If you workout or exercise at your local gym you’ve probably heard this question pop up in between sets a number of times:

“What is the best exercise to isolate my biceps?”

Really this question is about building huge biceps using the dated bodybuilding term “isolation”, but that’s another point in another post.

When I heard this question for the umpteenth time this past week it really disturbed me because people are still missing the true benefits of resistance training and building a stronger body.

[Smashing a tennis ball like Tennis Pro Ana Ivanovic requires more then just one isolated muscle.]

Does Muscle Isolation Really Exist?

Remember being a kid in a grocery store and picking out a cereal based on the toy or gadget offered inside the cereal box? Me neither…

It was the sale price that determined my parents choice of breakfast cereal to purchase and stock boys beware if there wasn’t a limit on the number of boxes one could purchase!

[When eating cereal, breathing is completely optional. Inhalation is the preferred method. Kudos to TheShoppeDenver for the photo and fresh pastry ideas.]

Based on some new research from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania there’s another reason to stock up on cereal.

Professor Vinson and his team of researchers have found that nearly all whole-grain breakfast cereals and many common whole-grain snacks contain high levels

Shrinking an expanding waistline is not only a matter of beauty. Excess belly fat can significantly up your risk of heart disease as well as other dangerous medical conditions.

We’re all familiar with subcutaneous fat by now. It’s the outside fat that you see in the mirror and makes it hard to zip up your jeans. But it’s the visceral fat which is the inner fat that resides deep inside your belly that is so dangerous. This compact fat, sometimes called “hidden” belly fat, builds up between and around your internal organs.

How can you measure your abdominal fat?

It may well go all the way back to the land of dinosaurs, but it seems that to the male of the species, an open fire and charring meat and the outdoors go together like peanut butter and jam.

With the warm weather upon us now, barbeques everywhere are heating up with roasted corn and juicy hamburgers.

Here are 11 tips to ensure you have healthy and safe BBQ meals this summer:

1. How fat is your meat? Select lean, or extra lean cuts of meat or better yet have your butcher grind a prime piece of beef or turkey for burgers. Fresh fish should be purchased no earlier then a day before eating.

2. Choose your picnic spot wisely! Everyone wants to be under a tree sheltered away from the sun, but insects think alike. Also, things drop from trees

So you want to tone down that belly fat? Time to hit the floor for thousands of crunches, right? Not so fast.
 
Doing ab crunchs alone won’t get you very far in your quest for a flat stomach. There are little known secrets to getting toned abs that include fun activities such as gardening, basketball, and dancing with some ab specific movements in between for definition. Many of today’s most respected weight loss and fitness experts suggest the above fun activities combinded with simple lifestyle changes will provide you with the most comprehensive belly fat burning program.

So before you drop down and give me 20 crunches, examine the following 6 lifestyle habits to make sure your blasting your belly from inside and outside.

Have you ever started a diet and then become overwhelmed with the feeling of hunger, craving, and food deprivation? We all have!

Nothing can ruin a diet faster than the feeling of hunger or cravings of certain foods. Let’s be honest, it’s much easier to stay on track with a healthy eating plan when you’re feeling full and not hungry. Scientists have a name for this feeling: it’s called satiety. I’ve also heard satiety referred to as the ”craving-free” zone by various weight loss systems.

The concept of satiety is ever present in most eating plans and diets, except nobody takes the time to refer to it by name or explain what it actually means. If you understood the basic workings of satiety it would definitely make the food suggestions you see, hear, or read, make more sense and probably encourage you to follow

We all know by now that pop, or soda, is one of the worst beverages you can ingest. The many additives like high fructose corn syrup and artifical flavours can cause a slew of health problems as documented in various research studies.
 
Surprisingly, many people believe that “diet” soda is in some way a good thing for losing weight. “I would like a diet coke instead please” is something I’ve heard with alarming regularity when dining out with friends and colleagues.

Is it others’ perceptions of you ordering water and being cheap that has you ordering diet soda? I’m not sure, but the physchology of eating out in a group is something interesting and shall be covered in a future article.  
 
But, perception aside, let’s get down to the facts.
 
There is absolutely

As many of you know, weight training is my main exercise activity when it comes to fat loss. However, training with equipment such as dumbbells and barbells properly is known by very few. If it was easy then you would see a lot more muscular and lean physiques on the streets.

Before you learn how to weight train properly, it is critical that you learn these five weight training tips before you even begin to start hoisting heavy objects above your head.

1. Goal Setting

“Inch-by-inch life is a sinch. Yard-by-yard life is hard.” Words made famous by Vince Delmonte himself. Treat your goal setting the same way. Do not expect to be on the cover of Men’s Fitness by next summer. Decide how much muscle weight you wish

You’ve heard this one before but why is breakfast so important?

The simplest answer lies in refueling your body and giving you the necessary energy to start a new day.

Various studies also suggests it’s good for our physical and mental well-being. Long-term omission of breakfast from the list of meals for the day could result in obesity, cardiovascular disease, and Type II diabetes.

If that didn’t send shivers down your back, the short-term effects are equally staggering. Breakfast helps the physiological action to kick-start; it also regulates metabolism. In the absence of a nutritious breakfast, the body is constantly battling dropping glucose levels, and constant cravings throughout the day, leading to an overdose of calories – leaving you feeling fatigued and lethargic.

So what does a healthy breakfast look like?

You read, you see, and you hear about all these diet fads and tricks that are supposed to help you lose fat quickly and build hard muscle. You start to follow them religiously and think your on your way to a bikini body in no time.

But when you look in the mirror or step on the scale you actually.. gulp.. gained weight! What the fudge? Frustrating, I know. So let’s blow the whistle on these tricks and find out what you really should be doing.

Your favorite foods are now low-fat and sugar-free

Research suggests that when a food is described as a low-fat or sugar free, we’ve subconsciously given our ourselves the green light to eat