Guest Bloggers Wanted!

Posted September 24, 2010 in Business, Social Networking 12 Comments »

Wanted: guest bloggers, guest posters, guest authors!

Attention everyone! I am looking for guest bloggers you can write intelligent content to post on Project Swole!

Promote yourself and your website to 10,000 unique readers a day, network with other bloggers within the industry, collect potent backlinks to your own online content for SEO benefits.

Guest Post
Write a Guest Post!

Who Should Submit Content?

Anyone really, but I would especially like to hear from people with experience in the industry:

  • experienced coaches
  • those who specialize in any sport, equipment, or technique
  • doctors
  • nutritionists
  • book authors
  • dietary supplement innovators
  • personal trainers who have a clue

I would also like to hear from anyone who owns a sports, health, or fitness blog. If you can contribute something, anything, useful to Project Swole readers, I want to hear from you! Got it?

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Being Overweight Could Cost You More Than $8000 a Year

Posted September 22, 2010 in Medical, News of the Day, Research 5 Comments »

Obesity is Expensive

Consider the statistics:

  • 72 million adults are considered obese (defined by the BMI being over 30)
  • 84.8 million adults have no leisure-time physical activity
  • total obesity-related health care costs are estimated at $147 billion

Those are some frustrating numbers.

Given those ridiculous health care costs, and all the other money that you have to shell out food, clothing, fad weight loss gimmicks, etc… just how much does it cost annually for the average person to be obese?

A recent study conducted by George Washington University researchers found that the annual cost of being overweight is $8,365 for men and $6,518 for women with an obesity-related shortened life span factored in.

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The Common Cold is NOT to Blame for Childhood Obesity!

Posted September 21, 2010 in Kids, Research 3 Comments »

File this next report under the extremely-interesting-but-dangerous-to-publish category.

Parents of fat kids unite! You now have another reason to sit back and let your child get fatter rather than teaching him how to exercise and eat properly.

Future Fat Boy
Future Fat Boy

Apparently a study has turned up the adenovirus 36 (AD36) as a possible cause of childhood obesity. Adenovirus 36 (AD36) is also responsible for passing on the common cold. Supposedly that means we can now blame the common cold for the reason our children are fat!

After reading the results of the study, I’ve determined that AD36 could contribute to obesity in a small portion of obese children, but there’s no way that it is a leading cause of obesity in America. Read the post then let me know if you agree or disagree.

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High Fructose Corn Syrup to be Marketed as Corn Sugar

Posted September 19, 2010 in News of the Day 3 Comments »
High Fructose Corn Syrup
Corn Sugar

In a disgusting development, the Corn Refiners Association plans to ask the FDA to allow high-fructose corn syrup to be called simple “corn sugar”. Check it out at LiveScience.

They plan to claim that corn sugar is no different from cane sugar, and that fact means corn sugar is not that bad for you.

What?!

Since when has cane sugar been considered “not that bad for you”? It is linked directly to the onset of Type II Diabetes, for crying out loud!

Regarding the claim that corn sugar is the same as cane sugar, an attempt to butcher the concept that cane sugar is “all-natural”, let me show you a quote from someone who knows exactly how high fructose corn syrup is made (in the lab):

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20 Reasons to Never Drink Soda or Diet Soda Again

Posted September 18, 2010 in Diet 24 Comments »

Call it what you like; soda, tonic, pop, or the leading cause of the onset of type II diabetes in middle aged over-weight Americans; the experts agree that carbonated flavored beverages are not good for your health. While regular and diet sodas are both borderline dangerous, diet drinks seem to pose a much greater risk to the body. Still thinking about reaching for a soda??? Here are only 20 reasons not to drink one ever again:

1. Your diet soda could be loaded with saccharin. Saccharin (Sweet n’ Low) is a noncaloric petroleum derivative that has been linked to bladder cancer in laboratory animals. In fact, Saccharin was discovered by Ira Remsen in 1879 at the dinner table after not having washed the coal tar derivatives off of his hands. Coal tar derivatives – it’s what’s for dinner!

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Project Swole Now Uses CommentLuv

Posted September 17, 2010 in Business 16 Comments »

I’ve tried the WordPress plugin CommentLuv in the past on a different site and decided it wasn’t for me, but now I’m giving it another chance. From now on, if you register with CommentLuv and comment at Project Swole, you get a free backlink to your latest blog post. It’s easy and free.

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Top 5 Things Women do That Hinder Their Progress in the Gym

Posted September 10, 2010 in Fitness Tips 12 Comments »
Clint From Crude Fitness

Today’s guest post is by Clint Nielsen. He has 10 years of experience with fitness and nutrition. Clint runs a no-nonsense health and fitness blog over at Crude Fitness which is all about helping others achieve their fitness goals without the gimmicks currently being promoted in the fitness industry. Check it out.

Every time I set foot in the gym, I see people that haven’t the slightest clue as to why they are there, nor what they should be doing.

I often see them struggling with weights that are way too heavy or i find gym-goers that are training with the intensity of a sloth on Valium.

I’m not trying to be sexist here by any means, as these traits often apply to both genders.

Without further hesitation, here are the Top 5 things women do that hinder their progress in the gym:
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Tom Brady’s Hair

Posted September 9, 2010 in Sports 3 Comments »

Listen, I grew up in NH and I love Boston sports teams. Everyone who reads Project Swole regularly, knows I am a Patriots fan. I will root for them this season, with their lame running backs, high speed receivers, and what appeared in the preseason as a Swiss cheese defense.

What I refuse to do however, is to praise or even acknowledge Tom Brady’s hair. I had seen glimpses of it and heard the rumors that many New England fans were boycotting any discussion of the 2010 hairdo. I feared the worst, but hoped for the best.

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Eating Red Meat on a Low Carb Diet Could Kill You Fast

Posted September 8, 2010 in Diet, News of the Day 7 Comments »
Eating Red Meat
Eating Red Meat

Low carbohydrate diets are effective for losing fat. The low-carb approach is more effective than the low-fat or low-calorie approach to dieting, when trying to lose fat.

However, the question we’ve been asking for the last 20 years, or since the birth of Atkins, is – which foods are the healthiest protein sources on a low-carb diet?

Some choices include eggs, chicken, bacon, sausage, beef, salmon, white fish, shellfish, ham, pork, nuts, beans, and tofu. Since tofu is nasty, and can lead to increased risk of cancer and elevated estrogen levels in men, we won’t discuss it. But what about red meat and other meats that are high in saturated fat?

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Best Healthy Nutrition Plans

Posted September 3, 2010 in Healthy Lifestyle No Comments »
Healthy Nuts

Physical fitness is a great blessing of God. Human does lots of efforts to achieve the best health and fitness plans on behalf of successful planning. Physical fitness is generally achieved through proper nutrition, moderate-vigorous physical exercise, and sufficient rest. Health and fitness are compulsory to survive for a long time and to enjoy good health benefits.  Health and fitness goals can be achieved on behalf of successful diet plans and wise decision making to adopt the best fitness plan.

There are numerous ideas and useful tips which can be helpful to resolve the health issues. Human being gets energy, different types of calories and kilojoules by using multiple food resources. The necessary diet plan is an important source for human beings to get better health and to remain physically fit and smart. Recommended or suggested diet plan always plays an important role to survive and to grow skins by using the best foods and drinks.

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The Dwight Freeney Workout

Posted September 3, 2010 in Conditioning, Sports No Comments »

I found this great slideshow on Men’s Health yesterday depicting a 175 lbs Men’s Health editor working in with NFL football star Dwight Freeney during one of Freeney’s offseason workouts. It is hilarious, fun, interesting, and educational all at the same time.

You will get an idea of how NFL players train in the offseason, which you can then use to add some conditioning drills to your own workout routine. The modified MH workout routine at the end of the slideshow leaves something to be desired, but the slidehow itself is worth your time.

Who is Dwight Freeney?

Dwight Freeney is a 6’1″ 270-pound, Pro Bowl defensive end and all-time sack leader for the Indianapolis Colts. He is powerful, explosive, fast, and generally pretty intimidating. Peep the slidehow:

The Dwight Freeney Workout

What is the Best Post Workout Nutrition?

Posted September 2, 2010 in Fitness Tips, Nutrition Tip 1 Comment »
Swole Fitness Tips

Recently at Project Swole there has been some discussion of post-workout nutrition. I typically recommend Biotest Surge but several people in the last 6 months or so have suggested chocolate milk. The reality is that chocolate milk really might be the best and cheapest drink you can use post-workout.

The Study

In a recent study, novice weightlifters who trained to failure with 3 sets of 6 exercises each day and drank a post-workout supplement immediately after training, gained 5 pounds of muscle in only 8 weeks.

The proof is out there, experts have been touting it for years, and now you just have to accept it: post-workout nutrition is a necessity to maximize muscle growth.

Make sure you drink your post-workout shakes within 20 minutes of finishing your training, in order to take advantage of the most optimal anabolic window for growth. By doing this you will immediately reverse catabolism and kick-start protein synthesis, which puts you in the fast lane, on the highway to muscle recovery.

So, what are your options for a post-workout shake?

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2010 NFL Quarterback Rankings

Posted August 31, 2010 in Sports 2 Comments »
Peyton Manning Trophy
Peyton “The Man”-ning

I have fun watching football each season, and I’m sure some of you do too. Just wanted to point out that ESPN has a 2010 Quarterback Rankings article up. At the end of the article you can rank the quarterbacks yourself.

For those who feel inclined, go ahead an comment on the ESPN post and let me know who you think the best quarterbacks are. Here, I’ll post my completely unresearched full rankings from what I can remember about last year and the 2010 preseason off the top of my head.

The Project Swole 2010 NFL Quarterback Rankings

  1. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts

    I’m a Patriots fan but I can’t dispute that Peyton is probably the best NFL quarterback to ever play the game. I’m sure he’ll win at least one or two more Superbowls before he’s done. This year his team is even better than last year, if that’s possible. I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t toss 40+ touchdowns and win nearly every game in 2010.
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Black Rice, Omega 3 Margarine, and The Mediterranean Diet

Healthy Couple

Today I would like to show you some current news articles about healthy topics like Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids, the high antioxidant concentration of Black Rice, and a fun little slideshow about the Mediterranean Diet.

We just can’t take old news for granted, because studies are confirming and rejecting some of what we think we know. Myths are created and dispelled on a daily basis. Check it out.

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Breakfast: The Critical Meal

Posted August 24, 2010 in Nutrition Tip 8 Comments »
Dr. John Berardi
John Berardi

Since the late 1990’s Dr. John Berardi has published 8 scientific abstracts; 15 scientific papers and textbook chapters; presented at nearly 50 scientific, exercise, and nutrition related conferences; and published countless articles online.

His first articles at Testosterone Magazine so many years ago, provided me with the basis for everything I know about nutrition today. Now I will turn some of that knowledge over to you in the form of Nutrition Tips written by Dr. Berardi himself.

Today’s Topic – You Gotta Eat Breakfast

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NFL Football Player Brandon Jacobs Hits You With 4000 Lbs of Force

Posted August 23, 2010 in Sports No Comments »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqoQ3rwHZuU

Brandon Jacobs is a monster.

How to Increase Productivity: Stop Working, Go to the Gym

Posted August 11, 2010 in Business, Healthy Lifestyle, Research 1 Comment »
Brain Exercise
Exercise your body to exercise your brain.

How to Increase Productivity

I know some of you out there work 60, 70, 80 hour weeks. I know some of you also work 14,16,18 hour days. Hell, I’ve put in 36 hours straight writing computer code day and night to meet a deadline before. We all do it: we work too much!

Experts are finding out now that the best way to increase productivity, is to work less. That’s right, people who work 35-40 hours a week get the most out of their time. After the first 40 hours efficiency, speed, and quality all begin to deteriorate.

Companies that limit their employees’ working hours to 35 a week, typically have to employ less Quality Assurance (QA) testers, because their employees make far fewer mistakes. That is a multi-directional savings plan – save your employees health and save money by getting rid of half your QA staff (or just don’t hire them to begin with).

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Overhead Pressing Strategy – How to Build Massive Shoulders

Overhead Pressing Strategy

Update: here’s another blast from the past. Dating back to November 2, 2007, this was one of my first posts on overhead presses and it still rings true.

The four most important exercises for any serious weight lifter to obsess about are the squat, deadlift, bench press, and overhead press. Today, I am going to discuss how to properly perform a standing overhead press (aka shoulder press or military press), and a push press. Both motions are obviously used to push objects overhead. Clearly, overhead pressing is not only extremely functional but is fundamental in helping to build a firm athletic base regardless of your fitness goals.

I am going to be using a barbell in this explanation, but it can be performed with any reasonable object. First of all, load a bar appropriately and bring the weight to the front your shoulders. You can either clean the weight from the floor like an Olympic weightlifter or you can load the bar at the desired height in a squat rack.
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How to Increase Your Squat

How to Increase Your Squat By 100 Pounds in 10 Weeks

Update: Here is an old post I found about increasing your squat strength. I’m not sure that anyone ever really gave me much positive feedback on it, so I’m posting it again in case anyone wants to take a stab at putting 100 pounds on their squat in 10 weeks.

Arnold Squats
Arnold Squats

The squat is arguably the best exercise that any athlete can perform. Overhead press, bench press, and deadlifts rank right up there too, but I digress… No one wants to have a weak squat. To be considered ‘really strong’ you should be able to squat 2x your bodyweight.

Back in college I was regularly squatting 450 or so at a fluctuating bodyweight of 190-210 lbs. I have no genetic gifts when it comes to muscle size and strength. If I can lift 450 anyone can, so man up and put in some effort.

The goals of this workout plan are:

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How to Increase Your Bench Press

Your Questions
Your Questions

How to Increase Your Bench Press Strength

I get plenty of questions in various comments throughout the website, but I also get comments and questions via the Project Swole Contact Form.

Generally I address those questions through e-mail, but often I do not have the time to reply to each and every question personally.

The category, Your Health Questions is a more proactive approach to answering your questions so that everyone can benefit from the Q & A.

Mark asked:

Hi Steve.

My Goal is to bench 500 lbs. Currently pushing 420 Legal Lift raw. Chest work out consists of 1 warm up set of 135 for 20 reps. 1 set of 10 reps @ 315. 3 sets of 3 at 405. then 2 or 3 sets of 10 at 315. Then machine pec flyes to finish.

Program is Day 1 Chest and Bi’s / Day 2 Shoulders and Traps / Day 3 Back and Tri’s / Day 4 Legs

Two rest days that vary.

Supplements are Noxipro Pre-work out. Beast SuperTest and Isopure Protein.

What are your recommendations to help get to 500?

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