NeatFit - Your daily dose of "Fit".

Daily tip #46| Eat right!

2012-03-02T15:13:00.001+02:00

1. You generally want to eat at least 3 to 4 times per day. Also, try not to snack in between meals.

2. For those of you who love to snack between meals, I recommend drinking a cup or two of water - your snacking needs will be gone!

3. You want to not down everything in one sitting. a big meal spikes the sugar in your blood, which triggers an insulin reaction which then converts the temporary surpulus to fat. Therefor, you get hungry sooner than you should.

4. Spreading the same number of calories over several smaller meals ( 3 to 5, instead of 2 to 3) gives you a better chance of using the calories for energy rather than turning them to fat

I'm going to begin following this short method of tipping, the long articles gave me a lot, but this blog isn't for such things, I'll make another one for full articles if the need ever arises.

Have a great friday everyone! Drink water, otherwise tomorrow's morning won't be as pleasant as you wish!

Daily tip #45| Clearing it up 301

2012-02-29T09:33:00.000+02:00

Let's assume you run 30 minutes per day, you've changed your meal plan, it's been atleast a month, and.. Nothing. The weight doesn't shed off, so, what now?

You might be out-eating your cardio. Do not think that just because you are working out a lot you can eat a lot too - no. Losing weight is burning off more calories than you eat. If you burn off 800 and eat a 1000 - you'll gain 200. No matter how hard you are working out, you can always make this mistake. Just a friendly heads-up!

By the way - If you think that just because you eat very well cardio is not important, it still is. Cardio is one of the most important things you can do to improve your body. Ofcourse, you can lose weight with just nutrition. However, the two combined will grant you a healthy body!

How long will you have to keep this up? Here.

Daily tip #46| Clearing it up 401

2012-02-22T17:43:00.000+02:00

Most people associate the words "Weight loss" and "Eating less" with deprivation, hunger and pain. Well, they're doing it wrong.

Losing weight and eating less does not mean deprivation, hunger, or pain, in my opinion, it's quite enjoyable! You spend less money, you're shedding the unfortunate belly and you're feeling happier. I know many people who think weight loss is all about starving 'model' style, and they either don't even take it up - or starve themselves, get sick, feel horrible and become demotivated.

Goals matter in terms of the eating schedule and exercise, but hunger and deprivation has no place in a good plan! The single best tip I can give you in this case is.. Don't drink calories, eat them. After reading that, I'm sure you'll realise and find that you might have gotten better results just by dropping a few drinks!

Also.. Water, just read this.

Daily tip #44| Clearing it up 201

2012-01-31T20:15:00.002+02:00

Fat loss. Very daunting words for many. But.. Are they really?

In my honest opinion - not at all, losing weight is simple - not matter what you've heard on TV before, be assured that you can lose weight as simply as making a minor change in your meals.

It's not like you have to work out two hours a day, 6 days a week - no, not even close to the truth. And you also can't buy a 6 pack, or a magic weight loss pill, they're gimmicks, placebos at best.

So what in the world is so simple to losing weight? Well, to start off, you should make a change in your meal plan, right here, read this for clarification.. The second thing you have to do is run.

Noooo, not away! On second though, you might not even have to run. Cardio is what you need, 30 minutes per day, to be exact. Every day sounds impossible for many, you can start off slower, 4-5 days per week. BUT I am almost completely sure that you can squeeze in 30 minutes of cardio every day, as long as you want it. What is cardio? Anything that makes your heart beat at the 70% - 85% of it's maximum. Sounds easy, and it is. For many walking fast is enough, sports count too. Obviously, younger people will need to walk quite fast, so swimming or playing sports is much easier for them. There are many things you can do if you don't like walking, for example, this. If you're already doing simple cardio, you can try this out.

To conclude.. Why do any of this? Well, obviously to lose weight! However there are many benefits to cardio, such as this. If you are thinking of taking up cardio, make sure to not make common mistakes, and, water!

Daily tip #43| Clearing it up 101

2012-01-30T19:11:00.001+02:00

Nutrition is the key for the lock of a great body and mind, however, I bet you are thoroughly confused.

The web is STUFFED with conflicting advice on how to properly nutriate yourself. When, how much and what to eat?

Do not just take one's word for how you should eat - there is no "set" meal plan. Proper nutrition depends on what you want to be and your goals. Great nutrition is VERY important, and, it's easy. What? Eating no fries, no chips, just grass 6 times a day is easy?!

It is. And it's not what others make it out to be. The difference in the meal plan for a professional body builder, and someone obese who just wants to lose weight are immensely different.
In fact, if you're just trying to lose weight - it's immensely easier! You might not even have to be 'completely' healthy in terms of food choice. For example, the 3 times a day, or the swap meal plan is usually enough to shed off some serious weight

Don't stress it. And don't go into extremes - it can cause lifelasting mental and physical issues, which you can perfectly do without.

For most, the substitution or the 3 per day will be enough, they might or might not be small modifications (Don't be kidding me, anyone can commit to the substition plan!) but it's all you really need to lose weight!

Have a nice week, and see you on the next page!

Daily tip #42| Juice bad for teeth?

2011-10-25T22:21:00.003+03:00

Is apple juice bad for your teeth? Well.. Apples are great for your teeth, why would apple juice be bad? That's logical, but..

Apple juice contains many sugars and acids. Apples do too, but when you eat an apple, the water and fibers inside of it wash away the acid and sugars. Juice doesn't have fibers or water, it can weaken and erode the enamel.

It has been found that orange juice decreases hardness and increases roughness of enamel... Enamel hardness was decreased by 84 percent. That's right. It was literally washed away.
It is important to understand that there are a lot of acids in fruit juices, sodas, energy and sport drinks. It is very important on how the drink is drunk, if you slowly sip it through 20 minutes, you are way more likely to have tooth erosion, than someone who drinks it in a few minutes.

Just a small sip leaves your teeth getting attacked by sugars and acids for twenty minutes.

Daily tip #41| Coffee and caffeine

2011-10-22T21:40:00.002+03:00

Is dirnking coffee bad, or good for you?

There are several factors to consider. Coffee drinkers are less likely to have type II diabetes, Parkinsons disease, demetia and also have lower risks of certain cancers. The coffee bean itself contains chemicals which are mild psychotropics. They are there as self-defense of the plant.
Coffee has been proved to increase short term recall too. It also helps lessen brain cell damage, and help neurotransmitters function better.

Coffee has a lot of antioxidants, more than blueberries, which is, frankly, quite a lot. Those antioxidants help boost your cells' reaction to insulin, and that helps with regulating sugar.

However, coffee has such effects as increased heart rate, blood pressure and irregular heartbeats, which is something to consider. Though, many argue that the antioxidants widen blood vessels, making the blood pressure problem irelevant.

If you simply want to stay up and fresh throughout the day, start a basic routine, drinking more water and sleeping better. I can guarantee that these will get you started on the right track of waking up fresh every day, add in solid nutrition and look, you're losing weight too!

I suggest drinking coffee, however, only in moderate amounts, definitely not 5 cups a day. When I need to, I drink coffee spaced out throughout the day, small amounts every two or two and a half hours, and I grind my own beans too - which I suggest you do too, it is the best way to enjoy coffee, no *bucks with a half cup of cream on top of your coffee - just the real thing.

Do not forget to drink a lot of water, not underestimate sleeping properly, stop making common mistakes to become happier!

Daily tip #40| The rest is over.

2011-10-21T21:43:00.001+03:00

It's been a week and three days since my last post, and I have to admit, I just had to take some time off writing. I sincerely hope all of you are still there with me, and from today, I am going to be taking the my creation, this post, very seriously. Follow along on how to get back into it.

First of all, the strongest and best advice there is about getting back into it is..

Just don't even stop it in the first place– Avoid breaks for more than a week. Don't slack off just because you couldn't do it on time - I never miss my workouts, I reschedule. If at the end of the day you had time to sit down and watch an episode of a tv show, you should look for more motivation.

Short goals – I've done a post on this before, and here it is. Follow it. Short goals is the secret to keep it up.

Rewards – Yes, rewards. Whether it be cash you told someone to hide and not give to you until you ___ (Choosing a trustworthy person is recommended, this also is a great way to weed out 'friends'.)

Get a partner – Having a partner is definitely one of the best things that kept me going. You look at you partner, progressing - and you just can't help but wish to keep it up, maybe with these tips you'll even surpass them?

Start a small commitment – Something like, going for a jog every day for a month, for just twenty minutes. If you do it wholeheartedly, believe me, you will not want to stop, don't forget a reward afterwards.

The old-school way – Draw a big X over the days you have to do it. You're new-age and the only calendar you have is the calendar on your computer? Buy one. They're not expensive ( it doesn't have to be all fancy, though, nothing's stopping you.) and hang it over your bed/in the bathroom, somewhere where you will see it every day, every morning, every night. This is the most straight-forward and basic way to keep motivation up.

Have you phone go crazy – On the days - set five phone alarms going off at random times during the day. I'm sure everytime the alarm goes off, you'll think about it and will soon realise that you could be spending your time productively. Believe me, mine does, it's also on full volume, and I've purposely set it to go off during class, that makes me paranoid, also making me think about what I should do later on today.

These are 7 most effective ( with my experience ) ways of getting back into it. Do not look at this post like you don't need to try these, it can make a difference.

Do not forget to drink a lot of water, not underestimate sleeping properly, stop making common mistakes to become happier!

Daily tip #39| DOMS

2011-10-12T23:09:00.000+03:00

You might have seen a very fit and/or strong/bulky guy taking the elevator..

Now why would he do that when he looks like he could outrun it with stairs? He might have the time to do it, is he lazy? But then if he's lazy, how is he strong/bulky or fit? It might be DOMS (Delayed onset muscular soreness).

If you work out hard enough, you get micro tears in your muscles which your body then repairs. Delayed onset muscular soreness starts 1-2 days after a workout and can last for a week ( Yep! That truly is no pain no gain.) This delayed muscle soreness is great, it is by far my favourite. It is a great indicator that you've had an effective workout, you are constantly reminded that your hard work did not go to waste! Delayed onset muscular soreness is also a great reminder that you have to keep feeding your muscles nutrtion, afterall, nutrition is the key to the lock of a great body!

Do not forget to drink a lot of water, not underestimate sleeping properly, stop making common mistakes to become happier!

Daily tip #37| Pain equals gain?

2011-10-11T23:27:00.001+03:00

Everyone has heard the phrase 'no pain no gain', and it does apply to a lot of people, and yes, I said 'a lot' that means not to everyone, let me clear things up a bit..

The kind of pain you could get:

Joint pain - this is always bad, pain is your bodies way of saying something's up and you should not ignore joint pain, if you continue to push through it you can seriously injure yourself - forget bodybuilding. If you feel joint pain try to recall what might have caused it and stop it immideatly. Try a different angle, change the grip position, and try doing less, more reps with light weight instead of few reps with heavy weight.

Bad kind of pain - sharp, sudden and 'knife stab' kind of pain is really bad, it usually is a sign that you have seriously injured yourself. Tears and seperations cause this kind of pain - get someone to run and fetch a bag of ice for you and visit a doctor.

Good pain - pain that starts as a slow light burn at the end of your workout, slowly building up with every last step/rep until it gets really intense. Why? This is lactic acid building up in your muscles. Why is this pain good? The buildup of lactic acid is a great indicator that you are pushing yourself hard enough to develop muscle.

If you work out intensively enough, you will get micro tears in your muscles which your body then has to repair.

If you've had a good workout and feel no pain - don't fret, some people don't feel sore at all!

Do not forget to drink a lot of water, not underestimate sleeping properly, stop making common mistakes to become happier!

Daily tip #36| Spot fat removal

2011-10-10T23:19:00.001+03:00

Back when I watched a lot of tv, I used to see a lot of commercials saying their product will target the 'love handle and waist region' and remove the fat from there.

Until a few years back, I didn't find it ridiculous, I honestly thought you could remove fat from a place by exercising that place.. Turns out you can't.

It is all a myth, there is no 'spot' fat removal, you can't lose weight from a single spot, if you lose - you are going to lose it from your whole body. Remember those commercials of vibrating belts, saying they'll remove the fat from the waist? It is not possible to focus removal of fat on a single spot of your body.

Remember, people are different. Different people behave differently, so you might not lose those lovely handles until 10% body fat, and someone else might've lost them at 15%.

The body decides how it distributes fat over - all you can do to shoo those man boobs and love handles away is to start easy by swaping out a few products, and then follow a general guideline. Nutrition alone will do a lot, but to gain a proper form you need atleast some aerobic exercises, jogging and cycling are one of the most preffered methods too.

With a basic eating guideline and a 40 minute easy jog every 2 days and motivation too, ofcourse - you can get rid of the manboobs and unneccessary fat.

Do not forget to drink a lot of water, not underestimate sleeping properly, stop making common mistakes to become happier!

Daily tip #35| Daily caloric intake

2011-10-09T23:27:00.001+03:00

Counting calories - so cliche and stupid sounding. Being overly obsessive with it is not neccessary unless you are a competing bodybuilder, to shed weight and lose those lovely love handles on the waist all you really need to do is substitute, and then switch over to a basic meal plan. With this, these two nutritional methods alone should get you a six pack, but only if you sincerely do it! Yes, sincerely, but, you can cheat, somewhat.

On my post about how long should it take to get where you want safely I mentioned to cut your calories by 20%. What is that 20% and how much do you cut? Let me explain.

First of, you need to find out your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate - minimum amount of energy (in calories) required for your body to complete basic functions throughout the day). It is very simple, with little math. This formula only applies to adults, though.

Men:
66 + (6,3 x weigh (pounds)) + (12.9 x height (inches)) - (6.8 x age (years))

Women:
655 + (4,3 x weigh (pounds)) + (4.7 x heigh (inches)) - (4,7 x age (years))

Now that you have your Basal Metabolic Rate, we go into the next step, calculating activity.
If you sit around all day: BMR x 20%
Light activity: BMR x 30%
Moderately active: BMR x 40%

Very active (intense exercise every day for long periods - yeah, I'll stop on this one, there's more though.): BMR x 50%

You add this number to your BMR - and there you go, you have the number of calories you need to maintain your current weight. On my previous post I said you need to consume 20% calories less to safely lose weight - which means, no going from fried chicken straight to only salad, use the two methods I've mentioned above.

This way, BMR(5000) x 20% = 1000.

20%(1000) - BMR (5000) = 4000, which would be the amount of calories you need to consume in order to lose weight safely.

This is very easy to do stuff which can save your health, I think it's better to stay safe then sorry - find out how many calories you need and start reading those labels! It's good to write down the number of calories you ate each meal on your phone - then you will be able to see how much more you need, or if you should stop and eat better next day.

If you are unsure how many calories x item has, just google the nutritional value of that item, it should show up.

Do not forget to drink a lot of water, not underestimate sleeping properly, stop making common mistakes to become happier!

Daily tip #34| How long?..

2011-10-08T23:36:00.001+03:00

How long does it really take to get that (six pack, I assume.) you're aiming for? Well...

A six pack starts showing at 10% of your body fat, though, some people get it at 12, some at 7, it's not really pin pointed, everyone is different, after all. What would be 10%? If you weigh 100 pounds, you can only have 10 pounds of fat on you, otherwise, you won't have a defined six pack.

To safely lose weight, you only need to reduce your calorie intake by 20%, it is not healthy to go straight from fried chicken to only salad, even if it seems great.

To calculate bodyfat, you can't guess. There is a million of ways to calculate your body fat anything from a flotation tank (25,000$+) to weird looking scale machines which you can use for a dollar, what works best though (besides the flotation tank) is a skinfold caliper, and it only costs 15 dollars.

You might have heard about rules such as 'you should lose 2 pounds a week'. Unless you weigh over 300 pounds, this can lead to mal-nutrition, which is dangerous. Remember, try and reduce the calorie intake by 20%, this will keep you safe from mal-nutrition and burning muscle.

I'll soon be showing you how to calculate how many calories you need per day, and how to balance.

Do not forget to drink a lot of water, not underestimate sleeping properly, stop making common mistakes to become happier!

Daily tip #33| Carb Cycling

2011-10-07T23:30:00.000+03:00

Carb Cycling - one of the most promising fat loss concepts. Doing carb cycling you can get the rapid fat loss of a low-carb diet and also drop to a veery low level of body fat without burning muscle, or any of the other withdraws that come with a low-carb diet.

Carb cycling, as good as it sounds, it is definitely not for everyone. If you want to take it up, I suggest you should be over 18 years old, in a perfect health state and under 10% bodyfat (defined 6 pack). If you are a competing bodybuilder.

Carb cycling is seriously, only for competing bodybuilders. With it you can get to 3-4% body fat, which is quite dangerous. If you answered no to any of those questions, then nutrition, more nutrition and more nutrition + water + exercise + rest will get you where you want.

So, how does carby cycling work? Carb cycling avoids the starvation response by reloading the carbohydrates every fourth day. This keeps the metabolism running, without the muscles burning. This is an advanced weight loss method which allows you to get that lower ab fat off and become truly ripped - without losing any muscle in the process.

Only the most extremely motivated people can do this - it is a very strict diet. You must weight, count and also tally every bit of food that passes into your mouth.

Carb cycling is a four day cycle of three days with low-carb meals and the fourth with high carbs. How long would you need to keep this up? I would say from two to eight weeks - until you reach your goal. If you go past 8 weeks, you are doing something wrong and should look into it further.

Remember, as I said, this is an advanced technique, not really needed for most people since they are not competing in competitions.

Do not forget to drink a lot of water, not underestimate sleeping properly, stop making common mistakes to become happier!

Daily tip #32| How to cheat

2011-10-06T23:28:00.000+03:00

Cheating can be a great pressure valve to release yourself once in a while, you can only eat rice, chicken and steamed vegetables for so long before you pig out on creamy, frosty and sweet stuff. Let me walk you through on how to properly cheat without destroying all of your work just because of a small temptation..

What you first should realise is that a cheat meal is not a cheat DAY. It should not be two pizzas and two six packs of beer - it should just be two or three slices of pizza and a few beers.

In my opinion, everyone should have a cheat meal atleast once a week. You might go a week without it, then go on the second week, and then the third week the pressure will make you explode into and eating frenzy, ruining a few weeks if not a month of your work, also demotivating you greatly.

Do not let that happen to you, have atleast one cheat meal per week, even if you feel like you don't need it. A cheat meal is designed to prevent the binging, it is not a scheduled meal, so have it whenever you feel like, it is a safe way to get that kick up your behind to get you going on your regular plan again, because I'm sure you'll feel just a tad bit guilty after having it, making you want to keep on eating better.

Do NOT have more than TWO cheat meals per week. One is good, Two are okay, Three is a NO. Remember, a cheat meal is not a cheat day! I know what goes through ones mind when they crave, I really used to crave all the time while starting out, I had cheat days and random cheat meals all throughout the week - it went nowhere, I achieved nothing. It was like I wasted my time and work all for nothing. Then, I realised I can continue on with my plan while releasing the pressure with just two random cheat meals per week.

Have anything you want, but do not have the whole thing. Pizza? Have a few slices. A six pack of beer? Have half.

Got it? Okay, good.

Do not forget to drink a lot of water, not underestimate sleeping properly, stop making common mistakes to become happier!

Daily tip #31| Nutrition 103

2011-10-05T23:19:00.001+03:00

On my last two posts, we went over the substitute method, and the standart 3 solid meals a day plan, now, we will learn what is even more healthy.

Eating healthy can be a lot of work while you're starting out, it's not to be scared of, though, because you can get ripped abs or a fit belly and waist. It is not too hard though, basically, it is about limitation.

You should try getting most of your calories from wholegrains, fruits, legumes and vegetables. Limit bad things, eat only lean meat, if you're going to eat chicken, do not eat the skin. You don't really have to eliminate the bad things, just try to limit them as much as you can. In a few weeks you should start to see the big difference in your feelings, your decisions and the quality of sleep/staying fresh and awake through the day.

Try and eat 3-5 cups of fruits and vegetables per day. Eat fiber rich whole grains. Only eat lean cuts of meat like chicken and fish, remove the skin. Limit alchohol, limit snack foods, limit cookies, cakes etc.

Water. Water. Water. Water. It helps lose weight, it helps clean your body, and a lot more!

Sleep is very, very important too!

Remember, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, explained why in daily #30.

These are three very simple things which people take for granted all the time - they seriously can improve your life.

Do not forget to drink a lot of water, not underestimate sleeping properly, stop making common mistakes to become happier!

Daily tip #30| Nutrition102

2011-10-04T23:14:00.000+03:00

On my previous post I gave you a very simple solution to start getting on track and shed some weight off easily, the substitute method.

Let's say you followed the method for a few weeks, and the weight slowed, so you want to continue on forward.

The the next appropriate step would be to start following an eating schedule. A basic eating schedule consists of three balanced meals per day. It will not go to harsh on your body, meaning it's completely safe for anyone. I'm saying this because cutting down on many calories at once can be bad for your body, it becomes a health risk. It is not to be taken lightly. You should aim for about 20% calorie reduction from where you are now-- But don't count calories yet, counting calories is not a pleasureful activity, and if you're just looking to shed off some weight, you don't have to!

This is very simple nutrition. What you should start doing is eating three regularly scheduled(spaced out throughout the day) meals. Each one of them should be home made and, atleast relatively healthy. You can really go far with this, you will be able to gain muscle and shed weight at the same time. Ofcourse, way slower than 6 meals per day, but this is only the beginning, I'm guessing if you start up hardcore now - you'll get demotivated pretty soon after the results slow down. You lose weights on certain periods of time, more on that later on.

Don't have any idea of what is considered healthy and could be homemade? Oatmeal with two eggs and a glass of milk or yogurt - that would be breakfast. A tuna sandwich with an apple or two - that's lunch. Dinner? Have meat and potatoes with a salad. Do not go hard on salt or sos, they are unneccessary.

Remember, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Your body is in a great need for energy, as you haven't eaten for eight hours! Assuming, you slept for atleast 8 hours, which you should be doing.

Do not forget to drink a lot of water, not underestimate sleeping properly, stop making common mistakes and you'll be much happier!

Daily tip #29| Nutrition 101

2011-10-03T23:01:00.000+03:00

Lately I've been getting into some intermediate stuff, I don't see many people actually reading the article, so let's start keeping it short, and novice-based, most of the days.

What might be your daily meal plan? Is it.... 3 to 6 fast food meals per week? Lots of fried foods? Lots of snack foods? Candy, cookies, sweets? Barely any vegitables? Almost no fruit, no fiber and lots of salt? Is that atleast half of you? You're doing it wrong.

If you're eating like this, you might not realise how much you could accomplish with a simple change.. If you added 30 pounds over the last 5 years, it is only because you ate 57 calories per day too much. Yep. 57, that is nothing! It actually doesn't take much to change the whole situation around, it is very easy, and I really thought everyone knew this!

So.. What do you do? You substitute. But how? You choose two meals that you eat often, and substitute them with a healthy solution! Yes, just two. If you drink a lot of coke, substitute it with water. If you have fried foods often, eat baked potatoes. That's it. Two meals, and the weight will start shedding off! It really is that simple. None of these sacrifices are too great to cause any deprivation, or any hard thinking to do - yet, it is a very powerful method. And it will work, 100%.

I'll be starting these nutrition dailies, after all, nutrition is key to losing weight and gaining muscle. I'll be progressively getting into more advanced stuff each day. I'm hoping this short format will make you, the visitor, actually read what I write.

And yes! Drink a lot of water, not underestimate sleeping properly, stop making common mistakes and you'll be much happier!

Daily tip #28| Poor results gaining

2011-10-02T23:01:00.000+03:00

A lot of people are getting demotivated after seeing no results.. After a week. This is not how muscles work. Building muscle is a very slow and hard process. Before changing your work out, work with it for ATLEAST a month, and then see. Now, let's take a look at what you might be doing wrong..

Nutrition is key in gaining muscle, but not the only key.

Lifting weights may be the easiest part of working out, but you must not take it lightly. You need to constantly and intensively lift weights. If you go to workout just once a week, for one hour and spend half of that one hour talking to a bud, you're not going to gain anything.

Let's say you intensively work out 3 days a week, and you're still not seeing results after a few months. Well, remember that cookie you ate? Yeah. Remember the sugar you put into the coffee covered with cream on top of it? Do not expect results without solid, proper nutrition. 6 meals a day, every two to three hours. 3.3 litres of water (2.3 if you are a girl). And proper sleep (Atleast 8 hours). Solid sleep and rest is essential, no sleep - no gain.
Ofcourse, the meals have to be balanced too! (more on that in a later post)

You're probably thinking to yourself "6 meals a day.. Damn, I need to eat like a horse to do this' Nope. Wrong. You do not need to eat more to gain muscles. You do not need fat to gain muscle. This is a horrible myth, seen and heard everyday. 'I'm skinny so I eat a lot to add fat in order to gain muscle' this is heard really often, too often. To build muscle you need atleast 0.5/1g of protein per pound of your total bodyweight weight. That is what you need to start building muscle, no fat. If you weigh 180 pounds, you need to consume 180 grams of protein each day. Ofcourse, somewhat evenly spaced out!(30g per meal, though you can have 15 g in one meal and then compensate with 45 in the other, just do not have your daily dose at once)

Do not abandon natural protein and turn to protein shakes. One protein shake per day is good, but two or three is horrible. There are many, BETTER proteins in natural foods like nuts, chicken breasts, eggs, milk and other lean meats. You can also have a protein bar, but do not have it as a snack.

If you're getting poor results.. Ofcourse, you might just be simply overtraining. If you've suddenly stopped gaining strenght and started losing it - you're overtraining. If you lift weights, 3 days per week of 1-2 hours is enough. If you're having 'parts days' do not have two chest days, or two bicep days, one day per week is enough. Later on you CAN start lifting 4 days per week, but that's much more later on, do not worry about that.

And yes! Drink a lot of water, not underestimate sleeping properly, stop making common mistakes and you'll be much happier!

Daily tip #27| Adding on muscle

2011-10-01T23:51:00.001+03:00

Adding muscle and bulking up.. There is a lot of bad information around this subject, let me clear it up for you.

Let's start out with how much muscle you can add in a year.. 5 pounds. 10, if you are very gifted and a hardgainer. I hear teens all the time boasting about having added 20 lbs of muscle in a year from working out. It is laughter inducing. Teens, 16-22, grow fast. In their teen time they are getting taller, adding on mass and getting stronger all as part of the normal growth process without lifting a single weight. They gain the 15lbs naturally, and the 5lbs from the actual work.

Yes, 5 lbs. Adding on muscle is a very slow process, requiring focus and motivation and knowing what you are doing. Many people quit because they don't see the results magazines promise 'Add on 10 lbs of muscle in two weeks!'. But imagine, in 10 years you'll have 50 lbs of muscle on you, do you know how amazing it will look? A muscle machine!

So, you've got an expectation of what to expect, now, how do you actually do it? Well, you lift weights, go home and sleep, right? Yeah, kind of, but eating is the most important part. Many people think lifting weights is the most gruesome part of body building. It is by far, not. It's the easiest thing. The hardest thing is nutrition, which is being taken for granted, by A LOT of people.

Forget all sugar and salt. 6 meals a day. Enough protein, should be 1 gram for each pound of your weight (you weigh 180lbs, you need 180 grams of protein, daily). Do not order that pizza or pick up that coffee at starbucks. Coffee is great though! So grind your own coffee beans and have a homemade coffee! No sugar or creams on top though!

There you go, information cleared up, and more information! I hope that I'm doing a decent job so far!

As always, never forget to:..

Drink a lot of water, not underestimate sleeping properly, stop making common mistakes and you'll be much happier!

Daily tip #26| Cooling down

2011-09-30T23:24:00.000+03:00

Cooling down, as in, cooling down after a workout. It doesn't seem too important, does it?

Cooling down is actually important. What is 'cooling down' defined by? A cool down is a period of time for example, at the end of a workout session, when you gradually decrease the physical activity of your body to almost resting. It usually consists aerobic moves, together with stretches.

It is important for several reasons, one of them is that it will help remove the metabolic waste your body might have acquired during the workout.

There are many more reasons though, for example if you feel faint after exercising - you do not cool down properly, or at all. Why would you feel faint? During physical activity, say, a workout, blood is pumped around your body by your heart. It circulates. The blood comes in to the heart, gets pumped out, and returns, repeat. During exercise blood is assisted in returning to the heart by muscle contractions and several other factors. If you suddenly stop all physical activity - your heart will continue to pump the blood around your body, but nothing will assist the blood in returning. And that is the reason why you feel faint.

If you properly cool down, that is, gradually decrease physical activity to almost none you heart will slow down with the slow decrease in the intensity, preventing you feeling faint.

You don't have to do stretches or aerobic movies to cool down, if you're jogging, you can begin decreasing the speed and intensity into walking, and from walking into slowly stopping for at least half a minute. Stretching after a work out though, is recommended.

The length of a cool down varies from person and exercise. If the exercise was strenuous - obviously your heart has been working intensively and will need a longer gradual cool down. If you are out of shape, or just a beginner you might also have to take it easy, as your body and heart might not have adapted to this kind of stress yet. Along with warming up, cooling down, as you see, is important!

Drink a lot of water, do not underestimate sleeping properly, stop making common mistakes and you'll be much happier!

Daily tip #25| Warming up

2011-09-29T23:26:00.000+03:00

Warming up before exercising is essential, no matter the complexity of the exercise. Everybody knows you need to warm up, but not everyone does it long enough to actually properly warm up, so let me teach you how to.

Then again, lets see what warming up is defined by. Warming up basically raising your body temperature. Why would you want to do that? Increasing your body temperature allows your muscles to flex and stretch more, obviously, since cold muscles don't like to move freely. Your tendons, ligaments and cartilage also increase in flexibility, leading to a lesser risk of injuries, strains and tears.

The warm up movements also help activate the fluids in your joints, reducing their friction and wear. Which is obviously great as you get older! After warming up your heart can properly adjust to the tempo and regulate blood easier. Sudden exercise can lead to many injuries and a heart attack.

A good enough warm up should get your heart pumping and a little bit of sweat. A basic warm up would be walking slightly faster than average for 10 minutes before jogging. Your heart will be ready to accept the need for blood and nourishments of your muscles.

Warming up reduces pre-mature fatigue, maybe you haven't been warming up properly and you're a better runner than you think? It also enables you to get the most benefits out of a workout.

The lenght of the warm up should be dictated by the intensity of the following exercise. As I said, average jogging should be prepared for with 10 minutes of walking slightly faster than average. Don't have the time to warm up? Get ready for severe injuries and a heart attack. Cold muscles do not want to stretch and work.

If you're interested in my warm up - it would take quite a while to write it all down. But it takes just around 15 minutes, consisting many different ways to warm up, like Jumping Jacks, Scorpions, Trunk Twists, Clap push-ups, Lat pulldowns and so on and on. I do 18 different exercises to warm up, so as you can see it can get quite complex. There are also ways to fix your muscle anatomy with warming up in specific ways before a workout.

Always make sure to properly warm up before exercise, as it can increase your results, help the recovery be more bearable ( keep in mind pain is not the only indicator of a good workout ) and prevent injury.

If you have no idea how to start running, here's a basic week:

Drink a lot of water, do not underestimate sleeping properly, stop making common mistakes and you'll be much happier!

Daily tip #24| Stretching

2011-09-28T23:26:00.002+03:00

Everyone knows how to stretch. But unfortunately very few know how to stretch properly and what it is for. Follow along.

Stretching is a commonly seen thing, sadly, when asked, people think they're doing it to prevent injury, while in some cases the risk of injury after stretching increases.

Let me explain what stretching is, what it does and what's it for. Stretching basically helps maintain normal range of motion. It can also help fix muscle inbalances.

Stretching does not prevent injury, which usually occurs during normal range of motion, why would widening the range of motion help prevent injury?

Stretching reduces the strenght of the muscle in it's tensed form, meaning you can get easily hurt if you do lifting after stretching. I suggest you warm up, not stretch, these are two different things. Some people also stretch after the workout, saying it will reduce the soreness, which it actually does not.

The reason why people think stretching prevents injury is because they're confusing or mixing it up with warming up. Warming up does reduce the risk of injury and in fact, greatly.

With stretching you can also fix muscle imbalances, it's a wide subject, so I'll do an entire daily of it someday. Muscle imbalance is basically one or two big muscles doing the work for other, smaller, weaker muscles. For example your bicep and pec minor doing the work for your lower lats while you're doing pull ups, that's a really common one. How do you fix that? You stretch out your arm entirely before doing pull ups, stretch out both of your arms against a wall as far as you can - ofcourse, don't injure yourself. If you do this, the smaller and weaker muscles will start working, instead of letting the bicep and pec minor take over the work completely.

So, what is stretching good for? It is good for decreasing imflammation and increasing the range of motion, allowing you do reach better, or sit on your straight leg. There are many more uses for flexibility too, ofcourse. I see a lot of people not doing the stretching properly, you can actually injure yourself while stretching the wrong way. So how do to stretch the right way?

To stretch the right way, first of all warm up, and then cool down a little bit. You should choose a stretch and do it so you feel pulling in the muscle - don't go into the pain zone though. Many people get this part right, but they bounce or do the same stretch repeatedly in a few seconds, that is plain wrong. Once you get into the position, that right spot, you should hold and continue to hold for atleast 30 seconds. Then release. Once a day is enough, studies shown that three stretches of 30 seconds a day had the same result as one stretch of 30 seconds per day. If you're doing it right, your flexibility should increase in about six weeks, if it doesn't, increase the hold into around 60 seconds. Don't increase if you see improvement though! You shouldn't expect too much because it is, afterall, a slow process.

Besides improving the range of motion, stretching can be relaxing (exmpl. joga). I'm hoping this cleared up the misconseption of stretching and now you know!

Drink a lot of water, sleep properly, stop making common mistakes and you'll be much happier!

Daily tip #23| HIIT

2011-09-27T23:06:00.005+03:00

High Intensity Interval Training. You might have heard of it, you might have not, I'll explain what it is and what it does..

First of, what is it? It is basically performing at near your maximum speed for a few minutes, and then at an average speed for another few minutes, then near your maximum speed again, so on and so on.

What is near max or average? Let's make a scale, 1 being 'this is so easy I'll fall asleep' and 10 being 'OH GOD I am going to pass out'. Near max would be 8-9, and average would be 5-6. I think it's clear now? Alright, good.

Now, why choose HIIT? Research has found that normal cardio burns the same amount of calories like HIIT. But here's the catch, HIIT continues burning calories after you're done. HIIT also increases fat burning in muscle fibers. So? It burns more calories, it increases the burning of calories, how do you do it? Well, I'll have to let some hopes go, because HIIT should only be performed by medium-to-advanced joggers/runners/swimmers, whatever cardio you do, you can't be a beginner and do HIIT. HIIT really puts a lot of stress and demand on your body, if you're not used to it - you can easily get injured. Also, if you have joint problems, high heart pressure or some kind of heart disease you must talk to a doctor. You should have known to talk to him already if you have a good doctor though.

Let's get into how to do it. If you're just about to start HIIT, you should do a total of 20 minutes. 2 minutes intensively, 2 minutes moderately/lightly. It's very simple.

Run fast / 2 minutes
Run slow / 2 minutes
Repeat.

Swim fast / 2 minutes
Swim slow / 2 minutes
Repeat.

Cycle fast / 2 minutes
Cycle slow / 2 minutes
Repeat.

It's pretty simple, isn't it? Once in a while you can also attempt to do it like this once it a while:

Cycle/Run/Swim fast 1 minute
Cycle/Run/Swim slow 2 minutes
Cycle/Run/Swim fast 1 minute
Cycle/Run/Swim slow 1 minute 30 seconds
Cycle/Run/Swim fast 1 minute
Cycle/Run/Swim slow 1 minute
Cycle/Run/Swim fast 1 minute
Cycle/Run/Swim slow 30 seconds
Cycle/Run/Swim fast 1 minute
Cycle/Run/Swim slow 1 minute
Cycle/Run/Swim fast 1 minute
Cycle/Run/Swim slow 1 minute 30 seconds
Cycle/Run/Swim fast 1 minute
Cycle/Run/Swim slow 2 minutes
Cycle/Run/Swim fast 1 minute

Yeah? You've got the idea. Always make sure to keep the fast at 8-9 and slow at 5-6, or it simply will not work!

Before you run off to do HIIT, always remember to warm up, that is a must! Your goals should also be down to earth, always keep in mind the next day! Today you might feel fine, but after an intensive workout, the next day you will feel completely beat, not allowing you to exercise properly, maybe have a light day then? To continue improving with HIIT you should increase either intensity or duration, never increase both at the same time!

If you have no idea on how to make a routine, here you go. You want to do HIIT once or twice a week, not more - atleast while starting out HIIT. Remember - you can overtrain with HIIT, if you feel like you've gained nothing in a really long time, or you're getting weaker, ease off a litte.

Rest is key, water is factor and a good post work out meal is a must! A little bit more motivation wouldn't hurt either! Sleep well, eat well and rest well!

Daily tip #22| Fats

2011-09-26T23:18:00.001+03:00

Fats are made to look evil by the media, and uninformed people too, ofcourse. While that is true, there are good and bad fats, although everything is bad when there's too much of it. So let me explain.

You might be confused with all the blame on fat for obesity, why would fat be good? Fat is actually crucial for the human body. Many processes of the body rely on fat, without fat, fat-soluble vitamins could not be distributed. One of the good fats is saturated fat, found in tropical plants, dairy products and meat. Why is it considered good? Well, saturated fats make 50% of the cells membranes, which gives the cells their very needed stiffness. Saturated fats are also very important for your bones. In order for calcium (important for bones) to be properly absorbed, half of the fats you consume must be saturated fats. Saturated fats also help protect the liver better from toxins like alchohol and others. These fats also enhance the immune system, letting you stay less prone to diseases. They're also needed to properly utilize important fatty acids like omega-3, these fatty acids are better kept in the tissues when there are more saturated fats.

So as you see, fats are essential in order to stay healthy. Unsaturated fats are also healthy, the difference between unsaturated and saturated fats is that unsaturated fats contain a double bond between carbon atoms, while saturated fats only have one bond.

Unsaturated fats reduce thickness of the blood and clotting, help you regulate blood pressure, they lower bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol, which is used to repair blood vessels and transport fat-soluble vitamins throughout the body.

There are also polyunsaturated fats which have two and more double bonds between carbon atoms. These fats are good too and they're in liquid form. Corn oil, fish oil, safflower oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, flaxseed oil and hemp oil are all polyunsaturated fats. And as you know, they're in liquid form. Why did I mention liquid form?..

Trans fats.. These are the fats you should avoid. They're made by hydrogenating of partially hydrogenating oils. Why should you avoid them? They lower good cholesterol and raise the bad type. They raise the total serum cholesterol levels. Trans fats increase insulin levels and resistance, thus giving you more risk of diabetes, and making it worse for diabetics.

Trans fats are found everywhere, mostly found in processed foods, like baked goods, snack foods (mostly all of them, cookies, crackers, potato chips, popcorn) and fried foods like fried chicken and french fries.Trans fat consumtion should be kept to a bare minimum, for obvious reasons mentioned above. What you don't realise is that 'fat free' foods are the most horrible foods you can eat. Fat has gotten such a bad reputation from the media, when in reality it is essential if you want to be healthy. So what do companies do? They make 'fat free' products, with trans fats and refined sugars, which is obviously far worse than saturated and unsaturated fats. You shouldn't think that if you eat 'fat free' foods you won't consume any calories, in fact you might become even less healthy if you keep consuming trans fats.

Avoid those 'free fat', 'non fat' foods at all costs, carefully read the labels for anything that is 'hydrogenated' or 'partially hydrogenated'. Also avoid margarine and butter substitutes.

I'll recommend on how to cut down on these:

Eat healthy snacks, like sprouted nuts and seeds. They're rich in omega-3.
Make more foods with organic flax meals. (fibers, healthier digestion)
Use olive oil.
Use 'raw' butter and dairy products instead of 'fat free' ones, explained above why.
When cooking, use virgin coconut oil. (healthier intestinal tract, improves digestion, absorbtion of nutrients, helps control sugar levels, helps keep cholesterol healthy.)

After reading this post I'm sure you've realised mistakes which you might have been doing every day. Maybe that's why that fat hasn't been in the mood to leave?..

As always, sleep better, eat after working out and drink water. Remember! It's better to cheat for a day than quit! Have a nice day.