You can’t be fit and fat.

You can’t be fit and fat.

“The notion that all fat people are sedentary and unfit and at high risk of disease is not true,” says Steven Blair of the Cooper Clinic in Dallas, Texas. “Overweight and obese individuals who are fit do not have elevated mortality rates. We need to get off those people’s backs.”
But in Blair’s study of 25,000 men who have come to the Cooper Clinic, ten percent of the normal-weight men — and half of the overweight men — were unfit.
Getting all of those unfit people — fat or thin — to move more could make a difference. In Blair’s study, low fitness was as strong (or stronger) a predictor of dying as other risk factors, like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Yet doctors rarely test a patient’s fitness as part of a checkup.
“Fitness is such an important predictor of mortality, it’s inexcusable not to evaluate it as part of a person’s health risk,” says Blair.
It wouldn’t cost much. It’s just a matter of measuring your heart rate — by measuring your pulse with a wristwatch — while you cycle, walk, or run at a given speed.
“A stress test for diagnosis of coronary heart disease at a major medical center can cost several hundred dollars,” he says, “but you can go down to the YMCA and get a fitness test for 25 bucks.”

If you don't lose weight, there's no point in exercising.

If you don't lose weight, there's no point in exercising.

What gets most people off the couch and into their walking shoes? It’s that unwanted flab that motivates most of us. It shouldn’t.
“Many people don’t see immediate weight loss and say it’s all for naught and stop,” says exercise expert William Haskell of Stanford University Medical School.
In fact, exercise has a laundry list of benefits beyond any impact on your next shopping trip. Among them:
“It improves the ability of insulin to enter cells, so it lowers the risk of diabetes,” says Haskell. “It also lowers the risk of heart disease by improving blood clotting mechanisms, lowering triglycerides, and raising HDL [‘good’] cholesterol.”
Exercise alters not only your risk of disease, but your quality of life, he adds. “In our studies, exercise improved sleep in people with modest sleep dysfunction,” that is, people who take a long time to fall sleep or who wake up frequently at night.
“The psychological benefits of exercise are frequently overlooked,” says Haskell. “Exercise isn’t a panacea, but it has consistently been shown to relieve both depression and anxiety.”

Weight gain is inevitable as you age.

Weight gain is inevitable as you age.

Most Americans get fatter as they get older... but they don’t have to. “It’s a matter of reduced physical activity levels and lower metabolic rate caused by a loss of lean body mass [muscle],” says JoAnn Manson of Harvard Medical School.
“The lifelong loss of lean body mass reduces our basal metabolic rate as we age,” says Arkansas’s William Evans. “It’s a very subtle change that begins between ages 20 and 30. The percentage of body fat gradually increases, and it produces an ever-decreasing calorie requirement.”
That’s because fat cells burn fewer calories than muscle cells. And a lower metabolic rate means that unless you eat less, you’ll gain weight over the decades.
But exercise can mount a two-pronged attack on middle-age spread and muscle loss. Any activity makes you burn more calories (so you’re less likely to wind up with an excess). And strength-training can offset the loss of muscle mass.
“Starting at age 40 in women and at 60 in men, we lose six to eight percent of our muscle per decade,” says Maryland’s Hurley. “However, after only two months of strength-training, women recover a decade of loss and men recover two decades.”
That’s with three weekly sessions that take 40 minutes each, including warm-up, rest periods, and stretching.¹ “The time spent doing the exercises that increase muscle mass is only about five minutes a session,” says Hurley. Not a bad return on your time.

Overtraining on wikipedia (you have to screen what is for and what is not)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overtraining

For Tight Abs, It's Quality That Counts

Having trouble developing your abs? To develop tight abs, focus on isolating them fully by using a very short range of motion, but very high intensity, during your abdominal exercises.

With ab training, most people have the tendency to unintentionally use other muscles, most notably the hip flexors, to aid in completing the exercises. This takes a great deal of stress off of the abdominal muscles themselves, which, of course, defeats the purpose of ab training.

Three main reasons why most people fail to sufficiently isolate their abs and train them properly:

1. They simply don't recognize that the correct way to train abs is by squeezing them together very hard in an accordion-type manner rather than by bending excessively at the waist (which is a "waste" of time, forgive the pun).

2. They take the easy way out. It's a lot more difficult to actually contract the abdominal muscles together hard than it is to bounce up and down like a jack-hammer.

3. They are more concerned with how many reps they do than with how intense each rep is. You see it all the time--people in the gym doing sets of 50, 100, even 200 or more crunches.

Total nonsense. If you're really working your abs intensely, a set of 12-15 reps should leave your midsection burning.

Working your abs within a fairly limited range of motion helps combat all of these detrimental tendencies.

When you do Crunches or Reverse Crunches, for instance, you want to focus intently on contracting the abs and really squeezing them together hard, but your body should only actually move about 4-6 inches.

And once you Crunch up hard, don't simply release on the way back down—make the negative portion of the movement work for you as well by maintaining tension in your abs throughout the full range. Give it a try and firm up that midsection intelligently.

L-Glutamine FAQ

1. What is it and where does it come from?

The extremely popular amino acid L-Glutamine can be found in protein powders, beans, meats, fish, poultry, dairy products, and of course, L-Glutamine supplements from Bodybuilding.com.

2. What does it do and what scientific studies give evidence to support this?

Glutamine is highly in demand throughout the body. It is used in the gut and immune system extensively to maintain optimal performance. 60% of free-form amino acids floating in skeletal muscles is L-glutamine. L-glutamine plays a very important role in protein metabolism, and it appears to be a very important nutrient for body builders. When supplemented, it may help body builders reduce the amount of muscle deterioration that occurs because other tissues that need glutamine will not rob the glutamine stored in the muscle cells.

Research shows that after intensely working out, glutamine levels in the body are reduced by as much as 50%. Since the body relies on glutamine as cellular fuel for the immune system, scientific studies have shown that glutamine supplementation can minimize the breakdown of muscle tissue and improve protein metabolism. Its effects on replenishing the body after stress or trauma have been shown in Europe where it is commonly given to patients in hospitals. Glutamine's cell-volumizing effects have also been shown in several studies. No conclusive studies have been done to evaluate the effects of L-glutamine supplementation on weight-training adults; however, a recent study showed up to a 400% increase in growth-hormone levels when as little as 2 grams of free-form L-glutamine supplement was consumed!

3. Who needs it and what are some symptoms of deficiency?

Bodybuilders can particularly gain from the intake of glutamine. Since bodybuilders use a lot of their glutamine when working out, they are more susceptible to health related problems, as the immune system relies heavily on this amino acid.

Catabolism or muscle break down can occur if the body robs muscles of glutamine for use elsewhere such as nitrogen transport or maintaining the immune system. Glutamine supplementation is certainly important in keeping muscles building--not deteriorating.

4. How much should be taken? Are there any side effects?

Bodybuilders can benefit by taking ten grams of L-glutamine per day, although clinical studies have not determined a precise amount for muscle metabolism optimization.

There are no side effects associated with L-glutamine, because it is a nutrient naturally occurring in the body. Reports of an upset stomach are associated with ingesting a great deal of glutamine, using smaller doses is recommended if this occurs.

The Myths and Dangers of Anabolic Steroid Usage

What are steroids? How do steroids work? Why are steroids dangerous?

There are a lot of misconceptions about what steroids are, how steroids work, and why steroids are dangerous. If you are curious about the subject of steroids, let's eliminate certain misconceptions that surround these drugs. I have never experimented with steroids and do not endorse their usage but this unbiased and researched report is intended to provide you with objective information of what these drugs are and what they can and cannot do.

What are Anabolic Steroids?

Anabolic steroids are a synthetic copy of the hormone testosterone. They have been the subject of much debate over the last few decades as well as misinformation. Athletes, especially bodybuilders, may feel lured towards them as these drugs do increase muscle size, strength, and stamina.

Steroid Myth #1. Taking Any Kind of Steroid Will Result In Death

The first thing that we need to understand is that steroids are drugs. Even Tylenol and Aspirin can cause serious problems if you take them in large quantities. All drugs when misused and abused have the potential to kill; its not only steroids. However, since taking steroids is against the law, issues of product purity and authenticity as well as innaccurate information surrounding their usage add serious risks to steroid experimentation.

Steroid Myth #2. Steroids are Easy to Get

Another misconception about steroids is that they are easily obtained. As far as accessibility, the truth is that they are illegal substances without a medical prescription, so your accessibility will be through the black market (good luck as far as quality). In addition, if you get caught in their possession without a prescription you may face up to 5 years in a federal prison.

Steroid Myth #3. All Steroids Are Pills

On the issue of variety, there are many different types of steroid out there. There are injectable steroids and oral steroids. The injectable kind are generally more androgenic (provide male characteristics like hair growth and aggression) in nature and less damaging to organs like the liver. The oral versions are more anabolic in nature and cause more side effects than their injectable brothers as they have to be processed by the liver. Different steroids have different properties so there are some that have more tendencies to build muscle mass while others have a tendency to increase strength. As their properties vary, so do their side effects. Usually the stronger the steroid (especially if oral), the more side effects you can expect.

The Good Side of Steroids?

Steroids do increase size and strength. In fact, they do so very significantly. In addition to gains in strength and muscle mass they also seem to provide you with more energy and aggressiveness, things that are conducive to good workouts (but not so in interpersonal relationships). Depending on the steroid used, you may also get cell voluminizing effects that promote a bigger pump. Aside from even just the legal risks of steroids, the "good side" comes at a high price.

The Psychological Effects of Steroids

Based on the fact that steroids give you all of these good effects that bodybuilders constantly look for, it is no surprise that they cause a psychological dependence. Think about it. If you have been taking them for the past 8 weeks, assuming good diet and training, chances are that you got very big and strong quick. You feel unstoppable after the 8 weeks of use. Suddenly you taper them off, up until you completely stop their use. A week later after cessation of use you notice that you are not getting good pumps, that your strength is diminishing regardless of your best effort and that your muscle mass is shrinking! Add to that the fact that for the first few weeks after cessation of use you will feel depressed due to low testosterone levels and it is no wonder that there are people out there that never get off from them.

Other Risks of Steroid Usage

Depression Effects of Steroids

Due to the post cycle low period of testosterone along with the fact that your estrogen levels will rise, depression at this time will be very real. In order to minimize this, you would need to get with a doctor and jump on many post cycle drugs that will re-establish your natural testosterone production along with supressing your estrogen levels. If you have an understanding doctor that is willing to help, he may prescribe you with the medications you need. However, chances are that your medical insurance will not cover these drugs due to the fact that the condition was caused due to illegal steroid use. If you do not get these medications, then expect a very bad depression and total loss of gains.

If you do not know what you are doing (i.e. you used steroids with the most side effects, you abused the dosage, etc) then not only will you get bad side effects during the period of use, but you also will also get worst side effects after the use. Again, the degree of side effects is directly proportional to the dosage and type of the steroid and also dependent of the genetic propensity of the subject to get such side effects. Therefore, it would be impossible for me or anyone else to exactly predict what kind of side effects a user might encounter during a period of use. However, one thing is for certain. If you abused the drugs by using super high dosages and for very long periods of time, you may never be able to re-establish natural testosterone production, so you will then need to get with an endocrinologist and possibly stay on low dose testosterone therapy for life.

Steroid Users Risk:

1) Increased Liver Function.
2) Depression of Natural Testosterone Production.
3) Increase in Cholesterol Levels and Blood Pressure (Not conductive to good cardiovascular health).
4) Altered Thyroid Function.
5) Headeches.
6) Nose bleeds.
7) Cramps.
8) Development of breastlike tissue in men (Gynecomastia).
9) Insulin Insensitivity (Even though Deca Durabolin improves the insulin metabolism).
10) Androgenic Side effects such as thinning hair, enlarged prostate, oily skin, water retention, increased body hair, aggressiveness.
11) Stunted growth if you are a teenager.
12) Oral Steroid specific side effects: In addition to the above, the orals also tend to cause nausea, diarrhea, constipation, and vomiting.
13) May accelerate the growth of tumors.

Again, keep in mind that different steroids offer different side effects and that everything is dosage dependent, so the list above is a generalized list of side effects.

I am not even going to go into the kind of side effects that females encounter when they decide to use these drugs, especially the androgenic ones like testosterone. That could be a whole article by itself, but I think that most people could imagine what happens when you start introducing abnormal amounts of hormones from the opposite sex into your body.

(Note: For a better idea of what each particular steroid does, please visit the following link at Mesomorphosis.com:
http://www.mesomorphosis.com/steroid-profiles/index.htm)

Medical Uses of Steroids

I think anabolic steroids have their rightful place in medicine. For instance, I can see their use in patients with extreme muscle wasting conditions like AIDS, for instance. Also, some steroids can be used to eliminate severe anemia. Finally, I have read alot of European research on the positive effects of low dosages of anabolic steroids like testosterone and deca-durabolin on males suffering from clinically low levels. This is called Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), and I personally see value in it, as in this case you are just replacing a necessary hormone that the body is no longer producing. This is done all of the time. For instance, if your thyroid is not functioning well, then the doctor prescribes you with thyroid medication.

However, again keep in mind that you are still introducing a foreign substance to the body and HRT does not come without risks. Your Doctor can educate you more on that subject.

My Message To Teenagers

Steroids are not the magical substance that some people make them up to be. Training, diet and rest is what will get you the body that you want. I've seen people that are on steroids and train badly, do not diet and hardly rest, and as a result, are still small. Don't expect to take steroids and look like a champion bodybuilder in two weeks because it will not happen.

Teenagers especially should not even think about the use of these drugs as teens already have their testosterone levels at a level equivalent to the one a 300 mg shot of testosterone would increase them to. Alot of complex processes occur on a teen's body that we yet do not even understand so introducing these drugs at this age would interrupt these processes, in addition to killing the best natural production of testosterone that you will ever get. My message to teens is: Eat big, train big and you will get big. These are the best years for good natural growth so do not waste or jeopardize them.