Find Something New Today!

A Fit Body is the result of a fit mind. Over the past one year I have realised that the days my mind is bubbling with passion, i tend to have a great workout, superb diet and overall a fantastic day. Hence it is extremely important to have constant motivation.

One of the ways to do this to constantly seek new sources of information, books, blogs, websites etc. Every time one of these things catches my fancy, i’d like to share it.

I recently came across this blog by a self confessed “Passion Freak”. Check it out I am sure you’ll come home more enriched!

Find Something New Today

“One Step Backward,Two Steps Forward” – The basic tenet of Weight Loss

Over the past one year that I have seriously training, or rather seriously trying to train, I have realized that I am lacking that one skill which is making all the difference to my efforts. This one skill is applied honestly can change your results dramatically. The key word here is “consistency”. I need to give credit to the MuscleHacker – Mark Mcmanus for this idea. I read it in one of his newsletters.

Without sounding too preachy, I want to state that if had consistently worked out, pushed myself for those 3 workouts per week, pushed myself to have reasonably clean diet, I perhaps would have got better results.

But there is also an another set of rules, which each one of must also understand and that is Excellence versus Perfection. The credit for this one goes to my idol- Robin Sharma. Try to be excellent in whatever you do, your workouts, your rest, your diet. But don’t beat yourself down if you are not perfect. No one’s perfect. The only key to progressing onwards on your fitness journey, is to realize that your growth will never be perpendicular or linear. It’s always going to be one step backwards and two steps forward. What you need to realize is that one step backward is the foundation for leaping two steps forward.

Keep pushing yourself consistently. Don’t be worried about being too perfect. Just be excellent in whatever your do.

How to build muscle and lose fat with Strength Training

Last year I had a good reason to workout. I was looking forward to fitting into my wedding suit in January 2009. But ever since the big day, life has been one big party. Couple of months have added more than a couple of inches on my waist already.

But now i ready to get back on the wagon. Life is all about 1 step backward and 2 steps forward. I think i have found a routine which embodies this very philosophy. The fact that it revolves around my favourite number 5 is just an added bonus and and motivating factor for me. This program is called the Stronglift 5×5 and you can the whole low-down Stronglifts.com

I know this is against a lot of what i was reading and doing in the past. This is not about body-building. This is about gaining strength and improving your physique. You may not have the pump of a builder but you will be a lot stronger than quite a few of them.

What i liked most about this program is the simplicity.

3x 45 minute workouts per week.
5 exercises. All barbell exercises to be done for 5 reps and 5 sets.
Progression in each and every workout.
Can be done easily from home as well (which was an important priority for me since i work out at home)

I am not going to say much, but post my progress. I just finished my first workout today. It was good. Consistency is going to be the key. Wish me Luck!!

This program promised to build muscle and lose fat and gain strength in then bargain. Looks promising and I am will to give a shot!!

How to calculate your Body Fat Percentage

One of the most important ways of calculating your progress when you are on a fitness program is to know how to calculate your Body Fat Percentage.

Anyone who has been on any sort of a diet or an exercise program knows how frustrating it is to step on the scale after a week and see no change at all. But one should not fret. There are some things that a weighing scale cannot accurately measure and that is the small changes in your Body Fat Percentage.

Weekly monitoring of your Body Fat Percentage is a surefire way to keep oneself motivated.

Learn How to Calculate your Body Fat Percentage here.

Ten Commandments of Six Pack Abs

1. Thou shall eat Breakfast everyday

2. Thou shall drink 3-4 litres of water everyday

3. Thou shall do cardio with progression (slow, long, interval- any)

4. Thou shall do weight training with intensity (preferably supersets, multijoint, full body workouts)

5. Thou shall have alcohol in moderation (preferably none)

6. Thou shall get atleast 7-8 hours of sleep everyday

7. Thou shall keep track of your progress (both diet and workout)

8. Thou shall do a variety of AB & Core exercises (not just situps and crunches)

9. Thou shall get your share of veggies and proteins

10. Thou shall not give up

Perhaps you can add many more commandments here. Let me know your views.

Six Pack Abs for Dummies

If you are probably new to training, working out, dieting – like i once was, perhaps the most common myth about abs are that you must do 1000 ab crunches a day to get a flat stomach. Yup i believed that. After all everything i saw on television perpetuated that belief. The ab roller, Ab wheel, Ab machine this and ab machine that and ab sauna belts.

I did try doing that and every time a felt a slight burn in my belly after a set of sit-ups or crunches, i used to think..wow..my blubber is melting.

When finally nothing was working, i decided to get an education. I turned to my teacher – the one and only master – Google.com and started reading up all the information that was there on the web regarding losing weight. I didn’t even think of six pack abs then. I just wanted to reduce my pot belly, which had become a subject of ridicule. Partly i was also scared of falling prey to the lifestyle related diseases such as diabetes (since i have a family history) and other heart related illnesses.

That’s when i heard the bell go off in my head. That’s when i first read about Body Fat % and later on finally understood what it meant.

So simply Six Pack Abs for Dummies – lesson 1 is basically very simple. If you want to get six pack abs, all you have to do is get your body fat percentage down to single digits 8-9% or less. That’s when its going to show. Every one has abs. It’s only hidden behind that layer of fat. You’ve gotta burn that belly fat through cardio, diet and weight training and then you will finally see your coveted set of abs.

It’s not as easy as i have made it out to be. It will require hard work. But its achievable.

So there you go. If you need Six Pack Abs – you have got to get your Body Fat percentage down.

But for starters check out my Ten Commandments for Six Pack Abs

Cheers!

No time to Workout?

No time to Workout? – Does that sound familiar? then read on.

When i lost my first tranche of weight as i would love to call it, earlier this year, i had from my own experience found out a technique that worked really well for me. Perhaps it could help all lazybums like me.

Its about this micro-mini workout. Its more a mind workout than a physical workout. Its about how you trick yourself into working out. Its about taking that one small micro mini step and getting your body to shake off that inertia and jump into a workout. Believe me, this one small technique was the primary reasons behind shedding those 20 pounds earlier this year.

Check on the entire post i wrote about No Time to Workout here.

Cheers!