http://blogs.fitconnect.com FitConnect.com -- It's OK To Brag! Copyright 2007-2008 FitConnect LLC Mitch on 7/22/2008 (2 comments)

While outdoor cookouts are a great opportunity to relax and visit with friends and family did you know that the average barbecue meal exceeds 1500 calories? That's almost an entire day's worth of calories in one meal.

That can really added unwanted inches to your waist line over the course of the summer.

The good news is that barbecue season doesn't have to be fattening. In fact, with a few small changes to your barbecue menu you can turn summer into the perfect opportu...]]> Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:10:51 GMT Mitch on 6/4/2008 (2 comments)

Here's a list of 45 Natural Highs that I found. They can be great for helping your mental health. If you are not experiencing these highs, go out and start living life. Live healthy.

1. Falling in love.
2. Laughing so hard your face hurts.
3. A hot shower.
4. No lines at the supermarket.
5. A special glance.
6. Getting mail.
7. Taking a drive on a pretty road.
8. Hearing your favorite song on the radio.
9. Lying in bed listening to the...]]> Wed, 04 Jun 2008 03:04:56 GMT Mitch on 5/15/2008 (4 comments)

I dodged a cold or flu this season, but, yes, I know that summer colds happen too; still the odds are against it now. How did I manage to do it?

Though not 100 percent perfect, pneumonia and flu shots offer pretty good protection. I recommend them. Colds are a different matter, and there are all kinds of myths about them. Even today, many people think you get a cold by being cold. You don’t.

You catch colds from rhinoviruses entering your body through your eyes or nose....]]> Thu, 15 May 2008 20:54:07 GMT Mitch on 5/12/2008 (3 comments)

Every morning we wake up and get ready to go straight to work or other chores which can be a bore. It is not the first time that you wake up and wish to stay in bed and this is where exercises can help you start your day with a kick start. Doing a quick workout session early morning or at the beginning of your day can do wonders for your health, and if you are aiming to lose weight is even better.

Doing sit-ups at home is pretty easy and you do not need a lot of space, to perform si...]]> Mon, 12 May 2008 11:02:18 GMT Mitch on 5/8/2008 (4 comments)

Is there such a thing as being fat, yet fit? Can fat people get away with overeating by keeping their muscles trained and strong? The Mayo Clinic says they can’t. It seems that even though one exercise daily or frequently those extra pounds will still mean trouble. Fat is simply not good especially for the heart.

The big question was: can overweight people stay healthy by working out on a regular basis? It sounded like a legitimate question because exercising just fifteen minutes ev...]]> Thu, 08 May 2008 11:32:49 GMT Mitch on 3/31/2008 (8 comments)

The food you eat not only contributes to the quality of your weight and general health, but also on how well you sleep. Some foods help you sleep better. While others can make sleep difficult or even impossible.

Foods that improve sleep include fruits, green leafy vegetables, whole grain breads and cereals, and mushrooms. Even spices such as dill, sage and basil help with sleep problems.

Drinking milk before bedtime, a common method to aid sleep, is actually effective. ...]]> Mon, 31 Mar 2008 20:51:07 GMT Mitch on 3/8/2008 (3 comments)

Here are a few basic rules that apply to all exercises. These will differ sometimes depending on the exercises being performed, but for the most part, it is a good guide to follow this advice on positioning, breathing, equipment, and timing.

Spinal Alignment
Make sure your spine is straight at all times. This is especially important if you are lifting heavy. No matter what exercise you do, be sure to keep your spine straight throughout the entire range of motion. Your spine su...]]> Sat, 08 Mar 2008 15:36:03 GMT Mitch on 3/6/2008 (5 comments)

Reps, sets, supersets, drop sets, “running the rack”, what the hell do all these mean? As you venture into “the iron jungle” – more commonly known in layman’s terms as a gym – you’ll be hit with a flurry of gym jargon. Even on Beefing Up, you’ll find some, or most of these terms in my articles. As such, I’ve come up with a small glossary of sorts to help you better understand these tricky terms.

Dumbbells
Basically, it’s 2 weight plates joined by a very short bar (usually abou...]]> Thu, 06 Mar 2008 15:05:59 GMT Mitch on 3/3/2008 (0 comments)

If you don't feel like throwing up the money for a gym membership. Or maybe just don't like working out in a public atmosphere, then you should follow this guide to getting in shape without the Bally Fitness membership.

This workout is to be done on four days. Each one should not take more than an hour. Take only 45 second rests between sets.

Days 1 & 4 will be training the upper body, while days 2 & 5 will be training the lower body. Days 3, 6 & 7 are rest days. Train ...]]> Mon, 03 Mar 2008 04:30:16 GMT Mitch on 2/28/2008 (0 comments)

The bench press, squat, and deadlift are the 3 most common and basic mass/power builders. Form is probably one of the most important things involved in these exercises, yet many lifters use terrible form. Moreover, many people avoid these imperative exercises altogether because they feel they will injured or possibly look foolish if they can't lift the right amount of weight. Well I'm going to perform a good deed to all and explain the proper lifting technique for these 3 core lifts. Follow thes...]]> Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:12:36 GMT Mitch on 2/27/2008 (25 comments)

Coffee has long held a monopoly over other caffeinated beverages, but now it's facing strong competition from an increase in demand and sales of energy drinks. Consumers are starting to ask: Which is better?, Which is healthier?, and of course Which will give me the most energy?

Coffee is the original energy booster, containing enough caffeine to lift our energy levels and help jumpstart our days. Coffee goods are the second hottest item in the world market owing to these positive e...]]> Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:01:24 GMT Mitch on 2/21/2008 (4 comments)

It appears that there may be. According to research reported in ACE FitnessMatters, watching TV for thirty minutes while exercising will decrease your intensity and you'll expend 5% less energy than if you were to say, listen to music.

However, listening to upbeat music can increase your exercise intensity without increasing your level of perceived exertion. There's a condition though, you must actually enjoy the music you're listening to. The same effect may not be realized if you'...]]> Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:09:10 GMT Mitch on 2/19/2008 (0 comments)

Your training heart rate zone is a critical element in exercise. Taking your pulse and figuring your heart rate during a workout is one of the primary indicators in ascertaining the intensity level at which you and your heart is working. There are many ways to measure exercise intensity. The Karvonen Formula is one of most effective methods used to determine your heart rate. The Ratings of Perceived Exertion and Talk Test methods are subjective measurements that can be used in addition to taking...]]> Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:24:26 GMT Mitch on 2/18/2008 (3 comments)

Do this on the last set of an exercise. Start off with loading up the weight with a decent base plate such as a 25lb plate and then smaller plates, 5 / 10 pound weights, then do as many reps as you can.

Aim for 8-10 or until you cant do another one, take off a 5 or 10 pound plate, do a few more until you cant do it anymore, and repeat, repeat, repeat... until you cant do it anymore.

The best part of this method is while you are training with leg extensions, 25 pound...]]> Mon, 18 Feb 2008 17:46:16 GMT Mitch on 2/18/2008 (1 comments)

The Farm Bill, a massive piece of federal legislation making its way through Congress, governs what children are fed in schools and what food assistance programs can distribute to recipients. The bill provides billions of dollars in subsidies, much of which goes to huge agribusinesses producing feed crops, such as corn and soy, which are then fed to animals.

By funding these crops, the government supports the production of meat and dairy products—the same products that contribute to...]]> Mon, 18 Feb 2008 06:13:17 GMT Mitch on 2/13/2008 (0 comments)

Most of us overeat from time to time, and many people feel they frequently eat more than they should. Eating large amounts of food, however, does not mean that a person has binge eating disorder. Doctors are still debating the best ways to determine if someone has binge eating disorder. But most people with serious binge eating problems have:

- Frequent episodes of eating what others would consider an abnormally large amount of food.

- Frequent feelings of being unable ...]]> Wed, 13 Feb 2008 19:24:41 GMT Mitch on 2/12/2008 (1 comments)

When it comes to working out, many of us are creatures of habit. We do what we know. We stick with what’s familiar and comfortable. The catch is that if you always do the same thing the same way, your body will adapt and your results will grind to a halt. This is especially true of strength training, where you need to keep your body guessing if you want to keep seeing results. Here are some techniques for breaking through strength training plateaus and keeping the results coming:

Ex...]]> Tue, 12 Feb 2008 19:57:51 GMT Mitch on 2/11/2008 (6 comments)

We’ve been told over an over again that daily weighing is unnecessary, yet many of us can’t resist peeking at that number every morning. If you just can’t bring yourself to toss the scale in the trash, you should definitely familiarize yourself with the factors that influence it’s readings. From water retention to glycogen storage and changes in lean body mass, daily weight fluctuations are normal. They are not indicators of your success or failure. Once you understand how these mechanisms work,...]]> Mon, 11 Feb 2008 14:40:54 GMT Mitch on 2/7/2008 (2 comments)

Most herbal diet teas fall into one of two categories. The first type contains stimulants that supposedly cause us to burn fat faster, though scientific studies have not yet proven this claim. Since they are stimulants, they may also work as appetite suppressants, these teas also carry the risks of other appetite suppressants, including nervousness, headaches and sleeplessness. Examples of stimulant ingredients include ephedra, ephedrine, ma huang, kola nut, and guarana.

The other ...]]> Thu, 07 Feb 2008 21:18:01 GMT Mitch on 2/6/2008 (2 comments)

KD’s were used by the old-timers because they knew it was the best way to maintain lean muscle mass while shedding fat at the fastest rate possible. This article will give you a description of the diet itself; later articles will describe the variations. The basic idea of a KD is to induce a ketogenic state. Reducing your carbs to below roughly 30 grams a day does this.

This reduces the your blood glucose levels and insulin levels. In turn your glucagon levels increase which wil...]]> Wed, 06 Feb 2008 19:54:37 GMT Mitch on 2/6/2008 (0 comments)

Americans view the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as the number one reliable resource when it comes to what is healthy and what is not. The USDA believes that the proper diet should be based on a high intake of carbohydrates and a relatively low intake of protein. The RDA for protein is 0.36 grams per pound of bodyweight. Their reasoning comes from the fact that out of the 300 grams of protein synthesized by the body each day, 200 of those grams are recycled. This is known as the protein ...]]> Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:10:12 GMT Mitch on 2/6/2008 (0 comments)

What is a weight loss plateau?

You are on a diet, but you reach a period of time (two or more weeks) where you can't seem to lose any weight. Your weight may actually fluctuate 3lbs up or down, but you can't seem to break below this range.

You can experience a weight loss plateau for different reasons:

1. You are consuming too many calories for the amount of calories that you are burning off. 2. You are not consuming enough calories; your body defends itsel...]]> Wed, 06 Feb 2008 04:31:24 GMT Mitch on 2/1/2008 (5 comments)

Strength training is the fastest and most efficient way to TRANSFORM your physique. Strength training will build muscle, burn fat and if done properly will train your heart like cardio. The difference is, you can't watch Sports Center or Oprah while you do it. You need to focus and you need to fully engage yourself to the task at hand. What is that task? The task is to kick your own ass for 30-45 minutes.

The human body is the only thing that you can tear down day after day and it r...]]> Fri, 01 Feb 2008 01:49:23 GMT Mitch on 1/29/2008 (2 comments)

Some of you might be doing step aerobics for your work out. It's a great workout and provides you with a wonderful aerobic exercise. But after awhile you may find the challenge of the exercise waning. Here are a few tips to "step" up your step routine.

* Add and Extra Riser to your step. Even if you can't handle say two risers for the whole routine, use them for the first 15 or 20 minutes then do the rest of the session on the single risers. Then add a minute or two to the t...]]> Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:19:01 GMT Mitch on 1/28/2008 (3 comments)

This afternoon I was eating some strawberries and I really enjoyed them. But it got me thinking. Where did I ever get the idea that a treat was a donut or piece of cake. Don't get me wrong I still like them and on occassion have one. But I've always liked fruit and fresh veggies. So, why did I ever trade them in for cakes and cookies? Maybe it's our culture. Maybe it's because growing up poor I got sugary treats so rarely that I equated them with personal success. It really doesn't matter ...]]> Mon, 28 Jan 2008 18:49:08 GMT