Blogging For Fitness

Legs

fitblogger — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:05:05 +0000

If you suffer from weak legs or suffer from “chicken leg syndrome” do not worry, there is help.
The legs are made up of very complex muscle structures. I will give you a brief description of these muscles and show you
ways to strengthen and shape them.
I will try not to bore you with scientific words, here is a brief list of the muscles to train.
- Buttocks or Glutes: strengthening these muscles will greatly improve your core strength because they also support your lower back. Let us not forget that everybody likes to look at nice backside.
- Hamstrings : these muscles run from your lower buttocks muscles down to your lower thighs and work in tandem with your from leg muscles to facilitate walking, running and even bending over.
- Quadriceps: these muscles are the ones on the front of your legs
- Calves , front , side and back calf muscles
Please note there is a much broader description of these muscle groups but I just wanted to give the average person an idea.

Now how do we develop the legs:

- Running: is a great way to shape the legs and gain overall health and stamina. However I do not suggest long boring runs that most people do.
I suggest that you do sprints for 20 minutes 3 days a week instead of running at the same pace for 60 minutes. The reason being that you will greatly stimulate your fast twitch muscles by sprinting and your legs will shape up much faster. Compare the body of 100 meter sprinters with those of marathon runners to see what I mean.
the way to do is to run 40 seconds on and 20 seconds off. keep this pace for 20 minutes and watch what happens. You might not be able to even do 10 minutes , so work your way up to 25 minutes.
- step ups: This exercise is done on a low block of bench. Basically it is very simple. Step with one leg and raise the other leg to stand on the block or bench and step back down with one leg at a time and restart.
The step up is a great exercise that will shape your quads and buttocks as well as your calves while building your stamina at the same time. I have noticed though that it works best with high volume meaning high repetitions. I would typically do 15 to 20 repetitions per leg and bang out a good 4 to 5 sets.

Use this info , taylor it to your fitness level and you will get great results. I will write up some more info on legs tomorrow.

Happy workouts

Shoulders

fitblogger — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:03:08 +0000

Let’s talk about your shoulders today and what best way to develop them as well as preventing injuries.

The shoulder is made up of 3 distinct muscles

· Anterior Deltoid – the frontal part of the shoulder

· Lateral Deltoid - located on the side of the shoulder

· Posterior Deltoid – located to the back of the shoulder.

There are many ways to work your shoulders out. You have to however realize that they do get a bit of work when you train your chest or your back. Keep that in mind so not to over train your shoulders.

Here is the workout.

Since they are a small muscle group, you can get away with training the shoulders once a week if you put in enough intensity.

· Seated dumbbell press ( overhead ) 15 reps ( use a moderate weight that will allow you to do no more than 15 reps) followed by

· Bent Over lateral raises – 12 reps followed by

· Standing lateral raises – 10 reps.

· Do all 3 sets back to back. Your shoulder muscles should be burning by now. Rest 1 minute and repeat the sequence 4 times.

That’s it. Sounds easy but it kicks ass.

See u tomorrow.

Triceps

fitblogger — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:45:12 +0000

Today we will talk about those arm muscles again. This time I want to introduce you to the Triceps muscle.

The Triceps is made up of 3 different parts. The reason you need to know this is it will allow you to tailor your workouts to target which part you want to develop.

They go as follows:

· The Lateral Head: located on the outward. This is the part responsible mostly for that horseshoe look.

· The Medial Head: located towards the midline of the body

· The Long Head: along the bottom line of the muscle is the largest one of the three.

Here is the workout for those triceps.

Program 1

· Seated Triceps Extension ( skull crushers) – 15 reps x 4 sets. Rest 45 seconds between sets

· Cable Triceps Extension – 20 reps X 3 sets. Rest 30 seconds between sets

· Dips on Bench 25 reps X 4. Rest 45 seconds between sets.

Program 2

· Reverse grip cable extension – 12 reps Superset with

· Close grip push-ups 10 reps then rest 30 seconds and repeat sequence 6 times

· Close grip bench press with the bar 4 sets. Go to failure on each set.

How to use it:

Use program 1 one day then rest 2 or 3 days before using program 2.
This can be combined with the biceps program to work both muscles on the same day.

That’s it for today. Easy huh ?

Flex Your Biceps.

fitblogger — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:41:23 +0000

Today I want to introduce you to your biceps muscles.
Contrary to popular misconception, the biceps is made up of 2 separate muscles:

· Long Head which is the outer part of the muscle

· Short Head which is the inner part of the muscle.

So how do you develop these biceps?
There are more than 10 ways of working out the biceps muscles. I will present you with the ones that have given me great success throughout the years.
I advise you however not to over train because your arms do get a pretty good workout when you train your Chest and Back muscles.

The Program I present below will work for the average person that I assume is a beginner or intermediate fitness enthusiast.

You will do program number 1 one day and rest 2 days before doing program number 2.

Note to the Ladies : I Know a lot of women out there are afraid to train with weights in fear of getting “bulky”. Well ladies nothing can be further from the truth. The fear is really unfounded. The worst that will happen to you is a more toned and sexier looking arms, I promise.

Without further ado here is the program

Program 1

· Alternate Dumbbell Curls – 4 sets of 15 repetitions. Rest no more than 45 seconds between the sets. Use a weight that will allow you to do 15 reps maximum. This means that you should be struggling to hit the 15^th repetition.

· Standing Barbell Curl – 4 sets of 12 repetitions. Follow the same rule of rest and weight as above.

· Cable Curls 4 sets of 10 repetitions

· Push-ups 4 sets of 10 repetitions as fast as you can.

Rest your arms 2 to 3 days.

Program 2

· Biceps Machine Curl – 3 sets of 8 repetitions. Rest 60 seconds between the sets. The weight should allow for only 8 reps but you should struggle before getting to 8 .

· Seated Dumbbell Curl - 3 sets of 8. make sure the bench is slightly inclined and rest your back and head on the bench while letting your arms hang to the side. Slowly curl the weight .

· Barbell EZ-bar curl. 3 sets of 30. As you can see the repetition count is high. That is because you are allowed to use a weight light enough to make it happen. Rest 45 seconds between the sets.

If you follow this program you will quickly see those arms toning up and getting more defined.

Let’s work it out.

fitblogger — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:20:41 +0000

Oh hey there welcome back.

If you have been a regular reader of this blog, you already know that I am nutrition is a key part of any fitness plan. If you need a quick refresher just revisit the previous posts.

Ok, now are ready to do put those muscles to work and reveal those toned biceps, triceps, abs and everything else

Abdominals aka 6-pack

The abs are made up of four different muscles:

· Rectus Abdominis – is the most visible part of the 6 pack ( those coveted squares)

· External Oblique - are located on your sides and look like ribs . They are visible on people with lean and ripped ab muscles.

· Internal Oblique - are less visible but nonetheless important. They are located on the lower-end between the Rectus Abdominis and the External Oblique. When developed they give that nice V look to your abs

· Transverse – Located on the lower end of the External Oblique. It is hard to tell it apart from the Oblique.

Now that I have briefly described the whole mumbo-jumbo of abs let’s get to the good stuff.

How to carve out those muscles and reveal your six-pack.

§ Follow the clean eating tips provided ( I will give you an eating regimen later)

§ Add a cardio session to your workouts at least twice a week. If you are weight-challenged you can do it 3 to 4 times a week for 12 weeks and then cut back down to twice a week. I don’t mean that 45 minute boring treadmill or bike session. I am talking about interval training where you go slow for 2 minutes then fast for 1 minute then very fast for another minute and slow again for 2 minute. Repeat if for a total 30 minutes.

§ Follow this ab routine

Sit Ups – 12 reps x 4

Crunches – 10 rep x 3

Reverse crunches – 10 reps x 3

Exercise ball crunches 12 reps followed by 1 minute of fast running on treadmill x 6.

Do this routine 4 times a week and remember to space out the workout to give the muscles time to recuperate and grow. 2 days on 1 day off.

Follow this advice and I guarantee that you will see a huge improvement from where you are and those abs will finally start to show.

That’s the end of it for today guys and gals. I will see you tomorrow.

Benefits of Not Skipping breakfast.

fitblogger — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:34:23 +0000

1 -Eat breakfast.
I can already hear some of you out there screaming; how I can eat breakfast I am not hungry in the morning. Suck it up and start eating breakfast for the following benefits:
Improved energy: Breakfast revs up your metabolism and consequently will make you feel more energetic. Studies have proved this.
Improved concentration: People who eat in the morning have been shown to have better levels of concentration that those who skip the morning meal.
Less calorie consumption overall: Because you are kind enough to fuel your body in the morning, you will not be gorging up on food later in the day.
Lower blood sugar: controlled blood sugar levels will reduce hunger pangs caused by sugary carbohydrates usually consumed (white bread, bagels..etc…)

2 – East 5 to 6 small meals instead of 3 big ones.
It seems overwhelming at first to try to eat more than 3 times a day. However if you change your eating frequency and volume progressively it will feel just as natural.
I usually suggest to people that they add 1 extra meal per day a week until they can reach 6 meals a day. Be careful not to dramatically increase your calories just because you are allowed 6 meals a day ( more on this later ).

3 – Reduce your Carbohydrate intake to a minimum after 7pm.
Your body’s metabolism is known to slow down as the day progresses. As a result of that slow down, you have a harder time burning calories and utilizing nutrients faster and more efficiently. Therefore I recommend that you limit your carbs after 7pm to avoid packing on unnecessary pounds.

Ok that’s it for now. I might update this post later so come back for an update and keep up the good work.

To Eat Or Not To Eat…..Ahh That Is The Question

fitblogger — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 23:49:52 +0000

Day 1.

Raid Your Fridge and Kitchen Cabinets.
I can already hear the objections to this suggestion but believe me changing what you put in your body is the first step to getting that body you’ve always wanted.
What you put inside show up on the outside , it’s that simple.
With that said here are a few suggestion of what you should be having and what to avoid. Feel free to substitute for (healthy) foods that you actually like.

What to eat:
- Eggs - Brown Rice- Whole grains- Buckwheat - Quinoa - Oatmeal ( old fashioned) - Yams - Leafy greens - fruits ( moderation , high sugar content) - vegetables ( I call it free food ) - nuts - olive oil - coconut oil - faxseeds - green tea - water - water - more water etc..

What to avoid:
- White rice - white potato - anything made from white flour - deep fried foods ( yep french fries are included ) - table sugar and table salt - white chocolate ( it’s not chocolate) - Candy - anything labeled fat-free - soy products ( in moderation) - too much cheese ( you can occasionally have that slice , no problem) - Soda ( big no no ) - artificial sweeteners ( not a health food) etc..

I will be updating this list as we progress towards our goal of getting you fit and feeling and looking better.
Until the next post , remember ” A Journey of a 1000 miles starts with the first Step”

lose weight, build muscle and look better naked

fitblogger — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 20:14:31 +0000

Hello Everyone.

Well this is my very first post. To those of you who get to read it first, you are the few privileged and I am humbly thankful that you take time out of your busy day (surfing facebook) to visit my site.
I have been in the fitness field for quite sometime now. As a result of that, I have accumulated quite a bit of knowledge on how to build a great body and leave a healthy happy lifestyle without spending loads of cash on the latest fad diet.
I will start posting tips and tricks on what to eat or not to eat. What are the best exercises to build muscles and lose weight…etc..

I would also encourage anyone to participate by sharing their experiences and tips with others. Suggestions are always welcome.

I will try to answer or comment on posts as much as I can.