There are so many choices out there for exercise equipment, sometimes it is hard to know what to choose. Free weights are always best – barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, odd objects, and even bodyweight. Machines have their place, but they don’t usually belong in your main training routine.
So how can you choose your equipment based on your training history, goals, and injuries?
 Exercise Equipment |
Keep your muscles limber by holding static stretches for 30 seconds if you are under 30 years old. For every ten additional years of your life, you should add 10 seconds to your stretch.
Example: in your 30’s you should be holding a stretch for 40 seconds, in your 40’s hold it for 50 seconds, in your 50’s it should be a 60 second hold, and so on.
The reason is for this is that your muscles are less pliable as you get older. You need to stretch them for longer periods of time to remain flexible in your old age.
Static stretching should always be completed after your regular exercise routine. Dynamic and PNF stretching can be done during warm-ups or after regular training. If you are interested, you should read more about Flexibility Training.
You might not believe this tip, but I’ve read about this time and again. You should put your tongue on the roof of your mouth whenever you exercise, especially when doing something that might typically strain your neck.
Don’t work your abdominal muscles every day. Your abs are like any other muscle in your body – you shouldn’t work them everyday. You still need to give your abs time to recover.
You should train your abs 3 to 4 times a week, not on consecutive days.
I found this article today that talks about a lack of ‘blue light’, which we get from early morning exposure to sunlight. When teenagers are not properly exposed to ‘blue light’ for one week, their bodies release melatonin 30 minutes later in the day, which causes them to stay up later and fall asleep in class the next day. The release of melatonin is often also responsible for lack of sleep due to insomnia.
 Insomnia |
Hello everyone.
Please bare with me as I roll out the new design and functionality for Project Swole. There will be bugs and glitches, but I promise they will get worked out.
Please let me know what you like or dislike about the new layout, and if you discover anything broken, strange, or unexpected.
You will find most of the site navigation that used to be on the sidebar, now up in drop down menus at the top of the screen.
Thank you for your patience. Some great new content will surely follow, as soon as I can perfect the site.
Best,
Steve
At a body weight of 180 lbs, Willie Albert of Iron Will Strength and Fitness in Ottawa Ontario Canada performs 10 total rounds of barbell back squat with 445 lbs, standing military press with 135 lbs, and barbell deadlift with 425 lbs. He was attempting to complete this circuit for time and finished in 4:35.
For all you math geniuses, that would be a total of 10500 lbs of work in less than 5 minutes. He’s not lifting elite powerlifting numbers, but to complete 10 rounds of this in 4 and a half minutes is impressive to me. I bet if he were going for a 1 rm, he’d be squatting and pulling in the 600s, and would be shoulder pressing 200+.
Keep reading to view his video…
Here’s another reason never to drink soda or anything else containing high-fructose corn syrup ever again.
A recent study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, links sugary soft drink consumption to an increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer.
Noel T. Mueller, MPH, the author of the study and a research associate at the Cancer Control Program at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. notes:
“People who drank two or more soft drinks a week had an 87% increased risk — or nearly twice the risk — of pancreatic cancer compared to individuals consuming no soft drinks.”
So apparently Bob Greene is Oprah’s personal trainer. He is credited with giving Oprah an exercise and nutrition plan that has actually helped her maintain a healthy weight.
** Comment on this post to qualify to win a free copy of this DVD. **
Obviously you must know by now that Oprah started off huge, lost a ton of weight, ballooned back up again, lost it again, gained it all back, etc… But from what I understand, thanks to Bob Greene’s workout plan and nutrition tips, she is finally maintaining a healthy weight.
Allow me to announce Project Swole’s most recent free giveaway: Bob Greene’s Total Body Makeover DVD.
I haven’t watch this, nor will I, but I can tell you what it says on the DVD package.
 Woman Drinking Water |
I am always recommending athletes to drink a gallon of water a day. That is all fine and well, but apparently there is a better way to calculate your hydration needs.
Based on a post over at FormerFatGuy.com, we should be drinking half of our body weight in pounds, in ounces of water each day. That means if you weigh 150 lbs you should be drinking 75 oz of water each day.
Use this chart to make your conversions from liters to ounces.
For those who use the Metric system, divide your weight in kilograms by 30. For example, somebody who weighs 70 kg is going to need 2.3 liters per day.
You can drink all the water you want, but if your body can’t use it you will still be dehydrated. Here are some tips to help increase body’s ability to absorb water.
Your Questions |
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.
From now on I want to take a more proactive approach to answering Your Health Questions by posting them separately in the blog. This way we can be sure that everyone benefits from the Q & A.
“I am trying to convert fluid ounces to liters for some recipes, but I am not sure how many ounces are in a liter. Can you help me?”
There are 33.8140226 fluid ounces (fl oz) in 1 liter (l).
Click here to view the super-easy-to-use full conversion table.
 Crazy Fish |
A study of potential schizophrenics has determined that supplementing with fish oil, primarily long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, can reduce the risk of ever developing full-blown schizophrenia or bi-polar disorder. In fact, supplementing with fish oil was found to be equally effective at preventing psychotic episodes as anti-psychotic medications.
The study was conducted with 81 patients at ultra-high risk of developing a psychotic disorder. At the end of the study, less than 5% of patients supplementing with fish oil developed full-blown psychosis, while nearly 28% of patients in the placebo group transitioned to a psychotic state.
This is great news for adolescents, since that age group is highly affected by the weight gain side effects of anti-psychotic medication. Supplementing daily with fish oil sounds like a great idea to me.
Now you can download the Full Body Plus HIIT for Fat Loss workout routines in Excel spreadsheet format. You can use these files to print out the routine and take it to the gym on a clipboard, keep track of your progress on the computer, or both.
The Full Body Plus HIIT Fat Loss Routine for Men can be found here:
Click this link to go to the download section of the post so you can download your spreadsheet!
The Full Body Plus HIIT Fat Loss Routine for Women can be found here:
Click this link to go to the download section of the post so you can download your spreadsheet!
I made some changes to the programs as well. Going through them I realized that there will almost always be time to complete those optional sets at the end of the routine, so I made the “e” exercises mandatory and added an additional abdominal exercise to make a super-set.
| Your Questions |
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.
From now on I want to take a more proactive approach to answering Your Health Questions by posting them separately in the blog. This way we can be sure that everyone benefits from the Q & A.
“I am 61 and in generally good shape, bicycled for years (at least 1000 miles per year).
The past two years I’ve converted to weight training (three days a week) plus spinning (three days a week). I’ve always been thin 6’2 – 195lbs.
Joined a gym 2 months ago (with a personal trainer)and really haven’t seen the results I’ve been looking for. I’ve reduced my body fat but haven’t seen any gains in muscle mass. I feel better but would also like to look better.
Also I just had another issue arise – a minor case of gout. I have been using a Whey protein drink 40 grams a day and need to know if Whey based supplements contain large amounts Purine (the largest contributer to gout).
I’m looking for info for us ‘old guys’ that haven’t given up.”
Originally posted: 1/27/10
Updates:
2/1/10 updated routine, added Excel spreadsheet workout logs)
3/8/10 added example HIIT routines for days 2, 4, and 6.
 Fat Loss for Men |
Many of you are asking for a full body workout routine to burn fat, so here you go.
I have even customized the program for both men and women.
You can skip the details and go straight to the routines if you wish:
We are integrating 3 full body training sessions with 3 HIIT routines and taking the 7th day off. Since the goal is fat loss, we are striving to add some muscle mass, maintain strength, and burn as many calories as possible.
This is accomplished by staying in a slightly higher rep range than we would normally use for strictly strength training, while using super-sets for most of our exercises. We add an optional set to the end of each workout in case you are able to finish the workout early.
Major compound exercises are rotated to prioritize a different muscle group on each of the 3 training sessions each week.
Originally posted: 1/26/10
Updates:
2/1/10 updated routine, added Excel spreadsheet workout logs)
3/8/10 added example HIIT routines for days 2, 4, and 6.
 Fat Loss for Women |
Many of you are asking for a full body workout routine to burn fat, so here you go.
I have even customized the program for both men and women.
You can skip the details and go straight to the routines if you wish:
We are integrating 3 full body training sessions with 3 HIIT routines and taking the 7th day off. Since the goal is fat loss, we are striving to add some muscle mass, maintain strength, and burn as many calories as possible.
This is accomplished by staying in a slightly higher rep range than we would normally use for strictly strength training, while using super-sets for most of our exercises. We add an optional set to the end of each workout in case you are able to finish the workout early.
Major compound exercises are rotated to prioritize a different muscle group on each of the 3 training sessions each week.
It’s official! After many long years of arguing with fools, I am validated! Based on hundreds of studies and thousands of hours of research, the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) have finally taken the position that age-appropriate resistance training is not only good for kids, but recommended.
 Strong Kid |
Yes you read that right. In certain postal codes in England, severely overweight people are being denied life-saving surgery because it is not cost effective.
 Severe clinical obesity can be life threatening. |
The National Health Service (NHS), the name commonly used to refer to the three publicly funded health care systems in England, is telling people that they don’t qualify for surgery even though they are clinically obese.
Some people in more affluent postal codes with lower BMIs qualify for surgery right away, while the lower and middle class are being told to get fatter so that they will develop life-threatening complications, which will then qualify them for surgery. This policy allows some people with BMI of 40 to get the surgery, while others with BMI of 60 are labeled as “too skinny”, simply because of where they live.
Yikes.
Read more: Obese patients ‘encouraged to put on weight to qualify for surgery’
Hi everyone. I have a LOT of stuff going on right now, including the redesign of Project Swole and the integration of some social community plugins. Because of my schedule and work load I’ve been unable to post good stuff in the last week, and I still have 31 comments that I need to approve and respond to, as well as some e-mails from you guys that I need to answer.
Let me update you on what we have coming up at Project Swole:
That’s all for today, as I have to get back to work, but stay tuned.
