Taiji Fit

I was asked today why don't I use music?

gaz1969@inbox.com (TaijiFit) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 18:40:01 +0000

Today I was asked why I don't use music and here's my answer.

Tai Chi Chuan is about relaxation and health as we all know but what a lot of people don't know is that Tai Chi is supposed to help you relax in any situation.

Tai Chi is hard to learn and to do, it isn't about sitting on a comfortable pillow with nice music playing and incense burning. Tai Chi Chuan should teach you how to relax while under pressure and in uncomfortable environments.

Association is a strong thing you don't want to associate being relaxed to nice and fluffy things that’s easy. So when you’re in class learning new postures, techniques, partner work, principles and fatigue sets in and it’s all getting a bit pressurised the main thing you need to do is RELAX, associate the pressure with relaxing.

The best time to relax is when you are under pressure and if you can why not be relaxed all the time.

German Volume Training For Serious Mass

admin2009@taijifit.com (Taiji Fit) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:22:29 +0000

When trying to increase muscle mass there are few training methods that are proven to work as well as German Volume Training (also known in the world of Strength and Conditioning as the "ten sets method".) Believed to have been founded in Germany in the mid 70's and later popularised by the National Coach of Weightlifting Rolf Feser, it’s now used by strength athletes and bodybuilders the world over. Here we explore how GVT could be used in your workouts to add muscle mass.

Training Principles:

Pick 1 Exercise Per Muscle: Essentially the program works by targeting a group of motor units, exposing them to an extensive volume of repeated efforts, specifically, 10 sets of a single exercise. This forces the body to adapt to the huge amount of stress it’s put under by hypertrophying the targeted fibres (put simply, the muscles get bigger and stronger to cope with the stress.) It’s important to choose a large compound movement for each body part (e.g. bench for chest, squat for legs.

Perform 100 reps: For each one of these exercises, you will be performing 10 sets of 10 reps. Begin with 50% - 60% of your one rep max and aim to perform each rep with strict form. There is no need to train to failure, use forced reps or negatives since German Volume Training is taxing enough on the body.

Tempo: Since you are performing such long-range movements (such as dips, squats, bench and chin ups) try using the 4-0-2 tempo, this is basically where you lower the weight for 4 seconds and then straight away begin lifting the weight for 2 seconds.
Rest: Whilst there are many variations of this type of training, experts tend to agree that 60-90 seconds is the perfect amount of time between sets. Any less than 60 seconds and you may find you have to drop the weight since your muscles aren’t being given enough time to recover.

Incremental Changes: Once you are able to do 10 sets of 10, with strict form, 60-90 seconds of rest and the perfect 4-0-2 tempo, try increasing the weight you lift by 5% and repeat the entire process.

Since German Volume Training puts such a lot of stress on the body, it’s important that you stick to a strict routine and resist the urge put superset or throw in isolation moves. One of the most popular routines is as follows:

Day 1: Chest and Back

Day2: Rest Day

Day 3: Legs and Abs

Day 4: Rest Day

Day 5: Shoulders and Arms

Day 6: Rest Day

Day 7: Rest Day

Hormone Manipulation and Lean Muscle

admin2009@taijifit.com (Taiji Fit) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:19:41 +0000

Trying to gain muscle mass without the addition of unwanted body fat can often be hard and whilst the right combination of cardio and weight training can help, perhaps the key to lean muscle mass is your endocrine system. Here we look at what exactly your endocrines system is, the role it has to play in lean muscle growth and what exercises can help to stimulate it.

The endocrine system is basically the bodily system that consists of the endocrine glands (such as the thyroid gland, pancreas and testes) that release their secretions (hormones) into the bloodstream to reach and act on target cells of specific organs. It’s often viewed as the master system of the body, especially for bodybuilders or athletes looking to increase muscle since its integral to the production of anabolic hormones. Hormones are chemicals that are manufactured at one tissue location in the body, and then secreted into the blood stream, so that they may act on other tissue locations in the body. Below is a list of the various tissues found in the body that comprise the endocrine system, as well as their respective hormonal products.

So how is this relevant to building muscle mass? Well, when trying to build muscle most people will rely on creating a calorie surplus (I.e. you eat more calories than you expend) and whilst this is very effective, you will put on unwanted body fat as well. However by manipulating the hormones of the endocrine system (specifically testosterone and growth hormone) you will virtually guarantee continuous growth without increasing body fat. One way of doing this is to employ multi-muscle exercises within your workout since they place the most stress and stimuli upon the body, which in turn causes the body to adapt and grow via the endocrine system.

Studies have shown the 4 exercises that have been shown to have the best effect on your endocrine system, due to the large number of muscle fibres they recruit and stimuli they provide are:

• The deadlift: A compound movement that involves both strength and speed, targeting primarily the lower back, it also works
the trapezius, the quadriceps, the hamstrings, and gluteus.

• The clean and press: Although this exercise mainly targets the front deltoids and triceps it also works the trapezius, the
quadriceps, the hamstrings, the gluteus during the initial lifting phase.

• The squat: A big strength movement that targets mainly the quadriceps, it also works the gluteus, the hamstrings, the hips and
the lower back.

• Bench Press: Perhaps the most widely performed upper body exercise, this targets the pectorals, deltoids, triceps, trapezius
and lastly the lats as well (not a lot of people know they share a significant amount of the work, as they assist in the movement.)

Train For Your Somatotype- Reece Mander

admin2009@taijifit.com (Taiji Fit) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:14:01 +0000

Getting huge and ripped is easy! I just follow exactly what the biggest guy in my gym is doing right? Wrong.

If it was really this simple then we'd all be 19 stone lean freaks. Unfortunately life is never that easy. Training specifically for your body type will allow you to make gains faster and stop you falling down the “1 size fits all” hole.

American psychologist William Herbert Sheldon grouped people’s body types into three areas. These areas were called Somatotypes. In his book, 'Atlas of Men' published in 1954, Sheldon stated body types can be categorised as the following.

Ectomorph:
Characterised by long and thin muscles/limbs and low fat storage; usually referred to as slim. They struggle to store muscle OR fat.

Mesomorph:
Characterised by medium bones, solid torso, wide shoulders with a narrow waist; usually referred to as muscular. Mesomorphs are predisposed to build muscle but not store fat. They can also drop fat relatively easy.

Endomorph
Characterised by increased fat storage, a wide waist and a large bone structure, usually referred to as fat. Endomorphs are predisposed to storing fat.

Most people however, fall under a mix of the various categories.
For example, the big guy in your gym who still carries a large amount of fat is likely to be an Endo-Mesomorph. Clearly well build but carries a decent amount of fat.

On the other hand, the skinny guy who's suddenly bulked up 30lbs will be an Ecto-Mesomorph. They struggle to gain muscle but still find it hard to store fat. Some people however sit firmly on one side of the scale. Most likely these are the ectomorphs who eat the world 3 times over and can’t gain any weight.

Why the science lesson? Well, knowing your body type can allow you to train and eat specifically to gain as much muscle as possible and burn as much fat in the shortest amount of time. From the list you should pick which body type is closest to you. Don’t worry if you fit in between the two I will cover all bases. I'm going to break down the main areas you need to concentrate on, once you have your specific body type.

As always, the goal is lean mass gain while simultaneously burning fat or at least, keeping it low.

Ectomorph

Your focus should be purely on exercises with the most 'bang for your buck'. I’m talking exercises where you move your body and not the weight. Isolation exercises are rarely needed if you're an ectomorph, unless you have a specific area of weakness. I believe that training the full body 3 times a week for skinny guys will give the most benefits. Rarely is any extra work needed. Make sure you incorporate these exercises into your week.

Squats
Deadlifts
Chin ups/Pull ups
Dips
Handstand press ups/Military press

For an ectomorph, the challenge will be consuming enough food. Usually blessed (or cursed) with high metabolisms it can be a struggle to chow down all the daily calories. Stick to nutrient dense foods with high protein. High carbohydrates are usually tolerated well by ectomorphs so stop worrying about losing your 6 pack. As the saying goes, a 6 pack on a skinny guy is like great boobs on a fat chick. Nobody wants to see ‘em.

TOP TIP.
Make sure your digestion is up to par. Work with a functional nutritionist to determine any food intolerances or any leaky gut syndrome. You would also most likely do well to invest in enzymes and digestive aids (HCL) to make sure you're digesting everything you're eating. Assimilation is key not quantity of food.

Mesomorph

Your recovery times will be quicker than those who are purely ectomorphs which means you could quite happily train 4 or 5 days a week although full body splits wouldn’t be the best way to do it. Personally I’d go for a 4 day split, with something like this.

Upper Body Strength
Lower Body Strength
Upper Body Hypertrophy
Lower Body Hypertrophy

For strength days, stick to the bang for your buck exercises and hit between 3 and 6 reps. You want to be getting stronger each week, or adding more reps so start with a weight slightly below your max. On hypertrophy days you will focus more on isolation exercises. Here is a quick example of what I used on an isolated day:

Decline dumbbell flies 10 reps, with a tempo of 4010*
45 seconds rest
Bench facing rows. 10 reps, with a tempo of 4010*
1 minute rest and repeat 6 times

For food, I would cycle carbohydrates and keep protein high. Cycling carbohydrates involves ingesting different amounts of carbohydrates (low-med-high) during the week. Example I use often is:

Monday - 50g (low)
Tuesday -100g (med)
Wednesday - 50g (low)
Thursday - 50g (low)
Friday - 300g (high)
Sat + Sun off (as in eat what you like within reason)

This should allow you to gain a decent amount of muscle while keeping fat stores low.

TOP TIP
The leaner you are the better you will respond to carbohydrates. Trying to simultaneously build muscle and keep fat low you'll need more low carb days than high ones. For more tips on carbohydrate ingestion for lean muscle growth read THIS article.

Endomorph

Although your focus will be on primarily training to lose fat, it’s important to keep your muscle. Muscle burns calories at rest meaning you need to eat more in order to keep your body fuelled. However, this isn’t a free pass to McDonalds. As ever, diet plays a huge part.

Normally for Endomorphs, I like to provide them with the bang for buck exercises to keep strength and muscle high, followed by lots and lots of mean circuits with heavy weights. Here is an example you can follow assuming you train 3 times a week.

Monday - Lower Body
Deadlift variations
Squat variations
Lunge variations

Wednesday - Upper body
Push variation
Pull variation
Overhead Pressing
Rowing

Friday - Torture (one or many of the below)
Complexes
Strongman training
Heavy weighted Circuits
Kettlebell conditioning
Sprints and HITT

For nutrition I like to follow a method popular with legendary strength coach Charles Poliquin, where I ask an endomorphic client to go for two weeks cold turkey when it comes to carbs. They use the HEALTHY PHILISOPHY. Eat as many carbohydrates as you like...as long as they come from non-starchy fibrous vegetables. It enables people to drop a decent amount of excess water as well as enabling quick body composition changes. I then re-focus their nutrition based on how they feel and how well they are doing in their workouts after that initial two week period.

TOP TIP
If you can't stick to the full two weeks straight away, make sure you don’t consume any of the following foods for at least two weeks. They are the most common allergen foods. After two weeks add these back in one at a time and see if you can notice any ill feeling. Hidden food intolerances are stressful to the body and these alone can increase fat around the waist.

Wheat
Gluten
Soy
Unpasteurised dairy
Peanuts
Oatmeal

Ecto-Mesomorph

Skinny guys who’ve attained a fair bit of muscle or guys who find it relatively easy to build muscle while staying lean tend to fall into this category. I would shift their dietary focus towards the ectomorph profile and maybe move to a 4 day split. Make sure the big exercises are your focus and the meal frequency and quantity, is high.

Endo-Mesomorph

Endo-mesomorphs will do well to keep to 4 days of training but may well need a few days of HIIT training or circuits/strongman training to make sure they keep the fat off. While the extreme two week plan may not be necessary, it would bode well to include the “cardio” days in the plan. Cycling carbohydrates would still be a good plan.

So there you have it! Working out harder is not always the best way. You need to understand how your body works in order for it to run efficiently. Now go perform with your new found knowledge and remember, train smart.

*Tempo explained
4010 =
4 second eccentric (negative phase of lift. Ie, Downward motion of a chin up)
0 seconds rest at the bottom position
1 second concentric phase (the pulling up part of a chin up)
0 second pause at the top position.

Reece Mander BSc DPS, is owner of Reece Mander Fitness www.reecemanderfitness.co.uk based in South London. With the motto of “Train Smart” he is constantly on the look out to get the best possible results in the shortest amount of time. His website has range of different articles from fat loss to general health and can be contacted at reecemander@gmail.com

References

Schwarzenegger A,Dobbins B, (1998) The Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks

Wikipedia contributors. "Somatotype and constitutional psychology." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 14 Dec. 2011. Web. 27 Dec. 2011.

[Figure1: Sheldon’s 3 main somatotypes] [image online] Available at: < http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/body-type-training-are-we-slaves-to-our-body-type-genes-39798> [Accessed 24 December 2011].

Castore A, Stop Wasting Your Time [Accessed 24 December 2011].

Poliquin C, 2011, [Accessed 24 December 2011].

Thermo-Extreme Fat Loss Supplement

admin2009@taijifit.com (Taiji Fit) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:54:03 +0000

MP MAX Thermo-Extreme

Multi- Action Fat Loss Supplement

The sports supplement market is full of fat loss products proven to suppress appetite, block carbohydrates, increase the metabolism, enhance fat oxidisation or mobilise fat stores on the body. But few supplements on the market have been proven to do all at once, until now! MP Max Thermo-Extreme has been scientifically formulated using the latest research to reduce your body fat percentage through a variety of different mechanisms within the body. Here we explore the properties of the active ingredients to see why MP Max Thermo-Extreme is being heralded as a breakthrough in the science of fat loss.

Firstly perhaps the most well-known and documented of all the ingredients in MP Max Thermo-Extreme is green tea extract. Containing the catechin called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) a study conducted at the University of Geneva showed that green tea extract was able to increase the rate at which stored body fat is burnt by over 30%. Plus, a study published in the prestigious journal Phytotherapy Research, shows that as well as boosting the metabolic rate, green tea extract helps to block the absorption of fat. In other words, not only does green tea extract help you to lose the fat you've already got, it also reduces the amount of fat you digest and store on your stomach.

Next, renowned for its ability to help control cravings MP Max Thermo-Extreme contains Chromium. The primary function of chromium is to make the hormone insulin work better, helping to drive both protein and glucose into muscle cells while minimising fat storage. Also chromium has been shown to help regulate blood sugar levels therefore helping those wanting to lower their body fat control cravings. In fact, in a study published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin examined the effect of chromium on body fat in a group of 43 overweight people. Following 9 weeks of exercise training and chromium supplementation, the loss of fat was significantly greater in the chromium group compared to those in the placebo group.

MP Max Thermo-Extreme also includes caffeine, not only for its ability to increase the metabolism but also because it ‘enhances fat oxidation and spares muscle glycogen by creating a more favorable intracellular ionic environment in active muscle.’ (Graham. T.E. 2001) Furthermore, researchers at Yale University found that the ‘favorable intracellular ionic environment’ created by the caffeine can improve your ability to burn more calories during exercise by stimulating the production of the neuro transmitter beta-endorphin, which studies show can reduce pain and perceived fatigue, which can then in turn increase the intensity and duration of your workouts.

Also working in a slightly different way to most other ingredients, white kidney bean extract has been shown to neutralise the effects of carbohydrates, helping to reduce the conversion of starch (carbohydrate) in to fat. Basically during the digestive process, your body converts carbohydrates, found in starchy foods such as potatoes and pasta, into sugar. Your body does this by breaking down the carbohydrate with alpha amylase, an enzyme produced in the pancreas. These calories are either burned off or stored as fat. White kidney bean extract "neutralizes" the digestive enzyme alpha amylase before it can convert starch into glucose and then fat, essentially allowing the carbohydrates to pass through the system safely and naturally.

Nutritional Information of MP Max Thermo-Extreme:

Amount per 4 capsule serving:
White Kidney Bean (4:1 Extract): 225mg extract equivalent to 900mg White Kidney Bean
Thermogenic Blend (Citrus Aurantium, Caffeine, Raspberry Ketones, Cayenne Powder, Chocamine): 950mg
Bladderwrack (4:1 Extract): 150mg extract equivalent to 600mg Bladderwrack
Green Tea Extract (95% Polyphenols): 450mg
Total Caffeine content: 175.5mg
Siberian Ginseng: 150mg
Chromium: 118.8µg
Vitamin B6: 4.8mg
Vitamin B12: 24µg

£20.99 for 120 capsules and available from Myprotein

Which Protein Is Best For Fat Loss?

admin2009@taijifit.com (Taiji Fit) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:41:50 +0000

Which Protein Is Best

For Fat Loss?

It is widely known that dietary proteins stimulate thermogenesis (fat loss) and satiety (the feeling of being ‘full’) more than carbohydrates or fat. But a recent study conducted in Switzerland and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition set out to determine exactly which protein was best for fat loss.

The study took 23 healthy lean adults and gave them meals consisting of whey protein, casein protein and soy protein. The thermic effect of each meal (so the amount of calories it takes to digest the protein) and the extent to which it kept them feeling full was then measured before and then 5.5 hours after their consumption. The study found that the thermic effect of the whey protein was higher than both the casein and soy protein and that cumulative fat oxidisation was also higher in the whey. Interestingly though, the study subjectively found that those who ate the casein and soy based meals remained fuller for longer.

The study concluded ‘results suggest that different protein sources could be used to modulate metabolism and subsequently energy balance.’ Regardless of your protein preference, Myprotein.com has one of the widest selection of protein powders on the market, including all 3 mentioned in the Swedish study.

1kg of Calcium Caseinate is £13.39:

http://www.myprotein.com/uk/products/calcium_caseinate

1kg of Whey Concentrate is £12.99:

http://www.myprotein.com/uk/products/impact_whey_protein

1kg of Soy Protein Isolate is £9.49:

http://www.myprotein.com/uk/products/soy_protein_isolate

References:

Kevin J Acheson, Anny Blondel-Lubrano, Sylviane Oguey-Araymon, Maurice Beaumont, Shahram Emady-Azar, Corinne Ammon-Zufferey, Irina Monnard, Stéphane Pinaud, Corine Nielsen-Moennoz and Lionel Bovetto (2011) ‘Protein choices targeting thermogenesis and metabolism’ 2011 American Society for Nutrition