 Glycemic Index |
All carbohydrates are not created equal. A food’s glycemic index, or GI, describes this difference in the way carbs act in your body, by ranking them according to their immediate effect on blood glucose (blood sugar) levels.
Carbohydrates that breakdown quickly during digestion, causing a rapid blood sugar response, have the highest GI.
Carbohydrates that breakdown slowly, releasing glucose gradually into the blood stream, have a lower GI.
 Ricardo Funch MMA |
Once again, Black and Blue Entertainment has put on a tight Cage Fight MMA event. None of the fights seemed mismatched this time around, although some of the fighters did end up getting dominated and manhandled for whatever reason. Everyone has a bad day sometimes.
The sole Team Woo competitor this time around, Brent Kinberger, dominated once again. I’ve talked to Brent on several occasions and he’s really a genuine nice guy. When it’s time to step into the ring though, he kicks it up a notch. Both times that I’ve had the honor to see Brent fight, he just walked into the cage and kicks major ass. He’ll just jump on top of you and beat you until the ref stops the fight. I am totally a Brent fan.
 MMA Punch |
For those of you within 2 hours of Manchester, NH, there’s something fun and unique for you to do this Saturday night. Black and Blue Entertainment of Hooksett, NH presents their second ever Cage Fight Mixed Martial Arts event, which they are calling, “Blunt Force Trauma”.
The fights are put together by Roger Woo and Barbara Woo of Team Woo, an MMA team located in Hooksett, NH. The two of them alternate teaching my Thai Kickboxing class, and spend hours training and coaching the Team Woo fighters. Roger is also half owner of the previously mentioned Black and Blue Entertainment, which is organizing the event.
This is going to be a tight show. The first show went off with much praise and success, and this time there looks to be even more, higher quality match-ups. I would say 3/4 of the fighters last time had losing records; the winner of the main event was 4-15 coming into the fight. This time we will be watching some real competitors.
The current fight card looks like this (subject to change without prior notice):
Tomorrow I begin my umpteenth attempt to get back into shape. My medical condition is supposedly cleared up and I have been given the OK to start training again. So we’re back to the original plan: 3 days of kickboxing, 2 days of weightlifting.
I’ve run the usual tests: weight; and arm, chest, waist, thigh, calf measurements. I’d also like to get a body fat reading but I can’t find my calipers so it might have to wait until Tuesday when I hit the gym. All I know is that I am slow, weak, and smooth. My weight is 173lbs, but other than that I will not post any of my stats yet, but in due time I shall.
Two things have inspired me today:
 Beach Athletes |
Many beginner athletes start exercising to lose fat. They workout 4 or 5 times each week, for 30-60 minutes per session. After 6 weeks or so they evaluate their progress and realize that they weigh roughly the same weight, and their total body fat has only dropped 1-3%. Surely after all that exercise they would have made a profound impact on their body composition, losing inches and pounds of fat, right? WRONG!
So many of us are currently, or have tried to lose weight. There are so many fad diets out there, that no one really knows exactly what to do to lose weight. Fortunately there are some basic rules that we can follow to put together a great diet plan. Let me share some of them with you.
I have repeatedly found dieters who are unfamiliar with a basic nutrition rule that I learned long ago. It basically goes like this: do not eat any meals that are high in carbs and high in fat at the same time.
 Heavy Bench Press |
A major concern for all of us big-shot men is how we can bench press when we are training alone. Chest day has always been an important day in the weekly training regimen.
This is a day when we can walk in the gym with our chests puffed out. This is a day when we can train those all-important show muscles… the pecs. This is a day when we can perform the manliest of exercises… the bench press!
Let us examine some alternatives to bench pressing flat with a spotter.
 Acai and Green Tea |
Green Tea is a product that has been growing in popularity for a couple years now. Typical of ancient herbs from the Chinese culture, Green Tea is loaded with healthy nutrients like antioxidants that will give you energy, assist with weight loss, and fight a number of diseases. Lets examine just how supplementing with green tea can keep us healthy and trim.
Our health is a top priority for most of us, for without it, the quality of life we enjoy rapidly declines. Boosting immune function with a balance of green tea, diet, exercise, and restful sleep, will help protect you from all sorts of nasty diseases and conditions.
Green tea and acai fights such maladies as:
All I managed was one very painful kickboxing workout this week. During that workout I basically couldn’t punch, kick, run, participate in calisthenics, or breathe. I knew something was wrong since two Fridays ago, but I couldn’t go to the hospital or to the doctor until my new insurance policy kicked in on August 4th.
So on the 4th I went to see my primary care physician for a routine physical and to diagnose my breathing issues. Given my history of clotting, he set me up with a CT Scan and some blood tests. After fighting with my health insurance for an hour or more, I finally was cleared to take the tests. Finally on the 5th (today) I made it in for my tests.
 Budget Cuts |
An athlete’s fridge and cabinets should be stocked full of nutritious, muscle building, healthy foods. The biggest problem with that, is the fact that today’s economy does not allow most of us to spend as freely as we used to. It is much harder these days to spend $200 a week on bodybuilding food, than it was 10 years ago. Besides, most of us want to squirrel away as much l00t as possible so we can retire early. May Adibuddha help you if you’re a college student, go buy some Ramen.
Also, I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to spend an hour a day preparing food. I’m not trying to cook a chicken everyday for lunch. I don’t have time to whip up a 7 veggie, 2 cheese omelette’s every morning. However, the reality is that we need lots of healthy foods to helps us build muscle and lose fat. That being said, lets examine how we can eat properly while minimizing the grocery bill and food preparation time.
