Wednesday, 30 September 2009

5 Top Fitness Tips..

Behind every good athelete there must be a good training method and practice. Traing is not just the way you approach running on the track but the way you approach your day to day living.

Coaching - Seeking out someone with more experience then you is always a good idea. Why re-invent the wheel, follow a tried and tested training method that has worked well for others.

Be Open - A huge part to becoming an experienced athlete is to keep your mind open, both to new ideas and to feedback. Let others give you feedback and advice. As a beginner (or even as an expert) you can not know everything recognise this and learn from your peers otr those that are more experienced.

Take it slow - Set reasonable goals. If you are a 2 times a week recreational runner do not expect to do a 4 minute mile. Setting yourself regular and achievable goals will keep yourself motivated and mentally fit in order that you will continue your training. You need to take your training schedule at the correct pace or you risk both mental and pysical burn out.

Injury Prevention - I don’t know of any great athlete that hasn’t suffered a injury at one point in their career, and knows how devastating it can be. Even a simple injury can put an end to your training or even kill your career. Be careful in your training to prevent injury.

Use the right equipment - Why take the risk of training in year old running shoes when it’s recommended to buy new ones every 6 months? Also consider a HRM or a running watch, such as the garmin forerunner 405cx . The garmin 405cx not only records your training session but with its inbuilt GPS can map your exact route.

Proper warm up and cool downs - can greatly decrease your risk of injury. One of the biggest mistakes is not warming up before exercise. It is like playing with fireworks. This can involve jogging to warm your muscles up, stretching and other mobility drills to make sure you are ready to begin your training session.

If you take these things into consideration I have no doubt that you will have success in for what ever it is you are training and if you invest in the 405cx you can record your progress and save and analyse it all on your PC to map your progress.

And finally one last and most important tip, remember to enjoy yourself!

Wednesday, 23 September 2009

General tips to get more tonned

Instead of a crunch, try...
A weighted crunch with a yoga block
Hold a 1- to 3-pound dumbbell with both hands behind your head and place the block between your thighs, feet on floor. Keep the weight behind your head while you crunch up.
The boost "Adding the dumbbell amps up the resistance, making the move harder, and the block brings in your pelvic floor and inner thigh muscles."

Instead of a dumbbell shoulder press, try...
Adding a resistance band
Stand on the middle of the band and hold an end and a dumbbell in each hand at shoulders. Press weights overhead, hold for 2 counts, then return to the starting position and repeat.
The boost "When you use resistance bands with weights, you force your muscles to work even harder."

Instead of a squat, try...
A deep squat followed by a half squat
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and squat as low as you can. Hold for 5 seconds, then stand up. Perform a half squat (go down half as deep) and hold for 5 seconds to complete 1 rep.
The boost "Changing your range of motion gives your muscles more of a challenge."

Instead of standing biceps curls, try...
Incline curls on an adjustable bench
Hold a 3- to 5-pound dumbbell in each hand and sit on an incline bench with arms extended toward the floor, palms facing forward. Curl weights to your shoulders, lower, and repeat.
The boost "From this position, it's difficult to cheat by swinging your hips forward or leaning back."

How to get bigger arms

Do your big lifts first in your lifting routine which will help all your muscles to grow.
I think using free weights over machines is better, because they will require more control from stabilizing muscles. Understand also, that when you do your compound exercises your arms will get worked no matter what.
When your doing a pulling move, such as rows or pull ups, your biceps are getting work in assisting in those exercises. You will not perform well on your compound exercises if you do your isolated arm exercises first. Use your isolated arm exercises to finish up and polish the arms after you’re finished with the compound exercises.
Pre-exhaustion training is where you reverse the aforementioned plan. Tireing out the arm muscles first by doing an Isolated arm movement, will cause the main driver of the compound movement to work harder because the pulling or pushing power of the arms will be reduced. For example: you could do sets of tricep extensions before doing bench presses. The idea here is that, since you biceps are tapped out, your lats will have to work harder to perform the movement. It sounds like a good idea, but, does it really work? Try it out and see what you think.
If you’re finished with the big compound moves, then it’s time to move on to the arm exercises to get big biceps. Hit your arms from as many angles as you can, but don’t over do it. I like to do a standing curl to hit the middle portion of the biceps; a decline curl (about 10 – 20 degrees off vertical) for my biceps to get it in the stretched position; and a concentration or spider curl to really hit the peak contraction point. By the way these are all supinated, or palms up.
You can superset your biceps with similar three position tricep exercises. For instance an overhead triceps extension for the stretched position; a standing triceps pushdown for the middle position and a triceps kick-back for the peak contraction position.
Choose what position you wish to work that day; middle , stretched or peak contraction and just do 3 to 4 supersets of that position that day. The next time you hit arms, do a different position and keep them rotating each workout. And don’t forget a few reverse curls to warm things up.
To hit the brachialis muscle under the biceps and maintain good balance in the arms, turn your hands palms down. The brachialis is the workhorse in the upper arm for flexing the elbow. By turning your hands palms down, you eliminate the biceps and concentrate on the brachialis. If you make the muscle under the biceps bigger, it will push the biceps up and make it stand out more.

Thursday, 17 September 2009

One Minute Cardio Workout Ideas

One-Minute Cardio MovesRepeat any of the following exercise for 1 minute total.
1. Jumping jack Stand with feet together, then jump, separating legs and raising arms overhead. Land with feet hip-width apart, then jump feet back together and lower arms.
2. Stair running Run up a flight of stairs, pumping your arms, then walk down. Vary by taking two stairs at a time.
3. Jumping rope Do a basic boxer's shuffle or two-footed jump. Stay on balls of feet, not jumping too high off ground, elbows by your sides.
4. Squat jump* Stand with feet hip-width apart. Bend knees and lower hips into a squat. Jump in air and straighten legs, lifting arms upward. Land softly, lowering arms.
5. Split jump* Stand in a split stance, one foot a long stride in front of the other, then bend knees and jump, switching legs to land and pumping arms in opposition to legs. Alternate legs.
6. Step-up* Step up on a curb, stair, or sturdy bench with one foot, then the other, then down one at a time; repeat.
7. Alternating knee lift Standing tall, bring one knee toward your chest without collapsing rib cage; twist opposite elbow toward knee. Alternate sides.
8. Hamstring curl* Standing tall, step sideways with right foot, then bring left heel toward buttocks; pull elbows in to sides. Alternate sides.
9. Jog in place Jog in place, lifting knees up; swing arms naturally in opposition. Land softly, ball of foot to heel.
10. Side-to-side leap* Place any long, thin object (such as a broom) on floor. Leap sideways over object, landing with feet together.

6 moves to keep you in amazing shape

1. Triceps Can-Can[A]Sit with hands behind you and feet shoulder-width apart. Lift hips and raise right leg straight up, toes pointed. Bend elbows to lower hips toward floor.[B]Press up then lower again, this time bending right knee about 90 degrees. Continue, alternating straight and bent legs with each dip.Strengthens: Works triceps, quads, and abs Sets: 1 Reps: 8 to 10 dipsl switch legs and repeat 2. Leg Raise[A]Stand next to a tall chair or counter, balance on right leg (toes turned toward chair), lean over, and place right forearm on chair seat or counter for balance. Place left hand on hip and raise left leg until it’s parallel to floor, knee slightly bent and toes pointed. Do 2 small pulses as you bring your leg forward until it’s directly in front of you, then do 2 pulses back to the starting position.[B]Repeat, pulsing leg behind you slightly, then return to start. Continue pulsing leg forward and back for 1 to 2 minutes, then switch legs and repeat.Strengthens: Works butt and outer thighs 3. Thigh Dancing[A]Kneel on the floor with legs about hip-width apart and hips on heels and raise arms overhead, palms facing each other.[B]Lift hips a few inches and draw left arm down to left hip as you move hip to left; repeat to right. Do this for 30 seconds, then tilt hips forward and back for 30 seconds. Finally, circle hips to the right, then left, for 30 seconds.Strengthens: Works quads, butt, and abs 4. Pretzel[A]Sit with left leg bent in front of you and right leg bent out to the side, toes pointed. Press palms together in front of chest. Raise right knee, touching toes to the floor.[B]Then angle right knee down to floor to complete 1 rep.Strengthens: Works butt, inner, and outer thighs, and abs Reps: Do 20 to 40 reps, then switch sides to complete set. 5. Squat with Ball Squeeze[A]Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and place a rubber ball between your thighs. Raise arms overhead, palms facing each other, and squat as low as you can, squeezing ball tightly. Keeping feet parallel and remaining in a squat, alternate raising right heel [A] then left [B].[B]Strengthens: Works legs, butt, and inner thighs Reps: Do 30 to 60 heel raises (15 to 30 per leg). 6. Rolling Crunch[A]Lie faceup with knees bent 90 degrees, feet on top of a rubber ball. Reach arms toward legs, palms facing each other, and raise head and shoulder blades off floor. Keeping upper body lifted and arms straight, extend legs, toes pointed.[B]then draw them back to the starting position again. Repeat for 60 seconds.Strengthens: Works abs and hamstrings

Tuesday, 15 September 2009

How To Burn Fat & Muscle

I don’t really need this question to be answered, but im writing this for people who need an answer. Ive seen many people say that lifting weights does burn fat, which is true but is not always the best option. The actual action of weight lifting doesn’t burn alot of fat, but more develops muscle. The muscle developed through weightlifting is what burns fat. The more muscle you have, the more energy you need to sustain performance. Even as you sit around, your muscle eat up energy to keep going, so a person with more muscle will be able to lose more fat and keep it off. If you are looking to only burn fat, the best option would be cardio, this includes jogging, swimming, bike riding, sports, and anything else that makes you huff and puff. But, most people want to also stay in shape. To stay in shape, you should do both cardio and gym workouts. Now, why would you want to do both if cardio can burn your fat anyways. Because the cardio will burn off your fat, and the workouts in the gym will also burn your fat, but at the same time develop muslce which will help you keep the fat off or burn more. Ive seen many people go from fat to skinny and become fat again because they have little muscle or think they can go back to eatting all sorts of crap because they got skinny. Eating healthy is extremely important. If your serious about losing weight and or gaining muscle you have to drop the fast food, infact, try to stop eating out all together, absolutely no sodas, and no cookies and yum yums. Also sports drinks are NO GOOD. sports drinks do not help you burn fat, they give you more carbs and calories to give you more energy to stay in the game longer….when working out, these carbs and calories undo what you are trying to do in the first place….and by sports drinks i also mean vitamin water. Water should be your only drink but another alternative to water is whey isolate (protein). Most people say eat meat and eat it alot when ur trying to lose weight…..WRONG. Meat also contains fat, the very substance you are trying to burn off. Whey isolate protein gives you lots of protein without the fat, calories, or carbs. The best thing is that its a powder you mix in with water, which can give you anywhere from 20 - 28 grams of protein per serving. Protein will help you rebuild your muscles faster and stronger. By faster I do not mean that you will be ripped the next day, it just means that you wont be as sore the day after you workout like most people are, also the protein will add a little more muscle to your body. When you workout, you basically create microtears in your muscles which are filled in when you rest, thats how you gain more muscle. The protein adds a little more and does it faster. Whey isolate gives you the protein of one whole chicken in about two servings….without the fat and grease. If you are looking to burn fat and keep it off, i would suggest working on a rotating schedule. Ill give you my schedule, since i play ultimate firsbee i have training sessions in which we run alot (cardio). So on mondays, wednesdays, and fridays, I have practice which is my cardio. On tuesdays, thrusdays, and saturdays i hit the gym and workout for about an hour and a half and then go swim laps for about an hour. Sunday I rest up and do no cardio or gym but it is good to go for a light jog in the morning so you dont feel sore all day because you already gave ur muscles a headstart. after every workout, whatever is may be, i drink whey isolate and make sure i get atleast 7 hours of sleep, i usually get around 8 or 9 though. To sumarize for people who dont wantt o read the whole thing i just wrote. If you want to burn fat, do cardio. If you want to gain muscle, hit the gym, if you want to burn fat and keep it off do cardio and gym. Drink lots of water, nothing but water and healthy food if you are serious. If you want to you may drink whey isolate after you workout because it helps you, but only whey which is low in fat, carbs, and calories which is called whey isolate 28. Also, make sure you stretch before you do anything, stretching makes sure your muscles are ready for what you are a bout to do and it also helps them keep up, thus helping you more. Also, warm up with cardio before you workout, i do a half a mile on the tredmill. The magic numbers for the gym are 3 sets, 10 reps each. Lifting means doing the movement with full force, but returning to starting position slowly, dont just lift fast and think youll burn for fat. Slow is good! When you are doing chest presses for example, push out hard but return to your stating position slowly, do nice full reps and youll feel a good burn. A good way to tell if your doing enough for yourself at the gym is to do push ups and sit ups after your done with everything. When your done with all your workouts, go off to the side and do 10 pushups, if you cant do 10 and you can normally then that means youve worked enough, if you can do it and feel a burn then try to push a bit harder, increase the reps by 2 or 3. If you can do good ones without a problem, find a routine where you cannot do them after. Same with sit ups, do them so you feel the burn. Also you will probably see some results in 3-4 weeks, such as loss of weight, some muscle definition but dont expect to see extremem results fast, it take dedication and willpower. Also, losing more than 3 pounds a week is unhealthy. Also, a very good thing to do is try to walk to places if possible, if the groceries are nearby then walk to the store, buy ur stuff and walk back home, the groceries are mini weights and you still get cardio….stuff like that. Nothing here comes easy, you have to work for it, hope this helps.well i wrote this because as far as i know this stuff works both for me ad others and i know from my own experience that this works. I’m not gonna go into detail because im just looking to answer some questions ive been asked before…take what advice you can, u dont have to even take anything if u dont wanti agree that maybe my cardio warm up thing may not be correct but it has worked and again thats why i put it in here. As for the meat thing i can say yeah its true…eating lots of meat is not only unhealthy but your just putting on more fat, carbs, and calories. Obviously eat some meat but finding alternatives is much better, like i said about the protein isolate. You get protein just without the bad stuff. Ive tried the whole meat thing and i lost much less weight then I did when i didnt eat as much meat.it is true that changing the weights and reps result in different things but my numbers are just a start, you should develop your own number.

Monday, 14 September 2009

Treadmill Ideas

Treadmill Tactics
After warming up on the treadmill by walking for 3 minutes, increase the incline to level 8, hold on to the handles, and pretend that you're trudging through the mud.
Bend your knees and dig into the treadmill with your heels for one to two minutes, then lower the incline back to 1 for one to two minutes to recover.
Repeat this cycle 10 times.
You'll increase your calorie burn as you sculpt a sexy body

Beat the clock general help towards training

Spend less time (about 20 to 30 seconds) resting between sets at the beginning of your workout when your muscles aren't exhausted, and more time (40 to 60 seconds) as they become fatigued. This method, known as density training, can cut the time you spend working out by as much as 15 to 20 percent. It also forces your muscles to work harder while improving your endurance at the same time

My 10 focus points for anyone who wants to get into the best shape possible

Believe in Yourself and never give up. If not, you won’t be able to achieve your desired I results. There will be days when you feel close to giving up, but be determined to fight back.
2. Write down your goals. How can you get somewhere if you don’t know where you are heading? Share your fitness goals with others, that way people can provide you with greater support.
3. Set new goals every six weeks. After six weeks, compare your results against what you had in your original goals. Be critical of your own progress, but also be realistic. You will not always fulfil your goals, but it is better to aim high, and work hard, than to give yourself a task that is too easy. Challenge yourself.
4. Check Your Progress: Place a calendar on your fridge. Mark a back slash on the days that you followed your diet without cheating. Make a forward slash on the days that you trained. If you trained and followed a good diet on a given day, you should have an X marked on that day.
5. Look at Yourself: Place a picture of how you currently look somewhere that you will be able to see on a daily basis. This picture should provide you with additional motivation to follow this program. Or post a photo to your training log, so that others can see your progress, and give advice and encouragement.
6. Update Your Photos: Take pictures of yourself every 4 weeks and place them next to the before picture. This is to keep reminding yourself why you are doing this and also get motivated by seeing the progress that you are achieving.
7. Remind Yourself Why: Write down the reasons why you are following your fitness program and put them on your blog or profile.
8. Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Keep your house free from any foods that are not good for your program. Only on Sundays can you bring these foods in the house.
9. Preparation: Remember to prepare all your meals the day before, so that when you are at work, you already have all of the food that you will need for the day with you. That way you limit the amount of times you’ll be tempted.
10. Your Are In Control: Remember that only you control what goes in your mouth. Food does not control you!

James's Tip to get the best out of skipping and burning major calories

You don't need expensive cardio equipment to burn major calories, Skipping rope burns over 800 calories an hour, plus strengthens and works the legs from your hips to your toes. to make it easier for your body, and still burn major calories then stick to these principles and you will see results
1. Pick the right size.
stand on the middle of the rope and raise the handle to your chest, if they reach just below your shoulder, then thats perfect for you, if not the adjust it until your in the right position
2. No Need to jump higher than one or two inches off the floor.
Not only does jumping higher place excess stress on your knees, but it actually burns less calories. the higher you jump, the slowe you have to swing the rope around to compensate, and the fewer total jump,means your burning less calories
3. Change your grip every few minutes.
Holding the handles so your palms face behind you, instead of in front of you, is also a variation that gets some of your shoulders and back muscles into the act
4. Move Around.
Instead of jumping straight up as the rope nears your toes, hop to your left keeping your feet together as you go, land on the balls of your feet, then hop back to where you were after the rope passes again. Skip normally for a few hops, then jump to the right, then back to the centre again. this side-side variation ads inner and outer thighs to your workout.
5. Don't skip the workout just because you can't skip.
if you are not coordinated enough to skip, fake it!!! just stand in place and hop up and down like you have a rop . but just by acting in the same manner you can indeed still burn a good amount of calories depending on the intensity you work at.