How To Burn Fat Like A Bodybuilder (Without Muscle Loss!)

How To Burn Fat Like A Bodybuilder (Without Muscle Loss!)

The number of strategies to burn stubborn body fat stem far and wide. All kinds of fat loss workout plans, programs and the latest techniques flood the internet almost daily making promises they can’t keep.

Do you fall victim to information overload? Don’t know where to turn? Look no further than the competitive bodybuilder when it comes to losing fat and keeping your hard-earned muscle. Bodybuilders have a unique perspective when it comes to dropping unwanted pounds – they have to.

It’s not something they desire, dream about or wish for one day, it’s something they must do in order to reach their ultimate goal – to place as high as possible in a competition. It’s much like their job. Do what it takes to lose fat and keep muscle.

We can all learn a thing or two from a traditional bodybuilding diet. But first, let’s break down what the typical bodybuilder does in order to achieve such low body fat levels.

How Bodybuilders Burn Fat

Contest dieting, as it is often referred to, isn’t something taken lightly with a few topical suggestions easily executed. It is a well thought out plan of scheduled meals, adjusted macronutrients and laborious consistency. Below are a few key concepts of a traditional bodybuilding fat-loss diet.

• All macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates and fats) are carefully gauged according to bodyweight, body composition and ultimate goal. Water intake is also kept high.
• Protein is kept optimal for muscle gains and prevention of muscle loss.
• Healthy fats are vital in energy use and hormonal balance.
• Carbs are complex in nature and are oftentimes cycled for greater fat loss.
• A minimum of 12 to 16 weeks are required to reach the goal.
• Weight training is kept heavy and cardio is added to accelerate fat loss.
• Progress is closely monitored on a weekly basis. Adjustments may take place at these times.
• Rest and recovery are practiced with the utmost discipline to ensure all body systems function properly.
• Cheat meals (if any) are deliberate and seldom.
• Consistency is the bodybuilder’s best friend.

It Takes Work, and a Lot of It

One of the most, if not the most, important factor for success is the act of consistency. Staying the course and not wavering or giving yourself excuses is the surest way of getting to the finish line. Bodybuilding diets aren’t full of nice little ways to be flexible and be easy, they are disciplined and deliberate plans of consistent action all pointed toward one goal – to get you ripped. It’s not an easy or incredibly enjoyable process but if your goal is to lose fat and you are serious about that objective then a bodybuilder’s approach might be just what you need.

What You Can Do to Burn Fat Like a Bodybuilder

Below are some ways to make a bodybuilding diet plan work for you. They are presented in such a way for you to easily put into practice for your own personal success.

1.  Make a plan: The most important part of any lofty endeavor is to have a thorough plan of action. If you are new to this, however, the trick is not to jump in head first, but to gradually build consistency over time. To build muscle and lose fat takes time so apply the same thinking to your long-term dieting goals. Gradually clean up your diet, gradually become consistent with your meals, gradually build on your discipline. These, in turn, will create a solid and stable long-term foundation that you will add to each week. Make a plan and build on it.
2. Keep protein high: You’ve heard that axiom before but do you honestly practice it? Start by adding a little protein to each meal. This may include adding an ounce or two of meat or one or two more eggs or egg whites to meals. The first step is to make sure you are getting at least one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. Later, you may need to increase this slightly to 1.25, 1.5 or even 2 grams per pound. The key is to take in a consistent supply of protein to help reduce the risk of losing muscle while dieting.
3. Support your training: While we are on the subject of protein, be sure to support your training with quality sources. Of course you want to eat several high-protein, quality meals per day but you also will want to bookend your training with amino acids as well. For convenience, a whey protein powder product can be ideal. 20-30 grams of whey prior and 40-50 grams after training will ensure the recovery process is at the forefront so you can reap all the rewards of your workout session. If you prefer whole-food sources, easily digestible proteins such as eggs and fish are viable options.
4. Fats can stay, increase them if necessary: The research touting the benefits of healthy fats continues to mount. Not only are they an excellent source of energy when carbs are kept low (on a diet) they also have been shown to play key roles in the regulation of key hormones such as testosterone and growth hormone which can be vital in the process of burning fat. Healthy fats such as avocado, nuts and olive oil should be normally kept at around 20-30% of total calories. On extreme low carb days your fat intake can increase slightly to compensate for the energy loss.
5. Types of carbs count: Another no-brainer is the fact that you should take incomplex forms of carbohydrates. Brown and white rice, sweet and white potatoes, raw oatmeal, quinoa and Ezekiel bread are just a few examples of ideal energy sources. At first you will want to cut out highly processed carbs like desserts, cereals, pasta, most breads and snack foods. These not only do a number on your beltline but also on your blood-sugar levels as well. Aim for 1 to 2 grams of quality, complex carbs per pound of bodyweight to establish a baseline. Afterwards, you will know where you stand regarding energy levels, bodyweight changes and workout performance.
6. Cycle those carbs: Now, here’s the trick. Most successful bodybuilding diet plan will have you manipulate carb intake in some fashion. From my own experience cycling carbs seems to be an effective and fast way to drop fat, save muscle and maintain energy levels for your workouts. The way I see it, there are two ways to approach this, and either approach has you manipulating carbs by depleting and then feeding in a cyclical manner:
   • You can drop carbs to 1 gram per pound of desired bodyweight for low carb, non-training days and increase carbs to 2 grams per pound on training days. Also, you may have one day per week (preferably a heavy training day) where you take in 3 grams per pound as a “cheat” day.
   • You can have set days per week you go low and high such as 4 days of low carbs flowed by 1 day of high carbs. Keep cycling this 5 day approach.
7. Cheat tactfully: “Cheating” on your diet isn’t a green light to go crazy and eat whatever and however much you want. For the disciplined few it simply means eating more of the same bodybuilding-friendly foods. If you are carb cycling a high carb day would suffice for most as a “cheat” day. For those who can afford it having a cheat meal once per week can also be an option. Don’t fool yourself. If you aren’t making the progress of a pound or two of fat lost per week then you have no business eating high calorie meals every week.
8. Have patience and discipline: Anything worth getting requires serious hard work. Results don’t happen overnight or day to day or even weekly. The body is not a machine. It doesn’t respond in a linear fashion with evenly-spaced gains and losses. Especially during the major road bumps and periods of little or no progress, patience is a requirement on the long road to lean. As stated before, discipline is built over time just like your physique. Trying to do everything at once is a perfect plan for failure.

FAT BUSTING MYTHS EXPOSED

FAT BUSTING MYTHS EXPOSED

There are few Industries that seem to propagate as many misconceptions and false truths as the weight loss Industry. From misquoted research to simple marketing spin promoted by big businesses, it seems that we’re constantly awash with new ideas and concepts and it can be difficult to decipher fact from fantasy.

Over time it seems that some weight loss concepts have stuck despite the fact that they actually remain complete myths.  Here are some of the most commonly held weight loss myths:

1) If I exercise hard enough, I can eat what I like
This is not true. You simply cannot out-run a poor diet. Let’s put this into perspective. Running on a cross trainer at a moderate to high intensity level for an hour will burn around 500 calories. That’s equivalent to a small 100 gram bar of milk chocolate for an hour of hard exercise. Unfortunately many people believe that just an hour or two of moderate to intensive exercise a week will enable them to eat whatever they want and still see the weight just slip off. It won’t. Exercise will help to offset some of your daily calorie consumption from food, but it won’t give you carte blanche to eat whatever you like. In order to achieve weight loss you need to still make sensible changes to your diet in conjunction with your exercise plan.

2) Drinking a cup of green tea each day will help with weight loss
Highly unlikely. Whilst green tea does contain flavonoid phytonutrients which have been shown to accelerate metabolism in studies on rats, it seems they may have little effect on humans. In a study carried out with two controlled groups of human subjects, one group consuming green tea daily for 3 months and a group that consumed no green tea, it was shown that the green tea drinkers lost, on average, just one tenth of a pound more than the group that consumed no green tea. There are also some experts who believe that consuming large quantities of green tea could be detrimental, as it can effect your body’s ability to absorb iron.

3) If I don’t eat after 6pm, I’ll lose more weight
Not true. Putting on weight or dropping weight, is dictated by the total daily calories that you consume not when you choose to eat those calories. If you regularly eat 4000 calories, but all before 6pm, you’re still going to out on weight. Equally if you regularly eat only 1000 calories a day, of which 500 calories are eaten after 6pm, you’re still going to lose weight. The time of day you consume those calories is irrelevant.

4) Artificial Sweeteners are better than sugar when losing weight
Not necessarily. It’s true that artificial sweeteners contain less calories than sugar, but they are often found in products that are high in fat making their calorie value an irrelevance. Worst still is that artificial sweeteners have been shown in scientific studies to actual increase your appetite, leading to carbohydrate cravings and increased fat retention. It seems that we may all be better sticking with good old-fashioned table sugar.

5) Losing weight using a method that worked before will work again
Often it won’t. Weight loss is complicated and your body adapts quickly to a set of conditions and a certain way of eating. In most cases when you return to a diet that worked for you previously, you’ll find it far less effective the second time around. Scientists believe this is not only due to the adaptation of your body to the new hormonal environment, but also physiological and behaviour factors within yourself that change the second time around. Often trying a completely different diet than the one you did before produces much better results.

6) I can eat as much fruit as I like when losing weight as its healthy
Fruit is certainly healthy but also laden with calories. If you’re goal is weight loss than you need to cut down on your calories and this means reducing sugar-rich foods including fruit and fruit juices. It doesn’t matter that these sugars are natural fruit sugars – they’ll have the same effect for weight gain as eating processed or refined sugar. Remember that there are plenty of foods that are healthy but that still pack a punch when it comes to calories.

7) Cutting out entire food groups is a good way to lose weightAbsolutely not. Certainly not if you’re eating too much from the other food groups. Any diet that revolves around cutting out entire food groups is nothing more than a fad. It relies on lowering your calories simply through the loss of that food group. The popularity of high protein, no carb diets was based not on any magic formula, but simply the fact that it’s very difficult to eat vast quantities of just protein and fat without carbohydrates. It’s carbohydrates that are the comfort food and by taking this from the diet, people naturally eat far less calories that when they previously consumed carbohydrates. A sensible diet should never revolve around eliminating entire food groups from your diet. We need all food groups for proper health and development.

8) If I perform lots of sit-ups I will get a flat stomach
Not true. You can perform thousands of sit-ups every day, but unless you burn the fat that’s sitting on top of your abdominal muscles you’ll never see a flat stomach underneath. Performing lots of stomach exercise will only serve to develop the muscles sitting beneath the layer of fat. In order to burn the fat you actually need to increase your cardiovascular exercise and start making dietary changes to create a calorie deficit.

Lifetime Fitness: On Your Way to a Healthier You

Lifetime Fitness: On Your Way to a Healthier You

Many people end up abandoning perfectly good fitness programs and weight-loss regimens before they even lace up their sneakers.

Why? Because in a world filled with fast food, instant messaging, and a five-second disease-tracking device, anything without a quick payoff goes against the grain of the typical American instant gratification ethic. While it would be nice to actually drop inches in just a few days like what most miracle ads proclaim, managing weight and losing weight through physical fitness is a slow and steady process that takes time and commitment.

Setting weight management goals for yourself can be a good motivator. Gradual weight loss, for those people who wish to shed off some extra pounds, is usually the safest.

That is why health and fitness experts had come up with the idea of lifetime fitness in order to teach people set realistic goals. These lifetime fitness programs generates dietary regimens that cut your normal calorie consumption for your weight by 500 to 1,000 per day, so will burning the same amount with exercise. In turn, this will definitely encourage healthier weight loss.

Lifetime fitness teaches you how to maintain a physically fit body at the same time enjoy and live a happy, contented life. It gives you the chance to strike a balance between the two (exercise and diet), and make exercise, be it team sports, cycling, or walking, something you will truly enjoy.

That is why lifetime fitness embodies the concept that making a long-term healthy lifestyle change is essential to keeping the pounds off once they are gone.

To know more of the advantages and benefits that lifetime fitness can bring, here are some facts that you need to know:

1. Lifetime fitness programs offers you the most comprehensive and wide-ranging fitness and health encounter with quality services, in which the customers will feel gratified.

These fitness programs provide you the right method in maintaining health, build up and encourage your competence, and take care of your familyís physical fitness as well.

2. Because the goal of lifetime fitness is to provide you with long-term achievements as far as physical fitness is concerned, these programs utilizes numerous fitness equipments that will tone and manage your health and the different parts of your body.

There are fitness equipments that will give your cardiovascular system a lift. You can also opt for some sports facilities that will provide you with an alternative way of being physically fit.

3. Lifetime fitness programs and centers also provides nutritional products such as food supplements that will aid in the formation of good blood cells and tissues thereby making your body at its pink of health.

Lifetime fitness centers and programs also provide you with up-to-date fitness magazines that do not only give substantial information about fitness and health but inspirational stories as well. These articles will give you an insight on how to make you life balance and how to live a life that is healthy and fit.

Indeed, staying fit and healthy can be a long and winding road and there are instances wherein you may find your enthusiasm fading occasionally. Nevertheless, with the comprehensive programs provided by lifetime fitness plans, you can start heading back to the right track of a healthier you.

Fitness for Women- Stay Fit and Healthy!

Fitness for Women- Stay Fit and Healthy!

Here are 10 tips for women to stay fit and healthy:

1. Staying fit and healthy starts with a balanced diet. Know and monitor the right weight for your age. Consult your doctor to learn what food you should avoid and follow your eating discipline routines. If you are trying to lose some weight, foods with high calories should be omitted from your meals. Food with high fiber and low fat should be included a priority in your grocery list instead of red meat, sugars and fats.

2. Drink plenty of water. Drinking at least eight glasses of water everyday. This cleanses the body from impurities. It is also advised for lactating women to increase water intake to keep the body hydrated.

3. Take Vitamins and Supplements. Do not forget your Calcium supplement.  Sufficient Calcium intake is beneficial for women of all ages. This has been proven to prevent having cramps and Pre-Menstrual Period (PMS) Symptoms. It also prevents Osteoporosis especially for menopausal women. Vitamin E boosts strong immune system. Women who undergo menopausal period should take Vitamin E-400 as it stops night sweats and hot flashes. Also, Vitamin E is said to be best in avoiding wrinkles when aging.

4. Quit smoking. If you are smoking, stop. It is also a big ìNOî for pregnant women, as this will affect the health of the baby. Pregnant women who smoke may pass the harmful content of cigarettes to babies through the bloodstream. Recent studies have shown that women smokers are more prone to diseases than men smokers. Women who smoke have a high risk of getting breast cancer. Also limit your alcohol intake.

5. Incorporate exercises in your daily routine. Take a walk after work, use stairs instead of elevator or play with your kids when you are at home. Home exercises are also effective especially when you do not have time to go to the gym and would like to lose some weight. Yoga and Pilates are only a few of the many effective exercises you can do at home. Exercises help in limiting the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

6. Avoid stress. Many women are prone to too much stress. Stress has been known as cause to many sicknesses. As much as possible take time to relax. Read a good book, hang out with friends and engage into sports. Pamper yourself by going to parlors or you can do some shopping. And do not forget to get enough sleep to revive your energy.

7. Use sunscreen to protect your skin from the harmful rays of the sun. Wear hats when under the sun to protect your skin. Too much sun is bad for your skin. The skin is prone to cancer when exposed to too much sunlight. It also speeds up the aging of skin cells, which causes wrinkles to women.

8. Make sure to visit your dentist to keep that beautiful smile. Always have it cleaned to prevent cavities and bad breath.

9. Visit your Gynecologist. Women who are eighteen and above should have their Physical Examination annually especially for the Pap Smear test. Women who are forty and up should have their mammograms and the Breast self-exam is encouraged once puberty has been reached and should be a habit as they mature

10. Safe sex is strongly recommended. Use condoms to prevent sexually transmitted diseases.

Be A Man of Fitness

Be A Man of Fitness

Fitness is the essence of a man. Fitness is the ability of a person to do his normal everyday tasks with full alertness and vigor without worrying about fatigue afterward and with extra energy in reserve which can be useful when emergencies arise or during leisure and recreation. Overall fitness must be the primary goal every man must try to achieve. In fitness, no one is ever too young or too old for improvement.

One's fitness can be improved by ngaging in aerobic exercises and through strength training. There are three components of overall fitness that every man must focus on working out in order to be in healthy, tip-top shape. These are cardiovascular work, strength training and of course, these should be coupled with a healthy diet.

Staying strong by building muscles. Man's fitness regimen should include a work out routine which aims to build the muscles. Aging causes a decrease in muscle mass of five to seven pounds (2-3.2 kgs) of muscle for every ten years in one's adult life given that he lives an inactive lifestyle. Truly, the saying "use it or lose it" is very applicable to the muscles. Fortunately, there is a good solution to this. Loss of muscle mass can be replaced by engaiging in strength training.

Improvement of Man's fitness by cardiovascular work out. Flexibility exercises, strength training and cardiovascular work out surely help boost a man's fitness and all these should be part of a man's work out scheme. But of all these, cardiovascular work is the most necessary. Exercises under cardiovascular work conditions and develops the cardiovascular system and also works out large muscle groups.

So if a man does not have much time for working out, devoting whatever free time he might have to aerobic exercises would do him fine. He might have to pass out on developing those biceps but so long as cardiovascular work out exercises are done, then the blood pressure, heart and cholesterol levels will be fine to keep you staying happy and healthy.

The essence of nutrition to man's fitness. It is best as well as well recommended to eat whole and natural foods frequently than do it on large amounts in one to three sittings. Always keep variety in mind when doing the shopping. This will ensure that one is getting most if not all of the nutrients and minerals needed by the body to keep fit and healthy. Always keep the three important macronutreints in the diet; these are fats, carbohydrates and proteins. Prioritize proteins though over carbohydrates but never exclude any one of the three on some fad diet.

Some tips in keeping a man's fitness level high, efficient and safe:

1.) Drink plenty of water all through out the day, especially when working out.

2.) Do exercises properly using the correct techniques, whether it's weight lifting or aerobic exercises. Always read and understand, and follow of course, the instructions outlined by the personal trainer.

3.) Make sure the is always a spotter when lifting weights.

4.) Challenge the muscles, but make sure that it's kept safe.

5.) Stretch, warm-up prior to working out and cool-down gradually after sessions.

6.) Check the equipment for safety before using them.

7.) It is better to do less than overdo the whole thing. Overtraining will exhaust enthusiasm and kill performance.

Health and Fitness

Health and Fitness

Being active makes a person healthy and strong. It is not just for people who have a weight problem but for everyone who likes to stay fit.  

There is a lot a person can do such jog or walk every morning, play basketball or any other sport with friends but if a person wants to have muscles and look lean, then one can sign up and workout in a gym.

People workout for 3 reasons;

The first is that the person is overweight and the only way to lose those extra pounds will be to reduce ones calorie intake and at the same time workout in the gym.

The second is that the person is underweight and the only way to add extra pounds is to have more calories in ones diet and workout.

The third is just for fun and to keep that person in shape.

The best exercise plan should have cardiovascular and weight training exercises. This helps burn calories and increase the muscle to fat ratio that will increase ones metabolism and gain or lose weight.

Just like taking any medicine, one should first consult the doctor before undergoing any form of exercise.

Here are some benefits of exercising;

1. It is the easiest way to maintain and improve ones health from a variety of diseases and premature death.

2. Studies have shown that it makes a person feels happier and increases ones self esteem preventing one from falling into depression or anxiety.

3. An active lifestyle makes a person live longer than a person who doesnít.

Working out for someone who has not done it before should be done gradually. Endurance will not be built in a day and doing it repeatedly will surely be beneficial to the person.

It is advisable to workout regularly with a reasonable diet.

A person can consult with a dietitian or a health professional to really help plan a good diet program. It starts by evaluating the lifestyle and the health of the patient before any program can be made.

Afterwards, this is thoroughly discussed and recommended to the person which usually consists of an eating plan and an exercise program that does not require the use of supplements or one to purchase any expensive fitness equipment.

A good diet should have food from all the food groups.

This is made up by 2 things. The first is carbohydrates. The food that a person consumes should have vitamins, minerals and fiber. A lot of this can come from oats, rice, potatoes and cereals. The best still come from vegetables and fruits since these have phytochemicals, enzymes and micronutrients that are essential for a healthy diet.  

The second is fat which can come from mono and poly saturated food sources rather than animal fats. Since fat contains more than double the number of calories in food, this should be taken in small quantities to gain or lose weight.

Another way to stay healthy is to give up some vices. Most people smoke and drink. Smoking has been proven to cause lung cancer and other diseases as well complications for women giving birth. Excessive drinking has also shown to do the same.

For people who donít smoke, it is best to stay away from people who do since studies have shown that nonsmokers are also at risk of developing cancer due to secondary smoke inhalation.

Beauty and Fitness

Beauty and Fitness

Health is wealth. By being physically fit, it can make a person look lean both inside and out.

There is a lot a person can do such jogging or walking  in the morning, playing basketball or any other sport with friends but if a person wants to have muscles and look lean, the best thing to do will be to sign up and workout in a gym.

Just like taking any medicine, one should first consult the doctor before undergoing any form of exercise.

Physical exercise is beneficial because it helps maintain and improve ones health from a variety of diseases and premature death.  It also makes a person feel happier and increases ones self esteem preventing one from falling into depression or anxiety. It has also shown to make a person with an active lifestyle live longer than a person who doesnít.

The best exercise plan should have cardiovascular and weight training exercises. This helps burn calories and increase the muscle to fat ratio that will increase ones metabolism and make one either gain or lose weight.

A person who has never worked out before should do it gradually. Doing it too much for the first time can make one pull a muscle or have an injury making it worse. Endurance will never be built in a day and doing it repeatedly will surely be good to the person.

Focusing on certain portion in the body can help make it improve. A good example is going to the gym and doing a workout more often in a specific area such as the abs can give one a chest pack.

But beauty is not only about having muscles which is what people can see. It is also about enhancing the beauty within.

Here are some things one can do everyday to stay beautiful and healthy;

∑ Reading books and other reading material more often keeps the mind sharp just like working out keeps the body in shape.

∑ Work no matter what kind it is produces stress. One can reduce this by taking the time out to do something special like lying in a hot tub, shopping or watching a movie. Studies have shown it is reliever and helps one from looking haggardly.

∑ Pollution is something people cannot control given the size of the problem. When one goes out, it is best to put some form of protection such as beauty products that contain antioxidants that protect the skin from damage. There are also other beauty products available and choosing the right one with the help of a dermatologist can help the person.

∑ Another way to stay healthy is to give up some vices. Most people smoke and drink. Smoking has been proven to cause lung cancer and other diseases as well complications for women giving birth. Excessive drinking has also shown to do the same.

∑ For people who donít smoke, it is best to stay away from people who do since studies have shown that nonsmokers are also at risk of developing cancer due to secondary smoke inhalation.

∑ Lastly, it is best to always start the day with a positive outlook. Just as studies have shown that exercise makes a person feel happier, smiling produces the same effect. A smile can do a lot and it is contagious in a positive sense. It brightens the day of not only one but others as well.