Sunday, October 31, 2010

How to Lose The Last Few Pounds of Fat When You’re Dieting

The two main reasons why the last few pounds of fat can be difficult to get rid of!
Sometimes people look in the wrong places when they are trying to lose their last few pounds of fat. Granted, it gets harder to keep progressing with fat loss as the weeks and months go on but it is important not to allow standards to slip. There are two main reasons why the last few pounds of fat can be difficult to get rid of. One is going back to your old ways and the other is not pushing hard enough.

If your results have slowed down recently then you need to take a good look at what you have been doing.

Are you partying until late at the weekends?
Are you having too many Beers?
Are you eating a takeaway too many?
Are you drinking enough water everyday?
Do you Skip breakfast or lunch?
Are you eating late at night?
Are you eating non-processed foods every meal?
Do you frequently miss workouts?
Are you training hard enough or just going through the motions to get it over and done with?
Is stressful situations getting on the top of you and distracting you?
Are you enjoying a work/life balance?
Are you exercising too much?
Are you focused on your goals?
Do you have a strategy in place that you follow or are you guessing?

The quicker you can organise yourself and put a plan in place the sooner you will achieve your fat loss goal. I have never met anyone who has achieved his or her fat loss goal without some sort of direction to follow. It is not only quicker to achieve results but also a lot easier.

This is what you could do if you are trying to lose those last few pounds of fat. Keep a food diary and assess your strengths and weaknesses. Take action to replace your bad habits so you can move forwards with your goals. Keep an exercise journal and let a professional take a look at it to see if you are doing the right kind of program to suit your goals.

Once you have done that you could write down anything that may be stopping you from achieving your goal. Whenever I hear the words from a frustrated dieter “I can’t lose fat because of such and such”… it reminds me of all the choices we have when making decisions about health and fitness. If you want something bad enough you have to be willing to pay the price for it, no quibbles about it. It comes down to you. Whatever you think may be stopping you with progressing further you will need to write it down and then come up with a solution. It doesn’t matter if it is a long-term solution all that matters is you are taking a step forward and making a battle plan.

Wouldn’t you rather do that and one day be sat where you are now a lot happier and with a body shape you want?
The two main reasons why the last few pounds of fat can be difficult to get rid of!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Fat Burning Cardio Myths

A must read blog if you are serious about achieving fat loss!
Within this blog about the cardio fat burning myth I hope to compare the difference between cardiovascular type exercises and strength training for their effectiveness in favour of achieving fat loss results quickly and permanently. Just to quickly recap cardiovascular exercises otherwise known as cardio are activities including brisk walking, jogging, bike riding, rowing and swimming. Strength training or resistance training as I prefer to call it is a type of exercise that requires the muscles to move an apposing force.

If you read part 1 of this article on http://blog.fatlossevery10days.com you will know that most people believe cardio training to be the best fat burning activity. This assumption and undying myth continues to live on because the general public aren’t aware of the negative reactions cardio exercises can have on the body. Most people also have little knowledge of the many benefits strength training can have for burning fat.

You only burn calories whilst you are brisk walking, jogging and bike riding, rowing or swimming. The more cardio you do and better you become, the more fuel-efficient you become resulting in fewer calories used.

When you exercise using cardio exercises as your choice of workout it influences fat storing hormones in your body. Doing cardio type exercise can stop you losing fat. If that isn’t bad enough for your fat loss goals what about cardio training making you age quicker because anti aging hormones are lowered when fat storing hormones rise.

Sticking to just doing cardio training can make you lose muscle tone and make you look flabby. Although you may be fit you will never achieve the same toned look as someone that trains with weights. If you find this hard to believe just look at any endurance athlete, especially marathon runners. They may have low body fat levels but may still look flabby for their size.

There is some good news though because strength training lowers the stress hormones and rises anti aging hormones.

Weight training is the opposite of cardio with calorie expenditure because you burn calories long after the workout unlike cardio training. This means you burn fat when you are sat at home in front of the TV. This is because strength training is more demanding on the body and takes a number of days to recover from a session. Did you know the metabolism, the rate your body burns calories can be raised up to 72 hours after a weight-training workout?

If the above comparisons don’t put you off cardio exercises for your first choice for fat loss exercise selection then consider how much more fun and diverse strength training can be. There are many different types of functional training equipment available to make strength training workouts challenging and different every time without the risk of being repetitive and boring like cardio training can be.
A must read blog if you are serious about achieving fat loss!

Friday, October 22, 2010

The Massive Six Pack Workout That Takes Just a Little Time

How to train your Abs at home!
The following method for exercising your abs in only 15 minutes involves a warm up for about 5 minutes, this could be skipping, jogging on the spot or walking. Once the body temperature is elevated gentle stretches for the tightest muscles in your body are recommended.

The aim of the workout is to:

Step 1. Perform exercise #1 - for 30 seconds
Step 2. Immediately followed by exercise #2 - for 30 seconds
Step 3. Rest for 30 seconds before repeating steps 1 to 3

Ten rounds of the above will equal a 15-minute workout.

Exercise #1 – Leg Raise

Key Points: Lie down on your back; both feet should be flat with the knees bent. From this position the pelvis is rolled back pressing on your fingers or on a rolled up towel. If using a towel it should be the same thickness of your hand. The position needs to be directly at the belly button level flat against the floor.

From here both legs are raised and lowered while always keeping the back stable and stationary maintaining pressure on your fingers or towel. The knees should be kept bent and the angle shouldn’t change throughout the 30 seconds of work.

Progression: Open the angle of the knees, that will makes the leg longer and increase the workload on the lower abdominal muscles.

Exercise #2 – The Plank

Key Points: Begin lying face down on the floor with feet together and forearms on the ground, your hands should be clenched in a fist. Draw the abs inward towards your spine and squeeze the glutes (backside muscles). Lift entire body off the ground until it forms a straight line from head to toe, resting on forearms and toes. Forearms should be parallel and elbows directly below the shoulders.

Keeping the back flat and chin tucked hold the position for 30 seconds maintaining good form and slowly return to the ground.

Progression: Can be done on one leg.

People in today’s society want quick fixes and want to see results instantly. In my opinion most people have forgotten the old fashioned way of what it takes to change body shape. All the health aspects that once went hand in hand with exercise have been lost in the tide of the celebrity culture. Celebrity dominant publications are not the place to get your health and fitness information from if you want real results. Quick fixes are a waste of time because they never work for anyone apart from the people making money from them. Starving the body of essential nutrients by following the latest fad diet will only end up in a big disappointment and put you off from future attempts.

There is no excuse with time constraints with the "how to train your Abs at home" workout. It is a simple straightforward routine that will challenge you if done correctly. It can be modified in any which way you deem necessary to achieve the response you want. Don’t forget with exercise and nutrition, it is the quality and not quantity that matters. It has always been like this and always will be so you can forget searching for a quick fix and wasting your time reading about what your favourite celebrity is doing or in some cases not doing.
How to train your Abs at home!

Monday, October 18, 2010

The 15-Minute Workout to Help Tone Chest Muscles - A Two Exercise Plan

There is a way to make the most of what little time you have!
Time constraints for most people in today’s fast living world often leave little time for exercise. The huge misunderstandings people have about the length of time required for exercise to make it worthwhile are usually a long way from accurate. These misconceptions gives the weaker disciplined individual an excuse and discourages those who want to exercise because they feel like they don’t have enough time.

There is a way to make the most of what little time you have and profit in health and fitness whilst changing the shape of your body. At my Personal Training Gym in Barnsley I came up with a way to train more efficiently in less time.

This approach consists of just two exercises for each workout and involves exercises that will train the core and challenge the nervous system and elevate the metabolism. When the resistance is challenging enough this approach to exercise can add lean muscle mass too.

The method of the following workout requires a warm up of about 5 minutes followed by gentle stretches for the tightest muscles in the body. These are commonly leg and chest stretches. A shoulder girdle warm-up with light dumbbells is done after the warm up with two rounds of ten reps for each exercise of side raises, bicep curls and shoulder presses. This should be enough to get the body ready for the workout ahead.

The aim of the workout is to do 10-12 reps on both exercises straight after each other followed by a rest of no more than 30 seconds. The plan is to strive for as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes without breaking form and dropping below 8 reps.

The same resistance must be used on all the sets for the workout. You need to select a weight that allows you to perform 12 reps on the first round of exercises. If you can only manage 2 or 3 rounds before dropping below 8 reps stop the workout and continue to progress the next time with a little less starting weight. For intermediates and advanced trainers a 10-20-rep window maybe preferred.

Before you begin, a warm up set for the first exercise is recommended, this should be around 50% of the weight you will be using for all your sets. Strong individuals using heavy weights should do a staggered warm up, for example 50%, 65%, and 75% of the working weight.

Exercise #1 Swiss Ball Dumbbell Chest Fly
Place the head and shoulders on a Swiss Ball, look up to the ceiling keeping the chin up so the neck stays in a neutral position. Place the feet apart for a good base of support and bring the belly button towards the spine and hold it there to keep the core muscles activated throughout the set.

Starting with the dumbbells above the chest, slowly allow both arms to slightly bend and lower to roughly shoulder height or when you reach a position where you feel a stretch in the chest muscles. Once they have reached this point return to the start position in a smooth tempo. Keep the dumbbells above the chest and not above the head in the start position. Maintain a straight body on the ball throughout the set by keeping the hips held high and backside muscles tensed.

Exercise #2 Swiss Ball Push Jack Knife
Begin with your feet on top of the Swiss Ball and hands on the floor in a push up position, holding a neutral spine and with the head in line with the spine begin to extend the arms pushing the body away from the floor keeping the tummy drawn in at all times.

When the arms are fully extended smoothly flex the hips until the thighs are vertical making sure not to round the back then immediately return the legs to the straight position as smoothly as possible.

Bend the elbows and drop into the push up starting position and continue the set. There shouldn’t be any breaks in the tempo and each rep should be moderate in speed. Beginners can place more shins on the ball or just do the leg movement part of the exercise. If it is still too difficult you could place a small Swiss Ball under your chest for support or if you don’t have a small Swiss Ball you could use a slightly deflated ball there instead.

The options to progress on this way of training would be to either shorten the rest time in between rounds enabling you to achieve more rounds in the 15 minute window or to increase the resistance so the desired reps are more challenging to reach on every round.
There is a way to make the most of what little time you have!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Tips To Get A Six Pack

How to make it easier to melt body fat!
“Fail to plan and plan to fail”. You can’t get truer words when it comes to achieving a goal but it’s especially true when it comes to fat loss and achieving an impressive midsection. If you don’t know how to flatten the barriers that can stand in between you and your goal then you will never be able flatten your belly and see your six-pack. The key to reaching your target is to begin with a day at a time and build upon your foundation a tier at a time.

The ingredients you need for a perfect day not only starts with the ingredients that go in your mouth but with work, life, movement and sleep balance within a 24-hour period. Some will swear that there isn’t enough time in a day to follow a healthy lifestyle while others will blame work or family commitments for their lack of commitment. Well I’ve heard every excuse and its time to face up to your responsibilities and accept that you are the master of your destiny. There will always be someone with a busier life than yours that achieves the results you dream about, the only difference is they take action. Lets take a look at what action needs to be implemented for the best results.

#1- Time Management
Time management is one of the most important steps you must become good at if you want to shift stubborn body fat. For example, if you don’t have time to eat a proper breakfast every morning then you need to get up early. If you can’t do that because you need more sleep then you need to go to bed earlier and so on. I’ve heard every excuse and there is always an answer if you want something bad enough. The more organised you are the more addictive it becomes and the more energy it gives you. There is no better feeling than having free time to do the things you love and no worse feeling than wasting your time.

#2- Shopping
Decide what foods you need and how you are going to shop for them. You could either shop every few days or even once a month. The Internet is a brilliant option and convenient for a lot of people because it can save heaps of time. For a lot of your shopping such as non-fresh items you could get away with shopping once a month. For other items like organic fruit, vegetables and meats you could have them delivered to your door, check with your local farm shop to see if they deliver. All it takes is one click of a mouse button or at most one visit per week.

#3- Making The Kitchen Work For You
Make sure you have all the useful appliances in your kitchen to help you with food preparation. Store food in glass or ceramic containers, toxins can leach into the food when using plastic or cans. You may decide to freeze leftovers to be used for a weeknight after work, don’t forget to label meals that you freeze for future reference.

#4- Meal Planning
Decide what you are going to eat for the week ahead, use pen and paper once a week to plan and rotate your meals. You may only need to do this once before establishing a routine. By doing this you will know what to shop for and there will be less chance of rubbish finding its way into your cupboards and fridge. You will also be able to prevent yourself from eating the same meals everyday.

#5- Exercising Smart
The wrong training routine for your goal is still going to be unproductive even with the right nutrition and healthy lifestyle. Seek professional help to make sure you are making the most of your time and effort by doing the right kind of exercises to help you with your goals. Putting together a routine and fitting it into your week is something that can be flexible and doesn’t necessarily need to be carved in stone. All that matters is making sure you train intense doing the right workout 3 times a week.

#6- Resting
People overlook the importance of sleep in their quest for better aesthetics and health. I was guilty of this up to a few years ago; I would always go to bed after midnight regardless of what time I had to be up the next morning. The more I studied about health & lifestyle the more I learnt about the body and its sleep/wake cycle called the circadian rhythm. Before the invention of light bulbs our bodies didn’t know any different other than falling asleep at sunset and waking at sunrise, this is the way Mother Nature intended our bodies to operate and the reason why our hormones are naturally released at certain times throughout the day. If we disrupt this cycle by going to bed late, watching TV or staring at a computer screen late at night we stimulate awakening hormones that rob the body of repairing itself and eventually leading to health problems.
How to make it easier to melt body fat!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

The Foods The Stars Cut Out – Look Like Your Favourite Celebrity

The clean diet approach helps you lose pounds and inches in less time!
The quickest way to a healthy, slim figure just like your favourite celebrity is to eliminate certain foods from your diet. The clean diet approach helps you lose pounds and inches in less time with the added benefit of detoxifying the body and rejuvenating your complexion.

To achieve maximum results with dieting and fat loss it's essential to follow the eight guidelines below.

1. Drink plenty of mineral water
2. Eat only natural fresh, non-processed foods
3. Cut out all dairy products apart from natural- live yoghurt, organic butter & eggs
4. Cut out all sugar
5. Cut out all wheat
6. Cut out all alcohol
7. Cut out all caffeine
8. Eat organic whenever possible

I'm not saying you have to stick to these guidelines forever and everyday for the rest of your life but if you did you would be guaranteed a higher level of health than someone who didn't.

The point I want to get across is if you eliminate the foods on the list for at least 30 days and implement the guidelines into your day-to-day lifestyle then you will achieve quick fat loss results. It may be the only way to get the ball rolling.

When you are happy with your results you may gradually reintroduce the banned foods on the list back into your diet. When you begin to reintroduce the banned foods into your diet you will be able to monitor your response to see which foods have an adverse effect on your health and body fat. If a food from the banned list doesn't agree with your digestion, complexion or reverses your body shape then you know to say goodbye to it. Also recording your response to each meal in a food diary will help you quickly establish which foods react differently to your body.

Eliminating processed foods and most dairy products; sugar, wheat, alcohol and caffeine will help speed up fat and weight loss without a shadow of a doubt. It will also help your skin, hair, nails look better, and your physical strength and mental clarity will improve along with your internal health.

It can seem like a burden and great effort to put this in to motion but is worth every single ounce of trouble it may seem. It can go a little like this, if you follow anything blindly you trip up and give up. On the other hand if you plan and set out what you are going to do you have less chance of failing because your course is already set out for you to follow, it really is that simple.
The clean diet approach helps you lose pounds and inches in less time!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Do You Want Your Abs to Stand Out? How to Work Out How Much Weight to Lose

Why it is necessary to lose weight if you want a six-pack that looks great from all angles!
Beginners and in particularly men who take up training with weights normally need to gain weight and bulk up. Once this has been achieved the individual can end up being well over 30 pounds heavier from when they first began training. When the time comes to be leaner and more defined with a six-pack the individual can be confused about what approach to take.

This is when some people look towards fancy training principles for the answer. Many think they will be able to achieve a well-defined and lean physique and stay the same body weight without losing overall size and shape. It is almost as if they have a fear of losing weight in case they return to their former body image previous to training with weights.

Let me explain why it is necessary to lose weight if you want a six-pack that looks great from all angles. Hypothetically speaking lets say you are a 200-pound male and want six-pack abs. You have no idea what your body fat percentage is but you carry some fat around your waist hence the lack of a six-pack showing. If you pinch the fat around your waist with your thumb and index finger you will either be able to grab a thin layer of fat between your fingers or a thick layer resembling the spare tyre look.

Hypothetically speaking one more time lets say you know your body fat percentage and have a reading of 20 percent. That will work out you having 40 pounds of body fat on your body. That means you have a lean body mass weight of 160 pounds. To be able to see your six-pack you will need to get your body fat percentage in to the single figure territory. So in this case that would mean a drop of 22 pounds of body weight. That would take you to a new body weight of 178 pounds with a lean waist and an awesome six-pack.

A lot of men can’t get their heads around this because they are scared of losing muscle size and strength. Once you are lean and look more defined your muscles will look a lot bigger than they were with more body fat surrounding them. Also if you eat a proper balanced diet with plenty of good fats your strength shouldn’t decrease either.

In summary getting lean to show off your six-pack without losing weight is impossible unless you have the gift of gaining muscle at the same time. In the example above our friend would have to lose 22 pounds of fat and gain 22 pounds of muscle at the same time in order to remain the same body weight and achieve six-pack abs.
Why it is necessary to lose weight if you want a six-pack that looks great from all angles!

Saturday, October 2, 2010

The Sugar Foods That Six Pack Abs Can’t Tolerate – You May Be Surprised!

Excess sugar consumption will eventually affect every organ in the body!
Anything containing sugar needs to be avoided, it is highly addictive and highly detrimental to health and fat loss goals. It is important to teach yourself to become a sugar detective by knowing how to read food labels.

Some foods will have half a dozen different types of sugar in the ingredients to help disguise the content; look out for words listed on the label ending in “ose” this means it is sugar, examples are sucrose, maltose, dextrose, fructose, glucose and so on.

Beware of so-called healthy drinks that are hyped up to make them look natural and good for you; they are still sugar, natural sugar on a label means it is still sugar and doesn’t make it any better.

People typically start their day with store bought fruit juices that are high in sugar, they have very little health benefits linked to them because they have been pasteurised. Even if you drink freshly squeezed fruit it is still a high sugar drink, if you want to lose weight you could be making it very difficult for yourself because of the blood sugar response and the release of fat storing hormones associated with consuming sugar. All types of carbohydrate foods once eaten are sugar in the body. Carbohydrate rich foods are mainly non-animal foods.

Excess sugar consumption will eventually affect every organ in the body; it creates an acidic environment within the body and minerals from teeth and bones are used to rectify the imbalance. Long-term abuse leads to decay and weakening of teeth and bones because of all the calcium being taken out of them to protect the blood from the acid state.

If you want a six-pack and reduce fat avoid sugar especially artificial sweeteners found in processed foods and drinks. Always check the labels. Eating sugar creates a never-ending roller coaster ride for hormones such as insulin and cortisol, both fat storing hormones. To help wean off sugar try natural alternatives like stevia, a natural herb you can find in health food shops.

One type of food that people could greatly benefit from not eating is breakfast cereal, the run of the mill breakfast cereals are not health foods. When you take a closer look and see what they consist of a full picture emerges. Most cereals are processed junk food covered in nothing but sugar. If you want six pack abs avoid processed carbohydrates. Eating non-animal foods you find in nature and not those that have been processed will help you reduce fat fast. But don’t forget to include protein foods with every meal.
Excess sugar consumption will eventually affect every organ in the body!