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The Top Myths About Losing Body Fat
When you start your workout to lose body fat, there are several myths and misunderstandings that exist out there about losing body fat. You really need to educate yourself on this in order to properly lose the weight so that you can properly build muscle. If you know about the myths, you should be able to be successful and reach the goals that you have set for yourself.
Myth 1: Excising the abs will burn belly fat
There is no doubt that you have seen a ton of products out there that claim they can melt your belly fat away, thigh fat, arm fat, etc. They claim that with exercising, taking pills or using some type of electronic stimulation on a certain area you’ll lose the fat just in that area. However, fat loss happen throughout the entire body all at the same time.
What happens is that your body breaks down the fat for energy from all parts of your body so that it doesn’t deplete one single area. Fat is your insulator so it makes sense that your body doesn’t want to remove that insulation from just one part of the body.
Some type of aerobic exercise combined with the right diet is going to help you burn the fat off all over your body. Working out one part of the body is great for building muscle, but not to burn off fat. You need the aerobics and strength exercises to lose body fat.
Myth 2: Starving yourself will burn fat away
If you don’t take in the right energy through calories you will force your body to start breaking down the fat in your body to use it for energy. The result will be an immediate decrease in body fat, however; you will gain it all back the minute you start eating again.
When you deprive your body of food it will put your body into a “starvation mode”. Then, when you reintroduce the food, your body will then store as much of it in your fat reserves. And to make things even worse, those who starve themselves will start overeating and the body will put on even more fat than what was lost.
So, if you want to lose body fat and make sure you keep it off, you need to eat so that your body will have a continuous source of energy to draw from and keep it from going into that “starvation mode”. The amount of fat you burn will be a small amount at a time but you will eventually lose it.
Myth 3: Fat on your body comes from eating fatty foods
You avoid eating those cookies and pick up some popcorn that has no butter so you can avoid all that fat. Or you have a couple of chicken breasts because you know they have far less fat than a burger. But, you still notice that you still aren’t losing the fat. This is because the fat you find in food is not the same as the fat you find in your body.
Fat in your body actually comes from the calories that you consume and it really doesn’t matter where the calories come from. It just happens that those fatty foods do tend to have a lot of calories. But, they don’t turn into fat unless you are eating too much of them and taking in more calories than your body actually needs.
Understand, that your body needs nutrients from a variety of foods, but it is really important to not overeat any kind of food. If you eat small and balanced meals you will ensure that you are not putting too many calories into your body and adding more fat than you need.
Final Note: The best thing that you can do is get into a routine with a good exercise program, eat healthy and make sure that you stick to it. If it’s easier, find yourself a workout partner so that you have someone to help keep you motivated. Make sure to set reasonable goals, ones you know you can achieve and always feel good about yourself.
Muscle Building Diet Tips for Women
Anyone who knows anything about building muscle knows how crucial protein is for that process. But other nutrients can be just as important for muscle growth in women. Carbohydrates are very essential and even fats that will help to build and maintain your muscles. So, it is very important that you watch what you eat and when you eat it.
Protein
The protein that you consume is used by the body for repair, regrowth and the rebuilding of not just your muscles but your skin, nails, organs, cells and hair. So you need to make sure that you provide your body with the right amount of protein so your body can repair itself, especially after a heavy duty workout.
The recommended amounts for women seem to vary from one source to another but on average for a woman who is working out they should eat .68 to .81 grams of protein for each pound of body weight that she carries. Since women do have less muscle mass to take care of as compared to men, you should always begin with the lower end of the recommendation.
Good sources of protein come from lean meat like chicken and turkey, eggs, lean red meat and fish. You will also find it in low fat dairy like cheese, milk and yogurt. You will also find a good amount of it in nuts and seeds.
Other Nutrients
Make sure to include complex carbohydrates that are found in whole grains, vegetables and fresh fruit. These are essential for the energy that your body needs to build muscle. Carbs are also used to help your red blood cells move oxygen through your body as well as remove the toxins from your muscles when you work out.
Fats are also very important for women. Women do tend to have a higher body fat percentage than men due to reproduction. Most programs dealing with fitness programs will even require that women make sure to maintain a healthy body fat percentage, so you should never avoid fats. You can find the good fats or monounsaturated fatty acids needed in foods like avocados, olive oil, flax seed oil, dark chocolate and nuts.
Eating Schedule
When you eat, it’s important what you eat and how much of it you eat at one time. This is why you should spread out your allotted calories over 5 to 6 smaller meals throughout the day. This will also help to speed up your metabolism. Also, make sure you follow the recommended calorie intake for your weight, height, musculature, level of activity and your goals. If you are weight training five days a week you will need between 1600 and 2400 calories each day. Make sure each meal is balanced with carbs, protein and fats.
It is always advisable to drink a protein shake with about 20 to 30 grams of protein in it and eat one serving carbs like crackers, fruit or some oatmeal, 30 minutes to an hour prior to working out. This will give your body all the fuel it will need to make it through the workout.
How to Add Muscle After the Age of 50
Often the way you have lived your life gets the blame for the muscle loss you experience after the age of 50. Things like smoking, alcohol and a bad diet are all scapegoats as well as genetics and the aging process itself is blamed often. These things do have their own share in contributing to it, but probably the biggest bad guy of them all is an inactive lifestyle. So, believe it or not, you can still gain and build muscle after you turn 50 with some physical activity and a diet high in protein.
Your diet is very important so make sure to eat several smaller meals during the day instead of three bigger ones. Your breakfast should be the biggest one of the day, then lunch and then dinner needs to be your smallest one. Include a couple of snacks as well, one mid-morning and one in the early afternoon. This is going to be what will help to boost your metabolism.
Make sure that the foods you eat are high in protein, because it is the protein in the food that is going to help you build muscle. This should include things like fish, eggs, lean meats, poultry like chicken and turkey, low fat or skim milk, yogurt, beans and different types of nuts.
You also will need to make sure that you eat about three grams of carbs for each pound of weight that you carry, per day. The foods you should consider are oats, whole grains, pasta, rice, potatoes as well as fruit.
One third of each of your meals should also be made up of good fats. So, the types of fats that should be included should be olive oil, canola, coconut, fish oil, eggs, salmon and nuts.
Next, you want o multiply 19 by your actual body weight to figure out the amount of calories that you will need to eat every day. Then in about two weeks reevaluate this and lower the number just a tad if you are putting on flab and not building muscle.
Before you do any kind of exercise or workout, you should drink a protein shake about 15 minutes prior to beginning, but make sure this is included in your daily caloric intake.
Exercise is vital and you should find a program that best suits you and your abilities. You always need to make sure that you warm up prior to any workout. Then means you should do gentle stretches and then move up to walking and jogging in place later, if you can.
Begin your workouts with some light weights and if you can gradually move up to some heavier ones. The heavier your weights, the more muscle you are going to build. If you are not able to lift weights comfortably for at least eight times then this means your weights are too heavy and you need to go to the lighter ones. Make sure you lift them in sets of 8 to 12, rest for two to three minutes between each set.
Make sure that you create a couple of different routines of exercises. You can include some curl downs, heel raises as well as dips. Try including some step ups, sit ups and push ups. You need to try to work all your muscles and do not focus on just one area.
If you can’t afford to join a gym then consider buying some videos that will help you with a variety of exercises that you can do at home. The videos will ensure that you do the exercises correctly and avoid damaging any part of your body when you are trying to build muscle.
Note: It’s important that you talk with your doctor before you start any kind of exercise program.
Losing Body Fat Naturally
If you are wanting to get into a muscle building program but feel that you’ve got some body fat issues you’d like to take care before working with those weights to build muscle. Don’t think that you have to eat just celery and carrot sticks and water to lose all that excess body fat. If you do this, you’ll be sorry. It’s better to do it in a fashion where you replace high calorie foods with healthier options and then add your exercise program into your lifestyle. Most doctors recommend the healthiest way in which you should try to lose excess body fat is by losing one pound a week.
In order to do something like this, on the average you will need to each 250 less calories each day. You will need to replace a lot of the foods you are use to eating with some lower calorie foods. Instead of drinking whole milk you need to switch to low fat milk. Replace all those sugar filled desserts with some fruit. Try snacking on air popped popcorn instead of those chips. Try replacing your favorite ice cream with the same flavored frozen yogurt.
Make sure to change to lean meats like chicken and fish instead of all those fatty cuts of red meat or fatty pork. If you like pork or beef and don’t want to give them up, stick with the loin pork and the sirloin for the beef to help cut down on the fats.
It’s also a very good idea to try and fill yourself up on vegetables instead of carbohydrates when you are first trying to get rid of that excess body fat. Make sure that you check all the nutritional information on all the food labels so that you can find the foods that are lower in fats and calories.
Another good idea is to cut down on your food portion sizes if you find it hard to keep track of all the calories that you are eating each day. If for instance you eat ¾ of your normal breakfast, lunch and dinner for the day you are with no effort at all going to be cutting back on the calories.
In order to lose those 250 calories per day you will need to do some kind of exercising each day of the week. For example you might do a 20 minute jog in say, 20 minutes or you could take a brisk 30 minute walk or ride a bike for 30 minutes. You might even take an hour to clean your house, which is equal to the bike ride, jog or brisk walk. Make sure though, that you make sure that you do a variety of different things so it keeps you from getting bored.
It’s also a very good idea when you are trying to lose excess body fat that you go to bed the exact same time each night so that you can try to get at least 8 hours of sleep each night. If you deprive yourself of sleep you can actually gain weight instead of losing weight. This is because lack of sleep slows down your metabolism.
Make sure that you drink plenty of water and this means you should try to drink a minimum of 8 glasses each day in order to keep yourself well hydrated. If you allow yourself to become dehydrated you are going to be lacking in energy. Water also is a good way in which to keep your digestion healthy and it will also fill you up and will keep you from overeating.
Do your best not to skip meals when you are trying to get rid of your excess body fat. Skipping meals can actually cause you to gain weight because the body becomes stressed out when it’s being deprived of food. It will also trigger uncontrollable cravings for more fatty foods instead of healthier foods.
Starting Kids Young in Building Muscle
Some may think that you shouldn’t worry about building muscle in children and just let them do what they naturally do when growing up. However, some believe this is the wrong attitude to have. Building muscle in children is not saying that you get them into a weight lifting program, that is not what is being meant here. You don’t have to take a child to a gym in order for them to get into good physical shape, there are things you can have them do to keep them in shape and more than likely teach them how to keep up a healthy lifestyle at an early age.
The obesity in children has grown at an alarming rate, especially in the United States and it seems to be continuing to climb because kids stay indoors more playing with their computers and other electronic devices than going outside and being active. But this can be changed because there are some very simple games kids can play that will make a big difference in their fitness. When muscles develop in children, it is very important to understand just how much activity they need and what kind of activity is appropriate for them, because even a child’s muscles can be overworked.
Before you decide to sit down and figure out what your child should do on a daily basis, it is very important that you know just how much activity is ideal for the child. Kids that are two years and older should do some sort of exercise each day for around 60 minutes. It should be moderate to vigorous each day. This encourages motor development but it also keeps them from gaining unwanted weight that will follow them into their adult years. No child should be allowed to be inactive for any longer than two hours at a time unless they are napping.
One of the best pieces of equipment you can let a child play on to help build muscle and stay healthy are the money bars on the playground. These are one of the best muscle development tools available to a child. Not only will it help them to be physically fit but it is something they simply enjoy. The monkey bars help to develop the back, bicep and the should muscles of children with the pulling motions it requires. With the lateral swinging it will also help them to develop their chest muscles and will give them better posture. They also help with the abdominal muscles as well giving them a stronger core.
Consider letting your child do some indoor rock climbing by going somewhere they have rock climbing walls for children. This is a wonderful activity for kids to help build muscle and to keep them in good physical shape. This is a great activity that will naturally build their muscles and keep them challenged and excited about exercising. This type of exercise will engage all of the muscles and keep their entire body in good shape.
Playing a good old game of tag is a great and silly game that kids like to play sometimes and it’s a great way to exercise. This is a game that will help them improve their heart and increase their overall endurance and helps to tone the muscles in their legs.
On top of making sure that your child gets plenty of healthy exercise, it is also vitally important that you start them off right in life with a good diet plan. Don’t fill their diets with lots of sugars and processed foods. Make sure to give them plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables along with good proteins and healthy lean meats. A well balanced diet is going to also be key in strong muscles and a healthy child.
Great Foods That Help to Build Muscle
In order to build muscle and to lose the fat you need to lose when you are working out, it is necessary that you eat foods from many different sources. This will then help your body to gain the biggest supply of nutrients that it needs. For instance, proteins in bulk, carbs for energy and fats for actual fat loss are all essential in order to help you build new lean muscle. Here you will find some of the important foods that you should eat to assist you in building the muscle that you need while not adding any extra fat to your waistline.
Whole Eggs
There are about 7 grams of protein in one egg, they are a relatively inexpensive source for your diet and for a protein source. If you are concerned about cholesterol you really don’t have to worry about the yolk all that much, since in reality dietary cholesterol really doesn’t effect your cholesterol levels. So, make sure that you add plenty of whole eggs to your diet plan if you intend to build muscle.
Red Meat
For some time, red meat was thought to be dangerous for your health, however, now it has become a favorite for those who are working out and trying to build muscle. The reason is that it actually does have health giving properties that include protein, vitamin B12 and Omega 3 fats (only from grass fed beef). It’s just that you should remember to pick the leaner cuts of beef such as sirloin and tenderloin to keep your intake of unhealthy saturated fat levels down.
Spinach
Yep, just like good old Popeye use to tell many of us as kids, spinach gives you strength, it truly does. Spinach is vital in keeping your muscles healthy and also prevents bone loss. It also is said to protect you against cancer as well as heart disease. If you don’t like the flavor of it just disguise the taste with some sweet fruit like bananas or pineapple in a smoothie.
Quinoa
Quinoa is pronounced keen-wa and is a gluten free grain that is a lot like rice. It is very high in fiber as well as protein and you can use it instead of rice in a lot of different recipes. Unlike rice, the higher quality quinoa does have whiter grains.
Water
Even though water isn’t really a food, it is still vital for any kind of muscle building since it is what helps to prevent dehydration and it helps in the recovery of your muscles after a workout. It will also prevent water retention and will help you to lose weight from any excess salt intake.
Cottage Cheese
By eating plenty of cottage cheese or any other non-fat dairy products is going to supply you with essential amino acids in your daily diet that will help you to build lean muscle. It is very important to eat these kinds of foods with each meal so that you have an ample supply of amino acids for your body to process when trying to build new muscle.
Four Important Tips for Building Muscle
Of course there are hundreds of tips a person will eventually follow when it comes to working out and building muscle. It’s not the easiest of things to do, build muscle. Along with lots of effort and planning there are truly four basic tips that you should always follow, no matter how advanced your workouts might be or how novice they might be. These four tips are the foundation of your entire workout and the ability to build muscle.
Training Schedule
You should make sure that you set up your own individual training schedule. You should train in one form or another every other day. This should consist of four training sessions in one week and then three training sessions the next week. When you train every other day, you are going to let your muscles have the time to rest and heal that they need in order to be ready for your next training day. This is extremely important if you want to build muscle mass. You should never try to train your muscles each day. This is simply is a really good way in which you could damage your muscles and not build them. A beginning training schedule may not even want that much, you may just want to do training every two days and then work your way up to the every other day schedule.
Diet
It can never be said enough, you need to eat a sufficient amount of calories, nutrients and proteins in order to build muscle. If you don’t feed your body enough of the calories that it needs it could actually eat away the muscle tissue that you already have in order for the muscles to support themselves. This then will just conflict with your overall goal of building more lean muscle. So always make sure to eat plenty of protein and include plenty of protein shakes in your diet. These shakes are high in protein and high in calories, just what your muscles need. It is always a good idea to eat plenty of protein before and after all of your workouts.
Sleep
Sleep is something else that is vital in the overall health of your muscles. You really do need to get plenty of sleep. Your body needs plenty of time to rest and the best time for this is when you are sleeping. During this time your body will repair your muscles. If you don’t get enough sleep then your body won’t have the energy it needs to perform well, especially when you try to exercise and you will also increase your chances of injury.
Patience
You really need to have patience when it comes to working out and building muscle. Understand that muscle mass is not going to be built overnight. In fact it’s going to take hundreds of hours of workouts and strength training or months of training in other words for your muscles to grow. Never expect to see instant results because you are only going to be disappointed.
How to Strengthen Your Hamstring Muscles
When you are trying to build muscle, it is important that you take into consideration all of the muscles in your body. Often, people seem to overlook the hamstring muscles. This is the muscle that goes down the back of your thigh and it consists of three different muscles that originate in your pelvis and extends below the back of your knees. How strong your hamstrings are is directly related to the muscles ability to resist any tears or injuries. It is important that when you plan a workout that you also plan on strengthening these muscles.
Now matter what kind of exercise that you do, you should always warm up and this is just as important for your hamstrings as any other muscle. So when you are trying to build muscle and strengthen the hamstrings you need to take time to make sure that you do some mild aerobic exercise like jumps or some stair stepping in order to increase the blood to the hamstrings.
You also need to do some stretching before and after you do your workout. If you stretch your hamstrings before a workout it will let your hamstring muscles to contract and relax with fluid motion during the rest of your workout. When you are done with your workout, you should do more mild stretching because this will keep the lactic acid from building up in your muscles and they won’t cramp up.
Consider starting up a hamstring program that includes high velocity exercises like sprinting. Each muscle has its own memory and when you participate in sports or a workout program where your hamstring may have to contract with some sort of speed, it is going to develop memory strength.
You can use weights and isometric exercises to help strengthen your hamstring muscles. By doing this you will be increasing the power in your muscles. You should try the reverse leg curl machine at your gym and use medium weights. Try doing five sets of 6 to 8 reps.
Make sure to always keep your hamstring muscles hydrated, just like your other muscles. This will help to cut down on injury. Since our bodies are about 70% water it’s important that we replenish it. If you are dehydrated your muscles will contract and this makes them susceptible to injury. So, make sure to always drink plenty of water during a workout to help build muscle.
You can balance your hamstring mobility by focusing on making your quadriceps stronger. Your muscles work in sets of two, one set contracts while the other set relaxes. The muscles in your thighs need optimal movement so don’t over do it and avoid strength training both muscle groups on the same day.
Should at any time you feel you may have torn or injured your hamstring, you really should not ignore it. You should make sure to see your doctor immediately so that he can instruct you on what to do and how to care for the torn or injured muscles.
How to Build Muscle Strength While at Home
Not everyone can go to the gym and not everyone can afford an expensive set of weights. So then how do you build muscle and muscle strength without the extra help from the gym or weights and weight machines? Well, don’t despair, it can be done, at least good enough to get you in shape. There are some exercises that you can perform at home with little or no equipment needed that will help you build your muscle.
Before you do anything that is going to help you build muscle, you need to warm your muscles up first. This is going to help you with your flexibility and your range of motion. So you can try to lightly jog or ride a bike around your neighborhood until you break up a sweat. If you have a stationary bike, then use that first.
The next thing you will want to do is to stretch out the muscles that you are focusing on training. You should do this for 5 to 10 minutes in order to lower the risk of ending up with excessive muscle pain when you are done working out.
You can start off by doing some crunches. You do this by lying on your back and have your knees bent and your feet on the floor. Then you will take your hands and cross them over your chess and curl the upper part of your body up and in toward your knees. Do this until your should blades lift off the floor. Now, stay at the highest point for about three counts and then lower yourself back to the starting spot. You should try and do three sets of eight reps in the beginning and then build up to three sets of 15 reps. This is a great exercise to help build muscle in the abdomen and lower back and will prepare you well for whenever you do go out and do exercises with actual weights.
The next thing you should do is three sets of five push ups and then build the exercise up to three sets of 10 to 15 push ups. Just lie face down on the floor and then support your body by putting your palms on the floor face down. Now, slowly lower yourself to the floor and then slowly push yourself back up. Be sure to keep your back straight and your elbows pointed outward. If this happens to be a little too hard for you, you can always put your knees on the floor instead. Push ups will help build muscle in the chest, shoulders, back and in your triceps.
Another exercise to help build muscle is to sit on a chair with your feet on the floor and make sure your shoulders are aligned. Put your arms by your sides and then slowly stand up as you keep your back straight. Now slowly return to your chair. Do three sets of this with 15 reps. As your muscles get stronger you should be able to start doing the squat without the chair. This exercise is meant to help build muscle in your thighs and buttocks.
Another good home exercise is to stand with your feet about hip width apart and then hold a dumbbell or a jog of water in each hand. Put your arms by your sides with your palms facing forward. Use one arm to slowly curly the dumbbell or jug up to your chest. Hold this for a second and then lower your hand back to your side. You will then repeat the same with the other arm. You should try to do three sets of these with 15 reps. This is going to help build muscle in your biceps.
Building Muscle After the Age of 40
Your muscles play an important role in your posture, your strength, metabolism and your balance. And when it comes to building muscle after you are 40 can be kind of a challenge. The main reason is because during this time of life, your body just naturally starts to slow down and that includes hormone levels as well as your metabolism. But, this doesn’t mean that you can’t build muscle after you turn 40. Here are a few tips that should help make it a little bit easier.
You need to eat right. You need to have the proper nutrition in order to fuel any workouts you might be doing. This also will help your body recover better and will give your muscles the building blocks they need to grow. You need to avoid those empty calories from foods like deep fried, refined, processed and saturated fatty foods. You should instead eat foods such as lean meats, low fat dairy products, whole grains, veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds and beans.
You also need to make sure that you drink lots and lots of water. Water will help to flush out the impurities that are in your body, it helps to lubricate your joints, it oxidizes fat and helps your digestion. It will also help to keep your muscles hydrated.
Do what are called compound exercises that will engage different joints and engage the most muscle fibers possible. Such things as bench presses, military presses, back rows, squats and dead lifts are good for this. You should perform low reps that have high sets giving yourself longer rest times so you can fully recover from it. This intense exercise if you are a man will help to boost your testosterone levels which are essential in building muscle in men. A good example of how to do a compound exercise would be 3 to 6 reps of 6 to 8 sets with a 2 to 4 minute rest period.
After each workout you should make it a regular habit to drink a shake. You need to replenish the depleted glycogen in your body and give your muscles a boost of protein so they can recover easier and build new lean muscle easier. It’s a good idea to drink a fast absorbing shake that has whey protein in it along with a simple carbohydrate.
Rest is vital, so you need to get plenty of that. This will allow your muscles to repair themselves and in the process they will regenerate and build new muscle while you sleep. There are certain hormones that are released only at night and they help this process, so this is why it’s important to get good sleep, especially after you’ve worked out. If you don’t get enough sleep it is going to slow down your muscle growth. So, you should try to get anywhere from seven to nine hours of sleep each night.