You’re Kidding Me Right?!


You can’t get much more insulting to the intelligence of American people then to assume that they are incapable of doing one simple search on google for the dangers and complications associated with consuming HFCS.

Seriously, who are these commercials aimed at?

And does anyone else find it ironic that they mention sugar is safe as long as it is in moderation?  Pretty funny coming from a product called “high” fructose corn syrup.

Do a google search and see what happens.  Combine High Fructose Corn Syrup with any of these words and report back to me on what you get.

Diabetes
High Cholesterol
Obesity
Crohn’s
Colitis
IBS
Inflammation

Pressing 400 - 500 lbs with a leg press or smith machine may seem impressive to some people.

Ask that same individual to do a pistol squat and then we’ll see where their strength really lies.  It’s a perfect example of how machine assisted strength training often doesn’t carry over to the real world.

Gravity is the real world.  There’s no faking a pistol squat.

Requirements

Quad Strength

Glute Strength

Core Strength

Stability of the knee and lumbar

Mobility of the ankle and hip

Pain due to gamers elbow can be a frustrating journey.

In short the main reason this happens is due to what we call in the rehab world “creep”.  When are wrists are cocked and loaded (smirk) in an unnatural position for long periods of time it can have some detrimental effects at the elbow joint.

The best way to avoid this is through motion.

If you work at a computer for any length of time you absolutely have to get up and move every so often.  Even if it IS just your wrists and elbows.

Set a timer if you have to.  I like to use the timer app in igoogle.

Every 30 minutes get up, do some stretches and then continue with your work.

Heres a quick vid of some exercises you can do at your desk.  It’s definitely not a complete list but it’s something to get you started.

Based on a premise I learned from Mike Rousell and Alwyn Cosgrove I decided to do a micro 4 minute workout today.

The idea is to do these small workouts in between our much larger workouts in order to take advantage of the compounding fat burning effects that take place for up to 36 hours “after” we train.

Only in my case I’m not so much trying to burn fat as I am trying to put on some lean muscle.

So what’s my rationale?

Well I’m not at risk of over training because the workouts are small and consist mainly of higher rep exercises.  So no muscle damage occurs.

I feel they’ll be beneficial because I will be pumping blood and nutrients to the muscles I trained hard the previous day.

Not to mention it won’t hurt to stimulate my metabolism a little.  Especially because when I train to put on muscle I consume more calories and I’d like them to be going to the proper place if you know what I mean.

If it works out well I’ll definitely report on the subject again in the near future.

Until then, you can check out some of Mike and Alwyns stuff at Warp Speed Fat Loss

Or if you’re interested in creating your own micro workouts check out the Body Bot

Is body weight training the way to go?

How does progressive overload effect our workouts?

If you’d like to make up your own quick and easy body weight routines check out Ryan Lees Body Bot.

By Jason Ferruggia

Let’s face it; nobody wants to be skinny and weak. Deep down everybody desires the ripped, muscular physique of a UFC fighter or an NFL running back. That’s the kind of look that attracts the ladies and earns respect from the guys. But the question that perplexes many of you is “how do I get that look?” Well search no more because I am about to teach you how to gain weight and build muscle at break neck speeds and finally achieve the head turning physique you have always dreamed of.

Most skinny guys and wannabe mass monsters make numerous mistakes in their training programs and naming them all here would take an entire book. But the important thing is that you stop making those mistakes immediately and start following my top ten tips on how to gain weight fast.

1. Train Heavy- You will never build any significant size with high reps and light weights. If you want to get huge you need to add weight to the bar and bring your reps down a bit.
2. Don’t Train For More Than 45 Minutes Per Session- Your testosterone output is dramatically increased during a weight training workout but this only lasts for 45 minutes. After that point its shot. What happens then is that your testosterone levels start to plummet and cortisol levels start to rise. Cortisol eats muscle and increases body fat storage. So hit it hard and get out quick.
3. Always Follow the Law of Progressive Overload- If you want to get huge you have to use progressive overload in your training. What this means is that you absolutely must improve upon your previous performance every time you enter the gym. You can do this by lifting heavier weights, doing more reps with the same weight, doing more sets, doing the same amount of work in less time or doing more work in the same amount of time. But whatever you do, DON’T do the exact same thing as the last time you were in the gym. You must give your body a reason to grow and repeating the exact same workout as last time does not force muscle growth.
4. Use Big, Compound Exercises- Exercises like squats, deadlifts, military presses and rows should be the staples of your mass building workout program. These are the exercises that build the most muscle and stimulate the greatest testosterone production. Most machines are a waste of time and do very little to help you pack on size. Stick with free weight movements like dumbbell presses and good mornings, and bodyweight exercises like chin ups and dips.
5. Eat Big- No matter how good your training program is you will never develop a massively muscled physique if you don’t consume enough calories. You need to eat every 2-3 hours and focus on getting one gram of lean protein per pound of bodyweight daily and an ample amount of clean carbs and healthy fats. For super skinny guys with a fast metabolism I recommend focusing on foods like rice, potatoes, pasta and consuming 30% of your calories from healthy fats like avocado, nuts and cold pressed oils.

By following those five tips you will start to pack on slabs of new muscle in no time. For more explosive tips on how to gain weight rapidly check out http://www.thebuffgeek.com/musclebuilding.php .

 
Jason Ferruggia is a world famous fitness expert who is renowned for his ability to help people build muscle as fast as humanly possible. He has trained thousands of clients during his 14 years as a professional fitness coach, including more than 500 athletes from over 20 different sports. Jason has written hundreds of articles for numerous top rated training magazines and websites and has authored four fitness books. He is also the head training adviser for Men’s Fitness Magazine where he also has his own monthly column dedicated to muscle building. For more great muscle building information, please visit http://www.thebuffgeek.com/musclebuilding.php

Here’s something I’m really excited about.  Not so much this initial product.  But I think it says something about the future of fitness.  If the FitBit is successful I can only imagine what will come in the near future.

Allow me to geek out a little …

I know it could be a far off dream but how cool would it be to look down at your iphone to simply check things like blood pressure, cholesterol, body fat, blood sugar, heart rate and other measurements that to this day you need a specialist or technician to tell you.

Here is the official press release.

Fitbit Inc. Launches at TechCrunch50 Providing Preview of Health and Wellness Device and Website

Ultra-Compact, Stylish Fitbit Tracker and Website Offer Effortless Way to Manage and Maintain Healthier Lifestyle

SAN FRANCISCO – Sept. 9, 2008 – Today, Fitbit Inc., a new company devoted to making America healthier, introduced the Fitbit Tracker and Website at the TechCrunch50 conference. Fitbit inspires people to exercise more, eat better and live a healthier lifestyle. The company’s newly introduced health and wellness monitoring tools make it easy for anyone to achieve a healthier lifestyle by automatically collecting data about a person’s daily activities and by presenting this data in a motivating and entertaining way.

The Fitbit Tracker is an ultra-compact wireless wearable device that automatically tracks and wirelessly uploads data about a person’s activities, such as exercise intensity levels, calories burned, sleep quality, steps and distance. It is as small as a pack of matches and clips securely onto any article of clothing or slips easily into a pocket. The Tracker uses motion sensing technology to precisely capture all moment-to-moment physical activity throughout the day and night. It also measures sleep quality to provide a holistic view of a 24-hour period. At the click of a button, calories, steps and distance are illuminated and displayed on the Tracker. In addition to these numerical measurements, the Tracker also displays a user’s progress toward their goals in the form of an avatar that changes as a user advances toward or falls behind their goals.

Data collected by the Fitbit Tracker is wirelessly uploaded to a Website where the wearer can see their information and track their progress toward personal goals. The Website’s motivational interface encourages users to share progress and lets people create groups made up of friends, family or co-workers to jointly work towards a common goal. On the Website, users can also log nutrition, weight and other health information in order to gain a complete picture of their health.

“We are excited to launch our company at TechCrunch50. Our goal is to make people aware of their overall fitness and well-being - and to use technology to accomplish this in a motivating and entertaining way that appeals to people beyond just hard-core athletes,” said James Park, CEO of Fitbit Inc. “At a time when studies show more than 60 percent of Americans are overweight, the Fitbit Tracker and Fitbit community Website are designed to break down barriers to physical fitness by offering a new and easy way to stay aware and motivated about your daily physical activity level and eating habits.”

The Fitbit Tracker and the Fitbit Website will be available by early 2009. The Fitbit Tracker will retail for less than $100; signing up on the Fitbit Website is free. Pre-order information is available today on www.fitbit.com.

Fitbit was selected as one of 50 up-and-coming companies to present at the TechCrunch50 conference in San Francisco out of more than 1,000 applications.

About Fitbit Inc.

Fitbit is devoted to helping people achieve everyday health and wellness. Fitbit provides a complete wellness solution focused on behavior change via awareness and motivation. For more information and to pre-order the Fitbit Tracker, please visit www.fitbit.com.

About TechCrunch50

Founded in 2007 by leading technology blog TechCrunch and entrepreneur Jason Calacanis, the TechCrunch50 conference provides a platform for early-stage, and frequently unfunded, companies to launch for the first time to the technology industry’s most influential venture capitalists, corporations, angel investors, fellow entrepreneurs and the international media.  Companies are selected to participate exclusively on merit.  TechCrunch50 is supported by corporate sponsors Google, Microsoft, MySpace, Salesforce, MSN Money, Symantec, Thomson Reuters and Yahoo!, as well as venture capital firms including Sequoia Capital, Mayfield Fund, Clearstone Venture Partners, Charles River Ventures, Founders Fund, Perkins Coie and Fenwick & West.

Recently I wrote an article for lifehack about activities you can do to replace regular exercise.

It seems as though I have missed one.  Parkour.

Check this out.  It doesn’t get much better than this.

Body Weight Movements

Plyometrics

Mobility

Danger

Fun

and bad ass ninja like skills.

I think I found myself a new hobbie.

In the past few weeks I’ve received several requests from readers wondering what my actual daily fitness routine looks like.  I’m not big on talking about myself but I figured I’d give it a shot.  So here’s a little bit about what I do and why I do it.  In honor of one of my favorite comics I shall name the category War Journal.

Long Term Goals:  Functionally; I like being athletic and mobile so I’d love to maintain that.  Aesthetically; my main goal is to look like a marvel comics super hero.  Not so much the Hulk or Beast I’m trying to be realistic here.  More along the lines of somewhere between Spiderman and Captain America.  I’m actually beginning to think maybe the reason I love submission wrestling so much is because I get to wear spandex and no one thinks anything of it.  Hmmm.  I should probably seek help.

Short Term Goal:  Fat season is approaching.  For me it really starts around Halloween and goes straight through New Years.  So currently I’m trying to put on as much muscle as possible before October.  Muscle being the big driver of your metabolism, it comes in handy when you start to consume lots of calories.  I’m gonna need all the help I can get to burn them off.  I figure around the beginning of October I’ll start to focus more on fat burning workouts.  That way I’ve got some momentum when the actual fat season hits.

Here’s just an example of one of my workout days during this muscle building period.

Workout B (Tuesdays)

Sumo Dead Lift 285lb x 5reps x 5sets

Pull Ups BW+10lb x 5reps x 5sets

DB Bench Press 90lb x 5reps x 5 sets

Pretty simple really.  Only three exercises.  I rest about 120 seconds between sets and I finish the whole thing in less than 45 minutes.  That’s including warming up.  Later in my war journal I will try to include the rest of my workout days.

Thanks for reading.  Any questions please feel free to email me at thebuffgeek@gmail.com