Elite Fitness Zone » Bodybuilding

Strength Training Helps Older Women Live Better

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:44:48 +0000

Many older women question the benefits of strength training exercise possibly because they lack the knowledge of the major benefits that this form of exercise could provide them. Many women over the age of 30 don’t really think about getting older until they get closer to age 50 when sutble changes start happening that alert them to the fact that they are showing signs getting older. Starting at around age 30 approximately 3 kilos of lean muscle mass will be lost during each decade of life. This loss used to be blamed on the aging process, but research has now proven that it is the result of a sedentary lifestyle and lack of vigorous physical activity. This loss of muscle mass leads to weakness, frailty and increased risk of life threatening diseases. Regular exercise is needed to keep the immune system strong and healthy. It is recommended that all older women (this means any woman over the age of 30) should engage in regular strength training at least twice per week to preserve and protect lean muscle tissue. It doesn’t matter if you’re 30 years old or 70 years old. If you don’t work at keeping your lean muscle tissue, you will lose it along with your strength and ultimately your independence. Along with the muscle toning effect, strength training also strengthens bones, joints, tendons and ligaments while helping to prevent accidents, injuries, and sickness. Strong muscles can help prevent you from a nasty fall, and if you do fall strong and firm muscle tissue is padding around joints and bones to help protect them from injury. Strength training increases metabolic rate by up to 15% which is crucial for body fat loss and long term weight control. Without the correct exercise program a woman will lose about 5 percent of her metabolic rate (the rate the body burns fuel) every decade. As the metabolic rate slows it leads to less energy, vitality and less desire to be active. This is the start of the downward spiral of accelerated aging. Don’t do less, do more to stop it all sliding away. Now is a good time to take charge and increase your exercise and activity level which is what tells every cell in your body to grow. Sitting around and a sedentary life tells the body to wind down and decay. A proper strength training program must be included and performed a minimum of twice per week working the major muscle groups at the correct intensity level. This is the fastest most effective way to reverse these unacceptable changes. Don’t think of it as an option, it isn’t. It is a necessary part of our lives if we want to remain fit and healthy. The time you spend working to improve overall health and fitness a few days a week in the form of strength training will benefit you in many positive ways in every aspect of your life in the years to come. Just bite the bullet and get started right away, before it’s too late.

How To Get Six Pack Abs In A Month-Your Ultimate Guide

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 21:44:08 +0000

There are really no shortcuts to success. If you want something done, then you just have to plunge headlong into it and keep working on it until you get your desired results. The same is true when it comes to body sculpting, particularly to creating your own six pack abdominals. If you want to have six pack abs in a month, some of the basic groundwork you should be laying down includes: getting into top shape, cutting back on food and drinks that may have unhealthy effects on your six pack abs program, and intensifying your workouts. After all, it is very unlikely that you will gain six pack abs in a month if you are hopelessly out of shape, eating un-balanced meals, and not sticking to an escalating workout program. In order to start with your six pack abs in a month program, you should be do regular cardiovascular workouts first. This is to help strengthen your heart muscles, and make your body more limber and accommodating to more strenuous activities. Always, always, always start with warm up exercises and end with exercises that cool the muscles off. 20 to 45 minutes of cardio should be enough to keep the muscles revved up. 30 to 45 minutes of cooling down should suffice as well, to lessen the possibility of muscles snapping from overuse. Jogging and running are two great choices for warm ups, but you can also try brisk walking too for a low impact cardio routine. Stretching exercises can be used for both warming up and cooling down exercises. Walking and breathing exercises are best for cooling down. Begin your exercises with intensified crunches. Here, you can use an exercise or gym ball on which you can balance on. The balancing part enables the core muscles to work overtime. However, you can also perform this on a floor mat as well, which will yield good results too but not as intense as the one on the exercise ball. Try clenching your Kegel muscles all throughout the crunches so that you can feel the burn on both the pelvic floor muscles and the abdominal oblique muscles. Keep your hands under your neck for support but do not pull inwards. Hold each crunch for two to ten counts in time with an inward breath. Release the crunch and exhale. Do this for 12 to 24 reps (depending on your current state of physical fitness.) This may sound simplistic, but the more intense you perform this routine, the more assured you are of your six pack abs in a month. However, this is only the first step. You must subscribe to other intensified exercises to get that six pack abs in a month. These workouts may come in the form of hip and leg raises, reverse (or decline crunches) and abdominal resistance training. The longer time you train, and the more intense your training program is, the faster results you will get. Make sure that you keep your diet in check as well; and if possible, ask a physical trainer to guide you all throughout the intensified exercises.

Gain Weight Build Muscle – Lose Weight And Build Muscle Quickly With A Colon Cleanse

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:47:56 +0000

Gain Weight Build Muscle

Yeah I know what you are probably thinking; is this for real? Build muscle and lose weight at the same time with a colon cleanse? Stupid and impossible. Read this article to find out if this really is possible all just be having a colon cleanse.I’m not going to sit here a tell you lies that just by doing one simple thing you can start to lose weight and build muscle, far from it.

There are too many scams and false claims floating around today for me to add to them. What I am going to say is that a colon cleanse can help you lose weight and build muscle.The important word in the last sentence is help, in fact when I say help I mean greatly improve your results.

The reasoning behind this is quite simple; our bodies perform millions of bodily functions everyday of which can include burning fat and building muscle.However these days with our environment, cheap processed food and general unhealthy living our bodies are running below their optimum levels. Ever tried to lose weight and have got no results despite doing everything right? Your body maybe running below par and not burning fat as efficiently as it should be. Gain Weight Build Muscle

A colon cleanse can help solve these problems:Lose Weight – Toxins in our bodies can interfere with bodily functions such as burn fat for fuel; A colon cleanse can help get rid of these to get our bodies running optimally and burn fat properly.

Build Muscle – Our bodies need fuel (food) to grow; apart from water, our muscles are mainly made up of protein; Also a small vitamin deficiency can halt muscle growth. When our body is full of toxins it doesn’t absorb all the nutrients from food as it should do. Therefore not getting the full benefit which can cause all sorts of problems.

So there you have it. I am not saying that a colon cleanse will do everything for you, like build you a new kitchen. But if you’re going to put some effort into losing weight or building muscle make sure that your body is in the position to do so and not hold you back.

Even if you are not, a colon cleanse can improve your health dramatically so why not give it a go. Gain Weight Build Muscle

Fight Father Time With Strength Training

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:44:22 +0000

Creatine Build Muscle – Does Creatine Really Help Build Muscle?

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 20:48:57 +0000

Creatine Build Muscle

If you are a gym rat or bodybuilder or simply interested in beginning an exercise program you have probably heard a lot about creatine and the muscle miracles it performs. Unfortunately, most people believe that creatine helps build muscle and it does in a way, but probably not the way you are thinking. The best way to describe creatine is to say that it helps the muscles help themselves build muscle. If that is not clear enough, continue reading.

Creatine does exactly what it claims to do and that is to retain water in your muscles. This is the point of creatine and it really is effective at keeping water in the muscles. Now, what happens is when your muscles are retaining water they are in an optimal state for building new muscle. As a result, when you take creatine and water is retained in your muscles then when you weight train you will get more of an effect because your muscles are better capable of building muscle. After this period you may develop more strength and increased endurance as well. So, if you are taking creatine to help you build muscle and you understand what creatine does and how it helps you build muscle then you will not be disappointed. On the other hand, if you are taking creatine and hoping it will simply grow you bodybuilder’s muscles without putting in the work then you are mistaken. Creatine Build Muscle

The best thing to do is begin taking creatine and working out with weights on a regular routine or even with a trainer. By taking the creatine your muscles will be poised to grow and get stronger while building endurance. However, keep in mind you have to put in all the hard work and that all creatine does for you is helps your muscles retain water in order to be in a state where building muscle is easier. Over time you will see your muscles growing and should not see any loss of definition because of the retained water in your muscles. Don’t become confused about creatine building big muscles; it just helps your muscles build themselves stronger and better when you put in the work. Creatine Build Muscle

Weight Training Diet – How Can I Gain Weight Quickly and Build Muscle?

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 20:48:51 +0000

Weight Training Diet

Let me cut to the chase folks. This article intends to address the think about ‘how can I growth weight quickly’. Recently, a friend of mine asked me right now question. He is, as you can guess based on information from his question, a very skinny guy and he is desperate to put on a good deal of weight. The reason why he asked me that question is very simple – I used to be so much thin.

However, I administered to put on some weight and produce muscle in a pretty very brief period of time. If you think about it, my friend’s question is a lot more important than most people think. Society is filled with an incredibly large number of obese people who are obsessed with losing weight. So, you can find a lot of information about losing weight, but people like my friend, who are looking to gain weight, feel a little left out naturally. This is the reason why I am going to address the question how can I gain weight quickly in this article. If you are really thin and trying to gain some muscle, make sure you read this article fully. First of all, let me make something very clear.

If you are very thin, you should look to gain some weight by building muscle. In other words, you should get in shape. A lot of thin people, in the process of gaining weight, overeat and become a fat, shapeless blob and end up looking even worse. So, the solution is not just about eating lots of food, but about eating the right kind of food and exercising regularly. What Do You Eat? It is surprising to see that a large number of people actually believe that gorging on burgers, pizzas, heavy cream, and bacon is the quickest way to gain weight.

While it can certainly help you put on the pounds, it also makes you vulnerable to all sorts of health problems. The idea here is to eat a well balanced diet which not only helps you gain weight, but also makes you healthy. This is the most important thing you should keep in mind when it comes to the question how can I gain weight quickly. Your diet should consist of lean meats, fish, poultry, eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes, and whole grains.

Avoid fast foods that contain trans-fats and avoid sugary drinks. It is also a very good idea to add a good health supplement like multivitamin tablets, fish oil capsules, or protein supplements to your diet. This kind of diet contains all the nutrients that your body needs and it does not make you overweight. This has been my diet for the past two years and I have never felt better. Now, let us take a look at the next question. How Often Do You Exercise?

Like I already mentioned, the answer to the question how can I gain weight quickly is about two things – eating right and exercising regularly. Resistance training exercises in particular are very helpful for people who are looking to gain muscles quickly. It is a good idea to avoid doing a lot of aerobic exercises like running and stationary bicycling as they burn a lot of calories and make you lose weight.

You should try to focus on your large muscle groups by doing free weight exercises like dead lifts, bench presses, squats, and barbell rows. Free weights are considered a good choice by many as they put a lot of stress on your muscles and stimulate your muscle fibers. Start taking action to gain your muscles by Getting Your Weight Training Diet eBook now!

Building Muscle Fast – 2 Chest Exercise Principles to Build Muscle Fast

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 20:47:36 +0000

Building Muscle Fast

Effective chest workout should contain two sorts of exercises in shape to allow fast muscle growth. This is the force and the flys kinds of sets. Lets get chosen info on both types. Pressing works as you push the weight away of your chest in straight forward movement. This involves a lot of muscles and joints using your arm and shoulders.

It is called Compound movement exercise and it is ideal for muscle building. You can effectively control the most active part you want to work out with those simple ways:

* Controlling the grip allows you to focus of the outer and inner parts of your chest muscles. Keep in mind that the narrow your grip is the harder is going to be, and also the difficult the balance will be. This will work on your inner part of the chest.

* Wider grip allows working on the outer area of your chest. Keep also in mind too wide grip may result in injury in the shoulder. Be careful when setting your grip ratio.

* You can focus on upper and lower part of the chest by moving the weights a bit up or down compare to your chest. Use this with caution since it will become more difficult to control the weight this way.

Flys – in this one the arms extends widely and are brought together in front of your chest.

* Warning tip – never keep your hands locked straight, always have some angle between your forearm and biceps. This will ensure: One, safety of your joint and shoulder, and two, more effective set.

* This exercise includes a more muscle stretching compared to the other Press type and also is a little bit more isolated compared to the previous one. This is also excellent shaping exercise.

* Due the principle of work, flys are performed best with dumbbells. It can also be performed with cable. You can control how much your arms extend wide to increase the tension and effect.

* Also as the press you can control the position of the angle so you can focus on different parts of your chest (upper, middle, lower). Keep caution as always since you will stress other muscles this way.

* Warning tip – always extend the arms slowly! Otherwise you can create momentum that can be difficult to stop and injure your shoulders. Those two exercise types are essential for any muscle building workout. You must always include them in some form when doing your chest routine.

If you are training alone my advise is to use dumbbells so if the weight gets too heavy in the last reps you can simply drop them. Otherwise you may find yourself in bad situation. You may even injure yourself. Start taking action to gain your muscles by Getting Your Building Muscle Fast eBook now!

Strength Training is For Everybody

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 20:44:14 +0000

Weight Lifting Supplements – How Long Does it Take to Build Muscle?

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 20:47:41 +0000

Weight Lifting Supplements

How extensively does it take to build muscle? This is a common matter with person construction companies out there and one the multiple have not discovered a sufficient answer to yet. The happening is there is no hard and rapidly secret to their question. The amount of minute needed to develop muscles depend on various factors.

But the greatest factor that leads the rate of muscle development is the efforts put in by the individual and the body building plan that he is following. Not all fitness programs are created equal and individuals will be able to not have the same experience in a particular program. Weight Lifting Supplements

If you want to develop muscles fast, then it may be necessary for you to experiment on the different fitness programs that are available for you out there to see what will work for you best and produce the best and the fastest results. Nutrition also plays a big part in determining how fast an individual will develop muscles. The use of supplements may be useful but people should focus first in ensuring proper nutrition before thinking of taking food supplements.

You may already know that protein is essential in building muscles. But the protein that you will consume should come from lean meats. Consuming lean protein right after a workout is essential for quick muscle developments. These are just some of the answers to the question how long does it take to build muscle. Just follow the tips above and you will surely be having a hard body in a short span of time. Start taking action to gain your muscles by Getting Your Weight Lifting Supplements eBook now!

Learn How to Get Six Pack Abs Fast With These Simple Ab Workouts

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 21:44:11 +0000

I am sure any man is looking to get six pack abs fast and this article will help started right away. Losing belly fat is not easy but it is possible if you follow the correct exercises and have a proper nutrition.It is important that you always warm up before every session, it increases your blood circulation and prepares your muscles for the actual exercise. When you warm your body up you’ll notice that you are able to handle the weights a lot easier and prevent possible injuries, therefore never forget this step.The Ab CrunchAn easy exercise to get a six pack quick is the “Ab Crunch”. You need a mat to perform this one. Lay on the mat with your knees slightly bent and the hands at the back of your head. Slowly lift your head up from the mat (8-10 inches) and hold it there for five seconds. (you should feel your muscles contract)The Hanging Leg RaisesAnother easy exercise that aids you achieve a quick six pack is the “Hanging Leg Raises” which is supposed to help you get rid of the excess fat on your stomach and build muscle at the same time on the lower abs which in fact is the hardest to build. Here how to perform this exercise: All you need is a chin up bar, grab it with your hands and slowly bring your feet to your waist area. You should feel your midsection muscles contract, keep your legs there for 5 seconds and release slowly. (Do 15 reps on each session).Apart from these two exercises a proper nutrition is important to get a quick six pack. If you are serious about getting a firm and flat abdomen you should be doing these exercises at least 15 minutes each day and you will slowly accomplish your goals.Joining a solid fitness program is another great way to lose belly fat and get six pack abs fast. One of the most popular fitness programs online is “The Truth About Six Pack Abs” by Mike Geary which you may want to give a try.