Abs are Made in the Kitchen and not the Gym

Sculpting a body that we a proud of is an arduous although rewarding constant task.

For most, a well defined and flat stomach is the pinnacle of achievement whether you are a man or a woman.  

Whilst there is no substitute for hard work in the gym, it is not everything when we look at our abdominal area.  

I am sure you have all read numerous articles that all include a balanced healthy diet alongside regular exercise.  These time honoured and proven statements will not be disgreed with here, but only endorsed further when we look at the topic at hand.

The adominal area is a magnet for fatty deposits, particarly in men, and no matter how hard you work on it in the gym, this key area will improve only slowly unless an extremly well calculated diet is observed.  Only once all of the offending fat is removed from a careful and complimentary diet to your intensive workout can we then create envious great abs.

Losing Weight With Minimal Effort

The desire to lose unwanted weight or fat is a requirement for most of us during some or most of our lives.

The media will periodically expose the latest celebrity diet that miraculously sheds weight with minimal effort other than drinking a strange concoction, using sports supplements only or devouring baby food.

Many of us lead hectic lives and naturally look for a quick fix to an age long problem.  The solution however, which applies to most bodily issues and function, is the application or regular exercise and a balanced diet.

For most, our personal knowledge and willingness to learn of what we consume and its nutritional value is lacking.

Once certain dietary habits are broken, or at least limited and understood, then effective weight management can be achieved.  

A strong diet would include protein (either from supplements or as grilled chicken or fish) alongside fruit, vegetables and small portions of complex carbohydrates.  As with all fat loss diets, a negative caloric intake is required for the body to burn excess fat.  

Intense work in the gym including abdominal focused exercises such as sit ups and subsequently weighted sit ups will quickly provide excellent results once the work in the kitchen is put into effect.  

Following a simple dietary regime doesnt not mean eating boring or tasteless food, or even denying yourself anything, its means just being more mindful and understanding what you consume and its resulting effect.  

Eat well, train hard and you will have the abs you have always dreamed of showing off.

How to Make the Most of Your Exercise Regime

Constructing an efficient and time managed workout in the most effective way to benefit fully physically but also in a mental capacity.

During the course of a regular exercise regime it is evident that motivation before and during exercise can diminish, resulting in a sub standard performance which subsequently compounds the motivational issue. This problem can occur when exercise lacks either variety, a performance enhancing environment, complimenting/core exercises, poor diet and sufficient recovery. These problems are clearly evident when we consider the influx of gym memberships during the post Christmas period and the significant drop of those early participants after only a few weeks.

In order to combat these issues it is initially important to begin with constantly evolving and achievable targets mixed with a variety of well planned and executed exercises. Constructing a nutritional diet is paramount but should still provide rewards and flexibility to fit in with social and working schedules. It is also important to consume additional supplements to compliment a well balanced diet in order to reduce deficiencies and promote rapid improvements to meet your weight loss, muscle gain, endurance or muscle toning targets. Engaging in regular exercise will predominately require additional protein, among other essential supplements, to promote muscle synthesis and recovery.

Time spent in the gym should be efficient and well planned with an intense workout around 45 mins-1hr being optimal. Those spending more time than required are often leaving unnecessary long gaps between exercises or not performing at an intense level which is not conducive to improvement. This approach not only leads to unsatisfactory results but also leads to future motivational loss and the likelihood of missing a session due to the time requirements being used.

Adhering to the optimal timeframe, a workout session becomes simple to merge into a busy schedule, becomes less likely to miss, and results in more improvement and subsequent enjoyment. At least 1-2 days per week should be allowed (dependant on performance factors) in order for the body to fully recover so following sessions are able to benefit from the maximum energy and muscle capacity available. A mixture or weight based and cardiovascular exercises will assist this process and result in further strength, mobility and oxygen rich muscle tissue to aid recovery.

When aiming to improve your body shape or performance, the most important part is to be able to enjoy every facet and session you participate in. If you discover that motivation or enjoyment is lost, then evaluating the reasons why will enable correcting changes to occur.

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Use of Dietary Supplements May Raise Cancer Risk

Dietary supplements have little to no effect in preventing cancer and may actually increase cancer risk, according to a review published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute(Martínez ME et al. 2012;104:732-739).

Restricting their review to supplements that have been researched in sufficiently powered clinical trials or large observational studies, the authors focused on antioxidants, folate and folic acid, vitamin D and calcium.

Despite early evidence suggesting an anticancer benefit from antioxidants, clinical studies have not borne out that promise, the authors said. For example, b-carotene does not prevent recurrence of non-melanoma skin cancer (Greenberg ER et al. N Engl J Med 1990;323:789-795); b-carotene and vitamin A do not protect against lung cancer (Omenn GS et al. N Engl J Med1996;334:1150-1155); vitamins C and E do not protect against total cancer incidence (Gaziano JM et al. JAMA 2009;301:52-62); and a-tocopherol, vitamin C, and b-carotene do not protect against total cancer or cancer mortality (Lin J et al. J Natl Cancer Inst 2009;101:14-23).

However, several trials have shown evidence of an increased cancer risk from antioxidants, the review authors, led by María Elena Martínez, PhD, at the University of California, San Diego, reported. One such study, conducted in a population at high risk for lung cancer, found a 39% increase in lung cancer incidence in the b-carotene arm compared with the placebo arm (Omenn GS et al. N Engl J Med 1996;334:1150-1155).

Similarly, the authors did not find evidence that folic acid and folate protect against cancer, whereas they did note evidence of increased risk for cancer from long-term folic acid supplementation. They found insufficient evidence to draw conclusions about vitamin D, and “diverse results” regarding calcium.

Many expert groups have reached a “general consensus” that “nutritional supplements have little to no benefit in preventing cancer,” the authors wrote.

Even so, much of the public continues to use dietary supplements, a fact that the authors attribute in large part to the marketing influence of supplement manufacturers. The authors call for “efforts by scientists and government officials to encourage the public to make prudent decisions based on sound evidence with respect to the use of dietary supplements for cancer prevention.”

Article source - gastroendonews.com