Functional and Mental Performance, Prevention, Health and Great Look through Fitness an Wellness
July 14th, 2008 Milan
If you ask people in the gym what they want to accomplish with their fitness regimen, most of them would say that they want to lose weight. But they’d be wrong. Most of them want to look better: they want to tone their muscles, fit into a smaller size, which doesn’t always correlate to a drop in pounds.
Most people who say that they want to loose weight really want to increase muscle and reduce fat.
Tracking body composition (fat %) in addition to weight is the best way to do this, since it gives you a more accurate view of your success.
If you are starting a fitness program you may actually gain weight as you develop muscle. This can be very discouraging.
Using body fat measurements can help you see that you are closer to your goal. That helps to keep you motivated!
In addition to body fat, measuring the waist and waist-to-hip ratio provides accurate measure of success.
The goal is to keep yourself from getting stuck in the mindset that the scale is the best way to track your success. It’s not!
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May 20th, 2008 Milan
Is your weight loss program right?
Here is my check list for you, to find out if you are on right track.
A desirable weight loss program:
- provides at least 1200 calories per day for normal adults to meet their normal nutritional requirements
- includes balanced nutrition - foods acceptable to the dieter from the viewpoints of sociocultural background, usual habits, taste, cost, and ease in acquisition and preparation
- provides a negative calorie balance (not to exceed 500 to 1000 calories per day), resulting in gradual weight loss of no more than 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram) per week, without metabolic abnormalities
- eliminates dieting habits that contribute to improper nutrition
- includes an endurance exercise program of at least 3 sessions per week, 20 - 45 minutes per session, at a minimum of 60% of maximum heart rate
- Includes an resistance exercise program of at least 2 sessions per week, where all major muscle parts are exercised intensively - multi joint, core exercises to provide a muscle development
- provides for new eating and physical activity habits that can be continued for life to maintain the achieved lower body weight
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March 25th, 2008 Milan
When you start with exercise program and you resistance train, gaining weight is possible, you gain muscle and muscle weighs more than fat.
For beginners, you will notice some weight gain at the beginning of a work out cycle because of the dramatic increase of lean muscle mass, but these will later decrease as your body settles into it’s new frame and you stay active and follow your exercise program.
The important thing is the improvement of your body composition and health.
For example, when I stop working out, I will lose about 10 pounds in a month not doing anything. But I will lose muscle mass, which is not good. I will probably gain that weight back if I don’t exercise for a long period of time, but it will be fat.
The point is, you want to gain healthy muscle mass, which makes your body a very efficient calorie burning machine. And when you gain that active muscle mass weight in the beginning of your workout cycle, that will increase your metabolism and those muscle engines will burn that fat your body stores.
How far you can go with this is up to you. Combination of both consistent and intensive - resistance training and cardiovascular exercise and proper nutrition will dramatically increase your body’s potential to burn the energy that is being stored.
Read also: Why fad diets don’t work
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March 23rd, 2008 Milan
People are usually looking to achieve fat reduction, not a muscle reduction.
You could be 120 pounds and look completely out of shape while someone who is 150 pounds and has significantly lower body fat will have a much leaner physique and a healthier body composition.
Optimal combination of three key factors each dependent on the other to lose fat and gain lean muscle mass will contribute to your search for perfect body:
1. Nutrition - regulate the energy that goes to your body
2. Cardiovascular Exercise - increase the amount of energy burned
3. Resistance Training - build active muscle mass and develop muscular endurance
Imagine you are on a healthy balanced diet of wholesome foods and the energy you consume is 2000 calories a day. Since you do not exercise, I will assume that your body’s metabolic rate , the rate at which your body expends the energy at rest or sleep, is 1500 calories. That means that you accumulate 500 calories every day minus your daily activity.
Now, let’s add the resistance training. When you build some muscle mass, it will increase your body’s potential energy use to, let say 1700 calories (1 pound of muscle needs about 50 calories/day just to maintain it) + you burn another 200 calories while you work out. Already you decreased the energy you accumulate from 500 calories per day to 100 calories.
Finally, lets add the cardiovascular exercise assuming an expenditure of 300 calories on treadmill or any other cardio exercise. You are now loosing 200 calories every day.
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February 11th, 2008 Milan
Building just a few pounds of muscle in your body helps you get rid of fat much faster, then only by dieting.
Muscle exponentially speeds up the fat busting process:
1 pound of muscle requires your body to burn up to 50 extra calories a day just to maintain that muscle.
Now think about what happens if you add a mere 6 pounds of muscle over the course of a diet program.
It will take your body up to 300 extra calories a day just to feed that muscle; essentially, you’ll burn of an extra pound of fat every ten days without doing a thing.
When you combine exercise with the foods that most promote muscle growth, the ones that keep you full, and the ones that give your body a well-balanced supply of nutrients, you will be exactly where you want to be:
You will turn your fat into muscle.
Build in a little additional muscle every week - through eating the right foods (lean protein, high fiber diet) and doing muscle building, fat burning exercise plan (workout plan consisted of multi core exercises with combination of cardiovascular exercises), and you’ll have invested in a lean and strong body that can last a lifetime, because your new muscle will continually break down fat to stay alive.
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February 5th, 2008 Milan
The ideal weight loss solution varies from person to person, but there are two fundamental rules all people trying to lose weight should know:
- 1. Five hundred calories per day equals 1 pound per week
All it takes is a calorie deficit each day. The rule to remember is this: A calorie deficit of 500 calories per day will produce a 1 pound weight loss after 7 days.
3500 calories = 1 pound
This can be achieved from calorie restriction, more exercise or, the best - combination of the two.
- 2. Replace fat with fiber
Fats and oils provide 9kcal/gram (kcal=kilo calories)
Alcohol provides 7 kcal/gram
Carbohydrates and protein provide 4 kcal/gram
Fiber provides no calories
The easiest way to eliminate calories is to reduce the amount of fats and oils in each meal. In addition to reducing fats and oils, increase fiber intake. Most people will find that they feel just as full despite consuming fewer calories. If they stick with it long enoug, they’ll not only lose weight but improove their health as well.
Don’t ignore exercise
Dieting is very efficient for weight loss, but it won’t improve your aerobic capacity, increase bone density, or generate the overall invigorating feeling that exercise provides.
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December 4th, 2007 Milan
If you want to loose weight, strength training with combination of cardiovascular exercise and flexibility exercises is the right way to do it . It not only helps take off pounds, it also trims and tightens. Here’s how to make it work:
- Adjust your food intake so you lose weight gradually, at a rate of no more than two pounds a week. People who try to speed the process usually lose muscle as well as fat, get fever nutrients, and, what’s more, they feel deprived and risk regaining the weight later on
- Do strength training to boost your metabolism. Of course, you’ll also get other benefits, including increased strength and bone density, and improved balance. This beats the side effects of diet pills
- Add aerobic exercise to burn calories and improve cardiovascular fitness. If you don’t enjoy aerobic activity - and it can be painful and unpleasant if you’re overweight - give it another try after a month or two of strength training. Don’t give up! It’s critically important for your health. You’ll probably find aerobics easier and more enjoyable when you’re stronger.
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