How to Lose Belly Fat as Fast as Humanly Possible

How to Lose Belly Fat as Fast as Humanly Possible

How to Build Muscle at 40 and Beyond

How to Build Muscle at 40 and Beyond

An apple a day keeps your heart healthy | GulfNews.com

An apple a day keeps your heart healthy | GulfNews.com

How to Build a Core of Steel

By Christian Finn

You’ve read a lot about how important it is to have a strong core.

But you’ve come across plenty of different opinions about the best way to get one.

Some say that squats and deadlifts build all the core strength you’ll ever need.

Others will tell you that the best way to strengthen your core is to spend time on a Swiss ball, BOSU ball or other “unstable” surface.

The term “core” causes a lot of confusion, mainly because everyone seems to have a different opinion about what it is.

For most people, the core is just another name for the abdominals. But the term actually refers to a much larger collection of muscles that stabilize the spine. These muscles work together to keep the spine as close to neutral – its naturally curved state – as possible.

Neutral spine isn’t a single position that your spine never moves from. Think of it as a neutral zone, or a range that your spine can move within while remaining relatively healthy. A lack of spinal stability can lead to movement outside of this zone, which in turn increases the risk of pain and/or tissue damage.

“When we talk about stability, what we really mean is that we want the lower back – the lumbar spine – to move as little as possible when it faces a challenge,” explains Lou Schuler in The New Rules of Lifting for Abs. “This small range of movement is called the neutral zone. The smaller and tighter it is, the more stability you have.”

When muscles contract, they create stiffness. Not only does muscular stiffness stabilize the spine and reduce the risk of tissue damage, it’s also a requirement as far as optimal athletic performance is concerned.

In the video below, Professor Stuart McGill, an expert in spine function at the University of Waterloo in Canada, explains why a “stiff” core is so important in sports that rely on strength, speed and power.

When the core is mentioned in this context (i.e. as a way of transmitting power) it usually refers to the muscles of the trunk and hips — basically, anything that isn’t the head, arms or legs.

It’s a lot more than just the abdominals and lower back, and extends from your shoulders all the way down to biceps femoris, which is the hamstring muscle that crosses the hip [2, 9].

Does exercise on an unstable surface lead to greater activation of the core muscles?

Performing an exercise on an unstable surface, such as sitting on a Swiss ball or standing on a BOSU ball, is supposed to place greater emphasis on some of the muscles in your core, helping to improve core stability, protect against back pain, improve athletic performance, and so on.

Such exercises often appear a lot harder than their more stable counterparts. That’s mainly because you’re working so hard to stay balanced. And because of their high novelty factor, they often create the impression that they’re superior to their more stable counterparts.

There is research out there to show that an exercise performed on an unstable surface leads to higher levels of core muscle activity than that same exercise performed on the ground [2].

Squatting with a light weight on a couple of inflatable discs, for example, leads to greater activation of muscles in the torso than squatting with that same weight on the floor [1].

The big limitation with many of these studies is that they involve the use of relatively light weights. Which is a problem, because most people can lift a much heavier weight when they’re standing on the floor than they can while wobbling about on an unstable surface.

What happens when you compare differences in muscle activity using loads that take into account the fact that you can lift more weight on a stable rather than an unstable surface?

That’s exactly what researchers from Eastern Illinois University wanted to find out [7]. They looked at muscle activation in a group of 12 trained men who performed four different exercises – the deadlift, squat, overhead press, and barbell curl – at two intensities (50% of 1-RM and 75% of 1-RM) while standing on both a stable and unstable surface (BOSU ball).

Muscle activity in the abdominals and lower back was not significantly different when subjects performed the deadlift, squat, overhead press, and barbell curl using a light weight while standing on a BOSU ball rather than on the floor.

What’s more, there was no significant difference in muscle activity between the stable 75% of 1-RM and unstable 50% of 1-RM conditions for the external obliques and lower back across all four lifts.

But when the overhead press was done on a stable surface using a heavier weight, rectus abdominis (the six-pack muscle) was worked a lot harder than it was during the same exercise on a BOSU ball using a lighter weight.

Performed on a stable surface, the overhead press and barbell curl also delivered a decent level of stimulation (40-50% of their maximal voluntary contraction, or MVC for short) to the deeper abdominal muscles.

There is a time and a place for instability. Some of the exercises in the video below, for example, use instability to place greater emphasis on the core musculature.

And physical therapists have been using unstable exercise devices (e.g. Wobble boards and Rocker boards) for years to help with the rehabilitation of knee and ankle injuries [10].

But with few exceptions, training with a light weight on an unstable surface isn’t going to work the core muscles any harder than the exact same exercise done with a heavier weight on a stable surface.

Are squats and deadlifts all you need to train your core?

Squats and deadlifts render all direct abdominal work completely redundant, as both exercises provide all the stimulation your abs will ever need.

That’s the theory, anyway. But the research paints a very different picture.

Squats and deadlifts do work many of the core muscles. But it’s mainly the ones in your back, especially the spinal erectors – those cable-like muscles that run up either side of your spine.

In fact, squats and deadlifts do a better job at working the spinal erectors than the quadruped, pelvic thrust, side bridge and back extension exercises performed on a Swiss ball [3, 6].

During the deadlift in particular, they work very hard to keep your spine in its naturally arched position. Powerlifters have such well-developed spinal erectors mainly because of all the work those muscles do to prevent the spine from bending.

Squats and deadlifts are just fine for developing the posterior aspects of the core. Quadratus lumborum, a small but important muscle in the lower back that helps to stabilize the spine, is also heavily involved during the deadlift [4].

However, neither exercise does much for the anterior core, which is currently the trendy way to refer to the abs.

The figure below comes from Dr. Jeffrey McBride, a Professor in Biomechanics at Appalachian State University. He measured muscle activation in the abdominal muscles of trained lifters performing a number of different exercises.

As you can see, squats and deadlifts – even when you’re using a heavy weight that’s 80-90% of your 1-RM – don’t hit rectus abdominis particularly hard.

In fact, the overhead press triggers greater rectus abdominis activity than both the deadlift and squat [7]. But it’s still relatively low (around 10% of its MVC) compared to exercises like the rollout or even the curl-up.

Someone who can perform a standing overhead press with their bodyweight and deadlift twice their bodyweight will have developed a very high level of core strength simply by focusing on getting stronger in both exercises.

But for complete core development, squats, deadlifts and presses aren’t enough, and you’ll need exercises that work the abs directly. I’ve listed some of my favorite ones here.

While I’m on the subject of core training, I want to briefly mention the issue of spinal rotation.

Probably the most popular “spinal rotation” exercise is the broom handle twist, which is without doubt one of the most pointless exercises ever invented.

That’s not to say there’s no need to train the muscles that twist the torso. But there are far better ways to do it than twisting from side to side with a broom handle on your back.

Rather than rotation, think resisted rotation. And by resisted rotation, I’m talking about exercises that require you to resist forces trying to pull your torso around to the left or the right.

You’re still training the muscles involved in spinal rotation, but you’re doing so in a way that poses less risk to the spine.

Let’s take the Single Arm Dumbbell Row as an example. Although this is primarily an exercise to work the muscles in your back, the external obliques (the muscles on the side of your waist) are also involved. That’s because they’re actively preventing your torso from twisting.

Remember, many of the muscles in the torso can be trained very effectively bypreventing movement rather than producing it. An exercise doesn’t have to involve an actual twist to work the twisting muscles.

The Long Lever Plank Shoulder Tap, demonstrated in the video below by Ben Bruno, is another good example of what I mean.

In the starting position, you’re resisting spinal extension (arching your back), which makes this a particularly effective exercise for working rectus abdominis. Removing one of the contact points (your hand) from the floor introduces an element of instability, which then requires your body to resist rotation.

If you find this exercise too difficult, keep your hands under your shoulders in a push-up position rather than out in front of your body.

Exercises that involve resisted rotation are a far better choice than those involving actual rotation, such as the Russian Twist or Windshield Wiper, both of which make me cringe every time I see someone doing them.

If you have a history of back injury, or even if you have a healthy, pain-free back and want it to stay that way, I’d highly recommend that you steer clear of any exercise that involves this type of movement.

That doesn’t mean you should avoid rotation altogether. But make sure the movement comes from the hip, and allow the hip and back to move together at the same time, almost as if they were fused together. Watch the video below to see exactly what I mean.

Building a core of steel doesn’t need to be complicated, time consuming or boring. Nor does it require exercising on a Swiss ball, BOSU ball or any other surface that isn’t the floor.

In fact, many of the muscles in your core work very hard to prevent spinal movement during exercises like squats, deadlifts, single-arm rows, rollouts/walkouts, and standing presses. These movements build not just core strength but whole-body strength as well.

SHAMELESS PLUG: Muscle Evo wraps up all my best ideas and advice into a complete science-based training program that you can use to build muscle, burn fat and get strong. Click here for more.

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About Christian Finn

Christian Finn holds a master's degree in exercise science, is a certified personal trainer and has been featured on BBC TV and radio, as well as in Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Fit Pro, Zest, and Perfect Body magazine. Connect with Christian onFacebook, Twitter or Google+.

References

1. Anderson K, Behm DG. (2005). Trunk muscle activity increases with unstable squat movements. Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology, 30, 33-45

2. Behm DG, Drinkwater EJ, Willardson JM, Cowley PM. (2010). The use of instability to train the core musculature. Applied Physiology Nutrition and Metabolism, 35, 91-108

3. Hamlyn N, Behm DG, Young WB. (2007). Trunk muscle activation during dynamic weight-training exercises and isometric instability activities. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 21, 1108-1112

4. McGill SM. (1997). Distribution of tissue loads in the low back during a variety of daily and rehabilitation tasks. Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, 34, 448-458

5. McGill S, Juker D, Kropf P. (1996). Quantitative intramuscular myoelectric activity of quadratus lumborum during a wide variety of tasks. Clinical Biomechanics, 11, 170-172

6. Nuzzo JL, McCaulley GO, Cormie P, Cavill MJ, McBride JM. (2008). Trunk muscle activity during stability ball and free weight exercises. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 22, 95-102

7. Willardson JM, Fontana FE, Bressel E. (2009). Effect of surface stability on core muscle activity for dynamic resistance exercises. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 4, 97-109

8. McGill SM, McDermott A, Fenwick CM. (2009). Comparison of different strongman events: trunk muscle activation and lumbar spine motion, load, and stiffness. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 23, 1148-1161

9. Behm DG, Drinkwater EJ, Willardson JM, Cowley PM. (2010). Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology position stand: The use of instability to train the core in athletic and nonathletic conditioning. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 35, 109-112

10. Behm D, Colado JC. (2012). The effectiveness of resistance training using unstable surfaces and devices for rehabilitation. International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, 7, 226-241

From: http://muscleevo.net/how-to-build-a-core-of-steel/#.Uq2QLtIW2So

Blending vs Juicing

Why a Brisk Walk Is Better

Why a Brisk Walk Is Better

By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS

Walking, fast or slow, is wonderful exercise. But now a first-of-its-kind study shows that to get the most health benefits from walking, many of us need to pick up the pace.

The findings stem from a new analysis of the National Walkers’ Health Study, a large database of information maintained at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory about thousands of middle-age men and women who walk regularly for exercise. Recruited beginning in 1998 at walking events and from lists of subscribers to walking-related publications, these volunteers filled out a lengthy survey about their typical walking distance and pace, as well as their health history and habits.

As most of us would likely guess, walking is the most popular physical activity in America. But people who walk for exercise do so at wildly varying speeds and intensities. Some stroll at a leisurely 2 miles per hour, which is low-intensity exercise. Others zip along at twice that pace or better, resulting in a sweatier workout.

Exercise guidelines generally suggest that for health purposes, people should engage in 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity most days of the week. For walkers, a moderately intense pace would probably be about 15 or 16 minutes per mile.

It has generally been assumed that if people walk more slowly but expend the same total energy as brisk walkers — meaning that they spend more time walking — they should gain the same health benefits. But few large-scale studies have directly compared the impact of moderate- and light-intensity walking, especially in terms of longevity.

To do so, Paul T. Williams, a statistician at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, gathered data about 7,374 male and 31,607 female participants from the walkers’ health study, who represented almost every speed of fitness walker, from sluggish to swift. His findings were published online this month in PLoS One.

Dr. Williams divided participants into four numerically equal categories, based on their normal pace. Those in Category 1, the fleetest, averaged less than 13.5 minutes per mile, putting them on the cusp of jogging, while those in Category 4, the slowest, strolled at a relatively dilatory 17 minutes or more per mile. The majority of the walkers in this group in fact required at least 20 minutes to complete a mile, and many had a pace of 25 minutes or more per mile. (Interestingly, on average, female walkers were faster than men in all of the categories.)

Next, Dr. Williams cross-referenced his data against that in the essential if somewhat ghoulish National Death Index to determine which of the almost 39,000 walkers had died in the decade or so since they had joined the survey and from what.

It turned out that nearly 2,000 of the walkers had died. More telling, these deaths disproportionately were clustered among the slowest walkers. Those in Category 4 were about 18 percent more likely to have died from any cause than those in the other three categories and were particularly vulnerable to deaths from heart disease and dementia.

Unexpectedly, the death rate remained high among the slowest walkers, even if they met or exceeded the standard exercise guidelines and expended as much energy per day as someone walking briskly for 30 minutes. This effect was most pronounced among the slowest of the slow walkers, whose pace was 24 minutes per mile or higher. They were 44 percent more likely to have died than walkers who moved faster, even if they met the exercise guidelines.

One important inference of these statistics is that intensity matters, if you are walking for health. “Our results do suggest that there is a significant health benefit to pursuing a faster pace,” Dr. Williams said. Pushing your body, he said, appears to cause favorable physiological changes that milder exercise doesn’t replicate.

But there are nuances and caveats to that conclusion. The slowest walkers may have harbored underlying health conditions that predisposed them to both a tentative walking pace and early death. But that possibility underscores a subtle takeaway of the new study, Dr. Williams said. Measuring your walking speed, he pointed out, could provide a barometer of your health status.

So check yours, your spouse’s or perhaps your parents’ pace. The process is easy. Simply find a 400-meter track and, using a stopwatch, have everyone walk at his or her normal speed. If a circuit of the track takes someone 6 minutes or more, that person’s pace is 24 minutes per mile or slower, and he or she might consider consulting a doctor about possible health issues, Dr. Williams said.

Then, with medical clearance, the slow walkers probably should try ramping up their speed, gradually.

The most encouraging news embedded in the new study is that longevity rises with small improvements in pace. The walkers in Category 3, for instance, moved at a speed only a minute or so faster per mile than some of those in the slowest group, but they enjoyed a significant reduction in their risk of dying prematurely.

A New York Times piece on why walking is better when you pick up the pace
Well.blogs.nytimes

Fitness Training Plan

How To Create a Fitness Training Plan

How many pounds do you want to lose? Five, ten, fifty, two hundred?

You may be able to lose five pounds by starting to eat breakfast everyday, but it is going to take more than that to achieve the hefty goals. Your hefty goals are achievable though! They will take some work and you are going to need a plan, but it is worth it. As the saying goes “failing to plan is planning to fail”. If you fail to plan, don't expect to meet your goals, but if you have a solid fitness training plan, your chances of succeeding will be much higher.

Let's look at three parts of a fitness plan that you are going to need to have: the what, how often, and when.

The what

Diet. Yes, the inevitable diet lecture. Nothing will affect your health more than your diet. You can lift weights all day long and not lose a pound if your diet doesn't permit you. I suggest implementing three simple tips, from there you can decide if there is a more specific diet plan that you would like to follow.

1. Drink water before each time you eat. When we feel hungry, many times we are actually just thirsty. Drinking water before each time you eat (one or two glasses) is able to help you discern when you are actually hungry and even if you are hungry, water can sometimes help as an appetite suppressant.

2. Do not eat after 8pm. At night your body is slowing down. It is trying to “take it easy” and get ready for bed. If you keep stuffing it with food, your body is going to have to work more during the night to digest the food that you eating.

3. Radical substitution. If you are trying to meet weight loss goals, junk food is your enemy. Substituting your unhealthy food with healthy food can make a huge difference in your eating habits. Since junk food is your enemy, you need to see it as an enemy and treat it like an enemy. Getting junk food out of your house and replacing it with fruits, veggies, healthy crackers, etc. will go a long way. If you don't have a certain food in your house, there is a much smaller chance of you eating it.

Exercise. Exercising can sometimes seem intimidating, but it doesn't have to be. You don't need to be Arnold Schwarzenegger or bench press a car, start small. Start somewhere. That could mean taking a 5 minute walk around your house every morning before work. That could mean doing 5 push-ups and sit-ups before you go to bed. You don't have to have a gym membership and $200 running shoes to be able to exercise. Chose a starting point, even if it may seem insignificant, and go from there.

Sleep Studies show that those who do not get a significant amount of rest, gain weight compared to those who sleep more. When your body is tired it can be harder to control your appetite. Eating late at night, through the middle of the night, and eating junk food is all capable of ruining your overall weight loss plan.

How often

Some may suggest that if your following a diet you can have a “splurge day”. While I see the point, I think it would beneficial to stay away from “splurging” and keep your diet going 24/7/365. Your goal is not just to lose weight, it is to live a healthy lifestyle, so that you can maintain that weight loss and live a healthier life. “Splurging” will keep you familiar with how good that junk food tastes and, if you do have an addiction to sugar, it could keep your addiction alive.

So how often should you stick to your diet? All the time. That doesn't mean your diet has to be super strict or vegan, but try to have a “lifestyle change” mindset, not just a “diet change” mindset. If junk food is the enemy of your goals, it would be wise to stay away from it 24/7.

When deciding how often you should exercise, consider your schedule and base your exercise routine around that. We only have so many hours in a day and keeping your priorities inline is critical. If your weekends are often free, it may be smart to schedule workouts on Saturday, Sunday, and then one day through the week. If your time is very limited and you can only workout once or twice a week, then do that. Just make sure you start somewhere. One of the most common reasons people don't finish their endeavors is because they fail to even start them. Start moving in the right direction and do something.

When

Deciding what time of the time you will workout is actually more critical than you think. It's safe to say that if you are not able to be consistent with a specific time of day, it will be difficult to be consistent in implementing your overall plan. Your exercise routine could be scheduled for different times on different days, but sticking to what you have planned as much as possible is critical to your long-term discipline and success.

Don't wait, create your fitness training plan today! I hope you were encouraged to start moving towards your health goals. 

(An article submitted by tonycollege on www.fitness.com)

Dr. Mercola Discusses The Importance of Juicing

On Alcohol, Exercise, and the Big T - and an Introduction to Muscle Evo

By Christian Finn

Will drinking alcohol after lifting weights help you build muscle faster?

That’s the question sent in by one Muscle Evo reader, who wants my opinion about a recent study showing that a post-exercise alcoholic drink led to a large rise in testosterone.

Given that alcohol is thought to lower testosterone, that’s pretty much the exact opposite of what you’d expect to happen.

What’s going on? Will drinking a few pints of beer after a workout really raise your testosterone levels? And if so, will doing so help you build muscle faster?

For the study, a group of eight resistance-trained men completed two bouts of resistance exercise (six sets of 10 repetitions of Smith machine squats) separated by one week [4].

Ten minutes after completing their last set, the men were given either a placebo or an alcoholic drink. The amount of alcohol in the drink was based on the men’s bodyweight, and averaged just over 80 grams. That’s roughly what you’ll get from a bottle of wine (13.5% alcohol) or 3-5 pints (depending on the strength) of beer.

The figure below shows you what happened to free testosterone levels before (PRE), immediately after (IP), as well as 20–40, 60–120 and 140–300 minutes after exercise.

As you can see, free testosterone levels shot up when the men were given alcohol (white bars) rather than a placebo (grey bars) after training.

It’s easy to get excited when you come across research showing that something, be it a particular type of exercise, change in diet or exotic herbal extract, leads to a rise in testosterone.

Most assume that higher levels of testosterone in the blood are a “good thing” because it means that more of the hormone is being produced, which in turn will mean faster gains in size and strength.

But it’s an assumption that’s wrong on a couple of counts.

Firstly, there are actually two reasons that testosterone levels in the blood can rise – an increase in the rate of production or a decrease in the rate at which it leaves the blood pool.

A change in testosterone levels after exercise, be it up or down, doesn’t tell you that more or less of the hormone is being produced. All it tells you is that the difference between the rate of production and the rate of clearance has changed.

Although your liver is responsible for clearing much of the testosterone from your system, your muscles also have an important role to play. In fact, there’s a direct link between the amount of muscle you have and the rate at which the metabolic clearance of testosterone takes place [1].

For testosterone to do all the things we know and love as far as muscle growth is concerned, it needs to be “taken up” by muscle tissue.

The fact that drinking alcohol after exercise raises testosterone levels isn’t necessarily a good thing, as it could indicate some kind of reduction in muscle uptake. Animal research shows that six weeks of alcohol consumption reduces the ability of muscle tissue to take up testosterone [5].

“Thus, the primary finding of this study, that total and bioavailable testosterone concentrations were elevated write after postresistance exercise ethanol ingestion, should be interpreted with care,” write the researchers.

“If testosterone release is increased, this could be beneficial; however, if muscle uptake is reduced, this could be detrimental to the desired adaptations.”

You also need to ask yourself just how important a short-term change in testosterone levels after exercise really is.

For example, some people are surprised to learn that a protein supplement taken before and after a workout can actually lower testosterone [2].

If this post-exercise hormonal dip had any kind of negative impact on muscular gains, you’d expect such a finding to have shown up in the research by now. But it hasn’t.

While the data on pre- and post-exercise supplements is a bit of a mixed bag(some studies show they help while others show they make no difference), there’s no convincing evidence to suggest that they actually put the brakes on muscle growth.

There’s also surprisingly little research to show that the short-term change in blood testosterone levels after exercise has any great consequence as far as muscle growth is concerned.

In one of the most recent studies on the subject, researchers found no link between the post-exercise change in free testosterone levels and the amount of muscle growth following 16 weeks of resistance training [3].

Testosterone does have an impact on the speed at which your muscles grow. But it does so only when it’s taken above or below its normal physiological range for an extended period of time.

Finally, this study measured hormone levels for up to 300 minutes after a workout. For all we know, the post-exercise rise in testosterone could have been offset by a much greater drop over the subsequent 24 hours.

In fact, one study found that a very large intake of alcohol (around 120 grams) after exercise led to a significant drop in testosterone that was still apparent the following day [8].

In short, the finding that a post-exercise alcoholic drink raises testosterone levels has very little practical application for you. It’s one to file in the “interesting but largely irrelevant” drawer.

SHAMELESS PLUG: Muscle Evo wraps up all my best ideas and advice into a complete science-based training program that you can use to build muscle, burn fat and get strong. Click here for more.

http://muscleevo.net/alcohol-testosterone/#.Upvc-NJmim4