Posts tagged nutrition

EVERY REPETITION COUNTS

Building a lean, toned body is a goal that many fitness enthusiasts have in common. Working towards a toned body will also help with weight loss, building endurance, and strength. In this week’s tip, I’ll detail a 5-step plan that will place you on track to get you the toned body that you’ve been looking for.

Step 1. Change the Way You Eat

A toned body requires the building of lean muscle mass. Foods that contain protein, such as fish, chicken, almonds, and beans will make it easier for your body to build and repair your muscles.

Step 2. Find a Good Balance

Combining resistance and cardiovascular training is the key to achieve toning. Many people tend to focus on one aspect more than they do the other. Make your work out routine so that you’re strength training at least 2-3 times a week, and doing cardiovascular work at least 4-5.

Step 3. Repetition, Repetition

Always pick a level of resistance that will challenge you. For strength training, 15-20 repetitions in a set will help develop muscle endurance. If after 2 sets you feel like you could do 2 more, the level of resistance is too light. Crank it up a notch!

Step 4. Think Full Body

Instead of isolating muscle groups by going around the strength machines, try doing exercises that require multiple muscle groups working together at the same time. Examples of great full body exercises are push ups, pull ups, squats, and planks.

Step 5. Rest and Sleep!

We like to think that body composition changes happen while we’re at the gym, but they actually occur while we’re in bed. If you’re not getting enough rest between your workouts or getting less than 7 hours of sleep at night, you may not see the results that you want.

images by Google.

WHAT’S REALLY IN YOUR FOOD

We consume a lot of different food in a day-to-day basis, some that’s great for us, some…not so good. Paying attention to the amount of calories a product contains is not enough to keep us healthy and in shape. Next time you’re out and about, at the supermarket, or another place, think twice before purchasing any of the following products:

Ramen Noodles

Ramen is the quintessential college meal, but this economical snack is packed with tons of sodium and trans fat. 35 cents will pay for your meal, but 35 minutes won’t be enough to burn all the calories you’ve consumed from this bad boy.

Movie Theater Pop Corn

A large tub of movie theater pop corn can contain between 400-1,200 calories and more than 30 grams of fat. This is the equivalent to eating 2 Big Macs!

Diet Soda

Just because it’s diet, doesn’t mean it’s healthy! Aspartame, the artificial sweetener that replaces sugar, has been found to have side effects that include heart palpitations, seizures, and…are you ready?… weight gain.

Starbucks Venti Mocha

That Starbucks coffee might taste delicious on your way to work in the morning, but if you’re calorie conscious, you’re going to be paying for it later. The Venti Mocha has over 450 calories per serving and 15 grams of fat. You’d have to run the equivalent of two 5ks in order to get rid of all those calories!