5 scientific ways to burn more fat ExercisesWeight loss by admin - 14th June 202114th June 20210 Fat loss tips that are PROVEN to work. Trust us, we asked the scientists.”We accumulate stored fat very fast,” says Dr Pablo Enriori, from Monash University’s Neurophysiology research group. “In 15 minutes you’re going to get a lot of insulin in circulation. This is induced to accumulate fat in tissue as well as used in the form of glucose for muscles.””Six hours is when we start to store that body fat but if by lunch you’ve overeaten and starting to store fat you’ve still got half a day to fix it, by either going to the gym and burning it off or reducing the amount of food you’re eating later in the day,” says exercise physiologist and dietitian Matt O’Neil from Metabolic Jumpstart.”By the next day you’ll have more body fat unless you have burnt it off the same day.”So how to release it? Pay attention – it’s tricky.Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)Like this:Like Loading...
Fat burning upper body workout ExercisesFitness ModelsTraining MethodsWeight loss by admin - 24th April 202124th April 20210 Skip the queue for fat loss with this strategic workout by March 2017 cover model Claudia Jovanoski.Words/workout: Claudia Jovanovski (pictured)Photography: James PatrickTime-poor gymmers are all too familiar with supersetting to save time. Pushing out two moves successively with little or no rest between is among the best fitness hacks going – especially for impatient types.Tri-sets step things up again, running together three fatiguing moves, meaning the workout is performed at high intensity for a shorter duration than standard circuits.According to a study at the Catholic University of Brasilia and the Eastern Illinois University, multiple sets (MS) and tri-sets (TS) were found to impact neuromuscular variables and body composition.The results of the study indicate that a multi-set regimen burns more body fat than circuit-like training.In tri-sets, the usual rest period between sets is used to complete a set of another move.Research also shows that the hormonal response to such unrelenting exertion favours optimal muscle growth (which in the real world equals tone and a faster metabolism).You can either pair exercises that are noncompeting (i.e. work opposing muscle groups), or you can pair exercises that target the same muscle group.The downside of this fast, furious method is a power penalty, which reduces the amount of resistance you can use and hence limits potential for strength gains.While some experts claim that staggering moves with opposing muscle group pairings circumvents this risk, the nervous system’s response to this training method necessarily inhibits power. Most experts maintain that classic training is best for strength goals.For more advanced users, tri-sets can be combined with classic sets by incorporating one or two strength moves performed classically (with or without intervening moves that keep the body moving without inviting fatigue).This workout uses sprints, so factor that in, whether you want to do a bike sprint in the gym or a dash on the track.On your marks, get set…1. Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)Like this:Like Loading...
10 ways to boost calorie burn at the gym Fitness ModelsNutritionTraining MethodsWeight loss by admin - 13th March 202113th March 20210 Trick up your workout with these simple techniques to burn more fat at the gym. 1. Aim for 3-7 repsTo boost metabolism, you want fewer reps with heavier weights according to the Norwegian University of Sport and Physical Education. To maximise calorie burn after your workout (a.k.a. excess post-exercise oxygen consumption or EPOC), aim for three to seven reps. 2. Combine loadsWhile lifting heavy and slow optimises afterburn, there’s something to be said for lighter weights. While they won’t buy you free on-couch calorie burn, researchers at the College of New Jersey say lighter weights may burn more kJs in session. The smart money’s on splicing heavy and light sets – try heavy for three to seven reps and light for 10 to 20. If that’s too easy, do two sets of heavy, two sets of light. 3. Rest lessTo elevate calorie burn by around 50 per cent, reduce rest time between sets from three minutes to 30 seconds, suggest College of New Jersey researchers. 4. Go hard or go homeWhile controlled moves demand more energy than loose ones, don’t take that as a cue to move in slow-mo. Lifting with explosive movements will engage more fast-twitch muscle fibres, which chew through more fuel than their slow-twitch peers according to a study at Ball State University. Choose a weight about 30 per cent of your 1 rep max (1RM), which means one you can lift 15 to 35 times per exercise. Complete four to five sets comprising two fast sets of three to eight reps and two to three at normal speed. 5. Rock the beatFiring up your Soundcloud before you hit the treadmill is a secret fat-burn weapon. In a study presented to the National Strength and Conditioning Association, those who worked out to their favourite playlist logged greater intensity and fat loss. Listening to tunes correlated with significantly higher reps than silence. 6. Reverse chargesIf you usually tack resistance onto the end of a cardio workout, you’re cutting off your nose to spite your fat loss. Fix? Switch the order. According to Japanese researchers, doing resistance before cardio results in greater fat burn. Better news: assuming it’s high intensity, you can cut your cardio to 15 minutes, which is the window in which the burn is highest. 7. Short circuitTo really make your cardio work, chunk it into short stints at near-maximum exertion. Try high-intensity interval training (HIIT) at 90 per cent of your maximum heart rate (MHR) augmented by stints at walking pace. Most steady-state cardio demands 60 to 70 MHR. Try the 20/10 rule (sprint for 20 seconds, walk or jog for 10). 8. Take a breakHaven’t got the endurance to stay on the bike for 30 minutes? Not an excuse to not work out. In fact, one study found that breaking your cardio into 10-minute bursts broken by 20-minute rests resulted in greater fat burn and higher EPOC. 9. Delay the playCan’t fathom getting up at the crack of dawn? Good, because you’ll burn more calories per session after work. In a University of Wisconsin study, participants who exercised for half an hour between 5 and 7pm raised metabolic rate more than morning exercisers – as measured by post-workout calorie burn. End-of-day sessions also trumped lunchtime workouts. 10. Ring a bellKettlebells can add a serious calorie burn premium to a HIIT workout. The combination of weight load, heart rate elevation and whole-body movement makes kettlebells an all-in-one winner according to exercise physiologist Richard Garard. Try using them in eight 20-second intervals, aiming for maximum swings per round. By round five or six you should be flagging. WARNING: If you’re new to kettlebells, enlist a trainer for a single session to teach you proper form. These things can be dangerous. NEXT: How many calories are in your coffee? {nomultithumb} Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)Like this:Like Loading...
Get Growing: 7 Ways To Gain Weight For The Hardgainer BodybuildingExercisesNutritionWeight loss by Charleseom - 26th November 202026th November 20200 Vital StatsName: Greg Robins, CPTEducation: University of Massachusetts BostonOccupation: Strength and Conditioning Coach at Cressey PerformanceTwitter: @CoachGregRobbinsWebsite: thestrengthhouse.comLocation: Hudson, MAGaining weight can be incredibly difficult and stressful for certain people. For these folks, commonly called “hardgainers,” adding even a little size can seem like a monumental task. Personally, I’m skeptical about the extent of this difficulty. From my time in the military to setting recent personal powerlifting goals, I’ve had my fair share of experiences gaining healthy weight.At my lowest weight of 173 in the military, I had the energy of a bull and personal bests that included a 435-pound deadlift, a 315-pound squat, and a 285-pound bench press. Later, when I flew up to 230 pounds, these same lifts shot up over one hundred pounds apiece, and I still boast a better-than-average work capacity.Over the years, I’ve learned that tackling any goal comes down to being honest, acknowledging how much work it will take, and pushing through that work. If you’re a hardgainer who wants to gain weight, you probably won’t feel hungry all the time, but you’ll still have to eat. If you really want to grow, you need to silence your fears of getting fat, of your performance suffering, and of eating 100 percent clean.“Gaining weight can be difficult and stressful. With proper training and willingness to do the work, you can build quality muscle and add healthy size.”I don’t care how hard it is for you to gain weight. With proper training and willingness to do the work, you can build quality muscle and add healthy size. Do you have the courage to actually step outside your comfort zone and get something done? If you want to grow, start with these seven tips!1 Use data over guessworkThe guessing game and going by “feel” never give you an accurate picture of what you eat on a daily basis. So do the math and figure it out!Write down your daily diet in a notebook or food-tracking mobile app, crunch the numbers, and seek help if you need additional eyes. You may be surprised by what you find. Perhaps you thought you ate 3,300 calories one day when, in fact, you ate only 2,900. That’s a 400-calorie difference that can add up overtime.“Write down your daily diet in a notebook or food-tracking mobile app, crunch the numbers, and seek help if you need additional eyes.”Often, you just need something as visual as a food log for a couple weeks to fully grasp what you put into your diet—or not, in many cases.Action point: Spend at least one month writing down your meals, snacks, and calories of any form that touch your lips. This serves as a mental exercise to get yourself used to eyeballing portion sizes and grasping the frequency and size of the meals you can consistently suck in on a daily basis.Take advantage of this experimental period to tweak your diet according to results and how you feel, and learn how your body responds. For example, if you haven’t been gaining as much muscle as you’d like, check your protein intake to see if it’s adequate; if not, bump it up by increasing protein portion size or shift foods around a bit. One gram of protein per pound of bodyweight is a solid daily target.One month is all you need to get a good picture of your caloric intake, but if you feel like it really helps, by all means, continue doing it until you can confidently start assembling meals through approximation and still achieve the results you want.Just be sure to avoid getting consumed by the idea that you need to count every calorie all the time.2 Add calorie bonuses in addition to planned mealsHardgainers don’t gain weight for a slew of reasons. Chief among them is that they don’t sneak in enough extra calories into their diet. Finding something to add as a surplus source of quick and easy calories is clutch for major gains.Sure, this might be easier said than done, but it’s a matter of identifying foods and recipes that are calorie-dense but light on stomach space. These foods include nut butters, olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, grass-fed butters, honey, full-fat coconut milk, and full-fat Greek yogurt. Some other viable options consist of drinking milk throughout the day, making peanut butter and (insert your choice of condiment) sandwiches, homemade 1,000-calorie protein shakes, and homemade energy bars or “cookies.”“Finding something to add as a surplus source of quick and easy calories is clutch for major gains.”Once you figure out the foods which bloat the calorie count but not the stomach, plan to put them into your meals. That means making things in advance, thinking ahead, and having foods like full-fat Greek yogurt and nut butters within arm’s reach and ready. Don’t be lazy about it.More calories = more growth, so pack on the calories and cram them in where you can.Action point: one of my favorite quick and easy snacksGrab a jar of all-natural peanut butter (none of that added sugar and oils funny business!) and empty it into a bowl.Add two or three scoops of quality protein powder, a little honey to taste, and about 1/2 cup of dried oats.Add just enough water to make it mixable but not soupy at all.Mix all together.Separate into little balls that can hold together and refrigerate.Eat one with each of your meals over the next few days.Other good options include many awesome high protein recipes by Protein Powder Chef, Anna Sward.3 You need to eat carbs (yes, even the starchy ones)This tip seems pretty straightforward, but you’d be surprised by how many people ask me why they’re not gaining weight when their only carbohydrate sources come from vegetables, trace amounts of sugars, fruits, and legumes.I’m not saying to go completely crazy on trashy carbohydrates, but your body will gain better results from additional carb sources such as rice, oats, sweet potatoes, and—dare I say it—bread. This is especially true with heavy weightlifting, since carbs are needed to replenish glycogen stores that a particularly grueling lifting session devours. Some studies suggest that timing the majority of your starches around when you train may shunt unnecessary fat storage. For example, eat these starches either pre- or post-workout.Action point: Add two bananas, a bowl of oatmeal (one cup measured uncooked), or half a cup of rice (measured uncooked) to your post-training meals.4 Fat is where it’s atFats are essential to your diet because they cushion your vital organs, help you digest certain types of vitamins, maintain optimum brain function, and more. Plus, fats are the easiest way to add extra calories. Fat sources are calorically dense, go down quickly, provide a lot of energy, and of course, they’re damn tasty. Before you go to town on heavy cream and lard, fats should come from quality sources, like raw nuts, sunflower seeds, nut butters, avocado, fattier cuts of meat, olive oil, real mayonnaise, and some cheese.Fats should comprise most of your meals when you’re not training or close to training times.Action points: things you can do to add more fats and thus more calories to your dietLiberally douse your veggies in grass-fed butter or olive oil.Pat some butter in your sweet potato.Add extra olive oil in your marinara sauce.Use real mayonnaise in your sandwiches.Eat a whole avocado with your meal (they go with everything!).Snack on macadamia nuts, cashews, Brazil nuts, and any of the other more nutrient-dense nuts throughout the day.5 Eat fasterBefore your body has the chance to feel satiated, fill ‘er up! If you eat too slowly, you give your brain a chance to catch up on your stomach’s actual satiety levels, which is usually about a 20-minute delay. When you sit down to eat, start shoveling as much food as you comfortably can into your gaping maw. That means the opposite of what most weight loss experts will tell you. Never put your utensils down during your meal.Action point: Make it a point to eat your meals with training buddies or friends who eat more food than you do. That way it becomes sort of a competition. It also puts “eating a lot” into a humbling perspective when you can see how much other people eat in comparison to yourself.6 Drink more caloriesChewing takes work and time. Drink your calories whenever you can, whether that ends up being milk, coconut water, or a simple shake. Big, nutritional shakes you make at home are the real moneymaker here. You can add extra calories from coconut milk, nut butters, high-quality protein powders, and fistfuls of greens to make that shake give you both weight and nutritional gains.Action point: Drink beverages like coconut milk, milk, or coconut water with each meal.7 Have a positive relationship with your foodFar too often, people get consumed by the act of eating that they forget to savor food and view food as more than just numbers. Learn to cook, enjoy your food, and stop eating alone.Having a positive relationship with food will do wonders for the poor habits you don’t even realize are taking place. It’s often the negative association that stems from the “need to eat” and makes hardgainers less likely to be able to adhere to consuming more calories. In these cases, it just helps to have a friend to be there along the way.Action point: Plan to have dinner with a friend at least twice each week over the next month. As I already mentioned, try to make plans with friends who aren’t afraid to say yes to two entrees or second (or even third) helpings!Do you have any other weight-gaining secrets to share with other hardgainers? Share your thoughts in the comments below!Recommended For You12 ‘Skinny Guy’ Tips To Build Monster Muscle!Are you afraid to challenge yourself? After reading this article, you should be ready to take the first steps in the journey!Hardgainer’s Guide To Muscle Building!Every hardgainer is looking to add muscle. This guide will focus on the types of weight training, cardio and nutrition needed to meet your goals.How To Go From Bones To Buff In Just 30 Days!For someone struggling to gain mass, a different approach must be taken. Here are the benefits of a 30-day program for ectomorphs. Check it out!Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)Like this:Like Loading...
Power Pairings: Effective Supersets For Strength And Size BodybuildingExercisesNutrition by Intictsit - 15th October 201915th October 20190 As nice as it would be to have unlimited training time, it’s simply not in the cards for most people. The gym is great, but a little thing called life often throws a wrench in your best-laid plans. Realistically, even the most dedicated people can only attend the gym 3-5 days per week for an hour per day, and that’s with a little luck.The good news is that one hour per session is plenty of time, if you use your time wisely! You just have to be smart with your exercise selection and workout program. Enter “power pairings,” which are specific superset-style exercise pairs I created to help you get the most out of your precious training time.As with any superset, you perform power pairings without resting between the paired exercises. Take a bench press and chin-up pair, for example. You perform one set of bench press followed immediately by a set of chin-ups. You won’t rest until after you complete both exercises.Pairing Power“Full-body workouts are my go-to method when life gets hectic.”Power pairings can be useful within full-body routines or body-part splits, but for this article I’ll explain how to use them in full-body routines. Full-body workouts are my go-to method when life gets hectic. In a full-body routine, you’d use a power pairing after your primary lift. This allows you to give your first lift maximum attention and strength.Start your workout with a big-bang strength movement and devote your full energy and attention to it. When you finish your main lift, implement a power pairing as your finisher. Power pairings use one piece of equipment and require little to no setup, which makes them easy to use even in crowded gyms.Here are four power pairings that you can add to your own training program to cut down on your overall workout time and still get a great training effect!1 Ring Dip And Chin-Up/Hip Thrust ComboPair ring dips with a chin-up/hip thrust combination exercise I created to blast the back, glutes, and hamstrings simultaneously. Rather than confusing you by trying to explain the exercise, here’s a video of what it looks like in action:From a strength and muscle-building standpoint, this pairing works well because the exercises focus on different body parts, so they won’t negatively impact each other or impair your strength. From a logistical standpoint, it’s a great pair because the ring height is the same for each exercise, which means no necessary adjustments between sets.To up the ante, try the pairing in a countdown format, as demonstrated in the video. Rather than doing straight sets of each exercise, start by doing decreasing sets of 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2 reps of each exercise with little to no rest between sets. Be warned: This is not for the faint of heart.Use it: This pair works as a brutal finisher to cap off a great heavy, knee-dominant exercise like the front squat, back squat, split squat, or lunge.2 “Bottoms Up” Front Squats And Inverted RowsInstead of starting in the standing position, “bottoms up” squats call for you to start at the bottom of the rep and lift from the squat rack’s safety pins. Pause after each rep! This is a great front squat variation to hammer your quads and core, and help you build strength out of the hole.After you finish the front squats, leave the bar on the pins and use it to perform a set of inverted rows. The bar will be at a perfect height to allow for full range of motion with no adjustments. It works great from a logistical standpoint.In the video below, I use chains on the front squats, which is great if you have chains at your disposal, but they’re not essential.Use it: This pairing is an ideal finisher after a heavy bench press or overhead press variation.3 Rack RDL And Split-Stance Row ComboI recommend doing RDLs and barbell rows from the safety pins of a squat rack. Reset after each rep to take stress off your lower back and encourage proper form. I also recommend doing barbell rows with a split stance to take stress off the lower back, because the split stance helps prevent against lower-back rounding.Fortunately, the proper pin height is the same for each exercise, so it works well as a pairing. You’ll almost undoubtedly be able to use more weight on RDLs than barbell rows, so you’ll need to change the weight, which is a breeze because the bar is raised off the floor. This video below shows how the pair looks in action. I use an oversized trap bar, which is great if you have one, but you can just as easily use a standard barbell.If you use a barbell, here is how the rows look.Use it: This pair goes well after a heavy pressing day.4 Overhead Press And Front SquatsPairing overhead presses with front squats works well because you don’t need to waste time adjusting the bar in the rack. It’s set to the same height for each exercise, making this a killer combo.I recommend doing the overhead press before the front squats, because after much experimentation, I found that the overhead press doesn’t negatively impact the subsequent front squats. Alternatively, if you do the front squats first, the overhead press suffers.It’s also important to note that most people will be much stronger on front squats than overhead press. This gives you two options: add weight for each set of front squats, or simply do more reps. I usually choose the latter and do twice as many front squats as overhead presses, as I do in this video.Use it: This pairing works perfectly as a finisher after doing a heavy chin-up or row variation. It’s also ideal as a standalone workout when you’re really pinched for time and still want to get a good training effect.Putting It All TogetherHere’s an example of how to utilize these power pairings within a full-body workout program to keep your workouts brief but effective. Shoot to train 2-4 days per week and rotate the workouts as necessary.Workout 1:A1. Front Squats: 5 sets of 6 repsB1. Ring Dips: 5 sets of 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2 repsB2. Chin-Up/Hip Thrust Combo: 5 sets of 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2 repsWorkout 2:A1. Incline Bench Press: 5 sets of 6 repsB1. “Bottoms Up” Front Squats: 4 sets of 10 repsB2. Inverted Rows: 4 sets of 10 repsWorkout 3:A1. Dumbbell Bench Press: 5 sets of 8 repsB1. Rack RDL: 4 sets of 8 repsB2. Split-Stance Rack Row: 4 sets of 8 repsWorkout 4:A1. Chin-ups: 5 sets of 6 repsB1. Overhead Press: 4 sets of 6 repsB2. Front Squats: 4 sets of 12 repsAbout The AuthorBen BrunoVIEW AUTHOR PAGEBen Bruno graduated Summa Cum Laude from Columbia University. He lives in West Hollywood, California, and trains clients at Rise Movement…View All Articles By This AuthorShare this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)Like this:Like Loading...
4 spices to spice up your meals and their health benefits NutritionWeight loss by admin - 17th October 20170 4 spices to spice up your meals and their health benefits A spice a day may help keep the doctor at bay according to recent research. So add these to your personalised meal plan to help make food more flavoursome:Wasabi: boasts anti-bacterial and anti-fungal effects in your digestive system and may also help reduce the risk of blood clots and cancer.Chilli: women who eat meals containing chilli have fewer spikes in their glucose levels after food, lessening their risk of weight gain and type 2 diabetes, according to research at the University of Tasmania. Capsaicin, which gives chilli its spicy punch, speeds up our metabolism. Research suggests it may also reduce bad LDL cholesterol, help combat prostate cancer and blitz the bacteria that cause stomach ulcers.Turmeric: in India, where they call curry ‘the spice of life’, the incidence of Alzheimer’s is lowerShare this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)Like this:Like Loading...