Fit and Youthful Life

Guest Author: Dane Fletcher


Whether preparing for an upcoming show, or just trying to keep body fat low, cardiovascular training is an important part of all bodybuilders’ routines. When trying to add mass, cardio should be done at a minimum, but for health reasons it should never be completely deleted. Cardio strengthens the cardiovascular and respiratory system, and gives you a stronger heart and lungs.

It’s often hard to get to the gym four or five times per week to train with weights. It’s even harder to make the trip 5 times a week for cardio, especially if you (wisely) decide to do cardio training in the morning to burn the most body fat, performed on an empty stomach upon waking. For these situations, a home cardio solution is a great idea. But which works best? Let’s examine the options.

Walking or running

This it the easiest option – put on shoes, open the door, and go for it. Cost is free, and it can be done anytime. However, drawbacks do exist. Weather can prevent you from running – it’s very hard to spend 45 minutes in the elements when it’s ten below zero, or a sweltering 90 degrees. Also if you live in a bad neighborhood, utilizing a predictable walking schedule might make you a target.

Exercise bike

This is a favorite of many due to the low-impact nature of the movement, as well as the fact you can very easily watch television while training. Time does pass quickly on a stationary bike. One drawback is the low intensity nature of the machine. It cannot deliver the same kind of full body workout as other machines.

Elliptical

Elliptical machines are very popular in gyms, but less popular for homes due to their size (big), weight (heavy) and cost ($500 and up for a quality machine). They are very effective for full body workouts.

Rowing machine

This very effective piece of equipment suffers from the same fate as the elliptical. It is highly effective for cardiovascular purposes, but also large and expensive. If you have the space and can afford it, a rower is a terrific investment.

Stationary stepper

This small piece of equipment is available for under $50, and it is used by a surprising number of athletes. It’s the size of a shoebox and provides no upper body balance, but it is easily stored and used, and provides full ability to walk or run using very little space.



Mother Nature’s Magic Pill

Guest Author: David Done


io Burn Muscle?

If you want to finally burn fat but you are worried about burning muscle, I have some astonishing news about the best fat burning cardio and resistance training exercises that will set you free from fat loss plateaus without causing you to do so much cardio that you burn muscle.

I get a lot of emails from confused dieters and men and women who want to lose weight, but fear they are doing so much cardio exercise that it will cause them to burn muscle and lower their metabolism.

Information like this outrages me, because with all this confusion, it’s not your fault that you are struggling with fat loss, because there are too many people trying to confuse you with science. After all, you’ve tried all that cardio and dieting but you’re still not where you want to be.

So here’s what you need to do. First, we don’t need to do cardio in the first place. So that will get rid of our worries that the cardio will burn muscle. You should be using short, burst interval training workouts instead, since they help you burn belly fat in less time.

Second, it’s actually hard to lose muscle. If you are doing total body resistance training workouts two or three times per week, you will not lose muscle, even if you are eating a very low calorie diet. (And you don’t even need that much protein either!)

Dr. Stu is one of my long-term Turbulence Training clients, and he’s been working out at 5:30am in the morning on an empty stomach for years. However, he’s not doing this because there is any magic fat burning effect. He’s just doing that because he is the busy father of 3 boys!

So he gets up, goes to the gym, does his resistance training workouts, and finishes off with high-intensity cardio or interval training. And his cardio workouts do not burn muscle.

In fact, he went from 15.6% down to 11.7% body fat and MAINTAINED my lean mass (and strength actually increased a little). He’s working muscles he hadn’t used in years, and is noticeably more muscled – that’s not bad for a guy who’ll turn 38 next week!

Plus, even when he travels, he’s up early doing bodyweight exercises in place of cardio and to avoid losing muscle from inactivity. After all, the only real way to lose muscle is to do endless amounts of cardio, cut your calories, and avoid all resistance training.

But with the Turbulence Training bodyweight workouts, he still gets an incredible cardiovascular challenge as well as a big shock for your muscles. If you don’t think you can get stronger and leaner using bodyweight exercises, think again! Bodyweight workouts work when they are based on good science and good planning.

I bet you knew all along that cardio wasn’t the best way to lose fat, even though all the out of shape trainers at your gym kept telling you it was. Well, now you have something better to use to burn fat and to avoid losing muscle.

Stick with the Turbulence Training resistance workouts (even using bodyweight exercises) and interval training in place of long, slow cardio workouts, and you burn fat, not muscle.

Learn More:

Learn more about the fat loss workout at Turbulence Training.



The Real Youth Potion

Guest Author: Holly Stevens


When deciding to purchase yoga equipment in a online store or shop it usually wise to have a look at the gear they are selling and check price points. There is a number of kit that you can buy for yoga. There are mats, clothing, chairs and bolsters. This is just to name a few yoga products others include books, videos and music. With yoga growing more popular the amount of equipment that can be got is greatly increasing. Now that it is recognised as a great way to improve health and fitness more people are willing to part with their money to buy the right kit.

One good thing about yoga is that it can be practiced almost anywhere and by all people of all ages. When doing yoga it is best to wear loose and comfortable clothing. Yoga is traditionally done and practiced barefoot, but if this does not suit you, you can just wear socks or soft-shoes.

It is also best to practice yoga on an empty stomach. Empty your stomach, clean your nostril and throat, and consume a glass of warm water 15 minutes before you start. You may drill on energy bars, fruits or drink a glass of water an hour before class to avoid getting hungry or dehydrated during yoga sessions.

It is said earlier that you basically don’t need anything in order to practice yoga. All you need is the desire and the attitude to really be into yoga and expand your self awareness. There is equipment out there that can help you to practice your yoga postures better.

It helps you achieve the proper alignment, balance and makes the pose a little bit easier to do. The use of Yoga equipments also lessen out the stress and strain from doing your yoga positions. There are yoga accessories out there that will help you support your muscles and refrains you from any muscle injuries. This kind of gear also help to save energy by exerting less effort on a pose.

After a thousand of years in existence, Yoga has already been part of everybody’s lifestyle from any part of the world. From India, yoga has evolved through the years and reaches the United States and other countries extending a different yet proven effective form of achieving self balance that results to utmost health be it physical, mental or spiritual.

Now millions of people around the world practice Yoga to cope with stress, feel renewed and energized, release tension, achieve a healthier and fitter body and gain a deep sense of self-knowledge. Doing yoga is not just about postures, there is also one vital part of yoga that we can never live without, and these are yoga equipments.

When starting out yoga, the basic equipment that you will need are

Mats: these yoga equipment provides cushioning on a hard floor, this specially needed if your yoga studio floor is made up of cement or hard wood floor.

This will help you to provide traction for your hand and feet thus prevents you from slipping or sliding on a wrong position when your doing your yoga postures

Bolsters: This provides support for your spine, abdomen and legs in a number of different poses.

Yoga bolsters helps you achieve the utmost result of your practice.

Blankets: this will help you to feel relaxed and comfortable which is essential in the practice of yoga.

Straps: this will either be made out of cotton or nylon. This allows you to grasp your body part which you cannot.

Yoga straps give you added flexibility and holds your pose a little bit much longer.

Such yoga gear may not be a requirement for doing yoga but through times they have been proven to be helpful in their own simple ways.

They have been useful to yoga practitioners especially to those who are suffering from ailments and the elderly. Most are made to provide support to help you feel relaxed and feel deeper into the pose or do a pose better.



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