Review of Bearded Fitness

            Let us take a look at what my site, Bearded Fitness, has to offer you. First and foremost is the content of my blog. I give you, the readers, and quality information regarding the fitness life style and how to get started. From workout programs to quality nutrition plans. Whether you want too loose weight or gain, I have the answer for you.

            You can find the answers I have on the feed page of my blog, where I routinely update content or on the side of my blog as additional pages, where I give you a more in depth analysis of fitness principles. The content of my blog feed is filled with workout schedules, Eating Habits, nutrition, debunking common myths within the field of fitness, and even recommendations on products I personally have tested and blogs I find joy in.

            The more in depth writings I have on additional pages, found to the write of your screen, include How to Build Muscle/Strength, How to Eat 3000 Calories in a Day and the Top 10 best Supplements. Now I know what you must be thinking, “That’s not a lot of information” or “What else can you tell me?” and what I say to that is, please be patient. I am one man trying to provide you with the best quality service I can. It will take time but don’t worry I will be routinely updating Bearded Fitness.

            Just recently I have created an additional site, with the help of Café Press, for the sale of Bearded Fitness Merchandise!! So please stay tuned as I will be adding more products and content for your pleasure. 

Sneeze Page

            In my last few posts I have looked at a variety of products and workouts for you guys to get a base of understanding for your fitness goals. Today I am going to review a few of them and try and establish a more grounded routine.

            Yesterday on October 3, “Product Recommendations”, I discussed some product recommendations for mass gainers and fat cutters, the Syntha-6 and Hydroxycut. As a rule of thumb for this fall and winter season I suggest to just use a protein shake like Syntha-6 and work on building mass and strength then weight loss. This is because during the winter times our bodies are trying to put on fat to keep us warm.

            `I would also continue to use the supplements I discussed in October 2’s post, “Let’s review Some Supplements”, Amino Acids, Vitamin Packs and Protein Shakes with Carbo Gains. These products will help anyone, especially during bulking session, to add on that much desired weight.

            In a Page Link on the right hand side of my blog you will notice a link called How to Build Muscle/Strength, this is a brief discussion and tips on how to truly build muscle, but it contradicts one of my earlier posts “Work Out Schedule”. In this post I layout a beginner’s workout schedule which will work on separate muscle groups each day at the gym, throughout the week. While this is crucial for cutting fat, it doesn’t do much for building muscle. I would suggest for beginners to work more on separate muscle groups as I had laid out in my workout schedule post until you have built up a little muscle, cut fat and really focused on how to lift properly. Once this is done I would switch over to the strength building exercises in the How to Build Muscle/Strength post, that way you know how to lift properly and can really focus on the gains from lifting. 

Product Recommendations

                As a installment to yesterday’s post I am going to make some product recommendations for supplements. Now as I said in my previous post, Let’s Review Some Supplements, I said that these supplements are what work for me and that I have spent the better part of 2 years discovering them. So what I want to do today is discuss a starting point for mass gainers and fat cutters.

Mass Gainers:

                The goal of Mass gainers, or muscle builders, is too eat more calories than they expend. This is mostly a dietary concern that I will discuss later in future post, but a crucial factor is protein and thus finding a great quality protein shake is a necessity. I began my fitness journey with Syntha-6, a lean muscle building agent with three grams of sugar and twenty-two grams of protein per serving. It also gave me a healthy dose of dietary fiber and calcium along with a great boost of amino acids.

                Syntha-6 would be a great product if you are rather over weight because it will allow you too still get the healthy buildup of protein but without all the fat and sugar in a normal diet. I usually consumed around 2-3 servings a day, one in the morning between breakfast and lunch, and another after the gym. Sometimes one before the gym as well, if I didn’t get enough dinner.

Fat Cutters:

                A great supplement that I have heard some really positive reviews of, and plan to use this cutting session or bikini session, is Hyrdoxycut Hardcore Next Gen. Hydroxycut provides a scientifically proven mix to amplify weight loss, thermogenesis and enhances mental focus. They can achieve this will a mixture of Green Coffee, Caffeine, Scullcap and Coleus. I know these term don’t make much sense but esstential what these products do independently is crucial.

1.       Green Coffee acts a blocker of fat within your body.

2.       Caffeine Anhydrous is essential what you get in your morning cup of coffee only more purified. It acts as a trigger for thermogenesis, increased energy and enhanced focus.

3.       Scullap or Blue Scullcap act as an anxiety reducer, essential improving your mood for the gym.

4.       Coleus works in tandem with caffeine, essential improving mood, motivation and energy.

Lets Review some supplements

            Today I am going to giving you guys, and gals, some products that I truly enjoy for my workout routine. A brief introduction of the products I use are Cellucor’s C4 pre-workout, ON’s Amino Acids, “ANIMAL” Vitamin Pack, Dymatize Nutrition’s Protein shake and Now Sports Carbo Gain. As you have noticed I do not have one specific brand that I use over and over again. That is because of my personal body type and motives, each person is going to feel differently from each product, so there is no “right” product supplements too use. These are just the ones I have found to be most beneficial.

            Let’s start with Cellucor’s C4 Pre-Workout watermelon flavored, this is a powerhouse of vitamins and minerals needed to get a body going for a maximum impact workout. It is used about an hour before the gym, as if pre-workout didn’t specify enough, the main ingredients used are what is called the explosive energy blend. A mixture of Caffeine Anhydrous, velvet bean seed extract and tetramethyluric acid. This blend gives you a sheer boost of energy for the gym, so you can push hard faster and longer. But be careful with the dosage, start out small and work your way up.

            Next, my go to supplement, ON’s Amino Acid. As stated in previous articles amino acid is essential muscle recovery and building. The best part of amino acids is that you can drink them at any time you need a little pick me up. In the morning, afternoon or night, before, during and after the gym. But I would not recommend going past 3-4 servings in a given day, you need other sources of amino acids too truly build a better body.

            Next would be ANIMAL Vitamin pack. This pack is a mixture of various vitamins for performance, antioxidant, digestive enzymes and even more amino acids! There is so many vitamins in this pack that I could spend hours just listing them. ANIMAL vitamin pack is what I use to finish off a work out to replenish my body. But you can also eat them before or during a workout to give you that much needed push. This type of supplement is a little more then what is needed for beginners or people just looking too loose weight, but it is essential for mass gainers and athletes.

            The last two supplement I am going to discuss is Dymatize Nutrition’s Protein shake and Now Sports Cardo Gain, the reason I am going to discuss these to simultaneously is because I take both of these supplements at once. The protein shake is filled with 21 grams of protein, 130 calories, 4 grams of basic vitamins and only 4 grams of sugar. While the Carbo Gainer is 63 grams of carbohydrates and 2 grams of sugar. With this combination it creates a power house for muscle repair and growth. Once again these types of supplements are not really needed for beginners and definitely not for those looking to lose weight. These are for the mass gainers mainly.

            I personally believe that all these supplement are a 5 out of 5 stars. They are all at a reasonable price, available at most vitamin stores such as the Vitamin Shop and GNC or online at various retailers. 

Blogs we all can enjoy

            Today I am going to talk a little bit about some of the top bloggers in the fitness world. Lets begin with my personal favorite and also previously mentioned blogger Adam Bornstein of Born Fitness.

http://www.bornfitness.com/blog/

As stated in my previous post I really enjoy Adam’s approach to fitness training and diet coaching. He really cares for the people who read his blog and has created a rather impressive testimonial list. I would recommend his works for anyone trying to get some very detailed information about nutrition and targeting specific muscle groups.

            Although I do believe he does into too great of detail for the average novice to really understand. I mean I have been exercising for the past 2-3 years and I still didn’t completely understand everything he said in only a few blogs I have read. So I would suggest that if you want to read Adam’s blog and retain content, keep a pen a paper handy.

http://www.negharfonooni.com/2015/09/25/thats-that-shit-i-dont-like/

            A new blog that I have recently come across is Eat, Lift and Be Happy by Neghar Fonooni. Her blog is catered towards women and is all about how women can achieve and maintain a healthy and happy lifestyle. Her blog is centers on empowering women and creating an atmosphere of self-love and acceptance. I’m a guy and I still love looking through her blogs from time to time and just absorbing her positive mindset about the world and life she lives.

            As a fitness blog I feel that it is a great resource for women who are just starting to better their nutrition and for women who have spent years developing that lifestyle. In my mind this is a great blog, 10 out of 10 stars.

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/

Another blog I have found great joy in is Nerd Fitness. This blog is written by a group of individuals who, as you guessed it, Nerds. They are men and women who have come together to form a group under their flag of nerdiness and fitness.

I enjoy this blog because it creates a sense of community with its members and gives highlights to individual’s personal fitness accomplishments. I just viewed it today and they discuss Mike, last name withheld, and his amazing transformation from a overweight man to a powerhouse of muscle. The blog didn’t just what Mike did in the gym and how he ate to change himself, but also went into who he was before he began his journey with Nerd Fitness. I, and most likely you, can find his story motivating. 

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.