Exercises and Calories Burned

People are always asking, "What are the best exercises for weight loss" and the answer is any exercise that gets your heart pumping. While this is true, there are exercises that do burn more calories than others. Below are some common exercises and the calories they burn with 30-45 min of doing them. The results are based on a weight of about 180lb individual.

Type of Exercise	Cal(30min)	Cal(45min)
Jogging	286	429
Weight Lifting	140	211
Walking(3mph)	178	267
Swimming(moderate)	248	373
Running(5mph)	346	518
Bicycling(12-14mph)	356	535

These are just a few of the common exercises that, are done to lose weight. If you would like to get your own results based on your weight you can visit http://www.healthstatus.com/cbc.html

Summer Time Weight Loss

Summer is quickly approaching, and with summer comes more ways for weight loss exercise. There are tons of things that you can do in the summer that will help you to lose weight, any kind of exercise that keeps you moving is good exercise. Not sure as to what you can do to lose weight, well below I have constructed a list of about 20 things that is considered exercise, that will help to shed those pounds. Some of these will obviously burn more calories than others but just participating in 45 min to an hour of these along with proper nutrition will help to burn those unwanted calories.

1. Bike Riding
2. Roller Blading
3. Gardening
4. Swimming
5. Jogging
6. Hiking
7. Walking (forest trails, park, shopping, etc)
8. Canoeing
9. Football
10. Soccer
11. Golf
12. Tennis
13. Baseball
14. Yard Work
15. Yoga
16. Archery
17. Tree Planting
18. Skipping
19. House Work
20. Rock Climbing

Starting a Weight Loss Nutrition Plan Pt. 1

When it comes to deciding what foods to choose, and how much of these foods to eat, it can become pretty confusing, especially if your new to it. I have people come up to me and ask me for meal plans all the time. The truth is that meal plans are fairly easy to make, they just require some time and thought.

The first thing you need to do when starting out on a weight loss meal plan is to find out roughly how many calories you're taking in per day. In order to do this you need to record everything you eat along with the calorie amount for 5 days, add up all the calories and then divide this figure by 5. This new figure will be your average calories you intake per day.


The next step is to calculate your daily caloric needs. Basically this is how many calories your body needs in order to sustain itself throughout the day. To do this you can visit http://www.healthandfitnessfocus.com/calculators.php and follow the link to the daily caloric needs calculator. Once you have this figure take a minute to compare the two figures. More than likely you'll notice that you actual daily calories outweighs your daily caloric needs. The goal here is to eat less calories than your daily caloric needs. However; it's important to note that you should only drop a few hundred calories per week, as dropping off 500+ calories at a time may send your body into shock, causing fat storage. Usually most people shoot for about a total of 500 calories a day less than your daily caloric needs when all is said and done.


Now that you have these two figures, its time to get started on the main part of making a weight loss meal plan. I would suggest going to a site that has documented nutritional values for everyday foods, like http://www.calorieking.com/ . Now for losing weight purposes I suggest going with a ratio of 50% carbs, 30%protein, and 20%fat.


This ratio now has to be broken down into gram values, so in order to do this we have to know how many calories make up a gram of a certain nutrient. 1gr of fat = 9cal, 1gr of protein/carbs = 4cal. Okay so now we simply take your target calorie amount (actual calories-300) and multiply it by the percentages to get the total number of calories for each item. Then divide the calories by the appropriate number that pertains to the item(either 4 or 9). This will give you gram values for all of the items


Now you should be trying to get about 6 smaller meals a day rather than 3 large ones. This will keep your metabolism up higher. So take all of your gram values and divide them by 6, this will give you a pretty good idea as to how many grams of each item you should be getting per meal. So now we go to calorieking.com and come up with some foods for each meal, trying to stick to the allotted protein, carb and fat amounts.


When you have finished with this go ahead and add up all of the values for each item and check to see if you are roughly around your goal amount, if not then go back and lower the portion amount, or change the food. A sample of creating a weight loss meal plan can be found at http://www.healthandfitnessfocus.com/nutritionimportance.php . When making a weight loss meal plan also remember that it is important that you choose healthy foods, which have very little sugar, or refined ingredients. Stick to foods that have a higher fiber content(3g and above).


This may seem complicated but once you start, it will all start to make sense. Like I said earlier this is going to take some time to do, but making one of these meal plans will help you to keep track of your calories and make sure that your sticking to healthy foods.

Working Exercise into Your Busy Schedule

Not having enough time in the day is probably one of the biggest excuses out there, when it comes to exercise. People who are trying to lose weight, or improve their overall health, state that they would love to be able to fit exercise into their day, but they just simply do not have the time. Well it's time for you to stop making excuses, and start getting creative and thinking of ways that you could fit exercise into your hectic schedule. I have come up with 5 different ways to squeeze exercises into your everyday life.

1. Walk instead of Driving when possible.
If you need to take a quick run to the supermarket, or down to the corner store and you decide to drive the 2 min instead of walking you're losing out on a perfect opportunity to get some much needed exercise.

2.Exercise while watching television
At some point during the day we all sit down and watch a couple of hours of television, why not get a stationary bike, or treadmill, and do just 30 min of exercise while watching your favorite shows. This is great because you are exercising and your shows will distract you so you wont even notice the time go by.

3.Take the stairs instead of the elevator
If you work at a building that has an elevator, instead of using it head for the stairs. This will give you a great bit of exercise especially first thing in the morning.

4.Use your break times to walk around
As soon as a break hits, we're off to the break room to sit down and read the paper. If your looking to squeeze some exercise into your day you can simply use these break times to walk around the office, or go outside and walk around the block.

5. Workout to an exercise video
A lot of people work all day and then by the time they get home are so wiped out that they no longer have the motivation to exercise. You can change this by simply waking up 10-15 min earlier in the day, slipping an aerobics/exercise tape/CD into the player and jump starting your morning with a good 15 min of medium intensity exercise.

These are just a few of the ideas that I came up with off the top of my head, just remember that where there is a will there is a way. Sometimes adding exercise into our schedules will require a little bit of sacrifice, but it should be nothing your not already used to by now.

Growth Hormone and the effects on Athletic Performance

An study was done on the growth hormone that has made its way onto shelves of health and nutrition stores, claiming to improve athletic performance, amongst other benefits. This study however produced results that showed to negate the fact that it helped with athletic performance.

Below is the Actual News Article From http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080320132224.htm

The Importance of Leg Development

A lot of beginners when starting a weight routine, and I've actually even seen it with people who have been working out for years, fail to give their legs the workout they deserve. Working out your upper body is great but if you forget to workout your legs or if you skimp out on your leg workout then your basically trying to build a house with no foundation. If you think about it your legs are what carry your body's weight, if their not properly trained this will end up hurting your gains up top as well.

Building a massive set of legs will not only help to improve your body's foundation and ability to hold more weight, which will in turn help you to increase your gains in your upper body, but it will also help your body to look proportional. Everybody has seen this at some point a guy walks out on to the beach or the gym and he has a massive upper body with these little chicken legs, it always makes for a good laugh.

Some great exercises that help to develop your leg strength and size are squats, leg presses, calf raises, and leg curls. A note of caution; when performing squats it is absolutely essential that you keep your back straight and that you do not use too much weight, this exercise when done wrong even by a little bit can cause some pretty serious injuries.

Teacher Loses 120 lbs

This was a great success story and I'll tell you why. In this article Tracey Wygal a 30 year old middle school teacher lost 120 lbs. She didn't do it by taking any kind of weight loss pills, she didn't have any kind of magic foods, or supplements, when she went to her doctor, her doctor handed her a nutritional diet, and told her to get moving. You can read her entire story about how she lost all this weight through a conscious decision to change her diet and start exercising. A great motivational story.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/diet.fitness/02/14/weightloss.tracey.wygal/index.html

Alzeimers Linked to Having Big Belly

It was posted in the newspaper today that a study was done on the link between being overweight and the development of Alzheimer's. In this study a total of 6,583 people who ranged from ages 40-45 were studied for an average of about 36 years. Of these 6,583 people 16% of them went on to develop Alzheimer's disease or some other form of dementia.

Researchers found that the individuals who were in the top 20% in terms of their belly size in their middle age, were 3 times more likely to develop dementia than those in the bottom 20%. Researchers also said that belly size was a much better predictor of later development of dementia than merely looking at obesity as shown by a persons BMI(Body Mass Index) as quoted by Rachel Whitmer "It's not just weight, it's where you carry your weight that is a very important risk factor"

For the exact story:
http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/life/story.html?id=403a86fb-135d-4113-a815-25eca444dd72

Diet Soda Worse For You Than Regular Soda

As strange as this may seem in my opinion it is absolutely true. Diet soda contains aspartame, which is the sweetener they use to replace the sugar. I decided to do some digging on the Internet and found out some pretty shocking news. When aspartame was first introduced it was great because it was able to add sweetness without the calories that help to put on weight.

Companies took full advantage of this remarkable product, creating all kinds of "diet" products. As with all products of this nature, tests and research are done to determine both the short term and long term effects that may be caused by these types of products. Well sure enough a little ways down the road these scientists and companies researching the effects of aspartame uncover a horrifying discovery that there are about 90 different side effects associated with aspartame. These can be seen at http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-side-effects.html.

I'm sure that drinking diet soda would help with cutting calories, but when you read these types of reports is it really worth running the risk of having to suffer through these side effects. I would hope the answer would be obvious.

Other information about aspartame can be found at:
http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/dangers.htm
http://www.321recipes.com/aspartame.html

Developing an Impressive Set of Arms

When people workout their arms a huge portion of their workout is focused on the biceps, I mean you see it all the time, these guys doing curl after curl trying to achieve their goals of getting huge guns. Well the truth is that the bicep makes up only about a 1/3 of your upper arm while you’re the 3 heads of the tricep make up 2/3 of your upper arm. It is for this reason that these people who do very little tricep work and tons of bicep work will never achieve maximum results.

In order to achieve a nice set of guns, you have to concentrate exercises that will focus more on the development of your triceps such as the tricep extension, tricep pull-down, and close grip bench press. As you begin to focus on these kinds of exercises along with your normal bicep workout you will start to notice that your arms will all of a sudden start getting amazing gains that you have never seen before.

Great Workout Routine for Mass

MONDAY

-Light Cardio 10 min
-Light Stretching 5 min

Chest

-Dumbbell Bench Press 3 x 6-8 reps Superset this with
-Dumbbell Incline Flyes 3 x 8-10 reps

-Dumbbell Incline Press 3 x 6-8 reps Superset this with
-Dumbbell Flat Flyes 3 x 8-10 reps

-Push ups 2 x failure

Shoulders

-Military Press 3 x 6-8 reps Superset with
-Side lateral Raise 3 x 8-10 reps

-Upright Row 3 x 6-8 reps Superset with
-Front Delt Raise 3 x 8-10 reps

-Rear Delt Raise 4 x 12-15 reps

WEDNESDAY

-Light Cardio 10 min
-Light Stretching 5 min

Back

-Dead lift 3 x 6-8 reps
-Barbell Back Row 3 x 6-8 reps Superset with

-Lat Pull down 3 x 6-8 reps Superset with
-Chin-ups 3 x failure

-Dumbbell Shrugs 4 x 12-15 reps

Legs

-Squats 3 x 6-8 reps Superset with
-Lunges 3 x 8-10 reps

-Leg Curls 3 x 8-10 reps
-Calf Raises 3 x 15-20 reps

FRIDAY

-Light Cardio 10 min
-Light Stretching 5 min

Triceps

-Tricep Extension 3 x 6-8 reps Superset with
-Tricep Pulldown 3 x 8-10 reps

-Close Grip Bench Press 3 x 6-8 reps Superset with
-Dips 3 x failure

Biceps

-Bicep Curl 3 x 6-8 reps Superset with
-Concentration Curls 3 x 8-10 reps

-Hammer Curls 3 x 6-8 reps Superset with
-Preacher Curls 3 x 8-10 reps

SATURDAY OFF
SUNDAY OFF

For more information on health and fitness visit my website: Health and Fitness Focus

Blast your Pecs With This Ignored Exercise

When it comes to training the chest, the first exercises we tend to think about are the bench press, incline bench press, and pec flyes. What we tend to exclude almost all the time are good ol' push ups. Push ups are a great upper body developing exercise, that has been used for decades, and then suddenly gets forgotten and ignored amongst all of these new machines and weight exercises.

Push ups have been working for so long that instead of ignoring them we should be incorporating them into our workout routines. This exercise may be just what your muscles need to break through your plateau and encourage more growth.

I have found that putting in a couple of sets of push ups after my chest workout really helps finish my pecs off and give them that extra little bit that will entice more overall development.

For more information on health and fitness visit my website: Health and Fitness Focus

Taking Care of Muscle Injuries

For the most part when your in the gym, as long as you are careful and lift with proper form you should not get hurt. However; there is always that chance that it will happen. Fitness related muscle injuries happen all the time as we see in sports or even our own gym. So what do you do if you injure yourself? Well the answer is pretty simple.

If you pull or strain a muscle there will most likely be some swelling, apply ice to the injured area as soon as you possibly can, while keeping the injured muscle in the stretched position. This will help to bring the swelling down, which will also lessen the amount of pain you will feel.

Keep the injured area propped up if at all possible, this will also help to reduce the amount of swelling within the muscles. Avoid any kind of activities that are going to irritate or make the injury worse.

If you notice after a day or so that your injured area is worsening or showing no signs of getting better than you have probably sustained a more severe injury that will in fact need medical attention. However; if your injury shows improvement, or looks to be healing then you will just need to wait it out while your injured muscles heal themselves.

Once the swelling has gone down your muscles will more than likely begin to stiffen up and become very in-flexible. Apply heat to the area to help loosen the muscle up. As well as performing gentle stretches as well so as to improve the flexibility of your muscles.

I have found that if you pull or strain a muscle that there are a few things that may help with the recovery time. Below I have put down a couple of suggestions that have helped to speed up my muscle injury recovery time.

1. I would suggest going to see a chiropractor. Now I know what your thinking because I thought the exact same thing the first time I was referred to a chiropractor, however if your muscles are strained or pulled, they tend to tighten up and cause a lot of pain throughout the healing process. This is where the benefits of a chiropractor come in, they can work with the muscles to get them loosened up and moving freely again.

2. Going to see a message therapist has also helped to greatly reduce my recovery time.

I remember back about 2 months ago I was in a car accident and I injured my neck and upper back. I was told not to go to a chiropractor from the doctor at the hospital, but I decided to go anyways just to check it out. She checked me out and told me I had whiplash and strained trap muscles. She referred me to message therapy. I went to message 2 times a week and the chiropractor 3 times a week. After about 2 months I was able to get back to working out, which in my opinion is pretty good, considering the doctor had originally told me it would be about 12-15 weeks.

As mentioned above this is not going to be some magical cure, it is simply something that I have tried and found reduces the recovery time of pulled or strained muscles.

If you would like some more information on taking care of your muscle injuries you can visit:
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/muscle_strain/article_em.htm

http://www.healthsquare.com/mc/fgmc0731.htm

Reducing Post Workout Muscle Stiffness (DOMS).

We have all probably experienced this at one time or another after working out, playing sports, or doing any kind of strenuous activity that our muscles are not used to. It's really a pain that is beyond aggravating and just the thought of it lowers our motivation to start up with a fitness program, or sports activity.

There are a couple reasons that are thought to cause D.O.M.S (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness)the day after workouts. The first is the build up of lactic acid within the muscles, however; scientists are starting to lean more towards the idea that its all of the different microscopic tears that the muscles receive after being worked above which their used to.

Mainly the individuals that are going to be subject to D.O.M.S are individuals who are just starting out on a workout for the first time, or starting back up after a few months, this is because the workout actually shocks your muscles because their not used to the physical activity. Another situation would be changing from a current workout to a new workout.

The unfortunate part about it is, that there is no known ways of actually preventing D.O.M.S, or scientific way of reducing the amount of soreness. I throughout the years have found some things that have helped to reduce the soreness that I feel.

1. Warm up/ Stretch your muscles before exercising.

This is going to help reduce a lot of the pain by preparing your muscles, and getting them more flexible. It will also greatly reduce the amount of abnormal tearing to the muscle. By preparing your muscles for exercise in this way you will reduce chances of injury that helps to contribute to post workout soreness.

2. Take a Epsom salt bath

Epsom salts have been known to draw out lactic acid within your muscles. It is best if the water is as hot as you can get it, without causing pain to yourself this way your pores will be able to expand better. I have found that taking an Epsom salts bath after a workout tends to reduce the amount of soreness that I feel the next day.

3. Consume caffeine

New research shows that consuming the amount of caffeine that is in about two cups of coffee about an hour before working out could actually help to reduce D.O.M.S by up to 50%. This is however discouraged if you are sensitive to caffeine, have any kind of heart conditions, or any other conditions that may have negative effects from taking a stimulant prior to exercise. There is still no guarantee that this will work, however; the results of the research have been both positive and consistent.

D.O.M.S is pretty much a thing that comes with the territory I guess. Once you start a routine your soreness will go away and for the amount of time that you have to deal with this unfortunate soreness compared to the benefits you will receive from working out/exercising, it is in my opinion a very small price to pay.

For more information on health and fitness visit my website: Health and Fitness Focus

Product Review - Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey

Over the years of working out I have tried dozens of different protein products all of which have yielded different opinions, the biggest complaint I have towards most of the protein powders that are out there, are that they taste horrible, and they clump up.

About 2 years ago I was on my favorite site bodybuilding.com and it was here that I was introduced to Optimum Nutrition's 100% Whey Protein powder. I ordered this product, as I was unhappy with my previous protein powder and when it came in I was seriously expecting the worst. Right away I mixed up a shake and to my surprise it not only tasted great, but it did not even clump at all. I was thoroughly pleased and have been using this product ever since.

This product is excellent and I would recommend it to anybody, looking for a great tasting effective protein product. This product was also rated the number 1 protein product on bodybuilding.com. So my question to you is whats to lose give it a try.

Optimum 100% Whey Protein, 5 Lbs., Extreme Milk Chocolate

Nutritional Facts

per 1 scoop(30.4 gr)

Calories: 120

Calories from Fat: 10

Total Fat: 1gr

Saturated Fat: 0.5gr

Cholesterol: 30mg

Total Carbohydrates: 3gr

Sugars: 1gr

Protein: 24gr

Calcium: 140mg

Sodium: 60mg

The importance of a Multi-Vitamin

No matter who you are, how healthy you are, and how well you eat you should be taking a multi-vitamin. This is not as commonly practised as much as it should be, and because of that our body is often unable to get adequate amounts of certain vitamins and minerals. Now you may be saying well I eat well enough that I don't really need a multi-vitamin. Not true and I'll tell you why.

Our bodies are constantly using vitamins and minerals, in order to help keep our bodies running efficiently and effectively. These vitamins and minerals are used at a much faster rate if you workout as well. Most of these vitamins and minerals can be gotten from eating things like meat, vegetables, fruit, grains, etc. However; because of today's soil quality, and some of the farming practices, our soil has lost a lot of these nutrients, and therefore our food is not as nutrient filled anymore. This is not good because a lot of the vitamins and minerals our bodies can't or don't store, they are just used as they are taken in.

When our bodies are unable to get the amount nutrients they need to keep our bodies running in tip top shape, they begin to go into a deficiency of that specific vitamin or mineral. When your body has been deficient in certain vitamins and minerals over a extended period of time, it is unable to complete some of the functions that it has to in order to keep your body healthy.

For example, if your body is deficient in iron your body will start to develop anemia, a deficiency of vitamin C will cause scurvy, and a deficiency in vitamin A has been linked to night blindness.

For this exact reason the multi-vitamin was developed in order to make up any lacking vitamins that we may not have gotten enough of throughout the day. I would recommend getting a multi-vitamin that is iron free however; because, iron that is taken through supplementation can cause constipation.

I would highly recommend that anybody who has a high or even low activity level, purchase and start using a multi-vitamin. This will help to make sure that you are getting enough of the vitamins and minerals your body needs.

*Note in some cases if your body is unable to use a needed vitamin there could be a serious medical condition that you should get checked out as soon as you can. *

Below are some recommended MV's

For my recommendations on other supplements go to: http://www.healthandfitnessfocus.com/bestsupplements.php

How to Bench Press the Proper Way

Bench pressing is one of the most favored exercise amongst the men in the gym today. Almost anybody that is into bodybuilding that is either starting out or has been working out for a while tends to focus a lot of attention to their chest. Because you are usually dealing with a fair bit of weight it is so important to lift with proper form. Lifting with proper form will keep you from getting hurt, and in the end produce better results. Let's go ahead and take a look at the proper way to perform the bench press.

1. Make sure the equipment you will be using is in proper condition and is not in anyway going to cause harm to you or anybody else. It is also a great idea to have a spotter as well in case something goes wrong.

2. Lay flat on the bench and pinch your shoulder blades together, this will help to create a more solid base, make sure that your eyes are roughly in line with the bar.

3. Make sure that your feet are planted firmly on the ground and are just a little wider than the shoulder width apart.

4. Making sure that your hands are about shoulder with apart or just over, grasp the bar with the bottom portion of your palms, and then close your hands around the bar.

5. Lift the bar off the racks and bring the weights forward until the bar is in line with the bottom portion of your chest(nipple area).

6. Slowly lower the bar, keeping your elbows tucked into your sides, until the bar just touches your chest. With a short burst push the weight back up to the starting position. It also helps to push with your feet while lifting, it will give you more power. Repeat this step until you have reached your desired reps.

Some of the most common poor practices when benching are:

-Placing your feet on the end of the bench
This actually takes away from the effectiveness of the bench press, this is because when your feet are on the ground it causes a small arch in your lower back. This arch causes the weight to be focused on the chest region. If your feet are on the bench your back will be working with your chest to handle the weight.

-Flaring your elbows out
This is one of those things that can get you pretty seriously hurt. Having your elbows flared out when benching can place an extreme amount of stress and pressure on your rotator cuff, and trust me when I say this is the last thing you want to injure.

-Using weights that are too heavy
This is pretty self explanatory, if you use a weight that is too heavy for you to lift, you will end up getting poor results, and increasing your chances of getting hurt. If you find that your are tilting the bar to one side this shows that, that side is weaker than the other. If you notice that your are using other parts of the body to provide momentum during the lift then you are also lifting too much weight.

-Resting the bar on your chest
When bench pressing you are never and I mean never suppose to let the weight of the bar rest on your chest before pushing the weight up. You are suppose to let the bar just touch your chest. Letting the bar rest on your chest is very dangerous and can often lead to very serious injury.

Bench pressing is a great exercise for working our the entire chest. It is going to be one of your best mass building exercises. However this exercise if not done correctly can produce some pretty major injuries, and poor results. Use the above steps and you will notice a positive difference.
For more information on health and fitness visit my website: Health and Fitness Focus

Why is it so hard to get a nice set of abs?

I have people always asking me, "How can I get a 6 pack?" Well there are actually two parts to the answer. The first part is that you need to work out your entire abdominal section. You can do this by doing exercise that help to focus on these areas.

Obliques

Exercises that help to focus on these muscles are things like oblique crunches, weighted side bends and weighted twists.

Upper and Lower abs

Exercises such as crunches, reverse crunches, and leg raises are excellent for hitting these areas.

The second part is this, and this is the part that not many realize or understand. Over top your abs there is a layer of fat, this fat must be brought down in order for your abs to be able to show. Research says that your body fat % has to be around 7% in order for that layer of fat on your abs to be thin enough to show your abs.

So here is my advice, you can workout all you want but if that layer of fat is too thick then you will see nothing, so you have to, along with these exercises, partake in aerobics, and other faster paced exercises in order to burn this fat off. Then and only then will your 6 pack stand out.

Thoughts on NO-Xplode

I just want to take this time to do a bit of a product review on BSN NO-Xplode. Now I have been working out for about 5 years now, and I finally got around to trying NO-Xplode. I must say what a difference. The first time I took it I noticed an energy boost 5 min after taking it. I waited for about 30 min before hitting the gym, and I was shocked I couldn't believe the energy and increase in ability to lift that this product gave me.


As for side effects the only thing that I personally noticed was a bit of cramping but other than that have not had any other side effects other than huge pumps, and the ability to lift more in the gym. This product is definately worth every penny.

Compared to some of the other supplements I have taken NO-Xplode is one of the best for taste. Whatever is in the mix it creates a kind of fizzy drink. Personally it worked for me, I have however seen that it brought no results for others, so its really up to the person taking it I guess, if you want to give it a try then I would say go for it.

BSN NO-Xplode, 2.71 Lbs., Fruit Punch

For more information on health and fitness visit my website: Health and Fitness Focus

4 things you can do to improve your workout.

Working out is hard there is no doubt about that, so its always nice when you can get more out of the same workout you are doing. Over the years I have come up with a few tips on getting the most out of your workouts.

1.Get a workout partner

I have found that working out with a buddy can give you a boost of motivation that will help you to push out a few more reps, or a bit more weight. Having a partner is beneficial as well; as he/she can spot you when doing certain exercises, this will help you to be able to lift more weight as well. You should be very selective as to who you choose as, a buddy that does not take workout sessions seriously could end up making it a play session and could actually end up hurting your workout.

2. Proper Pre and Post nutrition

This is a very important factor in getting the most out of your workouts. If your pre nutrition is poor then your body will not have the energy to effectively workout for the entirety of your workout session. Likewise after your workout your muscles have been broken down and are in need of repair. For this reason they need energy and building materials (carbohydrates, protein). Research states there is a 45 min window after your workout to feed your muscles after which your muscles start to experience atrophy.

3. The workout change up

This can really be the key to busting through your workout plateaus. It is recommended that you change the order and/or the intensity of your workouts about every 8-12 weeks so that your muscles do not get used to your current workout schedule. When your muscles get accustomed to your workouts they know what to expect and therefore do feel the need to keep growing.

4. Listen to music

Listening to music during your workouts can really help to improve your mindset and provide you with the motivation you need to lift more and workout longer. Listening to music I have found also helps to block out all of the distractions around you helping you to focus only on the task at hand.

If you are finding that your workout is lacking or that you have hit a plateau, go ahead and give these tips a try, it just may be the thing you need to ignite your workout.

Diets.....Why I hate them.

Diets and dieting has been around forever, and undoubtedly have helped people around the world to lose weight. Today there have been all kinds of new "break through" that can make you lose weight without changing your diet or activity levels, all of these new pills and supplements are making their way onto the shelves, claiming to be the next weight loss miracle.

The dieting industry takes in about a billion plus dollars every year from people that are trying to lose weight. That is a lot of money, and a lot of products that are being sold. Its just kind of doesn't add up that all of these diets and dieting products are being used and yet the overall obesity rate is climbing. It just doesn't make sense.

You see a lot of diets these days are trying to come out with magical pills or supplement formulas that are miraculously suppose to take your fat away, without making a change to your diet or activity level. I’m sorry but in my opinion this is just not going to work; sure you may lose weight, but in the end when the diet is up, if you haven’t changed a thing to your lifestyle then would it not make sense that you would return to your original state.

You see this is the biggest flaws when it comes to most dieting systems. You lose the weight you want then you stop dieting and go right back to the same way of eating and the same activity levels that got you overweight to begin with, I mean what sense does that make. The dieting industry uses these diets as a marketing ploy in order to lure in these individuals who don’t know any better. And the best part is that they pay for all this marketing from the money they make from people like you. The biggest flaw that I have found in diets is that they are only meant to be temporary.

Look again I’m not saying that these diets don’t make you lose weight because they do, if they didn’t you wouldn’t buy them. However; because these diets are temporary and because your not actually changing the habits in your lifestyle that are making you overweight, you will not effectively lose the weight. When you lose weight effectively it means that you lose it and then keep it off even after the diet is over.

The only way to do that is that you have to scrap the dieting idea and simply make changes in your diet to healthier choices, portion these correctly, and exercise regularly. That’s it; it is a very simplistic and logical approach to losing weight that not only works but because it is your lifestyle that you have changed it is now like a permanent diet and you will be able to keep the weight off.

As a side note I would just also like to point out that a lot of these new herbal weight loss supplements, and pills that are coming out have not had the testing and proper amount of experimentation done with them. Therefore you cannot be sure of the negative effects they will have both short term and long term on the body. We all remember the “miracle supplement” made from Ephedrine (ma huang), they were very popular as they did help with weight loss, however; it was a short time later that Ephedrine containing supplements were shown to have very harmful side effects such as increased blood pressure, heart attacks, and even death. I say that to say this; the only real safe and effective way to lose weight and keep it off is to change your lifestyle eating and exercising habits.

Eat Healthy + Exercise regularly = Weight Loss

St Patty's Day

hey everyone just want to wish everyone a great st patty's day....have fun and stay safe.

3 things to remember when trying to lose weight.

People seem to think, at least it kind of feels like it by all the negative reactions I get when talking about weight loss, that losing weight is such an impossible feat. Not to mention the first words out of the individual's mouth is usually something about a diet. I HATE the word diet and I'll get to the reason why in a later post but the honest truth is that losing weight is not that hard, in a sense that the logic is very quite simple. The basic concept is to burn more calories than you take in. It’s that easy. Now the hard part is going to be making the changes to your lifestyle; that are necessary in order to lose the weight. Trust me though it's not going to be anywhere near impossible, or as difficult as common belief. No matter who you are or where you're from you can lose weight it just takes determination and persistence. Below are 3 things to keep in mind when losing weight, following these will help you immensely in your weight loss journey.

1. You are what you eat

We have all heard the old saying “you are what you eat” well I have no idea who said that but they were absolutely right. When it comes to nutrition I believe that a lot of individuals fail because they just don’t understand the science behind the food and what it does to your body. When losing weight it is very important and I cannot stress this enough, it is very important to stay away from refined foods, and sugary foods. Now you may be thinking to yourself well how is it that these kinds of food make you gain weight. Well let me explain to you how different foods affect the body.

Foods that contain simple carbohydrates like candy, soda, refined foods etc. are absorbed by the body at a very quick rate. This causes a spike in your blood sugar and in order to get your blood sugar level down your body releases insulin. The insulin will then lower your blood sugar down to normal, however; insulin also promotes the storage of fat that is why these foods are linked to weight gain.

Foods that are rich in complex carbohydrates have to be broken down by the body into simple carbohydrates before being digested. This is a much slower process and therefore you blood does not get overloaded with sugar. These types of foods also usually contain fiber which helps to slow down the digestion even further so that you feel full longer, thus helping to curb your appetite. Stick to these types of foods as well as foods high in protein and low in fat.

2. Eat 5-6 meals a day

Now I know what your thinking and trust me when I first heard about this I was skeptical as well. This method actually makes perfect sense though. See the idea is that if you eat 5-6 smaller meals a day your body has to constantly work at digesting the food and therefore it causes your metabolism to stay sped up. This in turn burns more calories. The problem with the common way of thinking that the less you eat the more you lose is that if your body has nothing to burn then it will start to slow your metabolism down in order to save food until the next meal, and if you try to starve yourself your body goes into survival mode where it actually will use the bare minimum of the food you consume to keep your body going, and will store the rest as fat for use at a later time. Now as mentioned above you will eat more frequently but the portions will be smaller. Also it’s a good idea to find out how many calories your body needs in a day in order to maintain your current weight. You take this amount and then cut out about 250 calories from that. This will ensure that you are taking in fewer calories than your body needs. Again though don’t take too much away or your body will go into shock and will actually cause you to gain weight.

3. Exercise, Exercise, Exercise

This is a huge factor in losing weight, exercising will not only burn off extra calories by speeding up your metabolism, but will also strengthen your lungs, heart, and cardiovascular system. I have seen these programs that advertise that you can lose weight and no exercise is required. That is pure crap, an absolute marketing ploy. Trust me the best way to lose weight is to eat healthy and exercise regularly.

The types of exercises you should stick to are medium intensity aerobic exercises. Now again use good judgment when starting on a fitness program. I would recommend getting your doctors advice and recommendations first. Exercises that would fall into this category are jogging, speed walking, riding a bike, swimming, Pilates and so on. These types of exercises will get your heart rate up and this is what is going to cause your body to start burning calories. It is suggested that you do about 30-45 min of this type of exercising 4-5 times a week.

There you have it, using these 3 steps as guidelines you will without a doubt start to lose weight. This is because they are based on scientific facts.

For more information of the basics of food visit:
http://www.healthandfitnessfocus.com/foodscience.php

To calculate your daily caloric needs:
http://www.marathonguide.com/FitnessCalcs/Caloricneeds.cfm

Why obesity is sweeping the nation

Obesity in my opinion is a pretty scary subject. I was looking at statistics earlier in the week and I was stunned by the results of my findings. Did you know that it is estimated that around 300,000 deaths occur every year that can be linked to obesity or even being moderately overweight. The statistics also show that about 97.1 million people are overweight in the America alone. The scariest part about this is that obesity is a growing trend among our children as well. The statistics show that in 1984 it was estimated that the percentage of overweight children was about 4%. Statistics from 1994 show that this number had quadrupled to 16% and was still on the rise. In my opinion these statistics are absolutely awful and we need to start doing something about it.

So the question is why is the obesity rate rising? Well I'll tell you. You're not going to like the answer but here it is, for the most part and there are some exceptions but for the most part we're just plain LAZY. That's right laziness is what is causing obesity, and I too am guilty of this. Now I will admit that we didn't become like this on our own, technology has certainly helped out as it has made things a lot easier, and less laborious. But in the end it is our choice to do something about it.

Obesity and being overweight is more of a problem then some may think. Aside from the physical appearance, and the fact that being overweight lowers our immune system, being overweight can also lead to ailments such as: cancers, osteoarthritis, diabetes, and high blood pressure. These are very serious ailments and can be greatly reduced if we just make a few small changes to our eating and exercises habits.

For those of us who say we have "no time to exercise", is this really the case or is it just a lazy cop out so that we can justify our weight gain and comfortable inactive lifestyle. What we need to do is to sit down and take a look at our week's schedule. How many hours are spend watching t.v, or on the computer. How many times do we drive to someplace we can walk. The fact is that all we need to do is set aside about 30-45 min of exercise a day. That's it.

Nutrition is another thing that a lot of us are lacking. I mean we all know how it goes, your work lunches are too short, your too tired to cook, you don't have time to cook, whatever the excuse may be and again it may be legitimate but here is my take on this....."Where there's a will, there is a way".

For tips on healthy food choices and weight loss exercises visit http://www.healthandfitnessfocus.com

For statistics on Obesity visit
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/overwt.htm

An Introduction

Hello everybody and welcome to my blog. I have created this blog in order to provide information on healthy living and fitness related topics. If at anytime you would like to more information you can visit my website at http://www.healthandfitnessfocus.com/. I do not claim to know everything about healthy living and weight loss, nor do I claim to be a fitness guru. I am simply a person who finds this subject of great interest and enjoy sharing my knowledge with others in order to help them achieve their goals.