Friday 31 January 2014

Never Give Up

Remember! Whenever you are starting to become low, someone else is climbing high to the top. You just don't have to let him get ahead of you. Always be the best. Show the world who you really are. Never Give Up no matter what happens.

Thursday 30 January 2014

Six Essential Nutrients

#1 PROTEIN 
Protein might easily be called “the stuff of life.” It makes up to about 45% of total body weight. Get 30% of your calories from protein. Best choices, lean meats, sea foods, poultry and low fat dairy. Protein is the structural core of the human body and is at work in every cell of the body. In fact, next to water, protein is the most abundant substance in most cells. It is required for growth and repair of tissues. All enzymes and many hormones are types of protein. Antibodies and other components of our immune systems are comprised of proteins, so protein plays a major role in fighting disease.
TIP: Include some type of protein in every meal/snack.

#2 CARBOHYDRATES 
Get 50% of your calories here. When it comes to carbs, fruits and vegetable first. Grains are second (the browner the better). Don’t become a carb junkie. Remember that too may carbohydrates are stored as fat. If you are like most Americans, you are eating too many carbohydrates. Don't carb overdose! Most abused carbohydrates foods are pasta, bagels, breads and rice.
Carbohydrates are important because they are the most efficient fuel for the body. Try to maintain a diet of foods that have a low glycemic index rating. Foods with a low glycemic index are considered slow-acting and don’t spike insulin levels.

#3 FAT 
Fats are important to your body. Our bodies have the capacity to synthesize saturated and unsaturated fatty acids but not important polyunsaturated fatty acids (olive, peanut and safflower oils). For this reason we must consume these polyunsaturated fatty acids in our diets. They are called essential fatty acids. For example; olive, peanut and safflower oils, avocados, and almonds are all "good" fats Look out for Trans Fat (formed from one type of fat to another). Found in: margarine, french fries, and bakery products. Look on food labels for the words “partially hydrogenated,” meaning it’s a commercially synthesized trans fat.

#4 VITAMINS/MINERALS 
Vitamins and minerals are involved in nearly all metabolic reactions in the body. The various vitamins help in energy production, growth and repair, and fighting off disease and oxidation. Evidence now suggests that vitamins play a much more complex role in assuring vitality and optimal health than previously thought. Even more provocative are new findings that show vitamins can stave off the normal ravages of aging. You can get a lot of needed vitamins from foods, but more and more people are becoming aware of the benefits of supplementing with a good vitamin and mineral formula.

#5 WATER 
Water is vital to most bodily functions. It functions to dissolve substances, is a medium for chemical reactions and a lubricant, and aids in temperature regulation. About one quart of water is lost daily through urine, and during exercise, up to approximately two quarts of water per hour can be lost through perspiration. Drink water often throughout the day. The normal recommendation is approximately 10 cups per day -- more prior to and following exercise.
TIP: Always drink 1 glass of water before each meal.

#6
Eat as much as you can. Try to get at least 25 grams per day. Basically, fiber is plant cells that the human body cannot digest. Among other benefits, diets with sufficient fiber produce softer, bulkier stool, help promote bowel regularity and avoid constipation and other disorders. Vegetables and wholegrain breads are sources of dietary fiber.
TIP: Start your day with a high fiber cereal.
TIP: The above nutritional information applied in your daily life, along with aerobic and strength training (see workout guide), is the key to optimal health.

Where To Start

Where To Start?
Know Your Requirements
Use the following chart to estimate the calories needed to maintain a desired weight, (considering moderate exercise).

Nutritional Calculator 

Daily Calorie Requirement = Your Weight_____x 14 = Total Daily Calories 
• If your goal is to lose weight subtract 10% from this number.
• If your goal is to gain weight add 10% to this number.
Using this formula a 180 pound man would be as follows: 
• Total Calories Per Day = 2250
• Total Calories Per Meal = 420 (2520 divide by 6 meals)
Now break these calories down to protein, fat and carbohydrates: 
• Protein = 30% (daily total 756 calories)
• Fat = 20% (daily total 504 calories) • Carbohydrates = 50% (daily total 1260 calories)
Determine the calorie requirement from protein/carbs/fats for each meal:
• Total Calories Per Meal = 420 • Protein Calories Per Meal = 126 Calories (31 grams of protein - 126 divided by 4)
• Carb Calories Per Meal = 210 Calories (52 grams of carbs - 210 divided by 4)
• Fat Calories Per Meal = 84 Calories (9 grams of fat - 84 divided by 9)

Balanced Nutrition

You now know that simple sugars, processed carbohydrates and high glycemic carbohydrates (like rice cakes, cold cereals, and whole wheat bread) when eaten alone will quickly send blood sugars soaring. Thus releasing insulin that in turn sends the sugars to adipose tissue to be stored as body fat. So lets construct a balanced diet that provides our bodies with the right amount of nutrients so that we don’t have cravings, avoid low energy levels, lose body fat and remain mentally alert. This program is based on a protein/carbohydrate/fat ratio of 30/50/20.

Three Basic Food Components:

Protein -
Get 30% of your calories from Protein
Best Protein Choices:
Chicken (Skinless)                   Lean Red Meat                     Low Fat Dairy Products
Fish                                         Egg Whites                            Turkey


Carbohydrates - Get 50% of your calories here.

Best Food Choices - Based on Glycemic Index
Apple                  Pears                          Raspberries
Peaches               Oranges                      Blueberries
Tomatoes

Best Vegetable ChoicesGreen Beans                        Broccoli                               Scallions
Celery                                 Green Leaf Lettuce

Fats - 20% Of Calories From Fats
Good Fats:Olive Oil                            Almonds                          Avocados
Fish Oil

Bad Fats:
Fatty Red Meats           Egg Yolks                                 Organ Meats                
Processed Foods        

Note:  1 gram of protein = 4 calories, 1 gram of carbohydrates = 4 calories, 1 gram of fat = 9 calories. We will be looking for balanced combination of these three.

Wednesday 29 January 2014

Nutrition Schedule

Your nutrition intake should be 5-6 meals/snacks per day. Never go longer than 4 hours between meals/snacks.

This program is based on a 30/50/20 protein, carbohydrate, and fat intake. To maintain high energy and to increase muscle mass, eat often. Regular consumption keeps the body in an optimum state for muscle repair and growth. Eat at regularly scheduled intervals rather than waiting until you are hungry. Scheduled meals provide a sense of well-being and help prevent the cravings and binging brought on by low blood sugar levels.

If you are very busy, remember that you can use meal replacement powders or protein bars for your nutritional intake.

Tips: Snack smarter and think balance. Eat protein with every meal. It is essential that you consume 8-10 glasses of water per day.

Example:

Breakfast               7:00 AM
Snack                    9:30 AM
Lunch                   11:30 AM
Snack                     3:00 PM
Dinner                    6:00 PM
Snack                     8:00 PM

Tuesday 28 January 2014

Keys To Your Success

Tips From The Professionals:

*Keep A Training Journal:

Detail and record your workout routines and poundages. Each week refer to them and select a few lifts on which to increase the weight. A log will provide a good indication of your training progress and of which exercises are working for you. This allows you to eliminate lifts that are not producing results.

*Eat Several Meals A Day:

Eating this way insures you are providing your body with adequate nutritional support. Frequent small meals provide a consistent supply of nutrients for the most efficient muscle growth. Many diets provide inadequate, below maintenance levels of calories and nutrition. This results in catabolism of muscle tissue.

*Eat Protein:

Try to eat at least 1 gram of protein per lean pound of body weight daily. This is critical for people engaging in high-intensity resistance exercise because they need increased amounts of protein to support muscle growth. This goal can be easily met by supplementing the diet with amino acids or protein. Eat right, and treat your body with respect. Proper exercise will not counteract bad eating habits and poor eating patterns.

*Avoid Distractions:

Have conversations before and after workouts if you like, but once the workout begins, become self-centered, serious and selfish with time.

*Vary Your Program:
You must become your own exercise scientist. After a period of time, muscles become conditioned to the same routine and exercises — in other words they become immune to the workout. Gains become null. This can be overcome by periodically varying the order, exercises, and muscle groups. Keeping new angles and new exercises incorporated into your routine causes "muscle confusion" which forces muscles to break down more easily.

*Increase Your Weight:

Only by increasing the weight as often as possible will you provide muscles with the stimulus to protect themselves from future assaults by building up more muscle mass. This is the single most important fact for increasing muscle size and strength.

*Train Hard, Not Long:

Cut back on the amount of lifting you do and raise your intensity level. High-intensity muscular contractions are an absolute requirement for stimulating rapid, large-scale increases in muscular size and strength. Muscles respond to stimulus. Completing an arbitrarily chosen set of reps will not make muscle grow. You must take the last rep to failure — this is the most productive lift. Keep workouts relatively short. Overtraining in the quest for size can halt progress. Overtraining is a common and often fatal mistake made by novice and intermediate bodybuilders. Heavy lifting should not exceed much more than 30 minutes

*Train For A Complete Physique:

It is great to develop exceptional muscle mass and tone, but it is a sorry state of affairs when there is so much body fat on your frame that the muscles you have worked for so hard don't even show. Add some aerobic training to your routine. Twenty minutes of aerobics daily is usually plenty. Calculate your aerobic heart rate by taking 220 minus your age and multiplying that by 70%.

*Focus On The Muscle Group You Are Working:

By concentrating on a specific muscle, you will automatically isolate it more. Do not rely heavily on machines. Free weights are more efficient for muscle growth.

*Breath Correctly:
Proper breathing is very important. Breathing supplies oxygen to the muscle cells, which is necessary for muscle contraction, and helps deliver energy and build the muscle. Exhale when you lift the weight. Inhale when you lower it.

*Concentrate On The Negative:
Most of the damage, and thus gains, in muscularity is caused during the negative (eccentric) portion of the lift. It is more important for growth to control the weight when lowering it than when pressing it upwards (concentric/positive). Concentrate on the negative portion of the lift. That is, lower the weight more slowly than you press it up.

*Maintain Constant Resistance:
A lift should be performed with constant tension. Pressure should remain constant on the muscle group you are training throughout the exercise. Many times this can be avoided by not locking out the joint in a effort to rest momentarily.

*Full Range Of Motion:
People make serious mistakes by not completing a full range of motion in their lifts. They either miss the top or bottom range.

*Focus On Form, Not Weight:

While you should always train as heavily as possible and increase the weight as often as you can, you must also perform the exercises using good form. Heaving a lot of weight can make you feel macho, but improper form will keep you from developing the best physique.

*Achieve Peak Contraction:
This is a training principle that turns the average "rep" into a growth-producing blitz. Rather than merely moving the weight up and down, you should actively squeeze it hard for a second at the peak of contraction.

*Rest Is Critical:

Allow at least 72 hours of rest before training the same muscle group. Some people may need more recovery time. Very few can get by with less.


Workout Routine Four

Day 1 - Chest & Triceps:

Exercise                                                                            Reps
Incline Bench Press                                                            3 x 8 - 10
Dumbbell Presses                                                               3 x 8 - 10
PullOvers                                                                           3 x 8 - 10
Pec Dec Flies                                                                     3 x 8 - 10
Tricep Press Downs                                                            3 x 8 - 10
Tricep Kickbacks                                                                3 x 8 - 10


Day 2 - Legs & Calves:
Exercise                                                                            Reps
Hack Squats                                                                       3 x 8 - 10
Lunges                                                                                3 x 8 - 10
Leg Extensions                                                                    3 x 8 - 10
Leg Curls                                                                             3 x 8 - 10
Standing Calf Machine                                                          3 x 8 - 10
Leg Press Machine                                                               3 x 8 - 10
Seated Calf Raises                                                                3 x 8 - 10


Day 3 - Back:
Exercise                                                                              Reps
Lat Pull Downs Close Grip                                                   3 x 8 - 10
T-Bar Rows                                                                         3 x 8 - 10
One-Arm Dumbbell Rows                                                     3 x 8 - 10
Chin Ups                                                                             3 x 8 - 10
Bent Over Rows                                                                   3 x 8 - 10


Day 4 - Shoulders & Biceps:
Exercise                                                                               Reps
Close Grip Upright Rows                                                       3 x 8 - 10
Bent Over Lateral Raises                                                       3 x 8 - 10
Shrugs                                                                                 3 x 8 - 10
Standing Bicep Curls (Dumbbells)                                           3 x 8 - 10
Alternating Dumbbell Curls                                                     3 x 8 - 10


Day 5 - Off
Day 6 - Off
Day 7 - Repeat Day 1