10. Walk: Find ways to walk more often throughout the day. Examples; when you go to store, park further away from the store so you can walk longer. Instead of taking the elevator, walk up or down the stairs. Take breaks during work to walk around the office hallway or you can just stretch by your desk. Take brisk walks after dinner with your family, friends, or dogs.
9. Green Tea: Drinking 1 cup a day can burn extra 30 calories. Try to drink 2-3 cups a day.
8. Water: Instead of drinking sodas, juice, or beer, try drinking water instead. You'll save yourself the extra 30-40 grams of sugar. Try to drink at least 1 gallon of water a day.
7. Sports: Try to fit more sport activities into your week. Golfing, tag football with friends, aerobic classes at the gym, yoga classes, martial arts, swimming, or anything active you enjoy doing.
6. Proteins: When you're working out, your body is going to need more protein in order to repair and build stronger muscles. Your best protein source can come from fish, lean red meat, chicken, eggs, beans, tofu, fat-free milk, low-fat cheese, turkey, nuts, natural peanut butter, and whey protein powder or bars. I know there's more but these are the ones I think are the best protein source. Physically active females should aim for .5-.8g of protein per body weight. Physically active males should try to get 1g of protein per body weight.
5. Fruits and Veggies: I consider fruits and vegetables free carbs, which ones I can eat these all I want throughout the day and not have to worry about counting carbs or calories. Not only do I enjoy eating them but they are good for you with full of vitamins and minerals. They also help your cravings and make you feel fuller so you don't binge on other things you shouldn't be eating. Aim for 5-8 servings a day. And remember to cut out all your carbs 6 hrs before your bedtime.
4. Planning: This is just as important if you want to reach your goals of having a nice abs. You have to plan everything ahead of time to keep you on your schedule. It is best to plan all your meals and your workouts ahead of time. I always know exactly what I'm going to eating tomorrow and I always cook all my meals the day before so I will have all my meals ready to go in the morning. This helps me not miss a meal and keeps me on track.
3. Portion Control: The best method that worked for me without having to measure all my food is using my fist to measure my food portion. Whenever I'm not too sure I just imagine it the same size as my fist. You can use the fist method for your protein and carbs. I dont measure my fruits or vegetables. Also make sure you eat every 3-4 hrs. If you are hungry before 3 hrs, it means you're not eating enough and if you don't get hungry after 3-4 hrs, it means your enough too much.
2. Cardio: This will always help burn extra calories and also good for your cardiovascular system. 2-3 times a week for 20 minutes at no more than 70% intensity is all you need if your a beginner or 4-5 times a week for no more than 30-45 minutes if you think you're advance. But no more than 5 days a week of cardio. And remember always check with your doctor before participating in any physical activities if you are a smoker, take any kind of medications, or over the age of 45.
1. Weight Training: I believe this is the most important thing you can do to burn calories and to get your abs. Why? Because weight training burns more calories than anything you can do. Not only will you have bigger and stronger muscles but the more muscles your body have the more calories it can burn. That means you can burn calories all day long while you're watching t.v., driving to work, and even sleeping!
I recommend training 2-3 times a week if your a beginner( having less than 1 year of consistent experience in weight training). No more than 20-30 minutes a session. Intermediate( over 1 year of consistent experience in weight training), 3-4 times a week for 30-45 mins a week. Advance( over 3 yrs of consistent experience in weight training), 4-5 times a week for 1 hour -1 and half hrs. Train abs 2-3 times a week every other day. Training recommendations and training split coming soon!
So here is my top 10 things that will get you a wash board abs. It might sound like a lot of work but if you make it into a habit and your lifestyle, I guarantee you'll ove the new you!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
My Top 5 Gym Etiquettes
5. Not putting your weights back: I don't know how many times I had to help some old ladies take the weights off the rack or machine cause some A-hole thinks he's a real man that he leaves all the plates on the machine or rack for others to remove.
4. Hogging up the machine or bench: You don't need to sit on that particular exercise machine or bench doing thousands of sets or for you to sit there and talk on your cell phone all day. Do what you got to do and move on so others can use it too!
3. Dressing inappropriately: Ok, this I thought wouldn't bother me so much cause usually I have my ipod on and don't pay any attention to what's going on cause I'm so focused, but lately I see so many men and ladies wearing things they just shouldn't wear. I see men wearing tight spandex shorts with their guts hanging over and legs so hairy you think they're wearing fur pants. And ladies be wearing these tiny tube tops where you could see all the rolls on their guts and with matching spandex pants so tight you could see the stretch marks on them. We don't need to see those ppl! I know most of you think we should be able to wear what we want but in the gym it's hard to avoid them in a small place where you have to be for at least an hour and it's so distracting!
2. Bad Odor: Don't you just hate it when your on the cardio machine, just sweating away, feeling good, and then all of sudden your nose starts to burn? You then look next to you and it's the Swamp Thing jogging with body odor so bad that makes you want to throw up and pass out! Deodorant is your friend!!!
1. Not cleaning after yourself!: How hard is it for some of you to clean up your own sweat after you use an equipment? Touching someone's sweat or lying on someone else's sweat puddle is not my idea of a pleasant workout. In fact, it could put a damper on the rest of your workout. Please clean after yourself regardless if you sweat a lot or none at all. Don't be lazy, this is not your home, your mommys not always gonna be with you. That is why I always carry a towel with me at the gym.
I'm sure some of you have done one or more of the things on the list. It's ok, we all make mistakes or not aware of the things that we do. As long as we realize it and start changing our ways.
4. Hogging up the machine or bench: You don't need to sit on that particular exercise machine or bench doing thousands of sets or for you to sit there and talk on your cell phone all day. Do what you got to do and move on so others can use it too!
3. Dressing inappropriately: Ok, this I thought wouldn't bother me so much cause usually I have my ipod on and don't pay any attention to what's going on cause I'm so focused, but lately I see so many men and ladies wearing things they just shouldn't wear. I see men wearing tight spandex shorts with their guts hanging over and legs so hairy you think they're wearing fur pants. And ladies be wearing these tiny tube tops where you could see all the rolls on their guts and with matching spandex pants so tight you could see the stretch marks on them. We don't need to see those ppl! I know most of you think we should be able to wear what we want but in the gym it's hard to avoid them in a small place where you have to be for at least an hour and it's so distracting!
2. Bad Odor: Don't you just hate it when your on the cardio machine, just sweating away, feeling good, and then all of sudden your nose starts to burn? You then look next to you and it's the Swamp Thing jogging with body odor so bad that makes you want to throw up and pass out! Deodorant is your friend!!!
1. Not cleaning after yourself!: How hard is it for some of you to clean up your own sweat after you use an equipment? Touching someone's sweat or lying on someone else's sweat puddle is not my idea of a pleasant workout. In fact, it could put a damper on the rest of your workout. Please clean after yourself regardless if you sweat a lot or none at all. Don't be lazy, this is not your home, your mommys not always gonna be with you. That is why I always carry a towel with me at the gym.
I'm sure some of you have done one or more of the things on the list. It's ok, we all make mistakes or not aware of the things that we do. As long as we realize it and start changing our ways.
Top 5 Biggest Gym Mistakes
5. Talking too much: You're in the gym to train and get results, not to socialize. Even though people will say the gym is a great place to meet people you have to make a choice of what's more important to you, meeting new ppl or reaching your fitness goals?
4. Not warming up: Think of your body like your car in a cold winter morning. When you first start your car it'll be a little slower to start the engine and then you have to let the engine warm up for few minutes. If you try to start the car without warming up and drive off, it won't perform its best and it wont be good for your engine in the long run. Well you need to treat your body the same. Just like a car, if you don't take care of it, it won't take care of you. Always warm up by doing light cardio for 5-10 minutes at 50-70% intensity. Also stretch the body part you're about to train for 5-10 minutes. Static stretching is the best method, no bouncing movements.
3. Overtraining: You shouldn't be training for more than 1 hour to 1 hour and half tops. Train hard and get out! Training any longer than that will do more harm than good. Remember, it's not how long you train, its HOW you train that counts!
2. Lifting too heavy: When you enter a gym you need to leave your ego at the door cause thats what it takes for you to have a great and safe workout. You don't need to try to lift the whole gym or grunt and moan like you're having a baby. Lift smart and lift what you can with strict form, not only will this get you faster results but your joints will thank you.
1. Incorrect form: I can go to any gym, look around for 10 seconds, and notice most of the people are training with bad form. It's better not to do the exercise than to do it incorrectly. If you're not sure how to use a certain exercise machine or perform a certain exercise, you can always find a personal trainer willing to help or someone who knows what they are doing. Improper form can also lead to injuries, bad training habits, and no results!
4. Not warming up: Think of your body like your car in a cold winter morning. When you first start your car it'll be a little slower to start the engine and then you have to let the engine warm up for few minutes. If you try to start the car without warming up and drive off, it won't perform its best and it wont be good for your engine in the long run. Well you need to treat your body the same. Just like a car, if you don't take care of it, it won't take care of you. Always warm up by doing light cardio for 5-10 minutes at 50-70% intensity. Also stretch the body part you're about to train for 5-10 minutes. Static stretching is the best method, no bouncing movements.
3. Overtraining: You shouldn't be training for more than 1 hour to 1 hour and half tops. Train hard and get out! Training any longer than that will do more harm than good. Remember, it's not how long you train, its HOW you train that counts!
2. Lifting too heavy: When you enter a gym you need to leave your ego at the door cause thats what it takes for you to have a great and safe workout. You don't need to try to lift the whole gym or grunt and moan like you're having a baby. Lift smart and lift what you can with strict form, not only will this get you faster results but your joints will thank you.
1. Incorrect form: I can go to any gym, look around for 10 seconds, and notice most of the people are training with bad form. It's better not to do the exercise than to do it incorrectly. If you're not sure how to use a certain exercise machine or perform a certain exercise, you can always find a personal trainer willing to help or someone who knows what they are doing. Improper form can also lead to injuries, bad training habits, and no results!
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