As you may have already discovered, the squat is at the top of the heap (along with deadlifts) as one of the most effective overall exercises for stimulating body composition changes (muscle gain and fat loss). This is because exercises like squats and deadlifts use more muscle groups under a heavy load than almost any other weight bearing exercises known to man. Hence, these exercises stimulate the greatest hormonal responses (growth hormone, testosterone, etc.) of all exercises. Continue Reading »

As you’ve probably heard before, your post-workout meal may very well be your most important meal of the day. The reason is that when you’re finished with an intense workout, you’re entering a catabolic state where your muscle glycogen is depleted and increased cortisol levels are beginning to excessively break down muscle tissue. These conditions are not good and the only way to reverse this catabolic state (and promote an anabolic state) is to consume a quickly digestible post-workout meal as soon as you can after training. Continue Reading »

I’d like to start a little discussion today about carbohydrates… and in particular, “white foods” as well as potatoes. One reason I wanted to mention this is because so many health and fitness professionals trash talk potatoes about being a bad carbohydrate choice because of the high glycemic index. Some even say such ridiculous things as “avoid any and all white carbohydrates”. Continue Reading »

Are you a cardio junkie? Everyone seems to think that “cardio” is the best way to get in shape and lose body fat. I’m going to show you with this article why I disagree!

It is quite common to hear fitness pros, doctors, and other health professionals prescribe low to moderate intensity aerobic training (cardio) to people who are trying to prevent heart disease or lose weight. Most often, the recommendations go something like this: Continue Reading »

I was at a poker party up in North Jersey over the weekend at a friend’s house. My friend had moved into this beautiful new home about a year ago, but I had never made it up for a visit until this weekend.

Well, as they were giving us a tour of the house, we took a peek into one of their spare rooms which wasn’t being used for anything. The only thing they had in this room was one of those infomercial “ab loungers” covered in dust… you know, the ab-chair looking thingy that they hawk on the infomercials as being the end-all solution to a flabby stomach… telling you that you can get a flat stomach and perfect abs just by sitting on this thing and rocking a little bit while you lazily watch tv. Continue Reading »

Instead of the typical ab routines that we see so often with crunches, situps, leg lifts, etc… I like to give my readers better options for metabolism-boosting high intensity workouts that work their entire body while also working their abs. Continue Reading »