Tag: nutrition

Ultimate Full Body Weightlifting Exercises for Strength

Mastering Full Body Weightlifting: Your Path to Strength and Fitness

Unleash Your Potential with Full Body Weightlifting

When it comes to sculpting a strong, toned physique, full body weightlifting exercises are an absolute game-changer. These dynamic workouts engage multiple muscle groups simultaneously, maximizing your time in the gym and delivering impressive results. Whether you’re a seasoned gym-goer or just starting out on your fitness journey, mastering full body weightlifting is key to unlocking your full potential.

The Power of Compound Movements

At the heart of full body weightlifting routines are compound exercises. These are multi-joint movements that work several muscles at once, providing efficient and effective workouts. Squats, deadlifts, and bench presses are just a few examples of these powerhouse exercises. By incorporating these into your routine, you’ll not only build strength but also improve balance, coordination, and overall athleticism.

Building a Strong Foundation: Leg Day Essentials

No full body weightlifting regimen is complete without a focus on leg exercises. Squats, lunges, and leg presses target the lower body muscles, including the quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes. Not only will you develop powerful legs, but these exercises also promote functional strength that translates to better performance in daily activities.

Upper Body Sculpting: The Key to a Balanced Physique

A well-rounded full body weightlifting routine also emphasizes upper body exercises. Push-ups, rows, and shoulder presses are fantastic choices to target the chest, back, shoulders, and arms. By incorporating these movements, you’ll sculpt a balanced physique that not only looks great but also performs at its best.

The Core of Strength: Why Core Workouts Matter

Don’t neglect your core when it comes to full body weightlifting. A strong core is the foundation for all movements, providing stability and support for your entire body. Planks, Russian twists, and bicycle crunches are excellent choices to strengthen your abs, obliques, and lower back. Plus, a toned midsection looks fantastic and improves posture.

Maximizing Results with Progressive Overload

To continue seeing progress in your full body weightlifting journey, it’s essential to incorporate the principle of progressive overload. This means gradually increasing the weight, reps, or sets of your exercises over time to challenge your muscles and stimulate growth. Whether you add an extra plate to the barbell or perform an additional set, pushing your limits is key to reaching new levels of strength and fitness.

The Convenience of Home Workouts

One of the fantastic aspects of full body weightlifting is its versatility. You don’t need a fancy gym or expensive equipment to get started. Many effective exercises can be done right in the comfort of your own home. With a set of dumbbells, a stability ball, and a bit of creativity, you can create a killer full body workout routine in your living room.

Fueling Your Body for Success: Nutrition Tips

Of course, no discussion of full body weightlifting would be complete without mentioning the importance of nutrition. To support your muscles and promote recovery, fuel your body with a balanced diet rich in lean proteins, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats. Hydration is also key, so be sure to drink plenty of water throughout the day.

Rest and Recovery: The Unsung Heroes of Progress

Last but certainly not least, remember to prioritize rest and recovery in your full body weightlifting journey. Muscles grow and repair during periods of rest, so ensure you’re getting adequate sleep each night. Additionally, consider incorporating active recovery days into your routine, such as gentle yoga or light cardio. Your body will thank you, and you’ll come back stronger and more energized for your next workout.

Embrace the Journey: Your Path to Strength and Fitness

In conclusion, mastering full body weightlifting is a transformative journey that offers numerous benefits for your body and mind. From building strength and muscle to improving overall fitness and athleticism, these exercises are a powerhouse for achieving your fitness goals. So lace up your sneakers, grab those weights, and embark on this empowering path to strength and fitness. The results will speak for themselves, and you’ll feel stronger, healthier, and more confident than ever before. Read more about best full body weightlifting exercises

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Mens Health and Nutrition Is a Different Animal to the Health and Nutrition of Our Other Half, Women

Men’s pot bellies usually has to do with the wrong food diet and lack of exercise, and that can turn on you quickly, producing too much excess insulin (from to much sugar in the diet and not enough exercise) depositing FAT into your GUT! Abdominal fat is different and more dangerous than fat elsewhere. Unlike fat under the skin, Belly Fat adheres to Organs and is associated with ( CRP) C reactive protein, just one of the markers of inflammation. Even worse, would be when your pancreas burns out over the years of producing excess insulin, that will begin to build up in your arteries resulting in possible heart attack and strokes.
These are some of the steps people can take to overcome this problem!
Drink at least 16oz of water when you rise in the morning as that will help flush toxins out. Drink at least a gallon of water throughout the day. Eat in reverse! a LARGE hearty healthy breakfast, eat a MEDIUM Lunch, and then eat a small Dinner, unlike most people who normally eat ( light breakfast- medium lunch -heavy dinner late at night.)
When you eat a healthy breakfast of whole grains, cereal, proteins, fruit, (not bacon-home fries-sausage-burgers-pancakes etc)it will get you energized for the start of day and sustain you until lunch time. People who eat a protein rich breakfast of around 600 or more calories lose more weight than those that consume less than 300 for breakfast. Don’t be tempted to snack on Junk food in between. There’s no nutritive value, just calories and that will increase your sugar level.
Lunch! Try a peanut-butter sandwich with maybe some Honey, even one at around 3pm will give you the necessary whole grains and muscle building protein to give you the energy to work out in the afternoon or evening, and of course you won’t need that big dinner.
Dinner! The thing about dinner is people tend to eat too much and too late in the evening resulting in food turning to sugar, turning too fat while lying motionless for 8 or more hours. It’s beneficial to eat something light for dinner. Eating a small colorful salad with some virgin olive oil and vinegar will help slow the absorption of carbohydrates into the bloodstream. This prevents spikes in blood sugar and insulin which signals the body to store fat. Maybe add some tuna for protein and a piece of fruit. Set a goal to not to eat after 7 -7-30pm and drink water before bed.…

Mass Nutrition

It is widely accepted that mass nutrition would make up at least 70% of the total equation of building muscles and mass.
Generally speaking if you are working out regularly and doing the right exercises in the right way and eating healthy- low fat, high fiber, low glycemic index, moderate to high protein every day, you will have a lean and nice physique over time.
However, to add to your muscle mass, to maintain it and to get quicker and long lasting results, you may need to do a little more.
Mass Nutrition Guidelines:
• Eat constantly in small quantities. Consuming multiple small and healthy meals every 1.5 to 2 hours will stimulate hormones that will help prevent your metabolism from slowing down.
• Total daily caloric intake is the most important element of mass nutrition. Sufficient calories from a combination of healthy nutrients help the body to build new muscle tissue and to avoid the breaking down of muscles as a result of training hard. But remember that there is no point of eating empty calories that do nothing but add mass to your waistline.
• Eat twice as much as you normally would: Two servings of vegetables- not one, two eggs and two pieces of toast – not one of each, double up the servings!
• Adding mass requires sufficient protein and amino acids as protein is the building blocks of muscle growth. Keep in mind that calories go hand in hand with protein. You need adequate amount of protein and caloric intake to experience proper muscle growth.
• Low glycemic carbohydrates such as beans, whole meal pastas, brown rice, sweet potatoes and oatmeal should make up the big part of your daily carb intake. These slow digesting carbs will help you burn much more fat during your exercise and throughout the day, and reduce the effect of insulin, the hormone that initiates both hunger and fat storage.
• Make sure that you have a whey protein shake with a simple carbohydrate before and after your workout to speed up the absorption of protein into muscles. You would normally eat the healthy complex carbohydrates that are full of fiber.. not this time! Stick to your protein shake and simple carb prior to and straight after your workout or latest within an hour.
Mass Nutrition Foods:
• Water: Stay hydrated by drinking water to help the nutrients’ transport to your muscles and keep your muscles looking full.
• Lean beef: High content of protein and good content of fat to help mass better than any other food.
• Egg white: One of the purest forms of protein in the world with a protein to fat ratio of 60:1.
• Skinless chicken and turkey: Excellent source of high quality protein, very low in saturated and trans fats.
• Bean and legumes: Great source of protein and fiber for a regular bowel movement and proper insulin response that are critical to muscle growth.
• Garlic: A high garlic intake influences hormones that support growth, and combined with a high protein intake produces increased testosterone levels and less muscle breakdown.
• Fish: Your body needs healthy fatty acids such as Omega 3.
• Peanut butter: Great to add to shakes or to spread on whole meal toast but avoid peanut butters that have added sugar in them.
• Whey protein: If there was one supplement that should be incorporated into your diet, it should be whey protein.…

Endurance And Nutrition

Endurance and nutrition may well go hand in hand for many people that take their training seriously. However often times the newcomer to training, whether it be athletic, weight lifting, body building or general fitness may become confused with the amount of information available on products, and supplements relevant to this area of training.
Although endurance and nutrition may fall under the main categorization of sports nutrition, people seeking to improve their level of fitness as well as those seeking to improve their bodies from a body building or weight perspective can certainly stand to benefit from gaining knowledge within this specific focus area.
Consuming products or supplements that work towards maximizing your endurance and nutrition goals, need to be aligned with the actual exercises and workouts that further enhance the endurance of the body itself. Although this may sound pretty obvious, many people will take products or supplements in the hope that somehow magically endurance will somehow become immediately available, during competitive or training phases or activities. Unfortunately it does not work this way and a consistent effort both within the consumption of supplements or foods that help with this, as well as specific training activities require attention to ensure the increase of endurance and related abilities in terms of current fitness levels.
Endurance and nutrition can directly affect a number of athletes, bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts due to a number of reasons, however the common denominator here is that the individual requires endurance during both training and competing phases where required. Within the training phase the aligned and optimized implementation of endurance and nutrition helps the individual train for longer periods and at increased levels. This in turn has a direct bearing upon the level of fitness, and ultimately the ability of the athlete or individual concerned. In so far as which sports and activities may well benefit directly from increased endurance, one needs only to consider those sports that require extended periods of exertion and participation, such as that of running, rowing, swimming and so forth; this would also be true of the various team games that are played over a continuous time period such as football, rugby, hockey and so forth.
In so far as supplements and specific products that can be considered in terms of endurance and nutrition, individuals can consider Protein, Creatine, Glutamines, Nitric Oxides, Amino Acids and many more. Each of these provide additional nutrients to the body during training and exertion and in turn contribute to the energy levels of the individual allowing them to train longer, or compete longer. The fact that the majority of these endurance and nutrition products are mostly based upon natural nutrients and components already contained within the body ensure that they are safe for usage within a fitness and athletic nutrition plan.…

Childhood Nutrition – Taking a Closer Look at the Mixed Messages We Send Our Kids

Children’s nutrition is a loaded subject. At no other time in our lives is building a solid foundation for health more important. Yet, at no other time in our lives are we so completely at the mercy of others making decisions for us.
That means it’s up to the grown-ups in a child’s life to understand the importance of healthy food (and beverage) choices in order to introduce healthy habits to their children.
Easier said than done! It seems as though, in the case of children’s nutrition specifically, the simplicity of healthy choices becomes muddled with strange connotations of what a “happy childhood” should be and what our oftentimes skewed views of food are as adults.
Our society is familiar with the concept of an early window of opportunity to teach children things like foreign languages or a skill, like playing a musical instrument. We’ve heard that children are at peak developmental stages very early in life, and therefore we should maximize their opportunities by teaching them these advanced concepts at early ages.
Whether you agree or not, have applied it with your children or not, it’s a socially acceptable concept that seems to make sense to most people. It’s peculiar that, as a society, we don’t yet understand that the very same principles apply to the health of a child.
The early developmental years are a critical time for creating a solid foundation for nutritional health, as well as movement and mindset. What we feed our children (or what we passively allow them to eat or others to feed them), and what we teach our children about nutrition NOW will impact their health for the rest of their lives.
Our family is certainly not perfect in any way, including our nutritional choices. But, we stick to a few basic principles overall in an ongoing, concerted effort to make the healthiest choices possible. We apply the simple Wellness Formula to all of our lifestyle choices, including the nutritional ones.
The Wellness Formula describes how health is created and how sickness is allowed to develop. In order to create optimal health and function, we must make pure and sufficient choices. As described by Wellness expert, Dr. James Chestnut, these are things that meet our body’s innate genetic requirements for health. The two types of choices that move us unequivocally away from health are toxic and deficient ones. Toxic choices are things that work against our body’s efforts to create health – they are not requirements for health.
In applying this to children’s nutrition, we simply talk about what food choices the body truly needs in order to build a strong, healthy body and a brilliant mind, as opposed to which choices are interfering with our body’s efforts and are leading to a loss of health. Kids get this. There are building blocks for health, and then there are things that come by and destroy what you’ve been building. You get to choose.
Another concept that works around here is, “fill up with health first”. It’s not about saying you can “never” have that cookie or that birthday cake or that less-than-healthy food choice. It’s about making sure you’ve given your body what it needs first – the raw materials for building health. If you know you’re going to be eating something more toxic later in the day, then make sure you fuel up with lots of healthy choices first, that’s all.
It’s also about teaching responsibility and accountability to kids when it comes to their health. There are limitations to matter! They can’t fill up with health first, then choose toxic garbage every single day. That’s too much for our physiology to overcome. A toxin is a toxin, no matter how much broccoli preceded it!
As grown-ups, we sure do pass on some odd beliefs and customs to our younger generation regarding food. One example is how we talk about food. When a food choice obviously doesn’t create any health, and in fact moves us away from health, should we really be calling it a “treat”? Isn’t that completely mixed messaging we’re sending our children (and ourselves)? It’s not a treat if it’s contributing to chronic illness!
Let’s call it like it is. How about a “tasty toxin”! (Thanks to Dr. Chestnut for that little gem!) Sure, it tastes great… and you should go ahead and enjoy it in that moment once you’ve made the choice. But let’s be perfectly clear – it’s not good for you and making that choice with any regularity has devastating consequences over time.
That’s the crux right there. If we truly understood the consequences of the choices we’re making on behalf of our children, we’d choose differently. If we clearly understood the consequences of that toxic choice, maybe we’d pass on it. If we clearly …

Maximizing Gains – Pre, During and Post Workout Nutrition

Workout is stress for the body. When we load the bar and lift it, we are stressing the muscles, joints, bones and CNS (Central Nervous System). To help the body recover from stress, we have to replenish what we have spent and provide the body with nutrients that will help in regeneration.
If you are on a strict diet, your lifting will suffer in both sets and reps. Carbs do wonders to strength and stamina (even if you are on keto diet, carbs loading is best on training day and vice versa). Caloric deficit makes body burns more calories than we consume. Since our bodies are made for survival and not beach look, our lovely bodies will rather keep fat for rainy days and not muscles. If we are stressing muscles enough even on low calorie diets, our bodies will have reason to keep those muscles and burn fat. Of course, balance in this situation depends on calorie deficit, body type, nutrition, age and many other things that are often very individual.
On the other hand, if you don’t workout with intensity and volume as before, you will not send a signal to your body that you want it to keep all of the muscles (or at least as much as possible) and lose fat.
So what do we do? We trick the body with proper nutrition before, during and after the workout. Thus, in the long run, we are in caloric deficit, but around workouts we have enough energy for good workout and enough nutrients to start muscle regeneration or even muscle growth.
Example of nutrition before, during and after workout would be:
– ~2 hours before workout, eat some complex carbs and protein, for example whole wheat pasta/veggies and fish/meat. Endomorphs should avoid even whole wheat pasta and eat only veggies with fish/meat. If you are feeling lightheaded, feel free to eat maybe even 1g of carbs per 1kg of LBM (Lean Body Mass). This meal will give you energy for next few hours – not that you will be able to set new personal records (PRs), but you should not feel lightheaded when going to the gym
– ~15 minutes before workout some liquid meal or supplement. Liquid meal would be one scoop of whey (based rather on whey concentrate then hydrolyzed whey; add some BCAA if possible) with some guarana, or just take some pre-workout energy booster supplement. This shake should give you energy boost for first few exercises. Energy levels could drop sharply if you don’t take next meal.
– Between 15th and 30th minutes of workout, drink slowly shake consisting of one scoop of whey and maybe 10g of glucose (dextrose); add some BCAA if possible. You need this nutrients to stay sharp and strong. It will give you energy to continue through the workout.
– After workout drink proper shake – one to two scoops of whey, 50-100g of glucose (dextrose), creatine, BCAA, C vitamin… glutamine if you find it useful (many people don’t, me included). This meal will increase nutrients levels in your blood, hormone insulin included. It will strongly promote muscle regeneration and recovery. Be aware that after 80-100 minutes, levels of nutrients fall sharply and you could feel really weak.
– ~1 hour after last shake, eat meal similar to last solid meal before workout – complex carbs with protein. This meal will help you stabilize blood nutrient levels. After this meal, eat you regular food according to your diet.
Is this all necessary? Not all, but both solid meals are simply must eat meals, with shake after workout (Post Work Out – PWM) highly recommended. Some people think that this is just too complicated for average trainee, but if you are serious about your diet and serious about losing fat and keeping or even gaining muscles while dieting, than this is simply something that you have to do. And if you managed to achieve beach look without this kind of pre, during and post workout nutrition, just think for a moment, what would you do if you did follow this kind of nutrition. With time passed, you will learn enough of your body, and you will be able to decide what is best for you in what situation – getting rid of the fat, peeking strength, putting on some muscle mass.
Some people don’t like meals right before and during workout – if you are one of them, then – don’t take them.
If you are ectomorph or even mesomorph on mass cycle, then by all means – eat regular food and forget gainers – they are after all just combination of some protein (mostly whey protein) with plenty of fast or moderate carbs (mostly sugar). But, be sure to always have PWM after workouts to promote muscle regeneration …

Diabetes Diet, Nutrition and Herbal Treatment That Works

Diabetes or diabetes mellitus is a disease tormenting many these days. The advent of modern technology and craze for high profile life style is the root of several serious ailments including diabetes. The patient suffering from diabetes has an increased glucose level in blood. Our food intake supplies us with carbohydrates which get converted in to glucose. The hormone insulin secreted by pancreas breaks down the glucose and aids the metabolic process by making the glucose enter in to body cells and energizing the body as a whole.
When the cells of the pancreas become incapable of producing sufficient insulin or when body cells become resistant to insulin, glucose collects in blood and soon the level shoots up resulting in diabetes. There are three major types of diabetes: Type1, Type2 and Gestational diabetes. Type1 diabetes occurs when the amount of insulin produced by pancreas falls short of the body’s requirement of insulin. Type2 diabetes occurs when body cells become non-responsive to insulin or do not take in insulin in the amount they should have taken in.
Gestational diabetes is the result of pregnancy. Glucose levels in blood rise during pregnancy in some women. Heredity, obesity, stress, over-intake of carbohydrates, nutritional deficiencies, and any other disease causing damage to pancreas are diabetes-triggering factors. Diabetes needs timely diagnosis and treatment, or else it may cause serious damage to heart, kidney, eyes, liver and nervous system.
Symptoms
1. Frequent urination2. Increased hunger3. Increased thirst4. Fatigue5. Loss of weight6. Blurry vision7. Palpitation8. Constipation9. Yellowish urine with a sweet acidic odor10. Itching around genitals
Herbal treatment for diabetes
Nature gives us a wide range of herbs that may be used to treat diabetes the natural ways. Some of the herbs may be listed as follows.
1. Onion and garlic have excellent sugar-reducing properties.
2. Bitter melon or balsam pear juice supplies the body with insulin like polypeptide-p and thereby lowers blood sugar.
3. Fenugreek seeds, rich in nicotinic acids and alkaloid trigoneline, prove very effective in treating diabetes.
4. The holy basil is a highly beneficial herb in treating diabetes.
5. Ivy gourd leaf extracts are quite effective in treating retinal disorders due to diabetes.
6. Fully grown curry leaves are an effective cure for congenital diabetes and obesity.
7. Indian gooseberry juice is a pancreas stimulating drink. It stimulates the pancreas to produce more insulin.
8. Butea leaf extracts are useful in lowering sugar levels in blood.
9. Cinnamon is an effective herb for managing diabetes.
10. Powdered, dry mango leaves may be taken in empty stomach for controlling diabetes.
11. Indian plum seeds regulate the metabolic process and also stimulate pancreas.…