Interested in growing muscle? Of course you are! Here are some recommendations from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.  These tips are basic but will improve your weight training workouts when incorporated. Do workouts that maximize muscle mass. Do multiple sets of 8-12 reps per set. Rest approximately 1 minute between sets. Include multi-joint (compound) [...]

Take it easy with all the crunching and abdominal exercises. Having clear cut abs is great. Most train their abs with intentions of showing them off the next time they are at the beach but direct abdominal training or isolating the abs while training is not best. We must also view the abdomen for what [...]

Which foods help or harm your sleeping. Milk doesn’t just help babies fall asleep. It can help all of us hit the sheets. Dairy and other foods contain tryptophan. Typtophan can be sleep inducing. You’ve probably experienced this last year when you took a nap after your Thanksgiving feast! That’s because poultry (turkey), honey, oats, [...]

Improve your cardiovascular endurance by lifting weights. This month’s Men’s Health magazine claims that working with weights will increase your cardio endurance. “Bulking up does more than just turn heads: Resistance training improves cardio endurance. In a 12-Week Norwegian study, cross-country skiers who lifted weights and did cardio were better at fighting off fatigue than the [...]

You take a multi-vitamin, right? You know you should. In many cases we take our daily multi-vitamin at the same time of day, typically with breakfast and washed down with some OJ. “Aaaahhh look at me….cheerios, OJ, multi-vitamin, I’m a health machine” you say to yourself after swallowing. You may also know the importance of [...]

Check your servings. If you are following a strict diet it is important to take note of the changes to serving sizes during a food’s preparation. Rice is a great example. Make sure that your desired serving is described as cooked or uncooked. Many times a serving of rice is listed as uncooked. Well, rice doubles [...]

If your current cardio program isn’t working for you change the intensity. Have a variety of cardio sessions to help your cardiovascular strength and help fat loss. Try cycling between Low Intensity Steady State (LISS) such as walking for 45-60 minutes, moderate intensity training such as jogging or using the elliptical for 30-45 minutes, and High Intensity [...]

Add some lemon to your water. Lemon peel or zest contains pectin which is a soluble fiber and lemon juice contains antioxidants. Both can aid in fat loss. Fiber, of course, can also make you feel fuller. (Women’s Health)   My take-We all know how important it is to get in our 8 glasses of [...]

Get a buzz on at the gym! According to the American College of Sports Medicine  the feel-good effects of  working out can last as long as 12 hours. What does that “workout” need to consist of? You actually only need 20 minutes of moderate intensity. Exercise has even shown to decrease chronic depression. So stop [...]