Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Loose Weight Build Muscle - Nutrition and Supplements

By David Vower

So you wanna loose weight and build muscle? Often the idea of using supplements comes to mind. There are so many nutritional supplements on the market these days but it's healthy to exercise a bit of skepticism.

Many of the pills around these days are simply packed with stimulants and caffeine. Try not to take these because they can damage your metabolism more than it's worth in the long run. They do speed up your metabolism, but they'll also give you the jitters and often make you a bit edgy. There are much better ways to speed up your metabolism and it's not even all that hard.

Just remember that the most important thing is to eat a clean diet. This is something the fitness community is often talking about, and it's a good way to start getting your body going in the right direction. It basically means that you should be eating nutrient dense fruit and vegetables.

What that means is simply giving your body fresh and nutritious foods as fuel so that it can do it's job effectively. Let's face it, we all know that eating things like Kentucky Fried Chicken, or McDonald's is not going to be the best source of quality vitamins and minerals. So what to eat instead? What makes up a "clean" diet?

So what's the most important part of a clean diet? Water!

Yeah, I know, water's not a food. But it is essential for your body to remain clean and free of toxins. Your body will create many by products while you're exercising and loosing weight and building muscle. Your body is also made up of about 80% water too... so you'd better make sure you're getting enough.

The next most important things to eat are fresh vegetables and fruits. They'll get your body's metabolism moving faster and provide your body with the vital phyto-nutrients. Fruits and vegetables contain life, and by eating them you will become more lively. It just makes sense. Your mother was right, so eat your vegetables!

Protein is the most important nutrient for your muscle to grow. Each time you train, you should be having a protein dense meal or shake to give your body all the protein it needs to get it repairing the muscles as fast as possible. The best places to get good quality protein are from whey (or soy) shakes, protein snack bars, and of course, when you're having a main meal you should use meat like chicken or fish so you've got good natural protein sources. If I would suggest any one supplement to use, it'd be a quality whey protein powder so you can have a shake after each and every workout.

You should eat roughly 5-7 times a day, small meals with a bit of protein in each meal so you don't have cravings. Protein has the ability to stave off sugar cravings so if you get a bit of a sweet tooth, grab another shake (with water), or a protein nutrition bar. Also, a handful of raw nuts is a great substitute.

About the Author:

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Bowflex Revolution Home Gym

By John Bear

Bowflex Home Gym

If you're a fitness buff, you will read a Bowflex Revolution review and start sweating with excitement. And if you're not sweating now, you will be when you hear about the new, more versatile and simpler to use Bowflex Revolution Home Gym.

Bowflex exercise equipment offers numerous types of fitness equipment and home gyms with various levels of versatility. The Bowflex Ultimate 2 has 95 exercise possibilities, the Ultimate XTLU has more than 90 possibilities, Xtreme 2 has more than 70 possibilities, Xtreme has more than 65 possibilities and Bowflex Sport has more than 60 possibilities.

All Bowflex models have been proven to be effective home gyms and are loved by many of its owners. The Bowflex website lists hundreds of testimonial letters from satisfied customers. However, the recent release of the Bowflex Revolution may surpass all the older models just with customer satisfaction alone. It is a perfect piece of equipment!

The Revolution, originally developed for astronauts, offers hundreds of workouts and exercise variations. Realizing how well it worked for astronauts, Bowflex modified it for in-home use so that everyone could benefit from it. Its closest cousin, the Bowflex Ultimate 2 model, only has a maximum of 95 exercise variations.

Like as with any other Bowflex home gym, owning a Bowflex Revolution Home Gym is like having your own exercise center right in your home. It replaces many other different pieces of fitness equipment because you can basically work out every single part of your body. If you're persistent, you can lose weight fast. And it's just one piece of fitness equipment, which offers a huge amount of resistance with the miraculous SpiraFlex Technology.

The new Revolution is also the quietest and most easy to use fitness equipment ever manufactured by Nautilus.

Like so many other Bowflex fitness machines, the Bowflex Revolution can be folded and very easily stored. When they designed it, they kept in their minds that many homes have low ceilings, especially in the basement. So, this amazing equipment will surely fit in just about any room in your home.

Prior to the Revolution, Nautilus referred to the Bowflex Ultimate 2 as superb "top-of-the-line" with the best design among other fitness equipment available. Now the company believes that the "cutting edge" in terms of home fitness equipment belongs to the Bowflex Revolution.

Bowflex has been in business since 1986, successfully selling and improving its products for over 20 years. And they have the experience and the satisfaction guaranteed to back up their quality products. Once you've read a Bowflex Revolution review, you'll realize that this machine is the one you need to make working out a seamless part of your lifestyle.

Do It Yourself Home Camera Security

By Jeffrey Parker

Throughout the world, there are more and more dangers every day. In some areas, there has been a sizable increase in the number of home invasions, violent personal attacks, burglaries, and robberies. Law enforcement officials can only do so much. In fact, numerous municipalities are understaffed in their police departments. Nevertheless, there are means for achieving an increased measure of protection for your loved ones, your home and your possessions, and for assisting the police in identifying the culprits.

Imagine that your neighbor paid an enormous amount to have a home security system professionally installed. Now imagine that you can save thousands of dollars by installing video surveillance cameras by yourself. You don't have to be a spendthrift to enjoy the same level of security as your neighbor. Don't let security companies take advantage of you with their ridiculous prices. Do it yourself security has never been easier...and it's fun!

All it takes is a weekend and you can install your own wireless home surveillance system and be up and running in no time. Of course, it will require some 'elbow grease' but it's all in good fun and it will save you a ton of money.

Your first step is to evaluate which areas in your home require surveillance. Important areas to consider include your back yard, driveway, pool, front door and entryway, and so on. If you live in a quiet neighborhood with a low crime rate, maybe the only area you'll feel a need to monitor will be your baby's nursery. Regardless, you'll have an idea of how many cameras are needed for your wireless home surveillance and security systems.

The next step is figuring out what type of camera to use. For example, will you be monitoring indoors or outdoors, or both? To this extent, waterproof housing is necessary for outdoor cameras. After figuring out the type of camera, you'll need to decide where both to place the cameras and position them.

Finally, safety comes first. Don't try to install something that you are not physically capable of doing, or that you lack the knowledge or experience to perform.

Over a single weekend, you can easily finish a home camera security system project on your own. This is certain to save you a lot of cash!

About the Author:

The Advantages of Interval Training Over Traditional Cardio

By Max Collins

It's hard to find people who aren't interested in both losing weight and gaining muscle mass. However, there are a lot of different training systems out there and it can be difficult to tell systems which have been proven to work and those which have just been put out there to make a fast buck. You don't have to spend all of your time at the weight bench to get that body you've always wanted - and you ought not to believe everything you hear on the infomercials either.

To lose weight and gain muscle mass you should focus on training for your entire body, an approach that interval training takes. If you were running every week but not doing anything else, you would see weight loss and gains in your leg muscles, but the rest of your body would be neglected. It's best to target your entire body for maximum results.

Interval training works by gradually increasing the intensity of your workouts, instead of trying to start off running several miles at once. You can pick from different exercises that target the same major muscle groups, and even workouts that target various muscle groups all at the same time. Instead of doing the same routine over and over, you can mix it up and get even better results.

One of the best benefits that interval training has to offer is the recovery time needed after each workout. Doing cardiovascular exercises or weight training exercises for a long period of time can leave your muscles sore and weak and they can sometimes require up to a week before being able to workout again. Interval training works out the muscles in small increments, so they can recover faster and be ready for the next workout.

Interval training is unlike any other exercise program, since it is actually fun to perform. Instead of getting bored by running on a treadmill for an hour or doing the same exercise video over and over, you can try different exercises every day of the week. As long as exercises targeting the same muscle groups are performed, desirable results can be easily achieved.

By speeding up your metabolism without you having to work out for hours every time, interval training tells your body to start losing weight by exercising different muscle groups in each workout. This stimulates your metabolism, causing you to lose weight in a way which is both healthy and quick.

With interval training you also get many of the benefits that you would with a classic cardiovascular workout. The benefit is you can do it in a fraction of the time and with much more variation. Due to the nature of interval training your breathing rate and heart rate increase greatly, giving both a solid workout and improving your resting rates with both.

This system isn't some fad workout plan or a scam aimed at the wallets of those trying to lose weight - it is a method which is proven to work to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. You can build lean muscle mass while burning fat by doing low impact workouts which work on various muscle groups. You won't be exhausted and sore afterward - and you'll get better results than any "cardio" workout can offer you.

About the Author:

Monday, September 29, 2008

Interval Training: 4 Ways You're Sabotaging Your Own Results

By Max Collins

These tips which you'll read in this article have been termed "secrets" by some people. They are really no secret, but should be seen as common sense instead. By following the tips given here, you'll be able to see the results - you'll lose a noticeable amount of body fat. Read on to learn four ways to lose excess fat.

The first thing you need to focus on is to burn carbohydrates, not the fat, when you are working out. I know you might be thinking that this tip is backwards, but remember I said common sense was needed here to "digest" these tips. You need carbohydrates to burn more calories after your workout, which is the key to fat loss.

With interval training using heavy resistance, you'll actually continue to burn calories for hours after your workout, unlike an old fashioned cardio workout and lifted light weights. This will help you to lose fat while building muscle.

Second, you need to use a range of repetitions during your strength training. For instance, vary the number of reps even within a single workout. This helps to build muscle fibers while burning calories. Try varying the number between 5 and 12 reps to make the most of your strength training. This will help you get results fast - but only if you remember to watch those calories, of course.

Third, use a stationary bike as a part of your interval training - cycling using heavy resistance helps to maintain your muscle mass. A bike is also an easy way to let you continue to burn calories after a weight lifting workout.

Just remember that the type of workout I am describing here is not low-intensity. It is fast pedaling, "spinning" intervals. This is because the hard, resistance-based intervals are better for getting the fat loss results you are targeting. Only cycle against a strong resistance.

The last tip is to eat more; or actually, eat more often. A study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that people who eat six, rather than three times daily tend to have a lower calorie intake than those who ate the standard three daily meals. They also had lower levels of cholesterol on average, as well as lower insulin levels following meals. To get the best results, make sure to have plenty of protein and fiber in these meals.

To lose fat; and lose it quickly, you have to change the way you think and turn your back on those traditional methods which aren't producing results for you. Try these tips out and watch the results - they're pretty dramatic.

About the Author: