Freedom From BigBrother Now!

Some supplement companies will go to any lengths to
prove their products’ effectiveness. But sometimes the
evidence isn’t quite what it’s cracked up to be. Before and
after photos are the most compelling means by which to
convince a person of steroid-like gains.

Often the before photos show the bodybuilder in off-season
condition; fat, bloated, with pale skin. Hardly inspirational,
but true to life. And photos are sometimes reversed. In one
instance a supplement company presented a photo of a
fitness model in top condition, declaring it the ‘after’ photo.
Beside it, the apparent ‘before’ photo showed the model in
her last trimester of pregnancy. Anyone who is familiar with
the model’s history is aware that the before photo was, in
fact, the after photo.

The same trick was used by an ex-professional bodybuilder
from the 1960s. Interestingly, his jowls sagged more and
his face looked older in the before photo. Apparently his
supplement line not only increases muscle, it may be the
proverbial fountain of youth!

Before and after photos from every day individuals sell a
product best. They represent people like you and me…
average weight trainees hoping to make dramatic changes
in short order. But these photos are also highly dubious. In
order to look as bad and as good as possible, the models
employ several tricks.

The before photos nearly always have the subject
slouching, frowning, pale skin, dull lighting, gut extended,
and with no muscle pump. The after photos use harsh
lighting with good shadow contrast, tanned skin, upright
posture with lats and shoulders spread wide, muscles
tensed, smiling with well-groomed facial and head hair, and
a muscle pump. It also is known that duct tape has been
used to pull back obliques/love handles in order to make
waists appear even smaller and shoulders even wider. The
same trick works under their arm pits, to make the pec line
more pronounced and sharp.

And so, are you truly seeing what the person has
accomplished and while on supplement ‘x’? Hardly; what
you are witnessing is an illusion of posing and photography
skills of the model.

One winning competitor in the EAS Physique
Transformation contest in 1999 did look good if contrasting
his before and after photos, losing twelve pounds of fat. He
also, however, lost six pounds of lean tissue! Ignoring the
fact that he won, it could be said that his program was a
failure and that he did the opposite of what exercise was
originally intended to do, e.g., increase lean tissue/function.

But it is to these unhealthy extremes that one sometimes
experiences in order to make a dramatic difference in a
contest that allows only 12 weeks. After all, 12 weeks is not
a long time, particularly for advanced trainees more so than
novices. For the advanced, there is not much muscle to
gain and to produce good before and after photos requires
extreme loss of fat - besides slouching, frowning, and no
pump or tan in the before photos.

Unfortunately, many people (particularly novices) who are
unaware of the benefits and application of long-term
planning will burn out on such an endeavor, perhaps
quitting exercise all together. After a 12-week stint of near
overtraining (if they haven’t done so by the contest’s end and
if not understanding how to train), they conclude they cannot
tolerate another 12-weeks of further self-inflicted torture, let
alone another three years.

Not everyone entering these contests understand that it is a
short-term solution… to see how far the body can be pushed
as quickly as possible. After that point, training must take
on a more cyclic structure. This means maintaining most of
what was accomplished during the physique transformation
followed by ‘easier’ off-season training and peaking
infrequently thereafter. Fat loss may continue after the
contest, or prior to another peak, but 100% mental effort and
extreme demands may only account for 8-12 weeks total
throughout the year once reaching an advanced stage.
Training throughout the remainder of the year can still be
tough, yet tolerable and never as demanding.

I don’t believe most beginner trainees realize the
importance of cycling or what needs to be done after a
physique transformation challenge. Most magazines don’t
talk about it, nor do bodybuilding books. They present
general ideas and expect you to lift happily ever after. It is for
this reason that physique transformation contests and
magazines as a whole produce greater failure than success
in. The thoughts of maintaining or bettering one’s physique
after 12-weeks of grueling effort is enough to shatter
anyone’s motivation. Believing that you must continue
training in a similar manner (something to which we have
all fallen victim) is the best guarantee to exercise
termination.

Interestingly, can you imagine the loss in profits that
supplement manufacturers (magazine owners) are
encountering due to frustration of their readers and the
thousands dropping out of exercise - or perhaps no longer
purchasing that magazine and the supplements it
endorses. If sound training information were provided,
particularly long-term application, there would be more
successes and supplement purchases from advanced
trainees. Rather, supplement companies are hoping and
expecting a new generation of customers to make up for
those recently lost - short-term solutions for a quick buck.

You may publish this article in your newsletter, on your web
site, or other publications, so long as the article’s content is
not altered and the resource box is included. Add byline and
active link. Notification of the use of this article is
appreciated, but not required.

Brian D. Johnston is the Director of Education and President
of the I.A.R.T. fitness certification and education institute. He
has written over 12 books and is a contributor author to the
Merck Medical Manual. An international lecturer, Mr.
Johnston wears many hats in the fitness and health
industries, and can be reached at info@ExerciseCertification.com. Visit his site at http://www.ExerciseCertification.com for more free articles.

Want to build Big Huge Muscles? Then you must Squat! The Squat will build big muscles on your entire body frame.

There are 3 types of people in this world.

First, there are those that make things happen. They calculated and know very sure what they want, then they take action and get it no matter what happens. They single mindedly pursue their ambition and they will ultimately succeed. In bodybuilding, they want to grow big and strong with big huge muscles. They SQUAT and squat and squat again. Have you ever seen anyone who is big, have huge muscles and have a well proportioned body like a Greek god who does not squat? Never.

Then there are those who watch things happen. They will savor the world around them. Then say, we will see what happens next. If it works, well we will decide if we are gonna do it.

These are the majority of the average Joes. They want to grow big muscles and be strong and muscular but are reluctant to make the effort to include the squat in their workout routine. Even if they do, they will do it haphazardly and will give up before they achieve their objectives. Then the excuses will flow. “Squats are too hard on my knees” or “Doing squat will stunt your growth” or “Squats are for my back” or “I just want a well toned body.” Excuses from sour grapes. That is why average joes just remain well… average. We will debunk those excuses later in this article.

Finally there are those that are always saying “Omigosh! What happened?” Needless to say, these people are the ones oblivious to what is happening around them. They will walk leisurely on a treadmill reading a book at the same time when others are raising their heart rates to improve endurance and burn fats.

They are the ones doing dumbbell curls after dumbbell curls when others are doing bench presses, dead lifts and squats. They are the ones who ask the champions why the champs are growing biiger muscles and getting fitter all the time whereas they are at the gym longer, more regular and yet not achieving any result. They will take note of the advises and the next time you see them, they are back to what they were doing. Reading that confounded book on the treadmill. They actually expect changes to take place by doing the same things. How is that possible? Then they will say, “Ah… but you are just lucky to have good genes!” What nonsense!

To build muscles fast and big, you must SQUAT! The squat is often touted as the king of exercise and is grouped together with the dead lift and bench press, collectively called the Big Three for power and muscle mass building.

If you want to build big muscles and enjoy a symmetrical physique, you must squat. Period.

In most gym, the squat rack is there collecting dust. Why? Because most people think that their legs will be hidden by their pants. Why bother? How dead wrong they are. Wait till you see them in their shorts or swim wear. You will see Spiderman ..er ..I mean spider legs.

Another reason why people avoid squatting exercises is because the squat work on many major muscles and is grueling work. When you perform squats correctly, you will huff and pant, wheeze, head spinning woozily, see stars, sweat profusely and your entire body will be screaming for you to stop.

Of course the exercise is brutal! You are working out about 75% of your entire muscular structure including your shoulders, traps, back, gluteus, hams, calf, abs and many other synergistic muscles in a single exercise, isn’t that supposed taxed your strength, endurance and your cardio health? Isn’t that the best exercise? Isn’t that why the results from squats will be astounding?

As an added bonus to building big muscles , you will be burning fats like crazy since the squat, given the intensity placed on your body, your metabolism zooms straight up! If your body fat ratio is high, it will help you lose body fat.

And because of the degree of difficulty, squats also force your body to release higher amounts of growth hormone , resulting in new muscle growth in all areas of your body. In addition, squats will cause a spillover effect, enabling you to gain strength in all of your other lifts. Awesome! It just befuddles me why, with all these benefits, people are avoiding squats like a bubonic plague. As for the hard gainers, squat will pack on pounds after pounds of muscle on your entire body! So hard gainers, you must squat to grow big!

If you squat with the correct form, heavy weight and sheer intensity, you will see good results in just weeks. Not just your lower body. Your entire frame will take on a different form. A total body transformation. Guaranteed!

You must know that since squats are performed with heavy weight, so correct form and techniques are critical and cannot be compromised. Anything less, you may sustain serious injury. However, when you adhere to the proper technique, you will be very safe and will enjoy all the benefits that come with the squat. Don’t cheat yourself and substitute squats with leg presses. They are of a different class!

Debunking Excuses!

It’s bad for the knees - In fact, it’s on the contrary. Just like the muscle tissue in your body strengthens when exposed to stress, the tendons, ligaments and other connective tissues in your body will also thicken in response to weightlifting. That means, it actually improve knee health when you squat. It also strengthens all the muscles around your knee and thus providing your knees with support when the muscles are strong and less stress is placed on the knees on your day to day activities. I know. I used to suffer from knee pain until I started squatting and now, my knees are in perfect health that I can even play competitive soccer. Knee problems only occur when you squat improperly like resting at the bottom of the movement or letting your knee protrude over your toes.

It’s bad for my back - For the same reasons about strengthening your tissues, squats also exercises your lower back. When done in correct form, it actually builds strong muscles on your lower back and not only correcting you from bad posture that results in a bad back, it may even give you a healthy strong back. Again, it will only hurt your back if done in poor form like bending forward or doing it with a rounded back instead of arching it during the movement.

It will give you high blood pressure and bad for the heart -
Sure, your blood pressure will rise as your heart will beat faster from the exercise. That is only temporary and not dangerous unless you already have those problems in the first place. Other than that you are actually exercising your heart and cardio vascular system to strengthen it. How can that be dangerous? Don’t most exercises elevate heart rate and increase blood flow? Then they should ban the treadmills and close all swimming pools! Do you buy that nonsense?

So, now that you know that squat is the king of bodybuilding exercises, are you the type that makes things happen or are still contend to be wondering what the heck happened?

Chris is a personal trainer of fashion models, male pageant winners, actors and other celebs. More free fitness tips in his websites. www.sgfitness.com and www.sgfitnessonline.com

The issue of obesity is hitting enormous proportions and often results in a premature death or a major medical complaint like mature onset diabetes. Regardless of how badly you long to lose that excess weight, it will take effort. To begin with, you should look into how to lose the excess pounds. Nobody wants to limit their food intake for long periods of time, even though it took months or even years to gain the all that excess weight originally. Dieting for a long time without profiting from the results can bring you down. You need to discover a program to help you to lose the excess weight quickly, but at times, this frequently results in more medical complaints than it cures. So you need to educate yourself on every choice out there before you decide a specific diet.

Even though bypass surgery is routine currently, sometimes it can result in some really dreadful as well as dangerous consequences. Excess gas, feelings of nausea, and frequent vomiting due to narrowing of the intestine are a few of the side-effects observed subsequent to gastric bypass surgery, particularly if you binge. Aversion to cold, food allergies, and an alteration in bowel movements can also be experienced. For most dieters the hazards greatly outnumber the advantages.

Fat burners are an outstanding solution if you need to drop body fat quickly. These create an effect like physical exercise on body through increasing temperature, supercharging fat burning. A vast variety of ingredientsincluding sesamin and carnitine are utilized by fat burners. Liquid fat burners work much the same way as those manufactured in tablets but they will obviously come in liquid form. This means they act very quickly and will commence to eliminate fatty tissue almost instantly.

Your nutritional requirements are paramount irrespective of how you choose to rid yourself of surplus weight. Reducing the amount you are eating may often mean limiting your the variety of nutrients you are able to absorb from your food intake. So, ensure you stay well hydrated and get the proper multi-vitamin when you’re on a weight loss plan. Exercising speeds up body fat loss, particularly when you perform strength routines with aerobic exercise to boost the pace at which you break down fat. The whole world wants an easy way to lose instantly. The thing to keep in mind is that not only is shedding your extra pounds the important, but also to improve your health in general. In conclusion, you must eat right, work out on a regular basis and start using a good supplement to increase your prospects of losing surplus body fat…

Nike Free does not think so; and neither should you. Read on to find out why this concerns every one of us, our health and a good deal of wasted money. This is not a story of the Nike Free shoe; it’s about our freedom and growth.

It has been a really long time since a major shoemaker has stepped forward and acknowledged that the human foot is the perfect running, walking machine.

Hence, a good shoe should be simple and that allows this perfect machine to execute flawlessly, rather than attempt to take over Nature’s function.

This is the core concept of the Nike Free line of shoes. Shoes that both mimic and allow the foot its freedom to get things done - in this case, walking, jogging and running.

Nonetheless, detractors argue that the lack of structural support and cushioning undermines the shoe’s ability to be a serious running shoe. The experts are spewing out terms like - Stress Fracture, Calf Injury, Knee Injuries, Plantar Fasciitis.

The Footwear Market & You

In the footwear industry, structural support and cushioning are considered the benchmarks of shoe superiority. The more features a shoe has; the more acclaim it will receive and, coincidentally, the more expensive it will cost.

Do we, as consumers, really need all that expensive support and cushioning?

Is it really better for us?

For centuries across civilizations, shoes were only worn as status symbols by aristocrats; while the common folk went about barefooted.

The very people, who walked the most and ran the most, went about their daily lives barefooted!

Obviously, shoes did not come about as an invention because our feet failed; it came as an invention of luxury and ego.

In the centuries that have gone by, our feet still maintain this same powerful ability. Today, we have barefoot marathon runners across the world and complete communities of tribal people who live barefooted.

Our God given machine of motion still explodes power in this day and age!

Yet, weekend runners who barely run a tenth of a marathon are spending hundreds of dollars to buy advanced technology for their feet!

Why is the man on the street spending so much on high - tech shoes when marathon runners and hunters happily thrive without them?

The answer is advertising and product branding.

Shoemakers astutely noticed that city folks are mostly overpronators or underpronators. Hence, in an effort to capitalise on this underlying dysfunction, they design shoes that support and cushion shock. Consequently, detaching and depriving the foot from its primary role as locomotion point guard.

Overpronation, Underpronation and Neutral Feet

More than 75% of city dwellers are either overpronators or underpronators. Essentially, it means that your feet lose their ability to accommodate ground unevenness and absorption of daily walking stress. Your foot has curved in one direction and cannot return to neutral state - think of it as a jammed window that cannot close.

In its functional state, our feet are made to pronate; curve to suit the contours of the ground. This is how we can run side ways on slopes and edges without tumbling over. Hence, feet with full range of pronation can walk, run, jog barefooted and not injure themselves (assuming you are not silly enough to go running on broken glass).

Since the foot has lost its ability to fully pronate, shoemakers generally believe that a shoe has to be padded, cushioned, gelled and reinforced. The reason being that it will make up for the feet’s loss of pronation range. Hence, the natural progression towards spending millions on technology research and charging you hundreds of dollars more per pair.

On the other hand, I look at all these structured shoes like crutches. Yes, we may need it for a while. But, when we consistently wear them and use them, we can never regain our natural ability to move the way we were originally made to - Pain free, explosive and flexible.

A plain simple running shoe that allows your feet to spread out is sufficient and good for any weekend jogger. It also happens to be much easier on the wallet! If you do want a fancier shoe, the Nike Free series would be a good buy because it goes beyond un-restriction of the feet; it mimics the shape of the feet and offers the feet much more control.

Ultimately, the injury and pain does not come from the lack of a jazzed up shoe, but rather dysfunctional feet.

My Feet / Knee / Shin / Calf hurts because of my Pronation. What do I do now?

I would first make a wild guess that the sole of your shoe is eaten up excessively on one side of the shoe. This could occur on one or both shoes. Do not assume that both feet equally underpronate or overpronate.

The first thing to do is to throw away all your shoes that reflect this unevenness. Go buy new pairs of shoes; neutral shoes that do not have excessive support. Have fun shopping, do it with a friend, a spouse or alone!

After a while, if you do not buy new pairs of shoes, your recovery will be impeded because you never throw away the “crutch”.

The next step is to slowly walk barefooted and as often as possible. You can start with your house, followed by the beach or park. The aim is to re-introduce your 26 foot bones and muscles to the sensation of the natural foot movement. They have been trapped in the shoe for all these years.

Finally, you have to move into active rehabilitation to help your body recover its neutral state. It is not some costly procedure, but rather a series of simple movement patterns that specifically unlock your frozen foot muscles and reintroduce your body to its natural alignment.

Some familiar exercises like yoga and pilates do help in this process. Nonetheless, if you want it quicker, faster and simpler, drop by http://phenogy.com to find out how you can be free of knee pains, shin splints, plantar fasciitis, flat foot, raised arch and other musculoskeletal injuries that are by-products of feet pronation.

Even if you think that you are not suffering from any of this at the moment. Take 5 seconds to stand straight up, feet shoulder width apart…. Now look down… Are your feet parallel to each other? Both pointing forward?

It is a disservice to yourself to cheat by correcting them. You have to look at your feet when they are at a relaxed state. Take a look when you go to work, or go shopping.

If your feet flare out or curve in or are not parallel pointing to the front. It is a very strong hint of future musculoskeletal injuries, that includes the above conditions coupled with back, shoulder and neck dysfunction.

Nonetheless, you may be that rare 1 out of 4 who have neutral feet. Congratulations and keep up whatever good motion that you already have!

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Earn Money! - Receive Commission when you sign up for our Affiliate programmes. You can change the links to include you Affiliate Id and leave us to do all the rest! Earn money in your sleep without ever needing to know nuts about health! We do everything. Find out more on our Affiliate Page at http://phenogy.com/joinus.htm

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The author, Winston Ng, is an avid peak performance coach and CEO of Phenogy Health Advisors Pte Ltd, based in Singapore. His Health Consultancy programmes are renowned worldwide for their efficiency, simplicity and independent unbiased advice. The Phenogy Health Concierge is unparalleled internationally in providing cutting edge Natural Health Alternatives to the busy individual who needs viable options to invasive surgery, dangerous synthetic pills and overpriced ineffective therapies!

They want you to experience their service before spending a single dime! Receive FREE Health Coaching and find out more about their E-Manuals and Consultancy Services! http://phenogy.com

Winston Ng and his Coaches are contactable at enquiries@phenogy.com

The Diet industry is a multi-billion dollar market. Every Last year thousands of new diet products hit the market claiming to be the solution to all of your weight problems. The immense majority of these diet products are garbage. No sugars, maple syrup / lemonade / cayenne pepper cleanse, cabbage soup - all rubbish.

They may help you shed a few pounds, but the minute you even intend of consuming anything that isn’t part of their diet program, you gain back all of the weight and then some. Diet crazes don’t work! We all desire some magical pill to melt the fat away, but there is no such thing. So how does the diet industry continue to thrive and expand? Who buys in to all of their gimmicks and advertising ploys? Women!

That’s correct ladies - you are the number one demographic that keep the diet industry raking in the dough. It’s true - don’t attempt to refuse it. Every time you’re at the market, you casually stroll down the weight management and dieting department and discretely eye the different products. Despite intelligence and common sense, a part of you still questions, “Was that truly how Anna Nicole lost all that weight?”

The answer is NO! There is no miraculous pill, powder, or dieting book. The first step to reaching your goal is to stop kidding yourself and get real. Total Body Solutions can help you to find the real deal. The answer to your weight problem doesn’t dwell in the diet section - its hiding in the back of your wardrobe.

Break out those running shoes from the back of your closet ladies! The only proven and actual way to lose weight and keep it off is exercise.I know it isn’t the answer you want to hear, but you know its true. It may not be the easier resolution, but it is the only real solution.

Burning calories through exercise and being in a caloric defecit throughout the day is the only concrete way to drop pounds permanently. It takes hard work and dedication, but don’t all great things? Personal trainers will help you accomplish the answers that you want in the most efficient way possible.

Here’s an interesting fact. Apparently one of the possible causes of children wetting the bed is a lack of water in their diets. Strange isn’t it? You’d have thought that bed wetting might be the result of drinking too much water, not the other way around. The reason for this is because when the body is dehydrated, the bladder becomes irritated causing leakages during the day and night. The other reason for this is that if the body has been persistently starved of enough water, the bladder shrinks in size a little. This means that if for one day consumption of water is increased, the bladder can’t really cope with the excess, hence bed-wedding.

Home gyms, how do you determine a first-rate home gym from a awful home gym? I’ve viewed plenty of people purchase home gym equipment without investing a good deal thinking into the process of choosing a outstanding piece of home gym equipment. I think, at times that people will place more thinking into choosing what to have for breakfast than picking out a home gym.

It is real that the selection as well as variation in home gyms is virtually too much to handle. I can sure enough empathize why people might just think to purchase whatever piece of home gym equipment is pushed or appears hot. Surely, esthetics does play a role in how we may select a home gym. Still, looks should be the least criteria to use.

Home gyms come various sizes. However, when searching at home gyms I believe the number one criteria should be durability. If a gym is not durable then, of course, you will discover yourself in the market for a new home gym soon after purchasing the original. However, even worse is the fact that psychologically when you are exercising you recognize the gym is feeble and subconsciously ease up on exercising with intensity. Intensity is a crucial factor in having a good workout.

Okay, In my opinion the first criteria to use when searching at which home gym to purchase is durability. There are many home gyms on the marketplace, but not necessarily all are fashioned with quality in mind. They may work, they may even work well, but what good is it if they break in 6 calendar months.