The Vital Greens Phytonutrient Superfood Alternative

It is a proven fact that eating plenty of fresh produce such as vegetables revs up your body like no other. In this day and age, busy people resort to fast food for their primary source of nutrition. This shouldn’t be the case with you. As busy as you are, you owe it to yourself to take care of your body by paying attention to what you eat. If vegetables are not your cup of tea, you may consider a supplement to assist in this area.

We have a fantastic product available which is a great alternative to Vital Greens. The Ultimate Nutrition Vegetable Greens product will get you started in the right direction. Read on and find out what it can do for you.

What is Ultimate Nutrition Vegetable Greens?

Ultimate Nutrition Vegetable Greens is a scientifically-formulated combination of over 62 phytonutrients from herbal extracts, prebiotics, probiotics, plant enzymes, essential fatty acids (EFAs), super green foods as well as land, sea and cruciferous vegetables. It is dairy-free and a perfect fit for vegetarians.  This product also stands out because it has no artificial flavours, colors, sweeteners and hidden ingredients.

Benefits of this Vital Greens Alternative

1. You will look good, feel better and have more energy— since this product packs a wallop because of its high vegetable content, you would be also wise to pair consumption of our product with regular exercise. The result?  Lower blood cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, lower obesity and decreased risk of heart disease.

2. It is a rich source of essential fatty acids (EFAs)—these essential fatty acids are what you can call a jack-of-all-trades in that they are major role players in carbohydrate metabolism, proper immune system function, brain health, cardiovascular health and energy production. EFAs increase the fluidity of cell membranes and by doing so, help toxins out and bring nutrients into your cells.

3. It gives you well-established, health-enhancing effects—since Ultimate Nutrition Vegetable Greens boasts a wide array of power-packed vegetables such as barley greens, wheatgrass, spinach and aloe vera that balance the body’s pH level. This offsets the acidity caused by many environmental factors.

4. Regular consumption helps prevent cancer—the land vegetable ingredients of Ultimate Nutrition Vegetable Greens are rich in vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients that are potent in antioxidants and can neutralize free radical damage. What this simply means is that this powerful product is cancer’s worst nightmare.

5. It cleanses your system—Ultimate Nutrition Vegetable Greens is loaded with fiber that sweeps away all the toxins and free radicals in your colon. It also boasts of inulin, a fiber blend that improves or maintains colon health by increasing the absorption of minerals, particularly calcium.

6. Enzymes promote absorption and assimilation—the presence of enzymes in Ultimate Nutrition Vegetable Greens helps your body absorb nutrients from the food you eat. As a digestive support ingredient, black pepper extract enhances the absorption process through the intestines. Because of this,  Ultimate Nutrition Vegetable Greens also makes sure that you get the greatest possible nutritional value from foods.

Perhaps you have denied yourself the nutrients that can only come from vegetable greens all these years. You don’t have to anymore. While it is always going to be improtant to consume a balanced diet full of fruits and veggies, if you are unable to get in your daily serves then this phytonutrient supplement could be a great alternative to Vital Greens.

For more information, check out Ultimate Nutrition Vegetable Greens from our online store!

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How to Find the Best Protein Powder to Build Muscle

Out of the thousands of products available for purchase within the industry, protein powders are by far the most popular product. If you want to build muscle effectively, a good quality protein powder in your arsenal will help propel you toward your bulking goals.

Almost every supplement company has a protein powder. Many have multiple protein powders designed for various uses.

One of the most common queries we are asked (both within our supplement store and within our personal training arm) is the following:

“What is the best protein powder to build muscle?”

Put simply, there is no “best” protein powder to fuel muscle growth. Sure, there are varying qualities between brands, differences in popularity, ratings and availability, but none of these in isolation will determine what the best protein powder for building muscle will be.

So let’s narrow the question down a little and I’ll run through some protein powder basics. Dietary considerations aside, and generally speaking, the best type of protein powder is going to be a protein powder derived from milk, of which there are two primary types available in protein powder form:

• Whey Protein
• Casein Protein

Generally speaking, whey protein is a very high quality and faster absorbing protein type. You’ll typically find whey proteins in your pre- and post-workout shakes, which are quite important to facilitate recovery and hence muscle growth.

Caseins are very widely used in night-time proteins due to their slow absorption rate and yet still high quality. Because they are broken down quite slowly, you can be assured of a slow release into the system to prevent muscle breakdown while you’re sleeping.

Of course, there are all different proteins in between these two extremes, often utilised throughout the day, but for the purposes of this article, let’s stick with the best protein at the most important time of the day – before and after your workout.

Whey proteins are broken down into various types. If you’re after the absolute best type of protein to utilise before and after your training session, go for a hydrolysed whey protein isolate. This is the best quality protein with the highest rate of absorption.

There are a number of hydrolysed WPI’s available on the market today, all with varying degrees of hydrolysation. Worth noting, WPI’s are never “fully” hydrolysed. Marketing tags may imply otherwise, but 100% hydrolysed typically refers to 100% of the protein has undergone the hydrolysation process, which results in only a fraction of this protein actually being hydrolysed. (Yes, semantics).

It’s hard for me to recommend a specific brand of product to be the absolute best. This is where your preference comes in with respect to taste, value for money, mixability and so on. What I can recommend are two key products that are extremely popular and highly rated by our customers:

Optimum Hydrowhey: A relatively newer product on the market which is a hydrolysed WPI. In Australia there are limited flavours available (presently only 4) and the product is fairly expensive.

AST Sports Science VP2: Also has four flavours currently available within Australia and has long been respected as a leading quality hydrolysed WPI on the market.

No matter how good the protein powder is, it is imperative to ensure that your nutrition and training strategy supports optimal results. Never rely on a protein powder alone to deliver maximum muscle gains.

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Is a Calorie is a Calorie When Losing Weight? Not Quite…

When we think of weight loss, we think diet and exercise. The fundamental rule is that we create an energy deficit which therefore encourages weight loss. Simple enough right?

Of course there is always going to be a bit more to it than that. One thing of particular importance is that a calorie from one food isn’t going to necessarily equate to the same amount of energy digested from another food.

For example, let’s consider 20g of jelly beans (practically all glucose) and an apple. Both foods are high in sugar and both are approximately 80 calories (roughly 334 kJ), from about 20g of carbohydrate (in the form of sugar). But the net effect of the jelly beans will have a much greater impact in preventing your weight loss as compared to the apple.

Why is this so?

A jelly bean is predominantly glucose, a simple sugar that is naturally found in the blood stream. Our body breaks down carbohydrates into glucose in order to feed vital organs and muscles. When consuming a jelly bean, it’s already in a very simple form and therefore the body doesn’t really have to do all that much to digest the food. Think about it – minimal chewing is involved (which does expend energy) and then the stomach quickly and easily breaks this jelly bean down into a form that can be easily absorbed into the blood stream.

Conversely, an apple is comprised of a much more complex structure, full of fibre too. The apple is much more difficult to break down into your body. Much more chewing is involved and then the stomach has to work much harder to digest the apple for absorption into the body.

If we compare the glycaemic indexes (GI’s) of these two foods, you can easily see the contrast in the rate of absorption of both foods. A jelly bean will have a GI close to 100 (very fast to absorb), while an apple will have a low GI around 40 depending upon the variety and region of growth.

These GI’s, by definition, advise us that the 20g of carbohydrates are absorbed very rapidly in the jelly beans, in contrast to a very slow rate of absorption with the apple. The jelly bean sugars will be in your blood stream within an hour (give or take), while the apple will take about 2-3 hours. What this means is that the glycaemic load (GL) is much lower in the apple than in the jelly beans. A serving of food with a lower GL will be less likely to provide you with a surplus of calories at any point in time and instead provide a sustained release of energy into your body. Ultimately this means that it will be more effective for weight loss by avoiding fluctuations in energy being utilised by the body.

Although this is only just one example, the morale of this story is that a calorie from one food is not the same as a calorie from another food. Sure, it all ends up as energy, but it is very important to understand how foods will impact your body differently.

Generally speaking, you should be aiming to consume foods that are natural in nature. The more processed a food is, the more likely it is to be absorbed quickly into the body. Instead of confectionary, have whole grains or fruits. Instead of fatty fried foods, have seeds or nuts. And instead of highly processed deli meats, have some turkey or chicken breast. Not only will these foods contain better “quality” calories, they will also generally contain higher quality nutrients too. And of course ensure that your diet is well balanced with an array of foods including plenty of vegetables too!

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When is the Best Time to Start Losing Weight?

It’s that time of year again. The weather is beginning to warm up and we’re moving well into Spring. Gym memberships are soaring, people are stocking up on supplements and we are of course getting inundated with personal training enquiries.

Even though motivational levels may be at their highest around this time of year, there is something that stops many people from accomplishing their goals. It’s this perception that starting this weight loss journey should be held off until everything is perfect as to not interfere with one’s weight loss efforts.

My role as a trainer is interesting at times, you really gain some insight into human behaviour. Many of us want to accomplish a particular goal, but many of us also believe that accomplishing this goal requires the stars to be aligned in such a way that ensures optimal progress toward that goal. Therefore, if something is not supportive of accomplishing that goal, it is better not to begin moving toward that goal at all…or so the logic goes.

I guess you can liken this to a journey from one place to another that would normally take an hour in good traffic conditions. Let’s say you’re going on a holiday and you’re about to jump in your car. It’s raining outside. So instead of leaving (as traffic may be heavier and visibility is lower), you wait until the rain stops. Instead of arriving in one hour and twenty minutes, you end up arriving the next day when the rain has completely ceased. Under normal circumstances, this scenario is completely illogical as the extra twenty minute drive is not enough to warrant the extra day on your holiday.

Why then is it so common to replicate this when attempting to accomplish a weight loss goal?

Common excuses (often perceived to be reasons through rationalisation) that will prevent you from undertaking a weight loss approach come in many shapes and forms. Here are some common that I’ve been bombarded with over the years:

• Injury (a particular injury may prevent you from some exercises, so it’s best to wait)
• Events (you have some events planned and you don’t these to interfere with your goals)
• Finances (you cannot afford a gym membership)
• Poor fitness (you’re not yet fit enough to undertake a structured exercise regime)
• Work (work commitments will prevent you from exercising)
• Illness (You’re not feeling 100% and want to wait until you’re better)

But if you find yourself saying things like these, wake up to what you are really saying! These are merely excuses serving as a means of procrastination. You are using these excuses to prevent you from accomplishing your goals and justify spending another week/fortnight/month/year doing nothing!

With each of the above examples, here are some brief approaches that you could take, showing that often none of these are valid:

• Injury: Have a trainer construct a plan to accommodate for the injury. Further, injury does not prevent you from focussing on good nutritional habits.
• Events: You simply work around these events. Events are a fact of life and you need to learn to integrate them in with a healthy exercise and nutritional approach.
• Finances: Just train in a low-cost manner. You don’t need a gym membership. In fact you can save money by eating healthier too.
• Poor Fitness: This is surprisingly a common one that one must be fit first to undertake a weight loss journey. Just do something – your fitness will improve as you lose weight anyway.
• Work: You’re going to be working for the rest of your life so you may as well figure out a way to integrate your work life in with your personal goals.
• Illness: Unless extreme, there is nothing stopping you from eating in a healthier manner and performing exercise if appropriate under the circumstances.

If you do think in this way, the real issue is not so much in the actual excuses you are making, it’s more in the way that you view weight loss. It’s quite probable that you are out of shape because weight loss is perceived as something that is only accomplished when you give it a 100% level of effort. Anything short of this would result in failure. This is a perfectionist approach which frankly does not work in the real world. Another common term for this is an “all-or-nothing” approach.

Understand that your life is a series of obstacles. It’s likely that you will sustain an injury or get sick every once in a while. You’ll have birthday parties, holidays and other social events come up from time to time. There may be times when money isn’t plentiful. So if you want to lose weight over the long-term, why on Earth would you wait until everything is perfect in your life? In doing so you’re setting yourself up for failure as soon as something goes wrong and prevents you from adhering to a strict exercise and nutritional regime.

If your goal is for long-term sustainable weight loss, you need to understand that such an approach requires give. You need to be able to tweak your training and nutrition to accommodate for the things life throws at you. Hence, you are not on a diet, you just eat in a healthy manner (most of the time). Further, you don’t train like an athlete, but rather you train in a manner that supports your goals and does not interfere with your desired lifestyle.

Ultimately life is all about balance. If you push toward weight loss with an extreme approach, things will snap and you’ll be back where you started before you know it. Sustainability is a critical element for long-term success.

If you are someone that feels it necessary to train (and eat) with a full-on approach or not bother doing anything productive at all, and find that this mindset is just not delivering the desired results (especially if you’ve been tackling weight loss for years), then this can be a very difficult habit to change. I would very strongly recommend obtaining the services of a professional so you can learn new strategies for long-term sustainable weight loss. Further, I would strongly recommend against entering into a short-term challenge or short-term training stint (eg. Like the BodyBlitz), as this will only encourage this mindset and set you up for failure.

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Fitness Scams, Misconceptions and Lies. What To Look Out For!

This industry can be a confusing place if you’re new to it. If you’ve just decided to lose weight, or start taking supplements, it’s easy to become confused and overwhelmed by the plethora of information (and misinformation) out there!

No matter who you are, it’s likely that you’re confronted by messages from the health and fitness industry on a regular basis. This could include TV ads for the latest abdominal machine, something someone at the gym said, the marketing on a tub of protein or even a website that you managed to come across.

Many of these messages you receive on a regular basis contain misleading, or completely incorrect information. As a professional within the industry, I find that I spend a lot of time explaining to customers and clients that a belief they hold may be holding them back from their true potential.

There are a few beliefs that pop up continually, all of which I have written about from time to time in the past. Within this particular article, I really want to go through the top five misconceptions based on my experience in the industry. Let’s start from number 5:

#5 Supplements will Replace a Balanced Lifestyle

If something is too good to be true then it probably is. Nothing could be more appropriate within the supplementation industry. To be frank, there is so much crap out there on supplement labels that it’s no wonder uninformed people often concede that they will never move toward their physique goals after seeing that the guy on the tub of protein gained 25 lbs of muscle in a matter of weeks! And that was just by using this single supplement alone!

Supplements are a very effective tool and this is precisely why we have a supplement store with a range of high quality products. But supplements are most effective when they are balanced out with an effective approach to your health and fitness goals. For example, eating garbage all day long and then having a multivitamin is not going to undo all that harm you’ve inflicted on your body through your poor nutritional habits. You need to ensure that your entire lifestyle is going to assist you toward your goals. So this means to train, sleep, eat, rest and of course supplement effectively – all are as important as each other!

#4 Weights are for Muscle Gain, Cardio is for Fat Loss

There seems to be this misconception that weights are for gaining muscle while cardiovascular training is for losing weight (or improving ones fitness). This is simply not true. According to the research, the most effective way to lose weight is to combine an effective diet, cardio and weight training together.

Weight training can be extremely effective for fat metabolism, not only by increasing your metabolic rate, but also through energy expenditure. Meanwhile, cardiovascular training can enhance muscle gains by improving growth hormone secretion, fitness and lactate threshold. I’ve written about this in the past and you may wish to read this particular article on muscle gain, Cardio & BodyBuilding – Good for Muscle Growth? or search around this blog for other pieces on weights for fat loss.

#3 There is a “Best” Way to Train for a Specific Goal

Some people believe that there is a “best” way to train for one particular goal, whether that be fat loss, muscle gain, fitness or whatever. In other words, a one-size-fits-all approach that will work for everyone. I’ve seen this suggested by people in gyms, to advertisements on television suggesting that “This is the answer to everyone’s physique problems.”.

There is a flaw in this thinking and it does not account for differences in peoples goals, lifestyles, preferences, injuries, body types, genetic makeups and so on. An approach that may suit one person may not necessary be the most suitable approach for another person, simply because the other person is a completely different person. This goes for both training, supplementation and diet – both will vary greatly upon the individual and I strongly recommend you seek the advice of a professional who can tailor something up specifically for you.

#2 Women Shouldn’t Lift Weights

We’ve tackled this issue a few times, but there is an ongoing misconception that women should not lift weights for fear of bulking up. For women with normal hormonal levels, this should not be a concern, as due to lowered testosterone levels (and higher estrogen levels), muscle gain is greatly limited. Women, if you lift heavy and intensely, you’re not going to bulk up – you’re going to tone up and encourage weight loss. Such an approach to weight training can be very effective for many, but of course it’s important to consider your training experience, age and injuries.

#1 Spot Reduction

This is probably the most common issue that keeps popping up. I am personally continually asked about ways to lose fat from a particular area. Advertisements on the television “imply” that it is possible to lose fat from the waist exclusively, or around the butt and thigh area only. There is absolutely no evidence to support that this is possible – it is a myth that is abused my marketing companies time and time again.

While you can target a specific muscle to develop, your cannot consciously choose a specific region to metabolise fat tissue through diet and exercise. The only way I know that this is possible is to have invasive (and expensive) surgery, which is often not everyones first choice. Toning a specific area often requires fat loss (a result of a calorie deficit) and building the muscles in that particular area to provide some “shape” and definition.

We’ve written extensively on all of the above topics and I’d recommend that you read through those articles for further insights into these areas. However I hope this article is of use and helps to shed some light on these issues.

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Eating Too Much Junk Food Can Be Good For Weight Loss

Yes, that’s right, you read that title correctly. Me, a health nut, suggesting that eating too much junk food CAN be good for you. And I am going to explain to you exactly why this is so.

I have spent the past five and a half years (since Amino Z’s inception) writing about the benefits of a healthy, well-rounded diet. There are numerous articles explaining the benefits of wholefoods (foods which are not processed) and why you should avoid high sugar, high fat, processed foods (AKA junk food!).

But then I pondered, why not bring some balance to this site. Being the optimist that I am, surely there is some good to junk food! And after some thought, I am now a firm believer in the power of junk food…and in particular, the power of “too much” junk food.

If you eat a healthy well-rounded diet, it’s commonsensical that you’ll feel great, full of energy, look great and improve the quality of your life significantly. The complete opposite is true when you eat too much junk food. If you fly right off the rails and over-indulge in fat-riddled sweets, you’re likely to feel one (or all) of the following:

• Guilt
• Lethargy
• Nausea
• Disgust
• General unhappiness with yourself
• A lowering of self-esteem
• …and possibly even a physical manipulation of the body into a fetal position

These are all powerful feelings – powerful enough to motivate you to make the decision never to put your body through this torture again.

From a health and well being point of view, junk food is poison to the body. But if you’re a compulsive junk food eater (or binger), maybe you do need to go overboard just to realise the long-term damage you are doing to your body. For some, this is just what you need to do in order to create an emotional trigger to intrinsically motivate yourself for long-term success.

I’m sure that there are going to be a bunch of people out there who would completely disagree with what I’m suggesting here, especially considering the counter-intuitive nature of “eat crap to get healthy”. Although it would be wonderful if everyone could just flick a switch and eat healthy all the time – but not many people have the ability to do this (especially after having eaten junk food consistently for years where both the body and the mind are addicted to it). Interestingly, in my experience, a bout of over-eating (not by design) has often resulted in some phenomenal achievements and long-term lifestyle changes.

Ultimately the point of this article really has nothing to do with eating junk food. Rather, junk food is merely one example of an experience that can be used as an emotional trigger to instill long-term positive change in one’s lifestyle. (And no, I’m not suggesting that we all go out and eat as much greasy take-away as possible until we end up in the emergency room!).

Whether you’re after weight loss, toning, muscle gain, or just a general improvement in health, the key is consistency. To be consistent over a long period of time will yield significant results. Being consistent for a few weeks in a row with a short-term mindset will only lead to dissapointment. You may not need to feel so disgusting from a junk food binge to motivate you to make a long-term change – but you need to find that trigger that will yield long-term sustainable results.

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How to Create a Basic Weight Training Workout Program

If you’re training for a particular goal, it’s important to have a plan. An effective plan will provide you with guidance and structure in order to propel you toward your goals. Further, a plan is a tool by which you can measure the effectiveness of your current training approach.

Weight training is an integral part to many goals, be it weight loss, strength, muscle development, toning and so on. But just following “any” plan isn’t going to necessarily serve you well. For maximum results, you need it to be a smart and effective weight training plan.

Within this blog, I want to share some key considerations of developing your training plan. These are all important factors that we use within our online personal training service. Please do keep in mind that this is a very (very) general approach in order to develop a training plan suitable for most people. If you have specific goals, you’ll need to accommodate for them. Same goes for any injuries, muscular imbalances and so on.

Deciding on the Overall Training Format

After deciding how often you’re able to train and how many days of weights you are going to perform, the next step is in dividing those training days up in a suitable manner. Let’s assume you’re going to dedicate three days a week to weight training. We have a few options:

1. Split program. With a split program, you exercise different muscle groups on different days. This is so each muscle group has ample time to recover in between training sessions. Such an approach is often most suitable for more advanced exercisers, people focused on muscle and strength development, or those who like to train quite vigorously. If you’re new to weight training, this approach may not be for you.
2. Rotating program. This is where you can have a two day exercise plan. It’s a little simpler than the split approach with less exercises to remember. You commence with the first training day, then for the second workout in the week, you move onto day two. Then on the third day for that week, you come back to day one. The training plan is rotated. This is great for additional variety in your training and to allow sufficient recovery in between training sessions. Often this approach is best for people with little to moderate experience.
3. Full body program. As the name suggests, this is a full body plan which is repeated each training day. If you’re not training with particular vigor, or are just starting out, this can be an excellent approach. It’s simple and will yield great results for those looking to improve tone and lose weight.

Balancing the Exercises within the Training Plan

Once you’ve decided on the format, you then need to develop a plan that is well balanced. A common mistake is to train some muscle groups and neglect others. This encourages muscle imbalances which can lead to a plethora of problems, often associated with an increased risk of injury, poor posture and noticeable physical muscular imbalance.

This part can be quite tricky, as without proper training and some knowledge of human physiology, it’s sometimes hard to identify what exercises work which muscles. I mean, there are so many exercises out there, it can be extremely difficult to decide which exercises to do and when!

For the purposes of this article, let’s stick with a simple approach for a single day program whereby each muscle group is worked equally. So, we need to pick an effective exercise to work each of the major muscle groups, which, working from the top down, will include:

• Shoulders
• Chest
• Back
• Biceps
• Triceps
• Abdominals
• Front of the thighs
• Back of the thighs

Just so you’re aware, I have left out some smaller muscle groups (forearms and lower legs). Both these area’s will generally be worked while also working the above muscle groups. Generally speaking, you would only really allocate specific exercises to these area’s if you had a specific reason to do so.

So with a one day training programme, here’s an effective exercise for each of the above muscle groups, suitable for most people:

• Shoulders: Machine shoulder press
• Chest: Machine chest press
• Back: Lat pulldown
• Biceps: Barbell bicep curls
• Triceps: Bench dips
• Abdominals: Floor crunches
• Front of the thighs: Leg press
• Back of the thighs: Seated hamstring curls

Ordering your Exercises

As a general rule of thumb, it’s good practice to begin with the exercises that expend the most energy first, when you are fresher. Then slowly work your way down to the less energy-dependant exercises. Generally speaking, legs require the most effort, so we’ll work our way down from there.

It’s also a good idea to group overlapping exercises together. For example, the leg press also exercises the hamstrings, so we’ll include the hamstring curls immediately after the leg press. Another example is the chest press, which primarily targets the chest, also recruits the shoulders. So, we’ll therefore include the shoulders right after the chest press.

Here is an example of how you would be able to structure the above exercises:

1. Leg Press
2. Hamstring Curls
3. Lat Pulldown
4. Machine Chest Press
5. Machine Shoulder Pres
6. Bench Dips
7. Barbell Bicep Curls
8. Floor Crunches

Of course, there is no “one” way to order them, but this would be one of the better ways.

Decide on your sets and reps

Sets and reps sound confusing, but they aren’t. Here are some definitions:

Rep: A rep is an abbreviation of repetition. For example, if you perform one pushup, that would be one rep. If you perform 10 pushups, that would be 10 reps.

Set: A set is a collection of a number of reps. If you perform 10 pushups in a row and then rest, then perform another 10 pushups, you therefore performed two sets of 10 pushups.

There are no rules when it comes to sets and reps. Because you generally won’t want your workout time to exceed roughly 40 minutes (as fatigue and stress hormones kick in), it’s a good rule of thumb to not perform too many sets of any single one exercise. Plus, keeping the number of sets short helps to avoid boredom. So three sets is generally going to be a good number to aim around, but of course this will vary dependent on individual goals.

Reps can vary greatly, again based on goals. In a very general context, I’m a believer that it’s best to begin with higher reps as you’re learning new exercises. With low reps (and therefore lifting heavier weights), it’s easier to hurt yourself. So why not begin with something a bit lighter, aim for around 15 reps and really become confident with the movements.

As your experience increases, you may find it more effective to increase the weights and thus decrease the repetitions you are performing. The lower the reps, the greater the focus on strength. Around 8-12 reps is focused more on muscle size. Once you hit above 15 reps, you’re training more for endurance. Of course, these figures are very general in nature and should only be used as a very loose guide.

In summary

We have only covered the bare basics of developing a plan, as this is something that is highly customizable based on your preferences, goals, lifestyle, injuries, training history and so on. I hope this gives you some insight into some very important considerations when embarking upon a weights training plan.

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How to Develop an Exercise Routine

Whether you’re seeking to lose weight, gain muscle or just tone up, developing a regular exercise pattern is going to help you greatly in accomplishing that goal. As we’ve discussed in numerous articles, a long-term consistent approach to your training will yield the best results. Short-term stints may yield “okay” short-term improvements, but these are quickly lost once motivation subsides.

Before we go on, I’ll ask you to consider your training history and how “routine” you are in your approach. This will help you to identify how appropriate this article is for you. If this is the case, it will help you internalize the messages contained within. Beginning in this context will also provide you with some context as to what I’m referring to by a “regular training routine”.

Consider your training over the past year. Yes, the past year. Because exercise must be a long-term commitment for sustainable results, we need to take a macro-view of your habits. Have you sustained a regular exercise pattern without fail?

You’ve probably heard before that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. While this is a widely held belief, in my professional experience, I would disagree that 21 days of regular exercise constitutes forming a “habit” of exercise. This is because I have seen countless people engage in regular physical activity for one, maybe two months, only then to lose motivation and ease exercise. So it is extremely important that we look at exercise with a long-term perspective.

If your training has not been consistent and structured, then this article is for you.

Why is an exercise routine so important?

It’s fairly obvious that exercising regularly over a sustained period of time will generally result in significant results (assuming of course you’re following an effective training programme!). The results of each exercise session accumulate in a snowball-like manner. Eventually whatever you are training for should improve, whether that be fitness, strength, body fat, muscle size, endurance, tone and so on.

However what is commonly overlooked are the significant psychological advantages of exercising regularly and making it a habit. Think about it – how often do you need motivation to:

• Brush your teeth
• Get dressed
• Get up out of bed
• Take a shower

The degree to which such tasks require motivation seem trivial as compared to the motivation often required for exercise. While this could partially be attributed to the fact that such tasks require less effort than an exercise session, nonetheless we do them every day (well, for the most part!). This is because these are habitual and need to be done. I bet you don’t “think” about whether or not you feel like brushing your teeth in the morning, it just gets done.

The same should be true for exercise.

Just as there are consequences for not brushing your teeth (smelly breath, yellowing teeth, large dentist bills, teeth falling out, decay etc.), so too are there consequences of not exercising (not achieving your goals, reduced work productivity, lowered self-esteem, increased health bills, reduced brain function, overall happiness, increased risk of injury etc.). But it’s much easier to find an excuse not to do something that isn’t already part of your habitual nature, only because you have to consciously “think” about whether or not you feel like doing.

If it’s habitual, you don’t think or try, you just do. (Sounds a bit like Yoda!)

Let’s get to some practical tips on how to make your exercise routine and sustain it indefinitely. The more you do these things, the more automatic your training will become and the more satisfied you will be with yourself:

Structure your training on a micro level. Do you have a training plan that is down on paper and provides you with a clear exercise protocol? Do you know exactly what you are about to do as soon as you prepare to exercise? Or, are you doing it on the fly?

You need to develop a plan that is automatic. Don’t leave your training to fate by deciding on your plan based on how you’re feeling on the day. If the plan is predetermined, it’s a matter of simply following the plan.

Structure your training on a macro level. Further, you need to know what you’re training on each day of the week. Different workouts should be assigned to different days in order to maximize your training results and avoid boredom. Go one step further and plan your training out for the month. As a general rule of thumb, aim to vary your exercise routine on a monthly basis to avoid plateau’s and keep interest alive.

Exercise at the same time each training day. Assuming this fits in with your lifestyle, train at the same time each day. Studies have shown that it’s far more likely that you will sustain an exercise routine long-term by exercising first thing in the morning, before the day gets the better of you. Your routine could very quickly become:

Wake up -> Eat a light breakfast -> brush your teeth -> exercise -> shower -> go to work

Keep your overall lifestyle routine constant. If at all possible, aim to get to bed at the same time each night and awake at the same time each morning. If this is not possible for you due to work commitments, try to make things as consistent as possible so you can develop a rhythm.

Other factors that you can aim to keep relatively constant include meal times, working hours, workout duration, days you socialise etc.

I hope this has given you some insight on how to develop and maintain a long-term consistent approach to exercise. This really is the key to amazing success. And the real beauty about such an approach is that exercise is no longer a burden, it is just part of your lifestyle.

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Is Weight Lifting Good For Weight Loss?

It is commonly assumed that weight lifting is reserved exclusively for people who want to gain muscle. Examples include bodybuilders and professional athletes who often require an above average amount of muscle mass to excel within their discipline.

But what about the average person? For those who want to lose weight, weight training is commonly overlooked. Rather, cardiovascular exercise (such as going for a jog) is automatically assumed to be the most effective approach to weight loss in terms of exercise.

Interestingly, this assumption will hold you back from achieving optimal weight loss results.

While cardio exercise certainly has a profound impact on weight loss, weight training exercise can be just as (if not more) effective. The notion that weight lifting will make you bulk up is completely mis-understood. In order to accomplish muscle bulk, you must exercise and eat in a very specific manner, very different to those seeking to lose weight.

Weight lifting will help you to lose weights via several very important mechanisms:

1. By stimulating slight muscle growth (and not necessarily bulk), your natural metabolic rate will be increased. Hence you’ll be burning more energy each day, thus enhancing weight loss.
2. By placing excess stress on your muscles, they undergo an intensive repair process for up to a week after that training session. This period of recovery is when a heightened amount of energy is expended, again encouraging weight loss.
3. Immediately following an intense weight training workout, your body is going to be in an increased state of recovery (commonly known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, or EPOC). During this time, for up to about 24 hours after training, you expend excess energy which helps facilitate weight loss.

But won’t weight lifting bulk me up?

Weight lifting does not necessarily mean that you’re going to bulk up. As mentioned previously, to bulk up you need to train and eat in a very specific manner. Although the specifics of this approach are too detailed to go into within this short discussion, here’s a quick run-down. To bulk up from weight training, you need to:

1. Train very intensely and consistently over many years. Muscle growth is a very slow process for men, and even moreso for women.
2. You need to eat an excess number of calories from very specific foods, at specific times of the day. With a weight loss approach (on a calorie restricted diet), your body is not going to have the nutrients available for any muscle bulk.

If you are interested in reading further into building muscle, please browse around this website as we have written extensively on the topic.

The most effective way to lose weight is by combining weight lifting, cardio exercise and an effective diet. All three of these disciplines must be effectively geared toward weight loss and work together for optimal results.

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