Build Muscle Lose Fat - Health and Fitness News

The purpose of this new blog is to bring you the latest news and information on muscle building and fat loss, and the health and fitness industry in general.

I'll be bringing you...

• Muscle Building Tips

• Fat Loss Tips and Programs

• Information and secrets on nutrition

• News and information on the health and fitness industry

• Product reviews - ther is a lot of junk out there but some great stuff you can use as well.

along with other tips, tricks, and product reviews relating to the health and fitness industry that can help you build muscle, lose fat, get fit and stay healthy. I welcome questions and comments. Enjoy!

August 8, 2005 08:45 - Build Muscle and Lose Fat with these 7 Tips

I thought I'd start off this new blog with some extremely important tips on how to build muscle and lose fat. And none of them have anything to do with exercise or diet.

1 - 7 Steps To Success

Let's take a look at seven simple steps you can take right now to move you rapidly along toward your fitness goals, whether you want to build muscle or lose fat.

Think on paper: Only about 3 percent of adults have clear, written goals. These people accomplish five and ten times as much as people without written goals. Want to build muscle or lose fat? Write out your goals.

Step 1: Decide Exactly What You Want. This will allow you to prioritize your tasks to that you are spending the most time on high value tasks that move you closer to your goals. If your goal is to add 20 pounds of muscle, there isn't much point in using up a lot of you training time by jogging 5 miles a day.

Step 2: Write It Down. Again, think on paper. Written goals are a powerful thing. They have an energy behind them that helps you move toward them that unwritten goals just don't have.

Step 3: Set A Deadline On Your Muscle Building Fat Loss Goal

Create a sense of urgency and positive pressure. Without a deadline you will procrastinate and do the little things that may damage your short term goals. If you are having "after" pictures taken in three weeks then you are much less likely to swallow that bag of popcorn, than if you are just getting in shape.. .eventually.

Step 4: Make a list of everything you can think of that you will need to do to help you achieve your goal. Leave nothing to chance. The more planning you do ahead of time, the more likely you will stick to the plan and achieve your goals. The more prepared you are, the more success you will experience.

Step 5: Organize the list into a plan. Organize your list by priority and sequence.

Step 6: Take action on your plan immediately. Do something. Get started. Start building positive reinforcement and momentum RIGHT NOW.

Step 7: Resolve to do something every single day that moves you toward your major goal. And with fitness, you have to, don't you? Whether it is your workout, eating six high protein meals, etc. you should always be doing something that moves your forward toward your goals.

Implement these 7 steps RIGHT NOW and you will be well on your way to achieving your goals of building muscle or losing fat.

August 10, 2005 12:36 - The Truth About Your Abdominal Exercise Machine

I'm sure you've seen numrous infomercials for all kinds of ab exercise machines and equipment. Obviously, someone is buying them. But are people really reaching their fat loss goals with these ab machines? It sure doesn't seem so.

In the August 2003 issue of th Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, researcher's from L.A's Occidental College discovered that doing crunches on the floor produced better results, as measured by surface electromyography than such popular ab exercise machines like the AB-DOer, Perfect Abs, and Torso Track.

With that being said, the right abdominal exercise machine can be a positive addition to your overall health and fitness regimen. Here's a more indepth article on the good, the bad, and the ugly of the abdominal exercise machine

August 11, 2005 10:08 - Is Core Training Really Right for You?

I was watching another fitness infomercial the other day, and to be blunt, boy it just pi*!%ed me off! It was a program designed around the stability ball, which has become a very popular piece of muscle building fat loss fitness equipment over the last few years. So why was I so ticked? Because the bs these people promote is dangerous. It used to be that a lot of this stuff just didn't work but now they are crossing the line into causing injuries by preying on people who are unhappy with their bodies. It's not enough to take their money, now they are injuring them.

So what am I ranting about? The stability or Swiss ball as it is known has become the center piece of core training and core exercise. Can anyone tell me what that even means? I didnt't think so. It's an overused and abused marketing catch phrase, designed to part you from your wallet.

It amazes me the exercises that are recommended with the stability ball. It's one thing to use it to do crunches, where you can get more of a prestretch when leaning back across the ball than you get with floor crunches. It's a whole 'nother kind of dangerous animal when you're being asked to perform weighted exercises such as bench presses, shoulder presses and squats. Are you kidding me with this stuff? There is absolutely no upside whatsoever to doing these exercises on a stability ball and a whole lotta downside, like serious and permanent injury.

Could someone tell me the purpose of doing squats on a stability ball or wobble board? Or bench presses on the stability ball? What would you be trying to achieve? What happens if you lose your balance? Look, when performing weight training exercises, there are a few things you are trying to accomplish - build muscle, lose fat, get stronger. Doing this exercises is a dangerous manner by making them unstable does nothing to help you achieve any of these goals but could set you up for permanent and debilitating injuries.

Please, when deciding on an exercise program, take a moment to think through what you are trying to achieve and whether the program will help move you in that direction. Doing so could save you from a lack of progress, pain, or injury.

August 13, 2005 11:58 - More About Ab Machines

In an entry earlier this week, I talked about ab exercise machines and what they can and can not do for you. I wanted to give you some ideas as to how to make effective use ob ab machines and make them a part of an overall fat loss program that will give you results.

I want to add to that information and point out another important points about abdominal training. Research showed the floor crunch to be more effective than many infomercial ab training products such as the Torso Track, Ab Scissor, Ab-Swing and 6 Second Abs.

It also showed something that I've pointed out in previous ab exercise articles and that is, the most effective ab exercises are the one's done with progressive resistance, just like any other weight training exercise for your other body parts. Your abdominals are a muscle. They don't call them adbominal muscles for nothing. Train them like muscles. No, this doesn't mean max singles with heavy weight, as the abs are more endurance oriented, just like the calves.

But, you should train your abs with sets of 12 - 25 reps, with weight, not endless sets of hundreds of reps with no resisitance. Your abs won't get bulky, but you will ger a firmer, more toned stomach, that shows more definition than you've ever had before. Give it a shot! Questions? Comments? Click the link!

August 15, 2005 14:35 - Fat Loss Info Byte

Lose Fat with Fruits & Vegetables

Keeping your weight under control and losing fat can be made
much easier by adding a steady stream of fruits and vegetables
to your fat loss nutrition program. Fruits and (most) vegetables
are high in water and fiber content and low in calories.

They fill up your stomach, keeping your appetite under control
at a lower level of calories. For better fat loss results, try adding
more fruits and vegetables to your diet or just have yourself an
apple before your meals.

August 18, 2005 09:16 - Weight Training Increases Metabolic Rate

I've discussed this previously and it's once again been confirmed. Weight training is a pivotal key in losing fat and keeping the fat off. It does this in a number of ways, not the least of which is cranking up your resting metabolic rate. What does this mean for you? It means more calories burned each day, even when you are doing nothing! The most recent study, published in the J Strength Cond Res, 19: 61-66, 205, found that women increased their daily (24 hour) caloric consumption by more than 300 calories following 30-minute weight training workouts. Keep in mind, that's 300 more calories after the workout, not during. Again, it's in addition to the calories being burned during the actual workout. As I've mentioned before in my newsletter, previous studies have shown that your metabolism stays revved and burns more calories for up to 39 hours after a weight lifting workout. The number of extra calories burned has shown to be much higher for men than this study showed for women. One reason is that men carry more muscle than women and muscle is metabolically active, burning calories all day long. Want to learn how to lose fat and build a sexy body you can be proud of? Check out my book, Get Fit Fast!

August 21, 2005 11:44 - Build Muscle and Fitness With Circuit Training

Don't have a lot of time but want to get in as complete a training program as you can? Consider a circuit training routine so you can get in some strength training to help preserve (or build more) muscle, while also getting a good cardio workout for the fat burning and health benefits.

Circuit training won't help you win any strongman or powerlifting contests and it won't prepare you to run a marathon or enter a triathalon. But you can get a lot of the positive benefits of weight training and cardio, while spending a minimum amount of time in the gym, as long as you make it quality time.

A recent study on circuit training (J Strength Cond Res, 18: 760-764, 2004) found that circuit training developed both aerobic capacity and muscle strength at the same time. The circuit in the study consisted of 10 exercises and 10 repetitions at 40 percent of the maximum lifting capacity for each lift. Each person completed 4.6 circuits in their workout.

Heart rates were up above 70 percent of max heart rate for more than 16 minutes and shot up above 80% MHR during the last 12 minutes. Circuit training is a decent program when you don't have a lot of time.

Now, for a different kind of time saving weight training routine, you have to check out my article on the 3 x 3 weight training program. This will take you a minimal amount of time, and will both add pounds of muscle to your frame, build your aerobic fitness and burn fat off your body fast. Man or woman, muscle building or fat loss, this routine will work for you if you give it your all. Check out the 3 x 3 weight lifting program