1. Count the calories as you eat. It’s a good idea to have an idea of the calories that most food items have. If it is a packed thing then the label is sure to have the calories that the substance has.
2. Be sure to burn out those extra calories by the end of the week. If you feel that you have consumed more calories than you should have during the week, it happens you know, and then make sure that you work off those extra calories by the end of the week.
3. Stay away from fried things. Fried things are an absolute no-no. The more fried things that you avoid, the lesser weight you will gain. Fried things are called so because they are fried in oil or fat. And even if the external oil is drained away, there is still a lot of hidden oil in it so stay away from it.
4. Do not skip meals. The worst thing you can do while watching you diet is skip a meal. It has just the opposite effect of what you want. You need to have at least four regular meals every day.
5. Fresh vegetables are better than cooked or canned vegetables. Try to eat your vegetables raw. When you cook them, you are in fact taking away nearly half the vitamins in them. And canned vegetables too are processed and are not nearly half as good as fresh vegetables. When you buy your vegetables it would be a good thing to see if the label says that it is pesticide free.
6. Nothing more than an egg a day. Eggs are not such a bright idea. It would be best to reduce your intake of eggs to maybe three in a week. But for those of you die hard egg fans, you may have up to one egg a day but nothing more than that.
7. Make chocolates a luxury and not a routine. Chocolates are not or at least they should not be a part of your diet. So do not indulge too much in them. Even the bitter chocolates are not good for you because though the sugar is less there is still the cream in them.
8. Choose a variety of foods from all food groups every day. This is a fine way of keeping deficiency diseases at bay. Change the items included in your diet every day. This is an excellent way of keeping deficiency diseases at bay and it helps you to experiment with a variety of dishes and there by you do not get bored of your diet.
9. If you can say no to alcoholic beverages please do. Alcoholic beverages too are not good for you. Beer can be fattening and the rest of the alcoholic drinks may not be fattening by themselves but after a couple of swigs you will be in no position to watch your diet and your appetite too will be something to battle with.
10. Try to have breakfast within one hour of waking. It’s always best to have breakfast within an hour of waking so that your body can charge itself with the energy it needs for the day. The idea is not to wait for your self to get really hungry. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day but that does not mean that it should be the most filling meal of the day.
1. Go crazy on vegetables. Vegetables are your best bet when it comes to losing pounds. Nature has a terrific spread when it comes to choosing vegetables. And the leafy green vegetables are your best bet. Try to include a salad in you diet always.
2. Eat intelligently. The difference between man and beast is that we are driven by intelligence while beasts are driven by instinct. Don’t just eat something because you feel like eating it. Ask your self whether your body really needs it.
3. Watch what you eat. Keep a watchful eye on every thing that goes in. Sometimes the garnishes can richer than the food itself. Accompaniments too can be very rich. Remember that it is the easiest thing in the world to eat something without realizing that it was something that you should not have eaten. Selective memory you know…
4. Control that sweet tooth. Remember that sweet things generally mean more calories. It is natural that we have cravings for sweet things especially chocolates and other confectionary. Go easy on theses things and each time
you consume something sweet understand that it is going to add on somewhere.
5. Fix times to have meals and stick to it. Try to have food at fixed times of the day. You can stretch these times by half an hour, but anything more than that is going to affect your eating pattern, the result will either be a loss of appetite or that famished feeling which will make you stuff yourself with more than what is required the next time you eat.
6. Eat only when you are hungry. Some of us have the tendency to eat whenever we see food. We use parties as an excuse to stuff our selves. Understand that the effect of a whole week of dieting can be wasted by just one day’s party food. Whenever you are offered something to eat do not decline it completely bit just break of a nibble so that you appear to mind your manners and at the same time can watch your diet.
7. Quit snacking in between meals. Do not fall for snacks in between meals. This is especially true for those who have to travel a lot. They feel that the only time they can get a bite to eat is snacks and junk food. The main problem with most snacks and junk food is that they are usually less filling and contain a lot of fat and calories. Just think about French fries…tempting but terribly fattening.
8. Snack on vegetables if you must. You might get the pangs of hunger in between meals. It is something that you can very well control. Or even better, try munching on carrots. They are an excellent way to satisfy those hungry pangs and are good for your eyes and teeth. True, you might end up being called Bugs Bunny, but its miles better to be called Bugs Bunny than fatso.
9. Go easy on tea and coffee. Tea and coffee are harmless by themselves. It’s when you add the cream and sugar that they become fattening. Did you know that having a cup of tea or coffee that has cream and at least two cubes of sugar is as bad as having a big piece of rich chocolate cake?
10. Try to stick to black tea/coffee. Black tea or coffee can actually be good for you. But personally I would like to recommend tea rather than coffee. The caffeine in the coffee is not really good for you because it is an alkaloid and can affect other functions of your body like the metabolism.
1. Drink plenty of water. Our body needs a lot of water so give in to water. Water is not just way to flush out toxin but if you have more water in your body you will generally feel healthier and fitter. This it self will discourage any tendency to gorge. The best thing about water is that is has no calories at all.
2. Start your day with a glass of water. As soon as you wake up, gulp down a glass of cool water. It’s a wonderful way to start you day and you only need a lesser quantity of your breakfast drink after that. A glass of water lets out all your digestive juices and sort of lubricates the insides of your body. You may have your morning cup of tea but have it after a glass of water. It is good for you.
3. Drink a glass of water before you start the meal. Water naturally needs some space so that you feel fuller without actually having to stuff yourself.
4.Have another glass of water while you are having the meal. Again this is another way of making yourself full so that you can actually rise from the table eating less but feeling full just the same. Instead of drinking it one gulp, take sips after each morsel. It will help the food to settle faster so that you get that feeling that you are full faster.
5. Stay away from sweetened bottle drinks, especially sodas. Hey all those colas and fizzy drinks are sweetened with sugar and sugar means calories. The more you can cut out on these sweetened bottle drinks, the better for you. So if you must drink sodas, then stick to diet sodas.
6. Include in your diet things that contain more water like tomatoes and watermelons. These things contain 90 to 95 % water so that there is nothing that you have to lose by feasting on them. They fill you up without adding to the pounds.
7. Eat fresh fruit instead of drinking fruit juice. Juice is often sweetened but fresh fruits have natural sugars. When you eat fruit, you are taking in a lot of fiber, which is needed by the body, and fruits of course are an excellent source of vitamins.
8. If you do have a craving for fruit juice then go for fresh fruit juice instead of these that contain artificial flavors and colors. Or even better, try making your own fruit juice taking care not to sweeten it with too many calories.
9. Choose fresh fruit to processed fruits. Processed and canned fruits do not have as much fiber as fresh fruit and processed and canned fruits are nearly always sweetened.
10. Increase your fiber intake. Like I mentioned, the body needs a lot of fiber. So try to include in your diet as many fruits and vegetables as you can.
There are four parts of each rep that you do for any given exercise. Would you like to know what they are?
1. Lifting portion also known as the positive or concentric portion of a rep.
2. Peak contraction at the very top of each rep.
3. Lowering portion also known as the negative or eccentric portion of a rep.
4. Full stretch at the very bottom of each rep.
It’s a must that you do each rep with proper form. Do not stop short on the peak contraction, and do not stop short on the full stretch. Lift forcefully and lower the weight under control. The negative portion of each rep is the most important, but each part of every rep is very important. Have you ever seen someone do Pull Ups?
Most people stop short of a peak contraction and stop short of the full stretch and never get their chin above the bar. They are cheating on each rep because it’s easier that way. But they’re only fooling themselves because they’re not getting the full benefit of the exercise! Ensure that you concentrate on each and every rep. Do not cheat on your reps. Progress will be much faster when you perform reps properly. Reap the benefits of each and every rep when you use proper form.
Warming up before a workout and before each exercise is vital to your success! You will greatly decrease your risk of injury and you’ll increase your performance in the gym. You’ll be able to lift heavier weights throughout your workout, which will lead to faster results and bigger changes when you look in the mirror. There are two different warm ups that you’re going to need to do.First: a pre workout warm up is required before you touch any weights. Second: specific exercise warm ups need to be done to get you acclimated to a new exercise.
For the pre workout warm up, spend about 5 minutes on any cardio machine or cardiovascular activity such as jogging. Then do some jumping jacks followed by some body weight squats and push ups. For specific exercise warm ups, you need to follow these guidelines:
1. Never do more reps for a warm up set than the target number of reps for a working set. If you are going to be doing 10 reps on a working set, do not perform over 10 reps on a warm up set as an example.
2. Decrease the number of reps in each successive warm up set while increasing the weight.
3. Do more warm up sets at the beginning of your workout and less as you progress through your workout. Specific exercise warm ups are a requirement. You need to slowly increase the weight during warm up sets and allow your body to become acclimated to the new exercise before jumping straight into heavy weights.
Warm ups are very important so please treat them that way. Take your time and ensure you are warm before continuing with your workout.
Later in this manual, you’re going to find the Basic WLC Program weight lifting workout. The workout program uses only the best weight lifting exercises for building muscle and strength:
1: The Squat
2: The Deadlift
3: The Bench Press
4: The Pendlay Row
5: The Overhead Press
6: The Chin Up
7: The Dip
8: The Calf Raise
9: The Curl
10: The Extension
One of the best things you can do is to spend some time learning how to do these exercises properly. No one spends the time learning the exercises and many people waste years of progress. I’ve been there! Take it from someone who learned the hard way. Take your time studying the exercises, practicing, and learning how to do them properly. I really can’t stress this enough. You can start this program and take your time learning the exercises. This program was developed to help you learn the proper methods for lifting weights. Do not get in a hurry. Take your time and perfect your form.
In order to perform the Basic Weight Lifting Program, you’re going to need access to some basic weight lifting equipment. I’m going to show you what you need :
(1) Power Rack A good power rack is a must! This is the center piece of any gym. A good power rack will have a chin up bar and possibly dip bars. A power rack provides you with everything you need to work out safely. You don’t need a workout partner. You don’t need a spotter. Spotter bars are included with every power rack. See the power rack in the image to the left. I’ve searched for the best power rack I can find that doesn’t cost thousands of dollars.
(2) Adjustable Bench You will need a good adjustable bench that you can slide in and out of your power rack. You’ll need the bench to perform some of the best exercises.
(3) Olympic Barbell Sets You need at least one 300 pound Olympic barbell set. I personally like to have two so I don’t have to move the bar from inside the power rack to outside the power rack. You’ll save a lot of time and energy if you get two barbells and lots of extra weight plates. Most commercial gyms will have plenty of barbells and weights.If you are building a home gym, I highly recommend two barbells and lots of extra weight plates.
(4) Adjustable Dumbbell Set You’re going to need a good set of adjustable dumbbells. I made a huge mistake building my home gym and went with fixed dumbbells. They take up too much space and cost entirely too much.
That’s all the equipment you need to get started correctly with weight lifting. There’s no need to waste money on useless machines or any other useless equipment. A home gym will initially cost you more but will save you thousands per year in gym membership fees, gas costs, and wear and tear on your vehicle. A home gym is more convenient and saves you so much time!
1) Train With Weights and Focus On Freeweight, Compound Movements. While "train with weights" may seem like an obvious point, you'd be surprised at how many people believe that they can make significant muscular gains using only body weight exercises. If you want to make solid, noteworthy gains in muscle size and strength, you absolutely must train with weights. While body weight exercises can help you achieve some modest results to start off with, these gains will eventually plateau and your progress will come to a grinding halt. The plain fact of the matter is that nothing can come close to the overall anabolic effect of heavy, compound, free weight exercises. What is a compound exercise, you ask? A compound exercise is any lift that stimulates more than one major muscle group at a time. Examples of these lifts are the squat, deadlift, bench press, chin up, barbell row, overhead press, dip and lunge. Compound movements allow you to handle the most weight and will stimulate the greatest amount of total muscle fibers. If you are looking to pack on some serious muscular weight, you absolutely must make these basic compound movements the cornerstone of your routine.
2) Be Prepared To Train Hard. If you think that building muscle is a complete walk in the park, you're in for a huge disappointment! One of the biggest factors that separates those who make modest gains from those who make serious gains is their level of training intensity. The reality is that most people just plain don't train hard enough. In order to stimulate your muscle fibers to their utmost potential, you must be willing to take every set you perform in the gym to the point of muscular failure.
Muscular Failure: The point at which no further repetitions can be completed using proper form. Training to failure requires alot of discipline and you absolutely must be willing to drive through the pain barriers it takes to get there. Remember, your body does not want to build muscle mass! When it comes to the overall survival of your body as an organism, piling on slabs of excess muscle tissue is quite low on the priority list. You must force your body to build muscle! Submaximal training intensity will leave you with submaximal results, plain and simple.
3) Track Your Progress In The Gym From Week To Week. This muscle-building technique is absolutely critical to your success. If there's one thing that I want you to take away from this book, that is it. Our bodies build muscle because of an adaptive response to the environment. When you go to the gym, you break down your muscle fibers by training with weights. Your body senses this as a potential threat to its survival and will react accordingly by rebuilding the damaged fibers larger and stronger in order to protect against any possible future threat. Therefore, in order to make continual gains in muscle size and strength, you must focus on progressing in the gym from week to week. This could mean performing 1 or 2 more reps for each exercise or adding more weight to the bar. Don't try to improve by leaps and bounds every time you workout, but rather focus on making small, steady increases. Over the course of a few months, those small increases will add up more than you think, and your body will continually adapt and grow to the ever increasing stress.
4) Avoid Overtraining. Overtraining is your number one enemy when it comes to building muscle size and strength. When most people begin a workout program, they are stuck with the misguided notion that more is better. They naturally assume that the more time they spend in the gym, the better results they will achieve. And who could blame them? In most aspects of life this basic logic seems to hold true. The more time we spend trying to reach a certain goal, the faster we tend to reach it. When it comes to building muscle, nothing could be farther from the truth! If you spend too much time in the gym, you will actually take yourself farther away from your goals rather than closer to them. Remember, your muscles do not grow in the gym. They grow out of the gym, while you are resting and eating. Recovery is absolutely vital to the muscle growth process. If you don't provide your body with the proper recovery time in between workouts, your muscles will never have a chance to grow. Overtraining will also decrease your energy levels and will promote an increase in certain hormones that stimulate muscular breakdown.
5) Eat More Frequently. The main area where most people fail miserably on their muscle-building mission is on the all too important task of proper nutrition. Training with weights is only half of the equation! You break down your muscle fibers in the gym, but if you don't provide your body with the proper nutrients at the proper times, the muscle growth process will be next to impossible. You wouldn't be able to build a house without bricks, and building muscle is no different. Nutrition is just as important as what you accomplish in the gym, and it's very important that you keep this in mind at all times. The most important concept when it comes to proper nutrition is meal frequency. If you want to build the greatest amount of muscle mass that you possibly can, you must consume a small meal at least every 2-3 hours. If you fail to do so, your body will enter into a "starvation mode". The body treats this lack of food as a potential threat to its survival and will begin literally eating away at your muscles in order to obtain a source of protein. This process is known as "muscle catabolism", and if you're looking for serious results you must avoid it like the plague! Eating every 2-3 hours will to prevent this from happening.
6) Increase Your Protein Intake. Of the 3 major nutrients (protein, carbohydrates and fats) protein is without a doubt the most important for those who are looking to gain muscle size and strength. Protein is found in literally every single one of the 30 trillion cells that your body is made up and its main role is to build and repair bodily tissues. Without sufficient protein intake, it will be physically impossible for your body to synthesize a significant amount of muscle mass. If your body were a house, think of protein as the bricks. You can obtain protein from a variety of foods including fish, poultry, eggs, beef, milk, peanut butter and cottage cheese. Every meal that you eat should contain around 30-40 grams of protein. How much protein is enough? A general guideline is to consume 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight. If you weigh 145 pounds, you should be consuming 145-218 grams of protein daily.
7) Increase Your Water Intake. Most people say that they drink plenty of water, but how many actually do? Pay close attention to the amount of water you drink each day, and you may be surprised at how little you actually consume. If you want a simple, easy and highly effective way to maximize your muscle gains, drinking more water is it. Water plays so many vital roles in the body and its importance cannot be overstated. In fact, your muscles alone are made up of 70% water! Not only will drinking more water cause your muscles to appear fuller and more vascular, but it will also increase your strength as well. Research has shown that merely a 3-4% drop in your body's water levels can impact muscle contractions by 10-20%! Not only does water play a very important role in muscle performance and growth, but it also contributes to overall health in numerous ways.
- Aids in the digestion process. - Lubricates the joints. - Transports important nutrients around the body.
This is just to name a small few! Aim to consume 0.6 ounces for every pound of bodyweight each day.
8) Be Consistent! Consistency is everything. Those who make the greatest gains in muscular size and strength are the ones who are able to implement the proper techniques on a highly consistent basis. Simply knowing is not enough, you must apply! Building muscle is a result of the cumulative effect of small steps. Sure, performing 1 extra rep on your bench press will not make a huge difference to your overall results, and neither will consuming a single meal. However, over the long haul, all of those extra reps you perform and all of those small meals you consume will decide your overall success. If you work hard and complete all of your muscle-building tasks in a consistent fashion, all of those individual steps will equate to massive gains in overall size and strength. It is those who are willing to persevere that will succeed. It is those who are willing to rise above laziness that will end up with impressive results. I mean let's face it, everyone wants to be strong and muscular. If this is the case, why isn't everyone strong and muscular? It's because only certain people have the proper drive and motivation that it takes to get there.
Check out this muscle building video for skinny guys :
