Success with Strength Training

Strength training is the most effective way to turn your body into a fat burning machine and stay in great shape! It is the most productive form of exercise there is! In order to be successful with strength training there are some basic principles that must be followed if you want to receive the many benefits which strength training has to offer! The three most critical factors are progressive overload, intensity, and recovery.

Progressive overload simply means that you must force your muscles to work harder each time. That means you can't use the same weight every workout, regardless of how many sets or reps you do. The best way to do this is by attempting to increase the resistance / weight used and, or increase the number of repetitions performed at each workout.

Intensity is also very important. You must force your body to increase its strength. For example, if you typically do 3 sets of 10 reps on the leg press at 115 pounds, and your legs are capable of doing 16 reps, why is your body going to make any improvements? Your body will only add muscle if you force it to work at a higher level than it is used to. The most effective way to overload your muscles is to perform one or two sets per exercise, and continue each set to muscular failure. That means continuing each set until no more repetitions are possible. Challenge yourself!

Once you have overloaded the target muscle group you must then allow for proper recovery and over compensation. This means you must rest long enough to allow for recovery of the targeted muscle group, the nervous system, refill glycogen stores (Energy stored within your muscles), and also allow enough time for the muscles to make improvements or increases. This process takes time. Generally, it takes between 2-7 days to recover from a strength workout! The harder you work the longer it takes your body to repair. Don't short-circuit your progress by strength training too often!

Basic Guidelines for Successful Strength Training

Strength train no more than three times per week!

Perform 1-2 sets per exercise!

Choose 1-2 exercises for small muscle groups and 2-3 for large muscle groups. (ex. 2-3 exercises for legs, back, chest, and 1-2 for arms, shoulders, etc.)

Choose no more than 8-10 exercises and work hard on them! . Always keep a record of all workouts! . Take each set to failure or fatigue!

Perform each exercise SLOWL V! Force the muscle to do the work -- NOT momentum!

As soon as you see a slow down in progress it's time to make a change to your program!

Below are some sample workouts and frequently asked questions regarding strength training.

Full-body Workout 1-2 x per week (approx. 30-40 mins.)
Lat pull-down 2 sets Chest press 2 sets Leg press 2 sets
Lateral raise 1 set Bicep curl 1 set
Triceps pushdown 1 set Leg curl 1 set
Leg extension 1 set

Upper / Lower Split
2-3 x per week (approx. 25-40 mins)

A. Upper
Seated row 2 sets
Shoulder press 2 sets
Lat pull-down 1 set
Pectoral fly 1 set
Lateral raise 1 set
Bicep curl 1 set
Triceps pushdown 1 set

B. Lower
Leg curl 2 sets
Glute machine 1 set
Leg press 2 sets
Leg extension 1 set

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How do I lose the flab on the back of my arm or my spare tire?

A. It is physically impossible to only lose fat in one area. What you can do is decrease body fat by burning more calories than you consume. Increase muscle tissue with strength training and burn more calories all day long, even while you are sleeping!

Q. How often should I strength train if my goal is to burn fat?

A. 2-3 times per week would be great! You will build muscle tissue, which burns calories 24 hours a day, and you will decrease the chance for excess calories to be stored as fat!

Q. What if I don't want to bulk up? I just want to tone.

A. If it were that easy to bulk or get big nearly every guy in the gym would be huge] Women generally don't have the genetic potential to build large muscles due to hormonal differences. Plus, don't forget that adding muscle tissue to your body is a good thing! It makes everything you do much easier, reduces the chance for injury, and increases your metabolism!

Q. How many sets and repetitions should I do?

A. This will vary depending upon your goal. If you are training to increase strength, due fewer sets but higher intensity (1-2 sets to failure per exercise). If training for muscle size, perform multiple sets (2-4 sets, but only 1 to failure). The number of repetitions will vary also depending upon the speed at which you move the weight and your goals. In general, shoot for 8-12 reps.

Q. What are the benefits of strength training?

A. Strength training, if done correctly, can make some major changes to your body and mind! Here are just a few:

Increased metabolism
Increased strength and flexibility
Increased muscle tone
Reduced stress levels

For more information on how you can maximize the benefits of strength training, please call me at 240-731-3724 or e-mail jesse@achieve-fitness.com

About The Author
Jesse Cannone is a certified personal trainer, nutritionist, and best-selling fitness author. Sign up to receive his free email course, Muscle Building Tips which is full of powerful tips and techniques for maximizing strength and size. http://www.seriousstrengthtraining.com
support@seriousstrengthtraining.com

Your Weight Loss Problem: How-To Cure It By Watching Movies Or Reading Books!

I don't know anything about you but if you're anything like me then you struggle with a weight loss problem. Your weight loss problem consists of you struggling to keep your weight down or struggling to make your weight go down.

Most people who see me wouldn't believe that I have a weight loss problem, but I do. I've battled bulimia and constant gains and losses in weight, of ten pounds each time. Thats what I call a big weight loss problem.

A lot of women and men with the same or a similar weight loss problem would sympathize with me I'm sure. I want to look good (who doesn't?) so that always motivates me to go on a diet.

But after sticking to a diet for a week and dropping the unwanted weight my love for good tasting food overpowers my need to feel attractive and the weight piles back on pound by pound.

There is always exercise to help with a weight loss problem, I remind myself as I lie lazily on the couch chomping down on one of my non-diet treats. "Sure!" I groan "I don't feel like wearing my butt out without seeing any results for weeks at a time."

Whenever I start a workout regimen I only stick to it for a few weeks (usually less) and then I get bored and drop it. So my weight loss problem continues.

How many other women I wondered (or men, for that matter) get bored while exercising? I thought about that for awhile then I set about to find a solution to help all those poor people (and myself too, of course) with this weight loss problem.

First I asked myself: What did I like to do? What did I find Interesting?

"Hmmmm, well" I thought "I like dancing, but long periods of it are exhausting. I like to read, to listen to music, and I really dislike being on my feet for over long periods of time.

What could possibly combine all or most of these to make my exercising interesting and help solve my weight loss problem?

The solution to my weight loss problem was amazingly simple!

I own an old stationary bike, and I do mean OLD, but the important thing is that it operates. You can do this with any form of stationary bike, whether it's a twenty year old model or an up to date model.

It doesn't matter whether you own the stationary bike or use a gym's or your local YMCA's or YWCA's facilities.

My weight loss problem solution is this:

Find something engrossing to read. It could be a novel or your favorite magazine. Or listen to music that you enjoy, you could even use audio books or any different CD's or things you could listen to.

I suppose if your bike was somewhere around a television or computer with a DVD player, you could even watch your favorite movie.

The next step is to mount your stationary bide and start biking while reading or doing any of the above listed activities, and not to get off for at least 45 to 60 minutes, except for an occasional rest every quarter of an hour.

I usually just keep biking away the whole time and sometimes I bike longer because I'm so engrossed in what I'm reading, and I won't allow myself to read it once I'm off the stationary bike.

After a week of this, without change in my eating habits, or any dieting, I'm maintaining a healthy weight. Best of all I'm not putting on any new pounds, and my legs look visibly slimmer.

So I've kissed my weight loss problem goodbye, and I'm saying hello to slim jeans and size 6 dresses, and you can too.

For the first time in a long while I actually look forward to putting on a bikini ;-)

About The Author
Beth Scott
If this method isn't appealing to you or just doesn't work, you should try visiting Brad Callen's web site at: http://snipurl.com/98g1 He gives excellent weight loss advice for those seeking it.
beth15@apt-products.com

Struggling To Keep Your Workout Schedule? So am I ... !!

Sometimes following a fitness program or workout schedule is not quite as do-able as the folks writing the advice make it sound. I suppose the idea is to tell you what you should be doing to achieve your fitness or weight-loss targets, but you know sometimes life gets a bit in the way of all these plans, and there is just no way you can follow your intended program.

I know, because I am in exactly that position myself right now, and it is very easy to get derailed or discouraged and start to wonder if it's all just a bit too much to keep up in the face of uncontrollable obstacles.

My difficulty is that the local pool has closed for six weeks, and that's quite a blow to a training program designed to take me into the World Top Ten Swimming Masters again this year, so I've tried to find somewhere else to get in the necessary daily workout routine, but it seems everywhere I turn, I find the same refurbishing going on and pools closing all over the place; so what do we do? Well the point of all this personal story stuff is to say, "yes we have a real problem in sticking with the training plan but we can, and have to, adapt just to keep the ball rolling to our benefit". The last thing we want to do is give up or say, "let's forget the whole thing".

I guess I sound repetitive, as I say this in several articles, but you must, "keep on keeping on". That's the key to maintaining weight loss or maintaining fitness. It's so easy to get discouraged by the events and obstacles that life puts in the way, but the "can't beat me" kind of feeling can be nurtured by finding an alternative to your workout, and I bet that most of us have some aspect of our program that we have been meaning to work on, but have been too tied up in the regular main activity to focus on.

For example, here's what I have done to combat the lack of pool time. I'm doing some sit-ups, heaven knows I've been avoiding that pleasure for ages now, and I'm getting in some push-ups and a little work on the arms with some light weights, or if you have no weights, try two milk container jugs (the ones with the handles) filled with water, as barbells. Yes we all know that one, but you get the idea of what I'm saying, improvise, you don't have to have all the gear just to keep a maintenance level of fitness and you can also do all this stuff if you're on the road and in a hotel with no weight room.

Now one of the things you don't hear much from the pundits pushing their fitness or weight-loss programs is how they are doing and, if we do, it's all upbeat and rah-rah. Well let me tell you, I went quite some distance to find a pool that was open, as it had been close to two weeks without any swim workout, and boy, oh boy did I feel pretty bad! Arms of lead and legs that reconfirmed to me that if you don't have those legs in shape, you're "cooked". This is the other area I'm always harping on about, but you know it is true that the legs are the key to core strength and if we don't get them in shape, it really doesn't matter how good the rest of the body is because the leg fatigue will suck all the power from the engine.

So I struggled through my session and at the end it was a little better, but knowing I had at least put in a maintenance type session made me feel better and back on track, if not improving at least holding steady and not rolling backwards and that's my point. Whatever is temporarily disrupting your plans or throwing you off your schedule, work around it by adapting and using inventive thinking to keep you from slipping backwards. Like I've said in my articles before, the key phrase is, "keep on keeping on!" So keep on and don't give up!

Good luck, all the best.

About The Author
Gordon Black is a world-ranked Master swimmer and Canadian national record holder. A member of the British swim team in the late '60s, after thirty years out of the pool, last year Gordon returned to competitive swimming in the Masters forum. He offers an online weight loss, fitness and motivational coaching service through his web site www.gordonblack.com where his competitive comeback is chronicled. Gordon is currently working on a book based on his own weight management and fitness system - publisher's enquiries welcome!
gordon@gordonblack.com

Liberate Your Set Esteem and Lose Weight

Are you a 'look-and-lose' dieter? Have you studied every diet ever created, read a zillion diet books, and yet are still unhappy with your weight?

Has your quest for the holy grail of dieting become a substitute for actually making changes required to take the ill health out of your current diet?

If so, you may not realise your thoughts are key to your happiness and success.

Do you look at yourself and say, "I'm fat", or "My hips are too big"? Many of us look in the mirror and immediately compare ourselves to those 'perfect' human specimens we see every single day on TV, in magazines and in the newspapers.

Often we talk to ourself and make excuses, "It's my genes", "I'm much too busy to get fit", "I like myself this", as a way of protecting yourself from the way we see ourselves now and the way we want to be.

If we were to be truly honest with ourselves most people actually want to lose a few pounds - if we only knew how.

The good news is you CAN achieve your desired body shape with the right thinking about yourself, an understanding of how to get optimal nutrition, healthy eating habits and how to incorporate activity into your lifestyle to keep your muscles toned.

But most important of all, you need a regular mental workout to keep your self-image in shape.

Self-image is closely connected to the success or failure of any goal you choose to seek after, but none more so that the goal to get yourself fit and healthy.

So how do you go about strengthening your self-image? Well fortunately your self-image, just like your muscles, will respond well to a regular work out. You can actually strengthen your self-image with a few daily exercises.

Exercise One - Self Examination

Start by compiling a list of all those negative thoughts your have about yourself...I'm undisciplined, I can't manage my time, I let people down, I can't succeed, I don't exercise enough. You will need to decide before you start this process that you won't get discouraged....these are things that you will admit to yourself but they most certainly don't have to control your life.

Next, compile a second list including everything you LIKE about yourself. Keep going until this list is LONGER than the first list you compiled. You might include things such as, I am a good cook, I can make people laugh, I contribute to the soccer club, my daughter loves the way I decorate her room.

Then, take your 'negatives' list and turn it into your 'potentials' list. You do this by creating a positive self-image to every 'negative' you listed. Instead of "I can't succeed", write a counter belief, "I will succeed".

Ceremonially throw out the 'negatives' list - you are saying goodbye forever! Burn them, trash them, destroy them....they are no longer going to be a part of your thinking about yourself.

Now, keep your list of potentials in a prominent place. On your refrigerator door, in your daily journal, or in a picture frame on your desk. Make sure you have them in front on your every single day so that you are reading them constantly and reprogramming your daily thoughts.

Exercise Two: You Can Be What You Want to Be

Now that you have your list of potentials... run your own visualisation stories so that you can 'see' yourself in a new light. For example, if your list of potential includes "I eat just the right portions", visualise yourself with a moderate portion on your plate, and feeling completely satisfied at the conclusion of your meal.

Read through your list of potentials every day taking a few moments of personal quiet time to reflect strongly on your visualisations. Try starting your day first thing in the morning and finishing as the last thing at night with visualising yourself being the person on your list, and doing the things you want to do.

Exercise Three: Keep a Journal of Your Daily Successes

Keep a record of all the positive changes in thoughts you have about yourself. We all have triumphs and 'failures'. You must record and remind yourself of the positive changes because our human nature will replay the negatives - sometimes blowing them out of proportion. It's important to nurture and celebrate the small steps you make every day.

Exercise Four: Go Easy On Yourself - You Are Beautiful Work In Progress

Don't listen to the criticism...not your own nor that of others! Remember you are the designer of your self-esteem, do not hand this over to other people. You are way too important to give this away. Protect your role as creator of your own self-image and do not, take on board negative criticisms. We all make mistakes, and mistakes can be used to help us learn. Do not criticise yourself for being human and making a mistake. The only last mistake in the one from which we never learn to grow.

Exercise Five: Forget About The Past

The only moment you can live is the current one. You can't live in the future and you most certainly shouldn't live in the past....the challenge is to take charge of our thinking so that we think in the same time zone in which we live!

For example we may be tempted to think about yesterday's failures..."If only I hadn't eaten second helpings", "If only I didn't reach for the chocolate cookies". If we concentrate on the mistakes of yesterday this will our brains to replay our failures and reinforce them to us.

Yesterday is over, today is where you live....make sure that today you do NOT replay yesterday's failures and make your resolve to change TODAY.

Exercise Six: Resolve to Change Today

Just as you shouldn't live in the past, you can't live in the future. You can only live or change today. The oldest cliché in the world is perhaps one of the greatest truisms of all...'tomorrow NEVER comes!'

There is no better time than now. So, no matter what excuses you may have to wait to take those healthy steps you know you should take, none of them are valid. Do it now, do it today. Resolve to make a different in your own life before you go to sleep tonight.

Exercise Seven: Write a Plan For your Life

This is your success plan. If you have not already done so it is time for you to create direction and purpose in your plans for yourself. Review your list of potentials and record next to each potential when you want to achieve this by.

Exercise Eight: Carry Affirmation Cards About Yourself

This is one of the fastest tools for your success. You are what you think. Strengthen your self-image every day by reviewing your thoughts. One of the easiest ways to do this is to carry affirmation cards in your wallet and review regularly. Affirmation cards are short bursts of words in business card that prompt and remind your self-image of your intentions. An example might be:

I can achieve anything that I put my mind to.
I will be satisfied with single helpings.

Try it, you have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain!

Exercise Nine: Change Your Eating Habits

Now that you have set the groundwork in place, you are now ready to change your physical habits. You are ready to add a balanced nutritious diet, healthy eating habits, regular exercise and relaxation.

By using these nine exercises daily to change your thinking habits, you will be strengthening your self esteem and unlocking your internal power to make a change in your life. Before you can change lifelong eating habits, you must first change life long thinking habits. We are what we think. We can't be something other than what we believe we can be!

So, do yourself a favour, liberate your self-image and then, see how much more effective your healthy living plan becomes!

About The Author
Kim is successful a wellness mentor. She has been assisting people achieve excellent health through cellular nutrition. For those wanting to lose weight she uses a proven amazing, approach that enables people to have a boost in energy and block to cravings while they are losing the weight. She has a Bachelor of Science majoring in Biochemistry and Histology. Visit http://leanmachine.org/?refid=articlecity-23429

Avoid These Five Common Weight Loss Mistakes

Mistake #1: Not changing your calorie plan as you lose weight. The fallacy of the "1200 calorie diet" plans and the like.

Most people fix their calorie intake to a given number and expect to lose weight at the same constant rate over a period of weeks. Hence, dieters look for 1000 calorie or 1800 calorie diet plans on the internet. The fixed calorie diet plans don't work. If you burn 3000 calories a day at the start of a diet, after a week or two of losing some weight, you are no longer burning 3000 calories. Now you might be burning 2800 calories. If you fix your calorie intake in the face of a decreasing calorie expenditure, your weight loss will slow down more and more as you lose weight.

If you want to lose weight at a constant rate, you must repeatedly:

decrease your calorie intake to accommodate the calorie expenditure drop

increase your calorie output by exercising more

do both

I would like to note that you must set realistic slow weight loss goals. If you go for fast weight loss you would not be able to sustain it for a long period unless you go extreme in the calorie reduction and exercise a lot. For people who have to lose more than 20 pounds (10kgs), the goal should be a loss of no more than 2 pounds or 1 kg per week. People who need to lose just a bit of weight should go for weight loss of 1 pound or half a kilogram per week.

Why does my calorie expenditure drop as I lose weight? The most important factors are:

You weight less. A smaller body burns less calories both at rest and while active

You may involuntarily burn fewer calories. Dieters often lack energy and move less

Calorie restriction suppresses the metabolic rate

You have less body fat, which may further suppress your metabolic rate

These major factors contribute to an ever-decreasing energy expenditure as one loses weight. The more a dieter cuts calories, the bigger the calorie expenditure drop. The leaner the dieter, the greater the calorie expenditure drop.

Now you must understand that if you want to succeed in losing weight, you have to make changes in your nutrition plan. I recommend burning more calories, because being more active facilitates smaller calorie restriction and milder calorie expenditure drop.

It is very difficult to estimate the rate of the metabolic drop. Here is the general rule: the bigger you are, the smaller the rate of the metabolic drop. The more weight you lose, the more you have to cut calories or increase exercise. If you are overweight you might need to cut just 10 more calories for every lost pound, while if you are lean you might have to cut 60 calories for every pound lost. I picked these numbers just as an example.

Mistake #2: Overreporting the "extra" calorie expenditure of exercise

Most people count the calories they spend exercising as "extra" calories. There is a difference between calories burned while exercising and "extra" calories burned exercising. Here is an example: you burn 300 calories on the treadmill instead of your usual activity (watching TV at home); in reality, you have to subtract the calories you would have spent watching TV from these 300 calories to calculate how many additional calories you burned. Let's say that watching TV, you would have burned 80 calories. In this specific case, you have expended 300 calories while exercising, and 220 "extra" calories.

Calorie counters mindlessly add the calories burned exercising as "extra" and in some cases, this practice can significantly influence the calorie calculations. Hence, calorie software counts the part of your usual activities that overlaps with the extra activities twice.

How to estimate the "extra" calories burned exercising?

In order to make the calculations more accurate, I shall first introduce the concept of MET values. MET values are a convenient way to calculate the calorie cost of activities. MET values are multiples of the resting energy expenditure per time. In plain English, a MET = 3 means burning 3 times more calories than resting. A MET = 1 signifies how many calories you burn at rest (your Resting Metabolic Rate or Basal Metabolic Rate). Whatever you do, you burn calories at a rate of at least MET = 1 with the only exception being sleeping which has MET = 0.9. During the day, most activities include sitting and walking which have MET values between 1.2 and 3. Your total daily energy expenditure is calculated by multiplying your Resting Metabolic Rate by the average MET of all your activities. Is your head spinning?

Let's use a real world example. Consider a female person with a Resting Metabolic Rate of 1200 calories a day. One day has 1440 minutes. Our example lady is burning 1200/1440 = 0.84 calories per minute at rest, which signifies a MET = 1. Let's say our example woman just returned from an aerobics class, where she exercised for 30 minutes. General aerobic class training has a MET = 6. Our example lady has just burned 30 (minutes) x 6 (MET) * 0.84 (calories per minute) = 151 calories while exercising. Suppose our lady would have chatted on the internet instead of exercising (MET = 1.5). In this example, the woman substituted chatting on the internet with aerobic exercising. Remember, that every time you do something you substitute one activity for another. In order to get the extra calories, we have to subtract 1.5 (chatting) from 6 (exercising). Now let's calculate the extra calories: 30 (minutes) * (6 - 1.5) (MET value) * 0.84 = 113 calories.

Let's consider what a standard calorie counter would have done. First, it will assume an average calorie burn rate of 1 calorie per minute. Then the counter will find that exercising for 30 minutes will yield 30 (minutes) * 6 (MET) * 1 (calories per minute) = 180 calories. The calorie counter will add these 180 calories to your daily expenditure without considering that a part of these 180 calories is already accounted by your usual activities.

Do you now see the difference between 113 calories and 180 calories? If that woman spends 5 hours a week in that aerobics class, the standard calorie counters will overreport her calorie output by: (180-113) * 10 = 670 calories a week. The woman will be fooled that her metabolic rate has dropped while she just overestimated her calorie expenditure. Enter weight loss plateau, wasted time and efforts. Do you have the time for trial and error calorie estimations?

Remember these two rules:

Report only extra activities to your calorie counter. If your walk to your office every day, do not log "walking to office for 30 minutes" as an extra activity. Consider only unusual activities that contribute to extra expended calories!

Always subtract the calories you would have burned instead of exercising. A general rule is to subtract from 1.2 to 1.5 from the MET values. In some cases, you need to subtract a greater MET. If you substitute 30 minutes of bodybuilding (MET = 6) for 30 minutes of slow jump rope (MET = 8) then the additional MET would be 8 - 6 = 2.

How to find the MET values of activities based on standard tables?

In order to make the above calculations, you need to know the MET values of activities. Standard tables give: name of activity, duration and calories. Standard tables assume an average calorie expenditure of one calorie per minute. To find the MET you just need to divide the calories by the duration.

Example: "Bicycling, stationary, general", "20 minutes", "140 calories"

MET of "Bicycling, stationary, general" = 140 / 20 = 7

I know these calculations are somewhat tedious and in many cases the standard calorie calculations are close to correct. However, in some cases they can significantly over or under-calculate the calorie expenditure of activities and compromise your weight loss plan with daily miscalculations.

Mistake #3: Training with light weights and lots of reps

I have seen countless number of ladies come to the gym, get the lightest possible dumbbells, crank out some hundreds of reps and go home. Most often, these women do not get the results they want. The problem with this type of training is that it does not burn many "extra" calories unless you spend a considerable amount of time in the gym. Hefting Ken and Barbie weights in the gym has a MET value of 3, which means that it burns 3 times more calories than resting in bed. Almost anything you do during the day has a MET value of 1.2 to 2. Browsing the internet on your computer has a MET value of 1.5. Realize that almost anything you do during the day (average MET = 1.5) has about 50% overlap in calorie expenditure with training with very light weights (MET = 3). If you pump super light dumbbells in the gym, only about half of the calories burned are "additional".

Of course, you can burn a considerable amount of extra calories training with light weights but you have to really extend the duration of this type of training. Curling 5 pound dumbbells for 4 sets of 20 reps and chit-chatting for 20 minutes in the gym is not going to burn many extra calories.

Remember the rule: the less intensive the activity (smaller MET), the greater the calorie expenditure overlap with casual activities; the less intensive the activity, the more time you have to spend doing it to expend a good deal of extra calories. Always subtract a MET of 1 to 1.5 to arrive at the additional expended calories.

Mistake #4: Using "average person" calorie estimations

You can find all kinds of tables showing the calorie cost of different physical activities on the internet. These tables don't show your calorie expenditure. They actually tell you the calorie expenditure of an "average person". These tables assume you are an average person that burns one calorie per minute at rest. Yes, we covered this in the first part of the article and it needs repeating. Most men burn more than one calorie per minute and most smaller women burn less than one calorie per minute at rest. In reality, these standard tables overestimate the calorie expenditure of smaller people and underestimate the calorie expenditure of bigger than average people. Combine this with the common mistake of counting all burned calories as "additional calories" and you have a wide range of possible miscalculations.

Mistake #5: Going on very low calorie diets (VLCD)

Research has shown little to no difference in the weight loss rate of 1200 calorie diets and 800 calorie diets. The 1200 calorie threshold is the point where further calorie restriction does not yield faster results. Diets in the range of 800 to 1200 calories a day suppress the resting metabolic rate from the very first day and after some weeks on these diets, the metabolic rate has dropped by up to 20%. This metabolic drop is just a consequence of the calorie restriction factor; other factors such as the level of leanness may further depress the calorie expenditure.

A big percentage of the quick initial weight loss on a VLCD is water. VLCDs create an illusion of fast fat loss, while in reality most of the weight loss is water. It is hard to continue a very low calorie diet for a prolonged time because the harsh calorie restriction makes you hungrier than ever. People on VLCDs often lack energy and move very little. When you stop the diet, you are prone to instant overeating. Eating a very low calorie diet is the ticket to yo-yo dieting.

Instead of using very low calorie diets, I recommend diets with a mild calorie restriction and an emphasis on exercise. Overweight people who know what they are doing can employ VLCDs for a limited time. It is important to get enough vitamins and minerals from supplements, because such low calorie diets are woefully inadequate in nutrients. Water intake should be high.

Bodybuilders, powerlifters and athletes must stay away from very low calorie diets because the large calorie restriction causes a greater proportion of the weight loss to be muscle loss.

If you want to automate these complicated calorie calculations, try our training and nutrition software Fitness Assistant FREE for 30 days. Get your trial copy at www.x3msoftware.com

About The Author
Hristo Hristov is the owner of X3MSoftware, a company specializing in developing training and nutrition software. Hristo has a degree in Computer Science and passion for powerlifting. In his spare time, Hristo gives training and nutrition consultations.
hristo@x3msoftware.com

Setting the right fitness goal is crucial to success

Many fall short of their ideal level of fitness because they either do not set goals or set totally inappropriate goals with only one likely outcome – failure. Yet if you spend a little more time on setting your goals you will increase your chances of success and the rewards will be greater.

If you do not put enough thought into the goal setting stage of your plans you are more likely to fail. A carefully chosen goal, whether to do with your fitness, career or personal life will motivate you to stay on target and also add another factor to your training – it will engage your mind.

Your training and sport should be viewed as part of your personal development and not as a separate physical activity. Many individuals regard their sport and exercise as a way of taking a break from their intellectual pursuits and train their 'mental' and 'physical' self separately, but do you really perform at best by splitting yourself in two? Does taking the 'mind' out of physical activity result in mindless action? Skills and abilities learnt from participating in your sport can translate back to your personal and professional life; it also works the other way around.

Choosing the right goal for you

A goal is a wish to achieve something you regard as worthwhile that represents a challenge. It will be a target beyond your current ability requiring a substantial effort on your behalf to attain. Once you have reached your goal it will be an achievement to take pride in and drive you on to achieve a higher level.

Whether conscious of it or not, most will have a goal in mind that determines what we do. It may be for a quiet, comfortable life, earn more money, look good, get fit or all of these. I believe it is important to have goals as a way to motivate and encourage continuous self-improvement but the goal itself must be carefully thought out before you set off on your journey toward it.

A goal should …

be something you know is achievable and provides you with the motivation to train.

have a specific target so you know when you have achieved it, for example, completing a 10 k run, making the first team or getting a black belt in a martial art.

involve doing an activity you can enjoy and benefit from.

be shared with the people around you so they will ask you about your progress adding to your motivation.

be broken down into smaller tangible steps so each stage represents a tick in a box allowing you to take satisfaction from the journey.

provide you with the opportunity to experiment and learn.

challenge your intellect as well as your body.

A goal should not be..

impossible or unrealistic

plucked out of the air just because it sounds good. 'I want to run a marathon' is fine if you like running and are prepared to put in the time, but if you are not going to enjoy the months of training that lie ahead it is not a good goal to set.

given an arbitrary target without any meaning such as increasing your trips to the gym to 4 times a week, this doesn't meet the criteria of the should be's above. However, this might be a subset of a goal that will enable you to achieve the big one.

too easy and require little effort.

set in concrete and non-negotiable. Be prepared to re-assess your goal and your reasons for achieving it. Don't suffer needlessly and struggle to achieve a goal that will adversely affect you, your family and your friends.

detrimental to your health.

Once you have decided your goal ask the following questions to clarify your reasons for selecting it.

Why do I want to achieve this? This could be any reason from giving you the motivation to get out of bed in the morning right up to achieving fame and fortune.

How will I benefit from pursing this goal? Will the reward justify the time and money you will need to commit to succeed? If your goal provides the opportunity for self-improvement then the answer has to be yes.

How will I know when I have succeeded? Have you set a definite finishing point, target or time limit? Can it be measured?

When you are satisfied with your answers write down your goal and then underneath add 'How I am going to achieve this?' This will include steps to take you closer each day to your ultimate goal. List things that need to be done in preparation such as

buying new kit, research, finding useful sources of information/ advice, getting professional help, joining a sports club and getting a check-up from your doctor

Be sure that each step on your action plan is clear and contains just one action so you can tick the box when it's done. Be methodical about your preparation and do not be tempted to rush straight into your training, the well known business mantra is just as applicable here – proper planning prevents poor performance! A good plan also helps you keep your mind focused on the task in hand increasing your chances of success. When you do achieve your goal you can also take satisfaction in your planning and application of that plan. You may wish to promise yourself a reward on successful completion but do make it relevant to your long-term goals. A weekend in Chicago to run the marathon would give your motivation for running a shot in the arm, whereas an all-you-can-eat meal on reaching your target weight would obviously set you back into bad habits. However, if you have chosen an appropriate goal and planned accordingly, the experience of the journey and achievement in itself will mean more than anything – although it's nice to have some icing on the cake!

How to achieve your goal

At this stage all you have in front of you is a sheet of paper with your goal at the top and listed beneath your individual steps to get you there. Put this in a place where it can be seen. You may need to return to this on occasions when things may not be going too well and your motivation has taken a knock.

In addition to this important record keep a diary of your progress and include:-

what you did you set out to do

what you actually achieved

how you felt

what you learnt

The last point is crucial to achieving your goal. Be flexible and learn from your experience. If something doesn't appear to be working, don't try any harder using the same approach. If banging your head against a brick wall isn't working, don't bang it harder!

Be prepared to change your approach, method and technique is you feel you are getting nowhere fast or it's starting to hurt. There is little to be gained from injuring yourself in the pursuit of a goal that is meant to improve your quality of life.

If your enthusiasm dips, return to your goal sheet and training diary to remind you of your objectives and the passion you felt when starting out. As you draw nearer to your goal start planning ahead for your next self-improvement activity. I always find this helps with the final stages as you can start to see yourself moving onwards and upwards towards a higher achievement.

About The Author
Roy Palmer is a teacher of The Alexander Technique and has studied performance enhancement in sport for the last 10 years. In 2001 he published a book called 'The Performance Paradox: Challenging the conventional methods of sports training and exercise' and is currently working on a new project about The Zone. More information about his unique approach to training can be found at http://www.fitness-programs-for-life.com.