Making It Pretty For Better Results

November 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment

I always tell my clients, “make it look pretty!” If you want to exercise and receive good results, you must keep a good form of the exercise. One of the factors when keeping a good form during exercise is stabilize your core muscles.

People who tend to exercise on unstable ground or unstable surfaces like training on BoSu ball or foam pad, their capacity for maximal core muscle contraction decreases in order to compensate for balancing. It takes away from stabilization in order to perform the exercise properly.

For example, holding a pair of dumbbells and stepping on to a BoSu ball to do shoulder press is not a walk in the park. You will struggle to stay on the BoSu ball let alone get a ‘good set’ done. On the other hand, doing the same dumbbell shoulder press on a solid ground will give you much better shoulder workout.

Final Thought

Ditch the Bosu ball or balance board and make it look pretty.

(Source: International Journal Sports Physiology Performance, 4: 97-109, 2009)

Weight Training Decreases Stomach Fat

November 26, 2009 | 1 Comment

You might be thinking, Duhh…. I know this already. But does your diet plan includes weight training? The American Heart Association, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and even the American College of Sports Medicine encourage people to participate in aerobic exercise to help control weight and improve metabolic health. There is more and more proof that weight training is the key ingredient of a good exercise program. Regular weight training, encourages fat loss, improves metabolic health and builds strength.

Weight Training Promotes Weight Control

A study initiated by Robert Hickner through the East Carolina University researchers, proved that weight-training showed great increases in:

Energy levels
Metabolic rate
Fat use in both obese and slender men and women especially the stomach area
and more!

Final Thought
No matter what your goals are, you cant reach it without weight training.

source: Journal of Applied Physiology, in press; published online March 5, 2009

Obesogens Makes You Fat

November 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment

The simple fact is that you will gain weight if your body takes in more energy than you burn off; and you lose weight when you burn energy more than the energy you take in. Unfortunately, it is not as easy as it may seem. If it was, there wouldn’t be so many overweight people in this world.

Research

According to researchers from University of California, in Irvine, Obesogens environmental chemicals actually change cellular sensors controlling our metabolic rate.

When our food intake disturbs our energy balance it encourages the storage of fat. People who are exposed to these chemicals during crucial growth periods may cause a person to live a life of obesity. Managing obesogens continues to be a huge public health risk.

Simply put, binge eating or non-scheduled eating encourages your body to store fat!

Take Home Lesson
Try to eat your set meals on time.
Ex: Breakfast in the morning, lunch in the after noon, and dinner in the early evening.

Source: Molecular Endocrinology, in press; published online April 16, 2009

The Best Ab Building Exercise

November 26, 2009 | 1 Comment

The most effective thing to do when you’re serious about building your Abs is to select exercises that trigger the abdominal muscles. At the same time, you have to decrease activation of the hip flexors and focus on the spine. Scientist measure muscle activation levels during certain exercises. During this process, scientists place electrodes on a muscle belly. The muscles that work the hardest display increased electrical activity in the EMG.

Kevin Parfrey, a Canadian researcher, compared hip flexor muscle activation during twelve different variations of sit-ups. And the Winner is….

Bent-knee sit-ups, with out feet support

This is very similar to the good old sit up except it’s with out feet support (with out some one holding your feet down or tucking under things) with the hands flat at your sides, sliding during a curl-up. This is the king of the sit ups and crunches, it produces the most abdominal muscle activation — it also decreases the movement of the hip flexors, isolating your abs.

So, the next time you do curl-ups, try separating the large six-pack muscle (rectus abdominis) and decrease the activity of your head, neck and shoulders. This form of exercise overloads and isolates your abdominal muscles, without overloading your sensitive neck muscles and spine.

Applied Physiology Nutrition and Metabolism, 33: 888-895, 2008

Janda Sit-Up Builds Abs With Less Stress On Hip Flexors and Back

Best Way For Long-term Weight Loss?

November 26, 2009 | 1 Comment

Sure, you can starve yourself and go through stress, fatigue, mood swings and even pain for not eating and have those pounds drop. But you don’t need to be a health professional to tell that starving your self is not the best way to lose weight.

Researchers from Harvard School of Public Health did 18 weight loss studies by utilizing a statistical method referred to as meta-analysis. During the study, they compared the results of exercise plus diet vs. diet alone on body mass and weight loss.

Participants in the study (lasting approx. 2 years) lost around 2.5 pounds more when they combined diet and exercise as compared to just dieting without exercise. The average weight loss in the studies was very low — they only lost 15 pounds. Some of the participants regained most of the weight on both weight-loss programs. The dropout rate in many of these experiments is 65%.The good news is, in one study, participants kept a 5.6 reduction in BMI for around 6 years.

Calorie Reduction + Daily Exercise = Weight Loss

So, to be successful at losing weight, you should reduce your calories, exercise daily and reach out to people who are positive about your weight loss goals such a support groups.

Try: