Build Muscle Lose Fat - Health and Fitness News

Happy New Year! I know, I know, I'm a few days late. It's been that kind of holiday season. And one of my New Year's resolutions is to update this blog on a more regular basis, starting today.

Since we're starting off a new yar, I am going to stick to goal setting and movivational issues in this post. After all, isn' that on everyone's mind right now - starting off a new year the right way? We don't want another year to rush by and end up in the same position next December - wondering what happened to the year and our goals. And to do that, we need to start off the new year correctly and keep the momentum going.

Speaking of the new year, I want to thank you for making 2005 such a success and I look forward to doing the same for you in 2006. Get SMART to Get Fit

I'm not sure who was creative enough to make the acronym work, but work it does and it can fit in quite nicely with your fitness goals.

If you want to succeed you need to get SMART about your goals.

SMART is a great way to help you stay on track and achieve your goals.

The S stands for specific. Be specific about the goals you want to achieve. Forget things like, "I want to get in shape", "I want to add muscle", or "I want to lose weight", or "I want to increase my bench press."

Instead try things like "I want to run a 6 minute mile", "I want to add 10 pounds of muscle", "I want to lose 20 pounds of fat, or "I want to add 40 pounds to my best bench press."

The M stands for measurable. This ties in very well with specific. You can't measure 'getting in shape", but you sure can measure 'running a 6 minute mile'.

With a pair of trusty skin fold calipers, you can also measure pretty accurately adding 10 pounds of muscle or losing 20 pounds of fat.

And of course, you can easily measure the poundage increase on your best bench press.

The specific and measurable aspect can be broken down even more to bring you closer to achieving your goals. For example, if you want to add 10 pounds of muscle, what other specific and measurable things must you do to reach your goal?

One could be that you must eat 6 high protein meals a day.

A second could be that you must eat 3,500 calories and 300 grams of protein every day.

You must train with weights three days per week.

You must add weight to your exercises at least every other workout.

All of these are specific and measurable. The more specifics that you have, the more likely you will add your 10 pounds of muscle as quickly as possible.

You can make a list of your daily, weekly, and monthly goals that you must do in order to meet your top goal of adding 10 pounds of muscle.

Each day, place a check mark next to each measurable and specific goal you achieved that will help you conquer your top goal. Obviously, the more checks you have, the more likely that you will achieve your goal.

In addition to specific and measurable, your goals must be A, or attainable. The R stands for realisitic. As I've said before, it's important to set challenging goals.

Challenging, but attainable, that is. A goal of a 50 pound increase on your bench press max in 12 weeks would be a challenging goal, but also one that is possible.

However, setting a goal of bench pressing 300 pounds in 4 weeks when you currently bench press 75 pounds will do nothing but set you up for failure and frustration.

Obviously, weight loss is on the minds of many people, which is why so many fall victim to promises like "lose 30 pounds in 30 days without getting hungry and without exercising."

As a reader of this newsletter, you know that the above is neither timely nor realistic. But many people do fall for such things because they want results NOW! They are setting themselves up for failure. Please don't join them.

The T stands for Timely. If you do everything previously mentioned, it's still not enough. You must give yourself a deadline to achieve your goal. More importantly, if your goal is attainable and realistic, but also long term, break it up into smaller goals.

If you wish to lose 75 pounds, start with losing just 10 pounds in 2 months. Reaching that goal will motivate you further and before you know it, enough time has passed that you've lost the 75 pounds.

But if you focus solely on losing the 75 pounds, which could take a year or more to accomplish, your motivation and discipline could wane, and you could fail to follow through on what you need to do to make your goal a reality.

Making goals timely hold you accountable and creates a positive sense of urgency. You may think twice about eating that piece of cake when you know you are having a body composition test and pictures taken in 2 weeks.

In addition to getting smart, celebrate your successes. And I don't mean that you should allow yourself to dust off a gallon of ice cream in one sitting because you lost 10 pounds. That would be self defeating.

But you could treat yourself to a movie, or a pair of jeans you've had your eye on, or an extra hour of sleeping in on the weekend. Don't sabotage your wonderful efforts by giving yourself destructive rewards for accomplishing your goals. From what I hear from a lot of people is that the motivation factor is very difficult. So that gave me an idea. You've seen me write about the postive aspects of putting pressure on yourself. So how about it? Start a 12 week program right now, send me a before picture, your measurements, goals, etc. and we'll monitor your progress right here in Fit Physique every step of the way. Forget showing us the before and after once you are finished. Show us a right now and maybe that will help motivate you these next 12 weeks. Myself and the Fit Physique family are with you every step of the way. There has to be at least one of you man (or woman) enough to take this challenge. Drop me an email here

If you haven't done so, check out my fitness newsletter at http://www.buildleanmuscle.com/ezine.html

Are you interested more in bodybuilding and building maximum muscle mass? Get your free copy of Fast Mass at http://www.buildleanmuscle.com/fast-mass.html

January 9, 2006 09:10 - Can Protein Help You Build Muscle and Lose Weight?

Can protein help you build muscle and lose weight? I better be careful. A few days have already passed. It's only the 9th and I've almost blown my resolution to post to this blog more often.

Okay, on to the topic of muscle building, fat loss and protein. I've previously talked up the calorie burning properties of protein regarding how it acts as a thermogenic, meaning that your body requires more calories to digest protein than it does for carbs or fat. More calories burned equals more fat loss.

High protein meals can also supress appetite by keeping your blood sugar levels satble. Thus, you don't get a huge release of insulin after a high protein meal that signals your body to begin storing fat. You also don't get the energy crash and the resulting hunger pangs.

One recent study at the University of Illinois found that obese women who consumed a high protein diet (1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight) and exercised (5 30-minute walks and two weight training sessions per week) lost more fat than women who exercised and consumed a mixed diet (0.8 g protein per kg) or consumed one of the diets without exercise. Both diets contained 1,700 calories, 30 percent fat and 17 grams of fiber.

Carbohydrate intake in the high protein group was above acceptable nutrient levels set by the Institute of Medicine.

Adequate protein intake is clealry a key in building muscle as well as losing fat, especially when on a lower calorie nutrition plan. When trying to lose fat, protein will help with the fat loss as well as helping to preserve muscle tissue, which also help fat loss indirectly, giving protein a double dose of fat loss effectiveness. Reference: J Nutr, 135:1904-1910, 2005

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January 12, 2006 09:25 - Where Should You Live for Building Muscle and Burning Fat?

It's that time of year again. Gym memberships skyrocket, you wait half an hour to use the piece of equipment you want, and you can't find an unused locker in the lockerroom. Welcome to the beginning of another year. But don't worry, by the end of February, things will be back to normal for the gym goers, as most of the resolution makers will be back home on the couch.

But not you. You're geared up for another great muscle building, fat burning year. You must live in one of these cities:

Top 10 Fittest Cities

1. Baltimore
2. Honolulu
3. Virginia Beach
4. Tucson
5. Milwaukee
6. Colorado Springs
7. San Francisco
8. Seattle
9. Louisville-Jefferson
10. Boston

Of course, if you are not interested in building muscle or losing fat, you'll fit in quite nicely in these cities:

Top 10 Fattest Cities

1. Chicago
2. Las Vegas
3. Los Angeles
4. Dallas
5. Houston
6. Memphis
7. Long Beach
8. El Paso
9. Kansas City
10. Mesa

Some interesting things that stand out to me. First off, congratulations to Baltimore. They were the 25th ranked fattest city last year. Awesome improvement. On the flip side, Los Angeles went from the 21st fittest city to the 3rd fattest. Oh, how fast the self-absorbed have fallen. How did LA make #3 on the fattest cities list? How could the city of narcisism, self-absorption, self-gratification, and liposuction be so fat? It boggles the mind.

Another interesting thing is that most of the 10 fattest cities are warm weather cities. I find that quite strange. When you live in a city like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Houston, Dallas, or El Paso, you have warm weather year 'round. You should be taking advantage of this to get lots of outdoor activities. And those outdoor activities are fantastic fat burners.

January 13, 2006 19:37 - Dreaded Leg Training Day, Or Is It?

Yesterday was leg day. Brutal. Squats. Stiff-legged Deadlifts. Nothing but pain and misery. Legs aching. Lower back and lungs screaming. Huffing and puffing like a freight train. Sweat pouring everywhere. Want nothing but to collapse on the floor halfway through the workout.

And you know what? I love it. Am I nuts? A different breed? Not at all. Be honest with yourself. Don't you feel great after a hard workout? And I don't mean great because your brutal muscle building fat loss session is over but great in general. There's nothing quite like the glow of postworkout fatigue, or the amazing postworkout high from the endorphin rush. It's awesome.

For those of you that don't get it, I wish I could accurately describe the feeling I get from a good, hard workout. Anyone who's been training for awhile knows exactly what I'm talking about. You achieve a natural high.

I love my training, wether it's a weight lifting session of heavy squats or a brutal cardio session of interval training and hill sprints. Not everyone does. But I believe this is more mental than anything. We don't think we are supposed to enjoy hard work. I disagree. I think that's exactly what we are supposed to do. You just need to change your mind set.

As Bradley J. Steiner once put it, "Proper weight training is pure gold." Of this, I have no doubt. Go spread the word.

If you haven't done so, check out my fitness newsletter at http://www.buildleanmuscle.com/ezine.html

Are you interested more in bodybuilding and building maximum muscle mass? Get your free copy of Fast Mass at http://www.buildleanmuscle.com/fast-mass.html

January 16, 2006 12:14 - Eat This Muscle Builder for Faster Fat Loss

One of the best muscle builders around can also help you achieve your fat loss goals. What am I talking about? Protein. Whey Protein to be more specific. We know a high protein intake is important for building muscle. But taking in a lot of protein also serves successful fat loss.

Protein helps prevent loss of muscle when on a calorie-restricted fat loss diet. It also is a natural thermogenic, meaning it takes more calories to digest high protein meals than it does for a meal with low or no protein. Eat more protein, burn more calories.

Protein also helps to surpress the appetite, which makes any fat loss diet easier to stick to. Studies have shown that protein induces a greater sense of fullness then either fat or carbohydrates.

Studies have shown that whey protein does a better job of casein when it comes to appetite supression. You can grab a free copy of Just Whey, a special report by nutritionist Will Brink by signing up for my free newsletter Fit N Healthy

Are you interested more in bodybuilding and building maximum muscle mass? Get your free copy of Fast Mass at http://www.buildleanmuscle.com/fast-mass.html

January 17, 2006 11:21 - 3 Keys to Accelerate Your Muscle Gains And Burn More Fat

Everyone who hits the weights wants to do two things: build muscle and lose fat. Here are three keys you can use to help you achieve more muscle building and faster fat loss.

First, you need to set a realistic, challenging and specific goal. Forget vague statements like 'I want to lose weight." Determine exactly how much muscle you want to build or fat you want to lose and write it down. For example, 'I want to lose 24 pounds of fat by April 1st, 2006." Now stick it where you'll see it everyday, such as on your bathroom mirror.

Second, find something that will get you motivated to kick ass with your training, nutrition and supplementation program. Some examples are an upcoming wedding, high school reunion, before and after contest, or some sort of competition, like a bodybuilding show or triatholon.

Finally, develop a solid plan. Even if you have a muscle building or fat loss goal, and you're motivated, it won't matter if you don't have an effective plan in place. To reach your goals, you need to have plans for your weight training, cardio, nutrition and supplementation. If you don't, you'll end up disappointed and frustrated with your lack of progress. Instead of reaching your goals, you'll end up quitting. You can get training, nutrition and motivational tips delivered right to your inbox by signing up for my free newsletter, Fit N Healthy

Are you interested more in bodybuilding and building maximum muscle mass? Get your free copy of Fast Mass at http://www.buildleanmuscle.com/fast-mass.html

January 18, 2006 07:43 - Can You Build Muscle and Burn Fat at the Same Time?

Build Muscle, Burn Fat

Can you really build muscle and burn fat at the same time? Or is that just reserved for the drug boys and girls? I know, I know, all those amazing before and after pics in the ads, right? But how real are they?

In a study reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (58:561-565), "Muscle Hypertrophy With Large Scale Weight Loss and Resistance Training," subjects took off fat while gaining muscle.

Fourteen women followed an 800 calorie, high protein diet (80 grams of protein, 97 grams of carbs and 10 grams of fat) - with seven of the women lifting weights for 30 to 40 minutes three days a week and the other seven women simply following the diet without exercise.

The study lasted for 90 days and the workout consisted of bench presses, pulldowns, military presses, pullovers, curls, tricep extensions, knee extensions, and knee flexion.

The two groups lost the same amount of weight - approximately 33 pounds. The lifting group, however, actually increased muscle mass by 21 to 27 percent, while the non-lifting group lost muscle, along with fat.

"These results indicate that weight training can elicit muscle fiber hypertrophy during periods of severe energy restriction," said the researchers. "Strength declined in the sedentary group during the weight reduction but increased in the weight-trained group."

The key to successful weight loss is weigh training - not walking, or any other low intensity cardio program - and a high protein diet. In the study, 40 percent of calories came from protein, as opposed to most fat loss diets that call for only 15 to 20 percent protein.

Now, let's get a few things straight. This is not an endorsement of severe calorie restriction. Even if you get results initially, eventually your body will rebel with a lower metabolism, muscle loss and fat gain.

However, it does show you that when you properly apply the fundamentals of proper weight training and nutrition, you can build muscle while you burn fat, and completely reshape your body.

Grab more great information and tips on training, nutrition, health, cardio and supplementation for burning fat and building muscle by signing up for my free newsletter Fit N Healthy

Are you interested more in bodybuilding and building maximum muscle mass? Get your free copy of Fast Mass

January 23, 2006 08:33 - 5 Tips for Burning More Calories Today

When trying to lose fat and build some muscle so you can reshape your body, you need to find simple tricks to eliminate or burning more calories, whether it's through your weight training and cardio program, or through your nutrition plan.

1) Eat more vegetables. Try mixing and matching fresh vegetables for variety. Besides the numerous health benefits, most veggies are full of fiber, which will fill you up, as well as burn more calories than eating other foods.

2) Go ahead and snack, just snack on good stuff, like raisins, nuts (especially almonds) veggies and dried fruit. It's important to eat frequently when trying to lose fat or build muscle. Going too long between meals will burn off muscle and cause your body to store fat. In addition, you are more likely to binge and eat a whole lot of food you shouldn't eat.

3) Speaking of nuts, add nuts to your yogurt and salads. Chopped nuts make a great alternative to “breaded” style garnishes like croutons.

4) Specific food combinations can help to burn calories by ramping up your metabolism. Eat carbs that are rich in fiber. They take longer to digest and you will feel “fuller” for longer periods of time. Along with carbs rich in fiber, take in more protein. Your body burns more calories when you eat protein than it burns digesting either fats or carbohydrates. Want to burn fat or build muscle? Get lots of fiber and protein.

5) Yogurt can help you lose weight while protecting muscle. A recent study of overweight people who ate three servings of yogurt daily for 12 weeks lost 22% more weight, 61% more body fat and 81% more abdominal fat than people who ate a similar number of calories but no dairy products. Make sure to get yogurt with real fruit and no added sugar. Yogurt is also an easy and convenient snack and containg high quality protein as well.

Put these 5 tips into practice and your new muscle building, fat burning machine (your body) will reward you for it.

Grab more great information and tips on training, nutrition, health, cardio and supplementation for burning fat and building muscle by signing up for my free newsletter Fit N Healthy

Are you interested more in bodybuilding and building maximum muscle mass? Get your free copy of Fast Mass

January 28, 2006 11:19 - Build Muscle and Burn Fat Instantly With No Effort?

Of course, the answer is no way. But you wouldn't know it from the infomercial I saw this morning. I can't believe stuff like this still sells. What was it? Just another one of those "shock" belts. Strap it on your abdominals and watch your muscles "tone up" as you "burn fat" with no effort. Yeah, right. Get a grip. I almost felt like calling the order number to yell at them to stop ripping people off.

Look, don't fall for these scams. While some of us may not want to hear it, it's going to take some effort to build muscle and lose fat. You can't do it lying on a couch with some new fangled belt strapped to your abs. You need a good nutrition plan, the right weight training workout and the properly designed and implemented cardio program. Then, and only then, will you create the body you want by building muscle and burning fat. It is possible and you can do it.

Grab more great information and tips on training, nutrition, health, cardio and supplementation for burning fat and building muscle by signing up for my free newsletter Fit N Healthy

Are you interested more in bodybuilding and building maximum muscle mass? Get your free copy of Fast Mass

January 29, 2006 11:19 - A Simple Technique for More Muscle Mass

Contantly pounding your body with heavy weights and low reps can take it's toll on you, both physically and mentally. Squats may be the most beneficial weight lifting exercise you can do. However, putting hundreds of pounds on your back workout after workout, always trying to better your performance, can kill your motivation. The same goes for any of the best exercises - deadlifts, bench press, shoulder press, stiff-legged deadlift, etc. So what do you do to increase your muscle mass when you find yourself grinding down on the most important exercises?

A technique that I use to break out of a rut, and one that will kickstart your motivation and new muscle mass growth, is plain old vanilla pre-exhaustion. Sure, it's been around a long time but how many people do you see use it consistently? And why should they? Because it flat out works!

For those of you that may not be familiar with the technique, pre-exhaustion works like this. It's nothing more than a superset, which is performing two different exercises back to back with no rest in between. However, the selection and order of the two exercises is specific to pre-exhaustion. While you could superset bent over barbell rows and bench presses, that's not a pre-exhaust set.

Pre-exhaustion involves using a single-joint (or isolation) exercise, followed immediately by a multi-joint (or compound) exercise that works the same muscle group. So what's the point of pre-exhaustion and how can you use it effectively to break out of a rut and build more muscle mass?

The pre-exhaustion technique is beneficial in a few ways. First of all, it increases your level of intensity. How does it do this? By allowing you to perform more work in less time. And we know that increasing your intensity level over time leads to more muscle gain.

The pre-exhaustion technique also allows you to pre-fatigue a muscle group, thus possibly bypassing a weak link in a specific exercise, which again allows you to increase the intensity of an exercise.

For example, for many people their weak link on the bench press is their triceps. Unless you're naturally barrel chested, a good portion of the rep on the bench press is performed by the tricep. By utilizing an isolation movement first, like the pec deck or cable crossover, you fatigue the pec muscles. This allows the fresh triceps to help fatigue the pecs even more on the next exercise, the bench press.

This technique can also help you mentally by giving you a break from the huge poundaged on the compound movements. How does it do that? Obviously, you have to lighten the load on the compound movements when you do them right after a set of the isolation exercise.

Another variation of the technique is to continue to perform straight sets but do so in a certain order. For example, you may perform three straight sets of 10 reps on the pec deck and then move on to your three sets of the bench press. You may even want to use both in different periods of time. Or experiment with both pre-exhuast technique to see which one you prefer.

Either way, you'll get a fresh workout that can help you break through ruts and start building muscle mass again.

Grab more great information and tips on training, nutrition, health, cardio and supplementation for burning fat and building muscle by signing up for my free newsletter Fit N Healthy

Are you interested more in bodybuilding and building maximum muscle mass? Get your free copy of Fast Mass

January 30, 2006 11:10 - Try This Muscle Building Fat Burning Solution

A lot of gyms nowadays have a smoothie bar. Everyone is figuring out how important it is to get the proper nutrition right after a muscle building, fat burning workout. But there are two good reasons not to hit that smoothie bar after your workout. One is the price. It's sort of like buying a beer at a baseball game. You might have to take out a loan.

The second problem is that you can't control exactly what is in the smoothie. Even health bar smoothies may contain lots of hidden calories that are high in fat and sugar, like sherbert, frozen yogurt and various forms of high-fructose corn syrup.

Creating your own muscle building fat burning smoothie allows you to control the cost and the ingredients. And that's a plus, both to your wallet and your physique.

Your muscles can't grow witout the proper nutrition and that nutrition is vitally important right after a hard weight training session. And that means loading up on the right protein and the right carbs at the right time - immediately after your workout. You can prepare your post-workout shake before you hit the gym, stick it in a thermos and take it with you to store in your locker. Here are two versions of my favorite post-workout shake. The first one involves a specific post-worktout powder called RecoverX by Muscle Link. It's designed just for after your weight lifting session. It includes fast acting carbohydrates and hydrolized whey protein islolates. This version of whey is more digestable and faster acting, so it can start helping your muscles immediately.

The second version will do pretty much the same thing, without getting RecoverX.

Muscle Building Fat Burning Shake 1 serving RecoverX
1 serving Creatine
1 cup frozen fruit (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries)

Mix in a blender. You can alter how much of the powder and fruit you use to get the appropriate number of calories you want.

Or you can try this version of the muscle building fat burning post-workout shake:

1 1/2 cups of Orange Juice
40 grams of whey protein isolate (I use vanilla)
1 serving Creatine
1 cup frozen fruit (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries)

You can alter this any number of ways to suit your taste buds. You could add banana, or even some yogurt, which will also make the shake a little thicker in its consistency.

One thing I've found that has helped my progress is to add a few more calories than I normally would and then drink part of the smoothie right before my workout, or even sip some of it during my workout so my muscles are constantly getting the nutrients they need, both to power my workout and to recover from it.

If your goal is purely burning fat, you don't have to add more calories, just have about a third of your shake before your workout and the rest as soon as you've finished your training session.

Consider creating your own pre and post-workout muscle building smoothies so you can start adding new muscle mass fast.

Grab more great information and tips on training, nutrition, health, cardio and supplementation for burning fat and building muscle by signing up for my free newsletter Fit N Healthy

Are you interested more in bodybuilding and building maximum muscle mass? Get your free copy of Fast Mass