FIT TIP / RECOVER FOR GROWTH & HEALTH



Why recovery is important to achieving your training goals.....


You don't get results from your workouts; you get results by recovering from your workouts. You must give your body a day off each week in order to improve performance and prevent injury or over-training. Spend today relaxing and eating healthy food. Take a hot bath or Jacuzzi and spend some time stretching and foam rolling.

Recovery Tip
A foam roller is a long foam cylinder that trainers and physical therapists often use to help their clients improve flexibility and recover from workouts. Simply rolling sore or tight muscles over the dense foam helps to break up scar tissue, improve blood flow, and increase range of motion. Use the foam roller (if your gym doesn't have one, you can order one at optp.com) as often as you like, but it's especially good before and after workouts. Be sure to spend extra time rolling out very tight areas, which are typically the hips, hamstrings, and calves. Try rolling each muscle group 50 times back and forth.

Go for a Stretch
If you can't make it through the day without your physical fix, go for a stretch. Work on these stretches regularly to keep your muscles conditioned for activity. Hold each for 30 seconds, and repeat for two or three set on both arms/legs.

* Hip Flexor. Kneel on the floor in a lunge position but with your back knee on the floor. Push your hips forward so you feel a stretch in the muscles in the front of your back leg. To increase the stretch, raise the arm that's on the same side as the back leg overhead.

* Chest Stretch. Stand in a doorway and place one arm at a 90-degree angle against the door frame (the meat of your forearm presses against the frame). Lean forward to stretch the muscles across your chest and the front of your shoulder.

Sergio Martinez vs. Sergiy Dzinziruk


Sergio Martinez vs. Sergiy Dzinziruk Preview & Prediction

On March 12, Sergio Gabriel Martinez will climb through the ropes to face Sergiy Dzinziruk in a middleweight clash, which according to boxrec.com will be for the "vacant WBC Diamond Middleweight Title." This is because in choosing to face Dzinziruk, Martinez gave the WBC an opportunity to strip him of his title and give it to German fringe contender Sebastain Zbik. The "Diamond Championship" is a farce and a monstrosity, little more than a trophy granted to the winner of a historic fight between two prominent boxers that allows greedy old Jose Suleiman to collect another sanctioning fee (which Martinez is hopefully refusing to pay). Yet even though no title worthy of the name is at stake, this is a fight of substance because Martinez remains the top dog of the middleweight division in the hearts and minds of boxing fans everywhere. His opponent, Sergiy Dzinziruk, is an undefeated junior middleweight champion, and therefore no slouch either.

Sergiy Dzinziruk (37-0, 23 KOs)
6'0" tall, 68" reach, 34 years old, southpaw
Ukrainian living in Germany
Current WBO Junior Middleweight Champion

Credit: Tom Casino/Showtime

If you haven't heard of Sergiy Dzinziruk, then take advantage of this match with Martinez as an opportunity to learn more about him. A well-schooled amateur who won Silver at the 1997 World Amateur Championships, Dzinziruk is the longest reigning champion of the 154 lbs weight class. He won the WBO belt from Daniel Santos in 2005 and has defended it six times since then. Dzinziruk has good power, as exemplified by dropping Daniel Santos in the 8th to win the championship, stopping fringe contender Daniel Dawson in his most recent outing, and his overall knockout numbers.

His style is fairly typical of Continental European fighters, as he stands straight up and comes forward behind a high guard, but with a few important differences. He has a busy and very stiff right jab, which is used to set up short, sharp two and three punch combos from the outside. Dzinziruk is also an able counter-puncher. HBO has been trying to get Dzinziruk into a big fight for at least a couple of years now, which ought to tell you what boxing's biggest network thinks of him.

Sergio Gabriel Martinez (46-2-2, 25 KOs)
5'10" tall, 72" reach, 35 year old, southpaw
Argentine
Former junior middleweight champion, former middleweight champion

Photo credit: Craig Bennett/Goossen Tutor Promotions

Martinez's qualities are now well-known to boxing fans. He is a tough, busy fighter who uses the southpaw stance to set up an awkward, highly mobile defense. Offensively, Martinez packs a good wallop (as anyone who saw him flatten Paul Williams now knows), but relies more on volume than on single hard shots. That set of tools has carried Martinez to the top of his division, and he has whipped Kermit Cintron, Kelly Pavlik and Paul Williams along the way. "Marvilla" is seasoned, confident, and riding a wave of success.
Martinez vs. Dzinziruk Preview &Analysis

One of the most interesting features of this fight is how so many of the physical factors cancel each other out. Martinez came up from 154 lbs himself, and is not substantially larger than Dzinziruk. The Ukrainian is taller, while Martinez has the longer arms, but both men are about the same size. Both men are roughly the same age as well. While this is Dzinziruk's first truly big fight, he is a seasoned 37-0 champion, and therefore no blushing virgin. Both men will enter the ring equally confident and convinced of their ability to win. Neither man will enjoy the "southpaw advantage" either.

To win this fight, Dzinziruk needs to come forward and score with his right jab. It is his main weapon, and if he can keep the Argentine on the end of his jab he will be able to avoid the worst of Martinez's pressure tactics and capitalize on any mistakes Martinez might make with a straight left or a right hook. Once Dzinziruk gets a good rhythm going and establishes that jab, his point defense will be enough to keep him out of trouble and he pound out round after round.

For Martinez, the road to victory runs right through Dzinziruk's body. Cracking open Dzinziruk's high guard will prove a problem. As a well-schooled, technically sound fighter, Dzinziruk won't make the kind of mistake that let Martinez beat Williams to the punch back in November. Head-hunting the Ukrainian early on is not a winning tactic, so Martinez will need to hammer his ribs first.
Martinez vs. Dzinziruk Prediction

In this contest of plowing forward with the jab and body-snatching off of side to side movement, I see the mobile body puncher carrying the day. Dzinziruk is taller and relies on point defense, while Martinez has the reach and speed to land hard shots to the body from both the outside and the inside. It's a bad combination for the Ukrainian.

Both men are confident and aggressive, and therefore should go right after each other early on, which probably means both guys will be staggered or maybe even knocked down in the early rounds. But it is Martinez who will score the harder, more telling shots, most of them to the body. After a spirited contest, "Marvilla" is going to take Dzinziruk out to deep water and drown him.

Prediction: Martinez TKO7

Nutrition Is The Single Most Important Key To Your Success





If you want to lose fat end see the results of your discipline and hard work, you must get a handle on your nutrition. There is no way around it. Once you do, you will start to have amazing results. Have you heard that “abs are made in the kitchen?” The nutrition counts for 90% of your results!! It is THAT important. You cannot train out of a bad diet.

“Low-fat” and “non-fat” on labels doesn’t necessarily mean it’s healthy! Many times these seemingly nutritious foods are packed with sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, and are loaded with calories.

Your body actually needs fat—the RIGHT kinds of HEALTHY fats like you find in raw nuts, olive oil, avocados, natural peanut butter, fish and fish oils, etc. When you eat these healthy fats in moderation, you actually help your body to become lean!

When you are not eating enough calories, you are slowing your metabolism. Your body thinks it is starving and it starts to burn up your valuable muscle as fuel! Muscle is what MAKES your body lean, so you do not want to lose any of it! It takes a lot of calories and energy just to maintain your muscle. You burn calories without trying—just because the muscle is there!!

Also, when you eat 5-6 smaller meals per day (as opposed to the traditional “3 squares”), you are constantly spending calories on digestion and absorption of all those meals! Food has a thermic effect. Protein is hard for your body to digest, so it has the highest thermic effect. Next comes carbohydrates, followed by fats. You should try to combine a lean protein, a healthy carbohydrate and healthy fat in each meal.

Don’t skip meals, either! You need to eat breakfast, first thing in the morning to get your metabolism cooking! When you go without breakfast, your metabolism is running too slow. You are not stoking the fire to start your fat burning for the day. Your body, AGAIN, will look for energy elsewhere. You haven’t fueled with food, so it will start breaking down your muscle!! You lower your metabolism, and it will make it much easier for you to gain fat in the future!!

AbFitt's FIRST E- BOOK " 5 FIT PRINCIPLE'S " COMING MARCH 2011


After 22 years competing, training & consulting I was looking for a way to take my own fitness to the next level of fat burning, building new lean muscle, breaking my plateaus and improving my athletic performance. In 2003 I began experimenting with various training intensity's and programs.

I enlisted the help of some of the nations fittest individuals from the USFS smoke jumpers I befriended wile working for Carson helicopters on fire fighting contracts throughout the US. What I came up with simply changed my fitness, my body and my life forever. Employing various combination's of intensity levels & resistance, instinctive training, nutritional timing, supplementation & recovery the end result is what I call H.I.G.T ( High Intensity group training ) & the 5 fit principles.

In the years that have followed I have consulted and trained athletes and everyday people using this training system and the 5 fit principles that govern it. Some right here on the pages of AbFitt, from professional boxers, fitness models, power lifters, bodybuilders, law enforcement officers, fire fighters, helicopter pilots, EMS, high school track athletes and professional base ball players. Always improving on the "methods of the madness" understanding each human being has his/her own fitness blueprint. I believed so strongly in the effectiveness of training in this manner to break through training plateaus, to get rid of that stubborn fat that just seems to not want to go and to build new lean muscle tissue all wile getting you so shredded, I decided to launch AbFitt. Abfitt was my way of inexpensively getting the word out about HIGT and the five fit principles to positively effect people's lives, health and overall fitness.

Now four years later with over 108,000 worldwide readers AbFitt is one of the most read fitness blogs on the net with over 400 articles. However all this information can be overwhelming and confusing. with this in mind I have decided to release my first E-book " 5 Fit Principles ". 5 fitness principles you must follow to achieve your best body ever!

You will learn how to train & eat for your body type, how to apply these principles to your body's blue print to achieve your fitness, athletic and nutritional goals. Designed in a step by step format, instructing you how, when and why. Removing all guess work and doubt wile providing you with 22 years of proven & effective science... the "methods behind the madness".

* Principle #1- Training: Intensity, Instinctive, Full body, Splits, Body weighted
* Principle #2- Nutrition: Fuel Your body's blue print to burn fat & build muscle
* Principle #3- Nutrition Timing: Learn what to eat & when to eat it & the result
* Principle #4- Supplements: what works & what simply does not and never will
* Principle #5- Recovery: What it is and how to truly achieve it

"5 FIT PRINCIPLES"

COMING MARCH 2011 AVAILABLE HERE ON AbFitt AUTHORED BY FITNESS CONSULTANT FORMER PROFESSIONAL BOXER AND CREATOR OF AbFitt RICHARD SEYMOUR.

LIVE FIT, BE FIT

FOOD FOR FUEL FOR THOSE WHO DO EVENING WORKOUTS


The evening athlete

Some people wake up in the morning supercharged with energy and ready to tackle their workout program. Others take several hours before they are feeling up to par. For the latter group, getting to the gym in the morning is a nearly insurmountable challenge. Evening workouts provide a better opportunity as far as motivation is concerned, but there may be special dietary considerations for the evening trainee.

Insulin Management

1. Insulin is the most anabolic (muscle-building) hormone in our body. But it is also a double-edged sword, as it is also the primary fat-storage hormone. Thankfully, we can exercise fair amounts of control over this powerhouse. Insulin is primarily produced in direct response to the types of foods we consume--carbohydrate consumption triggers insulin production to a substantially greater degree than protein or fat.

So for the athlete who lifts in the evenings, keeping a tight rein on insulin production during the day is crucial to keeping slim and shedding pounds. To that end, we recommend that you severely limit carb intake during the day--keep your carbohydrate intake limited strictly to fruits and vegetables. This recommendation changes immediately following your workout. There, you want to immediately spike insulin to begin the muscle-growth process, allowing your body to recover from the workout. Consume a meal containing fast-digested carbs and protein, with minimal fat--something like chicken and rice will do the trick nicely. Eat a moderately sized protein and carbohydrate meal immediately following your workout, and again around an hour later. This will provide your body with the nutrients it needs to recover and grow. And thanks to your carbohydrate restriction during the pre-workout hours, your body will be more sensitive to the insulin produced, resulting in less chance that the nutrients will be stored as fat.

Eating during your day

2. Aside from ensuring that your post-workout meals are correctly balanced, the evening lifter must also make certain that he/she properly fuels his body during the day. Otherwise, you will feel flat and fatigued when it is time to workout, and your fat-loss efforts will be impaired by your lack of energy. So throughout the day, be sure to consume a meal every two to three hours. Each meal should consist of a lean protein source (meat, eggs, fish, poultry), fruit and vegetables. Additionally, limit your beverages to zero-calorie choices like water and green tea. Some coffee is all right, but do not go overboard on the caffeine as you will likely crash sometime before your workout, which will also hinder your progress. Aside from that, try to keep away from liquid meals, which are digested too rapidly and can also cause minor insulin fluctuations. And be certain to ingest adequate calories from fat, as a number of hormonal systems in the body rely upon dietary fat--consume at least 25 percent of your calories from a mix of animal fats, fats from fruits and vegetables (like avocados and coconuts) and oils (like olive and macadamia nut).

Through keeping close control over your insulin levels and properly feeding your body at regular intervals during the day, your evening workouts and your fat loss efforts will proceed that much more smoothly.


Read more: Just use the search bar top right, to visit the training/nutrition topic of your choice. Live Fit, Be fit!

What is your supplementation like?











So what is your supplementation like?

I’m a big believer in the proven basics, however remember good foods build great bodies.

* Whey- Morning, pre & post workout

* Casein- Before bed

* Creatine monohydrate- Pre & post workout

* BCAA- Pre workout & a mix in water that I sip during training.

* Multi vitamin- I cycle these simple because their is no legit science behind multi's. Listen don't be fooled, advertisements do not count as legitimate studies.

* Beta Alanine- Mix with creatine for extra kick.

* Arginine- See above

CARB CONFUSION? ONLY BECAUSE YOU MAKE IT CONFUSING.








We make eating (carbs) for your fitness building muscle & burning fat too complex. Here’s a simple 7 day plan to follow,

Day 1-Get Rid Of Your Carbs, huh? Yea don't eat any fatty.

AM- 20-45 min of cardio on an empty stomach- Yes before work, hey make the time. EX from my "fighting fit" program- 3 min 10 rounds 30 sec rest, rope skip. Skip like a fighter...fast, with purpose.

PM- 45 min weight training- Pick from my "Instinctive training" EX: Tri set super set full body, Push/pull super set two body parts, single body part high volume or H.I.G.T.( high intensity group training )NOTE: remember each workout must be different, never doing the same thing twice. The body only responds to change, if you are not a drug using athlete with the ability to recover within hrs, your body will not respond to the same old thing, it will find the most efficient way to do an exercises thus halting results. If someone tells you different, run as fast as you can to get away from that bullshit.

Carbohydrates are kept under 150 grams post workout.

Days 2-5

AM- 20-45 min of cardio- Try what I call "suicides" 3 min rope skip directly into 1 min mountain climbers then move to 1 min prisoner squats finish with 1 min explosive squat jumps. 6 min total, now perform 6 sets resting 30 seconds between sets. Hard? Yea that's why I call them "suicides"


PM-45-60 minutes of weight training, Pick from my "Instinctive training" EX: Tri set super set full body, Push/pull super set two body parts, single body part high volume or H.I.G.T.( high intensity group training )NOTE: remember each workout must be different, never doing the same thing twice.

Carbohydrate intake is kept under 200 grams

Days 6-7

Only train with weights today. * See above....

Carbohydrate intake is around 400-600 grams per day.Replenishing muscle glucose store's.

You see and you thought that building muscle, burning fat and getting your carb intake was complex. No seriously this is a very general guideline. Truth is we each have our own body blueprint, experiment to find your own body's needs.

LIVE FIT, BE FIT...Do it with AbFitt.

RICHARD SEYMOUR'S / FIT SCHOOL...THREE TIPS FOR FAT LOSS


Losing fat isn’t rocket science, quantum physics, or brain surgery. In fact, losing fat is really pretty easy…. IF you learn how to control your blood sugar! So let me give you 3 simple strategies that will help you control your blood sugar AND help you lose fat as a result.
Controlling Blood Sugar is as Easy as 1, 2, 3

1. Eat the right TYPE of Carbs
You want to consume carbs that are going to be time-released. This helps prevents high blood sugar spikes followed by low blood sugar crashes. Foods that are going to be more time-released tend to have certain characteristics: they are low in sugar and high in fiber. Consequently it’s natural foods that are the best carbs sources.


2. Eat the right AMOUNT of Carbs
Even if you eat the right type of carbs, you can still raise your blood sugar too much (which blunts fat burning) by eating too many grams of carbs at once. Therefore you must control your carb portion sizes if you want to lose fat.


3. Eat Protein and Fiber with Carbs
As alluded to in step #1, fiber and fat loss are BFF! Eating fiber (i.e. veggies) slows the digestion of other carbs you eat, which is just what you want cause this makes the carbs more time-released. This results in stable, as opposed to erratic, blood sugar levels.

Same goes for eating protein with carbs… it makes the carbs essentially become more time-released. Oh, I forgot to mention that both protein and fiber will keep you feeling fuller longer – HUGE benefit to following step #3!
Fat Loss comes with Right Habits

People that lose the fat they want and then stay lean inevitably follow these three steps, but they have made them HABIT! They don’t even consciously think about it. I always say fitness & your health is a lifestyle, a daily way of living. Not something you do for a few weeks at the start of a new year.

Start now by implementing the above three steps for just one month. After that you’ll find you naturally select the right type and amount of carbs and eat them with the right things. Then you’ll one major step closer to having the body you want.

ASK AbFitt....Lower abdominal water retention.


QUESTION: I am getting ready for a bodybuilding contest and I have always held water in my lower abdominal area. So I was just wondering if this would be taken care of with the proper peak weak nutrition. I thought about trying a peak week to drain all the subcutaneous water out, but thought I would just ask instead of wasting a week I could be building.

Garrett from Iowa


ANSWER: Here’s how I evaluate my clients to see what’s fat and what’s water: whatever your lower abs look like when you wake up first thing in the morning is FAT, not water. That’s because excess water has drained off during the night, leaving you with your baseline appearance so to speak with no water retention yet no dehydration. You need to look practically stage ready when you first wake up. Then you can use tweaking to fine-tune your body even more.

Regards

AbFitt-

Reaching your goal is simple. Eat real foods, mix up your training & rest.


Stay lean & muscular for life

#1 | Take in at least one gram (g) of protein per pound of body weight each day.

That’s the magic number for maintaining a positive nitrogen balance, scientific lingo for creating an environment in your body conducive to muscle growth. When dieting, you may need to increase that number. When your carbohydrate intake remains extremely low for more than four consecutive days, you may need 1 1/2 g per pound of bodyweight; if you train twice a day and do cardio on a daily basis to cut up, you’ll definitely need 1 1/2 g.

#2 | Eat at least 2 g of carbs per pound of bodyweight.

Ripping up requires that you slash both calories and carbohydrates, but sticking to such a diet for too long can backfire, slowing your metabolic rate. While you’re on a strict low-carb diet, bump up your carb intake to at least 2 g per pound of bodyweight every four or five days. The increase in carb consumption will energize you and trick your metabolism into believing the carb and calorie deprivation are a mirage.

The result: your metabolism will remain elevated, making fat loss a little easier.

#3 | Take 3 g of arginine 3 or 4 times daily.

The amino acid arginine performs many valuable functions, the most critical for bodybuilders involving growth hormone and nitric oxide (NO). Arginine helps you produce more growth hormone, obviously important for those looking for more mass. In the body, arginine gets converted to NO, enhancing blood flow to working muscles so they can get more nutrients, hormones and oxygen. Take 3 g of arginine in the morning, before and after workouts, and before going to bed.

#4 | Consume a minimum of four cups of vegetables per day.

Four is the minimum daily servings of veggies dieters require for appetite control. Eating low-calorie higher-fiber vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, asparagus and spinach, wards off feelings of hunger by taking up room in the stomach and signaling brain chemicals that shut down appetite.

#5 | Supplement with 3-5 g of creatine before and after workouts.

Creatine taken before or after training boosts metabolism, kick-starts recovery and provides the raw energy required to support muscle growth. A lot of bodybuilders fall for the more-must-be-better mindset and go overboard.

It’s fine to load creatine, taking up to 5 g four times a day for the first week you’re on it, but after that, all you need is 3-5 g before and after training, and just 5 g total on nontraining days.

#6 | Consume 6 meals daily.

This is the minimum number of meals the body needs to sustain an elevated metabolic rate. Every time you eat, your metabolic rate rises slightly eating every three hours, or six times a day, helps you take full advantage of this phenomenon.

When you cut calories and carbs on a fat-shedding diet yet adhere to the six-meals-a-day rule you’re less likely to unwittingly cause a metabolic slowdown.

#7 | Give your diet 14 days before making radical changes out of frustration.

During the first 14 days of a eating clean foods, expect to look worse rather than better. At the start of a diet, the body loses muscle-glycogen reserves, which leaves muscles looking flat. Roughly at the 14th day, the body seems to make a big and important adjustment it starts to exert a maximum anticatabolic effect, conserving its muscle mass, while fully adjusting to the diet phase by ratcheting up fat burning.

#8 | Take 7 g of supplemental omega-3 fatty acids daily to support fat loss.

These unique fats coax fat loss; however, you have to be eating fewer calories than you need and control insulin (the fat-storing hormone) by avoiding large portions of carbohydrates. Omega-3s spare muscles from being broken down for fuel, which helps maintain an active metabolic rate. They also support the immune system, which is stressed during stringent dieting.

Take 6-7 g divided into two doses the first at your first meal of the day and the second at dinner.

#9 | The ideal duration for a diet is 16 weeks if maximum definition is your goal.

Getting cut while maintaining muscle mass is never an easy task. Taking your time, rather than trying to achieve a cut physique within a month or two, allows you to drop bodyfat slowly (and gives you some leeway if you screw up). When you lose fat at a slower deliberate pace, you can maintain more muscle tissue regardless of the particular dietary approach you choose.

#10 | Take 20 g of glutamine (split into four doses) per day.

Glutamine is the amino acid that supports the immune system, prevents the burning of branched-chain amino acids and helps encourage the storage of carbohydrates as muscle glycogen rather than as bodyfat. Many hardcore dieters won’t see real results with just 5 g of glutamine a day. Four doses of 5 g each will help to ensure that you have a steady supply so that it can do its job. Take it in the morning, before and after workouts and before bedtime on an empty stomach.

#11 | A dose of 200 milligrams (mg) of caffeine is an inexpensive and very effective fat burner.

The catch is how and when you take it. Coffee contains chemicals that over time can interfere with the caffeine kick. That is, when you drink a 20-ounce coffee, your body does not absorb the total amount of caffeine therein. With a caffeine pill, you receive the full strength of the 200 mg (a typical dosage); in addition, the form in which it is delivered anhydrous is superior to coffee in reaching the bloodstream.


#12 | Your weapon against metabolic and mental meltdown is 1,000 mg of tyrosine.

Tyrosine is an amino acid that can help you feel more alert (it does so by changing your brain chemistry). Dieting and performing a lot of cardio can deplete your body’s supply of norepinephrine a chemical that makes you feel strong, alert and energetic, and also enhances fat metabolism. Taking 1,000 mg of tyrosine upon waking can offset the depletion and loss of this neurotransmitter, helping you power through hard workouts and cardio sessions. Tyrosine also helps the body convert its own thyroid hormones-[T.sub.4] thyroid to a type called [T.sub.3], which helps burn more calories.

Rich Fit / Fit tip........Know your protein.



Protein

Protein is made up of amino acids, which are the building blocks of life. They’re essential for muscle recovery and growth so you need to put away plenty of eggs (both yolks and whites), poultry, fish, lean beef, nuts and protein powders. Ideal protein requirements vary with each individual, but every meal should contain at least 20-30 grams.

I’m a big believer in eating a wide variety of protein sources, as opposed to just chicken or beef, as most bodybuilders do. Because each protein source has a different amino acid profile, eating a varied diet will ensure that you get the full spectrum of aminos for optimal growth.

Do This: Consume a minimum of one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight each day. For a 200-pound bodybuilder, that’s 200 g of protein daily.

Janet Lee challenges AbFitt readers in 2011.


In this time of New Year's Resolutions I am standing up and challenging each Abfitt reader to a challenge!
A Transformation that will be better and healthier than any year before?
Count me in ? My goal is more definition, a little more weight gain/muscle, maximizing glutes , legs and back.
A goal set before us to find our inner strength and let is shine outward.
Encourage another person today to be their best too. Let your example
be their beacon to want to improve. Thank you , Abfitt, for all that you do!

Jlee

ASK AbFitt..... Protein powders & cholesterol?


Dear AbFitt,

While supplementing with protein powder, should one be concerned with the added cholesterol?

Thanks in advance,

Niss Albaig


If you already have a history of high cholesterol I would definitely monitor your intake closely along with your doctor. In otherwise healthy adults who supplement with shakes I see no reason for concern. Remember not all cholesterol is bad! Mix up your protein sources and do not depend on shakes alone. Balance with everything is the key to your health & fitness.

AbFitt

New year, fit you!


With the new year less than a week old, most resolutions are probably still being kept, with a great many of those resolutions revolving around building a better body. Statistics show that less than half of fitness-based resolutions make it past the first six months, with the main reason being that an effective plan is not followed from the beginning.

If there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that I don’t like failure, and I don’t like seeing other people fail either – especially any of you guys! So, in addition to new training and nutrition videos to help motivate and inspire you, I’ve also highlighted five ways that you can set yourself up for success this year.



1. Evaluate Yourself.

Take ownership of your resolutions by looking at your life over the past several years and identify any areas as to why this resolution may have failed before. Booking yourself in for a gym assessment, or Doctors appointment, and having your body composition, weight, heart rate, cholesterol and blood pressure checked, will give you a definitive starting point that will allow you modify any areas to help you reach your goal this year.



2. Be specific.

One of the biggest reason why people fail with their resolutions is that their not specific in what it is they want to achieve. ‘Get fit’, or ‘Drop weight’ simply won’t cut it. You need to set a single, specific goal that can be achieved in a realistic time, such as 3 months. For example, ‘I am going to lose 12 pounds in 3 months’, is a realistic and specific goal.



3. Know your plan.

The more you understand your plan, the more effective it will be, and the greater the results will be. I will do my best throughout this year to provide you with accurate and useful information that will assist you in understanding more what it is that you need to do, and how to keep it from becoming boring by showing you ways to keep it challenging, such as new exercises, unique workouts, and tips and techniques to ensure progress.



4. Focus on muscle.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re male or female, the equation for drastically changing your body composition is the same: add muscle and burn fat. To do this you need to be overloading your body in the gym by training the large muscle groups with compound exercises such as squats, deadlifts and bench presses, and go to failure – or close to it – on every set! This will help keep you gaining muscle while losing fat.



5. Performance as a goal.

Focus on improvements in your workouts and how you look and feel rather than what the scale tells you. Perform tests every month such as push-ups for reps, plank for time, one-mile runs, or max pull-ups, to help give you your own set of numbers that you can improve on each month, helping to keep you motivated and dedicated.

Make 2011 your best year ever!

RICH FIT / FIT TIP...After Your Workout.




During your workout, your body extracts glycogen (stored carbohydrates) from your muscle cells as one of its primary fuel sources for hoisting those dumbbells into the air. If you don't replace this muscle glycogen fast following your workout, your muscle cells won't be able to repair themselves at optimum levels and you may actually experience muscle loss, or at least "less than desired results" from your weight training program.

To quickly replace muscle glycogen and avoid further muscle breakdown, consume about 100 grams of high-glycemic carbs (GI rating over 70) within 1 hour after your workout.

Post-Workout Carb Selection with Glycemic Index Rating.

Oatmeal, Instant, Sweetened 87
White Rice 81
White Bread 100
Banana, Ripe 90
Pineapple 94
Mashed Potatoes, White 104
Table Sugar 92
Donut 108

Throughout Your Day:
Other than immediately after your workout, you should try to avoid high-glycemic carbs as much as possible throughout your day.

By avoiding the associated "insulin rush" that comes from highly processed and sugary high GI foods, your body will draw more from your fat stores to help provide fuel rather than looking to the quickly digested carbs in your stomach.

Not only will you feel energized and alert all day long, but you'll also have ignited a long, slow fat burn that will help you finally get a peek at the washboard abs you're trying to uncover.

Before Bed:

When you sleep, your body's metabolism slows down considerably and makes it easier to store excess calories as fat. Although you should certainly avoid high GI carbs before you go to bed, you should also try to limit your consumption of "dry carbs" after 4:00 pm to avoid excess fat storage while you sleep. These would include things like pastas, breads, rice and potatoes.

Here is a short list of "approved" carb choices:
Pre-Bedtime Carb Selection

Glycemic Index Rating
Grapefruit 26
Peach 30
Apple 49
Milk, Skim 46
Yogurt, Plain 32
Custard 59
Tomato Soup 54

Never give up!