Working Out for Extreme Fitness

Working Out for Extreme Fitness


Many people think about building muscles as abandoning life outside the gym and devoting hours in the gym like a monk in a monastery. Perhaps the only way to chisel the body into a hot muscular physique is by toiling hour by hour over the rusty iron day in, day out and year in, year out.


This need not be so. Although hard work is truly required, extreme fitness demands one to be a slave of the iron weights. Full-body work outs can make one progress and it easily fits in one's schedule. This is very convenient if one is looking forward to achieving extreme fitness but finds it hard to hold on to a single work out routine.


Genuine full-body work outs done by athletes with an aim in mind makes for maximum muscle contraction using heavy weights, makes room for full recovery so one can actually grow and continue to train hard plus it also prevents burnout which is inevitable due to excess training.


So if one is ready for extreme fitness, here is all there is to know about full body work out:


Full-body work out is a time saver. The biggest plus about having the whole body trained all at once is probably having to go to the gym less frequently; perhaps around two to three times for every seven days would be enough. 


Another advantage of working out the entire body all at once is that one need not spend two or more hours of strenuous exercise in the gym for every session; one only spends one hour in the gym for every session. So that's just three to four hours per week in the gym right? With full-body work outs, it is all about the quality of exercise one does for session and not the quantity, nor even the amount of time you allot per session.


Full-body work out boosts the cardiovascular system for extreme fitness. One must allot two to four sets for every body part into the one hour session. Jam packed with exercising, each one hour session then gets the heart and the rest of the cardiovasular system pumping and up to speed in a flash. 


Now feeling pumped up, next find out what rules does one have to follow when engaging in full-body work outs:


Training commences only once every two to three days. This is so easy isn't it? What is great about this is that there is time spared during rest days so that one can indulge in a few cardio exercise sessions instead of depending on cardio execises one normally does at the end of each work out session which after all, are not at all very effective.


Heavy lifting is strongly advised. Contrary to popular belief, especially among athletes. It is not true that it is good to get trapped on training lightly than one actually could so as to conserve energy for the other body parts that will come later in the routine. What is true is that one cannot achieve optimal progress if one is not training heavy, no matter which program that person is doing.


One exercise only per muscle group. This is very easy to follow and is also important. Doing basic exercises which are also intense means you do not have to do another different exercise for that body part.


Keep work out short. Resistance training affects the natural homones of the body connected to muscle building. Intense exercising boosts the testosterone levels and long work outs increase those of catabolic cortisol. Sixty minutes of work out allows you to get the best of both worlds. 


Now with this convenient and powerful work out regimen, one can now truly experience extreme fitness.

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Finding the Beauty Within While Dieting

Finding the Beauty Within While Dieting

There seems to be one universal truth when it comes to dieting. No one really enjoys the process though we all eagerly await and anticipate the results. The problem is that far too many men and women around the world focus so much on dieting and perfecting their external beauty that they forget the beautiful people they are inside along the way. Our culture is becoming obsessive about the perfect body and the perfect body image.



If there was one message that should make it out to everyone dieing it is this: dieting should be more about health than beauty. You should not need to conform to some preconceived notion of what is or should be beautiful. If we create a world where everyone looks alike it would be rather boring in the end.


You need to focus on being happy with who you are in order to achieve the greatest dieting success you will have ever dared dream. Many of use eat out of emotional need or a simple need for comfort when we are depressed, hurting, uncertain, or simply in unfamiliar territory. There is no solution that will work for everyone when it comes to making peace with who you are and this by no means indicates that you should no longer seek to be the healthiest you there is. It simply means that your focus should be more on coming to terms with who you are as a person than in creating a new person or imagine behind which you can hide. 


Dieting for the most part is an opportunity for many men and women to become someone else. Whether that someone is the person you used to be or some person you think you want to be, you are quite unlikely find happiness at any weight until you accept you for the person you are inside. This is often a difficult process but one that is well worth the effort. Once you've accepted the person inside you can address the specific needs that often lead to the excess weight to begin with. Depression is a common factor in weight gain as well as an inability to lose weight. By finding contentment depression will no longer a controlling factor in you life. For many, this is the freedom they need from their weight problems while others will find there are still hurdles remaining.


The important thing is that you stop allowing the person you are to be defined by what the scales say about you. Once you've reached a point in your life where you are happy with your appearance and feel that your personal fitness level is in hand you should discuss things with your doctor and see what he or she has to say. We do not need a nation of size 5 women. We need a nation of women who are self-aware and self confident and not afraid to be who they are on the inside regardless of how they look on the outside. 


Finding the beauty within is often the most important aspect of dieting that there can be. Take the time while dieting to get to know the person you are and introduce that person to the person you want to be. In time the two will work out a healthy compromise and you will find that image isn't really everything no matter what the glossy magazines try to tell you.

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Dieting with a Busy Schedule

Dieting with a Busy Schedule

When it comes to dieting many of us find that the number one hindrance to our success is the lack of time to prepare the proper meals and snacks for our dietary needs. It is often much more convenient to throw one thing in the crock pot for the family or resort to the fast food last resort rather than preparing the healthy and nutritious meal that we should be eating.



There are things you can do however that will reduce the temptation to hit the drive thru and keep you on course with your dieting needs. The first of these is a process known as once a week cooking. With this method you cook enough meals to last you a week on one day. This means that for every night of the week you have a diet friendly meal ready to go. If your entire family is dieting or eating healthier with you, this works for this situation as well. Dieting and incorporating healthier eating habits into the food for your entire family is a great way to set an example for your children will keeping you motivated and removing temptation. 


With once a week cooking you freeze the food that won't be immediately consumed and thaw it the morning you will be eating the food to cook when you arrive home after work or decide it is time for your evening meal. This is a process that works well no matter how many soccer games, dance practices, and band recitals you have on your calendar for the week. You can manage to stick to your diet while having a great meal for your family each and every night of the week. 


You should also make sure to have a nice supply and cleaned and cut fruits, vegetables, and salad ingredients in your refrigerator in order to make these dishes readily assessable for quick lunches or snacks. Having these foods readily available will help you resist the temptation to snack on higher calorie prepackaged food while also helping to insure that you have a ready supply of fresh fruits and vegetables to help you get your 5 servings a day. 


You should also keep some conveniently packaged yogurt on hand as a good quick and easy dairy product. Sugar free pudding cups are another decent snack for those who need something quick and easy to have on hand. Preparation and planning are essential to successfully meeting your weight loss goals. By preparing as much of the food as possible ahead of time you will never even miss the convenience of those high calorie pre packaged meals and snacks that so many of us survive on when not dieting. 


Another time saver is to work your fitness opportunities into the course of your day. Rather than performing one lengthy workout each day, try to find methods of bringing a little fitness activity into the most mundane portions of your day (go stair climbing at lunch, park on the top level of the parking garage and walk down-then up when returning-the stairs), park far away from the door of the supermarket and see if your mall has a walking path that is clearly marked. You'll be amazed at the hidden opportunities many of us have for exercising during our busy days. The trick is often in discovering the activities rather than the time. 


When all is said and done, dieting doesn't have to be as time consuming as you may think it is. There are all kinds of prepackaged plans for dieters however if that is the choice you feel is best for you. Whether you are going with Lean Cuisine meals, Weight Watchers frozen entrees, Jenny Craig, or the Slim Fast program there are all kinds of opportunities to work dieting and fitness into even the busiest of schedules. When planning your dieting practices be sure to consider the tips and advice mentioned above.

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Dieting for Success Making it Happen

Dieting for Success Making it Happen

Dieting is far too often approached from the mindset of impending failure. Too many people have tried and failed so many diets in their past that they try the next new diet with the absolute knowledge that they will fail in this attempt as well. Guess what? They will. 


Henry Ford once said, "If you think you can or think you can't you will always be right." If you think you are going to fail at this diet you are dooming yourself to failure before you even deprive yourself of the first bite. Think about that before you begin because only a true masochist could find pleasure in perpetuating this vicious cycle without ever stopping to wonder why none of the other diets have worked for you. Henry Ford also said, "Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently". In case you were wondering I would say his words are quite profound. Seriously though, if you do not examine the reasons for your failures you are certainly dooming yourself to repeat them and if you are already planning to fail why on earth would you even try?


You are the only person who can take control of your need to eat. You are the only one who can pay attention and notice when you are eating for emotional fulfillment and when you are eating from necessity. You and you alone can get yourself out of your chair and on your feet. You are the only one that can take the responsibility for the condition in which you find yourself. There are medical exceptions but even in these situations if you are trying diet after diet and failing over and over again then you must at some point in time realize that it is quite likely not the diets that aren't working. 


We must all be accountable for our successes and failures in life. It is no different when it comes to dieting. There are few better feelings in the world than for someone to notice and compliment your efforts. If you are very obese unfortunately, it may take a little more time for people to actually notice the weight you've lost. Too many men and women give up simply because no one noticed and that is an incredible shame. Give your dieting practices an opportunity to work before you decide they are a failure and you just might surprise yourself with a roaring success.


The truth is far too few people hold themselves accountable to their dieting and weight loss goals. This means that far too many people are giving up without really ever bothering to give it an effort. If you have an issue holding yourself accountable to your dieting plans, perhaps you would do well to diet with a partner. This helps you not only set goals but also to meet and exceed challenges along the way. A partner can also benefit from the partnership as he or she will be challenged and feel the need to perform better than if he or she were dieting alone.


You must hold yourself accountable to your stated dieting and weight loss goals in order to achieve any lasting results. If you have not had dieting success in the past, then perhaps it is time to bring some degree of accountability into the picture and make it happen.

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3 Hour Dieting

3 Hour Dieting

When it comes to the world of dieting you will find that there are many diet, weight loss, and fitness plans on the market. It takes years for some to become a contender and others remain a best-kept secret of sorts. One such 'best kept' secret would be the 3 Hour Diet that was designed by Jorge Cruise. I am sure that there are many reading along and chuckling under your breath that there is no way one can lose weight by eating every three hours however the science behind the theory is fairly common and Jorge Cruise is a mainstay in the fitness industry. 



The long and short of this diet operates with the knowledge that if you do not feed your body accurately and regularly your body will go into what is called 'starvation mode'. In this mode your body holds onto the fat rather than burning it up and consuming it for use. This means that your body is burning muscle rather than fat to take the energy it needs in order to function. 


With the 3 Hour Diet you will not feel hungry all the time, in fact, there are many who claim they are constantly setting alarms and reminding themselves to eat. You will also learn the proper foods to eat in order to achieve the best possible results. The key is in learning which foods are right for you when dieting with this plan. You can purchase the book The 3-Hour Diet by Jorge Cruise and you can sign up online for more information about the weight plan itself and how to incorporate it into your busy routine. 


I do recommend purchasing the book if you are seriously considering this as your method of dieting as there are many wonderful hints, tips, and tricks that are mentioned in the book to help you keep things going no matter how busy and hectic your lifestyle may be. One thing you need to keep in mind is that dieting with a program such as this is no small commitment. You need to stick to the timetable as much as possible in order to achieve the results this plan is famous for. If you aren't willing to eat every three hours then this plan really may not be the plan for you.


Otherwise, if this is something you would be interested in, I highly recommend it. There are special considerations based on the amount you weight currently and the amount of weight you are hoping to lose. It is best if you are honest throughout the process in order to achieve the best possible and most immediate results. The claim is that you can lose as many as 10 pounds in the first two weeks and there are those that have claimed to do just that over and over again. This is a diet that even many celebrities endorse for quick and immediate results. 


The good and the bad about 3 hour dieting is that it is effective but takes a very real commitment on the part of the one that is dieting. This diet is one that is taking the world by storm. If you haven't heard of it before now, please take the time to check it out and see if this is something you could incorporate into your life. The results that have been reported as a result of this diet as nothing short of phenomenal. If there were one diet I would recommend above others for those who hate feeling hungry, it would be this diet. 

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10 Reasons Why Diets Don't Work

Are you thinking that some diet program you heard about or read about might help you with your weight loss problem? Do you wonder if that diet program is good for your health? You know that weight loss is generally believed to affect health positively, but does the diet program you're looking at accomplish weight loss in a healthy manner?


Let's take a look at some basic facts about diet programs, their health affects, and their effectiveness on weight loss.


1. DIETS ARE NOT FUN! Is this important? Well, as soon as you "go on a diet", you feel as if you are being punished. You begin to think about the pleasures you are going to have to forego, and the difficulties you will have to put up with. You think about the lack of support from others around you, and the possiblity of failure. Your future begins to look a little grim...not deadly, but not fun either. How long will you be able to sustain your commitment feeling this way? A healthy eating plan for weight loss should include some elements of fun, pleasure, and rewards. That would be a little more encouraging.


2. DIETS CAN BE BORING! Again, how long are you going to be able to remain on a boring diet program? Many diets, in addition to limiting portion sizes and amounts, also call for foods that may be bland or unappetizing. Eating in much the same pattern day after day can become boring.


3. DIETS CAN GO BEYOND JUST BORING! Some make it all the way to disgusting, either in the foods you are allowed to eat (want to eat cabbage soup all day long), or simply by the fact that you DO have to eat the same thing day after day. Ice cream can become loathsome if it is all you ever get to eat.


4. DIETS CAN BE COMPLICATED! Eat this for lunch, that for dinner. Count carbohydrates, don't count carbohydrates. Eat protein, don't eat protein. What are the calories and nutrients in this food and that one? Which one is the best one? You almost need a full time dietician working with you to accomplish your weight loss goals on some diet programs.


5. DIETS INTERFERE WITH THE JOY OF LIVING! Well, are we surprised? They're not fun, they're boring and complicated. What else can we say about them? Well, could you see yourself not going on a trip, or missing a family gathering because you're on a diet? If you go, you will possibly give in to the desire to savor the moment and enjoy the experience, but you will possibly feel guilty and weak before, during, and after the event. If you go, but stick doggedly to your diet while everyone else is sipping champagne or eating turkey and dressing, how much joy are you going to get out of it? Not only that, how are you going to treat everyone around you? Are you going to be snappish to your family because you are hungry all the time and miserable because you're "on a diet"?


6. DIETS ARE TEMPORARY FIXES TO A PERMANENT PROBLEM! You will need to learn a whole new style of eating and living for weight loss to become permanent. Simply cutting down on calories for a while is not the real answer. You must change the way you live your life. This may be scary, but it doesn't have to be a bad thing. Is it bad to look in the mirror and like the person you see? Is it bad to become healthier and more alive?


7. DIETS CAN BE BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH! Isn't weight loss good for your health? Well, of course it is, but the diet itself may be bad for you. Your body requires a broad range of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, protein, carbohydrates, and yes, even fat, in order to remain healthy. It can be difficult to get the entire range of nutrients needed even in a normal diet, not to mention getting them in the amounts and combinations which are most effective. If your diet restricts foods, types of foods, and amounts, you may seriously injure your health.


8. DIET FAILURE MECHANISM NUMBER ONE! Diets are self defeating, even if we ignore the problems we have already mentioned. Your metabolism is the rate at which calories are used. This varies from person to person and even within the person based on life style, age, environment, inherited characteristics, etc. As we get older, our metabolism tends to slow down, for example. That's why most people tend to put on weight as they age. There are ways to increase the metabolism, the most common being exercise. The body, whatever its normal state, called homeostasis, tries to maintain that state. If you decrease the flow of calories that the body is accustomed to receiving, it will, after a while, learn to establish a new homeostasis based on the lower amount of calories. In other words, although you may lose weight at first, you will probably eventually level out long before you reach your weight loss goal. Even worse, if you go off the diet after the body has learned to sustain itself on fewer calories, you may actually gain back the weight you have lost AND MORE!


9. DIET FAILURE MECHANISM NUMBER TWO! Remember that metabolism thing above? If you gain muscle mass, you will burn more calories, If you lose muscle mass, you will burn fewer calories. One common effect of exercise is an increase of muscle mass (no ladies, you are not likely to look like the new governor of California if you exercise...even if you lift weights. In fact you may look more like Miss America if you exercise...most Miss Americas do). Additionally, not only can you burn more calories during exercise, by exercising regularly, you can lift your body to a higher metabolic rate as it goes about its day to day activities...including sleeping. Unfortunately, on a diet, your body tends to rob your muscle mass since you are cheating it out of the nutrition it believes it needs. This will also tend to depress your metabolic rate as in diet failure mechanism number one, increasing the affects. Again, if you stop your diet, the loss of muscle mass may increase the weight gain.


10. DIETS DON'T LET YOU SNACK! Is that a biggie? Well, to me and a few other people it is. Those stretches from breakfast to lunch, lunch to supper, supper to bedtime. Do you really get thru them without a snack...even if you ate a big meal? Probably not. You want that little treat. You want to stop that little hint of hunger until it is time for a meal. You want to live normally, and for most of us, snacks are normal!
There you have it. Ten reasons why diets don't work and may even be unhealthy. So what can you do about it? There's a lot you can do.


You can substitute healthier items or remove unhealthy ones. Drink a diet drink instead of one with sugar. Put less on your plate the first time around, and eat more slowly. By the time you finish, your hunger may have begun to ease, you will have satisfied head, heart, and stomach...and everybody else will be getting up from the table.


Change your activities to help your body burn off a few more calories. You don't have to start by running a marathon, just get out and walk a little more. Spend less time in front of the TV. Instead of a piece of pie, go have sex. That burns a lot of calories.


Find an organization or weight loss program which can make the foods more appealing, that can plan the food choices for you, that can help you snack and still lose weight. In addition to these, many weight loss programs such as NutriSystem, Jenny Craig, TOPS International, or Weight Watchers can also provide a key element....SUPPORT!



The author is retired from the Army after 21 years of service, has worked as an accountant, optical lab manager, restaurant manager, and instructor. He has been a member of Mensa for several years, and has written and published poetry, essays, and articles on various subjects for the last 40 years. He developed an interest in health and fitness in the '70s after reading numerous books, including Dr. Kenneth Cooper's "Aerobics". This has led him to continue his personal research into health and fitness for over 30 years, and to pursue course work on health and fitness. He now has an online health supplement store at http://eherbsstore.com. Find more weight loss tips at http://nodiet4me.com.

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