Fit and Youthful Life

Guest Author: Jason Szova


Gone now are the days when weight training is done by competitors in bodybuilding. Gone now are the days when only the guys would make their muscles firm in an attempt to show their strength. Today, even women know the benefits of building strong muscles and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

So if you are a descendant of Venus and yet you want to be firm, strong and healthy, follow these weight training guides:

Work Harder

Men’s anatomical structure is different from those of women. While men can easily firm up their body through simple weight training, you cannot. Women need to work harder compared to men in order to achieve the same results. While this is clearly unfair, you can blame hormones and body electrolytes for this.

Keep the Training Balanced

What is the concentration of your training? Do you concentrate on you upper body, your legs, or your butt? Balance is the key. Work on every part of your body. There is no use having a perfect-toned leg if your butt sags like hell. The same is true to the general workout of your body. Are you improving your stamina or your strength? Balance these things as well as you are after a total body wellness, not a weight lifting competition.

Eat Well

You need to put back the energy you lost during weight training. Eat right and eat only the foods that will help you in your weight training. Do not eat anything just because you are hungry. If you do this, you will lose the very purpose of your weight training. Some women would just slack off after a hard day of weight training, do not be like them. Keep on your training and keep the protein in your food coming.

Burn More Fats

Ever heard no pain, no gain? If you are weight training you need to burn fats consistently. Play by the numbers. The more leg exercise you do, the better those legs would be. As you burn fat your muscles become firmer and more toned.

Big Tree Trainings

In the world of body building they have what they call the big tree exercises. You don’t need to go the park to do this. If you are on weight training, then its time for you to do some deadlifts, squats and the bench presses. Do this religiously and you will impress, even yourself.

Have a Regular Workout Habit

Having a regular workout habit makes you disciplined. It also makes your muscles and body adjusted to the task. If you set your mind towards the goal of having a sexier and firmer body, you whole body will follow. Try doing your weight training on a regular basis, not only when you feel it. Have a regular schedule and don’t break it. If decided to workout every other day, then work out every other day.

Set Goals

Goals will keep you focused, and nothing is impossible for focused women undergoing a good weight training plan. If you want to lose fat by training then focus on achieving that goal. Goal keeps us on track and we are on track we can accomplish anything.



Instant Wrinkle Reducer

Guest Author: Alien


Weight training is something resisting to the natural movements in order to make the movements firmer and also difficult. It encourages the muscles to become stronger as well.

Importance of weight train and the equipments

Weight training increases the fitness in the body of the individual. Weight training does this by increasing the muscle intensity or strength and also endurance. It also helps in the heightening of the system of cardiovascular. It maintains the fat in human body to a satisfactory limit. Weight training should always be included in anyone’s fitness program.

Weight training can be done with free weight or with weight machines. Weight machines are more expensive and also easily adaptable with any kind of body types whether it is larger and smaller. Weights in the weight machines are safer as because it is controllable there. But to start with free weight is alright. With multiple purpose weight machines, many persons can exercise at the same time within a small space. If someone is free weights a bar bells or dumbbells should be selected for the upper appendages while bar bells for the lower one. Weight belts should be used for any type of weight lifting while weight gloves are not that important. Athletic shoes are important as because these can give steady floor strength.

Precautions taken before starting weight training

It is important to consult with a physician before starting weight training programs. If the age is above thirty or have any sort of physical problems he or she should talk to a doctor. If the problem is bones related, an orthopedist should be consulted. In order to avoid injuries at the time of weight training some precautions should be taken. As for example it is important to wear right kind of clothing. The weight training area should be clean and also free of. Adequate quantity of water should be taken at the time of weight lifting, it is also important to take adequate rest. Eating should be sensible. At the beginning warm up section should be there and just after that stretching is must before starting actual weight training program. While doing bench presses or squats, a spotter should be used. These weight-training exercises should be accompanied with someone. This action helps the individual in many ways.

While starting weight training programs a goal should be established at the mind of the individual. There are different reasons for which weight training is necessary and these include getting good muscular tone, building muscle strength for the improvement of sports performance or to restore the injured muscle. For different actions there are different types of exercises present. Weight training programs for beginners

Guest Author: Darren O’Connell


Weight training makes a person healthy, fit and strong. It is not just for people who want to build muscle, but for everyone who likes to stay fit and keep the excess weight off.

If you want to get in shape or stay in shape you can walk, run or cycle every morning, play sports with friends, but if you want to have muscles and look lean, then lifting some weights either at the gym or at home is your best bet.

People go to the gym for many reasons. eg:

To lose a few pounds if they are overweight.

To gain a few pounds (of muscle) if they are underweight.

To get fit and Healthy.

To get strong.

The most effective exercise plan for most should have some cardiovascular work and mostly weight training exercises. This helps burn calories and increase the muscle to fat ratio better than cardiovascular work alone.

Some Benefits of Weight training:

1. It is the best way to maintain and improve ones health from a variety of diseases and premature death.

2. It makes a person feel better and increases ones self confidence, prevents depression, anxiety

and gloom.

3. A weight training lifestyle helps a person live longer than an inactive person.

4. It instils discipline into a person, making other things in life easy.

5. It makes one stronger physically and mentally.

To start: one should consult a physician to get the go ahead and then get into it gradually.

Getting stronger, fitter, healthier week by week building up more endurance will be of great benefit to you.

Aim for 3 or 4 days a week working out, this is sufficient no matter what your goals are.

Maintain a reasonable diet.

You could consult with a professional to get an excellent eating plan to match your goals and gym

activities.They will evaluate you based on your needs, and recommend a diet plan.

A good diet should have nutrients from all the food groups.

This is made up by 3 basic groups.

The first is carbohydrates.The energy source. The food that a person consumes should have vitamins, minerals and some fiber. A lot of this comes from oats, rice, potatoes, cereals and breads, and also from vegetables and fruits since these have phytochemicals, enzymes and micronutrients that are essential for a healthy diet.

The Second is Protein. The building blocks of muscle and essential organs.This comes from fish, chicken, red meat and dairy. Protein is broken down in the body to form amino acids for repair and

growth of new cells.

The third is fat. The body’s enemy, according to most.There are 4 types of fat: Saturated (the bad) from animals, the more animal fat you consume the higher your blood cholesterol will rise, increasing the risk of a malfuntion in the body.Should be taken in small quantities.Sources are: Beef, dairy, coconut oil.

Polyunsaturated (the good) Comes from plants, reduces blood cholesterol. Sources are: nuts,fish, safflower oil, seeds, corn oil and sunflower oil.

Monounsaturated (the best) also comes from plants, raises the good cholesterol.Sources are: Avocado,

olive oil, olives, nuts, canola oil and peanut butter.

Trans fats (the ugly) This is relatively new, the effects are unknown, it is believed that they behave like saturated fat (the bad) causing blood cholesterol levels to rise.

The consumption of fats (the good fats) is important for our health. They are used in the production of hormones and other activities.We do need some fat, but do limit the bad.

A great way to help your efforts in the gym is to give up some detrimental habits such as smoking and drinking alcohol. Smoking damages the lungs and dramatically increases the risk of lung cancer along with other diseases. Excessive drinking has also been shown to causes major diseases.

These two habits are definitely not worth having around.

The best thing one can do for themselves is to quit any destructive habits they have and get into that gym, start pumping some iron and look forward to greater Health and Fitness.

For more information on Weight training, Health, Fitness and Nutrition visit: www.explosivemusclegrowth.com

Guest Author: Dane Fletcher


Many bodybuilders do cardio only by the clock. They know they have to hop on the treadmill and knock out 30 or 45 minutes’ worth of plugging away, and they’re done. Some more educated bodybuilders will occasionally attempt to tailor their program, opting for custom incline/intensity levels or perhaps keeping an eye on calories burned. The most intelligent bodybuilders will take heart rate into consideration when completing their cardio, in order to garner the most effective results.

Bodybuilders should be training at their optimal heart rate, which is 50 to 60 percent of their maximum heart rate. There are several steps to calculating this number.

- First, find your maximum heart rate (MHR). This is easy. Subtract your age from the number 220. If you are 30 years old, then your maximum heart rate is 220 minus 30, or 190

- Next, multiply your MHR by .50, and write down this number. This is you’re your optimal minimum.

- Next, multiply your MHR by .60, and write down this number. This number is your optimal maximum.

Now, as you complete your cardio, try to keep your heart rate between your optimal minimum and optimal maximum. It’s that easy!

In bodybuilding, “the more the better!” axiom often rings true. The more weight you lift, the bigger your muscles become. The more food you eat, the bigger you get. The more sleep you get, the better rested you become. However, in the case of cardio training intensity, more is not necessarily better. Training at heart rates of 70% or more will lead to the body consuming muscle to keep up with such an intense workload, instead of utilizing carbohydrates in the body or fat stores.

Training at levels of 50 to 60 percent is perfect for bodybuilders. If you find that 30 minutes at 50-60% is not leading to desired loss of body fat, raise the duration to 45 minutes, or use a split session (one in the morning and one following your weight training). If this additional cardio training does not help, it’s time to re-evaluate your current diet and supplementation program. Cut daily calories by 300-500, add ECA or Tridenosen, and you should be on your way to a leaner physique.



Look Young Again

Guest Author: Ann Marier


Yoga DVD’s are hosted by knowledgeable yoga experts that guide the listener through the series of exercises. The instructional DVD’s will be intended for different skill levels from beginner to advanced and something to challenge nearly everyone.

Beginners

Choosing the right yoga DVD to begin with is as simple as looking for the words beginner on the packaging. Choosing an AM/PM regiment for beginners or a total body yoga program would probably be best for people who have never taken a yoga class. These types of yoga DVD’s will teach the basic poses making learning more advanced yoga techniques possible.

Other choices for beginner yoga DVD’s include those for back support, weight loss, stomach sculpting, children, and seniors. Each instructor uses a calming well paced voice to lead the listener through yoga stretches and poses, helping them to make the essential, body mind connection. Some yoga DVD’s have different sections within them, which will allow the person learning yoga to use a more difficult variation of their routine as they become stronger. They also have an advanced routine with the same poses teaching the person how to gradually advance their flexibility and stamina.

Intermediate

Intermediate yoga DVD’s are intended for people who already know many of the basic yoga poses and are fit and limber enough to not be challenged by beginner exercises any longer. Intermediate DVD’s will have challenging poses that will deeply stretch the muscles and can help over all health. Yoga DVD’s are intended to bring the health benefits of yoga to anyone who is interested in learning the art form. Power yoga is a combination of cardiovascular exercises and intermediate to advanced yoga poses that give the entire body a feeling of wellness and exhilaration.

Advanced

Advanced yoga DVD’s are intended to challenge people who have been working at the intermediate level long enough to need deeper stretches and to learn more exercise and relaxation techniques. Some Advanced yoga DVD’s will give the person practicing yoga the skill-set to create their own routine. Some of these forms can include yoga trance dancing, total body power yoga, and complete body yoga routines. Most of these allow the individuals to express themselves by combining their yoga poses in different combinations.

Yoga DVD’s can be a fun and easy way to learn yoga, supplement yoga lessons, continue learning yoga in between locations when traveling or moving to a new city or state. Yoga is a fun, relaxing way to exercise the body and mind. People all over America are using yoga to be more physically fit and to escape from the daily stress of a fast paced life.

Guest Author: Gordon Chandler


A Plateau Should Be a Geographical Land Mark…Not A Limiting Factor In Your Weight Training

“Plateau” is not the way you want to think of your weight training program.  Especially when the internet defines plateau as “a period during training when there is no apparent improvement in performance even though practice continues”.  This is sometimes referred to as the “plateau of despond” and when you pump arm-curls out day after day with no visible gains then you know exactly why it is so named!  We all know the reason muscles grow is that they are asked to perform tasks that are outside their current level of capability.  When these muscles become too accustomed to the kind of work asked of them they become stale and a plateau is reached.    Until you discover the reason for the staleness and correct it you remain at this stand-still and further growth will elude you.

If your training program has remained the same for too long you invite a plateau into your life.  Perform the same exercises with exactly the same number of repetitions lifting the identical weight day after day and you are inviting a plateau into your life.  The muscles you work with these exercises become accustomed to the work and deny growth.  As long as you deny change your body finds that increased growth is not necessary to complete the tasks.

Change your workout routines.  Plateaus generally are reached when the workout intensity no longer challenges the body.  Solution: increase the intensity of what you are doing.  If you are not experiencing desired growth then increase the amount of work you are asking your body to do.  Rather than four or five repetition sets of ten bicep curls increase this amount to eight or nine reps (or the other choice would be to increase the number of curls in a set).  You muscles will respond to the change and growth should resume.  However, do not make the mistake of decreasing your workout demands.  Your muscles have already slacked off so why give them reason to slack off more?

Perhaps you are at this plateau because you are bored?  This might be a hint to explore a bit of cross-training in your routine.  If you enjoy bicycling then incorporate a “power-ride” into your weekly workouts for a change.  Or perhaps swimming is one of your loves.  It will not hurt one bit to take a swim or two each week as part of your daily workouts.  Cross-training should keep your programs interesting and as well may help reduce your body fat or increase the oxygenation abilities of your pulmonary system. 

The one thing you do not want is to let this weight training plateau become a pitfall to your future health.  Your body has adjusted to your demands and is looking for something different.  Vary your work out method, vary the type of food you eat or the amount of sleep per night.  Change something; change the type of included exercises, include different types of workout machinery you use or alter your schedule to a different hour of the day.  Whatever you do this is not the time to quit.  Discover other methods of challenging your body and your rewards will be two-fold. First you will work yourself off this plateau and resume the muscle mass growth you are after.  And secondly you will allow yourself additional knowledge in the area of bodybuilding and weight training.

Guest Author: Chung Leong Yu


Try this weight training routine and get as sculpted as possible and as soon as possible. To push your body to the next level, you have to change your weight training program and avoid getting stuck in the rut. Many people actually are in a plateau phase which they did not know of and in the end of the day, they would not get the sculpted body that they wanted because their muscles are just not responding to their weight training plan anymore.

For muscles to respond and get optimum results, they need to be exercised extra hard and kept on guessing. There for, for change, it is recommended that high intensity technique is applied once a while to give the muscle a shock.

One of the best ways to shock the muscle is by using this weight training routine, which uses a technique, called superset. Superset is a method where by 2 exercises for 2 opposing body part is done back to back without rest. Two exercises for one body part done back to back can also be used as a superset.

The purpose of using this technique is to actually keep the intensity high and to keep the heart rate high as well. For example, if we use a chest and back superset exercise, the back muscle is at rest while the chest muscle is worked. When its time to work the back muscle, the chest muscle is at rest and have time to recover and by the time the chest muscle is worked again, it would already recovered.

For superset with the same muscle group, the purpose is to really exhaust the muscle group and kick the stubborn muscle so that it will grow! A good example is to do a bench press followed by a chest dumbbell flyes. Chest dumbbell flyes is an isolation exercise and it will really compliment the bench press, which is a compound exercise. Again, this will keep your heart rate high in the fat burning mode and shock the muscle.

Check Out This Free Weight Training Routine To Get A Sculpted Body For Chest And Back

1. Chin ups superset with Bench Press

2. Bent over barbell rows superset with push ups till failure

3. Seated cable rows superset with chest cable flyes

4. Close grip pull downs superset with dips till failure

Check Out This Free Weight Training Routine To Get A Sculpted Body For Biceps And Triceps

1. Standing bicep curls with close grip push ups

2. Seated 45 degree dumbbell biceps curls with standing triceps push down

3. Standing cable bicep curls with standing triceps rope extensions

4. Standing bicep hammer curls with bent over triceps kickback

Check Out This Free Weight Training Routine To Get A Sculpted Body For Quads And Hamstrings

1. Seated leg extensions with seated hamstrings curls

2. Leg press with straight leg dead lifts.

Check Out This Free Weight Training Routine To Get A Sculpted Body For Shoulders

1. Dumbbell shoulder press with standing lateral raises.

2. Bent over rear delt reverse raises with barbell upright rows

3. Standing dumbbell front raises and shrugs

The repetition range you should be doing is around ten to twelve. If you go above that chances are you may puke because its so intense! Choose moderate heavy weights and include this workout at least once to twice a month.

Guest Author: Alien


Weight training is very safe to perform when it is done under proper guidance in slow, careful and controlled manner. But the improper execution of weight training may lead to injury. When the exercise is difficult to execute at the end of the exercise set the tendency to use other muscle groups to assist the method is quite common. This might result in involvement of the weaker muscles that cannot bear the weight. This results in serious injuries. So weight-training exercises must be performed in a proper way under proper guidance.

Whenever a pain is felt during the exercise should be stopped. But all discomforts do not necessarily mean that there is injury. Weight training exercises should be brief and intense. Not many people can accustom them with weight training. The expression ‘no pain, no gain’ is quite apt here and it indicates working through the discomfort resulted from vigorous effort. But negligence of extreme pain is dangerous as this might be the sign of soft-tissue injury.

Muscle Fatigue in Weight Training

Discomfort during weight training can result due to other factors. The trainee who repeats the set of exercises again and again can experience burning sensations in their muscles. This is not resulted from lactic-acid build up, as is believed popularly. In these cases a sense of swelling in the muscles may also be experienced due to the increased blood flow. True muscle fatigue involves the motor unit of the nervous system rather than only the muscle fibers. Temporary muscle failure may result in extreme neural fatigue. Most of the athletes experience muscle failure during their career from time to time.

Safety Measures during Weight Training

To maintain the safety during weight training beginners are recommended to build up slowly during the weight training program. The individuals who do not take weight training might have comperatively stronger muscles than other. If the primary muscles are stonger than the stabilizing muscles in an exercise, this might result in injury. So slow building up is recommended as this help to develop the muscle strength as well as minimize the delayed onset of muscle soreness. A sudden start to a weight training program can lead ti significant amount of muscle soreness. Weight trainers should spend five to twenty minutes of warming up and aerobic exercises before the original workout to avoid injury. The muscles should also be stretched after the exercise. The exercises should be performed at even pace. At least two to four seconds are needed to avoid jerks in the muscle leading to their damage. This provides more safety during weight training.



Fountain Of Youth

Guest Author: Stephen Patterson


The Holy Grail!!! If you think this article is going to discuss Tom Hanks running around searching for a blood line to Jesus you may have picked me up wrong.

Instead I am talking about fat loss, weight loss, 6 pack abs, your perfect body, all of which we all aim to achieve and strive to work for.

We have all heard the stories about the long boring cardio you have to perform to achieve this. Well I am here today to tell you that you don’t need to spend hours jogging, cycling or walking. It is pointless and could actually make you retain fat.

Maybe you think I am going to discuss intervals. That’s the new buzz word surrounding fat loss. Interval training is a great way to lose fat however they don’t necessarily have to be performed on a piece of cardio equipment. Why not try a different form of interval training. A method you can perform in your own home.

Metabolic workouts may be your answer. One of the best forms of metabolic workouts would be bodyweight circuits. It’s just you on your own with a stopwatch. Metabolic workouts will increase the growth hormone produced within the working muscles. The lack of rest between the different exercises increases the metabolite build up in the muscles with increases in substances such as lactic acid and hydrogen ions. This build up of metabolites can change the shape of your body very quickly.

Now don’t tell me you can’t do this? I am taking away all the excuses of paying for gym membership, not wanting to leave the house, no equipment etc. This circuit I am going to give you today can be performed in the comfort of your home. However this is not easy. Weight loss is not easy. It takes hard work and dedication to both your fitness program and diet.

If you can do both you will succeed and get the body of your dreams. Ok what you have been waiting for, the exercise. Try this circuit and let me know how you get on.

Perform each exercise for 30 seconds. No rest between exercises. Rest at the end of each set for 2 minutes and then repeat 2 more times.

1). Prisoner Squat

2). Press Up

3). Burpee

4). Squat Jump

5). 1 leg deadlift

6). Wall Slide

7). Dynamic Lunge

8). Swiss Ball Jacknife

9). Single Leg Hops (15 secs each leg)

10). Bicycle Crunch.

Three total circuits, 5 minutes each circuit with 2 minutes rest between sets. Total time – 21 minutes.

Enjoy

Guest Author: George Konstantakis


Do you cringe each time you take a look at your belly? Do you sweat it out with hours of cardio daily only to find no improvement? Are you utterly frustrated with your cardio routine? Well, if that belly fat refuses to budge even when you’re doing regular cardio you might want to read this.

Cardio activity in general refers to any activity that lets you speak while working out. Cardio implies doing low paced continuous and steady exercises for a certain period of time.

Many fitness instructors believe that 1-2 hours of cardio training daily help get that elusive six-pack. This theory is refuted by numerous health experts for several reasons. You’ll be astonished to discover that doing extra cardio can slow your metabolism rather than step it up.

Many fitness experts suggest that our bodies aren’t programmed to perform activities at a steady continuous pace. Rather, they are designed to perform activities in short intervals. An apt example of performing an activity in a short interval is running a 100 meters race. You start the race, push your body to the limit and you stop. This helps the body to recover. If you observe sprinters and other sportsmen, you’ll notice the lack of belly fat.

Rather than cardio training, interval training is advocated by health experts to work your way to six-pack abs. Cardio training strengthens the muscles beneath the belly fat. However, this is of little consolation because the muscles are buried under the fat and the bulge will still be visible.

Moreover, scientists say that excessive cardio exercises can even reduce immunity and weaken joints.

Research has proved that several hours of cardio is not going to get you that much coveted six-pack. Rather, go in for high impact intermittent workouts. You don’t have to slog for hours at the treadmill. You can get that six-pack with interval training even if your entire workout lasts only twenty minutes.

However, everybody agrees that a few minutes of cardio daily helps regulate overall body weight.



How French Women Stay Young