Energy Levels for the Fit

Fitness itself is defined as the ability of the human body to function with vigor and alertness, without undue fatigue and with ample energy to engage in leisure activities, and to meet physical stresses.

Fitness refers to the condition of our physical body and mental fitness would of course be addressing our mental state. When our bodies are physically fit, we should have enough energy to address all of the activities that are faced by our peers, and at the end of the day, still have some energy left for our families.

Learning to incorporate fitness into our daily routine is where the biggest obstacle to fitness is placed.  Many of us would truly benefit from being more physically fit; we simply do not want to devote the time it would take to condition our bodies.  We would rather sit at the table and chat with our friends or tune in to the latest hit television series, than devote thirty minutes each day to our health.

Walking is one of the most productive forms of exercise, and causes a tremendous increase in our energy levels.  The benefit seen from adding just 20 minutes of walking to your daily routine are unbelievable.

I can attest to the tremendous increase in energy, as a participant in walking for exercise.  I lost a total of 74 lbs. in one year, by simply adding walking to may routine.  I had been dieting for almost two months, with very little in the way of results.  Walking was suggested by my physician, and I’ve never been so impressed.  My energy levels were three times what they were prior to beginning the walking, and I truly enjoyed the peace of mind that I achieved during those daily walks.

I think exercise and being fit does something for a person’s self-esteem, and the mind.  Deeper forms of relaxation accompany physical fitness.  When meditation is incorporated into the routine, the energy levels continue to soar.  When you are able to relax, and truly enjoy the way your body feels, and the accomplishment of a day’s tasks, you can renew physically for the next day, overnight.  That’s one of the greatest benefits of exercise and fitness, tremendous energy.

Physically, what is happening to us as we become more fit?  It’s a process that has been addressed so many times, but we fail to make the connection most of the time.  Our metabolic process is a finely tuned process.  When we have it working at maximum capacity, we feel great.  We’re eating right, exercising, and our metabolism is making the most of those calories we’re consuming.  It fires up and runs, into overdrive if necessary, in order to keep that energy coming.  It’s a concept our forefathers really didn’t need to understand, because their living conditions kept them physically fit.  Today, however we’ve become quite sedentary, and our livelihood no longer requires us to physically work, we do the mental work all day, and sit while we are on the job.  No physical activity interferes with our preprogrammed way of living.  Our bodies still function just like our grandfather’s needed.  But we’ve changed the process, our bodies haven’t.

That’s why we still need to keep physically fit, If not through our work, we need recreational routines to accomplish that task.  It will keep us healthy, running at top speed, and feeling great!

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If you’ve been working out for any amount of time, you’re probably well acquainted with fatigue—that sensation of your muscles being “done,” “cooked,” “toast”… You know, the “please have mercy before I’m permanently trapped under this weight,” or “you might just have to drag me off the track because I’ve collapsed” feeling.

We typically use the term fatigue to describe general sensations of tiredness and the accompanying decreasing muscular performance. What this really means is we “hit the wall” and can no longer perform reps on a particular lift; we can no longer run any farther or harder; we can no longer produce the “optimal” output of muscular contractions as we did at the beginning of the set or workout.

What Is Muscle Fatigue?

Fatigue is a very complex phenomenon in which multiple sites fail during muscular work. The underlying causes of fatigue fall into one of two categories: central (neuromuscular—the mind/central nervous system) and local (peripheral—the actual muscle site).

The central nervous system (CNS) acts much like an automobile engine regulator. Most cars are made with a regulator that causes them to “shut down” when the engine revs too high for too long. This mechanism protects the engine from “over-heating.” In the same way, our brains attempt to protect our muscles from tearing by reducing the rate nerve impulses are sent to our working muscles. In most cases, you’ll experience central fatigue before local fatigue. In other words, when you think you simply can’t do any more work because you’re so fatigued, essentially what’s happening is your mind is telling your body (muscles) to shut down. But in fact, you’re probably able to continue for another couple of reps.

“…when you think you simply can’t do any more work because you’re so fatigued, essentially what’s happening is your mind is telling your body (muscles) to shut down.”Local fatigue is related to local factors that limit the ability to perform muscular work. These include the energy systems (ATP-CP, glycolysis, and oxidation); the accumulation of metabolic byproducts (such as lactic acid); and the failure of the muscle fiber’s contractile mechanisms. The energy systems act much the same way as fuel in a car or a battery in a flashlight. However, humans are different in that we have three energy systems within the muscle’s cells that are called upon at different times depending on the intensity and duration of an activity.

The first energy system is called the ATP-CP system and is called upon during extremely short and intense bouts of exercise (e.g., weight training, sprinting, and jumping). It works by repeatedly breaking down ATP (the basic currency of energy in the body) and rebuilding ATP using CP (creatine phosphate). During repeated maximal contractions, fatigue coincides with CP depletion.

The other two energy systems are called into play during exercises that last longer than 30 seconds. Known as anaerobic (or glycolytic) and aerobic (or oxidative), these energy systems are very dependent on the availability of glycogen (the stored form of glucose—sugar). As with CP use, the rate of glycogen depletion is controlled by the intensity (i.e., how hard you train) of the exercise.

During sprinting, for instance, muscle glycogen may be used 35 to 40 times faster than during walking. Glycogen depletion and hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) limit performance in activities lasting longer than 30 minutes. Long-distance runners often speak of “bonking” or “hitting the wall.” This refers to a perceived fatigue usually related to glycogen depletion. At this point, the body begins to use other forms of energy, such as fat and protein (which are not as efficient sources, thus making it harder to sustain energy levels).

During high-intensity anaerobic exercise, such as sprinting and weight training, our bodies produce metabolic byproducts such as lactic acid and CO2. As these accumulate in our bodies, our ability to maintain the duration and intensity of exercise diminishes. And, when they finally reach a point of saturation, our muscle capacity comes to a screeching halt. This is often referred to as the “burn,” whereby the muscle feels like it’s on fire—signaling you to stop.

Got all that? I realize it sounds like some fairly complex processes, which they are, so here are a few instances I’m sure you can relate to that will help clarify how these energy systems work in our bodies, and more importantly, how we can assist our bodies to increase their output and delay (or temporarily overcome) the onset of muscle fatigue.

How Can You Overcome Muscle Fatigue?

While we can’t completely overcome muscle fatigue, we can certainly delay it. But, sometimes this delay can be the difference between sprinters winning or losing in competition or allow weight trainers to “push out” a few more reps (to produce new levels of strength and muscle gains). There are many strategies we can use to accomplish this goal, but here are a few I’ve found over the years to be particularly effective:

Diet

First, we must ensure your diet is optimized. Consuming an adequate amount and ratio of carbohydrates, fat, and protein is paramount. Typically, endurance athletes require more carbohydrates (anywhere between 40 and 60% carbs) than strength athletes but slightly less protein (from 30 to 35%); whereas strength trainers (weight lifters) or those who regularly participate in sporting activities should consume equal or greater amounts of protein to carbohydrates on a daily basis (about a 40:40 ratio of carbs to protein). In essence, carbs are to the body like fuel is to a car—they provide the necessary fuel to maintain or sustain energy levels during workouts.

Hydration

A common mistake made by many athletes is the failure to stay well hydrated. I am not talking about drinking when you’re thirsty (as you may know, thirst is a sign your body is already slightly dehydrated). The importance of being properly hydrated cannot be overlooked. Dehydration can lead to significant performance decrements, not to mention the risk of sickness and, in severe cases, death. Even a three to four percent drop in body water levels (signaled by thirst and fatigue) can decrease your muscular contractions by 10 to 20%. To combat this, at least 10 to 12 glasses (eight ounces each) of water (this doesn’t count sodas, coffee, or juices) should be consumed daily—always including during and after events when your body is perspiring.

Recovery

Adequate rest is very important for delaying premature fatigue. Inadequate rest during training (i.e., between sets) and between workouts can cause unnecessary fatigue. A great rule of thumb for resting time between sets is just long enough to catch your breath. Squats take a little longer to recover from (maybe two to three minutes) because you’re training such a large muscle group. For smaller muscles, like biceps, you would need a much shorter rest—more like 45 to 60 seconds at most.

Another quick tip: recent research that studied the effects of enhancing recovery between sets showed that keeping intensity high after completed sets allowed weight trainers to perform more reps in later sets compared with those who passively recovered (sat) between sets. This means we need to keep moving during rest periods, so instead of sitting down to rest, walk around or go to another exercise for a different muscle group.

One of the most common (and fatal) errors I see with weight trainers, both beginner and advanced alike, is over-training. Trapped by our “more is better” mentality, many of us seem to think if we train longer, harder, and more often, we’ll multiply our results. Nothing could be more detrimental to your efforts to put on muscle and gain strength than training muscle groups too frequently. In fact, over-training can significantly impede the body’s ability to properly recover and rebuild itself. Only through enough rest (which includes proper sleep) and an adequate number of days in between training, will the body be able to recover and rebuild itself. The most common signs of over-training are lethargy, chronic fatigue, continued muscle soreness, insomnia, and a decrease in strength. If you sense any of these coming on, try taking off a day or two more in between training sessions and see how you feel.

“Trapped by our “more is better” mentality, many of us seem to think if we train longer, harder, and more often, we’ll multiply our results.”For adequate recovery times between workouts (of the same muscle group), consider this: the smaller the muscle group, the faster the recovery; the more intense (speed of workout), the longer the recovery; and the higher the volume (i.e., the number of reps) and lower the load (weight), the faster the recovery, and vice versa of course. In general, I normally suggest not training a muscle if it’s still sore, and then once the tenderness subsides, I say give it another day on top of that.

Supplements

There are many supplements that can help today’s athlete postpone muscular fatigue. Endurance athletes may benefit greatly from carbohydrate/electrolyte beverages such as Revenge, Gatorade, Ultra Fuel, and a great new supplement called G-Push. These contain precise ratios of carbohydrates and electrolytes (vital salts and minerals) that can replace those lost during prolonged exercise, as well as enhance the body’s ability to sustain long-term energy.

Nutritional stimulants such as caffeine (or its herbal counterpart guarana) can help delay fatigue for two reasons. First, it stimulates a cascade of hormones that cause a release of free-fatty acids into the bloodstream, causing the body to burn fat while sparing carbohydrates to use as energy. Second, it affects the CNS, thus postponing central fatigue and decreasing the perceived difficulty of the exercise.

However, if you can’t handle the jittery, nervous-type feelings you get from stimulants (such as caffeine), you might give supplements like tyrosine or Ginkgo biloba a try. These supplements are not stimulants, so they do not affect your central nervous system (which causes the nervousness). Rather, they help increase your mental alertness and delay central fatigue (in the brain), thus helping to crank up your workout intensity.

And, let’s not forget creatine monohydrate, which has been scientifically shown to aid short-duration, high-intensity exercise, such as weight training. It increases the body’s creatine phosphate stores needed to replenish ATP, thus delaying the onset of glycolysis. In other words, creatine helps quickly replenish energy stores within the muscle cells, allowing you to work out longer and harder, which may lead to increased strength and muscle gains.

Last Words

So there you have it… there’s nothing fancy here… but enough to get you through that next workout with a little more flare and pizzazz! With the information at hand, you’re now armed with practical, safe, scientifically sound methods to overcome muscle fatigue, so you can train harder (possibly even longer) and become stronger, both mentally and physically—making every workout that much better.

At Hitch Fit we focus on Inner outer Transformation and getting you to your top potential means you have to Live the Lifestyle, Proper Nutrition, Working Out and Recovery.

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Metabolism: Can We Control It?

The body’s metabolism is a unique process for each individual person.  No two people metabolize food at the same rate therefore no two people have the same

.metabolism.  We all use our calories at different rates, with different results.  Our metabolism, like our fingerprints is unique to each of us.  But the need to understand and accommodate this metabolism is an issue that we all face.

The dictionary defines metabolism as the sum of all biochemical processes involved in life, or the sustaining of life.  In application concerning our health, metabolism is related to the intake and use of food.  In reference to the case in point it is our ability to utilize our food to the fullest extent.

Right now, the greatest results in raising our metabolism come from exercise and building our muscle mass, while reducing our body fat.  Adding more muscle to the body, in turn causes us to burn more calories, and this helps to elevate our metabolic rate.

Our metabolism functions also depend on how well we have taken care of our nutritional needs. Some people have really high rates of metabolism.  In other words, when they consume food, their bodies burn it up almost as fast as then consume it.  Then there are those of use who use our food intake so slowly, as to not even notice that we’re burning calories.  These people who burn quickly are often slim and trim, the people who burn more slowly are the people with a tendency toward obesity.

For years, people have sought ways to raise the metabolic rate.  If you can raise someone’s metabolic rate, you are then better able to control the burn of calories, especially for overweight or obese people.  This would make the goal of better or improved health a much easier reality for those people.  Efforts to date have produced very little results.  There are foods that we can consume that naturally raise our metabolic rate, but not to a great extent.  What we need is a way to directly alter the rate.  We need to be able to raise our metabolism to a point where we can actually see a benefit.

This is where the effort to stay physically fit and active provides tremendous payoff. Over the course of your life, if you stay active, exercise, and maintain optimal health for your muscles, you will see a tremendous difference in the rate that your body metabolizes food.  As people age, their metabolism quite naturally slows down.  The greatest way to prevent this from happening is through exercise and staying fit.

The best way to date to control our metabolic process is through proper nutrition, daily exercise, eating the foods known to have an effect on our metabolic rate, and plenty of rest.  The metabolic process can be indirectly controlled by the methods we just discussed.  The more healthy and fit you are living day in day out, the more energy you have, the better you look and the better you feel!!

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Changing your routine can be one of the most effective ways to get past any plateau!!!  One of the biggest difficulties facing People looking to gain muscle is how can they be sure that all muscle fibers have been recruited and exhausted during a given exercise and it is only by achieving this that muscle gains can be maximized.

The simple answer is, you have work beyond failure and experience a higher level of training intensity than before. This also ensures that workouts remain challenging and continue to engender progress over time thus reducing the likelihood of regression. But how do you go about intensifying your training? Fortunately there is a tried and tested path to follow as outlined below:

1. Increase resistance – increasing the weight lifted in meaningful increments ensures the muscle is pushed beyond its previous point of failure thus maintaining the muscle building process. Aim to increase the weight when you reach six to eight reps and failure does not occur.

2. Change the exercise – to achieve maximal gains all muscle fibers in a body part must be trained. Changing the angle (e.g to incline bench press) or introducing a new exercise will stimulate growth.

3. Reduce rest intervals – giving the muscles less time to recover before exposing them to further work has the effect of increasing intensity.

4. Pre-exhaustion – when an exercise involves two or more muscles the weakest will prevent you from working the primary muscle to failure. The answer is to first isolate and tire the primary muscle before immediately moving to another exercise that works the set of muscles to failure.

5. Introduce supersets – this involves performing two exercises for the same muscle group without a rest interval. This means you have to utilize different muscle fibers which stimulate greater growth.

6. Use partial reps – at the point of failure you will not be able to complete the full range of movement for a given exercise. Completing a partial rep that uses only a segment of the lift will still work your muscles beyond the point of failure. This technique is especially useful to advanced bodybuilders as it allows them to increase intensity without adding extra routines that could cause overtraining.

7. Use isometric contractions – this involves holding the weight still at the point of failure to stimulate a static contraction in the muscle.

8. Employ forced reps – this involves completing one or more final reps after the point of failure has been reached. You will need the assistance of an experienced helper to attempt this.

Once you have added these techniques and get your nutrition down you’ll know you’ve done your best to maximize muscle growth.

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Motivation!!!

I cannot tell you the endless amounts of people who contact us asking about weight loss and saying that in the past to lose weight they have ate a restricted calorie diet and did an overload to cardio.  Issue with this is with the calories burned and the not enough calories coming in you do lose scale weight but you also lose a high % of Muscle.  When you drop muscle your body in turn slows down, losing 1 lb. of muscle means you burn 50 calories per day less.

Pretty much every womans goals are to get a lean and fit body as well as being healthy for her family.  When trying to lose weight you need to focus on losing BODYFAT.  The key is a mixture of Diet, Cardio and Weightlifting.  I know many women out there feel uncomfortable doing the weights side of things or feel as if they are going to get bulky.  To put it in perspective I have worked out now for 13 years TRYING to get bulky.  An average year of building muscle for me is 6-8lbs per year; I am eating huge amounts of food and lifting very heavy weight.  The other key component is the fact that Women have 1/5th the amount of testosterone in their bodies so it’s very difficult for you to BULKY.  You will not get bulky if you eating right and training hard!!!

The benefits of a good strength training program

Less disease, happiness and most importantly, showing off your muscles at the beach.

Strength training should be part of everyone’s routine. Even if you are low on time, strength training, according to the ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine), only needs to be done 2-3 times per week with each session lasting no more than one hour. For 2-3 hours per week, huge benefits can be realized.

Regular strength training will:

**help you in day to day activities around the house and in your yard. It will keep you independent which is especially important in the older population. Imagine not being able to lift a 5 pound bag of flour or take the garbage out by yourself.

**lower the risk of osteoporosis, hypertension and diabetes.

**help you avoid lower back pain.

**increase bone density which is important for post-menopausal women.

**increase muscle mass which burns more calories throughout the day than an equal amount of fat.

Even with all these benefits, many people are reluctant to start training with weights. Concerns include injury, incorrect form and for women; not wanting to grow muscles and look like a man.

If you are a beginner and have no idea what you are doing either start with the circuit type machines or take an aerobic class that involves weights so you can become acquainted with how to do the different exercises.  Another great way of feeling more comfortable is bringing a friend to workout with you.  If you are not 100% sure how to do a movement either asks for help of skip it until you figure it out, you want to put yourself out of any sort of injury risk. If you want to stick with the machines, know that they will give you the same benefits as free weights.

Sometimes when we think of being healthy, we think of eating and running. While these are important, strength training should never be left out. Strength training provides benefits to your health that cannot be found with any other mode of exercise and shouldn’t be forgotten.

Next time you’re at the gym head over to the weights side of things and try doing a circuit.  2-3 sets of each exercise 15 reps with a weight that is not too easy but also not so heavy you cannot accomplish the 15 reps.

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Ask yourself a few questions.. How is your Sex Life?  DO you like what you look like? Are you comfortable in your own skin? Do you eat healthy and do you workout? The answers to these questions will explain to you why your drive may not be where you want it to be.

Sex Drive is also refered to as your Libido.  Many things make up your Sex Drive . Sex drive has usually biological, psychological, and social components. Biologically, hormone levels, such as testosterone, is believed to affect sex drive; social factors, such as work and family, also have an impact; as do internal psychological factors, like personality and stress. Sex drive may be affected by medical conditions, medications, lifestyle and relationship issues.

Lets look at the controllable factors such as working out.  Working out and sex drive go hand in hand.  After working out your testotorne levels slightly increase also increasing you Libido this applies for both men and women.  Working out will help your body to function more smoothly and sufficiently can cause you to have better sleep at night. Both high levels of stress and low amounts of sleep can wreak havoc on a person’s ability to get in the mood. Other studies have shown that regular exercise produces higher levels of blood flow to the genitals which can cause greater sensitivity and enjoyment during love making, thus making it more desirable.

Psychological factors like not feeling comfortable naked, feeling you do not look good can also be resolved by eating good and working out.  Once your confidence and self image increases you will find yourself much more excited to be with your partner.

Factors such as stress can cause major issues. If you are having issues at work, with family or stuggling in life your sex drive will decrease.  There are ways of balancing this out through making positive choices in time of stressful events.  If you had a tough day, maybe go for a jog, take a new fitness class or hit the heavy bag.  The last thing you want to do something negative .  This will only cause things to domino in a bad way.

Now on to the Scientific Evidence-

According to Chris Jones, head of physiology at Nuffield Health, “There is evidence that enhanced testosterone and adrenaline in men and women does enhance libedo…What’s particularly interesting is that exercise also seems to have an effect on stopping the problems that lead to a decrease in libedo

Those who regularly exercise and maintain a healthy lifestyle generally have a higher self-esteem due to a more positive self image (when you look good, you feel good), cardiac endurance, strength level and studies have also concluded that those with higher metabolism tend to have higher levels of aggression. According to a study by Dr. Peter Biro – Senior Lecturer at the University of South Wales’s Evolution and Ecology Research Centre – his latest study shows that those who are more obsessed with staying fit may have higher sex drives and can also tend to be more aggressive and socially dominant.

Not only does fitness play a positive role in sexuality, but this activity you share with your spouse can also play a positive role on your fitness also. Researchers in Scotland have concluded that sex itself also reduces stress and can lower blood pressure. Engaging in sex one to two times per week has shown a link to higher levels of Immunoglobulin A, which is an antibody that protects against colds and other infections.

Better health leads to a better body, to feeling better and better sex.

Micah LaCerte

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Are you Stressed? Try Meditation

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Meditation, an exercise recommended for everyone, but especially those of us with hectic, stressful lifestyles, is defined as an engagement in contemplation, especially of a spiritual or devotional nature.  Meditation has been shown to relieve stress, and promote overall good health, by simply reflecting upon our day, and finding happiness within ourselves.  This and other mind exercises help us to keep our mind fit, and functioning at top performance levels.  But up until the last twenty years, meditation was something the western world new little about.  Is it necessary for our health? Or have we just come up with a new fad, to fill up the empty hours of our day?

Well, the empty hours don’t exist for most of us, and quite frankly, without the opportunity to reflect and relax, I would quite possibly go completely mad  Our spirituality and meditation practices are the tools we have available to keep our mind as fit as we keep our bodies.  The mind is a complicated and versatile machine, but it can become overwhelmed and unable to function correctly, if we don’t take the time to keep it cared for.

Our mind has varying levels of operation, known as brainwaves.  As we pass through the different stages of our day, we enter various stages of brain wave activity.  The brain uses this tool as one way to allow us time to rest our busy mind, and cope with all the pieces of information we’ve received, a way to kind of “mind file” for the day.

Modern alternative medicine and holistic healers believe in the power of the energy that flows through our bodies; this energy radiates from our mind as well.  It is believed to be the chief from of transportation for our body’s nervous system to carry out communication.  Breathing techniques, music, aromas, and candle therapy are all ways we utilize the opportunities to reflect on our day, allow our mind to rest and replenish itself for further use.  But are these methods keeping us mentally fit?  Yes, it does help to keep us mentally fit.  The great benefit in meditation, however, the mind’s ability to transform itself into a vehicle for higher awareness.  Meditation is a way for us to become aware of the fact that there is more to our being than just our physical activity.  We have so much more potential locked away in our mind, resources that we never tap into until we have the chance to quiet the mind, quiet our surroundings and open the door to the possibilities we don’t examine on a day to day basis.

In our meditative state, thoughts that never have the opportunity to be heard during the bustle of the day are afforded the opportunity to come forward and be heard.  Every step that we take is a step in some direction for our life.  The opportunity to set our own destiny, develop our manifestation of what we believe our life should be, is the opportunity meditation provides.  Every action we’ve ever taken started as a thought.  The thought was then brought into reality by our action on that thought. So are we able to produce new thoughts, new possibilities, in this time of quiet reflection.

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Get In Great Shape for the Summer

This year the 1st day of summer happens to fall on June 21st. Are you ready to get in your swimsuit and show off your body? During the cold seasons many of us bundle up and do not focus on our bodies as much as we should sometimes gaining 10-15 lbs. A majority of those people then end up waiting till the last minute and go on some crash course diet and heavy cardio to look somewhat presentable if they plan on going to the pool that upcoming summer. Trust me, this approach is disastrous, it’s very difficult on your body to go from one extreme to the other and you are setting yourself up when seasons change again to gain even more weight then you had the winter before. You need to find a balance in your life so that it’s not a hurry up and wait approach of killing yourself and starving yourself to feel secure with fewer clothes on.

So what can you do to make this happen? First you need to eat the right foods 80-90% of the time. Unless you are trying to be the most fit guy or girl at the pool you do not have to go on some crazy competitor diet to look good. Stick with 5-6 meals per day balanced and nutritious. Next you need to make sure you are working out on a regular basis. You need to go 3-5 days a week minimum to keep your body in maintence mode and bump up your time and intensity if you are looking for greater results. Lastly focus on living a good lifestyle. If you are out partying every weekend and drinking the night away you can only expect one thing to happen, you will get fatter. It amazes me when people think they can somehow get away with it and blame the weight gain on something else. Sorry people, you are what you eat and you are your lifestyle. I’m just focusing on the visual side of things right now and will not touch the health side of things but if your lifestyle is not legit you will gain fat become sluggish and non motivated. You will eventually wake up one day wondering what has happened to you. DO NOT LET THIS BE YOU.

Take care of this today, starting now. If you have things that are holding you back then cut the negatives and start over. You deserve to be happy and look great.

LOOK GREAT FOR THE SUMMER

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I get many people telling me I was probably always in really good shape or always muscular so I had to find a  pic of myself when I was 16 years old.  In this Pic I was about 135 lbs and as big as that flag pole behind me, lol. I am a born hardgainer or ectomorph, which means its very hard to gain weight and even harder to gain muscle. In a lose weight media driven world we sometimes look past the people out there that have the exact opposite problem.  I know many of you wish you had that issue, gosh I can eat everything I want and not gain a lb, that would be wonderful.  Trust me on this it is equally as tough when your getting made fun of because you are too skinny and the amount of money you have to spend to eat enough food is like feeding 3 people.

We see so many things in the Media that focus on Losing Weight, The next fad diet, magic pill or infomercial product what we rarely see is the rest of the population that struggles with adding weight and gaining muscle.  I was one of these people.  Growing up skinny and not finding the gym until the age of 18 weighing a whooping 150lbs and I may be giving you a few extra pounds there.  I am going to discuss my techniques, tools and lifestyle that helped me reach my goals and will help you reach yours.

This is the type of person that has been thin there entire life, they can eat about anything they want and thier bodies do not change much, they struggle with adding muscle and remain fairly lean year round.  There will be people who comment on this wishing they had this problem but it can just as frustrating trying to build.  Adding Muscle is actually much tougher then losing fat regardless of what type of body you have.  A 7-10 lb muscle gain in a year is Great, losing 7-10 lbs can be done in 2-4 weeks.

Though there may be many reasons why you may be thin, the most apparent reason is because of your genetics. If your parents are naturally thin or have a small body frame, then you will most likely have the same small body type.

To some degree, your size can also be controlled by your metabolism. If you have a difficult time gaining weight of any kind (fat or muscle) then you most likely have a fast metabolism. That simply means that your body burns calories at a faster than normal rate. You must take this into account whenever you are considering a particular diet or training program. Is it geared towards someone with your metabolism and goal?

Now as you know, there are many ways to train. Hundreds, thousands even. Some work and some do not, but for the specific goal of gaining weight, there are a few UNIVERSAL things that all Hargainerd must do.

Though much of the information I cover here is not as “magical” as you may like, I consider these rules to be the basics with regard to weight gain. These are not all of the answers, but they are definite elements that MUST be addressed in any successful weight gain program.

You should be able to easily integrate these rules into your current program to make it more suitable for your particular body and goals.

GENERAL RULES

1.Get the proper information that pertains to your SPECIFIC condition and goals.

The first big problem I find in most people is the lack of correct information. Yes you are motivated and doing things, but your effort is wasted on incorrect dieting and training information. Basically, skinny guys are taking advice from people who have never had a weight gain problem. Want to know how to gain weight? Then find someone who has walked your shoes. Someone who has been where you are.

2.Set a specific goal and create a plan of attack.

If you were to drive cross country to another city, would you just start driving randomly, or would you plan a route that would get you quickly and efficiently?

Think of your plan as a road map and your goal as your destination. Without a plan and a specific goal you will be without focus and can easily get lost or side tracked. This happens more often than you know. I see many people in the gym just doing whatever, or just eating whatever — no plan or specific goal. They wonder why they don’t make progress. They have no focus.

Having a specific program to follow allows you to take action each day. This action is focused on specifically getting you to your destination quickly. There is no thinking, debating or guessing. You just do it. A specific plan provides necessary daily structure that not only keeps you on the road moving forward, it also helps to develop good eating and training habits that will benefit you long after you have reached your destination.

3.Have confidence in yourself and belief in what you are doing.

Let’s face it; we live in a cruel world. Hate and jealously is everywhere. For most people who begin a fitness program to improve themselves, getting started will be half the battle. The other half will be staying motivated throughout the constant onslaught of negativity from others. A few negative words can do serious damage if you allow it.

The most insulting things you hear may be from friends, co-workers and acquaintances at the gym. People hate change. It makes them insecure, because they suddenly discover there’s more to you than they were probably willing to admit. They fear that you may actually achieve your goal. It makes them look less “superior”.

Once you have begun your plan, you must have faith and believe in what you are doing. Stay focused and avoid overly critical or negative people. If you have to, keep your business to yourself. When I first began my program, I stopped talking about what I was doing because I got tired of hearing things like “you can’t do that”, “that’s impossible”, “you’re wasting your time and money”  The stubborn guy I am I wanted to do things the way I wanted to do them.  I look back on it and so happy I did things that way because I learned through trial and error what worked for me and I apply this method with anyone I work with.  Although every persons body is different and changes different the same guidelines are given.  The same people who doubted what I was doing now ask for advice, funny how that works in life.

It’s your life. It’s your body. It’s your dream. Don’t allow your success or failure to rest in the hands of others.

In Part 2 of this article, I will cover your workout rules and guidelines to MAKE SURE you gain muscle.

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