Strength Training

The Importance of Exercising Your Core

August 2, 2015 By rfwladmin Leave a Comment

Your six pack (or two pack or four pack) is a group of four sets of muscles with tongue twisting names; rectus abdominus, transverse abdominus, external obliques and the internal obliques.

These muscle groups are positioned on the front and sides of your torso and are attached to bony surfaces on the rib cage and the pelvis.

The deepest of the abdominal muscles are the transverse abdominus. They provide stability to the core of the body by wrapping around the trunk holding all of your insides “inside.” These are the muscles that provide you with a tight, flat, tummy.

The internal and external oblique muscles run diagonally across the torso so you can rotate and move at different angles following the paths that the muscle fibers run in. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Exercise, Strength Training Tagged With: abdominal muscles, core muscles, core strengthening

Outsmart Your Hunger Hormones

June 27, 2015 By rfwladmin Leave a Comment

Human bodies are amazing machines…when they are functioning properly.

The body functions best when in a state of “homeostasis”….when it is in a state of balance.

When our body weight is normal, our health is good, we are mentally happy and exercising regularly our bodies are in a state of metabolic balance allowing our hormonal systems to function at peak performance which in turn keeps us healthy, our weight stable and disease at bay.

Any disruption such as becoming overweight rattles the hormone balance in the body and ends up perpetuating a vicious cycle of weight loss and gain. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Fad Dieting and Weight Loss, Hormones and Weight Loss, Metabolism, Nutrient-dense Diet, Strength Training Tagged With: ghrelin, hunger hormones, insulin, outsmarting your hunger hormones

8 Fat Loss and Abdominal Shaping Myths…

June 17, 2015 By rfwladmin Leave a Comment

In order to lose fat properly there is only one method that has proven to work reliably and consistently and that one involves a lifestyle shift to healthy eating and proper exercise.

Unfortunately, this pits most of us up against our impatient and lazy natures. We want immediate gratification without having to put much effort into achieving it.

The issue with this type of thinking is that we get back exactly what we put in. Energy in…energy out. It is a very ordered and balanced system. Little energy in…little results out. Pretty simple formula. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Exercise, Fad Dieting and Weight Loss, Lifestyle Changes, Strength Training Tagged With: myths about fat and weight loss, permanent fat weight loss

Compound Exercises are Key

June 2, 2015 By rfwladmin Leave a Comment

When putting together an exercise program the primary focus should be on compound movements.

Compound movements or exercises are those that involve using more than one major muscle group at once (and often across one or more joints in the process). The larger muscle group does the bulk of the work while the smaller muscle groups are supportive and secondary. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Exercise, Strength Training Tagged With: compound exercises, resistance training., strength training

Cardio verses Resistance Training

April 7, 2015 By rfwladmin Leave a Comment

Numerous studies have shown that exercising too intensely…including cardio exercise causes negative effects on health while moderate-intensity cardio exercise actually boosts health and fitness.

The body perceives endurance exercise as a form of stress on the body and responds to this stress by increasing cortisol. Cortisol is the “flight or fight” hormone that results as a normal adaptive response to the physical demands of exercise. Chronic elevation of this hormone is associated with signs of aging such as loss of lean muscle, belly fat, inflammation and reduced immunity.

Cardio has long been associated with weight loss…however, the effects are deceptive. When you are on a calorie restrictive diet and you are performing extreme endurance exercise, your body turns to muscle as an energy source and the result is a depletion of your valuable muscle tissue. Not only that, but intense cardio will increase your appetite making your diet all the more challenging. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Exercise, Metabolism, Recipes for Success, Strength Training Tagged With: cardio training, fit body, healthy mind, resistance training.

Creating a Short On Time Workout Session that Works

December 27, 2014 By rfwladmin Leave a Comment

Let’s face it, most of us are finding it harder and harder to squeeze everything into our demanding modern day schedules.

That includes our exercise routine. There will always be those times when life just gets incredibly busy and you can’t get your workouts in. During these times, it’s helpful to have a back-up plan in place; a workout that you can turn to that’s incredibly fast paced but yet will still work the body efficiently and effectively.

As long as you are structuring things correctly, it is definitely possible to get a complete awesome workout in just 10 minutes time. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Exercise, Health and Diet, Strength Training Tagged With: resistance training., strength training

Stubborn Belly Fat is More Than Just Unattractive

November 28, 2014 By rfwladmin Leave a Comment

Stubborn belly fat…it’s not only unattractive, but it is dangerous to your health.

Unfortunately, the sad truth is the average American carries around nearly 30 billion fat cells with abdominal fat the focus because of its relation and striking distance to the heart, liver and other important organs. The extra fat gathered in the abdominal area presses on organs, feeding them dangerous poisons and messing up their daily functions.

A study on the effects of weak abdominal muscles as opposed to those with the strongest abdominal muscles was conducted in Canada on more than 8,000 people in a span of over 13 years revealed that those with the weakest stomach muscles had a death rate at more than twice as those with strong stomach muscles. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Exercise, Health and Diet, Strength Training Tagged With: abdominal muscles, belly fat, flat somachs, strong abdominal muscles, weak abdominal muscles

Strength Training is Key to Shifting Body Weight and Shaping Your Body

October 31, 2014 By rfwladmin Leave a Comment

If you are looking for ways to change your body, shift around and lose some of the excess weight you’ve been toting around then strength training is your key.

Hours and hours of cardio on end do very little to actually change your body. You may become slightly smaller if you are burning enough calories, but you’ll just be a smaller version of yourself.

In many cases, you might even find that you become not only smaller, but a softer, flabbier version of yourself. Not really much improvement.

Excessive cardio training does a great job of burning up lean muscle mass. Think of it this way, if you are training your body to exercise for long periods of time, it knows in order to do this effectively it needs to get rid of the densest tissue and the tissue that uses up the most energy. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Exercise, Strength Training Tagged With: cardio training, challenging your muscles, strength training

What is Cellulite?

September 24, 2014 By rfwladmin Leave a Comment

What is cellulite?

In simple terms, cellulite is a type of fat tissue. Inside this fat tissue is connective tissue that protects our muscles and organs. When fats, fluids and toxins get trapped in this connective tissue they harden, creating pockets that appear through the skin as dimples. This is what we call cellulite. This condition occurs mostly in women due to the circular shaping of their fat cells.

Cellulite is not usually one’s favorite topic of conversation because it makes its appearance most often in the thighs, buttocks, breasts and abdominal areas. The dimples and pockets of cellulite are storing toxins.

Fortunately, this condition doesn’t directly affect your health, however, it is a sign (and one you need to pay attention to) that you are leading an unhealthy lifestyle. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Exercise, Strength Training, Toxins and Diet Tagged With: cellulite, what causes cellulite

Muscles, Energy and Metabolism

May 19, 2014 By rfwladmin Leave a Comment

Here are some basic key tips to understand when talking about muscles, energy and metabolism.

What you need to know:

Muscles use energy when they contract (they are highly metabolic so the more toned muscle tissue you have the more calories you burn).

The more intense muscle contractions become the more energy they will use to perform the movement.