iAM_Fitness Updated*

Hi, well, basically I want to end confusion on one of the most confusing subjects. Fitness. This maybe long, but if losing weight, and getting in shape is what your looking for, please continue.    

   Thee biggest key to successful weightloss is diet. Notice I didn't say 'A diet' I said diet. The accumulation of nutritional intake. As a matter of fact, your diet is really 80% of the battle. What you should be doing is taking your Base Metabolic Maintenence level, and knocking 500calories of it. Now find your Base Metabolic Maintenence level (i'll refer to as BMML now on)which is a little tricky. BMML is basically what your body needs to just make due. So pick a calorie level, 2300 for Males and 2000 for Females is a good foundation. What you need to do is eat just the right amount of food so in two weeks you neither gain weight or lose weight. After you have found the BMML value, knock 500calories off it. So, example, your BMML is 2500, you pull 500 calories a day, giving yourself a 500 calorie defect. The important thing is to really follow the BMML as closely as you can, you dont want your body going into starvation mode, when that happens, your body will horde and store junk you dont want.          

   The second key to weight loss is resistance training. Your saying, But Lunchy, I thought you can't gain muscle while losing weight!! Thats a tricky one as well. Why should we believe what your telling us? Why, because I am not selling anything. I wont make empty promises. I wont tell you, you can get in great shape in 4 weeks. Im telling you things that I have researched, compared, researched some more, applied, tweaked, and done. The reason the Fitness 'community' is soo full of deceit is because they are banking on you failing (no pun intended), they want you to fail, so you will throw more money @ them. Anyway. You can't gain muscle while in a calorie defect. True. But during a calorie defect you body likes to have more energy, so it starts feeding off your muscle. So you'll lose weight, but 70% will be fat and 30% will be muscle mass. To counteract this, 40% of your diet should be protein. Then were resistance training comes in, when you work your muscle enough, it causes tiny microscopic tears in the muscle fibers. Thus 'forcing' your body to contend to you injured body, thus keeping your muscle mass, and fending off your body from stealing muscle as energy. You might say, but after I lose weight, i'll be too big muscle wise. I thought that too. But 30 pounds later, every thing measured the same, but I looked small.     If you dont have weight machines or exercise equipment, there are alternatives. Substitute bench press for pushups. No bar for squats, get an old back pack, fill it with books/junk/cement. No dumbells, use a mop bucket, fill a jug of water an put it the bucket, and do some curls. Find something to do pull ups. As long as you work every muscle group at least once a week.       

The third key in weight loss, is consistency. Keep at it. It takes will power, but once you get going its fun and worth it. Im not saying you have to do this everyday, but be consistent. And, if you do it every day, take one day off a week.    The fourth key is, aerobic exercise. Yup, running, jogging, jump rope, biking.   Basically keep your heart rate elevated for ATLEAST 10 minutes, at least twice a week. 4 times a week would be better. Remember, stretch BEFORE and AFTER. Also, a good warmup and cool down are paramount.I know im jumping around alot, but i want to cover alot, so bare with me. I'll also touch on HiiT later.    

Diet. A good diet consists of, protein, vegetables, carbs, ect... You should get 40% of your caloric intake from protein, i.e..fish, chicken, steak, and whey. Always eat within an hour of waking. Dont eat 3 hours before sleep. Limit you carbohydrate intake past mid day. Most importantly, eat 6-7 small meals a day. Why, when you eat a small meal, your body uses probably 5 calories, but the main benefit comes from your digestive system. If you eat 3 meals a day, your body digests for a while pushing up your metabolism, then falls back down. With 6-7 meals, by the time your digestive system finishes and your metabolism starts falling, your body has new product (food) to work on. Basically keeping your metabolism elevated 50% higher through out the day, 40% longer. This in turn burns energy(fat). And the key to weight loss is, use more energy than you get. Whats safe weight loss numbers? 2 pounds a week is a good number. There are roughly 3,500 calories in a pound of fat. If you take the 500 calories you subtract every day, thats 3500 calories a week. Add on top of the calories you expend with strength training(resistance) your settin' pretty.     

Substitutions, instead of pop(cola) try propel water, gatorade G2. Should get atleast 3 8oz glasses of water every day. Instead of Mayo, Miracle Whip. If you find yourself @ McDonalds, get a Grilled Chicken Ranch Salad, 380 calories, 22Grams of protein. How about Tuna Fish Sandwitch, 200-350 calories, 12Grams of protein.       

Supplements, the only thing I highly recommend for weight loss, is Flax Seed Oil. It comes in powder and pill form. Its relatively cheap, 200 capsules for $12, take 2-3 a day.       Good resistance training. Take 60-70% of your 1 Max rep, and do 2 sets of 8. Example, my 1 Max Rep is 280, so I use 200-220 pounds, do 8 reps, rest for 60 seconds, repeat. For Females, I would suggest 40-50%.     

                                                                            Technieks (haha)

   Bench Press. Pretty straight forward. Lay down, press weight away from your chest. Muscles affected- Chest, Outer Shoulder, Tricep, Forearm.

   Push up. Regular or Modified. Hands and Toes, or Hands and knees. Put your hands shoulder width apart. Closer grip works tri's more. Too far past shoulder width damages rotor cuff.(spelling?)Muscles-affected-Chest,Shoulders,Abdominal,Tri's, lower back.Squats. Place bar on shoulders behind head. Keep back straight, squat down and lean foward a little, keeping feet shoulder width apart, and make you legs almost parralel with the floor. Muscles affected- Leg(front,back) calves, lower back .

   Military Press. Grab bar slightly past shoulder width, put the bar below your chin and press vertically straight in the air. Can do negatives behind head as well. Muscles affected- Shoulders,Upper chest, Bi's, tri's.

Dead Lift. This 1's picky, and without proper form is dangerous. The Bar should rest 12-15 inches off the floor. Shins should be .5-1 inch away from bar. Shoulder Width grip. Bend knees, Grab Bar, KEEP YOUR HEAD UP, ALWAYS LOOK IN FRONT OF YOU. Taunt your pose, lift with your kness till your knees are 85% locked then use your back to straighten yourself up. Return the bar the same way. Muscles affected- Legs, Forearms, Lower back.

   Curl. Grab dumbell, rest your elbow on the side of your stomach, curl as far as you can, return arm all the way straight. Muscles affected- Bicep, tricep.

   Pull up. Grab bar shoulder width apart, palms facing away from you. Pull up to your chin, hold for 1 second, back down. If pullups are hard, do a Negative Rep. That means, use a stool, start with your chin above the bar and slowly lower your self down, and eventually you get enough strength to do regular ones. Muscles affected- Sides(Lats),Forearm, Bi's.

   Abdominal- What you learned is school is most likely wrong. I know a few that work wonders. First, Lay on carpet or Yoga Mat. Place your hands on your head (above ears) Make a triangle with your knees so your feet are flat on the floor. Knees and feet together, and bring your elbows to the out side of your knees, you want your elbows and knees to meet half way, so the top of your butt, and your lower back are the only thing touching the floor. 1 rep should take 1.5 seconds to complete with 1 second of pause when knees and elbows are touching.   Mixed Oblique, Basically the same thing but instead of elbows to knees, take your right elbow and meet it with your left knee. Switch back and forth.   Top Abdominal extension. Lay on back, lift your legs straight up so they are parralel with the wall, and reach for your toes, you want a rolling upward motion (u'll understand when u try) and reach for your toes, hold at your highest point for 1 second, repeat. Lower Abdominal Extension. Like earlier, place hands aboves ears and pick your head up off the floor about 75% of your maximum, then pick your legs of the ground and bring your knees to your elbows, hold for 1 second, then return your legs straight back to the floor without touching the floor and without your head or upper back touching the floor either. Basically your upper body is staying stationary. Rinse, repeat. :)    

   Cardio before or after Strength Training?    Resistance training before cardio(running). Why? Well for the most part, your body uses a combo of glycogen storage (spelling?) and stored fat. For resistance training, your body uses 95% glycogen stores, and 5% stored fat. For cardio, your body relies on glycogen and fat at almost a 50 50 ratio. So by strength training first, you deplete more of your stored glycogen first, then when you move on cardio(running) your body burns a 70fat 30glycogen ratio.     My favorite Cardio exercise technique is called High Intensity Interval Training, or HiiT. Basically you exercise at intense levels @ certain intervals. Example. Run @ 85-90% your maximum heart rate for 30 seconds, rest for 30 seconds, repeat for 15 minutes. The benefit of HiiT is its after exercise calorie burning effect. You get more benefit out of a 15 min. HiiT session than a 45min Solid state jog. The cons, I wouldnt suggest beginners doing it more than twice a week. Proper HiiT is hard on your body. But yields greater benefits.

Personally, ive found doing chest(bench) first, then I do Tri's, and followed up by some pushups.   Hopes that what you meant.
Thats usually my Monday.    Tuesady- Bi's, Shoulders, Abdominal.    Wednesday. Legs(squats), Dead Lifts, Calves, Forearm.   Thurday-Traps, Obliques,Abdominal, Lats. Friday-Do monday again, then tuesaday, take sunday off .   But it gets all mixed up, which is good for your body.   If you're (Dan) going for skinnier and bulkier. A swing shift would work good. 3 months Cardio/Strenght/Weightloss another 3 months getting bigger.   My maintenance level was 2400 a day, I had to take in over 3500 calories a day, along with 200Grams a protien a day just get get any bigger. You will gain fat back, but the swing shift works good for that.