So you want a body like Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard. You're ready and willing to put in the time, the effort, and the blood, sweat, and tears that it takes. And you want it. You want it bad.

But you don't know where to get started. How do you train? What do you eat? What exactly is it that you're asking for? If you can't even answer these basic questions, then you might as well just give up now.

LUCKILY, I'm here to show you the way. Not the quick and easy way, mind you. But the hard, RIGHT way. In this article, I'm gonna TELL YOU exactly what you're asking to look like. Then, I'm gonna give you tips on what you should be doing inside the gym.

And perhaps most importantly, I'm gonna give you insights on what to eat in order to be able to look like your favorite NBA Superman.

What Are YOU Asking?

When you think of Dwight Howard, what do you think of? Tall (can't help you there), Black (can't help you there either), lean (now we're getting somewhere) and most importantly, muscular (luckily, my expertise).

But look closer. What exactly is it that makes Dwight Howard look so impressive? Its the shoulders, the arms, the chest, and obviously, the cuts to go with it all. So how do you get big shoulders,shredded arms, and a toned, firm chest? By lifting hard, lifting right, and going on a strict, no nonsense diet.

The Workout - Dwight Howard Style

Let's get a couple of points straight right off the bat.

1 - Dwight Howard is a genetic freak (but you don't have to be to look lean and ripped!) and an NBA star who has access to the top trainers, nutritionists, and fitness experts in the country.

You are not Dwight Howard and just because you read this article and do what you're told doesn't mean you're going to BE Dwight Howard. I'm not promising a miracle. What I AM promising you is that if you follow this article, train hard, and most importantly, are SERIOUS about your body, then you WILL be on your way.

2 - Dwight Howard is no body builder. He might be one of the biggest guys on the court but when it comes down to it, again, he's a BASKETBALL player.

That means he's fit, he's in shape, and he's lean. If you want to look like Dwight Howard, you're going to be training for strength through VOLUME. Not weight. So get rid of those ideas right now. Dwight Howard ain't winning any bench press contests any time soon.

Key principles in the workout

1. Volume will be key for your workouts. You want more exercises, more sets per exercise, and more reps per set. You want to exhaust both your fast twitch (those muscles that are resonsible for strength and explosivesness) and slow twitch (those muscles that are responsible for endurance) muscle every single workout.

1. Cardio is king. If you want to be lean, be shredded, and look bigger without having a huge body-builder-like body, the only thing you can do is lose body fat. And in order to do that, you MUST, MUST, MUST do lots of cardio. I'm not talking 3 times a week, 20 minutes per time cardio. I'm talking 6 days a week, 45 minutes per session cardio.

1. While I'm not going to give you a detailed workout by workout schedule to follow here, what I will give you is a couple of very important principles and tricks and tips that will help you along your way.
   1. Strip-sets are your friend. Strip sets target fast twitch muscles, exhausting them at the start of the set, and target slow-twitch muscles towards the end of the set when you're completely exhausted.

    

   1. Reps, reps, reps. Since your aim is not necessarily to build huge, bulging muscles, you want to concentrate on getting shredded more than anything else.The way to do that is to work in the 15 to 20 rep range during each of your sets. If you're doing anything less that 12 reps per set, you're cheating your workout and yourself.

    

   1. Watch your rest time. Between set rest times should not ever be longer than 45 seconds. Your muscles recover from exhaustion and exertion extremely quickly so you want pound the iron while its hot so to speak.Don't give your muscles a chance to recover all the way. By doing so, you'll recruit more muscle fibers during each workout.

The Diet - Dwight Howard Style

1) The most important thing to keep in mind about the diet is that your diet is the most important thing.

If you want to build muscle, if you want to lose body fat, if you want to look like Dwight Howard, you need to realize that the workout is only about 25% of the process. The diet is the other 75%. Heed your diet even if you don't heed your workouts.

2) Protein: Protein is the main component that goes into building muscle. You want muscle? Eat protein. Its as simple as that. You should be consuming about 1.5g of protein per pound of body weight that you WANT TO BE.

3) Carbohydrates: Carbs are your FRIEND. Carbs are the main energy source for your body. If you don't consume carbohydrates, your body will essentially be like a car without gas. You won't have energy to do anything.

That being said, all the excess carbs that you eat beyond what you use gets stored as fat. And FAT (meaning body fat) is the enemy. You need to eat the right amount of carbs so that you have enough energy to get through your workouts and get through your day, but you don't store any excess as fat.

To that end, you should be having about .75-1g of carbs per pound of body weight THAT YOU ARE CURRENTLY. Keep in mind however, that everyone's metabolism is different so that .75-1g range can stretch to roughly .5-1.25g of carbs per pound of body weight.

4) Fiber: You know those commercials that claim that most Americans don't get enough fiber in their diet? That's true. If you're not taking a #2 at least semi-regularly it means that your body isn't digesting and processing the food that you eat to the fullest.

Its time to mix some fiber into your diet so that you get the maximum benefit out of all those calories you're consuming.

5) Calories: Speaking of calories, you WILL need to up your caloric intake if you're gonna embark on this task. You need to increase your calorie intake because if you're reading this article, it probably means you're TOO DAMN SKINNY! There's no way around it. If you want to get big, even if its big and lean, and you want to build more muscle, YOU MUST EAT MORE FOOD.

Click here if you're a skinny guy and you want to build 10 lbs of muscle or more FAST!!!

6) Keep it clean: When I say keep it clean, it means that you should stop and think about what it is you're putting into your body. Sure, you need protein, but that doesn't mean you should have fried chicken and burgers every day. Try a lean skirt steak or a steamed/grilled/baked chicken breast.

Sure, you need carbohydrates. But that doesn't mean you reach for the nearest loaf of Wonderbread. Try oatmeal, 100% whole wheat bread, or whole wheat pasta. And finally, sure you need to eat a lot more calories. But stuffing your face with junk food isn't the answer.

Listen to your mother and eat some vegetables! All the more so if they're steamed or made into a salad with some extra virgin olive oil drizzled on top.

Any Questions or Comments???

Leave a comment below and let me know if you like this tips, if you have a question or if have any tips of your own. I'd love to hear what you have to say.
Until next time,

Work hard, eat right, and don't give up!

Rich