Month: May 2011

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Weight Loss Exercise

Meal Sizes and Frequency


Meal sizes and frequency are very important. Over the years people are amazed by how much food I eat at work in a day and part of this can probably be explained by decent genetics but more importantly I make sure that I have a higher metabolism by eating more smaller meals.

Most people will eat Breakfast lunch and dinner or even less often as in the case of my parents where the only real meals are breakfast and dinner. I on the other hand eat at 7:30, 10:00 12:00 3:00 5:30 and 8:00. I have been eating six times a day for years. My only large meal is dinner the other feedings are smaller snacks even lunch and breakfast.

There are a few reasons to eat small meals often:

  • One reason to eat a smaller meal is that your body can not metabolize as much food as the average North American eats so some is wasted and some is stored as fat.
  • Secondly, if you go a long time between meals your body stores food as fat to get you between meals when your blood sugar drops.
  • Thirdly, you blood sugar will fluctuate a lot during the day if you have a big meal then a long break and then another meal and you will feel your energy constantly going up and down.
  • Fourthly, you can really vary what you eat and enjoy food more when you do not have four or five things to eat at a time.

Here is a sample of what my day will have for food:

7:30 Bagel and Natural Peanut Butter
10:00 Apple, protein bar, coke
12:00 Frozen lunch entrée or leftovers from last nights dinner
3:00 banana, chocolate bar and a granola bar
5:30 a regular dinner, Meat, vegetables and maybe desert
8:00 popcorn or fruit

You will notice that this is not the best diet, I really have some work to do still but the meals are spaced and the sizes are smaller.

One of the most important ways to look at food and meals is that you should eat six meals a day and each of these meals should have about 30 grams of protein and 50 grams of carbohydrates. This kind of meal is important as it will give you the energy you need to get through a great day including a hard workout. With a meal this size as well you should not gain weight and you should not waste any protein, your body can assimilate this much protein every three hours or so.

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Weight Loss Exercise

How To Build Body And Muscle Fast


Finding out how to build body and increase muscle mass is simple. It really comes down to two things: working out, and giving your body the right fuel.

1. How To Build Body Working Out

Obviously, body builders have to train. There is no shortcut here, although of course there are ways to increase the effectiveness of the training that you do. The first of these ways is to make sure that you have an efficient bodybuilding workout routine.

This means deciding which exercises you will do on which days. It is vital to plan this because each muscle needs at least one full day recovery time between workouts. The workout breaks down the muscle and the recovery time is when it builds up again, stronger than before. That’s why more training is not necessarily better.

To build muscle size rather than strength, aim for sets of around 10 reps with a short rest of around 1 minute between sets.

The importance of good form cannot be over emphasized. You must learn to do each exercise correctly in the beginning when you are learning how to build body and have somebody check your form from time to time too. A qualified trainer is best. If you must learn from a video, at least have a buddy there to watch that you are doing everything correctly. You cannot work out and look in the mirror at the same time.

You need to push your muscles to fatigue, so that they are stressed enough to trigger the muscle building during recovery time. However, you should never exercise beyond the point where you have good form. Your last rep should be the last one that you can do with perfect form. If you get tired sooner, reduce the weight; if you could have done several more, increase it.

It helps to have a buddy to act as spotter when you are figuring this out, especially on a bench press. They can help you with the weight and avoid accidents if you find you have lifted one rep too far.

2. How To Build Body With The Right Fuel

When you want to build muscle rather than fat it is vital to have the right food. Avoid junk and sugary foods and concentrate on proteins and complex carbohydrates. Drink plenty of water through the day. Cut down on alcohol.

Proteins include meat and dairy but also beans, nuts and seeds. There is even some protein in vegetables. Complex carbohydrates are whole grain carbs such as brown rice, whole grain bread, oatmeal, corn etc, plus fruit and starchy vegetables like potatoes and carrots.

Most bodybuilders add whey protein, creatine or other supplements to their diets. Remember that these are not intended to replace a healthy diet, only to supplement it.

During your workout, choose a sports drink that includes protein as well as carbs. This is the best combination for reducing muscle damage plus fast muscle building and recovery. Follow this with a high carb drink or snack within a half hour after your workout, to stimulate glycogen production.

Eat often and eat smaller meals to keep your body’s supply of fuel steady and even. Figure out some healthy snacks. When it comes to learning how to build body and muscle mass, it is much better to have 5-6 small meals than 2-3 large ones.

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Weight Loss Exercise

A Body Building Routine That Works


Finding a body building routine that works is not as easy as many beginner bodybuilders think. First, there is such a huge number of possible routines. This is not surprising when you consider how many muscle groups there are to work and how many possible exercises there are for each one. When you think about all the combinations you could make, you can see that the number of possible workout routines for body building is almost infinite.

Copying somebody else’s routine is not usually the best way to go. You are not going to develop the same body as the current Mr. Universe by reading up on his routine and doing the same thing yourself. It is very unlikely that your body is ready for exactly the same workout that he does right now.

A Starting Body Building Routine

A Body Building Routine That Works

Starting Body Building Routine

So what do you do? If you are just starting out, then probably any standard beginner body building routine will do fine. It is true that what works for one person will not necessarily work for anybody else but in the beginning it is okay to figure out your best plan by trial and error.

However, you do need to be sure that your workout routine covers all of the bases. Check it out against the following scheme. And if you want to plan your own body building routine, this is a good way to go.

First, note down all the muscle groups that you need to work. That is pretty much all the muscles in the body. Do not forget the core and especially the muscles of the back. It is dangerous to overdevelop the chest, shoulders and abs while neglecting the back because you can so easily cause an injury there.

Then choose an exercise that works each group. This could involve dumbbells, a barbell, or gym machines such as the bench press. Some exercises will work out more than one muscle group.

Now you are ready to plan your body building routine so that each muscle group is worked around twice a week with at least one full day of rest between. It is good to give yourself a couple of days of complete rest from working out, too.

Watch Your Results – Is your Body Building Routine Working?

What if nothing seems to be working? First, consider whether you are giving your muscles enough rest. Bodybuilders who do not get the results they expect are often guilty of overtraining. Remember that the muscles are broken down during your workout. The time that they build mass is during the recovery time. So do not be tempted to overtrain.

Second, look at other factors such as your diet. Are you getting the right amount of protein and carbs at the right times? Have you looked into possible supplements that you might take?

Lastly, keep in mind that it is good practice to change your routine around from time to time. This counters boredom and more importantly, works the muscles a little differently than what they may be used to. You will often find that changing out one ab exercise for another or using a different press at the gym will be the catalyst that you need to start gaining muscle mass again. All of these tips will help you figure out a body building routine that works.