Get Fat to Get Fit Fast by Gregg Gillies

Get Fat to Get Fit Fast by Gregg Gillies

Getting enough of the good fats will help you lose fat,
build muscle, and recover faster from your workouts.
In addition, it has myriad health benefits, including being
good for your heart.

Good fats include: polyunsaturated (especially Omega-3's),
such as those from fish and nuts, as well as monosaturated fats,
such as those from peanut butter, olive oil, egg yolks, and fish
oil.

Bad fats include saturated fats from things such as animal
and coconut fats. Then there is the worst kind of fat the man
made kind, trans fatty acids which can be found in our typical,
of no redeeming value, junk foods such cookies, chips, fries
and margarine.

Limit, if not stay completely away from, the bad fats and try
to get about 30 - 35% of your calories from the good fats.

"Studies show that higher-fat diets make more sense for fit
people than low-fat diets," says Liz Applegate, Ph.D., author of
Encyclopedia of Sports & Fitness Nutrition. "In one study,
endurance athletes ran up to 24 percent longer before they fatigued
when they ate a diet that was above 30 percent fat compared to one
that was below 20 percent," she says.

More importantly to most readers of this newsletter, researchers
are now beginning to realize the fact that a nutrition plan high in
the good fats helps the body to burn fat. Omega-3 fatty acids increase
the size of your cells' fuel-burning furnaces so your metabolic rate rises
and you burn more calories every minute of every day.

Omega-3's also help your body's sensitivity to insulin. This helps
your body store less fat. In addition, the fat you do store is more
readily and easily converted into energy and burned during activity.
This keeps your blood sugar levels stable and keeps you away from those
famed sugar crashes and cravings and irritable mood swings.

Another important exercise effect is that Omega-3's also help your
body produce testosterone, the hormone responsible for building new
muscle. The late Dan Duchaine has called the essential fatty acids
the most anabolic legal food supplement one can take to build muscle.

Of course, more muscle equals more calorie burning equals less body fat.

Fat can also help you recover from your workouts. Vitamins A, D, E
and K are fat-soluble and are very important antioxidants in the muscle-
building, bone-repairing category.

As I mentioned above, fat also helps your heart. Omega-3 fatty acids
and monounsaturated fats help lower bad LDL cholesterol and help prevent
blood clots, making your heart able to do it's job with less stress.

On a personal note, I suggested my favorite essential fatty acid
supplements to a friend of mine recently who has always suffered from
high cholesterol, despite working out five plus times a week and eating
a very healthy diet.

I'm going to quote the email she sent to me. I love getting stuff like
this.

"I was at a demo this morning, from 10-2, and it was at a gym that was
having a members appreciation day, so they had other tables set up.

This guy who had a table next to mine was doing blood pressure tests and
cholesterol tests.

When it slowed down and bit he asked me if I wanted my cholesterol done.
I told him it would probably be pretty high, it's been over 230 for the
last few years.

I told him about the marine oil supplements I was taking and told him I
have been taking them only about 7 weeks or so, and he told me he'd check
my cholesterol, to see if the supplements are bringing it down any.

I got a reading of 150!!!

He thought maybe he did it wrong, so he did it AGAIN, on my other hand,
(pin prick and blood taken) and it read 150 AGAIN!! Exactly!

He got all excited and asked me for the n3inc website!

I told him I have not changed my diet OR exercise -- the only thing I
am doing different is taking ResQ 1250 and ResQ LDL-X.

I hear testimonials like this time and time again from people who
take these supplements. Making sure you get a proper supply of the
good fats will go a long way toward a healthy life and the fit, toned
sexy body that you want.
About the Author
Gregg Gillies - trainer, fitness, fat loss expert, speaker, author, Get Fit Fast and publishes a free newsletter at buildleanmuscle.com

The perfect diet combined with a healthy weight management by Jeff Usher

The perfect diet combined with a healthy weight management by Jeff Usher

The perfect diet should be combined with a healthy weight management or activity program.

Weight management may conjure up that dreaded exercise word. And exercise to some means pushing the body beyond limits, experiencing painful in joints, muscles, boneseverywhere.

No pain no gain, right? Wrong.

Instead, replace the word exercise with activity and incorporate this in your daily routine. And a general rule of thumb for guidelines about activity would be to strive for a minimum of 30 minutes for adults or 60 minutes for children of moderate physical activity daily.

Individual activity goals depend upon each persons health and weight goals and issues. Begin by checking with your medical advisor or healthcare physician to get a green light on which activities would be suitable for you, what your target weight range should be and a strategic plan to improve your health.

In a nutshell, during activities, calories are burned, pounds are shed in the long run. And the number of calories burned depends upon the duration and intensity or the activity. Slow and steady is the rule of thumb. And note daily progress. For those who have never been very active at all, it may be advisable to begin slow like with walking 10 minutes each day, gradually building up time and distance with increased brisk pacing.

Even if you cant get out to walk, bike or swim, take stairs instead of elevators and escalators. Clean your house. Clean your car. Wash windows. Wash your dog. Check out exercise videos, cassettes and workout books from the public library and put some of their ideas into action. Check out your local fitness centers, YMCA, community center, too, for ideas. Partner up with a neighbor to walk or join a community volleyball team.

There are unlimited ways to be active and enjoy life at the same time without using painful weight loss strategies.

For further information visit http://diet.jubiz.com

About the Author
None

Know Your Muscle Building Exercises - The Legs by Rick Mitchell

Know Your Muscle Building Exercises - The Legs by Rick Mitchell

Every bodybuilder and weight trainer will have his or her favorite exercises for each body part. That's how it should be - as you progress through the various stages of learning you'll understand what works best for you. It is useful, however, to take stock of your progress every so often and carry out an analysis of where you are and what changes, if any, are needed to move onwards and upwards.

Part of this analysis should include an assessment of the core exercises that make up your bodybuilding training program. In this article we'll look at the leg exercises that have proven their worth to serious bodybuilders for many years. Where appropriate a series of exercises suitable for achieving pre-exhaustion will be presented. All exercises should be performed to failure with one set of six to eight reps.

1. Leg extension - this exercise will allow you to isolate the thigh muscles preserving the strength of the other leg muscles for the compound exercise to follow.

- Push the pads until the knees are almost locked.

- Pause.

- Lower with control to the starting position.

2. Leg press - you can move straight on to this exercise if you are sufficiently experienced.

- Place your feet firmly at shoulder width on the foot board.

- Bend the legs until they are almost touching the chest.

- Pause.

- Return with control to the starting position.

3. Calves - the best way to work the calves is to perform raises on special gym equipment that allows standing raises and sitting raises to work both calf muscles.
About the Author
Richard Mitchell is the creator of the bodybuildingadvisor.com website that provides guidance and information to athletes at all levels of bodybuilding experience. Go to Bodybuilding Advice to learn more about the issues covered in this article.

Increase Your Training Intensity - Pre-Exhaustion by Rick Mitchell

Increase Your Training Intensity - Pre-Exhaustion by Rick Mitchell

You can only build muscle tissue if you can generate progressively stronger muscular contractions, so this calls for an emphasis on finding ways to increase exercise intensity. This should not be confused with exercise duration as maximum training intensity will actually shorten the time needed to achieve maximal muscular growth.

In an earlier article I outlined the ways in which you can intensify your training. Here we'll focus on the role that pre-exhaustion has to play in intensifying the training effect.

When an exercise employs two or more muscles it will be impossible to achieve failure for the primary muscle as the weakest muscle will give out first. This is perhaps best explained by giving an example. When targeting the chest, most exercises involve use of the triceps which is a relatively small and weak muscle. When performing the incline bench press for example, the triceps will fail before the pectorals have the opportunity to work to failure thus limiting the value of the exercise.

How do you get around this? By first performing an exercise that isolates and tires the pectorals before immediately moving on to the main exercise. For maximum benefits there should be no rest between the pre-exhaust exercise and the main compound exercise.

Beginners don't need to worry about pre-exhaust routines but when they advance to intermediate level they can be introduced once a week for each body part.

Examples of pre-exhaust routines commonly performed by bodybuilders are listed below:

Biceps - barbell curls and close-grip, palms-up pulldowns.

Triceps - pressdowns and dips.

Pectorals - flyes and bench presses.

Lats - dumbbell pullovers and barbell rows.

Deltoids - dumbbell laterals and presses behind neck.

Traps - shrugs and upright rows.

Thighs - leg extensions and squats.
About the Author
Rick Mitchell is the creator of the bodybuildingadvisor.com website that provides guidance and information to athletes at all levels of bodybuilding experience. Go to Bodybuilding Advice to learn more about the issues covered in this article.

Moving From Beginner To Intermediate Level Bodybuilding by Rick Mitchell

Moving From Beginner To Intermediate Level Bodybuilding by Rick Mitchell

By now you've made significant progress in your bodybuilding career. For the past three to six months you've learnt how to perform the core lifting exercises in a technically correct manner. You've also conditioned the body and developed sufficient core strength to prepare yourself for a whole new level of intensity. Hopefully you've also built some rock solid muscle! But that's only the beginning.

In recent weeks your workouts have probably lost some of their effect so, even though you're lifting bigger weights, your muscles now need even greater stimulation to generate maximal growth. Don't expect miracles though - from this point onwards, every little bit of improvement will take even greater and more intensive work than before.

Because you'll be working your muscles more intensively, they'll also need more recovery time to adapt and grow and that's why you'll be reducing your workouts to three a week. Each primary muscle group trained will now need one full week to recover. After being used to whole body sessions and more workouts per week it may seem as if you're not doing enough but the point is, you'll be working your muscles very, very intensively and making better use of your time.

As you gain more experience you'll be able to tweak or re-design your basic muscle building program to suit your own individual needs, but the program described here should provide a useful starting point. What I'm proposing is basically a 3-split of the body on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

MONDAY (Chest, Triceps, Shoulders)

1. Chest Exercises

Incline dumbbell press - this is a compound exercise that targets the chest but also works the triceps and shoulders to a lesser extent.

Pec-deck flye - this is an isolation exercise that works the pectorals.

2. Triceps

Dips - this compound exercise targets the triceps but also works the chest and shoulders.

3. Shoulders

Front military press - this compound exercise targets shoulders but also works the triceps.

Dumbbell lateral raises - this isolation exercise works the shoulders only.

Bentover dumbbell laterals - this isolation exercise works the rear delts.

WEDNESDAY (Back, Biceps, Forearms)

1. Back

Front lat pulls - compound exercise that targets lats but also works the biceps and mid-back.

Deadlifts - compound exercise that targets the back and quads but also works hamstrings, calves and glutes.

Dumbbell rows - compound exercise that targets mid-back but also works biceps and lats.

Dumbbell shrugs - isolation exercise that works traps.

2. Biceps

Dumbbell biceps curl - isolation exercise that works the biceps.

Dumbbell hammer curls - isolation exercise that works the biceps.

3. Forearms

Barbell wrist curl - isolation exercise that works the forearms.

FRIDAY (Lower Body)

1. Legs

Squats or leg press - compound exercise that targets the quads but also works the hamstrings, calves and glutes.

Leg extension - isolation exercise that works the quads.

Leg curls - isolation exercise that works the hamstrings.

Standing calf raise - isolation exercise that works the gastrocnemius calf muscle.

Seated calf raise - isolation exercise that works the soleus calf muscle.

You could start this program by aiming for two sets of 8-10 reps per exercise but as your strength and size increase you should really introduce techniques that boost the intensity even further. This can be achieved in a number of ways including the use of pre-exhaustion, super sets, partial reps, isometric contractions and forced reps. These techniques are covered in detail elsewhere in this series of articles.
About the Author
Rick Mitchell is the creator of the bodybuildingadvisor.com website that provides guidance and information to athletes at all levels of bodybuilding experience. Go to Bodybuilding Advice to learn more about the issues covered in this article.

The Importance Of Sets In Your Muscle Building Program by Rick Mitchell

The Importance Of Sets In Your Muscle Building Program by Rick Mitchell

In an earlier article we looked at how repetitions contribute to the muscle building process, but is the position regarding sets just as clear cut? Unfortunately, the answer to this is no as some experts feel one set to failure is sufficient, whereas others argue that multiple sets are needed to ensure maximum muscle gains.

Research to date suggests that, when using six to eight repetitions to failure at 75-80% 1RM, there is little significant difference between training with single and multiple sets in terms of increasing either strength or muscle size. Any small differences that have been recorded indicate that a single set completed to failure encourages strength gains but subsequent sets have a slightly greater impact on muscle size. What is clear is that the law of diminishing returns applies, so you have to question if the marginal improvements in size justify the extra time and effort expended.

Like everything else in life, bodybuilding does not remain static and several cutting edge experts have redefined the boundaries of achievement. Increasingly, serious athletes are using methods that extend the set beyond the point of failure. This involves forcing the muscle to perform more work despite having experienced failure in the previous rep. In practice, you perform one last forced repetition with the help of a training partner.

This obviously calls for great commitment and high motivation but the rewards include better mass gains thanks to the greater muscular overload. Such intensive training places additional importance on the need to lift with sound technique and to incorporate sufficient recovery time into your muscle building program.
About the Author
Rick Mitchell is the creator of the bodybuildingadvisor.com website that provides guidance and information to athletes at all levels of bodybuilding experience. Go to Bodybuilding Advice to learn more about the issues covered in this article.

Chest Exercises For Beginning Bodybuilders by Rick Mitchell

Chest Exercises For Beginning Bodybuilders by Rick Mitchell

The chest area is one of the easist muscle groups for beginning bodybuilders to strengthen and develop. It consists of a large muscle (pectoralis major) to either side of the breastbone and a smaller muscle (pectoralis minor) underneath. The pecs are relatively easy to develop in the early stages simply because they can be trained intensively although care needs to be taken to work them from different angles to ensure full development.

For beginners, three safe but effective exercises are recommended:

1. Incline dumbbell press - 3 sets of 10-15 reps. When you feel comfortable with the mechanics involved in this exercise you can move on to using a barbell instead, remembering to maintain proper form.

2. Incline dumbbell flyes - 3 sets of 10-15 reps. Done properly, this exercise is good for inner and outer pecs.

3. Push-ups - 3 sets of 10-15 reps. Keep your body straight from head to knees and lower your body until your arms form right angles. Done properly, the old fashioned push-up still offers benefits to the chest muscles.

As with all exercises you need to take care in scheduling specific body parts. To begin with you should incorporate your chest exercises into a program similar to the one suggested below:

Day 1: Biceps, Back, Abs

Day 2: Hamstrings, Shoulders, Abs

Day 3: Quads, Forearms, Calves

Day 4: Triceps, Chest, Abs

For the first couple of weeks complete one set but then add one set each week to a maximum of three. At the end of three months you will be ready to move on to more intensive intermediate level exercises.
About the Author
Rick Mitchell is the creator of the bodybuildingadvisor.com website that provides guidance and information to athletes at all levels of bodybuilding experience. Go to Bodybuilding Advice to learn more about the issues covered in this article.