Fuel the Fire: 4 Nutrition Tips for Getting Ripped

 

With continuous research on ways of getting ripped without using an illegal substance, science has come up with suggestions on the ways that you can safely achieve a hard, ripped physique in a fast and effective style. Here are four tips for getting ripped.

 

Eliminate Junk Food

Junk food may include the soda, chips and cookies that we indulge in on a regular basis and which most of us do not want to get rid of. Weight lifters should really avoid these types of foods because the only good thing they do is add a huge amount to your caloric intake. Avoiding such eating will help you immensely in reducing the amount of empty calories you consume.

 

Tone Down Your Alcohol Intake

Libations and beers every so often may not hurt, but imbibing regularly will definitely prevent you from burning extra fat. This is because your body will burn the alcohol first and this becomes the primary energy substrate. This means that the food you eat will be treated as merely surplus calories, which are stored in fat cells. The best advice here: Do not eat a lot when you indulge in drinking.

 

Cycle Carbs

The most important times when you need carbs are after training and before training so that you have the energy to exercise and the ability to replace the energy you lose after training. It is also important to have carbs so that you can add muscle, which means you need extra calories floating around your bloodstream, but you don’t need to get too much of it from carbs. This is all the more reason you need to cycle carbs. Eat carbs 3-4 days a week. Adding protein for muscle building is essential so that it is easily available at the times when the muscles need it.

 

Supplement Your Diet

After you have eaten a meal, you should supplement your diet and workout with something else. This does not mean you should talk to the random guy in the gym. You can try a store such as SDI Labs to find a number of muscle gain products. Read through the descriptions to find out what your body requires depending on the level you are at in your workout. You can also seek advice from the staff so that you get the right product.

 

You should be able to see noticeable changes in your body if you are consistent. Sticking to your workout coupled with a dietary spreadsheet will lead you to the ideal physique. It is however important to not starve yourself, but instead make sure you get all the important foods at the right times. This will save you from getting burnt out, which is something everyone should avoid.

 

Categories: cycle carbs, get ripped, Muscle Gain, no junk food, Supplements, Weight Lifting

Build Bigger Biceps With These Tips And Techniques

According to some researchers and fitness experts, it really is as easy as lifting heavy weights to build bulging biceps that put your gym buddies to shame. But there does seem to be a bit more to it than that – a little scientific edge and a lot of determination could put you in the realms of physical definition you could have only dreamt of before. Biceps are one of the leading body parts that men want to improve, but curling a weight aimlessly isn’t going to cut it. By combining these five strategies into your normal routine, you’ll notice that the muscle size and quality you gain is second to none.

Take a look at your grip width

The grip-width you use on barbell curls could actually affect your bicep growth, because using a standard, shoulder-width grip uses both the long head and short head of the biceps fairly evenly. However, the wider you go from there, the more the inner part of the bicep is emphasised. So be sure to include some wider than shoulder-width grip curls as well as your standard shoulder-width curls. This will help you to bring up the size of your biceps head, which will create large biceps overall.

Take a seat

You probably already know the benefits of partial movements by now, but did you know that this can be applied to your biceps as well? When you do a full range of motion  (ROM) curl, you’re limited to a weight that you can perform through the weakest portion of the ROM – if you’re using proper form, that is. Doing a seated barbell curl helps you to focus on the stress you place on the bicep, so you can place a greater overload on the muscle, since you are strongest in the top half during ROM. Most guys can curl around 20 to 30 per cent more weight on a seated barbell curl than standard curls.

Be sure to stretch

Seated incline dumbbell curls are one of the only ways to stretch the long head of the biceps. When you sit on an incline, your arms move behind your torso. This means that it stretches the long head so that you can contract with more force. Therefore, when you perform incline curls, greater emphasis is placed on this area. You want to achieve this because it gives your arm a better shape when viewed from the side, and it forms the biceps peak that pops when you flex. Make time for regular stretching to create a nicer shape the muscle you build.

Start using resistance bands

They may seem like the kind of equipment better suited to a Pilates studio, but bands provide a unique type of resistance known as linear variable resistance, which means the resistance changes as the range of motion increases. For example, in a bicep curl, in the bottom position there is little tension from the bands. But as you curl up, the band is stretched, and the higher you curl the more this is resisted by the band. This can help to increase the muscle power in your biceps and muscle strength beyond that which is possible with just free weights such as dumbbells and barbells.Better yet, you can use them anywhere so you don’t have to give up on your training just because you’re not at the gym. They make muscle building easier and equally as effective from any location you choose, without the heavy load.

Categories: barbell curl, Biceps, curl, exercise, grip width, long head, Muscle Gain, seated barbell, shoulder width, standard shoulder, width grip

Are Your Scales Lying to You? Measure Your Progress Better

As soon as you begin to watch your weight loss wellness, your eyes become transfixed by the number on the scales. However, while the scales technically show you how much weight you’re losing, they’re not actually the most effective tool for monitoring your progress. In fact, the scales can actually be detrimental to your wellbeing as well as your progress, making  you think you’re no closer to getting the body you want when, in actual fact, you’re doing great!

 

According to fitness author and natural bodybuilding champion Cécile Bayeul, ‘When we start a diet, we see immediate improvements on the scale just by changing our food habits. Every beginning of a diet and training programme is very motivating. We are so happy to see the pounds going down that we don’t really try to understand the why behind it…However, weight training (yes, you should be weight training if you are looking to lose fat) will also make you gain muscle. In addition, because a large part of your initial weight loss comes from losing excess water weight and glycogen (excess carbohydrates), eventually you will start to lose only 1-2 lbs a week, and at times the scale might even stay the same. And this is when we start losing our motivation.’

 

Once you see the number on the scale stop moving, you can think your diet isn’t working anymore and logically ask yourself; “What’s the point?” This thought process is what makes dieters give up the battle for a better body, start eating bad foods again and eventually gain twice the amount of weight.‘When you reach a plateau, stop using the scale,’ Bayeul urges. ‘The scale is a very good motivator at first, but it becomes a big psychological obstacle after the weeks go by. What I want you to do instead is to use progress pictures. Start from the first day of your diet. Take these progress pictures every two or three weeks with the same position and the same clothes. If you want to, you can also take some measurements with a tape measure and write them down on your progress pictures. Measure your hips and your waist at the very minimum. You can also add to that some thigh measurements and some arm measurements as well.’ That way, you have an accurate picture of how your body is changing.

 

The key thing to remember is that weight loss and fat loss are not the same thing. When people say they are “big-boned,” they’re not (always) in denial about their size; they really do just have larger bone mass which equates to a higher number on the scale. Likewise, when you’re gaining muscle through your fitness regime, you’re losing fat and looking great but the scale can distort that perception of yourself, and discourage your efforts. Olympic cyclist Victoria Pendleton lost five kilos whilst doing Strictly Come Dancing, but that was all muscle loss (she had hardly any fat on her to begin with, let alone five kilos worth!) There’s no reason for women to fear building their muscles. In fact, you should embrace it for the following reasons:

 

1. Gender differences: ‘Women don’t produce the amount of testosterone that guys do,’ Bayeul asserts. ‘Because of this you will not get manly looking muscles. Thus, do not be afraid of lifting those weights.’

 

2. Faster weight loss: Bayeul points out, ‘Every pound of muscle burns up to an additional 50 calories. So ten pounds of extra muscle not only will give you some killer curves, but the ability to burn up to an additional 500 calories a day!’

 

3. Curves to die for: ‘Building muscle is the key to not only permanent weight loss, but also to the fit curves you are looking for,’ Bayeul assures.

Categories: loss, Muscle Gain, nbsp, Progress, progress pictures, scale, Scales, weight, Weight Loss, Weight Training

3 Simple Supplements to Maximise Your Exercise

A lot of people want to use supplements in their diet to help with their wellness as well as their workout, but there are so many out there that it’s difficult to choose which is best for you, so here are the three most needed, and simple supplements that can help you achieve your diet, exercise and wellbeing goals.

 

            Firstly, adding a multivitamin to your diet, either fat soluble or water soluble, is a great way to start as you need vitamins and minerals for proper health and growth, but many people are busy with day to day life and so they lack the vitamins they need to succeed.

 

Next, try Creatine. This is the most known supplement out there and is very well researched. If you’re doing resistance training, you should really consider adding a creatine supplement to your diet. Creatine comes from amino acids and naturally occurs as much in the body already as testosterone does. Creatine supplements are intended to give you the added amount needed for your body to store, but be aware that you body cannot be saturated any more once it has reached the ‘loading’ potential of creatine.

 

Finally, protein powder and amino acids (BCAA) is the third simple supplement on this list. Most weight trainers add a protein supplement to their regimen, as it often conveniently comes in the form of a shake and us one of the best muscle building supplements to take. 16% of your body’s lean tissue is accounted for by protein, the building blocks of which are amino acids. More often than not, you can get the levels of protein you need from your daily diet, but if you are weight training and want to build muscle, the amount of protein you get from food will not be enough to sustain steady muscle growth and you’ll need a supplement.

 

Adding a course of amino acids to your diet and training routine is also recommended. Branch Chain Amino Acids, or BCAAs, are made up of leucine, isoleucine and valine. BCAA is similar to protein in that most resistance trainers find it essential, it’s very convenient and is easy to find and purchase. Remember, it isn’t a requirement that you take supplements in conjunction with your work outs, but many people do so in order to achieve their weight training goals.

3 Simple Supplements to Maximise Your Exercise

Categories: Advice, Muscle Gain, Supplements