Sports and Fitness for Modern People

Pointers on Losing Weight Safely

2009-12-26T12:34:00.001+08:00

People who want to lose weight commonly, and first of all, think about reducing the amount of food they eat. This may be quite a solution but not exactly the best there is. In fact, depending on the amount you reduce in your food intake, it may even be dangerous to one's health. So how does one lose weight effectively and safely? Here are some points one should consider when trying to lose weight:

Beware of the Crash Diets

Most people think that trimming down the calories can alone shed off their unwanted excess. Probably this is because of the fad there is in advertising about low-calorie food products and beverages. What people don't know is that this could be dangerous because when they decrease their calorie intake way to below the required levels, the body begins to digest the fats. Sounds good but it doesn't actually. Burning fat requires a lot of energy. Since there is not much energy in the body to facilitate metabolism of fat, it will run at a very slow pace resulting to fatigue, illness and weak immune system.

Low-calorie diet is also compensated for by the body by burning muscle. People on this type of diet who revert back to their old eating habits end up gaining back some, if not all the weight they have shed off. This would consist mainly of fats. And since fats have more volume per mass than muscle, they end up having the same weight as before but more bulkier. In losing weight, one should keep in mind that they should lose excess body fats only.

However, one can try out eating small meals at more frequent intervals. This way the body will not think that it is being starved and will not store food as fat.

Eat Properly

One may have considered junking the crash diet option but he should also not forget to watch what he is eating. Variety must always be considered so that one may be able to get the necessary nutrients from his diet.It is also healthier to eat food which are roasted, steamed or broiled rather than fried. It is also important to include a lot of fiber in the diet. Frequent rehydration is also necessary.

Pump Up lean Muscle Mass

Muscles burn calories when they work; they even do so at rest. Unlike fats which just lie around, bulge around the pants and dangle beneath the sleeves, muscles burn calories all-day round. With this fact, one can start weight loss by increasing muscle mass. The more muscles, the less fat will be left. This is attainable starting with working out with resistance exercises.

Engaging in Aerobics

Aerobics are not only good for the heart by increasing cardio-vascular endurance. Aerobics also help in increasing lean muscle mass while simultaneously decreasing excess body fat. Aside from these, aerobics make the metebolic process more efficient and its rate high, even after a long while. Imagine burning fat efficiently while driving along the freeway or even while watching television.

Extra "Push"

Some people believe that smoking and caffeine can actually help in losing weight. This can perhaps be true; however, they do the body more harm than good because of their side-effects. For that extra "push", one can try out taking food supplements. Afterall, 95% of these products out in the market actually does good.

On Taking Diet Pills

Over-the-counter diet pills affect the amount of weight one loses as well as how long one keeps that amount of weight off. However, one must be wary of the side-effects of these diet pills. As such, one must faithfully follow the instructions provided for in the packaging. It is also prudent to consult the physician anyway before trying out these drugs and also to find out which type would be best for the individual.

Losing weight does not have to mean sacrifice and suffering. It actually means opening up to a more full and healthy life where one may not have to feel bad about himself having to look the way he does or not being able to do what he wants to do. Losing weight might entail a little adjustments plus the discomforts, but as the old saying goes, "no pain, no gain." Besides fat, what has one got to lose anyway?

It is Christmas.... not Foodmas!

2009-12-24T05:51:00.006+08:00

The Holiday Season is one in which we all indulge ourselves in over-abundance. Especially when it comes to "FOOD". Food has become a central part of our get togethers and parties around the holidays, so it is important that we remember to make smart food choices. And this is something that is almost always easier said than done when you see some of the decadent food choices made available, made with love, by your friends and family.

In most cases, the majority of the party-going people, won't be concerned with watching their weight, so they are less inclined to bring healthier versions of their best recipes. Then it becomes our own burden to stick with our diets or to watch what we eat as the food choices are always so tempting!

The following 15 holiday eating tips are here to help you when going to holiday parties to better watch your weight by giving you some great ideas.

1. Stop Eating When You Feel Full
2. Take A Few Extra or Longer Walks
3. Don't Count Calories Incessantly
4. Use Reduced Fat, Sugar Substitutes, or Fat Free Ingredients in Your Recipes
5. Eat One Big Meal Instead Of Continuous Snacking Or Smaller Meals
6. Know Your Eating Boundaries And Don't Cross Them
7. Go For The Healthy Food Choices
8. Eat In Moderation With Smaller Portions
9. Drink In Moderation
10. Substitute Whole Grains In Lieu of Higher Carbohydrate Filled Grains
11. No Eating After 7pm
12. Drink More Liquids Than Eating
13. Eat Something Before You Go Grocery Shopping
14. Plan An Out-Door Activity
15. No Healthy Food Choices? Bring Some!

I do hope the ideas listed above have helped you realize that you can watch your weight and still have a wonderful time at holiday gatherings without making a 'Santa's Helper' out of yourself :-).

Happy Holidays!

How maximize your athletic potential?

2009-11-06T23:08:00.000+08:00

There are stories all over about people who seem shorter, weaker, and slower than you are, yet with better verticals than you. But if you’ve tried everything available to gain inches on your vert, and still haven’t succeeded, then you may be asking yourself: “What do they

Image via Wikipedia

have that I don’t?”

The difference between those athletes and you

To become an athlete you have to learn to be successful during your workout routine. Most people think trial and error will get them there, but the truth is this: if trial and error were all it took, YOU and everyone else would be DUNKING by now! Instead, most people after struggling for too long, finally give up on their dreams. This is really too bad, because it’s actually possible for ANYONE to add 10 inches to their vertical.

Strategy #1: Be Confident.

Sounds simple enough, right? Actually, this is one of the biggest hurdles for vertical jump wannabes. The market is so glutted with products, it takes something special to get the results you want. You need a program that’s not just going to get you 3 inches, or 6 inches. You need a program that will help you add AT LEAST 10 inches to your vert, or you won’t be reaching your maximum potential.

There’s an old quote that goes: “If you’re going to do something, do it right or not at all.” You want to have access to the BEST and most quality program available, that will bring you the most gains.

So to be confident, you have to know that the workout routine you’re giving your time to is based on CORRECT scientific principles.

Here’s someone who must have trained correctly…
Hey, I'm Benjamin Garsia, I'm from Melbourne, Australia. I found Jacob Hillers program on the internet and by reading his site, I immediately saw that this is the program which will make me dunk. I've done air alert and all those other gimmick jump programs and only got minimum results.

I'm only 5'10 and been doing the program for about 1 and half months and I can hang off the rim. I play point guard and sometimes I will out rebound a center because the jump manual has made me quick off the jump and fast for the ball.

Thanks for reading I give Jacobs program 10/10 bye.

Find out more : Click HERE

Is It Really Possible To Increase Your Vertical Jump By Several Inches, Within Just 60 Short Days?

2009-11-01T22:57:00.002+08:00

As all basketball players would agree, the biggest problem and potential for improvement is in the vertical jump ability.

After all, you can't dunk consistently (if at all) and your quickness to jump, along with your jump height are both lacking.

Whether you're struggling to gain speed towards the ring, or you can't grab the ring when you dunk, it can be frustrating to lose out to those that can. It's such a huge advantage, that it's no surprise why so many players do everything they can to try and improve their vertical jump.

However, no matter how much you train or focus on your diet, what many players find is that they can't seem to gain any extra inches on their jump. And believe me, it's frustrating when you feel like there's nothing you can do to improve your jump and your game in this area.

After all, it's frustrating not being able to take your team forward, as you keep getting checked by defenders all through the game...or can't defend against players who CAN jump higher and faster than you, isn't it?

Learning to improve your jump not only gives you that competitive edge, but if and when done correctly, it can drastically improve overall fitness too.

Not only do players who learn to jump higher and quicker enhance their enjoyment of their sport (and it's not just basketball players that benefit here), but they also win more games and increase their (and their team's) profile and rankings

Not to mention, it's a great way to simply show off too!

Despite a few issues with the "85% rule", the Jump Manual has a lot of solid and effective step by step advice.

This is a great program that would be suitable for any athlete, particularly basketball players who need that competitive edge in their game/sport.

For Basketball players, not only will you become a better defensive player, but also be able to dazzle the crowd as you slam dunk more points per game, often hanging onto the rim with both hands in full glory!

Again, this isn't just for basketball players, this can also be applied to all kinds of athletics, where that "explosive" power from your legs is required to give you the edge against the competition. This could be particularly useful for high jumpers, runners (short and long), swimmers and footballers.

Regardless of your age and height, the Vertical Jump program is certainly a secret weapon that all serious and aspiring sports players, athletes and basketball players in particular, should have in their secret bag of tricks, to win more games, raise their profile, enhance their enjoyment of the sport and impress friends, partners and family too...

Click HERE now.

False Assumptions In Staying Healthy

2009-10-27T21:20:00.000+08:00

If there are the different tips and paradigms that are constantly distributed in society regarding health in general and staying healthy, there are also many false assumptions in staying healthy. These false assumptions pertaining to steps or practices to stay healthy may be risky for an individual. Worse, one of these false assumptions may lead to illness if done improperly to a significant extent.

Fallacy 1 : Eating Too Much While Still Young Is Reasonable

We have this common notion that as long as we are still young, we can be lenient and just eat what we want without moderation. We can always argue anyhow that our young bodies can still take some sort of nutritional punishment and would be able to rectify the effects afterwards.

The truth about this is that though we are actually able to rectify such situation, the damage has begun already. Furthermore, we do not know at what age our body starts to not be able to restore the optimal health status at full efficiency. For example, eating high cholesterol food would have a preemptive effect of deposits in the arteries. Before long, this would reach a stage wherein the process is irreversible and may cause the life of the person.

Even if there was a reason that ageing is part of life and that even how much we try to choose the right food our bodies would still deteriorate anyway, the thought
of why would we hasten the process of ageing by introducing unwanted radicals to our cells should be enough to keep us on the right way of thinking.

Fallacy 2 : Not Eating Carbohydrates Will Make You Lose Weight Faster

Another common misconception is that we would be able to lose weight faster if we didn't eat any food that is rich in carbohydrates. This would account breads,rice, and other starchy foods. Though it is a fact that these types of food are high in calories, carbohydrate deprivation will not contribute to faster weight loss. Certain parts of the body would require some nutrients that come along with carbohydrates in rice and other starches such as Vitamin B complex. Furthermore, sticking to an alternative diet such as pure protein will not help one lose weight faster.

Fallacy 3 : Starving Will Help You Lose Weight

A much more drastic misconception is the notion that skipping meals would lead to a faster weight loss. Ideally, that should be the case if the aspect of caloric intake is the only thing to be considered. However, there are also some other aspects such as ulcer developing in the gastrointestinal area, or perhaps a retroactive effect on the body of the starving individual wherein the body signals the brain that there is nutritive deprivation. The latter would cause the metabolism of the individual to slow down significantly to cope up with the body's current situation.

Furthermore, if the body is further subjected to much more food deprivation, the body will not be using the fats right away. The surrounding muscles cells will start to take the brunt leading to muscle atrophy.

Staying Healthy While Losing Weight

2009-10-22T21:08:00.002+08:00

Staying healthy while losing weight is the primary objective of any over weight, or worse obese people to achieve a healthier state of well being. Also, the dilemma of being able to balance the healthy state without compromising the rate of weight loss and vice versa is usually confused as to how it should be done.

Starvation Misconception

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Chances are, some of weight losers become desperate and try drastic changes for losing weight that they expose themselves to a non nutritive state, leading to malnutrition, and complications arising from skipping meals such as ulcers and nausea. On the other hand, a consciously focused individual on staying healthy may forget that his primary goal is to shed the unwanted fat and exercise vigorously and would find himself not losing those pounds, all because of added muscle mass. Such confusion may eventually cause the individual to lose interest in maintaining and enduring the current healthy practice and resort back to unhealthy lifestyle with a less hassle maintenance.

Overworking The Body

Another misconception regarding staying healthy while losing weight is that it can be done faster with more exercise per day. Though this may hold true, our body can only take as much work before we tire out. Intensifying it abruptly, hoping that the added jolt in workload would hasten the shedding process, may trigger a rebound effect on the brain, for the brain has a survival mechanism that triggers a slow down of metabolism if the body is subjected to a high caloric consumption. Furthermore, complications like muscle injuries and joint sprains may occur as these are subjected to a load without having them adapt to it gradually.

Muscle Atrophy

In addition to the slow down of metabolism as a rebound effect, there is also another detrimental outcome for the body to preserve as much energy reserves [read: fat deposits], that instead of burning up the fatty deposits, muscle cells are rather used up instead. This is because protein is easier to synthesize into smaller components for energy sourcing than fat. Also, fat has larger energy content per unit than a protein, therefore allowing the body to efficiently store energy at a greater ratio. Such phenomenon is called muscle atrophy. With Muscle atrophy, a person is then subject to double time in gaining back the lost weight in muscles and at the
same time keeping the fat deposit levels low.

Couple With Exercise

Staying healthy while losing weight requires both a lessened caloric intake calculated and intended to the desired body weight requirement and coupled with adequate exercise. Usually, the first two weeks will have no significant results as the body will still have to adapt and change its metabolic paradigm with the new stressor. After which, significant weight drops would occur from the start of the third week of consistent losing weight. After which, the rate at which the mass sheds off gradually slows down until the desired weight is achieved.

Staying healthy while losing weight takes time to achieve. There are neither shortcuts nor easy way outs for this two to work harmoniously together. For a successful healthy status while losing weight, It is important to understand that the two should be well balanced so that not one of the aspects try to out hunger the other and cause a failure in the desired objective.

ABC's Of Staying Healthy

2009-10-18T20:42:00.005+08:00

Staying healthy requires a lot of thinking and self reflection to be successful. With a longer life expectancy of human beings as compared to pre-modern age, people have been ore vigilant to think about and create ways to even extend the lives of everyone existing. Numerous mnemonics and acronyms have been developed as well by nutritionists and scientists to help people have a guide on how to stay healthy. One of these would be the ABC's of staying healthy, a very simple, yet effective way of adding to the long list of patterns to keep healthy.

A Is For Abstinence

"A" stands for abstinence. Most probably many would already be thinking that this seems like the same ABC tip for responsible sex. Though the keywords used in the ABC's of staying healthy are similar except for the last one, the ideas are completely in a different context as this would specifically target more of a
person's lifestyle in everyday living.

Abstinence should be practiced by the person in declining the things that would not make him healthy in the process. Unless it is required such as a career that would limit the choice to either quit the job or to counter the effects with good health practices, abstinence on a great level is required of the person should he wish to start staying healthy and maintain being healthy. Abstinence should be the basis of any individual to serve as a disciplinary concept. Without the discipline to know when to say no, it would prove difficult to stay away from the things that people
have learned to love.

B Is For Be Faithful

"B" stands for "Be Faithful". Being faithful is being able to hold out and maintain focus on your objective of staying healthy. It does not mean that you totally
become a no-nonsense robot who only distinguishes a black from white, but being lenient is a risky thing to inculcate. Though it is not really to bend the rules from time to time because of valid reasons, it may develop into a nasty habit of having an excuse for every single choice that should have been for staying healthy.

C Is For Calisthenics

Calisthenics or exercise is and has always been part of any healthy program designed for health conscious and health seekers alike. Calisthenics does not necessarily mean the rigorous training that one sees in advertisements and magazines. Those are for bodybuilders who would want to reshape their bodies into hard sculptured specimens of humanity. Calisthenics are simple activities which would allow one's self to move about and permit the proper flow of blood to the different parts of the body for optimal oxygenation of the cells.

Calisthenics should be done everyday for at least thirty to forty-five minutes which includes mainly aerobic exercise. Not only does daily calisthenics improve the cardiovascular flow of the body, it also adds up to the amount of calories to be burned for the day to maintain the desired body weight and fitness level.

The ABC's of staying healthy is a very elementary concept for anyone to grasp should they wish to seek a better health state or maintain an already good one. It is a personal choice as it is a personal endeavor. The extent of its success lies on the amount of effort that the individual puts in each letter of this simple mnemonic.

Acai Berry Scams and Warnings

2009-09-19T12:16:00.004+08:00

Acai Berry products are very popular and individuals are ordering these products off of the Internet left and right. This is because of the enormous health benefits that this berry offers. It acts as a deterrent against aging and provides energy and accelerated weight loss. With this knowledge, people are making themselves healthier.

Image by gurucrusher via Flickr

However, it is important to be mindful of scams and warnings surrounding Acai Berry. Why? Well, you will have websites claiming to have the best Acai Berry products when they really have products that are not even close. There may be a lot of nutrients missing and this can cause a variation in how well the Acai supplement actually works.

So keep an eye out for the following so that you know how to spot a scam :

• Look out for websites that don’t have contact information. You need to have a customer service number present.

• If you want to find out about the legitimacy of a company, check the Better Business Bureau. They may be able to provide you with information regarding complaints on the company you are wondering about.

• If you see that there is a pyramid scheme involved in the sale of the supplements, you know that there is an issue. The company may not deliver and customer service may be virtually impossible.

• If you find that individuals have had trouble cancelling subscriptions, then there is a problem.

Look out for these factors and also check the Internet for reviews and see what people have to say about the product.

If you really want to do business with a legitimate website, PureAcaiBerry.com is your obvious choice because you receive 100% pure Acai Berry in a capsule, you are dealing with a legitimate company, you get the maximum potency (1500mg instead of 1000), and you’re getting certified organic and pure Acai Berry of the highest grade. Unless you’re getting all of this, you may want to refrain from going anywhere else.

Visit www.PureAcaiBerry.com to Avoid free trial scams and instead get Pure Acai Berry !

Something BIG Happens Tomorrow, 14th August 09

2009-08-14T00:47:00.008+08:00

My friend Carolyn Hansen & Reed Floren just released the internet's most massive giveaway ever : Health and Fitness Giveaway Event

Giveaway Dates:
Friday August 14th 2009 @ 09:00:00 AM CDT
To
Friday August 28th 2009 @ 09:00:00 AM CDT

147 Fitness Experts Have Teamed Together to Give You Over 57 hours and 3,927 Pages of Incredible, Life Changing Fitness, Diet, and Nutritional Information…for FREE !

Simply sign up and get the scoop.

-tons of ebooks
-tons of scripts
-tons of everything you've ever wanted

Where did all these goodies come from?

I teamed up with Carolyn Hansen & Reed Floren who has called in some favors from a whole bunch of top online marketers and convinced them all to give you TONS of Products at no cost to you.

It is our way of saying "thank you"!

These products are worth thousands and thousands of dollars and have already made the owners thousands and thousands of dollars.

I just can't hide the excitement. This is probably the most exciting news I've ever shared with you.

Go get it now! Sign Up HERE

You can download my GIFTS at the Event below :

Please be patient, the Filesize is 0.99 MB

Please re-tweet below, your followers will be happy and healthy ! ;-)

What is the best diet plan?

2009-08-13T18:58:00.003+08:00

Believe it or not, but there is no definitive ‘best diet plan’ out there. Why? Because everyone of us is different. Body type, build, metabolism… we each require something different to help us lose weight, but that does not mean we cannot try to incorporate well known methods that we know promote effective weight loss.

It is just a question of finding the right ones.

The web is one good place to look – though you do need to be prepared for the variety you will find. By typing in just the simple term of ‘weight loss’ you will come across an assortment of articles that will either tell you to take vitamin and dietary supplements or focus on your actual diet.

Neither of these diet supplement reviews are wrong. In truth they can each bring something to the table that can help you to formulate an effective weight loss plan specifically designed to your needs, and your needs alone.

The best approach we can recommend is breaking down each area of weight loss down into the discernable segments of diet, exercise and weight loss diet supplements.

Not sure how? One good example of this can be found in the Telegraph’s article entitled ‘Top 5 ways to lose weight for 2008’.

In this one article the writers of this lucrative newspaper – which is renowned for publishing only accurate sources of information – have covered each of these 3 points and more.

To surmise the article they discussed these top 5 points :

• eating more regularly - 6 small meals a day
• using natural fat binders such as leading brand Proactol
• surrounding yourself with a strong support network to keep yourself motivated
• ensuring you eat breakfast every day - this may only be a small change to your diet, but having a breakfast every morning can give your metabolism the jump start it needs to keep it burning your calories (fast) all day long
• Realistic exercise plan – although exercise is an important part of helping you to lose weight, setting yourself too many unachievable goals can one cause your injury and two affect your motivation levels.

Now whilst these 5 tips presented by the Telegraph are just a small sample of what you can use to build up a strong weight loss plan, they each summarise an important area that you need to bear in mind.

An area that could play a vital part in helping you to lose weight and gain the body you want.

Offer yourself real, credible weight loss results.

For most of us taking that first initial step to losing weight can feel like a big leap but there are weight loss dietary supplements out there that can offer you the support and stability to making this first step easy and accessible.

One such supplement is Proactol.

100% organic and side effect free, Proactol is a clinically proven fact binder that can help consumers to:

• Bind up to 28% of their dietary fat intake
• Suppress their appetite whilst decreasing food cravings
• Lower their blood cholesterol levels
• Increase their joint flexibility and mobility
• Cut their calorie content by 450 calories a day

And with medical backing from the Medical Device Directive 93/42/EEC, Proactol can offer consumers the best in weight loss pills results.

So if you are looking to boost your weight loss chances and build an effective weight loss plan, Proactol can offer you the support to make this happen.

Visit Proactol and offer your body a natural solution to weight loss – Click here.

Yoga is a Safe Solution to Weight Control

2009-08-12T13:28:00.003+08:00

One more study tells the world, that Yoga can help with weight control and weight loss. The latest study was held by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington.

The study involved 15,500 healthy, middle-aged, men and women. This is a group that typically has difficulty with weight loss, since the number of calories needed declines, and the energy levels needed to burn calories, is not what it used to be.

Unfortunately, this is a fact that I have become painfully aware of during the past few years, and cutting back on food was my unwanted last option.
Although, I cross train almost daily, it took me one year to lose 16 pounds of extra weight.

Back to the study : Yoga practice was defined as practicing at least 30 minutes once a week for four or more years. Comparatively speaking, this is truly “bare minimum,” and many Yoga teachers used to say that this amount of Yoga will do nothing.

How times change; Yoga has been keeping people fit for approximately 5,000 years, and its many health benefits are still a mystery worthy of more studies.

Alan R. Kristal, Dr.P.H., the study's lead author at Hutchinson Center's Public Health Sciences Division said, "Men and women who were of normal weight at age 45, and who regularly practiced Yoga, gained about three fewer pounds during that 10-year period than those who didn't practice Yoga."

Until all the studies are in, it would be safe to say that adding Yoga practice to your weekly routine, and eating wisely, will contribute to weight control or weight loss.

When seeking a Yoga teacher, find one who is compassionate, yet will encourage you to practice more frequently. The results you will gain from regular practice, of three to four Yoga classes per week, will be extraordinary, especially, if you practice Yoga for years.

Yoga is very low impact - in comparison to many aerobic exercise routines, and can be practiced for longevity. Your knees, spine, hips, and shoulders, will thank you for the condition Yoga will keep them in. Many of today’s “standard” forms of exercise do not have the same “bragging rights,” as Yoga.

With respect to eating, take the time to identify hunger and cravings. You will notice that they are not the same thing. Being a chocolate lover, it is much better to eat a piece of chocolate, now and then, than to buy a dozen chocolate donuts. This is not to justify, or surrender, to chocolate, but to eat it in moderation, and not every day.

Based upon what I have said so far, it is all about identification, control, and moderation. We have to stop “mindless eating” habits.

Recently, researchers found that women who received a 1200 mg. calcium supplement, on a daily basis, reduced their number of premenstrual food cravings by 54%.

On another note: When you have anxiety, your body produces more of the hormone cortisol, which may increase the volume of carbohydrates you eat.
Carbohydrates temporarily increase our levels of serotonin, making us feel relaxed for the short term.

Being in the best shape you can be is also connected to positive thinking.
Therefore, use self-improvement sources to keep you on the right track toward optimum health.

Yoga - Practices and History

2009-07-30T23:23:00.004+08:00

Yoga is a practice that people do keep their bodies in shape. All of the elements of Yoga were inherited form the practice of Hinduism. Ethnic principles, and body principles, along with spiritual guidance and philsophy are just some of the features associated with Yoga. Yoga is usually taught, by a person called a "Guru".

Their intentions are to teach people how to obtain a quieter state of mind through meditation. Quiet breathing and chanting "mantras" are practiced to help the person get to the "quiet" state of mind.

Yoga is supposed to lead a person to better health, and a calmer, more emotional well-being. Mental clarity and a joy in living are the main thoughts imposed upon a person who practices Yoga. The steps in Yoga ultimately are supposed to lead to an advanced state of meditation called "samadhi".

All the goals of Yoga are expressed in different ways among a lot of different traditions. In Hinduism the main thought is that yoga brings people closer to God. In Buddhism practices, yoga is supposed to help people get a deeper sense of wisdom, compassion, and insight. In some of the farther Western countries, individualism is the strongest emphasis, so yoga would help people there get a better meaning in themselves. But, the ultimate goal of yoga is to actually attain liberation, from any type of suffering and/or the cycle of birth and death.

The word "yoga" derives from a sacred root of "Sanskrit", which in English means "yoke". The general translation of yoga is a "union of the individual with the universal soul". The diversity of yoga involves many subdivisions, but everyone would agree that "the path to enlightenment" is the best suited phrase for yoga.

A common theme of yoga is the practice of concentration. The concentration is mainly focused on one point of sensation. When you sustain this "concentration" for a long enough period of time you will reach, what is called "meditation". Most meditators express deeper feelings of joy, peace, and self-oneness. The focus of meditation differs between yoga teachers. Some may focus more on peaceful thoughts, spiritualism, or a better sense of well-being, while others will focus on the more physical aspects like, different types of stretches for getting the body into being more fit. All would agree though that meditation for either the spiritual part or physical part of yoga is the most practiced.

A little bit of history on yoga comes from the Indus Valley Civilization that was around somewhere in between six or seven thousand years ago. The earliest accounts of yoga were documented in the Rig Veda. This was a certain type of writing used back around 1500 to 2000 BC. However, the full description of yoga was first found in the "Upinasads" composed around the eighth century before Christ. The main thought of the Upinasads was that they constituted the end or conclusion of the "traditional body of spiritual wisdom". The Upinasads used to offer sacrifices and hold certain types of ceremonies to appease the Gods. They used the thought that man could please the external gods by these sacrifices and in return that they would become one with the Supreme Being, through moral culture, restraint, and a stronger training of their minds.

With all the different types and practices of yoga, one person has so many types to choose from. Whether they want a more peaceful inner self, a stronger sense of well-being, or a body that will be put into better shape. All practices contain a characteristic designed for each purpose. While some practices are argued about, all have one thing in common, it is practiced regularly around the world by many, and it is growing more popular every day.

Yoga - Is Free Online Yoga Safe?

2009-07-26T23:03:00.002+08:00

Yoga nowadays is very in demand especially the newest free online free yoga. Yoga practice and exercise can be learned in school.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

There are a lot of yoga schools all over the world. Before, yoga was only applied and practice in India but now, looks like it has evolved. Almost all the people in the world know the word yoga although there are some who don’t have a clear picture of it. Yoga for the many people is an exercise and a means to concentrate with the mind and soul.

It is a great advantage that free online yoga was offered to the people. They say that the web is the easiest way to gain, search and acquire knowledge. Almost everything is learned from the web and it is no wonder why the people get hooked on it.

Free online yoga chooses no one in particular. Everyone is a candidate in learning yoga. All you need to do is to have your own computer and get hooked on to it.

If you want to learn from the basics, the net has the resources on how to learn it the easy way. As long as you know how to understand and read, you are capable of learning yoga.

It is an amazing breakthrough that yoga is taught in the web. Free online yoga saves you from going to a yoga class. It saves your time, money and effort. Plus, you can freely do it at home without any one looking at you if that is what you prefer.

If you want to have the free online yoga, there are some certain requirements that you need.

Now you will wonder if free online yoga is really advantageous. If it is, then why are all the people going to schools and bringing their mats on their backpack if they can acquire it at home.

Fat Burners EXPOSED !

2009-07-23T23:34:00.005+08:00

If you're thinking about taking fat burner supplements or if you're simply looking for information about fat burners, then what you are about to read on this web page may hit you by surprise. (Actually, it may hit you like a ton of bricks!)

DO NOT spend another cent on "fat burners" until you read this! This information is urgent to your financial as well as physical health and well being.

I guarantee that the TRUTH about fat burner pills and the advertisements that sell them is going to shock you, stun you and outrage you, especially if you have been spending large sums of money on these products.

Please do not take my word for it either. Read this short article. Click HERE now. Reflect on what you have read and then YOU make the call. I welcome hearing your feedback after you have digested this information.

About the Author:
Tom Venuto is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, independent nutrition researcher, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models (e-book) which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com

What Yoga Exercise Can Do For You!

2009-07-21T22:59:00.001+08:00

Yoga loosens up large muscles, so they aren't stressing smaller muscles and bones resulting in injuries. It also loosens up joints and improves circulation, which is good for health.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The procedure is to go through a contortion which stretches the large muscles causing them to loosen up. As the largest muscles loosen up, the force shifts to smaller muscles. If the position is held too long, a small muscle could get injured.

So when muscles are real stiff, a position should only be held for a few seconds. Under these conditions, you should feel your way through the exercise. Instead of trying for perfect form, you just bend enough to add some force to the largest muscles. Then you shift weight a little moving the force around to different muscles. After that, return to a resting position for a few seconds.

Yoga is a complete science of life that originated in India many thousands of years ago. It is the oldest system of personal development in the world encompassing the entire body, mind and spirit. It is the union between a person's own consciousness and the universal consciousness.

The Ancient Yogis had a profound understanding of man's essential nature and of what he needs to live in harmony with himself and his environment. They perceived the physical body as a vehicle, with the mind as driver, the soul as man's true identity, and action, emotion and intelligence as the three forces which pull the body-vehicle. In order for these to be integrated, these three forces must be in balance. Taking into account the interrelationship between body and mind, the Yogis formulated a unique method for maintaining this balance - a method that combines all the movements you need for physical health with the Breathing and Meditation techniques that ensure peace of mind.

Yoga may seem like the fabled elixir of life - a cure-all solution to man's daily problems and concerns such as illness. But actually, the benefits that Yogis or Yoga practitioners have been experiencing for thousands of years are only being gradually proven by medical science now.

The classical techniques of Yoga date back more than 5,000 years. In ancient times, the desire for greater personal freedom, Health and long life, and heightened self-understanding gave birth to this system of physical and mental exercise which has since spread throughout the world. The word Yoga means "to join or yoke together," and it brings the body and mind together into one harmonious experience.

Yoga, an ancient science, can help Women cope with health issues and help them develop the state of their body and mind. It can help alleviate the pain that goes with Menstruation, manage stress, and ensure an easier delivery among other benefits. Yoga poses are also designed to tone and exercise the muscles of the body to eliminate excess fat, and make it more flexible and stronger.

Why Diets Fail You...

2009-07-16T22:45:00.006+08:00

This year millions of people will embark upon a diet and fail to lose weight. The usual response to this failure by the people marketing the diet is to blame the individual for the failure. This leaves the person feeling defeated and guilty because of their lack of "will-power".

Blaming the individual also preserves the illusion that diets are an effective way to lose weight.I think it is time to move the discussion beyond this "blaming" level and explore the real reasons diets fail.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

I will use an example to explain my position.

When most people are presented with something like a chocolate (candy) bar it is not long before they feel a desire to eat the thing. Most will simply blame the chocolate for causing the desire. They will then try to battle the craving with "will-power". Usually they lose this battle and sooner or later give in and eat the chocolate bar. This "giving-in" often marks the end of the diet.

Now lets look at why this "giving-in" occurred. We know that the cognitive process that caused the craving to eat the chocolate bar went something like this; sensory input was received through the appropriate receptors [mainly eyes in this case] and the mind formed some type of neural or sensory representation of the object that will be defined as a chocolate bar. We can regard this process as inescapable. If the sensory receptors are in working order, the mind must form a representation or neural image of the object.

When a neural image has been formed we have been taught to assign meanings,from memory, to these images as they occur in the mind. The assignment of meaning is followed by an emotional response appropriate to the meaning assigned. In the case of the chocolate bar the meaning assigned included past memories of pleasant experiences associated with eating chocolate bars, hence the craving to eat this chocolate bar. So really it was not the presence of the object that will be defined as a chocolate bar that caused the craving,but the cognitive process outlined.

Specifically it was the assignment of meaning that caused the craving. And because this assignment of meaning has become totally automatic in most people, the chocolate bar gets the blame for the craving when in fact it only had the power to cause the mind to form a meaningless image. For most, the meaning and image have become "fused", with the meaning now seen as an inherent part of the neural image itself rather than something assigned from within the mind. This of course gives the stimulus the power to be the cause of the response.

Just thinking about or reflecting upon a chocolate bar has the same effect. A neural image is formed from that reflection and when it has been formed the cognitive process of automatically assigning meaning to it is exactly the same as with images caused by the external stimulii. We feel like a eating the chocolate bar.

This all means of course that every time we are presented with a chocolate bar
or some other desirable food, the mind automatically performs the cognitive process outlined and creates a desire to eat the delicacy. The continual emotional responses build up and eventually wear us down. This is the reason we "give-in" and the diet goes out the window.

My point is then, the only way to reduce our food intake and still feel comfortable is to modify this process of automatically assigning meaning to the images that come into our heads. This way we can reduce the desire to eat unnecessarily and thereby modify our eating behaviour so that we lose weight and keep it off.

Diets do not supply these techniques and in actual fact they fail the individual not the other way round as their providers would have you believe. If changing our behaviour was easy as making a decision to go on a diet, most of us would have changed many things about ourselves long ago. The truth is we need techniques that will help us to bring that change about or we are doomed to failure.

8 Reasons Why You Keep Falling Off The Diet Wagon

2009-07-06T16:24:00.004+08:00

Clearly, we have an obesity problem in America and many other countries across our planet. Yet, I propose that we do not have a weight loss problem today. In case you’re confused at this apparent contradiction, consider these statistics:

According to a study from Oxford University published in the International Journal of Obesity, within 3 to 5 years, about 80 percent of all ‘weight losers’ have regained the lost weight, and often gained back a little extra.

According to research by the National Weight Control Registry, that relapse rate may be as high as 95 percent.

For comparison, relapse rates for drug, alcohol and tobacco dependency have been reported in the range of 50-90%.

This means that lots and lots of people have “successfully” lost weight. But not many have kept it off. Therefore, we don’t have a weight loss problem, we have a weight-relapse problem; we have a “not sticking with it” problem. Wouldn’t you agree?

In fact, the fall and subsequent weight-regain usually doesn’t take years. Many people have abandoned their new year’s resolutions within weeks. By the time the Super Bowl party rolls around, their diet is history!

If this is true, then shouldn’t we put more of our attention onto figuring out why you haven’t been sticking with your program, and what you should do about it?

I put together this new list (below) of the top 8 reasons why you fall off the wagon.

Rather than worrying about the minutiae of your diet plan, like whether you should be on low carb or high carb, Mediterranean or Okinawan, vegetarian or meat eater, I propose that if you simply focus on these 8 issues, you’ll start getting more lasting results.

How? By being able to stick with whichever plan you decided was best for you! After all, even if you have the best nutrition program in the world - on paper - it doesn’t do you much good if you can’t stick with it in practice!

THE 8 REASONS

1. No focus: you didn’t set goals, you didn’t put your goals in writing, and/or you didn’t stay focused on your goals daily (by reading them, affirming them, looking at a vision board, etc.)

2. No priorities: you may have set a goal, but you didn’t put it on or near the top of your priorities list. For example, your goal is six pack abs, but drinking beer and eating fast food on the weekend is higher on your priorities list than having a flat stomach.

3. No support system: you tried to go at it alone; no buddy system, training partners, family, spouse, friends, mentors or coaches to turn to for information and emotional support when the going got tough.

4. No Accountability: you didn’t keep score for your own accountability – with a progress chart, weight record, measurements, food journal, training journal, and you didn’t set up external accountability (ie, report to someone else or show your results to someone else)

5. No patience: you were only thinking short term and had unrealistic expectations. You expected 10 pounds a week or 5 pounds a week or 3 pounds a week, so the first week you lost “only” 1 or 2 pounds or hit a plateau, you gave up.

6. No planning: you winged it. You walked into the gym without having a workout in hand, on paper, you didn’t plan your workouts into your weekly schedule; you didn’t have a menu on paper, you didn’t make time (so instead you made excuses, like “I’m too busy”)

7. No balance: your diet or training program was too extreme. You went the all or nothing, “I want it now” route instead of the moderate, slow-and-steady wins the race route.

8. No personalization: your nutrition or training program was the wrong one for you. It might have worked for someone else, but it didn’t suit your schedule, personality, lifestyle, disposition or body type.

So there you have it – 8 reasons why most people fall off the wagon! Have you been making these mistakes? If so, the solutions are clear and simple: focus, prioritize, get support, be accountable, be patient, plan, balance and personalize.

About the Author:
Tom Venuto is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, independent nutrition researcher, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models (e-book) which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com

Subscription and key

2009-07-01T00:25:00.000+08:00

Thank you for downloading the FREE Health Giveaway. Kindly register below to get the key to open the zip file.

If you have not download the books, kindly do so. Click at the ebook covers below :

Please be patient, filesize : 0.99 MB

6 Nutrition Secrets For Great Abs

2009-06-24T21:52:00.001+08:00

Many people say that "abdominals are made in the kitchen, not in the gym," and there's a lot of truth to that. You can do thousands of reps of ab work every week, but if your nutrition is not in order, you can forget about getting a great set
of 6-pack abs.

1. Eat about 15-20% below your calorie maintenance level. If you use a more aggressive calorie deficit of 25-30%, then do not keep calories too low for too long; increase calories to maintenance or maintenance +10-15% 1-2 days per week.

2. Spread your calories into 5-6 smaller meals instead of 2-3 big ones. Be very conscious of portion size. If you eat too much of anything (even "healthy" food), you can say goodbye to your abs. Period.

3. Eat a source of complete, high quality lean protein with each meal (egg whites, lean meat, fish, protein powder, etc.)

4. Choose natural, complex carbs such as vegetables, oatmeal, yams, potatoes, beans, brown rice and whole grains. Start with aprox. 50% of your calories from natural carbs and reduce carbs slightly (esp. late in the day) if you are not losing fat. Avoid refined, simple carbs that contain white flour or white sugar.

5. Keep total fats low and saturated fats low. Aim for 20% of your total calories from fat (and no more than 30%). A little bit of "good fat" like flax oil, fish fat, nuts & seeds, etc. is better than a no fat diet. Essential fatty acids actually assist the fat burning process.

6. Drink plenty of water - a gallon is a good ballpark to shoot for if you are physically active.

1000+ reps of daily ab work is an amazing feat of endurance, but that's not how you get visible, 6-pack abs! If you were to do 1,000 reps of ab exercises every day, you
would have outstanding development in your abdominal muscles and you would definitely have great muscular endurance. Unfortunately, if your abs are covered up with a layer of fat, you will never see them even if you do 10,000 reps a day!

Download HERE a FREE Report from Tom Venuto revealing about the Six Abs.

How To Use Cardio For MAXIMUM Fat-Burning

2009-06-19T21:46:00.001+08:00

Times have changed since the Aerobics revolution of the 1970's and 1980's. For years, aerobics was the darling of the fitness world. Then scientists began to acknowledge the benefits of weight training - for everyone, not just for bodybuilders.

Recently, the pendulum has swung the other direction and we've actually started hearing fitness "experts" suggesting that cardio should be kept to a minimum or even avoided completely. That's the way things tend to go in the fitness world - they
swing back and forth in trends, from one extreme to another. Lots of cardio or no cardio.

I suggest you avoid trend-hopping and pay close attention to what actually works, by people who know what they are talking about (such as bodybuilders, who are the leanest muscular athletes in the world). Doing nothing but cardio is a mistake.
But cutting our cardio completely is also a mistake. The truth lies in the middle. Maximum fat burning occurs when you combine cardio training and weight training together.

Those who are genetically gifted with above average metabolisms will find that a slight drop in food intake and just a few days a week of cardio will usually do the trick. However, most people who are struggling with fat loss (sometimes referred to as "endomorph" body type) are simply NOT burning enough calories to get the results they want. The answer for them is more activity to burn more calories.

For health and weight maintenance, I would suggest 3 short cardio workouts per week, about 20-30 minutes per session. But for maximum fat loss, I recommend 4-7 days per week of cardio or other physical activity for 30-45 minutes (based on results), at a moderate pace. You can mix up the type of cardio you do, or choose the type you enjoy the most - stationary cycling, stairclimbing, elliptical machines, aerobic classes and other continuous activities are all excellent fat burners (it doesn't have to be indoors or on a cardio machine).

If time efficiency is a concern for you, you could do 2-3 of those cardio workouts as high intensity interval training and you'll achieve very good results even with briefer workouts. Even as little as 20-25 minutes per session can get great results IF your intensity level is high enough. Remember, seeing your abs is about low body fat. Low body fat is about burning calories and creating a calorie deficit. The calorie deficit is created by increasing the number of calories you burn and or decreasing the amount of calories you take in from food. Increasing intensity is one way to burn more calories in less time.

Let me reiterate what I said in the introduction. The reason my abs look the way they do is not solely from my training program, but because I get my body fat down
into the single digits with a highly specialized fat-burning diet program.

Download HERE a FREE Report from Tom Venuto revealing about the Six Abs.

Cross Country Mountain Biking

2009-06-16T22:50:00.001+08:00

Cross country mountain biking is cross country at its finest. Where free riders and downhill bikers use four wheel bikes and ski lifts to get them to their destination, cross country bikers get to the top of the mountain by the ride. Though free riding is very popular, the life vein of the sport has always been cross country biking.

The Basics of an Off-Road Triathlon 3

Just as cross country riders are a different breed, the bikes they ride are as well. The cross country bike is completely different in many ways from other types of mountain riding bikes. The premise for cross country riders is speed. Everything about their bikes revolve with the idea of making the bikes faster and faster.

Bikes used in cross country mountain biking can be fully rigid frame, hardtails, or even full suspension frames. Through the years, the cross over to full suspension has become very popular.

The weight difference between free ride bikes and cross country bikes are considerable. You'll be extremely hard pressed to find a bike that weighs more than 24 pounds, and even that weight can be heavy. Free ride bkes weigh close to 40 pounds, which makes the difference in weight pretty close.

If you've never tried cross country mountain biking,you'll probably find it to be a break from the ordinary. Even though this type of biking involves trails, it's normally the type of terrain that beginners wouldn't want to ride. Involving hills and rough terrain, cross country biking offers quite the rush.

For mountain bikers everywhere, cross country is the way to go. It offers you a new assortment of bikes, new areas to bike, and a new twist to mountain biking as you know it. If you've been looking for a mountain biking rush, cross country mountain biking is what you need to be experiencing.

How Body Fat Storage Patterns Affect You And Keep Your Abs From Showing

2009-06-14T21:43:00.000+08:00

What's the point of all the physiology? Well, it turns out that in men, the lower abdominal region has a higher concentration of A2 receptors, so this gives us one possible explanation of why the lower abdominal region is often the first place the fat goes when you gain it, and the last place it comes off when you're losing it. (Incidentally, the fat in women's hips and thighs is also higher in A2 receptors). This situation is dictated by genetics and by the hormonal and enzymatic pathways we discussed.

Think of ab fat like the deep end of the swimming pool. No matter how much you protest, there is no way you can drain the deep end before the shallow end. However, don't let this discourage you. Lower ab fat WILL come off, it will simply be the last place to come off. First place on - last place off.

This helps to explain why abdominal exercises have little impact on body fat loss. It's a huge mistake to think that hundreds or thousands of reps of ab exercises will remove lower abdominal fat, except to the degree that it burns calories and contributes to the calorie deficit. What removes the fat - all over your body - is a calorie deficit and that comes from decreasing food intake, increasing activity, or a combination of both.

What I suggested to this young man was cutting back the ab training, spending the time he was wasting on excess ab exercises for more intense, calorie-burning cardio and weight training for the rest of the body. I also suggested he do an accounting of his food intake, get his nutrition in order and decrease his calories slightly if necessary.

As it turned out, his diet was a mess, and as nutrition experts like to say, "You can't out-train a lousy diet."

It's a monumental error to think that 1,000 reps of ab work a day will make your abs finally "pop" when your diet is a disaster and that's leading to fat storage. It's not that ab exercises aren't important. But all the ab exercises in the world won't help as long as you still have body fat covering the muscles. You can't "spot reduce" with abdominal exercise and YOU CAN'T SEE YOUR ABS THROUGH A LAYER OF BODY
FAT!

Download HERE a FREE Report from Tom Venuto revealing about the Six Abs.

Buying A Mountain Bike

2009-06-10T22:40:00.001+08:00

It can be a bit frustrating as well as time consuming when you buy a mountain bike. Below, you'll find some tips and things to be aware of before you lay down the cash and buy a mount

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

ain bike.

Determining your price
There is really no limit as to how much money you can spend on a new mountain bike. To help you keep your spending under control, you should figure out what your price range is and how much your willing to pay for a new bike. When you buy, you shouldn't buy from mass merchant stores such as Wal-Mart. You should instead support your local bike shop and get a much better bike and much better service.

Finding your style
All mountain bikes are designed with several different riding styles and terrain types in mind. You'll need to figure out what type of riding you will be doing
the most. Smooth riding, cross country racing, mountain cruising, or lift accessed downhill is something you need to figure out. Make sure that the bike you select fits your personal style and not that of the sale's staff.

Full suspension or hard tail
If you can afford it, a full suspension mountain bike is always worth the purchase. A hard tail, without rear suspension, is much lighter weight and pedal more efficiently, although full suspensions offer more comfort and overall better control. You'll want to make that decision based on your price range, riding style, and the type of terrain you'll be riding on the most.

Finding your favorites
Comparing mountain bikes component to component is nearly impossible, as there are far too many combinations available. The best way to go about doing this is
finding a few components that are the most important to you and making sure the rest or the minimums fall within your price range. You can start with the fork then look at the wheels and rear derailleur.

Sales and seasons
During the year, the prices of mountain bikes can fluctuate quite a bit. Spring through summer is the main buying season. If you can wait until the right price pops up, normally in the fall and winter, you can save a couple hundred dollars. Many bike shops will also offer discounts or other accessories if you buy from them.

Finding a good dealer
Finding a good bike dealer is more important than finding the best price. You should always find a dealer that cares more about selling you a great bike than selling you a high priced one. A great dealer will have a clean repair shop and give you the impression that you can really trust them.

Test ride
You should test ride as many bikes as you can within your price range and riding style. You'll find that some bikes will feel right, while others won't. The more
bikes you can test drive, you better you'll understand what works and what doesn't.

Doing the research
Product reviews and bike reviews are some of the best ways to find out about a mountain bikes reliability and overall performance. You should always look at what
other owners and reviews think about a bike before you make that final purchase.

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Why Your Lower Ab Flab Is The Last Place To Go

2009-06-08T21:40:00.001+08:00

Most people don't have their fat distributed evenly throughout their bodies. Each of us inherits a genetically determined and hormonally-influenced pattern of fat storage just as we inherit our eye or hair color. In other words, the fat seems to "stick" to certain areas more than others.

There's a scientific reason for this. Your fat cells are not just inert "storage tanks" for excess fuel. They are actually endocrine glands which send and receive signals from the rest of the body. You could say that your fat cells "talk to your
body" and your body "talks to your fat cells." This occurs through a hormone and receptor system.

For body fat loss to occur, you must first get the fat cell (adipocyte) to release the fat into the bloodstream. THEN, the free fatty acids must be delivered to the working muscles where they are burned for energy.

For fat to be released, the hormone adrenaline (epinephrine) must be secreted and send a signal to your fat cells. Your fat cells receive this hormonal signal via adrenaline receptors called adrenoreceptors.

Fat cells have Beta 1 (B1) and Alpha 2 (A2) receptors. B1 receptors are the good guys. They activate hormone sensitive lipase, the enzyme that breaks down the fat and allows it to be released into the bloodstream to be burned. A2 receptors
are the bad guys. They block the fat-releasing enzymes in the fat cell and encourage body fat formation.

Download HERE a FREE Report from Tom Venuto revealing about the Six Abs.

Mountain Bike Skills

2009-06-06T22:20:00.006+08:00

Mountain biking is an exciting sport that can be enjoyed by anyone who knows how to ride a bike. Compared to the average bike ride, it does present some danger. Therefore, you should master these basic skills before you hit the trails or the dirt.

You can practice these beginning skills at a local park, school, bike path, or simply around your house. If you can, try to find a location with a steep hill.

Image by richardmasoner via Flickr

Get a feel for your pedals
Practice moving your foot away from the pedal, first while sitting on your bike with one foot on the ground. Next, move on to releasing and replacing your foot while pedaling around for a bit. Those with toe clip and clipless type foot pedals will want to spend a bit more time practicing.

Sit and spin for position
Simply sit on your bike and pedal around. You should keep your arms slightly bent. You should also adjust your seat height so your leg is 70 to 90 percent extended at the bottom of every stroke on the pedal. Keep your body relaxed, as there will never be a position where you should have either your knees or your elbows locked.

Shifting gears
Get a feel for shifting gears with your bike. The higher gears are harder to pedal and will go faster while the lower gears are easier to pedal and will help you ascend hills. As you get to steeper hills, its best to shift before you get to the hill rather than while your on it.

Coasting
You should spend a bit of time coasting while standing on your pedals, without actually sitting on the seat. Keep your arms bent but don't lock your knees. Now, try experimenting with shifting your body towards the rear end of the bike.

Pedal while standing
You should get as comfortable as you can with pedaling while standing on your bike. Try lifting yourself off the seat while standing on the pedals,then crank them around. You should try this in higher gears on flat ground then again in lower gears while on a hill.

Dropping down a curb
Try finding a curb where you can easily get to the upper portion of it. Practice at a moderate speed, standing and coasting right off the curb from the upper level to the lower level. Try this at different speeds until it becomes second nature.

Once you practice these techniques and get the hang of them, you'll be able to hit the trails feeling comfortable on your mountain bike. Even though it may take some getting used to, it'll become second nature before you know it.

How do I get great abs ?

2009-06-04T21:32:00.003+08:00

After 18 years in the fitness business, "How do I get great abs" is still BY FAR the most frequently asked question I receive out of the 30,000+ emails that come into my office every month. No doubt, it's because abs are the one body part that most people are the most frustrated with. Although their questions are often phrased differently and each person's situation seems unique, my answer to "how do I get great abs" is almost always the same and you're about to hear it...

"1,000 Sit-Ups And Crunches A Day and Still No Abs!"

One question I received recently REALLY got my attention because a young guy told me he was doing 1,000 crunches and sit ups a day and said he still couldn't see his abdominals. He wrote:

"Tom: I have been working out for around a year now and I cannot get my lower abs into any type of shape. I'm starting to see my upper abs a little bit, which is great, but despite doing 900 various crunches, ab roller, and 100 sit-ups four days a week, along with my regular workout on the weights, I still have a tire around my waist. What else can I do?"

What did I tell him? Well, I gave him the same answer I've given thousands of people over the years, which is the only true "Secret" to great abs...

It takes training to increase strength, build endurance and DEVELOP the abdominals, but to SEE the definition in your abdominals - or any other muscle group for that matter - is almost entirely the result of low body fat levels.

This may sound counter-intuitive, but if you can't see your abs, it's not an issue of "muscle development" at all. You simply have too much body fat covering up the ab muscles. The lower abdominal area also happens to be the one place that most people - especially men - store the body fat first.

Download HERE a FREE Report from Tom Venuto revealing about the Six Abs.

You reap what you sow..

2009-05-30T22:28:00.002+08:00

I thought the "just minutes in the morning" idea was ridiculous (but brilliant from a marketing perspective), now someone just wrote a book called 2-minute abs. What's next? 30-second abs? Massive muscles in five minutes? The one rep muscle revolution? :-)

Your body is begging for exercise

It's an amazing machine that was designed to be used often and vigorously. In fact, your body is the only machine that wears out faster when you don't use it!

Training for basic health benefits and training for maximum fat loss and muscle growth may not be the same thing. To get maximum changes in body composition, you need a much higher frequency, duration and intensity.

You can get health benefits from very small amounts of exercise. Even walking to work or class, or raking the leaves in your yard can have health benefits. But you get even greater health benefits from larger amounts of exercise.

You can get a training effect (muscle growth and strength increase) in as few as two or three thirty-minute workouts per week, especially if you use highly time efficient training methods such as high intensity interval training for cardio and supersets, circuits and short rest intervals for strength training.

However, you cannot expect to become super lean and highly muscular without putting in the time and effort.

Here's what it all boils down to : You reap what you sow... The rewards you take out will always come in direct proportion to the work you put in. The best bodies - with the best body composition and fat-to-muscle ratios - are built with high levels of physical activity.

There's simply no quick fix. Burn the fat now !

Fat Loss Lie #12: "It takes just minutes a day"

2009-05-27T22:24:00.002+08:00

"2 MINUTE ABS"

"A FEW MINUTES IN THE MORNING!"

"THE ONE WORKOUT A WEEK FITNESS REVOLUTION!"

"CHANGE YOUR BODY IN 30 MINUTES A WEEK"

As if all the rapid weight loss claims weren't enough (big fat lie #10), the latest bombardment of advertising hype says that you're spending too much time in the gym and that if you follow their "secret" training program, you can get in tip top shape in just "minutes a day."

What do I think about that? well, you definitely don't have to "live in the gym" or train for hours every day to get great results. And you should always, of course, look for ways get the most benefit from every minute you spend in the gym. That's called "time efficiency," and that is a good thing.

But you should be very cautious of the claims about getting more results in less time. You really CAN get more results in less time with higher intensity workouts, but "higher intensity" translated, means "hard work." If it sounds too good to be true... well, you know the rest...

It's an error in thinking that you can bypass the law of cause and effect and it's a flaw in character to expect better results without putting in the necessary time and hard work(refer back to lesson #6 if necessary: "The quick and easy lie.").

There's a fine line between training enough to stimulate growth and overtraining. We are warned continually not to overtrain or we'll "hold back our strength and muscle gains." We are also cautioned not to do too much aerobics or we'll "lose the muscle" we already have.

It's true that many people are overtraining. But just as there's fine a line between optimal training and overtraining, there's also a fine line between optimal training and undertraining.

The minimalist "less is more" approach is highly appealing because it represents the ultimate "lazy man (or woman's)" approach. And most of all, it SELLS!

The promoters are basically saying, "Hey, you're spending too much time in the gym and it's holding back your gains. Buy my secret miracle training program from Bulgaria, and you only have to train once or twice a week for a few minutes and you'll double your results."

Briefer and less frequent workouts are only good to the extent to which they prevent you from overtraining and they optimize hormonal response to training. Minimalism as a marketing appeal is a completely different story. Make sure you recognize the difference between the two.

Here's the fatal flaw with thinking that any drugs will be a long-term solution

2009-05-24T22:20:00.002+08:00

We live in an orderly universe where everything happens for a reason (by "law"). For every effect, there is a cause. There are no accidents.

A lean body never happens by accident.
An overweight body never happens by accident.

A lean body and an overweight body are effects. Both of these effects have causes. If you're overweight, you can create lasting changes 100% of the time if you uncover the cause of the overweight condition and remove it.

The cause of body fat in nearly all cases is inactivity, poor nutrition and often negative self-image issues. Drugs and surgery can only treat an effect (the fat). Even if the fat (the effect) is temporarily removed, it will come back if the cause is still there.

You can't expect pills, drugs or surgical procedures that only treat symptoms/effects to create permanent changes.

Depending on your genetics, you may never look like a bodybuilder or fitness cover model, but you always have the power to improve your body and your health above and beyond where you are today.

You can always improve, no matter where you are now and no matter what your genetic disposition.

How? By accepting responsibility for your situation and then taking positive action every day for the rest of your life to improve it. You simply have to change your lifestyle!

Try to fight "the law" or shirk hard work by looking for short cuts if you want, but in the end, you'll always lose.

Try to ignore "the law" if you want, but ignorance of the law does not excuse you from its operation.

Lifelong health, fitness and a perfect body weight do not come out of a bottle or needle and never will - no matter what new concoction they cook up in the lab.

Those who think otherwise may gain temporary relief from health woes or enjoy some short-term benefits, but unless they alter their lifestyles, they'll have hard lessons to learn in the long run.

I envision a day when both the medical and fitness communities will join together to help stop this error in thinking, and begin to teach people how to improve their lifestyles with a natural approach and alter their mental attitudes instead of writing prescriptions and selling "magic" pills.

To permanently become lean, you must identify the causes of excess fat,.

These can include :

* Excessive caloric intake
* Poor nutrition choices
* Inactivity
* Unhealthy lifestyle habits
* Psychological and emotional factors

Then, you must treat THESE CAUSES. Only when the source ("the cause") of your problem is removed, will the unwanted effects disappear for good. Until then, anything else will only be a quick fix, band-aid, temporary solution

Fat Loss Lie #11: "Drugs or surgery will take the fat off and keep it off"

2009-05-21T22:16:00.002+08:00

For many people who are frustrated with little or no results, despite their best intentions, physique-enhancing drugs or hormones appear to be the only legitmate "miracle cure." After all, supplements are iffy, but drugs are, well, drugs!

Dramatic short-term results in body composition can be achieved from using all kinds of weight loss drugs, steroids, thermogenics, thyroid drugs, growth hormone and other chemicals. No doubt about that. One look around my own sport of bodybuilding is proof of that.

However, appearances can be deceiving. The road of drug use for cosmetic enhancement can be a wild ride in the beginning, but in the long run, it's a dead end street.

What The Pharmaceutical Companies Don't Want You To Know About

Regardless of whether we're talking about illegal steroids and performance enhancers, prescription obesity drugs, or even over the counter "fat burning" drugs like ephedrine, these are all really one in the same:

(1) multi million dollar moneymakers, and
(2) Short-term attempts at treating effects, not causes.

Lets take weight loss drugs, for example :

What would happen if the pharmaceutical companies finally came out with a "safe and effective" obesity drug and brought it to the marketplace on a massive scale?

Here's exactly what would happen :

THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES WOULD GET RICHER
AND THE OBESITY PROBLEM WOULD CONTINUE!

Think about it: Did Xenical cure obesity? How about Phentermine? Meridia? Adipex? Bontril? Didrex? Tenuate? What about Ephedrine? Tens of millions of people were taking it. Did that solve the obesity problem?

In a few cases where someone's health is at stake, and when time is of the essence, the benefits of drugs may outweigh and justify the risks.

However, most people are not facing life-threatening obesity, and even in these rare cases, you have to concede that drugs or surgeries are last-resort treatments - not first lines of defense. They are absolutely not a substitute for proper nutrition, exercise and lifestyle change.

Sneak Attack Tactics: The Devious Ploy

2009-05-20T23:16:00.001+08:00

Since its inception, paintball has remarkably developed into a global spectacle. Nearly 9.6 million players have participated in the game since 2004.

Its popularity continues to proliferate thereby making it the third place overall “

Image by regeniabrabham via Flickr

Most Popular Extreme Sport in the World” list. This is based on the statistical reports of the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association International in 2005.

Along with its growing popularity are the various tactics that every player must learn in order to win the game. This is so important because, by nature, paintball is a conglomeration of strategy, techniques, skills, and ability to stimulate the mind to think fast and accurate.

In spite of the many tactics that the experts create in order to help players win the game, the sneak attack approach remains the most reliable method in obtaining victory over the opponents. This is because the object of the “sneak attack tactic” is to hit the opponent furtively and sneakily.

To those who want to know how this particular ploy can be executed, here is a list of some tips :

1. Be cool

With this kind of tactic, your basic goal is to hit the other player without letting him know that you are even in the area. Once you have spotted your opponent, do not immediately shoot; try to relax a little and aim with your best shot.

Do not move. Movement can only imply presence. Do you not spot your opponent because of his movements? If you do the same, chances are, he will be able to see you as well.

2. Wait for the perfect timing

In case you have seen your opponent but the distance between you and your opponent is great, then, it is best to stay calm and quiet.

The idea here is to wait for your opponent to come into your reach; because if you try to shoot early and miss, you might as well come out in the open and tell your opponent to shoot you.

3. Fire at will

If in case your opponent was able to sense that you near, do not hesitate to start firing. You will have better chance of aiming at and hitting your target because you were the first one to spot him.

Sneak attack works best for people who think before they act. Any madcap will never get any further. The bottom line of this approach is to aim more accurately in order to shoot without letting the other person know you are there.

The Biggest Weight Loss Mistake ...

2009-05-18T22:14:00.000+08:00

The Biggest Weight Loss Mistake That Is FATAL To Your Long Term Success

Lack of patience is one of the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to losing body fat. If you want to lose FAT, not muscle, and if you want to keep the fat off for good, then you have to take off the pounds slowly. (of course, if you want to crash diet the weight off fast, lose muscle with the fat and gain all the fat back later, be my guest)

This is one of the toughest lessons that overweight men and women have to learn - and they can be very hard learners. They fight kicking and screaming, insisting that they CAN and they MUST lose it faster.

Then you have these TV shows that encourage the masses that rapid, crash weight loss is okay. To the producers of these shows, I say SHAME ON YOU! To the personal trainers, registered dieticians and medical doctors who are associated with these programs, I say DOUBLE SHAME ON YOU, because you of all people should know better. These shows are not "motivating" or "inspiring" - they are DAMAGING! They are a DISGRACE!

The rapid weight loss being promoted by the media for the sake of ratings and by the weight loss companies for the sake of profits makes it even harder for legitimate fitness and nutrition professionals because our clients say, “But look at so and so on TV - he lost 26 pounds in a week!”

Sure, but 26 pounds of WHAT - and do you have any idea what the long term consequences are?
Short term thinking… foolish.

Do it the right way. The healthy way. Take off pounds slowly, steadily and sensibly with an intelligent nutrition and exercise program like Burn The Fat, measure your body fat, not just your body weight, and make this a new lifestyle, not a race, and you will never have to take the pounds off again, because they will be gone forever the first time.

Don't Be Fooled By Water Weight Losses

2009-05-15T22:12:00.001+08:00

One thing you should also know is that it’s very common to lose 3 - 5 pounds in the first week on nearly any diet and exercise program and often even more on low carb diets. Just remember, its NOT all fat - WATER LOSS IS NOT FAT LOSS!

Image via Wikipedia

The only way to know if you've actually lost FAT is with body composition testing. For home body fat self-testing, I recommend the Accu-Measure skinfold caliper as first choice. Even better, get a multi site skinfold caliper test from an experienced tester at a health club, or even an underwater (hydrostatic) or air (bod pod) displacement test.

From literally hundreds of client case studies, I can confirm that it’s rare to lose more than 1.5 - 2.0 lbs of weight per week without losing some muscle along with it. If you exceed 2.0 to 3.0 pounds per week, the probability of losing muscle is extremely high. If you lose muscle, you are damaging your metabolism and this will lead to a plateau and ultimately to relapse.

What Really Matters Is Not How Much WEIGHT you lose ...

2009-05-12T22:08:00.000+08:00

What Really Matters Is Not How Much WEIGHT You Lose, But How Much FAT You Lose

Where did your weight loss come from? Did you lose body fat or lean body mass? "Weight" is not the same as "fat." Weight includes muscle, bone, internal organs as well as lots and lots of water.

Let’s look at an example with some numbers so you can really grasp this concept of weight versus fat and then you can see, illustrated with specific examples, what will happen when you lose weight too quickly.

As an example, let’s take a 260 pound man who has a lot of body fat to lose - let’s call it 32%. With 32% fat, a 260 pounder has 83.2 pounds of body fat and 176.8 pounds of lean mass. Using this example, let’s look at a few possible scenarios with losses ranging from two to four pounds per week.

Weight Loss Scenario 1:

Suppose our 260 pound subject loses four full pounds instead of the recommended two pounds per week. Is this bad? Well, let’s see:

If he loses a half a percent of body fat, here are his body composition results:

256 lbs
31.5% body fat
80.6 lbs fat
175.4 lbs lean body mass

Out of the four pounds lost, 2.8 pounds were fat and 1.2 were lean mass. Not a disaster, but not good either. Thirty percent of the weight lost was lean tissue.

Weight Loss Scenario 2:

If he loses a half a percent of body fat and only three pounds, here are his results:

257 lbs
31.5% body fat
80.9 lbs fat
176.1 lbs lean body mass

These results are better. Although he lost less body weight than scenario one, in this instance, 2.3 pounds of fat and only 0.7 lbs of lean mass were lost.

Weight Loss Scenario 3:

What if he only lost two pounds? Here are the results:

258 lbs
31.5% body fat
81.2 lbs fat
176.8 lbs lean body mass

These results are perfect. Even though our subject has only lost two pounds, which seems slow, 100% of the two pound weight loss came from fat and he kept ALL the muscle!

Weight Loss Scenario 4:

Now let’s suppose he loses three pounds but he loses more body fat: .8%

257 lbs
31.2% body fat
80.2 lbs fat
176.8 lbs lean body mass

These are the best results of all. When the weekly fat loss is .8% (better than average), 100% of the three pounds lost is fat. So as you can see, yes, it’s safe to lose more than two pounds per week… but only if the weight is fat. If you lose three or four pounds per week, and you know it’s all fat, not lean tissue, then more power to you! If you lose four pounds and two of those pounds are muscle, you just shot yourself in the foot!

If as little as 20%-30% of your weight loss comes from muscle, when compounded over a few months, you’re talking about a massive muscle tissue loss which can dramatically slow down your metabolism, weaken you and turn you into nothing more than a “skinny fat person” (that's a person with low body weight because they lost so much muscle, but still holding stubborn fat because they shut down their metabolism).

3 Paintball Skills to Master and Win the Game

2009-05-10T23:14:00.004+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

However, it does not necessarily mean that the game is easy. Most of the players contend that they have experienced many trials, hardships, failures, and defeat before they were able to master the game.

Experts insist that playing paintball, just like the other kinds of sport, needs some skills in order to win the game. These skills are the primary tools that every paintball player must try to learn. Once they have mastered these skills, winning the game is relatively simple.

Here is the list :

1. Basic stance

The problem with most players is that they tend to face the bunker whenever they are standing next to it. This is such a difficult stance because it will give the player inadequate balance and a time-consuming response.

The best way is to stand behind the bunker with the foot that is opposite with the paintball marker or gun in lead. For instance, if a player holds the marker with the right hand, the left foot should be in lead.

2. Trick shot

It is important for every paintball player to know the psychological aspect of the game. This means that the player must know how to think and act appropriately according to the possible actions of the other players.

Therefore, fire some “trick shots” in an area where the other player is probably hiding. It does not necessarily mean that firing too many shots creates advantage. The object of this skill is to create a ploy that will instigate the player to respond in return if ever he is really in that area.

3. Run and Shoot and Run

Like any person in a battle, it is best to master this type of skill in order to achieve the best action and win.

The problem with most players is that they continue to hide thinking that they can win because they remain invisible to their opponents. The point is that a player can never win if he does not try to eliminate his opponents.

Mastering this skill will definitely give every player an edge over the others.

In every activity, there is an equal skill to master. Mastery of these skills will ensure that the player can win the game.

Fat Loss Lie #10: "Fat loss can be quick and permanent"

2009-05-09T22:03:00.005+08:00

The "Quick Fat Loss" Lie Exposed

"Lose 30 pounds In 30 Days!"

"Lose 9 Pounds Every 11 Days!"

Lose 10 Pounds This Weekend!
Image by ninahale via Flickr

You see ad claims like these all the time, and they sure are enticing, aren't they? They play on our emotions and our desires for instant gratification.

Patience is the one thing you never seem to have when you’ve got a body fat problem. You want the fat gone and you want it gone now! And why not? It seems so do-able. Everywhere you look, you hear promises of quick weight loss and you even see people losing weight quickly.

We have reality TV shows that actually encourage people to attempt “extreme” body makeovers or see who can lose weight the fastest, and the winners (or shall we say, the "losers", as if that's a flattering title to earn), are rewarded generously with fortune, fame and congratulations.

Let’s face it. Everyone wants to get the fat off as quickly as possible - and having that desire is not wrong – it’s simply human nature. However...

Serious Problems Can Occur If You Try To
Force It And Lose Weight Too Quickly

The faster you lose weight, the more muscle you will lose right along with the fat, and that can really mess up your metabolism.

An even bigger problem with fast weight loss is that it just won’t last. The faster you lose, the more likely you are to gain it back. It's the the "yo-yo diet effect" - weight does down, but always comes back up. Think about it: We don’t have a weight loss problem today, we have a “keeping weight off” problem

Weight loss will be the healthiest, safest and most likely to be permanent if you set your goal for about two pounds per week (and even if you lose only a single pound each week, that is healthy progress). This is the recommendation of almost every legitimate and respected dietician, nutritionist, exercise physiologist and personal trainer on the planet, as well as exercise organizations such as the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Dietetic Association.

Are there any exceptions? Yes. It may be ok to lose more than two pounds per week if you have a lot of weight to lose, because the rate of weight loss tends to be relative to your total starting body weight. Generally the rule is that it’s safe to lose up to 1% of your total body weight per week, so if you weigh 300 lbs to start, then 3 lbs a week is a reasonable goal.

Exercise vs Dieting

2009-05-06T21:59:00.004+08:00

Here's what else I believe about exercise vs dieting :

* I believe that the human body is the only machine on the face of the earth tha

Image via Wikipedia

t wears out and breaks down from not using it enough

* I believe that much obesity and disease are a direct result of inactivity

* I believe that much of the deterioration that happens as you age is a direct result of a sedentary lifestyle and a loss of muscle

* I believe that cardiovascular exercise + weight training + a small calorie reduction is vastly superior for fat loss purposes than a calorie reduction alone, both in the short and long term

* I believe that calorie restriction alone is a short-sighted and incomplete approach to a complex problem, and it requires a complete change in lifestyle habits to achieve better health, better body composition and results that last

* I believe that everyone who is able-bodied should get some type of physical activity almost every single day

* I believe that anyone who is healthy and physically able should get involved in weight training 3 days per week (up to 4 - 5 times per week for athletes and bodybuilders)

* I believe that anyone healthy and physically able should do at least 3 days per week of vigorous cardiovascular exercise (jogging, brisk walking, treadmills, stairclimbers, ellipticals, aerobics classes, etc), and they may increase their exercise frequency, intensity and or duration if necessary, to accelerate fat loss

* I believe that more people should stop taking their bodies for granted and start appreciating that those wheelchair-bound individuals I mentioned earlier would give anything to be able to run or ride a bike

It's tempting to keep looking for some kind of "no-sweat" secret, whether in the form of a special diet technique, a magic fat burning pill or whatever, but in the end, it always, comes back to this :

You need a calorie deficit to lose weight... and it's better to burn more calories than to cut more calories.

Exercise - including weight training and cardio training - should be a part of every weight management program and a part of your lifestyle. This is one of the ultimate secrets to fat loss and long term weight control:

Remember, don't starve the fat, "BURN THE FAT."

Top 10 reasons why exercising ("burn"), not dieting ("starve"), is the superior method of losing body fat

2009-05-03T21:56:00.001+08:00

The most effective fat-burning programs in the world always contain two types of exercise - weight training and cardiovascular training.

Image via Wikipedia

The reasons to include both could go on for pages, but here are the top 10 :

1. Exercise increases your metabolism.

2. Exercise creates a caloric deficit without triggering starvation mode.

3. Exercise helps you sleep better and manage stress better.

4. Exercise (strength training) tells your body to keep the muscle. Dieting causes muscle loss.

5. Exercise increases bone density.

6. Exercise helps prevent diabetes, control blood sugar, and improve insulin sensitivity.

7. Exercise improves cardiovascular health.

8. Exercise improves mood, helps relieve depression and increases self esteem

9. Exercise increasese mobility and quality of life as you get older

10. Exercise helps you keep the weight off long term.

The Science Behind Burning More, Not Eating Less

The role of energy expenditure in weight loss (diet vs exercise) is still the subject of controversy. For years I've been a strong advocate of weight training and cardiovascular training to "burn the fat" instead of just cutting calories (and being a "couch potato"). Take a look at some of the research-proven benefits of the "burn more" approach and see for yourself:

“Strength training may have greater implications than initially proposed for decreasing body fat and sustaining fat free mass. Research suggests that adding exercise programs to dietary restriction can promote more favourable changes in body composition than diet or physical activity on its own.”
-Stiegler, Sports Medicine, 2006

“Treatments relying only on energy restriction commonly cause substantial loss of lean tissue…” - Walberg, Sports Med, 1989:

“Increasing daily activity and regular exercise plays an important role in weight maintenance due to an impact on daily energy expenditure and a direct enhancement of insulin sensitivity.”
- Astrup, Int J Vitam Nutr res, 76:4, 2006”

“Physical activity is a critical factor for successful body weight regulation. Physical activity facilitates weight maintenance through direct energy expenditure and improved physical fitness.”
- Saris, Int J Obes relat Metab Disord, 1998:

“Reduced energy expenditure appears to facilitate weight gain in individuals susceptible to obesity."
- Saltzman, Nutr rev, 1995:

The Lies And Deceptions That Fuel The $50 Billion Weight Loss Machine

With this kind of proof, why is there any debate at all? Well, the biggest reason is because the weight loss industry thrives on novelty. Without “what’s new,” there's no story. People want to hear about some cutting edge new revolutionary pill or unique new diet breakthrough.

The industry also bets on laziness. Exercise is a hard sell because it's perceived as hard work. Advertisers know there's a lazy side hard wired into human nature, so they do everything they can to make their weight loss solutions look quick, easy and painless.

I believe the fact that we need to exercise - for health, quality of life AND for improved body composition - is such a common sense and intuitive conclusion that I find it almost comedic that there's any debate about it at all.

Think about it: What will your body shape look like by dieting without doing any training??? Diet without exercise tends to create a “skinny fat person” - someone with a low body weight but little if any muscle, and the last 10-15 lbs of stubborn fat is left defiantly clinging to your hips, butt, thighs, abs or "love handles!"

Why Everyone Loves Paintball

2009-05-02T23:12:00.002+08:00

Today, many people from all over the world are playing or at least have tried playing paintball. It is becoming one of the most popular outdoor sports in the world, an alternative to classic favorites such as basketball and football. It is the kind of game where everyone can play; a competition where things such as gender, social status, age or race does not bring

Image by DeusXFlorida via Flickr

about discrimination or disadvantage of any kind. All that matters is the ability to think and act quickly. Intelligence and decisiveness are the primary factors that can make a person a paintball expert.

The objective of the game is simple enough :

To capture the flag of the enemy while protecting his or her own.

Here are several reasons why paintball is a sport well-loved by many people :

1. Physical contact is not really needed. People can dispense fears of being physically injured, or worse, death. Players do not need to hurt their opponents to have them ejected from the game. You only need to mark them with paintballs, and the deed is already done. No fuss, no “black eyes”!.

2. Equality exists among the players. It is the game where a man has no edge over a woman, or the young can take advantage of the old. The only thing that can give a player have an advantage over the other is experience.

3. Even amateurs can enjoy the game. Chances are that a first time player can eliminate an experienced player.

4. One does not need to be an athlete, since the game can be played with minimal physical contact.

5. Paintball players use a lot of gadgets. Everyone loves the sense of childhood one gets when using intricate toys.

6. The fact that one can just eliminate players is a thrill in itself. Eliminating one's opponent is even encouraged, while protecting the team's flag.

7. There is a foreboding sense of danger. It stems from the awareness that one can be removed from the game in just one blink of the eye, and no one is invincible. The fear is enough to arouse a little bit of anxiety in a player, but not enough to make him so nervous he cannot perform his tasks.

There is no doubt that paintball is one of the most exciting sports ever conceived. It is the kind of game where people can experience the stimulation that other strenuous sports provide, and paintball can develop teamwork and camaraderie among its players.

Fat Loss Lie #9: "Exercise is not necessary... all you need is a diet"

2009-05-01T21:53:00.003+08:00

The Truth About The Diet Versus Exercise Debate

Yes, you CAN lose weight by cutting calories. But as you learned in the first part

Image by jcoterhals via Flickr

of this course ("the starvation diet lie"), there is danger in using very low calorie diets; you almost always re-gain weight that's lost with highly restrictive diets.

Some people use calorie restriction out of necessity. For example, I know some wheelchair-bound individuals who lost weight with calorie restriction alone. I also know some people who were very obese and had orthopedic problems (making exercise difficult at first), who chose to get started only with dietary restriction, then they added the exercise later. They also lost weight.

However, for able-bodied people, dieting is the absolute WORST way to lose weight.

Two Ways To Create A Calorie Deficit And Lose The Fat

As you learned in part 5 on calories, to lose fat, you need a calorie deficit. However, there's more than one way to create a calorie deficit. One is to decrease the amount of calories you consume (eat less). The other is to increase the amount of calories you burn (exercise more).

Of the two ways, burning the calories with increased activity is the superior method. Or, you can also combine the two - eat a little less, and exercise more.

Paradoxical as it seems, the most effective approach of all is to eat more and exercise a LOT more (as long as you still keep your calorie deficit). Nutritionist and exercise physiologist Dr. John Berardi calls this a "HIGH ENGERY FLUX," which simply means, higher energy input, higher energy output. The result is a high level of nutrition and a turbo-charged metabolism.

Be Healthy Health

2009-04-20T04:19:00.002+08:00

Fighting Cancer

With today’s breakthroughs, there are many innovative ways to fight cancer. Although you may find this difficult to believe, the American Institute for Cancer Research has come

Image via Wikipedia

up with a surprising way to fight cancer. After conducting thorough studies, researchers found that drinking tea, which contains antioxidants to help neutralize “free radicals” helps to fight cancer. While it is not a cure-all, if cancer runs in your family, it certainly will not hurt to add tea to your daily consumption.

Flaxseed

A great way to maintain a healthy cardiovascular system is by adding flaxseed to your daily diet. Flaxseed actually contains what is called alpha-linolenic acid, which is a fatty acid essential in controlling blood pressure. They have a benefit of helping with digestion; just make sure the flaxseed is crushed for easier consumption and absorption.

Wash your Hands

This is something you have probably heard your whole life. Disease is easily spread from touch, whether from person to person or object to person. Giardia is the number one germ that is transferred from touching something infected. Once you have Giardia, you can get very ill. In addition, germs can be passed from your pet that has been rolling on the grass, something dropped on a dirty floor, just allow your imagine to roam if you dare. Washing your hands is a quick, easy way to reduce the spread of germs.

Fat Loss Lie #8: "Zero carb or very low carb diets are best for permanent fat loss"

2009-04-12T16:28:00.003+08:00

The Low Carb Diet Truth

No diet issue has ever created more confusion and controversy than the low carb vs. high carb debate. You are about to finally hear the low carb truth... simplified... But then, you will also hear about a few surprising "twists" to the low carb story!

Contrary to what certain "gurus" tell you, carbohydrates are NOT fattening. As you learned in part 5, what's fattening is eating more calories than your body can use at one time. If you eat too much of anything, it will get stored as fat. Period. That is the pure essence and scientific truth about fat loss:

IT'S NOT ABOUT THE CARBS!!!

IT'S ABOUT THE CALORIES!

But don't throw out your low carb diet just yet!

Reduced carb dieting does seem to have some beneficial effects on weight loss and fat loss, but it may not be for the reasons that most people think! In fact, it may not have anything to do with carbs at all ... it may be about protein and appetite regulation!

Low carbers usually don’t want to admit this - they usually want to insist on “metabolic advantage” - but the fact is, one of the biggest reasons that low carb diets can help improve fat loss is because it's very difficult to overeat when you restrict an entire group of energy dense foods like carbohydrates.

And there we have the truth again - if you eat less because of a low carb diet, you lose weight because you ate less, not because you ate less carbs. Got it? Less carbs = less calories!

Test it for yourself :

See how easy it is to overeat if you are told "eat as much of anything as you want." Then see how hard it is to eat a surplus of calories if you’re told, "eat as much as you want - but only lean protein, salad veggies and green veggies with a little bit of essential fat." You will lose fat like crazy on a diet like that, but it's not necessarily because carbs are low, it’s primarily because the CALORIES are low!

The problem is, most people cannot stay on a diet so restricted in choices. That's why over the long term, low carb diets aren't really much more effective than any other diet.

Appetite control - a legit benefit of low carb diets?

Very low carb diets often tell you not to count calories and they say you can eat as much as you like if you just stick to protein and fat. However, they're making a huge assumption that by restricting carbs and allowing fat intake, your appetite will regulate itself and you will eat less as a result.

That's often exactly what happens with low carb, high fat diets - you tend to eat less automatically - so appetite control appears to be a legitimate benefit of low carb diets. However, there is nothing special about "low carb diets" that allows you to eat unlimited calories. If you eat in a caloric surplus, you are going to gain weight, no matter what the macronutrient composition of the diet.

High thermic effect : A second weight loss advantage of a low carb (higher protein) diet?

Here's another potential advantage: Low carb diets tends to be higher in protein. Since protein has a much higher thermic effect, it can lead to slightly greater fat loss than a diet of the same calorie amount that is high in fat and carbs.

In a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition in 2005 (93(2): 281-289), researchers followed a group of 113 overweight subjects after 4 weeks of a very low calorie diet, through a 6 month period of weight maintenance. The subjects were divided into a control group and a protein group that was given an extra 30 grams of protein in place of an equal amount of carbs.

The researchers found that the group with the higher protein intake was less likely to regain the lost weight, and any weight gain in the protein group was lean tissue and not fat. The results were attributed to higher thermic effect and a decrease in appetite.

A third advantage to low carbs?

Another potental benefit of carb restriction is better glycemic (blood sugar) control. This may provide some body composition and health advantages for individuals who are carb intolerant or who suffer from "metabolic syndrome" (where the body doesn't process sugar very well and tends to overproduce insulin).

Of course, as with nearly everything in life, there are two sides to every coin...

Disadvantages of low carb diets

1) For most people, strict low carb diets are difficult to stick to.

If you remove most of your carbohydrates from your diet for a long period of time, you're setting yourself up for a relapse. You tend to crave what you cannot have, both physiologically and psychologically. The more you cut the carbs, the easier it is to rebound will be when you put carbs back in.

2) Very low carb diets are often unbalanced and missing many nutrients.

It's still up for debate whether low carb programs like the Atkins diet are unhealthy, but removal of entire good groups such as fruits and 100% whole natural grains is definitely not nutritionally balanced for fiber, phytochemical and micronutrient intake.

3) Very low carb diets may cause low energy levels.

Most people will feel physically tired and mentally irritable without carbs, so their training will usually suffer: Low carbs = low energy. Low energy = poor workouts. Poor workouts = poor results. This makes low carb diets a poor choice for highly active people. The reason I don't recommend "very low" carb diets to my clients is because I am a strong advocate of weight training and cardio training as part of a fitness lifestyle. When you are training hard, you must "feed the machine" and eat to support your activity.

4) The intial rapid weight loss on a very low carb diet can be deceiving.

Much of the initial weight loss on low carbs is water and even lean tissue. If you drop 5-7 lbs in your first week on a low carb diet it sounds impressive, but if one pound is fat, 2-3 pounds are water and 2-3 pounds are muscle, what did you accomplish? Your goal should be fat loss, not "weight" loss.

Taking a lesson from the leanest athletes on Earth

On an interesting side note, I've made an 18-year long study of how the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models get so incredibly lean. One thing I noticed was that almost every bodybuilder or fitness competitor uses some variation of the low carb diet to prepare for competitions. Why? because although there are disadvantages, they want those low carb advantages, even if it's a difficult diet to follow.

Most bodybuilders however, use an interesting variation on the traditional low carb diet. It's called "carb cycling," where you increase carbs at regular intervals rather than staying on low carbs all of the time. Carb cycling makes low carb diets safer, more effective and easier to follow.

The bottom line?

Yes, there is something to the low carb diet that helps accelerate fat loss. But in the end, it all comes back to calories and to whether or not you can stick with your program. Ability to comply with a program may be the biggest factor of all in long term success, not the level of carb intake. Low carb diets work primarily because they make you eat less. Eat too much and you gain weight, regardless of whether it's protein, carbs or fat.

My advice is not to jump into a low carb diet without reason, but to assess whether you are a good candidate for this type of approach. Then, if you decide to try the low carb approach, it's best used temporarily to break a plateau or reach a peak and it appears that a small reduction in carbs with a slight increase in protein is enough to get most of the benefits of low carb diets.

Cutting out carbs completely (or even dropping all the way to 20-30 grams a day as some programs advise in the beginning), is not necessary, it's hard to stick to and is probably not healthy in the long term. It's usually not wise to go to extremes in anything and that's as true for nutrition as anything else in life : moderation is the key..

Fat Loss Lie #7: "Your genetics are keeping you fat"

2009-04-06T16:25:00.005+08:00

How The News Media Distorts, Exagerrates And Lies To You

A recent New York Times story headline said, "Genes Take Charge, And Diets Fall By The Wayside." A similar headline in the New York Post said, "Battle Your Biology? Fat Chance!"

Image via Wikipedia

These and other articles like them claim that more and more evidence is proving that if you're overweight, "it's not your fault" and that genes - more than environment and behavior - explain obesity.

I say, "complete, unadulterated GARBAGE!"

Media stories like these often take legitimate statistics about genetic obesity completely out of context and blow them out of proportion to make for sensational news. They also make the common and devastating mistake of encouraging people to cast blame for their health anywhere but on themselves. Many of these types of stories are also based on ulterior motives.

Even worse, believing that "It's not your fault" is one of the biggest lies told in the weight loss industry and one of the most damaging beliefs you could ever have. In fact, the ONLY way you can ever become successful at achieving and maintaining your ideal weight is by accepting responsibility.

What The Research Really Says About Obesity And Your Genes

Make no mistake, there IS a genetic component to obesity. According to the latest research from the Human Genomics Project, you may inherit body fat tendencies just as you inherited your height, eye color or hair color. The tendency may range from slight predisposition to full blown genetic obesity.

In the 1990's, obesity researchers identified the OB (obesity) gene and mapped it to chromosome #7. Studies following a large number of twins and families have also helped to establish a link between obesity and heredity.

However, scientists say that severe mutations in the obesity gene are rare in humans (so mouse studies are largely irrelevant) and doubt has been raised concerning high genetic probability for obesity. ("Full blown" genetic obesity affects only about 5% of obese individuals!)

Therefore, claiming that genetics are more important than behavior and lifestyle is completely false.

Other Genetic Influences... Your Body Type And Metabolic Type

Other theories of genetic individuality discuss inherited body types, metabolic rate and body chemistry . In the 1930's, Harvard psychologist Dr. William H. Sheldon developed a classification system for different body types called "somatotyping":

Ectomorphs are the lean, lanky types. They are usually very thin and bony, with fast metabolisms and extremely low body fat. An ectomorph can seemingly eat like a horse without gaining an ounce.

Mesomorphs are the "genetically gifted." They are lean, muscular and naturally athletic. Mesomorphs lose fat and gain muscle with ease.

Endomorphs are the "fat retainers." Characterized by round features, excess body fat and large joints ("big bones"), endomorphs usually have difficulty in losing body fat and they tend to gain fat quickly if they eat poorly or don't exercise.

In addition to inherited body type ("somatotype"), individuals may also inherit certain metabolic types. Some people metabolize carbohydrates inefficiently and do not regulate blood sugar efficiently. They tend to produce too much insulin when they eat concentrated or fast-absorbing carbs, and or to be insulin resistant. This makes it more difficult to release stored body fat and puts them at risk for a variety of health problems. This condition is known as "Syndrome X" or "metabolic syndrome."

The $26 Billion Conspiracy Behind The Lies

Some doctors and researchers, such as those quoted in the newspaper stories, consider these obesity-stimulating conditions to be genetically transmitted "diseases" that require medical treatment. In a few isolated cases, obesity clearly is a genetic disorder. However, these cases are rare, so this idea of obesity as a "disease" should be viewed with a great deal of caution and suspicion, because weight loss is potentially the biggest market in the world for drug sales.

According to Justin Gillis, a staff writer for the Washington Post, more than 45 companies worldwide are trying to develop new obesity drugs, and the stakes couldn't be higher. Gillis writes, "In world where a blockbuster drug is worth $1 billion a year in sales, analysts give $5 billion as the low estimate for sales of an important obesity drug. If a company developed a truly safe, effective weight loss drug, and sold it for $3 a day to one quarter of the 100+ million American adults estimated to be overweight, sales would exceed $26 billion a year in this country alone."

If obesity is classified as a (genetically inherited) "disease", that means more prescriptions will be written

Listen, if anyone ever tells you that "It's not your fault... you were born fat, so don't feel guilty... and don't worry, we have a drug that can help," be cautious and question whose interests are being served; yours or the pharmaceutical giants.

The Truth About Heredity And Body Fat

Losing weight does seem easier for some people than for others. In fact, researchers say that there is a segment of the population that appears to be "genetically resistant to obesity." That doesn't seem fair, but that's the way life is. Let's be honest; not everyone has the genetics to become a top-ranking pro bodybuilder or to become an Olympic Gold medallist.

But you are NOT doomed to live a life of fatness if you don't have "athletic genes." Everyone can improve their body shape and fitness level beyond where it is today.

Body fat is the result of many influences. Genetics is only one of them and as little as 25% the causes are genetic/biological in nature. According To Dr. Claude Bouchard of the Human genomics Laboratory in Baton Rouge, LA, there are several certainties about the TRUE causes of obesity. He suggests the following contributing factors:

(1) physical environment
(2) social environment
(3) behavior
(4) biology

This means that 75% of your results are dictated by lifestyle and behavior factors and only 25% by biology. Accodring to Dr. Bouchard, "The obesity epidemic that we are facing today has developed only over the past 50 years and cannot be explained by changes in our genome."

And The Truth About Personal Responsibility That Will Set You FREE!

Like it or not, the condition of your body today is primarily a result of your own lifestyle, behavior and mindset (psychology). But that's great news, because it means most of the factors that affect your body fat levels are entirely under your control. These factors include how much you eat, what you eat, when you eat, who you eat with, how many sedentary activities you engage in, what type of exercise you do, how frequently you exercise, how long you exercise and how hard you exercise

Your first step if you want to achieve and maintain your perfect weight, is to accept 100% responsibility for your weight and your health. When the going gets tough, it’s easy to blame and make excuses. But blaming genetics is a convenient excuse for not taking continuous action. It's also giving away your power and conceding that you a victim rather than a creator of your life.

If you're a frustrated "endomorph" or if you feel like dieting is an uphill battle against your genes, PLEASE do NOT chalk it up to "bad genetics," and do NOT blame your weight on your chromosomes! YOU are responsible and YOU are in control! Dr. Thomas Wadden, a psychologist from Syracuse University, says, "There IS a genetic component to your weight, but NO ONE is destined to be obese."

Above all else, do NOT quit! The universe always bows to persistence. The empowering approach is to see your physical challenges as assets, because overcoming obstacles forces you to develop discipline, determination and character. These traits will carry over to other areas of your life and make you a stronger person.

As Arnold Schwarzennegger once said, "Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strength. When you overcome hardships, that is strength."

Fat Loss Lie #6: "There's a quick and easy way to burn fat

2009-04-02T16:20:00.001+08:00

According to Brian Tracy ( motivational speaker) said that there are two diseases running rampant across America and much of the industrialized world today. If you had to guess, which two do you think they are? Cancer? Diabetes? Heart Disease? Osteoporosis? Obesity?

Nope. None of the above. In fact, they're not even physical diseases - they are mental diseases.

The first mental disease, according to Tracy, is called something-for-nothing disease.

Something for nothing disease is contracted by people who believe they can take more out than what they put in. These are the people who want all the rewards without paying full price, or as Brian put it, "They want to go through the revolving door of life on someone else's push."

Quick fix disease is the second of the mental diseases. According to Brian, this disease is contracted by people who always want a quick way to reach their goals.

They search for instant cures to solve problems that may have taken months or even years to develop. They seek short cuts to acquire key skills that actually take many months and years of hard work to master.

These diseases are not to be confused with the desire to constantly get better and search for more efficient ways to reach your goals (which is a positive trait). The "diseased" people are those trying to reach their goals faster than nature intended or without any effort (which is a negative trait).

Brian's New York City seminar was mostly filled with businesspeople and sales professionals, so he gave financial examples, such as: wanting to work fewer hours while earning moremoney, investing in get-rich-quick schemes, or buying lottery tickets.

However, I believe that quick fix and something for nothing disease are more rampant and insidious among people with fitness goals than any other group.

Health and fitness seekers with something for nothing disease think they can get twice the results in half the time. They want weight loss without dieting, fitness without exercise, and perfect health while eating, drinking and smoking whatever they want.

Those with quick fix disease want to take a pill, go to sleep, and wake up skinny. They are forever on a quest to bypass hard work and find short cuts to fitness goals that that normally take months or years to attain.

People afflicted by quick fix disease are suckers for the latest "exercise in a bottle," "fat burning cream," "diet pill," or "steroid replacement" scams. They impulsively buy miracle solutions on a whim, which they haven't researched and know nothing about.

Saddest of all, they often waste YEARS of their lives on a misguided quest for the holy grail of fitness, when they could have reached their goals with a better work ethic and a little bit of persistence.

People with these diseases are violating the most basic laws of the universe: Cause and effect, sowing and reaping, action and reaction. This is just as ridiculous as attempting to violate the law of gravity. Jump off a cliff, and you're going to plummet to the Earth below - 100% of the time.

Not only will you fail and hit bottom if you catch one or both of these diseases - the very act of seeking a quick fix or wanting something for nothing makes you a weaker person.

On the other hand, the act of setting a worthy goal for something you want and reaching it through determination, discipline and hard work changes the very fiber of your being and you become a stronger person, not just physically, but also mentally and emotionally.

It's been said you don't get what you want in life, you get what you deserve. If you want success and achievement... If you want to lose weight, improve your health and transform your body, then set the goals and go for it!

But whatever you do, don't catch these two diseases. Avoid the quick fixes, work hard at it, and deserve it. You can have, do or be anything you want... you can have the body you want! Just pay the price and it's yours!

Burning fat and transforming your body is simple, but it's not easy. You gotta work at it. But if you're willing to put the work in, you will take out the rewards!

Stay on the lookout for the next lesson because it's a good one! It exposes the truth about heredity and obesity. Are your genetics making it almost impossible to get lean? You'll learn the surprising scientific facts in part 7 of Big Fat Lies...

Fat Loss Lie #5: "Calories Don't Count"

2009-04-01T16:13:00.005+08:00

In many popular diet books, especially low carb programs, “Calories don’t count” is a frequently repeated theme and "you can eat as much as you like" is an often repeated promise. Other programs stress the importance of energy in versus energy out, but recommend that you count “portions” rather than calories. Still others say that you must keep a strict accounting of everything you eat.

Who is right?

Well, trying to count every single calorie - in the literal sense - is probably not realistic or necessary as a lifestyle for the long term (all the number crunching can drive you crazy, for one thing!)

However, that doesn't mean that calories don't count. Any diet program that says you can "eat all you want and still lose weight" is one you should avoid because that is one of the biggest lies in the business

The truth is, that line is a bunch of baloney designed to make a diet sound easier to follow. Anything that sounds like work – such as counting calories, eating less or exercising, tends to scare away potential customers. (Which is why "no calorie counting necessary," "eat all you like" and "no exercise necessary" are ubiquitous and notorious diet industry claims)

The law of calorie balance is an unbreakable law of physics : Energy in versus energy out dictates whether you will gain, lose or maintain your weight. Period.

I believe that it's very important to develop a respect for portion control and the law of calorie balance.

I also believe it's an important part of nutrition education to learn how many calories are in the foods you eat on a regular basis – including (and perhaps, especially) how many calories are in the foods you eat when you dine at restaurants.

The law of calorie balance says :

To maintain your weight, you must consume the same number of calories you burn. To gain weight, you must consume more calories than you burn. To lose weight, you must consume fewer calories than you burn.

If you only count portions or if you haven't the slightest idea how many calories you're eating, it's a lot more likely that you'll eat more than you realize.

So how do you balance practicality and realistic expectations with a nutrition program that gets results?

Here's a solution that’s a happy medium between strict calorie counting and just guessing :

Create a menu using an EXCEL spreadsheet or your favorite nutrition software. Crunch all the numbers including calories, protein, carbs and fats. Once you have your daily menu, print it, stick it on your refrigerator (and/or in your daily planner) and you now have an eating "goal" for the day, including a caloric target.

Rather than writing down every calorie one by one from every morsel of food you eat for the rest of your life, your menu plan serves as a daily goal and guideline.

If you’re really ambitious, keeping a nutrition journal at least one time in your life for at least 4-12 weeks is a great idea and an incredible learning experience, but all you really need to get started on the road to a better body is one good menu on paper.

If you get bored eating the same thing every day, you can create multiple menus, or just exchange foods using your primary menu as a template.

Using this meal planning method, you really only need to “count calories” ONCE when you create your menus, not every day.

After you've got a knack for calories from this initial discipline of menu planning, then you can estimate portions in the future and get a pretty good (and more educated) ballpark figure.

So what’s the bottom line? Is it really necessary to count every calorie to lose weight?

No, it's not.

But it IS necessary to eat fewer calories then you burn. Whether you count calories and eat less than you burn, or you don’t count calories (guess) and eat less than you burn, the end result is the same – you lose weight.

But which would you rather do : Take a wild guess, cross your fingers and hope for the best, or increase your chance for success with some simple menu planning? I think the right choice is obvious.

Fat Loss Lie #4: "Liquid diets, protein drinks or meal replacement shakes help you burn fat and keep weight off"

2009-03-29T16:05:00.005+08:00

Liquid diets go back as far as 1930, when Dr. Stoll's "Diet Aid" was hawked in beauty parlors. In the late 1970's, liquid protein diets such as "The Last Chance Diet" became all the rage, much like low carb diets became popular in the 1990's. According to the FDA, in 1977, 58 deaths were reported by adults following these strict liquid protein diets, which lacked essential nutrients and solid food.

When news of the deaths made the headlines, liquid protein diets fell out of favor. However, they returned just as quickly in different incarnations. One of them was the doctor-supervised liquid protein diet, which provided an extremely low calorie diet (as low as 800 calories per day), primarily aimed at the seriously obese.

Proponents of these "second-generation" liquid diets, which still exist today, say they are safe and nutritionally complete because they are medically supervised and patients are given vitamin and mineral supplements.

The liquid diets became immensely popular again in the late 1980's. According to a New York Times story, when Oprah Winfrey announced the name of the liquid diet program she was using, that company recieved one million phone calls in a single day. By 1988, diet clinics expanded beyond the medical setting and had become a $10 billion dollar industry.

The third generation of liquid diets came in the form of powders or cans of diet drinks, which you could pick up at the local grocery store. Generally, you were advised to eat a shake for "breakfast," a shake for "lunch" then eat a "sensible" dinner consisting of whole foods. Sometimes snacks were allowed in between.

All these liquid diet programs claimed you would lose weight on them.

That much is true. But many claimed that you would lose more weight using their products than you would with real, whole food, and that their products would help you keep the weight off. That part is NOT true.

Very low calorie diets (VLCD's) that that emphasize liquid nutrition and de-emphasize whole food, can be unhealthy, nutritionally inadequate and even dangerous, and are one of the worst things you could ever do to your body and your metabolism in the long term.

Here's why :

First, these programs are usually 800 to 1000 calories per day or less, which will virtually always trigger your body's starvation response. According to Eleanor Whitney and Sharon Rolfes in the textbook, "Understanding Nutrition, "Very low calorie diet formulas are designed to be nutritionally adequate, but the body responds to this severe energy restriction as if the person were starving - conserving energy and preparing to regain weight at the first opportunity."

Second, the weight comes back. No doubt, the weight losses from liquid diets can be dramatic - but not nearly as dramatic as the weight regain afterward - along with the physical and pychological damage that comes with it. According to Dr. Phillip Sinaikin, an addiction recovery specialist and author of "After The Fast," "A drug addict stands a better chance of recovery than a [liquid] dieter."

The fact is, liquid formula diets do not teach you how to eat in order to stay slim.

In a New York Times survey of 31 men and women who had lost up to 194 lbs on liquid diets, 23 said they began to develop a strong fear of food, yet they experienced uncontrollable cravings and urges at the same time. One respondent said that after a binge that started with 7,000 calories in one day, he had regained 21 lbs in 15 days.

Third : Many of these liquid diet products are poorly formulated and loaded with junk such as pure sugar or corn syrup! YES - CORN SYRUP - That nasty refined sugar that nutritionists are blaming much of obesity and childhood obesity on during the last decade.

You would be shocked - even disgusted - if you looked at the "ingredients list" of some of these drinks and shakes that are actually being passed off as fat loss or health food.

Fourth, even if you know how to select a quality meal replacement product, these products do NOT contain any fat-burning or muscle-building properties that you can't obtain from regular food.

Today, nutritional supplements have come a long way and we now have "fourth generation" products including protein powders and meal replacements that contain protein and carbs. The better products are more adequate in calories than the previous generation of diet drinks and they are usually well fortified with vitamins and minerals and use high quality proteins such as whey and casein. Some even have added fiber.

High quality, modern meal replacement products can play a small role in your nutrition program. But even the very best products will never be superior to real whole foods. Human beings cannot improve on mother nature. Whole food contains naturally-occuring vitamins, minerals, fiber, phytochemicals, and bioactive compounds. They provide bulk and satisfaction and they improve your metabolic functioning.

The truth is that meal replacements are nothing more than "powdered food" (or "liquid food").

They're useful for convenience when you're in a hurry and you don't have time to prepare and eat whole food... but they're not better than food (with a possible exception being post workout drinks, which can also be helpful).

The process of digesting solid whole food every three hours actually stimulates your metabolic rate due to the "thermic effect of food." According to exercise physiologist Victor Katch, the thermic effect of food can be responsible for as much as 10% of your total daily energy expenditure.

Although scientists are still examining the metabolic difference between calories obtained from liquids and calories contained from whole foods, many champion bodybuilders and fitness models have discovered that eating 5 or 6 smaller meals, mostly from whole food, will maintain an optimal metabolic rate, a lot like stoking a furnace with efficiently- burning fuel.

The fat burning solution is to eat real, whole food as much as possible, to eat small frequent meals throughout the day, and avoid very low calorie "liquid diet" products unless your doctor is having you use them for a specific reason.

Use the modern, nutritionally-complete meal replacements and protein powders only for convenience purposes, NOT for weight reduction.

Fat Loss Lie #3: "You can believe everything you read in the magazines"

2009-03-27T16:02:00.002+08:00

In general, you tend to trust what you see printed in the magazines, just as you tend to trust the information you hear on the evening news and read in the daily newspapers.

Why?

Because the news media and most magazines have mega-credibility. Most people automatically assume - consciously and unconsciously - that if it's in print or on the news, then it must be true.

However, the fitness and bodybuilding publishing industry have some dirty little secrets...

Just as much of the news we hear is "planted," much of the fitness and nutrition information we read in our favorite magazines is also planted and heavily biased.

Publishers realize that the vast majority of readers will believe almost anything if it's printed in a nationally-circulated magazine. As a result they created...

"The magazine / supplement company business model."

Today, most fitness magazine publishers not only depend on supplement company advertising revenue to stay in business, they actually OWN the supplement companies and use their magazines as the primary channel for promoting their products.

It didn't take long before the entire bodybuilding and fitness magazine industry realized that more money could be made selling supplements than selling advertising or subscriptions.

Here's another dirty little secret they don't want you to know about :

Most people cannot sort out where the editorial ends and the advertising begins.... and that is by design.

Editorials are more believable than advertising (that's why they try to make supplement ads look so much like articles these days).

Did you ever notice how many magazine articles are about the latest, greatest "breakthroughs" in supplements? These "articles" aren't really articles at all; they're nothing more than advertisements in disguise... with an 800 number for easy ordering at the end... (how convenient.)

Even if a magazine doesn't have a vested interest in a supplement line, you still can't count on them to reveal the whole truth to you. A full page ad in a high circulation national fitness magazine can cost tens of thousands of dollars, so the publishers don't want to write editorials that will upset, offend or contradict the advertisers.

This is the reason you often get better advice from the smaller, lesser-known newsletters than you do from the major magazines and newspapers.

It's clearly in the magazine's best interest to promote supplements like crazy, and stay in bed with the supplement companies, regardless of whether the products work or not, because the more supplements that are sold, the more the supplement companies will advertise. The more they advertise, the more the supplements sell, and on and on the cycle goes.

It may seem blatantly obvious to you that magazines are "pushing" supplements, or you may have simply suspected it.

However, you would be stunned at how many people - especially beginners - believe every word they read in the "muscle mags" and buy hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of useless "muscle-building" or "fat burning" pills, powders and drinks as a result.

Many people ask me why I became an online publisher rather than starting my own printed magazine. By publishing websites, newsletters and e-books online, I am not handcuffed by the censorship and agendas of the fitness magazine industry.

I do not sell supplements and I have never accepted money to endorse them. I'm not at the mercy of the "magazine / supplement company" business model so I can call it like I see it and just report the scientific facts. In the upcoming lessons, that's exactly what I'll do.

Fat Loss Lie #2: "You need supplements or fat burners to get lean"

2009-03-25T15:56:00.004+08:00

The most popular of the "fat burner" supplements ever on the market were no doubt ephedra or ephedrine-based products, which hit the shelves in 1993.

Ephedrine was immensely popular because there was actually some good scientific evidence showing that it had measurable fat burning effects.

You could also “feel” it… you got an “energy buzz.”

Ephedrine is a drug derived from a plant (a Chinese herb) called ephedra (also known as ma huang). It is similar in chemical structure to amphetamines and works as a "beta-adrenergic agonist" - which means, in plain English, that it's a thermogenic (metabolism- stimulating) agent that helps with the release of stored body fat.

So if it worked, why did it get banned by the FDA and taken off the market in April of 2004?

Well, there were clearly some political and financial agendas involved, But the reason given to the public was concern about adverse affects and safety.

To this day, the decision to remove ephedrine from the market is still controversial because the research was mixed on whether the risks were severe enough to warrant the ban.

PROBABLY SAFE WHEN TAKEN AS DIRECTED, BUT...

Although the FDA had 80 ephedrine related deaths and 1400 adverse effect complaints on file, including strokes, coronaries and seizures, the fact is, when compared to deaths caused by prescription drugs and other over the counter drugs like aspirin, ephedra actually appeared fairly safe when used as directed by healthy individuals and not abused.

However, one huge downside of ephedrine that was not often mentioned by the pro-ephedrine camp is that stimulant-based fat burners can be highly addictive. Addiction leads to improper use or abuse.

In the early and mid 1990's, I used ephedra products myself because they were legal, over the counter and at the time, they were not banned from the natural bodybuilding competitions I participated in.

Research be damned, I never believed that these pills helped me all that much with fat loss.

But what I did notice was the "rocket-engine" stimulant boost - the buzz, The pounding heart rate, the increased physical energy, and the amplified mental focus and workout "intensity."

At the height of the craze, 12 to 17 million people were using ephedra and no doubt, many of them were hooked on what was essentially a mild form of legal speed.

These products were being abused en masse as “pick me ups.” Students were popping these pills to stay awake and study all night. Partiers were doing the same. So were truck drivers.

Like any addictive habit, it's difficult to stop. When you first go cold turkey, you crash emotionally and physically and your workouts suffer as your crutch has been taken away. I suppose it's a lot like trying to kick the booze or cigarette habit. You go through withdrawal.

WHAT GOES UP MUST COME DOWN

Your body is too smart for short term quick fixes to ever work because your body will always fight back to maintain a natural balance or “homeostasis.”

For every artificial peak or high you create, there will be an equal or greater valley or low point.

If you over-stimulate, your body can respond by slowing down your natural metabolic rate to compensate. As a result, when you stop using the stimulant, your metabolism is slower than ever and you gain back any weight you lost and more.

This often prompts you to go back on the stimulants and the vicious cycle of stimulant addiction continues. Some experts say that long term use can even lead to adrenal burnout.

So even if there aren’t any serious coronary or health risks from proper use, there is the risk of irresponsible use and the risk of addiction and dependency on "fake energy." just remember, what goes up, must come down. If you borrow energy you will eventually have to pay it back.

EPHEDRA FREE FAT BURNERS

When the FDA finally pulled the plug on ephedra, supplement companies scrambled like crazed maniacs to come out with "ephedra-free" formulas for their "fat burners" as they anticipated the imminent doom of their multi-million dollar cash cows.

The ads proclaimed,

"More powerful than ephedrine-based fat burners!"

"The next generation of thermogenic technology!"

The great irony is that most of the fat burners currently on the Market today are completely worthless. At best they provide a watered down, unproven substitute for ephedrine and a slight buzz (most are loaded with caffeine).

Or, they may provide some mild appetite suppression. But NONE of these so called “next generation fat burners" are the “miracles” that the advertisements say they are.

Bodybuilding industry columnist Will Brink put it this way,

"The explosion of ephedrine-free weight loss products was more a function of market pressure vs being based on any science. Claims by some companies that their new ephedrine-free "fat burners" were equivalent to or even superior to EC based products was wishful thinking and marketing-driven BS."

But it didn’t matter. Consumers had been hoodwinked with the classic bait and switch. The ephedrine was gone from the formulas, but the brand names remained the same.

STAGGERING FORTUNES IN FAT BURNERS AND DIET PILLS

In the last year before ephedra was banned, sales had skyrocketed to $1.25 BILLION DOLLARS, according to the Nutrition Business Journal.

The money still continues to pour in at a staggering rate today. To say that money is the main motivation behind the push for diet pills and a fat burners would be the understatement of the century.

Most people who aggressively recommend "fat burning" pills of any kind are profiting from their sale and it's hard to get unbiased information when so much money is at stake.

THE TRUTH : A LEAN BODY DOES NOT COME IN A PILL

It's a common misconception that you can't reach your fat loss goals unless you take some kind of "fat burner" supplement.

It's also a common misconception that you can pop a pill and get dramatic results like you see on TV and in the magazine ads.

The results you see in the ads for fat burners are persuasive, but before and after testimonials are NOT proof that diet pills were responsible for those results.

Not all before and afters are bogus, of course. But many of the legitimate photos are "not typical" and represent the best possible case scenarios, after extremely intense training and strict nutritional regimens.

As for many “miraculous transformations,” the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) And state attorney general’s offices have been exposing them for what they really are… set-ups and outright fakes!

In January of 2007, four diet pill companies you have definitely heard of were sued by the FTC and ordered to pay $25 million in fines.

The reasons : False advertising and no evidence to back up their claims.

San Diego Attorney Todd Macaluso took sworn depositions from several Diet pill before and after models. According to a story in the San Diego Tribune by Penni Crabtree, Los Angeles bodybuilder Mike Piacentino Swore under oath that he was paid to stop working out and to eat ice cream and donuts to fatten him up three weeks in advance of his “before” photo shoot. Then he used his bodybuilding expertise to get back in his usual top shape.

According to an ABC 20/20 expose’, fitness model Marla Duncan said In advertisements that she lost 35 lbs with the help of a popular fat burner pill. However, Jay Nixon, the Missouri Attorney General, found out that Duncan had recently been pregnant and given birth. The “before” photo was taken shortly afterwards. The fat burner pill company settled the case out of court for $100,000 while denying any wrongdoing.

Will you ever look at before and after photos the same again? Do you really want to keep forking over your money to these companies?

AN INTERESTING END TO THE FAT BURNER SAGA…

Diet pills and fat burners are nothing but quick fixes. Every one of them !!

Even if they help in the short term, they don’t help in the long term because you are only treating symptoms. Body fat is a symptom of a complex problem with multiple causes including unhealthy lifestyle, poor nutrition, lack of activity and even mental factors like subconscious self-sabotage.

The true solution to any problem, including body fat, is to find the causes and treat them.

After using them for a few years in the 1990's, and after a lot of research, self-experimentation and personal reflection, I made the decision to dump "fat burning" and "pre workout stimulant" pills down the toilet forever. I then decided that I would no longer recommend these products to my readers and clients.

Since then, I've continued my training with no fat burners whatsoever. There has been NO difference in my results and I’ve gone on to win numerous bodybuilding titles.

As a natural bodybuilder today, I routinely reach 4% body fat for competitions and maintain my body fat at around 9% all year, using my own system of natural nutrition and training - NO DRUGS, NO PILLS and NO FAT BURNERS!

I find the obsession so many people have with taking a pill to lose weight both perplexing and troubling at the same time, especially when you consider that fat loss can be achieved naturally, so simply and predictably with nutrition and exercise methods such as what I teach in my Burn The Fat Program

Spending big money, sometimes $40 to $50 a bottle or even more on pills is even more baffling to me when you consider that even if you get some small fat burning effect from the supplements, it's nothing you couldn’t get from another week or two of dieting and exercising!

Think about it.

I recommend you take a pass on "fat burner" pills and supplements and learn how to burn fat the way mother nature intended – through proper nutrition, by building more muscle, and by increasing your activity level to burn more calories.

If you're not satisfied with your results, trust me, it's NOT because you have a "diet pill deficiency."

Fat Loss Lie #1: "You have to starve yourself to get a lean body"

2009-03-20T15:49:00.003+08:00

What if I told you that very low calorie diets will actually make you fatter in the long term, and that there's an almost embarrassingly simple way that you can eat more and still burn more fat?

I know it sounds too good to be true, but you're about to see the science behind it, and I've got the real-world results to prove it, so read on.

To get rid of fat, the laws of energy balance and thermodynamics declare that you have to consume fewer calories than you burn. Sorry, there's no way around it. There's no such thing as "calories don't count." Run for cover the next time you hear that claim because it's absolutely false and any scientist will tell you that.

You must have a "calorie deficit" to burn fat off your body. However, the fatal flaw in most popular diet programs is that the calorie deficit is too aggressive or too extreme.

Have you ever been told that to get a lean body you had to eat 1200 calories a day or 1000 calories a day or even less? Did you ever just get FED UP with no results and tell yourself, "That's it, I'm hardly going to eat ANYthing," because you were desperate to get the pounds off as fast as possible?

Yeah, sure, it works in the beginning, because there's a HUGE calorie deficit at first, but there's also a HUGE irony :

When you cut your calories too far, eventually YOUR BODY ADAPTS.

If you're a Star Trek fan, it's kind of like the BORG, where a phaser weapon works against the alien BORG creatures once, but then they adapt, and soon the same phaser blast no longer does anything.

Well, diets are kind of like that, aren't they?

You "fire" a low calorie diet at your body and it zaps off some weight in the begining. But then your body figures out what's going on. Your body doesn't care that you want to look good in a swimsuit; your body thinks you're under attack! Your body thinks you're about to starve to death!

When you fire something extreme at your body (like hardly eating), your metabolic rate slows down in order to protect you.

This "defense mechanism" is often called, "the starvation response."

When you go into starvation mode, here are some of the consequences :

1. Your body releases fewer fat-releasing and fat-burning enzymes such as hormone sensitive lipase and lipoprotein lipase.

2. Your fat cells release less of the hormone leptin, which is the signal that tells your brain you are well fed and not starving (it's the "anti-starvation" hormone)

3. Fat burning hormones crash, including your levels of T3 (no, not the latest Arnold terminator movie, T3 is the active form of thyroid hormone, the important "metabolism-regulating hormone" that you've probably heard about before).

4. You lose muscle. Muscle is metabolically-active tissue, which means it takes a lot of energy just to keep it. When you're "starving," you're in an "energy crisis", so excess muscle is the LAST thing you need. Muscle becomes expendable, and your body cannibalizes your own lean tissue.

5. Appetite hormones rage out of control. When you're starving, a part of your brain called the hypothalamus switches into high gear and flips the appetite switch, sometimes to the point where you become ravenous and cannot fight these physiological cravings with willpower.

Bottom line : It's hormonally, metabolically and physiologically impossible to achieve permanent fat loss by starving yourself.

And that's the first BIG LIE !

Any program that's extremely low in calories may work in the short term, but the "honeymoon" never lasts for long.

In the long run, very low calorie diets can actually make you fatter. Eventually, they lead to binge eating and weight re-gain and you end up with less muscle and a slower metabolism than when you started.

The TRUTH is, you DON'T have to starve yourself to get a lean body. In fact, you can eat more and burn more fat.

Here's how :

1. Avoid very low calorie diets.

Before going on any diet, look at the recommended calories. You'll probably discover that in most cases, you are required to slash your calories to "starvation" levels (1200 or less for women, 1800 or less for men, and active people need even more.

2. Make sure your calorie intake is customized.

Depending on your activity level, age and gender, your calorie needs may be much higher or much lower than the average person. If a diet program recommends the same amount of calories for everyone, that should be a red flag to stay away. It could be perfect for someone else, but starvation level for you.

3. Decrease your calories just a little below maintenance.

Decrease your calories conservatively - only about 20% below your daily maintenance level. A mild calorie cut doesn't trigger the starvation response as much.

For example : If you're female and you maintain your weight on 2150 calories per day,a 20% deficit is 1720 calories per day (correct). Conventional diets might have you slash to 1000 or 1200 calories per day or less without emphasis on exercise (incorrect)

4. Increase your calorie deficit more by increasing activity

If you only cut calories slightly below maintenance, then how do you reduce body fat without the process taking forever? Simple, you BURN more calories and increase your deficit by increasing your activity. (No brainer simple!)

First, if you're not doing so already, you should aim for three days per week of strength training with weights.

Second, you should do at least three days per week of moderate to vigorous cardiovascular exercise.

Third, if you wish to accelerate fat loss more, or if you need to break a progress plateau, you bump up your activity even further by adding additional cardio sessions or increasing the intensity or duration of your current workouts.

It also helps to get more physical activity in general, and to participate in physical hobbies, sports or recreational activities that you enjoy.

Bottom line :

The first secret to permanent fat loss is to BURN THE FAT, don't STARVE THE FAT

There are some exercise physiologists today, who call this concept "energy flux." That's a fancy way of saying, "Eat more, burn more," (instead of "eat less, exercise less"), and that's what the Burn The Fat philosophy is all about.

How to live a life of Health and Fitness

2009-03-18T15:45:00.002+08:00

With cancer cropping up left and right, people are suddenly becoming more conscious with what they eat and do with their bodies. Fad diets have become a craze and so are gym workouts and alternative exercise for the body. But despite being the in thing to do right now, some people still find it hard to start walking the road to a life of health and fitness. After all, when you have already lived a life of debauchery, it will be harder to convert and walk the other road even if it is not as less traveled by.

To help you, here are some of the ways that you can start with your healthy lifestyle.

1. Don’t smoke

If you do not have the habit of smoking, good for you. Don’t try to start as you will only get addicted with the cigarettes and it will be harder to quit when that happens. It is not true that you can smoke and quite when you want to. It’s not. Once you become hooked into it, there is no turning back. If you are already part of those people who burn their lungs out everyday, the best bet is to make a commitment to quit. By doing this, you are already halfway to recovery. Make sure though that you are serious with your plans and you are not just doing it for any other reason than your health.

2. Lessen the junk

One of the ways you can help keep your body healthy is to eat foods that are more natural and with less chemical content. Avoid eating junk foods like those huge packs of potato chips or binge on candies. You should also make it a point to lessen your intake of meats and consume more vegetables, fruits and seafood. This does not mean that you will forgo with meat altogether. You should still eat meat. The protein that it contains is important for some of the basic processes of the body.

3. Skip the Soda and even the iced tea

As much as you can, drink water. This is the safest and healthiest drink there is. Sodas even the diet ones, are carbonated and contain high amounts of sugar and carbohydrates which can later be translated into fats. You can also try drinking green tea which can help in the digestive system. Iced tea may be tamer than sodas but these drinks also contain a lot of sugar which can pile up in the body. Stick to water and drink lots of it.

4. Stay active

Another way to start living a life of health and fitness without having to shell out money and make lots of effort is to schedule an exercise routine every day. You can schedule it every morning when you wake up in the morning or do it at night after work. Whichever schedule you want to, make sure that you keep it to 30 minutes long to an hour. That way, you can exercise those muscles and avoid muscle pains. Exercise will also strengthen your bones and your body, promote better breathing and cellular activity, clear the brain and of course keep those extra calories out of the body. Thus, even if you eat a lot, you are not storing those fats and carbohydrates. You are expending them through your workout routine.

Beware of The Quick Fix

2009-03-10T22:59:00.001+08:00

Faster fat loss IS possible. My question is, are you willing to tolerate the hunger, low calories and high intensity exercise for that kind of deficit? Do you have the work ethic? Do you have the supreme level of dietary restraint necessary to stop yourself from bingeing and putting the weight right back on when that aggressive diet is over? Or would you rather do it in a more moderate way where you’re not killing yourself, but instead are making slow and steady lifestyle changes and taking off 1-2 lbs of pure fat per week, while keeping all your hard-earned muscle?

Remember, 1-2 pounds per week is 50-100 pounds in a year. Is that really so slow or is that an astounding transformation? You don’t gain 50-100 pounds over night, so why should anyone expect to take it off overnight? Personally, I think short-term thinking and the pursuit of quick fixes are the worst diseases of our generation.

If you want to be one of those “results not typical” fat loss transformations, it can be done and it may be a perfectly appropriate short-term goal for the savvy and sophisticated fitness enthusiast. It’s your call. But when you set your goals, it might be wise to remember that old fable of the tortoise and the hare, and buyer beware if you go shopping for a fast weight loss program in today’s shady marketplace.

About the Author :

Tom Venuto is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, independent nutrition researcher, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle : Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models (e-book) which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting : www.burnthefat.com

Paintball : it is not a game, it is a cool war

2009-03-08T21:58:00.000+08:00

Paintball is a game where there are two groups (teams) of players and each group’s aim is to eliminate the opposite team via shooting paint balls at each other.

The following are the basic rules in playing paintball.

1. Follow the referee

Paintball should have only one referee for each game. This referee who will start and end the game as well as stop it (in order to check for paint) and be the decision maker should any problems or game issues arise. Fortunately or unfortunately, any verdict issued by the referee – as in any other game – is final and cannot be repealed.

2. You are out

A player is no longer in the game if he or she is shot by a paintball marker that cracks or splatters on him or her. This applies when the marker or pellet breaks anywhere on the player’s clothes, equipment or gun. Take note that whether the shot came from a fellow teammate or from an enemy, the marked player is required to call out “DEADMAN” or to yell “OUT” in reference to themselves. They are required to immediately leave the field using the route that is the safest as well as shortest, all the while calling him self out.

3. You are in

If a player is hit by a paintball marker and the marker does not crack or break, that player is still in the game. A player is also considered in the game if he or she is accidentally splattered by a paintball marker, especially if the splatter is caused by the paintball marker hitting a rock, a bush or tree. But this rule no longer applies if the player calls him or her self “OUT” or “DEADMAN” even if they have mistakenly thought that they were hit only discover that they were not. The rule says that they are still required to leave the field using the safest as well as shortest route.

4. Safety is the best policy

All players are required to wear protective clothing that covers the arms, neck and legs. “T” shirts are not allowed to be worn during the game. All players must have goggles as well and these cannot in any way, be removed during play.

Paintball is a game of strategy as well as quick thinking. But just like any other game, there are rules that need to be observed to make the game not only more challenging, fun, exciting, but most importantly fair.

There’s No Magic, Just Math

2009-03-07T22:56:00.000+08:00

In my experience, a high protein, reduced carb approach in conjunction with weights and cardio can help maximize fat loss – both in terms of increasing speed of fat loss and particularly for getting rid of the last of the stubborn fat. It helps with appetite control too. But always bear in mind that the faster fat loss occurs primarily as a result of the larger calorie deficit (which is easily achieved with sugars and starches minimized), not some type of “low carb magic.” If your diet were high in natural carbs but you were able to diligently maintain the same large calorie deficit, the results would be similar.

I’m seeing more and more advertisements that not only promise rapid weight loss, but go so far as saying that you’re doing it wrong if you’re losing “only” two pounds per week. “Why settle” for slow weight loss, they insist. Well, it’s certainly possible to lose more than two pounds per week, but it’s critically important to understand that there’s a world of difference between rapid weight loss and permanent fat loss.

It’s also vital to know that there’s no magic in faster fat loss, just math. All the new-fangled dietary manipulations and high intensity training programs that really do help increase the speed of fat loss all come full circle to the calorie balance equation in the end, even if they claim their method works for other reasons and they don’t mention calories burned or consumed at all.

About the Author :

Tom Venuto is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, independent nutrition researcher, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle : Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models (e-book) which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com

Winning Paintball as a Team

2009-03-05T21:55:00.001+08:00

Paintball is a war game and like in real war, you are never alone.

You have your friends fighting beside you and with the same spirit - wanting to win as much as you do.

Paintball is a tactical game.

You have to know your team’s strengths and weaknesses. As a rule, it is best to use your team’s strength to win rather than trying to cover up your weaknesses. This does not mean that you will not care about your weaknesses: if you are disadvantaged because of it, then you have other days to learn how to change it. What really matters now is how to prevent the other team from exploiting your weakness and making it a turning point in your battle.

Paintball also requires your team to have a battle plan.

Who will be the designated shooter (sniper)? Who will charge and start all the action for your team? These are just two of the different positions and strategies that your team will have to determine so that your team can win.

Paintball is designed to bring out the creative side in people.

You have to make sure that your battle plan allows for a contingency plan for when mistakes happen. You are never really sure how your opponent will react when you stage a certain part of your plan. The sign of a great “general” is knowing the different plans that your opponent will make to counteract every thing you do. A general should not be rattled when every plan he has made has failed. He should be able to devise new plan in the middle of the fight.

Paintball also requires your team to be flexible.

Just because you are not a designated hitter does not mean that you cannot do that to your opponents. Your team should understand each others job and make sure that when one of your teammates falls, there are others who can carry on the job he was doing.

Paintball requires good communication between teammates.

You should have your own signs and you should learn to bond with your teammates so that you will know what he wants by just a look of the eye or nod of the head.

Paintball is also not just about winning as a team, it is also about experiencing losing as a team and experiencing all of the hardships of playing and surviving as a team. It is in learning as a group and bonding as brothers.

How Do You Lose More Than 2 Pounds Per Week?

2009-03-04T22:47:00.001+08:00

Can you lose more than 2 lbs of pure fat in a week? Yes, although it’s easier in the beginning. It gets harder as your diet progresses. How do you do it? My rule is, extraordinary results require extraordinary efforts. An extraordinary effort means a particularly strict diet, as well as burning more calories through training because you can only cut your calories so far from food before you’re starving and suffering from severe hunger.

Simply put, you need a bigger calorie deficit.

If you have a 2500 calorie daily maintenance level, and you want to drop 3 lbs of fat per week withe diet alone, you’d need a huge daily deficit of 1500 calories, which would equate to eating 1000 calories per day. You would lose weight rapidly for as long as you could maintain that deficit (although it would slow down over time). Most people aren’t going to last long on so little food and they often end with a period of binge eating. It’s not practical (or fun) to cut calories so much and in some cases it could be unhealthy.

The other alternative is to train for hours and hours a day, literally. People ask me all the time, “Tom, how is it possible for the Biggest Loser contestants to lose so much weight? Well first of all they’re not measuring body fat, only body weight. Then you have the high starting body weights and the large water weight loss in the beginning. After that, just do the math – they’re training hours a day so they’re creating a huge calorie deficit.

But without that team of trainers, dieticians, teammates, a national audience and all that prize money, do you think they’d be motivated and accountable enough to do anywhere near that amount and intensity of exercise in the real world? Would it even be possible if they had a job and family? Not likely, is it? It’s not practical to do that much exercise, and it’s not practical to cut your calories below a 1000 a day and remain compliant. If you manage to achieve the latter, it’s very difficult not to rebound and regain the weight afterwards for a variety of physiological and psychological reasons.

About the Author :
Tom Venuto is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, independent nutrition researcher, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models (e-book) which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting : www.burnthefat.com

Make Retreating in a Paintball Game an Advantage

2009-03-02T21:54:00.000+08:00

To realize a common goal, teammates in a paintball game should take two important roles : one is to suppress and the other to invade.

Suppression is a way of distracting the opponent so that they fall short by not seeing the other team that is already starting to invade. Suppression’s goal is not to get rid of enemies. Control and concentration are needed to keep a team member from shooting.

A team who uses suppression as a tactic should consist of three or more players. Each member must know that their main objective is not to eliminate the other team’s members; although that could be true in other events. Movements during this game should be accurate and targets must be aligned in order to make sure that the opposing team is unaware of the suppression. A steady target and aiming of fire from the suppression players must not be in unison to leave the enemies with a puzzled feeling.

When making an assault, two or more of the paintball players who are making the suppression constantly distract one of the opponent’s players in order to disguise the players who are about to invade and attack the opposing team. Suppression often conceals the other players and if done well, would eventually destroy the enemies who would have to retreat and could soon be eliminated when caught.

The other role that is played by the rest of the team is invading. The players that are involved in the invasion must try very hard to hide themselves from the opponents while the suppression team is doing their job. This requires patience, control, and discipline to keep from firing in order to save the position. Make sure that with one shot severe damage to the opposing team is incurred rather than firing at one enemy player that did not realize the invader was there.

The invasion players target at least the majority of the opposing team’s players. Once they are in position to capture the flag, they must fire with great power and with full force. Since paintball guns are really loud, as soon as players start hitting target it must be accurate as there is no turning back. Enemies will know where the guns are firing from so the invasion team will have to incur damage all at once to keep the opponent from counter attacking. This will be shown by the amount of paint that is shot at the other team.

The 2 Pounds Per Week Rule and How to Burn Fat Faster

2009-03-01T22:39:00.001+08:00

By Tom Venuto
www.BurnTheFat.com

Why do you always hear that 2 pounds per week is the maximum amount of fat you should safely lose? If you train really hard while watching calories closely shouldn’t you be able to lose more fat without losing muscle or damaging your health? What if you want to lose fat faster? How do you explain the fast weight losses on The Biggest Loser? These are all good questions that I’ve been asked many times. With the diet marketplace being flooded every day with rapid weight loss claims, these questions desperately need and deserve some honest answers. Want to know where that 2 pounds per week rule comes from and what it really takes to burn more than 2 pounds of fat per week? Read on.

Why Only 2 Pounds Per Week?

The truth is, two pounds is not the maximum amount you can safely lose in a week. That’s only a general recommendation and a good benchmark for setting weekly goals. It’s also sensible and realistic because it’s based on average or typical results.

The actual amount of fat you can lose depends on many factors. For example, weight losses tend to be relative to body size. The more body fat you carry, the more likely you’ll be able to safely lose more than two pounds per week. Therefore, we could individualize our weekly guideline a bit by recommending a goal of 1-2 lbs of fat loss per week or up to 1% of your total weight. If you weighed 300 lbs, that would be 3 lbs per week.

Body Weight Vs Body Composition

Weight loss is somewhat meaningless unless you also talk about body composition; the fat to muscle ratio, as well as water weight. Ask any wrestler about fast weight loss and he’ll tell you things like, “I cut 10 lbs overnight to make a weight class. It was easy - I just sweated it off.”

You’ve also probably seen people that went on some extreme induction program or a lemon juice and water fast for the first week and dropped an enormous amount of weight. But once again, you can bet that a lot of that weight was water and lean tissue and in both cases, you can bet that those people put the weight right back on.

The main potential advantage of any type of induction period for rapid weight loss in the first week is that a large drop on the scale is a motivational boost for many people (even if it is mostly water weight).

Why do you hear so many diet and fitness professionals insist on 2 lbs a week max? Where does that number come from? Well, aside from the fact that it’s a recommendation in government health guidelines and in position statements of most nutrition and exercise organizations, it’s just math. The math is based on what’s practical given the number of calories an average person burns in a day and how much food someone can reasonably cut in a day.

To find out more, click at the ebook below :

About the Author :
Tom Venuto is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, independent nutrition researcher, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle : Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models (e-book) which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com

How to Buy and Select Cheap Paintball Guns

2009-02-28T21:51:00.001+08:00

While one should never sacrifice value over the quality of paintball safety equipment, paintball guns are available today at reasonable prices and with a wide variety of interesting features.

When deciding which the best paintball gun is for you, be realistic and determine your “skill level”. When just beginning, and do not know the frequency of your play, begin with an inexpensive gun.

To decide which features you need in a paintball gun, you can borrow markers from your friends and try them on different paintball fields. After you have decided on the features you want then start shopping for your gun.

When playing for recreation, there is really no need to spend a great deal of money as there are many recreational guns of good quality that are not expensive. Note that there are also several poor quality markers on the market so you need to your research before you buy to make certain that the marker that you purchase is dependable and can be upgraded.

When you are making plans to play in tournaments, determine what type of tournament that you will be entering. If you are going to play in small tournaments you may use a less expensive marker or upgrade your old one.

However, in the larger tournaments, you will need an “electro-pneumatic” or a “blow-forward” gun, which costs a minimum of $350.

The cost of markers depends primarily on the gun’s pressure system as well as its accessories. The most popular system today is the “carbon dioxide pressure system” normally used in the less expensive markers.

The primary disadvantage is that usually the carbon dioxide’s performance is influenced by the temperature outside, and changes from its gas state to liquid resulting in velocity instability that affects its shooting accuracy.

Serious paintball players use the “high-pressure air and nitrogen system” markers that are much more accurate because the nitrogen will never liquefy. Having this characteristic, these markers are more expensive.

Extra accessories also increase the cost of your marker. A loader or hopper is a very popular accessory. It is a container that feeds paintballs into the gun. Hoppers are available in many varieties - some are powered and automated. Fast and lightweight hoppers are more expensive.

Just keep in mind that the any marker that you purchase will not be perfect and will ultimately have flaws. So when purchasing your marker, always double check the choices offered and purchase a gun only if you know what you really want.

Why Is Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle The Best Selling E-Book In Internet History, With Thousands Of Satisfied (Fat-Free) Users In 133 Countries

2009-02-27T22:27:00.000+08:00

Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is the #1 best selling diet and fitness ebook in the history of the Internet. In fact, it's one of the best selling e-books on ANY subject in the history of the Internet -... And there's a reason why...

It's because thousands of women and men of every age are burning off BODY FAT - not muscle or water weight - and they're doing it naturally, without supplements, pills or "magic potions," simply by using the proven, scientifically-accurate and common-sense advice found inside this amazing diet and fitness guidebook.

Tom Venuto, a respected fat loss expert, natural bodybuilder, and personal trainer, has not just pumped out yet another "diet program" into an already over-saturated market. Tom's Burn the Fat can be more accurately described as a "Fat Loss Bible." It is quite simply one of the most complete, detailed, and precise guides to fat loss you will ever read. What makes it so much different than other weight loss publications on the market?

Well first of all, it's not a "weight loss" program, it's a "fat" loss program. This may seem like semantics or wordplay at first, but once you've read just the first three chapters, there will be no doubt in your mind that pursuing "weight loss" is not only the wrong goal, it may be the reason that you've failed to reach and maintain your ideal body weight. Burn The Fat shows you exactly why it's fat you must lose, not "weight" (which includes muscle, water and other lean tissue) and then goes on to show you exactly how to do it.

Secondly, what makes Burn The Fat different is the amount of attention that is paid to each and every element of successful, healthy, permanent fat loss. Burn The Fat not only thoroughly dispels the lies, myths and fallacies surrounding a very confusing subject, it is simply the most detailed book about fat loss ever written. By reading Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle, (or better yet, "studying it"), you will learn more about fat loss than you could from an entire semester of nutrition classes or from an entire shelf of maintstream diet publications at your local bookstore.

You may be wondering, "Is this a low carb diet? A high protein diet? A high fat diet? what type of program IS it???" The truth is that Burn the Fat is neither a high protein diet, or a low carb diet. That's because with the information in this book, you will be able to easily determine your own ideal protein, carbs and fats ratio. You will be able to analyze your body type (are you an endomorph, ectomorph, or mesomorph?), you will determine your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate, or the amount of "maintenance" calories your body requires every day), and you will find out whether you are carb tolerant or carb intolerant.

This personalized approach makes perfect sense because each of us is a unique individual and no two people are exactly alike in terms of body physiology and personal goals.

One of the most powerful chapters in the book is the first one called, "How To Set Powerful, Compelling Goals That Will Propel You Forward and Charge You Up with Unstoppable Motivation." In this chapter, you will learn what is probably the ultimate secret to burning fat and getting in shape... and it has nothing to do with diets, supplements or training programs. There's also a great quote in this chapter from the legendary Green Bay Packers coach, Vince Lombardi...

"The dictionary is the only place success comes before work. Hard work is the price we must all pay for success." That line does a nice job of expressing the "no quick fix" philosophy behind the entire book. In the rest of the book, you'll learn the complete and exact mechanics of fat loss - explained on both a scientific and a practical level (which you can easily apply in your own daily life in terms of what to eat and how to exercise to burn fat).

If there is any drawback to the Burn The Fat ebook, it's that it contains so much information, that some readers may find it a bit overwhelming. Those who are looking for a "cliff's Note's" quick start type of fat loss program, might be a bit intimated at first. The good part however, is that even these types of readers can feel confident and assured that it will be worth the effort because this will literally be the last book they ever have to buy on the subject.

Who will benefit most from Burn the Fat?

In the broadest sense, anyone and everyone who needs to lose weight will benefit from Burn The Fat. Men, women, bodybuilders, fitness enthusiasts, and especially motivated individuals and avid readers will love this book. Although it was written by a bodybuilder, this book is certainly NOT just for bodybuilders.

You will find no "30 lbs. in 30 days" miracles at work here. It's all about intelligent eating choices, planning, hard work and lifestyle change. As Burn The Fat author Tom Venuto says,...

"Burn the Fat is simple, but it's not easy."

In terms of graphic design, Burn the Fat is a clean and professionally formatted PDF e-book. It's a little on the plain side, being just text, but that makes it ideal for printing and reading in the comfort of a favorite chair. Because of it's size, it does require a robust printer and a good stack of paper.

Initially, some people thought that Burn the Fat was priced a little on the high side because $39 might seem like a fair chunk of money for an ebook download. However, after they saw the amount of information contained within Burn The Fat's 340 pages, along with the special bonus ebooks and reports that come with it, they said it was not only worth the $39, but many times that amount.

As with any how-to publication, you're not really paying for the materials used to compile the document, but for what the information can do for you, and clearly, this publication has changed many lives and the hundreds of testimonials and success stories found on the Burn The Fat website are proof of that (I recommend you take a look at that "testimonials" page on the Burn The Fat website because some of the before and after transformations are simply incredible - as well as inspiring).

The Bottom line?

Anyone looking for a quick fix solution to fat loss, anyone looking to be told fairy-tales, and anyone looking for a "magic bullet" offered by the likes of body wraps, fat burning pills, diet shakes, or "fat-burning" creams and gels might be best advised to steer clear of Burn the Fat.

On the other hand, anyone tired of "spinning their wheels" going nowhere, who wants the truth about fat loss and who is ready and willing to put in the hard work and discipline and make the lifestyle changes necessary to get a fat free body, will find Burn The fat to be one of the best investments they ever made in their lives. Click below to learn more about Tom Venuto's Burn the Fat

Best Weather to Play Paintball: In the Rain?

2009-02-25T21:49:00.000+08:00

People play in the rain for the love of paintball and the rain adds so much interest and challenge to the game.

When playing in the rain, everything will be muddy and slippery: consequently running, stopping and crouching will be harder than normal; visibility will be lower; and wind can make paintball courses more difficult. All of these make playing paintball challenging which is exactly shat paintball fanatics look for; the action and the thrill!

Here are guidelines so you can enjoy your paintball game on a rainy day :

1. Put on something that keeps water off of your body, such as a raincoat, “slicker”, waterproof clothing or even plastic garbage bags. It is very important that you stay dry so you don’t shiver as this will affect your mobility, accuracy and can be very uncomfortable.

Remember to cover your head too. Wear any waterproof covering but make certain that water will not be sliding down your face and cause fog to form on your goggles. Wiping the fog from your goggles each time you pause behind a tree or a bunker can distract from your concentration on the game.

2. Take paper towels with you. The lens on your mask, even if it is a thermal type of lens, will fog up and paper towels come in handy; you can just wipe off the fog. Do keep in mind that you should turn away from the action - in a “sitting duck” (crouch) position - before you wipe the fog from your mask.

3. Wear boots or cleats instead of sneakers to keep your feet from getting wet.

4. Wear gloves to prevent cold and wet hands.

5. Having a soaked paintball can be really frustrating. You should pack extra garbage bags for use as spare coverings. These can be used to cover your gear and function as a raincoat in emergencies. Huge plastic transparent bags also are great for covering the head, hoppers and the gun. You can effectively turn your gun into a waterproof weapon by simply covering it with plastic and securing it with rubber bands.

6. Shooting on a rainy day is much more different than the typical “hose down”. Consider the amount of barrel smoke that will be produced even when using HPA. Bring along an “unported barrel” if you happen to have one. Porting allows water to get into the barrel resulting in twisting shots.

There are really so many ways to add thrill to your paintball game: just allow your imagination to run wild and experiment with things. Have fun in the rain!

Basic Exercise And Training Variables

2009-02-24T22:06:00.004+08:00

Effective exercise and training programs follow certain principles that allow it to help people keep fit. It may be known in various terms and is achieved through different means, but the basic principles behind exercise and fitness is always there. Knowing them and applying them in your own fitness regimen can help make it more effective in showing you the results that you need.

Exercise Variables

How effective are the exercise routine that you follow would depend on certain factors. How you work over certain variables in exercise and fitness will help determine how fast you can lose weight, improve stamina or increase athletic performance. Here are the four exercise variables that you need to consider when trying to develop your own fitness program or regimen.

Exercise Frequency

This refers to how often you exercise. The frequency will allow you to develop an exercise regimen that you can go into for a certain period on, let us say, a weekly basis. If you plan to work out for two days in a week, you can speed up getting results by adding another day of exercise for the week.

Exercise Intensity

This refers to the level of physical activity of your exercise program. How hard you push yourself on each exercise session is also a factor in the effectiveness of an exercise and training program. For example, determining between bouts of jogging running and walking on one session would have different results. Doing more running rather than short bouts of walking or jogging would certainly have a different result from walking through each session most of the time.

Type of Exercise

This refers to the type of exercise included in your regimen. There are different types of exercises to choose from with each type being able to build up a certain part of the body better than the other. Knowledge of these types of exercises can help you develop a certain regimen that can be focused on improving target portions of the body.

Duration of Exercise

This refers to the time that is spent in doing the exercises. How long you stay in doing each exercise session will ultimately determine how fast or how slow that you get results. It may also be required to determine the duration of the exercise program along with the other exercise variables in order to either avoid injury or improve results.

These exercise and training variables can be used in developing a certain exercise program that would allow better performance as well as results. You may be able to start with using the different exercise variables in a way that you feel comfortable with. Along the way, you can then change any or all of these variables to either increase the efficiency as well as to reach the target results. The variables can also be used ideally just to make the exercise program even more interesting once they start to become too routine.

Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle By Tom Venuto
If you're interested in learning exactly what to eat to lose fat the natural way - without supplements, without drugs and without slowing down your metabolism - while also learning the why behind it all, then this program could truly change your life.

For Fast Fat Loss: Less Food Or Harder Training?

2009-02-22T22:52:00.002+08:00

Trainers are becoming more inventive these days in coming up with high intensity workouts that burn a large amount of calories and really give the metabolism a boost. This can help speed up the fat loss within a given amount of time. But as you begin to utilize higher intensity workouts, you have to start being on guard for overtraining or overuse injuries.That’s why strict nutrition with an aggressive calorie deficit is going to have to be a major part of any fast fat loss strategy. Unfortunately, very low calorie dieting has its own risks in the way of lean tissue loss, slower metabolism, extreme hunger, and greater chance of weight re-gain.

My approach to long term weight control is to lose weight slowly and patiently and follow a nutrition plan that is well balanced between lean protein, healthy fats and natural carbs and doesn’t demonize any entire food group. To lose fat, you simply create a caloric deficit by burning more and eating less (keeping the nutrient density of those calories as high as possible, of course).

But to achieve the extraordinary goals such as photo-shoot-ready, super-low body fat or simply faster than average fat loss, while minimizing the risks, I often turn to a stricter cyclical low carb diet for brief “peaking” programs. I explain this method in chapter 12 of my e-book Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle (it’s my “phase III” or “competition” diet).

The cyclical aspect of the diet means that after three to six days of an aggressive calorie deficit and strict diet, you take a high calorie / high carb day to re-feed the body and re-stimulate the metabolism. Essentially, this helps reduce the starvation signals your body is receiving. It’s also a psychological break from the deprivation which helps improve compliance and prevent relapse.

The higher protein intake can help prevent lean tissue loss and curb the hunger. A high protein diet also helps by ramping up dietary thermogenesis. A high intake of greens, fibrous vegetables and low calorie fruits can help tip the energy balance equation in your favor as fibrous veggies are very low in calorie density and some of the calories in the fiber are not metabolizable. Healthy fats are added in adequate quantities, while the calorie-dense simple sugars and starchy carbs are kept to a minimum except on refeed days and after (or around) intense workouts.

About the Author :

Tom Venuto is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, independent nutrition researcher, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models (e-book) which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com

Where to Play Paintball?

2009-02-22T21:47:00.001+08:00

There are various types of paintball fields that offer a challenge and excitement to players. Paintball fields add to the overall enjoyment of the sport.

Woods

“Woodsball” as it is referred to by a lot of paintball players is the “purest” type of setting where paintball is played. On this type of field, players get the feel of the real war game.

Basically, the field is a secluded area in the woods which has an open area. Players “hare”, learn stealth or how to advance the field in a very sneaky manner.

Concept Fields

The concept field is often created outdoors, with many objects that have been set up for players to take refuge in or seek protection from. Usually concept fields have a theme, the most common of which is the urban city setting with cars, buildings and many other city elements.

There are some fields that are very creative with their themes, such as medieval themes with castles which have towers, wagons and cutouts of people. Concept fields are interesting and fun: players are able to adjust the skill level of the group by removing or adding obstacles.

Speedball Fields

According to paintball fanatics the most exciting and challenging of all fields are the speedball fields. They are made up of equally spaced and equally sized barriers.

The challenge here is that a player can not see past the huge barriers and can bump into or encounter anyone at any time. With the smaller barriers a player can be concealed one way, yet revealed to another player.

Indoor Fields

These fields offer a much different approach and encounter from an outdoor field. The first and major thing that new players encounter is that here paintball guns are very loud: some find that the sound hurts their ears so they wear earplugs; but this is not necessary most of the time.

Indoor fields are generally found in cities where there is a lack of open areas to play the game. Similar to outdoor fields, indoor arenas also offer a variety of themes and set ups. The range is considered to be the major difference.

A team with great team effort is the key to the game of paintball regardless of where you play - the basic paintball idea remains the same. The option is up to you: select a field that fits your interests and your performance level the best. Paintball fields are as diverse as one’s imagination.

3 Paintball Skills to Master and Win the Game

2009-02-09T03:12:00.000+08:00

Paintball has consistently prevailed as the fourth major unconventional sport in the U.S. In fact, statistical reports say that there are almost 12 million paintball players worldwide with 104 countries participating in various paintball competitions. This shows that more and more people are enticed to play this game.

However, it does not necessarily mean that the game is easy. Most of the players contend that they have experienced many trials, hardships, failures, and defeat before they were able to master the game.

Experts insist that playing paintball, just like the other kinds of sport, needs some skills in order to win the game. These skills are the primary tools that every paintball player must try to learn. Once they have mastered these skills, winning the game is relatively simple.

Here is the list :

1. Basic stance

The problem with most players is that they tend to face the bunker whenever they are standing next to it. This is such a difficult stance because it will give the player inadequate balance and a time-consuming response.

The best way is to stand behind the bunker with the foot that is opposite with the paintball marker or gun in lead. For instance, if a player holds the marker with the right hand, the left foot should be in lead.

2. Trick shot

It is important for every paintball player to know the psychological aspect of the game. This means that the player must know how to think and act appropriately according to the possible actions of the other players.

Therefore, fire some “trick shots” in an area where the other player is probably hiding. It does not necessarily mean that firing too many shots creates advantage. The object of this skill is to create a ploy that will instigate the player to respond in return if ever he is really in that area.

3. Run and Shoot and Run!!

Like any person in a battle, it is best to master this type of skill in order to achieve the best action and win.

The problem with most players is that they continue to hide thinking that they can win because they remain invisible to their opponents. The point is that a player can never win if he does not try to eliminate his opponents.

Mastering this skill will definitely give every player an edge over the others.

In every activity, there is an equal skill to master. Mastery of these skills will ensure that the player can win the game.

How to ensure that Paintball will not be bad for the Players

2009-02-06T03:10:00.000+08:00

Many people think that playing paintball games is so risky and dangerous that a person might be hurt or injured. There are standard rules that are applied to the sport at this time. They ensure the safety and convenience of a person that will try to experience the game. Before, the sport was categorized as a war game where many people that played were injured from paintball pistols and air guns.

In the early version of the game non-powder guns were used for this type of war game. It was in the 1970s that these powerful paintball pistols and air guns were the weapons used to activate and launch paintballs. It was reported that 21,000 Americans were injured playing this sport when it was new to the curious public.

The Skirmish, one of the first paintball fields in America, called war games “friendly games” in their slogan. Consider the War Game Products, which introduced the paintball capsules that were launched by pressured air or CO2. These are non-powder guns, which are safer and less dangerous for a person who is hit by a paintball.

In the statistics of the Associated Press, there were 21,000 injuries reported each year since it was introduced. A recent survey was conducted by American Sports Data Inc, which reported that 8,700,000 people played the sport in 2002 and there were fewer reported injuries during that time. The reason for this is that the safety rules governing the sport have been standardized and enforcement is a priority. Many say that it is safer than playing basketball or baseball where there are more reported injuries

The number of people participating in paintball games has surpassed the number of people who try snowboarding according to the American Sports Data Inc. survey. It is now considered the fourth largest alternative sport in America and it is still growing because of the number of people that are interested and curious about the sport.

There are newly developed rules and guidelines which regulate the sport. It is now one of the safest sports played because it requires the use of new types of safety equipment. This sport is not so bad after all! It is a great loss for those who have not yet tried the sport so that can experience the thrill and fun of paintball games.

Paintball made easy ?!?

2009-02-05T14:15:00.000+08:00

Weight gain can ensure health and fitness

2009-02-05T03:29:00.001+08:00

People—especially those who are very thin for their frame, age, and height—would be very happy upon discovering that they have gained some weight. For them, this weight gain would indicate not only the condition of their health and fitness but also the improvements on their physical built as well.

Aside from being an indicator of good health, fitness, and eating a well balanced diet, weight gain would also serves an indicator for a person’s overall improvement in his or her outlook in life. Although in most cases, weight gain is an indicator of good health, it can also serve as an indicator if negligence especially if there are signs of obesity.

To know if weight gain is bad or good for you, it is always best to conduct a research about its indicators as well as of its advantages and disadvantages so you will have an idea if you’re into the right thing.

What you need to know

Weight gain refers to the increase in a person’s body weight brought by intake of too many calories, lack of physical activity such as regular exercise, or a side effect of certain types of medication. However, it can also be a result of a certain set of workout routine—such as those in bodybuilding—wherein muscles tend to increase in terms of weight.

Experts say that weight gain is usually done by people because of two reasons. One, they want to build muscles for a fit body. This is very common to people who need big muscles for their jobs such gym instructors, fitness gurus, bodybuilding coaches, bouncers, bodyguards, weightlifters, and the like.

The second reason why people gain weight is because of their health. Weight gain is highly recommended to those people who have lost so much body fat due to dieting and especially to those who have developed various eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia. People—especially women who are believed to suffer more from this condition—are advised to gain weight to recover from all the body fats and nutrients they have lost.

To know if you are gaining some weight, check for its symptoms such as a rounder belly, certain increase in the fat percentage of the body, increased mass of muscles and increase in the level of body’s hydration. Experts say that it can be hard to determine if a person’s weight gain is good or not. This is because people have different individual needs that need to be paid attention to. Although knowing the ideal weight for a person’s height can be a god indicator, it is always best to consult with a physician to avoid further complications. For those who are planning to gain weight to ensure they health and fitness, here are some helpful tips to get by:

1. Set your focus on set of workouts routines that target how one can increase body fat and muscles. This is one of the most effective ways of gaining weight without having to worry about obesity. Since a person burns only the unnecessary fats, he or she is paving the way for the muscles to gain weight.

2. Spend some time for to know what the target weight gain is. Just like in losing weight, weight gain also requires utmost time and dedication. If one is into weight gain, he or she must make sure that they are serious about it so they will get their desired health and level of fitness.

3. Always have a healthy and well balanced diet. For people who are gaining weight for health and fitness, this is very important if because it serves as their guide on what kind of food they should eat and the proper amount of each to get the weight that they desire.

5 Paintball Playing Tips on How to Win the Battle

2009-02-04T03:08:00.000+08:00

Among the many sports that bring about solidarity and sportsmanship in various competitive activities, paintball ranks third among the most popular and highly stimulating games in the world.

According to the 2005 statistics of Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association International, paintball ranks third, next to inline skating and skateboarding.

This paintball hype is based on the premise that people who love “extreme sports” would most likely use activities that will stimulate adrenaline rush. Because every players aim is to win the game, they would most likely try to obtain all of the possible pointers and suggestions available just to achieve their goal.

Here is a list of some tips on how to play the game well and prevail in the battle :

1. Establish an optimistic approach

Paintball is, basically, a war game, where players can either win or loose; so there are instances where things may not always conform to the plans of the players. What must be observed is that each player must look at the results in a very optimistic way.

For instance, if a player was not able to win the game, he must accept the fact and identify the areas where he failed to perform, which contributed to his failure.

Remember that there is always another opportunity to win the game.

2. Learn by experience

Every failure is a learning experience: view it constructively as a learning experience. Work on the things that need more consideration and improvement.

3. Never play solo

In order to win the battle, it is better for a player to play on a team rather than playing solo. The concept that there are other players ready to cover up for you is a good indication that you will last throughout the game.

4. Do not hide forever

If you are trying to win the game by avoiding being seen and hit by your opponents, you will also have fewer chances of hitting the opponents. You will never learn the correct strategies needed to win the game unless you come out in the open and take action.

5. Never surrender

Just as in real battle, it is best not to surrender even if the odds of winning the game are probably higher. The point here is to stay in the game as long as you continue to be a “hard target.”

Winning a paintball game is not so much about how you stay in the game but about how you played the game.

Achieving health and fitness through healthy diet

2009-02-02T03:28:00.000+08:00

Because of so many illnesses and chronic diseases that occur among people through the years, more and more individuals are playing attention to their health and fitness because these would help them combat certain medical conditions. Today, one of the major reasons why people are overweight or suffer from minor and major health risks is that they don’t practice having a healthy diet.

Effective formula for a healthy diet

Healthy diet—which include eating balanced amount of food from all food groups—along with exercise or regular physical activity can lessen people’s inclination to health problems. Doctors say that though basic principle of healthy diet is simple, there are those people who are having a hard time sticking to it. The major reasons behind this include a super busy lifestyle, work that causes a lot of stress or even an environment that is not conducive to having a healthy diet.

Despite hectic schedules and busy lifestyles, people can start and maintain a healthy diet if they really want to. Experts say that nothing is impossible to formulating and effective diets plan if one really wants to achieve a healthy mind and body.

For starters, experts advise a mix up food choices from each food group. Eating a large variety of foods and veggies can also serve as a warm up in avoiding the foods that contribute to drastic weight gain. Having a balanced intake of calcium-rich foods, whole grains, and protein-rich products will also keep you in track. To be able to maintain eating a healthy diet, you must also know your restrictions of fats, salt and sugars levels, and intakes. Lastly, you must monitor your body weight regularly for you to determine if your body is absorbing all the nutrients that it needs.

When do you know if your diet is healthy?

Being free from any illness or medical condition is the major determinant that a person is healthy. For those who are having a hard time identifying what is healthy on their diet and which are now, here are some tips for you. Experts say that a diet is healthy if it is: - based on starchy foods such as bread, cereals, rice, pasta, and potatoes because they are a good source of energy—not to mention being the main source of a range of nutrients of a person’s diet like fiber, calcium, iron, and vitamin B;

- loaded up a lot of fruits and veggies such as orange, apples, celery, broccoli, carrots, beans and peas because eating at least 5 portions of any variety can provide the vitamins the body needs and it also satisfies hunger without having to worry about fats and excess carbohydrates;

- filled with fish dishes that have high amounts of fish oil because it can provide protein, vitamins, and minerals that are not available to other food groups;

- low on saturated fats and excess sugars such as meat pies, sausages, hard cheese, butter and lard, pastry, cake, biscuits, cream and the others because they are high in complex calories stored in the muscles and sugars that can cause tooth decay.

- less in salt content because experts believe that goods that are high in salt or meals that uses too much salt can raise the person's blood pressure which can lead to more complicated diseases especially those related to coronary illnesses; and

- high in water content because experts believe that for a person to achieve optimum health and fitness, he or she should take in lots and lots of water and foods that are high in fluid content to keep the body well-hydrated.

It is not a game, it is a cool war ...

2009-02-01T03:05:00.002+08:00

Paintball is a game where there are two groups (teams) of players and each group’s aim is to eliminate the opposite team via shooting paint balls at each other.

The following are the basic rules in playing paintball :

1. Follow the referee

Paintball should have only one referee for each game. This referee who will start and end the game as well as stop it (in order to check for paint) and be the decision maker should any problems or game issues arise. Fortunately or unfortunately, any verdict issued by the referee – as in any other game – is final and cannot be repealed.

2. You are out !

A player is no longer in the game if he or she is shot by a paintball marker that cracks or splatters on him or her. This applies when the marker or pellet breaks anywhere on the player’s clothes, equipment or gun. Take note that whether the shot came from a fellow teammate or from an enemy, the marked player is required to call out “DEADMAN” or to yell “OUT” in reference to themselves. They are required to immediately leave the field using the route that is the safest as well as shortest, all the while calling him self out.

3. You are in.

If a player is hit by a paintball marker and the marker does not crack or break, that player is still in the game. A player is also considered in the game if he or she is accidentally splattered by a paintball marker, especially if the splatter is caused by the paintball marker hitting a rock, a bush or tree. But this rule no longer applies if the player calls him or her self “OUT” or “DEADMAN” even if they have mistakenly thought that they were hit only discover that they were not. The rule says that they are still required to leave the field using the safest as well as shortest route.

4. Safety is the best policy

All players are required to wear protective clothing that covers the arms, neck and legs. “T” shirts are not allowed to be worn during the game. All players must have goggles as well and these cannot in any way, be removed during play.

Paintball is a game of strategy as well as quick thinking. But just like any other game, there are rules that need to be observed to make the game not only more challenging, fun, exciting, but most importantly fair.

Fair Play in the Game of Paintball

2009-01-30T05:21:00.001+08:00

Paintball is an extreme game that is gaining in popularity. Though the inventors of this game did it for fun, it has evolved into the third most popular game in the world.

For those who want to play, there are rules to be followed. The first is having the proper gear which will protect the person from paint balls.

Guns should be checked before being used in the matches because the maximum velocity allowed is only 300 feet per second. Anything above that can cause serious injury to the players. As a precaution, barrel plugs should be used to avoid any misfiring incidents for the safety of the gun owner and the people who are present during the event.

Protective equipment must be worn at all times inside the playing field. This consists of a face mask, gloves, and pads for the chest, knees and elbows. When hit, the player must stand up with both hands in the air to inform everyone that he has been eliminated. If the person is not sure of being hit, then ask the referee and he will confirm or deny the hit.

The facemask may fog due to sweat, paint or dirt. When this happens, the player should inform the referee so that he can be escorted away from the field before returning to the game. In case the facemask falls off, the same rule applies. During such instances, the opposing team is not allowed to fire at that person.

Paintball is a sport where a player can only be eliminated by shooting the other person. Should a player wipe the paint off and continue playing the game but is caught by the referee, that player is automatically ejected from the game. This is a form of cheating that is never tolerated.

Players are not allowed to curse or hit the other players. This game is about fun and anyone caught will also be taken out of the game.

There is another way of taking out the opposing player and that is by asking the person to surrender. Should the player show any form of hostile action, then you have no choice but to shoot the opponent.

Rules are made to protect the participants in the game. By knowing the basic rules and checking how the game is played, everyone will have fun and enjoy a good game.

Essentials to health and fitness

2009-01-29T23:07:00.000+08:00

Living a life of health and fitness is hard but it is not impossible. In fact, with discipline and commitment, you can actually change your habits and finally get rid of those habits that affect your health.

Below are some of the things that we feel are important parts in the road to a better and healthier you. Read on and see if you have any of them or are doing most of them.

1. Serious commitment

If you really want to change your life and get rid of habits that you have for so long been doing, you’ve got to want it real bad. You need to really commit on it to ensure that you will see the plan through. There are a lot of people who start eating healthy and living healthy who will fall back to their old ways after some time. Don’t be like those people. Starting and stopping will only serve to deflate your spirits and make you believe that you can never really do it. Start when you feel that you really want it bad enough and you can really do it. Will power can be really amazing. It can make miracles.

2. Support system

Changing old habits whether foregoing with a bad diet or quitting a vice, is hard but when done with people who live and support you, the task can be easier and more manageable. This is the reason why diets and programs for quitting alcoholism and smoking have support system programs within their organization. People who share your experiences whether or not they are undergoing the same things as you are will help encourage you to continue with the goals that you have set.

3. Avoid temptations

Without the will power to avoid temptations, your plan to change will constantly be derailed. It is important that you remain in control when it comes to the changes that you want to do for yourself. But this however is not something that is easy to do. There will be lots of instances when you will be truly tested and most people will fail the test. They will go back to their old habits once, and then twice and then thrice until they completely forgo with their plans for a healthy lifestyle.

To avoid this, you should first stay clear of the temptations. If you have friends for instance who influence you to not eat and not live healthy, don’t go with them for the meantime especially if you know that you will only be tempted when you are with them. You should also avoid going to places that you know will tempt you to go back to your old ways.

4. Reminders

People who are constantly being reminded of how they should proceed have better chances of making it through the program than those who are just doing it alone. This works in the same way as the support system but even better because in this instance, you have somebody who really point out to you what you should be doing. Sometimes, we go back to our old ways not because we want to but because it is something that your bodies are already so used to. So if you want to really change your ways and live a life of health and fitness, have somebody you trust and respect with you all the time.

What Paintball Can Do for one’s Health

2009-01-29T05:20:00.000+08:00

Participating in sports can really be good for a person. For those who are too lazy to go to the gym, there is something worth trying and that is the game of paintball. This extreme sport has been around for some time and almost anyone can play it. All it takes is some protective gear and a gun for the person to go out into the field.

Some people think that engaging in this type of sport is unsafe since the bullets travel at fast speeds, and a person could get injured. Contrary to that belief, statistics show that this is safer than other contact sports such as basketball and football.

This physical activity burns calories as the player has to walk up on the enemy without being detected then has to run when retreating or charging. It is better than running on a treadmill that many find boring since the scenery does not change.

Paintball can be played in a small area or in a large area. With all the running, sweating will occur which can help with weight loss. Studies have shown that some exercise programs are not effective after a period of time. By adding this extreme sport to the exercise regimen, some pounds could be lost again.

Running burns more calories per minute than any other type of cardiovascular exercise and keeping the body active increases the metabolic rate. Playing paintball on weekends - such as twice a month -, can help a person burn calories faster and that way, one will be able to eat most anything without gaining weight.

Paintball is a team sport and nothing is better than winning a game against an opponent. Exercise improves the mood since it releases chemicals in the brain called endorphin: eating chocolate has a similar effect. This game helps you sleep better since it releases energy which takes time to recuperate.

Engaging in any form of exercise can be beneficial. It is known to prevent several diseases such as high blood pressure, depression, heart disease and various types of cancer.

Paintball is one form of exercise that can help prevent some of these high risk diseases as well as being an enjoyable game.

Healthy Diet

2009-01-28T22:59:00.000+08:00

Because of so many illnesses and chronic diseases that occur among people through the years, more and more individuals are playing attention to their health and fitness because these would help them combat certain medical conditions. Today, one of the major reasons why people are overweight or suffer from minor and major health risks is that they don’t practice having a healthy diet.

Effective formula for a healthy diet

Healthy diet — which include eating balanced amount of food from all food groups — along with exercise or regular physical activity can lessen people’s inclination to health problems. Doctors say that though basic principle of healthy diet is simple, there are those people who are having a hard time sticking to it. The major reasons behind this include a super busy lifestyle, work that causes a lot of stress or even an environment that is not conducive to having a healthy diet.

Despite hectic schedules and busy lifestyles, people can start and maintain a healthy diet if they really want to. Experts say that nothing is impossible to formulating and effective diets plan if one really wants to achieve a healthy mind and body.

For starters, experts advise a mix up food choices from each food group. Eating a large variety of foods and veggies can also serve as a warm up in avoiding the foods that contribute to drastic weight gain. Having a balanced intake of calcium-rich foods, whole grains, and protein-rich products will also keep you in track. To be able to maintain eating a healthy diet, you must also know your restrictions of fats, salt and sugars levels, and intakes. Lastly, you must monitor your body weight regularly for you to determine if your body is absorbing all the nutrients that it needs.

When do you know if your diet is healthy?

Being free from any illness or medical condition is the major determinant that a person is healthy. For those who are having a hard time identifying what is healthy on their diet and which are now, here are some tips for you. Experts say that a diet is healthy if it is: - based on starchy foods such as bread, cereals, rice, pasta, and potatoes because they are a good source of energy—not to mention being the main source of a range of nutrients of a person’s diet like fiber, calcium, iron, and vitamin B;

- loaded up a lot of fruits and veggies such as orange, apples, celery, broccoli, carrots, beans and peas because eating at least 5 portions of any variety can provide the vitamins the body needs and it also satisfies hunger without having to worry about fats and excess carbohydrates;

- filled with fish dishes that have high amounts of fish oil because it can provide protein, vitamins, and minerals that are not available to other food groups;

- low on saturated fats and excess sugars such as meat pies, sausages, hard cheese, butter and lard, pastry, cake, biscuits, cream and the others because they are high in complex calories stored in the muscles and sugars that can cause tooth decay.

- less in salt content because experts believe that goods that are high in salt or meals that uses too much salt can raise the person's blood pressure which can lead to more complicated diseases especially those related to coronary illnesses; and

- high in water content because experts believe that for a person to achieve optimum health and fitness, he or she should take in lots and lots of water and foods that are high in fluid content to keep the body well-hydrated.

Popular Paintball Games

2009-01-28T05:18:00.000+08:00

As paintball improved and became popular, many individuals tried their abilities at it; giving rise to the assortment and diversity of paintball tournaments and games.

Recreational or Capture the Flag

Played by two teams, where each team has a flag and the objective of both teams is to capture or seize the opponent’s flag and carry it to your team’s starting point. This is one way for your team to win and another way is by eliminating the opposing team entirely.

Each team has to defend their base and simultaneously dispatch team players to eliminate the opponent and capture their flag.

These games are usually played in the forest; bunkers and structures can be put up throughout the area.

Scenario Paintball

This is a paintball game with a theme set up behind it: there are an endless number of themes that can be created making the game feel and look very realistic. There are a number of players; in many cases as many as a hundred are involved in each team.

Each team gets the theme (storyline) a day before the start of the game. There are usually two teams participating, having the “general” as a team’s leader.

Each player is given a role and they should work together as a team in order to carry out and win an assigned mission. Props in accordance with the theme are introduced and distributed throughout the field. There are questions asked in connection with the theme and points are awarded for correct answers.

These points are totaled at the conclusion of the game and the team having the most number of points wins.

Backyard

This can be played right at your own backyard, a friend’s empty property or at times any property but you must as you get permission first. You gather your friends to form a group and then conceptualize your own game which typically is “capture the flag”.

Speedball

Also called “Center Flag”, the speedball field is designed with many huge bunkers; usually “inflatables” filled with air that are shaped similar to big snakes, soda cans, water tanks etc.

Here, a team can be composed of between three to ten players in a game. There is only one flag that is involved and it is located at the center of a field. The two teams start at each end of the field and attempt to gain possession of the flag at the center and carry it to their bunker. The team that does this successfully wins.

Paintball can surely challenge the “soldier” in you. Give it a shot!

Aerobics and Injuries

2009-01-27T23:02:00.000+08:00

Aerobics are great exercises to do to get your heart pumping and your body sweating. You can use aerobic exercises in order to lose weight, build endurance, and stay heart healthy. However, there is also a downside to aerobic exercising for some people. If you are not careful, you could get injured due to aerobic exercise.

Therefore, it is important to follow these tips to making sure you are exercising and using aerobics in a fun and healthy way for your body :

First and foremost, when you are doing aerobics consider your dress. Wearing good shoes is important. Aerobics require lots of movement, so when you have worn shoes or laces that come untied often, there is a good chance you may slip and fall. You should also consider the other articles of clothing you’re wearing. If they are too constricting or too heavy, you may become more easily overheated. Your clothing should breathe well and not be too tight in order to prevent you from injury.

Also consider your workout area, especially if you are working out at home. When you’re at home, you’ll need to make sure that you area is large enough for you to move and not bang into anything. It is also crucial that you service your workout equipment to make sure that it is in the best shape possible and will not cause injury. Your workout area at home should also be clean. When you workout, you sweat a lot and breathe heavily, so if you’re doing that in a dirty environment, you could pick up some nasty bacteria or viral infections.

Another tip to staying safe is to not push yourself too much. While it is important to push yourself in order to have the best and most intense workout possible. When you push yourself too hard, however, you put may find yourself pulling muscles, experiencing cramps, or otherwise injuring your body.

Your doctor can tell you more about how to stay safe while exercising. Remembering to warm up and cool down is necessary, as is doing the right exercises for your body, age, and gender. When you work out, you should feel your best, not be worried about injury.

Staying safe is important. If you are hurt, you won’t be able to do aerobics while you recover, and you will miss out on days or even weeks of training. If your health is important to you, that should include your safety, so take measures to being safe whenever you hit the gym to do your aerobics workout.

Health and fitness through proper diet and nutrition

2009-01-27T22:54:00.000+08:00

More and more people are now going back to basics—in terms of food and health practices — because they would want to achieve prime health and fitness. With the fast-paced, technologically-driven world people are now living, who would not want to veer away from certain medical conditions and illnesses.

Experts say that because of the busy courses of people’s lives, many of them tend to forget some of the vital fragments in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, which is diet and nutrition.

Identifying the thin line

Although the terms “diet” and “nutrition” have different definitions, they are greatly connected to each other. When defined, “diet” refers to the food and liquid intake of a person while “nutrition” pertains to the science of dealing with food and nourishment. Sometimes, many people get confused with the meanings of the two because they automatically assume that less—through diet—will not affect their health's overall condition.

Experts say that more than the issues of food and liquid intake and the science of food and nourishment, diet and nutrition can revolve around nutritional information on various dietary supplements and the benefits vitamins and minerals to a person’s body. By making yourself familiar with latest diet and nutrition topics, trends, and tips can lead you to the renewal of your health and well being commitment inside your home.

You must remember that it’s never too late to redirect your eating habits, but before you take that drastic change, learn what are the common diet and nutrition mistakes so you can avoid them. Here are some realizations that can help you get by :

1. Don’t make careless assumption that the food choices you have are better than they actually are. Many experts believe that people who are very particular about diet and nutrition have larger tendencies of thinking and believing that their food choices are healthier than they really are. It is always advisable to eat whole, fresh, and unprocessed foods whenever possible to stay health and fit.

2. Don’t confuse yourself over carbohydrates. In some people that low carbohydrates diets are effective. But there are also those that say that there are excellent carbs that make people eat less. If you are confused, assess yourself first before cutting down on carbs totally. A consultation with a licensed dietician can help you determine how much carbohydrates does your body need and can also help you come up with a diet pattern will be good for you and can have long term effects.

3. Don’t think you’re eating too much when you’re actually not. Doctors say that one of the most common mistakes people make is that they overestimate and underestimate the amount of food their body needs. People are advised to monitor the portion sizes of your food to ensure that they are getting the key nutrients that their body needs.

4. Know when to eat and when not to eat. Experts believe that overeating and under eating may put an individual's health at risk because it disrupts blood sugar and insulin levels. Knowing when to eat and when not can ensure that the person will get the nutrition the body type needs. Always make sure that you eat something every three hours and don’t starve before eating the next meal.

5. Don’t neglect the importance of regular exercise. There is now denying the wonderful benefits that regular exercise can do to people especially to those who want to achieve optimum health and fitness. To ensure that you stay healthy despite being on a diet, make exercise a regular part of your life can definitely contribute to your overall wellness.

Paintball Basics

2009-01-27T05:16:00.000+08:00

Paintball is a safe, simple yet challenging and strategic sport that is played usually by two teams, each with at least two players. Adults and kids alike enjoy this sport as they often refer to it as an advanced or improvised game of tag.

Tournaments attract many spectators of all ages, as it is a very exciting game to watch.

Paintball games are of various types, however, the most popular game often played is called "capture the flag". The object or the goal of this game is for teams to advance to the opponent’s base, move the other team’s flag to its destined location, at the same time guarding your own flag.

The paintball field has many obstacles such as tires, forts, old cars, hay and the newest are “inflatables” that are constructed as refuge for team players; making the game all the more exciting, as if participating in an actual game of war in videos.

When one is hit, it can hurt briefly and at times give players bruises. Players are typically required to be in long sleeves shirt and pants, making sure that the color is not be identical as that of the judge and complete paintball gear such as mask, helmet and goggles for safety.

The sport of paintball has a distinct and accurate set of rules that are strictly followed. The producer of the tournament is the absolute authority in regard to either an alteration or addition to the rules; marshals oversee the event, and their decision is always final. No dispute on the paintball field is accommodated or entertained.

A military approach to paintball is useless, as that knowledge is recognized and understood by the teams. A team’s tactic should be carefully planned; your team’s line of attack will not be known by the opposing team, and there should be a quick switch of plans in case something goes wrong.

There must be a lot of team work involved, as everyone moves through the field. As a team member moves, there should be others to guard and keep watch and give off covering shots when necessary. A team that moves together with a common objective will have a great chance of succeeding in this game.

Communication in the field is also very important. A team-mate can shout the position of the opponent. The moment that a player is seen, the game for that player is up; so there is no reason for you to keep quite; instead, inform the others the location of the enemy.

The excitement of this game concludes when you are seen and eliminated - a situation that all team players struggle to avoid.

Benefits of a life of health and fitness

2009-01-26T22:23:00.000+08:00

Living a life of health and fitness may seem a huge sacrifice but the rewards are truly immeasurable. Not only will you be able to enjoy your life a little bit longer, you can also live it while looking good and looking young.

You don’t believe us?

Here is a rundown of the benefits that healthy living can give. Read on and you may be tempted to leave the dark unhealthy side.

1. Active body

Eating the right kinds of food and keeping your body in shape will result to having more energy and that will spill over to your work and your “play” time. You will be more active and will have more chance to shine in your line of work. People who are active also come across as more capable and more independent. They are also perceived as more approachable, confident and charming.

2. Younger looking

People who live healthy are younger looking than those who smoke and drink in excess. This is because chemicals in alcoholic drinks and cigarettes dry up the skin and create a more older appearance. Chemicals in the body also reduce the nutrients that go into the body, thus depriving the body of vitamins and minerals that keep the skin and other organs healthy and functioning.

Being young looking of course gives you a whole set of benefits, from a remarkable love life to success with career and in your social life. After all, whether we admit it or not, appearance do count in a lot of ways and being young looking and attractive can take you in places. As shallow as it seems, you will have more friends and more romantic involvements. Everybody loves beautiful people.

3. Clear thinking

It is not true that chemicals in alcoholic drinks and cigarettes and drugs can amp up creativity levels. These are actually just short-lived and as studies have shown, only in the mind. People who eat and live healthy are more able to think clearly. They are more able to focus on the jobs at hand and therefore are able to accomplish much with their work than other people. They are also more dependable when given instructions and their memories are often clear and good.

4. No illness

People who live a healthy lifestyle are well, healthy. They are not prone to sickness that can slow down a person’s achievement levels. Thus, these people accomplish much of what they set out to do. They are not hampered by problems with their health or appointments with doctors that they have to go to. These people rarely take a leave of absence and when they do, they will often take a vacation and just relax. They don’t take a leave because they are sick.

5. Emotionally-secure

Although there really is no direct relationship, people who live a life of health and fitness are happier. They are able to enjoy their life more and are not distracted by odd habits and health problems. They also have less worries and are able to cope better with stressors. This is perhaps because they do not need to rely on chemicals for coping with the hardships that they encounter. Early on, they have developed natural coping strategies that can help them get through the daily grind.

Popular Aerobics Machines

2009-01-26T21:53:00.000+08:00

When it comes to aerobics, you might find that you get a better workout on a machine rather than actually running or jumping rope. Remember that like every part of a healthy workout routine, aerobics are exercises that have to be tailored to your body and what is best for your health. You have to work together with your doctor and your personal trainer if you have one to develop a system for working out that works for you, and to make sure that whatever you are doing it is the best for your body and your mind as well.

Machines have become very popular when it comes to working out because sometimes they are easier to use and easier to get used to. You don’t have to worry about running outside when it is cold out or finding a way to get your workout when you don’t’ have time if you have a machine in your home that you can use. The point of aerobic workout is that you are getting your heart rate up and you are getting into shape. You can do this on a machine as well as running or jumping rope.

There are several different machines that you might want to try. The two easiest and most popular would be tread mills and bikes. On both of these, you can find that you can get a great work out. The point of an aerobic work out is to get your heart rate going, so if you are riding a bike or walking or running on a treadmill, you are going to be having your aerobic exercise.

Bowflex Series 7 Treadmill

The reason that these two machines are so popular is that they are handy. Riding an exercise bike can be something that you do in your living room no matter what time of day or temperature it is when you finally get around to working. Treadmills are the same too, you can get all of the exercise that you need while you are at home.

Having machines to use for your aerobic exercise is something that you should be able to do quite easily no matter where you decide to work out. As long as you are sure that you are still getting the same amount of exercise, you’ll be able to see the benefits of working on an exercise machine right away. It can be the best way that you have to get your work out completed and to get healthier!

Schwinn 130 Upright Exercise Bike

How Tough should your Aerobics Workout be ?

2009-01-25T21:40:00.000+08:00

Aerobics are great for losing weight and staying healthy because they strengthen your breathing and heart as well as help you burn fat. However, many people don’t know or understand how to do an aerobics workout in order to best maximize the results. Intensity is a very important aspect of any aerobics workout, so if you want to get the most out of your aerobics, make sure that you’re following these three rules :

First : find that intensity that is your sweet spot.

If you work out too intensely, you may injure yourself or will not see results. However, if you don’t work out intensely enough, you will lose any weight or grow stronger. Therefore, you have to work with a program that has just the right intensity for your. When trying new exercises, try to make sure that they include enough weights or speed to make the workout hard, but not impossible. Remember also that you will need to re-work the intensity of your workout as your tolerance and endurance increases, so take a look at your routine every week or two and make necessary changes.

Second : to intensity and your workout is to be safe.

Over training is a huge problem because it puts you and those around you in danger. When you under train, you see no results, which may push you intensify. That’s good, but too much and you’ll be vomiting before the workout is over and possibly injuring yourself. If you are training properly, your muscles should be sore, but your joints should not. Never do an intense exercise in which you cannot control your form or breathing. Instead, take breaks and use lower weights or speed to get back on track. This method will help you get more out of your workout anyway. In any case, if you are injured during a workout, call for help immediately from those around you. It is a good idea to workout with a partner or to at least let someone know that you’re working out in case anything happens to you.

Third : build intensity instead of jumping into the deep end.

When you are starting to exercise, you won’t be able to suddenly run the Boston marathon! Building up slowly will help prevent injury, as talking about in the second step, but it can also help you to not get frustrated. If you slowly build up your aerobics routine, you’ll be able to find success more readily.

Airex Therapy Mat

Why Paintball is Popular

2009-01-25T21:07:00.000+08:00

Paintball is fast becoming one of the most popular games around. It has become an alternative past time from the usual athletic games being played; and it has become one of the most exciting outdoor sports in the world. Anybody can play paintball, regardless of race, sex, age and social status. It is a game for people who have taste for competition and adventure.

The game combines two of the most popular childhood past times: tag and hide-and-seek, the objective being to capture the flag of the enemy while protecting one's own.

There are several reasons for the popularity of paintball :

1. It is the team sport that enables one to remove an opponent from the game without being penalized for it. In fact, removing one's opponent is very much part of the game. It is the survival of the smartest and the quickest.

2. There is a strong sense of danger, not necessarily a physical one. The threat of being removed from the game makes it more exciting for the participants. But since it is only a game, the fear is not enough to make one mentally-incapacitated. With the right safety gear, no one is really in any real danger. It is all in the mind.

3. All players are equal. Experience is the only basis of one's edge over the other player. Factors such as race, gender and age do not put one ahead of the other.

4. There is a total absence of physical contact. There is no need for a player to manhandle his opponent so that he can be eliminated from the game. One only needs to shoot the opponent, which can be done from a relatively safe distance. Very few injuries and no deaths have resulted from playing paintball.

5. There is no need to be an athlete. Playing paintball does not require extreme physical strength. In fact, the game can be played with very few physical movements.

6. No one really needs to be experienced to enjoy the game. Though it matters, a lot of old-time players find themselves surprisingly eliminated by first-time participants. It is anybody's game.

7. It is gadget-crazy. Everybody likes gadgets. Paintball requires a lot of them.

Paintball is a very stimulating and exciting sport. Playing the game gives one the chance to renew the inner child in people. It enables one to maximize his sense of adventure, without risking life and limb for that sought-after rush.

Burning the Fat: Aerobics and Your Body

2009-01-25T18:20:00.000+08:00

There are many great things about starting an aerobics program for your body. One of the greatest things about aerobics is that you can use it to burn fat in ways that are easier on your body than dieting. It is very simple to burn fat using aerobics as exercise, because there are many ways that you can train your body to do the work that it is supposed to in order to really get the most out of the aerobics that you are doing.

While you are building up a sweat and working on your heart rate, all of your muscles are also getting great things out of the aerobics work that you are doing. As you bring new blood and oxygen to all of your body systems, you are going to find that you are giving yourself the best chance to really get rid of all that unwanted fat as you go along. Working hard to burn fat is something that you can finally take control of when you are doing aerobics on a regular basis.

When you body is in constant motion, all of the body systems are working hard to maintain body functions at a normal rate. Because your muscles need to be moving more, your heart is going to have to work harder because the only way to get your muscles to move faster is to supply them with more blood and therefore more oxygen. Because your heart has to work harder your lungs need to work harder to provide your heart with the oxygen that it needs to keep pumping.

All of these things are going to work in tandem with each other to make a situation in which you are really getting the most out of your entire work out. When all of these systems are working together, you are going to find that you are much stronger than you think you would be. As your entire body fights to work harder, you are going to find that actually you are burning fat because your body needs energy to keep moving and to stay moving at a certain rate. It will find this energy in the stored pockets of fat that you have in your body. All of these things are going to happen quickly, and you will find that you are going to be much better off as you start to work out using aerobics more often.

Evergain Aerobic Exerciser 308 DL Chi Swing Machine (Free Shipping)

History of Paintball

2009-01-25T09:05:00.000+08:00

War games have been around for a long time. These are used to prepare an army for battle or the beginning of a surprise attack. Since people are not able to use real guns in this game, Bob Gurnsey, Hayes Noel, Charles Gaines and nine others decided to play this game by using markers that were originally used to tag cattle and trees. This game originated in 1981.

Later on, markers were used to shoot paintballs at other players. The bullets used for each shot is a .68 caliber gelatin capsule which comes in various colors so that one team can distinguish the shots they fire from those of the opposition. Anyone that gets hit is out of the game.

Paintball has evolved and through the years and can be played in different ways. In one version of the game teams can one flag each and the other team must capture that flag in order to win. Another game has the same objective as the first will except there is only one flag that is situated in the center of the field and each team tries to be the first to capture the flag. The other way of winning (other than capturing the flag) would be to eliminate all of the players of the opposing team with paintball hits.

The game can be played on a small scale which is called recreational paintball. This is the original way it was played in a wooded area and can be played in an area the size of a basketball court.

If there are many people who want to play and the field is a large area the game is called a scenario. The largest scenario ever was in 2005 on a 700 acre parcel of land and with 3,000 participants.

When a player who participates in a competition sanctioned by a governing body, that competition is called a tournament. Teams can be comprised of 3 to 10 players each. Rules during such events vary so people should check before entering the tournament.

For the safety of those who participate in these events, protective gear is required for each player. It consists of a helmet, chest pad, gloves, and knee and elbow pads. The guns used are only allowed to fire a maximum of 300 feet per second.

Paintball is one game that is gaining ground in the sports world. According to a study done in 2005, it is ranked as the third most popular extreme game in the world. It is considered a safe sport as long as proper equipment is used and people comply with the rules. People who are interested can sign up at the local club and join in the fun.

Relieve Stress and Have Fun

2009-01-25T00:21:00.000+08:00

The world we live in is growing increasingly fast-paced, stressful, and filled with responsibility. Because of this, everyone needs some time to relax and have some recreation. Our modern way of life also tends to be sedentary, and the meals we eat are often not very healthy. Exercise is a very important component in renewing us. For these reasons, sports recreation activities are some of the best recreation we can choose. There are many options for hobbies to provide sports recreation. You may even want to learn some new recreational sports skills.

Courses to learn new sports recreation skills can be found online and in larger cities. You can learn and participate in team sports through the local Y and other organizations. Team sports recreation activities you might like to participate in include softball, baseball, basketball, and sometimes soccer for younger people. Another team sport you might enjoy is bowling. Regardless of your skill level you can find a bowling team to have fun with.

Individual sports recreation activities you can learn and participate in include golf, tennis, running, aerobic dance, gymnastics, and horseback riding. Don't overlook bicycling and weight training too. Many of these sports can be learned at the local Y as well. For some of these, you'll want to have a friend to play against or share the exerience with. Many runners, for instance, like to run with a friend. And games like tennis and handball really need cooperation for best results.

If you'd rather, you can learn about sports recreation skills online. You can find courses to teach almost any sport or activity you can think of including underwater hockey, fly-fishing, and para-gliding in the Alps! Of course, unless you can get some hands-on experience you'll only have the theories of the sport. Still, online courses are a good way to get a taste of different sports and recreational activities you might someday want to try out.

A really fun sports recreation game you might get a chance to play is ping pong. Ping pong, or table tennis as it is sometimes called, is played on a table with rubber coated paddles and extremely lightweight plastic balls. You must hit the ball with your paddle so that it strikes the table and clears the net before your opponent strikes it and bounces it back to you. One way to become more adept at ping pong and increase your chance of winning is to sometimes hit the ball harder than at other times. This keeps your opponent guessing what you will do next.

Sports recreation activities are a great way to get exercise and relieve stress. They are also a lot of fun. Whether with friends or alone, everyone needs a favorite sports recreation to take part in.

The road to health and fitness

2009-01-24T17:54:00.000+08:00

Walking towards health and fitness is not really the hard arduous job that everybody seem to think it is. When you really think about it, the hard part is often the start. Afterwards, everything else will be easier once you really get the hang of it. All it takes is discipline and commitment.

Below are some tips on how to get a head start on your road to health and fitness. Read each one and you’ll realize that it is actually easier to undertake.

You just need to take the first few steps.

1. Start small

If your favorite dish is something that your doctor asked you to avoid, there is no sense in skipping it altogether and then binging on the dish when you can’t take the abstinence anymore. Take moderate steps towards the goal. If you eat the dish everyday, try to cut down on your consumption and make it just three times a week. IF you have managed that, cut down further and make it once a week. That way, you are able to still enjoy the food and not increase your craving for it.

2. Plan modestly

Set goals for yourself but that does not mean that you have to kill yourself to get it and when you don’t you’ll also kill yourself. Setting too high goals will often only lead to disappointment and frustration. When you plan, make sure that you can do it. How will you know? Be realistic. You know what you are capable of. It is better to set goals for yourself that you know you can do. Accomplishing them will give you a sense of achievement that will make you more confident and more willing to continue with your task.

3. Have a buddy

Sharing the aches and pains as well as the joys of accomplishment with a buddy will help make the process easier and more bearable. In fact, people with a buddy when doing a self-improvement project are better able to stick with their plans than those who are doing the projects alone. This is because when you have a buddy with you, he or she acts as a support system that will help keep you on track and prevent you from giving up. Besides having a friend with you experiencing the same things makes the process more fun and more enjoyable.

4. Have discipline

This is one of the few things that will make or break your plans to finally live a healthy lifestyle. In order to really stick to the plan, you need to develop self-discipline especially when it involves things that you really want to do or things that you are used to doing. Temptations along the way will be many and you need to be prepared to face all that!

5. Do it for yourself

A lot of people start to live a life of health and fitness when they are trying to get a new guy to notice them or when they want to impress a lover. Although these are valid reasons, sometimes, they are not enough to see you through the entire process. It is better that you do it for yourself because you want a healthier and better you than do it for other people’s approval. After all, the only approval that you will ever need is your own.

Paintball Anyone?

2009-01-24T00:33:00.001+08:00

People who love to play war games will surely enjoy the game of Paintball. This game which has been around for more than 20 years involves a lot of running, crawling and shooting that makes a person feel as though it is the real thing.

The only thing difference is that instead of using live ammunition to kill the opponent, paint in the form of balls exits the weapon and hits the opponent. The bullet used for each shot is a .68 caliber gelatin capsule. It comes in various colors so both teams can distinguish the shots fired from the other.

Anyone who is hit in any part of the body is automatically out of the game. There are other ways that the team can win. Both teams are given one flag and the team who captures the enemy flag wins.

In another game, a single flag is positioned in the center of the field. Whoever is able to capture it wins the match. The other way of winning would be to eliminate all the players of the opposing team.

The game can be played either on a small scale or large scale. Small scale can be the size of a basketball court with barrels and other obstructions to give cover for the player. This is usually called recreational. Each team should have five to ten players in order to play.

When there is game that could involve more than a hundred participants, this is called a scenario. The largest ever recorded scenario was in 2005 on 700 acres of land and with 3000 participants.

This growing sport has a regulating body that sanctions such events. Competitions that are held by various leagues are called tournaments. Teams can comprise from 3 to 10 players each. Rules during such events vary so people should check before joining the match.

Since safety is the primary concern of this game, players are required to wear protective gear at all times. These consist of a helmet, chest pad, gloves, and knee and elbow pads. The guns maximum firing speed is 300 feet per second.

Paintball is ranked as the third most popular extreme game in the world. It is also considered a safe sport with only a few reported minor injuries. This will continue as long as the players abide by the rules. Those who are interested can sign up at their local club and join in the fun.

Happy, Healthy Hearts

2009-01-23T19:38:00.000+08:00

Everyone knows that working out is good for your body. However, do you really understand the correlation between aerobics and heart health ?

There are many people who swear that doing aerobics is the best way for them to feel healthy and to be better in every aspect of their life. When it comes right down to it, aerobics and heart health is something that you want to keep an eye on because it is something that you can really focus on to get more healthy.

There are simply more benefits to aerobics than you can talk about in an article. However, the correlation between aerobics and heart health is something that you simply cannot deny because it is something that is going to stay with you and with your health forever. When you look at aerobics and heart health you are going to see that the more aerobics you can do, the healthier your heart is going to become. This might seem like a general idea, and yes, it is very general in that the more you work, the better your heart will work for you. However, there are specific reasons that this is the case.

When it comes to the relationship between aerobics and heart health the basic point is that by doing aerobics you are giving yourself a work out where your heart and lungs are constantly moving faster than they are when you are resting. This means that as you work out, your heart and lungs are forced to work harder. The more that you do, the more your heart has to do for you. By making aerobics part of your routine, you are forcing your heart to work each day, and this is going to make it stronger.

Basically, when it comes to aerobics and heart health the point is that they are connected. The better your heart is doing, the more aerobics you are going to be able to do without stopping. And the more aerobics you can do, the healthier your heart is going to be.

Like anything, when it comes to aerobics and heart health you are going to have to work your way up. If you haven’t done much working out, your heart isn’t going to be able to take very much right away. Aerobics and heart health are something that you have to work up to, so take your time and talk to your doctor in order to develop a great aerobics routine that is going to clearly benefit you.

Aerobic Twisting Stepper

Sports Fitness: Fun Way to be Healthy

2009-01-23T19:11:00.000+08:00

When you talk about sports fitness, what comes first in your mind? It is, basically, the different sports activities, right? This is because sports fitness has always been referred to as the sports itself.

Generally, sports entail physical activities that are usually carried out for some “recreational” functions such as self-satisfaction, entertainment, competition, etc. It uses physical activity that is why most fitness experts regard sports as one way of staying fit and healthy. It can also be considered as one way of physical fitness; the only difference is that sports fitness is more inclined to the development of skill or ability.

However, like physical fitness, sports fitness is also capable of toning down the body fats of a person. Because of its rigid and strict health program, a sports enthusiast is able to maintain a well-balanced lifestyle in order to cope up with the strenuous demands of sports.

In sports, people should learn how to value their health. Otherwise, they can never endure the kind of energy that is required when playing sports activities.

Therefore, for people whoa re into sports fitness, here are some tips that you could use in order to stay healthy and be active on whatever sports you want to pursue :

1. Drinks lots of water

Humans can survive days, or even months without food, but they can never last a day without water.

Water is, indeed, the most important element needed by the body. Excessive perspiration, without any means of replenishing the lost fluids will result to serious health problems, and even death.

Therefore, for people who are into strenuous exercises and trainings, it is best to always drink lots of water.

However, for sports enthusiasts, water may not be enough to replace the kind of fluid lost. Hence, it would be better if they would have sports drinks instead. Aside from the fluid, sports drinks have tow additional important ingredients needed by a person who is into sports fitness: carbohydrates and electrolytes.

Electrolytes are usually lost during strenuous physical activity, and this can only be replaced through sports drinks. Carbohydrates, on the other hand, are also needed by the body during rigid workouts to provide more energy so that the body can cope up to the demands of the activity.

2. More veggies !

People who are into sports fitness require more intakes of vegetables and fruits. This is because the body is craving for more vitamins and mineral supplements. It makes the body stronger and healthier enabling it to cope up with demands of the activity.

3. Calcium intake

People who are into sports fitness should have calcium present on their diet. This is to provide stronger bones to the body.

Since the body is more exposed to greater physical activities, it is important to have stronger bones in order to avoid fractures or certain bone diseases like “osteoporosis.”

Calcium can be found in different vitamin and mineral supplements. They are also abundant in foods like sardines, tofu, dairy products, etc.

4. Warm exercises are always important before any kind of strenuous activities.

This kind of activity is needed in order not to strain the body. Hence, before playing the sports that you have always love, it is best to do some warm-up exercises first.

Indeed, engaging into sports activities is one great way of being physically fit. The best thing about it is that in sports, you get to enjoy the best of both worlds.

How to live a life of Health and Fitness

2009-01-23T19:03:00.000+08:00

With cancer cropping up left and right, people are suddenly becoming more conscious with what they eat and do with their bodies. Fad diets have become a craze and so are gym workouts and alternative exercise for the body. But despite being the in thing to do right now, some people still find it hard to start walking the road to a life of health and fitness. After all, when you have already lived a life of debauchery, it will be harder to convert and walk the other road even if it is not as less traveled by.

To help you, here are some of the ways that you can start with your healthy lifestyle.

1. Don’t smoke If you do not have the habit of smoking, good for you. Don’t try to start as you will only get addicted with the cigarettes and it will be harder to quit when that happens. It is not true that you can smoke and quite when you want to. It’s not. Once you become hooked into it, there is no turning back. If you are already part of those people who burn their lungs out everyday, the best bet is to make a commitment to quit. By doing this, you are already halfway to recovery. Make sure though that you are serious with your plans and you are not just doing it for any other reason than your health.

2. Lessen the junk One of the ways you can help keep your body healthy is to eat foods that are more natural and with less chemical content. Avoid eating junk foods like those huge packs of potato chips or binge on candies. You should also make it a point to lessen your intake of meats and consume more vegetables, fruits and seafood. This does not mean that you will forgo with meat altogether. You should still eat meat. The protein that it contains is important for some of the basic processes of the body.

3. Skip the Soda and even the iced tea As much as you can, drink water. This is the safest and healthiest drink there is. Sodas even the diet ones, are carbonated and contain high amounts of sugar and carbohydrates which can later be translated into fats. You can also try drinking green tea which can help in the digestive system. Iced tea may be tamer than sodas but these drinks also contain a lot of sugar which can pile up in the body. Stick to water and drink lots of it.

4. Stay active Another way to start living a life of health and fitness without having to shell out money and make lots of effort is to schedule an exercise routine every day. You can schedule it every morning when you wake up in the morning or do it at night after work. Whichever schedule you want to, make sure that you keep it to 30 minutes long to an hour. That way, you can exercise those muscles and avoid muscle pains. Exercise will also strengthen your bones and your body, promote better breathing and cellular activity, clear the brain and of course keep those extra calories out of the body. Thus, even if you eat a lot, you are not storing those fats and carbohydrates. You are expending them through your workout routine.

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