Archive for August, 2011
Targeting Upper Abdominals
If abdominals came in a can everyone would have a six pack. In the real world having an enviable midsection requires a real commitment not only to a training program that includes unless youre genetically gifted plenty of aerobics but also a diet that carefully monitors macronutrient ratios and total calories.
We all know that extra body fat diminishes the nuances of toned muscle but even a little jelly on the belly will wipe those abdominal contours clean out of sight. Its been said that if you want great looking abdominals you have to live hungry. That may or may not be true. Start with a visual check of your upper abdominals generally considered easier to develop and show than the lower abdominal region. If you cant see definition youll be starting at square one.
Before reading our bodybuilders top picks to work the upper abdominals determine how much aerobic exercise you do in relation to the amount of calories you consume. For most competitive bodybuilders aerobic training is de rigeuer ranging from 30 minutes three times a week in the off season to 60 90 minutes nearly every day come competition time.
Beginners should start with 10 minutes of cardio after their workout three times a week for two weeks. Increase the cardio training to 15 minutes three times a week for another 2 weeks eventually working your way up to 60 minutes. This will really confuse your body and give you the best fat burning results in the shortest possible time. Be sure to start at a low intensity about 50 60 of your maximal heart rate working up to 80.
You need to train your abdominals ferociously. Here are a few tips to help pop open your own sixpack.
Seated Knee Ups
Sit on the edge of a chair or bench lean back slightly and hang onto the edges for support. As you lift your legs bring them slowly into your chest. Get into a groove or rhythm because you want to really feel the movement.
Cable Crunches
Grasp the rope above your head and get on your knees. Begin to come forward and crunch your abdominals to the point where your elbows almost touch your knees.
Exercise Ball
Lie with your back on an exercise ball feet flat on the ground. Place your hands behind your head and lift your torso half way up. This looks like half crunches and thats really the range in which your abdominals are working. More range than that at the top and you bring your hip flexors into play. At the bottom you may get a greater range of motion. The movement is very small but the burn is really intense.
Bench Press Crunch
Lie on your back on a bench and lift your legs up 90 degrees bend them at the knees and support it over the weight bar. Raise your upper torso only 4 5 inches. When you do this crunch you should be squeezing so hard that youre almost cramping. Do it really slow to feel the burn. Put your hand on your midsection so you can tell if youre working your upper abdominals. To increase the burn hold it at the top for a count of up to four.
About the writer: Sandra Prior has been involved in cycling gymnastics hockey bodybuilding since the age of 7. She is an advertising marketing consultant. Visit her websites at Beginners Bodybuilding Guide and America Small Business Classifieds and Florida Computers Hardware Classifieds.
Sunday Night Football Fever
Sunday Night Football is the name of the television program that shows Sunday night matches of National Football League NFL of American football. This trend of telecasting Sunday matches of NFL started in 1987. Since then it was telecasted in three television channels during various periods. It was broadcasted in ESPN from 1987 to 2005. Then it was also aired through Turner Network Television channel from 1990 to 1997. Later from 2006 onwards NBC television network has been showing these games.
An Overview Of Sunday Night Football
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Sunday Night Football is one of the most popular television shows in the USA. It is not just a live telecast of the matches. There is a balanced preview before the start of the match. Also there will be an indepth analysis of the match and the match facts after the end of the match.
Each Sunday 17 American football matches are played in NFL during the season. Followers of NFL eagerly await Sundays to watch the matches of their favorite teams.
Nowadays Sunday Night Football has become more interactive by providing prizes for viewers for predicting the results of the match or the best player of the game. The matches can be viewed through the internet also. The live videos of the matches are streamed through the official websites of the telecasting channels. Normally the companies charge the viewers for availing this service.
The television channels that broadcast these games normally first telecast curtain raiser shows providing history of the league and a preview of this years league. Once the league starts one can witness an avalanche of programs during weekends. There are several star studio experts of NFL games who provide insightful opinion about the matches. The show is spiced up with excellent theme music and a title song. Also new camera angles and special replays have added to the viewing pleasure of Sunday Night Football.
About the writer: NFLSundayTicket is dedicated to bringing you the better ways of watching NFL online football games and there are many GREAT things you get with NFL Sunday Ticket. Your team your broadcast LIVE! Hear your teams flagship radio broadcast including pre and postgame shows anywhere in the world. For more information visit us at http://nflsundayticket.com
Strength Training Sports Nutrition Using Cheat Meals Not Days To Keep Your Cravings In Check
I have found when corresponding with many gym goers and fitness enthusiasts that there is a massive disconnect in what they say and practice depending on the day of the week
These are people who train hard eat right and do all things theyre supposed to do to the point that theyre on auto pilot soaring towards their goal. Then something strange happens. One day usually on the weekend all of these habits seem to walk to the back of the plane kick open the emergency exit door and jump out without a second thought.
The specific day Im talking about is better known as their cheat day.
Why do people do this?
Because many magazine writers and even experts tell us that its ok to have a complete snack attack one day of the week. There is no mention of whether or not it will cause a lasting effect on the progress that you worked so hard for
The idea of eating a whole days worth of junk food is very attractive to many people. Many complain about having to eat 5 or 6 healthy meals a day but on cheat day youd be hardpressed to catch them without food in their mouth.
The reality is that cheat days also known as stuffing your face with garbage one day of the week is a great way to get fat. The following will make what Im saying very clear.
Many junk foods contain a ridiculous amount of calories. One Burger King Double Whopper with cheese has 1020cal and Boston Pizzas Spicy Italian Penne has 1350 calories! For every 21 Doritos chips youll be receiving about 250 calories. If you think you can get away with healthy choices think again The Thai Chicken salad at Boston Pizza will only set you back an even 1000 calories.
Lets take a look at the Activity cost of these extra calories.
A 200 pound person has to run at 5.2 miles per hour for 2 straight hours to burn up 1473 calories! Cycling at 5.5 mph would take him 4 hours to burn up 1396 calories. Get ready for this that same person would need 5 hours of walking at 2mph to burn those calories up. 5 hours!! Thats like one weeks worth of walking on the treadmill for eating one of meals mentioned above!
If depending on your weight it requires 5 hours of walking to burn off an excess 1400 calories and one of the meals above easily provides over 1000 calories what do you think would happen if you had an entire days worth of eating junk food? What would happen is youd need to spend the next few weeks burning up the calories from your food fest just to get back to where you were before the Food Fest.
If you have a cheat day every week and some do this over the weekend as in two days of unbridled mastication you would never be able to burn up the excess calories. You would start each week so far behind the ball that there wouldnt be a snowballs chance in hell of catching up.
People in this situation eventually give up and stop training. They say that training stuff doesnt work. I did everything I was supposed to I even tried working out everyday and I still put on weight! They may even believe that its their genesit runs in the family or Im supposed to be weak or fat.
Looking at the amount of time you need to spend exercising and you can easily see how a day filled with meals like this will totally nullify the progress you made the week before. Knowing all of this makes it hard to believe that some so called experts recommend taking the weekend off. Good advice if youre looking to make your belt useless and would prefer suspenders.
Dont let this scare you. You can still eat the foods you love and even eat some foods that are high in calories once in a while.
The whole idea of eating some junk food to keep your cravings in check is another good idea gone bad. The whole point is if junk foods were a regular part of your diet in the past simply cutting them out wholesale can cause some to have uncontrollable cravings. If these cravings arent attended to theyll eventually cause the person to go into a blind eating frenzy only to come to days later with an ice cream bucket over their head and mounds of empty food packaging everywhere or something similar. All joking aside there is some merit to this. However the point is to keep cravings under control while you gradually minimize junk from your diet
The good thing is if youre trying to trim up and burn fat off your body an occasional day that has you eating a little more calories than usual will trick your metabolism into burning faster. It helps minimize the chance of your metabolism adapting to your lower caloric intake which means continued fat loss. However let me say it again over do it and you start to plump up. I believe if youre going to eat calorie dense foods like this you should keep it to a as in one to a max of two cheat meals a week.
The idea is not to over indulge in all the crap food that is offered today and instead to start getting used to living healthy and adopting a full time nutritional plan into your diet.
Just because its called a cheat meal it doesnt mean you automatically stop using your head. You can minimize the caloric impact by splitting the meal up into a quarter serving of your favorite healthy food and the rest of your dish made up of your favorite cheat meal.
This also works for switching the staples in your diet. You can go from a fattier and unhealthier type of hamburger like medium ground beef and slowly mix it with extra lean ground beef until youre eating only extra lean.
You can mix your salad dressing with healthier olive oil bit by bit until youre only using olive oil.
You can also start adding vegetables to your eggs essentially making an omelet by adding a few pieces of whatever veggies you want until you get the desired serving amount. As time goes by you can slowly increase the ratio of healthy to junky and before you know it youll be eating less and less junk.
Dont limit yourself by thinking you need to keep eating junk foods to stay sane its a load of bull. Your taste buds will eventually adapt to the new foods and dishes you eat and the truth is youll eventually start to crave the healthier foods especially when you feel the difference they make inside and outside the gym.
Also if you currently dont eat much junk food thats great. You dont have to eat junk food if youve never ate it or cared for it to stay on track nutrition wise. As a matter of fact the longer you eat a certain type of food the more and more your taste buds will become used to it regardless of whether or not its junk food or health food.
Eating Time!
Remember its Cheat Meal not Cheat Day Limit indulgences to once or twice per week max.
Slowly reduce and preferably eliminate processed foods
If your current diet is loaded with unhealthy foods dont try to eliminate them all at one time. Gradually phase out the junk foods with healthier choices by using the mixing method mentioned above.
Junk foods arent limited to unhealthy processed foods fried foods candy etc.
One of the keys to a healthy nutrition plan is balance. Over consumption of any of the three macro nutrients results in an unbalanced meal. Olive oil is great for you when used appropriately; using a cupful at a time not so healthy. Same thing goes for most healthy foods. Keep to a healthy amount and eat balanced meals.
Raymond Toulany
About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Ray Toulany is the author of The BodyDesign Nutritional System which is a proven step by step system to creating a customized and complete nutritional plan that supports your training goals
He also provides his ebook How To Eat For Peak Performance And Gains Made Easy absolutely FREE to help you cut through the BS and eliminate the frustration of trying to find the right information on choosing the best foods to effectively nourish your body and improve the way you look feel and perform. You can get it absolutely FREE at http://www.PeakPerformanceAndNutritionTips.com