Made Moon Blog

Russian kettlebells aren’t new inventions. The prevailing belief would have them about three hundred years old. During the past couple of years, though, kettlebells have shot up in popularity to become one of the hottest fitness routines internationally. You only need the weights themselves and anyone can get started with these simple moves. Clearly, the trickier routines shouldn’t be used immediately. You’ll want to practise the easy techniques first, prior to tackling the really advanced motions. The fittest weight to employ is something you positively need to find out before you settle down with the kettlebells. You need lighter weights than you might imagine when kettlebells are your chosen exercise. Dividing by gender, the eighteen pound variety is commonly best for women just beginning, while men beginning will probably do best using a thirty five pound weight. Indeed, the weights are surprisingly light – this is because in this workout, the burn comes more from the activity as opposed to the size of the weight that is being used. An instructional aid – along the lines of a book or video – is a wise buy when starting out, making sure that you’ve got the routines involved as they’re intended. The starting routine to practice with the Russian kettlebell is a two-handed swing. As the foundation of more advanced exercises, this has to be learned in the early going – and there’s more to it than you’d expect. You should ideally flow fluidly, with no abrupt stops. A common health reminder bears relating while you prepare – back and shoulders won’t take repeated uses to lift. Rather, use your hips.

Once you have this move mastered, you can progress to some of the more complicated motions. Keep your fitness program interesting by means of employing different exercises and reps, backed perhaps by different kinds of music. While you become more comfortable carrying out these techniques, look at adding an additional pair of kettlebells into your regime maybe with different weights. By doing this, you can ensure your muscles will be exerting at full capacity and not risk reaching a plateau. A fact we must state clearly while we’re at it is that Russian kettlebells will not help you increase your strength or aid in body building. What these exercises do is stimulate weight loss, enhance tone, and work on all round health and stamina. We recommend bringing a Russian kettlebell session into a well rounded keep fit regime. The amount you turn to these techniques is entirely your decision alone. Hoping to sustain body weight? A mere two routines is about what you want. Or, you can ratchet up your intensity, work out five or six times a week and lose that excess.

Fulvic acid might just be one of nature?s better kept mysteries. Users of Fulvic have reported finding vitality, loss of outrageous appetite, a better immune system and many other benefits. At Long Last, like any health product you must make a decision on your own about the potency of such a product. This is simply because the Food and Drug Administration doesn’t okay nutraceuticals.

You might be questioning how an acid can help you feel better, particularly when you may have also heard that base-forming substances may be healthier for your body. First of all, Fulvic is not truly acid at all, it was described this because in early pioneering days acids were used to extract organic fulvic matter from substances such as fossilized peat moss. Since that time, better methods to extract fulvic have been discovered. It is always best to find a Fulvic acid product that has not been processed with excessive heat, chemicals or acids. You are much better off with an all natural, organically processed Fulvic Minerals product.


True Fulvic Ionic Minerals should contain no less than seventy two minerals in their ionic form and should contain the 8 essential amino acids. It is very important to note that you should be looking for fulvic that has no minerals in their molecular form as it is likely to have heavy metals in it. There are only a couple of Fulvic Minerals sources that have been found to have 0 heavy metals and only one hundred percent ionic form minerals.

The Oprah green tea diet, made famous on her show with the diet’s originator, Dr. Nicholas Perricone, is not entirely without merit. As to how much weight you can lose on the green tea diet, is really a matter of many other factors in your diet and lifestyle.

Green tea and green tea extract (green tea extract is simply a concentrated form of the effective ingredients in green tea) offer many other health benefits, which may not directly promote weight loss, but which are good health tonifiers. Green tea has been found to lower cholesterol levels, lower hypertension, prevent certain cancers and prevent or reverse liver impairment.

The green tea diet has captured the hopes of dieters worldwide. Dr. Perricone and Oprah inadvertently unleashed another fad diet waiting to happen. The internet has seen a rapid rise in green tea weight loss products, similar in intensiveness to the acai berry diet sensation. Fad diets should be considered with circumspection, especially when pricey products touting quick results are being tendered. Fad diets can be harmful to the dieter not only by their high cost and inspirational promises, but also by being harsh on the body. Rapid weight loss plans and crash diets are typically unsustainable (the weight loss will eventually come back) and can put the body into any number of nutritional imbalances that can do the dieter far more hurt than good.

The green tea diet is not a weight loss miracle as the green tea weight loss industry would have you believe. Nonetheless, this in no way lessens the fact that green tea can be a fantastic addition to your weight loss diet program. Dr. Perricone’s advice to replace coffee with green tea is a wonderful piece of wellness wisdom. His assertion that a green tea diet by itself can effect amazing weight loss is, unfortunately, a disservice to the millions of dieters who are searching for a magic bullet.

Bottom line: Yes, go get some green tea or green tea extract. Look for low cost bagged tea products or bottled green tea extract ($8 per bottle). Drink or drop your green tea every day. It has relatively low levels of caffeine, so it is safe to drink (diluted) throughout the day. If you are looking to lose weight, don’t fall for the idea that the green tea will do it for you. Real, lasting and safe weight loss only results from dietary changes and regular exercises.

Coffee Berry is loaded with phenolic acids and therapeutic plant nutrients. These phenolic acids are rich antioxidants. Kona Coffee Fruit begins it?s organic goodness along the slopes of high altitude mountain side with rich organic soil. Nourished by mineral-rich soil and warmed by intense tropical sunlight, coffee plants produce a profusion of wonderful bright red fruit, known as Coffee Fruit.
Kona Coffee Fruitis so exceptionally rich in anti-oxidants because it grows in high altitude, low-latitude regions where the sun?s rays are strongest. As the plants mature, they develop these powerful antioxidants to protect them from damage caused by high doses of the sun?s radiation and the natural byproducts of photosynthesis.
You might be asking what the difference is between a Kona Berry and a Kona Coffee Bean. Kona Coffee berries are the outer layer of the coffee fruit and are a rich source of anti oxidants. Research reports that 400 mg of concentrate has a radical scavenging activity equal to 9.6 grams of fresh blueberries, 6.2 grams of strawberries, or 4.9 grams of raspberries.
This potent anti-radical power has not been commercially available previously because the fruit rapidly perishes, which is why only the bitter seed has been commercially exploited.
“We have discovered a means of growing, harvesting and processing the whole coffee fruit so that we arrest the development of mycotoxins and thereby render the coffee fruit for human consumption.
Because no one until now has figured out how to do this in a cost effective manner, whole coffee fruit has simply not been available.”
Kona Coffee Berry contains five of eight rare and essential sugars called monosaccharides, with research indicating that these are essential for the proper functioning of various biological systems.
Almost half of the dry weight of the concentrate is made up of polysaccharides, such as mannans and arabinoglactan. Conventional roasting destroys these nutrients, so they are not found in traditional brewed coffee.

Kona Coffee Fruit is now available in a new energy drink called XOWii.

Some supplement companies will go to any lengths to
prove their products’ effectiveness. But sometimes the
evidence isn’t quite what it’s cracked up to be. Before and
after photos are the most compelling means by which to
convince a person of steroid-like gains.

Often the before photos show the bodybuilder in off-season
condition; fat, bloated, with pale skin. Hardly inspirational,
but true to life. And photos are sometimes reversed. In one
instance a supplement company presented a photo of a
fitness model in top condition, declaring it the ‘after’ photo.
Beside it, the apparent ‘before’ photo showed the model in
her last trimester of pregnancy. Anyone who is familiar with
the model’s history is aware that the before photo was, in
fact, the after photo.

The same trick was used by an ex-professional bodybuilder
from the 1960s. Interestingly, his jowls sagged more and
his face looked older in the before photo. Apparently his
supplement line not only increases muscle, it may be the
proverbial fountain of youth!

Before and after photos from every day individuals sell a
product best. They represent people like you and me…
average weight trainees hoping to make dramatic changes
in short order. But these photos are also highly dubious. In
order to look as bad and as good as possible, the models
employ several tricks.

The before photos nearly always have the subject
slouching, frowning, pale skin, dull lighting, gut extended,
and with no muscle pump. The after photos use harsh
lighting with good shadow contrast, tanned skin, upright
posture with lats and shoulders spread wide, muscles
tensed, smiling with well-groomed facial and head hair, and
a muscle pump. It also is known that duct tape has been
used to pull back obliques/love handles in order to make
waists appear even smaller and shoulders even wider. The
same trick works under their arm pits, to make the pec line
more pronounced and sharp.

And so, are you truly seeing what the person has
accomplished and while on supplement ‘x’? Hardly; what
you are witnessing is an illusion of posing and photography
skills of the model.

One winning competitor in the EAS Physique
Transformation contest in 1999 did look good if contrasting
his before and after photos, losing twelve pounds of fat. He
also, however, lost six pounds of lean tissue! Ignoring the
fact that he won, it could be said that his program was a
failure and that he did the opposite of what exercise was
originally intended to do, e.g., increase lean tissue/function.

But it is to these unhealthy extremes that one sometimes
experiences in order to make a dramatic difference in a
contest that allows only 12 weeks. After all, 12 weeks is not
a long time, particularly for advanced trainees more so than
novices. For the advanced, there is not much muscle to
gain and to produce good before and after photos requires
extreme loss of fat – besides slouching, frowning, and no
pump or tan in the before photos.

Unfortunately, many people (particularly novices) who are
unaware of the benefits and application of long-term
planning will burn out on such an endeavor, perhaps
quitting exercise all together. After a 12-week stint of near
overtraining (if they haven’t done so by the contest’s end and
if not understanding how to train), they conclude they cannot
tolerate another 12-weeks of further self-inflicted torture, let
alone another three years.

Not everyone entering these contests understand that it is a
short-term solution… to see how far the body can be pushed
as quickly as possible. After that point, training must take
on a more cyclic structure. This means maintaining most of
what was accomplished during the physique transformation
followed by ‘easier’ off-season training and peaking
infrequently thereafter. Fat loss may continue after the
contest, or prior to another peak, but 100% mental effort and
extreme demands may only account for 8-12 weeks total
throughout the year once reaching an advanced stage.
Training throughout the remainder of the year can still be
tough, yet tolerable and never as demanding.

I don’t believe most beginner trainees realize the
importance of cycling or what needs to be done after a
physique transformation challenge. Most magazines don’t
talk about it, nor do bodybuilding books. They present
general ideas and expect you to lift happily ever after. It is for
this reason that physique transformation contests and
magazines as a whole produce greater failure than success
in. The thoughts of maintaining or bettering one’s physique
after 12-weeks of grueling effort is enough to shatter
anyone’s motivation. Believing that you must continue
training in a similar manner (something to which we have
all fallen victim) is the best guarantee to exercise
termination.

Interestingly, can you imagine the loss in profits that
supplement manufacturers (magazine owners) are
encountering due to frustration of their readers and the
thousands dropping out of exercise – or perhaps no longer
purchasing that magazine and the supplements it
endorses. If sound training information were provided,
particularly long-term application, there would be more
successes and supplement purchases from advanced
trainees. Rather, supplement companies are hoping and
expecting a new generation of customers to make up for
those recently lost – short-term solutions for a quick buck.

You may publish this article in your newsletter, on your web
site, or other publications, so long as the article’s content is
not altered and the resource box is included. Add byline and
active link. Notification of the use of this article is
appreciated, but not required.

Brian D. Johnston is the Director of Education and President
of the I.A.R.T. fitness certification and education institute. He
has written over 12 books and is a contributor author to the
Merck Medical Manual. An international lecturer, Mr.
Johnston wears many hats in the fitness and health
industries, and can be reached at info@ExerciseCertification.com. Visit his site at http://www.ExerciseCertification.com for more free articles.

Don’t believe that having a Costa Mesa personal trainer is a luxury reserved only for the rich and famous. There are plenty of trainers prepared to work within your budget. You may be asking yourself “Do I really need a Costa Mesa personal trainer? Why?”

1) One of the key reasons people benefit from a Costa Mesa personal trainer is that they lose motivation to stay with a consistent physical exercise program. Certified Costa Mesa personal trainers can provide structure and accountability, and help you develop a lifestyle that encourages wellness.

2) Number one reason why people employ Costa Mesa personal trainers is to lose weight and get into shape because it works. If you made a commitment to lose the fat and build muscle, a trainer can keep you on course and help you ahieve that goal.

3) If you have any chronic health conditions, injuries or training goals a trainer will work with you and your wellness care provider to plan a safe, efficient individualized plan that considers these needs and enable you to achieve your wellness goals.

4) If you play a particular sport, a performance enhancement specialist will help you improve your skill by showing you new training techniques specific to your sport. A Costa Mesa personal trainer will incorporate skills training into your plan so you improve not only your strength and endurance, but your agility and mental focus as well.

5) If you are an absolute beginner, a Costa Mesa personal trainer is the ultimate physical fitness coach. A good trainer will present you to a very easy effective routine and build efficiently so before you know it, you have the confidence and knowledge to decide what is right for you.

6) Ok, you are already in superb shape, but you’ve been there for years. If you are stuck in the same routine and want to break out of a pleateu, a Costa Mesa personal trainer is the perfect solution. A Costa Mesa personal trainer will jump start, not only your motivation, but your routine as well.

7) a Costa Mesa personal trainer watches your form, monitors your vitals and can provide objective feedback about your limitations and strengths. Most of us tend to neglect some of the subtle signals our body provides. We either drive through pain or give up too soon. Because a Costa Mesa personal trainer can watch what you are doing while you are doing it, they can help push you or slow you down as needed.

Many Costa Mesa personal trainers make house calls. If you don’t have the type or interest in going to a gym, but have a hard time knowing what to do on your own at home, a Costa Mesa personal trainer can bring physical fitness into your living room.

If you want to get the body of your dreams contact Costa Mesa personal trainers.

Did you awaken one day and look at yourself critically? Discovering that your middle section is spreading out or hitting a bee line due south. Is buttoning those trousers becoming more difficult? Are you understanding that the wasted, horizontal TV time, running through potato chips and boozing has finally caught up with you, and you are wearing love handles? Would you like to get a six pack(get-a-sixpack.net)? You’re definitely not the only one and we’ve got good news for you.

If you have too much flesh close to your belly you need to start some abs workouts (http://absworkout.biz). This is beneficial for both men and women as more muscular abs lead to fewer lower back problems. When you fortify one you strengthen the other. Sit ups as well as crunches are simple procedures to strengthen the abdominals.

Targeting the lower back simply try lying on the stomach. Do the leg swim motion by lightly kicking with knees and feet off the floor. Exercise for 15 seconds and rest for 30 and repeat.

You may wish to tailor salt and sodium heavy foods from your diet. It is accepted to link salt and sodium rich foods with heart problems and risk of stroke. Salt can create water retention which can in turn add to the tummy fat. Stay away from processed foods and adding extra salt. Drinking water can also aid in losing those love handles. Water helps in breaking down stored fat, creating energy and also hydrating the body.

You should in all probability consider trimming your calories from alcoholic beverages. Yes, I know, we all are let down that alcohol is not a water replacement. Alcohol contains a lot of empty calories which have a tendency to get situated around the gut resulting in spare tires. You do not need to eliminate alcohol altogether, just keep in mind how much you consume and reduce it; same method as adjusting the sum of what you eat.

Don’t believe those that say, “Creatine does not work for me” or “Creatine causes me to retain water” or “Creatine upsets my stomach.” Creatine is still the most effective muscle building supplement ever for those that understand how and when it is used as an energy source in the body.

How is creatine used as an energy source in the body? First, Let’s talk a little about ATP (the life force of all living matter), the first energy source burned as fuel in the body. The other five energy sources for the body: creatine, glycogen, glucose, fatty acids and amino acids all must be converted to ATP (in that order) to be burned as fuel in the body.

Knowing when creatine is converted to APT is key in knowing how to get the best results in muscle building. Like ATP, creatine can be stored in the muscle, which means it does not need oxygen to burn. It is a short explosive energy burn. The ATP stored in the muscle is the most effective explosive fuel source, which burns for about four or five seconds at 100 percent muscle contraction in an all out effort, such as weight lifting or sprinting. Creatine then is converted to APT and burns for about six or seven seconds at nearly 100 percent muscle contraction. Knowing this tells us how we must train to get the best results with creatine. A weight training set needs to be completed with in ten to twelve seconds, which means heavy weight and low reps.

Another interesting fact about creatine is its ability to recycle itself to be used again as fuel. With one minute rest creatine will recycle itself about 50 percent. Resting four minutes between sets increases recycling ability to 90 percent. Creatine will be available for about ninety minutes.

Now, let’s look at how other fuels burn so you won’t be tempted to go beyond twelve seconds if you want maximum results. Glycogen and glucose burn respectively after creatine for up to two minutes at no more than 70 percent muscle contraction. The higher the percentage of muscle contraction the stronger the muscle. After twelve seconds, muscle contraction/muscle strength quickly falls off due to the type of fuel being burned as energy. Workouts fueled with creatine instead of glycogen and glucose just makes good sense if maximum results are desired.

Let’s sum it up. Long-lasting training sessions of over ninety minutes are not good because creatine has been depleted and the fuel used for energy will be amino acids, which is muscle.
Also, creatine will not cause water weight or stomach upset if it is taken with a high glycemic carbohydrate drink with enough liquid to completely dissolve the powder.

Fred Fishburne and his wife Ann are owners of ProHealth Nutrition, Inc., a very successful health store in McDonough, Ga. Visit at: http://prohealthnut.com

The lower body contains some of your biggest muscles which are capable of bearing significant weights. The temptation for beginners to go for broke by performing heavy squats should be resisted. To begin with you should concentrate on building the muscles safely by using machines that isolate muscle groups. The squat is an excellent compound exercise that trains numerous lower body muscles but it is one you should learn properly after spending three months strengthening the individual muscles that will be utilized later.

The muscles of the lower body can be divided into five groups:

1. Quads – this is the big muscle group consisting of four muscles at the front of the thigh. These are the primary muscles used when performing exercises such as squats, leg press, lunge and leg extension.

2. Hamstrings – these are the main muscles at the back of the thigh. These are the primary muscles used when performing leg curls.

3. Gluteals – these are the muscles that make up the buttocks.

4. Hip flexors – these are the small muscles at the front of the pelvis that allow you to raise your legs to the front.

5. Calves – these are the two muscles found in the lower leg.

For beginners these muscles should be exercised as follows:

1. Leg press – 1 set of 10-15 reps. This is a useful exercise for the quads but it also works the hamstrings and glutes to a lesser degree.

2. Leg extension – 3 sets of 10-15 reps. This is a useful exercise for adding definition to the quads.

3. Hamstring curl – 3 sets of 10-15 reps. This exercise isolates the hamstrings.

4. Standing calf raise – 3 sets of 10-15 reps. This exercise works the gastrocnemius muscle.

5. Seated calf raise – 3 sets of 10-15 reps. This exercise works the soleus muscle underneath the gastrocnemius muscle.

As with all exercises you need to take care in scheduling specific body parts. To begin with you should incorporate your lower body exercises into a program similar to the one suggested below:

Day 1: Biceps, Back, Abs

Day 2: Hamstrings, Shoulders, Abs

Day 3: Quads, Forearms, Calves

Day 4: Triceps, Chest, Abs

For the first couple of weeks complete one set but then add one set each week to a maximum of three. At the end of three months you will be ready to move on to more intensive intermediate level exercises.

Rick Mitchell has written numerous articles aimed at helping athletes, from beginners to advanced, understand how to build muscle and increase strength. He has also developed several supporting web resources including Fitness Gear Online

Most of these problems are usually related to using high dosage or individual genetics. For convenience we’ve divided the potential side effects into those experienced by men, women, and teenagers.

Men – Although anabolic steroids are derived from the male sex hormone, testosterone, men who take them may actually experience a “feminization” side effect along with a decrease in normal male sexual function. This is because one of the metabolic breakdown products of testosterone is the female hormone, estrogen. Some possible anabolic steroid side effects in men include:

Reduced sperm count

Impotence

Development of breasts

Shrinking of the testicles

Difficulty or pain while urinating

Women – It’s not surprising that women who take the drugs may develop masculinizing effects. These include the following:

Facial hair growth

Deepened voice

Breast reduction

Menstrual cycle changes

Clitoral enlargement

Both sexes – With continued use of anabolic steroids, both sexes can experience the following anabolic steroid side effects, which range from the merely unsightly to the life-endangering. They include:

Acne

Water retention

Rapid weight gain

Clotting disorders

Liver enzyme irregularities

Elevated cholesterol levels

Tendon damage from proportionally stronger muscles

Mood swings

Teenagers – anabolic steroid side effects can pose several serious health side effects in teens. Anabolic steroids have been known to fuse the growth centers (epiphyseal plates) in teens’ bones. Once these growth plates are closed, they cannot reopen so adolescents that abuse anabolic steroids may end up shorter than their natural genetic height. Anabolic steroids have also been known to cause severe mood swings. This could have severe consequences in many teens as this age group is characterized by naturally occurring behavioral changes. Although not conclusive, there have been a few cases where anabolic steroids may have contributed to suicide in a few teens. It’s because of these serious anabolic steroids side effects that teenagers should under no circumstances use these drugs.

Are anabolic steroids addictive?

Although the evidence is limited it is possible that addiction may be one of the most serious of anabolic steroids side effects. Recent evidence suggests that long-time users of anabolic steroids and steroid abusers may experience some of the classic characteristics of addiction including cravings, difficulty in stopping steroid use and withdrawal symptoms. As the research is limited, it’s not known if the symptoms of addiction are psychological or physiological in nature. For those who use anabolic steroids, coming off the “juice” can be very traumatic as they begin to lose muscular size and strength. This loss of a key component of their identity can leave them suffering many of the same symptoms and side effects as those using common street drugs.

How to minimize the risk of anabolic steroid side effects

Given that anabolic steroids are illegal in many countries, it’s probably a good idea to avoid them altogether. If you do decide to use them, the following tips will help you reduce the risk of side effects:

Use oral steroids as sparingly as possible. They have been chemically modified to survive the digestive system and hence much harder on the liver.

Never stay on a steroid cycle for more than 6 to 8 weeks.

Never use any steroids that have a questionable manufacturing background. Beware of the blackmarket.

At the first sign of any serious side effect (chest pain, blood in urine, etc), stop all steroids and see a physician.

Article 02/01 2006

Steroid side effects

Article 02/01 2006

© Bob Howard 2006