Have any of you ever heard of these - strength shoes?? It is basically a normal shoe except that it forces you to walk on your toes while wearing them and thus put all of your weight squarely on your calves, thus increasing your explosiveness and vertical leap and 40 yard dash time. I have heard that they are good but just wondering if anyone out there has tried them and had any success, I just started using them about a week ago. I will report back though and let everyone know how I feel they work.
In today’s fast paced world, many people are overweight and are only looking for a quick fix - something that will easily and quickly cause them to lose those extra pounds and make them feel better about themselves. Believe me, I not only understand - but totally sympathize with everyone in this situation. Life comes at you fast, and once you get out of shape it is extremely easy to stay that way. And society doesn’t help either – fast food is extremely cheap and convenient. There is also a lot of pressure to lose weight (people unfairly judge overweight people, and TV and the newspaper are screaming at you all day about possible health risks). Along with these pressures there are thousands of different companies out there all trying to make a quick buck by selling you dieting products that may or may not work.
It’s all so very confusing and difficult - and doesn’t it seem like one long uphill battle? But I’m here to tell you that it’s not – and that’s where the idea of true fitness comes in.
True fitness is…
True fitness is not about losing weight because of society’s misplaced judgments – or trying to fit in with the “normal” thin crowd. True fitness is not about using some weight-loss products and losing only a few pounds for a few weeks - only to put it back on. True fitness IS about having a great deal of respect for yourself because of the unique and great person that you ARE.
True fitness is about looking good, having lots of energy all the time, feeling good about yourself, and taking care of yourself. It's your body, treat it right and it works with you instead of against you! True fitness is about being your own person and doing things your own way – not conforming to a stupid Atkin’s Diet. True fitness is not about working out all the time or starving yourself. True fitness is about taking the time and effort to learn about proper nutrition and what exercises would work best for you in order to lose weight. True fitness is not a diet plan that will end in 3, 6, or 12 months from now - it’s about making subtle changes in your lifestyle because it is time to do things differently - because let’s face it, so far they have not been working. I promise you – these changes are easily made and once you make them and start living a healthier life – your increased energy, mood, self-respect, health, and overall quality of life will be so much better than eating that candy bar and feeling guilty about it.
So think about it - isn’t it time that you started actively changing things for the better? If you don’t, who will? Haven’t you watched enough TV or eaten enough junk food? There are so many better things in life out there just waiting for you to reach out and grab them! I hope you are as excited about the idea of true fitness as I am. This journey is not just about getting in better shape – but about getting in better shape because you respect yourself. This is a big change from most people’s mindset and once you make this shift – things will never be the same again. I hope you are inspired to jump on-board – truly. It is time to make a change for the better. You can do this – I know that you can; but now it’s time for you to not only understand that, but live it. I'm writing to inspire you to unleash the power already within you – not deceive you for monetary gains. Come back to youfitness.com to learn more in the coming days, weeks, and months.
Recently added to the site is a feature that allows you to ask a question, any question at all regarding any subject. It is at the top of the page and please feel free to use it. Coming shortly will be an "about page" which will sum up the purpose of the site and give it all a little direction and meaning to the casual surfer of this page. Future plans include allowing users to log on and have their own user accounts on which they can place information about themselves and their fitness plan and you can compare with other users- talk fitness and figure out whatever could work best for you! So stay tuned for improvements in the future and everyday posts dealing with various health and nutrition topics.
Coffee. It is loaded with cancer fighting antioxidants - but don't have too much of it. Too many people nowadays are dependent on coffee, they are addicted to it like a drug and have upwards of 3-4 cups a day- a little caffeine can be good for you, but too much isn't. The best way to have it is straight black, because you can really start to load on the calories once you start putting in cream and sugar. If you don't like it straight then try putting in some fat-free or 2% milk and some splenda or any other sugar substitute for a tasty yet still healthy cup of joe. Here's to waking up right and fighting cancer at the same time!
This post is a chance for you guys out there to voice your opinion. Whether you be a regular visitor or just passing by, either way feel free to respond. What features would you like to see on youfitness.com in the near future? We have been talking about putting in a feature similar to myspace where you could log on, have your own profile, and list what you do to work out, list your diet, any particular supplements you use, what works for you vs what doesn't, what do you like vs what you don't, so you could get on and look at other users similar to your age and gender and see what works for them to try and give you ideas of things to do. Just an idea, tell me what you think! Or if you have any other ideas, feel free to leave them - we are seriously considering making big changes to the site so if you would like to see something on a fitness site, nows your chance!
Summer time is coming people and it is time to start working on those beach abs. Just thought I'd give you a good workout to try to get your abs in tip-top shape for the beach… remember though that to have the 6-pack show is all about losing bodyfat and keeping it low- but this workout will help build up your abs.
I am going to have two seperate workouts here - do the first workout if you usually do your crunches fast, do the second if you usually do your crunches nice and slow and controlled - both are good ways to build your abs when done right but its best to mix it up. So here they are…
1st workout-
10-15 leg raises at a very slow and controlled pace, feeling the contraction in your abs the whole way up and down
right after you do 1 set of the leg raises, go to a plank position and hold for as long as possible, sucking in your abs to your spine- try to hold for 30 seconds to a minute
Right after the plank position do bicycle kicks until failure
Rest for 2 minutes, repeat all exercises
2nd workout
Do military crunches (where you lay on your back, put hands behind head, twist and bring left elbow to right knee then right elbow to left knee) until failure
right after that stand with hands on knees, knees slightly bent and on the exhale contract abs as hard as possible on the inhale relax - do 10-15 times
Right after that do leg raises as fast as you can maintain good form- 10-15 of them
rest for 1 minute, repeat all exercises, rest 1 minute repeat all exercises again
These are both solid ab workouts @ an intermediate level. Form is the most important thing for crunches, most people "swing" and end up using more of hips than abs… try to keep strict form and feel your abs doing the work, remember to breathe as well. Try doing these ab workouts 3 times a week for the next 4 weeks- try going up a few reps every week though.. I promise you will see results and get stronger abs.
What kind of logic is this you ask? The logical kind if you ask me. You see the biggest muscles in your body are found in your legs, so when you lift your legs, you have the ability to put the most stress on your body and move the most amount of weight… your body accordingly releases the most testosterone when it is worked the hardest (last time I checked a good thing for building muscle) and therefor when you lift your legs, your entire body will get stronger as a result. I basically look at it as the more stress you place on your body the stronger it has to rebuild itself to adapt to the changing situation. This of course is not to say that you should lift with anything other than perfect form, because once you lift with bad form you place more of the strain on your joints and increase your chance of injury as opposed to placing all of the strain on the muscles themselves. Keep that in mind next time you are in the gym, your here to work the muscles, not your ego. Keep up the good work in the gym guys, I know I am.
Just in case any of you were wondering what to have for dinner tonight, I thought I would suggest beans. Any kind of bean will do really, they are all high in protein and high in fiber - the perfect weight loss food that will keep you feeling full for hours after eating it. Granted you may partake in a little "tooting" after eating this magical fruit (the high fiber content will do that, but they are still great for you) - but sometimes you gotta say screw it and point your ass towards the wind and keep on truckin'. Have a good one everybody!
Yes I know it is a fairly confusing subject… Do you really need to be taking a multivitamin? Which brands are the best? What should be in my multivitamin? Are the most expensive ones the best?… Well hopefully I can clear things up for you a bit here.
First of all, unless you actually eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day - all 5 of you out there - it probably is a good idea to take a multi-vitamin. Think of it as an insurance policy for good health… your body needs a lot of things to stay healthy and quite often in our fast paced lives we do not take the time to eat right and get everything that the body needs from the diet. Thats why there are multi-vitamins around! Now what you look for in a multi-vitamin depends on who you are, but every multi-vitamin should at least have 100% of your daily requirements for Vitamins A, C, D, E, K, B1, B2, B6, B12, and Folic acid. It should also have at least 50% of Iodine, Copper, Zinc, and Selenium. These are the bare minimum requirements. Feel free to get a multivitamin that has as many vitamins and minerals in it as possible but the ones I jsut listed are the most important for good health.
There are other things to keep in mind though. Men should not be taking a multivitamin that has Iron in it. We get enough iron from the diet and too much of it is toxic and damages your liver, no iron guys trust me. Women on the other hand need more Iron than men because of the menstrual cycle and women should get a multivitamin that has iron in it, around 18 mg per serving. Neither men nor women need extremely high percentages of any vitamins or minerals - 3000% is not better than 100%, especially not for the fat-solulable vitamins such as Vitamins A and D which are toxic to your body at high levels. There are a few exceptions though, it is good for active people and weight-lifters to have extremely high percentages of all the B vitamins which your body needs a lot of when you are active. Feel free also to get a lot of Vitamin C, it's great for you and non toxic at high levels.
All of you weight-lifters out there should also be taking in a lot of magnesium and calcium. These help the body deal with and respond to the stress of weight-lifting. It's hard to find a multi-vitamin that has a lot of calcium in it (the pill would be too big to swallow if it had calcium and everything else in it) - so it might not be a bad idea to get a seperate calcium supplement - just make sure it has Vitamin D in it as well because your body needs Vitamin D to absorb calcium.
Multivitamins should always be taken with a meal. They can upset the stomach when taken on an empty one, and are absorbed much better when taken with food. But I want all of you to keep in mind that no multivitamin, or any supplement for that matter, is a valid substitute for a good diet. A multivitamin is just meant to supplement your diet and fill in the cracks of whatever you might be missing out on… it cannot bring you good health if your diet is unhealthy- it is no panacea, just a supplement. But it is a good idea to use one and can be very benefical to your health and prevent many health problems on down the road. There is no need to get the most expensive multivitamins as the cheap ones are usually just as good or better than the expensive ones. Avoid "Proprietary blends". Look for store name brands, they are usually cheap and of high quality. I personally use GNC's MEGA MAN Sport multivitamin. It is overpriced… but high quality.
