, but no one pays attention to them. They just want big arms. It was 1982, but I remember its like it was yesterday. “You want to put an inch on your arms almost immediately?” Not...
Why Muscles Grow
There are two terms for muscle growth. One is “hypertrophy.” Hypertrophy is the enlarging of existing muscle fibers. The other term for muscle growth is “hyperplasia.” Hyperplasia results when satellite cells on the muscle fibers are activated resulting in the growth of new muscle fibers. This could be occurring for a variety of reasons, the least of which being combating physical weakness. The majority of strength increase is the result of hypertrophy. But, before you ever cinch up a lifting belt and wrap your hands around an Olympic bar, there is an undeniable concept you absolutely must understand and accept 100% if you want to see real gains in muscle size and strength: Muscle growth (hypertrophy) is an adaptive response to progressive gravitational stress. It’s actually considered a survival mechanism. In order to grow muscle the body must be subjected, repeatedly, to a work load it cannot accomplish with the...
Rest Is The Secret To Success
Bodybuilding is brutally hard work. You not only have to follow a very strict diet and make sure you get all your nutrients, in the right combinations, but you also have to take your intensity in the gym up to a level you’ve never reached before. You have to train like a beast - a crazed wild beast. Going to the gym and getting this work done is serious business. But, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. An incredibly simple little thing that’s a whole lot easier than sticking to your diet and working out like an animal. Pay close attention, because if you ever pay attention to anything I tell you, this is it. I know a lot of you might already know this, but, if you’re like countless others I’ve trained and counseled over the years, you don’t think it’s a big enough deal...
How Much Cardio To Get Ripped?
Cardio sucks. Plain and simple. No one likes cardio, especially on a diet designed to get you ripped. In a perfect world, you should be able to get ripped by manipulating your diet and training in such a way that you wouldn’t need to do any cardio. But this world is far from perfect, and if your aspirations are aimed at getting ripped enough for the stage, or anywhere close, you’re going to, in addition to starving to death on your diet, find yourself on a stair climber, a treadmill, rower, bike, etc. doing cardio, on top of your diet. Back in the Arnold era, there were guys who actually did no cardio, but you can’t compare the condition those guys brought to the stage to how ripped bodybuilders get today. Clearly, there was a big difference, and the biggest difference was the addition of cardio to the diet phase....
Building A Big Chest
There is no denying the fact that muscles get attention, especially when they’re big and not covered in fat. A well muscled, well conditioned physique is usually the envy of all who view it. It’s hard to disagree that muscles are cool. Of all the muscles getting the attention at the beach or around the pool, there’s actually a preference, particularly among females, for a formidably built chest. Of all the other muscle groups, it’s the chest that stands out and gets the attention. There is even research to suggest that women, when given a choice between a male figure with a developed, muscular, chest vs a scintillating set of man boobs, will instinctively prefer the muscular version. This is thought not to be because of sexual desire, but because the muscular chest fosters feelings of safety and protection. The muscular chest indicates the man will be a good hunter,...