LL COOL J: HE’S OVER 50 AND STILL DOING IT WELL!

Everybody loves LL! This is a tribute that I should have written in January 2018 when he turned 50 years old, the word “ICON” is thrown about so much nowadays, that it seems to have lost its meaning, well today there is only one word that aptly describes this multi talented, multi award winning rapper/producer/actor/businessman: Iconic!

Now before you guys think that corefitness has gone from fitness to a hip hop blog, there is a reason for us talking about LL Cool J, apart from the fact that he has accomplished so much, he is a fantastic physical specimen, one of those guys that look better at 50 than he did at 25! So today we honour him by looking at how he keeps himself on top of his game, defying early adversity; aged 4, his father shot and nearly killed his mother and grandfather, yet he shook it all off to become the monumental success that he is today, and with abs to die for. No wonder the Ladies Love Cool James.

FAT BURNERS: YOUR SIMPLE GUIDE

Everybody has heard of fat burners, those magic pills that just melt away all that nasty fat blocking the beauty of your six pack, those malignant love handles and that evil cellulite hanging on your thighs like parasites! The truth is not that dramatic I’m afraid, fat burners are supplements after all and like all supplements they are meant to assist or boost your main fat burning efforts not become it. No fat burner, no matter what its advertisers claim can replace the time trusted methods of healthy nutrition, portion control and heavy work in the gym, get that straight right at the beginning.

However, fat burners can and do play a role as part your health and fitness plan, when you KNOW that you are eating right, watching your portion size and exercising to the best of your ability and the pounds are still not coming off as they should , then and only then in my opinion should you reach for those pills. Do fat burners work? In my experience, if you get the right ones, yes. Should you always use them, no!

THE RIGHT EXERCISES TO HELP YOU KEEP FIT AT EVERY STAGE OF LIFE

The health benefits of regular exercise can never be over emphasized, that is why I keep banging on about you engaging in some fitness regime or the other. Exercise has physical and mental health benefits, and we keep on discovering more benefits every day. Exercise can help protect you from a range of conditions including heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. Exercise also improves mental cognition and coordination as well as improves your mood. So far so good, we need to exercise, but what are the most appropriate forms of exercise for you?

WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT? YOU NEED DISCIPLINE NOT MOTIVATION!

“I really want to work out and lose weight but I am just not feeling motivated enough” and with those infamous words you gave yourself another excuse as to why you still aren’t in shape and why you might never be!

It’s an annual ritual, people wake up every New Year’s Day with their resolutions made up (I hate that word!) one of the most common resolutions is “I will get in shape this year” and guess what? Six months later, nothing has changed, it was the same last year and the year before and the year before that!

The problem with motivation is that it comes and goes, some days you feel so invisible that you could beat up King Kong, some other days; you can’t even get out of bed.  The truth is nobody feels motivated all the time, so focus less on your motivation and concentrate on building discipline instead.

WANT TO BE STRONGER THIS YEAR? DO PUSH UPS!

If you are a guy you have probably been doing pushups since you were a kid, all men and some women have always used the push up as a measure of strength, including you, don’t lie! There’s something about this simple, ancient bodyweight exercise that just appeals to us. Conversely we all hate it! I included!  Why do we love and hate this quaint exercise so much? Well we love it for its simplicity and hate it because it tires you out so fast. Apart from being a muscle building exercise, it turns out the humble pushup is also a cardio workout in disguise. Lastly, many of us just do not know how to execute a proper pushup or pressup (they are the same thing folks).

NOW THAT THE PARTY IS OVER!

Its January 2019, all the leftovers in the freezer are finally gone, the booze, soft drinks, cakes etc. you look in the mirror and you’ve gained like 5kg over the past few weeks due to all those end of year parties. You have wrecked you nutrition, discipline has gone out the window and you feel totally out of shape, don’t worry just get back on the wagon and start again. Like you I have a weakness for Christmas and really let myself go this year, I haven’t worked out in 3 weeks and I am dreading my first Saturday morning jog tomorrow! Let me confess, this piece is to inspire myself as much as it is to inspire you.  As far as inspiration goes, this line from a not too old movie comes to mind.

5 HIDDEN CULPRITS OF WEIGHT GAIN!

You are doing everything right, or so it seems. You watch what you eat, you exercise as much as you can and yet, you are just not losing any weight, you look in the mirror and all you see is your flabby self,   glaring right back at you!

If this scenario sounds familiar, don’t despair, you are not alone. I have been there and done that too. Trying to get in shape, lose weight and build muscle and getting little or no results can be very frustrating and it even leads many people to give up altogether. If you are on that cusp, please don’t give up, if you are really, honestly doing all that you can and not getting results then its time to look under the rock for the hidden culprits.

BUILDING YOUR ABS; TRUTHS AND FALSEHOODS!

On social media there is nothing that goes viral faster than the image of an athlete or celebrity with a flat and chiseled mid-section, male or female! Let’s admit it, we are totally obsessed with chiseled abs and we all want that 6 pack, and who wouldn’t?  Abs are a sign of health, fitness, virility etc. you name it and the 6 pack represents it. They are also very rare and elusive, just like Bigfoot!

Like all things elusive, a lot of myths are misconceptions get woven into the development of your average 6 pack, today at corefitness we are going to look at building your abs, we will be analyzing the most common assumptions we have about how to develop your abs and whether they are true or false. At the end of this post we will know whether your current activities are helping or hindering your efforts at abdominal development. It doesn’t matter if you are a guy or a lady, young or old, seasoned workout pro or a beginner with “No Pack” this article is for you!

SERIOUS SIDE EFFECTS OF TAKING WEIGHT LOSS SUPPLEMENTS!

Let’s face it, who doesn’t want to lose weight?  Most of us over 30 are carrying more fat around our middles than we ought to and that’s a fact. Apart from the health implications of being overweight, we are constantly bombarded with media images of fit celebrities on Facebook, twitter, instagram…. It’s pretty endless. All this adds to the pressure to lose weight and look good, and where there’s pressure the urge to take short cuts looms strong.

Right off the bat I have to let you know that I have taken weight loss supplements in the past, out of impatience and ignorance. At my heaviest I weighed about 125kg and was so desperate to lose weight that I took anything I could lay my hand on as long as it promised to burn off my fat! Guess what? Some were total crap and a waste of money, while some worked wonders and I lost my appetite for food completely! However, there is a price to pay. Some weight loss supplements work, but at what cost? I suffered from loss of sleep, heart palpitations, constant sweat and anxiety; I could go on and on.

YOUR GUIDE TO THE BEST PRE AND POST WORKOUT SUPPLEMENTS!

You work out diligently, your nutrition is near perfect, yet you are not getting the fat burning and muscle building results you want. The only question left to ask is “what about your supplementation routine?”

Getting fit and staying fit requires a lot of hard work and dedication as well as knowledge, knowledge about supplementation is important and can never be over emphasized. Right off I need to let you know that if you eat rubbish or are not dedicated and focused in your exercise, you can pop all the pills you like and swallow as many shakes as possible, it won’t make much difference! Supplements are just that, to supplement hard work and dedication, it’s not a replacement.

8 MORE BODYWEIGHT EXERCISES YOU CAN DO ANYWHERE!

Hello everyone hope you are having a wonderful week? If not, don’t worry, I’ve got something for you to look forward to this weekend.  As promised and in continuation of our series on bodyweight exercises you can do at home, today I present 8 more bodyweight exercises you can do at home with minimal equipment and saves you a lot of time and money.

NO GYM, NO EQUIPMENT, NO EXCUSES! 8 BODYWEIGHT EXERCISES YOU CAN DO ANYWHERE!

I know the feeling; no time to join a gym and make all those early morning workouts, family and work commitments and a lot more excuses than I have fingers and toes!  How do I know this? Well because I have been there and done it!

Don’t get me wrong, I am not being preachy or condescending, I know firsthand how difficult it can be to squeeze in a fitness routine to your busy schedule, but you know what? It’s worth it.

Today’s article is inspired by my struggles to get into some form of fitness when I had very little time to spare and more importantly, when I had no money for gym membership! So as the first installment in a two part series, I am giving you 8 bodyweight exercises that are very simple to master and can be done anywhere and anytime. As the title implies, bodyweight exercises do not need machines weights and almost no equipment to carry out, all you need is some knowledge, your own body and gravity to create the torture effect!

3 DIFFERENT TYPES OF INTERMITTENT FASTING METHODS TO HELP YOU BURN FAT

Last week we looked at fasting and the weight loss benefits that come from it. this week I would like to conclude by talking about the different types of fasting methods you can adopt, as we all lead different lifestyles, there is no one fasting method to fit everybody’s needs. Today I will be writing about 3 different types of fasting methods that you can adapt to your lifestyle, right off I need to say that they all work and fat burning while preserving muscle mass is guaranteed with every one of them. I will also be giving you my personal pick of the bunch and will give you the pros and cons of every fasting method so that you can make an informed choice today.

INTERMITTENT FASTING: 3 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD DO IT TODAY!

Fasting, we have all heard of it and most of us have engaged in it at one time or the other. When you thing about a fast, what usually comes to mind is a religious exercise to discipline the body through the mind and to seek spiritual guidance from God. A wonderful side effect of fasting is fat loss, fasting for whatever reason is a form of calorie restriction as you eat less than what you normally would on a non-fasting day. Today I would like to talk about intermittent fasting as a tool for weight loss and muscle maintenance, if you have been working out religiously and watch your diet and yet those last few stubborn pounds refuse to come off, then intermittent fasting might just be the key.

6 SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE ABDOMINAL EXERCISES YOU CAN DO AT HOME (NO GYM EQUIPMENT NEEDED!)

Today we are talking abdominal exercises, and specifically I want to write about some of the most effective abdominal workouts I have come across over the years. I am not saying that these are the best exercises of all time, but I am saying that they are easy to learn, easy to execute do not take much time and space and best of all they require virtually no gym equipment!

My post today is a no frills post with 6 simple abdominal exercises you can incorporate into your schedule, however I must give you a fair warning, they are simple alright but not painless! If you want to lose that gut without pain better go in for liposuction (and even that hurts!). Finally remember that you can’t work out a bad diet, watching what you eat and drink is the first step to getting that slimmer waistline and dropping those love handles.

So if you want some, come get some!

                           

And have a great weekend!

1.       THE RUSSIAN TWIST:

6 INTERESTING THINGS I HAVE LEARNT ABOUT FITNESS

Sometime in 2013 I decided to get more serious about health and fitness, I had been working out on and off since 2008 in a bid to recover some mobility I had lost in my right leg due to a car accident. However I really kicked it up a notch in 2013 and this blog post is testament to that, I decided from then to improve my workout technique and increase my knowledge on exercise, diet supplementation and health in general as much as I could.

This does not mean I am in anyway the finished article, I am still learning and have a lot to learn, I have fallen off the fitness wagon more times than I care to remember and my diet still has holes in it that I just don’t want to fill!

FAT BLASTING CARDIO WORKOUTS FOR 2018!

Happy new year! Wow, time really does fly, I remember January 1^st 2017 like it was yesterday. I remember writing about resolutions and why I don’t like them and much more. As much as I don’t like resolutions based on just a date, I do support resolutions based on the conviction that things are not going right or things could be better. So if you have really taken your time out to think about your health and fitness and have decided to shake things up based on this and not on some date on the calendar then I am your man!

Whatever your goals, lose weight, build muscle, get fitter, there’s something for everybody at corefitness, we promise to always look out for you with educative information, workouts and exercises to help you get to where you want to be, so if you are ready lets go there folks.

6 SUPPLEMENTS FOR A STRONGER HEART!

You know the joke, “Are you serious? And the reply, as serious as a heart attack!” it’s supposed to be funny, but I have always found it sobering. In life, few things are as serious as having a heart attack, if you are one of the lucky few who survive one in this part of the world; your life is just never the same again. Here’s another quote for you; “prevention, is cheaper and way better than cure!”

Today I would like to talk about how we can make our hearts healthier and stronger, a healthy heart like most other things related to health is based on three pillars: nutrition, lifestyle and supplementation. I want to concentrate on the third but no less important pillar of supplementation. In this post we will be looking at 6 valuable supplements that can help make your heart bulletproof as the case may be.

WORKOUT TO MUSIC! IT’S GREAT!

You are in the gym or on the road when you see them, you know who I’m talking about, those ridiculous looking people with their ear plugs and headphones; jogging past you and pretending as if they are not tired or worn out by all that weight lifting and running! When you see them you just want to scream at them “Stop posing exercise is serious business!”

Hold on for just a second my friend, they may be onto something! I used to think like that until a few years ago, I hated to see people with earphones on, either in the gym or on the road, to me they were just posers who wanted everyone to notice how cool they were, I help onto my prejudice until I had an argument about the usefulness of music to training with my workout friend Chima, it’s safe to say he convinced me to start exercising to music and my workouts have never been the same again.

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.