Monday Muscle - 3 Muscle Growth Tips For Older Lifters

Muscle growth for when you're over 40

When guys that are 40 or older come to me for workout advice they are often skeptical whether the advice is solid. After all, I primarily train athletes, and what does some 25 year old pro athlete have to do with a 45 year old business man?

Continue growing muscle even when you get older

Well, to tell you the truth, there really isn't that much of a difference between the training for these two people, especially if the focus is on gaining muscle and strength. There are typically only 3 things that need to be factored in when you pass 40:

1. Hormones

Somewhere between the ages of 35 and 40 testosterone levels begin to fall. This drop in levels has been termed "andropause." This has huge consequences for building muscle, as anabolic hormones are the signal for our body to repair and rebuild. With less of these hormones you cannot repair your muscles as quickly as a 20 year old. This fact should be kept in mind when designing the training program. Options for increasing hormone levels should also be considered.

2. Injuries

Over time everyone begins to accumulate injuries. Even if it's nothing big those little aches and pains can prevent you from training as hard or as often as you would like. Because of this a good physical therapist and/or chiropractor are a definite must. If you are serious about gaining muscle then you need to be serious about training hard. And you need to be serious about taking the steps necessary to able to train hard on a consistent basis.

3. Mindset

Experience leads to wisdom

Call it wisdom gained through experience, or cautiousness due to age, either way it is often difficult to get people who are set in their ways to try something new. I have talked to more than one guy in his 40s who was still doing the workout he got from his high school football coach! Look, if you are serious about changing your body then you need to be ready to change the way you train and eat. Embrace new training programs and diets. What you've been doing isn't working, so try something new. Remember, the definition of stupidity is doing the same thing and expecting different results!

Keep in mind that I am pointing out the differences here. The basics of a good scientific training and nutrition program still hold true no matter your age. Anyone at any age can make fantastic improvements in their physique. Remember this the next time someone tells you (or you think to yourself) that you're too old to be training hard!


Article Source:Anthony Schwartz http://www.eArticlesOnline.com

Fat Loss Friday - How To Turn Your One Week Weight Loss Goals Into Reality

It's no secret that people who wish to lose weight want quick results. This is because no one wants to spend months to see visible results. The good news is, there are certain ways to actually shed pounds in as little as a week.

We have collected some of the most popular yet effective one week weight loss tips. If you want to learn how you can shrink your waist-line and have a great figure, then keep reading.

Focus on fat-burning food

The right foods can make all the difference

We need food to survive yet food is also the reason your weight is where it is today. We do not realize it but processed foods are responsible for declining health and increasing waist size. If you are serious about getting in shape then you need to change your eating habits.

Start by getting rid of processed, junk food from your home. Replace these items with food that is not only rich in nutrients but will also boost your metabolism so that your body is able to burn fat faster.

Fruits, vegetables, seafood, eggs and cayenne pepper all help to increase metabolic functioning. Replace regular cooking oils with healthy fats such as raw butter, olive oil, coconut oil and sesame oil. These types of fat are good for your overall health and they help to regulate your metabolism. So try to load your shopping cart with more of these and you will be able to get rid of excess fat from your body.

Practice portion-control

Apart from eating healthy, you also need to eat right. This means that you watch out how much you eat. Even healthy food has calories and loading up on too much will defeat the purpose of eating healthy.

To prevent overeating on even healthy foods, practice portion control. Try not to fill your plate too much, instead take small amounts at a time. If you still feel the need to, then you can take a bit more but be careful not to go overboard.

The same applies to snacks. People cannot help themselves and usually finish the packet or box in one sitting. So instead of eat right from the box, take it out into a plate and you will be less likely to eat mindlessly.

Drink the right fluids

Water is vital - stay hydrated

Water is very important for not only your health but also for your one week weight loss goals. Keep a bottle of water with you so that you can drink all day long. This way, your body will stay hydrated as you go about your daily routine.

Also, skip on box juices and make your own juices and smoothies at home without dairy or sugar. Use only fruits and vegetables and you will be able to shed pounds more quickly. Apart from that, these smoothies also contain lots of vitamins and antioxidants that will help to detoxify your body and delay the aging process. Thus, your overall health will improve as a result.

Take herbal weight loss supplements

Herbal weight loss supplements like Hoodia Gordonii and Acai berry are great for those who want to burn fat and curb their appetite. These products help your body internally by regulating your metabolism and providing you with fiber so that you feel fuller for longer periods.

They are safe weight loss methods and are free from side effects. Thus, you can easily add these to your routine along with a healthy diet.

If you follow the tips above and remain active, you will be able to see significant weight loss in a week. Many people have found great results simply by switching to healthier lifestyle so keep that in mind.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Eugene_Wallace/2204450

Wednesday Video - How To Tighten Skin After Weight Loss

After making a big effort to lose those extra pounds, looking unattractive due to loose skin can be very frustrating. Now that you've lost weight, the hanging pouch around your stomach, together with the extra skin on your back, butt and hips, are all preventing you from achieving the body you dream of.

But don't get discouraged yet; with this video you'll learn the reasons why your skin is loose, plus some great tactics and strategies to make it tighten again around your body as quickly as possible

Monday Muscle - Boost your T levels

Interesting FACTS : 4 Tips For Naturally Increasing Testosterone Levels Today

There're a lot of different ways that you can increase levels of testosterone today. Some people look for shortcuts that are dangerous, and that's not a good thing. When you seek out natural solutions, you will find the root of the issue and build a great momentum moving forward. If your goal is to increase health and wellness, then you will no doubt want to try these following tips. These are natural options that will help you move forward. Some things may seem harder than others, but if you seek out long-term solutions, you will find the benefits will manifest for longer than by going the synthetic route.

Increase Your Exercise Levels

Dumbbells or barbells - the choice is yours

The first thing that you can do is simple, exercise a great deal. Increase your exercise levels in an extreme manner. This means that you should look for higher intensity options. Intense workouts increase the body's circulation, heart rate, and builds muscle properly. Not only that, you will find that glandular secretions rise, including testosterone. Push yourself, as an athlete would push themselves for professional leagues, and you'll see major gains.

Weight Lifting and Training

Here is something that you should be looking into as a whole. Don't just go with cardiovascular exercise. Focus on weight lifting as well. Strength training is going to help you not only build muscle, burn fat, and get healthy, it's going to push levels that you need to increase natural production of testosterone. This takes time, of course, but just keep pushing weights, and you'll find that you'll feel the increase sooner than later.

Away Sugar In The Diet

Sugar doesn't help the body and diminishes your results. Throw away sugar content in your diet. That means that you'll want to focus on eliminating certain foods that only break down into sugars. If you can't eliminate this completely, start to scale back drastically until you can replace them. Sugar is going to stifle your progress.

Boost Your Protein Supplements

Protein supplements can help you along

One of the most important things that you should do in regards to trying to increase your levels is to increase your protein. You should focus on amino acid increases. This includes quality protein supplementation, as part of your routine. There's a lot of discussion as to what's going to be best here, but you can start with whey protein to get you moving forward.

As you can see, there are a few things that you can do to increase testosterone. If you can boost this element in the body, you will find that building muscles will become a bit easier. Through strength training, interval exercise, and weight lifting, your body will utilize the elements that you're putting into it, and will rise through the right areas you're looking for. It's important that you not only work on these tips, but you should also eat a balanced diet with enough calories to burn through your workouts, and a boost of supplements to assist your body's natural resources. Done right, you'll see results manifest in due time.

There're a lot of different ways that you can increase levels of testosterone today. Some people look for shortcuts that are dangerous, and that's not a good thing. When you seek out natural solutions, you will find the root of the issue and build a great momentum moving forward. If your goal is to increase health and wellness, then you will no doubt want to try these following tips. These are natural options that will help you move forward. Some things may seem harder than others, but if you seek out long-term solutions, you will find the benefits will manifest for longer than by going the synthetic route.

Article source: http://www.articlesbase.com/mens-health-articles/interesting-facts-4-tips-for-naturally-increasing-testosterone-levels-today-7382712.html

Fat Loss Friday - What Is the Difference Between Weight Loss and Fat Loss?

What is the different between weight loss and fat loss? Which of these two types of body mass losing processes is healthier? Which of the two can be attained quicker, which of the two works more effectively? And ultimately, which between weight loss and fat loss is an overall better body mass losing process? A great comparative match-up these two make, but in the end, there may only be one which would ultimately be better than the other.

First off, fat loss and weight loss are two totally different processes. The common misconception people often make is thinking and claiming that the loss of fat and weight loss are one and the same. That could not be any more wrong. While losing weight can mean loss of fat, it does not necessarily mean that they are one and the same process of losing body mass. There are specifics ways each hold, and though they may have a few elements which are highly identical, they are separate processes overall.

Fat Loss

Scales alone don't tell the full story

What is fat loss? In its most basic definition, the loss of fat is the process of losing body fat using a variety of means. Those means may differ from exercise, to diet, to even liposuction procedures. However the means may differ, as long as their goals are focused toward losing fat.

Fat is not all bad, but is not all good either. Fat is needed by the body because it is what the body burns when it is put through stress and work. It is unhealthy for either a man or a woman to have 0% body fat; what would his or her body have to burn then? In the absence of fat, the body eats other parts of itself like muscle, which is more on weight loss already. The normal fat percentage men should have is between 12 to about 20 percent; women should have significantly more, around 15 to about 25 percent, since they would need extra fat for when they get pregnant.

This is easily mistaken to be the same as weight loss since a lot of people think all their weight is composed of fat. This is not true. Yes, a person's weight is composed of his or her fat, but overall weight is total accumulation of more than just fat (which will be touched upon later on when weight loss is discussed). Fat is not the only factor which makes a person heavy. Fat is, however, the most dispensable and expendable excess of the body which can be lost to make a person's weight lighter, without his or her body being unhealthy.

Weight Loss

Don't concentrate on weight alone

Weight loss, similar to fat loss, is also the process of the body losing fat, but not only fat. A person's body is composed not only of fat, but also of bones, muscles, tissues, organs, skin, and many more. Fat alone does not make a body heavy, but all the internal and external parts of the body, as long as it is attached to it, is what makes a body weigh the way it does. Weight loss then, is the process in which the body loses fat, or muscle mass, or bone mass, or organ weight, or skin weight, or a combination of all of these.

Weight loss is not entirely a bad process your body can potentially go through, but compared to losing fat, it is not an advisable process for your body to go through. Weight, as an overall category, is highly essential for your body's overall health. Losing muscle mass or bone mass is not something your body should go through. This is why your body needs fat, so it does not eat muscle or bone mass.

When a person loses more than just fat, the body highly decreases in weight. If you are an individual who has no more fat to burn or lose, you should be very, very careful not to go overboard and lose more than just fat. People like anorexics suffering from anorexia often do not have fat left in their bodies to lose or burn, so they become thinner, and more fragile, until they die due to severe weight loss.

In this match-up between these two goals, it may seem that fat loss is the preferred victor over weight loss. It may be the case, but do keep in mind that weight loss is not an option you shouldn't choose to take. Just be wary, however, to only have a goal of losing fat and not any other type of weight, and this match-up might end with a draw.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Rob_Humphrey/354989

Wednesday Video - Are You Skinny Fat?

Overcome Your Skinny Fat Body

What Is Skinny Fat

First off what do I mean by skinny fat? You're skinny or you're fat. How can you be both?

• Skinny fat is when the body has a thin appearance and your weight is within the normal range but your percentage of body fat versus lean body mass shows that you are overweight
• The skinny fat syndrome is most common amongst women, although men also run into this problem
• Being skinny fat is most often caused by the wrong diet and lack of (or the wrong kind of) exercise

This video shows how to overcome this common and misunderstood problem:

Monday Muscle - 6 Benefits of Weight Training for Women

Fitness is an important part of my life. I make it in the gym at least 4 days a week in the afternoons when it is the busiest. I do not mind the crowd of people who have the same goals I have to get and stay in shape. Whether you are working out at home or at the gym like I do, it is a must. Sometimes it is a workout in itself just trying to find an open machine or bench before some meat head hops on it. One afternoon of pumping iron it seemed like every piece of equipment I wanted to use was occupied...by a woman. Don't get me wrong I didn't mind one bit but it gave me the idea of writing this article.

For the longest time many women would not step foot in a weight room because many thought adding weights to their work out plans would give them an "unfeminine" look. Luckily, those days are long gone as many women of all ages have start to realize the many benefits of adding weight training to their work out routines. there are some women out there who still have negative feelings toward weight and strength training, read my top 6 reasons you should change your mind.

Top 6 Reasons Women Should Lift Weights

1.Burns More Fat/Calories

Weight training helps to shift those extra pounds

All women want to burn fat and get rid of those extra calories and weight training is perfect for both. According to IdeaFit.com,"the average woman who strength trains two to three times a week for eight weeks gains 1.75 pounds of lean weight or muscle and loses 3.5 pounds of fat." Sure cardio is great but at some point if that's all you do it becomes less effective as your body tends to become accustomed. And don't worry, since you have a lot less hormones that cause bulking up like us men, you do not have to lay off the weight training. If you want to burn more fat and calories add the weights.

2.Tones Muscles

A lean and sexy female physique is what women want and most achieve that physique by moving some serious iron in the weight room. While both weight training and cardio will help you burn fat, weight training will help defy and shape the muscles. Look at all the fitness models out there. I would bet the house that all work out with weights. You can tell when one only does cardio and one who does both. Guess who looks better? So for the look you want, grab those weights and tighten up.

3.Helps Fight Obesity

When you add muscle from weight training, you increase your metabolism even at rest. So even when you are not working out, your body is like a fat burning factory steady burning fat but at a higher rate than if you didn't lift weights. Let's say you gained three pounds of muscle and burn 40 extra calories per pound from your training program. That is 120 calories per day and 3600 per month. All those extra calories burn equals pounds melted away. Those pounds can average around 10 pounds in one year.

4.Prevent and Fights Osteoporosis

Weight training is great at any age

While muscle toning is an external benefit connected with weight training, improved bone density is an internal benefit. Studies have shown that weight training can increase spinal bone mineral density by 13 percent in six months. So strength training is a powerful tool against osteoporosis that all women should understand. After all, we only have one set of bones so with weight training women can most certainly strengthen them.

5.Makes You Physically Stronger

With all the day-to-day activities women take part in, they can make it a lot easier on themselves with gaining strength through lifting weights. Even something as simple as carrying box from the car to the house is a hassle but not with the extra strength you get from weight training. You never know when you may need that extra strength you gained by lifting weights. So lifting the children and those groceries won't be as difficult with all that new muscle you have. As much as I spend at the grocery store, it does wonders for me!

6.Weight Make You Mentally Stronger

With the increased muscle tone and the decrease in body fat from all the strength training, you women will love the way you look. It's a fact in both men and women that if you look good you feel good. Also, depression like symptoms exist higher in women than men and with weight training those characteristics will lessen greatly and in most cases disappear.

Bottom Line

Even though people say that men are from Mars and women are from Venus (or something like that), we can all train the same. In other words, weight training plan is just as important for women as men. It is time to stop listening to the media, misinformed people, and others who don't even know what a dumbbell is. Education is the key so get informed and get to lifting those weights.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Cedric_R./1071056

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