Your gym bag can begin to become a sweaty, smelly mess if you do not properly clean it out on a regular basis.  Cleaning it frequently prevents germs and bacteria from forming, and ensures that it and your clothes don’t begin to stink.  The last thing you want is to become the smelly guy in the gym!

How to Wash Your Gym Bag

1) Take everything out of the bag, including the plastic piece in the bottom.

2) Give the bag a few hours to air out with nothing in it before you clean.

3) Wash the bag down with very hot water and a mild soap.

4) Let the bag air dry by putting on a flat surface such as a table.

5) After its dry, wipe it down with anti bacterial wipes everywhere including the handles.

6) After wiping down, let dry again and you are good to go!

7) Re-pack your bag for your next workout with all your supplements from Meathead Mania, including Muscleology.

UFC legend Chuck Liddell has kept himself in great shape well into the downside of his career.  Now, we may know the secret to his success.  Liddell and his hot girlfriend Heidi recently appeared in an internet video working out completely naked.  I’m not really sure what the point of the no clothes is but luckily Liddell is blurred.  Unfortunately, Heidi is too.  I suggest if you feel like trying this, avoid doing this at your local gym…

No matter if your goal is to gain muscle, lose fat or both, there is no denying how important a good night’s rest is.  When you work out you are essentially tearing the muscle down in order to build it up bigger and stronger.  When you don’t get enough sleep your body is not able to do this.  Getting 7-9 hours of sleep on a consistent basis allows your growth hormone levels to peak.  Along with this you will feel more energized throughout the day and be able to put forth a better effort when you hit the gym.  The easiest way to get the optimal amount of sleep is to start establishing a sleep routine.  Go to bed and get up at the same time as often as possible.  It’s not going to happen every day, but getting in the habit will get you on the right track!

While February is not normally the time of year that we begin thinking about pools and beaches, if you want to be in prime shape when the warm weather is here then it should be.  While low carb diets, weight training and cardio programs are all necessary to help in achieving this, a few supplements can help you along the way.  MHM offers many great fat burners that can be very effective but if you want to try creating your own “Ripped Stack” there are 4 key supplements that you must use.  Try the following stack from the December issue of M&F:

Carnitine–1-3g w/ Breakfast, Pre+Post Workout, Dinner

CLA–1-3g w/ Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Forskolin–20-50mg 2-3 times per day (1 Pre-Workout)

Green Tea Extract–500-1000mg 2-3 per day before meals.  (1 30-60 min. before workout).

As Manny Pacquiao prepped for his fight against Miguel Cotto on November 14 in Las Vegas, he took a few minutes to talk about fighting the pay-per-view king, Floyd Mayweather Jr. Pacquiao was adamant that Mayweather wanted nothing to do with the Filipino champion.

While this could be one of the biggest fights in boxing history, Pacquiao was outspoken in saying “I’m sure he doesn’t want to fight.”  Mayweather’s associates acknowledged that Pacquiao is on their radar, but no bout has been scheduled.

Check out ESPN.com for more

Do your cardio after you hit the weights in order to burn the most calories.  Research shows that you burn significantly more fat than when you do cardio before hand.  It is also shown that you burn the most fat in the first 15 minutes of cardio so try to do some cardio after your training, even if it’s only 15 minutes.  For an alternative way to do your cardio that won’t leave you feeling bored at the end of your workout, try staggering your cardio into your lifting.  Instead of doing a 30-minute run at the end, try mixing in three 10-minute sessions instead.

While a lot of guys think you should stick to low reps (3-7) and heavy weight, others will tell you that less weight and higher reps (8-15) is the way to go.  The truth is that both are effective no matter what your goals.  Even if you are trying to stay lean, it is important to mix in some heavy sets on occasion to keep your metabolic rate up.  Try switching it up every few weeks or for each exercise go with two heavy sets and two high rep sets.

When trying to slim down, many people choose to focus the majority of their workout on cardio with little or no strength training.  While the cardio burns more calories during the actual 30 minute session, lifting weights burns more overall.  A recent study shows that an hour long strength training session burns about 100 calories more in the 24 hours following.  Lifting is also proven to burn more actual fat and not just pounds.  Focusing on a strict, cardio only routine can chew up a lot of the muscle as well. 

Start a Lifting Routine

Start with 3 weight training sessions per week and try to hit all areas of the body.  For each exercise perform 3 sets with a weight that allows you to reach failure at 10-12 reps.  To really ramp up the calorie burning, try to rest no longer than 30 seconds between sets.

So the weekend is here and you have already completed your workout for the week.  When you wake up saturday morning regretting that late night street meat (among other things), theres no better time to hit the gym and sweat everything out.  Since you have already hit everything for the week, try something a little different.  A 100 rep workout is a great way to do this and it’s a workout that has helped shred T.O. when he’s not working out in his driveway.   Because you’re body is not used to doing such a high-rep set, it also helps stimulate new muscle growth.  The basis of the program is to pick one basic exercise per bodypart that you will do 100 reps of.  The weight you use is up to you but try to stay around 30% of your 10 rep max.  All you do is do as many reps as you can, rest for 10-30 seconds, and continue this process until you have hit 100 no matter how long this takes.  You’ll leave the gym feeling refreshed and with a great workout ready to do it all again.

If you’ve been hitting the gym on autopilot, doing the same 45 minutes on your favorite cardio machine, chances are you haven’t seen the results you want.  This is most likely because your body has adapted and isn’t getting the intensity it needs to get the true training effect.  To shake things up, try high-intensity interval training or HIIT.  The great thing about this is while it is very effective at burning fat, you don’t have to spend hours in the gym.  This style of training can be done on any piece of cardio equipment and consists of a 5 minute warm up, 20 minutes of HIIT and then a 5 minute cooldown.  For the 20 minute HIIT session, beginners should use a 1:1 work rest ration.  Meaning, 1 minute of very fast pace, followed by one minute of a recovery period.  As your fitness level progresses, try increasing the work pace to 1.5-2 minutes and the recovery to just 30 seconds.  Mix this training in with your normal cardio 2-4 times a week.