Archive for the 'Fit Men, Fit Women' Category

A Cleansing Diet for Health and Weight Loss

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

Our air, food and water contain an unprecedented diversity of chemicals, some of which are toxic to our body even in little quantities, and many of which are grueling to your body’s natural detox processes in modest or high amounts. As well as doing several seasonal body detox programs a year, you can keep up a healthy fit body by moving your normal routine diet toward a cleansing diet. In addition to supplying year round body detoxification, a cleansing diet will help you maintain improved health, better energy and mood, and a proper weight. Many people have experienced lasting weight loss with natural detox methods.

The most simple way to switch to a cleansing diet for health and weight loss is to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables and significantly decrease your intake of fatty foods, processed foods and sugary foods. Here are several suggestions for which foods to include in your cleansing diet:

2-5 pieces of fresh fruit every day. Go light on bananas and dried fruits. Dried fruits can be soaked several hours.

2 raw salads a day, ideally at lunch and dinner.

2 servings of chicken (not fried!), fish or tofu for your protein. Lean meat occasionally.

A glass of vegetable juice once a day if possible. Best vegetables for juicing are cucumber, celery, carrot, beets and parsley. If you don’t have the time or equipment to make vegetable juice at home, buy it fresh in a big quantity, part it into 2 oz portions and freeze for future use.

Sea vegetables (seaweed) regularly. Granular dulse and kelp are easy to use. Ground seaweeds can even be used as a salt substitute.

Finally, drink more water. Try to increase your consumption to a gallon a day of fresh, filtered or distilled water. Some of your daily quota can be in the form of unsweetened herbal tea. No sugary drinks. Sodas and bottled juices do not hydrate, they only add more substances to your body’s detoxification system.

A Primer on Kettlebells

Sunday, December 6th, 2009

Kettlebells are nothing a new development. The prevailing belief places their age at roughly three centuries old. Keeping that in mind, are you surprised to hear that it is now listed among the hottest fitness routines anywhere in the world? And why did this happen? The Russian kettlebell has undergone a remarkable rise in recognition. So why not try them out?

The more straightforward exercise routines are performable by anybody, no matter their prior keep fit plan, and you won’t need to spend much on apparatus. Obviously, the trickier routines require more experience before attempting them. You should get used to the first techniques first, prior to moving on to the really difficult ones. Most importantly, with these kettlebells as with any weights, you have to make sure that you purchase the right weight for your strength level. Thankfully, employing kettlebell exercises, the weights used are surprisingly light. Giving guidelines along gender lines, the eighteen pound variety is usually ideal for women just beginning, while males beginning should expect to get the most out of a 35 lb weight. The explanation for this is that the benefit of this type of exercise actually comes from the movement as opposed to the weight. An educational aid — like a brochure or DVD — is a wise buy at the beginning, guaranteeing that you have the routines correct.

The double-handed swing is the initial technique you master on first taking up the Russian kettleball. This movement acts as the core of the majority of kettlebell routines, and its easy appearance is deceptive. You should move smoothly, with no sudden stops. We recommend that you check your lift doesn’t stem from your shoulders — it’s wiser to use your hips instead. Following perfection of this basic building block, you can tackle the complex kettlebell routines. To make sure the kettlebell can keep your dedication, diversity is essential — you might vary your backing tunes, move routines in and out of the fitness program and so on. Later, as your comfort with them develops, you could perhaps adjust the kettlebells’ weights and maybe introduce a second pair. By doing this, you can keep your muscles performing at maximum effectiveness and not run the risk of any counter productive plateauing.

It’s worthwhile to remember that should you start using Russian kettlebells planning to build muscle or to body-build, you’re not going to be pleased. You should, instead, rely on them to shed weight and, also, to improve and maintain all round fitness and health in a lasting manner. We suggest introducing a session using the kettlebells into a broader exercise course. Don’t forget that it’s your decision how often you use the kettlebells. Looking to sustain body current weight? A mere two sessions in a week will be adequate. Instead, you can ratchet up your intensity, have five or six sessions per week, and burn off that excess.

E-Cycling as a Way to Keep Fit

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

Are you lacking exercise? It’s a normal feeling – we all recognize this, yet so much gets in our way of actually working out. We witness people packed into gyms doing workouts, and think : well, I have to travel to the gym, pay up my gym member’s fee, then lift some weights. It seems like a lot of bother, isn’t there something I can do that’s not going to blow a lot of my time – maybe something that’s actually pragmatic?

Then you may consider cycling, as bicycling around is a superb means to improve your health. You can bike to work or do some shopping, so it’s very useful. It’s also cost-effective – there’s no fuel involved and the maintenance are almost nothing. It’s also eco-friendly. And not forgetting the small detail of actually getting you in shape.

But lots of people are put off getting a bicycle since it’s just TOO much effort. As bizarre as that sounds, consider that they may live in a very hilly location, be elderly or suffer from particular ailments that make biking too much effort for their abilities. Also for a few individuals, it’s not practical biking to their work since they will sweat too much through the exertions of cycling.

So this is where e-bikes, or electric bikes come in. Electric bikes let your legs have a rest on the hard hills simply by twisting your hand on the handlebar and allowing the electric motor take the strain – pedalling is no longer required then. Then when you feel up to it, just pedal. You get reasonable exercise and fresh air without doing yourself in. E-bikes are also cheap to operate needing only a daily re-charge if you cycle about 15 to 22 miles per day, although most individuals need only two recharges per week as they are not doing this kind of distance. You can find a local supplier of folding ebikes by looking on the internet.

Nowadays the real cost of getting an e-bike have come right down in price, so you can save yourself a lot of cash on gym memberships, fuel, bus fares etc. by buying and regularly using an electric bike.

Improving Your Well Being by Getting Rid of those Excess Pounds

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

The issue of obesity is reaching frightening levels and frequently results in an untimely demise or a serious ailment like mature onset diabetes. We all know that shedding weight isn’t as painless as it seems. Step one is making a few enquiries about the best way to lose that excess weight. Nobody likes to diet for very long, even though it took time to put the pounds on in the first place. If you are following a diet program, you would like to see the results sooner rather than later. To make matters worse, some solutions have been known to result in other serious problems. Because of this you have to be certain regarding the methods you opt for. Even though bypass surgery is routine at the moment, it can result in some extremely harsh as well as serious side effects. Fluid imbalance, sickness, and frequent vomiting due to narrowing of the intestine are common side-effects, particularly if you overeat. The inability to deal with low temperatures, allergies, and altered bowel habits are also commonly experienced. This obviously is not worthwhile.

Visit and inspect our prime page for fat burners guidelines…

For anyone wanting to achieve their ideal weight rapidly, fat-burners offer a better option. These speed up your metabolism by raising the amount of energy generated inside your body, which is similar to the results of exercise to melt away the superfluous fat. A number of ingredientswhich include bitter orange and ephedrine are used in fat-burners. Liquid fat-burners are generally almost identical to those manufactured in pills, however, they are produced in a liquid condition. Of course, they act virtually without any delay owing to the fact that a liquid is generally absorbed into the blood stream practically instantly.

The vitamins and minerals required by your body are paramount irrespective of how you decide to rid yourself of surplus weight. Dieting can often cut the amount of important vitamins and minerals stashed away by your internal organs. So, always remember to stay hydrated and get the right multi-vitamin if you’re dieting. If you want to further speed up your metabolism, you must workout regularly. No doubt it would be fantastic if you were able to instantaneously be slimmer. The pivotal thing to bear in mind is that your goal is not merely to lose body mass index, but also improving your overall health. To summarize, it is a great idea to eat a sensible diet, work out on a regular basis using nutritional supplements to maximize your chances of getting to your ideal weight…

Gaspari Nutritional Supplements Top Flight Stuff

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

Gaspari nutrition is one of my favourite nutritional supplementation companies. You can attend virtually any workout club and you’ll detect individuals working out who are using Gaspari nutritional supplements. Rich Gaspari the founder of Gaspari nutrition possesses a commitment to making the best of the best when it comes to bodybuilding supplements that work as claimed.

Unlike some supplement companies they do not formulate a infinite number of supplements. Sometimes producers produce so many mutations of bodybuilding supplements that it creates a situation where it is difficult to know what to use and when to use it.

You will find Gaspari nutrition products to be of top-flight and you will not be disappointed. Do not take my word for it. Go to your gym and begin to inquire regarding what nutritional products they are taking. I’ll put money down that a couple of them will answer they are utilising Gaspari.

Their Holodrol liquigels are outstanding. Their IntraPro Whey Protein is first-class. Novedex XT Testosterone Booster is top-flight. In fact, Novadex might just be the best the industry has to offer. It seems to e that few people have anyhing lousy to say about Novadex. Different people will have different results. Nonetheless, Gaspari nutrition looks to have a well-deserved reputation for first-class products.

If you are considering trying a different product line and have not tried Gaspari nutrition, do yourself a favor and try this brand. If you have never utilized any supplements before and want to start with a quality brand, then Gaspari nutrition is a good company to begin utilizing.

Gaspari Nutrition Licensed Two of the Brainiest Minds in the Supplement Industry

Wednesday, March 18th, 2009

Have you wondered what ever happened to Gaspari Halodrol 50? You should consider trying a new version created by Gaspari.

Welcome to Gaspari Halodrol Liquigels! Due to the contemporary political climate and media squeeze, the administrators at Gaspari resolved to end manufacturing Halodrol 50. Afterall, a pro hormone supplement product that works so well is certain to give somebody pause. Thus, Gaspari Nutrition licensed 2 of the brainiest minds in the supplement industry to produce a acceptable alternate for this really hot supplement and would give results synonymous to the old Halodrol 50.

Research Workers have created what is arguably the most advanced and thoughtful supplementation product ever seen in the supplementation industry.If you are searching for a product that gets results, try this product. Gaspari has tested to formulate premium merchandise that seem to do as they claim.

About the Author:Dr. Fabio Moro holds a doctorate in Human resource Development. He is an avid health enthusiast and amateur bodybuilder. He also runs an internet marketing consultancy assisting those that want to acquire an online presence. Dr. Fabio Moro is not a medical physician and whatsoever information found here is his own judgment based upon personal trials and individual knowledge. The information is not intended as a replacement for medical advice from a certified medical physician.

Burning Fat

Monday, October 13th, 2008

The more muscle a person has, the greater their metabolism is, which equates to the faster they burn calories. However, resistance training to build muscle is only one part of the equation. The other parts are cardiovascular conditioning and healthy eating. A lot of men that I have encountered feel that weight training is the only thing they need to do in order to get in shape, but wonder why they can never achieve the definition that comes as a result of adding cardio conditioning and healthy eating. If you are not dedicating enough time to any one of these three elements, you will most likely not achieve the results you strive for. Having said that, this edition’s column is dedicated to the importance of cardiovascular conditioning for fat burning.

Once you reach your desired weight, you only need maintain it, which usually requires you do cardio about three times per week, every other day, for 20 minutes. However, if you are training for a sport, the frequency and duration will be much different. Assuming you are not training for a sport, you will need to put more into your cardio workouts until you reach your desired weight. Since fat is not your body’s first choice of fuel (carbohydrates are), you stand a better chance of tapping into your fat stores if you perform your cardio workouts first thing in the morning before eating. The duration of your workouts should be approximately 45 minutes, four or more days per week for maximum results in order to rid your body of excess fat.

That leads to the next area of importanceintensity. To maximize your results and burn the most calories you can, you need to train at a high enough intensity. This is assuming that don’t have any health problems. If you do, consult with your physician before preceding any further. However, if you are healthy, begin whatever method of cardio (walking, bicycling, etc…) you choose at a moderate pace, and then progress from there. Once you have gotten your body used to the exercise, it is time to step it up a notch. If you are a veteran and have been exercising for a number of years, you can skip the slow start and begin with the next step, which is exercising in your training zone. To calculate your training zone, following the steps below:

1) Take the number 220, and subtract your age, then subtract your resting heart rate

2) Multiply that by (.5) and then add your resting heart rate back in. This gives you the low end of your training zone

3) Do the same calculation again, but use (.65) rather than (.5) to calculate the high end

Your final training zone may look something like 130-150 beats per minute, just for an example. Your job is to try to keep your exercising pulse in this zone for the duration of your cardio workout. Remember to warm up in the beginning and cool down at the end for three to five minutes. I was conservative when calculating your training zone, so after you achieve your desired weight, change the above numbers to (.6) for the low end and (.75) for the high.

Remember, cardiovascular conditioning is just one part of the whole fitness equation. Resistance training and healthy, supportive eating make up the other parts. Then throw in the all-important variables like consistency, proper rest, and supplementation to balance everything out!

EzineArticles Expert Author Melissa Allen

©Melissa Allen is a certified personal trainer, Blackbelt & fitness consultant, as well as the owner of Optimum Condition personal fitness training and kickboxing instruction. She is a self-syndicated columnist and a member of the San Diego Press Club and the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. She welcomes input from her readers, so please contact her with any questions or comments that you may have by calling (619) 252-4993, email her at Opticondit@aol.com, or visit her website at http://www.optimumcondition.com

Fat Loss – The Safe Approach!

Monday, October 13th, 2008

The problem that you face in promoting fat loss is evolution. The human body just loves to store fat. We use it for protection, insulation, and most important, as a source of fuel when we run out of food. This later point is highly unlikely in Western countries, but your body doesn’t know that. It still follows those storage mechanisms that have been developing over the past 4 or 5 million years. The problem for bodybuilders is that the body will burn just about anything else for fuel (i.e. muscle tissue, stored carbohydrate, etc.) before digging into the fat reserves.

The first thing your body turns to for fuel is carbohydrate in the form of stored glycogen. The next is muscle tissue, in the form of amino acids. Only when glycogen stores are depleted and a good degree of muscle wasting has occurred will the body start tapping into its stored fat supplies. It’s because of this reason that most fad diets don’t work, especially those ill-conceived “starvation” diets. When nutrient supplies are drastically reduced, a survival mechanism kicks in causing the body to convert just about everything it receives into fat.

For a bodybuilder trying to get ripped for a contest, it’s a never-ending battle to turn off these fat-storing mechanisms and speed up fat loss. At one time cardio and intelligent dieting were more than enough to achieve the desired results. But with each passing year the judges started awarding first place to the bodybuilders with the lowest body fat percentages. 12 percent became 10, 10 dropped to 6 to 8, and it’s now down in the 2 to 3 percent range. Few but the most genetically gifted or pharmacologically enhanced can ever hope to get this lean.

Faced with this “ripped is everything” mentality, many bodybuilders have succumbed to drugs to shed their bodies of body fat. The drugs of choice are usually thyroid medications. It’s been known for decades that the thyroid gland, a small gland located just behind the Adams Apple in the neck, contributes to body fat storage by controlling the body’s metabolism. When people develop thyroid problems they immediately start gaining fat. To combat this scientists have developed numerous drugs that either boost the thyroid’s natural output of hormones (called T3 and T4) or actually mimic the hormones.

As with steroids, when bodybuilders first heard about the fat-burning properties of these thyroid medications, they immediately began to add them to their precontest training arsenals. The results were spectacular. Thyroid drugs turn a bodybuilder’s body into a fat burning furnace. In fact the drugs are so effective that many pro bodybuilders can eat junk food right up to contest day.

Fat loss – but at what risk?

In theory, thyroid drugs sound great. But bodybuilders and fitness competitors who abuse these drugs for fat loss, especially over long periods of time are at great risk for developing chronic thyroid problems. As a result, the individuals might become dependent on the drugs for the rest of their lives. Other side effects attributed to thyroid drugs include:

trembling hands
irregular heartbeat
shortness of breath
excretion of sugar through the urine
excessive perspiration
diarrhea
weight loss
psychic disorders
trembling of hands
nausea
headaches
high perspiration

We are not going to continue to preach to you about the evils of thyroid drugs. You now know the risks so think twice about travelling down this dangerous road. With the science of supplementation becoming so advanced there are now products that promote fat loss just as effectively as thyroid drugs. Bodybuilders are reporting that most of these steroid alternatives will produce fat burning effects that are similar to thyroid drugs. They also have the added benefit of building muscle at the same time. Consider it a one-two punch. These safe and legal products have been designed with the best pharmaceutical grade ingredients available to maximize your bodybuilding potential. Check them out!

The previous information has been created by experts to help you increase your knowledge base about bodybuilding training and drugs. Be knowledgeable. Be informed. Make the right choice!

Bob Howard expert on bodybuilding and steroids. Are you
looking for more of his fat loss articles? http://www.steroids-information.com

©
Bob Howard 4/7/2006

The Benefits of Weightlifting

Friday, August 29th, 2008

Weightlifting is a sport with a long history. It was part of the first Olympic games held in 1896 and it is the only Olympic sport in which competitors use heavy weights. With time passing, weightlifting has developed into a body building technique as well. In fitness, weightlifting is also called weight training and is more popular with men than women.

Weightlifting in Competition

Weightlifting is a sport in which competitors are supposed to lift heavy weights. The sport is practised by both men and women. Weights are placed on steel barbells and they differ in color and heaviness.

There are two versions of weightlifting: the snatch, where competitors have to lift the barbell above their head in one single move, and the clean and jerk, where they first lift it up to their neck and then above their head. In both types of weightlifting, competitors have to keep the barbell above their head for a few seconds, while keeping their arms and legs still.

Weightlifters compete in eight series, depending on their body weight. There are three judges to decide whether the lift is successful or not. If a judge thinks it is successful, he shines a white light; if not, he shines a red light. If there are two white lights shining, the lift is considered a success. Prizes are usually given to competitors who have lifted the heaviest weight in snatch, clean and jerk and the two combined.

Weightlifting in Fitness

It was Hippocrates who first explained the principle of developing your muscles by weight training, when he said that what is used grows and what is not wastes away. Millions of men dreaming to develop their muscles are using weightlifting as a body building technique. If performed properly, weightlifting can provide important benefits to an individual’s health and well-being.

In fitness, weightlifting often involves lifting gradually increasing amounts of weight. This technique uses a wide variety of equipment to target different muscle groups. Some fitness trainers have adapted it to provide the positive effects of aerobic exercise. Weightlifting is part of the training program of many sportsmen.

As a muscle developing technique, weightlifting is based on the principle of gradual overload. Those who practice it overload their muscles by trying to lift at least as much weight as they are physically capable of. This way, the muscles respond by becoming larger and stronger. The procedure is repeated with heavier weights as the muscles strengthen. If not supervised, weightlifting can be quite risky, especially for beginners.

Generally, each exercise is repeated until the moment of muscular failure. Contrary to general belief, this is not the moment when the individual think he can no longer continue, but the first lift that fails because of inadequate muscle strength. While some fitness trainers agree with this principle, others claim that it leads to overtraining and that training to failure is suitable only for the last set of exercising.

Weightlifting can be a very effective work-out technique. You get to choose your exercises and the weights are adjusted to exhaust each muscle group after a certain number of repetitions. Moreover, unlike other exercises, weightlifting has a very high precision level, as the practitioner knows exactly when to stop.

Weightlifting has many other benefits. Both men and women can use it to improve their physical attractiveness. Men achieve this by growing their muscles, while women develop a firm, toned body. It also helps metabolism and increases fat loss. An interesting side effect of intense exercising is the rising level of serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine, which help with improving mood and overcoming depression. However, for some people, this can turn into almost an addiction, feeling an intense need to work out whenever they are in a bad mood.

See http://www.weightliftingnews.com for all the latest news and resources about weightlifting

Muscle Building Workouts – Build Muscle And Fitness The Right Way

Sunday, August 10th, 2008

Does this sound familiar to you?

You have goals for your muscle building workouts.
You follow a regime that allows you to achieve those
goals. You’re doing everything right. But, you fall
on your butt.

Then you find that you get back up and start the whole
process working on your muscle building workouts all
over again. Only to find that you keep falling down,
getting back up again and repeating this over and
over.

You do this until you think that you are never going
to achieve anything here. You think that this training
lark isn’t for you. So what do you do?

Yep, you give up.

Why does this happen and what can I do about it?

You’ve probably asked yourself that question many
times. But you may have found that you never came up
with a real answer. You blame the muscle building
workouts and everything that led you to it.

So what is the real problem?

It seems that you have the right muscle building
workouts. You may have goals in mind of what you would
like to achieve with that training routine.

Maybe you’re doing one, or more, of the following:

* Having bad, or no, warm up sessions.
* Not eating enough.
* Not taking enough fluids.
* Training too much.
* Lifting excessive weights.
* Not getting enough sleep.

These are all very common to all muscle and fitness
workouts, no matter what sport you do.

These are easily identified and remedied. Just go
through each one of these and see if they apply to
you. If so, then identify why this is the case. Having
done that, you need to find the right solution to fix
it. You do this in a systematical manner, until you
have fully identified what is wrong, the reason for it
going wrong and the appropriate solution for it.

For example:

Lets say that you not experiencing any growth in your
biceps. Ask yourself some questions of your muscle and
fitness workouts:

Question: What is wrong?
Answer: My biceps are not growing.

Question: What are the possible causes, and why?
Answer: The exercise may be done too quickly, or maybe
I’m cheating in my training, or maybe there isn’t
enough weight on the barbell.

Question: What can be done to remedy this?
Answer: Improve my form when doing this exercise.
Reduce the weight so that I don’t cheat and to keep
me more strict. Or increase the weight on the barbell
to promote more growth in this area.

So you see, you need to identify the problem first. If
you don’t do this, you cannot fix it up. Then you must
identify what the possible causes are so that you can
offer up appropriate solutions to remedy the
situation. Just go through each solution, one at a
time, until you are satisfied with the results.

This requires patience and dedication. Most people
will not put in the time to find out why they’re going
wrong. Instead they spend a lot of money and waste a
lot of time trying out different solutions. Whereas,
what they should have done first was to seek the
answer within themselves. Then seek the appropriate
solution elsewhere suitable for their muscle building
workouts — only if that solution is outside of their
grasp.

Tony Farrell makes it easier for you to achieve your muscle and fitness goals. Learn the essential 3 keys to paving the way to your goals. Get your free mini-course now. http://www.think-and-grow-muscle-and-fitness.com