Free Download - Reversing The Aging Process

Look & Feel Great! Free Download: Reversing The Aging Process... [ http://flirtingwithfitness.com/free/aging/reverse-aging.htm ]

Free Health, Fitness, Wellness & Self-Help Downloads...

Healthy, Wealthy & Wise Gifts, probably the biggest giveaway online these days, launched yesterday at 10am, and already over 4,000 people have joined to choose their free downloads from the over 500 gifts available for free there - have you grabbed YOURS yet? http://flirtingwithfitness.com/free/

Muscle loss study provides potential diabetes treatment breakthrough

Excellent article on new research that finds myostatin blocking can halt muscle loss from diabetes, cancer AND aging... Definitely worth the read! 

Muscle loss study provides potential diabetes treatment breakthrough

Free Online Fitness Magazine & New Google+ Community

It's been a while since the last update here on Getting Fit Again, but that doesn't mean I've been idle... And today I'm proud to announce our new Flirting With Fitness Online Magazine and to invite you to the new Fitness Over 40 Google+ community!

Our New Online Fitness Magazine:

The first issue of our online magazine debuted online on Dec. 31st, 2012. If you're already familiar with our FlirtingWithFitness.com website you'll know there's already over 3,000 pages of information there to help people with fitness, health, exercise, weight loss, working out and more.

Now we've also added our online magazine, free for you to download or read online. For information on what's in the first issue and the links to read or download the issue, visit the Flirting With Fitness Online Magazine page.

The Fitness Over 40 Google+ Community:

You've already added me to your Google+ circles, I hope - if not, start by adding Doug Champigny to your circles. Then please come and join us in the Google+ Fitness Over 40 Community - join in the conversation and ask advice, offer advice and exchange thoughts & info on everything related to health, exercise, wellness, healthy nutrition and weight loss... 

Like any community, online or offline, it's only as good as its members - please come join us and participate in the discussions... I'll see you there!

Weight Lifting Basics

Weight Lifting Basics
By D. Champigny

When you first decide to build muscle it's important to have a firm grasp on the weight lifting basics. Effective weight lifting to build muscle requires a basic understanding of how lifting weights, proper nutrition and sufficient rest work together to create the metabolic state needed to add lean muscle mass and get stronger.

Weight Lifting Basics: Physiology
To understand how your muscles work and what it takes to build muscle you need to know, in general terms, what the muscle is made of. Think of a tube or sheath filled with liquid that has cables running through it. In each muscle, that fluid is sarcoplasm - a mix of water and other elements including the glycogen your muscles need for energy and the amino acids to repair damages to the muscle itself. The 'cables' running through it are your myofibrils - collections of thousands of protein chains that contract as the muscle moves.

While the two work synergistically, doing higher repetitions with a medium weight does more to build the amount of sarcoplasm, resulting in bigger muscles with less strength gain. Lifting heavier weights for fewer repetitions causes growth in the myofibril sections, giving you better strength gains with (usually) smaller muscle growth. If you main goal is to get stronger you'll focus more on how much weight you can lift with proper form for 6 or fewer repetitions per set, while you'd be using a more moderate weight so you can complete sets of 12 - 15 repetitions if your main focus is to build muscle size. If you want to do both, you'll either need to rotate back and forth between the two workout styles, or use reps schemes in the 8-10 reps per set range.

When you lift weights using either style, you're creating micro-tears in the muscle. Your body will repair these tears and make the muscle a little bigger and stronger in case it meets that same stress again. If you're not increasing the amount of weight you lift over time, there's no need for the body to keep making the muscle bigger and stronger, so your gains plateau - this is why weight lifting is also referred to as progressive resistance - you have to be continually working the muscles a bit harder than before to see continuing gains in muscle mass and to keep getting stronger.

For weight lifting purposes there are 7 major muscle areas - legs, back, chest, shoulders, triceps, biceps and abdominals (abs). Each area can be broken down further as you progress with your exercises, but when first starting out just make sure your routines include exercising all 7 areas.

Weight Lifting Basics: Proper Nutrition
In order to repair the damages from working out your body needs sufficient carbohydrates and proteins along with some essential fats. Carbohydrates contain the sugars that are converted to glycogen, and are most necessary pre-workout for the energy to exercise at your peak levels and post-workout to replace the glycogen levels you depleted while working out.

Protein is necessary for the repairs and improvements to your muscles and must be made available throughout the recuperation process. Since it can take from 48 hours to a week for this process, depending on your conditioning and the amount of work performed in the gym, boosting your daily protein intake every day is necessary compared to someone who isn't lifting weights.

There is an optimum-uptake window for your nutrients that lasts about 60-90 minutes after each weightlifting session, so be sure to get an abundance of both carbs and protein as soon as you can right after each workout. Unlike protein, however, you do not need to keep your carbohydrate intake higher on the days between gym visits - overindulging in carbs on your off days usually leads to a layer of fat hiding all your new shiny muscles!

Weight Lifting Basics: Sufficient Rest
It's very important to realize that without proper rest and recuperation you're pretty much wasting your time in the gym, especially as you get older. Your body needs time to fully heal and rebuild its energy levels between workouts. Understand right from the start that muscles are 'torn down' in the gym and rebuilt during rest periods on the days you're not in the gym. As such, getting 7 - 9 hours of sleep is a MUST if you want to get optimal results for your time and energy expenditures.

Further, when first starting out you need at least 1 - 3 days off between the days you hit the gym. Anything less and you're tearing down muscles that haven't fully recovered yet, thus limiting your own muscle and strength growth. Forget the routines you see in the magazines where the top bodybuilders do 5 or 6 workouts a week - they have very superior genetics and a huge existing mass of muscle and STILL need steroids and other synthetic anabolic hormones to recover from a schedule like that. For most people, especially those first lifting weights, those routines would quickly lead to overtraining - a situation noted for fatigue, muscle loss and injuries both acute and chronic.

Take your time, learn proper form for each exercise and follow these weight lifting basics and you can enjoy a lifetime of better health and fitness, adding lean muscle mass and building strength throughout your lifetime. And don't forget to share your exercise activities and these weight lifting basics with your spouse and kids - make fitness a family affair in your household starting today!

D. Champigny is well known in the fitness world - he's a published fitness photographer, certified personal trainer, fitness author and publisher of the popular Flirting With Fitness website. For more help from Champigny, become a regular reader of his Getting Back In Shape blog at http://flirtingwithfitness.com/blogs/champigny/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=D._Champigny
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Weightlifting Nutrition - 5 Ways To Power Up Your Post-Workout Shake

Weightlifting Nutrition - 5 Ways To Power Up Your Post-Workout Shake
By D. Champigny

You've hit the gym hard and need to make up your post-workout shake. As a serious weightlifter you know that your post-workout shake is as important as your weightlifting, and you understand the need for healthy nutrition when trying to build lean muscle. So let's look at five ways you can power up that shake to give you even more benefit...

Add More Protein
Since the most important part of your nutrient restocking is protein, let's add some more - but not more whey protein. Whey protein can only be absorbed at a certain pace and it clears the body in about 90 minutes, so adding more whey protein would just be a waste. Instead, add liquid egg whites. A cup (250g) of egg whites contains 0 fat, 0 carbohydrates and 28 grams of protein. Egg whites still have a very high biological value (BV) but stay in the system longer and digest more slowly, meaning you'll still be absorbing protein after the whey has cleared your body.

Use Chocolate Milk As Your Base
Instead of mixing your protein with water, juice or white milk, use partly-skimmed chocolate milk instead. Since you need protein, carbs and fats as part of your healthy nutrition and especially following your post-exercise shake, chocolate milk fills the bill nicely. One cup of 1% has 2.5 grams of fat, 27 grams of carbohydrates and 7 grams of protein, plus many brands add vitamins A & D as well. And once you add your whey protein and liquid egg whites you'll see the resultant nutrient breakdown is excellent for your recovery.

Add A Teaspoon Of Ground Cinnamon
Without getting too technical, the sugars in your shake cause a rise in insulin - and that insulin is necessary to transport the nutrients to your muscles. But if you've been reading up on healthy nutrition, you know that too much insulin over an extended period leads to Type 2 Diabetes. Amongst many other health benefits, cinnamon helps to regulate your blood sugar levels - not a prevention, but one step towards keeping your body in balance. Of course, it helps that most people love the taste of cinnamon - how long since your last cinnamon bun?

Take A Fish Oil, Krill Oil Or Omega-3 Supplement
There's been a lot of press lately about all the benefits of supplementing with Omega-3, an essential fat your body needs for a myriad of bodily functions. In this instance, it helps with both the nutrient absorption and the health of your muscle cells, so don't skip this vital step. Don't add it to your shake, just use your post-workout shake to wash down the capsule.

Add A Vitamin D-3 Supplement
Chances are you already knew that Vitamin D helped build healthy bones and teeth, right? But did you know that Vitamin D helps with the absorption of some nutrients? Include a Vitamin D-3 (the most common form of it) supplement when you take your Omega-3 to make sure your body can most easily use all the great nutrients in your post-workout shake.

These 5 low-cost steps will go a long way towards powering up your post-workout shake and help you get the most from your weightlifting session. Try and drink it within 30-60 minutes of your workout to take advantage of the maximum-uptake window - the sooner the better. As with any supplementation, make sure your doctor has approved the ingredients for your particular use, in case any pre-existing conditions would be affected, and barring any issues you'll be on your way to your healthy nutrition goals while maximizing the results from your time in the gym!

D. Champigny is a certified personal trainer and publisher of the Flirting With Fitness website and online magazine. You can get more health, fitness, exercise and nutrition tips from him on his Getting Back In Shape blog. For more info on building muscles, visit his Muscle Building blog as well.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=D._Champigny
http://EzineArticles.com/?Weightlifting-Nutrition---5-Ways-To-Power-Up-Your-Post-Workout-Shake&id=7253447

Mike Westerdal Hits 630 LB Bench Press

Mike Westerdal Hits 630 LB Bench Press!

Click Here to Increase Your Bench Press by Up To 50 lbs in 10 Weeks

Remaining Fit On Cruises...

Get ready to remain fit whenever you go on cruises...

You don’t have to worry about your workout regime while on your cruise. A cruise is a great way that you can enjoy going on and still be able to remain fit and eat healthy. Cruises now offer a large variety of healthier choices for the individuals that do not want to blow their diets completely while enjoying a fantastic vacation with their friends or family members. So, now more people, healthier people, are getting the opportunity to enjoy going on cruises of all kinds and still be able to keep themselves in great shape and feel wonderful about themselves while vacationing.

Most people think about their health and wellness now days and many of those are involved in some type of exercise program and healthier nutritional habits as well. So many restaurants now include a large variety of healthier choices for those people that are trying really hard to eat healthier, which is always best.

Remaining Fit On Cruises - continues here...

How To Make Exercise Fun

Exercise is a vital part of healthy living & longevity, and any amount of exerise can be helpful to you. You don't need to become like Arnie or Lance Armstrong but you do need to get some activity and, preferably, reduce your time sitting down at a desk. One of the biggest problems with modern day exercise is that many find it to be boring and they lack the motivation to get started. This is before you even consider how many people drop out quickly after starting an exercise program. So, what are some ways to make exercise more fun?

The Best Exercise Is When You Don't Think About It

The modern gym can be one of the worst places to exercise. You are static on a machine while your body is in motion (treadmills and exercise bicycles). Your body does not expect this and would prefer to at least have some eye-candy to keep your motivation up. Maybe this is why so many gyms now put TV screens in front of those doing workouts. Even so, this is still quite boring for many.

The best exercise is when you don't even realise that you are working out. There is so much going on around you that you are fixated on your surroundings rather than being allowed to internalise your thoughts. Though some prefer this aspect of exercise, working out is not really a time for reflecting. You do not want to be consumed by your current thoughts - you want to be distracted by your environment. Here are a few great examples.

City Cycling For Exercise

When you forget about the car, the bus or the subway and decide to get from A to B using a bicycle then you can obtain some really good workouts.

On a bicycle, it is safest to travel at considerable speed, rather than dawdling near the gutter. When the lights go green, you should accelerate fast and get up to speed quickly. Always look around and observe where traffic and pedestrians are. Be assertive, use hand signals and take ownership of your part of the road, as you are entitled to do.

When you ride like this, you'll find yourself constantly changing the situation your body is in. One moment you may be accelerating anaerobically, another you may be travelling at a constant speed aerobically, another you may be twisting and turning and giving your back some great relief by stretching out your spine slightly.

This type of cycling burns a lot of calories because your body cannot predict what rate it will be working at and thus will keep burning its fuel (your fat) inefficiently. Also, because your eyes are on the road and everything around you, you barely even realise how hard you are pushing yourself at times until later you may find yourself catching your breath. Without the situation of your bike in its environment, you may never have otherwise have pushed yourself so hard.

Team Sports for Exercise

Team sports are one of the most fun types of exercise that there are. The first thing to say is that they are incredibly social and add a dimension to exercise that solo sports do not possess.

When playing on a team, you are constantly reacting to the game situation. Your mind is on the game and you are unpredictably called into action. No two halves or quarters are ever the same. Just like with cycling, your mind is occupied on your situation and your body cannot predict what you are going to do. Hence, you burn your fuel inefficiently and, again, these sports become a great way to lose weight (if that is one of your goals).

This post just touches on a few of the benefits of exercise and a tiny fraction of the effective methods of exercising. For a lot more information on exercising correctly, be sure to read up on it online - your healthy lifestyle depends on getting enough exercise!

The First Low Carbohydrate Diet

Dr Robert Atkins is often believed to have invented the low carbohydrate diet when he developed and published his Atkins Diet in the 1960s/70s. But the truth is that low carb diets were being followed and even prescribed by doctors long before Dr Atkins popularized them for the general public.

Many people believe that the diet followed by human beings in prehistory, before the development of agriculture, was a low carbohydrate diet. At this time people would have eaten whatever was available to them. This was the time of the 'hunter-gatherers'.

In some places, there would be a lot of fruit available, and it might even have been the main food source for some people. That would not be a low carbohydrate diet. But in cooler climates, people would have relied more on hunting animals, and the diet would have been high in protein and low in carbohydrates.

With the development of agriculture, of course, people came to rely more and more on high carbohydrate foods that they could grow. Wheat and other grains provided plenty of calories per acre and so these were popular agricultural foods. Of course, at that time people wanted to have a high calorie diet because starvation, not obesity, was the main risk.

But as societies became richer, weight related issues began to arise. Doctors began to be aware of the benefits of a low carb diet for certain diseases and conditions. In the early 19th century diabetics were already being advised to cut down on high carb foods like bread, potatoes and sugar.

It was just one step from there to the first low carbohydrate weight loss plan. This was published by William Banting in England in 1863. Banting was not a doctor, but a craftsman whose health had been seriously threatened by his obesity. His doctor had suggested a diabetic diet, having noticed that this had resulted in weight loss for many of his patients.

So Banting gave up most of the carbs and starches in his diet, including beer, as well as milk and butter. He ate mostly meat, green vegetables and fruit, with a little wine. He lost weight so successfully that in 1863 he wrote and published a booklet called "Letter on Corpulence, Addressed to the Public".

This publication was hugely successful. Originally, Banting just had a few copies printed at his own expense, but soon it was widely circulated and a commercial publisher took it up. It became so well known that around the turn of the century the word "banting" was in common use, meaning "following a weight loss diet".

Unfortunately, Banting's low carbohydrate diet also attracted a lot of criticism, especially from health professionals who pointed to his lack of qualifications. Rumors circulated about how the diet had affected his health, although he lived to the age of 80. Similar rumors would later arise over the health and death of Dr Robert Atkins, in an attempt to discredit the Atkins Diet.

The first half of the 20th century was a lean time for most Western nations because of the wars in Europe. Weight loss became less of an issue until the 1950s and 60s, when fat was seen as the main enemy to health. So when Dr Atkins published his diet in 1972, there were not many people still living who remembered the earlier popularity of low carb diets, and most people thought it was a brand new idea. But in fact, Dr Atkins only rediscovered and revised the low carbohydrate diet.