Lets Analyze a Born Fitness Blog

Let’s take a look at one of my favorite blogger, Born Fitness, written by Adam Bornstein. I enjoy Adam's blog because it not only gives useful information about fitness and proper nutrition it also gives you motivation techniques and testimonials from people he has actually helped. 

The Born Fitness blog itself has a very easy to navigate site with tabs on the left side of the page for Fitness, Motivation, Nutrition, Recipes and Testimonials. There is also an easy to use search bar for the quick questions you might have. On the right side of the page there are quick links to posts of the week for each of the categories on the opposite side, giving the page a nice framing look too it. Within the middle of the page is the author’s latest content. The most recent article being “The New Rules of Specialization: How to ad Muscle Mass”. I found this article personally very insightful.

Adam doesn’t speak in his writing as a third person or as a friend really, he speaks as a teacher would or in this case as a trainer. The content within this post was perfect, he presented the material straight forward, clearly and sectioned it too make it easier to read.

Basically what Adam said was, “Muscle Mass doesn’t just happen, and it takes time to grow” Muscle growth is the result of three factors: Muscle tension, Metabolic Stress, and Muscle damage. 

1. Muscle tension is how much strain you put your muscle through during a rep, such as a bench press. When you reach the height of your bench press your chest muscle’s relax, to create tension you need to squeeze your muscles, as though you were raising the bar in the press, at the height of your extension

2. Metabolic stress is the burning feeling you get when you work a muscle hard. The more you work the warmer it gets, to a certain limit. To work this is to vary your weight and reps so you are doing a high weight where it takes an effort to reach 8 reps.

3. Muscle damage is the simple tearing of muscle that I know sound bad but it happens whenever you lift anything heavy. It’s all natural. But after a time your muscles become used to this “tearing”, so to combat this you need to either change up your work out, increase weight or stretch your muscles while lifting.

Adam also goes into a workout duration focusing on specific body parts. This I believe is a little too much for beginners like ourselves. So we will stay with the first workout schedule I have laid out in my previous post. 

I have provided you the link to the article I was discussing below.

http://www.bornfitness.com/the-new-rules-of-specialization-how-to-add-muscle-mass/ 

Work Out Schedule

When developing a work out structure remember to section of muscle groups for each day.
You should section off muscle as such
1. Chest and Bicep
2. Shoulders, Triceps and Back
3.Leg Day (All lower body exercises)
This sectioning can be adjusted as you see fit but this is what I original started at for basic health and fitness.
Before we go into the actual exercises you need to do a warm-up. This will consist of a 10-15 minute jog, this you will complete after stretches.
http://www.muskingumrecreationcenter.org/2014/07/the-benefits-of-stretching/
Above is a link of the benefits of stretching.

Here is a basic guide for stretches. By no means do I expect you to do all of these stretches. Pick about 4-5 stretches and take 5 minutes to do them. Afterwards you should step onto a treadmill for some light aerobic exercise. Set the timer for 10-15 minutes with the incline on at least a 5. This will make you have to push harder through your warm-up. The speed you need to set at a level that cause you to pick up your feet into a light jog. Do your best too keep this job up through the 15 minutes. If you cant don't be discouraged you will get there.

Now lets section of this groups into days of the week with proper rest days in between.
Monday- Chest and Biceps
Chest

1. Barbell Bench Press- 4 sets of 5-8 reps
2. Dumbbell Bench Press- 4 sets of 8-12 reps
3. Pec Deck (Also called the hug machine) Burn round- 50 reps as few sets as needed

Biceps

1. Standing Dumbbell Curl- 4 sets of 5-8 reps
2. Alternating Dumbbell Curls- 4 sets of 8-12 reps
3. EZ Bar Curl- 4 sets of 8-12 reps
4. Cable Bicep Curl- Burn round- 50 reps in as few as needed sets

Tuesday- Rest day

Wednesday- Shoulders. Triceps and Back

Shoulders

1. Over head Barbell Press- 4 sets 5-8 reps
2. Arnold Press- 4 sets of 8-12 reps
3. Over head Dumbbell Press- 4 sets of 8-12 reps
4. Lateral Raise- Burn Round- 50 reps in as few sets as needed

Triceps

1. Triceps Extension- 4 sets of 8-12 reps
2. EZ Bar Skull Crushers- 4 sets of 8-12 reps
3. Triceps Cable Pull downs- Burn round- 50 reps in as few sets as needed

Back

1. Dead-lift- 4 sets of 5-8 reps
2. Compound Row- 4 sets of 8-12 reps
3. Up Right Row- Burn Round- 50 reps in as few sets as needed

Thursday- Rest Day

Friday- Leg Day

1. Back Squats- 4 sets of 5-8 reps
2. Leg Curl- 4 sets of 8-12 reps
3. Leg Extension- 4 sets of 8-12 reps
4. Lunges- Burn Round- Lunge walk 25 feet, rest and walk back (Total of 50 Feet)

Saturday- Rest day

Sunday- Rest day

The weights you add to each exercise will depend on you. What you want is to have weight for each exercise so that it is difficult to reach 12 reps. If you can reach past 12 reps add five pounds to your weight for the next round and do this until it is difficult to reach 12 reps. 

How to Change your Eating Habits

            I have noticed, myself included, that most people try to change their entire way of eating to make them loose weight quickly, so they follow a diet or as I call them, Fad Meals. While these Fade Meals will help you too loose weight they don’t instill within your mind a proper eating cycle. You simply think, “I am doing this for my Diet”.

            So what happens when you reach your goal? You stop your diet and go back to your “normal” eating style, gaining all that weight back. So instead of doing Fade Meals, let’s create a style of eating for success.

            We need to make small but significant changes too our eating partners and type of foods we ingest. For myself I was a person who awoke each day to a pop tart or some sort of sugary cereal. Then something random for lunch, usually fast food. I finish my day with something greasy or cheap to make, there would be some snacking in between of candy or chocolate in between.

            To change this I began with the first and most important meal of the day, Breakfast. When you eat breakfast you need to refuel yourself from the 8 or so hours of sleeping. I usually begin my day with a small salad of spinach and about two scrambled eggs on top, with some veggies or fruit with it. You can choose whatever meal you would prefer for breakfast, but I suggest having a good sized portion of protein with vitamins that you can get from vegetables.

            Lunch I will usually eat something light but filled with vitamins. Such as a chicken salad. This is simply a chicken breast or thigh backed and sliced over lettuce. The lettuce will usually have some sort of vinegar or dressing, remember to keep it light.

            Dinner is where I usually try and check up on proteins and carbohydrates I have missed throughout the day. So I enjoy a good sized steak, about the size of a deck of cards is recommended but I eat about twice that. A backed potato with sour cream and cheese. With a big sized side of vegetables.

            The main thing you want to control is portion size. If making a change of what you eat is too big of a step, then simply take what you are currently eating and cut the portion size in half. Also to remember to cut out any and all unnecessary snacking or supplement these snacks with vegetables. Vegetables are the king of foods for weight loss. While protein and carbohydrates are the king for body builders. 

http://www.realtime.net/anr/10eattip.html  
Here is a link to a similar blog with 10 tips to healthy eating. 

Common Misconceptions and Myths

Today I am going to discuss some myths and misconceptions that people will have about exercise and fitness.

1. Girls getting huge from lifting weights
This is a typical argument women have towards weight lifting, “I don’t want to get big muscles and look like a man.” Now while this is possible for women to gain large muscles through strength gaining it is utterly impossible if the woman doesn’t eat enough calories to grow these muscles. A typical body builder, aka men and women who have giant muscles for competition’s, have to eat somewhere around 3000-4000 calories a day. I know that doesn’t sound like a lot but trust me it is. I am a 6 foot tall 190 pound male who lives an active life style and I can barely get past 2500 on my daily intake of calories. So ladies if you are worried about “bulking up” and gaining weight because of lifting, you can’t as long as you keep a 2000 calorie diet going.

2. Exercise will Erase my Bad Eating Habits
This is an agonizing discussion to have with someone just starting out. People think that they can continue to eat “crappy” and just work out to counter act the ill effects of the so called “food” they shoved down their throats. To live a healthy life style you need to eat as healthy and clean as possible. I personally try to eat mainly fruit and vegetables to keep myself energized. Ideally with the exercise plan provides in previous blog and eating a consistent 2000 calorie diet of fruits, vegetables, lean meats, dairy and carbs your body will naturally fall to its normal body type.

3. I can reduce fat in a single area in my body “Usually the mid-section”
I am sorry to say this but, no. That does not work at all. Fat is throughout your entire body and you can just burn sections, it’s all or nothing. A person can’t get those six-pack abs they have been dreaming by doing 1000 crunches if they have 20% body fat.

4. Ill burn more fat on an empty stomach, so I won’t eat anything before the gym.
Well it is technically true that working out on an empty stomach will burn more calories because your body has to go into fat reserves, it will also break down muscle to fuel you. So it ends up being counter intuitive. My advice is to eat a whole meal an hour before the gym, that way you have food broken down and in your system but food still filling you.

5. Only Eat Egg White and not the Yolks
This is just sad that Egg yolks continue to have such a bad reputation. The yolk of the egg has half the protein and most of the vitamins and minerals needed for repair of muscle groups. It is true that eating white yolks for breakfast will help reduce weight but it is usually caused by a drop in sugar levels in your body, so your body begins breaking down its stores too balance this drop.

Gym Necessities

Gym content

Today I am going to discuss everything that you will need to get yourself started.

1.       Gym items

a.       Breathable shorts and shirt

b.      Clean clothes to change into afterwards

c.       Gym shoes, also called running shoes.

d.      Gym bag, need a dedicated gym bag because over time it will develop its own smell from your            gym shoes and clothes

e.      Music player with headphones (Optional but recommended)

2.       Gym membership (Optional)

a.       I always recommend a gym membership because it is a place where you can focus completely on       your work.

b.      Any gym will work, but make sure the hours of operation work with your work schedule. I prefer       24/7 gyms.

3.       Water bottle- Hydration is key. Need to consume around 1 oz. of what for every pound you                  weigh. I am 185 pounds so I try and consume at minimum 150 oz in a day.

4.       Supplements: These are intended for people who wish to not only lose weight but build muscle.

a.       Protein powder- Helps build muscle and refuel after the gym.

b.      Amino Acid mix- Which assist in the breaking down and building of protein into muscle.

c.       Glut amine- Acts similar to Amino Acids, helping the breaking and building of proteins.

5.       What to eat before the gym. Make sure they are small meals or snacks. You need to be “Fueled”          but not weighed down for extraneous work.

a.       Apple with ½ of peanut butter

b.      Single chicken thigh/breast with 1 cup of rice

c.       Yogurt and granola with fresh fruit.

6.       After the gym, the metabolic hour. Once you finish your routine your body will be craving                 calories to replace the ones lost so your metabolism will be in over drive. This is not the go ahead       to eat whatever you want, but it is necessary that you eat a sizeable portion of food.

a.       Muscle builders- High Protein and calorie intake (Protein and Carbohydrates)

                                                               i.      Protein shake

                                                             ii.      Eggs and ham with hash browns

                                                            iii.      Chile, I consume around 32oz after the gym

                                                           iv.      Chicken and rice

b.      Weight Lose- Low calorie and nutritional value (Vegetable based)

                                                               i.      Salads are your new best friend. Shredded Chicken breast over spinach/kale                                          with peppers, tomatoes and a light dressing.

                                                             ii.      Small portion of chicken with a lot of veggies. Usually broccoli, peppers  and                                        carrots

To note for body builders you are going to want to eat around 3000-3500 calories in a day to gain proper strength and muscle. For those interested in weight loss a 2000 calorie diet is great.

I will discuss more meal options in a later blog, but this is a rough idea of some meal plans and what will be necessary for an exceptional work out.

It is best to make these meals before you hit the gym, that way you can just get back and eat quickly.

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