In the month of March, I was able to manage 6 workouts. Not good enough. Despite this I managed a 0.5% reduction in my Body Fat Percentage. All this despite being just decent, not great on my diet, no protein shakes and Zero cardio.
Imagine If I had done all my 12 workouts for the month, been better with my diet, got my protein on time, done some more cardio, I could have achieved much more.
Just goes to show that Consistency matters.
Check out this post from the Muscle Hack – Mark McManus on the The Most Important Body Building Tip you will ever hear.
Its fabulously simple!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
How to build muscle and lose fat with Strength Training
I have been wanting to experiment with my workout regimen for sometime now. This is something I came across recently and its called Stronglifts 5x5. This is basically a strength training program. A routine which can be easily done at home. Simple in its concept and I hope its powerful in its impact.
5 exercises, 5 sets, 5 reps. 5 being my favorite number, I was immediately drawn to this routine. You can check out the details of the entire routine and download a great ebook at Stronglifts.com
You can also follow my progress on this program at My Six Pack Journey
This is my first week and I shall keep posting details of my workouts on a weekly basis.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
How to measure your daily calorie requirements?
One of the most basic homework that a person in a weight loss program is the determination of the base level. You need to understand where you are currently standing, before you set out on your journey.
When you are beginning a weight loss program, you must know what should be your daily calorie intake in order to lose weight. The other thing that you must do is record your daily intake in a food journal. Okay, now all my dear friends who are feeling like - Oh! C'mon! one more thing to do.. All I can say is that we need to begin somewhere. As one my favourite author Robin Sharma says "The pain of discipline is always less than the price of regret". Trust me, you will only have to do this for a month or two. After that it would be so intuitive, that you will only have to look at a plate of food and you will be able to make a mental assessment of the food you eat, so you may not have to keep a journal.
But you know what's the best part of the journal and recording your progress is - months later, you will be able to accurate assess as to what works for your body and what does not. Earlier this year, I was kinda stuck at a plateau with no change in the scale or mirror. I didn't know what to do. I just went back a few months back to those 2-3 weeks where I made a whole load of progress. I saw the foods I ate that week and the frequency of my workouts. I implemented those better choices again. No prizes for guessing, I again started noticing change.
There is no need to go for any fancy diet once you start understanding what's working well for your own body. So measuring your daily calorie requirements is an important task.
What are your options. You can do it manually in your diary. You can do it online. Personally I prefer to do this online. I found an extremely helpful site http://www.fitday.com
Try it out. It'f free and extremely helpful. Keep track of what goes in and I am pretty sure you will be glad with the outcome.
When you are beginning a weight loss program, you must know what should be your daily calorie intake in order to lose weight. The other thing that you must do is record your daily intake in a food journal. Okay, now all my dear friends who are feeling like - Oh! C'mon! one more thing to do.. All I can say is that we need to begin somewhere. As one my favourite author Robin Sharma says "The pain of discipline is always less than the price of regret". Trust me, you will only have to do this for a month or two. After that it would be so intuitive, that you will only have to look at a plate of food and you will be able to make a mental assessment of the food you eat, so you may not have to keep a journal.
But you know what's the best part of the journal and recording your progress is - months later, you will be able to accurate assess as to what works for your body and what does not. Earlier this year, I was kinda stuck at a plateau with no change in the scale or mirror. I didn't know what to do. I just went back a few months back to those 2-3 weeks where I made a whole load of progress. I saw the foods I ate that week and the frequency of my workouts. I implemented those better choices again. No prizes for guessing, I again started noticing change.
There is no need to go for any fancy diet once you start understanding what's working well for your own body. So measuring your daily calorie requirements is an important task.
What are your options. You can do it manually in your diary. You can do it online. Personally I prefer to do this online. I found an extremely helpful site http://www.fitday.com
Try it out. It'f free and extremely helpful. Keep track of what goes in and I am pretty sure you will be glad with the outcome.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
How to measure your Body Fat Percentage?
One of the most important component of a fat loss program, is tracking your progess in the right manner. It is an absolutely crucial cog in the wheel. Because changes in your body composition is so subtle at times, that if you rely just on the scale, you may be needlessly cursing yourself for lack of progress, whereas infact you should be applauding.
Do you know that you may have not shed a single pound on the scale and yet made progress?
But how do you know that?
How do you find out?
This is crazy!!
Well here's how - the key is to measure your Body Fat Percentage
Its possible that you may have gained muscle and lost body fat and hence though your body weight may not have changed, your body composition sure did.
Measuring your Body Fat percentage in conjunction with your Body weight is absolutely essential to track your progress. Remember though, not to overdo it. Even if you've a gruelling workout session and a great cardio run, your body fat percentage will not change overnight. So measure your progress on a weekly basis and and feed on your own success.
I'll say that again - no transformation story you read, no motivational seminar you attend can give you the kind of boost than seeing your own results. I still remember the day i first lost a quarter of an inch on my waist, I was in seventh heaven.
So now that you know you must measure your body fat percentage, the issue is how.
Well i would recommend a very simple and inexpensive alternative - a plastic body fact caliper. Now all you have to do is take the reading on the caliper and look it up in the chart that you will get as a part of the pack and it will give you your body fat %. This is my preffered and recommended option. check out this Accu measure Caliper below. I use this same one. Its fabulous.
For those of you who dont want to read up the chart, or want a more advanced digital caliper you could consider this one.
Additionally an absolute must have to compliment your Body Fat caliper is the Myo Tape. If you've ever struggled to take your own body fat measurements, you will realise that value of this nifty little instrument.
To summarise, it important to know How to Calculate Your Body Fat Percentage as this is one of the surest and best ways to measure your progress.
Your Friend in Fitness
Lloyd
www.meltthatfat.com
Do you know that you may have not shed a single pound on the scale and yet made progress?
But how do you know that?
How do you find out?
This is crazy!!
Well here's how - the key is to measure your Body Fat Percentage
Its possible that you may have gained muscle and lost body fat and hence though your body weight may not have changed, your body composition sure did.
Measuring your Body Fat percentage in conjunction with your Body weight is absolutely essential to track your progress. Remember though, not to overdo it. Even if you've a gruelling workout session and a great cardio run, your body fat percentage will not change overnight. So measure your progress on a weekly basis and and feed on your own success.
I'll say that again - no transformation story you read, no motivational seminar you attend can give you the kind of boost than seeing your own results. I still remember the day i first lost a quarter of an inch on my waist, I was in seventh heaven.
So now that you know you must measure your body fat percentage, the issue is how.
Well i would recommend a very simple and inexpensive alternative - a plastic body fact caliper. Now all you have to do is take the reading on the caliper and look it up in the chart that you will get as a part of the pack and it will give you your body fat %. This is my preffered and recommended option. check out this Accu measure Caliper below. I use this same one. Its fabulous.
For those of you who dont want to read up the chart, or want a more advanced digital caliper you could consider this one.
Additionally an absolute must have to compliment your Body Fat caliper is the Myo Tape. If you've ever struggled to take your own body fat measurements, you will realise that value of this nifty little instrument.
To summarise, it important to know How to Calculate Your Body Fat Percentage as this is one of the surest and best ways to measure your progress.
Your Friend in Fitness
Lloyd
www.meltthatfat.com
Friday, September 26, 2008
Four Pillars of Six Pack Abs
This is an acronymn that I have coined, based on all the six pack abs training and nutrition research that i have been doing over the past one year.
MI - Mindset - the motivational aspect of getting your six pack abs. This is really where it all begins. All successes are achieved twice. Once in the mind and then in reality . The mental picture has to be drawn up first and this will later be manifested by our actions.
ND - Nutrition/Diet Six Packs Abs are made in the kitchen. This couldn't be more true. I experienced this first hand when I lost 20 pounds earlier this year. The major component of my regimen involved around a good diet. Cause my training schedules were nothing but erratic given my hectic work schedule. So Diet does play an extremely important role. You cannot outtrain a bad diet. Period.
CA - Cardio training Particularly important in a fat loss or six pack ab training regimen is Cardio Training. You simply cant beat cardio training to rack up the calorie deficit that is the cornerstone of leaning down. I am not a hardliner who would recommend only interval training or only steady state. You gotta mix it up, you gotta be consistent and you gotta be progressive. But dont neglect cardio. Make it and important component of your workout schedule.
RE - Resistance/Weight Training This is perhaps the most neglected part of a fat loss regimen, but perhaps the most important part. In my view more important than cardio. In my own experience, i did not have any access to cardio equipment, so i solely relied on Weight training to lose my body fat and boy oh boy - that really worked. This is extremely important for building and maintaining muscle mass which will keep your metabolism cranked up all day. Imagine what happens after a gruelling workout. Your muscle fibres are broken down and depending upon how good your workout was, your body is going to spend 1-2 days repairing the damage. which means you wil be losing extra calories by just bumming it around the next few days. Aint that amazing.
To summarise, these are the four pillars of a solid foundation for any fat loss/six pack abs program. You can buy all the fitness products available in the world. You can join all the fancy gyms in your area. But it all boils down to these four components. Devote your time to understanding these four concepts and success will be guaranteed.
In my next post, i will introduce you to the best and the most effective personal trainer in the world and i will show you how to get him to train you for FREE.
Personally i did go from 24% BF at New Years to 15% body fat in about four months. Spent the other four months lazing around. But now i am picking up the pieces again and have begun MY SIX PACK JOURNEY You can follow my daily steps, provide me your comments and inspiration and also looks for tips and tricks.
I am a corporate executive, a real world guy with a 12 hour job and a hectic life. I am not going to spend a whole day training at the gym. The challenge revolves round getting through this active lifestyle and achieving this goal at the same time.
Check out MY SIX PACK JOURNEY here.
Your Friend in Fitness
Lloyd
www.MeltThatFat.com
MIND CARE
MI - Mindset - the motivational aspect of getting your six pack abs. This is really where it all begins. All successes are achieved twice. Once in the mind and then in reality . The mental picture has to be drawn up first and this will later be manifested by our actions.
ND - Nutrition/Diet Six Packs Abs are made in the kitchen. This couldn't be more true. I experienced this first hand when I lost 20 pounds earlier this year. The major component of my regimen involved around a good diet. Cause my training schedules were nothing but erratic given my hectic work schedule. So Diet does play an extremely important role. You cannot outtrain a bad diet. Period.
CA - Cardio training Particularly important in a fat loss or six pack ab training regimen is Cardio Training. You simply cant beat cardio training to rack up the calorie deficit that is the cornerstone of leaning down. I am not a hardliner who would recommend only interval training or only steady state. You gotta mix it up, you gotta be consistent and you gotta be progressive. But dont neglect cardio. Make it and important component of your workout schedule.
RE - Resistance/Weight Training This is perhaps the most neglected part of a fat loss regimen, but perhaps the most important part. In my view more important than cardio. In my own experience, i did not have any access to cardio equipment, so i solely relied on Weight training to lose my body fat and boy oh boy - that really worked. This is extremely important for building and maintaining muscle mass which will keep your metabolism cranked up all day. Imagine what happens after a gruelling workout. Your muscle fibres are broken down and depending upon how good your workout was, your body is going to spend 1-2 days repairing the damage. which means you wil be losing extra calories by just bumming it around the next few days. Aint that amazing.
To summarise, these are the four pillars of a solid foundation for any fat loss/six pack abs program. You can buy all the fitness products available in the world. You can join all the fancy gyms in your area. But it all boils down to these four components. Devote your time to understanding these four concepts and success will be guaranteed.
In my next post, i will introduce you to the best and the most effective personal trainer in the world and i will show you how to get him to train you for FREE.
Personally i did go from 24% BF at New Years to 15% body fat in about four months. Spent the other four months lazing around. But now i am picking up the pieces again and have begun MY SIX PACK JOURNEY You can follow my daily steps, provide me your comments and inspiration and also looks for tips and tricks.
I am a corporate executive, a real world guy with a 12 hour job and a hectic life. I am not going to spend a whole day training at the gym. The challenge revolves round getting through this active lifestyle and achieving this goal at the same time.
Check out MY SIX PACK JOURNEY here.
Your Friend in Fitness
Lloyd
www.MeltThatFat.com
Sunday, August 31, 2008
No time to Workout? - Part II
If you havent read Part I - do it now. That was where i discussed the 1 set - 2minute workout idea.
I had promised that i show you a very simple move to double your workout time. This concept is extremely helpful for busy executives and other people hardpressed for time.
Here we go.
Do you love music? Well, starting today, if you don't already like it, you should start now. The simple trick is just pick one of your favourite songs - preferably a rock number or any song with an upbeat tempo. Just plug on your Ipod or power up your CD player and blast that song.
Just groove to that song, while you are doing your Workout Set. Keep on continuing for the entire length of the song. If the typical song is between 4 - 5 minutes, you can easily get 3 sets of your workout of 8-10 reps with a minute of rest in between.
All this while you have also enjoyed the favourite number and also worked out.
I know you would be smiling at how simple or stupid this seems. But friends, this is an extremely powerful idea. Try this out the next time and if this doesnt workout that I'm willing to take the brickbats.
But for all those of you, for whom this works, do drop me a line.
Till then! Plug on your IPod and start rocking your workout.
Your Friend in Fitness
Lloyd Pinto
www.MeltThatFat.com
I had promised that i show you a very simple move to double your workout time. This concept is extremely helpful for busy executives and other people hardpressed for time.
Here we go.
Do you love music? Well, starting today, if you don't already like it, you should start now. The simple trick is just pick one of your favourite songs - preferably a rock number or any song with an upbeat tempo. Just plug on your Ipod or power up your CD player and blast that song.
Just groove to that song, while you are doing your Workout Set. Keep on continuing for the entire length of the song. If the typical song is between 4 - 5 minutes, you can easily get 3 sets of your workout of 8-10 reps with a minute of rest in between.
All this while you have also enjoyed the favourite number and also worked out.
I know you would be smiling at how simple or stupid this seems. But friends, this is an extremely powerful idea. Try this out the next time and if this doesnt workout that I'm willing to take the brickbats.
But for all those of you, for whom this works, do drop me a line.
Till then! Plug on your IPod and start rocking your workout.
Your Friend in Fitness
Lloyd Pinto
www.MeltThatFat.com
Thursday, August 28, 2008
No Time to Workout?
If you are anything like me, who hated to workout and was perennially busy working or chilling out with friends or watching a movie or sleeping,you would have time for everything else in the world, except working out.
The mind is a very crazy animal and it will find hundreds of excuses not to work out. This was until i found this one trick which worked really well.
This trick is called the 1 Set - 2 minute workout.
Promise yourself that you will do only 1 set of your favourite exercise for only 2 minutes. Nothing more. Now you can spare 2 minutes, can you?
Do one set of your favourite exercise. In my case it usually was a bicep curl. I used to love the pump in my biceps immediately after a workout. The best fun was to then slip into a tight t-shirt, tuck in your belly and flex your biceps. Wow they looked so good.
Now the best part about this is - Like the Lay's advertisement - "You can't just have one". When you do that 1 set and you see a little pump or just feel excited to get over your inertia, in 8 cases out of 10, you will do more than just 1 set. You must enjoy it though. You must pat yourself on the back and say, "Hey, Well Done Buddy". That felt great. Tomorrow, i'll do a couple of sets.
Try this for a couple of weeks. Every day, just pick a body part, do 1 set for 2 minutes. If you feel great, go ahead..do some more. Feeling better, do 1 more. Before you know it, you would have sneaked in 1 small 10-15 minute workout.
So next time you find yourself saying - I do not have time to exercise. Think about this. Okay i will not do a 45 minute workout. But i can sure do a couple of minutes. Lets do it.
Now my dear friend, these couple of minutes are not going to transform your body. These couple of minutes will not get you a six pack. But do you know what you are really doing here?
I shouldn't be really telling you this. While you think, you are working out your body - what you are actually doing, is working out your mind. This is a mind workout. It strengthens and conditions your will power. You subsconciously break down the herculean task of a 30 to 45 minute workout into a small bite. Slowly and steadily these 2 minute workouts will gradually spill over into 10..15..30 minute workouts. You may feel 45 minutes of time too overwhelming to spare for exercise. But 2 minutes, thats not a whole load of time. I can give that.
So friends. Start working out - 2 minutes a day. Thats good to get going. Just to get your mind muscles, mentally adjusted to the concept of working out. Associate those moments with small triumphs. One way to do this is measure your body part - biceps/Chest/Forearms - immediately before exercise. Do your 2 minute Set. Go back and measure. That 1/4 inch or 1/2 inch spike feels mentally invigorating.
Learn to savour these 2 minutes and gradually you will move on to bigger and better things.
In my next post, I will show you how to triple your mini-workout time from 2 minutes to 6 minutes in one simple smooth killer stroke. When i tell you this one, you will be laughing your head out. It's so very simple.
Till then! Have Fun!
Your Friend in Fitness
Lloyd Pinto
www.MeltThatFat.com
The mind is a very crazy animal and it will find hundreds of excuses not to work out. This was until i found this one trick which worked really well.
This trick is called the 1 Set - 2 minute workout.
Promise yourself that you will do only 1 set of your favourite exercise for only 2 minutes. Nothing more. Now you can spare 2 minutes, can you?
Do one set of your favourite exercise. In my case it usually was a bicep curl. I used to love the pump in my biceps immediately after a workout. The best fun was to then slip into a tight t-shirt, tuck in your belly and flex your biceps. Wow they looked so good.
Now the best part about this is - Like the Lay's advertisement - "You can't just have one". When you do that 1 set and you see a little pump or just feel excited to get over your inertia, in 8 cases out of 10, you will do more than just 1 set. You must enjoy it though. You must pat yourself on the back and say, "Hey, Well Done Buddy". That felt great. Tomorrow, i'll do a couple of sets.
Try this for a couple of weeks. Every day, just pick a body part, do 1 set for 2 minutes. If you feel great, go ahead..do some more. Feeling better, do 1 more. Before you know it, you would have sneaked in 1 small 10-15 minute workout.
So next time you find yourself saying - I do not have time to exercise. Think about this. Okay i will not do a 45 minute workout. But i can sure do a couple of minutes. Lets do it.
Now my dear friend, these couple of minutes are not going to transform your body. These couple of minutes will not get you a six pack. But do you know what you are really doing here?
I shouldn't be really telling you this. While you think, you are working out your body - what you are actually doing, is working out your mind. This is a mind workout. It strengthens and conditions your will power. You subsconciously break down the herculean task of a 30 to 45 minute workout into a small bite. Slowly and steadily these 2 minute workouts will gradually spill over into 10..15..30 minute workouts. You may feel 45 minutes of time too overwhelming to spare for exercise. But 2 minutes, thats not a whole load of time. I can give that.
So friends. Start working out - 2 minutes a day. Thats good to get going. Just to get your mind muscles, mentally adjusted to the concept of working out. Associate those moments with small triumphs. One way to do this is measure your body part - biceps/Chest/Forearms - immediately before exercise. Do your 2 minute Set. Go back and measure. That 1/4 inch or 1/2 inch spike feels mentally invigorating.
Learn to savour these 2 minutes and gradually you will move on to bigger and better things.
In my next post, I will show you how to triple your mini-workout time from 2 minutes to 6 minutes in one simple smooth killer stroke. When i tell you this one, you will be laughing your head out. It's so very simple.
Till then! Have Fun!
Your Friend in Fitness
Lloyd Pinto
www.MeltThatFat.com
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