As you see, I haven't updated this blog for quite some time. There are several reasons for this, but it all revolves around one major reason.
I made this blog because of this assignment that I had to do. This is why this blog is under the advisory of CSR and Philanthrophy Action Group (CPTAG) of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). Because the deadline is up, I don't have any reason to do this blog anymore.
However, I won't delete this blog, since it still contain some of the most important information for a healthy life. I'm still accepting some questions as well, so feel free to ask if you have some questions :)
I should also thank Denny Santoso. He inspired me to make this blog, since I followed him on Twitter for quite some time now. If you're an Indonesian, or for some reason understand the language, you can follow him on twitter at @DennySantoso, or visit his website at Dunia Fitnes.
All in all, thank you for visiting this blog!
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Tomatoes!
Bright red in color and round in shape, tomatoes are not only look appealing, but also very tasty to eat. Many people thought that it's in the veggie group, when it's actually a fruit.
Besides its freshness, tomatoes are rich in antioxidants, which are effective in fighting those free radicals. The antioxidants in tomatoes fight them by adding an electron into the free radicals, neutralizing them and stop the chain reaction of the free radicals that disrupts the health. One of the antioxidants tomatoes is lycopene. Lycopene is an important antioxidants that can help prevent the formation of cancer cells, like prostate, rectal, stomach, and throat cancer.
Lycopene is a part of the "pigment family" called carotene. Carotene is a natural component in fruit and vegetable colors. For example, beta carotene is an orange pigment in carrots.
Our body does not produce lycopene, therefore it needs a supply of lycopene from the foods we consume. Tomatoes actually contain more lycopene than other fruits, such as carrots or watermelon.
Nutritional Content in 100 grams of Tomatoes
Health Benefits from Tomatoes
Except its merit in preventing the formation of cancer cells, tomatoes also have 5 other important benefits for our health, and they are:
1. Prevent the Premature Aging
With its high content of antioxidants, tomatoes can prevent premature aging from free radicals. Tomatoes also contain citric acid, which can make our skin looks fresh and cleaner.
2. Lower the Blood Cholesterol
The nicotinic acid in tomatoes can help you lower the high blood cholesterol, therefore preventing any heart disease.
3. Maintain the Blood Sugar Level
Tomatoes also contain important mineral, chromium. Chromium is useful in maintaining the stability of the blood sugar. Therefore, tomatoes are good for diabetic people.
4. Lower the Effects of Smoking
Tomatoes are highly recommended for smokers. The chlorogenic acid and the coumaric acid in tomatoes help smokers fight carcinogens, the dangerous substance in cigarettes which can cause cancer.
5. Maintain the Bone Health
Besides chromium, tomatoes also contain other important minerals such as calcium and vitamin K. These two nutrition are important in repairing the broken bone tissues while preventing the osteoporosis.
Start consuming tomatoes today, and get ALL the health merits!
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| image credit to free-extras.com |
Lycopene is a part of the "pigment family" called carotene. Carotene is a natural component in fruit and vegetable colors. For example, beta carotene is an orange pigment in carrots.
Our body does not produce lycopene, therefore it needs a supply of lycopene from the foods we consume. Tomatoes actually contain more lycopene than other fruits, such as carrots or watermelon.
Nutritional Content in 100 grams of Tomatoes
- 27 mg of phosphor
- 360 mg of potassium
- 0,6 mg of iron
- 11 mg of calcium
- 23 mg of vitamin C
- 0,06 mg of thiamine (vitamin B)
- 1 g of protein
- 1000 iu of vitamin A
Health Benefits from Tomatoes
Except its merit in preventing the formation of cancer cells, tomatoes also have 5 other important benefits for our health, and they are:
1. Prevent the Premature Aging
With its high content of antioxidants, tomatoes can prevent premature aging from free radicals. Tomatoes also contain citric acid, which can make our skin looks fresh and cleaner.
2. Lower the Blood Cholesterol
The nicotinic acid in tomatoes can help you lower the high blood cholesterol, therefore preventing any heart disease.
3. Maintain the Blood Sugar Level
Tomatoes also contain important mineral, chromium. Chromium is useful in maintaining the stability of the blood sugar. Therefore, tomatoes are good for diabetic people.
4. Lower the Effects of Smoking
Tomatoes are highly recommended for smokers. The chlorogenic acid and the coumaric acid in tomatoes help smokers fight carcinogens, the dangerous substance in cigarettes which can cause cancer.
5. Maintain the Bone Health
Besides chromium, tomatoes also contain other important minerals such as calcium and vitamin K. These two nutrition are important in repairing the broken bone tissues while preventing the osteoporosis.
Start consuming tomatoes today, and get ALL the health merits!
Sunday, May 13, 2012
5 Best Post-Workout Meals
During a workout, our body needs enough nutrition as its fuel to create the energy. These energy will wear off eventually after the workout, right? Therefore, we need more healthy food to recharge the lost energy. If our body lost its energy for too long, it can cause muscle spasms and catabolism.
Here are 5 best post-workout meals you can consume after a workout:
1. Chicken Breast with Veggie Mix
100 grams of skinless and boneless chicken breast contain about 29 grams of protein, which can help the recovery and muscle developments after a workout. Meanwhile, a mix of vegetables contain many kinds of vitamins and minerals that are essential for our immunity.
2. Eggs and Avocado
No doubt that eggs contain enough protein, especially in its whites. Egg yolks contain phosphatidylcholine which can be useful to prevent the accumulation of fat and cholesterol in the liver. Yolks are also rich in choline, which can increase the heart, brain, and membrane cell functions. One egg contain about 300 mg of choline and 315 mg of phosphatidylcholine.
Avocado also have high nutritional value. It contain at least 11 vitamins and 14 minerals. It's also rich in protein, riboflavin (vitamin B2), niacin (vitamin B3), potassium, and vitamin C (vitamin needed for body recovery).
3. Salmon, Spinach, and Yam (Sweet Potato)
Salmon are rich in protein and Omega 3 fatty acid. The protein in a salmon is good for muscle growth, while the Omega 3 fatty acid are useful to reduce muscle damage after a workout.
Spinach are high in iron, an important mineral for muscle formation. Iron is also an important component in hemoglobin, the part in our blood that distributes the oxygen throughout the body.
Sweet potatoe (yam) is one kind of complex carbohydrate, which are also equipped with easy-to-digest vitamins and minerals. It's also a good energy source, especially after a workout.
4. Tuna and Brown Rice
Potassium and essential fats in a tuna helps control the blood pressure. The Omega 3 fatty acid can also help prevent rheumatic, while the selenium are useful in detoxifying process, especially in the liver.
Brown rice are high in fiber, which helps in indigestion and are suitable to be consumed after a workout. It won't increase the blood sugar, thus reducing the risk of diabetes.
5. Whey Protein
Besides the fact that it's good to be consumed before a workout, whey protein are also good to be consumed after a workout. Whey protein are a protein supplement in the form of a milk, making it easier to be absorbed. Research indicates that whey protein can fasten the muscle recovery process and maximizes the muscle formation after a workout.
Those are the 5 best post-workout meal that you can consume after a workout. The right meal after a workout can really get you faster to the results you've been fighting for!
Here are 5 best post-workout meals you can consume after a workout:
1. Chicken Breast with Veggie Mix
100 grams of skinless and boneless chicken breast contain about 29 grams of protein, which can help the recovery and muscle developments after a workout. Meanwhile, a mix of vegetables contain many kinds of vitamins and minerals that are essential for our immunity.
2. Eggs and Avocado
No doubt that eggs contain enough protein, especially in its whites. Egg yolks contain phosphatidylcholine which can be useful to prevent the accumulation of fat and cholesterol in the liver. Yolks are also rich in choline, which can increase the heart, brain, and membrane cell functions. One egg contain about 300 mg of choline and 315 mg of phosphatidylcholine.
Avocado also have high nutritional value. It contain at least 11 vitamins and 14 minerals. It's also rich in protein, riboflavin (vitamin B2), niacin (vitamin B3), potassium, and vitamin C (vitamin needed for body recovery).
3. Salmon, Spinach, and Yam (Sweet Potato)
Salmon are rich in protein and Omega 3 fatty acid. The protein in a salmon is good for muscle growth, while the Omega 3 fatty acid are useful to reduce muscle damage after a workout.
Spinach are high in iron, an important mineral for muscle formation. Iron is also an important component in hemoglobin, the part in our blood that distributes the oxygen throughout the body.
Sweet potatoe (yam) is one kind of complex carbohydrate, which are also equipped with easy-to-digest vitamins and minerals. It's also a good energy source, especially after a workout.
4. Tuna and Brown Rice
Potassium and essential fats in a tuna helps control the blood pressure. The Omega 3 fatty acid can also help prevent rheumatic, while the selenium are useful in detoxifying process, especially in the liver.
Brown rice are high in fiber, which helps in indigestion and are suitable to be consumed after a workout. It won't increase the blood sugar, thus reducing the risk of diabetes.
5. Whey Protein
Besides the fact that it's good to be consumed before a workout, whey protein are also good to be consumed after a workout. Whey protein are a protein supplement in the form of a milk, making it easier to be absorbed. Research indicates that whey protein can fasten the muscle recovery process and maximizes the muscle formation after a workout.
Those are the 5 best post-workout meal that you can consume after a workout. The right meal after a workout can really get you faster to the results you've been fighting for!
Friday, May 11, 2012
5 Things to Get Rid of for a Healthier Life
Health is our most important asset. It's only natural that we have to try to keep it and let go of the unhealthy habits. Some people might not notice that some of these habits are not supposed to be preserved. In this post, I will share some of the unhealthy habits that can really ruin our health.
1. Smoking
Smoking is the main cause for lung cancer and other kinds of diseases. The best thing you can do is by stop doing it. But still, one does not simple stop smoking, especially when they've became addicted to nicotine. However, the simplest thing you can do to reduce your smoking habit is exercising, until you're used to not smoking any more.
2. Drinking
Binge drinking is clearly ruining your health, as fun as it might be. This habit can cause alcohol poisoning, brain damage, and can also damage the cardiovascular system. To prevent those dangerous side effects, you can also substitute your white wine with red wine, considering red wine have some health merits with the right amount.
3. Eating Junk Food
Those food really live up to their name: they're junk food, literally. It contains loads of saturated fat, which can clog your artery, not to mention obesity. If you want to order these foods, choose places that provide healthier food, adding some salad to make it healthier. Try to not eat it too often.
4. Stress
Coping with stress is not an easy thing. As humans, we have many causes of stress that sometimes complicates things. The right thing to do is managing it. Pick the right way and strategy that can help you cope with your stress. Some people do their hobby, but workout can be really helpful. Doing simple exercises, yoga, pilates, or meditation can help a lot.
5. Lack of Exercise
Need I say more? Working out clearly increase your health. Cardio training can improve your cardiovascular system, while weight training can strengthen your body. The most common problem has always been with laziness. Doing some workout regularly and making it your routine can really solve this problem.
Let's face it, all five habits above are generally known as bad habits. I don't even think my explanation is really needed, right?
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| image credit to workingwritersclubdotcom |
Smoking is the main cause for lung cancer and other kinds of diseases. The best thing you can do is by stop doing it. But still, one does not simple stop smoking, especially when they've became addicted to nicotine. However, the simplest thing you can do to reduce your smoking habit is exercising, until you're used to not smoking any more.
2. Drinking
Binge drinking is clearly ruining your health, as fun as it might be. This habit can cause alcohol poisoning, brain damage, and can also damage the cardiovascular system. To prevent those dangerous side effects, you can also substitute your white wine with red wine, considering red wine have some health merits with the right amount.
3. Eating Junk Food
Those food really live up to their name: they're junk food, literally. It contains loads of saturated fat, which can clog your artery, not to mention obesity. If you want to order these foods, choose places that provide healthier food, adding some salad to make it healthier. Try to not eat it too often.
4. Stress
Coping with stress is not an easy thing. As humans, we have many causes of stress that sometimes complicates things. The right thing to do is managing it. Pick the right way and strategy that can help you cope with your stress. Some people do their hobby, but workout can be really helpful. Doing simple exercises, yoga, pilates, or meditation can help a lot.
5. Lack of Exercise
Need I say more? Working out clearly increase your health. Cardio training can improve your cardiovascular system, while weight training can strengthen your body. The most common problem has always been with laziness. Doing some workout regularly and making it your routine can really solve this problem.
Let's face it, all five habits above are generally known as bad habits. I don't even think my explanation is really needed, right?
Thursday, May 10, 2012
5 Big No-Nos about Fruit-Consuming
We all know that there are many fruits that can fulfill our needs for vitamin. For example, fruits containing many vitamin C are kiwi, apple, orange, mango, cherry, strawberry, and so on. Fruits are also known as the source of antioxidants, such as tomatoes which contain lots of lycopene or mangoes which are rich in carotene. Therefore, fruits are essential in healthy living.
It's true, but some people are overconfident in some merits of fruit. Truth is, there are couple of things that one have to understand about consuming fruits. Here are the 5 restrictions about fruit-consuming:
1. Consume Fruit as Substitute for Vegetables
Fruits contain some organic acid and aromatic substance which can increase the appetite. Despite the fact, veggies contain more mineral substances than fruits. If you only consume fruits, thinking that it's enough to substitute the veggies, your daily nutritional need are not filled. You still need to consume about 500 grams of veggies everyday.
2. Consume Fruit as Substitute for Meals
A human body can survive with at least 50 kinds of nutrition, especially more than 65 grams of (good) fat that can maintain regeneration and organ recovery. Fruits contain more than 85% of water but less than 1% of protein. Therefore, it can't fulfill the daily need for amino and fatty acid. It's better if you don't consume fruit as substitute for your meal. You can, however, consume it as a snack. See this post for a healthy meal plan.
3. Consume too Much Fruits in Order to Lose Some Weight
Basically, fruits can't be considered as low-calorie foods. More than 80% of fruit contains fructose, kind of "fruit sugar" if I may say so. Even if fruits contain less calories than rice, people always consume more fruit than rice because it taste great and succulent. Therefore, if this happens, more calories will be consumed and your dietary goals won't be achieved.
4. Blinded by Imported Fruits
Some people actually think that imported fruits contain better and more nutrition. This is not always true, because some fruit lose its freshness from long transport time.
5. Relying on Fruits as Sources for Vitamin
Some fruit don't contain as many vitamins as we thought it would be. But if you want to fulfill your needs for vitamin, it's not wise to just rely it on fruits. You also have to consume it from other kinds of food. You can also fulfill it by consuming multivitamin and multimineral supplements.
Yes, fruits are highly nutritional foods and are good to consume daily. However, it is also important to pay attention on how you consume it. Consume it wisely!
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| image credit to topnews.in |
1. Consume Fruit as Substitute for Vegetables
Fruits contain some organic acid and aromatic substance which can increase the appetite. Despite the fact, veggies contain more mineral substances than fruits. If you only consume fruits, thinking that it's enough to substitute the veggies, your daily nutritional need are not filled. You still need to consume about 500 grams of veggies everyday.
2. Consume Fruit as Substitute for Meals
A human body can survive with at least 50 kinds of nutrition, especially more than 65 grams of (good) fat that can maintain regeneration and organ recovery. Fruits contain more than 85% of water but less than 1% of protein. Therefore, it can't fulfill the daily need for amino and fatty acid. It's better if you don't consume fruit as substitute for your meal. You can, however, consume it as a snack. See this post for a healthy meal plan.
3. Consume too Much Fruits in Order to Lose Some Weight
Basically, fruits can't be considered as low-calorie foods. More than 80% of fruit contains fructose, kind of "fruit sugar" if I may say so. Even if fruits contain less calories than rice, people always consume more fruit than rice because it taste great and succulent. Therefore, if this happens, more calories will be consumed and your dietary goals won't be achieved.
4. Blinded by Imported Fruits
Some people actually think that imported fruits contain better and more nutrition. This is not always true, because some fruit lose its freshness from long transport time.
5. Relying on Fruits as Sources for Vitamin
Some fruit don't contain as many vitamins as we thought it would be. But if you want to fulfill your needs for vitamin, it's not wise to just rely it on fruits. You also have to consume it from other kinds of food. You can also fulfill it by consuming multivitamin and multimineral supplements.
Yes, fruits are highly nutritional foods and are good to consume daily. However, it is also important to pay attention on how you consume it. Consume it wisely!
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Choosing the Right Low-Fat Products
Obese people, or other people with high fat and high cholesterol usually have to reduce their fat consumption, and this warning usually make people consider about buying "low-fat" or "fat-free" products. However, be careful, because not all of those products are healthy products like they advertise it.
To keep the original taste in low-fat products, producers replace the fat content with huge amount of sugar. The results are, some "low-fat" products actually contain more calories than the "regular" products! Whereas, in a diet to lose some weight, carbohydrate consumption has to be reduced, especially simple/fast-absorbing carbs like sugar - which have high glycemic index (GI) - will be stored as fat anyway.
Besides that, some of those products also contain trans-fat, which not only increase the LDL (bad cholesterol) content, but also lower the HDL (good, protective cholesterol) content. Fact is, the increasing number of obesity in our society is one of the main factors of the proliferating low-fat products. The vigorous advertisements, especially the ones in TVs, make people think that consuming those low-fat products means they consume healthy foods.
Based on the facts above, you should carefully check the nutrition facts of the product that you're going to buy. Products with 1-2 grams of sugar is enough, but above that, it's too high for those of you who's been trying to lose weight.
For your diet, choose complex carbs such as brown rice, whole wheat bread, and oatmeal. Limit your fat consumption, and choose those that are good for you, like canola oil, olive oil, etc. If you want to lower your LDL consumption and increase the HDL, you also need fiber from veggies, fruits, beans, and also oatmeal. Remember to exercise regularly too!
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| image credit to ahundredpoundslost.com |
Besides that, some of those products also contain trans-fat, which not only increase the LDL (bad cholesterol) content, but also lower the HDL (good, protective cholesterol) content. Fact is, the increasing number of obesity in our society is one of the main factors of the proliferating low-fat products. The vigorous advertisements, especially the ones in TVs, make people think that consuming those low-fat products means they consume healthy foods.
Based on the facts above, you should carefully check the nutrition facts of the product that you're going to buy. Products with 1-2 grams of sugar is enough, but above that, it's too high for those of you who's been trying to lose weight.
For your diet, choose complex carbs such as brown rice, whole wheat bread, and oatmeal. Limit your fat consumption, and choose those that are good for you, like canola oil, olive oil, etc. If you want to lower your LDL consumption and increase the HDL, you also need fiber from veggies, fruits, beans, and also oatmeal. Remember to exercise regularly too!
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Diet Soda: Better Than Regular Soda?
People often consume diet soda in order to replace the regular soda-consumption, which, as we all know, contains high sugar and calories. Consuming diet soda in a reasonable amount - say, 1 can a day - is considered safe, because the sweetener and the chemicals contained in it is still within the safe limits for most people.
But still, diet soda is not a healthy drink for you, especially those in diet. Even if replacing regular soda drinks with diet soda reduces significant amount of calories, but a lot of research indicates that the more soda you consume - diet soda or regular soda - your appetite will grow, heightening the risk of obesity and other related diseases such as diabetes mellitus or osteoporosis.
Other research also finds that consuming more than 1 can of carbonated drinks a day will increase the risk of metabolic syndrome as much as 40%. Metabolic syndrome is the main cause for heart disease and diabetes.
There are still a lot of healthier drinks around. The best one there is, is of course regular water, 8 glasses a day. For some variations, instead of drinking carbonated drinks, you can also consume juice, low-fat milk, of green tea. Bottoms up!
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| image credit to thefoodfarce.com |
Other research also finds that consuming more than 1 can of carbonated drinks a day will increase the risk of metabolic syndrome as much as 40%. Metabolic syndrome is the main cause for heart disease and diabetes.
There are still a lot of healthier drinks around. The best one there is, is of course regular water, 8 glasses a day. For some variations, instead of drinking carbonated drinks, you can also consume juice, low-fat milk, of green tea. Bottoms up!
Monday, May 7, 2012
High-Quality Sleeps for You!
In the previous post, I've stressed that it's important to have enough rest for your workout to get your results. However, some people still can't get the results even if they have enough sleep. It simply means their sleeping quality is not good enough. There are many tips and suggestions on how to improve your sleep quality, though.
Here are some "good habits" for better quality of sleep:
1. Do some workout regularly. Have some time to workout everyday. Any simple exercise will do.
2. No caffeine after 7 PM.
3. One hour before you sleep, don't do any work or activity that needs you to think hard and concentrate.
4. Adjust your room temperature to be cooler.
5. Turn off the lamps in your room. Research indicates that even the dim light from digital alarm will disrupt the sleep. Nowadays there are a lot of glow-in-the-dark things, which also disrupt the sleep.
6. Tidy up your bed. A messy bed will definitely mess up with your sleep.
If you have trouble sleeping, try to do some of these tips:
1. Take a slow and deep breath as long as you can.
2. If you have many things in your mind (ex. planning your your vacation, making a shopping list, concerned about your medical diagnosis, etc.), write it down. This usually helps a lot.
3. Pamper yourself with body lotion. Besides the fact that it relaxes you, if you have trouble sleeping because it's too hot, body lotion will cool you down.
4. If your feet is cold, wear socks. Some people even wear this because it calms them down.
5. Relax. Do simple stretching if you need to.
6. Some people claim that warm milk contains melatonin and tryptophan, natural supplements that can help you sleep. However, a glass of milk does not contain enough of those substance to actually help you sleep. But still, it can be quite a relaxing drink.
7. Yawn.
If you have some trouble sleeping, just think of it as an extra time off your daily schedule. You can use that time to do some chores that you haven't done, like tidying up your books or something. The next morning, you'll feel glad because you feel like you achieve something even if you just started your day.
Try to apply those simple tips to have high-quality sleeps and get ready to face your day!
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| image credit to nativeremedies.com |
1. Do some workout regularly. Have some time to workout everyday. Any simple exercise will do.
2. No caffeine after 7 PM.
3. One hour before you sleep, don't do any work or activity that needs you to think hard and concentrate.
4. Adjust your room temperature to be cooler.
5. Turn off the lamps in your room. Research indicates that even the dim light from digital alarm will disrupt the sleep. Nowadays there are a lot of glow-in-the-dark things, which also disrupt the sleep.
6. Tidy up your bed. A messy bed will definitely mess up with your sleep.
If you have trouble sleeping, try to do some of these tips:
1. Take a slow and deep breath as long as you can.
2. If you have many things in your mind (ex. planning your your vacation, making a shopping list, concerned about your medical diagnosis, etc.), write it down. This usually helps a lot.
3. Pamper yourself with body lotion. Besides the fact that it relaxes you, if you have trouble sleeping because it's too hot, body lotion will cool you down.
4. If your feet is cold, wear socks. Some people even wear this because it calms them down.
5. Relax. Do simple stretching if you need to.
6. Some people claim that warm milk contains melatonin and tryptophan, natural supplements that can help you sleep. However, a glass of milk does not contain enough of those substance to actually help you sleep. But still, it can be quite a relaxing drink.
7. Yawn.
If you have some trouble sleeping, just think of it as an extra time off your daily schedule. You can use that time to do some chores that you haven't done, like tidying up your books or something. The next morning, you'll feel glad because you feel like you achieve something even if you just started your day.
Try to apply those simple tips to have high-quality sleeps and get ready to face your day!
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Two Body Weight Training for Women
A lot of women - and men, apparently - are not interested to do body weight training, thinking that the body weight training they can do is only push-up or sit-up. In this post you'll discover two best body weight training besides push-up or sit-up, which not only will help you get the ideal body, but also increase your strength.
Plank is an effective training to help you train your body core stability, while strengthening your abdomen, lower back, torso, and legs. Here are two plank training that you can do:
Walkout Plank
To make your body fit and strong enough to train a harder training like push-up, you have to have a strong core muscles. The core muscles are the muscles that are essential in your daily activities, such as standing up, sit down, lying down, facing down, and many more. This is why you have to strengthen the power and stability of your core.
Walkout plank is one of the best training you can do to train your core. This body weight training is also known as plank to push-up. To do this training, start by assume your body into downward facing-dog yoga position.
After that, while keeping the legs straight and the abs tight, walk the hands out as far as possible (usually up to the push-up position). Then, still keeping the legs straight, walk the feet back up to the hands.
Static Plank
Just like walkout plank, this training is very effective. The difference is that walkout plank is more dynamic than static plank, because in static plank you have to hold a plank position within a certain period of time. This training will increase your core's strength,
To get the maximum results, make sure you do it with the right technique and motion to prevent injuries and strengthening your body.
Plank is an effective training to help you train your body core stability, while strengthening your abdomen, lower back, torso, and legs. Here are two plank training that you can do:
Walkout Plank
To make your body fit and strong enough to train a harder training like push-up, you have to have a strong core muscles. The core muscles are the muscles that are essential in your daily activities, such as standing up, sit down, lying down, facing down, and many more. This is why you have to strengthen the power and stability of your core.
Walkout plank is one of the best training you can do to train your core. This body weight training is also known as plank to push-up. To do this training, start by assume your body into downward facing-dog yoga position.
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| image credit to yogajournal.com |
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| image credit to health.msn.com |
Static Plank
Just like walkout plank, this training is very effective. The difference is that walkout plank is more dynamic than static plank, because in static plank you have to hold a plank position within a certain period of time. This training will increase your core's strength,
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| image credit to ballnroll.com |
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Watch Out, We Got a Fat Belly Over Here! (Part 2)
After the reading the previous article, you know what caused the fat belly. In this post, we will explore more about the health risk of having a fat belly.
- Cancer
Fat belly is associated with many risks of cancers, including endometrial (cancer in uterus layer), colon, gall bladder, prostate, kidney, and post-menopausal breast cancer. Women who gain weight more than 10 kg since they're 18 until they are middle-aged increased the risk of post-menopausal breast cancer twice than women with stable weight.
- Fatty Liver
The main cause of fatty liver for non-alcoholic people is insulin resistance, a metabolic interference where the cells are not sensitive to the effects of insulin. One of the most common risk factors for insulin resistance is obesity, especially central obesity. Study shows there are close association from obesity and the degree of liver damage.
- Breathing Problem
Obstructive sleep apnea (breathing disruption whilst sleeping) generally occurs to overweight people. Obesity is related to the increase of asthma risks and severe bronchitis, and also obesity hypoventilation syndrome, and breathing insufficiency.
- Arthritis
Musculoskeletal disorders, including osteoarthritis, generally occurs to obesity patients, especially patients diagnosed with chronic obesity. Health research indicates that obesity is a strong predictor for osteoarthritis disorders, especially in the knee. The risk of osteoarthritis increase with every 1 kg of weight increase.
- Social and Psychological Impact of Obesity
Emotional impact might be one of the hurtful fact of being obese. Our society these days emphasize on physical appearance which is close to being thin (or skinny), especially on women. This will make overweight people feel like they are not attractive.
Preventing instead of Curing
After knowing the health risk of the accumulation of visceral fat in a fat belly, it's only natural if you want to prevent it before it risks your health. Therefore, if you still have a fat belly right now, or have no problem having a fat belly and still want to prevent it, start doing these steps regularly:
- Do 30 to 45 minutes of cardio 4 to 5 times a week
- Consider to start lifting some weight. Lifting some weight regularly will increase your muscle mass, and the more muscle you have more fat will be burn, lowering the risk of fat accumulation in your belly.
- Adjust your diet. It's better to not consume high fat and high calorie food to prevent the accumulation of new fat. Eat more veggies and fruits.
Therefore, if you want a six-packs abs, you have to get rid of all the fat in your belly. The abs muscle won't show up as long as there are some fat layering your belly. Aside from that, avoid central obesity earlier by working out regularly and eat healthier food to have optimal health quality.
- Cancer
Fat belly is associated with many risks of cancers, including endometrial (cancer in uterus layer), colon, gall bladder, prostate, kidney, and post-menopausal breast cancer. Women who gain weight more than 10 kg since they're 18 until they are middle-aged increased the risk of post-menopausal breast cancer twice than women with stable weight.
- Fatty Liver
The main cause of fatty liver for non-alcoholic people is insulin resistance, a metabolic interference where the cells are not sensitive to the effects of insulin. One of the most common risk factors for insulin resistance is obesity, especially central obesity. Study shows there are close association from obesity and the degree of liver damage.
- Breathing Problem
Obstructive sleep apnea (breathing disruption whilst sleeping) generally occurs to overweight people. Obesity is related to the increase of asthma risks and severe bronchitis, and also obesity hypoventilation syndrome, and breathing insufficiency.
- Arthritis
Musculoskeletal disorders, including osteoarthritis, generally occurs to obesity patients, especially patients diagnosed with chronic obesity. Health research indicates that obesity is a strong predictor for osteoarthritis disorders, especially in the knee. The risk of osteoarthritis increase with every 1 kg of weight increase.
- Social and Psychological Impact of Obesity
Emotional impact might be one of the hurtful fact of being obese. Our society these days emphasize on physical appearance which is close to being thin (or skinny), especially on women. This will make overweight people feel like they are not attractive.
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| image credit to fat2abs.org |
After knowing the health risk of the accumulation of visceral fat in a fat belly, it's only natural if you want to prevent it before it risks your health. Therefore, if you still have a fat belly right now, or have no problem having a fat belly and still want to prevent it, start doing these steps regularly:
- Do 30 to 45 minutes of cardio 4 to 5 times a week
- Consider to start lifting some weight. Lifting some weight regularly will increase your muscle mass, and the more muscle you have more fat will be burn, lowering the risk of fat accumulation in your belly.
- Adjust your diet. It's better to not consume high fat and high calorie food to prevent the accumulation of new fat. Eat more veggies and fruits.
Therefore, if you want a six-packs abs, you have to get rid of all the fat in your belly. The abs muscle won't show up as long as there are some fat layering your belly. Aside from that, avoid central obesity earlier by working out regularly and eat healthier food to have optimal health quality.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Watch Out, We Got a Fat Belly Over Here! (Part 1)
Take a look at your belly in the mirror. Do you feel like your belly is too big and fatty? Now this is the time for you to know the dangers of having a fat belly so you can take the right steps to avoid the health risks!
Fat belly, also known as central obesity, is fat accumulation in your stomach, causing the increase of stomach size and the area around the waist. Central obesity was known to have some relations to many health problems. So what caused the central obesity?
There are two kinds of fat in our body. There's subcutaneous fat, the layer of fat under the skin. There's also visceral fat, also known as intra-abdominal fat, which accumulated under the fat and surrounds vital organs, including in the fat belly. The liver will metabolize this fat into blood cholesterol, making it dangerous for your health.
Here are some of the factors which is causing the accumulation of fat in your stomach:
- Genetic factor
- The habit of eating high-fat and high-calorie foods
- Excess consumption of saturated fat
- Lack of workout and other physical activities
- Stress
Health Risk from a Fat Belly
Central obesity itself is categorized as a disease which have many other negative impacts, either for your physical health or your psychological health. Here are some other diseases which can be caused by central obesity
- Premature Death
According to Centers for Disease Control (CDC), about 300,000 deaths a year in America was estimated to be related to obesity. People with obesity have 50 to 100% increase of premature death compared to people with healthy "weight".
- Health Disease
The risk of heart attack, heart failure, sudden death, or chest pain from heart disease is increasing for those with obesity or overweight people. Obesity is also associated with high blood pressure, high triglycerides, and degrading HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol)
- Stroke
Atherosclerosis, or blood vessels constriction - which can cause blood coagulation - is the condition which started many stroke accidents. Atherosclerosis is triggered by high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, and lack of workout. Obesity also associated with high-fat diet or meal plan, causing the increase of blood pressure. Therefore, obesity was regarded as the secondary risk which can cause stroke.
- Diabetes Type 2
Weight increase of 5 to 10 kg from a healthy weight will increase the risk of having diabetes type 2 about twice compared to those who have a "normal" weight. More than 80% of people with diabetes was known to be overweight or suffering obesity.
Besides many health risks above, there are also a few dangerous diseases that can caused by having a fat belly. More on the next post!
Fat belly, also known as central obesity, is fat accumulation in your stomach, causing the increase of stomach size and the area around the waist. Central obesity was known to have some relations to many health problems. So what caused the central obesity?
There are two kinds of fat in our body. There's subcutaneous fat, the layer of fat under the skin. There's also visceral fat, also known as intra-abdominal fat, which accumulated under the fat and surrounds vital organs, including in the fat belly. The liver will metabolize this fat into blood cholesterol, making it dangerous for your health.
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| image credit to duniafitnes.com |
- Genetic factor
- The habit of eating high-fat and high-calorie foods
- Excess consumption of saturated fat
- Lack of workout and other physical activities
- Stress
Health Risk from a Fat Belly
Central obesity itself is categorized as a disease which have many other negative impacts, either for your physical health or your psychological health. Here are some other diseases which can be caused by central obesity
- Premature Death
According to Centers for Disease Control (CDC), about 300,000 deaths a year in America was estimated to be related to obesity. People with obesity have 50 to 100% increase of premature death compared to people with healthy "weight".
- Health Disease
The risk of heart attack, heart failure, sudden death, or chest pain from heart disease is increasing for those with obesity or overweight people. Obesity is also associated with high blood pressure, high triglycerides, and degrading HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol)
- Stroke
Atherosclerosis, or blood vessels constriction - which can cause blood coagulation - is the condition which started many stroke accidents. Atherosclerosis is triggered by high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, and lack of workout. Obesity also associated with high-fat diet or meal plan, causing the increase of blood pressure. Therefore, obesity was regarded as the secondary risk which can cause stroke.
- Diabetes Type 2
Weight increase of 5 to 10 kg from a healthy weight will increase the risk of having diabetes type 2 about twice compared to those who have a "normal" weight. More than 80% of people with diabetes was known to be overweight or suffering obesity.
Besides many health risks above, there are also a few dangerous diseases that can caused by having a fat belly. More on the next post!
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Blame It on the Alcohol. Really?
When I mentioned alcohol, most people will immediately think about partying and get drunk. But is it really that bad? Are there any benefits of alcohol for our health?
Like any other things in life, it's good when you have enough. Consuming the right amount of alcohol can give you some health benefits. Fact is, alcohol can lower the risk of heart disease, heart attack, stroke, gallstone, and diabetes.
On the other hand, if you consume too much alcohol, it will definitely increase the risk of:
- pancreatic, mouth, throat, and liver cancer
- swelling of the pancreas
- dying of heart attack
- high blood pressure
Unfortunately for some people, alcohol is a big no-no. For those of you who had some stroke (from hemorrhaging), have liver or pancreatic illness, or in the middle of a healing process, ALCOHOL IS A BIG NO.
So you can see that alcohol is actually a double-edged sword for your health. About 355 ml of beer and 150 ml of wine twice or thrice a week is good for you.
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| image credit to universal-healthcare.org |
On the other hand, if you consume too much alcohol, it will definitely increase the risk of:
- pancreatic, mouth, throat, and liver cancer
- swelling of the pancreas
- dying of heart attack
- high blood pressure
Unfortunately for some people, alcohol is a big no-no. For those of you who had some stroke (from hemorrhaging), have liver or pancreatic illness, or in the middle of a healing process, ALCOHOL IS A BIG NO.
So you can see that alcohol is actually a double-edged sword for your health. About 355 ml of beer and 150 ml of wine twice or thrice a week is good for you.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Make Your Weight Training Count!
Face it, nobody wants to spend hours in gym without some results. Fact is, you can do short workouts and make it count if you want to maximize your workout program.
Here are some tips for you who might have trained for some time, but wants better results in shorter amount of time of workout.
1. Limit your workout duration. Some people think that to have maximum results is to linger around and lift weights for a long time. Fact is, after 30 to 40 minutes, the benefits of your workout is not the same as when you start your workout in that day. It's better if you do high-intensity workout in shorter amount of time.
2. Prioritize your 'quality' instead of your 'quantity'. Doing 8 reps the right way is better than doing it wrong for 20 reps.
3. Lift your weight slowly. Weight-lifting is not a 'fast' sport anyway. According to researchers in Wayne Westcott, to lift one weight normally it needs about 1 minute. Doing the reps correctly is an important part in weight-lifting. You won't get any results when you do it wrong.
4. Breathe. The right breathing techniques can make your workout more effective. Focus in breathing out when you lift the weight and breathe in when you lower the weight.
5. Maintain a good posture. This is important to make sure that you are training your muscles instead of injuring yourself. When you sit down, sit in an upright position. Make sure your abs contracts when you're training. Pull your abs upwards and into your spine to stabilize your body. Maintain this position so that your shoulder is pulled back and your chest is contracted forward, even if you're sitting down or standing up.
6. Avoid working out continuously. Your muscles need some rest before another training. Make sure you have some day off in your training.
7. Train with your mind. When you lift some weight, make sure your mind doesn't wander off. You have to FOCUS to what you're doing because there's a close relation between your brain, your nerves, and your muscles. This means, no cellphones during your set. Just saying.
8. Do one set to failure, but that doesn't mean you have to failure your sets repeatedly. It's better if you do just 1 or 2 sets with heavier weight for maximum results.
9. Choose a cardio that you like. If you do workouts that you don't like, you won't enjoy it. Do some fun activities like running, walking, swimming, cycling, hiking, etc.
Many research indicates that when you can focus into your training, you'll get significant muscle enhancement. Therefore, don't read, talk, or text when you're in the middle of your workout and focus your mind to each set, so that every reps and sets will be more effective and you'll get your results faster.
Here are some tips for you who might have trained for some time, but wants better results in shorter amount of time of workout.
1. Limit your workout duration. Some people think that to have maximum results is to linger around and lift weights for a long time. Fact is, after 30 to 40 minutes, the benefits of your workout is not the same as when you start your workout in that day. It's better if you do high-intensity workout in shorter amount of time.
2. Prioritize your 'quality' instead of your 'quantity'. Doing 8 reps the right way is better than doing it wrong for 20 reps.
3. Lift your weight slowly. Weight-lifting is not a 'fast' sport anyway. According to researchers in Wayne Westcott, to lift one weight normally it needs about 1 minute. Doing the reps correctly is an important part in weight-lifting. You won't get any results when you do it wrong.
4. Breathe. The right breathing techniques can make your workout more effective. Focus in breathing out when you lift the weight and breathe in when you lower the weight.
5. Maintain a good posture. This is important to make sure that you are training your muscles instead of injuring yourself. When you sit down, sit in an upright position. Make sure your abs contracts when you're training. Pull your abs upwards and into your spine to stabilize your body. Maintain this position so that your shoulder is pulled back and your chest is contracted forward, even if you're sitting down or standing up.
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| image credit to chiefchiro.wordpress.com |
7. Train with your mind. When you lift some weight, make sure your mind doesn't wander off. You have to FOCUS to what you're doing because there's a close relation between your brain, your nerves, and your muscles. This means, no cellphones during your set. Just saying.
8. Do one set to failure, but that doesn't mean you have to failure your sets repeatedly. It's better if you do just 1 or 2 sets with heavier weight for maximum results.
9. Choose a cardio that you like. If you do workouts that you don't like, you won't enjoy it. Do some fun activities like running, walking, swimming, cycling, hiking, etc.
Many research indicates that when you can focus into your training, you'll get significant muscle enhancement. Therefore, don't read, talk, or text when you're in the middle of your workout and focus your mind to each set, so that every reps and sets will be more effective and you'll get your results faster.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Got Milk?
Having a smooth and healthy skin is every woman's dream. However, many people - men and women - have some trouble with their skin. This is why a lot of cosmetic products claim to fix those problem, making your skin smooth, shiny, and healthy. But do you know that drinking milk daily is effective to make your skin healthy and smooth?
A lot of skin problems came from stress, unhealthy lifestyle, smoking, ultraviolet radiation, and other kinds of solution, making our skin dry, even cracked. Drinking milk daily is one of the many ways to keep your skin healthy.
Naturally, milk contains vitamin A and D, which smooths your skin. Besides that, other important mineral in milk such as iron, calcium, and copper also have some 'cosmetic' function for you, making your skin healthy and supple.
The protein, calcium, and iron in milk that we consume everyday will also slow down the aging process, while brightening it. This is why, for hundreds even thousands of years, milk is known as women's beauty secret for its benefits of making skin smooth, wrinkle-free, and brighter.
Milk also contains lactic acid, which have the role to moisten the skin naturally, while lifting the dead cells in your body, recovering it to make your skin prettier and healthier.
Therefore, if you want a smoother, brighter skin, start drinking milk daily!
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| image credit to technorati.com |
Naturally, milk contains vitamin A and D, which smooths your skin. Besides that, other important mineral in milk such as iron, calcium, and copper also have some 'cosmetic' function for you, making your skin healthy and supple.
The protein, calcium, and iron in milk that we consume everyday will also slow down the aging process, while brightening it. This is why, for hundreds even thousands of years, milk is known as women's beauty secret for its benefits of making skin smooth, wrinkle-free, and brighter.
Milk also contains lactic acid, which have the role to moisten the skin naturally, while lifting the dead cells in your body, recovering it to make your skin prettier and healthier.
Therefore, if you want a smoother, brighter skin, start drinking milk daily!
Monday, April 30, 2012
Stop Smoking, Start Training!
Let's face it, smoking is not easy to let go of, even if its dangers are well-known. However, if the few of you have some troubles stopping, start doing some simple exercises. Turns out, sports play an important part for the effort to stop smoking. Research indicates that smokers who do some workouts regularly have twice the success rate to stop smoking than smokers who do not do some workout regularly.
Cigarettes act as stress-reliever for a lot of smokers, and when they don't smoke, they can feel their stress level increasing. Fact is, working-out is the best stress-reliever and can replace your smoking addiction to relieve your stress. And for those who doesn't do workouts regularly, don't worry, because a research by Dr. Adrian Taylor and his team indicates that simple exercises such as walking around for 5 minutes can decrease your desire to smoke.
According to him, anything that can distract a smoker from smoking help decrease the urge to smoke. Meanwhile, sports will trigger the body to produce the hormone called dopamine that can decrease the nicotine dependency for smokers.
Other research also indicates that the higher your workout intensity, your success rate to suppress your smoking addiction is higher. You can do other workouts with higher intensity for 20 to 30 minutes 3 or 4 times a week. Do any sports you like, like jogging, cycling, swimming, tennis, basketball, etc.
However, this research also states that to quit smoking needs combination of sports and other techniques to stop other smoking habits. But still, there's no harm in trying their suggestion from those experts, because doing sports and other physical activities regularly are not only reducing the smoking addiction, they are also good for your health and fitness.
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| image credit to alternativehypnosisny.com |
According to him, anything that can distract a smoker from smoking help decrease the urge to smoke. Meanwhile, sports will trigger the body to produce the hormone called dopamine that can decrease the nicotine dependency for smokers.
Other research also indicates that the higher your workout intensity, your success rate to suppress your smoking addiction is higher. You can do other workouts with higher intensity for 20 to 30 minutes 3 or 4 times a week. Do any sports you like, like jogging, cycling, swimming, tennis, basketball, etc.
However, this research also states that to quit smoking needs combination of sports and other techniques to stop other smoking habits. But still, there's no harm in trying their suggestion from those experts, because doing sports and other physical activities regularly are not only reducing the smoking addiction, they are also good for your health and fitness.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Overtraining
I've mentioned about overtraining a lot, but a lot of people still don't know what is the cause and symptoms. Through this post I'm going to share some info about overtraining, especially for those "noobs" (newcomers) in workouts and training.
I already posted about the importance of recovering after a training. You can read it here. If you don't have enough rest and just workout everyday, what you're doing is overtraining.
Overtraining can be caused by:
- Too much training or workout in a week
- Too many equipment in one workout session. Use 4 to 5 equipment only, and don't use all the equipment for training variations. You will tire yourself.
- Too much set, or training for too long. Some even do it for 3 hours. You only need to do 3 to 4 sets per equipment, no need to do 10 sets.
- Lifting weights that are too heavy in a long time.
Symptoms or indications of overtraining that you have to be aware of:
- The loss of power in your body. You may wonder why you train often but your strength is not as strong as it was before. It might be the cause of overtraining.
- Prolonged exhaustion.
- Sleep-deprived, or got no sleep at all.
- Decreasing appetite.
- Prolonged muscle-pains.
- Mood swings.
- No passion to train or have some workout.
- Decreasing immunity, for example, prone to flu, catch a cold, and body recovery is slowed down.
Few things you can do to prevent overtraining:
- Manage your training so that you have enough rest. It doesn't mean that you can't train everyday. Read my previous post about this.
- Add some variations into your training.
- Don't achieve Failure Set in EACH SET every time you train and in EVERY TRAINING SESSION.
- Add some more other activity like treadmill or some other cardio into your weight-lifting training.
Sure enough, workouts can make you healthy and stronger. But you also have to remember to manage your training. Train smarter, not harder!
I already posted about the importance of recovering after a training. You can read it here. If you don't have enough rest and just workout everyday, what you're doing is overtraining.
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| image credit to fitnessgurusam.com |
- Too much training or workout in a week
- Too many equipment in one workout session. Use 4 to 5 equipment only, and don't use all the equipment for training variations. You will tire yourself.
- Too much set, or training for too long. Some even do it for 3 hours. You only need to do 3 to 4 sets per equipment, no need to do 10 sets.
- Lifting weights that are too heavy in a long time.
Symptoms or indications of overtraining that you have to be aware of:
- The loss of power in your body. You may wonder why you train often but your strength is not as strong as it was before. It might be the cause of overtraining.
- Prolonged exhaustion.
- Sleep-deprived, or got no sleep at all.
- Decreasing appetite.
- Prolonged muscle-pains.
- Mood swings.
- No passion to train or have some workout.
- Decreasing immunity, for example, prone to flu, catch a cold, and body recovery is slowed down.
Few things you can do to prevent overtraining:
- Manage your training so that you have enough rest. It doesn't mean that you can't train everyday. Read my previous post about this.
- Add some variations into your training.
- Don't achieve Failure Set in EACH SET every time you train and in EVERY TRAINING SESSION.
- Add some more other activity like treadmill or some other cardio into your weight-lifting training.
Sure enough, workouts can make you healthy and stronger. But you also have to remember to manage your training. Train smarter, not harder!
Friday, April 27, 2012
Why You're Not Getting the Results from Your Workout
If you've been following my posts since the very beginning (and I hope you do), and yet still don't get the results, this is the post that will answer your question. Don't even think about supplements to get faster results before you read this post first.
Before asking which supplements to use, we have to realize that there are many factors that involves in body-building efforts. Even stress can thin out your body. Here I will share few factors that you may have to reevaluate when you don't get the results from your workout or your training.
1. Rest
Have you have enough rest? How long do you sleep in a day? Of course, every person is different in terms of sleeping needs, but the standard sleeping time is 7 to 9 hours a day. When we sleep, our body produces growth hormones that can repair the broken cells. Besides the sleeps at night, you also have to pay attention to the resting time between each training. You won't build your chest muscles when you train it everyday. Give at least two or three days gap before you train it again in the next workout.
2. Train Hard for the Designated Muscles
Let's say you want to build your biceps, and you don't get the results. Reevaluate your training: was it "hard" enough? Some say that it was hard enough, but they do the same pattern with the same weight every time (and didn't do the overload principal). Add more weight over time because your muscles will get used to the same weight you're using every time, making your training pointless. It's like when we were in school in 1st to 6th grade, the lessons get harder everytime, right?
3. Variations
Use some variations in your training so that your muscles don't get bored. When you do the same training pattern every time, your body will adapt, and won't respond much to your training. Use different order when you train, different weights, different resting time between each set, and different sets to "surprise" your muscles and triggers them to adapt and develop.
4. Did you do cardio before your weight training?
What usually happens is people do cardio before their weight training. They thought that it was just a warm up. You do have to do a little cardio before you train for a warm up, but what people usually did is that they did it too hard, and sometimes, too long. You don't have to run in the treadmill for 30 minutes as a warm up. This will tire you in your weight training, and will significantly hamper your effort to build your body. Do your cardio after your weight training.
And that's the four basic things that you have to reevaluate when you reach a plateau (no progress) in your training. If you do them all right, then reevaluate your nutrition. Did you consume enough nutrition your body needs to build your body? It doesn't matter if you want to lose weight or want to gain some, your daily nutrition needs is important.
Before asking which supplements to use, we have to realize that there are many factors that involves in body-building efforts. Even stress can thin out your body. Here I will share few factors that you may have to reevaluate when you don't get the results from your workout or your training.
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| image credit to thelegalcommune.com |
Have you have enough rest? How long do you sleep in a day? Of course, every person is different in terms of sleeping needs, but the standard sleeping time is 7 to 9 hours a day. When we sleep, our body produces growth hormones that can repair the broken cells. Besides the sleeps at night, you also have to pay attention to the resting time between each training. You won't build your chest muscles when you train it everyday. Give at least two or three days gap before you train it again in the next workout.
2. Train Hard for the Designated Muscles
Let's say you want to build your biceps, and you don't get the results. Reevaluate your training: was it "hard" enough? Some say that it was hard enough, but they do the same pattern with the same weight every time (and didn't do the overload principal). Add more weight over time because your muscles will get used to the same weight you're using every time, making your training pointless. It's like when we were in school in 1st to 6th grade, the lessons get harder everytime, right?
3. Variations
Use some variations in your training so that your muscles don't get bored. When you do the same training pattern every time, your body will adapt, and won't respond much to your training. Use different order when you train, different weights, different resting time between each set, and different sets to "surprise" your muscles and triggers them to adapt and develop.
4. Did you do cardio before your weight training?
What usually happens is people do cardio before their weight training. They thought that it was just a warm up. You do have to do a little cardio before you train for a warm up, but what people usually did is that they did it too hard, and sometimes, too long. You don't have to run in the treadmill for 30 minutes as a warm up. This will tire you in your weight training, and will significantly hamper your effort to build your body. Do your cardio after your weight training.
And that's the four basic things that you have to reevaluate when you reach a plateau (no progress) in your training. If you do them all right, then reevaluate your nutrition. Did you consume enough nutrition your body needs to build your body? It doesn't matter if you want to lose weight or want to gain some, your daily nutrition needs is important.
Run, Forrest, Run!
Want to run in full speed? Make sure your training is not in vain, by checking out these tips to maximize your performance in running or jogging.
1. Choose the right shoes. Don't use old shoes or soccer shoes to run. Instead, use some running shoes and use it for 600 kilometers. Don't use the same shoes to run continuously, because the soles under the shoes will decay rapidly. Buy spare shoes to run and use them alternately.
2. I said this before and I'll say it again: rest is important. Don't force your body to run everyday. Make some intervals in your running days with resting days, so that your body have enough time to recover.
3. Breathe properly when you run. Long breaths are needed in running so that oxygen can fill all air cavities inside your lungs.
4. Have something to eat a few hours before you run. Choose foods that are slow-absorbed so that it will give you some energy for few hours ahead. Before you run, you can also drink supplements like Carbo Booster which can energize you without feeling too full.
5. Warm-up is important. Don't start to run as fast as you can when you just started. Start by warming up your legs by walking, then power-walk, start to jog, then run as fast as you can.
6. Remember to cool down to prevent cramps or any other injuries after your training.
7. Ready yourself mentally. Besides strong stamina, running needs strong mentality too. Focus yourself to your goal and fight to achieve those goals.
Ready to run?
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| image credit to fitnessgurusam.com |
2. I said this before and I'll say it again: rest is important. Don't force your body to run everyday. Make some intervals in your running days with resting days, so that your body have enough time to recover.
3. Breathe properly when you run. Long breaths are needed in running so that oxygen can fill all air cavities inside your lungs.
4. Have something to eat a few hours before you run. Choose foods that are slow-absorbed so that it will give you some energy for few hours ahead. Before you run, you can also drink supplements like Carbo Booster which can energize you without feeling too full.
5. Warm-up is important. Don't start to run as fast as you can when you just started. Start by warming up your legs by walking, then power-walk, start to jog, then run as fast as you can.
6. Remember to cool down to prevent cramps or any other injuries after your training.
7. Ready yourself mentally. Besides strong stamina, running needs strong mentality too. Focus yourself to your goal and fight to achieve those goals.
Ready to run?
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Beginner's Guide to Build Your Body
In the previous post, I've shared about how to gain weight ideally. In this post, I'm going to share about what you have to do when you want to build your body. By "build", I mean gaining some weight or losing some weight. Either way, they are quite the same, with some differences here and there.
The Guide:
- measure your body - as in your biceps, chest, legs, all of them.
- train YOUR WHOLE BODY, including your legs even if you only want to show off your upper-body, because this will help you produce the growth hormone which will help you build ALL THE MUSCLES.
- you have to keep in mind that you can't get a six-pack while you're bulking (thickening your muscles)
- train your stomach, but you have to remember that you can get a six-pack after you attenuate the fat in your stomach with diets.
- it's ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE to thicken your muscles (bulking, also known as gain weight) while losing some weight (cutting)
- when you want to bulk up, get a realistic goal. Gaining 0,5 - 1 lb per week of lean muscle mass is impressive already.
The Diet:
- find out your body type to determine your diet strategy.
- use the 40% protein, 40% carbs, and 20% fat benchmark for your diet, while keeping your body's needs (everyone is different).
- for carbs, choose complex carbs instead of simple sugars.
- for fat, avoid saturated fat, and choose good fat such as flax seed, fish, peanut butter, and olive oil.
- drink as much water as you can (but don't get too bloated up).
- it's better to consume too many calorie than not get enough, especially for those with ectomorph type of body. You can adjust your calorie intake if it's too much when you can see some fat in your body when you take a look at yourself in the mirror :)
The Training:
- train you muscles at least once a week AS INTENSIVE AS YOU CAN, but not more than 1 hour.
- 45 to 55 minutes are your "developing window" to build your muscles. More than that, your body will go catabolic.
- never think that when your muscle pain is gone you can train it again the next day. You can see more about the recovery time here.
- never push yourself too hard (overtrain). TRAIN, EAT, REST, and you'll get your results :)
- take a week off every 8 weeks, and start training again with new routines.
- remember to stretch and warm up before workout or training to prevent injury.
- take about 90 to 120 seconds to rest between each set. Read more about this here.
- make sure you do the motions correctly. Doing it wrong can injure you, or doesn't give you the results you want.
- start with compound movement, and end with isolation movement.
- after 2 or 3 sets of warm up, start to GO HEAVY for a round, 3 sets to failure.
- take notes of your progress so you can track it down.
The Supplements
- multivitamin with enough vitamin C
- try Creatine, Glutamine, and ZMA
- Whey Protein is compulsory if you can get some, but make sure the protein from REAL FOOD is fulfilled.
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| image credit to smithalan00.hubpages.com |
- measure your body - as in your biceps, chest, legs, all of them.
- train YOUR WHOLE BODY, including your legs even if you only want to show off your upper-body, because this will help you produce the growth hormone which will help you build ALL THE MUSCLES.
- you have to keep in mind that you can't get a six-pack while you're bulking (thickening your muscles)
- train your stomach, but you have to remember that you can get a six-pack after you attenuate the fat in your stomach with diets.
- it's ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE to thicken your muscles (bulking, also known as gain weight) while losing some weight (cutting)
- when you want to bulk up, get a realistic goal. Gaining 0,5 - 1 lb per week of lean muscle mass is impressive already.
The Diet:
- find out your body type to determine your diet strategy.
- use the 40% protein, 40% carbs, and 20% fat benchmark for your diet, while keeping your body's needs (everyone is different).
- for carbs, choose complex carbs instead of simple sugars.
- for fat, avoid saturated fat, and choose good fat such as flax seed, fish, peanut butter, and olive oil.
- drink as much water as you can (but don't get too bloated up).
- it's better to consume too many calorie than not get enough, especially for those with ectomorph type of body. You can adjust your calorie intake if it's too much when you can see some fat in your body when you take a look at yourself in the mirror :)
The Training:
- train you muscles at least once a week AS INTENSIVE AS YOU CAN, but not more than 1 hour.
- 45 to 55 minutes are your "developing window" to build your muscles. More than that, your body will go catabolic.
- never think that when your muscle pain is gone you can train it again the next day. You can see more about the recovery time here.
- never push yourself too hard (overtrain). TRAIN, EAT, REST, and you'll get your results :)
- take a week off every 8 weeks, and start training again with new routines.
- remember to stretch and warm up before workout or training to prevent injury.
- take about 90 to 120 seconds to rest between each set. Read more about this here.
- make sure you do the motions correctly. Doing it wrong can injure you, or doesn't give you the results you want.
- start with compound movement, and end with isolation movement.
- after 2 or 3 sets of warm up, start to GO HEAVY for a round, 3 sets to failure.
- take notes of your progress so you can track it down.
The Supplements
- multivitamin with enough vitamin C
- try Creatine, Glutamine, and ZMA
- Whey Protein is compulsory if you can get some, but make sure the protein from REAL FOOD is fulfilled.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Gaining Weight the Right Way
In losing some weight, the usual advice is that the calorie intake has to be smaller than those that are out. If the calorie intake is more than what the body needs, the body will store the excess calories as fat. However, if the calorie intake is equal than those that are out, our body won't gain or lose some weight. But is it that simple?
There are some articles on the internet that explain about the BMR to count the daily calorie needs to maintain weight. More than the BMR rate, we'll gain weight; and less than that, we'll lose some. However, the fact is different.
For example, a thin person with 50 kg in weight and 175 cm in height eats 2500 calories a day. If he's not losing or gaining some weight, then we can assume that 2500 calorie intake is equal than those that are out. Let's say he wants to gain weight, and do what people usually do: eat more, especially before he sleeps (because as we know, this is considered to be "forbidden" for those who wants to lose some weight), eats ice cream and chocolates as desserts, then goes to sleep. It's quite clear that the calorie intake is more than 3500 calories a day, yet he still complains that his body is still thin (by now he can be regarded as a person with ectomorph type of body, which is a body that has fast metabolism, which makes them hard to gain weight).
Then what about the above theory? Why is he not gaining any weight even if he increases his daily calorie intake for more than 40%?
First, you have to take into account that human's body always tries to keep its fat level point in a balanced and stable condition. This also happens in ectomorph type of body, where they have low level of fat and unable to store big quantities of fat.
It's also known that it's better to not eat a lot at the same time, because our body will only absorb a few, and the rest will be stored as fat. However, for those with ectomorph type of body, they can't store fat, thus their body speed up their metabolism to dispose the new "fats" that are supposed to be stored.
This is the concept of Fat Level Point, where the body will always try to maintain the fat level in its stable condition. Some call this as the condition where the fat people find it hard to lose weight, and the skinny people find it hard to gain weight. With this concept, it's clear that eating more is not the solution to gain weight ideally.
Those with ectomorph type of body can only gain weight by enhancing their muscle mass (not their fat, because it won't work). To add some muscle mass, they have to lift some weight with medium or heavy weight. They also have to eat right for their muscle recovery.
Even for those who wants to gain weight, they also have to eat 5 or 6 times a day with medium portions. That meal plan is necessary so that the food intake will be optimally absorbed. Medium portions will make sure the excess calories won't be stored as fat and get disposed by the body.
In the next post, I'm going to share a quick guide to gain weight in a healthy way :)
There are some articles on the internet that explain about the BMR to count the daily calorie needs to maintain weight. More than the BMR rate, we'll gain weight; and less than that, we'll lose some. However, the fact is different.
For example, a thin person with 50 kg in weight and 175 cm in height eats 2500 calories a day. If he's not losing or gaining some weight, then we can assume that 2500 calorie intake is equal than those that are out. Let's say he wants to gain weight, and do what people usually do: eat more, especially before he sleeps (because as we know, this is considered to be "forbidden" for those who wants to lose some weight), eats ice cream and chocolates as desserts, then goes to sleep. It's quite clear that the calorie intake is more than 3500 calories a day, yet he still complains that his body is still thin (by now he can be regarded as a person with ectomorph type of body, which is a body that has fast metabolism, which makes them hard to gain weight).
Then what about the above theory? Why is he not gaining any weight even if he increases his daily calorie intake for more than 40%?
First, you have to take into account that human's body always tries to keep its fat level point in a balanced and stable condition. This also happens in ectomorph type of body, where they have low level of fat and unable to store big quantities of fat.
It's also known that it's better to not eat a lot at the same time, because our body will only absorb a few, and the rest will be stored as fat. However, for those with ectomorph type of body, they can't store fat, thus their body speed up their metabolism to dispose the new "fats" that are supposed to be stored.
This is the concept of Fat Level Point, where the body will always try to maintain the fat level in its stable condition. Some call this as the condition where the fat people find it hard to lose weight, and the skinny people find it hard to gain weight. With this concept, it's clear that eating more is not the solution to gain weight ideally.
Those with ectomorph type of body can only gain weight by enhancing their muscle mass (not their fat, because it won't work). To add some muscle mass, they have to lift some weight with medium or heavy weight. They also have to eat right for their muscle recovery.
Even for those who wants to gain weight, they also have to eat 5 or 6 times a day with medium portions. That meal plan is necessary so that the food intake will be optimally absorbed. Medium portions will make sure the excess calories won't be stored as fat and get disposed by the body.
In the next post, I'm going to share a quick guide to gain weight in a healthy way :)
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Recovery Time after Each Training
There are a lot of questions that usually come from gym newbies that I have shared in the previous posts. For example, I've shared about how much weight you have to lift, resting time between each set, and now, I'm going to share about the suggested amount of recovery time after the workout.
People usually start to workout when they want to shape their body. The reasons are various, some want to lose weight, some want to build their muscles and get buff. However, in achieving our goal, we tend to want to get the fastest results. We thought that the harder we train, the faster we'll get to that goal.
Like many aspects of our lives, doing something excessively is not always good. It's the same with workouts. Training harder won't get the best results, only increase the accident risks.
When we train, we're stressing our muscles that it creates tiny rips in our muscles. When we rest, our body will repair those rips, making our muscles stronger. This process will be repeated over and over again until we reach the goal of our training. Therefore, enough rest and nutrition is as important as the workout itself.
Always rest your muscles for at least 24 hours. But that doesn't mean that if we train our chest muscles today, we can't train our back the next day. What I mean is, the same muscle group should not be trained constantly, because it won't get the chance to recover. Therefore, if you do full body training in one workout, it should not be more than 3 times a week.
However, if you train one muscle group in one training, then you better arrange your training schedule. For example, if you train your chest on Monday, train your legs on Tuesday, shoulder and back on Wednesday, then train your chest on Friday. You can see in that example that that way, you're training your chest and giving it a couple days to rest.
This method is used by people who understands about recovery and trains very hard so that their body needs longer time to rest. Even professional bodybuilders rest their muscles for 5 days before starting another training. It doesn't mean that you train once in every 5 days, but with the above pattern, they give long enough rest so that their muscles are getting the maximum recovery.
There are still a lot of gym newbies that haven't understand the importance of recovery time. They thought that by training harder and more often, they'll get the results faster.
Remember, train smarter, not harder!
People usually start to workout when they want to shape their body. The reasons are various, some want to lose weight, some want to build their muscles and get buff. However, in achieving our goal, we tend to want to get the fastest results. We thought that the harder we train, the faster we'll get to that goal.
Like many aspects of our lives, doing something excessively is not always good. It's the same with workouts. Training harder won't get the best results, only increase the accident risks.
When we train, we're stressing our muscles that it creates tiny rips in our muscles. When we rest, our body will repair those rips, making our muscles stronger. This process will be repeated over and over again until we reach the goal of our training. Therefore, enough rest and nutrition is as important as the workout itself.
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| image credit to tascha.ch |
However, if you train one muscle group in one training, then you better arrange your training schedule. For example, if you train your chest on Monday, train your legs on Tuesday, shoulder and back on Wednesday, then train your chest on Friday. You can see in that example that that way, you're training your chest and giving it a couple days to rest.
This method is used by people who understands about recovery and trains very hard so that their body needs longer time to rest. Even professional bodybuilders rest their muscles for 5 days before starting another training. It doesn't mean that you train once in every 5 days, but with the above pattern, they give long enough rest so that their muscles are getting the maximum recovery.
There are still a lot of gym newbies that haven't understand the importance of recovery time. They thought that by training harder and more often, they'll get the results faster.
Remember, train smarter, not harder!
Monday, April 23, 2012
The Weight You Have to Lift
We see often in gyms, where gym enthusiasts, rats, or gym freak - whatever you may call it - lift ginormous weights. They usually large in size (but not ripped), and lift weight like crazy. When gym noobs (newbies) enter the gym, there should be feelings of inferiority that makes sure that they can't lift weights like those gym enthusiasts.
"Well they've been training for years, and I just started."
This mindset is what make us lift weights that are "light enough" that don't necessarily embarrass us if, at some point, we can't lift it anymore. But are there any chance to know the ideal weight for our training?
Before we get to that, you have to remember that the first time you go to a gym, or just started going for a few times, you better get acquainted to all available equipment. The suggested reps is about 12 to 15 reps. Remember, this is so that you're accustomed to the equipment and know their functions.
After a few days of training and understanding the equipment, you will then know your strength. For example, in training your biceps, maybe 10 or 15 kg of weight is heavy enough for you, but in Bench Press you'll probably strong enough to lift 20 to 25 kg. Your understanding about your own ability is really important to monitor your training progress.
Now you know your strength, then what?
Next, you have to define your goal. I've said it before in my previous post about how long you have to rest between each set, that the weight you have to lift also depends on your goal. There are no rigid standards in defining your goal either, because it's more of an art than a science, since each body is different than the other.
For you who trains just for health reasons (or just to get fit), choose a weight, and lift it in 10 to 12 reps. Make sure you reach the failure in the 10th or 12th rep. If you can do more than 12 reps, it means your weight choice is not heavy enough. Choose the right weight for you using this guide.
Using the same guide, if you want to burn some fat, the suggested reps is about 8 to 10 reps per set, with the 8th or 10th rep as the failure point. Of course, at this point, the weight you have to lift is heavier than when you just want to get fit, right? The same thing also put into effect when you want to build your body and gain some weight. The suggested reps is about 6 to 8 per set.
The last category is for those who want to increase their muscle strength. For example, when you usually can Bench Press with 25 kg in 10 reps, and want to lift more than 25 kg, then train with the heaviest weight you can lift with only 3 to 4 reps per set. With the heaviest weight possible, you can rest longer before starting another set.
Once again, this guide is the most basic guide, and every individual can adapt in their own way. For example, I usually choose the 8 to 10 reps to burn some fat, because I usually do some other training in one workout. Keep in mind that trained muscles help you burn some more fat :)
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| image credit to dreamstime.com |
This mindset is what make us lift weights that are "light enough" that don't necessarily embarrass us if, at some point, we can't lift it anymore. But are there any chance to know the ideal weight for our training?
Before we get to that, you have to remember that the first time you go to a gym, or just started going for a few times, you better get acquainted to all available equipment. The suggested reps is about 12 to 15 reps. Remember, this is so that you're accustomed to the equipment and know their functions.
After a few days of training and understanding the equipment, you will then know your strength. For example, in training your biceps, maybe 10 or 15 kg of weight is heavy enough for you, but in Bench Press you'll probably strong enough to lift 20 to 25 kg. Your understanding about your own ability is really important to monitor your training progress.
Now you know your strength, then what?
Next, you have to define your goal. I've said it before in my previous post about how long you have to rest between each set, that the weight you have to lift also depends on your goal. There are no rigid standards in defining your goal either, because it's more of an art than a science, since each body is different than the other.
For you who trains just for health reasons (or just to get fit), choose a weight, and lift it in 10 to 12 reps. Make sure you reach the failure in the 10th or 12th rep. If you can do more than 12 reps, it means your weight choice is not heavy enough. Choose the right weight for you using this guide.
Using the same guide, if you want to burn some fat, the suggested reps is about 8 to 10 reps per set, with the 8th or 10th rep as the failure point. Of course, at this point, the weight you have to lift is heavier than when you just want to get fit, right? The same thing also put into effect when you want to build your body and gain some weight. The suggested reps is about 6 to 8 per set.
The last category is for those who want to increase their muscle strength. For example, when you usually can Bench Press with 25 kg in 10 reps, and want to lift more than 25 kg, then train with the heaviest weight you can lift with only 3 to 4 reps per set. With the heaviest weight possible, you can rest longer before starting another set.
Once again, this guide is the most basic guide, and every individual can adapt in their own way. For example, I usually choose the 8 to 10 reps to burn some fat, because I usually do some other training in one workout. Keep in mind that trained muscles help you burn some more fat :)
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Resting Time between Each Set
In training in gyms, we usually don't mind in how long we have to rest in each set of the training. The usual answer to this is "enough so that we're not cooling down". But actually, is there any standards or criteria on how long we rest in each set?
There's no certain way in counting how long you have to rest, but there is a guide that you can use, depending on your training. I've said it before that before you start to lift some weight, you have to know the exact goal of your training. Maybe you want to burn some fat, tone your body, increase your stamina, or anything specific. This is important, because it will determine your resting time between each set.
If you want to increase your stamina, usually the resting time between each set is as short as possible, about 30 seconds before starting another set. If you want to tone your body, increasing the muscle mass, the suggested resting time is between 30 to 90 seconds with a medium weight. However, if you want to train your strength and increase your one RM, the resting time is usually longer, about 2 to 5 minutes because the weight you lift is definitely heavier.
There's no certain way in counting how long you have to rest, but there is a guide that you can use, depending on your training. I've said it before that before you start to lift some weight, you have to know the exact goal of your training. Maybe you want to burn some fat, tone your body, increase your stamina, or anything specific. This is important, because it will determine your resting time between each set.
If you want to increase your stamina, usually the resting time between each set is as short as possible, about 30 seconds before starting another set. If you want to tone your body, increasing the muscle mass, the suggested resting time is between 30 to 90 seconds with a medium weight. However, if you want to train your strength and increase your one RM, the resting time is usually longer, about 2 to 5 minutes because the weight you lift is definitely heavier.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Gym "Slangs" for Dummies
After knowing the right way to lose some weight, there are a lot of people that starts to consider coming to the gym to lift some weight. The common first difficulty is understanding the gym terms or slangs that are usually unfamiliar for people who enters the gym for the first time.
Let's say the instructor told you to bench press for 4 sets, with full range of motion. Or some people ask you, what is your one RM. For "gym rats", those terms are not new. But for those who just started to workout, where even going to the gym is a big thing, those terms are making them more uncomfortable to start. From this background, this article will help you know the basic terms that are commonly used in gyms.
- Strength, refers to your muscle power where your strength is measured with how many weights you can lift.
- 1 RM or One Rep-Max is the heaviest weight you can lift perfectly for once. If you can lift some more, that's not one RM.
- Endurance, refers to your muscle endurance in lifting some weight. For example, you can lift dumbbells to train your arms for 12 reps or 15 reps. In the mean time, there are others who can only lift it for 6 reps. That means their endurance is lower than you.
- Specificity, which is the commonly used term for weight-training. It means that when you want to strengthen up your arms, then you have to lift weight with your arm-muscles, and not our legs. If you want to build your shoulders, that means you have to train your shoulder muscles. That's the principal of specificity. This term is commonly mixed up with the myth that to burn the fat in your stomach you have to do some sit-ups.
- Overload. To train your muscles, increase the strength and endurance, you have to force your muscles to train more than its capacity. Increasing the intensity can be done with a few way, such as increasing the weight, adding more reps, reducing the interval from each set, and many more. If you don't understand this principle, you won't get any progress from your workout.
- Repetition or rep, is one full motion. For example when you lift the dumbbell from the shoulder, moving to the top of the head, and back to the shoulder. That one full motion is 1 repetition or 1 rep.
- Range of Motion, is full range of motion when you lift weight. If you lift the weight from your shoulder, moving up to the top of your head, and stops halfway, back to the original position, then it's only half range of motion. Some call it half rep.
- Failure, is the condition in which we can't get anymore rep. The right training is when you achieve your failure point. For example, when you have to do 10 reps, it means the failure is when you do the 10th rep. Most people think they have to stop at 10 when they can still do some more reps. What they should do is find a weight that is heavy enough, until you achieve failure or can't do more reps, right when they're at the 10th rep.
- Recovery. There are two kinds of recovery. The first is when after we lift a weight for 10 reps and need a break for few seconds or minutes before starting another set. This break is called recovery time. There's also the recovery time when we're done training 1 group of muscles. For example, after you train your chest, it needs 48 hours of recovery before you can start training again.
- Set is a set of reps. When you lift weight for 10 to 12 reps and put down your dumbbell, that's 1 set. After 1 set, we need a break for a few seconds or minutes before starting another set which consists of 10 to 12 reps.
- Routine, is a term usually used to represent a pattern or sequence of exercise that we use. How many set, which equipment(s), how many reps, how long, how many times a week, it's called a routine for our training. It's better if you change your routine after a few weeks. Some do it after a few months. This is so that your body does not saturate, and you're not bored of doing something over and over again.
That's the basic terms that people usually use in gyms. By now, you should understand the "language", and not feel inferior to ask around and start training. Remember your diet after the training to get the maximum results :)
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| image credit to 123rf.com |
- Strength, refers to your muscle power where your strength is measured with how many weights you can lift.
- 1 RM or One Rep-Max is the heaviest weight you can lift perfectly for once. If you can lift some more, that's not one RM.
- Endurance, refers to your muscle endurance in lifting some weight. For example, you can lift dumbbells to train your arms for 12 reps or 15 reps. In the mean time, there are others who can only lift it for 6 reps. That means their endurance is lower than you.
- Specificity, which is the commonly used term for weight-training. It means that when you want to strengthen up your arms, then you have to lift weight with your arm-muscles, and not our legs. If you want to build your shoulders, that means you have to train your shoulder muscles. That's the principal of specificity. This term is commonly mixed up with the myth that to burn the fat in your stomach you have to do some sit-ups.
- Overload. To train your muscles, increase the strength and endurance, you have to force your muscles to train more than its capacity. Increasing the intensity can be done with a few way, such as increasing the weight, adding more reps, reducing the interval from each set, and many more. If you don't understand this principle, you won't get any progress from your workout.
- Repetition or rep, is one full motion. For example when you lift the dumbbell from the shoulder, moving to the top of the head, and back to the shoulder. That one full motion is 1 repetition or 1 rep.
- Range of Motion, is full range of motion when you lift weight. If you lift the weight from your shoulder, moving up to the top of your head, and stops halfway, back to the original position, then it's only half range of motion. Some call it half rep.
- Failure, is the condition in which we can't get anymore rep. The right training is when you achieve your failure point. For example, when you have to do 10 reps, it means the failure is when you do the 10th rep. Most people think they have to stop at 10 when they can still do some more reps. What they should do is find a weight that is heavy enough, until you achieve failure or can't do more reps, right when they're at the 10th rep.
- Recovery. There are two kinds of recovery. The first is when after we lift a weight for 10 reps and need a break for few seconds or minutes before starting another set. This break is called recovery time. There's also the recovery time when we're done training 1 group of muscles. For example, after you train your chest, it needs 48 hours of recovery before you can start training again.
- Set is a set of reps. When you lift weight for 10 to 12 reps and put down your dumbbell, that's 1 set. After 1 set, we need a break for a few seconds or minutes before starting another set which consists of 10 to 12 reps.
- Routine, is a term usually used to represent a pattern or sequence of exercise that we use. How many set, which equipment(s), how many reps, how long, how many times a week, it's called a routine for our training. It's better if you change your routine after a few weeks. Some do it after a few months. This is so that your body does not saturate, and you're not bored of doing something over and over again.
That's the basic terms that people usually use in gyms. By now, you should understand the "language", and not feel inferior to ask around and start training. Remember your diet after the training to get the maximum results :)
Friday, April 20, 2012
Wrong Confidences to Burn Fat
For some time, going to Gyms has become a new trend for teenagers and adults, men and women, in their effort to get a better, ideal body. Some want to gain weight, some want a toned body, and lots of them want to lose weight. However, too much information creates some "myths" about training and workout to burn fat.
Some of them are:
1. Going to gym, do the cardio for 30 to 45 minutes, then lift some weight.
First and foremost is to do cardio to burn fat, thus do it first while I got the energy, for 30 to 45 minutes. Get some rest, and lift some weight so I can get a "bonus" of a well-shaped body.
The above statements are 99% of what people think when they want to lose some weight. But the truth is, cardio in the beginning of the workout won't burn fat as much as we thought it should be. Think what you want, but that's just not what happens.
Fact is, cardio in the beginning of the workout burns our blood-sugar until it almost run out if we do it for 30 to 45 minutes. The weight-lifting afterwards only needs blood-sugar, thus make us feel limp and out of energy. If the weight-lifting needs sugar, but the sugar is used up on the cardio, what will happen? Our body will take the proteins as the "new sugar" for energy supply. Problem is, protein are taken from your muscle. Shaping your muscles by taking the protein from your muscles is like destroying your own body.
Lift some weight first, then do the cardio for an optimal fat-burn. You'll get hungry after the first 10-15 minutes of cardio. This is good, because it means your body is burning the fat as you do it.
2. Running in treadmill can burn fat.
If cardio can burn fat, then the harder we train then more fat will be burn. Fact is, running doesn't burn much fat. The faster we run, our body needs "fast energy", which is the blood sugar. The fat-burning process (which converts fat into energy) is a timely process, but running needs energy fast. Our body automatically ignores the fat and burn the blood-sugar instead. If we run out of blood-sugar, yet still runs, then our body will take more protein from the muscles for its energy.
To burn fat in treadmill, you only need to power-walk, with the target heart rate of 65%. Do it about 45 minutes everyday, and you'll lose some weight gradually.
3. The sweatier we get, more fat will be burn.
This myth are engraved in the minds of those who want to lose some weight. They think that workout can burn fat, and working out so hard can make them sweat more. This is why some people just do anything to get sweaty.
Well that's just ridiculous isn't it? If burning fat is that easy, then we can just lying around at a park in the middle of the afternoon when the sun is at its highest. I'm sure we'll get sweaty in 10 minutes or so, right?
Sweat are produced by the glands under our skin to keep our body temperature. It's not a standard fat-burning results, because when we workout in a really cold place, we don't sweat, and yet we will burn some fat. Working out until you get sweaty can be very satisfying, but don't make it a benchmark of how much you burn your fat.
4. Weight-lifting only trains the muscles and are not necessary to lose some weight.
You can ask the women around you who ignores their weight-lifting training when they want to lose some weight. Fact is, the fat-burning process actually occurs in our muscle cells. The more we train our muscles, it's faster to burn the fat. If you want to lose weight, either you're a man or a woman, it's better to get used to weight-lifting.
Fact is, to lift some weight our body needs the energy inside our muscle cells called the ATP. The ATP will run out when we train, thus we feel exhausted. After the training, when we're resting, our body will produce more ATP. This process uses fat as its fuel. Turns out, weight-lifting can burn more fat - not only when you train, but after the training too.
5. Sit-up can thin down the belly (I don't do much sit-up, that's why my belly is plumpy)
I heard people say things like doing sit-ups 100 times a day, but their belly is not getting thinner. Seriously, a sit-up is a training to train your abdominal muscles, and got no relations whatsoever to burn some fat in your belly. Muscles and fat are two different things, thus sit up won't burn the fat in that region. Imagine a fat person who manages to lose a lot of weight. You'll see that their plump cheeks get thinned down too. But that doesn't mean that he/she trains her cheeks, right?
6. Signing-up and coming to gym is burning my fat (I don't know I'm still fat)
When you pay attention to some friends who want to get thin, losing a few kg of fat in their body, the first thing they do is going to a gym, sign-up, and start working-out. Without a clear goal, they train their body by cycling or running in a treadmill, then walk around to try out the equipments. After 3 to 4 weeks, they won't feel any changes in their body. They insist that they've trained, burn some fat because they've "worked-out" in a fancy gym.
Well, yeah, they do workout (and it's better than just sleeping and lying around all day), but what they do is not enough. They don't try hard enough in lifting those weights. Some even say that they're old and not as strong as the youngsters. Whatever it is, there's always a reason that stands in the way of their effort to lift heavier weight, or training more intensely.
You have to decide on a goal. Three to fours weeks in a gym without any changes means what you do is wrong. Find an instructor, a personal trainer, anything to fix that. Try to make some effort to get the results! You can also check this post for some tips to start losing some weight.
Some of them are:
1. Going to gym, do the cardio for 30 to 45 minutes, then lift some weight.
First and foremost is to do cardio to burn fat, thus do it first while I got the energy, for 30 to 45 minutes. Get some rest, and lift some weight so I can get a "bonus" of a well-shaped body.
The above statements are 99% of what people think when they want to lose some weight. But the truth is, cardio in the beginning of the workout won't burn fat as much as we thought it should be. Think what you want, but that's just not what happens.
Fact is, cardio in the beginning of the workout burns our blood-sugar until it almost run out if we do it for 30 to 45 minutes. The weight-lifting afterwards only needs blood-sugar, thus make us feel limp and out of energy. If the weight-lifting needs sugar, but the sugar is used up on the cardio, what will happen? Our body will take the proteins as the "new sugar" for energy supply. Problem is, protein are taken from your muscle. Shaping your muscles by taking the protein from your muscles is like destroying your own body.
Lift some weight first, then do the cardio for an optimal fat-burn. You'll get hungry after the first 10-15 minutes of cardio. This is good, because it means your body is burning the fat as you do it.
2. Running in treadmill can burn fat.
If cardio can burn fat, then the harder we train then more fat will be burn. Fact is, running doesn't burn much fat. The faster we run, our body needs "fast energy", which is the blood sugar. The fat-burning process (which converts fat into energy) is a timely process, but running needs energy fast. Our body automatically ignores the fat and burn the blood-sugar instead. If we run out of blood-sugar, yet still runs, then our body will take more protein from the muscles for its energy.
To burn fat in treadmill, you only need to power-walk, with the target heart rate of 65%. Do it about 45 minutes everyday, and you'll lose some weight gradually.
3. The sweatier we get, more fat will be burn.
This myth are engraved in the minds of those who want to lose some weight. They think that workout can burn fat, and working out so hard can make them sweat more. This is why some people just do anything to get sweaty.
Well that's just ridiculous isn't it? If burning fat is that easy, then we can just lying around at a park in the middle of the afternoon when the sun is at its highest. I'm sure we'll get sweaty in 10 minutes or so, right?
Sweat are produced by the glands under our skin to keep our body temperature. It's not a standard fat-burning results, because when we workout in a really cold place, we don't sweat, and yet we will burn some fat. Working out until you get sweaty can be very satisfying, but don't make it a benchmark of how much you burn your fat.
4. Weight-lifting only trains the muscles and are not necessary to lose some weight.
You can ask the women around you who ignores their weight-lifting training when they want to lose some weight. Fact is, the fat-burning process actually occurs in our muscle cells. The more we train our muscles, it's faster to burn the fat. If you want to lose weight, either you're a man or a woman, it's better to get used to weight-lifting.
Fact is, to lift some weight our body needs the energy inside our muscle cells called the ATP. The ATP will run out when we train, thus we feel exhausted. After the training, when we're resting, our body will produce more ATP. This process uses fat as its fuel. Turns out, weight-lifting can burn more fat - not only when you train, but after the training too.
5. Sit-up can thin down the belly (I don't do much sit-up, that's why my belly is plumpy)
I heard people say things like doing sit-ups 100 times a day, but their belly is not getting thinner. Seriously, a sit-up is a training to train your abdominal muscles, and got no relations whatsoever to burn some fat in your belly. Muscles and fat are two different things, thus sit up won't burn the fat in that region. Imagine a fat person who manages to lose a lot of weight. You'll see that their plump cheeks get thinned down too. But that doesn't mean that he/she trains her cheeks, right?
6. Signing-up and coming to gym is burning my fat (I don't know I'm still fat)
When you pay attention to some friends who want to get thin, losing a few kg of fat in their body, the first thing they do is going to a gym, sign-up, and start working-out. Without a clear goal, they train their body by cycling or running in a treadmill, then walk around to try out the equipments. After 3 to 4 weeks, they won't feel any changes in their body. They insist that they've trained, burn some fat because they've "worked-out" in a fancy gym.
Well, yeah, they do workout (and it's better than just sleeping and lying around all day), but what they do is not enough. They don't try hard enough in lifting those weights. Some even say that they're old and not as strong as the youngsters. Whatever it is, there's always a reason that stands in the way of their effort to lift heavier weight, or training more intensely.
You have to decide on a goal. Three to fours weeks in a gym without any changes means what you do is wrong. Find an instructor, a personal trainer, anything to fix that. Try to make some effort to get the results! You can also check this post for some tips to start losing some weight.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Why Weight-Lifting is Necessary for Women
I've known quite a lot of woman in my life who say that they don't want to lift some weight, because they are afraid their muscles will get too big like the body-building guys. This is sad, because they still don't get why they have to lift some weight.
We can all have the debate about how men and women are equal beings, but in terms of physical things, we are different. An extreme example is when a man and a woman trains in a gym with the same weight, eat the same amount of proteins, and trains as long. What will we get? The man will get more muscular than the girl. This is because guys produce more testosterone than girls do, which will make the muscles get bigger, about 100 times more than girls. You can imagine the difference right?
Besides that, because of the genetic differences, it doesn't matter how hard you train your body, women's muscles can't expand and bigger than men. Instead, women's muscles will condense or tightens when trained, even with the heaviest weight.
Women have more fat than men. When you train your muscles, as it condense and tightens, those fat will diminish. The fat will be burned in your muscles, therefore, the more muscles you have, it means your "fat-burning stoves" will multiply, and this is exactly what you want, right?
Let's see how many overweight girls in the gym. They immediately jump into the treadmill, every time. They do it everyday, and will only lose 1 to 2 kg without achieving their dream weight. This is because they don't add weight-lifting into their training.
Therefore, girls, don't be afraid to lift some weight. Besides tightening you body, you will also burn more fat, and therefore, get sexier body ;)
We can all have the debate about how men and women are equal beings, but in terms of physical things, we are different. An extreme example is when a man and a woman trains in a gym with the same weight, eat the same amount of proteins, and trains as long. What will we get? The man will get more muscular than the girl. This is because guys produce more testosterone than girls do, which will make the muscles get bigger, about 100 times more than girls. You can imagine the difference right?
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| image credit to epicfitnesstraining.com |
Women have more fat than men. When you train your muscles, as it condense and tightens, those fat will diminish. The fat will be burned in your muscles, therefore, the more muscles you have, it means your "fat-burning stoves" will multiply, and this is exactly what you want, right?
Let's see how many overweight girls in the gym. They immediately jump into the treadmill, every time. They do it everyday, and will only lose 1 to 2 kg without achieving their dream weight. This is because they don't add weight-lifting into their training.
Therefore, girls, don't be afraid to lift some weight. Besides tightening you body, you will also burn more fat, and therefore, get sexier body ;)
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Beginner's Guide to Weight-Lifting
Finally, the post about workouts! To this point, I've posted a lot about healthy foods, and how to keep your health. This is because it's really important to know what food is good for you, before training your body.
For beginners in weight-lifting and bodybuilding (people usually call this as "fitness"), looking for workout programs on the internet, sports magazines, guidebooks, even asking the gym-instructors are the first things you have to do. Those experts and sources of information usually teach a lot of things, such as 4x10 bench press. But what does it mean? Does that mean 4 sets with 10 reps? It's not that simple.
Many people gives information that the right training is by lifting one weight in 4x10 count. But first, you have to know the goal of that training. To gain some muscle mass? To tone your body (usually women), or just a number to make us know an equipment and get used to use them before doing a more intensive training?
I will only give you one example, which is to gain some muscle mass. What you have to do is to reduce your reps from the 10 count, and making it 6 reps. In 6 reps, it means use the weight in which in the sixth rep you're unable to lift more. People stop at the sixth rep instead, when they usually can lift more. That means the weight you lift is not maximized for your muscle growth.
The weight you lift has to be as much as possible so that when you see 4x10, it means 4 sets, and with each set use the weight where in 10 reps you can't lift some more, instead of doing 4 sets and stops at the tenth rep. So, when your instructor tells you to lift 10 reps, it means you have to use the weight which you can't lift more on the tenth rep.
I repeated the explanation quite a lot, didn't I? It's because people still misunderstand on this. It's really important to understand before going further into your training.
For each training session, it's better if you don't train for more than an hour. Therefore, train intensively using the 6 reps knowledge that I told you about. The total set you have to do for each training is 9 to 12 sets, which means when you use 3 sets for each equipment, then that means it's better to just use 3 to 4 equipments.
It's also important to concentrate your training. It doesn't mean that when you want to gain some biceps mass you train it everyday. You won't get the results. You'll get the results outside of the gym, actually, especially when you sleep. In gyms, what we do is "destroying" our muscles. I will post more info about this
In conclusion, train as intensively as you can in the given time, go home, eat, and get some rest. I told you before, you can have the talk after the training, not in-between sets.
Good luck!
For beginners in weight-lifting and bodybuilding (people usually call this as "fitness"), looking for workout programs on the internet, sports magazines, guidebooks, even asking the gym-instructors are the first things you have to do. Those experts and sources of information usually teach a lot of things, such as 4x10 bench press. But what does it mean? Does that mean 4 sets with 10 reps? It's not that simple.
Many people gives information that the right training is by lifting one weight in 4x10 count. But first, you have to know the goal of that training. To gain some muscle mass? To tone your body (usually women), or just a number to make us know an equipment and get used to use them before doing a more intensive training?
 |
| image credit to healthnutblogger.com |
The weight you lift has to be as much as possible so that when you see 4x10, it means 4 sets, and with each set use the weight where in 10 reps you can't lift some more, instead of doing 4 sets and stops at the tenth rep. So, when your instructor tells you to lift 10 reps, it means you have to use the weight which you can't lift more on the tenth rep.
I repeated the explanation quite a lot, didn't I? It's because people still misunderstand on this. It's really important to understand before going further into your training.
For each training session, it's better if you don't train for more than an hour. Therefore, train intensively using the 6 reps knowledge that I told you about. The total set you have to do for each training is 9 to 12 sets, which means when you use 3 sets for each equipment, then that means it's better to just use 3 to 4 equipments.
It's also important to concentrate your training. It doesn't mean that when you want to gain some biceps mass you train it everyday. You won't get the results. You'll get the results outside of the gym, actually, especially when you sleep. In gyms, what we do is "destroying" our muscles. I will post more info about this
In conclusion, train as intensively as you can in the given time, go home, eat, and get some rest. I told you before, you can have the talk after the training, not in-between sets.
Good luck!
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
How to Read Nutrition Facts
Prepare yourself, folks, this is gonna be another long - yet important - post.
In this post, I mentioned about reading nutrition facts. Well nowadays, food producers have to include the ingredients and the nutrition facts in their product. Those facts are a tool to help you choose the food that is good for you. This is why in this post, I will share the knowledge of reading these facts.
Reading the Ingredients
The ingredients list gives your the information of the foodstuffs, seasonings, and chemicals in that product. The ingredients are written in order of their weight. The most-used ingredient is the first in the list, and the least-used ingredient is the last. Avoid foods that state fat, oil, and sugar (or derivatives of those) as their most-used ingredient. And also, if you never heard of the ingredient, or you're having a hard time mentioning it, it's most likely chemicals, or unnatural foodstuff.
Reading the Nutrition Facts
This table will give you more details on the product. You will know the contents of that product, therefore you can choose the healthiest ones. When you compare some foods, make sure you compare them with the same amount of portions.
1. Serving Size: shows you the recommended portion or serving size. If you're not used to measure or weigh food, measure it to a standard portion. If you eat less or more than the recommended portion, then the information on the Nutrition Fact will have to be adjusted to know the nutrition you consume. For example, if you eat it twice the size of the serving suggestion, then all the nutritional value will have to be multiplied by two.
2. Calories: shows you how much energy you'll get from one portion of that food. You have to remember that the number of portions you eat determines the calories you eat. For example, if you eat two portions of food, it means you consumes twice the amount of calories that are stated in the Nutrition Facts. One of the measurement that you can use as a base to assess whether it's high-calorie or not is from this:
4a. Total Fat: shows you how much good fat is good fat (monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat) and bad fat (saturated fat and trans-fat) in a food. As stated before, it's best to consume fat no more than 3 grams per 100 calories. When you compare foods, see the sum of total fat, saturated fat, and their calories for each serving. Choose the one with the least amount of fat.
4b. Saturated Fat: bad fat or saturated fat can be found in many kinds of food such as butter, margarine, fat from beef and pork, full-cream milk, eggs, coconut and coconut oil, and also in fast-foods. It's better if you avoid or limit the food that contains saturated fat. The daily consumption of this kind of fat should not be more than 10% of the calories that you consume in a day (less than 1 gram per 100 calories).
4c. Trans Fat: trans fat are also bad fats that forms in the cooking process. This kind of fat commonly found in commercial food products and have to be avoided in diet.
5a. Cholesterol: the number of cholesterol shows the total amount of cholesterol, which consists of good cholesterol (HDL) and bad cholesterol (LDL) for each serving. It's better if your cholesterol consumption is not more than 300 mg a day. Choose the product that have the least amount of cholesterol.
5b. Sodium: shows the number of sodium in each portion. It's better if the consumption is not more than 2.400 mg a day. Choose the product with the least amount of sodium.
6a. Carbohydrate: shows the sum of carbohydrate in foods, including simple carbohydrates and sugar, and also complex carbohydrate and fibers. When your food contains carbohydrate, it's better if that carbohydrate contains many fiber.
6b. Dietary Fiber: shows the amount of fiber in each serving. This can be found on complex carbohydrate such as wheat and grains, fruits, vegetables, and beans. Try to consume 20 to 35 grams of fiber each day. The higher the amount of fiber in a product, the amount of sugar is lower.
6c. Sugar: this shows the amount of carbohydrates for each serving from sugar. The best way to choose the least amount of sugar is by looking at the total amount of sugar and the total of amount of carbohydrate. The closer it is the value to the total amount of carbohydrate, it contains less fiber.
7. Protein: shows the total amount of protein for each serving. It's highly recommended to keep the balance of protein, carbohydrate, and fat in food. If the food you choose does not contain protein, add another food with protein in it.
8. % Daily Values: shows the percentage of your daily nutritional adequacy from that product. Note that this based on 2000 calories diet. Generally, 5% of daily value is considered to be low and 20% of daily value is considered to be high.
9. Vitamin and Mineral: shows how many vitamins and mineral in each serving. You have to achieve 100% for all the required vitamin and mineral. You can also consume multivitamins to make sure you have enough vitamin and mineral for the day.
10. Recommended Amount(s): shows the recommended daily amount of each nutrition for 2000 calories and 2500 calories diet. If you need to consume more or less than 2000 or 2500 calories a day, the recommended amount of fat, carbohydrate, and protein also change.
11. Calories per Gram: shows the amount of calories in each macro-nutrients (fat, carbohydrate, and protein). It's better if you choose a balanced food, which contains all those nutrients.
In this post, I mentioned about reading nutrition facts. Well nowadays, food producers have to include the ingredients and the nutrition facts in their product. Those facts are a tool to help you choose the food that is good for you. This is why in this post, I will share the knowledge of reading these facts.
Reading the Ingredients
The ingredients list gives your the information of the foodstuffs, seasonings, and chemicals in that product. The ingredients are written in order of their weight. The most-used ingredient is the first in the list, and the least-used ingredient is the last. Avoid foods that state fat, oil, and sugar (or derivatives of those) as their most-used ingredient. And also, if you never heard of the ingredient, or you're having a hard time mentioning it, it's most likely chemicals, or unnatural foodstuff.
Reading the Nutrition Facts
This table will give you more details on the product. You will know the contents of that product, therefore you can choose the healthiest ones. When you compare some foods, make sure you compare them with the same amount of portions.
 |
| image credit to duniafitnes.com |
2. Calories: shows you how much energy you'll get from one portion of that food. You have to remember that the number of portions you eat determines the calories you eat. For example, if you eat two portions of food, it means you consumes twice the amount of calories that are stated in the Nutrition Facts. One of the measurement that you can use as a base to assess whether it's high-calorie or not is from this:
- 40 calories = low
- 100 calories = average
- 400 calories or more = high
4a. Total Fat: shows you how much good fat is good fat (monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat) and bad fat (saturated fat and trans-fat) in a food. As stated before, it's best to consume fat no more than 3 grams per 100 calories. When you compare foods, see the sum of total fat, saturated fat, and their calories for each serving. Choose the one with the least amount of fat.
4b. Saturated Fat: bad fat or saturated fat can be found in many kinds of food such as butter, margarine, fat from beef and pork, full-cream milk, eggs, coconut and coconut oil, and also in fast-foods. It's better if you avoid or limit the food that contains saturated fat. The daily consumption of this kind of fat should not be more than 10% of the calories that you consume in a day (less than 1 gram per 100 calories).
4c. Trans Fat: trans fat are also bad fats that forms in the cooking process. This kind of fat commonly found in commercial food products and have to be avoided in diet.
5a. Cholesterol: the number of cholesterol shows the total amount of cholesterol, which consists of good cholesterol (HDL) and bad cholesterol (LDL) for each serving. It's better if your cholesterol consumption is not more than 300 mg a day. Choose the product that have the least amount of cholesterol.
5b. Sodium: shows the number of sodium in each portion. It's better if the consumption is not more than 2.400 mg a day. Choose the product with the least amount of sodium.
6a. Carbohydrate: shows the sum of carbohydrate in foods, including simple carbohydrates and sugar, and also complex carbohydrate and fibers. When your food contains carbohydrate, it's better if that carbohydrate contains many fiber.
6b. Dietary Fiber: shows the amount of fiber in each serving. This can be found on complex carbohydrate such as wheat and grains, fruits, vegetables, and beans. Try to consume 20 to 35 grams of fiber each day. The higher the amount of fiber in a product, the amount of sugar is lower.
6c. Sugar: this shows the amount of carbohydrates for each serving from sugar. The best way to choose the least amount of sugar is by looking at the total amount of sugar and the total of amount of carbohydrate. The closer it is the value to the total amount of carbohydrate, it contains less fiber.
7. Protein: shows the total amount of protein for each serving. It's highly recommended to keep the balance of protein, carbohydrate, and fat in food. If the food you choose does not contain protein, add another food with protein in it.
8. % Daily Values: shows the percentage of your daily nutritional adequacy from that product. Note that this based on 2000 calories diet. Generally, 5% of daily value is considered to be low and 20% of daily value is considered to be high.
9. Vitamin and Mineral: shows how many vitamins and mineral in each serving. You have to achieve 100% for all the required vitamin and mineral. You can also consume multivitamins to make sure you have enough vitamin and mineral for the day.
10. Recommended Amount(s): shows the recommended daily amount of each nutrition for 2000 calories and 2500 calories diet. If you need to consume more or less than 2000 or 2500 calories a day, the recommended amount of fat, carbohydrate, and protein also change.
11. Calories per Gram: shows the amount of calories in each macro-nutrients (fat, carbohydrate, and protein). It's better if you choose a balanced food, which contains all those nutrients.
After knowing how to read Nutrition Facts in foods, you can better the quality of the food you eat, now that you know how to choose the healthier foods :)