Strength training, fat loss, body composition, supplements and health advice from one of London (UK)'s leading personal trainers
Thursday, 7 March 2013
You should incorporate at least one lifting from the floor exercise in your weekly routine.
Funky socks are optional.
Look into the mirror. What can you see? I see a gathering force that is ready to be unleashed, a weakling that wants to become a beast, an animal that is caged and just waiting to be released, and a wolf in the night who is preparing to eat. I’m ready to attack and proceed.
Recently, I grew tired of lifting light and finally decided to go heavier. Here, I just started strength training with 275 for squats. I managed to rep it 4 times with slow form. I’m a lot stronger than I thought I was. My new goal is to squat at least 320 x 8 with perfect form by the end of summer, which is twice my weight.
#bodybuilding #gym #lift #train #fitness #passion
Many people know, in theory, that in order to burn a pound of fat in a week, you need to burn roughly 3500 calories.
And that usually means cutting calories throughout the week, either by diet or through exercise.
In order to burn that pound of fat, you would need to burn an estimated 500 calories – per day.
Now, healthy recommendations for weight loss are to lose at least ONE to TWO pounds per week.
So in theory, you will be doubling the above number - looking to burn 500, if not MORE – calories throughout the day and week.
But there may be one problem: not everyone loses the same amount day in and day out.
In fact, if you regularly weigh yourself throughout the week, you may find yourself down only half a pound – or even less – as your week progresses.
The Reason for Slow Weight Loss
Of course, there are many reasons for slow weight loss.
Things such as emotional eating, poor food choices, and skipping meals may all play a large role in the amount of weight you will lose.
The fact is: Unless you eat the same thing – day in and day out – then you can almost guarantee that your weight will fluctuate throughout the week.
The reason for this is also pretty simple: some days may lead to eating more, cutting less, and no exercise.
And these may lead to smaller than normal decreases on the scale – or sometimes - no decrease at all.
Let’s take a look at how calories translate onto the scale (these are just estimates and may vary):
0.1 pounds = 350 calories
0.2 pounds = 700 calories
0.3 pounds = 1050 calories
0.4 pounds = 1400 calories
Do you see a pattern?
For every tenth of a pound, you would need to burn roughly 350 calories.
And that again, could be from diet, exercise, or a combination of the two.
So how can you start burning today?
Here are some good tips:
Two Ways To Boost Calorie Burn
Here are two good ways to burn more fat throughout the week:
1. High Intensity Exercise
Now, exercise is a great way to expend extra calories.
But, be warned, it does NOT give you the leeway to eat more or eat crappy foods! It just doesn’t work that way!
The best type of exercise to do is any form of interval training, high intensity training, or sprint training.
Why?
These forms of training may result in increased caloric burn both DURING and AFTER the exercise has been completed.
Basically, you would be alternating between HIGH and LOW periods of exercise bouts. For example, the high would be sprinting for 30 seconds and the low would be running/jogging for ONE to TWO minutes.
This type of training has been linked to increase lean muscle mass and expending a greater amount of calories from fat.
And this is great for SPIKING your metabolism.
2. Substitute
When it comes to diet, most people think that you need to be extremely strict with your calories.
And this would be true – to a degree.
By making smart substitutions, you could alter your caloric intake, therefore limiting the amount of calories you are eating throughout the day.
Combine this with the tip above and you may find yourself shedding layers of fat in no time.
What’s a good example of a substitution?
Instead of having bread for your lunch sandwich, wrap up your meat in a big lettuce leaf. This will provide a low-calorie food option, a fiber-rich vegetable source, and a good relief from the complex carbohydrate you may find in bread.
However, be warned: you should include some sort of fat (e.g. TBL olive oil, avocado, or coconut oil) in order to round out the plate and leave you feeling more satisfied instead of starving.
Try These Two Steps on For Size
If you’re looking to boost your fat loss results – then you need to do ONE important thing.
And that is to burn more calories than you are eating!
It seems like a pretty simple concept, however, it may be harder than most people think.
But if you do the two things above – perform high intensity exercise and substitute lower-calorie options – then you may find yourself on the right path to better weight and fat loss.
Since it is intestinal health month, we decided to graphically bring you health information concerning probably the most important part of the whole intestinal system: Poo.
Poo really is no laughing matter. Much can be learned about your intestinal health, and your overall health for that matter, by the state of your feces.
Everything from the shape, size, smell, color, could indicate disease, poor diet, or something else. Even the color and smell of your urine can give you a hint about your overall health.
I looked around the Web for some of the best graphics to help you understand your own digestive health a little bit better. And since the average human will produce 9,000 pounds of poo over their lifetimes, this should help everyone:
The hormone testosterone is associated with body fat and muscle mass in men: Low testosterone means you’ll have more body fat, less muscle, and put yourself at risk of disease. It is also an important hormone for women, however, the key is to keep everything in balance for both sexes.
To do this, you have to make sure you aren’t lacking key nutrients, or engaging in habits that compromise your testosterone levels such as being sleep deprived, drinking alcohol, or exposing yourself to hormone disruptors like BPA and phthalates. This tip will cover the basics for increasing testosterone (T) for optimal body composition and health.
First, you must solve the following nutrient deficiencies: Vitamin D, magnesium, and zinc. Vitamin D is all the rage in the medical world for preventing disease and improving health, and rightly so. Low vitamin D puts you at risk of having more body fat, less strength, more risk of bone fracture, and a host of other problems including low T. It appears that vitamin D inhibits aromatization in which T is turned into estrogen. Take vitamin D daily to raise your levels above 50 ng/ml to prevent low T—one study had men take 3,332 IUs for a year and found blood levels and T were significantly improved at the end of the trial.
Magnesium is another extremely common deficiency that is linked to low T due to this mineral’s role in enhancing vitamin D activity, improving sleep, and aiding insulin health. Taking 500 mg of magnesium a day is a no-brainer for health and body composition, especially if you are working out since magnesium must be present to enable forceful muscle contractions.
Zinc deficiency predicts low testosterone in men, by avoiding aromatization of T to estrogen. Zinc is involved in hormone conversion and it’s a potent antioxidant, protecting the organs for optimal function. Solve low zinc by doing a zinc taste test, or better yet, get a red blood cell zinc test the next time you get a physical because the regular serum blood readings don’t reflect trace mineral levels in the body. If you have low zinc take a high quality zinc supplement that is not cut with calcium because this will impair absorption.
After solving nutrient deficiencies, you need to focus on decreasing stress because it will lead to high levels of cortisol, testosterone’s primary nemesis. Assuming you have a basic handle on stress in your life, make sure you aren’t sleep deprived (this is repeatedly linked to low T, high cortisol, and poor insulin health), and focus on clearing cortisol after intense exercise. Vitamin C will do this and if you take regularly, it has been shown to raise T. Try 2 to 10 grams after your workout.
[Nutri-Calm is an amazing combination providing generous levels of Vitamin C and B-Complex vitamins with added chamomile, and helps us settle when life becomes too much of a challenge. Designed for the nervous system during times of pressure, and for physically stressful conditions that can deplete the body of B-vitamins.]
Your final tool to improve T levels is a high-protein, “clean” diet with regularly spaced meals. Anytime your blood sugar is elevated, T will be temporarily reduced, which means that if you experience repeated elevations in blood sugar throughout the day, your T levels will become depressed. For example, one study found that men who had normal insulin health had a 25 percent decrease in T after ingesting a drink containing sugar. T remained low for 2 hours, and nearly 80 percent of the men had their T drop to levels that would be considered clinical testosterone deficiency.
Obviously you MUST manage blood sugar and the best way to do that is by eliminating all carbs other than vegetables and fruit and eating high-protein, healthy fat diet. The other benefit of this that you need fat from both saturated and unsaturated sources to provide the building blocks for T in the body.
Lastly, eat regularly spaced meals every 2 to 3 hours to support T. Avoid missing meals or long periods of fasting because emerging evidence suggests this will compromise T: A new study on male rats showed that 12 weeks of intermittent fasting with calorie restriction led to a significant reduction in T and luteinizing hormone (involved in T production) compared to rats that were allowed to eat at will.
Take away the understanding that supporting T is not hard, but simple errors have a devastating effect. Focus on the key nutrient deficiencies, a clean diet, sleep, avoiding endocrine disruptors, and blood sugar regulation and you will experience rapid progress in terms of health and body composition.
Reference
Kumar, S., Kaur, G. Intermittent Fasting Dietary Restriction Regimen Negative Influences Reproduction in Young Rats: A Study of Hypothalamo-Hypophysial-Gonadal Axis. PLOS One. 2013. 8(1), e52416.
Caronia, L., Dwyer, A., et al. Abrupt Decrease in Serum Testosterone After an Oral Glucose Load in Men. Clinical Endocrinology. July 2012. Published Ahead of Print.
Maggio, M., Ceda, G., Lauretani, F., Cattabiani, C., Avantaggiato, E., Morganti, S., et al. Magnesium and Anabolic Hormones in Older Men. International Journal of Andrology. 15 June 2011. Published Ahead of Print.
Prasad, A., Mantzoros, C., et al. Zinc Status and Serum Testosterone Levels of Healthy Adults. Nutrition. 1996. 12(5), 344-348.
Menéndez, E., Valdés, S., Botas, P., Delgado, E., Abello, N. Glucose Tolerance and Plasma Testosterone Concentrations in Men. Endocrinology and Nutrition. 2011. 58(1), 3-8.
Lee, D, Tajar, A., et al. Association of Hypogonadism with Vitamin D Status: The European Male Ageing Study. European Journal of Endocrinology. January 2012. 166, 75-85.
![How Much Do We Poop And Whats In It? [infographic] - An Infographic from BestInfographics.co](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vwgmshTj8DzQyB9_XuV-OrkfNM2f7T6XDrMrNe1M0lQtiM9OmyJjJe5cMbFkEIcLNT4EPCpG4eNrxp9ktiKarLcGpDQu4n0M3Z_x3HKbrWbuYwQZp1xqHOmusWNRJA3HTTZSpXjrRw8FO1WEvDQq_sK2Xf-3XLnw=s0-d)
