Everyone wants the fastest, most effortless method for achieving results in life. However, it is this pursuit that causes many people to waste their resources, time and energy. The people that create these fad diets and “get rich quick overnight” schemes know that people want this and this is why they will psychologically market their product to match your overly utopian desire. Then they take your resources and let you figure out that it takes work and knowledge to get results that will stay. So here is a list of 10 reasons why fad diets never work:

1. Your body burns less overall calories. A lot of these “fad diets” insist that you take in an extremely low amount of calories. This is very bad. Even when I was training for my bodybuilding show, I never went below my basal metabolic rate. I just consumed right at it and burned my calories through exercise and got down from ~14% body fat to 7% in a matter of a few weeks. When you decrease calories, especially overnight, your body will drop its basal metabolic rate. This will cause your body to burn less overall calories.
2. They all say “lose weight” but not “lose fat.” As I have noted in my fat loss article, losing weight is not the same as losing fat. Do you want to lose 8lb of muscle for 7 lb of fat just to say you lost 15lb? The reason that this occurs is because your body will survive longer on fat, and when you sharply decrease your caloric intake quickly, your body goes into starvation mode, hides your fat and burns muscle.
3. Your body becomes less efficient at burning fat. When you go low calorie so suddenly and then resume regular eating habits, your body not only puts on the weight that it lost, but it also puts on a surplus of that weight. Over time, this causes your body to start storing fat to prepare itself for another sudden “drop.”
   
4. They don’t tell you to exercise. In their attempt to satisfy your craving for effortless weight loss, they do not mention the fact that you should exercise. Exercise will increase your metabolism, burn calories, build your muscles, strengthen your respiratory system, build your immune system…blah I could go on for days about the benefits of exercise. Just get off your lazy bum and exercise dammit!
   
5. They taste like $#*!. Really, have you tried the crap that they tell you to eat? Meal replacement bars, protein shakes, tasteless food and crappy recipes. You don’t have to torture yourself to get results. You can do it with great tasting food and enjoy your meal
6. Most of the weight that you lose is water. A lot of these programs will tell you to limit your liquid intake to a certain amount, like only 8 glasses of water. Try this without their products or diet; see how much weight you lost? Then drink regularly, see how much weight you put back? This is not permanent weight loss. When I wrestled, I have lost 10 pounds in a matter of a few days. Sweat, spit, no fluids and trash bags all contributed to pounds falling off. Do you know how long it took for me to put it back after weigh in? Let’s just say that after the match I would have gained at least half of it back. Anyone can look good for a picture standing on a scale like they lost weight, but not everyone can stay looking that way.
   
7. They try to tell you to give up eating all fats. Either directly or through their products, they try to take fat out of your diet. This does not work. In fact, fats have an emporium of benefits for your body. Don’t take out fats, but make sure that the ones you are taking in are healthy fats. In fact, you have more reason to go on a low carb diet before a low fat one.
   
8. You feel like crap. After starving yourself for a few weeks, you start to feel weak because your body is performing inefficiently due to energy depletion. Look, losing weight is fun. Go to the gym, take a kickboxing class, eat healthy meals and get enough rest. You will feel great, energetic, healthy and be slimmer. You are only making things hard when you do this the “quick and easy” way.
   
9. In the end you will gain it all back. Period.
10. You learn nothing after you quit the diet and/or products. Take the initiative and do it the right way. Develop lifelong exercise and diet habits that will make you feel better all of the time. Learn what you should do to get in better shape, to feel better and look better. Don’t just put your hand out and say “I’ll do whatever you say to lose weight.” Learn for yourself, know why you are doing something and know how to do it in the absence of these fad diets. You wouldn’t just purchase a used car just because they buyer says that it will run would you?

Whenever you are in doubt, simply as yourself: “Is this how nature intended for me to lose weight?” I promise you that once you start exercising and dieting correctly, you will never want to let that go. The benefits far exceed some “quick fix.” Don’t bandage your problems, solve them.

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Before I begin talking about the various exercises that are associated with a healthy knee, I want to go over a few things that could begin benefiting your knee right away. A few things that you can take to aid your nutrition program are fish oil and joint supplements. I won’t go into detail about the many benefits associated with fish oil, but among them is their ability to promote joint care. The fatty acids help to reduce the tenderness in your joints, decrease any kind of morning stiffness and have even been proven to decrease the need for medication for arthritis patients. This inexpensive supplement should be taken to aid your knee health.

You should also consider taking joint supplements. Although they are more expensive than fish oil, they can provide great benefits especially if you exercise often. Try to get the ones that have MSM, Chondroitin and Glucosamine. These three nutrients are very effective for supporting joint health.

Ok, now that you know how you can better take care of your knees through your supplements, let me give you some knee exercises that you can do to strengthen the muscles around your knee.

The first exercise to do is squats. However, when you do these, make sure that you go down lower than parallel. Yes, lower than parallel. If you only go down to parallel, then you are putting the strain all on your knee joints which is very bad for your knee. Another common way to injure your knee while squatting is relaxing at the bottom position. Never do this, this is improper form and can have damaging effects. However, when you go lower than parallel, you are building the muscles around your knee. You will also incorporate your glutes more in this movement, and that is always an added plus! To perform a proper ATG (ass-to-grass) squat follow these guidelines and practice with no weight before you add weight.

1. You should always squat in a power rack or cage so that you are squatting safely. You should set it up so that you can drop the bar if you need to and always make sure that you have your weights locked.
2. During your squat, keep your head pulled back and chest out. You should have a slight arc in your lower back. Make sure that you do not look up or down, but straight in front of you. Also be careful not to lean forward or backwards.
3. When you approach the bar, make sure that your hands are at about the same distance apart as they are when you bench – roughly shoulder width maybe slightly wider. You want to make sure that the bar is placed on your traps evenly.
4. Be careful when you are backing up, only take a few steps at most and be sure to have a spotter to assist you. Most squatting injuries will occur while you are backing up so be extra cautious. Your feet should be shoulder width apart. Your toes should be pointing out about forty-five degrees.
5. As you descend, take a deep breath and lower yourself down as if you were to sit on a chair. Always keep your knee in line with your feet and never in front of your toes. Also make sure to never bow your knee during any part of the lift. Lower yourself until you are slightly lower than parallel. This is critical because if you only go parallel you are putting unnecessary stress on your knee, but if you go slightly lower then you are building your knee muscles. Practice with no weight and watch yourself or have someone correct your form.
6. As soon as you get to the bottom immediately begin rising. Do not relax. It should be one fluid motion and be very smooth. Once you get to the top, take a deep breath and do it again.
7. How many should you do? It really doesn’t matter; you can do 3×12, 3×6, 1×20 exc. Just do according to how you feel and make sure that you are pushing yourself.

Sorry it took a while for me to talk about squats, but that is, in my opinion, the best exercise not only for your legs but your knees as well. You can handle a tremendous amount of weight and as long as you are performing it with proper form, you can do it safely. This single exercise uses around 90% of your body’s total muscles. You can imagine what positive effects that has on muscle growth and physical health. I just want to make sure you know how to do it correctly.

The next knee exercise that you can do is leg extensions. These are great for building your quadriceps and bringing that “teardrop” look to your legs. Your quadriceps are important in the health of your knee because you can put the stress on your muscles rather than your joints when lifting. Leg extensions are performed pretty simple with a machine. Just sit down, put your chins under the bar and extend your legs until they are straight out. Avoid going lower than a right angle when you lower the weight and also be sure to never jerk the weight.

Beyond just strengthening your quadriceps, you should also strengthen your hip flexors, hip adductor and hip abductors. . These will help your knee because they provide strength and stability to the knee. To build these muscles, you can perform simple lying down straight leg raises. Perform a few sets of 20 or even hold a static hold for about a minute. This exercise will also help your abs out too. For the other muscles, you could use those hip machines in the gym or lie on your side and lift your leg facing the ceiling up to work your abductor. To work your hip adductor simply squeeze a pillow between your legs and hold it for about 20-30 seconds for a few sets.

There are a few other measures that you should take for optimum knee health and strength. Make sure that you wear shoes that will support and help control movement of your feet. While you are looking for good shoes, look for ones that help build arch support as well. Cole Haan has some good ones. Also be sure to stretch your legs whenever possible. Doing toe touches and quad stretches will be helpful for your knee. Another great tip is to never lock your legs when standing or squatting. Practice standing with a slight bend in your legs. I remember one time when I was in JROTC we had a kid pass out in attention because he locked his legs and I will never forget it. Beyond not passing out, having a natural bend will take stress off of your joints.

Well there you go, you now know how to take care of your knee and keep it healthy. You have a list of knee exercises to strengthen your muscles, and you know more about your knee than you did before. Congratulations; now don’t be foolish by not putting any of the things that I have mentioned into action. Enjoy your healthy knee.

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• Rotator Cuff Exercises
• Train to Build Muscle
• Chest Workout 3-9-08
• Back/Bis Workout 3-12-08
• The Basics of Building Muscle

The rotator cuff, like any other muscle, will greatly benefit from being stretched and trained. Stretching the muscles will keep it more resistant to tears and injuries while training the rotator cuff will enable you to protect yourself against weakness and the damaging effects of aging. Before you begin training your rotator cuff, we need to cover a few ground rules.

Arm Circles

First, it is critically important to warm up and stretch before you perform any rotator cuff exercise. A great way to do this is arm circles. With your arms to your side, lift your arms up to the sky and down behind your back (like a softball pitch) and back to the starting position. Do this for 3 sets of 20. You can also do another version of arm circles where you hold your arms straight out to your side (like a side lateral raise). Then move your arms in a circular motion. Both of these exercises will effectively warm up your shoulders and prepare them for a work out.
The next thing that you want to make sure to do is to stretch your shoulders. There are several ways to do this, but here is a great video demonstration for you to mimic:

Shoulder Stretches

After you have warmed up, then you can proceed to some rotator cuff exercises.

Rotator Cuff Rotations

The first exercise that you will perform is standing rotator cuff rotations. These are achieved by holding your arms parallel to the floor and at shoulder level. Then bend your forearm up making a 90 degree angle at your elbow. Then rotate your arms towards your head. You can use a weight in each hand to add resistance. Then go back to the starting position. Perform this exercise with light weights initially and as you get more comfortable and stronger then start increasing the weight. An ideal repetition range is 3×12. You can perform this exercise standing up or lying on a bench face down.

Internal Rotation

The next exercise that you can do is called internal rotations. This is performed lying down on a bench on your side. Then take the arm opposite to the side touching the bench and bending your elbow to make your hand come towards your head. Take your hand and move it towards your chest and then lift it back up to where the starting position was. Maybe it is easier to refer to the picture for this rotator cuff exercise. Perform 3 sets of 12.

Lateral Raises

The third exercise that you can perform for your rotator cuff is lateral raises. These are performed by having a weight in each hand and lifting your arms straight out to your side. You can alternate the way your palms are facing (down, up, thumbs up) to put emphasis on different areas of the shoulder. Perform 3 sets of 12.

After you have completed these exercises, do a short cool down by performing your warm up exercises and stretches. Remember to slowly increase the resistance and adjust the repetitions to get your shoulders stronger and more resistant to injuries. As always, if you ever feel uncomfortable during any exercise, discontinue and try something else. Another thing to remember is to train the muscles around your shoulder blade. You can do this by performing shrugs, military presses, pushups and rows.

There are a few things that you should avoid doing to prevent rotator cuff injuries. You should never do pull downs or presses behind the head. Our shoulders are not comfortable with lifting weights from this direction and many people mistakenly do this and live to regret it. Another point to remember is to avoid going lower than parallel on any press movements such as bench press or pushups. Also do not use really heavy weights when doing any rotator cuff exercise.

If you stay within the guidelines that I have set forth and perform these rotator cuff exercises, then you are sure to reap the benefits by having a healthy, strong shoulder. In regards to your shoulder, it pays to be safe than sorry. The injuries can take as much as 18 months to heal, and many people can tell you that that sucks.

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Creatine is a natural derivative of meat, mostly red meat. Our bodies also make creatine in the pancreas, liver, and kidneys. It is a natural compound, and the average male processes approximately 2 grams of creatine per day. Creatine is used to synthesize ATP, or adrenosine triphosphate. ATP is the power that gives our muscles energy. ATP gives our muscles the power to contract, so it is important to keep a constant influx of ATP in your system.

Like our muscles rebuild our glycogen, we also have to rebuild our ATP reserves. The fastest way to do this is through Creatine Phosphate. Creatine Phosphate is a compound that quickly converts to ATP and helps to replenish these stores. Supplementing with Creatine greatly increases the amount of Creatine Phosphate in our muscles, therefore allowing our ATP reserves to regenerate quickly.

Before going to the shelf and purchasing Creatine, we need to decide which type of Creatine is the best. We once thought that Creatine Monohydrate was the best form of creatine because it is bound to water molecules. However, this form of creatine rapidly turns into creatinine, which is not useable and ends up being secreted through our urine. This is why it takes a lot of Creatine Monohydrate to get very little creatine into your muscles.

However, there is a more efficient solution – Creatine Ethyl Ester. It is the same thing as Creatine Monohydrate, but with an ester attached. These organic compounds make most of the creatine that you consume to be delivered into your muscles, rather than secreted through your urine. If you want to further increase the speed of your creatine uptake, take it post workout and use a simple sugar to give the “insulin spike” effect to ensure proper, prompt delivery.

Ok, so now that we know which form of creatine to supplement with, let us discover the benefits of Creatine. Creatine increases your intramuscular creatine reserves so that your ATP can be quickly refilled. Creatine also increases the amount of glycogen, or energy, storage in your muscles. This means that you muscles will grow fuller and bigger to accommodate for the space needed to hold all of these energy reserves.

Creatine also absorbs water. Unlike Creatine Monohydrate, which can cause the “Creatine Bloat,” Creatine Ethyl Ester only increases water reserves in your muscles. This means that you have more fat-free mass and larger, fuller muscles. Not only does it make your muscles appear larger, but it creates a favorable environment for optimum muscle growth. This means that once you get off of Creatine, you will not lose everything that you gained because you will have gained lean muscle in the process as well.

I guess that the most common question regarding Creatine is its safety. There are lots of short term and long term studies that indicate that there are no adverse effects from creatine supplementation. The only time that you shouldn’t supplement with Creatine is if you have renal disease or dysfunction. This is because creatinine causes your kidney to work a little harder, and an unhealthy kidney could be aggravated. Otherwise, you will be safe.

The biggest health concern with Creatine is the quality of the product. Make sure that you are using a reputable company to get your Creatine from. Higher Power from bodybuiliding.com is a great company to purchase Creatine from.

I hope that you have cleared your concerns about the potential harm of Creatine. I would encourage you to take it to assist your recovery, strength, and muscle growth. However, it is entirely up to you on what you put in your body. Do your best research and make the most sapient decision.

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• The Basics of Building Muscle

First, keep in mind that this article will focus strictly on the training aspect of building muscle. Remember, that diet and training work synergistically to build the frame you desire. With that in mind, let us begin by first explaining the exercises that build the greatest amount of mass. I will name the top 3 exercises for every major muscle group.

Chest

• - Decline Bench Press
• - Incline Bench Press
• - Parallel Dips

Shoulders

• - Military Press
• - Lateral Raises
• - Clean and Press

Back

• - Bent over Barbell Rows
• - One Arm Dumbbell Rows
• - Deadlifts

Biceps

• - Chins
• - Preacher Curls
• - Incline Seated Dumbbell Curls

Triceps

• - Decline Tricep Extentions (Skull Crushers)
• - Dips
• - Close Grip Bench Press

Quads

• - Squats
• - Leg Extentions
• - Hack Squats

Hamstrings

• - Stiff Leg Deadlift
• - Standing Leg Curls
• - Lying Leg Curls

Calves

• - Seated Calf Raises
• - Standing Calf Raises
• - Donkey Calf Raises

Ok, there you have it. These are proven to be the best mass builders per muscle group. Do you notice that the best mass builders are the ones that work multiple muscle groups in one exercise? Good, because these are the compound lifts. They should be included first in your workout, and make up most if not all of your workout. Your workouts should be quick and efficient.

When you do a weight lifting session, always keep it at least under 75 minutes. Afterwards, your body starts to release stress hormones to adapt to this load, you start to burn muscle and hold fat, and your workout goes to crap. Do not waste time in the gym. Get in, get out and post workout.

Before we go into actual training programs, there is much more to be said about training.

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I am not going to spend time writing debating the fact that this exists in our society. Sociological and psychological studies already prove that this is the case – especially in the work field. However, I believe that there is a better answer than “It just happens that way.” I believe that there are three reasons that more attractive people have an easier time attaining goals than those who are not blessed with the genetic lottery. These three reasons are confidence, persuasion, and stereotypes.

I was reading in my Sociology book about an interesting study between the Saints and the Roughnecks. Basically, both of these groups of kids were very mischievous and trouble makers. However, the Saints were in a higher class than the Roughnecks and were viewed as being good kids by everyone else. The Roughnecks, on the other hand, were thought of as the ones making havoc and trouble for their community. What later happened was that of all eight of the saints, they all went to college, some received a Ph. D and others at least received a Bachelors degree. However, of the Roughnecks, only two went to college on athletic scholarships and became high school gym teachers, whereas the rest either dropped out, went to prison, or became missing. So what is the significance of this story that I just told you?

The more attractive person can be related to the Saints. They are told that they look good, will make it far, and be successful. As they later move on in life, peers look up to them because they are getting all of the attention. The more attractive person has developed better social skills through preferential treatment. This gives them more confidence in social situations and consequently offers a more favorable presentation to other people. Confidence in a job interview, especially in conjunction with effective communication skills, gives the employer stronger beliefs about the person’s job skills. Since the attractive person already has made these qualities a part of their life, they have an easier time getting that job.

Once that attractive person sees that they are making and achieving goals, they have then become a self-fulfilling prophecy. It all started with everyone telling them how beautiful they were, as they received more attention, they developed their social skills. These social skills allowed them to develop confidence, not only because of their good looks, but because they knew that people looked up to them. Their confidence is the attractive person’s fundamental element that contributes to their success. This is William Chambliss’s Labeling Theory at its best.

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• About
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• 10 Reasons Why Fad Diets Never Work

To get to the truth, we need to first examine the common ingredients of all sodas. The average soda contains caffeine, carbonated water, phosphoric acid, and high fructose corn syrup.

Caffeine is the only ingredient that has some potentially health beneficial substance to it, but it also has some negative downsides as well. Caffeine is a highly addictive chemical that gives you extra energy. If you want to fuel your workout, take caffeine prior. Taking a test? Caffeine has been shown to improve brain function. Caffeine has even been cited to lower the risk of acquiring diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes and Parkinson’s disease.

What about the risks and dangers of caffeine? Since it is highly addictive, it is hard to give it up from the suggested eight hours before you rest. Consequently, it decreases the quality of your sleep and even triggers the activity of sleeping disorders such as restless leg syndrome. Caffeine also increases blood pressure if you have hypertension. Beyond that, caffeine can also cause your bones to lose calcium and even increase your risk of miscarriage. Also, excessive amounts of caffeine daily (more than 400mg, or 4 cups of coffee) greatly increase the risk for heart problems.

Most of the problems with Caffeine do occur in excess, but I rarely see moderate drinking of sodas. In fact, the average American drinks about 3-5 cans of soda a day which is already up to 200mg of caffeine. Add in your energy drink and coffee and you are on the line already! However, Caffeine may be the least of our worries once we discover the downsides to the remaining ingredients.

Unlike caffeine, carbonated water doesn’t have any health benefits. Carbonated water is created by putting carbon dioxide into water (fancy that…). When we breathe, carbon dioxide is our waste product. If our bodies wanted it, why would our bodies keep expelling it? Aside from that logic, they also hurt our bodies by weakening our stomach acid, thereby interfering with digestion. Do you like your pearly white teeth? Then stop drinking carbonated drinks because carbonation speeds up tooth decay by thinning your tooth enamel until it wears it down completely. Do you like weakening your calcium-fortified bodily structures? Good, you will love Phosphoric Acid then

Phosphoric acid causes your soda to bubble and fizz. Because it is an acid, it burns your insides (you can probably feel it when it hits your empty stomach). It also upsets your body’s phosphorus-calcium balance. Calcium is released from the bones to help restore pH balance in the blood. Add phosphoric acid in the equation, and you are well on your way to weakening your skeletal structure. The result? Osteoporosis.

Finally we arrive at the source of our obesity problem – High Fructose Corn Syrup. With 150 or more calories per drink containing pure sugar, this is a no-brainer that these dead calories contribute to our weight gain. Fructose converts to fat more than any other sugar. It also supplies at least 25% of the total calories of an American diet. Do you want to lose weight? Take out the fructose and you will.

But what about the fructose found in fruits? It is true that fruits contain fructose, but they also contain it in a lot less concentration in fruits than in high fructose corn syrup. In fruits, it is usually a 50/50 ratio between sucrose and fructose. High fructose corn syrup can contain proportions as high as 80/20 fructose/sucrose levels. Another reason why fruit sources aren’t harmful Is that fruits contain fiber which slows down the metabolism of these sugars. In our sodas, fructose is absorbed quickly, thus speeding up the metabolism, and the time that it takes to be turned into fat.

I hope that I have given you reason enough to put down that Pepsi you defiantly were drinking while reading this article you stubborn hag. If you really need the caffeine, get it from other more healthy sources such as tea. Unless you are going to use your cola to clean your toilet (it works, try it by pouring it in the bowl and letting it sit), then there is no benefit to consuming soda-pop (I have always wanted to say that :D).

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Diet

There is only one way to lose weight, calories in have to be less than calories burned. You are just wasting your time if you spend hours in the gym and keep your eating habits absurd. The best way to determine what your diet should be like is to find your basil metabolic rate . That tells you how many calories that you need to eat to stay at the same weight.

Once you figure out what that is, decide how much weight you want to lose a week. For me, I wanted to lose very little weight a week to improve my chances of holding on to most of my muscle. So I decided to do 500 calories below my basil metabolic rate. Since there are 3500 calories in a pound, that would average out to me losing a pound a week based only on my diet. Now that you know how many calories to eat, you must decide when to eat them.

The most effective method to guarantee an active metabolism and muscle retention is to eat frequently. It is recommended to eat every 2-3 hours to ensure this. This averages out to be from 5-8 meals a day. I generally eat about 7 times in a given day. So I divided my new caloric intake (which was 2900 after subtracting 500 from my BMR) and came up with roughly 410 calories per meal. This is just an average, and you probably shouldn’t consume that much every meal, but instead prioritize your important meals (breakfast and post workout) to contain slightly more. For example, my breakfast usually came out to be about 600 calories, so my second and third meal is about 300 calories to accommodate the average. Now that you know how often to eat and when to eat, you need to know what macronutrients should be in your meals.

It is a good rule of thumb to increase your protein during cutting cycles for a few reasons. One is that you want to do your best to keep what muscle that you have, so you don’t want to have your body running in low supply of protein. Another is that it takes your body twice the amount of energy to metabolize protein as it does carbohydrates. I recommend that 40%, of your calories should come from protein (it usually comes out to be ~ 1.5g / lb of bodyweight).

Another important macronutrient to be in control over is your carbohydrates. The important thing to note here is that you should only consume your simple carbohydrates after you workout. All of your other carbohydrate sources should come from low GI foods such as fruits and vegetables (learn more about carbs in our article about Low Carb Diets). This will keep your energy levels stable throughout the day and keep you from craving food all day long. Some people drop a lot of carbohydrates for a cutting session, but I usually keep them as about 35% of my diet. One thing that you don’t want to happen when cutting is to have extremely low glycogen levels in your muscles. This is bad news because then your body burns muscle as an energy source. Carbohydrates quickly replenish these stores and save your muscle from catching the catabolism bug.

The last macronutrient left is fat. Believe it or not, fat helps to aid in losing weight. However, not all fats are created equally. The fats that we need in our diet are ones that contain Omega 3, 6, 9, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fats. These are the healthy fats for you and are found in foods like salmon, nuts, olive oil, flax seed, peanut butter and tuna. They are important for many different health benefits which include a healthy heart and brain functioning. I recommend that 25% of your diet come from these fat sources.

Really take a lot of time in developing a feasible diet based on these guidelines. Plan a day’s worth of meals that would meet these guidelines. Don’t worry about calorie counting to the exact number, but try to stay consistent and within limits. I find it better to plan your day’s meals ahead of time so that you aren’t making it up as you go along.

So now that we know how to eat, let’s plan our workouts to assist these goals.

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For today, I jump roped for thirty minutes. I never realized how much it burned my calves and exhausted me. I remembered why I stopped doing it on my own now. However, it was nice to change up the typical cardio routine for a day. So while I’m talking about jump roping, let’s discuss the benefits of jumping rope.

It improves your cardio conditioning because, obviously, its exhausting and intense. Boxers often jump rope to get them in shape for their matches. It also can burn 1000 calories an hour for an average person weighing 150lb. In fact, studies show that jumping rope burns more calories per minute than any other aerobic activity! So 30 minutes a day for a week would burn off a pound providing that you are eating your maintenance calories! However, boxers also use jump roping to help them improve their athletic skills.

When you jump rope, you improve your coordination, timing, and agility. All of these skills are vital in any sport. It also improves your speed as you speed up your jumps. Why not lose weight and improve skills at the same time? Sounds like a pretty effective and efficient exercise to me. Not only that, but it is cost effective, costing anywhere from 1-15$ for a jump rope. You don’t need to use the “I can’t afford a gym membership or treadmill” excuse anymore.

Compared to my previous cardio workout, I felt more accomplished for this one. Although I didn’t have a calorie reader, TV and heart rate monitor that a treadmill offers, it still was very effective. I guess it’s time to start getting my Rocky Balboa on.

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Before we advance, I want to make sure that you understand what carbs are. They are our body’s primary source for energy. Carbohydrates come from many different sources – fruits, vegetables, sugary snacks, cereal exc., and all carbs are broken down by the body to form glucose. Glucose is the simplest form of sugar available and serves as our body’s primary energy source. The closer that a carbohydrate is to this form, the faster it is able to be converted into glucose. All carbohydrates contain 4 calories per gram; however, there are two different types of carbs that have very different properties.

Simple Carbs

Simple carbohydrates are the sweet, buzz-causing agents that are primarily found in sugary substances such as candy and soda. They are digested very quickly and are used up very quickly because they are, as the name suggests, simple. It does not take much to convert simple carbs into glucose – and this is the reason why they are considered “bad” carbs. When simple carbs are consumed, you should be active so that you use them up quickly, otherwise, when they are not needed, they convert to fat. Simple carbohydrates kick in really fast, but they also lose their effect after about 30 minutes. After that, they are converted into fat and you are hungry again because your body no longer has fuel to convert to energy.

Are you starting to freak out yet? Good, that is what most people do, but don’t stop reading just yet. There is another type of carbohydrate, which is considered the “better” carb.

Complex Carbs

Complex carbohydrates are longer-chain carbohydrates that are found in pastas, whole grain foods, vegetables, and fruits. They are high fiber foods that help stabilize your energy levels, and help you to feel satisfied longer after your meal. Do you ever wonder why a 100 calorie apple can leave you feeling satisfied a heck of a lot longer than a 200 calorie candy bar? Because these carbohydrates are more “complex” in their composition, the body takes longer to convert them into glucose. That means that the body no longer thinks that it is lacking resources because it is actively converting fuel. Complex carbohydrates provide a constant supply of energy in the period of a few hours, rather than 30 minutes, and keep your cravings down. See why they are admired so much?

So now we know that the reason why fat compiles on our bodies is mostly the result of simple carbohydrates. How do we know what foods contain what type of carbohydrates?

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Well for me, I have always struggled with arm development – especially biceps. This work out has delivered noticeable differences in the size of my arms within a matter of weeks. You get lots of bicep work from doing your back exercises, and then isolating them at the end is the icing on the cake. Without further, delay, this is today’s workout stats:

One Arm Rows – 3×10 95lb
Wide Grip Pull-Ups – 46 total (took 5 sets, no weight)
Cable Rows – 3×8 120lb
T-Bar Rows – 3×10 90lb —superset with
Machine Curls – 4×10 80lb

How did I feel?

I felt a nice pump when I was finished, not only in my arms but my upper lats too. I have been working on flaring my lats out more, but when I arrived back at my dorm I noticed that I have a nice V back from the front. I also noticed that my pull-ups are getting slightly easier. Last workout I was only able to do 40 in 5 sets. This may be due to the fact that I am losing weight, but regardless my strength is at least staying the same as far as my back goes. Overall, it was an encouraging workout.

Compare to previous Back/Bi workout:

The last time I did back/bis, I did bent over barbell rows instead of one arm rows. I aimed to do it again for this workout, but all of the power racks were occupied. I think that this substitute worked fine – it has been a while since one arm rows were on my pad. My t-bar rows also increased this workout by 10lb at the same amount of reps. That may tell me that I need to start pushing myself more because that is an unrealistic jump from one workout to another. I also did a different curl machine this workout and I think I liked it. Nice burn, comfortable and exhausting.

Other thoughts:

Well nothing exciting really happened to me today at the gym (I know right?), but I will say that I had a nice chuckle watching someone do calf raises. I’m not an artist, so I can’t really draw it, but I will try to articulate his motion through words. If I fail, my apologizes. Ok, it was a standing calf raise machine (where your head goes through the shoulder harness). When he went down, he did about a 45 degree bend in his legs then jerked the weight up and stood on his tip toes. Props to him if he grows from that exercise, I just hope he works out more often to share his weight-room wisdom with me.

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• No related posts

Unlike what you may have expected, I was able to maintain my true feelings and managed to let out only a chuckle. Then I presumed to explain to Joe that bodybuilders are the Speedo-wearing, paint on tan, leg shaving, grotesquely muscular people that star in the muscle magazines whereas power lifters are the insanely strong guys who lift crazy amounts of weight. He had an ah-ha moment and apologized. I told him that I am just like those bodybuilders, but on a much smaller scale. So, do you know the difference between a power lifter and a bodybuilder?

Just like when my girlfriend gets mad when I mistake her Gucci bag for her Juicy Couture, power lifters and bodybuilders get mad when you mistake them for something that they are not. They do have similarities; they lift weights, are jacked, and eat nonstandard diets. However, comparing the two is like comparing apples and oranges.

Power lifters train to get the heaviest lift of the bench, squat, and deadlift. Their purpose is to lift the greatest one rep for each of these lifts. Competitors are separated by gender, weight class, and age. Awards are given to the strongest person pound for pound (total lifted / bodyweight) and total weight. Since their goals are different than bodybuilders, they usually train with real heavy weight with low reps. A power lifting routine can consist of 12 straight sets of deadlifts. Their muscles are developed to serve the functional need of lifting weight for a certain event.

The primary goal of a bodybuilder is to force the body into an anabolic (muscle building) state. They are judged on their size, shape, symmetry, posing and definition. Competitors are separated by weight class, gender, and age. When bodybuilders train, they usually train with a moderate load (amount of weight lifted) for a higher amount of repetitions (5 or more) than power lifters do. In general, bodybuilders have shorter rest periods between sets, more volume (total sets x total reps x weight lifted), and more frequency (total workouts a week).

In some ways, power lifters and bodybuilders can have similar training styles (for example, power lifters and bodybuilders use 5×5), but the biggest difference is apparent within their varying diets. Power lifters are mostly concerned with trying to eat as many calories as they can possibly consume. This gives their muscles lots of energy, nutrients to recover with, and also a reason to pig out.

In contrast, the diet of a bodybuilder is imprinted on the back of their eye lids. Bodybuilders are the calorie counters, the processed food hating, tanning bed jockeys who will spend most of their time trying to develop a perfect diet to achieve their goals. A bodybuilder is much more concerned with what their total caloric intake is. I have witnessed friends literally freak out over splurging for one meal. That person has even been me at some points.

Sometimes I just wish that I could eat potato chips and stay lean while building muscle, but unfortunately it is a lot harder than it seems. Million dollar idea: Protein chips? Yah…right… (starts opening my can of tuna…)

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Compared to my competition, at least from what I can tell, rarely do they work out their legs. I think I have an advantage in that aspect because I have always trained my legs, even though I hate it. However, I still think that they need tons of improvement. Today was a pretty intense, fast-paced quad workout.

• Squat – 3×12 245lb
• Hack squat – 3 x 12 270lb
• Leg Press – 3 x 12 450lb
• Leg Ext – 3 x 20 135lb
• Finished with about 5min worth of lunges while holding 50lb dumbbell

How did I feel?

As ephemeral as this workout may seem, I completely obliterated my quads. Especially during the leg extensions, I fell on the ground once because of the burning. I kept the reps high for this workout because I find that I get better workouts with higher reps and it was about time to switch up my rep scheme. The lunges were a great finisher, I didn’t do as many as I usually do because I focused on the stretching and isolation of the quads, but they did suit its purpose of a great finisher. Overall, I think I’ll be sore tomorrow and I believe my legs will grow, hopefully.

Compare to previous leg day:

My last leg day, I was working with the same amount of sets, but heavier weight and less reps. I didn’t feel as tired as I did during this workout because the rest between sets during this workout was about 45 secs, rather than a minute or two. I also added the lunges at the end of this workout so hopefully that serves as a better cool down than just walking out the gym.

Other thoughts:

Make sure that you have even weights on both sides of the squat rack. I accidently missed a 45lb plate on one side (don’t ask…) and it about turned into disaster…

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I will let you in on my primary technique for supporting this claim - sourcing other people. One thing about me is that I rarely get embarrassed and I will talk to just about anyone. With that in mind, I asked quite a few people what the answer to this question was. The majority agreed that it does have more nutrients. Otherwise, why would your mother tell you eat your crusts? It seemed as though the battle was going my way, however that doesn’t conclude the war.

When i arrived back at my room, I did the usual - checked e-mail and facebook obviously. I noticed that I had a new inbox from Sarah. I checked it and I was given a plethora of links that said proved her argument. (I know that it’s quite funny how long we battle our points, especially on something so absurd, but that’s how we are ) Now I will admit if I am wrong, but not after trying my hardest to prove my point, so naturally I did my own research.

So, what did I discover?

Ok, first I was directed to a forum in which this question was asked. The majority of the members seemed to side with my girlfriend. They all agree that the composition of the bread is the same throughout and that the outside is darker due to the fact that it receives the most heat during cooking. This was not looking good.

But then hope came back when a member sourced a scientific study. Apparently, there is a compound in the bread that, when exposed to heat, turns into an antioxidant. The crust carried 8 times more of this antioxidant than the rest of the bread did. Even though I had no knowledge of this prior to stating my conjecture, I was glad to find that information. So I guess it turns out that Momma was right when she made you eat your crusts!

As far as our little debate went, we decided that she won the argument because my supporting premises were illogical (I said I wouldn’t tell, but I ended up saying that the heat sucked the nutrients to the outside…don’t ask). I am willing to give her this one…

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Today I did a good ole treadmill cardio. I did a walk @ 4.0 mph with 13.0 incline. Burned about 450 calories, not too bad I’d say. it sort of makes me feel less guilty about indulging in some of my roommate’s brownies earlier. The one thing that I really love about doing cardio at our University gym is that they come complete with tvs :). That definitely makes the time pass and less grueling. However, what I watched was rather disturbing to say the least.

I was flipping through the channels and passed by Spike T.V. Since the only other show, or so it seemed, on was The Devil Wears Prada and America’s top model. I needed to watch something that would make me feel motivated, not like I have tons of estrogen. It was on commercial so it gave me plenty of time to put my headphones in, properly adjust my settings and examine my heart rate. Then commericals subsided, and motivation came — but in a different way.

They were playing this show When Good Pets Go Bad and at first it seemed pretty funny — is it bad to catch humor at an old guy posing as santa getting pinned down by a reindeer? However, the next scene disturbed me. They were showing horse fighting in some third world country. The horses were biting, kicking, ramming, and fighting in a forced match to the death. How could people allow this to happen? What concerned me even more was the vast crowd that was observing this. Literally hundreds probably more would observe these images with no regret — or sympathy for that matter.

I was really enraged, disappointed, concerned, and frightened all at the same time. I have always thought that if you want to prevent a kid from growing up to being a serial killer, then don’t be so much concerned about violent video games but more concerned if he is abusing animals. To me, harming a defenseless animal is pretty much the same as hurting a human. What does that say about the type of people who support such actions? Where are their morals, are humans really innately drawn to gore? When will this absurdity stop?

With these thoughts in mind, I didn’t even care that my legs were sore from a few days before. This gave me motivation to not only breeze through my cardio, but also to aspire to change the world. I really hope that I become successful and prominent one day because I want to make a positive change to this world. I have added horse fighting to another negative aspect of this great world to rectify.

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Vitamins are essential to regulating our bodily functions and allow for growth. From metabolizing energy to maintaining proper eye care, these little micronutrients make a big difference. Many diseases can also occur from a deficiency in any vitamin. However before cramming vitamins down your throat, make sure that you take them properly. A standard over the counter multivitamin should suffice for most people.

Below, you will find the benefits of every vitamin, signs of deficiency and overdose symptoms. You will also be provided with foods that contain these vitamins and the proper dosages for both men and women. I took a great deal of time to compile a very concise list that tells you what you need to know about every vitamin. I thought it was pretty interesting – especially to note which foods appeared the most in this list. It definitely helps you develop a stronger diet when you are aware of the benefits of various foods. Just from glancing from a few of these vitamins, you can see how essential these little micronutrients really are.

Vitamin A (Men – 1000mcg, Women – 800mcg )

• Benefit: Maintains eyesight, skin, hair, mucus membranes.
• Sign of deficiency: Bad skin, night blindness.
• Sign of overdose: Yellow skin, blurred vision, vomiting, hair loss, headache.
• Foods found in: Milk, carrots, eggs, green vegetables, sweet potatoes, fruits

Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) (Men – 1.2-1.5mg, Women 1-1.1mg)

• Benefit: Maintenance of nerves and muscles. Helps metabolism.
• Sign of deficiency: Beriberi.
• Sign of overdose: Unknown.
• Foods found in: Breads, cereals, meat, fish, pasta, beans, whole grain foods

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) (Men – 1.3 mg, Women – 1.1 mg)

• Benefit: Antioxidant. Maintains vision, skin, hair, and nails. Helps metabolism.
• Sign of deficiency: Skin problems.
• Sign of overdose: Unknown.
• Foods found in: Meat, eggs, peas, nuts, dairy products, green vegetables, broccoli, asparagus, cereals

Vitamin B3 (Niacin) (Men – 16mg, Women – 14mg)

• Benefit: Aids metabolism and maintains skin.
• Sign of deficiency: Sensitivity to light, fatigue, skin problems.
• Sign of overdose: Flushed face, neck, and hands.
• Foods found in: Red meat, fish, cereals, nuts

Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic acid) – (5mg)

• Benefit: Maintains skin and nerves. Needed for energy production and utilization.
• Sign of deficiency: Fatigue, nausea.
• Sign of overdose: Unknown.
• Foods found in: Bananas, blue cheese, chicken, liver, meat, milk, oranges, nuts, peas

Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) – (1.3-1.7mg)

• Benefit: Protein synthesis and fat metabolism. Regulates fluid balance. Aids red blood cell production.
• Sign of deficiency: Nerve and muscular failure.
• Sign of overdose: Numb feet, bad hand coordination, impaired brain function.
• Foods found in: Potatoes, bananas, beans, nuts, seeds, red meat, cereals

Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin) (2.4mcg)

• Benefit: Formation of red blood cells. Metabolism of protein and fat. Helps growth in children.
• Sign of deficiency: Weight loss, confusion, pale skin, depression.
• Sign of overdose: Unknown.
• Foods found in: Fish, red meat, milk, cheese, eggs and breakfast cereals

Biotin (30mcg)

• Benefit: Enables metabolism.
• Sign of deficiency: Dermatitis, depression, muscular pain.
• Sign of overdose: Unknown.
• Foods found in: American cheese, bananas, brown rice, eggs, nuts, oatmeal, salmon

Folate (Folic Acid) (400mcg)

• Benefit: Forms red blood cells. Utilizes protein. Very important during pregnancy.
• Sign of deficiency: Anemia, stomach problems.
• Sign of overdose: Unknown.
• Foods found in: Green vegetables, fruits, enriched breads and cereals

Vitamin C (Men – 90mg, Women – 75 mg)

• Benefit: Antioxidant. Maintains skin, cartilage, bones and teeth. Heals wounds and maintains immune system. Aids iron absorption.
• Sign of deficiency: Bleeding gums, weakness, slow wound healing, bad immune system.
• Sign of overdose: Stomach problems.
• Foods found in: Pretty much all fruits, especially oranges

Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol) (5-10 mcg)

• Benefit: Regulates calcium metabolism.
• Sign of deficiency: Bone softening.
• Sign of overdose: Stomach problems, lethargy.
• Foods found in: Milk and the sun

Vitamin E (Men – 10mg, Women – 8mg)

• Benefit: Antioxidant.
• Sign of deficiency: Diarrhea, anemia, problems with the pancreas.
• Sign of overdose: Unknown.
• Foods found in: Nuts, vegetables, avocados, whole grains

Vitamin K (Men – 70-80mcg, Women – 60-65mcg)

• Benefit: Needed for blood clotting.
• Sign of deficiency: Excessive bleeding when injured.
• Sign of overdose: Anemia, potential liver damage.
• Foods found in: Asparagus, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cheese, eggs, green vegetables

Choline (Men – 550 mg, Women – 425 mg)

• Benefit: Maintain cell membrane integrity; metabolize fat, proper liver functioning.
• Sign of deficiency: It may lead into hemorrhagic kidney disease and liver problems.
• Sign of overdose: Nausea, vomiting and dizziness.
• Foods found in: Breast milk, egg yolk, beans, red meats, rice, cabbage

Next, we will discuss the functions of the different minerals.

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This is my first bodybuilding competition ever, and if you would like to see pictures simply go to my Fitness Modeling Website and there you can see my improvement over the course of the last month or so. I have been dieting moderately strict, but recently I have began to cut my carbs to about 30% of my diet. As a result, my strength has been stagnant and even declined in some areas. Traditionall, I try to increase weight and/or reps each consecutive workout, however since I am cutting I have barely been able to maintain strength.

My workouts are less for strength currently and more for volume and intensity. I train hard and fast. Today’s workout was Chest only and it lasted roughly 30 minutes. These are the exercises that I chose to do today:

• Flat Dumbbell Bench Press - 3 sets 8 reps 90lb
• Incline Dumbbell Bench Press - 3 sets 8 reps 80lb
• Decline Barbell Bench Press - 3 sets 8 reps 205lb
• Cable Chest Fly - 3 sets 8 reps 100lb

Why choose these exercises?

I have completely given up on flat barbell bench all together due to the fact that my shoulder would bother me after I completed a set. Dumbbells feel a lot more natural and gives me more of a range of motion. The decline bench works great for lower chest and tricep development and I usually alternate between this and dips. The cable chest fly is an awesome finisher, especially when you squeeze your reps at the end.

How did I feel?

I had an awesome pump and I have a feeling that I will be sore tomorrow from it. I kept my rest time real short ~30-45secs between sets. Get some water and pump out another set.

Compare to previous workout:

The last time that I did a chest workout I was using heavier weight with reps of 6. I also did barbell incline instead of dumbbell. I think I like the dumbbells better. Lets hope my body has something new to adapt to

Other thoughts:

Something interesting occurred in the gym today. I saw another competitor for the bodybuilding competition - he competed last year actually. He is in a lower weight class and we talked for a minute. He was telling me that he made a last minute decision to drop out of the competition due to a sinus infection that he encountered three days prior to today. It seems as though everyone who is going to compete is getting “sick.” This is not the first time that I have heard a scenario similar to this (one person said they can’t because of a shoulder injury and then I noticed them doing barbell press…) I am sort of disappointed to hear people giving up, but I guess not everyone has the determination to follow through with a competition. I’m not giving up, definitely not.

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# 1 - Training

There is a lot to talk about when referring to training but I will try to deliver the most important information.

First you need to record your workouts. Include how much weight you lifted, how many times you lifted it (reps), how many sets, and your approximate rest periods between each set. This is crucial because you cannot objectively measure progress unless you can see what you were doing weeks prior to. If you find out that you are not making any overt gains, then you know that something is not right. I have witnessed many of my friends who go to the gym, without writing anything down, and ask me what I am doing to make gains. That book Is more than just a way to tally information. It is motivation. See what you did your last workout and aim to do more. Do not get lazy and neglect this, for it will only halt your progress.

Secondly, you need to know what kind of workouts to do. There is an emporium of information online about “the best workout,” but all I am going to say about this is listen to your body. I have trained legs with triceps, back with shoulders, calves with abs and every other combination that you can think of. There is no “perfect” workout, but there are a few guidelines to follow when executing one. Keep your workouts under an hour. The longer you workout isn’t necessarily better and in a future article I will discuss why. It is a good rule of thumb to do no more than 12-15 sets per body part that you exercise. Generally, allow 4-5 days before working out a muscle group again.

Lastly, keep things interesting. Change up your workouts, reps, volume, rest periods, exercises, and frequency. Your body is an adapting machine and you need to make sure that it is constantly adapting to new circumstances. If you keep your body guessing then your body will keep growing. At least every eight weeks do an overhaul on your workout plans and mix everything up.

Next, I am going to inform you of probably the most important part of bodybuilding – nutrition.

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