Building Muscle - How to Build Muscle Using Herbs

The following list of herbs can be found in tablets or capsules. You don't always have to mix in your herbs into a smoothie or meal. It is highly recommended that you take your herbs in the morning. They provide energy as well as build muscle.

1. Ginseng - used to boost your body's testosterone levels as well as gives your body stamina and longevity naturally. Ginseng is basically the natural version of steroids. It comes from the roots of the Asian ginseng plant. As stated before, you can find ginseng tablets to provide your body it's daily dose. If you are a tea drinker then you can go to your local store and find Ginseng tea to drink.


2. Fo-ti - What in the world is fo-ti? Fo-ti is a Chinese plant that is similar to Ginseng. It boosts stamina and longevity as well to assist you with building muscle. The difference between Ginseng and Fo-ti is that ginseng is much easier to get your hands on especially if you aren't to big on ordering items online.


3. Isoleucene - is so important to building muscle. It builds protein in your body and is the essential to building muscle mass. Foods that contain isoleucene are: egg whites, soy milk, turkey breast, lamb, chicken, tuna fish, and cottage cheese. A protein shake


4. Cayenne - Cayenne gets the blood circulating at a faster rate. Not only does cayenne help build muscle but it also helps prevent heart disease. You can rub down your poultry with cayenne rub or dash a reasonable amount of cayenne pepper on your meats, starches, or vegetables.


5. Oats - Oats build strong muscle as well as decrease your appetite. Now just because a food has oats in it does not mean that it will help build your muscle. Foods like oatmeal will benefit you but foods like oatmeal cookies won't benefit you. Stay away from the instant oatmeal because it doesn't provide as much nutrients as regular oatmeal. Instant oatmeal that is cooked in the microwave is not as beneficial to your body because the microwave actually removes most of your nutrients from your food. If you aren't a fan of oatmeal then having a bowl of honey nut cheerios or a bowl of regular cereal with oats in it would be it's equivalent.

You don't have to fill your body with harmful chemicals to build muscle. The earth is filled with excellent nutrients that are all around you.

http://www.BuildMuscleLikeCrazy.com

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

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

3 Basic Steps To Burn Belly Fat Now

Many people struggle with burning belly fat and this is despite being bombarded with millions of commercial diets in the media. This is because they lack the basic knowledge required to effectively burn fat. This article outlines three important basic steps that everyone needs to know in order to burn belly fat. Knowing how to burn belly fat is the first step in the process as belly fat has been known to be the cause of many debilitating diseases. To effectively flatten your belly, it is important to follow the following steps and incorporate into a daily routine.

Burn as many calories as possible.

The best way to flatten your belly is to eat a reduced calorie diet. This does not mean changing the foods that you eat but eating them in smaller portions or even making relevant substitutions for instance skimmed milk instead of whole milk. You do not have to starve yourself as this is detrimental to weight loss as the body will immediately switch to survival mode as a mechanism thus storing fat for survival. The process of cutting down calories is not as difficult as many people believe. The best way to go about it is to purchase a calorie counter book which outlines the calories count of all foods. You can also search online for calorie content of common foods to help you in your weight loss quest.

Work that belly off.

This compliments a calorie reduced diet as exercising burns consumed calories hence helping in weight loss. The more calories you burn, the more fat you lose. Weight training helps build muscles and the process of muscle building, which need food to grow, burns calories. Regular exercising also increases blood flow and makes the body work more efficiently. It also increases the metabolic rate which in turn burns belly fat gradually. The more you exercise the better shape you get into and of course the leaner and more toned you look.

Proper food choices are key to your success.

You are what you eat and for people aiming to lose weight and burn belly fat, the type of food they eat is very important. One can eat less and burn belly fat immediately however it I important to cut out on foods that give empty calories. Burning more calories than you are eating is not enough. You must also take into consideration the quality of the calories you are eating.

Some easy replacements that get rid of low quality or empty calorie include reducing or getting rid of soda in your diet altogether. This is because soda contains plenty of processes sugar which are empty calories that aid in fat gain. Taking 3 to 4 cans of soda per day translates to 450 to 600 empty calories per day.

Stick to natural foods as opposed to processed foods which are also rich in empty calories. Carrying packed lunch to work will not only help you cut cost but also weight too. A homemade meal of meat and baked potato is cheaper and healthier than burger and fries.

Following these three steps are a sure way of burning belly fat. All you need is persistence and patience and you will be on your way to healthier, happier and trimmer you.

Mark Hall has a special report detailing the facts about 6 pack abs. There are many methods that help flatten the belly. For example you can view a video revealing the shocking 90 day results from P90x workout system.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_R._Hall

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

Weight Loss Diet - 6 Powerful Weight Loss Diet Tips

Everyone knows that most people would like to lose weight, but most don't seem to know the best way to lose weight. To start seeing differences, you have to make some changes in your habit and lifestyle.

Let me share a few very vital weight loss statistics Before I start:

- 64 percent of people in the United States are overweight - Obesity is responsible for 325,000 deaths every year. Alright as you can see Weight Management is a huge Problem in the United States, So we are constantly searching for that miracle drug to help us with weight loss diet.

You may not want to hear, it but it's true - there is no magic spell when it comes to losing weight. However, there are some things that you can do in order to lose fat as quickly as possible.

Here are Six great weight loss tips:

If you favour the traditional route of diet and exercise, then the following tips given below should work greatly to help with weight lose diet:-

1. Eliminate Eating Junk Food.

Most of your efforts to reduce your weight will be unsuccessful of you are unable resist eating junk and processed foods. These primarily consist of fast foods and snack foods such as burgers, pizza, fries, potato chips etc. All of these foods offer very poor nutritional value and it consequently makes no sense at all to carry on eating them. Keep in mind - you will not be able to physically improve on an insufficient diet. You must look carefully at the contents of your cupboard, fridge and freezer and make certain that you switch all sugary and greasy foods with nourishing, healthy alternatives.

2. Drink a Lot of Water- Although you may have heard it over and over again, it is really true. Drinking water not only replenishes your system but also promotes weight loss. How is that possible? Well, as we all know, water is a fluid that directly passes your colon, so drinking water can flush away those toxins and unwanted fats. Drink at least 8 glasses a day for best results.

Water is essential to life and a healthy body. Dehydration will wreak havoc on you and your fitness goals. If you are dehydrated your body cannot function at its optimal level. For example, your muscles will loose strength, you won't burn fat as quickly, and you'll feel tired and fatigued.

3. Reduce the Size of Your Portions-

You should eat five or six small portions each day at regular intervals of about 4 - 5 hours. This will aid appetite suppression and boost your rate of metabolism, causing you to burn additional fat without the need for too much physical effort.

4. Lower Your Calorie Consumption Without Deprivation. Do this by steadily reducing the amount of calories that you get through by a small quantity each day. This will tot up very quickly, but be aware that you will not start to lose weight until you reach the point at which you are expending a more calories than you eat each day. This incremental approach will help to cut down snacking and binging, which would clearly put you straight back where you began.

5. You Want to Start Exercising Regularly-

This doesn't need to be anything excessive, but simply put: working out is almost certainly the most effective way to lose weight and enhance your general heath. Diets by themselves may assist you with losing some weight, but they are not able to improve your stamina, physical fitness, flexibility, mental state and help you achieve numerous other benefits in the way that regular exercise can.

Additionally, exercise is another technique to increase your metabolism, which, once more, helps you to burn off additional fat in less time.

6. Sleep Well- Practice a Good Night Sleep

Sleeping is a favorite quick weight loss tip since it is one of the most effortless. Do not understand the power of having enough sleep. It is vital to your overall weight loss plan. Medical research has proven that sleep deprivation would induce hunger, and improve appetite. This often results in excessive eating. Likewise, having sufficient sleep of at least 8 hours helps to bring a balance to the leptin level and aids weight loss.

There you have the Building block to A Permanent Weight Loss.

There are many ways in which an individual can choose to lose weight. The problem is that diet, and exercise alone for some people still isn't enough, and may leave them struggling to reach their weight loss goals. For many people changing their diet, exercising, and taking nutritional supplements or weight loss products in combination can be the perfect answer to lose weight.

One such supplement is acai for weight loss. Acai is a form of berry that is found in the Amazon, and holds tremendous antioxidant properties. It is also used to increase energy levels, and to improve digestive health. Acai can also help to prevent free radical damage, and diseases like cancer, heart disease, and premature aging. It's the combination of all of these benefits that make acai for weight loss a great option for individuals who need extra assistance.

Acai for weight loss in conjunction with good eating habits, and an exercise routine can be a fast, and healthy way to lose weight. For many, speeding up the process in which they lose weight can help them to feel motivated, and offer them the confidence that they need in order to make the entire weight loss process an easy mental endeavor to embark upon.

One such weight loss product that uses acai is called Acai Berry Select. This is actually offered as a free trial, and is a great way to improve health, and also help to promote healthy weight loss.

Acai berry select can help you lose weight when used as part of a diet and exercise routine-Acai berry contains huge amounts of antioxidants that help to flush the body of toxins, and is most likely the healthiest supplement on the market today.-Acai berry select helps you "lose weight and flush the pounds"

Thanks to a great mixture of healthy weight loss ingredients Acai Berry Select is our top choice for an Acai berry weight loss supplement

My name is Maria Avalos and since 1992 I have been helping people just like you lose weight and create a wonderful revolution in their lives.

If you are truly serious about losing weight please make sure to read every word on this page. Then go ahead and get some Weight loss Diet Supplement.

To read more on Weight Loss Diet Tips and Strategies visit our site @ Weight loss Diet Fast.

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