Archive for September, 2009
Muscle Building For Weight Loss
At any given moment at every fitness facility in America you will find the ratio of cardio machine to weight equipment users to be enormously in favor of cardio equipment. If I asked every person doing cardio are you doing it for cardiovascular improvement what percent would say yes? My very educated and experienced guess would be almost none. Virtually everyones MAIN reason is for weight loss with the healthy heart aspect a very distant second. These people couldnt BE more misguided in their efforts.
Now before I explain let me address those of you that are going to say but I know someone who started walking/running and lost X lbs or something to that effect. Two points. First they started walking/running which means that they were sedentary before more than likely. If you do NOTHING and then add ANY physical activity to your life and all else stays they same you will lose weight. Your calorie burn rate would increase. They could have started gardening instead of running and wouldve lost weight assuming they had been a couch potato previously. Secondly weight loss through cardio is less likely to be permanent and it isnt the most efficient way to drop pounds. Unless they change something else they will have to maintain the walking/running at the same level forever or the weight would come back on.
The benefits of weight training to longevity and quality of life are irrefutable. There is loads of scientific study to back this up. The benefits to weight loss arent as publicized because its a different KIND of weight loss. When you step on the scales after a month of weight training you may NOT weigh less. But your body composition will have changed as you loss fat and gain muscle. Muscle does in fact weigh more than fat its more dense so a pound of muscle takes up less space on your body than a pound of fat. So you weigh the same but LOOK smaller. But here is the REAL benefit. If you add 3 lbs of muscle to your body you will burn as many calories just sitting there as you wouldve running a mile every day. Think about that. You can run a mile every day for the rest of your life to lose some weight OR add 3 lbs of muscle and with the same calorie intake as before and your body burns that same miles worth of work just being. Oh and by the way you burn more calories in a one hour weight session than you do running for an hour unless you run instead of jog/walk. So after the 3 lbs have been added you look smaller stronger and better with less fat than before. Who cares what the scales say?
What do you think happens when you gain 10 lbs of muscle?
About the writer: Steve Robbins is editor and main contributor to www.muscleandhealth.org. He has been a lifelong fitness enthusiast and has the rare ability to bench press twice his body weight and run a marathon in the same day. At the age of 51.
Muscle Building
Most renowned proverb says Health is wealth. More than the wealth that we earn the hale and healthy body is more precious treasure that cannot be stolen from you. Healthy body does not mean lifting heavy weights and muscles bulging out everywhere. Having a toned body is nothing but a healthy body. Muscle building refers to gaining weight that is required for age and height. Usually there is a chart maintained by the dieticians which shows the weight that is needed for a person of some particular height and age.
There are many ways in which one can build and maintain a strong body. One way is through food that we take. For muscle building people need not take non vegetarian food or milk but they just need to take fresh vegetables and fruits to keep them healthy and strong.
One more efficient way of maintaining body weight or muscle building is through exercises and work outs. Again to gain normal weight people may not go for gym or take some protein powders but just need to do some simple exercises like running and jogging. Work outs and training gives heavy load to the muscle cells and increases the synthesis of protein in the cells and increases the size by generating proteins. Also when we do work outs and exercises the myofibrils in each cell would multiple and this will also increase the size of the muscle fiber.
Also the tissues or the connective cells surrounding the muscle fiber would starts thickening and gains size around the muscles increasing the size of the muscle when seen from outside. When we do exercises the enzymes and energy storage muscle along with glycogen levels increases. This in turn increases the size of the muscles from outside showing the process of muscle building.
About the writer: Jan Arve is an Online Marketing Consultant. You can read his review on the Turbulence Training Workout by clicking on Turbulence Training
Lower Stomach Exercises
An important and sometimes neglected step in stomach exercise routines is isolating particular muscles within the abdominal group. One such set of muscles which needs isolation in order to be exercised properly are the muscles in the lower stomach. There are a number of stomach exercises which isolate and work these muscles. As with any workout routine be sure to consult a professional before beginning and always warm up properly to avoid injury.
Crunchless Crunch
This first exercise is fairly simple but can also be fairly difficult. Essentially it involves trying to pull the belly button in towards the spine. This can be tricky as it involves using muscles which you may not be used to activating. To start either lie or on your stomach or kneel. You might want to try both ways and see which helps you feel the exercise better. Relax your body as much as possible then try to use only the lower abdominals to move your belly button toward your spine. Hold for ten seconds. If holding for ten seconds feels easy hold for a longer period. The goal is to hold the contraction until you either cannot feel it or you feel other muscles working harder than the transverse abdominus. When you feel this let the contraction out.
Alternating Toe Touch
You will need to lie on a flat surface for this stomach exercise. The floor works best using a mat or towel to cushion the spine. Lie on the floor and put your feet up in the air. Extend your right arm and use your lower abdominals to lift your shoulders off the floor. Touch your left toes with your right hand then lower yourself back down. Switch hands and repeat. Keep your knees straight throughout and maintain a space between your chin and chest.
SitUp Hold
While you are still on the floor try this stomach exercise. Bend your knees so your feet are flat on the floor and position your hands behind your head. Keep your elbows back so you cannot see them do not put them alongside your head. Use your lower abdominals to lift your shoulders off the floor. Hold for ten seconds. You may increase the number of seconds you hold as it gets easier. Be sure to lift with your abdominals and not with your arms or neck.
Lower Back Flatten
This stomach exercise is a good natural progression from the situp hold as it starts from the same basic position: lying down knees bent feet flat. You may have noticed when you did the previous exercise that there is a natural space between your lower back and the floor created by the curve of your spine. In this exercise you want to use your lower abdominals to push your lower back toward the floor and eliminate this space. Try to focus on pushing with only your lower abdominals and not your legs. Your pelvis will rotate slightly which is fine so long as the lower abdominals are doing the work. Once you have got your back flat to the floor hold the contraction for ten seconds. Again you should continue to build on this time as your stomach muscles gain strength and endurance.
About the writer: For workouts or bodybuilding tips visit The Bodybuilding Trainer.