Create A Map To Fitness

February 4th, 2008

 

A lot of our goals that we generate in life require some sort of plan. In fact I cannot think of one that doesn’t. If I have a goal that I want to achieve and don’t plan it out I don’t usually achieve it. In this case; with fitness, many people want to look like their dreams, but without some sort of plan on getting there, its going to be very hard to attain.

The starting point on the map begins with a goal; sit down with yourself, and figure out your long-term goal. It’s in your head, now that we know what we want in the long term, we need to somehow breakdown this goal down into a short-term goal(s). An intensity level also needs to be put into play; write down “medium” if it is something more intense within a shorter amount of time. For example “learn to run 4 miles a day in two months from your current state”. Today you can only run 1 mile and you get exhausted, this is where we implement the short-term goals. The short-term goals could be to set up a routine where you can practice your running endurance daily. Its now time to understand the principles you will need to get your there.

Universally Adapt- In periods of training, exercise will give you the greatest results. Its something that you want to push yourself at doing, but don’t push yourself to far, or you will collapse. Think of it this way, an average person is observing a yoga move, which has to do with some sort of intense stretching. This person then goes home and attempts the stretch; he/she then pulls one of their muscles and needs surgery because they failed to practice the moves. The world wasn’t built in a day, it was built in seven; try to think this way when your trying to achieve something.

Spell Out What You Are Thinking- Begin your training with a common attitude, then once you have past that, move up a little, and a little. A bodybuilder that is building strength starts with a certain weight, and then he gradually increases this weight while his muscles are growing over time.

Don’t Overload! - Like I mentioned earlier with the yoga example. Do not get lazy, and “go for it” you will hurt yourself, and you will not get to where you want, and “times a wasting”. If you treat time with respect you will earn it. It’s also a good idea to observe other people that are experiencing your goal. If you can see someone doing what you want to do, they have the ultimate wisdom of how to achieve it. It doesn’t hurt to ask for tips. A lot of professional athletes have learned this way, usually they had a dad or an older brother to look up to.

The other thing to understand is to be happy while you’re on your journey to your goal. It should be fun and exciting, there will be times when you want to give up and quit, but think of your time as your ultimate currency and if you quit you will have wasted precious time, or think of it as the rain, it will soon pass. This map that you make however should not be treated with extreme anxiety, do not feel like you have just broken a law if you fail to do something in a certain day; remember “if you fall all you can do is get back up” and everyone falls.

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The Post Workout Meal and Its Importance Towards Muscle Building

February 4th, 2008

Someone has probably told you that your post exercise snack is the most important meal of the day. The rumor is true, and there are certain things that happen to the body when you complete your workout. A catabolic condition arises; this is where the muscles glycogen is exhausted and your cortisol levels start to break down muscle tissue. This is not a very good state and the only way to undo this mess and turn it into an anabolic state, is to eat some sort of post workout meal as soon as possible. The meal should be consumed after your workout or training. The objective we are aiming for is to replenish muscle glycogen, along with digestible protein so we can jumpstart are muscular repair. The rush of carbohydrates and amino acids from the digested meal support an insulin release from the pancreas, this transfers nutrients into the muscle cells.

The meal you consume should contain 350 – 500 calories for the greatest response. There is a difference between male and female however. The female may only need somewhere between 300 – 350 calories if she weighs around 120 – 130 lbs. A male however who weighs 200 lb may need up to 500 calories in their meal. The ratio of carbohydrates and protein should be anywhere from 2:1 – 4:1 for both sexes. The best thing you could do for yourself is to watch what you eat; if your eating fats, make sure they are healthy. If you can keep your fats to least amount possible, do that instead because it’s the total opposite of what we want after are exercises.

With this in mind we now know that we don’t need these expensive supplements that magazines and websites are trying to sell us. These advertisers will also tell you that you NEED these supplements in order to get where you want. These supplements are no different from what you are doing when you’re eating your meal. It’s always best to do things the natural way, therefore try to stay away from these so-called “magic formulas”. There are many digestible natural carbohydrates available such as pineapples; grapes, melon, broccoli, honey and you name it. These carbs will create the anabolic effect needed for muscle construction. The best place to purchase these types of foods is at some sort of organic food market. A great source of well digestible protein could be fat-free yogurt, skim milk, and whey protein. Whey protein is optional but most recommended, it is a very popular product, and contains a great amount of value for a post workout. I often make a smoothie or milk shake before or after a workout. The best flavor in my opinion is chocolate whey protein mixed with Banana and two tablespoons of maple syrup. Try to be creative and make some fun out of it!

If your looking to get rid of your body fat, you want to have the complete opposite food traits in all you’re other meals throughout the day. The rest of your meals should be low glycemic, slowly digesting carbohydrates, and slow discharge of proteins. These are the factors needed for a low body fat percentage.

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Abs Exercise And Fat Reducing Errors That Must be Avoided!

February 4th, 2008

If you are interested in knowing some of the things that are leaving your abdominal exercises and your fat loss efforts in the wrong, you may be interested in reading this article. In this article we are going to discuss the myths of abdominal workouts, and other related fitness mistakes in this topic. A lot of people want to know where most go wrong when it comes to abdominal training. The amazing thing is in their expedition to six-pack abs, the main mistake people make is wasting too much time focusing directly on all these different abs-specific workouts.

The person tries so hard to get the abdominal six-pack to show. They do all these various crunches, sit-ups, twisting workouts, etc. With all the time that has just been wasted directly focusing on the abs, they could have been doing a well-designed full body exercise instead. The fully body workout would give you a much greater metabolic reaction. In the end the most important part of these abdominal strategies is to make the abs visible. The chances of this happening with the above listed exercises does not cause as much of a metabolic reaction towards the body, leaving you with completely wasted time and effort.

The lesson learned is that try to get a full body workout plan, other than focusing directly on certain workouts. If you look at people who run a lot, they often have great abs because they are getting a full body workout when running, not to mention other things like sports. Hockey, Football, Cross Country skiing… you name it! As long as your getting a full body workout you are going to have a greater chance having visible abdominals.

A lot of people also wonder about gender differences; is there a gender difference when it comes to abdominal training? Well most woman are afraid of most weight training other than lightweights. Its not very good to be afraid of weights if your looking to have control of your body fat for life. The goal is to maximize the lean muscles, you also want to work those muscles through intense resistance workouts as often as you can. Woman who are afraid of “bulking up” understand that strength training with heavier weights will not do this as long as your calorie intake is stable.

Training with heavier weights is probably the most effective workout if you’re looking for losing body fat, and staying lean at all times. It’s not uncommon to see most women and men spending way too much time with their cardio exercises. It’s not necessary, and the way to combine high intense resistance training into this to just do a “full body workout”.

With all the controversy about sit-ups, I hope I can give you some valuable advice. I don’t think they are necessary. There are many more exercises with greater results out there, sit-ups should only be done on the occasion, but don’t waste your time with them.

I have mentioned a lot about this “full body workout” but I have not given many examples, other than mentioning something athletic. The entire core of your body needs to be worked out, then once you have some abdominal strength, stay away from those exercises that can last you through 50-100 reps without any exhaustion. An example of a high resistance exercise would be hanging leg raises. It’s funny because people who have been doing hundreds of these crunches, sit-ups etc. can only do a few of these. We also don’t want to avoid rotational movements. These movements create more resistance, and a better workout. The main answer to the title of the topic would be to avoid the easy stuff, push yourself, and you will see greater results! Higher resistance is the key.

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Abdominal Exercises Do Not Cause Belly Fat Loss

February 4th, 2008

 

Everyone is always wondering what the best workouts are in order to achieve a flatter stomach. If you want to here the biggest misconception of losing belly fat, I will give you a straight up answer that you may not believe. Abdominal workouts will not have any effect on losing belly fat. Most people have a certain amount of body fat in their abs region, and the most effective way to get rid of this fat still remains to be beyond somebody’s understanding.

The difficulty most people are having is the fact that they are searching for the wrong workout plans to lose their stubborn tummy fat. Everyone wants that “miracle formula” of ab workouts, and exercises that will burn their fat off faster than fly’s on butter.

However notice how the title mentions “Belly Fat Loss” these workouts tend to strengthen the lower abdominal areas, but the fat still remains, yes the fat! This is the layer that is hiding your true abs. In order to get the abs to show, you need to work on something that will increase your metabolic rate and fat burning hormones. Creating a strategic full body workout plan can do this. If you’re thinking about cardiovascular exercises, these will not create the greatest effect for metabolic rate, and fat loss hormones. However what you really need is some sort of workout program that gives your entire body a great workout. The best way to do this is with high intense resistance training.

The high intense resistance training merged with a healthy calorie intake, or balanced diet on a usual basis, is the absolute key needed to unlock the answers to all your stomach fat problems. This type of training will get rid of that fat that has always been hiding your abs while you were at the beach, or somewhere without your shirt on.

The worst advice anyone can tell you is that all these abdominal exercises out there are effective towards losing stomach fat, and that you need to do hundreds of reps along with them; like I said earlier, the key is high intense resistance training and following a full body workout plan. Are these ab exercises absolutely useless? No, because they do increase abdominal strength, and toning and this are very beneficial, but it does not mean that your stomach fat is going to disappear.

 

If you are looking for weight loss program reviews please visit my website at http://www.LoseWeightProgramsReviewed.com

 

The Number One Secret to Weight Loss

February 4th, 2008

 

The diets on the market would not work if they didn’t make you lose weight. The truth is, these diets must eventually be explained to everybody that the number one formula these diets must live by is eating less calories than you burn. If you don’t follow this formula, then all these carbohydrate reducing, fat loss, low glycemic eating programs won’t do anything towards you. This is why many experts are going back to the basic retreat of calories counting.

There is a science to this so called calorie counting algorithm, if you forgot what you learned back in high school, it wont take long to refresh your memory. This will also help you make better decisions about the foods you eat, and how to maximize your calorie resources.

First off what is a calorie?

A calorie is a measurement of certain potential energy in what we eat, we call this food. One calorie can raise the temperature of a single gram of water by one degree Celsius. In a way you can compare calories to gasoline. Gasoline is needed to fuel are cars, and make them “active”. Calories fuel our body, and make us “active”.

Now that we know what a calorie is, how exactly does are body convert these calories into energy?

The enzymes in are body located in the digestive system break down certain chemical bonds that store food molecules as one. The digestive system then discharges the energy in the bonds, which activates it for use.

What does you body do with the energy?

Like mentioned earlier as gas fuels a car, the calorie fuels everything in your body. It can range from breathing, meditating, growing nails, hair, or running a marathon. When you don’t use the calories you consume however, these calories get transported to the liver. The liver restores your glycogen. This is your body’s reserve fuel, and is easily accessible. When the liver is full of glycogen, it is then passed to the muscles, for temporary storage. This type of storage will help get you through your exercises. The liver and muscles together carry about 350 calories worth of energy. Think of these calorie storages as accounts, when you consume more, you can save your calories in here until they are converted to fat and spread out through the body.

How many calories do you have to lose in order to lose a full pound of body weight?

The answer is about 3500 calories; you can either eat fewer calories, and burn these off that way, or do some exercises for quicker results. Remember though even if your working out everyday, the calorie rule still applies. If you consume more calories then you burn off, you are going to gain weight. That’s the science.

If you want to know how many calories you need to maintain your weight throughout the day, look for a calorie calculator somewhere on the internet; you can also take a BMI test to see what your body mass should be. It has to do a lot with your weight and height.

What is the best way to keep track of your calories?

All you need to do is get a journal, and write down what the calorie amount is for each serving. Write down everything you eat, and add up the calories. If you want to take it into the extreme, you can photograph your meals, and set up some sort of diary or blog about your eating habits. This technique may increase your motivation, and help you understand what you are doing right and wrong. It also gives you a great illustrative view of what your eating throughout the day.

Remember it’s all about the calorie count. If you’re a male your average calorie amount is about 2,500 calories. If you are a female then your average amount is about 2,000 calories. If you stay somewhere on the line of this calorie count then you will be in the average zone.

If you are looking for weight loss program reviews please visit my website at http://www.LoseWeightProgramsReviewed.com