Are you considering swimming to lose weight? Excellent!  There are a couple of things you should know before jumping in the water. I have been swimming for 16 years and I used swimming exclusively as my cardio to reduce my body fat by 54% in 3 months. So here it goes. First, swimming long distances at a steady speed is not very effective for losing weight. In fact, swimming ranks below running and biking in terms of calories burned. However, I will describe a method of swimming that will torch calories and you will only need to spend about 20 minutes three days per week swimming.

The second thing you need to know is that it takes practice to become proficient at swimming. If you are just taking it up, you will need to stick with it for a while before you start getting good. The good news is that you don’t have to wait to get good before you start losing weight. Plus, swimming is something you can do all your life because it is low impact. It doesn’t hurt your joints like running or similar high impact activities.

So, what is this excellent method of swimming that will help you lose weight fast? Well, it is called cardiovascular interval training, and it works especially well in swimming. Basically, it is swimming hard for a short period of time and swimming at medium intensity for a slightly longer time. How do you know what your intensity is? You use what’s called the perceived rate of exertion scale. A number one on the scale is equivalent of sitting on your couch and a number ten is swimming as hard as you can. In the six to seven range, you would be breathing hard but could still hold a conversation, albeit with difficulty.

So, for example, you could start out with a warm-up of 5 minutes in the 4-5 area of the scale. This would be an easy pace that is just starting to make you breathe hard. Then you could alternate 30 seconds of swimming at a level 9-10 with 2 minutes of swimming at a 6-7. Warm up for about five minutes, perform ten minutes of this interval I just described, and then swim easy for about five minutes to cool down.

There has been significant research done on cardiovascular interval training that indicates it burns more calories both during your workout and after you finish. Your heart rate stays elevated for longer when swimming like this. Therefore, you burn more calories and lose more weight.

As I said, swimming is the cardiovascular exercise I used on two different occasions to lose 13 and 20 pounds of fat. You can certainly lose weight swimming when you do it with the right intensity. Good luck and stick with it!

It is not that easy to look for the perfect exercise that suits your needs. Each one of us has unique, specific goals and requirements that we are looking for. Some people are looking for exercises to lose weight while some do exercises to lose belly fat. Some people look at exercises to tone their muscles and gain six packs while others use exercise to shape their body parts like triceps, abs, thighs, hips, chest etc.

Provided the fact that most people in modern times are busy with their schedule, finding the exercise that is best for them may take a very long time. They might even end up choosing nothing. How can we determine if an exercise is suitable for us?

There are different common and universal ideas that will help sustain the fitness of the body without consuming too much of your time and patience.

Tips From The Experts

When you do exercise, try to focus more on balancing your body. If you are not very confident with how you appear to other people, then you really need to repeat a number of aerobic activities to develop a flat abdomen, and to build strong muscles and bones. With repetitive exercises, you will notice a change in your body shape – a change for the better.

If you can come up with a good system of exercise, your resting and training time will definitely be balanced. Your body knows when it is burning calories and exercising regularly helps you build up muscles even when you are at rest. It is not good for the body to be over-exercised. It does not allow your muscles to recover and rebuild.

Exercising with weights

Another recommendation by experts is to engage your body in an exercise that involves weights. The proper means of getting your potential to its maximum level is by lifting heavy weights in a given period. There should also be proper guidance during the activity in order to have less risk and to avoid failure and accidents.

You should adapt to changes. We call it variety. The technical term for that is “periodization.” In other words, do not stick to the same activity repeatedly. It is nice to make some changes to the physical and mental activities that you indulge in.

After reading this article, we hope that you have already considered some activities that you think will work best for you.

Brandon Lee’s workout program for the film – Rapid Fire was designed by Darryl Chan, his personal trainer. When Darryl asked Brandon Lee what his goal was, in terms of his physique; for the film Rapid Fire he said he wanted to look like his dad… Bruce Lee.

Brandon Lee’s exercise program started out with six days on one day off. He worked out two body parts per day.

Here’s a breakdown of the Brandon Lee workout six-day per week program:

Monday: Chest and Triceps

Tuesday: Shoulders and Biceps

Wednesday: Back

Thursday: Chest and Triceps

Friday: Shoulders and Biceps

Saturday: Back

Sunday: Off

As you can see from this workout the focus is entirely on the upper body. Later on Darryl Chan reduced the training program to 3 days on one day off schedule. The training schedule for that program looks like this.

Brandon Lee workout — Three Days on One Day off Schedule

Monday: Chest and Triceps

Tuesday: Shoulders and Biceps

Wednesday: Back

Thursday: Off

Friday: Chest and Triceps

Saturday: Shoulders and Biceps

Sunday: Back

Monday: Off

For the chest workout some of the exercises used were flat bench press, a dumbbell incline press, dumbbells decline press, and dumbbell flys.

The triceps workout Brandon Lee used the following exercises… weighted dips, triceps push downs and reverse grip push down.

One of the principles that was used in this workout was muscle confusion. The exercises would be changed for each workout. For example if they performed barbell bench presses for the chest workout on the next chest workout they might use dumbbell chest presses etc.

Repetitions and Sets

Both of Brandon Lee’s workout programs consisted of approximately 4 sets. The repetitions were designed to build power so, he performed 5 to 10 repetitions of each exercise.

The Brandon Lee workout program was performed over a three-month period. His bodyweight went from 158 pounds to a lean and muscular 168 pounds. In looking at some of the pictures of Brandon Lee in the film Rapid Fire it appears to me that he achieved his goal of looking like his father. Unfortunately, this was the last film that Brandon Lee made.

The Principle of Reversibility as it applies to exercise and fitness training means: If you don’t use it, you lose it. This principle is well-grounded in exercise science and is closely related to the biological principle of Use and Disuse. (1)

While rest periods are necessary for recovery after workouts, extended rest intervals reduce physical fitness. The physiological effects of fitness training diminish over time, causing the body to revert back to its pretraining condition.

Detraining occurs within a relatively short time period after you stop exercising. Only about 10% of strength is lost 8 weeks after training stops, but 30-40% of muscular endurance is lost during the same time period. (2)

The Principle of Reversibility does not apply to retaining skills. The effects of stopping practice of motor skills, such as weight training exercises or sport skills, are very different.

A skill once learned is never forgotten, especially if well learned. Coordination appears to store in long-term motor memory and remains nearly perfect for decades, particularly for continuous skills (e.g., riding a bike, swimming). If you stop training, over time you will lose strength, endurance, and flexibility, but you will remember how to execute the skills involved in performing exercises and activities. (3)

Tips on How to Apply the Principle of Reversibility

1. After long rest intervals, begin a conditioning program to rebuild your base of strength and endurance.

2. For sports, take an active rest to minimize the effects of detraining during the off season.

3. Increase exercise gradually and progressively after a long break. Be patient about regaining your previous fitness level.

4. Do not attempt to lift heavy weight loads without proper conditioning after a long break. You will remember how to properly execute the lifts, but you may sustain an injury if you overestimate how much weight you can lift.

5. Emphasize stretching exercises to regain joint flexibility. This is particularly important for older adults who participate in senior sports.

References

1. Powers, S.K., Dodd, S.L., Noland, V.J. (2006). Total fitness and wellness (4th ed.). San Francisco: Pearson Education.

2. Costill, D. & Richardson, A. (1993). Handbook of sports medicine: Swimming. London: Blackwell Publishing.

3. Schmidt, R.A. & Wrisberg, C.A. (2000). Motor learning and performance: A problem-based learning approach (2nd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

One of the most powerful and effective ways to grow taller is to increase human growth hormone in your body. Human growth hormone has a verity of benefits. You could reclaim your youth and vitality, lose weight, treat disease, and of course increase your height. Many people take human growth hormone injections to add inches to their overall height, but I don’t recommend this. The natural way is the best way to go.

You could increase the levels of human growth hormone by doing anaerobic exercises. These types of exercises are high intensity workouts that strengthens the muscles. Anaerobic workouts are short workouts done in quick sessions. These types of exercises are proven to help raise human growth hormone, so there is no need of getting HGH treatments.

Anaerobic exercises as we have learned are high intensity exercises, therefore it includes activities like basketball, sprinting, swimming, and lifting weights. When you workout at high intensity levels your body shoots out human growth hormone, which will help the body to grow taller.

The next important thing is being on a healthy diet that promotes growth. Your bones requires phosphorus, magnesium, and calcium, while your muscles need water and protein in order to grow.

How much food we eat and how healthy the food is will in a significant way effect our health, growth, and height, this is why it’s important to eat healthy food when you want to grow to your taller. The kind of foods you consume will help you grow or prevent you from growing to your maximum height.

You should be eating foods that are high in protein, fats, and carbohydrates. By eating foods like fish, carrots, liver, almonds, beans, chicken, green and yellow veggies, and beef, you will get enough protein, carbohydrates, and fats, in your diet.

Now the key thing that will make everything work is water. Did you know that water helps to cushion your joints and your bones are 22% water? Water as well makes up 75% of your muscles, now can you see the importance of water when it comes to growing taller?

The body cannot grow to its full height when you are not hydrated. You probably heard that you must drink 8 glasses of water every day, but this is not true. In order for you to know how much water to drink you must divide your weight by 2, and that is how many ounces of water your body requires daily.

Its important to follow these simple steps on a consistent basis if you truly desire to grow taller. Always remember that anyone could increase their height even if they haven’t grown in years!

Hold on for a minute. This is not just your average exercise program. I’ve been into exercise for over forty years. I feel like I’m thirty years old so somehow the math doesn’t compute. Anyhow, as I mentioned earlier, I’ve bought and used hundreds and hundreds of fitness DVDs and DVD sets. A little later on, I’m going to review many of them for you.

My all-time favorite DVD set is Dr. Al Sear’s program called “Pace Express 12- Minute Fitness Revolution.” I have been doing it every day for the last ten weeks. If you’re wondering how to lose weight forever, check out Dr. Al Sears and Pace Express. When you read about “Pace Express,” you’re going to understand instantly why I’m so enthralled with this program. Imagine for a minute you just woke up and you were getting ready for your day or you just ended a very busy day. The idea of putting on a fitness DVD and exercising for a half hour or an hour, is probably exactly what you don’t want to do. Your reasons could be; too tired, not enough time, my knees hurt, I don’t lift weights, I don’t have exercise equipment, I don’t like exercise, etc. As you can see, there’s no shortage of excuses. What would you say if I told you that with “Pace Express”:

It’s fun and easy.

Quick & Easy Weight Loss

Everyone keeps telling me I look great and somehow younger. (That’s a compliment that brings a big smile to my face) Weight loss perfection needs to be in your eyes. You decide what weight you feel phenomenal at.

It only takes 12 minutes a day. When I finish, I feel energized and relaxed at the same time.

It requires no additional exercise equipment, other than you.

Anyone can do these exercises, at almost any age. You choose which exerciser you want to follow. Did I say it’s fun? Unlike other fitness DVDs, the beginner instructor is truly showing you what to do at a beginner level. You can also mix and match the exercises intensity throughout the 4 minutes. Some exercises you may be a beginner, others an intermediate and still others advance.

It’s a straightforward approach to exercise that works.

This 4-part bonus DVD includes:

Express Fit & Flexible stretching workout

Advanced Abs workout

Hips, Buns & Thighs workout

And an exclusive interview with the creator of P.A.C.E., Dr. Al Sears, MD

Ten weeks ago I opened the Pace Express package, and started the program right away. I remember how excited I was. Ten weeks later, I still eagerly plan my 12 minutes of exercising. I love doing it and feel wonderful when I’m done and am going to do it forever.

In the past, when I’ve gotten sick, which isn’t that often, not being able to exercise would throw me off my routine. Here’s another great benefit of this program. When I was sick, I did the 3 sets of 4 minutes each in “slow motion.” I didn’t raise my heart rate during those 12 minutes but it made me feel better. Then, as soon as I was healthy again, I went right back to gradually increasing my heart rate in the easy Pace Express way. To me it’s a win, win situation. I know you’re going to love it if you give it a chance.

Your PACE Express package comes complete with six DVDs featuring six weeks of workouts (11 different workouts in all) with six 12-minute workouts on each disk. Each workout consists of three four-minute sets of exercises for a total workout time of only 12 minutes! Just put in a new disk each week and start seeing results!

please note the following before using this product:

Please consult your physician before beginning this or any other exercise and nutrition program. You should always warm up for a few minutes before beginning any workout.

Not all exercises are suitable for everyone and this or any exercise program may result in injury. To reduce the risk of injury, never force or strain during exercise.

If at any time you feel you are exercising beyond your fitness abilities or you feel discomfort, light-headed or nauseous, you should immediately discontinue exercising.

Call me greedy if you like but I want both. We all know the struggles of maintaining the work and exercise balance. If managed correctly the two can feed off of each other. Staying fit has proven to help alleviate those problems. I have not always maintained that balance when the demands of running a business became overwhelming. As a member of the U. S. Army, and entrepreneur running a marketing agency, I learned a lot about discipline and motivation which helps to keep me focused today. As a successful business owner you already have those traits of discipline and motivation. It is a matter of shifting them to other positive habits.

This may seem obvious but it has to be mentioned. Set reasonable goals. What are you trying to accomplish? Knowing your goals will tell you how to proceed. Do you want to meet a mate? OK, then you need weight lifting, cardio, and change of diet and you need to start yesterday. Do we want to relieve stress? OK, you can start walking or running around your schedule. Do you want to relieve stress and have more energy? OK, you start with something fun and easy and add to it as you improve. Knowing where to start will get you where you are going. Other goals to consider will be based on your level of fitness. If you have never worked out or it has been a long time since you worked out my suggestion would be to start slow and easy. When I was in the Army we routinely ran or worked out five times a week. At the time I was easily running seven to eight minute miles. I tell you that to let you in on my mindset when I started running again after a 20 year hiatus. I had set unrealistic goals for myself that almost destroyed my esteem and motivation. I was devastated that I could not even finish two miles without stopping. It seemed, at the time, like a waste of time. It is OK to set those goals small with the intent in raising them later. The feeling of accomplishment in the beginning will fuel you to the next workout.

Now that you have your goals laid out it is time to write them down. Literally. It is time to get out your appointment book and schedule working out. Yes, I understand you are busy and have a company to run. I get it. What is more important than your health? Schedule working out just like it is an important meeting with a new client. Before you know it you will be looking forward to working out. What has worked for me is to sign up for an event. I like obstacle courses but there are plenty out there to choose from. I run three or four a year as well as the occasional 5k for charity. When I know I have something coming up that I have already paid for and planned then that motivates me to get to work. I know what I ran it in last year so I have a time to beat. Who better to compete against than yourself?

There are plenty of other tips or techniques from a myriad of sources but these can help anyone get started. What it comes down to is motivation and dedication. The only person who can make you go to the gym is you. If you show up you are halfway there. Even if you are having a bad day or do not feel well then just show up. A bad day working out is better than not working out. Be safe and show up.

This is going to sound harsh. If you are not making an effort to exercise and take care of yourself then you are being selfish. You are being selfish to your family, friends, employees, and neighbors. All of these people in one way or another rely on you. Are there reasons to be selfish? Do it because you want to look good. Do it because you want to feel better. Do it for yourself. Be selfish and show up.

According to the latest statistics from the United States’ Center for Disease Control (CDC):

• 66% of adults age 20 years and over are overweight (including obese)
• 32% of adults age 20 years and over are obese
• 17% of adolescents age 12-19 years are overweight
• 19% of children age 6-11 years are overweight

Those are really horrifying statistics. We have become an oversized bunch of people, but we lie to ourselves to try to find peace with it by saying things like: “I’m comfortable with the way I look,” “I’m not as big as she is,” or joke about it by saying “I’m shakin’ what my Momma gave me.” I have news: your Momma did NOT give you that. But she may have given you some bad eating habits.

There’s no magic bullet behind weight gain, and there’s a myriad of reasons for why we may suffer from it more or less than those around us. But there is some simple advice and nutritional knowledge I can give you that can help you. Since most people don’t like to read loooooong articles, I’m just going to keep this as simple as I can:

1. Stop Eating White Trash!

White trash is typically refined sugar, white bread, white buns, bagels, white rice, white flour, tortillas, white potatoes, white corn, etc. But I like to expand this definition to include what foods I’d expect to find at a typical American BBQ (I call it the “White Trash BBQ”): hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, macaroni salad, fried chicken, potato chips, fries, baked beans (sugar!), corn on the cob (metabolizes down as sugar and starch!), and then – of course – the pies, cakes and muffins for dessert. And the beer and sodas to wash it all down with.

The first glaring mistake with these white trash foods is that many of them are not “food” at all. They’re refined and processed, taking nutrients out in some cases (to preserve shelf life), adding synthetic nutrients back in, adding nitrates and nitrites as preservatives, sugars, corn syrup, etc. While many of us will avoid butter or real Mayonnaise in the attempt to lose weight, we still will eat these other non-food offenders all the time. At least our bodies know how to handle a “real fat” or “real food” such as butter. With adulterated food products, our body has difficulty knowing what to store and what to burn.

The second glaring mistake with the white trash foods is that most of them metabolize high on the Glycemic Index and elevate your blood sugar, thereby triggering insulin to be released in your body; in turn telling your body to store any excess as fat or to create new fat cells. This response occurs BEFORE you ever get to the gym. So next time you think you’ll be burning it off at the gym later on, remember that your body is busy storing it hours earlier.

Since your body isn’t getting the right nutrients from “whole” foods (unadulterated, non-processed, non-canned, non-processed), it holds onto every bit that it can.

2. Know the health-history of what animal you’re eating.

Do you know if you salmon was farmed, pumped with antibiotics and fed corn-feed and given pink food coloring? Many farmed salmon are. The vast majority. Are your chickens injected with saline to plump them up or (again) fed with corn feed and caged so they can’t move (so they gain weight quickly), and pumped with hormones and antibiotics? Be sure… sometimes they’re raised without the antibiotics, but they’re pumped with them en route to the meat processing plants.

Same with beef. It’s still America’s favorite meat. But the vast majority of cows are kept in pens and fed only corn feed – AGAIN with the corn. They’re kept confined so they gain weight quickly. They continually feed on what is NOT a part of their natural diet. They are brought to full weight within 1 year (by making them obese) so they can be slaughtered BEFORE they die from the ulcers they receive on the corn feed diet (which, as I said, is not a part of their normal way of eating).

So we eat obese and sickened animals. It’s no wonder that we are sick and obese ourselves!

The reason why this is so important also, is because of toxins and how they relate to fat cells and obesity. I was working in a Women’s Fitness center recently, and EVERYONE there wanted to lose weight. But their eyes would cross if I told them they had a glaring gallbladder problem. So I know that to get people to listen, the “weight is the bait” — and so I’m going to tell you now why you should care about the health of the animal you’re eating.

Simply and succinctly put, toxins are stored in fat cells. Those two things are married. So if you can de-toxify yourself, you will have an easier time losing weight. Women – pay attention to this: we carry a higher percentage of fat in our bodies naturally. So we are even MORE susceptible to toxin storage. And again, it creates the vicious cycle of difficulty and/or inability to lose weight. Meats have a higher percentage of fat, and are therefore more important to pay attention to when considering its origins.

It is also widely believed (by myself included) that these stored toxins are largely responsible for many of the cancers in our reproductive organs.

I’m not a vegetarian myself, but I do advise people to take caution when buying their meats. This is a huge reason why we have such a sickened society. We demand cheap foods, but we are most definitely getting what we pay for. Believe me, I’m very budget conscious myself these days and I can’t always buy the highest, elite quality of food. But I HAVE decided to cut down a bit on meat so that I can eat better qualities of it.

THE GOOD NEWS

As more and more people in the USA are exposed to the truth about the food supply, the vendors listen and give us what we want. We have more access to Organic foods than ever; we have Farmer’s Markets, we have the internet so these things like “unhealthy farming practices” are no longer a secret for very long. We can go to our local Trader Joe’s and request grass-fed beef. We can easily find “cage free/allowed-to-graze” chicken. The more people demand it, the more the economics of supply and demand will bring the prices to a more affordable range.

But awareness is key, and we must make the changes ourselves AND tell our families and friends… that way, we not only encourage each other and gain support, but we create the kind of demand for healthier foods that will help our bodies be able to metabolize better.

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In conclusion, those are 2 simple things you can do immediately for your health and the health of all your loved ones: eating foods in their natural states (more vegetables of all kinds & colors – not white trash!), and being conscious of the health of the animal who’s meat you’re eating.

Guarding your diet on both those fronts addresses two KEY issues behind difficulties in losing weight for just about absolutely everyone: insulin and toxins. I guarantee you that if you follow those two tips, it’s worth more than all the calorie counting, food weighing and lap-band surgeries in the world.

If you are someone who is hoping to build bigger arms, adding more definition and even size to this area of your body, you need to understand how to train your arms properly for success. One thing you must realize is the fact the majority of your arm is made up of the triceps muscle, so if you are looking to gain size, it is this muscle you need to focus on.

Many people place a large amount of their focus on the biceps muscle. There is nothing wrong with building up great looking biceps, but it is the triceps muscle that shines regarding helping your arms look better toned.

What can you do to make the most of your triceps workouts? Here are a few quick tips to keep in mind…

1. Keep Your Elbows Stationary. Always remember to keep your elbows tucked into your body. Your elbows should never be moving as you execute the exercises. If they do, this essentially means you are letting momentum come into play and take over the movement pattern.

Elbow movement needs to be avoided. Instead, focus on keeping your elbows tucked into your sides when doing a rope press down (or any other press down) or stationary in place if doing overhead extensions.

If doing reverse kickbacks, once again, they will be tucked directly into both sides of your body.

2. Feel The Squeeze At The Top Of The Movement. Next, as you go about each exercise, you will want to focus on feeling the squeeze at the top of each movement. This added muscle squeeze will help to fatigue the muscle fibers, bringing you to the point of full exhaustion and resulting in better muscle development.

How do you know if you are experiencing the squeeze? Watch yourself in the mirror. Do you see the muscle flex? If so, you are squeezing nicely. A brief pause at the top of the movement can also help you harness this squeeze as well.

3. Remember Heavier Is Not Always Better. Finally, remember when it comes to training triceps, more weight is not necessarily better. Often it is better to use a lighter weight but focus on the movement pattern itself and the mind-muscle connection.

As the triceps are not a large muscle, you are never going to lift an enormous amount of weight. Trying to do so will only mess with your form and very likely, lead to the lack of results.

Keep these simple tips in mind as you go about training your triceps. When worked out correctly, you can see remarkable developments in this muscle.

If you are into basketball, volleyball, track, or any other sport, you NEED to be able to jump high. There are many diets that promise to improve your athletic abilities, but I have found only one diet that works. Here are a couple aspects of that diet and the benefits of each.

Eat Fat!

This sounds shocking to most athletes.  I’m not saying that you should eat a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken every night.  There is one type of fat that is very beneficial to improving quickness and strength: Omega-3 fat.  This unique fat is found in fish, nuts, some eggs and some whole wheat breads.  

Omega-3 is important to an athletes diet because of the actual cell improvement that it provides.  Omega-3 fats give every cell in your body elasticity which is a crucial part of injury prevention.  The less time your spend injured or sore, the more time you have to focus on exercising to improve your vertical leap.  Omega-3 gives you the energy that you need to perform your workouts at optimum levels.  

High Carbs!

For some reason people like to go on a low carb diet.  This does not work for athletes.  Think of carbs as gas in a car.  Without gas, the car can’t go.  It is the same way with our bodies.  You must take in high amounts of carbs in order to have the energy to improve jumping.  

There are carbs that you want to stay away from though.  Anything that is not 100% whole grain contains starchy carbs.  These starchy carbs can quickly convert to glucose and that just adds fat to your body.  Eating 100% whole wheat breads will give you quick burning, but long lasting carbs and energy.

Keep in mind that no matter what you eat, you will not improve your vertical jump height without a solid exercise plan.