How doing your own house work may be good for your fitness

12:24 Fitness 2021 0 Comments

I was mowing the lawn the other day, and I realised how much of a workout it was. I have a big yard with lots of grass and trees, so it usually takes me about 3 hours to finish mowing the lawn without assistance. By the end of those 3 hours I am tired and I can feel it in my legs and I am usually sweating like a pig by that time ( you should note that I do not usually sweat even on hot days).

You see doing your own house work if you have the time has two advantages, the first being that it provides a good workout whether its cardio or providing muscular tension, and two being that you save the money you would have paid someone else to do it for you.

how does doing your own house work provide exercise

• Mowing you own lawn if you don't have that quad-bike type lawn-mower is very good for your whole body fitness but especially good for your legs, because you are constantly moving and pushing around a heavy object which provides a workout. If your yard is on an incline there is even more force for you to apply to the lawn mower because gravity is against you. I usually go forwards and I walk backwards and pull the lawnmower (instead of turning to change direction) when I'm cutting grass, which provides a great calf workout
• Doing other garden work, like digging, removing stones or rocks can be a great  workout as using certain garden tools requires you to use a force to get the work done, so your heart rate increases which is good and muscles you normally do not use are activated.
• Doing non-physical garden work has a relaxing effect, and that is good for your health too because mental health is as important as physical health. 

What is inspiring about fitness personalities

16:11 Fitness 2021 2 Comments

Do you notice that all people in fitness especially in tv ads, wear muscle shirts and wife beaters and shorts or tracksuit pants...I mean the skinny ones, the old guys who are losing muscle mass, and obviously the ones who should be wearing muscle shirts in their prime with ripped and shredded physiques.

 I mean I do not get it, you get some people in the fitness industry who are well known but do not look the part. Then you get people with awesome godly bodies that most women would love to get a piece of and most men would kill to get, but these guys are not as successful as their skinny, muscle-less counterparts. They both dress the same, the guy with a killer body would put the other guy to shame just by standing next to him, but still the skinny or old guy who used to to be in top shape is the one in the tv ads with the guy in top shape in the background as a model.

Maybe its that the skinny aerobics fitness guy is a hit when it comes to training ladies and the older people who would rather buy devices that promise a shortcut to great abs and a lean body, or is it that the skinny guys don't seem to have the douche bag effect that many of their jacked up counterparts have. They may have an awesome inspirational personality, I do not know and frankly I do not understand.

I was inspired by jacked up Arnold like characters when I was a kid, Van Damme, Rambo and super heroes are some of the other people I used to want to be like. All those people have/had muscle and definition and I know that the look is the first thing that inspires me the most, its all about the visuals.  The look is the most important thing to young guys, most of us don't worry about doing marathons or triathlons, but maybe the type of fitness inspiration differs with age and sex. I mean who is most likely to use some vibrating belt that promises to get you abs, younger people would at least try working out first to try proven methods to get abs for free than buy a belt they are not even sure works. I guess it all depends on the target market which fitness people are more suitable to which people.

Women in fitness

01:24 Fitness 2021 2 Comments

image by photostock

Well there are 3 kinds of women in fitness:

- Those that look good and compete in those bikini competitions and work as fitness models (all girls want to have a great body like that except maybe the ones with eating disorders and want to be skeletons)

- The ones who are in it as athletes to improve in sport and to help others reach their fitness goals, who push their bodies to their performance peaks.

- And finally the ones who are in it to look like monsters on steroids, see I don't know how one who is feminine could ever want to look that scary and repulsive, especially if they are planning to attract the opposite sex ( I could tell you know that most guys don't want a girl who looks like Ronnie Coleman or Arnold)
Sure some of the women in fitness maybe a combination of points 1 and 2, and that is awesome, but when females lift weights there is a point when it stops being hot and it simply becomes nasty, the same effect some girls feel when us guys get too big and veins start popping out. I am beginning to wonder if those females who have crossed that line between hot and disgusting notice that... how do you not notice when you start looking like a man?

And another thing I have noticed with most girls in fitness, a lot of them have fake breasts which may be because of excessive working out of the female chest, which does lead to the shrinking of boobs into more hardened male bodybuilder like chest. I am not for or against breast augmentation but another contributing factor may be that the number of people having cosmetic surgery in general has increased and it is normal to have boob jobs or nose jobs or what ever else that's been popularised by Hollywood.

As much as fit women are hot and are in the dreams of many males, it is important to know that there is a fine line between fit and sexy and fit and too jacked. Ladies going into fitness do so with caution, being fit has many rewards but do not cross that hot line.

8 pack abs...getting there...

12:57 Fitness 2021 0 Comments

8 pack abs workout

8 pack abs under there

I have added a day of sit-ups only to my previous 8 pack abs program I have been doing. Inspired by an article in Muscle and Fitness december issue that was talking about Herschel Walker, the 49 year old mma fighter who does between 2500-3500 situps a day. I must say the old man is in top shape and has a strong thick core.



I have been doing 300 situps 1 day in the week, mostly on weekends and I think it will produce some good results as it has in the past for me. The situps which I do in 1 set of 300 reps coupled with the lower ab exercises have produced some results for me,such as thickened abs and a more pronounced split even if its only visible in the upper abs for now.

8 pack abs coming along

Confidence builder or douchebag creator

17:13 Fitness 2021 0 Comments

GYM = a confidence boost

There is a lot of good that comes with working out: a positive self image, a great body, a healthy body and that can often lead to you attracting more people of the opposite sex. Everyone wants to be seen as attractive by the opposite sex no matter how much they lie to themselves by saying they don't care. The truth is we are not created equal, some people are more good-looking than others, what does this mean? This means that we as men should groom ourselves, look good, smell good and ultimately feel good so that we have the confidence to walk up to any woman/girl we find attractive and try to be as charming as possible. Grooming and working out does not gaurantee that you get the girl you want but it increases your chances of success because you are more confident. Which leads me to my next topic...

Does gym = douchebag effect?

You have always seen the buff bully in films, the guy who plays football in highschool or wrestles, the guy feared and envied by other guys and loved by females. Sometimes I think that guys gym just to become the alpha male , the Johnny bravo, the ultimate douchebag. Then I think to myself,"why not," I mean who would not like all the female attention and for guys to want to be like him. Girls do tend to like bad guys especially when they are still young. Many guys I know never started gym for health reasons it was because some girl said they need to add more muscle or their too skinny or fat. I never started gym for health reasons either it was related to girls as well and wanting to look of age, but as I began gaining more mass my reasons have changed. I will say that I am more confident than ever before, some say to the extent of being over-confident, but what is that? I believe as long as im genuine and the stuff I say is true then its not being cocky or over-confident. Does gym create douches-bags? YES, but only those who want to become douchesbags become them and it also depends on your inspiration. Gyming because you were bullied only to become the bully is not a good change. 

Setting realistic fitness goals

18:59 Fitness 2021 0 Comments

We see a picture of a fit and lean celeb on television and are inspired to atleast consider getting a gym membership, most of us never do but the ones that do get gym meberships think that there is a quick fix. At first you never really know what you are aiming for or what you are aiming for is impossible to achieve in the amount of time you give yourself. I mean lets be realistic here, you are never going to gain 30lbs of lean muscle in 6 weeks, and you are not going to get killer abs in 2 weeks of working out. These things take time so its important to have patience and discipline to stick to your diet and your routine and be consistant. I have had many gym partners this past year, and all of them were initially very excited to go to the gym and workout but soon they lost that excitement and going to gym became a chore. Its similar to people who makes new years resolutions to get in shape but only workout for the first few days of the year.

The truth is you have to make a serious commitment to working out, it has to be a weekly feature in your calender just like a public holiday, but this time thats spread out to a few days a week and you must dedicate a few hours of your time to it. You must not expect to grow muscle or burn fat over-night. Fitness and having a great body is not something for the lazy, you have to work your butt off! There are no shortcuts or some magic 2 week plan, this is real life!

If you want to gain muscle try having a diet that supports weight gain, this means increasing your calories. Workout hard to push your muscles to the limit to allow proper muscle stimulation to enable muscle breakdown and growth, have enough rest. Set little targets for yourself like " okay, I want to gain 1lbs this week." Set fitness goals for yourself like, "Im going to add more weight every week as I get stronger," maybe adding an extra 5-10lbs to your initial bench press as you get stronger weekly. The important thing is not lying to yourself and setting targets you can actually achieve, don't expect to look like Brad  Pitt, Greg Plitt or the 300 guys after a month of working out.

If you are not seeing results, dont let that discourage you, my gym partners were dropping me like flies and I often had to beg them to join me but eventually I had to leave them and go by myself because they were slowing me down. I eventually started seeing results and I did not let people who would often say that I had been gyming for months and I was still the same stop me from following my routine. I knew that if I did proper research and found a plan that worked for me, I would see results. You have to want it enough, you have the power and the full control to change what ever aspect in your life you want to improve, just don't expect it to come easy over-night.

Workout For Back

19:06 Fitness 2021 0 Comments

Back workout

workout for defined back

Whether you want a well defined back or a thick mighty wide back, the following back exercises will do the job if done correctly with strict form. If you want that V shape with the appearance of a small waist it is important to build a strong wide back.

• Pull ups or chin ups - 3-4 sets of 20-25reps
• Pulldowns to front -  4sets 0f 12/10/8/8reps with increasing weight for development of upper lats.
• Seated cable rows - 4 sets of increasing weights...start of with high reps.
• Bent over barbell row- 4 sets of 12/10/8/6 with heavy weights going up in weights. To help with building size.
•   One arm dumbbell row - 4 sets starting with a lot of reps and increasing weight.
• Good morning - 4 sets not to heavy to avoid injury using same weight for all 4  sets, go for high reps to build a strong lower back, hams and glutes.
• Deadlift - excellent whole body workout, go heavy. Also do 3-4 sets going up in weight and decreasing reps. excellent mass builder.

Back workout/mirror pic

5 ways to make sure you make good muscle and strength gains

15:41 Fitness 2021 1 Comments

Ø  PLAY AROUND WITH REP RANGES

- Have a variation of rep ranges to keep your muscles guessing. Don’t just do 8-12reps even though that rep range shows great results in muscle gain, use 6 reps to build strength with heavier weights and it will help build muscle in the long run. Do 15-20 reps till failure for muscle fatigue. Mixing your rep ranges with generate more growth than just sticking to the same range. 

Ø PROPER DIET

– a diet with the right combination of protein, carbs and healthy fats such as omega 3 fats will go a long way if you want to see all your hard gym work converted into solid muscle gain.

Ø MIND MUSCLE CONNECTION

– I have read this many times from several sources and from a video series with Kai Green on www.bodybuilding.com . It’s important to imagine the body you want to have and to imagine the muscle you are targeting growing as you work it out. This is a kind of positive thinking that often leads to positive results if you believe a change is occurring whilst you are applying the required force, it catalyses the muscle growth.

Ø DRINKING ENOUGH WATER

– A normal person needs 2 litres of water a day but if you workout you need more, I have often drank up to 3 litres of water during an intense workout and I still had to drink the usual extra 2 litres because I was thirsty and I was listening to my body. You need to drink lots of water to make up for the fluid you lose through sweating. You need water to increase the volume of your blood so that nutrients are better circulated to all the areas in your body to help growth and recovery.

Ø GETTING ENOUGH SLEEP

– We have all heard people saying get at least 8 hours of sleep per day for proper brain function, well this is even more true and necessary for muscle gain. If you don’t get proper deep sleep then your whole hormone cycle is disturbed leading to decreased muscle growth, lack of energy and decreased strength.

Get big arms - part 1

21:36 Fitness 2021 0 Comments

Getting bigger arms - Biceps workout

Building arm size is one of the first things every guy wants to do when they hit the gym. Nice thick arms make you look macho and one can never be truly aesthetic with stick arms. Today I will only write about the bicep exercises which have helped me.

LEANING OUT/arms getting bigger

• Dumbbell curls - 3sets of 12reps
• Dumbbell hammer curls - 3sets of 12reps preferably heavier than normal curls.
• Barbell curls - 3sets of 10reps
• preacher curls using the EZ bar 3sets of 10reps
• concentration curls- 3sets of 10 reps

get big arms

In no time you start to see your arms gain size, as you grow you increase the weight. Oh and one final thing, to build bicep one of the best exercises to do is the pull up and weighted pull up, it is not meant as an arm workout but your arms get worked out and anyways how often do you get to curl a weight as heavy as your own body?

20 minute 5 day workout plan to improve your fitness level

13:15 Fitness 2021 0 Comments

Quick Home Workout for men and women

If you are currently inactive and think it is too hard to get in great shape, or if you are so busy you don’t find time to go to the gym...there is a solution for you to get into shape. It is a really simple 1 exercise per day routine, and these are simple classic weightless exercises.

so...so hungry! Pain of gyming!

20:11 Fitness 2021 0 Comments

I don't know what it is about creatine monohydrate or X4 ethyl esther, they have some strange effects on me. When I am still on the creatine I don't feel tired, I drink lots of water and I never feel hungry. Everything feels normal, no...better than normal because I feel okay even after a good gym session. The strange hunger effects begin when I stop taking the creatine, I become even more thirsty I guess thats because there is no more excess creatine in the body to help water absorption into the muscles. I also start leaning out, I mean every muscle I have been working out begins feeling tight and my stomach is always flat without tensing my abdormen even after I eat. I start feeling the gym pains again when I am working out (I actually like those) but the worst thing is I am always hungry as if my insides will start eating me up. I am hungry even right after I eat yet, I stay lean even though I eat all the time especially during the holidays when there is nothing to keep me busy.

Fit vs super ripped and shredded!

20:37 Fitness 2021 0 Comments

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO LOOK LIKE A FITNESS MODEL...

Well the answer most commonly given is diet. Nutrition is the most important element in ones health and total fitness level, its the difference between the average gym goer and the fitness model every average person is mesmerised by. Proper nutrition is not an easy thing to get used to...we have to first get rid of all our bad eating habits and develop good eating habits which is not easy as I said before because firstly, Junk food tastes good and we usually buy junk food whereas healthy clean food is often not so tasty and is relatively expensive. It must surely take alot of discipline to stick to a clean diet and I can only imagine how much discipline one needs to stay on a clean diet all year round.



WHAT TO EAT FOR MUSCLE GAIN...

We all know that proteins are the building blocks of cells, whether its the making of new cells or the replacement of damaged ones. Muscles are cells mostly made up of protein. Muscle building deals with both the building and breaking down of muscle so it becomes obvious that one needs a sufficient amount of protein in order to maintain, build and repair damaged muscles. The question now becomes how much protein does one need to build muscle? Well I cannot be too sure since I am no expert but different sources suggest between 1g - 2g of protein per pound of body weight. That means between 200g-400g of protein for a person weighing 200lbs. It is usually suggested that one cannot eat more than 30g of protein in one sitting because the body will not be able to absorb it, so the best thing to do is to have many small meals distributed throughout the day to get the best out of your protein. I personally do not weigh my meals or measure how much protein I take in but I will admit that my daily diet is primarily chicken, beef and once a week I eat fish. I also eat a lot of peanut butter and walnuts. And I have 3 main meals but then I have about 3 snack meals in between the major meals because I am always hungry. If I were to decrease my food intake I would lose weight because I have a fast metabolism, I guess the fast metabolism helps because I also eat a lot of junk food but I realise that if I want to take my physique to the next level I will have to clean up my diet.

8 week workout for chest

03:09 Fitness 2021 0 Comments

Chest Workout For Men

workout for chest

I first do 3 sets of 20 reps of incline, decline and normal pushups to get the chest heated up, then I do the flat bench press, the incline bench press and flat dumbbell press. then the next week instead of the incline bench I do decline bench and instead of dumbbell press I do dumbbell flies. You do not need to go very heavy to get results. I usually start light 12 reps the first set, decreasing the reps as I go heavier. I personally don't do less than 8 reps. The most important thing is form so that you really target the muscles you are intending to workout and to avoid injuries. For the weightless workout go here .

squeezin pecs