BodyBuilding4Everyone

Dieting Tips

By Hamilton Magtibay of Bodybuilding4everyone.com

We all know by now that in able to lose weight we have to control our appetite from eating beyond our calorie requirements and by avoiding foods that are not in our diet. I’m sure we all have great discipline and we’re all ‘Gung-Ho’ about losing weight and reaching our goals, but there are times when things are just a bit difficult. Staring at the same food/diet just makes you want to gagL .Below are a few techniques I have learned on my own through personal experience and recommendations from friends.

1.     At home, if you’re feeling hungry after eating your last meal, or you’re at the end of your wits, about to go crazy from hunger (but you‘re not actually hungry)- Try to do one or two of the following:

·       Drink cold water with ice: water will fill you up and make you feel full

·       Chew Sugarless gum: this will keep your mouth busy and usually stops cravings

·       Try not to think about it or keep your self busy by reading or doing some light chores around the house that you’ve been putting off.

·       Have a serious talk with your self and ask your self if it’s worth eating that piece of pizza. Tell yourself how good you’ve been doing with your weight loss goals and eating that piece of pizza will just set you back. 

·       If all else fails – have a protein shake J its refreshing, filling, and it’s also good for you.

2.     You’re at a restaurant:

·       If you have a choice of restaurants, go for Japanese food since the majority of their food is grilled or raw (if you like raw fish) and you could always ask waiter to have sauce on the side.

·       Try to stay away from Chinese food – WTF!!! Who doesn’t like Chinese Food and who can stay away from it!!! Well, you know the consequences when you go to a Chinese restaurant - all dishes are cooked with fat, so try to avoid it or just have it once a month or once every couple of months IF YOU REALLY HAVE TO HAVE IT

·       Majority of chain restaurants such Apple Bee’s, TGIF Fridays…etc offer low fat meals so that would be your best bet

·       If a restaurant doesn’t have any healthy choices, always ask your waiter for the leanest cut of meat and make sure that it’s GRILLED. Your best bet would be chicken breast, salmon, flank steak, fillet mignon, beef loin, pork loin, or anything that doesn’t have any fat or ‘marbling’ within the meat. Also, don’t be shy about asking your waiter because restaurants would rather make money than not make money because you can’t eat their food, or by just ordering ice water and salad.

·       ALWAYS ask waiter to have sauce, gravy, or dressing to be put on the side NOT ON THE MEAT!!!!

·       For your sides, always ask for plain baked potato and make sure that vegetables are not cooked with butter. If all else fails just go along with the menu and at least make sure that your meat is lean and doesn’t have any added calories such as butter or sauce. Then just have a little bit of mash potatoes along with your lean meat for texture. It’s better if you just eat lean meat on its own with plain salad or low fat/non-fat dressing.

·       Go for smaller portions of meat. 6-8 oz of lean of lean meat is more than enough unless you‘re trying to bulk up for an upcoming bodybuilding show.

·       Alcohol: try to stay away from beer because it contains a lot of carbohydrates and one drink is usually not enough. Order a glass of red wine instead – it’s actually good for you and it tastes good. I usually order a glass of Cab myself

·       DESSERT: OMG!!! DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!!!! Not unless if think you really deserved it – like if it’s your Birthday or something.

3.     Gatherings with friends or family: this is a tough one, but people who really care about you will understand your dieting needs

·       See if you can make a request to the host of party ahead of time.  Ask if they can cook something healthy like grilled lean meat or fish, which is usually the main entrée at parties.

·       If you know they won’t cater to your needs then eat before you go to the gathering and munch on vegetable sticks when you get there.

·       If they don’t have anything healthy then drink some ice cold water or just nibble on what seams healthy

4.     At work:

·       BRING YOUR OWN FOOD AND STICK WITH IT!!! You’re not being a snob if you turn down your co-workers from eating out with them or if you don’t eat the same thing that they do. There’s nothing wrong with living a healthy lifeJ  in fact they will admire you for it and most likely do what you’re doing.

·       Stay away from that evil Vending Machine :-0

·       And guess what – DRINK MORE WATER!!! Bring a gallon of water with you and just keep on filling that up everyday. Water has so many benefits, plus it will keep you from getting hungry so you will stick with your diet.

Well, that’s all I have for now. If you would like to add to this list please send it to mil@bodybuilding4everyone.com. Good luck with your health and fitness goals and always give your self credit for everything you do in this process – I KNOW YOU CAN DO ITJ

 

By Hamilton Magtibay of Bodybuilding4everyone.com

Ok, so you want to lose weight, gain muscle, get stronger, stay healthy or what not, but you don’t know how to go about doing it. I’m sure your first step was to join your local and gym and maybe sign a year or two contract, because this will keep you motivated to go in the gym, since you paid so much money. In addition to your gym membership you also tried reading (or watching) every book there is on health and fitness, dieting, exercise, and nutrition, but you still can’t seem to get ahead. And with your newly acquired knowledge from books, DVDs or what not, you also implemented all these strategies and techniques into your routine and for some reason you still can’t get the results you REALLY want.

So now you would probably start asking friends and relatives regarding your ultimate goal and I won’t be surprised if they would recommend hiring a Personal Fitness Trainer to help you. Then right away you see $$$$$$ when you hear the word Personal Fitness Trainer, plus I won’t be surprise if you also heard that Personal Trainers will usually rip you off and most likely get NO results from hiring them.

As a personal trainer I see this situation from two sides on why it won’t work; its either the personal trainer really don’t know anything about training (even if he/she is “Certified”) or client (you) didn’t do everything the trainer told you to do i.e. dieting, working out, changing lifestyle/eating habits.

Anyhow, you’re probably still thinking when will I get to my point on “Why You Need a Personal Fitness Trainer to Help you with your Health & Fitness Goals”? So if you’re the suspicious kind of person and don’t think you need professional help to lose weight or what not – I have something for you to think about:

* Financial Impact: So you think it’s expensive to hire a trainer? Take inventory of all the tools you’ve purchased in attempt for you to lose weight. Then add the $$$ on all the diet foods. Specialty foods and supplements i.e. fat burners, carb blocker, low carb food, fat free food, bars, shakes, organic food, non-fat…etc and also don’t forget the amount of time and energy you put into this goal. So how much have you spent? I bet you could afford a personal trainer with all that money huh?

* Your Health: Do you really think it’s healthy to experiment on your body with different diets, foods and supplementation without knowing how to really use it? Plus don’t you think you could also harm yourself this way? Hmmmmm….I’m sure you’re smart so I’ll let you figure that out on your own…

*Time: Be honest and think how much time and energy you really spent on trying out these strategies and techniques and often not see the result you really want. Is it worth it?

It’s not that I’m trying to sell myself or any personal trainer to you, but my questions and statements above are things you should consider on why you should hire a personal trainer. And that’s because a professional personal trainer will help you save time, money, and your Health!!! You only have to hire him/her once or twice and absorb everything he/she have taught you and apply that. I’m really big on BASICS and personal trainers should teach you the basics on exercise techniques, diet/nutrition, and lifestyle changes then if you want it bad enough you’ll never forget what he/she have thought you!! In fact – after your services with your trainer will be the best time to learn more about it because you already have a good foundation, you’ll just have to do more research in able to go further once you hit a plateau on your results.

So by now I’m hoping that you would have a bit more trust with personal trainers, but don’t just grab any personal trainer and hire him/her to be your trainer – I also want you to know how to look for a good trainer.

Here are a few things you should consider when looking for a personal trainer:

* Certified Personal Trainer - ok so their Certified Personal Trainers, so f#$ng what!!?? I’ve seen so many so called “Certified Personal Trainers” who are in worse shape than the person their training!!! Or really skinny “Certified Personal Trainers” who seem to look fit, but their just naturally skinny. My point on this is if “Certification” is big with you then go ahead and look for proof of certification, but also consider if they play the part of a “Personal Trainer”. Just because they studied and pass their test doesn’t mean they have common sense to apply their knowledge in real life situation, so if they can’t even practice what they preach – WHAT KIND OF SERVICE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE ABOUT TO GET???? So make sure your “Certified Personal Trainer” is in VERY good shape

* Age: Ask for your trainer’s age if he/she seems to look a bit too young because I don’t think you want a high school grad or someone really young and inexperience to be training you.

* Experience: I’ve seen numerous ads of personal trainers who states that they were former college or professional athletes, some kind of martial arts expert, or military – these are all fine and dandy, but what the hell can they do for you? Former College or Professional athletes had their own trainers, Martial Arts/Military- are you trying to lose weight or learn self defense and they also have own trainers. Its not that I’m putting them down, but what does their experiences have to do with losing weight or health & fitness in general other than they had experience training on that specific field. For experience you should be looking for trainers who recently or had competed in fitness competitions i.e. bodybuilders, fitness girls, figures these people really knows about manipulating their diet, workout/exercise, and lifestyle in able to win shows or to just look the part. You may disregard this and say “bodybuilders use steroids” – if they do, then don’t you think they still have to workout/exercise and diet down to look good? I’m not suggesting for anyone to use steroids, but their just mere tools to enhance growth or what not and these competitors will still have to stick with their strict diets and workout regimen to get to their desired physique. Bottom line here is that you need to look for trainers that will fit what you’re needs…

Once you have your trainer – I’m sure he/she won’t rip you off and tell you to sign up for 100 sessions…lol. But seriously – I think about 10-12 sessions or 2-3X per week for 3-4 weeks will do. This should give you enough time to notice changes and also learn from your trainer.

My name is Hamilton Magtibay of Bodybuilding4everyone.com. I’m a personal trainer and a competitive bodybuilder. I have more than 10 years of experience in the health & fitness industry and I’m here to help you reach your health & fitness goals. Locally I train clients at Physique Magnifique gym in South San Francisco , Ca. This gym is owned and operated by former Mr. USA Jimmy Wilson.

Please visit our website at bodybuilding4everyone.com to purchase our products. We carry more than 3,000 Nutritional Supplements such as protein shakes, fat burners, androstene (testosterone pre-cursor), weight gainers…etc. For personal training services, please send me an email at mil@bodybuilding4everyone.com. I could also help anyone who needs help online. Or you could also train with one of our iTrainers – visit bodybuilding4everyone.com for their contact info…

If you would like to make an appointment or have any questions, please email send me an email at mil@bodybuilding4everyone.com.

Quick Guide to Setting Goals and Achieving it

By Hamilton of bodybuilding4everyone.com

Every house needs a good solid foundation and setting a goal will be your foundation to fulfill your journey. So whether you’re goal is to lose weight or gain muscle you’ll need to set a goal and stick with it. Setting goals is quiet simple, but here are few tips on setting goals and reaching.

Develop a strong desire and “Want” - you must want this really bad!!! This should be your fuel and your fire.

Visualize - get a picture of what you want and imagine yourself having it NOW; the more detailed the better it will be. So if you want to lose weight, get an ideal picture on how you would like to look like and dwell on it; think about it every second of the time. This will also boost your motivation and your body will anticipate your desire baced on your thoughts and feelings.

Be Realistic - Setting unrealistic goals is like setting yourself up for failure; start out small and work your way up as you progress.

Research & Education - Take the time to learn more about your goal - be open minded; this will help you get a clearer picture on how you’ll reach your goal. For instance, knowing the fact that you can lose 1-1.5lbs of weight per week will give you better decision to set a Realistic goal to lose between 8-10 lbs in two months versus setting a goal to lose 10-15lbs per month and quit out of frustration.

Do the work - now that you have the desire and knowledge, all you have to do now is to apply it and put it to work. Do what ever it takes to reach your goal; besides your decision to make a commitment on your goal, everyday life will continue on. So stick with your goals; if you’re tired rest; if you messed up fix it; if you broke your diet, get right back on track;if your routine is not working, change it. Its never easy trying to accomplish something new, so just persevere through it and take it one day at a time.

My name is Hamilton Magtibay and I’m the co-founder of bodybuilding4everyone.com. We have more than 10 years of experience in the health & fitness industry and we’re confident that we can help you reach your health & fitness goals through proper dieting, exercise, and supplementation. For further questions please contact me at mil@bodybuilding4everyone.com.

LET’S BE REALISTIC!!!

by Hamilton of bodybuilding4everyone.com

*A lot of people wants to “get ripped” or just “tone up” and they don’t want to get “REALLY BIG” or some would like to put on more “MUSCLE MASS”; but how do you expect to reach any of this goals if you don’t have a foundation to build up from. For starters in able to “get ripped” or “tone up” you will need to build MUSCLE!!! You can’t have the “ripped” or “toned” look if you don’t have any muscles to show when you burn off excess fat; at the most you’ll just look skinny or flat with some shape. Also don’t worry about getting “Really Big” if you’re afraid of that because realistically if you can’t even build the right amount of muscle to look “ripped’ or “toned” how do you expect to get “Really Big”. And the same rules apply if you’re goal is to put on “Muscle Mass” except you’ll have to eat alot more and don’t expect to look “Ripped” while putting on “Muscle Mass” because you will put on some extra body fat with all the food you’re ingesting.

* Another issue on working out is the misconception on the types of workout or exercise to do. Actually its quite simple you lift WEIGHTS and you’ll grow muscles. Notice the word “WEIGHTS” which is commonly used for WEIGHT-LIFTING, somehow the meaning of “WEIGHTS” in WEIGHT LIFTING evolved and became more on Cable Pulling (with the exception of Lat Pull-Downs and Seated Cable Rows ) and a variety of “Weightlifting” movements along with an EXERCISE BALL!!!??? What the …. is that!!?? Lifting weights can be dangerous if your just getting accustomed to it, but lifting weights and balancing on top of an exercise ball??!!! Now how in the hell can you lift maximum weight to stimulate muscle growth and balance your self on top of a freaking ball - you can’t!!! Furthermore you need to know what your primary goal when your working out - Is it your balance? Or is it to build muscle & burn fat? Ok, I guess that takes care of my rant about exercise balls.
Now lets review cables - cable workouts are great, but it seems that a lot of people do more cable exercises than lifting weights. It may work well, but don’t you think your bicep will respond more if you are to do Barbell Curls instead? Let’s face it - Its obvious that alot of people rather do cable exercises because its alot easier than working with actual barbells & dumbbells plus majority of Muscle & Fitness Magazines endorse cable exercises more than Barbells & Dumbbells. I guess its easier to stick with the cables than weights, but are you happy with your gains? Don’t you think you’ll get more results from lifting heavy dumbbells & barbells? How do you think the best athletes, bodybuilders, and actors built their physique? Not primarily from using Cable Exercises and Exercise Balls…

*Exercise Selection - Why is it that 80-90% of gym members are always working on their arms? And they even come up with their own versions of arm workouts!!! Don’t get me wrong - these people have awesome arms, but what happens to the rest of their body part? Or did they forget that they also have to work on their Chest, Back, Lower Back, Abs, Thighs, Calves, Hamstrings, Shoulders…etc? I know its easy to get carried away and just work on your arms or just upper body, but don’t forget that you’ll look much symmetrical or balanced if you work on all your muscles from upper body to lower body. Plus you’ll developed over all strength and also burn more body fat because you have more muscles on your body. Now that I got that out of my system, lets get started on selecting the right exercise to put on muscle and lose fat.

* Compound Movements: Compound movements are exercises that involves several muscles working together to lift the weight. These exercises are the best ones to concentrate on because it will build your muscles evenly. Also saves you more time in the gym since you’re only doing one exercise to work a group of muscles.

The following exercises are great primary workouts you’ll ever need whetter you’re trying to lose weight, tone-up, or build muscle:

Dead-Lifts - This exercise mainly works the lower back, but also puts alot of stress on your Traps, Delts, Arms, Forearms, Abs, Upper Back, Thighs, Hamstrings, and calves.

Barbell Squats - This is the best exercise to build your Quads(thighs), Gluttes(Buttocks) and to a certain extent Hams (Hamstrings); this workout also works your abs and upper body since you have to balance barbell behind your neck across your shoulder.

Incline/Flat Barbell or Dumbbell Bench Press - Incline will work upper chest area and Flat obviously hits the lower area of your chest. I don’t see the point of doing Decline Bench since Flat Bench already takes care of that. This is the best work out to build your chest and also works your Triceps, Shoulders, Forearms, and back (supporting muscle).

Dips(weighted or bodyweight) - great exercise for lower chest area and also works triceps, and upper back (supporting muscle)

Barbell/Dumbbell Shoulder Press (aka Military Press) - This exercise works all three heads of shoulder muscle from the front, side, and back - but with more emphasis on front & side area of shoulders. T this exercise also works your triceps, forearms, and upper back (supporting muscle)

Upright Rows - Also works all three heads of shoulder with emphasis on traps, side & rear delts.

Barbell Rows - Great workout to build upper back area; this exercise works your lats, rear-delts, traps, forearms, biceps, and lower back.

Seated/Standing Calf Raises - Point your toes straight and these workout will work your calves really good!!!

Barbell Curls - Great workout to put on muscle on your bicep; also works your forearms, grip, and shoulders

Reverse Grip Barbell Curls - Great workout to separate outside head of bicep muscle. Also puts alot of stress on forearms, grip, and shoulders.

Close Grip Flat Bench press - This is a chest workout, but when you move your arms closer in the middel it shift’s gear and puts more stress on all three heads of tricep.

* Isolation Movements: Isolation movements are exercises that works no more than 2 muscle groups.

The following are great isolation movements to compliment compound workouts:

Dumble Laters - great workout to define shoulders or to work on lagging muscle.

Cable Exercises - Yes Cable, their mostly isolation because that’s what their built for - to isolate certain muscle groups such as tricep, biceps…etc

* How Many Sets?

Big body parts such as Chest, Back, Thighs should be around 12-15 sets - ONCE A WEEK. Once a week?!! YES - Once A Week; remember that muscles grow outside the gym not inside the gym. That means your muscle need to recuperate and in able for it to recuperate it will need to rest…

Smaller body pars such as Arms, Delts, Calves should be around 8-10 sets or less and should be incorporated after working on a bigger bodypart. For instance Day 1- Squats, Day 2- Chest & Arms, Day 3 - Deadlifts & calves, Day 4 - Back & Shoulders…etc

NOTE: Be aware of your weak body parts such as calves & abs so you may want to work this in as a third workout with the rest untill its up to par with the rest of your bodyparts. i.e. Day 1 - Squats, Calves, & Abs, Day 30Deadlifts, Calves, & Abs, Day 4 - Back, Shoulders, Calves..etc

* How many reps?

Reps can be a touchy subject, but in general to put on muscle mass lift between 6-8 Reps and 10-15 reps for toning. Now this is not written on stone and we’re all individual and our body reacts to different stimuli, so I highly suggest to cycle your rep schemes and experiment untill you find the right rep range your body type.

* Rest in between sets?

If you’re lifting heavy between 6-8 reps, rest between 3-5 minutes

if you’re trying lose weight and lifting less weights and more reps, rest between 60-90 Sec.
Again this is not written on stone so feel free to experiment…

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