LEGS!

LEGS!

            Legs are obviously important even in regular life because of the constant use and importance of leg strength.  You use legs to run to the falafel store, jump off a building into a dumpster of stool softener, and you use your legs to awkwardly walk away from an embarrassing date where you didn’t notice your fly was down the whole time.  Of course there are other things you use your legs for.  And in this obese country where the average man has to hold about 200 pounds of body over their legs, it’s important to have strength in this area.  In this post I will talk about a bunch of different leg exercises and lifts.

·         Squats- This is the most common leg exercise ever because of its simplicity and effectiveness, although a lot of people don’t know the correct and most effective way to perform this lift.  You can put the bar in front of you or behind you but no matter where you put it when you squat down you have to keep the weight on the heels of your feet instead of the balls of your feet.  This is important because it helps target the weight on your hamstrings and prevents you from falling over while doing the lift.  Also when bending down to complete the lift the best way to do it is to squat down till your thighs are about parallel with the ground to put more pressure and intensity to your hamstrings.

·         Lunges- Lunges are another one the well known lifts.  Also like squats you can have the bar in front or behind you while lifting.  Then you stick one leg out and lunge forward on that leg then pull yourself back up.  This is a good lift for the hamstrings and a little bit of the quads. 

·         Barbell Calf Raise- One of the only lifts that concentrates on your calves.  Start with the bar behind you stretching across your back and shoulders.  Lay a 45 pound plate on the floor or anything else that can hold you a few inches off of the ground, and keeping your toes on the plate raise your heels up flexing your calves and bringing in down till it hits the ground for full extension.  You can vary this lift with different weights and the position of your toes on the plate to focus different areas of the calf.

·         Leg Lever- Sadly for most of the leg lifts you require a machine to do.  Leg lever machines are great for targeting the quadriceps in your legs.  There is also a reverse leg lever where you lay across a bench to lift and focus tremendously on your hamstrings.

·         Leg Press- The leg press machine has you sitting on a bench pushing against a big weighted plate and is great for a mixture of quads and hamstrings.

Most of the barbell lifts in this post can also be substituted with dumbbells for a different feel.  Legs are a big muscle and require a lot of work to keep them strong and sexy.  Remember, we’re all in this together, keep your stick on the ice. 

The Right Way to Eat

The Right Way to Eat

            Many people try to lose weight by basically starving themselves or by following some ridiculous diet that makes you feel like crap.  No one wants to do this so I’m making a post about the best way to lose weight but still feel good and still get gains in weight lifting.  You don’t even have to starve yourself.

            So the first thing you need to do is always continue your weight lifting routine and even if you feel like you need it you should give a more vigorous exercise plan.  What most people always forget is that they workout and eat on a diet and forget that they lose a lot of calories from their exercise so that they can actually eat more than they might have once thought because of the intense calorie and fat burning from exercise.  Because of the intensity in your workout all you have to do is give a loose estimate of your calorie intake.  The best way to figure out how many calories to eat is to take a day or two and change absolutely nothing in your daily routine and at the end of the day count up all the calories you ate.  Then reduce your calorie intake by about 500 to 1000 calories a day off of what you calculated from your days of regular calorie intake.  It might sound like a lot but it actually gets very easy if you stay with it and it becomes a habit and second nature. 

            Another thing that is very important to remember is that your stomach burns the food you eat constantly and it burns fat while it is almost empty.  Take advantage of this by eating five meals a day instead of three.  You get to eat five times a day but you are really eating about the same amount of food you would usually eat in a three meal day.  You just spread it out throughout the day.  By doing this you are never making yourself completely full so that your stomach is spending a lot more time burning fat than it is breaking down food.  The joyous thing about this is that you really aren’t eating less food you are only eating it at different times during the day, and doing this you should never go hungry.        

            About the only bummer about all of this is that you do have to watch what you eat and stay away from fatty junking foods.  Although one of the huge perks to this system is that you can decide to either workout harder or do more intense cardio for the day and you can eat more food because of all the extra calories burned off beforehand or you can even eat junk food a little bit and not feel guilty about it.

            So no more calorie counting, empty stomachs, or broken wills, this system works and you can still feel great during it.  This system could change your life and make you lose a lot of weight or fat.  Remember, we’re all in this together, keep your stick on the ice.

Weightlifting Milestones

Weightlifting Milestones

            Lots of people claim that they are strong or that they are good in the gym but there are a few ways to truly tell if you are considered strong.  Milestones in the gym are a good way to tell where you are at in your exercising career.  In this post I will be talking about certain milestones that you can compare to yourself to see how you are doing as a weightlifter.

            The first milestone is probably the easiest to achieve and that is being able to do at least one hundred pounds in an exercise.  Of course this all depends on the lift and the weight of the lifter.  The next is being able to do the same weight as the weight of lifter this also varies greatly on the weight of the lifter.  The next milestone is being able to lift 200 pounds of an exercise.  This is a huge milestone in lifting and should be seen as a proud accomplishment.  Once you get to the point of doing 200 pounds in just about any weight in my opinion you are considered strong. 

            One of the hardest milestones to get, that for some people is about impossible, is to be able to lift twice your weight or more.  This is one of the highest milestones for a weightlifter because of the hardness of it.  Even on a high weighted lift like squats (http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/barbell-squat) or dead lifts (http://stronglifts.com/how-to-deadlift-with-proper-technique/), this is a challenging accomplishment.  Only the most veteran and committed lifters can claim this milestone as their own.

            Milestones are made to push you further until you can conquer them all and feel a sense of accomplishment.  They give you a goal to reach for and are great motivation to continue weightlifting for those who need it.  Remember we’re all in this together, keep your stick on the ice.