Beach Body Ready!
Hello everyone I am here today to write a short blog about getting ready for the summer beach body or the spring vacation you are about to go on.
Every year around this time people start to consider getting in shape for the summer or their spring vacation. I am here today to give you some useful tips on how to get started and maintain your plan of getting in shape.
In today's fitness seen there are so many fad diets, ultra muscle building/fat loss workout plans and the worst of them all magical weight loss supplements. I want to help people stay away from all these money wasting gimmicks and put together a simple meal and exercise plan that will help you achieve your goals.
First off are those magic weight loss supplements. So many people are looking for the easy way out, and i hate to break your precious heart but there is no easy way out and it takes consistency, dedication, motivation and hard work. If you really want to get ready for the summer and have the ultimate beach body just stay away from those total (excuse my french) bullshit weight loss pills and drinks. If you want to know what supplements are worth while taking here is the link to my blog post telling you about which supplements you should be taking ( http://benchpressbrad.blogspot.ca/2014/03/best-muscle-building-supplements.html ) This will give you all you need to know about the best supplements to take while working out or for general good health.
Next I wanna talk about these magic 20 minute workout machine, tools or programs that apparently get you shredded in just 4 weeks. I have personally never seen any work nor do I believe any in the future will. If you truly want to have that amazing summer beach body I would start a workout and meal plan right now. A 3 month program will be your best bet at achieving your goals and will give you a solid foundation to continue to grow muscle and lose fat. It will be hard work at first but I promise you wont regret it. I will link my beginner and intermediate workout programs that I personally think will aid anybody who has just started or is currently in the process of working out.
Beginner program ( http://benchpressbrad.blogspot.ca/2014/02/starting-workout-routine.html )
Intermediate program ( http://benchpressbrad.blogspot.ca/2014/02/build-muscle-mass-fast.html )
Now saving the best for last is the diet and eating habits that will need to be changed in order to ensure the best results possible. Some people may not need to change to much about their diet but will definitely need to tweak it to ensure they will support fat loss and muscle growth. Which brings me to the current theme that there is no magical weight loss supplement that will get you ripped up and shredded in just 30 days, sorry to break it to you. The best thing you can do is by wholesome foods that will benefit you in the long run. This means no more pizza 3 times a week and unfortunately no more thirsty Thursdays for a while. Im not saying you can have those types of things but they will be saved for your cheat days or re-feed days if you are a little more serious about your meal plan and understand nutrition. I have just released a blog with my favourite/ best food for building muscle and also have a post about how to figure out how much you need to eat and at which percentages your fats,proteins and carbs should be consumed.
Weight Loss Basics ( http://benchpressbrad.blogspot.ca/2014/02/weight-loss-basics.html )
Muscle Building foods ( http://benchpressbrad.blogspot.ca/2014/03/what-are-best-muscle-building-foods.html )
I hope you all find this useful and that I didn't shatter your dreams too much. Thanks for reading and as always happy lifting!!
Thursday, 27 March 2014
Wednesday, 26 March 2014
What Are The Best Muscle Building Foods?
This week I am here to talk about what are the best muscle building foods? I will be giving you a list and explanations on the foods that I think are best for each of the primary macro-nutrients.
Carbohydrates
First I would like to start out with carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are debated heavily among the bodybuilding community and have a massive stigma about which carbs are good and which are bad.
First I would like to start off with the majority of carbohydrates that you should be eating will be complex carbs that take longer to break down then sugars.
My first favourite source of carbohydrates is Brown/White rice. buying 5 minute rice or bag rice is perfectly fine and is an excellent source of energy for building muscle and working out. I personally prefer brown rice as it has a little bit of a lower starch content. This brings me to my next food which is bread. Yes that's right bread. I personally feel that you can fit bread into your diet, however; whole wheat and rye bread are the best choices. Rye bread is more dense and able to soak up more nutrients and is fairly low in starch. The rye bread I eat is around 35 grams per slice and only 70 calories. This can be used to make sandwiches or toast whichever you desire. My next and most recent favourite carbohydrate to eat is pasta, specifically whole wheat spaghetti with added protein. (I believe its made by the brand smartfoods) Pasta is a complex carb that breaks down slowly and provides you with lots of energy, especially for longer workouts. Last but certainly not least are potatoes/sweet potatoes. Potatoes can be done very quickly if you choose to bake them, just 5 minutes in the microwave and their done. This also delivers a long lasting energy boost best applicable for longer duration workouts.
Protein
Protein is one of the easiest nutrients to get in my opinion and there seems to be a trend in the food industry of adding extra protein to everything. This makes it much easier to hit your goals of your daily protein intake.
My first choice for getting protein would be from whey protein, although this is not directly food it is made from food products and is the purest, and easiest way to get protein into your system. The average whey protein supplement has about 25 grams of protein per serving/scoop and can be supplemented twice a day. For people who cannot afford supplements my next recommendation is egg whites and eggs. You can get egg whites that are flavoured and cholesterol free which are a huge bonus. Eggs and egg whites should be a staple in your diet as they are a low calorie/high protein food. Another staple in your diet should be chicken breast and fish, these are the two meats with the highest protein values and lowest fat content. Fish and chicken can be used at any meal and are great tasting with a variety of different recipes that you can make.
Fats
Fats are a very confusing thing to consume although they are essential to your daily diet. Fats are found in almost anything and can be very bad for you if your not eating the right types or in the right amounts. The two types of fats you want in your diet are monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats. The two types of fats to definitely stay away from are trans fat and saturated fats.
This page has very good information on good and bad fats and explains them very well. I do not own any of the content.This chart can be looked at to help you determine good sources of each. This was found on ( http://www.helpguide.org/life/healthy_diet_fats.htm )
I hope you all find this information useful and readable, I am not a scientist so i try to not get to into the science behind the foods and just relay the essential information that will benefit you and your goals of fat loss, weight gain or just a healthy lifestyle.
Thank you for reading and happy lifting!
Carbohydrates
First I would like to start out with carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are debated heavily among the bodybuilding community and have a massive stigma about which carbs are good and which are bad.
First I would like to start off with the majority of carbohydrates that you should be eating will be complex carbs that take longer to break down then sugars.
My first favourite source of carbohydrates is Brown/White rice. buying 5 minute rice or bag rice is perfectly fine and is an excellent source of energy for building muscle and working out. I personally prefer brown rice as it has a little bit of a lower starch content. This brings me to my next food which is bread. Yes that's right bread. I personally feel that you can fit bread into your diet, however; whole wheat and rye bread are the best choices. Rye bread is more dense and able to soak up more nutrients and is fairly low in starch. The rye bread I eat is around 35 grams per slice and only 70 calories. This can be used to make sandwiches or toast whichever you desire. My next and most recent favourite carbohydrate to eat is pasta, specifically whole wheat spaghetti with added protein. (I believe its made by the brand smartfoods) Pasta is a complex carb that breaks down slowly and provides you with lots of energy, especially for longer workouts. Last but certainly not least are potatoes/sweet potatoes. Potatoes can be done very quickly if you choose to bake them, just 5 minutes in the microwave and their done. This also delivers a long lasting energy boost best applicable for longer duration workouts.
Protein
Protein is one of the easiest nutrients to get in my opinion and there seems to be a trend in the food industry of adding extra protein to everything. This makes it much easier to hit your goals of your daily protein intake.
My first choice for getting protein would be from whey protein, although this is not directly food it is made from food products and is the purest, and easiest way to get protein into your system. The average whey protein supplement has about 25 grams of protein per serving/scoop and can be supplemented twice a day. For people who cannot afford supplements my next recommendation is egg whites and eggs. You can get egg whites that are flavoured and cholesterol free which are a huge bonus. Eggs and egg whites should be a staple in your diet as they are a low calorie/high protein food. Another staple in your diet should be chicken breast and fish, these are the two meats with the highest protein values and lowest fat content. Fish and chicken can be used at any meal and are great tasting with a variety of different recipes that you can make.
Fats
Fats are a very confusing thing to consume although they are essential to your daily diet. Fats are found in almost anything and can be very bad for you if your not eating the right types or in the right amounts. The two types of fats you want in your diet are monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats. The two types of fats to definitely stay away from are trans fat and saturated fats.
This page has very good information on good and bad fats and explains them very well. I do not own any of the content.This chart can be looked at to help you determine good sources of each. This was found on ( http://www.helpguide.org/life/healthy_diet_fats.htm )
I hope you all find this information useful and readable, I am not a scientist so i try to not get to into the science behind the foods and just relay the essential information that will benefit you and your goals of fat loss, weight gain or just a healthy lifestyle.
Thank you for reading and happy lifting!
Wednesday, 12 March 2014
Best Muscle Building Supplements
Best Muscle Building Supplements
This week I will be talking about which supplements are the best one's to take for muscle gain and fat loss. This will be based on my personal experience and that of professionals in the industry .
The first supplement that should be a staple in everyone's workout diet is whey protein. Whey protein is an amazing source of different types of protein complexes that are essential to the development of muscle. Protein is one of the three main macro-nutrients essential to your daily diet. Taking a protein powder is an easy way to make sure you are getting enough protein in your diet to support muscle growth.
The next supplement I would like to talk about is creatine. Creatine is another supplement critical for strength and explosive power when training. Most people do not get enough creatine from food and can really benefit from increasing creatine consumption. Creatine can be purchased for less than $15 at Walmart or GNC. You don't need to purchase $40 pills or powders that have heavy endorsements, its best to get one that is simple and is 1 scoop of 5000mg or 5grams and take it daily at anytime.
Finally the last supplements I wanna talk to you about is fish oils and multi vitamins. I am grouping these together as they are both basically micro-nutrient based. Having fish oils is very good for the functioning of cardiovascular health and delivers your body with a bunch omega-3 fatty acids. Multi-vitamins are a great source of all the essential vitamins and minerals that help keep your body running optimally. There many different types that have different benefits such as ones for athletes, seniors, and other specific categories. For most people a simple generic brand will suffice and give you the main benefits your body requires.
There are many other supplements out there that may help but, they are generally a waste of money especially if you are very tight on cash. Products such as preworkouts, BCAA's, fat burners, and mass gainers. As I said my main three supplements that I take are protein, creatine, fish oils and multi-vitamins.
I hope you enjoyed this weeks content and be sure to stay connected by following us on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Thank you and happy lifting!
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