Muscle "Toning"

Using little tiny weights and doing endless reps is a common belief for toning.  However, you need to understand that your muscles will adapt to the demand that you place on them.  Intensity in your workouts is something that applies to both men and women alike... no matter what your goals are!

I came across the following article from Flavia Del Monte's "Curvalicious" site in one of the newsletters that I subscribe to and thought that it covered most of the points that I am talking about.  Great stuff!...

5 'Muscle Toning' myths females must
STOP believing

The Facts: Muscle is already firm. There is no such thing as a soft flabby muscle only soft flabby fat. Muscles do not go from soft to hard or hard to soft - they shrink, grow or stay the same size.

Muscles can get weaker or stronger. Muscles themselves do not "firm-up" or "tone". There is no such thing as a "toning exercise". And for the record: your abdominals don't tone themselves by doing 100 crunches!

The Facts: Toning is in fact a two-step process. Burn fat and add lean muscle. In a moment I'll SHOW YOU how to do both at the same time!

Here's what happens when you just lose the fat without adding lean muscle.

Here's what happens when you lose the fat and add a few pounds of lean muscle.  Now these girls are looking CURVALICIOUS!

All of these attractive bodies are SHAPED by muscle & defined by true muscle tone that forms sexy, desirable curves!

The Facts: Again, toning is a two-step process. Add lean muscle and burn fat. Don't be fooled into thinking that adding lean muscle is going to magically burn off all the fat. Muscle certainly increases your metabolic rate to help you maintain your weight but you need TRUE metabolic workouts that have a huge AFTERBURN and calorie burn or else you'll never reveal the muscle definition underneath the layer of fat!

Again, all the healthy bodies you find attractive are shaped by muscle and covered by a healthy layer of fat that smoothes it out to a shapely appearance.

The Facts: Somehow the media has convinced you that if we just do bodyweight exercises or light weights for high reps, your muscles will magically take on a beautiful shape without growing or bulging. Training with light weight, higher reps and primarily bodyweight exercises is not wrong but you must understand it results in myogenic muscle tone, which is not the muscle tone that results in killer definition and curvy body parts.

The Facts: Eating too much food will make you look bulky! Your muscles grow on calories so as long as you manage your calories, you'll manage your weight and shape.

Again, the media has detoured your progress by having you believe that if you challenge yourself with moderately heavy weights, your body will take on a bulky and unfeminine appearance. If you believe this, you probably still believe in the Easter Bunny & Santa Claus!

Women need to trust that building minimal amounts of lean muscle speeds your metabolism, burns fat and the most important factor to having a shapely body. Muscle is what gives the shape to your body!

Plus, most women don't produce enough testosterone to bulk up from a few gym sessions a week. God didn't intend women to look like men (go figure), so he made the chemistry of each gender's respective bodies different. (Can I get an amen?) In fact, most women produce 10-30 TIMES less testosterone than men and most men have a hard time bulking up! A big, bulky body is only attainable via one means: steroids.

Women must also trust that getting bulky doesn't just happen by accident. You have a better chance of winning the lottery than bulking up overnight.

And lastly, gaining lean muscle does not require you to gain fat. That's simply not true. It's possible to gain lean muscle without putting on additional fat weight!

ref:  Flavia Del Monte's Curvalicious
 

The Sled... Not just for winter!

Of course... the sled is simply a tool of convenience that can be used to simulate the desired motion and load.  If you search on YouTube or just browse the internet, you'll find that the exercises themselves are not new.  For those of us that have ever broken down, or run out of gas, and had to push the car for a distance... we were certainly working some muscles then!  In fact, car pushing is still used as a training tool in a pinch by people that want to get the same effect from training... just make sure that you have someone steering while you push ; )

Do it yourself?  Sure, there is some potential for building a push sled.  I've seen some really great ideas on various sites from people that have the same thought process as me when it comes to the whole "I can build that" thing. 

Personally, I was just planning to take the metal bucket portion of an old wheel barrow and throw a few sandbags in it... however, for the sake of storage and ease of use, I have actually broken down and purchased a few sleds for use during our outdoor workout sessions.  We still use tires for the "pull" sled exercises though... simple, easy, and free!

The pushing sled exercise is designed to strengthen your shoulder muscles as well as your quadriceps and hamstrings. Stand directly behind a weighted sled with both of your hands on the handlebars. Push forward on the sled with your back straight and your knees driving up and down to generate speed. Push the weighted sled in a consistent marching motion for your desired distance (20-30 yds).  Repeat for several repetitions/runs.

In addition to this standard push exercise that I've focused on here, sleds can be used with pull straps and/or handles to add chest press exercises, curls, flys, pulls, speed work and plenty of other variations and combinations.  They are great supplemental tools for your outdoor workouts and boot camps!

USA Bodyweight Exercise of the Month!

USA Arm Blaster

Summary:

This exercise is probably one of the more unique ones that can be performed on the USA suspension straps, and it's just as difficult as it looks.  The key it so focus your muscle contractions on both your tricep and bicep equally as you extend with your lower arm (tricep) and curl with your upper arm (bicep).  You get an added bonus of some work on your sides (obliques) as well as total core and shoulder stabilization.

Target:  arms and core (tricep brachii, biceps brachii, obliques)

Description:  Stand with your feet together and grab a rung on the USA that is near your head with your up arm bent.  With your down arm, grab another rung with a wider than shoulder width stretch (about 7 rungs) and straighten your arm.  Lower yourself down for the negative portion of the movement before contracting your tricep (extending your elbow) and bicep (bending your elbow) to pull yourself back to starting position.  Playing with the angle of your body to the floor will adjust the amount of weight you will be working with.
 

There's an App for That

Here's the iTunes description:  Advance your diet by having nutritional information for over 93,000 food items right at your fingertips!  Whether you go out to eat or cook at home, Nutrition Menu takes the guesswork out of choosing healthy meals and even includes a calculator to compute your Food Score.  Have the piece of mind knowing that your meal fits within your dietary allowance.  You can then track from meal to meal insuring a higher weight loss by keeping a journal of what you have consumed.  Whether you are counting carbs, watching calories, or have diabetes, Nutrition Menu makes it easy for anyone who needs to track what they eat.  "The mother of all iPhone calorie counters" - Fitness Magazine

Food Features:

• Over 42,000 restaurant menu items (from 356 US restaurants)
• Over 51,000 entries for common foods like apples, meat, frozen meals, etc...
• Shows Points Plus numbers
• No internet communication needed
• Nutrition data including calories, fat, carbs, fiber, serving size, protein, cholesterol, sodium, and sugars
• Add your own custom foods
• Add your own favorites

Excercise Features:

• 149 built-in exercises
• Add your own custom exercises
• Activity score calculator
• Add your own favorites
• Calculate calories burned based on your weight

Journal Features:

• Daily summary and progress
• Calorie breakdown pie chart
• Show all food and exercise for a day
• Email the journal and import to a spreadsheet
• Weight tracking with graph
• Track water consumption
• Passcode protected

Well worth the whopping 99 cent investment in the iTunes store in my opinion J
 

Recipes for Health

Spicy Turkey Burger

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp ketchup
• 2 Tbsp olive oil mayonnaise
• 1/2 Tbsp chipotle pepper puree
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• Salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 4 slices (1/4 inch thick) red onion
• 4 slices sharp Cheddar cheese
• 4 potato or sesame seed hamburger buns
• Bibb lettuce or arugula
• 4 thick tomato slices (optional)

Directions:

• Preheat a grill, grill pan, or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat.
• Combine the ketchup, mayonnaise, and chipotle in a mixing bowl, stir, and set aside.  In a separate bowl, gently combine the ground turkey with the cumin and a few generous pinches of salt and pepper.  Being careful not to overwork the meat, form four patties of equal size.
• Place the burgers and the onions on the grill.  Cook the burgers for 4 minutes on the first side, flip, and immediately crown each with a slice of cheese.  Cook for another 4 to 5 minutes, until firm but gently yielding to the touch.  Grill the onions until lightly charred and soft.  If you like, toast the buns.
• Dress the bottom part of each bun with lettuce and tomato (if using).  Top with a burger, grilled onions, and a generous spoonful of the spicy ketchup.

Makes 4 servings / Cost per serving: $2.88

Perfect Patties:  Proper patty formation is key to the texture and taste of a good burger.  Start with very cold meat, season, and very gently form patties; if you overwork the meat, you'll end up with a dense, chewy burger.  Once the patty is formed, use your thumb to make a small indentation in the center.  As it cooks, ground meat swells in the center, creating a rounded, oblong burger.  The cavity will ensure a flat, evenly cooked burger.

* Don't forget... if you have a healthy recipe that you think people would benefit from, shoot me an email with the details and I'll include it in one of my newsletters!

ref. Eat This Not That - 2012 Edition
 

It's Go Time!

For prior issues of this eNewsletter, to subscribe, or unsubscribe, please visit the following link --> todayfitness.net/news. 

"STRONG is what happens when you
run out of WEAK!"

youtube of the month -->
Animal Bodyweight Exercises - Kong:
Scott Sonnon demonstrates one if several of his functional bodyweight flows