Tag: Bodybuilding

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Weight Loss Exercise

How and Why to Keep An Exercise Journal


Sticking to a fitness or weight loss program is never easy. However, you’re far more likely to keep going if you can see that you’re making progress. This is where an exercise journal comes in. It’s a great way to keep yourself motivated through those times when you’re just not feeling it, and it’ll also help you to form great habits.

How to Create Your Own Exercise Journal

wordartThe crucial part about keeping an exercise journal is that it needs to become part of your daily routine. This means that it needs to be simple enough so that you’ll actually bother with it! This is why you’ll probably want to avoid creating something overly complicated.

If it helps, go out and buy a brand new notebook in a design you really like, along with some brand new pens for writing in the journal. You don’t need to do this, but it could give you that extra excitement you need to get going!

You could also purchase a journal designed specifically for this purpose. There are a number available, and they are basically designed as fill-in-the-blanks diary books. It’s something you can do yourself, but buying one ready made will save you some money.

What To Note In Your Journal

If you’re into strength training and bodybuilding then it makes sense to note down your sets and reps. Every week or month you can go back over this information and see how you’re able to endure more and more as time goes on. You can also use this information to get bigger by using a technique known as progressive overload, which basically means you’re always using heavier and heavier weights.

For cardio and stretching sessions an exercise journal can be used to note down what you did and how long you did it for. If you’re using gym equipment, you can note down some of the top stats from your workout. You can then use this information to motivate you when you’re not feeling it, or to help you overcome any plateau in your workouts. If you’ve gotten lazy lately, use your journal to find out a way to push yourself just higher than you’ve ever worked out before.

In short, an exercise journal is a perfect tool to keep you aware of your previous goals and to give you something to work towards. It can be a huge boost to your motivation, and could mean the difference between success and failure!


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Weight Loss Exercise

How to Keep A Food Journal


Though exercise and weight training are very important factors for increasing your fitness and losing weight, you absolutely cannot outwork a bad diet. Your body needs certain nutrients to thrive, and it needs them in the right quantities to create the physique you want. A food journal can help you to understand exactly what’s going into your body, leaving you better equipped to plan your workouts and calorie goals.

When you write down everything you’re eating each day, you automatically become a lot more mindful about food. It’s easy to snack away on junk all day without really thinking about it, but when it comes time to write down every single thing you’ve eaten you might be shocked! This alone is motivation enough for many people to lose weight.

What To Track In Your Food Journal

Food Journal

How to Track your eating in a Food Journal

If you’re trying to lose weight, it’s important that your food journal shows that you created a calorie deficit for the day – that is, that you ate fewer calories than those you burned off through exercise. If you’re trying to build muscle, on the other hand, you’ll need to eat extra calories. Although you might think you can track this mentally, a journal is far more effective.

If you’re into bodybuilding then you’ll also want to keep track of your macronutrients throughout the day. When working out your bodybuilding aims, you’ll know how many proteins, fats and carbohydrates you should eat each day. A journal will ensure you’re keeping on track. If you’ve made progress, or are suffering from a lack of progress, then you can even look back through your food journal to try and find out why.

So, on a most basic level you should include the name of the food, the size of the portion and the number of calories it contained. You can also include details of protein, carbs and fats, and you can make use of a digital kitchen scale or a smartphone app if you want to note down more detailed stats.

If you’re an emotional eater then you can also use the food journal as a place to note down how you feel when you eat certain foods. This will leave you more connected to your emotions and in a much better position to understand the triggers that cause you to eat more than you should.

Yes, a food journal does take effort. However, if you start a new weight loss or diet goal without keeping track of your progress, the chances are strong that you’ll just give up without really trying.


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Weight Loss Exercise

Bodybuilding Revealed


I am not a bodybuilder, nor am I destined to become one in this lifetime. However, when I started reading “Brink’s Bodybuilding Revealed“, I could not put it down.

What is BodyBuilding Revealed?

Bodybuilding Revealed

Bodybuilding Revealed

This 632 page book is very well-written and full of useful and interesting information. You get virtually everything you could possibly want to know about bodybuilding, whether you are a beginner, intermediate level, or advanced.

Will Brink is responsible for the majority of this book. His focus is on new bodybuilders and more intermediate level guys and gals.

The topics Brink covers  in Bodybuilding Revealed include:

Bodybuilding Revealed Chapter 1 – Nutrition – which explains fat, protein and carbohydrates, goes into detail about the glycemic index, includes the “Brink Pyramid”, Brink’s Top 10 Bodybuilding Foods, and a section entitled Vegetarians vs. Meat Eaters.

Bodybuilding Revealed Chapter 2 – Constructing Your Muscle-Building Diet – this is the core of his diet and nutrition plan, and he goes into detail on resting metabolic rate, the thermic effect of a meal, and the energy expenditure of physical energy. This Chapter also includes the Meal Planner and how to use it.

Bodybuilding Revealed Chapter 3 – Getting Organized – in this Chapter, you learn how to set up your kitchen, dine out, and how to use the Diet Planner and Food Database.

Bodybuilding RevealedChapter 4 – Completing the Picture – in this Chapter you learn how to work smarter, track your progress and use the Accumeasure to measure your body’s composition.

Bodybuilding Revealed Chapter 5 – Supplements – this Chapter reviews a number of popular supplements and reminds you that you can find over 440 supplement reviews in the Members’ Area Forum.

Bodybuilding RevealedChapter 6 – Training – this Chapter covers the three and four days splits that most bodybuilders use. More advanced information can be found in the articles by Charles Poliquin and in the Members’ Area Forum.

Bodybuilding RevealedChapter 7 – Cardio – Brink goes into detail on cardio and answers the question, “Does Cardio Help…Or Hinder Muscle Gain?”

Charles Poliquin has a great section – towards the end of the book – called “Individualization of Mass Building Programs” – which is targeted to the more advanced body builders. In addition, this section also includes:

  • Poliquin’s 21 Training For Mass Principles
  • Introduction to ‘Sample Training Programs’
  • Sample Training Programs
  • Are You Delusional About Your Fiber Makeup?

One very convenient feature of the ebook is the hyperlinks in each Chapter that lead you to videos and other information on Brink’s website that explain each exercise.

And, there’s more – this isn’t only an ebook. At the website you will find:

  • A Members’ Area Forum, with paid professional moderators to answer all of your questions
  • An exercise database
  • Meal Planners, recipes, and shopping tips
  • Good foods and foods to avoid
  • And, much, much more

If you get confused at all the bodybuilding terms, never fear. Brink includes an appendix with a “Glossary of Bodybuilding Jargon and Slang” and another appendix with “Brink’s Top Mass Gaining Foods.”

As a bonus, included are three training reports by Evan R. Peck, M.D.:

  • Overcoming Training Plateaus
  • Misconceptions of Muscle Soreness
  • Weight Training Injuries

In another very useful bonus, Brink gives you more than ten pages of “Brink’s Hybrid Training System” that “attempts to utilize all of the energy pathways by varying rep ranges, volume, tempo, etc. without over emphasizing any one pathway”.

Should you buy Bodybuilding Revealed?

This is an excellent ebook with access to many bonuses on Brink’s website. Anyone truly interested in bodybuilding should own a copy. Even couch potatoes like me found it full of useful information I could apply to my life.

Whether you are a bodybuilder – or not – you can improve your fitness and health with the information in this well-written ebook Bodybuilding Revealed.