Health and Fitness

Body shape and weight provide vital clues to your health. Most of us will wind up looking like one of our parents. Just as the colour of our hair and eyes is transmitted through our genes, so too is our height and weight distribution, though these can be influenced by diet and exercise.

Studies show that in overweight people, the the distribution of excess body fat can affect their risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Compared to “pear body shaped” individuals, who store fat around their belly, hips, and thighs. Apple- body shaped people are at an increased risk. Having a “beer belly” is no joke: a few extra centimetres around the waist may be a signal of bad things to come.

Healthy weight is now defined according to body mass index (BMI), which is calculated as a ratio of weight to height. This index provides a more accurate measure of…

Nutrition:

This is one of the hardest parts of building a really great physique for most people. It is also one of the most crucial parts of gaining lean muscle.A main misconception is that the more protein you eat the more muscle you will build. This is not true! Your body needs a certain amount of protein depending on the amount of physical activity you do. If you are weight training, it is usually recommended that you take 1 gram of protein for every pound of body weight. Over and above this amount of protein, your body will start using it either for energy if you haven’t eaten enough carbs or it will convert it into fat.

The second part to nutrition consists of getting enough Carbs and Vegetables (which would contain your vitamins and minerals). The best way to check how much carbs you should be eating is to find out…

If you are struggling to get the body you desire by doing cardio alone, you should consider starting a weight lifting muscle building program. A good weight lifting program will help you add muscle mass and actually increase your body’s fat burning ability. Let’s look at why adding lean muscle mass is so important and desired.

Why Do We Need Lean Muscle Mass?

For men the advantages of adding muscle mass are obvious. A good looking physique with broad shoulders and big arms is desired by most men and admired by women. Unfortunately, most women avoid adding muscle mass, fearing that it will make them look bulky or huge. This is absolutely not the case. When women add lean muscle it makes them appear lean, toned and sculpted. Think fitness model or athlete, rather than female bodybuilder.

It is possible to add approximately one pound of muscle per week to your body. Since…

Your goal when trying to gain weight should be to eat many meals throughout the day. Sleeping overnight isn’t very conducive to this since you’ll be fasting for 6-8 hours which means no food. When you wake up, you need to ensure that you take in some good calories to break your fast.

Gaining weight means eating more than you burn. You should keep this in mind during each meal. Even though you need to eat a lot to gain the weight, this shouldn’t be an excuse to eat whatever you want regardless of how unhealthy it is.

Traditional breakfast items are high in calories (which is good) but most of these calories are unhealthy. Bacon, sausage and biscuits will help you gain weight but they might also give you a heart attack. There are good alternatives if this is the type of breakfast you enjoy.

Most pork products on the market have…

Calorie shifting diet was designed to help people lose weight fast. Its official website claims that you can lose 9 pounds in every 2 weeks using Calorie shifting diet. However, is this diet safe? Is this diet hard to stick to? Can you really lose weight fast with this diet? In this article, I’d like to show you how calorie shifting diet works.

In order to lose 10 pounds in 2 weeks, you have to keep your metabolism running high all day long. There are many ways to raise your metabolism, such as exercise, drinking water, take pills… The calorie shifting diet is unique, it boost your metabolism by “shifting” your calorie intake. If you find it is hard to understand, here is an example how it works.

For example, if you try to lose weight by starving yourself, your body will goes into “starvation mode” and your metabolism slow down. So…

Millions of people lift weights everyday in order to gain weight and build muscle. Unfortunately, most of them fail and stop working out within a few months. The reason the majority of these people fail to gain weight is because they are not following a great workout routine. Finding a training program designed for your body type is the key to bulking up.

The first place to avoid looking for training advice is in muscle magazines. These magazines are distributed to a large audience and the routines in them are designed for just some people. If you struggle to gain weight and add muscle, these routines definitely won’t help you. They are intended more for people who gain weight and build muscle mass quickly and easily. If you train with these workouts, you will actually weaken your muscles because you will be overtraining them.

Another place to avoid advice from is your…

Ever felt like the world of weight loss methods are against you? Ever asked yourself “why can’t I lose weight” and looked at the possible reasons why it is harder for you to shed off those extra pounds? Well, it has something to do with your genetics.

For some people asking “why can’t I lose weight” is because it’s hereditary. They are having a hard time losing weight given all the methods and exercises; thank your parents because you were born with it.

You were born to have a slow metabolic rate. Your metabolism is slow and your food processor takes a while to digest all the food that you eat.

This is why storage of fat in the body takes up so much space because before you can digest it, you have already taken your next meal. Perhaps the good thing is you won’t be hungry for the winter because you already…

Gaining weight (on the nutrition side) is mainly about eating more calories than you burn. Unfortunately it’s sometimes hard to get all those calories into your daily meals. Eating the right kinds of snacks will make it easier for you to reach your daily calorie goal.

All foods, including snacks, derive their calories from three types of nutrients: fats, carbohydrates and proteins. To gain weight, you need to eat the types of foods that will give you energy to lift heavy weights and provide the essential building blocks to repair the damage you’ve done to your muscles. The ideal snacks will give you you carbohydrates for energy, protein to repair and will taste good so you can eat them.

Bodybuilders are in love with tuna. Some eat more than one can per day. A 6oz can contains 150 calories which is almost all from protein (30 grams of it). This is a…

For years The American Heart Association has made specific recommendations concerning fat intake. This is all in an effort to reduce Heart Disease. Now they have come out new recommendations… These recommendations concern sugar intake.

In the past The AHA has only advised to “minimize” sugar intake. The recent guidelines call for added sugar to be kept below specific levels, 25 grams per day for women, 37 grams per day for men, and 12 grams per day for children. This amounts to about 100, 148, and 48 calories respectively. Why the shift? Because it’s known that surplus sugar can be converted into surplus fat.

The USDA reports that the average per capita annual sugar consumption is 153 pounds. That amounts to about 189 grams per day, or 756 calories per day from sugar for each person living in the U.S. That would mean that each person in the U.S. is consuming the…

Myths provide our societies with irrational fears and often lead to individuals to stray from the right course of action. One of these myths happens to revolve around female bodybuilding; a lot of women shy away from weightlifting falsely thinking that it will make them look masculine and butch. This myth has been spreading for years now, although the biological factors in a female’s body could never allow such a thing without interference of steroids and hormone treatment.

Testosterone, a hormone found in abundance in a man’s body, helps a man to develop muscles and bulk up. Women on the other hand do have this hormone but in small quantities, thus they do not look buffed up no matter how much they exercise.

Weightlifting or strength training is actually crucial for women because of its many health benefits such as: maintenance of healthy bones, depression prevention, and back pains. Women weightlifters tend…