All You Need to Know About Lean Muscle and Lean Muscle Body

So, you have heard this term being thrown around in some contexts. But, what really is lean muscle. Is it a type of muscle? Is it a type of body? Is it some kind of supplement? Lets find out.

What is Lean Muscle?

Technically there is no such thing. The most logical term that is closely associated with it is "Lean Body Mass". Lean body mass is nothing but (your body weight - fat weight in your body) expressed in percentage terms. So, the lower the fat content the higher is your Lean Body mass. One of the constituents of the lean body mass are the muscles. But, obviously it does not mean that if you have lower fat content in your body you have great muscles. You could be a skinny guy with very low fat content and yet have a high lean body mass.

So, what is lean muscle mass then? Well if there was a way to measure the accurate mass / weight of muscle tissues in our body, then a good lean muscle body would have a high Muscle to Fat ratio. But, of course this kind of metric is not spoken about in any literature. But, it just gives you an indication of what it means in physiological terms.

Lean Muscle Body (LMB) is often used to describe the visual appearance of a person. This type of a body is used to describe a person who is not very bulky (like professional body builders), they are lean. Yet, they possess a well chiseled muscular look. In short, they are athletic yet muscular. This is also referred to as the hollywood look or the shrink wrap look. Popular Hollywood celebrities like Cam Gigandet or Brad Pitt sport this look.

So is it good to have a LMB?

Most definitely. If we just go by the physiological definition it is great for the overall balance of the body. A lower body fat percentage in the range of 10-15% is recommended for men and a range of 15-20 for women.This is the ideal fat volume to maintain good overall cardio-vascular health.

Visually, you will possess an extremely attractive and fit physique, which will be envy of others. You will also improve your strength and endurance if you try to achieve this physique and maintain it. This is a great plus and has many benefits apart from just the health benefits.

Many of us often think that this body type can belong to an elite few who have lots of money and time at their disposal to actually build a good physique (like actors and athletes). While it is true that more focus can be placed on getting a good physique if your living depends on it (eg. you are an actor, and you need to have a good physique to be in business), it is not necessarily true that common people like us cannot develop this physique. With some amount of motivation, dedication and the right information about lean muscular physique, you too can be well on your way to building an enviable body.

To get more free information about Lean Muscle and Lean Muscle Physique, head over to Lean Muscle Central.
Here you can download a free ebook that will give you all the tips and tricks that you need to build a lean muscle physique.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Aaron_M_Rogers

Beginner's Guide to Getting a Ripped Body

Getting a ripped body requires the individual to follow a strict regime of controlled diet and various exercises. The first thing that an individual should do is check whether the body is suited for body building or not. Previous muscle or ligament tears can prove to be a big deterrent towards body building. Hence consulting a physician before hand is always advisable.

You should also list your goals of bodybuilding. Your general goals might be to gain muscle or weight or reducing the fat layers while retaining the muscle in your body. Each goal requires its own time to be achieved. For instance, losing fat while, trying to build muscle requires a lot of effort, time and patience. Trainees often become frustrated when it takes time to see results and end up quitting.

Hence using a body fat percent analysis tool is recommended. Using this tool you can decide how much fat you would like to burn and then calculate the time it would take to achieve your goal. Usually body fat of 30% and above is considered obese hence in such cases you must concentrate on losing the fat completely before gaining muscle. This requires a lot of time and effort hence you need to be patient.

For male trainees with body fat between 20%-30% require about 4-5 months to lose the fat completely then another 5-6 months is required for muscles to start developing. Having body fat between 15%-20% is considered ideal for body building beginners since this gives you the option of deciding which one is more important to you: losing fat or gaining muscle.

Irrespective of the time it takes to lose fat and build muscle you must maintain a set nutrition plan which includes about 5-6 meals in a day. Before you start training you must also ask your trainer to check the tolerance limits of your body by trying out the basic exercises for the initial few weeks before starting with hardcore training.

Choose a gym which has many types of equipment to choose from and trained personal trainers who will help you with your exercise regime. Training in the gym also does not mean just concentrating on your chest and arms; to get a ripped body you must train all your muscles at least twice a week.

Diet:

Diet is the key to getting a ripped body naturally and fast. You can increase your fat loss only by having a caloric deficit diet, which means that you burn more calories than you consume. Hence keeping a close watch on the number of calories you consume and burn is essential for getting a ripped body fast. Caloric deficit diet does not mean that you have to starve yourself.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Keith_Deshaies

Muscle Building Principles

Principle One- Lift Heavy

This is self explanatory but I see way to many people in the gym lifting way to light and not even reaching failure. To grow you must push your muscles to the point to where they must adapt by getting bigger and stronger. Basically when you contract a muscle using resistance (weight) you create little tears in muscle fibers, which must grow back bigger and stronger. The most common rep range used to build muscle is 6-12 reps with relatively heavy weight.

Principle Two- Fail

You must go to failure when lifting. This doesn't mean go to failure on every single set, but the majority of sets you should fail in the desired rep range e.g in the 6-12 range you should fail anywhere in between, if you can go above 12 increase the weight, if you cant reach 6 reps decrease the weight. YOU MUST FAIL TO SUCCEED.

Principle Three- Progress

You should be increasing the weight week to week. When you first start training your strength gains should be quite fast. Remember you must keep giving your body a reason to grow or else it will plateau and your gains will come to a stand still.

Principle Four- Keep Workouts Short

In general your workout should be 45 minutes to an hour and a half no longer. Its widely accepted that you will cause drops in testosterone (vital muscle building hormone) if you workout too long/overtrain. Length of your workout will be directly related to the rest you take in between sets (60-90 seconds).

Principle Five- Structure Your Workouts

Your workouts should be well structured. They should start with heavy low rep compound lifts e.g bench press, and then followed by lighter high rep isolation exercises e.g chest flyes. The main reason behind this is that you will have more energy at the start of your workout for lifting heavier loads.

Principle Six- Use Correct Form

Form is everything, when you use bad form e.g using your back while doing barbell curls, you decrease the stimulation on the bicep, and your just cheating your results. There is a time and place for cheating and that called forced reps. (I will do an article on that later, this article is just a basic outline of building muscle). Also when you use weight you cant handle you increase the chance of getting an injury. Trust me injuries are no joke they are very taxing physically but more so mentally.

Principle Seven- Eat Enough Calories

In reality you must eat more calories than you spend to grow. You may grow slightly if your just starting lifting without changing your diet. Most people say you need an excess of 3500 calories in one week to gain a pound of muscle. This is a myth in my opinion. 1 gram of fat = 9 calories 1 pound of fat = 3500 calories

1 gram of protein = 4 calories 1 pound of muscle = approximately 1800 calories ( including glycogen store)

You do the math, if your gaining a pound a week most of it is probably fat. Eat a surplus of about 150-300 calories daily to gain muscle slowly but surely. You cant bully your body into building more muscle by eating 5000 calories.

Principle Seven- Protein Power

Ideally you should get around at least 1 gram per pound bodyweight. You need protein to provide your muscles with the building blocks it needs to grow and repair. Don't think if you eat 500 grams of protein a day you will gain muscle twice as fast than eating 250 grams. Your body can only synthesize a certain amount of protein daily,after that it is either stored as fat or excreted as urea. This is determined by genetics and hormone levels. Why do you think pro bodybuilders get so big, they take hormones e.g testosterone to increase protein synthesis... they can expect to grow more on extremely high protein diets.

Principle Eight- Sleep To Grow

Ideally you should sleep 8-9 hours a night, realistically you should sleep at least 7 hours. Sleep increases hormones such as testosterone, growth hormone, leptin and also improves insulin sensitivity. All key for muscle building.

Principle Nine- Supplement Wisely

Supplements are to supplement an already good diet not replace it. You should only supplement what you cant get in your diet from whole foods. I recommend whey protein, fish oil, multivitamin, pre workout or creatine ( if you have the money). This is not an essential muscle building principle but it will give you that extra 10%.I will do a separate article on supplements in the future so check back under the nutrition header.

Principle Ten- Educate Yourself

Probably the most important muscle building principle. You cant go into this process of building muscle blindly, you have to know what your doing. Unless your some genetic freak who gains muscle just looking at a dumbbell, you have to do your research.

Check out ExtremeBodyFit.com for more articles like this.

extremebodyfit.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gerald_J._Riches

How To Get A Flat Belly For Women

Step #1

Work those core muscles

Underneath our top layer of abdominal muscles, lays an important group of muscles known as the core muscles. Most physiotherapists would advise their patients who suffer from back problems to strengthen their core muscles. That's pretty good advice for people who wants to keep their mid-section looking toned as well. This is because strong core muscles helps pull in a saggy belly like a corset, giving you a firm, toned waist. Most women do not know how to do exercises that engage and strengthen these core muscles. This results in weak core muscles which send a signal to the body to store up fats around the mid section so that the internal organs are well protected.

You can practise exercises which targets core muscles such as this one below:

While sitting or lying on your back, exhale and let your abdomen expand as much as possible. Then imagine "pulling" your belly button towards your spine, hold for 8-10 seconds. Repeat 8 to 12 times. Increase the time you hold that pull every week until you can hold for one minute.

Step #2

Move that hip

Most of the modern day working adults have desk-bound jobs which seldom requires them to move around much. This contributes to weak hip muscles and causes your pelvis to protrude out, increases the stress on your back and spine, making your belly bulge out.

Try this stretching regime: In the Lunge position, lower yourself until your back knee touches the floor. While keeping your back straightened, push your hip forward until you can feel the stretch in the front of your hip. Hold this position for 10-15 seconds, relax and repeat, switching legs.

Step #3

Control your diet

You knew this was coming, didn't you? It's common sense that people simply refused to accept. They prefer to believe that throwing money in "ab-flex" machines will magically burn off their abdominal fats. Truth is, they wouldn't and never will. You need to get rid of those fats by controlling what you eat.

A few simple suggestions:

Eat more protein rather than carbohydrates, which when un-used will convert to fats. Cut down drastically on sugar, sugar increases insulin production which slows metabolism. Eat monosaturated fats, it's filling and adds flavour to your food.

Step #4

Relax!

Stress causes our bodies to produce cortisol, a hormone that tells our bodies to store fat. You will also be likely crave sugar and fat, an effect of cortisol. Keep snacks and fattening cookies out of reach while you're at work so that you will be less likely to reach for it when you're stressed.

Step #5

Don't work your abs everyday

This will give your muscles time to recover and strengthen. Training everyday will only sabotage your efforts to have a toned ab. Promote your ab exercises to be the first exercise you do in the gym after warming up. This will ensure that you do a thorough workout for your abs without rushing though.

So there you have it, five simple steps to get you ladies started on that sexy, toned abs. If you liked what you've read in this article, there's plenty more where this came from by other "abxperts" (just a term I coined for experts in abs, you've seen it here first!)

Visit http://www.solid6pack.com now for more great tips!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Hugh_Tudor

The Most Efficient Belly Fat Burning Exercises

Regardless of the situation at hand, belly fat is the most difficult type to get rid of. Even if the rest of the extra pounds stored in other areas of the body are gone, the abs seems to remain hidden behind the excess of calories stored. Belly fat burning exercises start with several core ideas.

The Rules

Lean muscle building is a way to lose weight. Each group of muscles that is forced to work will consume calories and proteins to recover. The mass comes to play and depending on the case, weight loss can be accelerated with body building exercises. On the other hand, the efficiency of the exercises is different for each muscle group and the belly area seems the most difficult to overcome. The abdominal area has a very thin wall that helps the body consume the fat in that zone. Proper exercises are required in order to achieve a visible result.

The Best Exercises Known By Gym Trainers

The belly fat burning exercises advocated by trainers are fairly common and known by most average individuals. Doing abs every couple of days will provide great results. It is not recommended to work on the abdominal area on a daily basis due to several reasons. Each time exercises are performed, micro muscle ruptures take place. The tissue gets damaged and stimulated to grow and consume calories. This process requires a recovery period. In general, a day is enough to repair the damage and stimulate growth.

The second exercise that shows great results is the Mountain Climber with Hands on Swiss Ball. It is one of the simplest exercises but with the best results. Having the body tense in a straight position puts pressure on the abdominal area, stimulating the muscles and calorie consumption. This exercise is fairly popular for women but it can help men as well.

All these exercises need to be complemented by some cardio. Running is great during the recovery period. It puts little pressure on the abs but it accelerates the metabolism by working all other muscle groups and stimulating some extra calorie burning. Alongside with the above mentioned belly fat burning exercises, combining them with some cardio will guarantee visible results.

How Long Will It Take?

Reaching the goal and getting a sleek belly takes some time but it is different from individual to individual. Metabolic rates can be different, muscle mass can have variations and the amount of fat stored in the belly is as well a variable that needs to be taken into consideration. The time required to lose the extra pounds is difficult to estimate but in all cases, results should be visible within two weeks. It takes some time to get the body into hyper-drive and start the weight loss. One of the certain things about such programs is that belly fat burning exercises are efficient only if the will of the individual is strong enough. Quitting in the middle of a program before reaching the goal is not a sign that the exercises do not work but just that there is a lack of motivation.

We Have The Newest Breakthrough in Belly Fat Burning Exercise

Download Our Awesome Weight Loss E-book FREE!! 100 Weight Loss Tips

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anthony_Coleman

Sleep Insomnia, and Diet Tips That Can Help

Sleep insomnia is a huge topic, as there are many different types and causes, and therefore different ways of dealing with it. In a poll conducted about ten years ago in the United States it was found that 58% of all adults experienced insomnia at least a few nights a week. One of the interesting statistics with it is 40% more likely to affect women than men.

Another rather surprising bit of information is that as long a person stays away from sleeping pills, despite the unpleasantness of insomnia it appears that there is little to no increase in mortality that can be associated with mild insomnia. This is described as 4.5 hours of sleep a night. Even severe insomnia is associated with a small increase in mortality. This is only death related to lack of sleep alone, and not a health issue that could be the cause of insomnia. On the other side of the sleep spectrum, it is not known why but there seems to be a higher mortality rate associated with people who regularly get more than 7.5 hours a night.

That said, if most people had their druthers they would rather get their 6.5 to 7.5 hours of good sleep every night, because most would say they feel more energized the next day when they do. So for the person without any additional health problems that are keeping them awake, what are some diet tips to help us get that good night's sleep:

1. Don't take caffeine. For those that are highly sensitive to caffeine, this would probably seem like a no-brainer. But caffeine affects people differently, and it may affect a person more as he gets older. While coffee has a lot of caffeine, tea, soda and chocolate also have some, but in smaller quantities. If you suspect caffeine affects you, it is probably not a good idea to take it after about 4 PM.

2. Eat something before bed. Hunger can rob you of sleep, so going to bed on an empty stomach could trigger insomnia. The experts say a small snack rich in carbohydrates is the best. An apple or perhaps some crackers can help the body produce serotonin, which can make you relaxed and drowsy.

3. Cut back on alcohol consumption. Because alcohol can make you drowsy and make you feel like you're tired, too much can keep you awake once you get past that initial drowsy stage. Drinking too much alcohol close to bedtime may suppress the rapid eye movement stage of sleep that is critical to truly restful sleep. Frequent moving between sleep stages takes place, and a person could wake up throughout the night because of headache, dehydration, or the need to urinate. The result is frequent movement between sleep stages, making restful sleep impossible.

It is important to understand what is causing insomnia in our particular case in order to plan how to prevent it. Maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, such as common times we go to bed and get up, is crucial. Exercise is always a good thing, but not right before bed. Lastly, when it is time for sleep, watching television is a distraction that will not help get a good night's sleep, so get the TV out of the bedroom.

As we are finding out, lack of sleep may not in itself be a cause of mortality, but if we are feeling drowsy all day it can make our lives miserable. One more reason to exercise are its positive affects on sleeping. Read about that and more on the subject of exercise on our site http://muscle4weightloss.com/. Rich Carroll is a writer and health enthusiast living in London.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rich_Carroll

Diet Tips - Five Easy Ways to Lose Weight Fast!

Many people hate the idea of rigid diets - the good news is that if follow the five proven weight loss tips below, you will lose weight easily.

The diet tips require no real willpower and can improve anyone's diet and chances of healthy weight control.

1. Drink Water

One of the most effective diet tips is to drink plenty of water. In fact, water is possibly the single most important catalyst in losing weight and keeping it off.

Water acts as a natural appetite suppressant by keeping your stomach full and fending off dehydration that leads to hunger cravings. Water also provides the additional benefit of flushing out toxins from the body and keeping it hydrated.

Water also helps your body metabolize stored fat by helping the kidneys flush out waste. When you don't drink enough water the liver that works to provide stored fat for energy also takes on the role of helping the kidneys eliminate waste and thus becomes less effective at metabolizing fat.

2. Eat Breakfast

Many people believe one of the best diet tips is skipping breakfast, as it will help them lose weight, this is totally incorrect. Skipping breakfast can make you hungrier later in the day leading to distorted satiety signals (i.e. it's hard to determine when you're full). This can actually result in eating more as a result.

If you don't have time to eat breakfast or don't like to, at least have a liquid meal to fuel your body after sleeping and having no nutrition for several hours.

3. Increase Fibre Intake

Eating lots of foods rich in fibre helps keep food moving through your bowels. Just like water, fiber rich foods bulk you up and make you feel full. In fact, the average person could lose around 10 pounds a year just from doubling their fiber intake.

High fiber foods are generally low in calories and fill you up, so eating more of them means you're eating fewer calories and leaving less room for calories from other foods. Fiber also cuts calories by attaching itself to some of the other proteins and fats that you eat and eliminates them as well.

The average person consumes about 8g of fiber per day, but many experts recommend 25g. Start your day with a high fiber cereal and keep eating fibre throughout the day.

4. Eat Healthy Fats

Many experts claim that fat causes obesity, raises your cholesterol and causes heart disease, but this is not strictly true. If fat is all that bad, why is it part of our natural diet chain? The reason is fat can be very good for you.

Fat provides the body with essential fatty acids (linoleic and linolenic acids) needed for normal reproduction and growth, as well as for production of prostaglandin, a hormone like compound that regulates blood pressure, blood clotting, and inflammation.

When eating fats you should eat healthy fats. Eating "healthy" fats includes the cold-water fish, mackerel and salmon, nuts, and olive oil. By eating healthy fats over unhealthy ones you will lose weight.

5. Lean Protein

Protein is a great weight control tool because of the immediate satiety factor and because it keeps you full for longer periods. It also balances out carbs by preventing insulin spikes that can lead to a drain in energy and sugar cravings.

Protein also helps maintain muscle mass, which is very important in the fat burning process. At least 20% of calories should be in the form of protein.

More dieting and general health information and FREE exclusive diet and health magazines, are available on our web site: http://www.net-planet.org

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephen_Todd

Diet Tips - 5 Tips To Help You Lose More Weight

Every little bit helps, right? And when it comes to weight loss, the more you know, the more you can do. I want you to take these 5 simple diet tips and incorporate them into your own weight loss plan. They're easy to follow, and if you do follow them, you will lose weight faster.

1 - Water Before Each Meal - This works for 2 reasons. Firstly, a lot of the time when we feel hungry, we are actually thirsty due to dehydration. Secondly, consuming water before eating will help you to feel more full and therefore you won't eat as much. Not to mention, how good water is for the human body. Start by having a single glass before each meal.

2 - No Carbs After Dark - If you plan out your eating correctly, you can eat all of your carbohydrates during the day. That way you can eat only protein and healthy fats at night. The reason for doing this is simple: If you eat carbohydrates and don't burn them, they will be stored on the body as fat. This is your body's way of conserving food for later. Stick to low GI carbohydrate sources, such as wholegrain bread and rolled oats.

3 - No Sugar Before (or during) Meals - Never ever eat sugar before having a meal. If you do, you will spike your insulin levels. Insulin is a hormone in the body. When insulin is spiked, your body will store whatever you eat as fat. This is the number 1 reason why people get fat! Look around tomorrow wherever you are and you will see countless people consuming sugar before or with their meals. It is a disastrous combination.

4 - Eat More Chili - If you love chili, then you will love this tip. Chili is a great metabolism booster and helps your body to rid itself of free radicals. What more could you want? Fresh chopped or whole chilies are best, as you will get more benefit, but any form chili is better than none.

5 - Cook Meals The Night Before - Now I realize that we are all busy and you might not have time to cook all of your meals the night before. But that doesn't mean you can't cook some. Or at least the ones that are easy to cook. The great thing about this is that you know exactly what you are eating. There are no surprises. Most importantly, you won't feel as tempted to buy takeaway food. Out of all of these diet tips, this is the most important.

I sincerely hope that these diet tips have helped you, and I even more sincerely hope that you use them. You can incorporate all of these tips for free! You just have to buy some chili.

John Stamford is a personal trainer, nutritionist and an expert in everything relating to fat loss. Visit his website in order to discover "One Tip That May Be Preventing You From Losing Fat" instantly at:

http://www.FatLossEnigma.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Stamford