Fitness Stuff You Should Know

From eFitness.com:

I'd like to cover multiple bits of valuable information, or as I like to refer to it, "stuff you should know." I’ll cover nutrition, exercise, training technique and fact versus fiction. If you love scanning information, learning quickly and then moving on to the next thing in your day, then this article is for you!

Whether you're a beginner or experienced exerciser, here's some "stuff" I think you should know:

1. MUSCLE AND STRENGTH -- I asked several of my comrades who compete in drug free bodybuilding how much muscle they have actually put on per year. The average is about three pounds per year! I include myself in this category. Building muscle and strength takes time, patience, dedication and perseverance. Don’t believe the supplement companies that try to sell you a quick muscle building product.

2. THE MAGIC WORKOUT -- Get it hammered into your mind that there is no "best and only way" to work out. I get a multitude of questions concerning the efficiency of super slow rep workouts, super sets, German volume training, etc. In reality, it’s all good if it works for you, but you don’t want to stay with any of it for too long. Don’t let the body or the mind adapt. Vary volume of sets, time between sets, reps, exercises, etc. Manipulate your routine every 3-4 weeks and view CHANGE as the key constant.

3. NUTRITION -- When a person starts eating less food than their body needs on a daily basis, intermediate energy sources are used to make up the caloric difference. These sources are blood sugar, liver and muscle glycogen (sugar), and blood lipids (fat). After a few days the liver begins to convert stored body fat into new glucose (carbohydrates). This process, known as glucogenesis, will convert as much body fat to glucose as necessary to make up any caloric deficit. That’s part of the major process in losing body fat!

4. RATIOS OF PROTEIN, CARBOHYDRATES AND FATS -- Contrary to what many believe, a calorie is not a calorie. I guarantee that your body will look and feel very different if you take in 60 percent of your calories from carbohydrate compared to 40 percent.

Your muscles will look and feel very different if you take in 30 percent of your calories from protein, compared to 15 percent. If we look at point #3 above, by virtually eliminating all carbs in your diet your liver has to convert more fat to glucose thereby stimulating more fat loss... yeaaaaa! The problem is, if you restrict carbohydrates too low on a calorie restricted diet, you also catabolize (break down) muscle... booooooo! So, correct ratios are vital for muscle density and fat loss!

5. EXERCISE FORM AND TECHNIQUE -- Cheating on form and technique while weight training eventually catches up to everyone in the way of injuries. In weight training, we place too much emphasis on how much weight to lift and not enough on how or why we perform the lift.

6. FATIGUE DURING EXERICSE -- Most people think too much along the lines of "no pain, no gain." Don’t seek fatigue; instead, MANAGE it during the workout. If you have a lot of energy during a certain workout, do a few more sets. If you’re super tired, back off a few sets. Relish in your ability to manage your energy and your mind.

7. STAY WITH THE BASICS -- Weight train for about an hour three to four days per week and stay with good compound movements (bench press, squats, etc.). Perform cardio 3-4 days per week for 30-40 minutes; eat a little less; take in enough protein; drink a lot of water; supplement intelligently and be consistent. That’s how you make progress!

8. HEIGHT AND WEIGHT -- Height and weight rarely tell you all you need to know. The key is finding out how much muscle versus fat that’s on your body. One person can be 5'10" and weigh 175 pounds and look great. Another person with the same height and weight may look soft and out of shape. The first undoubtedly has more muscle mass.

9. THE BEST WAY TO LOSE BODY FAT -- Fall down, get back up... fall down, get back up... fall down, get back up! I don’t care how many times you screw up on your diet, don’t give up. Try to focus on the emotion you will eventually feel when you achieve your goal. That's the key! We live in a very "hand holding" society. I encourage you to challenge yourself and call upon your own levels of discipline. It sits there waiting for you, always waiting for you to exercise it.

10. APPLIED KNOWLEDGE -- Hey look, I know you know this but I have to say it anyway. No matter how much knowledge you have about nutrition, training, rest and supplementation, it doesn’t matter unless you apply it. Application does not mean perfection. It simply means that you steadily move towards your goal. You do know what your short and long term goals are, don’t you? Gather as much knowledge as possible concerning nutrition and training and how YOUR body reacts to changes and don’t take anything in this industry at face value.

Now, take one or more of these items and run with it. Apply it to yourself and teach someone else a few of these points when the opportunity arises. Keep spreading the word!

Learn more at eFitness.com...