Acai Roots: nex4™ Acai Energy Shots

Posted December 1, 2009 in Product Reviews 4 Comments »

I tried some of this stuff and it’s pretty darn good!

Energy drinks have become so common nowadays, that we can basically find them everywhere and in all forms. Usually they are stacked with a high concentration of caffeine and other substances that take you to a peak quickly.

Acai Roots - Acai Energy Shots
Acai Energy Shots™ – Sustained Energy, no crash!
Acai Roots nex4™ - Açaí Liquid Energy Concentrate
Acai Roots nex4™ – Açaí Liquid Energy Concentrate

Acai Roots now offers us energy shots that taste great and work, but don’t cause jitters and a crash. Read on to find out more about the Acai Roots energy drinks.

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What do you want to see on Project Swole?

Posted November 30, 2009 in Business 32 Comments »

Would you be interested to know that Project Swole will soon be undergoing a redesign? I’ve already expanded the layout to 1000 pixels where it was once only 800 pixels, but a whole new graphical layout is coming out shortly, and I’m thinking of installing the Social Networking plugin Mingle to let Project Swole readers connect with each other more easily. Project Swole 3.0 should be good.

Articles and Posts

I’ve received a ton of requests for new articles on Project Swole. Let me tell you what’s on my To Write List and you can add to it as you see fit by leaving me some comments.

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Conditioning Workouts Do Not Affect Strength Gains

Need another reason to add either HIIT or HIRT into your workout routine?

A university study has concluded that a combination of cross training and strength training produces the same strength adaptations as strength training alone, while also eliciting the wonderful benefits of cardiovascular conditioning.

Conditioning
Conditioning

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How Many Reps Should You Do?

Posted November 23, 2009 in Conditioning, Weight Training 7 Comments »

When lifting weights, there are many questions asked by both noobies and experienced lifters alike.

How Many Reps?
How Many Reps?

Some great weightlifting questions include:

  • what are the best exercises?
    Answer: view my series of best exercises posts.
  • how long should I workout?
    Answer: HIIT: 20 mins, Weightlifting & Endurance Cardio: 45 mins
  • how many sets should I do?
    Answer: That answer is going to require a dedicated post, so I’ll get to that shortly.
  • how many reps should I do?
    Answer: read on and find out…

There are 3 main kinds of repetitions (reps) when it comes to weightlifting; certain rep and set schemes are used depending on your goals. Let’s examine scheme #1:

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Healthcare Associated Infection

Posted November 17, 2009 in Healthy Lifestyle No Comments »

The following guest post was contributed by Barbara Dunn, a PR executive who is writing today about healthcare-associated infection (HAI), an important topic for everyone.

Healthcare Associated Infection

When someone develops an infection, at a hospital or other patient care facility, that they did not have prior to treatment, this is referred to as a healthcare-associated (sometimes hospital-acquired) infection (HAI).

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UFEC I – Ab Lounge Sport vs. The Ab Wheel

Posted November 16, 2009 in Product Reviews 4 Comments »

Welcome to the very first Ultimate Fitness Equipment Championship battle. This will be a lowdown showdown between 2 pieces of fitness equipment that I have used. I’ll break down the good and the bad, then I’ll make my recommendation for best piece of equipment. Ready?

Let’s get it on!

UFEC I – Ab Lounge Sport vs. The Ab Wheel

Ab Lounge Sport
Ab Lounge Sport
VS. Ab Wheel
Ab Wheel

This weekend my friend bought an Ab Lounge Sport from Target. He set it up in my living room, which essentially forced me to try it out. For a comparison, I used the results from my handy ab wheel to gauge the effectiveness of this Smurf-blue chair-like contraption.

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Zola Acai Juice

Posted November 11, 2009 in Product Reviews 1 Comment »

Zola Acai Juice

Acai Smoothie
Acai Smoothie

I recently had the opportunity to try 7 of Zola’s products: 3 acai juice blends and 4 acai smoothies. To skip the background on Zola, click here to go straight to the product reviews. By the way, I get nothing out of reviewing these products, not even if you follow my links to buy some. This is just for Project Swole readers’ information.

The philosophy of Zola is to bring highly delicious and nutritious Brazilian superfruits to consumers, and that is what they do best.

Zola has an agreement with certain Brazilian communities which allow them full access to the best, freshest acai that Brazil has to offer. Because of this agreement they never have to buy acai on the open market, and they are able to give directly back to their partner communities in an effort to reduce poverty and preserve the habitat.

A recent article in Forbes magazine noted Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as one of the world’s happiest cities. It just so happens that Rio de Janeiro is one of the top producers of acai berries, and the people that live there have daily, cheap access to acai foods.

Could acai = happiness? 😛

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How to Jump Squat

Jump Squats
Jump Squats

Jump squats are great.

This is an excellent sport specific exercise that can be used alongside plyometrics to help you increase your vertical jump.

Jump squats will also help you power through a plateau in your regular squat development by conditioning your quads and hips to power through the lockout at the top of the movement.

Jump squats are an excellent sport specific exercise that can be used to increase power for:

  • Olympic weight lifters
  • Olympic athletes that either throw (javelin, shot put) or jump (long jump, pole vault)
  • Basketball players who need to jump high
  • Football players who block or tackle

Add jump squats to your regular workout, your HIIT routine, your HIRT routine, or your sport specific training.

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FDA Forces Recall of 65 Supplements that Allegedly Contain Steroids

Posted November 4, 2009 in Supplements 6 Comments »

Here we go again.

Bodybuilding.com has initiated an international recall of 65 dietary supplements that the FDA insists probably contain steroids.

Since they would probably get in some kind of legal trouble down the road, the popular bodybuilding website pretty much has to cooperate, so they have recalled all lots and expiration dates related to the 65 supplements flagged on the FDA’s list. Click here to see the list.

The FDA claims that the products on its list could contain some of the following substances:

Bodybuilding
Bodybuilding
  • superdrol
  • madol
  • tren
  • androstenedione
  • turinabol

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Happy Halloween!

Posted October 31, 2009 in Healthy Lifestyle 3 Comments »
Happy Halloween

Image from Yun Fitness Pumpkin Bootcamp

Calorie Information on Fast Food Menus Decreases Calories Consumed

Posted October 27, 2009 in Healthy Lifestyle 5 Comments »

A study release by New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene shows evidence that posting calorie information on fast food restaurant menus actually does change consumer behavior.

Girl Eating Fast Food
Girl Eating Fast Food

In July 2008, New York became the first US city to require fast food restaurants to post calorie counts in on menus, a practice that has become a stepping stone for similar rules in California, Seattle, Portland, and other cities in New York.

The decision to require nutrition information on menus is a result of an effort to combat obesity and promote good nutrition, especially for children.

Menu labeling continues to be viewed as a tool for fighting obesity. Currently, about 33% of adults in the US are obese, and another 33% are overweight. Obesity is a condition that increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other medical problems. Being overweight often leads to obesity later in life.

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Halloween Pumpkin Fat Loss Circuit

Posted October 23, 2009 in Conditioning, Healthy Lifestyle No Comments »

Here we have what is essentially bodyweight circuit training, but using a pumpkin for resistance. You might laugh, but pumpkins can weigh 10-20 pounds if they’re big enough. I don’t know that this is a ‘good’ idea, but at least it demonstrates how to think outside the box.

Repeat the 4-minute workout below, 4-5 times for a Halloween-themed 20 minute fat burning workout.

Now check out these other Halloween themed workouts by The Workout Muse.

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PNF Stretching Videos

Posted October 7, 2009 in Flexibility No Comments »

Below are some decent PNF stretching videos to go along with a recent post about PNF stretching. Use these videos to get some good ideas for stretching your muscles before exercise or anytime you feel like working to increase your flexibility. Similar to dynamic stretching, only better!

Click here to learn more about general flexibility training.

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Dynamic Stretching Videos

Posted October 5, 2009 in Flexibility 2 Comments »

Below are some decent dynamic stretching videos to go along with a recent post about dynamic stretching. Use these videos to get some good ideas for stretching your muscles before exercise or anytime you feel like working to increase your flexibility.

Click here to learn more about general flexibility training.

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Static Stretching Videos

Posted October 3, 2009 in Flexibility 1 Comment »

Below are some decent static stretching videos to go along with a recent post about static stretching. Use these videos to get some good ideas for stretching your muscles AFTER exercise.

Click here to learn more about general flexibility training.

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Breast Cancer Awareness Month October 2009

Posted October 1, 2009 in Medical 6 Comments »

breast cancer donation

Breast Cancer Awareness

Breast cancer is an awful disease that affects millions of women each year.

If you have a wife, sister, daughter, mother, grandmother, aunt, or niece, you could be affected by breast cancer too.

Breast cancer is the seventh leading cause of death for women in the US.

It is the second most common form of cancer in women, and is the number one cause of cancer death in Hispanic women.

It is the second most common cause of cancer death in white, black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native women.

Donate to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

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Continued Vigilance Against Sex Offenders in Hooksett, NH

Posted September 24, 2009 in Healthy Lifestyle, Kids 3 Comments »

As an update to my post that pedophiles should run for the hills, I wanted to share the recent developments in this story. Why do I continue to post about this in my health and fitness blog? Because I can, and because the world needs to know.

Sexual abuse, child abuse, child molestation, and pedophilia has absolutely NOTHING to do with being Swole, but fighting for the safety of our children certainly does!

I promise I will get back to posting about health and fitness very soon… I am working on a post about static stretching as you read this. But I digress…

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Force the Pedophiles to Run for the Hills!

Posted September 22, 2009 in Healthy Lifestyle, Kids 6 Comments »

Today I would like to take a break from exercise and nutrition news to tell you about a real problem in our world: child molestation. It is a taboo topic but it is also reality. Child molestation destroys lives on a daily basis and the perpetrators are often slapped on the wrist and released back into society. It has to stop and I am willing to fight for our kids.

Joel Dutton
Joel Dutton

There is a revolution happening in Hooksett, NH this month.

Thanks to a group of angry neighbors, myself included, there is a movement to put restrictions into place for convicted and registered sex offenders in the town of Hooksett, NH. Read on to find out how it all began and what is happening today.

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How to Make Interval Training More Interesting and Effective

Posted September 19, 2009 in Conditioning 3 Comments »

This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson, who regularly writes on the topic of pharmacy technician certification. Adrienne welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: [email protected]

Change Up Your Interval Training Strategy

Interval Training
Interval Training

I enjoyed going for a jog early each morning, for about a month or so that is.

When it started to become boring and monotonous, I discovered interval training. So I varied my routine to sprint and then jog for 300 meters and 100 meters respectively.

It kept me going for a while, but then, I began to lag and find excuses not to go.

There’s no doubt that it’s one of the best ways to lose weight and improve fitness, but if you want to stay the course with interval training, you must find ways to make it more interesting.

And to that end, here’s what I did (and what you can do too) to make interval training more interesting and more effective:

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Unhealthy Health Foods

Posted September 18, 2009 in Nutrition Tip No 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 – Unhealthy Health Foods

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