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So once more, you need to have a date set in your goals.  Last week I set tomorrow as my date to cut weight, tone up, and gain more muscle.  I wish I would have taken down numbers (something else you should do) but I’ll have to settle for my own realism and perception as a measuring stick.  I feel pretty good about how far I’ve come in a week and a half.  Everything I’ve set out to do, I’ve done and I feel great momentum in my mindset as a result from it.

In fact, I’ve done so well I’m giving myself the day off to rest today.  I will go walking in a minute to help burn some calories and continue pushing forward, but I feel like I need to give myself a rest today.  You might be thinking to yourself, “walking?”  It doesn’t sound like much but walking is great workout filler.

Walking gets you on your feet, moving, burning calories, and toning up – especially in warm climates.  Last Summer I visited Williamsburg with no car and had to walk everywhere I went – to and from.  I walked to eat.  I walked to the store.  I walked to the gym.  I walked everywhere.  In one month, I had lost several inches and dropped about 10 pounds.  Keep in mind, I was still vigorously working out, but I credit walking for pushing me over the hump into those fantastic numbers.  One more thing – when you run out of food and have to walk to eat and then walk back you probably can’t even gain weight.

Last night I did about 15-20 minutes on the streets post workout and today I’ll go at it again.  Remember to walk with a purpose when you walk to really build muscle and tone in the process.  Exaggerate your movements, keep your back straight with your head up, and lift your knees.

I’m a little mad at myself for not writing down those measurements I mentioned earlier because that is something I would advise you to do.  It’s just as important as setting a deadline.  Make sure when you start your fitness plan to get access to a measuring tape and a scale.  Also you might want to write down some of your fitness markers to see where you’re stand:

• How fast can you run or walk a mile
• How many pushups can you do without stopping
• How high can you jump
• How far can you stretch

Post from: EveryJoe

Setting Your Fitness Goals and Meeting Them

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The only way a competition works is if you’re very specific about the parameters and measurements.  Loose goals with no clear cut winner will only lead you back to where you were before.  Instead, write down what it takes to win including weight or measurements and/or date.  If you and your opponent both take the competition seriously, you will both reap the rewards from competition.

The challenge shouldn’t be too long or you might lose sight of the end.  I recommend 2 months until the end with challenging but reachable marks (or just straight up who does better).  If you do this right, you’re going to see results win or lose.

Post from: EveryJoe

Competition for Better Fitness

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Looking at the pictures at my best, I really had to think about how I got there, how hard I worked and what I was doing differently then.

It’s really easy to let yourself go and not realize how far off course you’ve gone. You convince yourself that you’re still in pretty good shape and that perhaps you don’t need to work as hard as you did before. You even convince yourself that it’s ok to eat a little out of the norm than you usually would. You convince yourself that your metabolism is still working fast and that little food isn’t going to make a difference.

Sooner or later reality kicks in and you’re left with what I’ve got; a huge case of disgust and disappointment. The lack of working out and the change in diet throws everything right back in to the gutter if you’re not careful. You can make excuses like injury or the holiday foods but maybe you’ve just got lazy and undisciplined. I know I have.

There is nothing anyone else can say to motivate you and get you back on track if you’ve gone astray. It’s up to you to get back in to it. If you need to, take small steps. It’s not easy breaking habits but you can ease yourself out of them little by little. We all fall off every now and then, what’s important is to not fall off for very long. The longer you slack the harder it’s going to be to get back in to the swing of things, just like anything else.

Post from: EveryJoe

How Easy It Is To Let Yourself Go

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Ever since I trimmed down, ever ounce of weight I gain is noticeable. I’m much more self conscious about my weight than I ever was. I never did have the 6-pack abs I talked about yesterday, but I was close. I started trying to gain muscle mass, so I started eating more and training hard. I put back on about half of that 30 lbs in good muscle mass, but along with that muscle I also packed on a bit of fat.  During a dead lift routine a sciatic nerve problem put a dent in my workout that I never quite hammered out. After that, workouts became few and far between. A few months later I started to get back in to another routine. Just when things were going well I got a hand injury that sidelined me again and things just haven’t been quite the same since. I don’t feel the sciatica anymore but I’m always afraid that it will come back if I’m not careful.

Every time I walk by a mirror these days I glance at myself and feel a little disappointed inside. Granted I still stand at about 170 or a little more, I still feel like I let myself go at times. I normally don’t set a date for myself for things but starting on the 1st of May, I’m going to get back in to it and get back in to it hard and work off this weight I’ve put on in the past year or so and get back on top of things.

It’s time to stop talking and start doing again.

Post from: EveryJoe

Are You Self Conscious About Your Fitness?

The average guy in his 20s runs a 1.5 mile in 12:18.  The average guy in his 30s is at 12:51.  Body fat jumps from 15.9% to 19% in the older bracket.  Another measuring stick is stiups in 1 minute.  20 year olds hit 40.  40 year olds topped out at 36.

Here are some more very cool stats:

The nondieting, nonexercising guy will have the most muscle between 18 and 25 years old.  The sedentary guy also gains 1.1 lbs a year and loses 1 pound of muscle in the same time.

69% of men consider themselves physically fit, but only 13% actually are and the consecutive number of pullups for the average guy – a measly 1.  The last cool average man stat is 88% of men don’t belong to a gym.  I know that isn’t an end all, but definitely indicative that a lot of guys aren’t exercising.

I’ll post my weekend workouts tomorrow.  How do you think you’re doing against the average man?

SXC.hu

Post from: EveryJoe

How Do You Measure Up Against Average?

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Here are some exercises to build your calf muscle bigger and give it a more diamond cut.

1. Stair steppers on your toe.

2. Calf raises (rotate your foot angle)

3. Bike riding

4. Jumping Squats

5. Broad Jumps

6. Sprints

7. Lateral speed drills

8. Foot taps (in and out of spot)

As you can see in many of these movements, you are forcing your calves to work by putting pressure on the ball of your foot.  To better isolate your calves, try doing quick jumps off your “toes” using only one foot at a time.  This helps your balance and overloads your calf, helping to build bigger muscle.

Of course with all toning, to truly shred your muscle, you need to participate in cardio to burn off the fat.  The good news is cardio typically simulateously helps your calves.

Post from: EveryJoe

8 Ways To Get Killer Calves

Image: Walmart.com

The bike isn’t what I really wanted, which is a standard road bike with the ram-horn handle bars and narrow tires. I bought an inexspensive Mongoose mountain bike from Wal-mart. I bought a mountain bike because I needed something I could pull off of the pavement if I needed to; plus I might do some trail-riding when I move back up north and this bike will suffice.

I used to do quite a bit of cycling when I was a kid, mainly for playing and later for commuting to work about 8 miles one way. It was probably ther only reason that I didn’t put on a lot of weight when I was a kid. Between swimming and riding bike in the summer time, it’s a wonder that I wasn’t ripped.

If you don’t like running but want some good cardio, buy a bicyle. If you don’t like leaving the house, buy a stationary…but it’s just not the same. The reason for the title is because I know that’s how I’m going to feel after 10 short miles. I plan to work my way back up to 20. That’s my own little Tour De Faux. Oh, and if you ride in the country, try to breathe through your nose. You’ll eat far less bugs that way.

Image: Walmart

Post from: EveryJoe

Legs Of Jello, Back In The Saddle Again

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We’re are all built differently. You may accumulate fat in different areas of your body than I do. My arms and legs don’t get fat. I get fat around my gut, pectorals and around my face. There aren’t specific exercises that I can do to reduce fat in any one area. Our bodies aren’t built like that. When you exercise you use energy. Your body uses fat for energy and it’s not picky about where it uses it from, whether it be around your waist, your arms or around your organs. If you have stomach area fat and “Love handles” people may tell you to “Do sit-ups” or crunches or whatever. You can do sit-ups and it will strengthen and tighten the muscles underneath the fat, making it almost appear as if you are losing weight, but doing sit-ups won’t target that particular fatty area.

If you have flabby arms or “Flags” as I have seen them called, you might as well not even bother with arm exercises or dumb bells. The bottom line is that in order to reduce fat you have to diet and exercise. Like I said, your body is not picky about where it get’s it’s fat energy from.

If you have a lot of loose skin when you lose the weight then you may have to consider surgery. If you don’t have excess it may shrink back in due time, granted your aren’t at an age where your skin is losing it elasticity.

Image: Stock.xchng Contributor vranarc

Post from: EveryJoe

There Is No Such Thing As Spot Reduction

Dieting is never easy. It takes some drastic lifestyle changes depending on what you are currently used to, but dieting alone will not show results in a short period of time. You may lose a few pounds over a months time but most often you can’t actually see results. The truth is that you can reduce caloric intake but your body is not metabolizing the fat that it has already stored for energy. Your body doesn’t want to give up that precious energy source that it has come to store over the years. Instead it will often start to break down muscle proteins for the essential energy that it needs.

If you really want to lose weight and get fit there is no other safe and effective method than to diet and exercise to  reduce your body fat. Unless you want to take the gastric bypass route, and that should only be done in extreme circumstances if needed. In the process of eating right and exercising, your body will start to use the stored fat for energy. You will start to lose body fat while increasing muscle strength and density. While you will be losing body fat and water-weight you may also plateau for some time as your body builds muscle and utilizes fat. You might be seeing results, but when you step on the scale it seems like it doesn’t move much, if any. This brings up the question; “Can you turn fat in to muscle”? No, fat doesn’t magically turn in to muscle and muscle does not turn in to fat. It’s scientifically impossible and is one of the stupidest myths I have ever heard. Sometimes bodybuilders bulk up and get fat in the process. They eat enormous amounts of calories and proteins to build muscle. In the process they put on some fat weight. When the time comes to cut down for a competition, they start taking measures to get lean and “Tone” up. This is a really unhealthy process for the cardiovascular system, and often bodybuilders will have high levels of cholesterol.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the continuation of this article: Cutting Calories and “Toning”

Image ©Blisstree Men’s Health

Post from: EveryJoe

Dieting AND Exercise

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fitness facts that you can take in and pass on to others.

1. After 4 weeks of inactivity, muscle power decreases by 17% (Ref: Journal Of Strength And Conditioning Research)
2. Fitness practice speeds up your metabolism as you burn more calories for energy.
3. Exercising boosts your energy. This coincides with #2. When you exercise your body become more efficient in using fat and food for energy.
4. Exercising lowers stress levels.
5. Exercising builds your endurance. Like everything else, the more you train and harder you work the better and longer you can perform.
6. Exercising keeps you feeling young. It’s one of those “Use it or lose it” things. The human body wasn’t built to be stagnant and immobile.
7. You’ll sleep better. Of course you’ll be responsible for ensuring that you’re getting a good amount of sleep.

The benefits of a proper diet and exercise are almost limitless. Once you get in top fitness, it’s almost impossible to let go.

Post from: EveryJoe

7 Facts About Fitness