CHOLESTEROL Q AND A

We have all heard about cholesterol, so much so that there is a ton of misinformation out there about it. It’s so bad that I have heard someone tell me he could “feel” the increase in cholesterol in his body! For the record, you can’t!  So today, we are going to have a little quiz to find out just how much you know as opposed to what you think you know about cholesterol.  This will be my fourth post on cholesterol in the last year, please don’t get pissed or roll your eyes, it’s just that this topic is too important to overlook for long. High Cholesterol is a potential killer and precursor to heart disease. Conversely, high cholesterol is probably one of the most misunderstood and feared health issues of our generation, like I said earlier, there are so many myths and misconceptions surrounding it, including my favourite “I am not fat, I don’t have high cholesterol!”  The truth is that you will never know your cholesterol levels till you get tested.

TRAINING TIPS TO MATCH YOUR BODY TYPE

So you’ve been working out for a few months, trying to burn fat or build muscle right? How are the results coming along? Are you hitting your targets, or are you so disappointed with the results you are getting that you are just about ready to throw in the towel?

Don’t be so fast to throw away your trainers and skipping rope or abandon your gym membership! If you are currently working out or plan to work out, your results or lack or results in this case may be tied to your body type. We are all genetically programmed by God to have a particular body type and each different body type has its own quirks and peculiarities, how it responds to food, weight training and cardio, it’s all coded in your DNA.

Today I am looking at the different body types we have and the best exercise tips to making the most of your genetic make-up. So don’t give up and don’t despair, just read on to find out the best training tips to tap into your genetic potential.

Thanks and do have a great weekend!

We all have different body types, some are naturally skinny, some naturally heavy. Our bone thickness and structure also vary too as do traits like muscle length and metabolic rate. When it comes to improving your physic, the better you understand your genetic traits the better your chances of building the body you are after. Scientists in the 1940’s developed a system that divided humans into 3 basic body types and that system is still very relevant today. You might not fit neatly into a particular group, but most of us have a dominant trait that can be easily identified as one of the three groups. They are as follows:

HOW CAFFEINE CAN MAKE YOU FITTER, HEALTHIER AND SLIMMER!

A lot of us consume coffee, and why not it’s got that wonderful flavour and aroma and gives you that gentle buzz at the start of the day, in fact for some people it’s a way of life! However, for some caffeine is some toxic substance that raises blood pressure and steals your sleep; in fact it’s to be avoided at all costs!

The truth is that coffee can be a friend or foe, take too much and you will get very jittery, elevated blood pressure and beg for sleep. On the flip side if taken in moderation i.e. a few (2 or 3 cups maximum) a day and you can really begin to get the benefits. Today I will be looking at the benefits of coffee as pertains to your workouts, health and weight loss efforts, hopefully you will understand how and why caffeine is good for you and have a rethink about this naturally occurring but much misunderstood natural supplement.

GET RID OF THAT OFFICE AFTERNOON BACK PAIN WITH THESE STRETCHING EXERCISES!

Its 12.25am and I am suffering from a serious case of office back pain as I write this, since it’s actually a little past midnight, I know “afternoon back pain” is a bit of a misnomer, but I do most of my writing at night so please bear with me! The midafternoon office back is horrible and we have all felt it from time to time, it comes from hunching over your desk or computer for hours, trying to justify your salary while trying not to be jealous of that wonderful orthopedic chair in your boss’s office!

Back pain is one of the leading causes of disability for people under 45 according to a recent report, and here in Nigeria a lot of young people, especially men in their 30’s are afflicted by it. However, while a lot of guys will quickly attribute their chronic afternoon back pain to “sugar” (cue the Agbo Jedi, and fried meat!) the truth is quite another issue altogether.

THE TOP FOOD SUPPLEMENTS FOR EVERY PURPOSE!

Supplementation! Some swear by it, others swear at it! It’s a multibillion dollar industry that has everything; in fact you could write a soap opera with all the drama and hype surrounding supplements. I am a bit of a junkie when it comes to food and body building supplements and I can tell you that I have seen everything, from the totally overhyped and ineffective crap to the downright dangerous crap! I have also seen the mildly effective and the dynamite that delivers exactly what it promises and then some extra!

Honestly I am promoting supplements today, I honestly believe that they do help you get from where you are to where you want to be, whatever your goal from muscle building to weight loss or even maintaining your male virility, there is something for you. Today I am going to pick on the seven most common reasons people take supplements and best supplements to help get you there.

Right off I should say that supplements are no magic bullet, you can pop all the pills and powders you want, but if you don’t train and watch your nutrition, you will not get the best result. Also if you have never ever worked out or watched your food intake, then address these issues first before thinking about supplements.

Last but not least, all the supplements pictured in this post are just there for illustrative purposes, I am not endorsing any particular brand of supp (have to get paid for that!)

So if you are ready, let’s delve into the murky world of nutritional supplements!

Do have a great weekend!

1.      WEIGHT LOSS/FAT BURNING: CLA

CLA stands for Conjugated Linoleic Acid, it is a fatty acid that helps you burn fat, it is present naturally in red meat and dairy products and if you eat a lot of beef and dairy products you might not need to supplement. The reality however is that most of us do not eat enough red meat, milk and cheese as they are prohibitively expensive in Nigeria, and CLA is only present in little quantities anyway, so to bridge the gap, I would suggest investing in some CLA, I have personally tried it and I know it works. How? A number of studies have shown that CLA reduces fat mass in the body and promotes lean body mass at the same time. Please not that some supplement marketers out there can be crooked and mix their CLA with plenty of empty fillers, so make sure you review the product thoroughly online before buying.

NUTRITIONAL LIES YOU NEED TO STOP BELIEVING!

We have all heard them at one time or the other; eating egg yolk will lead to high cholesterol, too much protein will kill your kidneys etc. they are all nutritional myths grounded at best in old or faulty science and at worst no science or locker room talk! These nutritional myths have been passed down from generation to generation till we have all accepted them as gospel truth, not anymore!

Today, we are separating nutritional fact from fiction so that you can make well informed choices based on the latest scientific research and not what some guy dreamed up in 1972! So if you are ready, let’s sift the wheat from the chaff so that you don’t have to live in ignorance ever again. 

Thanks, and do have a wonderful weekend!

1.      EATING FAT WILL MAKE YOU FAT!

Let’s start at the very beginning people; at first glance this nutritional lie might seem logical; the more fat you eat the more fat your body stores, right? Wrong! The truth is that excess weight gain or body fat is not due to excess fat consumption but excess calories consumed. This excess could be from protein, carbs or fat, so do not single fat out as the enemy. True, eating a lot of fried food like chips, burgers etc  can lead to unwanted weight gain, but so also can eating excess rice, eba, beans etc all with very little fat content. The honest truth is that if you want to lose weight, then fat is your friend, yes you heard right. Fat is one of the most potent weapons when it comes to losing weight, the question is what kind of fat? Eating the right kinds of fat will help you feel full for longer and curb the food cravings that make you eat all those foods loaded with sugar and empty calories. The right fat is mono and poly unsaturated fats like: olive oil, avocado, nuts and oily fish. Combining these with a high protein diet has been proven to help curb hunger and improve weight loss when working out. If you need an extra boost of fat and don’t get enough from your meals, then I would advice supplementing with omega 3 , and CLA (want to know more? Call me!) Taking omega 3 and CLA have been proven to aid fat loss when working out or dieting. As with all things in life moderation is key, the bottom line of my long talk  is :eat more not less good fat to lose weight.

SOMETHING FOR THE LADIES: THE MYTH OF TONING!

Let’s get this straight; I am not talking about skin bleaching! For the purposes of this post toning refers to muscular definition. From my experience in the gym, a lot of women want to tone their bodies; special areas of interest are the arms and love handles. However a lot of ladies are scared of developing muscular, macho looking bodies and because of this they go about the whole process of “toning” all wrong and end up with unsatisfactory results. Today’s post is inspired by all the women who want to have a lean body, neither flabby nor muscular but don’t know how to go about it, this is for you! Before we get into the meat and bones of it, you should note that I love weights, weights are part of the solution, and you have to stop being scared of weights! If you are a woman you cannot turn into the incredible hulk overnight, it’s freaking impossible!

PROPER GYM ETIQUETTE: 6 ANNOYING HABITS YOU SHOULD AVOID!

Don’t be that person please! You know who I am talking about right? That guy or girl, who doesn’t give a damn, just annoys everybody with their total disregard for good manners in the gym. Whether it’s by their phone use, disregard for hygiene, being inconsiderate about others, I could go on and on!

Today I want to talk about the major bad habits you should avoid when working out in a public place, now you may be thinking “this doesn’t concern me, I will never work out in a gym” don’t be so quick my friend, one day you will, and even if you don’t currently work out, you probably know someone who does.

LOSE WEIGHT WITH THESE METABOLISM BOOSTING FOODS!

Are you tired of watching your weight as it goes up?! Tired of working out day in and week out and getting sh*t results? If you are, then you should give your nutrition a rethink.  A wise man once said “you cant work out a bad diet in the gym” , I would like to add that the best place to boost your metabolism and lose fat is in the kitchen!

JOINT PAIN? YOU CAN STILL TRAIN!

Joint pain! Just typing it out scares me, what can I say? It’s terrible. Every little normal movement can be agony when your joints hurt, talk less of lifting weights or any other form of exertion. The worst thing about it is the emotional toll it takes on you and your ability to work out. Compare joint pain with regular muscular pain, with normal muscle soreness you feel happy, in fact I have a friend in the gym who calls sore muscles “sweet pain” he loves it! Sore muscles give you a sense of power and accomplishment i.e. “ I must have done something  good to feel this bad!”

THE EASIEST WAY TO BURN FAT AND BUILD MUSCLE

Right off the bat I have to confess, the title of this post was meant to suck you in! My second confession; it’s not easy to build muscle!  If it was, we would all be sporting huge biceps and 6 packs. However building muscle can be made easier if you have the required knowledge at your fingertips, this will save you from mistakes, injury and shylocks marketing miracle pills and gym equipment. Today I want us to go back to the basics on how to get the best out of our workouts, I don’t know what your focus or routine is, but I do know principles that work.

THE KETOGENIC DIET: BURN FAT AND SAVE MUSCLE AS YOU AGE!

Hi all, if you have ever read any of my posts, the one common thread you will find is that I am not a friend of diets especially fad diets. I belong to the school of thought that believes in making healthy food choices in all categories and not over or under eating. There is nothing I dislike more than a diet that seeks to eliminate a major nutrient i.e. carbohydrates.

However I will make an exception today, and I have good reason. It’s the popular, misunderstood and much misapplied KETOGENIC DIET, and if you have never heard of it, then you’d better crawl back under the rock you came from! Seriously speaking, the Ketogenic or “Keto” diet is very simple in its approach; it is a diet very high in fat, low in protein and ultra-low in carbohydrates. Below is an illustration of the ideal keto diet:

DEFY THE ODDS, FITNESS TIPS FOR YOU AT 40!

I have put off writing this piece for about a month, why? First of all i can’t believe I actually turned 40 in February and second I’ve had this niggling pain in my knee for about a month so I have been feeling like crap and have trained very little. However the show must go on folks, so today’s piece is dedicated to everybody who has joined the big 40 club in the last couple of years or are about to. Now life really does begin at 40 folks, you better believe it! However in my mind I am still only 22 regardless of what my creaking knee says!

HOW TO REALLY MAKE RESOLUTIONS THAT STICK!

Resolutions, again! Yes my friends, I am still on resolutions and why you shouldn’t make them in the New Year. However in the off chance that you still believe in and make New Year resolutions, I have decided to give you a helping hand. Today’s topic is all about how you can make resolutions and stick to them! (Note resolutions, not New Year resolutions!)

Research has shown that most new year resolutions fail within the first 3 months of them being declared, like I said last week, the first culprit is usually the fact that these resolutions are usually emotional and externally motived, with little thought as to how to execute them.

Today I am going to give you my take on how you can get your resolutions to stick way beyond Easter. I guarantee that if you can follow this advice you will see major gains in your health and fitness journey and your resolution will become your life!

Read on and have a wonderful weekend!    

HAPPY 2017! HERE ARE 12 TIPS TO MAKE THIS YOUR FITTEST YEAR EVER!

Happy New Year!  Its 2017 and we all just have to be thankful for being alive to witness it, great things are in the pipeline, I can feel it in my bones! My first idea for 2017 was to write a proper rant article about how much I hate New Year resolutions; I personally consider them an exercise in futility! However I decided to save that particular rant for next week’s article and instead go with something more positive and uplifting, hence the twelve tips of New Year, but if you still want to see me rant about resolutions, please click on the video below.

Moving on, I was inspired to write down these 12 tips by the fact that we all make new year resolutions of one kind or the other, and we mean them for good. The problem is, a lot of the time we make them based on emotions and they end up not being practicable. These tips are not resolutions, they are basic guides to achieving fitness and life goals and I assure you that they will work for you if properly implemented. Apply them and you will not be disappointed, thanks and have a great year everyone.

HOW TO OVEREAT AND NOT GAIN WEIGHT THIS CHRISTMAS!

This must be the strangest and most controversial advice I will give this year, but I just want to be real. A few of us are so dialled in and conscientious about our diet that we will never overeat or eat the wrong things, Christmas or no Christmas! However most of us (including me!) struggle to Passover all the wonderful goodies; fried, dripping with oil fat and totally laced with sugar.

So what am I advising? Well, since It is unlike that I can persuade you not to overindulge, how about we have a truce? I advise you on what and how to eat and you can eat as much as you like, let’s call it “TACTICAL OVEREATING”.  It’s a system of holiday overindulgence I came up with about 5 years ago, and it has served me well ever since. Trust me, it really works, you will enjoy all your Christmas favourites and still not gain weight and in the off chance you do, it will be in muscle and not fat. Are you ready?

HOW SIMPLE AND COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES AFFECT YOUR HEALTH AND FITNESS

Let’s get this straight right off; a carb is not a carb. No matter what people might try to convince you to the contrary, there is a world of difference between how simple and complex carbohydrates affect your health and fitness efforts. What I want to do today is to let you know how simple and complex carbs can affect your weight, health and energy levels.

FAT AND SUGAR FREE FOODS? BE CAREFUL!

You are health conscious, you work out, try to lead a healthy life and you are very careful about what you eat. You know the consequences of too much fat and sugar in your diet; hence you are always careful to buy only foods that are labeled “fat free” and “sugar free”. You go home feeling happy that you are making healthy choices.

If the above description sounds anything like you then I have some bad news for you, you have been unknowingly sabotaging your efforts to stay fit and healthy! How you ask? Well the culprits are all that fat and sugar free food you have been consuming. First of all know this, fat and sugar occurs naturally and not all fats or sugars are bad, it’s in the nature of the fat and sugar as well as the quantity you are consuming.

Fat of the right nature and quantity is good for you, i.e . Omega 3 fatty acids are an example, as well as naturally occurring sugars such as fructose in fruits. What you have to be careful about is the quantity you are consuming to avoid unnecessary weight gain.

Fat and sugar free foods on the other hand, can be very detrimental to your health. Don’t be deceived by smart marketing techniques and clever labels employed by food companies to hide the truth! Good marketing can make products seem fat loss friendly while they do the complete opposite. Companies meanwhile are only there to make money; your health comes a distant second.

So don’t be fooled, the following are common foods we all loved, disguised as healthy but are really not. Read through and know the truth and it shall set you free!

POT BELLY? THESE ARE THE FASTEST FAT BURNING AEROBIC EXERCISES!

We all could do with less body fat right? An extra incentive to lose body fat is the dreaded pot belly or beer gut, its unsightly, embarrassing and makes you wish for the days when you used to play football for your school team! Now I can’t promise to turn back the hands of time and recapture your teenage years, but I can help you get rid that extra tire you have been carrying around with you. This article is for both the guys and the ladies; we will explore the meaning of aerobic activity, the different types available and their fat burning potential. I know that at the end you will be motivated to take up the cardio exercise that suites you the most, and be rest assured, if you stick to it, you can say good bye to that pot belly forever!

Have a great day!

What the hell is aerobic exercise? Now that’s the burning question, well  basically it’s a sustained form of exercise that is repetitive, long and hard enough to challenge the heart and lungs to use oxygen as a fuel source to sustain the body over a longer period (15-20 mins or more). Aerobic activity by its very nature requires fat to be used as a primary energy source with carbohydrates and proteins being used to a lesser extent. Basically if you want to cut your gut, you have to do cardio!

Modern research has shown that to burn fat effectively you need to exercise in the now mythological “fat burning zone”. To cut the crap, what you need to do is to exercise at 75% or more of your MAXIMUM HEART RATE (MHR).

5 TIPS FOR GETTING THE BEST OUT OF YOUR WORK OUT!

Now that's a workout!

We have all been there before, and the results can be frustrating! You exercise, you eat right and you try to live a healthy lifestyle but you are just not getting the desired results, does this scenario seem familiar? If it does, then don’t get frustrated, don’t give up, it simply means you need a boost to your workout. Today I want to give you 5 wonderful tips that will improve your performance.

Human beings love routine, it’s familiar and safe. Unfortunately routine plays havoc with the mind and we get bored and stale. These harmful routines can have a negative effect on your workout experience, so I would like you to incorporate the following tips into your routine; before, during and after your workout. If you do, I promise you noticeable improvements in a very short time.

 Happy reading and do have a wonderful day!

1.       SLEEP! START YOUR PREPARATION FROM THE NIGHT BEFORE:

Have you ever exercised after half a night’s worth of a sleep? How did that work out feel? If I had to guess I would say it was a wasted work out. Make sure you get at least 7 hours’ worth of quality sleep the night before you exercise, how you sleep will positively or negatively affect your workout so do yourself a favour and get a good night’s sleep because that’s when hormones associated with muscle growth work to repair your body. To ensure you sleep well turn your TV and smart phone off at bed time, I know Facebook and whatsapp can be addictive!