6th part

Read 5th part here:
MUSCLE BUILDING AND NUTRITION:DISGUISED UNHEALTHY FOODS

Till now in this series of articles devoted to effective muscle building we saw :

- that muscle building concerns the general population and not only certain groups of people.We saw in other words that it is not a luxury but a real necessity.

-some strategic principles of supportive nutrition which we accepted as a very important determinant for proper muscle building.

 -that supplementation is a real waste of money-at least for the ordinary fitness enthusiasts.

 -the biggest nutrition no-nos

-the most important nutrition yes-yes

-and finally the top nutrition traps which are unhealthy foods disguised as healthy, usually for humble profit seeking reasons.

Now it is high time to speak about the training part of the equation. Strategic principles of strength training

1. General axiom:aim for simplicity.Learn to appreciate the magnificence of simplicity.

2. Prefer free weights which can tax the totality of your muscles in the most appropriate way. A pair of adjustable dumbbells would be fine.

3. Keep your workouts short:20′-30′.But they should be really intense:decent loading of the muscles and minimal breaks.

 4. Aim for three workouts per week.If it is hard for you, go at least for two and never for less.

 5. Forget about split workouts.You are not a bodybuilder!Go for total body workouts.

 6. The best range of repetitions if you want to build some muscle mass is 6-8 per set. So you will have to adjust your weights accordingly.

If you aim for strength development you should go for less.Conversely ,if you seek muscle endurance you should go for more repetitions.

Attention!:a big number of repetitions won’t bring muscle definition as many people erroneously thing.

Muscle definition is mostly a matter of low fat percentage. Make sure that you read my article: “Muscle definition:the absolute article”.

 7. Prefer to perform only compound/multijoint exercises which tax big muscle groups and more joints .These exercises are the best investment for your limited time.

The best movements are the classic ones: squats,lunges,deadlifts,presses and rows.

Things are simple and it’s contrary to our interests to make them seem more complex!

8.Don’t forget symmetry.If you train one group of muscles don’t forget to train the antagonists as well.

9. Don’t fall into the trap of overtraining.Balance quality with quantity.

10. Challenge yourself to brake some records.Excellent motivation indeed! You will need to coordinate body and mind. Make full exploitation of your most powerful weapon:your mind!

11. Pay due attention to the basics:excellent style,warm up and cooling down with some static stretching,blah blah blah.. ..

12. Last but not least:if you are struggling to build muscle you will have to limit long ,strenuous cardio.Opt instead for short but real intense HIIT workouts.These workouts will help you save muscle while shedding fat.Sprints are excellent!

 Conclusion Lousy nutrition habits are a conspicuous violation of the muscle building laws. Eat right ,train smart,watch your cardio ritual and muscle development will be a logical consequence!

Don’t omit to read all six instalments of this article!

End of 6th part

Chris Strogilis

One of the greatest things about doing kettlebell workout routines is that the equipment you use is so small and compact even if you live in a really small apartment, you have room to store it.  You don’t need a whole bunch of kettlebells, you really only need one.  And the other thing is that you can workout inside, outside, wherever you can move around just a little bit.  You can keep your kettlebell in the trunk of your car and take it with you anywhere.

One of the best exercises for your kettlebell workout routines would be the kettlebell swing or double-handed swing.  The kettlebell swing will work not only your glutes and hamstrings, but also your abs.  How you perform the kettlebell swing is but squatting down and grabbing the kettlebell with both hands.  Keep your shoulder back, head up and face forward.  As you stand up, swing the kettlebell out in front of you at chest height, paying close attention not to shrug your shoulders.  As the same time, you are straightening your legs, and pushing your hips forward.  Then, on the downswing, you once again go into the squat position, swinging the kettlebell downward and back through your legs.

Another great exercise to add to your kettlebell workout routines is the single-handed swing.  Essentially it’s done the same way as the double-handed swing, except you use one hand and swing the kettlebell up the same way for about 20 seconds or 10 reps.  Then you rest for about 20 seconds and use the other arm.

There are many other kettlebell workout routines out there, so check for more articles about doing various routines for various goals.  Whether you are male or female, looking to burn fat or increase muscle, you can find kettlebell workout routines that are exactly right for you.

Building muscle mass is not a luxury.It is a necessity!!

Chris

Whether you are a 20 year stallion or a 60 year housewife you will need muscle mass to confront small everyday challenges and fulfil your duties however humble might they be!

I consider strength training and muscle mass development as an absolute must for every man and woman of whatever age!

The reasons are firm:

-better physical appearance(any volunteers?),improved posture.

-better physical performance.

-enhanced self -confidence,self-esteem,self-worth!

-higher basal metabolic rate since muscle mass is much more metabolically active than fat!

-fat reduction usually accompanies muscle gain

-muscles are the engines of our body!With stronger engines we are bound to have a better performance in our work,common daily duties and chores,beloved hobbies and sports,sexual activities (I have just blushed scarlet!),etc.

With a more efficient powerhouse we can feel and be more alive!

-stronger and denser bones,stronger tendons and ligaments.Reduced danger for osteoporosis.

-improved cardiovascular health.Strength training has been found to help reduce Low Density Lipoprotein or LPL (the bad guy,what we call bad cholesterol).At the same time it is beneficial for the good guy:LDL

-lower blood pressure

-as we age-we won’t be young for ever,shall we?-muscle loss and body fat increase are inevitable consequences as long as we are not engaged in some kind of strength training. I strongly urge you to keep this in mind since years flow like water!

Muscle loss decreases life quality in a dramatic way!

I have a strong conviction that all people can enjoy a vibrant life until their very late years!But they will have to include strength training in their every day rituals!

-stronger muscles and joints will function as shock absorbers to prevent from injuries. This is critical for aged people

-improved balance ,stability and coordination

-strength trainining shows an inverse correlation with obesity.

As one can easily conclude strength training is not an option but a must!

Muscle development needs mainly two things:

- the right supportive nutrition

-an effective strength training program

Nutrition is a domain that many people ignore.Nutritional mistakes halt the progress towards muscle development for many fitness enthusiasts.
What’s more, nutrition is by far the most important parameter for novices at muscle building.These people could achieve spectacular results with only minor adjustments to their nutrition strategy and tactics!!

Muscle development and nutrition

1. If you need to gain some muscle mass your first concern is to create a slight caloric surplus.

Though,you will have to move very cautiously if you want to minimize the possibilities of fat storage.

Thus,while some fat gain is inevitable in this phase, you could control it by taking the appropriate measures:

-the caloric surplus should be slight

-the caloric surplus should be gradual :start with a 10% increase over your caloric maintenance level and make it bigger when and if you reach a plateau.

2. Meals frequency is of strategic importance.

Spread your daily caloric intake into 5-6 equivalent meals and try to eat every about 3 hours.Include a premium protein source in every meal otherwise your body might cannibalize its own muscle tissue!Some benefits of frequent eating-among many else-are:

-your metabolism is boosted into high gear

-you are never hungry and the danger to pig-out is minimal

-you have a constant flow of nutritional constituents and energy

-your blood sugar and insulin levels are kept under control

-there are less possibilities for fat storage

3. How much protein? For an average fitness enthusiast-who is actually the “target group” of my articles-2gr of premium source protein per kg of body weight will suffice.

If you are a bodybuilder you will definetely need more (but these articles are not addressed to bodybuilders anyway!)

4. Protein sources:just good plain food.Please refer to my article:”Fitness/exercise:nutrition to boost your results”.

I am a strong opponent of any kind of supplementation and a fervent advocate of feeding only on unprocessed,unrefined,natural foods!!

5. Supplementation:

I will put it explicitly: don’t be suckers!Don’t even touch the chemical,man-made supplements!

You can perfectly -and you should – receive all the necessary micronutrients from whole,real foods amply provided by mother nature.

A real food is something much more complex than the total of its constituents.It is a unique combination of nutrients which work synergistically to satisfy our nutritional needs in the most efficient and idoneous way.

You don’t have to part with your hard-earned money only to buy garbage that eventually will harm you!

Eat abundant quantities of vegetables and if you have some money to spare go for organics.

6. And what should my nutrition base be?

We have touched on this subject many times. Please take a look here:

FITNESS/EXERCISE:NUTRITION TO BOOST YOUR RESULTS

I will limit myself here to the biggest no-nos and yes-yes.

Supportive nutrition:biggest no-nos

-white flour

-table sugar

-high fructose corn syrup

-artificial sweeteners

-hydrogenated oils(trans fats)

-sodas and all typical sugary refreshments

-visible fat in red meats

-processed meats and fish that contain sodium nitrite.Also sausages,hot dogs and the like

- all candies and pastries

-white bread

-white pasta

-white rice

-fried oils

-margarin

-all foods that contain substantial amounts of monosodium glutamate

-all deep fried foods:French fries,potato chips,doughnuts etc.They are full with acrylamide and trans-fats

-all types of canned soups

-mayonnaise and similar oily condiments and dressings

-all commercial baked foods:biscuits,cookies,cakes,bagels,croissants etc.

Supportive nutrition:biggest yes-yes

-all kinds of vegetables in season.I eat broccoli nearly every day.

-all fruits but in moderation due to their high sugar content.Prefer to take your antioxidants from vegetables which are nutritionally denser

exceptions(you can eat more from these):cranberries and most types of berries,pomegranates

-whole eggs:you can eat at least two yolks/day.Yolk protein is really valuable.

Additionally yolk contains precious choline for your mind as well as lutein and zeaxanthin which can play a serious role in the prevention of macular degeneration.

Don’t buy into the myth of high cholesterol! This myth has been debunked from the findings of multiple studies.

Try to find omega-3 eggs.

-sunflower and pumpkin seeds(I keep a reservation for flax seeds)

- mixed raw nuts

-avocados(they belong to fruits!)

-extra virgin(cold pressed) olive oil

-turkey and chicken breasts

-low fat cottage cheese

-low fat plain yogurt with active live cultures.Avoid funny alternatives as frozen yogurt,yogurt with fruits and tons of artificial sweeteners etc.

If you have a creative imagination you can try endless combinations with yogurt,raw nuts,seeds,fresh or dried berries etc.

-wild fatty fish and especially the miraculous,humble sardines.

Sardines are a real food treasure: they contain omega -3 fatty acids, the much rare coenzyme Q10,selenium,calcium,phosphorus ,iron,potassium vitamin D and premium quality protein.

The best thing is that they contain practically zero mercury, a poison that has completely changed our tuna-eating habits.

6. In the third part of this comprehensive article on the appropriate nutrition for muscle building we recited very succintly and explicitly the big nutrition no-nos.

It’s much easier to fight an enemy if you can see him!

But what happens if the enemy is lurking in the durk seeking to devour on first chance your precious muscle earnings?

And-much worse-if he is disguised as a caring friend?

This is our subject for today!

Unhealthy foods disguised as healthy

6.1. Tuna fish:

I quote its name and my heart pains because tuna is -or better was-one of my most favourite dishes.Cheap,convenient,available everywhere and highly nutritional.
The big concern with tuna is its relatively high content in toxic mercury. Recent research both in Europe and in the USA have found mercury levels in tuna fish to be alarmingly high.

I suggest that you should do your own research because mercury levels differ from sea to sea and from kind to kind.Depending on your weight, check your safe consumption rate.

I have switched to sardines. Luckily in Greece they are abundant,cheap and of excellent quality.

Sardines practically contain zero mercury because of their small size and their short life. They are a gift from the sea for us.Humble but of inestimable value!

6.2. Protein bars or energy bars

While you can find few products with a decent quality and nutritional value ,most of them are mere rubbish.
They are full with table sugar,artificial sweeteners,high fructose corn syrup,highly processed soya protein isolate,hydrogenated oils(trans-fats) and the like!

Search very carefully in order to find bars of acceptable quality. Double check the labels!

Most producers market energy/protein bars as nutritionally sound alternatives of meals with real food.

Alas,this is far from the truth!

Unprocessed,unrefined,natural food is what our bodies really need and deserve!Our human engines need the right kind of quality fuel in order to function well and to their maximum potential.

Why eat a bar with added protein and fiber of questionable quality when we can have the real thing naturally packed with excellent quality protein while accompanied by tenths of indispensable micronutrients?

Keep protein or energy bars only for emergency situations and plan ahead so as these emergency situations should be kept to a minimum.Don’t use them to justify your lousy eating habits!!

6.3. Sports drinks:

Most sports drinks are nothing more than artificially colored,sugary water.

The only established fact with these products is that they bring crazy profits to their producers!

Ah,another one is that they make your wallet lighter!

Or is it the same thing?

It doesn’t stop to amaze me how easily,evidently sane people leave themselves to be deliberately misled!!

Is it a kind of collective paranoia the fact that we deny to discern the obvious , namely that we are overtly suckered?

Or is it our illogical,extravagant desire for quick and easy fixes?

In a future entry we will see simple recipes for nice,homemade sports drinks.

6.4. Breakfast cereals

Despite their pretentious and highly pompous claims many breakfast cereals are nothing else but well concealed cereal killers.

Those marketed more heavily have most often the poorer nutritional value.

The majority of the products :

-are based on refined grains and the quantity of fibers is minimal

-have excessive sugar content

-use fancy artificial colorings

-contain big amounts of salts(sodium)

-contain saturated or/and hydrogenated fats

Be very careful to select breakfast cereals of the proper quality. Leave taste aside and search for nutrition.They should be based on whole grains with minimal salt ,sugar and trans fats content.Don’t fall victims to the marketing hype!

6.5.Many fat free products:

To compensate for the lack of taste these products are loaded with sugar,high fructose corn syrup-brrrr!- or artificial sweeteners.

6.7. Many sugar free products:

They are packed with saturated fats or trans fats from hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils.

6.8. Commercially packaged fruit juices:

Though generally they won’t harm you,they have very little to offer you either. No fibers,very few vitamins and quite a lot of empty calories.

You can instead opt for homemade, freshly squeezed juices. By far the best option is to eat the whole fruit .

This will give you valuable fibers plus a satiety feeling.

In general try to avoid liquid calories.

6.9. Fruit smoothies:

Usually they won’t differ a lot from a milk shake,packed with sugars,fats and dead calories.

6.10. Liquid meal replacements:

Use them sparingly and only in case of emergency. One or two meals at the most per week. If you want real results go for real food!

Till now in this series of articles devoted to effective muscle building we saw :

- that muscle building concerns the general population and not only certain groups of people.We saw in other words that it is not a luxury but a real necessity.

-some strategic principles of supportive nutrition which we accepted as a very important determinant for proper muscle building.

-that supplementation is a real waste of money-at least for the ordinary fitness enthusiasts.

-the biggest nutrition no-nos

-the most important nutrition yes-yes

-and finally the top nutrition traps which are unhealthy foods disguised as healthy, usually for humble profit seeking reasons.

Now it is high time to speak about the training part of the equation.

Strategic principles of strength training

1. General axiom:aim for simplicity.Learn to appreciate the magnificence of simplicity.

2. Prefer free weights which can tax the totality of your muscles in the most appropriate way. A pair of adjustable dumbbells would be fine.

3. Keep your workouts short:20′-30′.But they should be really intense:decent loading of the muscles and minimal breaks.

4. Aim for three workouts per week.If it is hard for you, go at least for two and never for less.

5. Forget about split workouts.You are not a bodybuilder!Go for total body workouts.

6. The best range of repetitions if you want to build some muscle mass is 6-8 per set. So you will have to adjust your weights accordingly.

If you aim for strength development you should go for less.Conversely ,if you seek muscle endurance you should go for more repetitions.

Attention!:a big number of repetitions won’t bring muscle definition as many people erroneously thing.

Muscle definition is mostly a matter of low fat percentage.
Make sure that you read my article: “Muscle definition:the absolute article”.

7. Prefer to perform only compound/multijoint exercises which tax big muscle groups and more joints .These exercises are the best investment for your limited time.

The best movements are the classic ones: squats,lunges,deadlifts,presses and rows.

Things are simple and it’s contrary to our interests to make them seem more complex!

8.Don’t forget symmetry.If you train one group of muscles don’t forget to train the antagonists as well.

9. Don’t fall into the trap of overtraining.Balance quality with quantity.

10. Challenge yourself to brake some records.Excellent motivation indeed! You will need to coordinate body and mind. Make full exploitation of your most powerful weapon:your mind!

11. Pay due attention to the basics:excellent style,warm up and cooling down with some static stretching,blah blah blah..
..

12. Last but not least:if you are struggling to build muscle you will have to limit long ,strenuous cardio.Opt instead for short but real intense HIIT workouts.These workouts will help you save muscle while shedding fat.Sprints are excellent!

Conclusion

Lousy nutrition habits are a conspicuous violation of the muscle building laws.
Eat right ,train smart,watch your cardio ritual and muscle development will be a logical consequence!

Chris Strogilis

I highly recommend getting a basic setup at home for those times, or you can even use this exclusively.  I personally always workout at home and it has its advantages.  You don’t have to wait for the next station or machine on your routine at home.  This is very important in relation to pulling the maximum cardiovascular benefits out of the same muscle building and fat burning workout…keeping your time between exercises down to 60 seconds or less. 

Home workouts are also great for those that might be a bit intimidated by working out with weights in public at the gym.  If you feel this way, don’t fret, you’re not alone.  This is especially true for some of the ladies, as weight training is traditionally thought of as the guy’s territory in the fitness center.  Nothing could be further from the truth, but if you’d rather perform you fat burning workout at home, then do it!

Now, when working out properly, like I teach my Fat Burning Furnace students, you’re only exercising for 2-3 days per week, but if you’re workout day falls on a day when you’re out of town, what to do? 

Yeah, you could try and find a local gym to go to, but that can be a hassle.  There are actually several fat burning bodyweight exercises you can do without the use of any equipment. 

Movements like the pushup, chin-ups, sit-ups, etc. can provide enough muscle stimulation to keep you conditioned until you get back home.  You’re using your bodyweight as the resistance, rather than dumbbells, barbells, or machines. 

So don’t let those standard excuses work their way into your vocabulary…you can get a great fat burning workout wherever you are, anytime!

Every ounce of fat you are carrying on your body got there through your mouth!  Don’t believe it?  Well how else did it get there?  Did someone sew it onto your belly?

No.  It is a result of what you have eaten.

So, how do you lose weight?  Quite obviously, stop stuffing so much through your mouth!

Now, this is going to mean a lifestyle change and that is not easy to maintain.  It can be just as hard as giving up other addictions such as smoking.

It can be done if you really want to … but it will take time.

Firstly, reduce your serving size.  No need to make a drastic change to your diet to begin … just eat 20% less.  Use smaller dishes.  Drink more water.

Secondly, as your stomach (and mind) get used to smaller meals you can then gradually introduce one of the better fat burning weight loss diet and exercise programs … and if you are really serious about losing weight you will need all the encouragement you can get from one of the better programs.

You will be guided to tasty and healthy, low calorie meals that will speed your weight loss and help you to maintain your desired weight and a well designed exercise routine will help you burn the fat and improve your mobility.

“I just don’t have time to get to the gym!”  you say.  Well that really shouldn’t be a problem once you understand how you can get a proper fat burning workout done with basic or minimal equipment.

In order to get a great high intensity fat burning workout that stimulates the growth of lean muscle tissue, accelerates your metabolism and fat burning, and provides cardiovascular conditioning…you should perform a variety of exercises that work all of your major muscle groups in the same workout.

You don’t need fancy equipment or a membership at a hot fitness club.  All you need for your fat burning workout is good old-fashioned dumbbells…or less.  You can work your entire body from head to toe with a good set of adjustable dumbbells and a simple bench.  In fact, movements like pushups, chin-ups, sit-ups, etc. can  provide great muscle stimulation  by using your bodyweight as the resistance, rather than dumbbells, barbells, or machines.

Change your lifestyle and get rid of that belly fat permanently.  You put it there and only you can get rid of it.  Brutal?  Yes, but true.

The end result will be a new you.  Trim, taught and terrific!

The more lean muscle tissue you have, the more calories you burn at rest and on the move. The more muscle tissue you possess, the more energy your body will require to maintain that muscle.

It gets that needed energy from burning and utilizing calories. And again, the more calories you burn, the more likely fat loss to occur.

Muscle is a very metabolically active tissue. It takes a lot of work for your body to maintain it. Fat, on the other hand, takes no work to maintain. It just sits there, lumped together like, well, fat.

This is an important concept in weight loss because the more lean muscle tissue you can build, the more calories that will be burned off, without you having to do any extra work. Your muscle will burn off more calories 24/7 than if you didn’t have that extra lean muscle.

This makes the case for why weight training, also known as resistance training, is so important to include in any weight loss program. Simply because if you can add a couple pounds of lean muscle to your frame, you’re going to burn off more calories, even while sleeping, than if you didn’t have that extra muscle.

The more calories you burn off at rest, the more likely that the calories burned off during exercise will create a calorie deficit in your body. A calorie deficit is a must for weight loss to occur.

Remember how weight gain occurs from consuming more calories than your body burns off during the day. Since there is no deficit of calories, your body does not have to dip into stored body fat to get energy. In fact, due to the surplus, it stores the extra calories as body fat.

If you create a calorie deficit, meaning, your body has used all of the energy from calories it has received from food and it still needs more (like to support muscle tissue) it is going to go after your fat stores to get that energy.

Fat is a highly condensed form of energy. So, when your body starts taking fat from fat stores to use as energy, that is how weight loss occurs.

Weight training may benefit any weight loss program, possibly more than any other component.

Weight training can be a future investment for permanent weight loss and weight maintenance because as you continue to lose stored body fat and gain lean muscle, your muscle will continue to aid in the calorie burning process.

As there becomes less stored body fat to use as energy, the muscle tissue will start to directly utilize the calories you consume on a daily basis.

Since there is now more muscle tissue than there is fat to utilize calories, chances of storing any excess calories as body fat is greatly reduced.

Resistance training may offer the most benefit of all to women past the age of menopause. It can help prevent or reverse the effects of osteoporosis by strengthening and maintaining bone density often lost by diet alone.

So how much resistance training is necessary for long-term weight loss to be successful and to increase your lean muscle and strength? Not as much as you would probably think.

In fact, any more weight/resistance training than 2 to 3 hours a week may be counterproductive.

The best results I have witnessed while in the personal training field come from 3 sessions a week with weights, less than an hour each session.

Most people like the Monday, Wednesday, Friday approach to weight training. This leaves Tuesday and Thursday for cardio, which should be done separately from weight training.

Keep your weight training routine simple. It is more productive to focus effectively on a few tasks (exercises) than it is to work out with less intensity on many different ones.

On each set, try to progressively add a little more weight each time. Keep records of your weight lifts so you can try to outdo (progress) each and every workout!

Again, for the many weight loss and weight management benefits of weight training to occur, you do not have to stay for hours in the gym.

Give yourself 2 hours a week to do some form of resistance training.

If you cannot make it to a gym, invest in a pair of weight-adjustable dumbbells purchased from a nearby department store that you can use at home.

In fact, for less than the cost of a 3 month gym membership, you could probably purchase a great home gym set up with a couple pairs of dumbbells and maybe a bench and mat.

If that is even not within budget, simply lift what you have around the house, like water jugs (full, of course) or soup cans, or rocks from the garden.

Resistance is resistance and having your body progressively lift heavier weight will force it to become stronger and adapt to this demand placed upon it.

When you force your body to adapt to this resistance, it does so by creating new muscle tissue growth to handle the weight.

With this new tissue growth comes a new need for energy to maintain this muscle tissue. That is when stored fat is used and burned off.

That’s why weight training is the best tool for losing fat and building muscle.

The more lean muscle tissue you have, the more calories you burn at rest and on the move. The more muscle tissue you possess, the more energy your body will require to maintain that muscle.

It gets that needed energy from burning and utilizing calories. And again, the more calories you burn, the more likely fat loss to occur.

Muscle is a very metabolically active tissue. It takes a lot of work for your body to maintain it. Fat, on the other hand, takes no work to maintain. It just sits there, lumped together like, well, fat.

This is an important concept in weight loss because the more lean muscle tissue you can build, the more calories that will be burned off, without you having to do any extra work. Your muscle will burn off more calories 24/7 than if you didn’t have that extra lean muscle.

This makes the case for why weight training, also known as resistance training, is so important to include in any weight loss program. Simply because if you can add a couple pounds of lean muscle to your frame, you’re going to burn off more calories, even while sleeping, than if you didn’t have that extra muscle.

The more calories you burn off at rest, the more likely that the calories burned off during exercise will create a calorie deficit in your body. A calorie deficit is a must for weight loss to occur.

Click to Get Best Calorie Shifting Fat Burning System

Remember how weight gain occurs from consuming more calories than your body burns off during the day. Since there is no deficit of calories, your body does not have to dip into stored body fat to get energy. In fact, due to the surplus, it stores the extra calories as body fat.

If you create a calorie deficit, meaning, your body has used all of the energy from calories it has received from food and it still needs more (like to support muscle tissue) it is going to go after your fat stores to get that energy.

Fat is a highly condensed form of energy. So, when your body starts taking fat from fat stores to use as energy, that is how weight loss occurs.

Weight training may benefit any weight loss program, possibly more than any other component.

Weight training can be a future investment for permanent weight loss and weight maintenance because as you continue to lose stored body fat and gain lean muscle, your muscle will continue to aid in the calorie burning process.

As there becomes less stored body fat to use as energy, the muscle tissue will start to directly utilize the calories you consume on a daily basis.

Since there is now more muscle tissue than there is fat to utilize calories, chances of storing any excess calories as body fat is greatly reduced.

Resistance training may offer the most benefit of all to women past the age of menopause. It can help prevent or reverse the effects of osteoporosis by strengthening and maintaining bone density often lost by diet alone.

So how much resistance training is necessary for long-term weight loss to be successful and to increase your lean muscle and strength? Not as much as you would probably think.

In fact, any more weight/resistance training than 2 to 3 hours a week may be counterproductive.

The best results I have witnessed while in the personal training field come from 3 sessions a week with weights, less than an hour each session.

Most people like the Monday, Wednesday, Friday approach to weight training. This leaves Tuesday and Thursday for cardio, which should be done separately from weight training.

Click to Get Best Calorie Shifting Fat Burning System

Keep your weight training routine simple. It is more productive to focus effectively on a few tasks (exercises) than it is to work out with less intensity on many different ones.

On each set, try to progressively add a little more weight each time. Keep records of your weight lifts so you can try to outdo (progress) each and every workout!

Again, for the many weight loss and weight management benefits of weight training to occur, you do not have to stay for hours in the gym.

Give yourself 2 hours a week to do some form of resistance training.

If you cannot make it to a gym, invest in a pair of weight-adjustable dumbbells purchased from a nearby department store that you can use at home.

In fact, for less than the cost of a 3 month gym membership, you could probably purchase a great home gym set up with a couple pairs of dumbbells and maybe a bench and mat.

If that is even not within budget, simply lift what you have around the house, like water jugs (full, of course) or soup cans, or rocks from the garden.

Resistance is resistance and having your body progressively lift heavier weight will force it to become stronger and adapt to this demand placed upon it.

When you force your body to adapt to this resistance, it does so by creating new muscle tissue growth to handle the weight.

With this new tissue growth comes a new need for energy to maintain this muscle tissue. That is when stored fat is used and burned off.

That’s why weight training is the best tool for losing fat and building muscle.

Click to Get Best Calorie Shifting Fat Burning System

Now I use low cost equipment and get heaps better results. I can go outside and train, or I can train in front of the television. I can train in the living room and watch the kids at the same time. Or I can pack it all up and take it to the park and train with friends and clients in a different setting. No longer am I stuck in the study. And as I said, the results have been amazing. So what do I use?

First off I would recommend a good set of adjustable dumbbells. You know the ones where you can add or remove weight plates as required. I actually have a couple of sets. One I keep quite heavy for use with leg exercises and one set that I change around a lot more depending on what exercises I am doing. These will probably be your most expensive purchase, but you will use them over and over. There are so many different ways to use them and you can easily work your whole body in any number of ways. Almost any exercise can be done with a set of dumbbells.

Another piece of fitness equipment I use a lot are my medicine balls. There are so many different ways to use medicine balls too. You can get them quite cheap at large sporting goods stores or from the internet. I use a 4kg one and a 6 kg one. I use these in every session with my Personal Training clients and Bootcamps too. They are great to use on your own or for partner work.

One of my most used pieces of equipment is a step. I had a friend build me one from some timber he had laying around. It is about 12 inches high and wide and about 4 foot long. Clients can get on either end of it and step up and down together. It is amazing how much harder they can go with someone else to keep up with. The step combines well with the dumbbells or the medicine ball for step ups, step downs, sideways step ups, lungeing off the box or onto the box or even dips off the side. You can also jump on and off the box or even use it to do push ups with. Put your hands on it to make them easier, or your feet to make it harder. Clients that find it hard to get up and down from the floor, can even do ab exercises on it and it doubles as a bench as well. To improve fitness, a step is invaluable.

Another cheap piece of fitness equipment is the humble skipping rope. Uses are obvious and you will be surprised how hard it is if you haven’t tried it lately. If you persist though, you will improve your fitness really quickly with regular jump rope sessions and they are great for weight loss too.

There are many other inexpensive items to include in your home gym set up. These can include resistance bands which are great to take on holidays and yoga type mats which come in real handy when training outside on hard surfaces. Kettlebells are a great item to have, but they can be quite expensive so search around for them. There are many suppliers on the net. I use them a lot in my training sessions and my clients love them too. There are many kettlebell exercises for either strength development, endurance improvement or fat burning, and they work really, really well.

These are just some of the inexpensive ways to equip your home gym. Don’t be fooled into thinking you need an expensive pinloaded weight machine. All of my clients, not to mention myself, have fantastic results without them.

There are two different types of exercise positions within the resistance-training realm. One type is the isotonic exercises, which are movements of a specific body part moving against a force, and isometric exercises are movements in which the body (or part of the body) is holding still against the force.

There are different ways in which resistance training can be performed for your overall health and well being. For instance, weight lifting, which is a large part of resistance training, can help you. These are the best type of resistance exercises, which help you build muscle. In fact, you can perform nearly your entire workout with a pair of adjustable dumbbells (the smaller ones that look like miniature barbells) and set of weight disks.

Many people start out using weight disks that are as light as five pounds each. You can also find some that are less than five pounds each, but these are usually ones that are not adjustable or interchangeable (There are two types of dumbbells, one is the fixed weight kind, and the other is the already mentioned adjustable kind). Both of these types have a specific purpose, which is to provide you with a force that you can work against to increase skeletal muscle strength and size.

Usually in order to lose weight while engaging in resistance training, it is recommended that you combine the weight training with certain aerobic exercises. Many times you can jog with weights, or complete certain step routines with them. In order to make it easier for you to use weights during high-impact exercise such as aerobic routines or jogging, it is usually easier to use weights, which you can fasten to your wrists and/or ankles.

Other types of resistance training include exercise machines, both those that have weights on them and those that do not. The ones with the weights on them add an extra force in which to help you work up a sweat quite a bit faster, depending upon the speed in which you do them. A unique type of device that is much like an exercise machine is the swimming machine, which is a small basin of water in which the user swims in place, similar to how someone would if that person was fighting for his or her life.

Other exercise devices that provide a degree of resistance are stair climbing machines and even treadmills. Any exercises where you are completing rapid motions within a confined area can not only help you with muscle formation but it can also help you burn excess calories. The degree of resistance of each type of exercise machine varies, and also depends upon how the user sets the resistance level on each machine.

Another type of resistance is the use of the humans own body weight. The most common example of this is when a person does push-ups. These can be the full push-ups in which the knees do not touch the ground, the half push-ups in which the knees touch the ground, and an alternative style pushup, in which a person starts out with their buttocks to the ground sitting up. These help build a persons arm muscles.

Sit-ups and crunches (like sit-ups but only lifting your head half way, often with your hands behind your back) often provide an amount of resistance to your abdominal area. Again, any type of resistance exercise can help you lose weight if you are performing them at a fast enough pace in which you will be able to burn calories and fat.

All of the above exercises should be performed at 60 percent of the persons maximum heart rate level. This is measured by taking your pulse and knowing what your pulse rate should be for someone your age, weight, and health. You can find free pulse rate calculators online, and you can find ways to figure out what your ideal pulse rate mathematically. You can also either check your pulse while you are exercising by hand or with the use of a pulse rate indicator.

You will benefit from any combination of the above exercises. If you are exercising for the first time in a long time you will need to take some precautions, however. Make sure that you start out slowly. This means you need to complete stretching exercises of all your major muscle groups (torso, legs, neck, arms, etc.) and then start your exercises at a walking pace, and gradually move faster and faster. Soon you will be working your body at a steady and moderate to brisk pace, and this is when you will burn the most calories.

If you follow all of the above tips while establishing a proper resistance training routine you will be able to lose weight before you know it. Furthermore, you will have a better quality of life.

There are a few basics for every home gym, and the cost of these will likely reach one to two thousand dollars for everything. But when one considers the advantages – complete privacy, convenience, and never having to pay a membership fee again – it can be a very good investment.

Power cage

At a cost of under $200, this machine is useful for squatting safely. Get one.

Chin bar/Dip machine

Available from Sports Authority for $120 or so, this station allows the bodybuilder to complete chest dips, chin-ups, and wide-grip pullups.

Adjustable bench with leg attachment

This is essential, at a cost of under $200 Flat and incline bench press, lying leg curls and leg extensions, as well as all free weight barbell and dumbbell movements

Olympia weight set

A 300 pound weight set (found many places for around $100) should suffice most lifters. Purchase additional 45 pound plates as needed.

Dumbbells

Adjustable dumbbells are available at high costs. Plain hex dumbbells run about .25 per pound. Pick up more as you grow into them!

Rubber floor mat tiles

Purchased at any Wal-Mart for around $20, these will protect the floor from damage incurred with movements like the deadlift, as well as anytime a weight is dropped.

CD Player

One of the boons of working out at home is that you don’t have to settle for soft rock piped out of the gym house stereo system, and you don’t have to worry about tangled wires or dead batteries with an mp3 player. You can listen to whatever you want at whatever volume you choose.

Remember, this is a huge investment, so don’t tackle it until you know you can commit to it. Buy quality, as this equipment can last you a lifetime. Add mirrors, progress charts, and other items to personalize the place. Calf machines, triceps pushdown machines, and others should be added every few months as budget allows for it. Enjoy it – you are now the king of the gym!