Using hills to run faster will work if you do it properly. If you go about hill running for conditioning you may end up with overuse injuries. Less is better than more. Any type of hill running should be completed after your warm up and before your soccer training. Hill training should not be done at the end of training when you are tired!

Ideally you want the hill at a 45 degree angle and you need five to ten yards. Remember less is better than more.

Here is the progression of exercises:

1) Crawl up the hill for five to ten yards -do this five times and each time increase the speed.

2) Walk up the hill for five to ten yards with a forward lean from the ankles – five times

3) Walk up the hill for five to ten yards with a lean from the ankle with a partner giving you some resistance by holding you at the waist or using a beach towel around your waist

4) Run up the hill with your partner giving you some resistance. Focus on driving the leg into the ground. Rest for 30 seconds to a minute and repeat.

5) Run up the hill for 5 to 10 yards as fast as you can. Rest for 45 seconds to a minute then repeat.

If you have a partner you can switch up in between runs for exercises 3 and 4.

After the exercise do some light foot work with the ball for recovery and preparation for the day’s soccer training.

These exercises force you to drive the leg into the ground by using your glutei muscles.

This exercise may be put into your training once or twice a week with a 48-72 hour break in between. These are specific strength drills for developing soccer speed.

It’s so frustrating! You’ve increased your exercise routine and water intake, but so far, it’s not helping your constipation.

Why not? After all, it makes sense that exercise and water would help your digestive system move better.

But the fact is, while exercise and water are vital for overall health, they are unsuccessful as constipation-relievers for more folks than you may imagine.

Before I give you some relieving tips, and tell you how you can learn the biggest mistakes you’re making when you eat, let me reveal the real problem.

What’s going on?

Constipation is more than just a slow-moving digestive system. It’s an issue rooted more deeply, at the cellular level.

The early stages of constipation begin when you do not chew your food thoroughly enough. When you don’t chew thoroughly, your saliva doesn’t interact with your food long enough to initiate carbohydrate digestion.

You see, digestion begins in the mouth, and saliva is the first step of the digestive process. When you swallow food before it’s adequately chewed, you place an extra burden on your stomach and pancreas. This sets the stage for constipation, excessive gas, burping, painful bloating, and a host of other digestive complications.

There’s something else happening!

There’s a second reason why inadequate chewing leads to constipation- and sadly, it’s a reason about which many doctors are ignorant. It has to do with hydrochloric acid production.

Once you swallow your food, your stomach receives “HCl”, or Hydrochloric Acid, from your blood. It takes approximately 1 hour for your stomach to receive enough HCl. HCl is extremely acidic, and vitally necessary in the digestive process.

Once the appropriate pH level in the stomach is reached, your body can now accomplish two essential tasks:

1. Protein digestion

2. Mineral absorption

Now, here’s the problem: if your digestive process is compromised, then minerals from your food are inadequately absorbed for use in the body. One of these minerals is sodium.

Why is sodium so important? Sodium is a key player in the formation of bile, a substance that allows you to move your bowels smoothly. Perhaps you have heard the term, “bile salts”.

If you’re not absorbing sodium, your bile will be too thick, and you’ll become constipated. The thicker your bile, the worse your constipation!

So, if your stomach is already exhausted and your digestive organs are stressed because you’re swallowing your food in chunks, can you be at all surprised that the production of HCl in your stomach is also faulty?

An incredible amount of your stomach’s energy is wasted by cleaning up large portions of unchewed food strains. When this occurs, HCl production will be compromised, you will not properly absorb your food’s minerals, you will not absorb enough sodium, your bile will be too thick, and you’ll become constipated.

Phew!

So, does this mean you should eat more salt? NO!

Consuming more salt in your diet is NOT the answer. The answer begins with chewing more thoroughly. Without the added burden of digesting big chunks of food, your digestive system will have a better success rate of absorbing the sodium it needs from the food you’re already eating.

Your bile will be the correct thickness, and your bowels will move more regularly.

“Besides chewing better, what else can I do to get faster constipation relief?”

Start with these 5 steps:

1. Consume three servings per day of raw, organic fruits and vegetables. They must be raw! Raw produce supplies your body with digestive enzymes necessary to help digest your food.

2. Decrease your intake of red meat, chicken or turkey. Meat is devoid of fiber.

3. Ever heard of “hempseed”? It’s a tremendous source of protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and it keeps your digestive system moving. Add a TBSP into your cereal or smoothies each day. Visit your local health food store- one of the more popular brands is “Nutiva”.

4. Because the G.I. tract and brain are closely linked, do your best to decrease emotional stress. Emotional stress aggravates symptoms of constipation. Eat in a calm environment.

5. Make sure you consume at least 25-30 grams of fiber per day. But don’t be fooled . . . some of the foods you think are high-fiber may actually be low-fiber, so be sure to make the right choices.

Last but certainly not least . . . STOP making these mistakes!

Even the most health-conscious folks are making mistakes every time they eat, that are making their digestive problems worse. To summarize the most important points for you, I’ve written a FREE report, called “The 5 Mistakes You’re Making Every Time You Eat!”

We’ve briefly touched upon one or two ideas, but if you want faster constipation relief, you’ll certainly want all of this information. Get your FREE copy right now by clicking here: thedigestiondoctor.com/smartdigestion [http://www.thedigestiondoctor.com/smartdigestion]

Everyone wants to develop a lean muscular physique. The quickest way to get there and stay there is via resistance training. My favorite style of resistance training is old school weight training accompanied by the sound of clanging plates with heavy loads on a barbell. Do you know who trained/trains like that? Arnold, Zane, Reeves, Coleman, and Cutler are a few of the guys with that training mentality. What do you think of their physical development? These men have mastered the Alpha Male Physique.

Though a well balanced physique is essential, nothing screams Alpha Male Physique like a HUGE MUSCULAR CHEST. Let’s look at Arnold… arguably the greatest chest of all time. How did he get there? He trained with intensity. He trained with power. He trained with a goal in mind. He trained with real deal heavy weight Home Gym. The result was a chest that made history. As far as I’m concerned, if it’s good enough for Arnold it’s good enough for all of us!

There are many maximum lift milestones along the way of building your ultimate alpha chest. Oftentimes 135 lbs, 225 lbs, 315 lbs, 405 lbs and even heavier weights are popular goals that we aspire to conquer at one point or another during our training careers. Others take more of a “pound for pound” approach to measure their success. Some people have the goal of benching their bodyweight, 1.5 times their body weight, or even twice their body weight. Most of the time when people talk about this, they are talking about their Flat Barbell Bench Press One Rep Max. This is a great exercise and a good way to establish quantitative goals; but, don’t forget the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is a great chest… not just moving a certain load on the bar (unless you are a power lifter). The great chest you are going to create is a result of more than just the development that comes just from Flat Bench.

So how do you develop your most impressive chest?

You need to pack on lean mass and slash excess fat. Like the greats, you must move serious weight and focus on training all areas of the chest. Often people do just flat bench and forget about the variations to get well rounded results. To put on slabs of pectoral beef you must hit flat, incline and decline chest movements. Time and time again you will see chests that look like ski slopes. There are two reasons for this. The first reason is simply excess adipose tissue. Extra fat on the chest it tends to collect at the lower portion of the pec area. This creates the “slope effect.” To lose this one has to lose total body fat. The second contributor to the “slope effect” chest is that the mid and lower portion of the pecs are somewhat developed; however, the upper portion is severely underdeveloped. This is a result of doing just flat bench and neglecting incline movements.

You combat this and build your alpha chest by following a well designed chest training program that puts an appropriate emphasis on the upper chest, mid chest, and lower chest. One way to ensure this is to start one out of two or two out of three chest workouts with the emphasis on the upper portion of the chest. To place more emphasis on any particular muscle group simply start the workout with exercises that are specific to that area. Because you are fresh at the beginning of the workout the results for that area will often be greatest. I suppose by now you are looking for a killer Alpha Male Chest Workout? Well here you go!

Sample Workout

Month One

Incline Barbell Bench Press: 3x 15-20 reps

Decline Barbell Bench Press: 3×15-20 reps

Flat Barbell Bench Press: 3×15-20 reps

Feet on Bench Push-Ups: 2 sets of MAX reps (one minute rest between sets)

Month Two

Flat Barbell Bench Press: 4×10-15 reps

Incline Barbell Bench Press: 4×10-15 reps

Decline Barbell Bench Press: 4×10-15 reps

Hands on Bench Push-Ups: 3 sets of MAX reps (one minute rest between sets)

Month Three

Incline Barbell Bench Press: 5×5-10 reps

Flat Barbell Bench Press: 5×5-10 reps

Decline Barbell Bench Press: 5×5-10 reps

Regular Pushups: 4 sets of MAX reps (one minute rest between sets)

Now you know what to do. How do you go about getting it done? You need the proper equipment. There are many options out there; but, don’t be fooled by inferior products. Make sure to invest in a bench that can handle the weight you can do today and more importantly the weight you will be able to do tomorrow. Also chose a piece of equipment that offers versatility while maintaining the integrity of each position. Often companies cut corners and the functionality is sacrificed for increased versatility. When it comes to a piece of equipment that is both functional in all positions and versatile, which leads me to the most fit equipment for these kind of workouts.

More versatility exists because of the dual sided racking station posts. You can use them for holding the barbell elevated to shoulder height for squats. Or you can rack a loaded barbell at hip height for rows, or deadlifts from the opposite side of the bench. No matter how you look at it there are numerous options and no excuses when using this sturdy and versatile bench.

No more excuses! It’s time to make it happen and create your Alpha Chest.

Did you see Blake Griffin‘s dunk over Timofey Mozgov in November 2010? Most people agree that it’s one of the best NBA dunks of the last years. And Blake Griffin doesn’t get tired dunking – in fact he leads the league in dunks (100 until January 26, 2011).

Being 6 ft. 10 inches (2.08 m) tall and having a 37.5-inch vertical, dunking is easy for Blake, however it’s interesting that his standing reach and wingspan are far below average for his position (power forward). The reason for his almost unique combination of power and explosion (LeBron James and Dwight Howard are two other examples) is a special training – workouts on sand with a 60-pound (27 kg) weight vest obviously pay off.

But, you don’t need to complete such an extreme training in order to improve your vertical jump. There are great exercises that will help you to increase your vertical in a short period of time. So, without further chit-chat, here are the top 3 exercises to jump higher:

1) Box Jumps. For this exercise you need a solid box. The idea is simple: jump onto the box, step down and repeat the motion. Start with a box height of 16 inches (40 cm) and increase the height if you have no problem jumping onto it. Do 6 reps per set.

2) Depth Jumps. The goal here is to step off the box and jump back in the air with maximum power as soon as you hit the ground. Do 8 reps per set (max. 4) – only two days a week! Your muscles need to regenerate after such intensive athletic ability.

3) Split Squat Jumps. This exercise will improve your leg strength and explosiveness. Starting position is the lunge position (check in on Google images or youtube). Now jump up and switch legs. Repeat the exercise 8 times on each leg (5 sets). By the way, split squat jumps are part of Brandon Roy’s (40-inch vertical) daily routine.

Don’t forget to warm up and stretch before AND after your workouts! Also, keep in mind that if you want to improve your vertical jump you need to work on your jumping explosion and NOT jumping endurance.

That’s why jumping as much as you can will do more harm than good. It’s all about the right execution of the exercises, the right amount of repetitions and the right amount of rest (especially doing plyometrics) – as your muscles need a lot of time to regenerate after intense athletic activity (at least 24 hours, 48 is even better).

I recommend to stick to a vertical jump program ( The Jump Manual ) as it gives you concrete training plans, exercise videos, numbers of sets and repetitions.

P.S. You probably know Blake Griffin will be in the 2011 NBA slam dunk Contest. But did you know that Blake won the Slam Dunk Contest at the McDonald’s All-American game in 2007 (a one-point win against Austin Freeman)?

How rewarding it is for your dog to sit and stay calmly before you allow him to get some food, or treat or a toy. And for your dog, it is a wonderful experience to wait until you to give the command. Because that’s how your dog wants to interact with you. You are in charge of his space and he will obey and reward you when you make training fun.

The Sit & Stay Game makes training your dog to sit and stay a fun and rewarding experience for both of you.

Rules of the Game

• Choose a high-reward food and make sure that your dog is hungry and ready to eat.
• Decide on the “Command” word. Keep it consistent, something like “Sit (or Stay or Wait)” works well.
• Decide on the “No Reward” marker word, something like “Nope (or Too Bad or Opps)” works well.
• Watch your dog’s language. The way a dog says “please” is to get into the “sit” position.
• Be patient. You dog will sit to say “please” (eventually).

Sit & Stay Food Bowl Game

When a dog wants food, a toy, to play, or just going out the door, he looks for a command from the pack leader. So here’s a brilliant way to train your dog that is fun and rewarding. At the same time, you are giving your dog the impression that you are the pack leader:

1. Ask your dog to “Sit” while you hold the food bowl out of reach from your dog, about 2 feet away. Stand sideways with one shoulder facing him. Hold the bowl on the opposite side.
2. Begin to lower the bowl straight down to the floor. As you lower the bowl, if your dog moves or gets up, simply say very matter-of-factly “Nope” (your command word) AND at the same time move the bowl away and out of reach. Then ask your dog to sit again. (You may need to step out of position so you can face your dog sideways or put him back into position if he has scooted forward). The key is to start fresh from the same position again.
3. When your dog maintains the SIT POSITION, start lowering the bowl to the floor–while he is still in position. If your dog starts to get up to come to the bowl, pull the bowl back up again. The key is that you are bending down with the bowl and pulling back with the bowl until you can place it on the floor while your dog is HOLDING THE SIT POSITION.
4. Make eye contact with your dog while he is in the sit position. You want your dog to stay in the sit position AND make eye contact, before you move the bowl to your dog and give it to him.
5. When you have placed the bowl on the floor, say “Stay” (or your command word), wait a few seconds, then move the bowl towards your dog and allow him to eat. Don’t expect too much from your dog, yet. Just a few seconds of HOLDING THE STAY POSITION “wait” time is good at first.
6. When your dog has maintained the SIT & STAY for a few seconds, then move the bowl toward your dog and allow him to eat his food. Play the game one or two times a day, at feeding time, adding a few seconds to the “Stay” time until your dog holds the SIT & STAY position and you give him the bowl. You are developing your dog’s behavior to sit and wait for your command in order to get the reward.

Remember both you and your dog needs to understand the rules: In order to get food your dog must hold the Sit & Stay position and look at you (not the food) to win the game!

You can try this with a treat, a ball or toy too. Keep it fun, laugh at your dog when he tries to cheat, and give your dog praise when he gets it right.

The Sit & Stay Game is not just about training your dog to sit and stay for food. It’s about the praise you give–and the joy you get when your dog politely sits and stays for you. What it’s really about is winning a fun and rewarding relationship for both you and your dog!

Do you have a lovely pit bull? What do you feed him? Do you know about the nutritional needs of your pet? Most pet owners think that they are doing what they should for their dogs as far as food is concerned, but they tend to rely on their instinct alone. Feeding your pooch is not a guessing game. Here are 4 tips that you should follow for feeding your dog.

1. Balanced Diet

Your dog’s diet is as important as your diet. It’s important to know what the vital nutritional needs of your dogs are. Your dog may have an upset stomach if he doesn’t get enough nutrients and vitamins. In addition, he may have weight issues, brittle bones and oily skin, just to name a few. For the overall wellbeing of your pooch, make sure he gets proper diet.

2. Pre-packaged Food

You can go for pre-packaged food as it contains all the nutrients your pet needs. According to most dog owners, dogs love foods that are dry and moist. The fact of the matter is that their diet should vary based on textures, ingredients and nutritional value.

Of course, dogs are carnivores and they hunt a prey and love to chow on a delicious bone. So, make sure your dog gets a diverse diet. This will make him happy.

3. Meat is Full of Nutrients

Meat has loads of crucial nutrients. So, it should be part of your pooch’s diet. But make sure his diet also has carbohydrates and fiber for better stability and digestion. Moreover, you can add a bit of moist food every now and then. But make sure you don’t give him pancakes on a daily basis or he may fall sick. And if he falls sick, he will lose weight quickly.

4. Vegetables Are Good

What your dog needs is a balanced diet, and the best diet consists of a variety of good ingredients. Many dogs love to eat vegetables. The great thing about vegetables is that they contain essential vitamins and nutrients for dogs. Just give veggies a go and you will see your dog get happier and healthier with the passage of time. Make sure you give him fresh veggies only.

5. Walk Your Dog Regularly

If possible, take him with you for a walk after the evening meal on a regular basis. This will help your dog digest food in a better way and he will grow healthier.

In Summary

Long story short, the general rule is that your dog should eat meals that will satisfy its nutritional needs. Your dog shouldn’t stick to a can of processed food. All you need to do is maintain a balance between natural food and processed food. Making dishes for your lovely pit bull can be a great family event. Moreover, a dog is very good at expressing gratitude. And you will know it if he walks to you and gives you a big, wet kiss. Hope these tips will make your dog a happy dog.

Often, people compare having a dog to having a child-and in some instances, they would be correct. Taking care of a canine is a huge responsibility, especially if staring out with a puppy. For owners everywhere, here’s a look at five benefits of training.

1. Keeps the Dog Out of Danger

A part of training a pup is working on voice commands, such as sit, speak, and stay. Mistakenly, people think this is teaching tricks; however, this allows the owner to have voice control. This can prevent the dog from jumping fences or running away.

2. Bonding

Just like a child to their mother or father, proper training will allow a canine and their owner to bond. This allows trust to form with its owner and also help the owner discover what makes their puppy happy or agitated. In the same regard, the dog will begin to recognize tonal voice commands and can pick up when their owners are happy or disappointed with them.

3. Trust is Built

Training builds trust, and just like a teenager, an owner will begin to give the dog some independence, such as staying home alone without being cared for. The animal also begins to trust the owner and will start to show remorse when they do something wrong.

4. Easier on Traveling Plans

Dogs that are well-trained are less stressed when they travel, which allows them to adapt quickly to their environment. For long distance travel, owners will be able to better control their companion which helps the pup stay alert and happy while allowing them to govern their behavior.

5. Allows for Social Adaptation

Training is important-especially for rescues and puppies who have anxiety around people or other animals. The trainer will give you and the canine coping mechanisms to help with social stressors that can lead to irrational behavior. Owners will be able to pick up on social cues that they are anxious and respond quickly. This type of intervention will prevent the dog from displaying erratic behavior and biting another person or animal because they didn’t have the necessary tools to respond to their stress.

When contacting a professional trainer, they will want to consult with you about your pet. It’s important to record their worst behaviors and note any trigger points. The trainer will then assess your situation and give you tools to use at home while they train.

The reason most people get pets is because they want the companionship. However, how much good does that do if the animal isn’t well-trained? A training program will make life much more pleasurable for the dog and the owner.

Not only America, but the entire world is looking for natural and organic alternatives to unnecessarily sugary fruit drinks, which contain harmful additives or preservatives. In reality, these juices do not contain any real fruit juice, which can do wonders to your health and well-being.

Just by mentioning this sweet and extremely tasty fruit, mango, which is fondly called as the ‘king of fruits’ in India occupies the fruit stands in supermarket even in USA. Mango nectar has also made its entry in the fastly growing range of new and healthy fruit drinks now.

Though the nutrition value of this mango nectar depends on manufacturer and the brands available in the market, but it is not difficult to find natural, flavored drink that is rich of Vitamin C, and also huge traces of Vitamin A.

Those, who have not yet experienced the divine taste of a mango, can try to imagine a fine blend of apricot, pineapple, and peach. Mango nectar is made from the mango pulp, and is widely used in smoothies and cocktails. While children consider it as a treat, you can experiment as much as you want to create various recipes and mix it with many flavors. You can even try to freeze the mango nectar to make ice pops.

Moreover, mango is a fat free and cholesterol free fruit contains very low fat. Therefore, it is widely used in making heart-healthy diets. In addition, mango is rich with antioxidants. The mango nectar boosts the digestive process and gives instant energy. It also helps in feeling relaxed and full.

Including a good brand of mango nectar gives fulfils your daily fiber requirements. Other than this, it contains potassium and beta carotene, and is extremely low in calories.

Even without trying to lose weight, there’s no question any more about the importance/necessity for taking food grade vitamin/mineral supplements. The fact is the foods we’re supposed to be getting all our nutrients from are not anywhere near the same as what they used to be 30 years ago. Gmo foods, over-farmed soils and pesticides are creating produce with much less usable nutrients than what we used to be able to rely on for our vitamins. There are numerous fruits and vegetables that develop the majority of their vitamin/mineral content during the last 7-10 days of vine ripening. Unfortunately, unless you live on a farm and eat directly out of the garden, you get your produce from the super market. In order for fruits and vegetables to be fresh and last long enough for you to buy them from the store, they have to be picked well before this time. This means much of the produce we buy from grocery stores have finished their ripening process in dark crates or under fluorescent lights and never fully develop their full nutrient profile. Considering all of this, even if you are getting all 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day, you should still take some kind of vitamin/mineral supplement to fill in the gaps your food may not be providing.

On a reduced calorie diet, the need for nutritional supplements is even greater. If your weight loss diet is properly balanced and correctly planned (which most are not), food is taken in smaller quantities while the exercise demand is considerably higher. As compared with normal (non-dieting) eating, a good weight loss nutritional program should contain much more vegetables as they are less calorie dense, cleanse the body and are supposed to provide the proper nutrients needed. While the greater volume of these foods should make up for vitamin deficient foods, the greater demand from increased exercise will cause the body to require more. Do not choose vitamin/mineral supplements based on price and go with the cheapest you find as these may not be the best for you. Do your research before buying and look for vitamin supplements that will be the most absorbable rather than affordable. The most absorbable vitamin supplements are colloidal (liquid) and/or as close to food sources as possible (minimal processing).

As important as good quality, absorbable multi-vitamin/mineral supplements are to your health, these products should be the baseline of every nutritional supplement program. They will not however make a noticeable difference in weight loss if they are the only supplements you’re taking. There are many other products designed specifically to help you lose weight and build healthy muscle. Like a good multi-vitamin, these must also be carefully chosen so you can get the best results possible for the cheapest price. When used correctly at the right times and for the right reasons, there are many nutritional supplements currently for sale that can help you achieve new levels of fitness and health very quickly no matter what your age is. When shopping, the number of different supplements available will keep your mind spinning; this market is huge and there are many good companies offering an astounding number of great products. However there is also an equally large number of ineffective junk products as well if you’re not careful. For simplicity reasons, you can categorize most weight loss nutritional supplements into three groups; macronutrient replacement, fat burners/energy pills and performance based products.

Macronutrient replacement type supplements are available as protein drinks and meal replacement powders. The goal of these nutritional supplements is to support your diet with more macronutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates and healthy fats. Meal replacement powders are a cheap and easy way to get excellent nutrition on the go in a very convenient way, a drink you can mix up and get down quickly on the go. These products make dieting much easier and tastier! Whey protein drinks and meal replacement powders are sweet, tasty, come in lots of interesting, delicious flavors and are excellent for satisfying the sweet tooth cravings everyone struggles with on a diet. For weight loss, protein drinks and meal replacement powders make it easier to get all the protein you need every day to keep you from losing muscle. When taken directly after a muscle building or strenuous workout, liquid protein drinks are the fastest and best way to get the nutrition you need for both growth and recovery.

If you’re not a breakfast eater, a tasty meal replacement protein drink can be easy to get down and an excellent way to get a good shot of vitamins with balanced, easy to absorb nutrition to start your day. These supplements are not expensive, especially when you consider they are replacing food, however cost-wise it equals out to about the same. Macronutrient replacement supplements can also be found as pocket sized, protein bars that are also very convenient. While these products are popular, they are harder to digest and will not absorb as quickly as liquid drinks. It can also be a struggle to find a protein meal replacement bar that’s tasty enough to want to eat it more than once. Compared to the flavor and ease of liquid protein meal replacement drinks, the bars are merely a back-up for most dieters.

Perhaps one of the most important supplements for weight loss are the fat burners. These are pills and/or powdered drink mixes designed specifically to help speed up your metabolism and target fat burning. They do work well however should be used in conjunction with rigorous exercise; in fact most of these products work best when taken directly before. Fat burner type supplements are also great for adding energy to your day. These products often have caffeine or natural substances such as herbs that cause a stimulatory effect. While macronutrient replacement supplements are deemed very safe for most people, fat burners should be looked at a little closer if you have a history of certain health conditions such as heart problems, etc. If you are prone to certain conditions that are sensitive to stimulants, you would be well advised to consult your medical doctor before taking a fat burner supplement. On that note, beware of asking any medical doctor about nutritional supplements, exercise or nutrition advice if they are not an athlete themselves. Overall, fat burners are helpful for weight loss, but very secondary to how much exercise you do and how good your nutrition is. If you’re hardly exercising and your diet is not dialed in for weight loss, fat burners will not do much for you. If your program is good and you’re exercising hard and regularly, fat burners can make a great difference.

Besides meal replacement powders and protein drinks the next most usable nutritional supplements are performance based. These products are powdered drink mixes to aid in your workouts. Performance supplements include pre-workout energy drinks that give you more energy for your training but also contain ingredients to help with other aspects. For example, some pre-workout drinks also help your muscles get a better pump and help them expand larger to make you bigger. Some pre-workout supplements are combined with fat burners and also ingredients for long term energy used best for endurance sports. Performance supplements also include drinks designed to be consumed during and after your workout. Intra-workout supplements are great for supplying your muscles with nutrients and amino acids while you train. These not only improve performance during the workout but also help you recover faster for the next set. Post-workout drinks are designed primarily to aid recovery and are perhaps the most valuable of all. These products are best consumed directly after training or right before bed and greatly aid the body in recovering faster and more completely.

Holistic stress relief methods heal the root cause of tension and worry. By eliminating the stressor as opposed to the stress-related symptoms, permanent healing is achieved.

Holistic healing delves into all aspects of a person to find stressors. Lifestyle, nutrition, emotions, thoughts and belief systems and spiritual life are taken into consideration.

Holistic stress relief methods correct physical, mental, emotional and spiritual imbalances. Even if the imbalance is unknown, healing can still take place.

Here is how holistic stress relief methods can work in your life.

· Physically – Through nutrition and exercise, physical stressors can be relieved. Poor eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle prevent us from living our best life. Proper nutrition and regular activity can also prevent serious conditions and illnesses. Also, taking care of yourself physically will increase your resiliency from stress.

· Mentally – Negative thoughts and belief systems cause stress and negative behavior. By transforming negative thinking, your whole life can turn around. Anxious thinking can be tamed which will greatly relieve mental fatigue. After all, your life is a product of your thinking.

· Emotionally – Fear, anger, worry and all negative emotions can cause physical conditions and illnesses. Healing emotions is a powerful way to improve well-being. Holistic practitioners use the energy system or chakras to heal negative emotions. These feelings can build up from childhood and never be released. Healing negative emotions gets rid of the baggage that brings you down.

· Spiritually – Many holistic healers believe illness is a result of spiritual detachment. Being incongruent with one’s Essence can cause physical, mental and emotional turmoil. Ignoring your passions, enjoyment and intuition keeps you from being your true self. Developing your spiritual nature allows you to live a more purposeful and stress-free life.

Achieving holistic health means discovering the highest aspects of yourself. Utilizing the many holistic stress relief methods will help you lead a more balanced, healthy life. Many people turn to holistic healing out of frustration with conventional medical practices for stress-related conditions. Conventional medicine treats symptoms. Holistic health focuses on cause for lasting relief from stress.