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New Year Resolution To Lose Weight And Gain Muscle?

Posted: 20 Dec 2011 02:09 AM PST

 The New Year will soon arrive with much expectation. Many of us will be writing our New Year resolutions with some trepidation. Others write with great motivation. Are New Year resolutions meant to be broken? For some, yes, but most people will give it a shot.


For those whose resolution is to keep fit and healthy and enjoy life looking and feeling fantastic, then this article is for you and to motivate you to keep to your resolution successfully.



Different people exercise and workout for different reasons. Some want to be macho looking hunks, some want their fitness to be at their peak, some to lose weight and body fat and most people just want to gain muscle to have a well toned and attractive body. But whether you workout in a gym for general health and fitness purpose or to lose body fat and gain muscle to look attractively desirable, you will reap tons of fitness and health benefits whether you workout in a gym, at home or in a park. In fact unless you want to gain big muscle, it is not necessary to join a gym to reap the benefit of having a great workout. This will save you the hefty gym fees too.


For all those of you who workout regularly, you will be glad to know whatever reasons that compel you to workout, there are many more reasons for you to continue doing so. 
For those of you who don't exercise at all, hey folks, these benefits are what you have been missing out. 


• Better blood circulation will add a glow to your skin and hair. Not only will you be fit and healthy will have a glowing complexion. Where do you think the saying "Glowing with Health" came from?


• Lose weight or more accurately, to lose body fat. Yes, losing weight and losing fat although being used interchangeably to mean the same thing, it is not. By saying lose weight, it could mean you are loosing water, waste, and worse of all, you your muscle. Losing body fat merely meant what it says, fat loss. That will give you an attractive physical appearance. 


• Exercise are excellent stress reliever. This is because when you workout and when your exercises are intensive enough, you will produce endorphin. Many call this a happy hormone.


• Increases bone density and therefore keeping osteoporosis a bone disease afflicting most women as they age at bay. Your bone will be wasting away along with your muscles. Therefore you must exercise to build strong bones and retain your muscle mass.


• When you exercise, your muscles get stronger and grow. The more muscle fiber you have, the higher is your body metabolism. The higher your body metabolism, the more body fat you will burn. That is why to lose weight permanently, you have to gain muscle. 


• Gain strength and endurance. That flight of stairs will no longer be as daunting. The football game you play will be a breeze. Why? Because as your fitness level builds up, day to day chores become easier and you will enjoy whatever you do without tiring so easily because of the increased physical fitness gained through regular exercise.


• Reducing your chances of getting heart diseases, stroke and certain types of cancers which are the top killer diseases. There are many other diseases which exercises will cut down the risks of them afflicting you.


• Reduce triglycerides and bad cholesterol, raising the level of good cholesterol. Again this will protect you from diseases caused by bad cholesterol.


• Protects you against injuries as you are fitter and more nimble. You are also more flexible and will discover a new gait in your movement. Boy, it sure feels good to be in good health isn't it?


• Improve immunity. Save your doctor's bills! This means putting more money in your pocket!


• Hmmm... enhance sexual desire and performance. Remember we talked about endorphin, the happy hormone earlier? You also produce this hormone when you are having sex. Getting more interesting isn't it? 


• Lower resting heart rate and high blood pressure. That means your general cardiovascular or heart health will improve.


• Improve coordination and balance. Ask the lady for a dance, will ya?


• Regulate insulin sensitivity thus prevention of type 2 diabetes. Thus you will not put on weight so easily and in fact may even lose weight.


• Increase confidence and self esteem. Of course you can walk tall and proud because you will have improved your posture holding up your new found musculature, glowing with health and a sexily toned body to the boot!


So get into your running shoes now and head for the gym now! Go ahead, lose weight and gain muscle for the New Year. Break this New Year resolution at your own peril.

Health Tips

A Few Simple Ideas to Mix Up Your Routine

Posted: 20 Dec 2011 01:34 AM PST

Every now and then I catch myself stuck in the same routine and my workout starts to get a little boring.  I know this is starting to happen when it gets easy to miss my regular workout.  Recently, I noticed this had happened when I easily talked myself out of going to the gym for almost 2 weeks straight.  Obviously, something needed to change.  


So here are a few ideas that I use from time to time just to spice up my workout.  Give them a try, and I'm sure you'll find some new excitement to your workout as well.


Change your Grip!


This is a small change compared to most of the others you can do, but one way to spice up your workout from time to time is to change the way you're gripping the bar when doing barbell or machine exercises.  One of my favorite grips is the palm grip.  In fact, I've read several articles from fitness trainers and other professional athletes that suggest that on exercises like the bench press, you should only be using a palm grip.  


So what is a palm grip?  Let's use the bench press as an example for the palm grip.  Many of us have been guilty of using a standard grip on this exercise, myself included.  A standard grip would be where you wrap your hand around bar as if you were holding a baseball bat.  If you want a more effective bench press, try not wrapping your thumb around the bar.  You might think that you'll lose some stability by doing this, but I've never had that problem.  You might have to bend your wrist a little more to compensate, or lower the weight just a little bit.  The main benefit to using a palm grip on this type of exercise is that by putting your thumb in this position, you are reducing the amount of effort that your forearms will put into the exercise.  Therefore, you chest and tricep muscles will have to work even harder to do the lift.  Try this, and I'm sure you'll notice a difference the next time you perform a bench press.


Try Trisets!


You've probably heard of super sets, where you do two exercise consecutively without resting in between.  Have you ever tried doing three different exercises?  This works extremely well with bicep exercises.  The benefit to doing a triset with a bicep workout, is it allows you to hit the bicep really hard in three different ways.  Here's an example of a bicep triset: standing barbell curls, hammer curls, reverse barbell curls.  You'll also notice in this sequence that you have to change your grip with each set of the triset.  This is the best way to utilize a triset.  Here's an example of a triset with triceps: straight bar cable push downs, rope cable push downs, reverse cable pushdowns.  Again, the key here is to change the grip on each exercise.  Give these a try, and I'm sure you'll feel a new pump in whatever body part you utilize them with!


Change you Split!


Have you been following the same split routine for two long?  Has your split routine consisted of chest and triceps, back and biceps, or something similar for several months?  Try reversing your split or doing a 5 day split instead of a 3 day split.  Do chest and biceps, back and triceps just to mix it up a little.


These are just a few basic ideas, but its always a good idea to mix up your routine on a continual basis.  That way you can keep your body guessing and growing to adapt to the changes in stress that you place on your muscles.
by/Fitness coach

Exercise and Children, What You Should Know

Posted: 19 Dec 2011 04:43 PM PST

Your child of lets say eight years old tells you he or she wants to start exercising and that he or she wants to start lifting weights. Now you might want to know if this is really a good idea, if it is safe and if it will benefit your child or if it is not something that is recommended for children to do.


 The long and short of it is, yes, it is beneficial to your child to partake in a weight training program but here are some things to keep in mind when getting your child into a weight training program.


Children are not miniature adults and so you cannot use the same methods on growing children as you can with adults as children are different from adults anatomically, physiologically and emotionally. Children have immature skeletons.


Their bones do not mature until age 14 to 22 years old. In girls, exercise during childhood can have critical effects on bone health that can last for their whole lives. 


Children are often vulnerable to growth related overuse injuries such as Osgood schlatter's disease. Children have immature temperature regulation systems due to having a large surface area compared to their muscle mass which makes them more susceptible to injury when not properly warmed up.


 Children do not sweat as much as adults so they are also more susceptible to heat exhaustion as well as heat stroke. Their low muscle mass and immature hormone system makes it harder for them to develop strength and speed and their breathing and heart responses during exercise are different from an adult's which affects their capacity for exercise.


Now, boys and girls can greatly improve their strength with weight training but as opposed to adults, neurological factors instead of muscle growth factors are mostly responsible for these gains. When considering a program for a child, medical clearance should be obtained first and foremost. The best first approach for designing a program is to establish a repetition range of 8 to 12 and keep the work load appropriate for that range. 


Workouts should be spread out to have at least 1 to 2 full days of rest between each workout and the main focus on every exercise performed should be on form and technique, not on weight lifted. Some guidelines to consider are: warm-up and stretching should be done before weight training. Start with light loads and make appropriate adjustments from there. No more than 3 non-consecutive exercise sessions should be done in a week and see that they drink plenty of water before, during and after exercise.


Always remember that if at anytime your child is sick, has an injury of any kind or seems tired or non-energetic, do not have them exercise until you are sure they are better or until they have seen a doctor and have clearance from them.

A Workout For People Who Don't Want To Work Out

Posted: 19 Dec 2011 04:18 PM PST

 There's good news for people who want to watch their weight without giving up watching TV. Now there's a new workout for couch potatoes and people who think they're too busy to find time to stay fit.


With time at a premium, many Americans are turning to creative forms of exercise. In a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive for the North American Spine Society, three out of four people said they used the stairs rather than the elevator at work, 58 percent said they started parking their cars far away in parking lots and almost half reported walking while on the phone.



At the same time, however, 46 percent of people described themselves as couch potatoes--a major contributing factor to being overweight. Many adults say they have procrastinated working out in order to do other activities, such as watching television, sleeping in, doing household chores or working.


Approximately three in four adults say they would exercise more if they could fit it into their daily routines, however, and a majority of adults say they would exercise more often if they could do it at home. Among noncouch potatoes, 80 percent would like to get more exercise, but say they don't have the time.


Meanwhile, more than 4 million Americans suffer disc problems. One out of four Americans over 30 will have recurring back pain, and one in 14 will seek medical care for back or neck pain this year, totalling almost 14 million visits per year. Back pain is the second most common reason that people visit a physician. Back and neck pain result in more lost workdays than any other condition. Due to absenteeism, medical and other related expenses, the cost of back injuries exceeds $80 billion each year in the United States. Exercise is one way to avoid back problems.


That's why it's important to find time to incorporate exercise into your daily routine. In addition to things such as climbing stairs and parking farther away, there are a number of fun ways to make your daily tasks opportunities to exercise:


• Feet Alphabet. This exercise can be done anywhere you are sitting, except while driving. It should not be hard to find a place. Simply write the alphabet in the air with each of your feet and ankles. You can do the letters in capitals or small letters and, for that matter, in any language you would like. Doing this two or three times on each ankle will begin to strengthen the ankle and maintain or improve motion.


• Doing the Dishes Neck Circles. This exercise is easily done while doing the always fun task of washing the dishes. As you are standing there at the sink, slowly rotate your neck in a clockwise position, trying to extend the tip of your head out as far as possible. After three or four rotations, repeat the exercise in a counter-clockwise position. Remember, these rotations should be done slowly and in a pain-free range of motion. Besides increasing the flexibility of the neck, these exercises can pass the time of doing dishes.


• Overhead Laundry Toss. Put the laundry basket directly in front of you and have the washer or dryer directly behind you. Grab a piece or two of dirty clothes, reach over your head slowly and drop the laundry into the washer. Again, start with dry clothes, then progress to wet clothes from the washer into the dryer.


• Remote Wrist Lifts. This can be done on any Sunday afternoon watching multiple football games. Simply take the remote control (use the biggest one you have from the pile of remotes) and, while sitting watching your favorite team or movie and with your arm pointing toward the TV, aim the remote at the ceiling, moving your wrist only. Hold it there for 10 seconds, then aim it at the floor, again only moving the wrist. Repeat this three to four times during every commercial. Be careful not to accidentally change the channel when doing this exercise or it may irritate people who are watching TV with you.


These are just some ideas from "The Couch Potato Workout: 101 Exercises You Can Do At Home!" by Joel M. Press, M.D., president of the North American Spine Society and medical director of the Spine and Sports Institute at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. "The Couch Potato Workout" describes numerous practical and functional exercises people can do to build strength, balance and flexibility as part of their normal daily routine.