Best Upper Body Workout Without Weights For Fat Loss

If you want to shape up your body and lose fat without going to an expensive gym, then bodyweight training may be the answer for you. In addition, the majority of people out there don't have a lot of time to workout as it is. So, workouts that last more than 30 minutes is completely out of the question.

If you do have a lot of time workout, I personally like short, intense workouts. They keep me on track and I can get back to doing the things I need to do (like work). You also have a lot more time for friends. I have this bodybuilder friend who spends all his free time at the gym, and I can never get a hold of him when I need to.

Getting a quick upper body bodyweight workout is not that difficult. You can create workouts that last anywhere from 5 minutes to 45 minutes. It's all based on how much time you have to workout, or how much time you want to spend working out.

5 minute workouts? Yup, you can create really short workouts by organizing them into circuits and intervals. A circuit is where you perform 2 or more exercises back to back with little to no exercises in between each exercise. An interval is where you perform exercises with a time frame (usually 20-60 seconds), followed by a short rest period.

Recently, I've been training using the Circular Strength Training (CST) method. CST is really complex and difficult to define in a few sentences. The main concept behind CST is all about moving the body through it's full potential of movement.

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Foods That Build Muscle? They Aren't What You Think

Foods that build muscle-I see probably more BAD information on this topic than any other today. Eating correctly will make or break your fitness goals-make no mistake about it.

A lot of people are under the faulty impression that exercise is more important than diet--but this isn't the case.

What should you eat?

Natural foods

A good rule of thumb is that if it doesn't come from the ground, AVOID it. Try to avoid cooked meals as much as possible.

Why?

They are much more difficult for your body to digest, which is why eating raw foods for the most part is your best option.



Think about how you feel after eating a huge cooked meal. If your meals make you want to go to sleep after-wards, they are NOT foods that build muscle.

Your body should have MORE energy after eating-not less

Dead nutrition is FAR INFERIOR because they don't have enzymes in them... and enzymes are what fuels human life.

And yet most bodybuilders recommend a diet FULL of cooked meals. Red meat, fish, eggs, cheese... this are all staples of the conventional bodybuilder diet.

These meals will do nothing but make you tired and groggy... which of course will make your workout less effective.

Water and FRESH vegetable juice

These should be the ONLY liquids you consume-period. I STRONGLY recommend you drink 3-6 glasses of vegetable juice a day.

This will give you a HUGE shot of nutrition which simply eating them doesn't provide. Natural raw foods are the best foods to build muscle BAR NONE.

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The 6 Best Exercises for Weight Loss

Exercise is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle. In addition to helping you lose those extra pounds, exercise can strengthen and tone your muscles, help reduce stress, and enhance your overall well-being. Each exercise session should include a 5 to 10 minute warm-up and cool-down to prevent injury and improve flexibility. Also, remember that healthy eating and exercise must go hand-in-hand to lose weight and keep it off. Choose a few of your favorites and keep it fun!

Swimming

Take the stress off your joints and try swimming for weight loss. Swimming laps for an hour can burn 511 to 763 calories depending on your weight, and just floating around in the pool or swimming leisurely won't do the trick.

Running/Jogging

While walking is an effective low-impact activity, running or jogging can really ramp up the calorie burn. Depending on your weight, running for one hour at 5 mph can burn between 600 and 900 calories. Throw in some interval training and you'll fire up the metabolism even more, as well as add a little spice to your workouts. So, instead of doing an easy 3 mile jog every day, add some hills or speed play (jog 3 minutes, run fast 1 min) to keep things interesting. You can also add more challenge to your walk with jogging or hill intervals. For example, if you walk for 30 minutes, you can throw in a 1 to 2 minute jog every 5 minutes.



Strength Training

Strength training, such as lifting weights or using resistance to target a certain muscle group, helps to increase lean muscle mass, which makes muscle more metabolically active than fat. This also means that your body will burn more calories, even while you're at rest. Spot reducing is a myth, so choose a balanced strength training program that will target all the main muscle groups (chest, back, abs, shoulders, quadriceps (thighs), hamstrings, glutes, & calves) for the best results.

Aerobics

From a motivating aerobics class at your gym to a DVD in your living room, there's a huge variety of aerobic exercises to choose from. Getting regular aerobic exercise is an ideal way to burn a lot of calories and reach your weight loss goals. You can select a high or low impact style depending on your fitness level. You can burn up to 600 calories in one hour with low-impact aerobics; roughly 800 calories in one hour with high-impact aerobics.

Plyometrics

Jumping and bounding movements that challenge your muscles in new ways is called Plyometrics. In addition to helping you lose weight, the explosive quickness and intensity inherent in plyometric exercises also improves cardiac fitness and builds endurance. This type of training is also more advanced and can lead to injury if not performed correctly, or if you have existing joint issues. For best results and safety purposes, consult with a personal trainer or sports medicine doctor before you begin a new program. Some examples of plyometric exercises include burpees, jump squats, jump lunges, double leg hops, power push-ups and plank jacks.

Cross-Country Skiing

Just an hour on the trails can burn between 500 and 800 calories. Cross-country skiing will definitely get your heart pumping and work multiple muscle groups.

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Muscle Recovery - Post Exercise Muscle Growth

Muscle recovery time is a critical factor to consider when working out to build muscle. There are reports out there that suggest as you do more training, your muscle recovery will get faster. This statement is a bit misleading and needs to be clarified before discuss this topic any further.

When you do the same type of exercises while lifting the same weight for the same duration and complete the same number of reps every time you workout, then most likely there will eventually be a faster recovery time. However, to build bigger muscle, this approach isn't the right way. To gain muscle, there is a need to add weight and reps every time you do a workout. Thus, your workout is never the same and you recovery is not really sped up much.

I am talking about after your initial start to training here. Because of course if you have not trained for years then go back to it, in the first month or so, you will recover faster as time goes on, but this is just from pre-conditioning your muscles. After you have been training a while your muscle recovery evens out.

The more training you do, the heavier weights you must lift, and more improvement in strength is needed to lift that weight. With more work, you need longer muscle recovery.

Exercise like lifting weights induces controlled muscle damage, and thus causes muscle growth as it repairs that damage. This is the basic principal behind working out. Tear down to build up. Advancing the training of your muscle groups will continue to generate muscle soreness because of the tearing down of muscle. Therefore a greater amount of muscle recovery is needed. No sports drink in the world containing any special post exercise nutrition magic will give you the kind of recovery you need. Only resting the muscles can do this.

Once the muscle is completed with the post exercise recovery process there is a particular time frame when it is optimally ready to be reworked. This time varies with the individual, your diet, amount of sleep, and a few other factors. Trail and error with your workout routine and recovery time will show you the best time frame for you to build muscle. A good rule of thumb is to keep a 48 hour minimum recovery time between working a particular muscle group. Depending on the level of muscle damage, advanced practitioners may need to wait 72 hours plus to have complete muscle recovery.

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The Top 3 Bodyweight Exercises for Fat Loss

Losing weight is always a struggle. It's not enough to simply eat right- if you want to shed pounds and keep off you need a comprehensive, high intensity workout routine to go along with the diet. The real factor in fat loss is living an active lifestyle and making clean healthy choices, and trust me- it's not always easy!

To help you along, here are 4 of the best bodyweight exercises for fat loss. Factor in a fresh, healthy diet, and you'll be on the right track for weight loss in no time.

HIIT

The trick to really burning calories is boosting your metabolism. Slow, continuous exercise doesn't do a great job of doing that, and single bursts of high intensity, such as sprinting, don't allow you to work out long enough to kick your metabolism into overdrive. The solution? High intensity interval training.

You may have heard about this type of bodyweight workout routine, but essentially HIIT is a combination of high intensity spurts in between low to moderate intensity recovery times. A single routine could be as simple as sprinting for 30 seconds, then jogging for a minute. Do that for 12 minutes and you get through an incredible 24 reps, boosting your metabolism, burning through calories, and increasing your stamina and endurance.



Circuit Training

Circuit training is another incredible bodyweight exercise for fat loss. Factor in a few intense exercises throughout the circuit and it actually turns out to have very similar benefits to high intensity interval training.

The idea behind circuit training is having different stations, each of which you use for one or two minutes before moving on to the next one. It's quick, and you should rest as little as possible to keep your heart rate up throughout the routine.

You can have any number of bodyweight workouts in your circuit training routine, including squats, push ups, burpees, squat thrusts, jumping squats, jumping jacks, and pull ups. This will help you not only with fat loss, but with building lean muscle as well.

Boxing Workouts

This is a great routine for both men and women- anybody who wants to lose weight and keep it off. Boxers are some of the healthiest athletes in the world. They need to be strong, lightning fast, and have the endurance to go round after round against an opponent. In terms of full body fitness, boxers are the cream of the crop.

You may need some extra equipment to do a full boxing workout, but there are ways to get around that. In a typical workout, you might hit the punching bag for a few minutes, hit the speed bag, do 100 jumping jacks, or do 50 crunches. Again, you want to keep your heart rate up throughout the entire bodyweight workout routine.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Thomas_Harden/1244134

Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes That Are Easiest To Prepare

There are innumerable healthy slow cooker recipes to try. So, if you do not have a slow cooker, get one immediately, and feel the difference of cooking in a crockpot!

Do you know crockpots are used to add sensuality in dishes? The slow, uniform cooking quality of these pots helps to release the aroma of the food gradually, enveloping every chunk of food. When you lift the lid after the food gets cooked, you get mesmerized by the heavenly aroma that gushes out of the pot. When you take a spoonful, the food tends to sensationalize every corner of your mouth, giving you an enriched experience in eating.

For centuries, it has been the favorite cooking appliance of chefs. It was their tool to seduce their customers with food. Today, crockpots have made a comeback. It's getting huge acceptance in modern kitchens. People have no time to cook a healthy meal. Healthy slow cooker recipes give you a chance to relish food with all its nutrients, tastes, aromas, and sensations put together.



How To Bake Or Roast Vegetables In A Slow Cooker
When you bake food in the oven, it takes time, and you need to be present. Baking is relatively easier. You can also bake without oil or herbs. When you bake vegetables, water is not needed because vegetables have sufficient water content in them. Because of the slow cooking quality, they do not dry up fast, unlike in the oven. Many of these recipes include baking.

You can easily bake a big yam or potato in about 4 hours at low. If you keep at high, it takes 2 hours. Potatoes and root vegetables, when cut in large chunks, take less time to bake. The flavor of roasted or baked vegetables in a crockpot is tantalizing. Serve them with garlic bread, fresh salad, noodles, or fried tofu for a hearty meal.

To experience the joy of cooking, try this recipe. It is one of the easiest healthy slow cooker recipes.
Spicy Apple Squash Dish

YOU NEED: one butternut squash, 4 apples, half onion diced (the white variety), ¾ cup dried cranberries, 1-1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, and 1 tbsp cinnamon ground.

DO THIS: Peel and seed the squash. Cut into cubes. Peel and core the apples. Slice them. Put together all the above ingredients. Set the cooker at high. Cook for 4 hours or until squash cubes become tender. Stir occasionally.

Feel every bite of the dish as it melts in your mouth. The aroma stimulates all your senses and soothes you like nothing ever did before. Stress-what's that!

There are more such healthy slow cooker recipes that de-stress you. The good thing about vegetarian slow cooker recipes is that they are easy to prepare. If you love cooking, slow cooking can become one of your biggest stress busters.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Albertin_Abelmont/220044

The Best Bodyweight Exercises for Strength

In case you haven't noticed, there's a new exercise trend that's spreading like wildfire. And unlike most of the hot fads, this one has been around for a long time and isn't going away anytime soon - not like that ab gizmo you bought one time and is now collecting dust. I'm talking, of course, about bodyweight exercises.

The Best Bodyweight Exercises for Strength
Before gyms became mainstream, how do you think people stayed in shape? Most of the old-school strongmen relied on a lot of bodyweight exercises for their impressive physiques. Also, if you've ever seen a gymnastic event on TV, you'll know how unbelievably ripped those people are. Guess what? Gymnasts train almost exclusively using only their own bodyweight as resistance!

Whether you are looking to amp up your exercise program, or just trying to save a few bucks by not having a gym membership, learning these exercises will help you build a strong and attractive body.

The Push Up
If you don't know this one, you probably never showed up to gym class. Nevertheless, the push up is an important upper body exercise that cannot be neglected.

The Pull Up
Another "phy ed classic," the pull up will work all the muscles in your upper body that push ups do not. This is another must!



The Plank
The plank is the only abs exercise you'll ever need. People are used to doing crunches and may not be too familiar with this one. It resembles the "up" position of the push up, but you lower down to your forearms and hold yourself completely straight as long as you can.

The Squat
"The king of exercises" needs no additional weight to be effective. In fact, you will save your back long-term by ditching the barbell. Just make sure you squat ALL the way down to get the most of this exercise. This is one exercise that will work every muscle group in your lower body.

Putting Together a Workout Routine
Now that you know the "big four" best bodyweight exercises for strength, it's time to throw them together in a workout routine. With just these exercises, you can work every muscle in your body to ensure an even development.

1. Push ups: 3 sets of reps to fatigue.
2. Pull ups: 3 sets of reps to fatigue.
3. Planks: 3 sets of holds to fatigue.
4. Squats: 3 sets of reps to fatigue.

Notice how I don't say "reps to FAILURE." It is important you stop before failure while your form is still perfect to avoid injury. If you do this routine 2-3 times per week, you will get closer to building the body of your dreams every day.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Darrin_Carlson/637303