If you train all year round, and you don't like to miss more than a day or two, what do you do when you're not feeling so good?

This is a situation that all regular exercisers and athletes have to deal with at some time. The first thing to consider is the nature of your illness or debilitation. Is it muscular soreness, a joint injury, extreme lethargy, or a flu-like or common cold infection?

Whether you can train through musculoskeletal injuries is a matter of experience and, or medical advice. If you're just extremely fatigued, in the absence of signs of infection, then you may just need a few rest days.

However, if you have a cold or flu-like symptoms, especially in these days of H1N1 influenza risk, you need to be careful. Although the risk is probably low, exercising with viral infections has been implicated in viral cardiomyopathy, a debilitating and serious heart condition.

The general approach is that if you have the aches and pains in muscles and joints typical of influenza infection, be sure to rest until better. If you have a light head cold with no obvious flu-like progression, then you might by okay to exercise lightly. You could cut your overall weights volume and intensity back a little and do your training at home. Don't spread any infection around at the gym or club. For chest infections you probably need a medical opinion if you want to do anything too vigorous. If you do exercise, keeping the heart rate low, say below 60% of maximum heart rate, is a good idea.

(I must admit to having run a marathon while on antibiotics for a chest infection, but that was in the days when I was younger and sillier and I probably would not do it again and neither would I recommend it.)

The bottom line is: Be cautious, back off when the viral lethargy is obvious, and definitley get medial advice if you're not sure.

Questions similar to this get asked frequently on weight training and bodybuilding forums. And there is no shortage of "experts" and marketers making outrageous claims for wild muscle growth with certain programs and diets. I'm talking about steroid-free training here.

The variables are many -- men, women, young, old, skinny, fat -- you name it; it won't be the same for everyone, naturally. Let me know your best month here.

Full article is here:  ---> How Much Muscle in a Month? 

Strength training is a standard part of most high school sports and athletic programs. Yet we often hear about so many variations in training approach, exercise prescription and program development, that it was interesting to read a recent survey of high-school strength coaches published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

From the results, it looks like most high school trainers are following proven strength and conditioning and weight training principles. Here is what they found:

• 89% of the survey respondents were certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association.
• Coaches assess an average of 5.83 different parameters of fitness, with strength as well as power being the most common parameters assessed.
• Coaches tested an average of 3.86 times a year with an average of 8.51 specific tests per testing session.
• All coaches used a variety of flexibility development strategies using dynamic stretching more frequently than static.
• Thirty-six of 38 (95%) coaches follow a periodization model.
• 37 of 38 (97.4%) coaches indicated that their athletes used Olympic-style lifts.
• 37 of 37 (100%) coaches (who responded) used plyometric training with their athletes.
• The squat and its variations, as well as the Olympic-style lifts and its variations, were most frequently identified as the most important exercises prescribed.
• All coaches use speed development and agility training strategies with their athletes.

Duehring MD, Feldmann CR, Ebben WP. Strength and Conditioning Practices of United States High School Strength and Conditioning Coaches. J Strength Cond Res. 2009 Oct 12p

Bodybuilding.com is the leading bodybuilding web site with a claimed 'million plus' forum members. It also sells bodybuilding and health supplements -- lots of them -- over 12,000 products according to the web site.

According to an FDA notification, on 3 November, Bodybuilding.com and FDA notified healthcare professionals and patients of a nationwide and international recall of all lots and expiration dates of 65 dietary supplement products that were sold through the company's website, www.bodybuilding.com.

FDA believes that the recalled products contain the following ingredients that are currently classified, or the FDA believes should be classified, as steroids: "Superdrol," "Madol," "Tren," "Androstenedione," and/or "Turinabol." Acute liver injury is known to be a possible harmful effect of using steroid-containing products. In addition, ther FDA says that steroids may cause other serious long-term adverse health consequences in men, women, and children. These include shrinkage of the testes and male infertility, masculinization of women, breast enlargement in males, short stature in children, a higher predilection to misuse other drugs and alcohol, adverse effects on blood lipid levels, and increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and death.

Customers who have any of the products in their possession, says the FDA, should stop using them immediately and contact their physician if they have experienced any problems that may be related to taking one or more of the ingredients listed above. Any adverse events that may be related to use should be reported to the FDA's MedWatch Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program.

The FDA says that consumers should return any unused products purchased on the company's site to the company. 

---> Find out how to choose weight training supplements in this article.

The following is a list of the recalled supplements.

• 4Ever Fit D-Drol
• Advanced Muscle Science Dienedrone
• Advanced Muscle Science Liquidrone UTT
• Anabolic Xtreme Hyperdrol X2
• APS (aka Advanced Muscle Science) Mastavol
• APS (aka Advanced Muscle Science) Revamp
• APS (aka Advanced Muscle Science) Ultra Mass Stack
• APS (aka Advanced Muscle Science) Ripped Stack
• Better Body Sports Finadex
• Black China Labs Straight Drol
• Black China Labs Straight Phlexed
• Body Conditioning Solutions TestraFLEX
• Bjorklund Methyldrostanolone
• BOSC Enterprises Epi-Tren
• BOSC Enterprises Magna Drol
• Chaparral Labs Epivol
• Chaparral Labs Pheravol-V
• Competitive Edge Labs M-Drol
• Competitive Edge Labs P-Plex
• Competitive Edge Labs X-tren
• Diabolic Labs Epio-Plex
• Diabolic Labs Finabolic 50
• Diabolic Labs Revenge
• Ergopharm 6-OXO
• Ergopharm 6-OXO Extreme
• EST (aka Engineered Sports Technology) MethAnstance
• Extreme Labs Susto-Test Depot
• Fizogen ON Cycle II Hardcore
• G.E.T/ (Genetic Edge Technologies) SUS-500
• G.E.T/ (Genetic Edge Technologies) Tren-250
• Hardcore Formulations T-Roid
• I Force Nutrition 1,4 AD Bold 200
• I Force Dymethazine/Reversitol Combo Pack
• I Force Reversitol
• I Force Nutrition 17a PheraFLEX
• I Force Nutrition Dymethazine
• I Force Nutrition Methadrol
• IDS (aka Innovative Delivery Systems) Bromodrol
• IDS (aka Innovative Delivery Systems) Grow Tabs TR
• IDS (aka Innovative Delivery Systems) Mass Tabs
• IDS (aka Innovative Delivery Systems) Oxodrol Pro
• IDS (aka Innovative Delivery Systems) Ripped Tabs TR
• IDS (aka Innovative Delivery Systems) Rapid Release
• Ripped Tabs
• Kilo Sports Massdrol
• Kilo Sports Phera-Mass
• Kilo Sports Trenadrol
• Monster Caps Monster Caps
• Myogenix Spawn
• Nutra Coastal D-Stianozol
• Nutra Coastal H-Drol
• Nutra Coastal MDIT
• Nutra Coastal S-Drol
• Nutra Coastal Trena
• Performance Anabolics Methastadrol
• Performance Anabolics Tri-Methyl X
• Purus Labs E-pol Inslinsified
• Purus Labs Nasty Mass
• Rage RV2
• Rage RV3
• Rage RV4
• Rage RV5
• Redefine Nutrition Finaflex 550-XD
• Redefine Nutrition Finaflex Ripped
• Transform Supplements Forged Extreme Mass
• Transform Supplements Forged Lean Mass