http://articlesurvey.com/ Articles at ArticleSurvey en-us http://articlesurvey.com/health/wellness-fitness-and-diet/what-is-the-perfect-male-body-measurement.html http://articlesurvey.com/health/wellness-fitness-and-diet/what-is-the-perfect-male-body-measurement.html Wed, 12 May 2010 00:00:00 -0400
You see, there exists a specific set of measurements and ratios that can calculate what the perfectly proportioned male physique is. Ancient master sculptors such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo had long figured out these proportions, but over time, the concept just faded away. The ideal male body measurement is superbly displayed in Michelangelo's King David sculpture (left).

There are only three measurements you need to know to determine your ideal physical proportions and they are your height, shoulders and waist. Many of the research done on the human physique, classic art sculptures and the psychology of human attraction indicated to us that there is a specific body shape and size that people will find the most attractive and pleasing to look at.

It is psycholigically known that men who are close to this ideal body size and shape are generally treated more favorably in any societies. They get bigger salaries, bonuses, more business deals and of course, more pretty girls. Given the physical and social benefits of having a perfectly well proportioned male body, you should know what is your specific ideal perfect body size and shape and how to get it, right?

Everybody will have an ideal waist measurement and ideal shoulder measurement that correspond to their height that equal your perfect body proportions. This is sometimes referred to as The Golden Ratio. Scientific research has confirmed that women will find a man most attractive when his body proportions approach these ideal measurements. Unfortunately, most men have no inkling what these body measurements are and how to get them.

Do you want to know? Well,firstly you need to know what your measurements are right now compared to what your perfect ideal body shape is going to be. Once you know where to start, you can determine how to go about getting to where you want to be.

The health and fitness industry has always been striving for the perfectly proportioned look. However, nobody has managed to pin down what this "look" is all about, how to measure it, and how to get it until John Barban, author of The Adonis Index Workout designed a plan on bringing you to your specific ideally perfect body shape starting with your present male body measurements.

Forget about doing weights to get bigger muscles or long boring cardio exercises to lose weight and fat. The perfect male body should be carved out with specific exercises and the workout routine is different for everyone because the starting point of everybody is different.

This is about a specific workout routine to build your body into its most appealing perfect shape. The idea is to get bigger muscles only at the right places and lose inches where you need lose them so that you can get a proportionately shaped perfect male physique. This is the male body shape that women find attractive and men respect.

So find out what are your measurements now and then work towards getting the appealing perfect male body that everyone desires now. ]]> http://articlesurvey.com/health/wellness-fitness-and-diet/how-to-gain-weight-for-thin-skinny-girls.html http://articlesurvey.com/health/wellness-fitness-and-diet/how-to-gain-weight-for-thin-skinny-girls.html Sat, 17 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0400
In this world that is obsessed with losing weight, as it seems that all the advertisements, fitness programs, diets regimens are all targeting at people who want to lose weight. This onslaught barrage of weight loss programs drown out the concerns of underweight women like you trying your darndest best to put on weight. That is certainly very frustrating for you, isn't it?

To compound matters, your search for weight programs in the internet kept showing up muscle building systems and muscle weight gaining programs for men. Why are skinny girls like you being ignored?

Well ladies, you aren't being ignored. It is just that your mind refuses to register certain truths those programs are telling you. Before you get insulted and clawed me up, please be patient and read on.

You see, things aren't so bleak after all. Because the good news is that there isn't much difference for gaining weight between men and women. Yes, you've read that correctly. Therefore those weight gain programs for men work pretty well for girls too because the principles that a naturally thin woman must adopt if she wishes to quickly put on healthy weight are the same principles that worked for the boys!

Now, here are some of your mental blocks I spoke about earlier. Most women, and I believe that including you, have a myriad of mental stumbling blocks regarding weight gain techniques. Such as you probably do not want to consume too much calories in case you become fat in the wrong places or you certainly do not want to start weight training because you are terrified of getting big muscles like those of bodybuilders! Am I right to say that?

Listen ladies, with due respect, in order to gain healthy weight effectively and quickly, you will have to remove those mental blocks now! Your fears are irrational and are completely unfounded!

You see, most women have the mistaken impression that training with weights will make them look muscular and thus compromising their feminine beauty. This I can verify because a large number of the enquiries that I receive from females asking for putting on weight advice will invariably qualify their requests with statements like "I don't want to look like a man' or "I don't want to look like a bodybuilder"

Now get this right once and for all! Women simply don't naturally possess enough of the male hormone, testosterone, that will allow them to become huge muscular hunks! No amount of weight training is going to change that fact. Even most men are not naturally predisposed to be a bodybuilder, what more of a woman?

Yes, I know what you are thinking right now. You are asking what about pictures of female bodybuilders you have seen, right? The sad thing is that those photos are the main culprits that led to your irrational fear of weight training. You see, those women bodybuilders that you see got where they are because of very intensive and special training with the consumption of tons of supplements to get those muscle mass up with plenty of professional help.

As a matter of fact, many female bodybuilders with extremely huge muscles and who exhibit masculine characteristics didn't get that way through natural training. Instead, they use dangerous steroids to get them so huge! So let that sink in!

Furthermore, they didn't get that way overnight. You just don't simply wake up one morning and become a muscular woman bodybuilder right? You must understand that it has taken them many years of dedicated intensive training to get where they are and you certainly aren't going to do that, don't you?

Even if so, if you feel like you are becoming a tad too big or your blessed boyfriend is hiding behind you at the first sign of trouble, you can simply stop training. After all, when that happens, then your objective at gaining weight would have been happily achieved, right?

Yes, you will certainly put on some muscle when you are training with weights, but the muscles that you will be developing will not be huge and bulky. Instead, your new muscles will add tone and curves to your body shape making you look healthier and more attractive. Don't you want that?

Another problem in your quest to put on weight is that many thin and skinny women set out to gain any weight and gaining body fat is fine with them. However, there is a major problem with this approach in putting on weight. If the weight you gain is primarily from increased body fat, you are most likely to be displeased with your results. This is because you have no control of where those extra fat will be going to on your body.

That goes on to say that if you do not control your fat gain (which you can't since where your fat goes to is genetically pre-programmed), your extra ugly fat could end up unevenly distributed in all the wrong places like your belly, love handles, butt, thighs, arms and so on.

Therefore, your best bet to improve your physique in the way you want is to go after lean muscle weight gain. In this way, not only will you put on weight, you will also gain healthy weight and is in a position to dictate where the extra pounds are going to be. In other words, you can sculpt your body the way you want it to be shaped and that is sexy!

So girls, if you can move past your own mental blocks, you can certainly be assured that healthy and pleasing weight gain that is well within your reach. Of course, you must also consume enough good calories to ensure your success in putting on the extra pounds.

Wishing you all the best in putting on those extra pounds of sexy female weight and body curves. ]]> http://articlesurvey.com/health/wellness-fitness-and-diet/how-to-increase-weight-with-testosterone.html http://articlesurvey.com/health/wellness-fitness-and-diet/how-to-increase-weight-with-testosterone.html Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500
Therefore, if you are the skinny type who wants to put on weight, you must increase your own production of anabolic hormones, human growth hormones and in particular, testosterone which is the main hormone for building muscles.

The problem is that research has shown that only about one percent of a hardgainer's testosterone levels are actually available for stimulating muscle growth. This is bad news indeed and is one of the main reasons why skinny people ended up losing their muscle weight they are able to put on from all their gym workouts.

You see, and I am assuming that you are a hardgainer and a skinny person's body naturally gets rid of every ounce of muscle you gain because of decreasing testosterone level and increasing muscle breakdown catabolic hormones! So what can you do to prevent this from happening?

Well, the good news is that there is a solution. Simply just raise the level of your anabolic hormones such as testosterone in your body. No, I am definitely not advocating that you use synthetic growth hormones (steroids) to do that. In fact, it could be dangerous if you do that. The solution is to make your body produce more of its own natural anabolic growth hormones such as testosterone and insulin!

Ask any bodybuilder or muscular guy and they will tell you how important it is to rake up their testosterone levels in order to pack on pounds and pounds of muscle weight. So the questions are how are you going to make your body produce more testosterone? How to tweak your body's anabolic overdrive by simultaneously increasing testosterone production while saturating your muscle fibers with a flood of muscle mass building insulin to force your muscle fibers to grow far beyond their present limitations?

Here is a trick for accomplishing this powerful hormone boosting benefit. You see, your body's growth hormones and testosterones surge at night when you sleep. This is the time your body builds and repairs muscle. Yes, you gain muscles when you sleeping, not at the gym as commonly thought.

But the problem is that when you wake up in the morning, your testosterone level takes a sharp dive and the leftover testosterone gets unused by your muscles and your body's catabolic hormones take over. However you can overcome this challenge and retain or even increase your testosterone level.

So when you wake up in the morning, immediately consume a high glycemic meal of sugary and starchy carbohydrates and high quality protein, such as a banana, some breakfast cereals and whey protein shake mixed with non-fat milk. This combination of nutrients will create a short term spike of insulin that will act as a fast transportation for your remaining testosterones and shoot it directly into your muscle cells to stop catabolic muscle loss and allow more muscular growth. It is just this simple!

Try this method to retain your testosterone and growth hormones and see if it works for you. Another easy method is to take human growth hormones and testosterone realeasers supplements to stimulate your natural anabolic productions. These are herbal supplements to encourage your body to produce more of your natural growth hormones.

The thing to remember is this, if you really want to gain muscle weight, then you must increase your testosterone and insulin level. There are many ways you can do this and I will talk about it in another article. ]]> http://articlesurvey.com/health/wellness-fitness-and-diet/how-to-lose-stomach-fat-and-get-6-pack-abs.html http://articlesurvey.com/health/wellness-fitness-and-diet/how-to-lose-stomach-fat-and-get-6-pack-abs.html Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500
Is it difficult to lose your pot belly and to get a flat stomach? Certainly not although many people do think otherwise. You see, losing the fat in your stomach area is a boring process. It definitely requires time, hard work, and most important of all, a firm commitment and dedication. There is no other magical formula even though some late night commercials want you to think otherwise.

If you take the correct steps every single day, I guarantee that you will ultimately carve out your six pack abs. However, if you stray away from your flat stomach plan even a few times a week, you will probably never see your stomach flattened. I can bet my last dollar on this unless you have some medcial condition.

So how can you get rid of the fat in your midsection? Well, I will show you some habits which you must develop to get your abs to show. Individually these habits are no big deals but when put together, they become a powerful tool to lose your belly fat. This is because the effectiveness of this method is supported by science.

At the University of Iowa, researchers found that most people are more likely to stick with their weight loss programs when they concentrate on specific actions instead of the desired end result. So rather than focusing on getting a flat stomach, just dilligently follow this daily list of nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle strategies for achieving that ripped flat belly with rock hard stomach muscles.

a) Do drink lots of water first thing in the morning. This is because you have had no water for at least the last 8 hours when you sleep which is precisely why you should start rehydrating immediately when you wake up from your snooze. Scientists found that by doing this, your metabolism shoots up by about 24 percent for 90 minutes or thereafter. They also noted that if you drink only a smaller amount of water, then it is not effective at all.

Another study found that muscle cells grow faster when they are well hydrated. So isn't it sensible to guzzle lots of water over the course of a day. Do take note that I said water, not soda or coffee. Just good old fashioned plain water!

b) Never skip breakfast! Skipping breakfast is a cardinal sin if you want to lose stomach fat. A study at the University of Massachusetts showed that men who skip their breakfast regularly are 4-5 times more likely to have bigger tummys than those who eat their breakfast dilligently. So quickly have a meal and a protein shake first thing in the morning.

Do you know that researchers found that breakfast size is inversely related to your waistline size? Bet you don't as it is surprising information, isn't it? But it is true! It is well documented that the larger your breakfast, the leaner your midsection will be!

Of course you must add some common sense to this and keep the meal's size within reasonable limit. A 1,500 calorie meal at a fast food restaurant is really two or even 3 breakfasts, therefore limit your breakfast to just about 500 calories.

At the University of Iowa, scientists also found out that people who monitored their diet and exercise goals most frequently are more likely to achieve them than people who rarely review their goals.

Everybody have abs muscle. You cannot see your awesome abs is because they are concealed beneath the layer of your tummy fat. This is good news indeed because it meant that you need not do endless sit ups and leg raisers to carve out your six pack abs. In fact, sit ups and leg raisers are lousy exercises to get ripped abs and may even injure you, but that is for another article.

So this being the case, you should spend most of your time in the gym burning off your body fat instead of wasting your time with ineffective exercises like situps and leg raisers. The most effective exercise strategy then is the combination of weight lifting with compound exercises and high-intensity interval training commonly known as HIIT.

According to another study by the University of Southern Maine, half an hour of pumping iron burn as many calories as running at a 6 minute per mile pace for the same duration. Furthermore, by pumping weights, you have the added benefit of building muscles and muscles burn more calories 24 hours a day.

What is even more interesting is that unlike aerobic exercises, lifting weight has been shown to boost metabolism for as long as 40 hours after you leave the gym! That makes you a natural fat burner!

Similar findings have been noted with exercises using HIIT method, which are short, all out powerful sprints interspersed with periods of lower level cardio activities. This will burn pounds and pounds of belly fat and give you that flat stomach look over a period of time. ]]> http://articlesurvey.com/health/wellness-fitness-and-diet/why-you-gain-back-the-weight-you-lost.html http://articlesurvey.com/health/wellness-fitness-and-diet/why-you-gain-back-the-weight-you-lost.html Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500
Because of the huge negative health impact, loss of productivity, rising medical costs and subsidies and for the simple reason of aesthetics, huge amounts of research and billions of dollars are being invested each year in the weight loss industry to understand the obesity scourge and how to get rid of it.

The energy balance and body weight regulation are complex functions that are generally controlled by genetic disposition and hormones. It is now known that our body weight is regulated around a very narrow range of about 10 to 15 pounds on the average.

This theory was developed because numerous research have confirmed time and again that people who lost a significant amount of weight usually returned to their starting point weight over a period of time. For those of you who have successfully lost weight before and gained it all back will not be surprised with this finding. So how do we overcome this phenomenon?

You see, our body adapts to under or over eating by changing 3 basic metabolic functions. They are your resting metabolism rate, metabolism during physical activities and metabolism from the ingestion of food that you consume. So during weight loss, your body's metabolic rate will slow down which in turn causing lesser calories to be burnt off as energy. This will make it more difficult for you to lose more weight and as such, you stay within the boundaries of the weight range as metioned earlier.

There are many things which people do when undergoing a weight loss program that upset their metabolism mechanism which is why, most diets don't work! I bet you know that since you have probably been on some kind of diets before. This is because the diets are either too hard to maintain or if you have lost some weight, you would have probably put them all back again. At least for most people.

All is not gloom and doom if you are overweight because you can actually tweak your body's own natural leptin production to lose and maintain your weight permanently. Never heard of leptin before? So what is leptin and why is it a weight loss hormone?

In the 1950s, scientists found a genetic defect in mice that led to spiralling morbid obesity in a controlled experiment. They found out that mice with this condition weighed up to 3 times that of the average mice and that they had a much more ravenous appetite. Scientists further discovered that these obese mice were deficient in a blood-borne protein that regulated hunger and body weight. This protein was identified as leptin in 1995 and its name is derived from the Greek word "thin".

Leptin is now accepted as the main regulator of appetite and metabolism in human beings. This hormone is mainly secreted from our fatty tissues, although small amounts of leptin are also produced in the stomach and the placenta.

Leptin binds to receptors that cause hormonal signals to be released that can limit hunger and thus can control food consumption. The greatest concentration of leptin receptors is found in the hypothalamus part of the brain and this is the reason why the hypothalamus plays a vital role in a person's body weight regulation.

The leptin hormone has numerous effects on the body which include:-

Hunger inhibition

Raise metabolism and thus burn more fat

Stimulates fat burning activities in the muscles and liver

Now, since most leptin is produced from fatty tissues, then overweight and obese people will have more leptins, right? So why are they still overweight?

You see, it is now known that consistently elevated leptin levels impair the function of the leptin receptors, thereby requiring greater leptin secretion to produce the same effect. So production of more leptin to lose weight is not the answer to fat loss but regulating its production is.

In other words, to lose weight with the help of leptin, you must know when to eat, what to eat and how often to eat. Yes, you can even consume food with chock full of carbs and calories if eaten at the correct time and quantity which can actually help you to produce leptin to lose weight!

You will also be glad to know that not only does the hormone leptin has an impact on metabolism and hunger control, leptin also plays important roles in your immunity system, lung function, bone development and even reproduction.

So if you want to lose weight without gaining them back and improve your health substantially, then find out more on how to regulate your leptin production. ]]> http://articlesurvey.com/health/wellness-fitness-and-diet/overcome-weight-lost-plateau-to-lose-last-few-pounds.html http://articlesurvey.com/health/wellness-fitness-and-diet/overcome-weight-lost-plateau-to-lose-last-few-pounds.html Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500
The problem begins when they are just a few pounds shy away from their ideal weight. This is when somehow, these last few pounds of body fat refuses to go away no matter what they do. They are then left wondering why is it so hard to lose those last few pounds of stubborn fat? Are you one of them?

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the frustrating world of weight loss plateau. Everyone who is on a weight loss journey will at some point in time encounter this dreaded weight loss plateau.

There are actually only three main causes as to why losing the last few pounds is so difficult. First of all, when you were fatter, you used up more energy to carry your weight around and thus burnt more calories. So when you started losing weight, your body started to burn less burn less calories for the same amount of physical activity.

When you were fatter, your body retained more water. So when you started your weight loss program, water is amongst the weight your body had gotten rid of.

Thirdly, your metabolic rate (the speed in which you burn calories for energy) slowed down as you lose more and more weight. This is the reason why you must build muscles to keep your metabolic rate up and another way to have high metabolism to burn more fat is to eat the correct food to tweak and raise your fat burning hormones.

Unknown to most people, if you are frustrated with your weight loss result, your natural response would usually be eat even less. If you do that, you will slow down your weight loss even more because when you do this, your metabolism plunges even further!

This is because your body goes into the starvation mode and starts burning muscle as well as fat. Muscle is the main fat burner in your body, and the less muscle you have, the less fat you are able to burn off.

Furthermore, when you start eating normally, your the body's metabolic rate stays depressed and you will probably start to gain back the weight you have lost! This is why people who go on diets usually gain back their weight and more when they terminate the diet.

The good news is that there are several things you can do to avoid this vicious cycle and overcome the weight loss plateau to lose the last few pounds of fat.

First of all, you have to accept that losing weight during a weight loss plateau is a slow process. So, there is no point in getting frustrated when you lose significantly less weight than you used to.

So set yourself smaller weight loss goals each week. Losing smaller amount of weight at this stage will ensure that your body retains muscle mass which, in turn, will help you keep burning fat.

Eat low fat recipes that fill you up. Remember that although there are many delicious low fat recipes to try, you have to eat them wisely. Combine the recipes to get the maximum amount of healthy food containing the minimum amount of fat and calories.

Also avoid all bad carbs which contains sugar or flour like sodas, ice creams, buns, cakes, cookies etc Instead, eat food with complex carbs instead such as brown rice and bread for your carbohydrate needs.

Next, raise the intensity of your fat burning exercises to increase your heart rate. You see, if you do your exercises with the same intensity, your body has already adapted to them, so how do you expect good results that way?

If you still find it hard to lose that last few pounds of body fat, then you may need some weight loss supplements to tweak your hormones and to produce your fat burning hormones naturally. ]]> http://articlesurvey.com/health/wellness-fitness-and-diet/can-you-train-with-muscle-soreness.html http://articlesurvey.com/health/wellness-fitness-and-diet/can-you-train-with-muscle-soreness.html Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500
a) Should you train when your muscles are still sore from the last workout?

b) If you workout your sore muscles, can your muscles grow or sabotage your result by over-training?

Muscle soreness or ache is something anyone training with weights is familiar with. The severity of muscle ache or DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) can range from just mild discomfort to the point of being almost severe ache. The answer to whether you should workout when your muscles are still sore is not quite as simple as it may seem. You see, most fitness personal trainers will tell you to take a rest when your muscles are still sore which is a reasonable advise and in all truthfulness, is the safest answer.

However, most people do not know that by not working out your muscles when you are still sore, you may possibly be missing out on better results and slowing down your recovery! Surprised? Gotcha there didn't I.

Before we go further, we need to know why do we get muscle soreness when we workout hard enough. This is because muscle ache after working out is basically damage done to your muscle fibers as a result of intensive training. When your muscles aches from training, it is your body telling you that your muscle is in need of repair. That being the case, how can it possibly be good for you to train the aching muscle?

This is where we get into the controversial area of this subject. After reading this article, you may either agree with me or think that I am talking nonsense. Whatever the case may be, all I ask is that you give my presentation some thoughts.

Now, if you have never trained the same muscle group intensively two days in a row or trained it while it was still rather sore, you are going to be in for a shock at how unique a stimulus it can actually be to the muscles you are training. Of course, I concede that arguments against doing this are very persuasive and strong, such as "your muscles have not fully recovered and you are further damaging it". I used to sing the same song too.

However, consider this issue from muscle adaptation point of view :-

a) What would give your muscles greater stimulus for them to grow massively? If you train the muscle hard once, you will certainly get a good growth stimulus. Your body immediately starts sending nutrients to the damaged muscles and frantically start the muscle repair and rebuilding effort.

When the muscles are fully recovered and is no longer sore, you train the muscle again and restart the rebuilding process. This is the traditional way of training and it usually means directly training a muscle once or twice a week with a few days of rest in between.

b) What if you train a specific muscle hard and then train the same muscle intensively the next day? That means your muscle recovery is nowhere near complete and the muscle is sore when you train it on the subsequent day.

Now, if you give this idea some thoughts, would the body see (b) as a greater threat to its survival? Would the body then revved up its recovery processes to try and prepare it for the next challenge, which it (from its recent experience of being shocked with the same hard stimulus two days in a row) thinks is coming again very soon and prepares itself even better, thus stimulating faster and bigger muscle growth?

Well, you will only know the answer if you experiment it on your own body but it does work for me and most of my clients. You see, your body's response to training is a very simple "stimulus response" system, but your body is also fully capable of sending more resources where more resources are perceived as being needed.

When you eat, your body sends more blood to the digestive system. Your brain does not tell it to do that, it is just hardwired programing survival instinct in your subconscious part of the brain. When you are hot, your body naturally produces sweat to cool you down. The same thing happens when you are training.

For instance, when you train your abs, your body sends blood and nutrients to your abs for recovery. It doesn't send it to your hamstrings if your hamstrings haven't been worked at.

If you train your abs intensively two days in a row, your body reacts to this as a big threat to your abs and will ramp up recovery processes to specifically protect the your abs. As simple as that!

The consecutive two days of intensive training to the same muscle has built a much greater recovery momentum and thus getting more results out of your training. Does that make sense?

Another advantage to training a muscle when it is still aching even when your training is light is that you will still be sending blood (and therefore nutrients) to that muscle, helping it to recover faster than if you didn't train it at all. So even if you are not training the sore muscle muscle hard, it will still help with recovery process.

Yes, I understand many readers may not agree with this theory about training when your muscle is still sore because we have been indoctrinated against it. The only way to know if it works for you is to try it out for yourself. ]]> http://articlesurvey.com/health/wellness-fitness-and-diet/how-can-swimming-help-you-lose-weight.html http://articlesurvey.com/health/wellness-fitness-and-diet/how-can-swimming-help-you-lose-weight.html Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500
Precisely that because swimming is a low impact form of exercise, everyone regardless of age or shape can take part this form of exercise. Swimming is the ideal exercise for many people who can no longer take the high impact exercises because of some diseases or injuries since swimming to not involve joint stress of other exercises such as running or jogging to lose weight and improve their health.

However, there are critics who say that it is not possible to lose weight with swimming but we will not discuss this issue in this article. The fact is that if swimming is combined with a healthy weight loss diet, swimming regularly can certainly help people lose weight as easily as other physical activities meant to burn calories. In fact, for overweight or even obese people, swimming is perhaps the best way to exercise because it alleviates stress on the leg joints, furthermore it has the added benefit of providing a total body cardiovascular workout. That is a bonus, isn't it?

The American Heart Association reported that just 30 to 60 minutes of physical activity 3 to 4 days per week can help reduce your risk for heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. A regular physical activity program can also help lower your blood pressure and cholesterol.

It is a good idea to monitor the heart rate when you swim because to lose weight effectively with any cardio exercise, you must maintain your heart rate at 70% or more of your maximum heart rate consistently. Your the maximum heart rate is 220 minus your age. So if you are 40 years old, you maximum heart rate is 220 minus 40 which is 180. So you must maintain your heart rate of at least 70% of 180 which is 126.

Many people get hungry after swimming and they often go to a fast food joint and gulp down huge quantities of junk food and sugary drinks. This is one of the reasons critics of swimming as a form of weight loss program point to. So if you must eat, then eat a reasonable amount of healthy food such as good carbs and proteins and do avoid the sugary drinks.

Next, there is a very important think to remember about swimming as a form of exercise is that swimming predominantly activate your "pull muscles", so it is important to hit the gym to exercise your "push" muscles to avoid muscle imbalances and at the same time, get that nice well toned swimmer's body, right?

So can swimming help you to lose weight? My answer is it certainly can if you follow the tips given in this article. See you at the pool soon. ]]> http://articlesurvey.com/health/wellness-fitness-and-diet/free-weightlifting-routines-for-everybody.html http://articlesurvey.com/health/wellness-fitness-and-diet/free-weightlifting-routines-for-everybody.html Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0500
The first thing that you need to keep in mind is that if you are just starting out, you should not jump into a complex routine for a number of different reasons. Even though many of the free weightlifting routines are going to tell you that you can add a lot of muscle quickly, the fact of the matter is that you can also injure yourself very quickly as well. Whenever you're first starting out lifting weights, your muscles are going to quickly get used to the weight that you are pushing around but your joints and tendons are not going to strengthen themselves as quickly. Far too many individuals end up injuring themselves whenever they are first starting at the gym and this can lead to disappointment and the individual giving up altogether.

Now that we have that out of the way, there are some free weightlifting routines that can really help you to make a difference in your overall form. One of my favorite routines that can be done by beginners and experienced individuals alike is high-intensity interval training. Of course, you're going to want to take it easy whenever you're first starting out but if you work yourself to failure without overtaxing your muscles at the start, you can actually see massive muscle growth very quickly. The best part about this particular routine is the fact that it only needs to be done about one time every week. If you do it more often than that, you will actually hinder your growth.

You might also enjoy some of the free weightlifting routines that split up the workout over several days. This is especially good for individuals that have the ability to go to the gym three or four times every week. By working out different muscle groups every time you go into the gym, you are also giving them the opportunity to rest long enough so that they grow properly. Remember, your muscles do not grow whenever you're working out they grow whenever you are resting.

Take a look on the Internet at some of the free weightlifting routines that are available. There's no doubt that you will find a wide variety of options that you can download and print out. Use one of them regularly for at least a month and then switch up your routine in order to encourage your body to grow even further. ]]> http://articlesurvey.com/health/wellness-fitness-and-diet/exercise-lose-weight-and-look-your-best.html http://articlesurvey.com/health/wellness-fitness-and-diet/exercise-lose-weight-and-look-your-best.html Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0500
Most of the information that you are going to read about being healthy or losing weight is going to be sent to you through one of the commercial weight loss companies. These companies may seem, on the outside, as if they really want to help you and that they are interested in seeing you lose weight. In reality, however, they are simply a business that wants to earn as much money as possible for themselves and their investors. If they were to help you to exercise lose weight and look your best, they would soon go out of business, especially if they gave you long term results.

That is why it is often necessary for you to forget everything that you've learned about weight loss up to this point in order to be successful and to lose your weight for the long term. In reality, it does not have anything to do with drinking diet shakes, eating special types of foods or buying the latest piece of exercise junk that you get off late-night TV. To put it quite simply, you need to watch what you are eating, eat a clean and healthy diet and get some exercise on a daily basis.

I know that doesn't sound exciting and my particular way of weight loss does not come with beautiful people showing you their former fat selves. What I can tell you, however, is that the real way to exercise lose weight and get in the shape of your life has to do with calories. A calorie is a unit of energy and it if you are taking in more energy in the form of calories every day than what you're putting out, the additional calories are going to be stored as fat. It honestly is that simple.

The only way for you to turn the tide on this is to reduce the amount of calories below what it is that you are burning on a daily basis. This can be done in two different ways or better yet, through a combination of two different things. You can reduce the amount of calories that you are eating every day by eating a healthy diet and you can increase the amount of calories that you are using by getting some exercise. Doing a combination of these two things makes it very easy for us to be at a 500 to 1000 calorie deficit per day which will help us to lose weight at a steady pace and keep the weight off permanently. ]]>