Good form builds lean muscle

I have over heard a few common things in the gym and seen a few other things as well. To the casual observer they are quite humorous, especially as they seem to be stereotypical to men and women. 

First, I have over heard a number of ladies say 'I want to lose weight but I don't want to put on any muscle because my legs / arms / shoulders (insert body part here) are big enough'. This basically means that these ladies become scared of the weights room as they think that by lifting weights they will become the female equivalent of the hulk.

Second, this is an observation of men in weights rooms. Time after time I have seen guys lifting the heaviest weights they possibly can, which I imagine is either to impress the women that don't go in to the weights room any way, to show all the guys who the big dog on campus is or because they think this is actually how to gain lean muscle.

In this blog I would like to tackle these two things as I understand them. 

For the ladies out there that are scared of doing weights because they think that will automatically lead to looking like a female version of Arnie, don't worry because that isn't going to happen unless you actually trained for it to happen. By avoiding weights it means that all you are doing is committing yourself to a life long prison sentence to boring cardio, you may as well cancel your gym membership and just go running outside. 

My fiancee had the same concern when she first started going to the gym but I put her mind at ease when I told her that every 1lb of muscle she put on would help her to burn an extra 50 calories per day. I also explained to her that the biggest muscles in your body are your quadriceps (the top half of your legs) so there is a good place to start if you want to add muscle to your body. So don't shy away from weights as building lean muscle is a very important aspect to losing weight. 

Now on to the guys; I understand perfectly why we want to lift the heaviest weight we can but if you want to a) avoid injury and b) properly target your muscles, you need to ensure you are not lifting weights that are too heavy. By lifting weights that are too heavy you will automatically use other muscles to complete your rep. Ask yourself this; have you ever seen anyone doing bicep curls who had to bend their back or swing their hips to complete the rep? I know I have. Now ask yourself this; have you ever done this?

If the answer to the second question is yes, then drop to a lighter weight. All you are doing is using other muscles in your body to lift the weight so your bicep isn't even getting the maximum benefit from the exercise. You are also risking injury to your lower back. So if you want to get the maximum results from the muscle group you are working you must ensure you can complete the desired number of reps with perfect form. If your form cannot remain perfect throughout the rep, do not complete the rep. 

If you don't trust me on this, read the advice given by any weight training expert as they will only ever say the same thing. So remember, perfect form means bigger muscles and no injuries. 

Good luck and enjoy your weight training.

Work smart not hard

We all want to look good, reach our goals and get the best results from our training, I think that is pretty obvious. I go to the gym regularly, I have to admit that I am addicted and I often can't wait until I can get in there for my next workout. I am thinking about it now as I write this.

Whilst I am in the gym I hang out with two different types of crowds. My first workout is a boxing class, which is great. It is a really good cardio workout with a lot of core work, we also do weights and resistance training. The class lasts 45 minutes and always leaves me in a sweaty mess. There is a great bunch of people that come to the class who all work hard and all want to get good results. I see the second set of people in the evening, these are the people who frequent the weights room. They also work hard and also want good results but the results are a different type. In general the people in the boxing class are there to lose some extra pounds and look lean. In weights everyone is looking to add some lean muscle or bulk up.

The one observation I have had over the 5 months I have been going to this gym is that not everyone actually gets any results, well visible results anyway. This brings me on to the point of this blog entry, it isn't enough to just work hard.

All I know is that I would be pretty disappointed if I went to the gym most days and nights over the course of a 5 month period and didn't see any results. But I see a number of people in my gym who work incredibly hard, put in the necessary time and effort but don't seem to be getting any where.

If you have been in this situation before I feel for you, I really do and my aim is to help you to identify how you can make the necessary changes to your workouts in order to achieve your goals.

First, the science behind it. In order to lose weight you need to burn more calories than you eat, you need to create a calorie deficit. Every pound of fat in your body contains 3500 calories. If you were to create a deficit of 500 calories per day, you would lose 1lb or fat per week / 4lb per month. That is a healthy amount to lose.
Every 1lb of muscle in your body will help you burn an extra 50 calories per day. Therefore, if you increase the amount of muscle in your body and continue to keep your calorie intake under control you will actually increase the speed of your weight loss.

Exercise alone is not good enough to help you reach your goals. You need to be really careful about how you fuel your body and what your diet consists of. I'm not a calorie counter (I don't meticulously count every single calorie I put  in to my body) but I have a pretty good idea of the number of calories I eat daily. Start by looking at your diet and look at the nutritional information on the packets of the foods you eat, you will be surprised by the number of additives that are in foods you think are healthy.

A bit more science for you;

1. Calculate your BMR (Basel Metabolic Rate - the number of calories your body will burn at rest)
2. Calculate how many calories you burn during exercise
3. Calculate how many calories you eat on a daily basis

If you can create a scenario where (1+2)-3 = 500 then you have created a scenario for healthy weight loss.
Remember that you need to fuel your body for exercise so be sure to still eat a healthy number of calories (a recommended amount for men is 2500 and women is 2000 on a daily basis).

Good luck and enjoy your training.

I don't need you to believe in me...

I don't know if everyone experiences this but when I tell people I am going to do something that is going to be a challenge, they usually tell me 'oh, you won't be able to do that' or something to that effect.

That was the same at the beginning when I said I was going to lose a lot of weight for my wedding. It seems to be that the minute you say you are going to get fit or lose weight you are confronted with 3 types of people.

1) The instant expert

This is the person who, despite having never previously shown any reason to suggest so, suddenly becomes an expert on weight loss and how to build lean muscle. They will share with you some half baked exercise programme, write you a diet plan and back it all up with a scientific explanation that makes solving the Kennedy assassination more plausible.

The trick is to identify these people quickly so you don't end up following any of their advice. Some of it could be good but would you take advice from someone who thought they looked like the first pic, but actually more closely resembled the second? (from www.fit2fat2fit.com)

Thought not... 

2) The critic / the dream crusher 

In a nutshell this is the person who says 'You will never be able to do that' because they know they couldn't...

Sadly these people can be your friends and family, don't listen to them. If everyone who heard someone say this to them decided to quit, the world would be a much less advanced place. I have met these people, some of them are friends of mine and I don't let them affect my motivation. Well in a way ... I do.

I use the critics to motivate me more, I think about them telling me I can't do something that I know I can do. It is a great feeling proving these people wrong and they are always wrong. If you put the hard work in and you stay focussed on your goals, you will achieve them.

In my experience a critic can become a know it all when you are part way through achieving your goals. When they suddenly realise it is possible and you are able to do it, they will say things like 'you have done well so far but you will obviously find it more difficult / your results will slow down / you will put the weight back on .... ' I don't think so!

3) The supporter 

Surround yourself with these people, they are great. They will support you, they won't doubt you and they will  help you achieve your goals. 

I am lucky that most people I know fit in this category. So thank you to my fiancee and my good friend Pete who have supported me the most. If you don't have people like this in your life, find them, make them a training partner (this is Pete in my case) and spend as much time with them as possible. If you dream big and you have positive reinforcement you are more likely to achieve your goals. 

Which supplement should I choose?

To get the results I wanted I did a lot of research into the supplements you can take that aid your progress. If truth be told, I spent hours researching. In this section I will share with you my research and the results I gained from taking supplements. 

Before you invest your money in buying a supplement there are a few things you want to find out. This naturally depends on which type of supplement you are going to buy. If we take protein supplements for example the list might look like this; 

• How much does it cost?
• How many grams of protein is in it per serving? 
• How many servings are in it per unit bought?
• How easy does it mix? 
• Does it taste nice? 

I'll break this down further:

Like pretty much everything out there, the better products are 'reassuringly expensive' and this is no different with protein shakes. Every review I read on protein powders leaned towards the more expensive products. The reviews that clinched it for me, in suggesting that I should invest in the higher end products, were those written by students who were willing to invest the little money they had in the more expensive products.

Considering it is a protein shake, you want to know how much protein is in each serving. The amount varies significantly from brand to brand so you need to check the nutritional values. The protein shake that I invested in has 53g of protein per serving.

You will also want to know how long it will last for. A lot of supplements in the market are bought in units of 2kg or 5kg. The product I bought came in 5kg tubs and last approximately 3 months. At least I can now work out the total annual cost and determine if I am happy investing that amount of money. 

Mix-ability is really important as you want one that will mix well and easily. You don't want a shake that is difficult to mix in a protein shaker (I'll review these another time) and you don't want a shake that will be grainy. 

The taste element is really important and it doesn't just come down to the flavour you buy. It is a fact that not all products taste nice and whilst you might be thinking 'I'm not buying it for the flavour, I'm buying it to reach my goal', you want to be sure to buy something you can stomach. I drink a protein shake after each workout, each shake is almost a pint (500ml) in volume, I want to make sure I enjoy drinking it. When researching your protein shake for flavour, make sure you look out for anyone who had to add milk, fruit or ice-cream to improve the taste. 

Throughout the rest of the supplements blog I will review other supplements I use (flax seed oil, L-Carnitine tablets and fat burners). I will also review protein shakers - not a straight forward purchase. I hope my protein  powder review helps you decide if a product is for you. Feel free to add a comment if it does.

Get Fit 4 Good does not have doctors on staff, and the advice found on this blog is not a substitute for medical advice. Always consult a doctor before beginning any exercise or nutrition program. 

Make smarter food choices for weight loss

Before you change your diet you need to think about what you eat that could be a cause of your weight gain. For me it was pretty easy to identify; I used to buy my breakfast from a local coffee chain and it would regularly consist of some sort of breakfast sandwich or a bacon croissant on a Friday morning (two if I had been out the night before!). Lunch would be anything convenient, snacks would always be unhealthy, drinks would usually be fizzy and the amounts would always be pretty big.

Identifying the problem is the easy part; you probably already know what you could change to make a difference. The harder part is knowing how to change it, knowing what to change it to and knowing what foods you can eat that will actually help you to lose weight.

The first thing I changed was to eat my breakfast at home. This way I knew exactly what I was eating and how much I was eating. Breakfast is now a bowl of porridge or a bowl of cereal with oats. The aim is to eat something that provides a slow release of energy. You don't want to be getting hungry a couple of hours later, instead you want to boost your metabolism but stay full for longer. In looking for a suitable cereal I have avoided those with lots of sugars and have tried to keep it as natural as possible. If I have ever not been able to eat breakfast at home, I tend to eat a banana or an apple on my way to work. The idea is to get your metabolism working as soon as possible and the only way to do this is by eating something.

Lunch is no longer about convenience, it is about a healthy balance of the right types of food. Preparing your own lunch in the office can help with this. If you work near a supermarket this is easy, if not, prepare food at home. The idea behind lunch for me is to get a good level of protein mixed with a good amount of fresh vegetables. I don't use salad dressings though as they can contain a lot of calories. If you are going to buy your lunch or eat in a restaurant (with clients for example) just be smart about your choices and think about portion control.

The key with dinner is to eat freshly ingredients, take advantage of having a kitchen to actually cook in. When choosing meat make sure it is lean and will provide a good amount of protein with little amount of fat. Fish is also an excellent source of protein. Vegetables are an excellent addition to your diet if you are looking to lose weight but make sure you also prepare them healthily. Steaming veg is a great way to ensuring they keep their health benefits, roasting veg is a good second option. Here is a list of veg I tend to rotate throughout my meals;

• Broccoli 
• Leeks
• Spinach
• Sweetcorn (on the cob)
• Peppers
• Tomatoes
• Sweet potatoes (much better for you than normal potatoes)

Snacks; snacking is actually an important part of losing weight. Ideally you want to be eating 5-6 small meals a day instead of 3 large ones. With that in mind, make sure you use smart portion control with your breakfast, lunch and dinner so you can get the most benefit of eating healthy snacks in between meals. The important thing to achieve is eating the right type of snacks; nuts are great as they are also very good for you. They are high in fats (although they are good fats) so eat them in moderation. In particular I tend to snack on;

• Almonds
• Cashew nuts
• Walnuts

Fruit is also a good snack although they are high in fructose so again I have moderated the amount of fruit I eat; in particular I tend to eat;

• Bananas
• Apples
• Blueberries

Get Fit 4 Good does not have doctors on staff, and the advice found on this blog is not a substitute for medical advice. Always consult a doctor before beginning any exercise or nutrition program. 

5.1% body fat lost since January 1st 2012

Initially I just wanted to lose weight, so all I cared about was what the scales said.
But as I continue getting closer to my goals, I care more about the composition of my body than just the weight of it. So at the beginning of the year I started to track my body fat percentage.

On 1st January 2012 my measurements were;
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 202lbs

• Neck  - 16.5"
• Chest  - 41"
• Bicep  - 15"
• Waist  - 40"
• Hips    - 37"
• Thigh   - 24"

Body fat percentage 26.33% (using http://www.linear-software.com/online.html)

On 29th February 2012 (2 months later) 

Height: 5'8"

Weight: 195lbs

• Neck  - 16"
• Chest  - 41"
• Bicep  - 15.2"
• Waist  - 36.5"
• Hips    - 36"
• Thigh   - 24"

Body fat percentage 21.23% 

I have achieved this through exercise and a healthy diet plan. My exercise regime has consisted of a mixture of cardio and weight training. My diet plan is easy to put into practice and easy to replicate. 

I will provide the details of my exercise plans in my workout page. I have already added some content on my diet plans to this page. If you have any questions, email me at loseweight4thelasttime@gmail.com or leave a comment. Also, come back weekly for more comments, tips and training ideas.