Top 10 tips for your ideal physique

Top 10 tips for your ideal physique

Besides a solid nutritional program which I have discussed many times in past mervmails, below some other key tips that will help you be successful reaching your fitness goals;

1. Correct Supplementation

Top 3 economical supplements to seriously consider taking:

BCAA’s: Makes up 35% of the essential amino acids in muscle proteins, it is shown to support recovery as well as help regulate blood sugars. Mix this as directed in your protein shakes or just in plain water.

ZMA: ZMA is a combination of the 2 minerals zinc and magnesium, and vitamin b6 is shown to raise strength levels, aid recovery and support immune system. ZMA is recommended prior to bed.

Whey & Casein Protein Powder: Whey protein is a very economical way to support muscle tissue with fast mixing amino acids: Recommended post workout with low dose of simple sugars.
Casein protein has a structure that is hard to break down by the body and thus time releases amino acids which is suitable for nighttime recovery.

2. Sleep including short power naps

Growth hormone gets released during sleep, which has a tremendous effect on muscle recovery. During the non-r.e.m deep sleep stage, your pituitary gland releases growth hormone that stimulates tissue growth and muscle recovery.
The minimum amount of sleep a bodybuilder should get is between 7-8 hours. The national sleep foundations sleep guidelines recommend seven to nine hours on average for adults.

3. Continuous change in your workout program

Lets face it, if you continue on following the same routine day in and day out, the results will hit a rut, it’s a given. So make sure to apply plateau breaking training techniques such as: Drop sets, negatives, partial reps, super slow reps etc.. Into your routine in order to keep the muscles guessing. Once your muscles adapt, the results will end!

4. Eat enough protein of different varieties

Make sure that you are consuming at least 1.5-2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight. So for a 200 lb. Male bodybuilder that would mean 300 - 400 grams a day. I do not recommend going under 1 gram per pound of bodyweight.

Also make sure to consume protein from a variety of sources such as: fish, turkey, chicken, flank steak, whey and casein shakes, casein from cottage cheese, egg whites, and mushrooms for example.

5. Stay motivated

Staying motivated to me comes at the top of the charts. The power of motivation is what sparks the fire of the first step towards a goal and also the power to keep going when your mind wants to quit. I try to find motivation through many factors: New outfits, a compliment from a fan, another inspiring athlete, success stories of others, music and finally competing against myself and other athletes.

6.  Be consistent

Consistency is extremely important. Make sure to have a regular routine and don’t let vacations and family functions get in the way of your workouts. My theory is the more days you miss, it takes the amount of days you missed multiplied by 2-3 to get back into it.

7. Have a goal

Setting short-term goals have been shown to help individuals reach their long-term goals and stay more consistent. This psychological strategy in return helps us to take our physiques to the next level. Goals can include setting a date for a photo-shoot, competition, a body fat test or even lifting a certain max weight on a specific day.

8. Make sure to drink enough water

The institute of medicine determined that an adequate intake (ai) for men is roughly 3 liters (about 13 cups) of total beverages a day. The ai for women is 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) of total beverages a day.

Especially for us athletes, we need to drink at least the minimum the amount of the recommendations since we do lose more water during physical activity. Keep in mind, the muscle cells are over 70 percent water and water helps proper muscle contractions, protein synthesis, transport of amino acids and removal of waste products. As bodybuilders/athletes we need to make sure to drink, drink, drink H20.

9. Watch your form

Most of us have heard about the cheating technique that Arnold himself used to apply in his training routines. Performed with caution and experience, the cheating technique can work wonders and help break plateaus. Remember, however, during all the other lifting techniques form is everything. Picking the right amount of weight and making the mind and muscle connection is crucial.

10. Choose HIIT for cardio

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a form of cardio created to burn more fat and boost metabolic rates higher in a short period of time.

Usually the HIIT workout sessions vary from anywhere between 9 - 20 minutes. The original protocol set a 2:1 ratio from work to recovery periods. For example, 20 seconds intense exercise followed by 10 - second rest period and repeating the cycle.

There has been clinical studies that has shown that the HIIT methods burns up to nine times more fat than the traditional steady state cardio. The bottom line is if you want to burn more fat and not muscle in a short period of time and in addition increase your metabolic rate for the rest of the day, choose HIIT training.

Stay focussed

The road is long and it can be challenging. There are times in which it seems we are getting further from our goals and aspirations. Never let setbacks be an excuse to not keep trying. Never let negative people influence you or direct what you do. Stay focused on what you want to accomplish. Never let go of the passions that inspire you, guide you , and drive you. These passions will lead you to reach your fullest potential. Never forget why you were so inspired in the first place. It makes what you are reaching for worth it.

Things you control

·         Start concentrating on the things you can control.
You can’t change everything, but you can always change something. Wasting your time, talent and emotional energy on things that are beyond your control is a recipe for frustration, misery and stagnation. Invest your energy in the things you can control, and act on them now.

obstacles

·         You can sit there forever, lamenting about how bad you've been, feeling guilty until you die, and not one tiny slice of that guilt will do anything to change a single thing in the past. Forgive yourself, then move on.

create your future

What you are thinking now is creating your future… Because you are always thinking, you are always creating. What you think about the most or focus on the most, is what will appear as your life. Like all the laws of nature, there is utter perfection in this law… Whatever you sow, you reap! Your thoughts are seeds, and the harvest you reap will depend on the seeds you plant.

what you do

·         Today is the opportunity to do what you should have done yesterday. Don't waste it!

Your destiny

·         It's not what's happening to you now or what has happened in your past that determines who you become. Rather, it's your decisions about what to focus on, what things mean to you, and what you're going to do about them that will determine your ultimate destiny.”

·         Anthony Robbins

My weight loss tips

The following some weight loss tips that worked for me.

I will start by recognizing the typical “calories in, calories out” schpeil. Yes, to lose weight you have to eat well and exercise. But there is much more to it than that, and I don’t want to spend time regurgitating ideas you’ve heard before. That brings me to the first point:

Drink 8 glasses of water everyday

The first thing you should do after your feet touch the floor in the morning is head straight for the kitchen and pour yourself at least 12 ounces of fresh, cold water. Water will "cleanse" your body after an overnight fast, helping you feel refreshed and alert. This is a great way to set the tone for a healthy day! And a start like that helps you make the right decisions about what you're going to have for breakfast and whether you'll make it to the gym. It will also give you a better workout, since you'll feel more hydrated. Good hydration also keeps your joints flexible, which may reduce your risk of injury, so you can keep moving. Finally, a big glass of water will start filling you up so you won't overeat at breakfast -- it helps make you a better judge of your own satiety.

Include a source of fat and/or protein at every meal and snack.

For many people, eating just carbs for a meal or snack never gives them a feeling of being satisfied. That's because simple carbs don't have staying power: fat and protein slow down the insulin/glucose response, keeping your blood sugars level, promoting satiety, and helping you stay on track the rest of the day. Try some almond butter or a handful of nuts with your apple, a hard-boiled egg with your raisin bran, or some hummus with your pretzels. And of course, plan your meals and snacks in advance.

Eat negative calorie foods

In order to feel full I eat cucumbers, because it gives fibers and is considered a negative food. Negative calorie foods aren't completely void of calories. Negative calorie foods are foods that use more calories to digest than the foods themselves contain. The body has to work harder to process these foods; therefore, they are natural fat burners. Negative calorie foods are high in water content, which is one reason the caloric intake is low.  (see mervmail  - Negative Calorie Foods 02/01//11)

Write down specific goals. Include times, dates, and other details. 

Change them to keep them fresh, and adjust them as you meet your older goals. For example, "I will fit into my skinny jeans in 60 days" or "By November 30, I will no longer eat in front of the TV" or "I will be up to 12,000 steps a day by January 15."
It's harder to kid ourselves about what it takes to do something specific than what it takes to do something general. For example, if your goal is to be able to run five miles by June 1st, it's very hard to delude yourself into thinking that being up to 2 miles by May 15th will work. But if your goal were less specific - for example, to "run more often," you would have a much easier time convincing yourself you're doing well when you're really not. Being more specific helps you to plan more effectively and better understand how you're doing, both of which are powerful allies in reaching your goals. 

If you go "off" your diet, forgive yourself and move on.

Maybe you indulge in one too many glasses of wine at a dinner party, and this leads to having a big rich dessert... or two... Don't hate yourself in the morning. Drink a big glass of water (see above) to clean your slate, and start over.
One diet slip-up is not going to make a difference in the long run. Of course, daily blunders are no longer occasional... truly infrequent indulgences may actually help prevent burnout and give you some reprieve against a too-strict mindset. If you punish yourself or wallow in self-loathing because you didn't stick to your plan, you risk overall diet failure. We are human. We err. Keep the big picture in mind and try harder next time. In fact, I would recommend to have one “off” day a week!

Make the small changes

This is a pretty common tip: giving up what most diets say you should give up (soda, coffee, beer, caffeine, etc.) just make healthier decisions. I didn’t want to give anything up, so I decided to make small changes instead. The first switch I made was switching to diet soda. Don’t worry, you’ll quickly get used to the flavor. The second switch I made was to giving up diet soda, and switching to ice tea. The last minor switch I made was to become “healthy” and drink only water. Occasionally I will still have a diet coke or ice-tea, so I am able to still enjoy a healthy social life while maintaining my diet.

Schedule your workouts

Finding the time to get to the gym can be very difficult. For me it was the mornings that I was able to go to the gym before my family “interfered” or my busy work schedule. It’s like any other routine, that need to be scheduled as a part of your day. Also, I found working out in the morning there are less changes that other last minute situation interfere from going to the gym.

These are just some personal tips that have helped me in the past.

We must do

“Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.”

 Bruce Lee

Determination

·         "I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time."

·          Charles Dickens

Strive for progression

In all aspects of fitness (working out, nutrition, etc), strive for progression...not perfection. If you consistently do better "today" than you did "yesterday", you just may be surprised at how close to perfection you actually will get!

Goals in small increments

We've all been there. We set a goal, exercise 5 days a week, start a new diet by eliminating 5 different food groups ASAP, drop 10 pounds by next week, and find ourselves quitting 3 days in because it's an unattainable goal. Goals should be set in 5 day increments -- this week I will cut out dairy from my diet, and then after 5 days of no dairy, I will eliminate sugar. Small steps keep us focused, and makes us realize that it is possible to achieve what we want. That and willpower!

Time and health

·         "Time and health are two precious assets that
we don't recognize and appreciate
until they have been depleted."
Denis Waitley: Motivational speaker and author

Calories

Calories do count! Anyone who says otherwise doesn't understand the law of thermodynamics. All calories are not created equally.

Success

“Success means doing the best we can with what we have. Success is the doing, not the getting; in the trying, not the triumph. Success is a personal standard, reaching for the highest that is in us, becoming all that we can be.”

Zig Ziglar

Impossible

No matter how impossible, unattainable, or unimaginable something may seem… if it’s meant to be, it’ll be.

Unknown

Accept responsibility

"There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them."
Denis Waitley

Patience and time

"The two most powerful warriors are patience and time. So remember: great achievements take time, there is no overnight success."

Leo Tolstoy

Lifestyle

"Stop looking for "quick fixes", stop trying extreme fad diets, and stop looking for a miracle pill. This is a lifestyle; it takes time"!

Action

"99 percent of the people neglect to realize that 60 percent of the word "attraction" is ACTION! High achievers take quick and bold action".

Bob Proctor

cardio or strength training first

Cardio or strength training first

When I first started working out, I had this question in my mind – Should I do cardiovascular exercise before or after my resistance training?

Some said I should do it before the weight lifting because it helps to warm up my body. Another school of thought believes that, in order to lift heavier weight, I should conserve the energy and therefore, cardiovascular exercise should only be done after that.

Based on my experience, I believe the best choice would be to do your cardio workouts on a separate day from your resistance training workouts, or split your workouts to morning and afternoon. With this option, you can maximize the training of both types of workouts as you will be fresh for both of them. Any time you do one followed by the other, the second one will suffer at least a little (although you may gradually improve your overall endurance this way). If that’s not possible, then it comes down to a question of priorities and goals–for that day.

If your goal is to build muscle mass and strength, you'd probably want to do your weight training first. Weight training utilizes muscle glycogen as its preferred energy source, so if you perform your cardio training after your resistance training, you will tap into your fat stores more readily. However, to increase strength, you want your body to shift into "repair and rebuild" (anabolic) mode as soon as possible after your strength workout, and the best way to make that happen is to eat (simple carbs and protein) as soon as possible (which is being delayed by the cardio). Therefore, a light cardio workout before lifting could be an option too. Don’t try to do a strenuous strength workout after you’ve already tired yourself out with cardio. Your weight training will suffer, and remember; weight training helps build lean muscle mass, which ultimately increases metabolic rate, which will give your body the ability to burn more calories around the clock!

Hence, if your goal is to gain cardiovascular endurance, you'd want to do your cardio workout first.

Here is an order I’d recommend for muscle hypertrophy (growth).

I’d suggest:

FIRST: A warm-up of some kind the first 5 minutes
SECOND: Strength training
THIRD: Cardio
LAST: Stretching