Jemblog

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I Must Break You

When you come back from your weekend and see that the scale has gone
up, don’t panic. If you consume more calories, carbohydrates, and
sodium on the weekend, you’ll also retain more water in your muscles
and under your skin.

Weekend weight gain is mostly water. Of course, if you really overate,
you will have gained some fat, but not 5 pounds of fat – not in a
single weekend.

After all, as you know, it takes 3500 calories to store a pound of
fat. And there are 540 calories in a Big Mac. So to gain a pound,
you’d have to overeat by the equivalent of over SIX Big Macs…and
to gain 5 pounds in a long weekend, you’d have to overeat your needs
by the equivalent of over 30 Big Macs.

That’s really tough to do. So relax…and wait to weigh yourself
until Wednesday…that’s when you’ll get a more accurate measure.

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

What She Eats: “I start my day with egg-white omeletes with turkey or oatmeal, a banana and blueberry smoothie plus one coffee of the day, which I can’t live without. Lunch is usually a [shrimp] or tuna salad, nuts and celery for snack, and dinner I normally have fish or chicken with vegetables.”

How She stops Hunger: “Eat every two hours so you don’t get over-hungry. And remember it’s no good food just being ‘healthy’ – it has to be tasty and look good for you to want to eat it and enjoy it.”

The Workout Routine: “I have a gym at home; I start off on the treadmill for 30 minutes [and] I’ll aim to complete three to four miles. I’ll walk on an incline for two minutes the sprint for three and so on… I can do 100 crunches in less than two minutes. I do three types of rows—bicep curls, arm circles, and pull-backs, 15 repetitions of each.”

Vegetables are Everywhere
If you’re struggling to get into the vegetable habit, you don’t have to commit to huge plates of broccoli and kale. In reality, you can incorporate (okay, hide) serving-size portions of veggies in meals you already enjoy. Some examples:
Add chopped spinach to lasagnas and meatloaf.
Mix shredded carrots into tuna salad.
Build a fancier sandwich by adding sprouts, cucumber slices, carrot slices, radicchio and other unexpected vegetables.
Grill Portobello mushrooms, eggplant, zucchini alongside your burgers and chicken.
Fix a brunch omelet with sautéed peppers and tomatoes.

Abs Reality Check

No doubt about it: The desire for a flatter abdomen is as American as (calorie-laden) apple pie. If you’ve resolved to have better abs this summer, please remember these basic truths:

• 1. Spot-reducing is a myth. You can’t lose flab primarily from your abs just because you’re doing extra crunches. You lose fat pretty evenly throughout your body, over the course of time.
• 2. Fat trumps tone. Even if you work hard to tone your ab muscles, you won’t be able to see them if they’re covered by a layer of fat.
• 3. A well-rounded approach works. Your chances for success are best if you attack the problem from several angles: (1) eat fewer calories, (2) burn more calories by doing cardio workouts, (3) increase your metabolism through strength training (the more muscle mass you have overall, the more calories you’ll burn), and (4) do crunches or other ab exercises as part of your strength-training routine.
• 4. Appreciate your personal best. Too many of us hope for the perfect abs of a magazine cover model. By taking a well-rounded approach, you can get abs that will make a big difference in your appearance – and your self-confidence.

Upper Arm Facts

To strengthen and tone your upper arms, you need to work both your triceps (3 muscles in the back of the upper arm) and your biceps (2 muscles in the front of the upper arm).

TRICEPS

• Primary movement: Elbow extension
• Good free-weight exercise: Triceps kickbacks
• Good machine exercise: Triceps push-downs
• Use outside the gym: Punching; pushing a heavy object

BICEPS

• Primary movement: Elbow flexion
• Good free-weight exercise: Standing biceps curls
• Good machine exercise: Preacher curls
• Use outside the gym: Lifting and carrying objects

Ladies, we need to get it together. 1 2 3 4 and 1 2… Now alot of it has to do with her age, but no excuses. I can’t wait to see the rest!

When You Warm Up, Break a Sweat

Are you taking your pre-exercise warm-ups too lightly? If you don’t begin to sweat, the answer could be yes.

A warm-up is a low-intensity cardiovascular exercise performed for 5 to 10 minutes until perspiration begins. Brisk walking, jogging, cycling are just a few examples of warm-ups.

It’s important to note that strength-training workouts – and not just cardiovascular exercise – should be preceded by a warm-up. If you exercise working muscles that are not adequately warmed up, you could be increasing your risk of injury.