ALL ABOUT EGGS

Eggs are a body builders staple diet. A rich source of protein, an egg has all the essential amino acids. One egg white contains approx 5 grams of high quality protein. To add on that eggs are one of the only foods that contain naturally occurring vitamin D and are an excellent source of vitamin B12, which is essential for proper nerve function.

Egg whites contain the purest form of protein found in whole-foods. It is so high that nutritionists use them as the standard when comparing other whole-food proteins. Their "biological value" -- a measurement used to determine how efficiently a protein is used for growth -- is 93.7. Milk, fish, beef, and rice respectively have a bio value of 84.5, 76, 74.3, and 64. Considering the good protein form that eggs contain, many supplement companies are coming up with products made from egg whites.

However eggs might come infected with bacteria. One egg in 10,000 is contaminated with salmonella, so eating them udercooked or gulping them down raw just as rocky did in his movies might not be a good idea. A good way to eat eggs is to have them boiled so that they are low in calories, and with all the benefits.

There are no specific rules regarding the numbers of eggs we should consume. Professional body builders go upto more than 50 eggs a day. But their body requirements are such that they need good quality protein to rebuild and repair their muscles.

A great source of protein and easy to prepare, eggs are nature's golden food.

STREEEEEETCH

Stretching is a form of physical exercise which involves deliberate lengthening of muscles in order to increase muscle flexibility and joint range of motion. Stretching benefits people of all ages, and is intended for the young as well as the elderly. Stretching has a number of benefits to the body. It helps in reducing soreness, increases blood circulation to various parts of body, and increase in range of movements of joints. Post-exercise stretching particulary aids in workout recovery, and ensures that your muscles and tendons are in good working order.


Some basic points on stretching:
1. WARM UP: Stretching is best effective when done after some warm up. The reasoning is that muscles are warm and loose and the stretches will be easier and less painful. To enhance your flexibility and increase your range of motion, post workout is the best time to do stretches.
2. BREATHING TECHNIQUE: Often people tend to hold breath while doing stretches. This is the worst thing you can do. The stretched muscle does not have enough oxygen reaching it and hence proper recovery does not take place.
3. HOLD YOUR STRETCH: It takes time to lengthen tissues safely. Hold your stretches for at approx 25-30 seconds. Do not bounce and try to hold in the maximum stretch position. Stretch only to a point where you don't feel much pain. If the pain is increasing, probably you have gone a bit too far.


The benefits of stretching will come gradually. Don't expect results overnight. Stick with a schedule and see the results.

OVER TRAINING

People often talk about the fear of over training. However i feel over training is just a state of insufficient nutrition and improper rest. So what is excessive training for one, might be just a warm up for other. Diet and rest are two things that determine what is the optimum time and volume of exercise for you.


Symptoms and effects of over training:
1. Muscle soreness which continues for longer period of time.
2. early onset of fatigue.
3. Decreased muscle strength.
4. Loss of motivation and enthusiasm.

Avoiding over training
After your workout, the body goes into catabolic state (i.e breakdown of muscles). If not provided with proper nutrition at this moment of time, the body becomes calorie deficient ad rate of break down muscle tissue increases. Hence a proper diet is must to help body recover and rebuild muscles that are broken during your workout.
Rest is the next important thing. Time your training to allow maximum rest to muscles. Splitting the training program so that different muscles are worked on different days is one way to maximize the delay between working out the stressed muscle again, hence giving it ample time to recover.

WINDOW PERIOD

The time after your workout is the most important time in which you can actually make a difference to your body. This is generally referred to as the 'window period' or the 'window of opportunity' when your body is asking for nutrition and is ready to instantaneously suck up almost everything. However understanding what are the needs of your body and providing it with the right kind of nutrition is the key.

WHAT TO EAT :
After a long intense workout or any form of exercise for that matter, your body is depleted of glycogen and hence energy. The energy sapped muscles are torn and are looking to repair themselves. Thus your body needs two primary constituents Carbs and Proteins post workout. Often carbs are neglected and people stress too much on proteins as a primary meal post exercise, carbs are very important. If your post workout meal doesn't contain carbs, your body may actually instead break down muscle tissue for this same purpose. That is not exactly what you are looking for.
Proteins help in repairing and rebuilding the muscle tissues. one component that should be avoided in this window period is FAT. The reason being fat digest very slowly, and your body needs nutrition almost immediately. If you consume Fat alongwith carbs and protein, this fat will slow the digestion of carbs and protein as well, hence glycogen levels will not be replenished soon enough and muscle repair will not happen effectively.


TYPES OF FOOD:
Include food items which are rich in protein and carbs but at the same time are easy to digest. Egg whites are part of my every meal during the day except this for the very simple reason that though they are rich in protein, they don't settle down that quickly. Similarly taking complex carbs in form of brown bread, oats is not a very good idea. For carbs, one needs dextrose(a kind of sugar) to spike up your insulin level. By providing an insulin spike, carbs provide the body with an excellent transport system for the nutrients to reach the muscle cells.The simplest way I find is to have a couple of spoons of Glucose in water. You can also replace this with fresh fruit juice. Again for protein, going for something that is readily digestible is a good idea. For my immediate nutrition, I carry my whey protein mixed with glucose. Remember liquids are easily digested as compared to whole foods, so a banana and an apple blended in low fat milk is better than eating a whole banana and apple.

RIGHT TIME TO EAT:
As discussed above, the body is in need of immediate nutrition. However that doesn't mean you take your meal the moment you step off from your cardio machine or drop your dumb bells. Allow your heart rate to settle down before gulping down that replenishing muscle building nutrition.


It is said that the next 30 mins after your exercise is the time when your body is most prone to infections due to production of destructive hormones, cortisol. Hence it becomes all the more important to eat and eat good in this window.


TRAIN HARD, EAT HARDER

MAINTAINING YOUR WEIGHT

One of the common problems that we see and find is people find it hard to maintain their lost weight. The motivation to loss weight usually takes them to their aimed weight level but less than 10% people are able to maintain that over time. The primary reason being going on drastic diets/workouts which are not natural to be continued over longer periods of time. It needs extra levels of motivation to be continue there always.
However following a few simple steps, one can keep a check on his/her weight.


1. DAILY ACTIVITY: Increase your total daily activity level. Try to include physical activities in your daily schedule such as exercise and sports. Even if you cannot be regular on exercise, brisk walking is as good a workout to maintain weight.

2. CUTTING BACK ON SEDENTARY ACTIVITIES: Cut back on your activities which involve little physical movements such as watching TV, computer etc. One thing that often goes unnoticed with such activities is the untimely food and drinks that goes along with it.

3. WEIGHT TRAINING: Weight training is as important as your cardio even in the maintenance phase. Doing weights increases your metabolism in general and hence your weight can be kept in check. Try to keep a track of what you eat and your workout routine. Maintain a record of your weight every week and see if your diet and workout is keeping you on the right track.


It's important to be motivated all the time and make use of whatever little time one has at his/her disposal for exercising. Maintaining a positive attitude is the key to your weight loss and maintenance.

Mr. OLYMPIA 2010

The biggest showdown in the world of body of building is coming this month. The event is scheduled to take place on Sep24-25 at Las Vegas.
Ronnie Coleman has already announced his decision to come out of retirement and compete at this years Mr. Olympia. Current champion Jay Cutler remains the man to beat. Dexter Jackson will be gunning to avenge last year's defeat while Branch Warren will be looking to improve upon the last year's performance. This years event has all the making of a great battle between world's top body builders.

Stay Tuned...It doesn't get any bigger than this!!!

THE BIG RON







DEXTER JACKSON









BRANCH WARREN















JAY CUTLER - the defending champ

Super Setting 3

Apart from the two types of supersetting techniques discussed in previous two posts, there is another type of supersetting. This is basically a staggered technique in which you super set muscles not related to other. This helps in doing both the muscles at effectively the same intensity and you finish your workout in a short time.
e.g: Combine a upper body workout with lower body. Refer to the video below to have a better idea:

SUPERSETTING - PART 2

Continuing with the previous post, supersetting can also be performed with antagonist muscle approach. This is in sharp contrast to the previous methodology where we discussed about supersetting same muscle group.

When you do two exercises in a row for the same muscle group, it tends to significantly limit the amount of weight you can use because of fatigue. Pairing opposing (antagonistic) muscle groups together can help you keep your strength up because as one muscle is working, the opposite one is resting. Common examples include pairing biceps with triceps, chest with back, or hamstrings with quadriceps.

This is also an excellent technique for developing better muscle balance. For example, many people overwork the pushing exercises like bench press, while neglecting the pulling exercises like rows. By using antagonistic (push-pull) supersets. You assure a good balance between these opposing muscle groups.

Some examples:
Dumbbell Curls + Tricep extensions
Leg Press + Lying Leg Curl
Bench Press + Seated Cable Row


One thing that must be kept while performing supersets is that one might lose power and muscles might fail instantaneously in the second exercise, specially if that is a compound exercise. Hence it is advisable to have a partner or a trainer watching your back while you perform your supersets. Finally if your training program is getting stale, supersets can also help relieve your boredom. Best of all, supersetting is a legitimate way to get more results in less time.

SUPERSETTING - PART 1

For all the guys who are gym goers, they probably understand what is meant by supersetting. However, one might not have fully explored the benefits that supersetting can help you reap out of your workout. Conventional weight training invovles "straight sets." A straight set consists of a series of nonstop repetitions, usually somewhere between 6 and 12, followed by a rest interval of one to two minutes. A superset, on the other hand, is an advanced training technique where you perform two exercises in a row with virtually no rest in between exercises.

If you perform two exercises back to back, it is quite obvious that the weight in the second exercise is going to be less then if you had performed that exercise separately. Since the muscle didn't get sufficient time to recover, strength is bound to be less for te second exercise and subsequently lesser for further supersets.

Super setting can be done in more than one way, the most common among them is SUPERSETTING SAME MUSCLE GROUP. In this post, we will discuss the above mentioned type. The most common type to super set is super setting same muscle group. An example would be supersetting bench presses with dumbbell flyes.
HOwever we can further disintegrate this supersetting technique into four techniques.

1. ISOLATION + COMPOUND
2. COMPOUND + ISOLATION
3. COMPOUND + COMPOUND
4. ISOLATION + ISOLATION

Isolation exercises involves concentrating on isolated muscle groups while compound exercises involve more than one muscle group.

1. ISOLATION + COMPOUND : In this technique, you perform an isolcation exercise first followed immediately by a compound movement exercise. The idea behind is to pre exhaust the primary muscle group, and then perform the compound movement to blast the fatigues muscle with the help of other muscle group. e.g: Performing a dumble fly involved pecks, and then following it up with bench press, you can further stress your pecks with the help of shoulder muscles, and hence induce growth.
Some examples;
a. Dumbell Fly + Bench/Inclined Press
b. Leg Extension + Squat
c. D/B lateral raise + shoulder press
d. Tricep extension + bench dips

2. COMPOUND + ISOLATION: This is the exact opposite of the above technique. The benefit of this method is that you can usually go for more poundages in the compound exercise, giving more pump and a more satisfying feeling.
Some examples:
a. Squat/leg extension + Leg extension
b. B/B shoulder press + front/lateral raises
c. bench press + cable cross over

3. COMPOUND + COMPOUND: This technique is very taxing on the body and it is likely to leave one exhausted. Going with havey poundage in both the exercises, can cause faitgue pretty rapidly, and at the same time induce muscle growth like no workout before.
Some examples:
a. Bench Press + Pushups
b. Squat + Leg press
3. B/B curl + D/b curls

4. ISOLATION + ISOLATION: This technique is mainly used by proefessionals prior to a competition when they are going for definition.This is a useful technique for focusing on one particular muscle group or section of a muscle group to the exclusion of others.
some examples:
a. Dumbell fly + cable cross over
b. tricep pushdown + dumbbell kickback


More to follow on superset training.

FACE FAT

People often want to lose fat or not lose fat at specific parts of the body. e.g: while a person may want to loose belly fat, you often come across people who have chubby cheeks and want to lose fat from there. However, spot reduction/addition of fat is practically impossible. The body gains and loses in a uniform way.

When a person starts getting lean, the face changes too. Your face starts to look less round and your jawline and cheekbones become more prominent. This drawn out look often gives an impression to onlookers if you actually eat something or not.

You lose face fat the same way you lose any other fat - by establishing a caloric deficit through nutrition and training and getting your overall body fat percentage down. For people, willing to lose face fat, the good news is, face fat is actually the opposite of stubborn abdominal fat - in the sense that for most people it is the first people from where fat disappears.

On the other hand, people who already have thin faces actually do not want to lose fat off their face. During my weight loss, i was often criticized that i was getting too lean and looked emaciated, including in the face. As your body fat gets very low, some people really do start to look gaunt and the cheeks look "sucked in".

To minimize this gaunt look in an extremely lean body, one should keep fluid intake high and carb intake adequate as low carb diets have a diuretic effect. One should also also avoid over training, prolonged periods of very low calorie/low carb dieting, sleep deprivation and overall life stress, because these factors will probably add to the "tired" look in the face.

At the same time, i would suggest don't get mislead by people's comments and leave your goal unfinished. It's true that in quest for a ripped mid section, we might end up looking a lot leaner in the face, but maintaining a healthy lifestyle with lot of water intake may actually work for you in the longer run.

High Intensity Training

High Intensity Training is method of resistance training where by you put in a very high level of effort and performing relatively brief and infrequent workouts, as opposed to performing a higher volume and frequency of workouts with a comparatively low to moderate effort.


High Intensity Training or HIT follows the same fundamental principle of exercise that is to overload the body stimulating it to produce an increase in muscular strength. The difference between conventional exercise and HIT is that HIT involves an all-out effort with a heavy poundage till the point you cannot make even one single repetition. This is associated with momentary failure of muscle which helps in formation of new muscles.

As obvious, there is an inverse relationship between the poundages you lift and the number of repetitions you perform. Similarly, the more effort you put in your workout, the shorter it is before your muscle strength dies and stamina gives up. Stretching your body beyond this limit can only be counter productive.
High intensity training workouts typically last less than 45 minutes, and some "consolidation routines" may take fewer than 10 minutes to complete.
The appropriate volume of exercise varies significantly between individuals based on genetics, age, and lifestyle factors such as quality and amount of nutrition and rest. Athletes or trainees with physically demanding jobs or lifestyles must also balance their workout volume against the amount of other physically demanding activities they perform to avoid over training.

HIT involves training less often. The reason behind this theory is as you had put your muscle under a lot of stress in your previous workout, it needs time to recover. Putting it under tension again before it has properly recovered can lead to muscular pulls, cramps etc.

Most trainers recommend the use of a level of resistance which allows an exercise to be performed for between 30 and 90 seconds before momentary muscular failure occurs. The most popular example of this is the traditional Nautilus recommendation to perform 8 to 12 repetitions, lifting the weight in approximately 2 seconds, and lowering in approximately 4 seconds, which results in a set duration of approximately 48 to 72 seconds.

While performing HIT, training sessions should not be too frequent, possibly limiting to 3-4 sessions per week. Poundage should be such that number or repetitions are limited to 8-12 before muscle failure sets in. Since the number of sets are going to be less, try and perform slow controlled repetitions and have a full range of motion.

The idea again is to surprise the body. If you have been long following the traditional workout plan and not getting results, this program is worth giving a try. I can assure you the body is going to feel a lot more sore if the sets are done in a proper manner.




In words of Arthur Jones - "train harder, but train briefer" or "...train harder, but train less often".

FITNESS UNARMED

Just going through fitness websites i came across this interesting profile, Barb Guerra. A lady who lost both her arms while she was 2. However that hasn't stopped her from achieving what she is today. She can do almost everything a normal person can do with his/her hands. She has worked as an aerobic instructor and participated in many fitness competitions. This is something real to get motivated.





Sharing some videos and links that i found online.

BARB GUERRA

FITNESS UNARMED








even IMPOSSIBLE says I M POSSIBLE!!!

Ebooks

Some pointers to ebooks


TheWheyItIs!

POWER-TYPE STRENGTH TRAINING IN MIDDLE-AGED MEN AND WOMEN!

MAX-OT!

BICEP TRAINING

A nice video to train your biceps effectively. For biceps it is important to get the movement right.

AB TRAINING WITH SWISS BALL

Adding Swiss ball training to your workouts for the abdominal region will you increase muscle tone, balance and mid-section function.
The Swiss ball differs from your machine training in the fact that it creates an unstable environment. This unstable environment activates your nervous system to get excited and produce more electrical activity. The Swiss ball strengthens stomach muscles by making them the main focus. The abdominal muscle that are worked out using the Swiss ball are the same muscles uses to support the body and provide stabilization, these muscle are known as you core. The ball helps to focus the workout on the core muscles while at the same time helping to maintain balance while doing the exercise.
This also enhances reflexes since all of the muscles must work together to maintain balance. As the body’s balance improves, the alignment will also improve and hence the focus on the core muscle group.

There a number of mid section exercises that you can perform with the help of a swiss ball, thus it keeps the interest going and at the same time getting the results. Below is a list of some exercises that can be done using the swiss ball:

1. Normal Crunches
With ball in the middle of your back, and feet resting on ground, with toes pressed against the wall, crunch your abs up. Perform the movement slowly to have maximum effect.
2. Back Arch
With the ball in the middle of your back and your arms at your side, reach back and touch the ground. Hold that position for 10 seconds and slowly return to center.
3. Leg Extensions
With the ball in the middle of your back, extend one leg straight out and hold for 5 seconds. Use your arms for balance.
4. Back Raises
With your stomach on the ball, lie face down with your hands on the ground. Raise your shoulders and arch your back up as high as you can, then slowly return.
5. Sideways Crunches
Lie sideways and relax your upper body. Bend your upper body and slowly return.
6. Rowing
Sit on your knees with placing your forearms on the swissball in front of you. Now let the ball slowly roll in the forward direction keeping your back arched. Feel the stretch on your abs as you move forward and then slowly come back to resting position.

HAPPY CRUNCHING :)

GETTING BACK INTO SHAPE

Not many people hit the gym 12 months an year. It is quite natural to loose some stamina and strength during that time. However getting back to the gym after a layoff and starting right from where you left off is not a wise thing to do.
One should be cautious in his/her approach and should initially start with only say 75% of the intensity that you think you can actually perform your workout sessions at. Going full blast in the first go can actually cause harm. What this means is that during the initial days (or weeks) of a comeback, you're able to do more damage to yourself than your body can cope with. Out body adapts to the routine of an intense workout by making itself ready to recover from physical stress and also coping with the waste products that intense workout produces. when you take time off from gym, this capacity of the body decreases more in proportion to the loss in muscular strength and hence chances of not recovering are more, causing muscle damage.
This mechanism of gradually easing into your old workout schedule applies to diet also. Our body has this great adaptive mechanism in the sense that it fine tunes itself to the daily routine. Increasing your diet overnight us counter productive. The body actually adjusts itself to what your diet by producing a different array of enzymes to match what you eat. If you gradually adjust your diet, it can keep up with the changes. The idea is to trick your body into thinking that nothing's out of the ordinary by making consistent, almost imperceptible changes. If you shock it, it fights back. e.g: If you were to drastically change your diet, it is high likely that you get a bad stomach. This is the fightback mechanism of our body.


So go easy on your workout initially and when you feel your body is ready to cope with the stress, its time to go harder.

SLEEP PLUS EXERCISE

Having a good sleeping pattern and an equally good workout schedule goes a long way in boosting one's overall health. Today we will discuss how these two are interrelated, and positive effects of one on the other.

It is no surprise that after a good workout session, body is naturally tired and it helps in having a good quality sleep. Studies have shown that people who have a low daily schedule of low physical activity show a better sleeping patter when they start exercising regularly. This is primarily due to boost in the amount
of time spent in slow-wave sleep, the phase of sleep believed to be the most restorative. They also
report waking up less often during the night. Hence when they wake up, they are refreshed and more active. Also research shows that people start falling asleep faster and longer than before they has started exercising.

Also, it is a well known fact to build muscle, giving your body rest is a must to allow it to recuperate.if you aren't getting enough sleep, then proper rebuilding of your muscle is less likely to occur. It is also shown by research that consistent lack of sleep can result in over-training which impedes both performance and fitness goals.

Hence both of these are opposite sides of a coin, you need them together to have a cumulative positive effect on your body. Rather than looking for those magic supplements available in market to reach your dream physique, having a good lifestyle can actually take you places.

ABS workout

A nice video to get the movement ryt while doing crunches.

BREATHE EASY

Proper breathing is one of the most basic practices that we all should follow while doing our workout and often which is neglected. People often follow an incorrect breathing pattern or they tend to hold their breath. Whereas breathing incorrectly can lead to fatigue and over exertion, not breathing at all leads to higher blood pressure in veins and can result in hypertension. HOlding your breath during resistance training can be particularly harmful, as it pushes the blood to a higher pressure which may lead to giddiness because of lack of oxygen supply to muscles.
As a basic rule of thumb, breathe in during the negative part of motion and breathe out during the positive tough motion. e.g: while doing bench press, breathe in while lowering the bar near to your chest and breath out as you push it back. Another example can be taken that of crunches, in which you exhale when you lift your shoulders up from the ground and inhale when you lower them back to ground. Breathing in enables you to take in oxygen and supply to all bodyparts, preparing it for the tough positive motion. As you exhale, back it up with all the force. The breathing pattern particularly helps in getting those last repetitions done.
Breathe in through the nose but when the workout gets more demanding, this might not bring in enough air. If needed, breathe through your mouth. Deep and proper breathing can result in a slight competitive edge and you will yourself experience the difference. Breathe easy and breathe right. Most importantly njoy your workouts!!!

NEWBIE'S GUIDE

Almost all the crowd that hits the gym floor have a purpose in common, to add muscularity. The final goal might vary from individual to individual but this common agenda of adding lean muscle mass is universal. Those who come for fat loss are indirectly aiming at gaining muscle and thereby loosing fat. So we can say that this principle is generalized to a large extent.
However people usually have a aim but not the knowledge to progress towards achieving their goal. They want to build muscles, but don't know the basics of muscle building. Muscle building depends on three major factors:
1. Your workout: To induce muscular growth by breaking muscle tissues.
2. Nutrition: To repair damaged tissues and build new ones.
3. Recovery: Time for muscle to recover before it gets ready for next onslaught.


Beginners often face a dilemma of which exercises to perform, and more often than or not end up copying some muscular guy having a chiseled physique in their gym. This is one of the gravest mistakes you can make as a beginner. One should stick to the basic set of exercises rather than jumping to compound movements which are very specific in nature.
e.g: Pull ups, push ups, bench press, shoulder press and squats for the basis of almost all strength training programs. As these exercises focus on more than one muscle group, this set of exercises is a good platform to get you interested in body building.

I already explained kinds of workout that can be followed in one of the earlier posts. However as a beginner one should stick to all body exercises for 4-5 days before moving to muscle specific exercises. This should be done to acclimatize your body before putting a particular muscle under fire by training it over longer period of time.

One can start with the following schedule:

Schedule 1
1. Pull ups - 3 sets ( assisted if can't be done on own)
2. Bench Press - 3 sets
3. Bicep d/b curl - 3 sets
4. Crunches

Schedule 2
1. Push ups - 3 sets
2. Lat Pulley - 3 sets
3. Overhead d/b press - 3 sets
4. tricep push down - 3 sets
5. Free Squats

For the first week, you can alternate with this schedule. These are basic exercises involving each muscle group and most of them focus on more than muscle group. One can also go for a little variations such as inclined press instead of bench, barbell curl in place of d/b curl etc. However don't take much time in completing this set. Ideally you should be done with your workout in 40 mins including warm up. Avoid taking too much rest in between your sets. As a rule of thumb, go for the next set when your breathing comes back to normal. Take a sip of water and get back to the set.
Just make sure you warm up before you start with any kind of workout. Warm up is essential to avoid injuries. The warm up can include 5-10 mins of cardio, shoulder rotation, neck rotation and some basic stretches.


Remember great bodies are not made overnight. It takes a lot of patience, discipline and hard-work to achieve it. Don't go for any shortcuts. Don't go for too heavy weights. Weights which challenge your muscles are sufficient to induce growth.

happy gyming......

ROPE SKIPPING : YOUR INSTANT GYM

Rope skipping is one of the simplest and at the same time one of the most effective exercises one can do. It provides you with a complete body workout in the sense that it involves cardiovascular activity, hand-eye coordination, muscle toning, agility and endurance. Also the rope can be carried anywhere and can skipping can be performed almost anywhere. This way one can always have some kind of workout, even when traveling where gym facility is not available.

If correctly performed, it is a great calorie burner, with 15 min session of skipping rope at a moderate intensity of 60 skips/minute burning around 150 calories. This is equivalent to a 15 min running drill on a treadmill at approx 10km/hr. Since it's a good calorie burning exercise, it naturally helps in loosing weight. In addition, like other cardiovascular activities, this is good for heart. Skipping lowers the cholesterol levels and blood pressure.

It also tones your upper body with shoulders and forearms in action during the skipping routine. When the rope is weighed these muscles are stressed more, hence muscle building formation takes place. In strengthening upper body skipping is considered as more efficient than running.

Skipping ropes is a great exercise for improving coordination and agility. Both the upper and lower body have to work together in synchronization or else you get all tangled up with the rope. Many athletes use the skipping rope not only to improve the stamina but all coordination of their footwork.

However to avoid injuries, skipping should be performed in the correct manner.The posture should be erect with shoulders relaxed and arms slightly bent. Upper body movements should be kept to minimum and wrists should primarily be responsible for rope skipping. Landing softly on toes also helps in skipping in a smooth manner.
While skipping, knees should be slightly bent and arms should be relaxed.

Skipping rope can be fun and at the same time, it provides a fantastic body workout. THE USP: It is easy and can be performed almost anywhere.

PROTEIN SHAKES

Recently a report in the Consumer Reports Magazine has stated that on a test on 15 protein shakes readily available in market, all of them had traces of heavy metals(arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury). The concentration in most products were relatively low but three of them came up above the proposed safe limits.

Check the following video:




Consumer reports online story:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/2010/july/food/protein-drinks/what-our-tests-found/index.htm



My take on this:
Too much of anything can be bad for you, so relying just on protein shakes is not a very good idea. Also it has been mentioned in the report, it is the over dosage of these protein supplements that can be harmful. As mentioned earlier in one of posts, supplements should only be used to supplement your nutritional needs. One should not go crazy with protein drinks. Having whole foods in your diet should be the primary source of protein.

LEGS: SQUAT THEM UP!!!

Often I notice many people in gym concentrating very hard on the upper body and neglecting their lower body all together. In-fact majority of lifters don't have a leg workout plan in their routine at all. The major reason behind this is that leg muscles are covered all the time, hence do not come under the category of 'showy' muscles such as arms and chest.However neglecting your lower body is not very healthy and is bad as far as overall posture is concerned.

First of all having a ripped and muscular upper body with tooth pick legs doesn't look great. Imagining of a person with bulging chest, huge arms, broad shoulders and a wide muscular back with thin legs appears nothing short of a cartoon character. This is a perfect example of disproportionate physique by neglecting a muscle group.


Secondly, having a strong lower body adds strength and muscle to the upper body as well. Legs are as important as your biceps. Building muscle depends on two factors: One is localized concentration in which you break a particular muscle fibre and then repair/ build them through proper nutrition. Other is through secretion of body building hormones such as testosterone which are released every time you train a muscle. Following the first approach solely, i.e training a particular muscle group over and over again falsely drives the body into injury mode and muscle building halts. So it is necessary to train all the muscles equally. One important point here is that quadriceps is the largest and most powerful muscle in the entire body. As a result you can stress them using heavy poundages which subsequently leads to more secretion of anabolic muscle building hormones resulting in overall development of body. These hormones play a big part in determining how much muscle mass someone can physically gain.

The third factor why leg workout should not be avoided is that this prevents us from many injuries that can happen with a weak lower body, hamstring pull and groin injuries common among them.

Running on a treadmill or sweating on a cross trainer does not constitute a complete leg workout plan. A big muscle such as quadriceps needs bigger resistance to stimulate muscular growth. So don't avoid your leg workouts if you want to have a balanced and strong overall physique.

Weight Training

Weight training programs are designed to develop basic, functional strength. Weight training is the most effective way to turn your body into a fat burning machine and to stay in great shape. While cardio is burning calories within the gym, strength training is burning calories outside the gym, i.e 24 hours a day. It is one of the most productive forms of exercise which leads to increased strength and a toned body. Having a good physique also has psychological effects and go a long way in boosting the self confidence of an individual.
In order to be successful with strength training there are some basic principles that must be followed to reap the benefitds of strength training.

1. Progressive overload: Progressive overloading means doing away with static weights, i.e one must force muscles to work harder each time. Rather than being stuck on the same weights throughout your workout, the load/resistance needs to be increased in order to break muscle fibre and induce growth. Also, one should not use the same weight every workout, regardless of how many sets or reps you do. Sticking to a particular weight group can halt the growth of the body. The best way to avoid this is by attempting to increase the resistance / weight used and, or increase the number of repetitions performed at each workout.

2. Intensity: Intensity of your workout is also very important. You must force your body to increase its strength. For example, if you typically do 3 sets of 10 reps bench press at 100 pounds, and your chest is capable of doing more reps say 15, then the point of momenatary failure of muscles is not reached. and the body is not going to make any improvements. You might feel the pump at that particlar moment but to add serious muscle one must force the body to work at a higher level than it is used to. The most effective way to overload your muscles is to perform two or three sets per exercise, and continue each set to muscular failure. That means continuing each set until no more repetitions are possible. Go challenge yourself!

3. Recovery: Last but not the least, once you have overloaded the target muscle group you must then allow for proper recovery. You must rest long enough to allow for recovery of the targeted muscle group, the nervous system, refill glycogen stores (Energy stored within your muscles), and also allow enough time for the muscles to make improvements or increases. This process takes time. Generally, it takes between 2-7 days to recover from a strength workout! The harder you work the longer it takes your body to repair. Don't hamper your progress by training a muscle group too often.

LEMON - nature's gift

Lemon is a vitamin C rich citrus fruit that has many benefits for the human body. It increases the immunity of the body, helps clean the toxins from the body, relieves one from many digestive problems, and rejuvenates the skin giving a glowing face. It also contains vitamins like vitamin B, riboflavin and minerals like calcium, phosphorus, magnesium as well carbohydrates.



Nutritional Content of Lemon:
Serving Size: 1 Medium Lemon (58g)
________________________________________
Amount per Serving
Calories 15 Calories from Fat 0
________________________________________
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 0mg 0%
Potassium 75mg 2%
Total Carbohydrate 5g 2%
Dietary Fiber 2g 8%
Sugars 2g
Protein 0g
________________________________________
Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 40%
Calcium 2% Iron 0%
Thiamin 2% Riboflvin 2%
Niacin 2% Vitamin B6 4%
Folate 2% Pantothenic Acid 2%
Phosphorus 2% Zinc 0%
Magnesium 2% Selenium 0%
Copper 8% Manganese 2%


GOOD EFFECTS:
1. Lemon has medicinal properties and helps in preventing and curing many diseases. Vitamin C has this effect of increasing the immunity of the body against diseases such as common cold, sore throat as well as many bacterial infections. It also helps in speeding up of healing of wounds.
2 Lemon has this cleansing action, in which it helps clean out the toxins out from the body. Most of the foods that we eat are acidic in nature, and too much consumption can lead to various helath problems. Lemons alkalizes the body and thus are important to consume. As lemon is diuretic in nature, it helps to flush out the toxins and harmful bacteria from the system. Lemons are also believed to hasten the weight loss. Fat cells are considered to be one of the most dangerous toxins and as lemons remove harmful toxins, it removes fat cells from the body.
3. Lemon can help relieve many digestion problems when mixed with hot water. These include nausea and constipation. It aids your liver to digest food by helping it to produce more bile.It is also known to help dissolve gallstones.
4. Last but not the last, lemon has this property of rejuvenating your skin. It prevents acne and gives a fresh and glowing look to your face.


LEMON LEMON LEMON - all day long
1. As they say, good beginning is half the job done, so start your day with a glass of luke warm water with one lemon squeezed into it. Many people mix honey with this combination. This adds only taste to the lime water, and does not speed up the fat loss process as honey is a rich source of carbohydrates.
2. If you cant have lemon in the morning, go for plenty of water.Lemon and water both have clarifying actions in your body. It's important to start your day with water because of the time lapse between sleeping and getting up. Water hydrates your body.
3. Always have lemons at room temperatures. They will provide you with more juice. In order to extract more juice, it is good to roll them a couple of times across a table or kitchen shelf.
4. If possible, pour lemon juice onto your salads.
5. Try to have two glasses of lime water per day.

BURN CALORIES WITHOUT GOING TO GYM

Often many of us are hard pressed by time and fail to hit gym regularly. As a result, majority of office going crowd faces weight problems. Going to gym and sweating on a cardio machine is not the only way to burn calories.

Below are listed some methods that if followed can help in keeping a check on weight's problems.

1. Using staircases: Make a habit to use stair case instead of elevator. Be this at office or at your home. for example: If your office is on 4th floor, and your home at 3rd floor. This makes a total of 7 floors and with each floor having an average of 20 steps, you can climb up and down a total of 280 steps just by avoiding the elevator while you leave for office and on way back. This is equivalent to a 10 min running session on a treadmill. Couple this with your tea and lunch breaks in office. So actually you can burn a lot of calories just by saying NO to elevators in your daily life. On an average climbing upstairs burns between 300-500 calories and downstairs has the number close to 200 when done for 30 minutes.

2. Car/Bike Parking: If possible park your vehicle at a distance of 10 mins walk from your work area. This will ensure atleast a 20min walk everyday. In addition to this, everytime you need to go out, you will have to walk to your vehicle. On an average, walking leisurely at a speed of 5Km/hr burns 150 calories in 30 minutes.

3. Shopping: It's a good idea to set out on foot while going for your grocery shopping. Lifting those bags in hands coupled with walking will help tone muscles alongwith your cardio session. Also window shopping before actually getting into a store/mall for purchasing is another effective way of burning calories . This has the combined effect, one it gives you idea of the variety that is available in market, second without realizing you just had your cardio workout.

4. A short walk before sleeping: It is not advisable to have your last meal and head for the bed straightaway. Have your last meal atleast 30-45 mins before you go to bed. Going out for a short slow walk with family is a good idea. However if you can't go out, strolling in your living area can serve the purpose too.


The idea is that you have to change the way you think about how you do everyday things and choose the more active option whenever possible. When you combine these everyday activities with a fitness routine such as running or gyming several times a week, you will observe the results and feel better and fitter.

STAY HEALTHY, STAY FIT!!!

Preview - Mr Olympia 2010

MAKE YOUR OWN GYMNASIUM

TIME - This is something that one is always short off. Many people give this excuse that they dont find sufficient time to go to gym, or they have to wait too long waiting for their turn to use the equipment. So lets dedicate this post to them and how they can overcome their excuse. Setting a small personal gymnasium at home can solve all the above issues. You can exercise at any time you are free, be it a little late at night or finishing your workout before newspaper arrives at your doorstep.

However few points need to be taken care before setting up your own gymnasium.

1. Evaluate your goals: Fitness equipments dont come cheap. So it's important to invest properly aiming specifically at the target that you want to achieve. e.g: If you are looking to shred some kilos, then buying a cardio machine along with a multi gym might solve your purpose. If you can bench close to 150lbs, then buying 1000lbs of weights might only waste money.

2. Proper research of equipment: Do a proper research of the equipment you are inclined to purchase before zeroing onto it. Don't go by someone's else words. At the end of the day, you have to workout and if you are not satisfied with the equipment, it's money down the drain.

3. Pick the right equipment: Pick the equipment as per personal needs only. Commercial equipments are more sturdy. However sturdiness is associated with cost. If you or your family members are only going to use, then go for lighter personal versions instead of commercial ones.

4. Begin Slowly: Do not set up the whole gym at once. Start with one thing at a time, and if you are able to maintain a regular regime, then slowly start increasing the variety that you use. For someone who is looking for muscle building, it is a good idea to start with a set of dumbells, an olympic rod and some basic weights.
This will avoid spending on equipment that one rarely or never uses.

5. Have ample space: Lastly and most importantly, make space for your equipment before setting out on a shopping spree.Measure the dimensions of the space where you want to keep your gym stuff, and purchase equipment as per that. The space should have good ventialtion system. Install a music system or a tv in your workout area. This way you wont miss onto your favourite program while you are attending to your fitness needs.


HAVE A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE!!!!

SUPPLEMENT

Often many people are confused as to whether to go for supplements in their diet. My take on this topic follows a very simple principle: As the name is supplement, they should only be taken to supplement your daily nutritional needs if they can't be fulfilled through natural diet. One should use dietary supplements to supplement his/her diet with essential nutrients that may not be available in sufficient quantity through daily food intake. Complete reliance on dietary supplements without having natural foods in your diet is not a good idea.

For muscle building, atleast 1 gm of protein per 1kg of body weight is needed per day. For athletes and pro's this ratio is even higher. With the lifestyle that most of the people nowadays have, it is difficult to fulfill all your nutritional demands through natural food. So supplements come handy in that picture. But at the same time, where on one side, usage of supplements can be beneficial,improper dosage can cause serious health problems.

Before zeroing on to a particular supplement, one should consult a doctor/physician to ensure that you do not have any physical condition that opposes use of that particular supplement. e.g: People having a history of thyroid in their family are generally advised to stay away from fat burners. Doing a thorough self-research of the product is always a good idea. Try to find some reviews of the product before actually opting for it. Googling helps in this to a large extent.

Go for tried and tested formulas and don't fall for the new dashy and attractive ads.Also. the dosage should be strictly followed. Immediately discontinue the supplement if you experience something unusual with your body. Different body types react differently to similar products. Your body type might be very different from your friend's for whom the supplement worked wonders. Hence blindly starting with that supplement might actually produce counterproductive results.

Lifting Belts - The Support System

Watching people use lifting belts in gym is a common sight. Infact many of them are so obsessed that they keep the belt on throughout the entire workout(whatever the muscle group might be). This is one of the hotly contested topics if belts serve any purpose or not, so lets evaluate if belts are indeed helpful.
There are two schools of thought, one which favors the use of lifting belts arguing they protect lumbar spine from injuries and the other which counters it by saying that belts provide only a false sense of security.






To start with, having a good technique for performing lifts is a must. If the technique is not proper and you are transferring the load from the muscle intended to somewhere else, you might get injured anyway. The belt is only a support system which is intended to share certain amount of load when going for huge poundages of weight. Having a belt for low or medium weight sets is totally uncalled for.

Using belts creates a false sense of security in the mind, and people often start cheating on their sets being assured that counter affects of any wrong movements will be taken care of by the lifting belt. This not only spoils your technique for ever, but also does not allow lower back muscles to develop to share some load when subjected to.

Also, there is a misconception i found among many of my fellow gymers that wearing the belt all the time helps in getting a flat abdominal section. This is absolutely incorrect. Infact wearing the belt all the time, may actually weaken the abdominal muscles in the long run.


Having said all that, I use the belt myself while working out. However i use it only when i am going for heavy poundages for exercises such as squats, dead lifts, and overhead presses. Warming up the body with light and medium weight before moving onto heavy weights is a must even if u plan to use a belt. Don't jump onto heavy weights directly, believe me you can get the same results or even better ones if you go easy on weights but with the correct technique.
Still, if you have to use lifting belts, crank it tight enough to feel it pressed against your lumbar section while you bend backwards.

Ronnie Coleman - One of the greatest off all time

HITTING A PLATEAU

In the last post we discussed the forms of workout schedule. Let's elaborate a bit more on the workout plan. Sticking to a particular workout schedule for long often results in tapering down of results. Our body has this great adaptive mechanism, when subjected to similar kinds of stress over a period of time, body accalimatizes to the schedule and hence the results are not as pronounced as seen earlier.
When you start a workout regime(be it weightloss or weight gain), people often see good results in the beginning. But gradually the results taper off. This is known as hitting the plateau in the sense that growth first follows an upward path and then becomes stagnant. The reason that the growth halts is that body becomes used to the regime and metabolism rate tends to get set according to that particular schedule.
Hence it is very important to keep a close tab on your progress. When a stagnation point is reached, this is a signal to change your workout plan. Give your body a shock every now and then. Force it to behave as if something new has happened. e.g: I have seen good bodybuilders doing only pushups(in the range of 200-300) on a day just to induce the muscle into growth. Similarly for cardio having the same intensity workout for a long period of time will not give optimum results. Change the intensity and form of workout at regular periods to keep the body guessing.
Also changing the diet is necessary so that MBR does not get set. This can be achieved through 'Cheat Days', a concept explained in earlier posts.



Unless you change how you are, you will always have what you've got!!!

BENEFITS OF HAVING A WORKOUT PARTNER

Moving onto an important factor that can greatly enhance your progress in pursuit of your fitness goal. one of the biggest mistake that one can do is to set out alone in order to achieve a sculpted physique. Having a partner in gym can go a long way in this respect.

The biggest benefit of exercising with a partner is that you never get fed up with the sometimes monotonous nature of the workout schedule. It's quite unnatural for anyone to be in high spirits all the time. So a training partner can actually push you to not miss workout on such low energy days. Knowing that someone is waiting for you at gym drives many people to not miss their workout.

However a training partner should be such that he provides a lot of energy to your workout, drives you to do one more repetition, makes you run 1 extra min etc. One should choose people as his/her training partner who have similar fitness goals, and are close to your fitness levels. e.g: a pro working out with a beginner wouldn't make much sense, since right from the weights they lift to their fitness regime everything might be like north and south pole.

Arnold Schwarzenegger used to train with Franco Columbo and Dave Draper, both great bodybuilders and participants in Mr. Olympia themselves. Arnold himself has written in his book, The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding, that choosing a training partner is a lot like a marriage, and you want to marry somebody who is an addition to your life, who makes it better, not somebody who causes you to say, 'Whew, this marriage stuff. What did I get myself into?"




ARNOLD WITH DAVE DRAPER


ARNOLD WITH FRANCO

So guys find out the right person in your gym and start working out. As they say - Two heads are better than one, I would say Two fitness freaks working together are than all!!!

Workout Plan Dilemma

Jet had posted this query in the last post;
" I have a query, What should be an ideal exercise schedule. I take two muscle parts a day, the muscle group should be two big muscles say chest n Back, or one big muscle + one small, say chest+ tricep , so on.... how to make out for an ideal combination."

This is a good topic that he has come up with. Many people are often anxious to know what kind of workout combination is best. So let's dig into little detail on this issue:

Combination of muscle group/day is something that varies a lot gym to gym. You might have noticed people doing chest+shoulder , chest+back or chest+ bicep. Out of these two i personally prefer alternating between the last two combinations from time to time.

There is a set of antagonistic muscles in the body:
1. Chest + Back
2. Bicep + Tricep
3. Thighs + Hamstrings


So a antagonist muscle workout would look like as:

DAY 1. CHEST + BACK
DAY 2. SHOULDER + CALVES
DAY 3. CARDIO + ABS
DAY 4. BACK + BICEP
DAY 5. LEGS + ABS
DAY 6. CARDIO
DAY 7. REST

Now when one muscles contracts the other extends and vice versa. For example, when bending the elbow and doing bicep curls, the biceps muscle contracts and is the agonist; the triceps muscle stretches and is the antagonist. When the movement is reversed and the elbow is extended, the triceps muscle contracts (is the agonist) and the biceps muscle lengthens (is the antagonist). Antagonistic pairs are needed in the body because muscles can only exert a pulling force, and can't push themselves back into their original positions.To push them back, the antagonistic counterpart is needed. This workout schedule is particularly beneficial for gaining serious strength. However since both the muscles are exercised on the same day, there is quite a considerable gap between two consecutive workouts of the same muscle group(7 days). Whenever we work out one muscle, the antagonist muscle is worked out to some extent. Again, doing chest and back on the same day can be energy sapping as both are big muscles.





Second classification is done on the basis of push n pull muslce types.
1. CHEST + TRICEP + SHOULDER : Push muscles ( most of the exercises involve push movements instead of pull movements)
2. BICEP + BACK: Pull Muscles ( Most of exerices involve pull motion)


So it's a good idea to combine a push exerice with a pull exercise. with this we can also maintain the balance that we do not workout two big muscles on a the same day. This also saves the timelag between two antagonist muscles being trained. So a workout based on this would look like the following:

DAY 1 Chest + Biceps
DAY 2 Legs + calfs
DAY 3 Cardio
DAY 4 Back + Abs
DAY 5 Shoulder + triceps
DAY 6 Cardio + Abs
DAY 7 Rest


However, different workout schedules may work out differently for different people. If the healing time for the body is more, then antagonist approach seems to be a better idea while if the muscles heal quickly, the second approach has more weight on its side.
However sticking to one schedule for a long time may actually slow down the growth. More on this in the next post.


Till then happy gyming!!!!!

SORE MUSCLE - contd....

After reading the last post on soreness, one of my friends asked if soreness was responsible for muscle growth, then can he achieve the same results through flexing instead of weight training, i.e if he just flexed his biceps till the time they become sore, will they grow in size? In this case the antagonistic muscle i.e the tricep was acting as resistance while flexing bicep.

So, let’s discuss this in a little more detail. Going by the principle of muscle tissues getting broken as indicated by soreness, the apparent answer to the above query would be yes. However, while one may experience somewhat increased strength, there will not be any significant increase in size of arms. The explanation for this lies in an earlier post in which I discussed slow twitch fibres and fast twitch fibres. Fast twitch fibres are primarily responsible for the bulk. Doing endless repetitions with no weights do not induce stress in fast twitch fibres. The strength and size of a muscle increases when it is subjected to larger loads. Using the antagonistic muscle solely for resistance might help in the muscle getting a bit firmer initially, but not bigger.
To conclude, we can say that some form of external resistance (in the form of weights, resistance bands etc) is needed to gain strength and size.

NO PAIN, NO GAIN: Let's Look Deep

In today's post we will look at what is soreness of muscle, how it is different from physical injury and how we can avoid injury while exercising to our fullest potential.

It is very important to be able to differentiate between the enjoyable pain of an intense workout and the pain resulting from actual physical injury. Having
soreness in muscles is a very common phenomena after an intense workout. Infact, if i don't feel a little bit of soreness in my muscles after workout, i know i didnt give my best in gym that day. May be the workout wasn't intense enough, may be the rest was too large in between sets. For muscles to grow, first they need to be broken and then rebuilt with the help of a good diet.

The soreness results from micro damage to muscles and tissues but the pain is short lived. Movements not being mobile enough after an intense workout are usually a sign of an effective workout session. So, we can say that soreness is not a bad thing but infact good for muscle growth. However there is a thin line between soreness resulting from a good workout and soreness from over training. Over training can seriously damage muscles, and lead to longer pasting pain.

Soreness in a way is good, that it induces muscle growth. Also the pump that is felt during workout gives a high that no other feeling can match. Soreness is more due to negative repetitions, i.e while lowering a weight down instead of lifting it up. This is precisely the reason why you find body builders doing their reps slowly and controlling the weight while bringing it down. This puts disproportionate amount of stress on the supporting tendons and ligaments, and this is what seems to cause the damage, and hence induces growth.

However if the pain continues beyond a couple of days, and interfers in your workout alongwith other tasks then one should go light on his/her workout. If the pain doesnot subside in one week period, then may be its time to take complete rest and consult a doctor to be on safe side. Over training is one of the worst things you can do to your body. Heavy workouts if not backed by proper diet prove counterproductive because muscles depleted during the workout are not replenished and hence muscular strength is always below par. Remember if you continue working out with an injury, it can completely put you off and you might end up on bed resting for a long time.


HOW TO AVOID INJURY:
1. KNOW YOUR LIMITS: Increasing the intensity is a good way to surprise the muscle and induce growth. However one should be mindful of the body and the stress it can take. Continued training with prolonged soreness increases the chance of injury. If you experience soreness over longer period of time, train with greatly reduced volume till you get your strength back and then move upwards. Donot try to copy others and avoid jerk movements while lifting weights.
2. DIET: Diet plays an important role to replenish the damaged muscles. Working out for elongated periods without sufficient diet agains puts an individual at a greater risk. Adequate protein and caloric intakes are critically important throughout training, not just in the day or two following very hard workouts, because protein decrements can be present up to 28 days after a bout of overuse.
3. STRETCHING AND WARMING UP: Always do some warmup and stretching exercises prior to starting your workout. This can save from muscle pulls and reduces the chance of injury. Also stretching after the workout are advisable to free the muscles.




So in a nutshell, we can say that while feeling a bit sore after your workout sounds good for muscle development, ignoring snoreness altogether is not a good idea. Thus to maintain a balance, diet should be closely monitored, in that it should be sufficient for rebuilding old muscles and growth of new.


TRAIN HARD, EAT HARDER!!!

SAMPLE DIET PLAN

Sorry guys for not posting this long. Was busy with some work stuff off late. will be posting regulary from now on.



All this time of limited activity, quite a few people approached me for their diet plan. So i guess i would like to start back from there only. However few points need to be iterated before we kick off with our discussion.


-> Its a calorie game. To gain( yes even for muscles), one needs to provide extra calories to body than are expended.

-> Training and diet are twins which put body on the anabolic environment. Falling short on any of these takes you off the track from achieving your fitness goals.

-> A balanced meal should consist of the following
* Protein
* Carbs
* Fats
* Fiber
* Vitamins + Minerals

Try to include all of these in each of your meals. Fats are stored in all types of food, so i don't think one needs to make an extra effort to consume those by having a burger :)

-> There is a general rule followed by athletes and bodybuilders all around the world. It's called 30 gram formula. As per research, our body cannot digest more than 30gms of protein in one go. I am not sure about the validity but splitting up my protein intake through out the day makes more sense to me.

-> For a person, doing strength training, atleast 1gm of protein per 1 kg of body weight is needed daily. The requirement may increase for professionals. e.g: If your body weight is 70kg, then to gain muscle, atleast 70gms of protein is required daily.

-> Protein intake need not be solely dependent on supplements. we will discuss the details about the pros and cons of supplements in some later post.

-> Its better to eat 6 short meals a day then 3 large meals.

Will present a sample diet in this post, which can be obviously be modified as per individual needs and preferences.


SAMPLE DIET CHART TO GAIN (Assuming workout is in evening)

Meal 1(breakfast ~ 9am): 1 cup boiled oats + fruit(apple/pear) + 4 egg whites.

Meal 2(~11am): Vegetable sandwich (using brown bread) + Lemon Juice

Meal 3(Lunch ~1:30pm): 2 chapattis + Dal/Chicken/Fish/Soyabeen + green salad + 1 cup rice


Meal 4(~4pm): Fruit salad (orange + watermelon + apple + banana)

Meal 5(Pre workout ~6:30pm): Dalia/glass of milk/Oats

Meal 6(Post workout ~8pm): Protein Shake + 4 egg whites ( try to space the two by approx 20 min)

Meal7(Dinner ~9:30pm): 1-2 chapattis + dal




Drink plenty of water.

This is just a sample chart. Individual needs may differ and hence this might need to modified in that sense.
For personal queries, you can always ping me.



Just keep a track of what you eat and what you don't and you should be on your way to achieve your fitness goal.
COUNT CALORIES because CALORIES REALLY do count!!!

Pull-Ups/Chin-Ups

Pull-ups/Chin-ups is another basic form of exercise which works on a large number of muscle groups and can be performed without weights. It helps in increasing strength and attaining a bigger/broader torso.

Many people use the terms pull-ups and chin-ups synonymously. However these are two different exercises working on diff muscle groups. The difference is in the grip.

Pull-ups. Palms facing away with arms wider than your shoulder. Works more on lat muscles and less on biceps, more back. Harder as compared to chin-ups.

Chin-ups. Palms facing you with arms slightly in than your shoulders. Works on your biceps more. Easier than pull-ups.

Beginners usually find pull-ups difficult to start with. However nothing to get disheartened as strength will gradually increase. To start with support can be taken.

Hang on a pull-up bar with straight arms & pull yourself up until your chin passes the bar.

Technique is very important to get the right workout and to avoid spraining anything.

Pull-up & Chin-up Technique.

1. Starting position: Start each rep from a dead hang with straight elbows. Clear the bar with your chin on every rep. Put the bar close to your fingers, not in the palm of your hand. It minimizes callus formation.

Also, you will find many people wearing gloves while doing chin-ups/pull-ups to prevent callus formation.

2. Breathe at The Bottom. It’s easier to breathe at the bottom. Take a big breath before pulling yourself up.

3. Chest Up. Don’t let your shoulders go forward. Lead with your chest up & keep your shoulders back.

4. Look Up. Never look down during Pull-ups & Chin-ups. Look at the bar. Look where you’re pulling yourself up to.

5. Bend Your Legs. This prevents touching the floor while coming down and hence taking support from floor everytime you come down.

Be as slow as you can while coming down. This will put the muscle under maximum tension over a longer period of time.

Common Errors

Most common error on Pull-ups & Chin-ups is cheating the range of motion by not going low or high enough on each rep.

1. Not Straightening the Arms: Keeping your arms bent is partial chin-ups/pull-ups. Straighten them while coming down to increase strength.

2. Swaying Legs/Using hips: While going up, swaying of legs and using of your hips is not advisable (many people do that in order to pull up). Try to be steady while you pull your body up.

3. Chin to the Bar: Try to raise yourself till your chin is at the level of the bar. People go only as up when their forehead touches the bar. This again is partial chin up/pull up.

In case of more resistance is needed, add weight to challenge yourself more. Following variations can be tried out.

1. Dumbbell Between Legs: Cross your legs backwards with knees bent. Ask your partner to place a dumbbell between your feet. Now try to do repetitions.

2. Belt & weights: Wear a belt. Suspend weights from the belt before hooking it.

Dilemma of correct workout to lose fat

Our metabolism is the key to burning fat. To lose weight we need to increase our total calorie burn. As mentioned in earlier posts, to loose fat one needs to go into calorie deficit. To increase our total calorie burn we need to increase one (or more) of the following:
1. Your basal metabolic rate, or BMR, which is essentially the calories you burn at rest. BMR is important because it makes up a large percentage of total calorie burn, but unfortunately we can't do much to increase (or decrease) it drastically. It is mostly determined by genetics and body weight.
2. Your thermic effect of feeding, which is the energy your body expends while digesting food. This can be increased by eating small meals several times a day rather than just a few large meals. Stimulating foods such as green tea can also speed your thermic effect of feeding. Also including in your diet plan food items, such as spinach, cabbage,lettuce etc, which are calorie negative in nature help in burning more calories.
3. Your excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, which is the extra calories you burn after exercise. Your excess post-exercise oxygen consumption is also known as the "afterburn". The amount of calories you burn post-workout will depend on the type of your workout, if you heart rate is increased during your workout and stay increased your will burn more.

Now there are two basic ways to boost up your metabolism:
1. CARDIO
2. STRENGTH TRAINING

Both will help you loose fat, however the difference between strength training and cardio workouts is like the difference between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lance Armstrong, simply said. Comparing the two is absolutely pointless. And while both may be different, they each have their strengths.

Cardio burns an average of 10-12 calories per minute whereas strength training burns an average of 8-10 calories per minute. Considering breaks in between lifting weights, so over 30 minutes the actual number of calories burned doing strength training will be even less. But there is a little more to strength training.
Both cardio and strength training gives you a metabolic spike which means that you continue to burn calories for a couple of hours after the workout. Strength training gives you a large metabolic spike as your body is trying hard to help your muscles recover and increases your overall resting metabolism rate over a long time. Hence you continue to burn more calories long after your workout is finished, i.e in a sense it spikes your BMR for a longer period of time before it settles down.

The facts can be determined from following data:
* Approx 6 calories are burned per day for each pound of muscle that your body houses.
* Approx 2 calories are burned per day for each pound of fat that your body houses.
Thus we can say: More the muscle, more calories burnt.

So doing cardio alone might not give you good results if you are looking for fat los. Involve weights in your training schedule. However don't replace all cardio with strength training, it is good to have a mix of both-this way you will burn fat and build muscle which will keep you strong and healthy and keep your heart healthy at the same time.It is also important to keep diet in mind, exercise alone won't do it (and neither will diet alone). You need to focus on creating a diet and exercise plan and sticking to it!!!

A COMMON MYTH

One of the biggest discussion in gyms is how to bulk up and how to gain more definition?

And surely all you gym going guys would have listened to the following phrase:

“Heavier weights/low repetitions and low weights/higher repetitions for cutting”

Let’s evaluate how true is this saying.

Muscles are composed of muscle fibres which can be further divided into major categories.

1. Slow Twitch Muscle Fibre
2. Fast Twitch Muscle Fibre

Each fiber type is unique in its ability to contract in a certain way. Human muscles contain a genetically determined mixture of both slow and fast fiber types. On average, we have about 50 percent slow twitch and 50 percent fast twitch fibers in most of the muscles used for movement.

1. Slow Twitch Muscle Fiber: These fire more slowly than fast twitch fibers and can go for a long time before they fatigue. The slow twitch fibers respond well to longer duration of stress (i.e. high reps). These fibers do not grow as fast as their counterparts.
2. Fast Twitch Muscle Fiber: They fatigue more quickly and are much better at generating short bursts of strength or speed than slow muscles. The fast twitch fibers respond readily to heavy load explosive movements. This is the muscle fiber which has the capacity of growing fast.

Having understood some scientific terms now, lets revert back to our original discussion, i.e if the phrase “Heavier weights/low repetitions and low weights/higher repetitions for cutting” is essentially true:

As logically deduced from above, fast twitch fibers are those which respond immediately to our workout. Hence this is the usual bulk(pump) that we observe while working out. The more the stress the more the bulk. However this does not mean lifting weights blindly. Going for heavy sets implies sets in which you need support only for the last repetitions. Getting help from your partner from the beginning doesn’t put stress on the muscle. So when you are bulking up, try to do more compound movements which can help you gain some solid muscle

Similarly doing 500 reps with no or negligible weights won’t help in bringing definition or to say cutting in muscles. Slow twitch fibres need to be stressed and while you need to be doing reps for a longer time, some intermediate weight is required to produce the desired effect. Hence you have to use optimal weights(resistance) if you want to work your muscles optimally.

More importantly, to bring out the definition loosing fat is necessary so that the underneath muscle can come to foreground. For that combination of cardio, diet and weights works best.