Dieting myth debunked: Can eating Fat Get You Ripped?

Contrary to popular belief, it is actually important to eat fat in order to lose body fat. Of course losing body fat will depend on the type of fat, how much you are intaking, and the quality of those fats, but regardless, it is an important source of energy that your body needs for survival.

Check out this video by natural bodybuilder and fitness YouTuber, Mike Change, to learn all about fats and how to use them to eliminate your unwanted body fat.

Top 7 Muscle Gaining Exercises

Here is natural bodybuilder and fitness YouTuber, Mike Chang talking about the seven most important movements to increase muscle mass in the gym. These lifts are going to pack on muscle faster than any other exercises and the video shows you exactly how to perform them.

The seven best muscle building exercises are:

1.     Bench Press

2.     Bent Over Rows

3.     Dead-Lift

4.     Military Press

5.     Straight bar Curls & Triceps Extension

6.     Shrugs

7.     Squats

Be sure to work these exercises into your fitness routine and always remember to use proper form and technique when lifting, as well as using the full range of motion in each lift.

Proper Dieting

Many weeks ago I talked about tracking your diet and working with macronutrients to reach your fitness goals, but I never really talked about proper dieting or what food you should actually be eating to fit your macros.

If you don’t know how to calculate your macros or track your dieting on a daily basis don’t worry, these is my favorite macro calculator and diet tracker:

• ·      IIFYM.com
• ·      MyFitnessPal 

Protein

Whether you are trying to build muscle and add body weight or maintain muscle but lose fat it is important to get around 1 gram of protein per pound of your goal body weight per day. Proteins make up the primary building blocks of muscle tissue so they are extremely important in the building and recovery of your muscles. An example of this would be that someone who weighs 150 pounds would need 150 grams of protein per day.

The best examples of protein sources are meats, poultry, seafood, beans, peas, eggs, nuts, and seeds.

Carbohydrates

The common belief is that carbohydrates are bad for you, but this is far from the truth. Carbs are fuel for the body and would leave you with really low energy if you don’t get enough of them. There are two types of carbohydrates, which are known as simple carbs and complex carbs. Simple carbs can most commonly be found in sugary foods and drinks and only offer a short burst of energy. On the other hand there are the more preferred complex carbs, which offer much longer and sustained energy that can be found in whole grains, brown rice, and sweet potatoes. The ideal amount of carbohydrates to eat on a fitness routine is 1 to 1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight per day. This means that a 150-pound person should eat 150g to 225g of carbohydrates per day.

The best examples of carbohydrate sources are wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, or barley, which come in the form of breads, pasta, oatmeal, cereal, tortillas, and grits.

Fats

Fats can also be seen as the enemy in any diet, but this is also far from the truth. Fats are very important to many bodily functions and are even required if you want to successfully lose weight in the long term. When the body is getting enough energy and fat from your diet then it will realize that it doesn’t need to hold on to excess fat for a rainy day. It is hard to suggest an exact number in grams of fat that the body needs per day, however, I like to stick to 20% of my daily caloric intake in fats.

The best examples of healthy fats are in the form of olive oil, sunflower oil, coconut oil, nuts, peanut butter, almond butter, and some types of fish, avocados, and seeds.

5 Types of Fitness Training

Flexibility Training

Flexibility training is one of the most important types of fitness training because it provides a foundation for all your other exercise types. Staying flexible can dramatically reduce your risk of injury, improves your range of motion, and works as a great warm up for more strenuous exercise.

Some great examples of this style of training is yoga, which can strengthen and relax your muscles, or Tai Chi, which can reduce stress and improve balance.

Dynamic Strength Training

This style of training simply works on building your muscular strength over a full range of motion. The most common examples of this training style is weightlifting, which this blog has been based on so far, as well as calisthenics, which uses lighter exercises, usually in the form of resistance training, that is designed to promote general fitness and develop muscle tone.

Static Strength Training

Static strength training is defined by contracting or flexing a muscle without any joint movement and is best used to help you maintain muscle strength and tone. There are two types of static strength training, which include submaximal exercises and maximal exercises.

Submaximal – these exercises involve contracting your muscles with less than your maximum strength. An example of this would be to do a half way bicep curl and hold the dumbbell steady.

Maximal – these exercises involve contracting your muscles with all your strength. An example of this would be to use all your strength to push against an immovable object.

Aerobic exercises

Aerobic exercising has previously been talked about on this blog as cardio training. This style of training strengthens the cardiovascular system by increasing your heart rate and breathing. These exercises use large muscle groups to perform rhythmic actions for sustained periods of time.

It is typical to perform this style of exercise for longer than 15 minutes with a maintained heart rate between 60% and 80% of your maximal heart rate. Some examples of this training style include fast walking, jogging, running, stair steppers, elliptical machines, and swimming.

Circuit Training

This style of training is best described as a hybrid of strength training and aerobic exercise. It is most common to perform a series of strength training exercises with little to no rest in between stations or to perform some sort of cardio training between each station to keep your heart rate elevated. You typically perform each station for 30 to 60 seconds and continue the circuit for 30 to 60 minutes and it is a very effective way to mix up your routine.

An example of this style of training could be CrossFit: Workout of the Day (WOD) or even creating your very own circuit routine.