May 12, 2012 | Category: Fat Loss | 
Losing weight is easy. Keeping it off is the real challenge. Most people do not successfully maintain their weight losses, and some individuals regain even more weight than they lost. Naturally, this is a discouraging scenario, and recent headlines which claim that being overweight or obese is primarily a genetic issue might make it seem like there’s nothing you can do about it. Why bother changing your current diet or exercise routine if any positive results are completely out of reach?
Before you succumb to the dubious doctrine of genetic pre-destination and give up on your weight loss goals, there are a couple of basic dieting principles that you should know about. These are not hard and fast rules, but if you’ve had trouble with weight loss in the past, then you may want to consider adopting a new approach.
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February 28, 2011 | Category: Strength Training | In Part 2, we discussed how training volume and intensity may be manipulated to provide optimal strength gains. In order to realize those gains, sufficient recovery is also required and Part 3 will provide some general guidelines for nutrition and rest. Just because I’m presenting these topics last in the series doesn’t mean they are any less important. You can be doing everything right with your workouts, and then sabotage your progress with poor nutrition and/or insufficient rest.
5) Nutrition
Nutrition is a highly complex field, for sure, but the overall principle for losing, gaining, and maintaining weight is very simple. If you want to maintain your current weight, simply eat at caloric maintenance. Want to lose weight? Eat less and/or exercise more. Trying to put on some weight? Eat more and/or exercise less. This holds true irrespective of the macronutrient composition of your diet. For example, if you …Read this post >>
February 21, 2011 | Category: Strength Training | Part 1 highlighted the need to develop a plan for making progress with properly chosen exercises that will help you build strength effectively and efficiently. Part 2 will deal with the importance of training volume and training intensity. As you’ll see, it’s hard to separate one topic from the other, as intensity is one factor in determining total training volume. Exercise duration and training frequency also contribute to total volume, and they will both receive a brief mention as they are intrinsic to a discussion on training volume and intensity. Please keep in mind that I am presenting general guidelines, as it will be impossible to cover every possible scenario in a single article.
3) Volume
Most weightlifters in almost every commercial gym are doing bodybuilder-styled routines with the requisite volume in training. Performing 5-10 exercises for 3-5 sets of 8-15 reps to failure on 4-6 days per week …Read this post >>
February 14, 2011 | Category: Strength Training | Do you actively participate in a strength training program? That was the easy question, but here’s the more challenging one: Is your program effective? No one likes to feel like they’re spinning their wheels without getting anywhere, and seeing tangible results is a major motivating factor in adhering to an active lifestyle. So, how can you get the most out of your program? In this series of articles, I’m going to cover the following six general guidelines for an effective strength training program:
- How to make progress
- Exercise selection
- Training volume
- Training intensity
- Nutrition
- Rest and recovery
As you consider each point, note how your current habits compare with the recommendations and then determine if you have any room for improvement. In Part 1 of 3, we will discuss the first two areas, progression and exercise selection.
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