How to Drop Weight If You Are Tired of Restrictive Diets
If you’ve had trouble following your current diet plan, you might do well with a diet that is tracked on a weekly basis.
It’s hard to follow a strict diet plan every day. The demands of most popular diets require users to keep a log of everything they consume and keep constant track of calories – and many times, people fail at their diets because they don’t fee like they’re able to keep up with all the details. Constantly monitoring caloric intake is simply too tedious for most individuals.
Strict Diets Often End in Failure
Here’s an illustration: An article published in the International Journal of Obesity in 2007 shared the results of a study of several diet plans with strict calorie tracking requirements. The study gathered 311 overweight females and randomly placed each of them on either the Atkins Diet, the Zone Diet, the Ornish Diet, or the LEARN Diet.
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OK, so the triceps kickbacks are not the king of all triceps exercises, but in a recent study performed by the American Council of Exercise (ACE), triceps kickbacks are ranked 2nd, tied with dips. The very best triceps exercise is the diamond push up.
Don’t underestimate this study just because I grabbed your attention by starting with kickbacks. The study also used legit exercises like close grip bench, dips, and various push downs and extensions. See the table below, and then I’ll explain.
Table 1 Average EMG of the Entire Movement (Concentric and Eccentric)
Triceps Exercise
Combined Means
Long Head
Lateral Head
Triangle Push-up
100
100
100
Kickbacks
87 ± 26.58
88 ± 33.0
87 ± 23.7
Dips
87 ± 19.87
87 ± 21.3
88 ± 20.0
Overhead Triceps Extensions
76 ± 16.09 *
81 ± 21.4 *
72 ± 16.5 *
Rope Pushdowns
74 ± 22.64 *
81 ± 32.3 *
67 ± 15.7 *†
Bar Pushdowns
67 ± 20.48 *
75 ± 29.3 *
59 ± 14.3 *†
Lying Barbell Triceps Extensions
62 ± 16.25 *
70 ± 20.9 *
55 ± 14.1 *†
Close Grip Bench Press
62 ± 15.88 *
61 ± 16.9 *
63 ± 15.5 *
* Significantly lower than the Triangle Push-up (p < 0.05) † Significantly lower than the Long Head (p < 0.05)
For those who still don’t believe Werewolf Muscle Training works, here is more support of my theory that increased frequency combined with stopping short of fatigue, produces equal if not better results that training a muscle once a week for an hour, with a ton of volume, going to failure on most sets.
The central nervous system is extremely important for performance, and should be stimulated aggressively and frequently, but should not often be fatigued. This also helps explain why you can train muscles when they’re sore… it works just as long as the CNS has recovered.
In this video you will find Christian Thibaudeau from T-Nation. He is way stronger than you or I, and he is just about as ripped as I could ever hope to be. A true inspiration.
Editor’s Note: I nearly didn’t publish this guest post, due to the fact that I don’t believe any Project Swole readers want ‘skinny legs’. I am a firm believer in diet and heavy resistance training to lose fat and create hard, dense lower body muscle. But hey, if any of you female Swole readers want toothpick legs, here is some good advice.
As you go about your workout program, one goal that you might have set for yourself is to get skinny legs. For many people, especially women, losing weight in the thigh region does tend to be placed on high priority as this is that one place where females naturally tend to store higher amounts of body fat.
If you want to get skinny legs, there are a number of important things that you should be focused on doing with your workout routine. Implementing the correct strategies will ensure that you’re doing everything possible to reach your end goal.
Let’s look at the main points to consider to help you learn how to get skinny legs.
Avoid Resistance Based Cardio Exercise
The very first thing that you’ll want to make sure you’re doing in order to get skinny legs is avoiding any cardio exercise variations that are going to place a high level of resistance on the muscles. This would include activities such as biking at a high level or uphill walking.
Motivation. It’s the silent workout partner that every successful diet or muscle building program must have to succeed.
When you build a workout plan you probably spend a lot of time deciding what supplements to take and what routines will do you the most good. It is just as important to build a motivation plan to help you power through the plateaus and lulls that are part of reaching fitness goals.
OK, so here’s the deal. I have some fitness books and equipment that I want to get rid of. My options are:
give it to Good Will or some other charity
sell it on eBay or half.com
throw it in the trash
sell it really cheap on Project Swole
Given those options, I’ve decided to attempt to sell them cheap on Project Swole. Here is what we are going to do:
I’ll tell you about the product.
You decide if you want it.
If you want it, place a bid for it.
If no one wants it after 14 days, I’ll give it to Good Will.
If you win it, send me the money via PayPal.
The I’ll send you your new merch.
The starting price will be $5 for books, which covers my shipping and handling costs.
Robert Cheeke – Vegan Bodybuilding and Fitness
This is a book about a vegan ‘bodybuilder’, and I use the term loosely because Mr. Cheeke isn’t much of a bodybuilder. However, he is very inspirational to vegan and vegetarian fitness folks. The book itself talks about how and why he became a vegan, with some tidbits here and there about vegan bodybuilding.
I can’t stomach Robert’s ego or storytelling ability, so I couldn’t make it past page 50, but meat-hating dieters might appreciate veganness of it. There are a bunch of reviews on Amazon. The vegan crowd praises this book with 5 star rating, while everyone else pretty much makes fun of Robert’s tiny muscles. You will just have to accept Robert Cheeks for who he is.
Many trying to maintain a healthy diet struggle to understand how good nutrition works and/or how it should be applied. This confusion is often compounded by conflicting “expert” nutritional advice. However, the simplest approach to good nutrition is remembering that all nutritional substances should be ingested to promote health and prevent disease.
It’s also important to remember that food choices aren’t just about weight, as food choices can greatly reduce or increase the likelihood of a person developing cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. As far as overall health, food plays a major role in energy, memory, mood, and sleep.
Since good nutrition hinges on life-long lifestyle choices, it will never involve starving, cutting out vital food groups, or completely depriving yourself from food that is enjoyable. None of the above is congruent with sustainability, and is the main reason that “fad diets” never result in good nutrition or a maintainable weight. Good nutrition has everything to do with eating smart foods…in a smart way. Try the following nutrition tips to get you on the path to smart eating:
Start Slow and Simple
Don’t abandon unhealthy choices all at once, as this will usually lead to binge eating. Focus on slowly replacing unhealthy food sources with healthier choices. For example, one might gradually replace tater chips with fresh vegetable chips. Try to take existing unhealthy recipes and alter unhealthy ingredients one at a time. For example, a recipe that calls for butter or vegetable oil might be amended to utilize olive oil. Even a simple sandwich can be altered to be more nutritious by changing white bread to whole grain, ham to turkey breast, and mayo to mustard. Eventually, you will be able to make every food choice nutritionally sound.
Don’t Mindlessly Eat
Stop and think about the food – Am I eating this to sustain me or soothe me? Food is too often used as an emotional crutch or mindless action. It can be helpful to disassociate food with cars, television, and computers. It’s easy to just gulp something down when your mind is on driving vs. actually eating. It’s also easy to mindlessly eat when distracted by a television and computer. Whenever possible eat at a table and take the time to properly chew and savor food. Keep in mind that it takes 20 minutes for the brain to realize that the stomach is full; so, eat slow and stop eating before actually feeling full. Plan meals out to include several small meals throughout the day, which will help keep energy and metabolism up for weight loss.
Think of Fitness as an Essential Food Group
Fitness training is just as essential as any of the food groups and dieting tips. Optimal health can’t be achieved through exercise without healthy eating or healthy eating without exercise. A simple routine strength training program should be included in all exercise regimens. It’s important to start the training with the proper resistance size. A good guide is a size that fatigues you after about 12 repetitions. If you aren’t able to use correct form, that too is a sign that the weight is too heavy. Start out with a twice a week fitness plan with 4 to 5 sets of 12 reps with or without fitness equipment. Many professional trainers recommend aiming for muscular failure, where the muscle can’t possibly do anymore, after the first month of strength training.
HIRT and Swolen is a High Intensity Resistance Training routine that you can use to either burn fat, build muscle, or maybe even both. It is a circuit of compound exercises performed back-to-back-to-back without rest (sometimes called a giant set), followed by a taxing abdominal superset.
You can use HIRT and Swolen twice a week with light weight in addition to your standard workout routine, if you are looking to get ripped. If your only goal is to build muscle, then use more weight and opt for 90 seconds rest between sets, but be careful not to overtrain if you are still performing your standard workout routine.
Prescription:
5 sets
5 reps per set
no rest during the set, that means no rest between exercise and no rest between reps
1 rep means you have to complete each of the exercises back-to-back-to-back once
“That’s why there’s so few people who are doing this shit and why it helps to be around people with similar goals. They understand. It’s a rare breed, man.
Yeah, you can stay in the middle, take some supplements here and there, take time off for whatever reason, change your program every other week and stay absolutely the same as you are now.
I still have 8 of these babies to give away to YOU for free! 1 winner will be chosen every Friday from 9/23/11 – 11/11/11!
Update!
That’s right, I gave away a dozen or so of these DVDs back before it ever came out. Now, 6 months later, everyone loves the DVD and I seem to have uncovered another 8 copies! They don’t do anyone any good sitting around my computer, so instead of selling them, I’m going to give them away.
All you have to do is follow the simple qualifying instructions, and you could win a copy too. All previous entries are null and void, so lets restart this campaign and give some DVDs away for free.
I’m sure plenty of you will enjoy working out at home in your living room instead of dragging your butt to the gym. Actually the Jillian workout would be great for anyone looking to take a day off from weight training, and it would be perfect for anyone who regularly works out at home, especially those who use DVD workouts.
While navigating a fitness website or browsing through a fitness supplement store, you may notice various muscle building supplements. You may wonder whether any of these 10,000 products really work to build quality muscles and enhance strength, or will they merely flush into the toilet? The answer is both yes and no.
The answer is ‘No’ for people who do not have patience and want fast results while they opt for an unhealthy approach. However, the answer is ‘Yes’ for people who go for the right kind of supplement, use proper exercises and diet, and wait for weeks or sometimes months to see the result.
Fortunately, you have a couple of good supplements which guarantee good results. These supplements for fast muscle growth can deliver the desired result within a short span of time. These include Whey Protein, Nitric Oxide and Creatine. Which happens to be the right choice for you?
Have a look in detail about the three supplements given below:
If you drink milk, and you’re not a hard-gainer trying to pack on muscle mass, your milk should be low fat – skim or 1%. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said recently that nearly 73% of kids and teenagers consume milk, which is good, but then only around 20% of them tend to consume the low-fat variety. In fact, about 45% of them choose reduced-fat milk (2 percent), while 32% claim to regularly consume whole-fat milk.
I’ve been complaining about this for years, and I’m glad someone is finally echoing my sentiments. For babies and toddlers I can see using whole or 2% milk, because they need a ton of good nutrition to grow up strong. However, I have always believed that kids in pre-k, k, and elementary school should switch to 1% or skim milk. There really is no need to add extra milk fat into a child’s diet, not when American kids are clearly, on average, the most obese children in the world.
Researchers and experts collectively agree that the low consumption of low-fat milk implies that most kids and teenagers don’t live by the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the American Academy of Pediatrics, who state that kids ages 2 and older should drink low-fat milk. Recent efforts by both First Lady Michelle Obama, and the Surgeon General promote the consumption of low-fat milk and water over sweetened beverages. Adhering to these suggestions will help you and your child avoid dangerous conditions such as obesity and diabetes.
A lot has been made about the importance of protein in building muscle, but more could be said about the importance of fruits and vegetables in this regard. The fact of the matter is that fruits and vegetables contain a lot of important vitamins and minerals that facilitate muscle growth.
Vitamin C
One of these vitamins important to muscle growth which is often times overlooked is Vitamin C. Vitamin C is found in fresh fruits and vegetables such as oranges, pineapples, grapefruit, cabbage, broccoli, okra and spinach to name a few.
Vitamin C speeds up recovery of your muscles after an intense workout, and prevents injuries and inflammations that might keep one away from the gym.
During weightlifting your body is placed under a tremendous amount of stress, but Vitamin C present in fruits and vegetables help to boost your immune system to fight against possible infections and muscle damage.
Another great benefit from Vitamin C is the reduction of cortisol levels. Cortisol is a hormone produced when the body undergoes extreme stress like weightlifting, and is responsible for the breakdown of muscle tissue. Therefore, the less cortisol your body produces the better.
There are many reasons to build a stronger body that most people wouldn’t think of when they picture bodybuilding. Bodybuilding can be a very healthy hobby for both your mind and your body.
Despite the misconceptions of the general public, bodybuilding is not necessarily all about eating whey protein, lifting heavy weights, and oiled-up posing in a thong on a stage. There are a ton of great health benefits as well.
These are just some of the many unexpected benefits of bodybuilding:
The prevalence of stroke victims in the US has increased in recent years. A study analyzed the history of over 8 million hospital patients from 1995 to 2008 has identified a 33% increased risk of suffering from a stroke if you are between the ages of 5 and 44.
Strokes Caused by Blood Clots
Contributing factors were found to be diabetes, high blood pressure (hypertension), blood lipid disorders, tobacco use, and obesity. People with one or more of those factors have a greater chance of developing an ischemic stroke, which is caused by blood clots. High blood pressure was reported in 50% of the stroke victims, and being male and over the age of 35 puts you at an even greater risk than anyone else. Great!
I don’t have the time or patience to write a new article today or for the past week, so here are a couple links you can read with decent info about recent medical advances that might help keep you healthier. These new gadgets range from stem cells that can rebuild damaged heart tissue, to intestinal liners that restrict the absorption of excess calories, to bacteria that will keep you from ever getting tooth decay. As you read this great news, just imagine the kinds of devices and genetic tools we’ll have in just 10 more years.
Also, I’m sorry I haven’t been answering questions lately or posting any good new content. As always I have many great plans in the works, but life is just taking precedence over maintaining a blog right now. Hoping to get back at it full time really soon.
Today’s society is keener on converting young athletes into peak performers overnight by just winning competitions. The people behind these young athletes i.e. parents and coaches, fail to understand that there is much more than just winning.
Peak performance is not only about winning a competition or two. The athletes should be able to perform well for a long while in their field of interest.
The training program thus, should comprise of a comprehensive plan that combines various elements pertaining to the body, mind and spirit, so as to improve the performance of the athletes both on and off the court. What are the factors to consider while devising such a training program?
Here are some tips for young athletes to achieve peak performance:
Rick Kaselj is a personal trainer that focuses on helping clients overcome their injuries. Rick’s specialization is the shoulder and did his Masters’ degree project on designing effective exercises for the rotator cuff. He shares with rotator cuff injury suffers and fitness professionals what he has learned in school and from his clients and has put it all into the Shoulder Pain Solved Program.
If You Don’t Want Shoulder Pain When You Lift, Do This
Thanks for all the feedback and voting in the last post. Now I got a better idea of how I can help you. Lets get to what you can do to get rid of shoulder pain during your lifts.
