Archive for October, 2007

Sleep well and lose weight!

Friday, October 26th, 2007

One of the most common complaints that health professional now hear from their patient is that they are tired. Sleep deprivation is a growing and worrying trend in a nation that now averages 7 hours of sleep a day compared to the 8 hours back in the 50s. As a result of this, we do not perform our jobs as well as we could, and as a result, when job performance diminishes, so do production outputs. The economy as a whole then suffers the consequences.

But it is not just the economy that is a victim of our lack of sleep. Indeed, new evidence brought forward in recent research studies indicates that millions of chronically sleep-deprived Americans put their very own health at risk. There is a definite link between sleep and health on the one hand, bad sleep and disease on the other. High Blood pressure for example, a major factor in heart attack risks increases with lack of sleep. After all blood pressure and heart rate are at their lowest during sleep and so people who sleep less are more likely to see an increase in their hypertension. This link can also explain other findings putting lack of sleep with an increased risk of diabetes, weight gain and other problems.

Yes! Weight Gain! And if this correlation between weight and sleep surprises you, let me remind you that as the duration of our sleep has diminished over time, this trend has also coincided with an increase in obesity. In fact, recent research indicates that people who do sleep enough are more like to gain weight. There is simple and powerful evidence behind this to suggest that sleep deprivation causes a reduction in metabolism and at the same time an increase in appetite.

Indeed, inadequate sleep duration increases the levels of grehlin, a hormone responsible for making us hungry and decreases the levels of leptin, the hormone responsible for making us feel full! Sleep deprivation is also a factor in our choice of food making us crave for food that is high in carbohydrate and sugar. This is caused from the fact that sleep loss decreases insulin sensitivity increasing our risks of developing type 2 diabetes.

How about that then for all of us doing our best to achieve weight loss! It would seem that if you want to lose weight and lose fat, start by making sure you have a good night sleep!

Don’t be bicep curling in the squat rack

Friday, October 26th, 2007

Has this ever happened to you? You hit the gym early in the morning, all pumped up for a great session. It’s leg day and you know what that means, so you put your serious face on and trudge into the gym. Only to find that some 16 year old pipsqueak is standing in the squat rack doing bicep curls!

I’ve got nothing against 16 year old kids in the gym, trying to improve their bodies. I used to be one of them myself, once upon a time. What I do hate is when those kids spend their time in the squat racks, doing bicep curls. They’re called squat racks for a reason people.

And it’s not just the young guys, oh no, this is a far bigger problem. People of all ages think it’s fantastic to use the squat rack to do bicep curls. Is it because you can leave the barbell on the supports so you don’t have to actually bend down to pick the bar up? Probably.

If you’re one of these people, stop doing it. This is what you need to be doing instead. Head into the squat rack and load up a bar with a good weight for you. Get under the bar and then start squatting. I guarantee if you only made this change to your workouts, you would see startling results.

At my local gym, I love it that no one squats. Apart from those idiots who do their bicep curls in it, I pretty much have it all to myself. But when I’m trying to be nice (And that’s not very often) and actually help people out, I tell people squatting is a must. It’s such a powerful exercise, you would literally be a moron to not do it.

The thing that holds people back is pain. I won’t sugar coat it. The squat, when done correctly, takes a lot of effort and a fair bit of discomfort. But it’s this pain and discomfort that forces your body to grow, so unless you can get out of your comfort zone and push through the pain barrier, you’re going to be in trouble.

If you want to find out more about the best muscle building programs out there, you’ll want to read about the musclehead reviews, vince delmonte scam or sean nalewanyj review, as they are some of the best muscle building programs available today, anywhere at all.

How alcohol can affect your gains

Friday, October 26th, 2007

Now before you start thinking “Thanks Captain Obvious”, I want to you realise how many people actually don’t understand the consequences of drinking while training. Theres been a television campaign in Australia for many years about the consequences of drinking and driving. The catchphrase was “If you drink and drive, you’re a bloody idiot”. I like to put my own spin on this. “If you drink and train, you’re a bloody idiot”.

This might sound a bit harsh to you, but it’s not. If you’re serious about building muscle and getting into shape, then drinking is the last thing you want to do. If you are only half assed about training, then that’s fine. Train and go and drink until you can’t stand up. I have no problem with that at all.

What I do have a problem with is people training half assed then complaining that “it’s not working”. If you do drink, realise that it will negatively affect your muscle building. Just accept that.

Now why is drinking so bad? Let’s get started….

The first reason is because drinking screws around with your hormones. Having more than a few drinks actually lowers your testosterone level. Testosterone is the hormone that makes men men and is also responsible for allowing us men to build more muscle mass. I’m sure you realise how potent steroids are. Well, steroids are basically testosterone, so you can see that it is not something you want less of.

Drinking also increases the levels of estrogen in your body. This is the female hormone. Ever noticed that heavy drinkers often have man boobs? This is no coincidence since estrogen is the hormone that gives women breasts in the first place. Think about it, do you really want to be known as the guy with man boobs?

If you can’t be bothered doing that, all you will need to do is look downwards towards that big beer belly of yours. It doesn’t take Einstein to realise that drinking large quantities of alcohol will make you fat.

To find out more about the Musclehead review and Sean Nalewanyj, click on either of the links within this article, I guarantee you’ll learn a bunch!

Why you need to train your whole body

Friday, October 26th, 2007

A bad habit of most newbies who are starting with a muscle building or bodybuilding program is to focus only on showy body parts and neglect major portion of their body. They put in all their time and effort into selected muscle groups like biceps, chest, abs that get noticed more easily by outsiders.

This is a very big mistake made by most amateurs and you should make sure that you are not doing any such mistake. Don’t let yourself fall into the same trap. This is an example of negative thinking and you should be rather focusing on building every muscle in your body with equal focus and intensity. Your goal should not be muscle gain in only certain parts but you should look for body muscle gain in totality. Each and every part of your body should gain muscles in proportionate manner.

From a bodybuilder or health perspective, there is no explanation as to why would someone want to put more emphasis on their chest instead of their back? One possible reasoning, though flawed, is that the chest and the bench press have somehow become a landmark for judging muscularity and strength? May be its because the chest is generally considered to be more sexually appealing to the members of opposite sex.

However, it would not make much sense since the 70% of your entire upper-body muscle mass resides in your back (your lats, traps, spinal erectors). So is the chest really deserving of the importance that is paid to it? Trust me, if you have a big developed back, it will make you look so much larger and muscular as compared to a well developed chest.

It’s not that the chest is not as important as the back, however a competition between the two where only one is given all the advantage and attention is not good and will bring more harm to you then benefit in the long run. This is an advice that is being given by all the top muscle building authors only like The Musclehead or Truth About Building Muscle.

The idea is pretty simple if you accept it, each muscle has a own unique role. For a true bodybuilder, this kind of preferential behavior towards certain muscle groups is more whimsical then logical. If you really want to get muscular and get an admirable physique then focus on your entire body. A disproportionate body structure is equally bad. Think of fitting a car body on truck tyres. Sounds awkward, right?

That is how it looks when you have well developed chest but weak biceps or really bulky biceps but weak thighs. It is extremely important to try and develop each muscle to its maximum potential.

The biceps are no more important than the triceps just as the chest is no more important than the back. Your end objective should be a completely developed symmetrical body where each muscle group is in proportion to the rest of the body.

I suggest that you should pick up a muscle building program that highlights all the muscle groups. Here you can get good muscle building program review .

Carbohydrates, insulin, will power and weight loss.

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007

We have heard this before. Statements such as: “You willpower is the ideal fat burner!” or the proverbial “no pain, no gain” concept, belted out without respite to those of us who were not born athletes. And with the passing of the years, these ideas have reinforced themselves into our subconscious mind, making it increasingly difficult to get thinner, fitter, and healthier.

Research has shown that the majority of people with substantial weight problem have become pre-conditioned to the inevitability of their current situation and thus, their attempts to lose fat become more compromised with the failure of each diet. Putting them (or yourself) down for being fat or overweight may feel like a powerful motivational tool in the reverse psychological perverse sort of way, but in fact, it actually hampers any efforts to change our eating habits.

Talk to weight loss doctors who were once overweight and successfully lost their excess weight and fat, and chances are you’ll be told that food cravings and weight gain are not always the result of a lack of willpower.

How about that for an eye opener! Most of us who are chronic dieters have one thing in common then. We are not short of willpower (feels good just writing this again!) and likely suffer from a metabolism that produced too much insulin due to an addiction to carbohydrate.

This overproduction of insulin levels caused by the over absorption of carbohydrates causes a chain reaction which then leads to hunger pangs. Put in another way, the more carbohydrate you eat, the more insulin your body produces. This causes an imbalance which then leads to a cycle of overpowering cravings for more carbohydrates, such as breads, pastas, snack foods and cakes which then leads to even more insulin and so on..

The good news is that it is relatively easy to correct carbohydrate addiction without feeling deprived or experiencing the struggles of managing our eating patterns and our weight.

Remember: Carbohydrate rich food include breads, grains, cereals, ice cream, milk, yogurt, fruit and juices, luncheon meats, pasta, noodles, rice, snack foods, sweets and starchy vegetables such as beets, squash, carrots, zucchini, corn, tomatoes, peas and potatoes.

Craving reducing foods include red meat, poultry, cheese, tofu, oils, fats, dressings, non starchy vegetables such as Brussels sprouts, greens, peppers, lettuce, asparagus, broccoli and mushrooms.

Of course it doesn’t hurt if you take a fat burner supplement.

Fitness Tips - Advantages Of A Body-building Supplement Review

Tuesday, October 16th, 2007

The following article is from a series of fitness-related articles on body building and sports nutrition …

With the wide range of supplements on the market today, one way to get information about what is best for you is to consult a body building supplement review. With bodybuilding supplement reviews, you can read descriptions and see what other users are saying about the supplements that you plan to use. With bodybuilding supplement reviews, you can also do price comparisons and read about new products that have entered the market so you can find something to help you meet your goals. Bodybuilding supplement reviews can also alert you to any undesirable side effects that certain supplementation products may have as well as the positive benefits of other products so you can make an informed decision before purchasing and using supplements.

One of the leading online muscle supplement reviews can be found at supplementjudge.com. On this site, you can get many body-building supplement reviews to help you decide. Users rate supplements by product so you can quickly search for a specific product and read what others have to say about it. If you are looking for the best supplements in a specific category, you can even select one of the many categories (such as General Health, Fat Loss, and Testosterone Level) in order to read bodybuilding supplements reviews of different products in different categories. You can then compare which ones are the best ones to help you meet your goals. It also has a top-rated list for the best reviewed supplements and options to buy products directly from the site for added convenience.

Another site that offers great muscle supplement reviews is bodybuildingforyou.com. At this website, you can find bodybuilding supplement reviews that compare the qualities of different brand names. This site also provides users the opportunity to post and read reviews of vitamins and other types of supplements so you can find everything you need at this page. With an easy-to-read appearance and user-friendly features, this bodybuilding supplement review site is neither intimidating nor overwhelming. For added convenience, visitors can post questions and answers in the site’s forum or you can even chat live with other users who have experience with supplements.

The body-fitness-guide.com website is a great resource that posts bodybuilding supplement reviews. The simple homepage and user-friendly options allow readers to easily navigate to the products they want to read about. This website contains entries and other information regarding body-building supplement reviews so you can make an informed decisions about the products you decide to use. Since it is both basic and informative, it is an ideal reference for both beginners and experts who want to read about the latest muscle building products on the market.

Take advantage of the bodybuilding supplement reviews on the internet. You can read many of them and get an idea about the best products to buy to help you increase your muscle mass. A bodybuilding supplement review can be posted either by beginners in the same starting level as you or experts who have gone through similar experiences. As such, bodybuilding supplement reviews can help you avoid certain mistakes and help you get the most out of your fitness workouts. They will also help you make a decision about the right products to help you achieve your goals.

For more information on body-building, visit: Body Building Tips

Take A Break Between Your BodyBuilding Program

Friday, October 12th, 2007

Proper rest is one of the most important ingredient in any good bodybuilding recipe. However still most of the beginners tend to avoid it. They think by resting they are letting their muscles cool down. Also, to some it gives a guilty feeling of running away from the exercises or hard work. Somehow, it seems they associate bodybuilding with either their college routine or job routine, they feel they will be penalized if they take up a break in between. Quite contradictory to what it actually is.

However, lets see what bodybuilding authors like Sean Nalewanyj or The Musclehead, by taking those two names I mean those authors who have really good online bodybuilding programs, have to say about it.

In words of Sean Nalewanyj (Quoted From Truth About Building Muscles):
“Highly intensive training places very large amounts of stress on your body and if you fail to give the muscles adequate time to recover and heal in between workouts you will end up doing yourself more harm than good.

In words of The Musclehead (Quoted From The Musclehead Guide To Godlike Physique):
“your rest period should also be increased to however long you need to be able to lift at full strength again.”

I hope that conveys the idea in quite a simple manner. Rest is as vital as workouts or diet, in no case should you neglect it or act as a miser when it comes to giving your body proper rest. Also when we say rest we don’t mean the rest between sets or reps. Ideally you should be taking a week off after training for 8 weeks a part of recovery process.

First of all, this rest provides your joints and connective tissues the much-needed break. All of those sets taken to muscular failure will have a negative, cumulative effect on those delicate joints, and if you aren’t careful you may end up with an injury. Among all the ways to prevent yourself from getting injured, taking proper rest is one of best ways.

Similarly, your immune system also gets a break.

Also taking a week off in between gives you a much needed mental break.It will not only increase your focus when you return but also help you put in more concentrated efforts.

If you wish to read more of such bodybuilding secrets, you can opt for their bodybuilding programs. You can read more on this the musclehead. Similarly you can use this link for more information on Sean Nalewanyj review.

Btw, if you are already following a bodybuilding program then you can also use this free software for bodybuilding. It helps you keep track of your progress including “REST”.

Pilates for Weight Loss There are Many Benefits

Monday, October 8th, 2007

If you are one of the many people across the world today that are looking for a way to lose weight, then you should absolutely introduce yourself to the concept of Pilates; using Pilates for weight loss can actually be one of the best methods that you could ever use. There are many benefits to Pilates, not only in regards to the matter of using Pilates for weight loss, but also because you will attain other beneficial factors from doing this type of exercise.

Pilates is a type of exercise which helps improve flexibility and joint movement, and then of course Pilates for Weight Loss is considered as being the most positive matter in regards to this exercise. People have in fact been using Pilates for weight loss for quite some time now, but only in the present day have we truly been able to understand the greatness of this exercise routine.

We all know the multitude of weight loss options that have been used throughout time, and we all also know how many of these we have tried and which have failed; using Pilates for weight loss is sure to change your mind about all the fraud diet schemes that you have tried in the past. Article on: Pilates Instructor

What is Pilates?

Pilates is an exercise method which was created by Joseph Pilates, and it is a lower impact approach which is considered as being incredibly successful, primarily due to the fact that basically anyone can participate, and they are sure to notice results within the first couple of weeks that they do. Resources For: Pilates Machine

Basically, the Pilates program is designed to tone and sculpt your entire body as well as help you to lose weight all at the same time. It consists of a combination of controlled movements that help you to shape long and lean muscles without adding unwanted bulk, and all at particularly low impact, so that it does not stress or injure your body in any way.

Of all of the available exercise methods that are available today, Pilates can absolutely be considered as being one of the best; hundreds of thousands of people across the world have tried Pilates, and are incredibly impressed by the results that they have seen. The best thing about Pilates is that it incorporates methods that you could only get from completing several different exercise methods.

Rather than perform many repetitions of each exercise, Pilates liked lesser and more exact movements that required control as well as form and, in this endeavor, he designed at least 500 specific exercises and the most frequent of these was the mat work that involved a series of callisthenic motions that did not require any weights or apparatus and could be performed on a padded mat.

Abdominal Fat Loss

Friday, October 5th, 2007

Firstly, having an extra spare tyre around your abdominal region isn’t great for your heart. Heart attacks are one of the biggest killers in today’s world. A decadent society is largely to blame for this. So if you really want to live for as long as you can, it’s important to concentrate on fat loss.

The second reason is something that not so many people know about. Have you ever heard of visceral fat? This is the fat inside your body. The fat that surrounds your vital organs. It is when we consider visceral fat that abdominal fat loss really becomes important.

While we do require some visceral fat to survive, the vast majority of people in our modern day societies have way too much of this abdominal fat than they really need. I heard some facts the other day that scared me. Over 67% of Australian adults are overweight or obese. It is this reason that it is more important than ever to concentrate on abdominal fat loss.

So what to do? Fortunately, what needs to be done is very simple on paper. Eat better, exercise more and voila, problem solved. However, that statistic of 67% proves that it is not easy. I think a problem that a lot of people have is not knowing how to fix their problem.

And this all comes back to education. Which is one of the main reasons I created this site in the first place. If you look around a little bit, you should be able to find all the information you need to get on the fast track of abdominal fat loss.

I’ll quickly go through my own “formula” for fat loss and achieving the body you have always wanted. Firstly, you have to get your diet in check. If you can’t complete this step, don’t bother about the next couple of steps. Get rid of all the junky, rubbish foods in your cupboard and replace them with good, wholesome foods.

Secondly, you need to make sure you are doing plenty of cardio. As well as getting your diet in check, you will want to be making sure you burn off as many calories as you can. This will ensure that you turn your body into a fat burning machine.Vince Delmonte has been saying this all along.

And finally, you must make sure you start training with weights, if you haven’t already. While it may not directly affect your abdominal fat loss, it will definitely help it in the long run. By building muscle, you really do turn your body into a fat burning machine

I hope you now realise the dangers of abdominal fat and I hope you have been inspired to do something about it, if it is a problem for you.

A couple of great Muscle Building Recipes

Friday, October 5th, 2007

When most people think of building muscle recipes, they often think about chalk like protein powders, or eating boring tins of plain tuna all day.

Well, it doesn’t have to be like that at all. In fact, I know of a whole heap of recipes that are not only tasty, but provide your body with the nutrients it needs to build some serious muscle.

The first recipe I want to share is my very own, world famous oats and whey. It’s quite simple to make and damn tasty to eat. Not bad for a recipe to help you build muscle fast.

First, take 3/4 cup of oats and place them in your bowl. Then mix 150mL of milk and 1 scoop of your favorite protein powder and mix like usual.

Then, simply take the protein powder/milk mix and pour it on top of the oats. If you use a good protein powder, then this will be like eating a chocolate milkshake!

The second recipe I want to share is my (also world famous) tuna toasties. Just get a couple of slices of brown bread (make sure there isn’t any sugar in this bread) and place it on your toasted sandwich machine. Then add the tuna, sprinkle a little low fat cheese over the top and away you go.

Cook to perfection and you’re done! A couple of simple muscle building recipes to really help you build muscle fast! Who would’ve thought that building muscle could be so easy and tasty!

Next time you’re feeling a little peckish, try the recipes out and see what you think. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed at all. After all you’ve got nothing to lose and a new recipe to gain!