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10 foods for outstanding fat loss!

December 10, 2008 at 11:44 pm | In Fat Loss | Leave a Comment
Tags: diet, Fat Loss, foods, magic, work

when I first started out in bodybuilding, I was told that a great six pack was actually built in the kitchen, not necessarily in the gym. The key therefore, for outstanding fat loss, to get super lean, is to get your diet right, by eating the right foods (in the right quantity). We wont go into the quantities right now…but here’s 10 foods that’s highly recommended for outstanding fat loss!

Egg Whites. With between 25 & 30g of protein per 6 whites, zero carbohydrates, you really can’t go wrong! They are also a great source of vitami A, E & K, plus a range of B vitamins (for energy)! Eggs really are ecellent1
Tuna (in spring water. Another animal source of protein, that is sure to give you great fat loss results! Overall, it’s an inexpensive food source, with usually about 30g of protein, while usually zero carbs or fats per 185g.tin There’s a whole range of ways you can eat it. Straight from the can, in a sandwhich, put in a salad…it’s up to you!
Whey.As you may or not know, whey is overall protein powder. It’s fantast meal replacement, if you haven’t got time to prepare & sit down to a solid meal, or if you’ve just finished training. After you’ve finished training, that’s one of the most important times to consume a protein source that’s going to be digested ASAP!
Chicken Breasts. Standing the test of time, chicken breast has proven, time & again it’s power. In a breast weighing between 150-200g there is roughly 50g of protein (or 200 calories!) Once again, carb free! The good news is that if you grill it right, it’ll be fat free also!

Kitchen scales

Flaxseed Oil. Osource of energy, that is sometimes overlooked is flaxseed oil. Similar to the humble egg whties, it is full of lots of goodies, such as fiber, lignans, a whole stack of vitamins, incuding the energy vitamins (b group), iron, calcium, magnesium and potassium. For every 100ml of flaxseed taken, there’s roughly 27g of protein. o sweeten the deal even more, it’s packed full of omega 3 fat (the good fat!!!).
Almonds. Like flaxseed oil, almonds are packed with protein & good fats., chewing on a handful (20g or so) after a low carb meal, could do the world of good to you!
Oatmeal. Oatmeal has got to be one of the best foods around, when it comes to fat loss. As a slowly digesting carbohydrate, full of fiber, it allows you to fill full for longer, while having a very slow release of energy, keeping your metabolisim ticking by nicely for the next few hours. With a bit of artificial sugar & warm oatmeal…what more could you want!
Basmatti rice. Similar to oatmeal, basmatti rice is a very slow digestingar carbohydrate, which will allow you to have more energy for longer. Generally speaking, it has 45g of carbs (180 calories) per 100g).
Green leafy vegetables. Hands up all those who had parents telling them to eat there greens!!! Green leafy vegetables, such as beans, lettuce and broccoli are in fact low in carbohydrates, while full of fiber, to keep you feeling full. The interesting thing with green leafy vegetables, is that per 100g there’s usually about 10g of carbs, while it may take 12-15g of carbohydrates to burn that energy! Thats great maths!
Sweet Potato (yam). A great physique isn’t built by protein alone, you’ve got to get in some great carbs…one of them is sweet potato (yam). Like oatmeal & basmatti rice, it’s a slow digesting carbohydarte, that should be considered by anybody wanting to get some unwanted weight! In 225g there is 55g of carbohydrates, with only 4g of those being simple (quick acting) sugars!

So there you have it! 10 foods that will get you into the fat burning zone, provided that you train & sleep right! In comming weeks there will be recipes using some of these ingredents!

Focus on your biggest weakness

December 8, 2008 at 9:53 pm | In Training | Leave a Comment

The old saying “your only as strong as your weakest link” should mean a lot to bodybuilders. If your like the rest of us, with a particular lagging body part, then that could be a contributing factor from a bigger & better YOU.

There’s sometimes genetic reasons for a lagging body part, sometimes a habitual reason (such as avoiding training certain body parts as hard as others). Sometimes both genetic & habitual. Sometimes there’s a different reason all together. Either way, let’s get working on bringging that body up to parr with your best features!

The bad news is that these things like everything else takes time. The very, very good news is that if you commit to a realistic plan of attack & put it into action, half of the work would have been done!

The first step is to determine which exercise is going to best give you the most bang for your buck! If your legs are lagging, then squats are definetly for you! If like a lot of people, the rear deltroids are a major weakness (because you can’t see them like the biceps or front deltroids), then rear delt rows are your best bet.

Now that you know what you need to do & why, the next point of call is to hit the iron. In Brian Tracy’s book Eat That Frog, he talks about getting a task done early on, so that it’s out of the way. The same principal can be applied here. Try hitting that body part early in the week! If you don’t enjoy training legs, then hit them on Monday to get them out of the way!

Dropset your way to success

December 8, 2008 at 7:08 pm | In Training, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

An interesting training method that I personally enjoy doing on an occasional basis are drop sets. It’s the technique of gradually lowering the weight once a prior established amount of reps are done, then completing another set of movements, or reps.

For example on the leg extention you could do 6 reps of 50lb, then another 6 reps of 40lb, without any rest between the two sets.

A method of doing drop sets that I particulary enjoy doing is initallly going so heavy that I”m only doing partial reps for 6-8 reps, then lowering the weight, to do a further 6-8 reps. This process is done all the way down the rack, if using a pin loaded machine or using each set of dumbbells, depending what equipment is being used. THe key to this is, as you lower the weight, working towards increasing the number of reps being done. Remember, use it or lose it!

A leg extension workout for example may look like this…

90lb x 6
80lb x 6
70lb x 7
60lb x 7
50lb x 9
40lb x 10
30lb x 12
20lb x 12
10lb x 12

So there you go! A new way of doing drop sets, if you haven’t done them before, or a new training method if you haven’t done them before. It’s a great way to mix up your approach to training & well worth trying!