A Few Simple Ideas to Mix Up Your Routine
Every now and then I catch myself stuck in the same routine and my workout starts to get a little boring. I know this is starting to happen when it gets easy to miss my regular workout. Recently, I noticed this had happened when I easily talked myself out of going to the gym for almost 2 weeks straight. Obviously, something needed to change. So here are a few ideas that I use from time to time just to spice up my workout. Give them a try, and I'm sure you'll find some new excitement to your workout as well.
Change your Grip!
This is a small change compared to most of the others you can do, but one way to spice up your workout from time to time is to change the way you're gripping the bar when doing barbell or machine exercises. One of my favorite grips is the palm grip. In fact, I've read several articles from fitness trainers and other professional athletes that suggest that on exercises like the bench press, you should only be using a palm grip.
So what is a palm grip? Let's use the bench press as an example for the palm grip. Many of us have been guilty of using a standard grip on this exercise, myself included. A standard grip would be where you wrap your hand around bar as if you were holding a baseball bat. If you want a more effective bench press, try not wrapping your thumb around the bar. You might think that you'll lose some stability by doing this, but I've never had that problem. You might have to bend your wrist a little more to compensate, or lower the weight just a little bit. The main benefit to using a palm grip on this type of exercise is that by putting your thumb in this position, you are reducing the amount of effort that your forearms will put into the exercise. Therefore, you chest and tricep muscles will have to work even harder to do the lift. Try this, and I'm sure you'll notice a difference the next time you perform a bench press.
Try Trisets!
You've probably heard of super sets, where you do two exercise consecutively without resting in between. Have you ever tried doing three different exercises? This works extremely well with bicep exercises. The benefit to doing a triset with a bicep workout, is it allows you to hit the bicep really hard in three different ways. Here's an example of a bicep triset: standing barbell curls, hammer curls, reverse barbell curls. You'll also notice in this sequence that you have to change your grip with each set of the triset. This is the best way to utilize a triset. Here's an example of a triset with triceps: straight bar cable push downs, rope cable push downs, reverse cable pushdowns. Again, the key here is to change the grip on each exercise. Give these a try, and I'm sure you'll feel a new pump in whatever body part you utilize them with!
Change you Split!
Have you been following the same split routine for two long? Has your split routine consisted of chest and triceps, back and biceps, or something similar for several months? Try reversing your split or doing a 5 day split instead of a 3 day split. Do chest and biceps, back and triceps just to mix it up a little.
These are just a few basic ideas, but its always a good idea to mix up your routine on a continual basis. That way you can keep your body guessing and growing to adapt to the changes in stress that you place on your muscles.
About the Author
Dan Patterson is an editor for a fitness and weight loss website.
Are Those Hamburgers Killing You?
If you ask people who eat a plant-based diet in order to promote and support their health and their lives whether eating meat is detrimental to human health, they would all agree, without hesitation, that meat negatively affects health, fitness, and well-being.
If you ask experts in the field of health, diet, and nutrition, such as John McDougall, M.D., Neal Barnard, M.D., Joel Fuhrman, M.D., John Robbins, T. Colin Campbell, PhD, and many others, who understand the principles of health and how a diet rich in plant foods is ideal for human health, they would all agree that eating meat jeopardizes mobility, function, fitness, and overall health.
But what if you ask our government whether eating meat is hazardous to human health? What would it say?
Interestingly enough, in 2000, the U.S. Public Health Service, reported that 54% of all deaths in the United States could be directly attributed to eating animal products. Isn't that shocking? The very government that supports and loudly touts the beef, poultry, and dairy industries tells us that these very same sources of foods actually kill us.
And because this is a government statistic, we can deduce that this is a very conservative number. Our government wouldn't want to step too hard on too many delicate toes.
The U.S. Public Health Service told us that:
• 633,500 deaths caused from heart disease can be directly attributed to eating animal products
• Cerebrovascular Disease: 166,000 deaths attributed to eating animal products
• Vascular Diseases: 58,200 deaths attributed to eating animal products
• Cancer: 258,800 deaths attributed to eating animal products
• Diabetes: 68,700 deaths attributed to eating animal products
• Kidney and gallbladder deaths: 40,500 deaths attributed to eating animal products
In spite of the numbers of deaths that are directly caused by eating meat of any kind, how many national cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and other disease organizations really stress cutting out, not just cutting back, all animal products from people's daily diet,?
When is the last time your health care professional discussed with you the hazards of eating meat, any kind of meat?
"But isn't it okay to eat just a little bit?" you may be thinking. Let's face it. Most Americans have no clue what a little bit means.
Secondly, consider this analogy for a moment. What would you tell a cigarette smoker if he asked if it was okay to just smoke a little bit? Would you tell him that a few cigarettes a day was just fine? Or maybe one cigarette a day wouldn't affect his health?
So when you ask if eating a little bit of food that is high in fat, cholesterol, and animal protein is okay, the answer is clear.
If you want to be your healthiest, then, no, it is not okay to even eat a little bit of animal foods.
Dr. Leslie Van Romer is a motivational health speaker, writer and lifestyle coach. Visit Dr. Leslie at Http://DrLeslieVanRomer.com for practical direction, hope and inspiration.
Are You Bankrupting Your Greatest Asset—Your Health?
Most Americans, unlike many other people throughout the world, have the opportunity and good fortune to live their lives with comfort, convenience, and quality. In fact, most Americans spend the majority of their time and energy in the accumulation of comfort, convenience, and quality.
They work hard so they can live in a comfortable, convenient, and quality home. When that home doesn't meet their needs anymore, they buy a better comfortable, convenient, and quality home.
They work hard so they can drive comfortable cars, wear nice clothes, and enjoy fun activities and vacations. They surround themselves with a plethora of creature comforts and adult toys. They own the most up-to-date computers and gadgets in the form of televisions, DVD players, sound systems, cellular phones, Ipods, digital cameras, and whatever else strikes their fancy.
Americans are fully aware that in order for them to accumulate the "stuff" that will give them a lifestyle of comfort, convenience, and quality, they must earn and accumulate a certain amount of money to afford the "stuff" and, thereby, creating their ideal lifestyle with that "stuff."
And there is nothing wrong with that. That's our gift as Americans: work hard, create your ideal lifestyle.
It's so easy to understand the principles of earning and saving and accumulation, isn't it?
To give you one example, in order to save $365.00 in one year, there is no confusion that if you put one dollar every day for one year into a savings account, AND you do not withdraw any dollars from that account, you will, in fact, save the intended $365.00. By continuing this plan, you will save $1825.00 in five years and $7300 in twenty years. Simple principle. We all understand it.
Furthermore, you not only know what you must do in order to accumulate money, you also accept the personal responsibility for your success, or failure, of this endeavor.
You know that it is your responsibility to set the goal and to take the necessary action steps to successfully reach that goal.
You know that your daily choices, wise or foolish, will dictate the accomplishment of that goal.
And, if you do not reach your goal, you are fully aware that you are the one and only person responsible for the less than satisfying consequences of your daily choices—a compromised bank account and, therefore, a compromised lifestyle.
On the other hand, if you do meet your goal, you take full credit, just as you deserve, for your personal achievement.
Now don't we know this? Isn't it so easy to know how to accumulate a certain amount of money?
What is so fascinating is that as savvy as Americans are about the accumulation of "stuff" and wealth, they often do not see the parallel between the accumulation principles of wealth and health.
Regular, consistent deposits lead to the accumulation of wealth, or health.
Too many withdrawals lead to bankruptcy of wealth, or health.
If you want to attain and maintain a certain level of energy, comfort, activity, and health in the next few weeks, one year, five years, or fifteen years down the road, then you must make regular deposits into your "health/life savings account"—starting today! And this "health/life account" is directly dependent upon the quality and quantity of your daily deposits, and withdrawals, better known as choices.
It is that simple. However, unlike bankruptcy of wealth, which is indeed reversible, bankruptcy of health leads to more drastic and permanent consequences.
And the bottom line is: who is responsible for the growth of your bank account? You are of course. And you know that.
Now who is responsible for the health, fitness, and mobility of your body? You are of course. But sometimes that responsibility is not quite so clear.
No, it is not usually "Lady Luck," bad genes, or even age that are responsible for the premature conditions, diseases, and early death that so many Americans face.
Rather, as most experts agree, you are responsible for understanding the principles of health and setting health goals for yourself, whether they are immediate goals, or longer term goals for one year, five years, or the rest of your years.
You are responsible for making smart choices and decisions every day that will help you achieve your health goals.
You are responsible for the consequence of these choices and decisions—whether that consequence is an active, full, purposeful life or something less than your ideal life.
To put it simply, self-responsibility is the key to your health and your very life.
And you are worth every bit of your effort.
Consider this question: How much would a nice home, a nice car, nice clothes, a nice lifestyle, and a nice bank account be worth if you lost your health—I mean really lost your health?
Just imagine yourself sick and in bed with the flu for one day. What if you were sick and in bed for the rest of your days? If you don't know, or can't imagine, just ask someone who has in fact lost his or her health (and you won't have far to look) and how has that directly affected his or her life? How has his or her priorities changed? How much value does he or she now place in his or her stuff? Would he or she not exchange every possession and every cent in his or her bank account for the return of his or her health? Without question, absolutely!
If you lose your health, you lose everything. Health comes first, so that you can enjoy everything else that life has to offer. Simple principle: Health first, everything else, second.
Therefore, when I ask you, "What is your greatest asset?" Will you say your home, property, investments, or a bank account? No! Your greatest asset, without a doubt, is your body and your birth right—your health. And it is your responsibility to take care of it.
Dr. Leslie Van Romer is a motivational health speaker, writer and lifestyle coach. Visit Dr. Leslie at Http://DrLeslieVanRomer.com for practical direction, hope and inspiration.
Change your Grip!
This is a small change compared to most of the others you can do, but one way to spice up your workout from time to time is to change the way you're gripping the bar when doing barbell or machine exercises. One of my favorite grips is the palm grip. In fact, I've read several articles from fitness trainers and other professional athletes that suggest that on exercises like the bench press, you should only be using a palm grip.
So what is a palm grip? Let's use the bench press as an example for the palm grip. Many of us have been guilty of using a standard grip on this exercise, myself included. A standard grip would be where you wrap your hand around bar as if you were holding a baseball bat. If you want a more effective bench press, try not wrapping your thumb around the bar. You might think that you'll lose some stability by doing this, but I've never had that problem. You might have to bend your wrist a little more to compensate, or lower the weight just a little bit. The main benefit to using a palm grip on this type of exercise is that by putting your thumb in this position, you are reducing the amount of effort that your forearms will put into the exercise. Therefore, you chest and tricep muscles will have to work even harder to do the lift. Try this, and I'm sure you'll notice a difference the next time you perform a bench press.
Try Trisets!
You've probably heard of super sets, where you do two exercise consecutively without resting in between. Have you ever tried doing three different exercises? This works extremely well with bicep exercises. The benefit to doing a triset with a bicep workout, is it allows you to hit the bicep really hard in three different ways. Here's an example of a bicep triset: standing barbell curls, hammer curls, reverse barbell curls. You'll also notice in this sequence that you have to change your grip with each set of the triset. This is the best way to utilize a triset. Here's an example of a triset with triceps: straight bar cable push downs, rope cable push downs, reverse cable pushdowns. Again, the key here is to change the grip on each exercise. Give these a try, and I'm sure you'll feel a new pump in whatever body part you utilize them with!
Change you Split!
Have you been following the same split routine for two long? Has your split routine consisted of chest and triceps, back and biceps, or something similar for several months? Try reversing your split or doing a 5 day split instead of a 3 day split. Do chest and biceps, back and triceps just to mix it up a little.
These are just a few basic ideas, but its always a good idea to mix up your routine on a continual basis. That way you can keep your body guessing and growing to adapt to the changes in stress that you place on your muscles.
About the Author
Dan Patterson is an editor for a fitness and weight loss website.
Are Those Hamburgers Killing You?
If you ask people who eat a plant-based diet in order to promote and support their health and their lives whether eating meat is detrimental to human health, they would all agree, without hesitation, that meat negatively affects health, fitness, and well-being.
If you ask experts in the field of health, diet, and nutrition, such as John McDougall, M.D., Neal Barnard, M.D., Joel Fuhrman, M.D., John Robbins, T. Colin Campbell, PhD, and many others, who understand the principles of health and how a diet rich in plant foods is ideal for human health, they would all agree that eating meat jeopardizes mobility, function, fitness, and overall health.
But what if you ask our government whether eating meat is hazardous to human health? What would it say?
Interestingly enough, in 2000, the U.S. Public Health Service, reported that 54% of all deaths in the United States could be directly attributed to eating animal products. Isn't that shocking? The very government that supports and loudly touts the beef, poultry, and dairy industries tells us that these very same sources of foods actually kill us.
And because this is a government statistic, we can deduce that this is a very conservative number. Our government wouldn't want to step too hard on too many delicate toes.
The U.S. Public Health Service told us that:
• 633,500 deaths caused from heart disease can be directly attributed to eating animal products
• Cerebrovascular Disease: 166,000 deaths attributed to eating animal products
• Vascular Diseases: 58,200 deaths attributed to eating animal products
• Cancer: 258,800 deaths attributed to eating animal products
• Diabetes: 68,700 deaths attributed to eating animal products
• Kidney and gallbladder deaths: 40,500 deaths attributed to eating animal products
In spite of the numbers of deaths that are directly caused by eating meat of any kind, how many national cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and other disease organizations really stress cutting out, not just cutting back, all animal products from people's daily diet,?
When is the last time your health care professional discussed with you the hazards of eating meat, any kind of meat?
"But isn't it okay to eat just a little bit?" you may be thinking. Let's face it. Most Americans have no clue what a little bit means.
Secondly, consider this analogy for a moment. What would you tell a cigarette smoker if he asked if it was okay to just smoke a little bit? Would you tell him that a few cigarettes a day was just fine? Or maybe one cigarette a day wouldn't affect his health?
So when you ask if eating a little bit of food that is high in fat, cholesterol, and animal protein is okay, the answer is clear.
If you want to be your healthiest, then, no, it is not okay to even eat a little bit of animal foods.
Dr. Leslie Van Romer is a motivational health speaker, writer and lifestyle coach. Visit Dr. Leslie at Http://DrLeslieVanRomer.com for practical direction, hope and inspiration.
Are You Bankrupting Your Greatest Asset—Your Health?
Most Americans, unlike many other people throughout the world, have the opportunity and good fortune to live their lives with comfort, convenience, and quality. In fact, most Americans spend the majority of their time and energy in the accumulation of comfort, convenience, and quality.
They work hard so they can live in a comfortable, convenient, and quality home. When that home doesn't meet their needs anymore, they buy a better comfortable, convenient, and quality home.
They work hard so they can drive comfortable cars, wear nice clothes, and enjoy fun activities and vacations. They surround themselves with a plethora of creature comforts and adult toys. They own the most up-to-date computers and gadgets in the form of televisions, DVD players, sound systems, cellular phones, Ipods, digital cameras, and whatever else strikes their fancy.
Americans are fully aware that in order for them to accumulate the "stuff" that will give them a lifestyle of comfort, convenience, and quality, they must earn and accumulate a certain amount of money to afford the "stuff" and, thereby, creating their ideal lifestyle with that "stuff."
And there is nothing wrong with that. That's our gift as Americans: work hard, create your ideal lifestyle.
It's so easy to understand the principles of earning and saving and accumulation, isn't it?
To give you one example, in order to save $365.00 in one year, there is no confusion that if you put one dollar every day for one year into a savings account, AND you do not withdraw any dollars from that account, you will, in fact, save the intended $365.00. By continuing this plan, you will save $1825.00 in five years and $7300 in twenty years. Simple principle. We all understand it.
Furthermore, you not only know what you must do in order to accumulate money, you also accept the personal responsibility for your success, or failure, of this endeavor.
You know that it is your responsibility to set the goal and to take the necessary action steps to successfully reach that goal.
You know that your daily choices, wise or foolish, will dictate the accomplishment of that goal.
And, if you do not reach your goal, you are fully aware that you are the one and only person responsible for the less than satisfying consequences of your daily choices—a compromised bank account and, therefore, a compromised lifestyle.
On the other hand, if you do meet your goal, you take full credit, just as you deserve, for your personal achievement.
Now don't we know this? Isn't it so easy to know how to accumulate a certain amount of money?
What is so fascinating is that as savvy as Americans are about the accumulation of "stuff" and wealth, they often do not see the parallel between the accumulation principles of wealth and health.
Regular, consistent deposits lead to the accumulation of wealth, or health.
Too many withdrawals lead to bankruptcy of wealth, or health.
If you want to attain and maintain a certain level of energy, comfort, activity, and health in the next few weeks, one year, five years, or fifteen years down the road, then you must make regular deposits into your "health/life savings account"—starting today! And this "health/life account" is directly dependent upon the quality and quantity of your daily deposits, and withdrawals, better known as choices.
It is that simple. However, unlike bankruptcy of wealth, which is indeed reversible, bankruptcy of health leads to more drastic and permanent consequences.
And the bottom line is: who is responsible for the growth of your bank account? You are of course. And you know that.
Now who is responsible for the health, fitness, and mobility of your body? You are of course. But sometimes that responsibility is not quite so clear.
No, it is not usually "Lady Luck," bad genes, or even age that are responsible for the premature conditions, diseases, and early death that so many Americans face.
Rather, as most experts agree, you are responsible for understanding the principles of health and setting health goals for yourself, whether they are immediate goals, or longer term goals for one year, five years, or the rest of your years.
You are responsible for making smart choices and decisions every day that will help you achieve your health goals.
You are responsible for the consequence of these choices and decisions—whether that consequence is an active, full, purposeful life or something less than your ideal life.
To put it simply, self-responsibility is the key to your health and your very life.
And you are worth every bit of your effort.
Consider this question: How much would a nice home, a nice car, nice clothes, a nice lifestyle, and a nice bank account be worth if you lost your health—I mean really lost your health?
Just imagine yourself sick and in bed with the flu for one day. What if you were sick and in bed for the rest of your days? If you don't know, or can't imagine, just ask someone who has in fact lost his or her health (and you won't have far to look) and how has that directly affected his or her life? How has his or her priorities changed? How much value does he or she now place in his or her stuff? Would he or she not exchange every possession and every cent in his or her bank account for the return of his or her health? Without question, absolutely!
If you lose your health, you lose everything. Health comes first, so that you can enjoy everything else that life has to offer. Simple principle: Health first, everything else, second.
Therefore, when I ask you, "What is your greatest asset?" Will you say your home, property, investments, or a bank account? No! Your greatest asset, without a doubt, is your body and your birth right—your health. And it is your responsibility to take care of it.
Dr. Leslie Van Romer is a motivational health speaker, writer and lifestyle coach. Visit Dr. Leslie at Http://DrLeslieVanRomer.com for practical direction, hope and inspiration.