Fit and Youthful Life

Guest Author: Chuck Smalley


In my early adult years, I was a reasonably fit guy. I paid some attention to my fitness level, but I wasn’t fanatical about it. Not surprisingly, things changed in my forties. I was no longer able to maintain a reasonable fitness level without concentrated effort. In fact, by the time I was 44, I was out of shape and overweight. I had little energy and many outdoor activities were not fun anymore. I was not getting sufficient exercise.

It is a simple fact that as we age, if we do not exercise, we will begin to lose muscle mass and gain body fat. Our metabolism slows, and this slow but steady downward spiral will catch up to us eventually. Our fitness level will degrade unless we counteract this with a physical fitness exercise program that includes a muscle building component.

I knew that I wanted, and needed, to regain a healthy fitness level. I tried various forms of exercise including jogging, hiking, walking and working out with light weights. I also made changes to my diet. And I had various levels of success with each.

What really turned the corner for me was finding the right combination of a weight training – muscle building exercise routine, with aerobic exercise and a proper nutrition diet. While it is always important to begin gradually when initiating a new exercise and fitness routine, it was not until I started pushing myself with weights that I began to notice significant progress. My wife noticed too. Initially, I had been doing 3-4 sets of 4-5 different exercises, 2-3 times per week. That is not bad. However, I was not really challenging myself. I was typically doing 15 reps of each exercise, which meant that the weight that I was using was fairly low. Again, this is not a bad thing. But what I did not realize is that rather than building new muscle tissue, I was mainly building muscle endurance instead.

But building muscle endurance, instead of building new muscle, is not going to transform your body like intense weight training exercise will. Weight training, also known as resistance training, builds muscle, which in turn increases your metabolic rate. And that change in metabolic rate is sustained throughout the day, not just while you are working out. It takes energy, and burns calories, to maintain and build new muscle. It is the exercising of muscle during a workout, followed by muscle rebuilding after a workout, that provides the desired transformation. This applies to both men’s fitness and women’s fitness. And an effective muscle building fitness workout does not require extensive home exercise equipment or an expensive gym membership. Satisfying results can be achieved with a few dumbbells and a small bench.

So, what changed for me? I changed my weight lifting workouts from usually doing 12 to 15 reps of each exercise, to a more intensive routine that provides more muscle resistance. For each exercise, I start with 12 reps and a moderate warm-up weight. On each successive set, I increase the weight and reduce the number of reps. I increase the weight on the second set and do 10 reps. For set 3, I increase the weight again, performing 8 reps. On set 4, the weight is increased again, and I do 6 reps. On the final set I change things up and decrease the weight to the amount used in set 3 and do 12 reps. This is known as an exhaustion set.

On each weight training workout, I keep written notes of my workout and progress. I then adjust the weight used for each exercise based upon how I perform on set 4. If set 4 was too easy, then I know I need to increase the weights used, starting with sets 1 or 2. The process is iterative but this is an important key. I want to keep increasing my weights until the last 1 or 2 reps on set 4 are difficult. I really push myself on this set. If I can actually perform 8 reps on this set when my target was only 6 reps, then I need to increase the weight.

The point of all this, is that I am now lifting heavier and with greater intensity than when I first started. As a result, I am building muscle and this has made a significant difference in my results. My fitness level is up. My body fat is down. I feel better and have more energy. Fitness over 40 is attainable, but consider weight training exercise as a component to build and tone healthy muscle for better fitness. It is important to combine this with proper nutrition, vitamins, aerobic activity, and sufficient rest. Good luck on your journey!

Guest Author: Rando Meresmaa


If you want to lose fat with only diets and without any aerobic or weight training then you are destined to fail. Going on a strict diet will almost certainly make you lose lean body mass. Weight training is the only way to keep your lean body mass whilst dieting for fat loss. Keeping your lean body mass is very important because the more muscle you have the more calories you burn at rest.

Most people often have only pieces of a puzzle and that is why they never lose fat permanently. To lose fat permanently you need the right nutrition, cardio training, weight training and motivation. If you leave out one or the other then losing fat is very difficult. The effects of these four disciplines put together are far greater than the sum of their parts. That is called “synergism.” Synergism means that 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 might not equal four, it might equal 10, 50 or 250. And weight training is one of these very important factors.

Weight training has a huge impact on fat loss. It is not only building muscle or increasing strength. Weight training increases your lean body mass (LBM). The faster your LBM is the faster your metabolic rate is and the faster your metabolic rate is the more calories you burn at rest. The more muscle you have the faster your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is.

Example:

BMR (men and women) = 370 + (21.6 X lean mass in kg)

If someone weighs 75 kg and has 20% bodyfat then the lean body mass (LBM) is 60 kg.

BMR= 370+(21.6×60)

BMR= 1 666 calories

But if he had 10% bodyfat and also weighed 75 kg, then his LBM would be 67.5 kg. If you do the same calculation again then now he would burn 1828 calories. That is an extra 162 calories a day. There are 3500 calories in a pound of stored body fat. 3500 divided by the extra 162 calories would be 21.6. That would be an extra 1 pound of fat lost after every 22 days. If you previously had any doubts if weight training burns fat then now you know.

Guest Author: Mike Carter


If you are bodybuilding or weight training and are not taking any nutritional supplements, you absolutely will not even come close to reaching your full potential. You do not need any type of steroid or pro hormones or anything like that, but natural health supplements are needed to help your body recover and build muscle efficiently and healthily.

It is a well known fact that working out, whether it is aerobic or resistance, is very healthy and beneficial to our bodies. However, vigorous workouts also put stress on our bodies and can take a toll, particularly if we do not have the proper nutrients and vitamins in our bodies. We need the proper nutrients to even begin building muscle, and we also need nutrients and antioxidants to help our bodies recover from our workouts before we can even begin to try building muscle. So what dietary supplements are absolutely essential for our workouts?

The most basic nutritional supplement is also the absolute most important: protein. Protein is a basic nutrient found in many foods, and it is absolutely critical to building muscle. Although it is found in many food sources, it is difficult to ingest enough protein from our diets alone. If you are weight training and trying to add muscle, you should ingest about 1.5 grams of protein for every pound that you weigh. So, for example, a person who weighs 100 lbs. should ingest about 150 grams of protein per day! In general, whey protein is the best. It is absorbed easily and quickly by the body, and is the perfect post workout protein supplement. However, if you cannot take whey protein, there are other options.

Another highly effective nutritional supplement is also one of the most popular supplements today: creatine. Creatine occurs naturally in the body, but in very low doses. Supplementing creatine has been proven to help add muscle mass quickly, but that is not all. Creatine supplements also have been shown to help increase strength, energy, and recovery time from workouts. After protein, creatine is the best nutritional supplement to add to your regimen. Taking both protein and creatine with an effective workout regimen is sure help you gain strength and muscle very quickly.

Another incredibly popular bodybuilding supplement is Nitric Oxide, or NO. While I wouldn’t quite put this in the category of protein and creatine, if you are looking to take that next step and really increase your gains in the weight room, I would definitely recommend taking Nitric Oxide. NO basically increases blood flow throughout your body, helping you to workout longer with less fatigue, and helping your body stay in the muscle building phase for much longer.

By adding these supplements to your workout regimen (along with a multi-vitamin), you will be sure to see significant gains in strength and muscle. You will also recover from your workouts much faster. If you are not taking supplements already, this is a no-brainer: start taking these nutritional supplements immediately.



Secret of Youth

Guest Author: Eddie Lomax


I’m just going to come out and say it.

Stop bodybuilding and start athletic weight training. If you are not a bodybuilder, or aspire to be one, then don’t train like one. Bodybuilding training is great for bodybuilding, but it is not the answer for a high level of fitness or an attractive, athletic body. There, I said it.

Just so we’re clear, here is what I mean when I say bodybuilding. Bodybuilding uses sets, reps and loads with only one goal in mind, building muscle. The exercise selection strives to isolate muscles and treats the body as a collection of specific muscles. Often, split routines are used where the body is split into different parts and trained in groups, like back and bi, chest and tri, etc.

Sound familiar?

The “success” of a bodybuilding program is based on appearance, not performance. The size and shape of the muscles are the goal, the only goal. (Of course, fat loss plays a role, but is done only so you can SEE the muscles better, and not for health or performance reasons.) Quite frankly, health and performance are of no consequence, and in my opinion are often sacrificed in the quest for bigger muscles.

So, why do so many exercisers who aren’t bodybuilders end up doing bodybuilding routines?

One of the driving forces to exercise is to look better. You look in the mirror and notice you are out of shape. Literally, your shape is out of whack. You’re covered in fat in places you shouldn’t be, and lacking in muscle where it should be. Changing your appearance is the main goal. Since the only goal of bodybuilding is changing appearance by building large muscles and eliminating fat covering them, it is easy to see how people make the transition to bodybuilding training.

But, more often than not, bodybuilding does not fit with the overall goals of the exerciser. How many times have I heard, “I want to put on some muscle, but I don’t want to look like a bodybuilder!” Too many to count.

In my opinion, most exercisers want the strong, lean, athletic body of an athlete. They want a body with strong, hard muscles and void of fat. But they also want to feel and perform better. They want their weight training to improve health and enable them to meet the challenges of sport, work and life with excellence. So, they want to be more like an athlete than a bodybuilder.

Athletic weight training is better for most exercisers goals than bodybuilding training. It treats you as an athlete, not a bodybuilder. This change in weight training helps you perform better and feel better, and results in the muscular, lean, athletic body most exercisers want.

So ask yourself. Do you want to look like an athlete or a bodybuilder? If you answer “bodybuilder”, then you already know what to do. (Most of the information on weight training is based on bodybuilding practices). If you answer “athlete”, you’re going to have to look a little harder. But finally reaching your fitness, fat loss and physique goals make it worth the effort!



Look 10 Years Younger