The XXX factors for building muscle (Part 1)

I was talking to a young man in the gym today regarding the best way to build muscle and if there was some magic X factor behind it all. He was spending many hours in the gym, 7 days a week, believing if he did this and than went home and ate anything he wanted as he was young enough and had 'done enough' to burn it all off, he would build muscle. However despite doing all this he wasn't seeing any results. I explained to him that there are in fact 3 X factors to successfully build muscle. If one or more is ignored than it will be harder if not near impossible to build muscle successfully. Although genetics is an important factor in determining how much muscle we can build and we all can't end up looking like 'Arnies', even if we had the best nutrition and work out plan in the world, as not everyone has the right genetic make up to do this. However you can always better yourself if you embrace and ensure you follow all 3 of these X Factors:- 1). Intensity of your workout-what's the point doing 3+ sets of 6-12 reps if the weight you are using isn't any way near heavy enough and after completing your 12th rep you look smugly in the mirror, thinking you've done enough but knowing you could have easily lifted another 10 reps at that weight. If that's the case you must lift heavier. The body is in general quite lazy and will only progress in strength and fitness if you push it. Go heavy and when you hit that 10th or 12th rep your muscles should be screaming and shaking as you reach muscle failure. If you reach this point you are stimulating the muscle enough to encourage growth as the muscle fibres are quite literally ripped apart, only to be rebuilt bigger and stronger in order to accomplish the same task again. But once the body can do that weight you than must increase the weight or change up your fitness programme, in order to continue to stimulate the muscle and encourage growth.

How exercise can reduce the risk of heart disease

This week we heard of the sad death of alternative comedian, Rik Mayall who suddenly died at the age of 56. According to his widow he had an 'acute cardiac event' after he had finished his morning run. However the post mortem was inconclusive and it may take weeks to discover what the cause of death was. No doubt in some corners of the press they will now say that doing exercise can kill you! Although performing exercise does have some risks, these risks are far out weighed by the benefits. Doing moderate exercise according to research will help you reduce the risk of heart disease and suffering a 'cardiac event.' Data collected confirmed that inactivity is considerably more dangerous than other major risk factors, such as smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Doing exercise can help reduce the risk factors by strengthening the heart and lungs, reducing body fat, blood pressure, increased insulin sensitivity of muscles, increasing the uptake of glycogen, therefore controlling blood sugar levels better and helping to reduce cholesterol levels. Therefore you stand more of a chance of suffering from an 'acute cardiac event' if you sit on your butt all day doing sweet FA, rather than doing a bit of moderate exercise. Government guidelines suggest that doing 5 x 30 minutes of moderate exercise a week, (feel slightly out of breath, slightly perspiring and slightly uncomfortable) will reap these benefits. Exercise has also shown to help those who already have heart disease and have suffered from a heart attack to live longer and live better quality lives. Evidence has shown that exercise can reduce morbidity and mortality in this group of patients by 19% compared with usual care. Working with those who have had past cardiac events I know from personal experience how exercise can help improve their every day lives and reduce the risk of further events. I know of one older lady from my older people class who suffers from angina (slight blockage to coronary artery that causes chest pains). She used to suffer from the symptoms a lot, having to use her GTN spray (this relieves the pain by opening up the arteries more, increasing blood flow). Since exercising she hasn't had to use the spray in years! So remember the evidence shows that the benefits of exercise far outweigh the risks of suffering an 'acute cardiac event.'

How People Around You Impact Behaviour

This abridged version of this article is by a really insightful guy called James Clear and shows how the people we spend the most time with influence our thoughts and actions. If you want to change and improve yourself you must surround yourself with those that will help and encourage you to reach your goals. Pieter Ernst was a physician with an interest in community-wide behavior change and he was currently in Mozambique. For nearly twenty years, a brutal civil war had ravaged the population and landscape of the country. The war had ended three years earlier, but the entire healthcare system of the country had been crippled. Thousands of mothers and children were dying from preventable diseases. The biggest problem was the scale of the issue. Dr. Ernst needed to reach a population of 107,000 citizens with a staff of just 19 people. Ernst realized that it was impossible for his team to do it alone. Furthermore, he knew that if they were going to reduce the incidence of preventable disease for good, then significant behavior change would need to occur within the community. His team couldn’t stay in Mozambique forever. These changes had to happen in the homes and minds of the community. Ernst came up with a plan. Changing the Habits of 107,000 People First, they found over 2,000 volunteers from the community. Then, each member of his 19-person staff was responsible for teaching groups of 10 to 15 volunteers from the surrounding community about the steps they could take to reduce the incidence of preventable diseases. Then, each volunteer would visit 10 to 15 households and share what they had learned. The volunteers repeated households every two weeks and continued to spread the ideas. But this was the part that made the plan brilliant: the support group for the volunteers was not the 19-person healthcare staff. It was the other 10 to 15 volunteers in their small group. Each group of volunteers talked among one another about what was working, what wasn’t working, and how to get people on board with the changes in their community. What happened? Not only did they reach the massive population, they also got the changes to take hold. The number of underweight children was cut by half. The mortality rate of children under five dropped. Pneumonia treatment was six times better than before the project began. In a followup survey taken 20 months after the project had officially ended, the volunteer groups were still operating with 94% of the original volunteers and the health metrics continued to improve. [1] The changes had stuck. For good. The public health victory of Ernst’s team is impressive, but this isn’t just a feel-good story. There is a deeper lesson here that we can all apply to our own lives. Most of our behaviors are driven by two things: our environment and our beliefs. And environment is perhaps the most powerful of those two because in many cases your environment can shape your beliefs. This is especially true when you consider your environment to include the people who surround you. Consider the community in Mozambique. In the beginning, the community had a certain identity. After the war, many basic public health approaches simply weren’t part of daily life. But as the volunteers began expanding their reach, working with each other, and sharing news of what techniques were working, the community began to develop a new identity. New behaviors began to be seen as normal behaviors. And when a new behavior becomes the norm for any particular group, the change sticks for good. The lesson is simple: doing something is much easier when it’s the normal thing to do in your community. There were only 2,300 volunteers in the Mozambique project, but 107,000 people began to take on new habits and behaviors when the identity of the group changed. This happens to all of us. We take on the behaviors of the groups in which we live and the communities to which we belong. •Want to workout more? Become part of a group where working out is normal. Not a goal. Not an event. Just part of the lifestyle. •Want to do better work? Surround yourself with people who make each day a work of art rather than seeing work as a reason to clock in and clock out. •Want to live a life of service? Step into a group where service is part of the day-to-day routine. Lasting behavior change happens when it’s part of the cultural norm.

Take your Training Outside

At last summer seems to be here (for the moment any way). While the sun's out why not take your training outside. Who wants to be working out in a gym or studio when you could be doing it outside. Studies have shown that the body and mind respondes well outside where you can reconnect with nature. Also you can get some sunlight that will provide a natural source of vitamin D for maintaining strong bones and teeth and can help with improving mood. Combining your exercising in the great outdoors will enhance the experience and lift your mood. Try taking a jog around the local park or bike it in the woods. Use the local park benches and playground equipment for a resistance workout such as chin ups, tricep dips and push ups. A lot of local parks now have dedicated outside gyms so you can do the same exercises as you would do indoors but getting the extra benefits of training outside. Try out a local outdoor class such as boot camp or Tai Chi- the only limit is your imagination. If you choose to train outside don't forget to wear sun protection, hat and carry water to keep hydrated. Come on get out of the house and start exercising outside before it starts raining again.

Exercise Helps Prevent & Improve Dementia

Exercise has shown to help reduce the risk of developing dementia later on in life or slow down the progress of the disease in those diagnosed with the condition. Even light exercise was found to be better than doing no exercise at all. Any form of exercise is beneficial and the number of different types of exercise undertaken can make a difference as well. Those doing 4 different types of exercise over a 2 week period showed a decreased risk when compared with those performing 1 type of exercise. Exercise can also improve mobility, cardio vascular function, balance and strength, improving a person's quality of life and reducing the risk of falls and hospital admissions. Studies have also shown that exercise helps to improve a person's memory in the early stages of dementia. A trial was conducted where a group of people with memory problems were encouraged to undertake 150 minutes of physical activity per week of moderate intensity (the recommended government guidelines) and showed an improved cognitive function with this improvement lasting for 12 months.

Following an Active Lifestyle is as Important as Exercising Regularly

I see a lot of people in the gym working out hard and sweating but they seem to not change shape. When asking them if they are reaching their goals they often tell me that they're feeling healthier but are still not losing weight. When I ask a few questions I find out that although they are working out 2-3 times a week they are not being active outside the gym, spending a lot of time sitting, using the car and using the lift instead of the stairs. Also their diet hasn't really changed and they're skipping meals, having too much fatty foods and take-aways and their portion sizes are still far too big. They also often fall into the trap that they spend too much time in the gym, thinking it will do them good but often doing them more harm. If you train for more than one and a half hours you will be burning muscle rather than fat as your glycogen levels have depleted and your body needs the presence of glycogen to enable it to burn fat. So all they are doing is burning away the very tissue that will help burn body fat at rest and run the risk of causing injury through over training and lowering their immune system. If you are training for a long distance event such as a marathon, than you need to take on board more nutrition in order to prevent muscle catabolism. So an energy drink high in nutrients that the body needs, such as Herbalife's H3O Pro or Hydrate drinks would be ideal to replace the lost nutrients such as glycogen and continue the fat burning process. So a change in lifestyle outside the gym is as important as regular periods of active exercise in order to achieve the best results. So my top 5 tips in getting the best results are:- 1.) Don't over train and allow a day off in between heavy work outs for your body to recover. 2. Ditch the car and start walking or cycling-you'll be surprised how many extra calories you'll be burning. 3. Keep take-aways to a minimum. 4. Get plenty of sleep in order for your body to repair the muscles and recharge your energy levels for the next work out. 5. Don't skip meals-eating regular well-balanced meals which are high in protein and low in saturated fats will help keep your metabolism up high and prevent your body going into 'starvation mode' and storing fat when you do eat. If you'll always in a rush in the morning and skip breakfast, try a Herbalife protein shake, they come in many different flavours including chocolate, strawberry and cookies & cream. At around 225 calories per serving they are both nutritious and low in calories compared with a lot of breakfast choices. Check out my Website at www.titanfreestyle.com for further details on Herbalife products.

How Walking Can Help Combat Back Pain

According to a study published in the journal, Clinical Rehabilitation, a walking programme is just as effective at easing lower back pain as muscle strengthening programmes that involve specialist equipment. 52 patients with lower back pain were split into two groups. One group completed a muscle strengthening programme comprising 2 to 3 sessions per week for 6 weeks, while the other group did a 6 week aerobic walking programme, beginning with a 20 minute walk 2 to 3 times a week, progressing to a 40 minute walk. Both groups improved significantly in all areas and walking showed that you didn't have to use any expensive equipment or extra costs to help relieve lower back pain. Also walking or just being outdoors for as little as 5 minutes, has been shown to make a positive impact on a person's mood and help improve lower back pain.