Core Training for Runners

This next post was a recent inquiry from one of my followers: Hi! I'm currently working hard toward some running goals. I hear a strong core will help with endurance and lead to faster times and also help prevent joint injury (makes sense.) Since I conveniently despise them, I haven't done core exercises in YEARS, and most of the research I've done hasn't turned up any good workouts that are specifically beneficial to runners. Any core exercises I should focus on that will help me in my running endeavors? How many times a week should I do them, and how should their timing relate to my speed work days? Thanks!

Years ago you would have never heard of runners doing core workouts let alone any sort of weight training. These days many athletes are starting to realize the importance of focusing on your core. A strong core is important to everyone including runners! The core is the vital link between your upper and lower body and thus should not be ignored.

Your core helps you through many motions of running, here’s how…

Uphill – The glutes and lower abs support the pelvis, which connects to the leg muscles needed to get uphill. If the core is strong, the legs will have a stable plane to push from, for a more powerful ascent. When you swing your leg forward, the hip-flexor muscles, such as the rectus femoris, pull on the pelvis. As you push off the ground, the glutes and hamstrings are engaged.

Downhill - When you're flying down a slope, you need strong gluteal muscles to help absorb the impact and counter the momentum of the forward motion. As fun as it may be to zoom down, without the core strength to control your movement, your quads and knee joints bear the extra pounding of your body weight, which can lead to fatigue, pain, and even injury.

Speed - As you extend your stride or quicken the rate of your leg and foot turnover when you're trying to pick up your pace, the lower abs-including the transversus and rectus abdominis-and lower back are called into action. The stronger and more stable these muscles are, the more force and speed you can generate as you push off the ground.

Lateral Movement - Whenever you have to suddenly move to the side-to turn the corner on a track, dodge a pothole, or navigate undulating terrain-the obliques provide stability and help keep you upright. If your core is weak, then you may end up leaning into the movement, which can put excess weight and strain on the joints in your legs and feet.

Endurance - As you're nearing the end of a race, a solid core helps you maintain proper form and run efficiently, even through fatigue. With strong lower abs and lower-back muscles, such as the erector spinae, it's easier to stay upright. If your core is weak, you may end up shuffling, slouching, and putting too much stress on your hips, knees, and shins. (Information courtesy of Runnersworld.com article entitled “Fast Abs” by Alyssa Shaffer)

Keeping all of this in mind I have developed the following workout: The workout will consist of three ab workouts per week. You will perform the exercises in a circuit, one exercise after another for the prescribed amount of reps or time. After you reach the end of the circuit you will rest for 60 seconds and repeat the circuit again. For the first two weeks you will complete two circuits, for weeks 3-4 you will perform three circuits, and for weeks 5-6 you will perform four circuits. If any of the exercises become to easy feel free to add some sort of resistance to them. Full explanations of the exercises are detailed at the bottom.

WEEKS 1-2

Glute Ham Bridge - 12 reps each side

Superman - 10 reps

Russian Twist - 15 reps each side

Plank w/ leg lift - 8 reps each side

Leg Lifts - 15 reps

Fire Hydrant - 15 reps each side

Plank - hold 30-60 seconds

Fire Hydrant - 15 reps each side

Russian Twist - 15 reps each side

WEEKS 3-4

Side Plank - hold 30-45 seconds each side

Superman - 8 reps

Leg Lifts - 12 reps

Stiff Leg deadlift - 12 reps

Plank w/ Leg Lift - 12 reps each

Fire Hydrant - 12 reps each

Leg Lifts - 12 reps

Glute Ham Bridge - 8 reps each

Russian Twist - 12 reps each

WEEKS 5-6

Side Plank w/ Marching - 6 reps each side

Hand to feet pass w/ Swiss Ball - 8 reps

Window Wipers - 6 reps each side

Hand to feet swiss ball pass - 8 reps

Window Wipers - 6 reps each side

Romanian Unitlateral deadlift - 6 reps each side

Backwards Plank w/ rear leg lift - 6 reps each side

Plank w/ diagonal reach - 6 reps each side

Romanian unilateral deadlift - 6 reps each side

Glute Ham Bridge – You will lay down on your back with your knees bent and flat on the ground. You will raise your butt off the ground balancing on your shoulder blades and heels. You will then raise one leg up so it is straight, and hold for a 4 count. Then alternate with the other leg. Superman – Lye flat on your stomach. Raise your arms and shoulders off the ground simultaneously with your feet and knees if possible. Hold for a two count and lower them back down.

Russian Twist – Sit down on the ground upright with your knees bent and feet on the ground. Place a weighted object in your hands (such as a medicine ball) and twist your torso to one side as far as you can go so that the object is no longer being held over your thighs. Then twist back around to the other side.

Plank w/ leg lift – Get in plank position balancing yourself on your forearms and toes. Lift one leg up as far as you can while keeping it completely straight. Hold for a two count and lower it back down, alternate the other leg. Leg Lifts – Lye flat on your back, with your hands at your sides. Raise both your legs about six inches off the ground and hold for a four count. Lower your legs back down.

Fire Hydrant – Get on your hands and knees. Lift one leg up to the side keeping it bent as a dog would when urinating on a fire hydrant. Hold for a count and alternate the other leg.

Deadlift – While standing in front of a barbell that is on the ground, make sure you’re feet are pointed naturally and slightly wider than shoulder width apart. Reach down with both hands to grab the bar ensuring that you are looking up at the time with your chest facing outward. Lift the bar as close to your body as you can comfortably do and make sure you are engaging your abs as you lift. Your shoulders should be tight and your chest should be the first thing that moves upward. Be sure your chest is facing outward and you’re looking forward the entire time. Carefully lower the bar back down the same way you lifted it.

Side Plank w/ Marching – Get in side-plank position balancing on your side with only your feet and one forearm touching the ground. While in side-plank position move one leg in a “high step” or “marching” motion while balancing on the other foot. Alternate feet.

Hand to feet pass w/ Swiss Ball – Lie flat on your back with a swiss ball between your feet. Raise the swiss ball up while simultaneously raising your arms up to grab it. Grab the swiss ball with your hands and lower your feet and the ball simultaneously. Raise your feet and ball back up and grasp the ball again between your feet and lower the ball and your hands once again. This is one rep.

Window Wipers – Lie on the ground flat on your back. Extend both legs toward the ceiling making sure your legs are straight. Stretch both arms outward for stability and let your hips rotate your legs directly to one side until they almost touch the ground. Return your legs straight up with the same motion and turn them to the other side and straight up again. This is one rep.

Backwards Plank w/ leg lift – Lie flat on your back. Balance yourself on your forearms and heels. While holding this position lift one leg up about 6 inches and hold for a four count, then drop down. Alternate to the next leg.

Plank w/ diagonal reach – Get into the plank position with your toes and your forearms balancing you. Keep your entire body straight with your abs engaged for stability. Reach with one hand outwards in front of you for a two count, and return it to its position. Now alternate with the other arm.

Romanian unilateral deadlift – Stand straight up holding two weights in your hands. Lift one foot slightly off the ground as you bend from the waist towards the ground as far as your body will let you. Make sure your foot remains underneath you just slightly hovering from the position it was in when it was on the ground. Return back up, still keeping your one foot slightly off the ground as you bend back up from the waist. Be sure to be looking straight ahead during this entire movement. Alternate with the other leg.

The Maniac's Spring Break Workout for Women: Stage 3

STAGE 1 CLICK HERE

STAGE 2 CLICK HERE

If you are looking the Men’s Workout

click here for stage 3.

Congratulations! You have made it to the 3rd and final stage of The Maniac’s Spring Break Workout! For this stage we will be focusing on toning and tightening that newly sculpted bathing suit body. The exercises will require a lot of stability and will integrate the use of a swiss ball or exercise ball.

INSTRUCTIONS: All exercises will be performed in a superset fashion. You will perform one exercise and immediately perform the next exercise, then rest for 60 seconds. You will then repeat the superset the prescribed amount of sets. Each superset has been paired accordingly. I have set up interval cardio on two of the three days you will be weight training. The interval cardio does not necessarily have to be performed on the days prescribed.

Day 1 – Full Body Workout / Cardio
Day 2 – Cardio
Day 3 – Full Body Workout / Cardio
Day 4 – Cardio
Day 5 – Full Body Workout
Day 6 – Cardio
Day 7 – Rest

WEEKS 7-9
DAY 1
A1: 2 sets 15-18 reps Dumbbell Squat w/ Swiss Ball
A2: 2 sets 12-15 reps each leg Single Leg Stiff Leg Deadlift
B1: 2 sets 12-15 reps Dumbbell Bench Press on Swiss Ball
B2: 2 sets 12-15 reps Dumbbell Kickbacks
C1: 2 sets 12-15 reps Step Up to Dumbbell Curl
D1: 2 sets 8-10 reps each side Full Contact Twist
D2: 2 sets 60-90 seconds Plank
Cardio: 20-25 Minutes of Interval cardio

DAY 2
Cardio: 45 – 60 minutes High Resistance Low Intensity Cardio

DAY 3
A1: 2 sets 12-15 reps each leg Single Leg Squat on Smith Machine
A2: 2 sets 12-15 reps each leg Single Leg Curl on Swiss Ball
B1: 2 sets 12-15 reps Seated Dumbbell Curl on Swiss Ball
B2: 2 sets 12-15 reps Lat Pulldowns
C1: 2 sets 10-12 reps each leg Side Lunge to Shoulder Press
D1: 2 sets 8-10 reps each side High to Low Cable Woodchoppers
D2: 2 sets 15-18 reps Back Extensions
Cardio: 20-25 Minutes of Interval cardio

DAY 4
Cardio: 45 – 60 minutes High Resistance Low Intensity Cardio

DAY 5
A1: 2 sets 12-15 reps each leg Dumbbell Rear Lunge
A2: 2 sets 15-18 reps Barbell Squat
B1: 2 sets 12-15 reps Pushups
B2: 2 sets 12-15 reps Dumbbell Rows on Swiss Ball
C1: 2 sets 8-10 reps each leg Step Up to Dumbbell Curl
D1: 2 sets 12-15 reps Deadlifts
D2: 2 sets 10-12 reps each side Side Cable Twist

DAY 6
Cardio: 45 – 60 minutes High Resistance Low Intensity Cardio

DAY 7
REST

The Maniac's Spring Break Workout for Men: Stage 3

FOR STAGE 1 CLICK HERE

FOR STAGE 2 CLICK HERE

If you are looking the Women’s Workout

click here for stage 3.

Congratulations! You have made it to the 3rd and final stage of The Maniac’s Spring Break Workout! The workout has been designed to really give you that big “pump” to bring out your muscle in your newly sculpted swim suit body. You will find a lot of the same movements in this routine as you would in a precontest type bodybuilding routine, insuring to bring out the best in your muscles.

INSTRUCTIONS: All exercises will be performed in a superset fashion. You will perform one exercise and immediately perform the next exercise, then rest for 60 seconds. You will then repeat the superset the prescribed amount of sets. Each superset has been paired accordingly. You will also notice I have put drop sets into the routine. To do a drop set you will select a heavier weight you will be able to perform the exercise with for around 7 reps. You will use this weight until failure, immediately select a lower weight, use this till failure, then select a lower and final weight to use till failure. For the abdominal exercises you will perform all of them in a row, rest one minute, then repeat the circuit two more times.

Day 1 – Chest/Back
Day 2 – Abs/Cardio
Day 3 – Bis/Tris
Day 4 – Abs/Cardio
Day 5 – Legs/Shoulders
Day 6 – Abs/Cardio

Weeks 7-9
DAY 1
A1: 4 sets 10-12 reps Incline Dumbbell Fly
A2: 4 sets 2 drops to failure Incline Dumbbell Bench (Drop Set)
B1: 4 sets 12-15 reps Row Machine
B2: 4 sets 2 drops to failure Lat Pulldown Machine (Drop Set)
C1: 3 sets 12-15 reps Cable Crossovers
C2: 3 sets 12-15 reps Pushups
D1: 3 sets 12-15 reps Seated Pulley Row
D2: 3 sets 12-15 reps Pullups

DAY 2
A1: 3 sets 12-15 reps V-Up
A2: 3 sets 10-12 reps each side Lateral Bridge
A3: 3 sets 10-12 reps each side Low to High Cable Woodchopper
A4: 3 sets 12-15 reps Swiss Ball Crunch
25-30 Minutes of Interval Cardio

DAY 3
A1: 4 sets 10-12 reps Curl Bar Curl
A2: 4 sets 12-15 reps Incline Dumbbell Curl
B1: 4 sets 10-12 reps Curl Bar Skull Crusher
B2: 4 sets 12-15 reps Tricep Kickbacks
C1: 3 sets 10-12 reps Close Grip Dumbbell Bench Press (neutral grip)
C2: 3 sets 10-12 reps Standing Dumbbell Curls
C3: 3 sets 12-15 reps Cable Tricep Pushdown
C4: 3 sets 12-15 reps Concentration Curls
E1: 3 sets 12-15 reps Single Leg Calf Raise
E2: 3 sets 12-15 reps Calf Press

DAY 4
A1: 3 sets 8-10 reps Barbell Rollouts
A2: 3 sets 10-12 reps each side High to Low Medicine Ball Woodchoppers
A3: 3 sets 12-15 reps each side Twisting Swiss Ball Crunch w/ Knee Raise
25-30 Minutes of Interval Cardio

DAY 5
A1: 4 sets 12-15 reps Incline Bench Dumbbell Shrugs (face on bench)
A2: 4 sets 12-15 reps Seated Arnold Press
B1: 3 sets 2 drops to failure Seated Side Lateral Raises (drop set)
C1: 3 sets 12-15 reps Front Squat
C2: 3 sets 10-12 reps Leg Extension (7 count negatives)
D1: 3 sets 12-15 reps Walking Lunges
D2: 3 sets 10-12 reps Lying Leg Curls (7 count negatives)

DAY 6
A1: 3 sets 12-15 reps each side Side Cable Twist
A2: 3 sets 10-12 reps Overhead Squats
B1: 3 sets 10-12 reps Swiss Ball Crunch
B2: 3 sets 12-15 reps Knee Ins
25-30 Minutes of Interval Cardio

DAY 7
REST

The Maniac's 12 Week Transformation

After 12 weeks of sweat, hard work, and strict dieting I, The Maniac, have completed my 12 week body transformation. I feel completely great afterwards and the pictures below don’t lie, I look great too. After not working out regularly for a solid 7 months it was a real struggle to get back into a routine. Let me tell you the whole thing wasn’t easy every few weeks I would hit a wall in progression and every time I would have to tighten up my diet and routine. So how did I do it?

THE DIET
So the first six weeks weren't so bad. Basically I started off eating how I normally was eating, since I eat pretty well already, and changed my diet slowly. The first thing I needed to do was eat more. I was eating 2 or 3 meal a day, which quickly turned into the necessary 5 to 6 meals a day. The next thing to do was portion control. I had to stop eating such large meals; I really have a bad habit in doing this. Once I got my portions under control, I needed to find out how many carbohydrates, protein, and fat I needed to consume throughout the day. I decided to consume about 40 grams of carbohydrates, 40 grams of protein, and about 9 grams of fat per meal. Which come out to be between 2000 to 2400 calories per day divided among 5 to 6 meals.

The last six weeks were the hardest. This is where I went into serious diet mode. I tweaked my diet by eating very healthy I went from cereal for breakfast to eggs and oatmeal. I started eating as much chicken breast I could as a source of lean protein. I ate lots of fruits, vegetables, berries, nuts, and seeds. I made sure I got plenty of protein at night in the form of either eggs or cottage cheese. The last three weeks my diet was tightened up as much as possible. I reduced my calories to about 1500 to 1800 calories a day. This might have been not enough calories so I would increase my caloric intake temporarily about every four days for about two days. I would also very the intake of my macronutrients throughout the day. I would have more carbohydrates for breakfast, eat normally throughout the day, and then my last two meals would have little to no carbohydrates and almost all of my daily fat needs. Protein intake would be moderate at breakfast, sometimes be a little low in the afternoon, then high on my last two meals of the day.

THE WORKOUT
The workout that I completed I did not design myself, but I sure was able to customize it for myself. The workout I used was from the very popular series of books The Body Sculpting Bible For Men, authored by James Villepigue and Hugo Rivera. I changed my workout every two weeks and used exercises I specifically wanted to use for myself according to my needs and goals. For example I used almost all dumbbells for my chest and did lots and lots of squats. I trained abs and calves separately on their own, because my calves are lagging and I wanted my abs to pop. My cardio workouts started off slow with 2 to 3 sessions per week for the first 6 weeks then 3 to 4 times per week for weeks 7-8 and at least 5 sessions per week for weeks 9-12.

THE RESULTS
I started off weighing 161 lbs. and had 11% body fat. After 12 weeks I was able to lose 3 lbs. putting me at 158lbs and bringing my body fat percentage to 5%. This indicates that I was able to lose about 9.5 lbs. of fat and gain 6.5 lbs. of muscle! This my friends is truly impressive considering I took NO STEROIDS, NO SUPPLEMENTS, and NO PROTEIN POWDERS! That’s right folks during the entire 12 weeks I didn’t even ingest one multivitamin. I did it all with plain old food, water, and knowledge. The whole experience has made me a big believer in keeping an appropriate and proper diet, just look at the results below.

Before	After

Before	After

Before	After

The Maniac's Spring Break Workout for Women: Stage 2

At last you have made it to Stage 2 of “The Maniac’s Spring Break Workout for Women”. If you haven’t looked over

STAGE 1 CLICK HERE.

STAGE 3 CLICK HERE.

If you are looking for

STAGE 2 OF THE MEN'S WORKOUT CLICK HERE.

During Stage 2 will be increasing reps as well as increasing the cardio. The movements will require a little more stability and the ab workouts will increase in intensity. All facets of Stage 2 of been designed to burn fat and build muscle. Wait what? Build muscle?! Not to worry this routine will not make you bulky there are too many missing factors to the routine to make you bulk up. It will simply build a little muscle that will aid in the fat burning process, trust me! Now let’s get started!

INSTRUCTIONS: All exercises will be performed in a superset fashion. You will perform one exercise and immediately perform the next exercise, then rest for 60 seconds. You will then repeat the superset the prescribed amount of sets. Each superset has been paired accordingly. On Day 3 for the ab workout you will perform a triset. In this case you will be performing three exercises in a row before resting for 60 seconds. Again if you are not sure on how to perform certain exercises please feel free to contact me by commenting below or e-mailing me at maniacs.gym@gmail.com. You can also use Bodybuilding.com and YouTube as great resources as well.

STAGE 2

Day 1 – Upper Body / Cardio
Day 2 – Lower Body / Abs
Day 3 – Abs / Cardio
Day 4 – Upper Body / Cardio
Day 5 – Lower Body / Abs
Day 6 – Rest
Day 7 – Rest

WEEKS 4-6

DAY 1
A1: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Flat Dumbbell Bench Press w/ Feet on Bench
A2: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Reverse Tricep Pushdown
B1: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Dumbbell Rows
B2: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Cable Curls w/ Rope
C1: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Dumbbell Floor Press
C2: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Chin Ups
40 Minutes of High Resistance Low Intensity Cardio

DAY 2
A1: 2 sets 12-15 reps - Squats
A2: 2 sets 12-15 reps - Swiss Ball Leg Curl
B1: 2 sets 12-15 reps each side - Side Plank w/ Leg Lift
B2: 2 sets 12-15 reps each leg - Dumbbell Side Lunge
C1: 2 sets 12-15 reps - Dumbbell Squat
C2: 2 sets 12-15 reps - Dumbbell Stiff Leg Deadlift
D1: 2 sets 12-15 reps each side - Twisting Crunch on Swiss Ball
D2: 2 sets 12-15 reps - Leg raises

DAY 3
A1: 3 sets 7 reps (hold for 10 count) - Vacuum
A2: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Pilot’s Chair Knee-Ins
A3: 3 sets 12-15 reps each side - Oblique Crunch on Swiss Ball
20-25 Minutes of Interval Cardio

DAY 4
A1: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Dips
A2: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Seated Bent Over Tricep Kickbacks
B1: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Close Grip Lat Pulldown
B2: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Dumbell Hamer Curls
C1: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Tate Press
C2: 3 sets 10-12 reps - Drag Curl
40 Minutes of High Resistance Low Intensity Cardio

DAY 5
A1: 2 sets 12-15 reps - Deadlifts
A2: 2 sets 12-15 reps - Seated Leg Curl
B1: 2 sets 12-15 reps each leg - Step Ups
B2: 2 sets 12-15 reps each leg - Standing Glute Kickbacks
C1: 2 sets 12-15 reps - Wide Stance Squat
C2: 2 sets 12-15 reps each leg - Reverse Lunge
D1: 2 sets 12-15 reps each side - Plank w/ Rotation
D2: 2 sets 12-15 reps - Superman

DAY 6
REST

DAY 7
REST

The Maniac's Spring Break Workout for Men: Stage 2

At last you have made it to Stage 2 of “The Maniac’s Spring Break Workout for Men”. If you haven’t looked over

STAGE 1 CLICK HERE.

STAGE 3 CLICK HERE.

If you were looking for

STAGE 2 OF THE WOMEN'S WORKOUT CLICK HERE.

INSTRUCTIONS: Alright gym rats stage will be consisting of complicated movements that will not only require you to move weight, but will require you to move your body. This will really get the out of your body in a hurry. I wanted to make this Stage very intense so I combined some traditional exercises together to form one exercise. You will see in Week 4 I have numbered some of the more complicated exercises. After Week 4 I have made a description on how to perform some of the exercises next to the exercise’s corresponding number.

Below you will find a simple outline of a typical week’s schedule. Notice I have not added in cardio. I am leaving the cardio to you. What I do want out of you as far as cardio goes is as follows. You need to cardio between 3 and 4 days a week. Each cardio session will consist of 20 to 25 minutes of interval training. You may do them after you lift, you may do them first thing in the morning and lift in the evening, or you may do them on your rest days. It doesn’t matter to me, whatever your schedule will allow for get it done.

You will also notice I have no ab workouts planned for Stage 2. This is because of the complexity of the exercises in Stage 2 you will be working your abs constantly. I tried to design this stage so you can get the most amount of work done in the least amount of time.

For Week 4 I have paired exercises together you will perform in modified supersets. You will perform one exercise rest for 60 seconds then perform the next exercise and rest for 60 seconds. For Week 5 you will be doing supersets. You will perform and exercise and immediately go into the next exercise and rest for 60 seconds. For Week 6 you will be doing giant sets and trisets. You will be doing three or four exercises in a row then rest for 60 seconds.

Again if you are not sure on how to perform certain exercises please feel free to contact me by commenting below or e-mailing me at maniacs.gym@gmail.com. You can also use Bodybuilding.com and YouTube as great resources as well.

DAY 1 – Upper Body
DAY 2 – Lower Body
DAY 3 – Rest
DAY 4 – Upper Body
DAY 5 – Lower Body
DAY 6 – Rest
DAY 7 – Rest


STAGE 2

--------WEEK 4--------

DAY 1
A1: 3x15 - Hindu Pushups
A2: 3x15 - Hanging Cleans
B1: 2x15 - Incline Dumbbell Hammer Curl to Bench Press 1:2 ratio(1)
B2: 2x15 - Pull-ups
C1: 3x15 - Full Contact Twists
C2: 3x15 - Two Hand dumbbell snatch to French Press(2)
D1: 2x15 - Plate Rows
D2: 2x15 - Dumbbell flys to Skull Crushers(3)

DAY 2
A1: 3x20 - Squats
A2: 3x20 - Cleans
B1: 2x12 - Overhead Squats
B2: 2x20 - Squat w/ Plate and Push out(4)
C1: 3x20 - Double Dumbbell Squat to Clean(5)
C2: 3x20 - Box Jumps

DAY 3
REST

DAY 4
A1: 3x15 - Incline Dumbbell Bench
A2: 3x15 - Body Rows
B1: 2x15 - Pushups w/ Rows(6)
B2: 2x15 - Dumbbell Snatch
C1: 3x15 - Towel Pull-ups
C2: 3x15 - Two Hand Dumbbell Shoulder Press (alternating sides)
D1: 2x15 - Dumbbell Curls to Shoulder Press
D2: 2x15 - Walk out and Pushup on Exercise Ball

DAY5
A1: 3x20 - Deadlifts
A2: 3x20 - Dumbbell Squats
B1: 2x10 (each leg) - Alternating Jumping Lunges
B2: 2x15 (each leg) - Stationary Backward Lunges
C1: 3x15 (each leg) - Step ups weighted
C2: 3xfailure - Farmers Walk

DAY 6
REST

DAY 7
REST

(1) On this exercise you will curl two dumbbells at once. At the top of your curl you will transition to a bench press and do two reps. Then you will lower the weight and repeat. This counts as one rep.
(2) You will start with the dumbbell on the floor and explode up with it over your head. You will then lower the dumbbell behind your head and press it back up. Then lower the dumbbell to the floor again and repeat. This counts as one rep.
(3) You will perform a fly with the dumbbells. At the top of the motion you will lower the weights into a skull crusher and raise them back up. You will then lower the weights for the eccentric portion of the fly. This counts as one rep.
(4) You will perform a body squat holding a plate against your chest. At the bottom of the squat you will push the plate away from your chest then back in to your chest. You will then perform the concentric portion of the squat. This counts as one rep.
(5) You will bend down in squat position and pick up two dumbbells holding them at your sides. When you stand up you will in one motion clean the dumbbells as if you were getting ready to press them. You will then lower the weight back down to your sides and squat back down. This counts as one rep.
(6) You will be doing pushups on dumbbells. You will lower your body then pushup. At the top of the pushup you will row one dumbbell and then the other staying in pushup position, then repeat. This counts as one rep.


--------WEEK 5--------

DAY 1
A1: 3x12 - Diamond Pushups
A2: 3x12 - Hanging Cleans
B1: 3x12 - Incline Dumbbell Hammer Curl to Bench Press 1:2 ratio
B2: 3x12 - Pull-ups
C1: 3x12 - Full Contact Twists
C2: 3x12 - Two Hand dumbbell snatch to French Press
D1: 3x12 - Plate Rows
D2: 3x12 - Dumbbell flys to Skull Crushers

DAY 2
A1: 3x16 - Squats
A2: 3x16 - Cleans
B1: 3x12 - Overhead Squats
B2: 3x16 - Squat w/ Plate and Push out
C1: 3x16 - Double Dumbbell Squat to Clean
C2: 3x20 - Box Jumps

DAY 3
REST

DAY 4
A1: 3x12 - Incline Dumbbell Bench
A2: 3x12 - Body Rows
B1: 3x12 - Pushups w/ Rows
B2: 3x12 - Dumbbell Snatch
C1: 3x12 - Towel Pull-ups
C2: 3x12 - Two Hand Dumbbell Shoulder Press (alternating sides)
D1: 3x12 - Dumbbell Curls to Shoulder Press
D2: 3x12 - Walk out and Pushup on Exercise Ball

DAY 5
A1: 3x16 - Deadlifts
A2: 3x16 - Dumbbell Squats
B1: 3x8 (each leg) - Alternating Jumping Lunges
B2: 3x12 (each leg) - Stationary Backward Lunges
C1: 3x12 (each leg) - Step ups weighted
C2: 3xfailure - Farmers Walk

DAY 6
REST

DAY 7
REST


--------WEEK 6--------

DAY 1
GIANT SET
A1: 4x10 - Diamond Pushups
A2: 4x10 - Pull-ups
A3: 3x10 - Hanging Cleans
A4: 3x10 - Incline Dumbbell Hammer Curl to Bench Press 1:2 ratio
GIANT SET
B1: 4x10 - Full Contact Twists
B2: 4x10 - Dumbbell flys to Skull Crushers
B3: 3x10 - Two Hand dumbbell snatch to French Press
B4: 3x10 - Plate Rows

DAY 2
TRI-SET
A1: 4x12 - Squats
A2: 4x12 - Cleans
A3: 4x10 – Saxon Side Bends
TRI-SET
B1: 4x12 - Squat w/ Plate and Push out
B2: 4x12 - Double Dumbbell Squat to Clean
B3: 4x16 - Box Jumps

DAY 3
REST

DAY 4
GIANT SET
A1: 4x10 - Incline Dumbbell Bench
A2: 4x10 - Body Rows
A3: 3x10 - Pushups w/ Rows
A4: 3x10 - Dumbbell Snatch
GIANT SET
B1: 4x10 - Towel Pull-ups
B2: 4x10 - Two Hand Dumbbell Shoulder Press (alternating sides)
B3: 3x10 - Dumbbell Curls to Shoulder Press
B4: 3x10 - Walk out and Pushup on Exercise Ball

DAY 5
TRI-SET
A1: 4x12 - Deadlifts
A2: 4x12 - Dumbbell Squats
A3: 4x6 (each leg) - Alternating Jumping Lunges (aka paratroopers)
TRI-SET
B1: 4x8 (each leg) - Stationary Backward Lunges
B2: 4x8 (each leg) - Step ups weighted
B3: 4xfailure - Farmers Walk

DAY 6
REST

DAY 7
REST

The Maniac's Spring Break Workout for Women: Stage 1

WOMEN'S WORKOUT STAGE 2

WOMEN'S WORKOUT STAGE 3

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE MEN'S WORKOUT!

As I’m sure you’re very aware Spring Break is a couple months away. Some of you may be frantically thinking of ways to get into bathing suit shape, while others haven’t even gave it a second thought. Don’t worry my faithful readers; because today I will be blogging a 9 week workout program, I designed myself, to whip you into tip-top shape for that two piece bikini.

The workout I have designed will be divided into three stages. Stage 1 will be to strengthen your body. You will be doing heavy compound movements to strengthen your major muscle groups. With the amount of stimulation put on your muscles by doing these compound movements your body will be burning many calories and your metabolism will be sped up.

Stage 2 will be for cutting fat. You will be doing more complex movements that will require a little more muscle stability designed to melt the fat away. Cardio will be increased to as your body will be adapting to the routine from Stage 1 as well as abdominal workouts will increase in difficulty.

Stage 3 will be to tighten up and tone your sexy swim suit body. The exercises will require a lot of stability forcing you to use all those muscles you never thought you had putting the final touches on your newly sculpted body.
For more great info click

20 Tips for a Bikini-Ready Body

This is an article I found on Bodybuilding.com with great ideas that will have you looking your best.

INSTRUCTIONS: This workout has been designed to give you the three assets for the perfect swim suit body: great posture, a slim tight core, and perfectly sculpted butt. In order for to get the maximum benefits from this workout plan you need to be constantly focusing on your posture, core, and butt. What do I mean by this? When you do a back exercise, I want you to consciously think “posture”. This means that you put your chest out and squeeze your back holding the repetition for a split second, before lowering the weight again. When you are doing any exercise standing up, I want you to be thinking about your core. Your core is the one thing between the weight in your hands (or on your back), and your feet planted on the ground. Your core is what’s keeping you upright, so in order to get that tight slim waste, you need to consciously think “tighten my core” when doing standing exercises. You do this by trying to pull your belly button inwards towards your spine. Do this and I guarantee you WILL have a slimmer waste. When doing any leg exercise where you have to bend your knee (with the exception of stiff leg deadlifts), you will inevitably be engaging your glutes, so be sure you are consciously thinking “tighten my butt” with every rep. When I say tighten your glutes, I really want you to take a second at the top of every rep to really squeeze your cheeks together, in the words of my former wrestling coach you need to “pinch a coin”. If you can do this guys will be giving themselves whip lash as you walk right past them!

For Stage 1 of this program, you will be performing two exercises back to back in a superset fashion. I have organized the supersets by letter. You will perform one exercise, rest 60 seconds, then perform the second exercise, and rest 60 seconds. You will do the amount of sets and reps prescribed. On ab days you will superset the exercises, except you will not be resting between the first and second exercise. You will only rest after the second exercise. You will then perform cardio once your ab workout is over.

For cardio you will either be doing low intensity high resistance cardio or interval training. What I mean by low intensity high resistance cardio is crank the resistance up, but you don’t have to move very fast. You may want to do this on machines that will work your glutes, such as stair steppers. This will be great for shaping your butt. For low intensity high resistance training I want you to work out at your target fat burning heart rate. To find this you will subtract your age from 220. You will take that number and multiply it by .75. This will be your target fat burning heart rate in beats per minute or BPM. Try to work out at this heart rate +/- 10 BPM. For interval training I want you to do a 3-5 minute warm up, then you sprint hard, let’s say for 30 seconds. You need to go all out, about 80% – 90%. Then you will slow down to about 50% for about 1 minute. Then you sprint again. You can sprint anywhere from 30 to 40 seconds and slow down for 1 minute, 1 minute 30 seconds, or 2 minutes. You can vary it how you want. You will then cool down for 3-5 minutes. Do your warm up, intervals, and cool down within the time I have allotted for cardio.

It is extremely important that you take 5 to 7 minutes to warm up before performing any of these workouts. It is especially important to take the time to stretch and warm up your core before doing ab exercises. This is essential if you want to develop great abs! If you have any questions or concerns on how to perform any of these exercises feel free to comment below or e-mail me at maniacs.gym@gmail.com. You can also do a search on Bodybuilding.com or YouTube, as a great source for instructions on how to perform certain exercises. I will be posting Stage 2 and Stage 3 of my exercise program shortly.

WEEKS 1-3

DAY 1
A1: 3 sets 8-10 reps Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
(Flat Dumbbell Bench on Week 3)
A2: 2 sets 12-15 reps Pullup (wide grip)

B1: 3 sets 8-10 reps Barbell Bench Press
(Incline Barbell Bench Press on Week 3)
B2: 2 sets 12-15 reps Lat Pulldown (regular grip)

C1: 3 sets 8-10 reps Bench Dips
(switch to pushups on Weeks 2&3)
C2: 2 sets 12-15 reps High Pull Cable Rows (rope)
(Cable Rows Wide Grip Week 3)

D1: 2 sets 12-15 reps Incline Dumbbell Flys
D2: 2 sets 15-18 reps Single Arm Dumbbell Rows
(Double Arm Dumbbell Rows on Weeks 2&3)

DAY 2
A1: 2 sets 12-15 reps each side Standing Oblique Crunches
A2: 2 sets 30-90 seconds Plank
30 Minutes of High Resistance Low Intensity Cardio

DAY 3
A1: 2 sets 12-15 reps Dumbbell Curls
A2: 2 sets 12 -15 reps Tricep Pushdowns (Bar on Week 1 Rope on Weeks 2&3)

B1: 2 sets 15-18 reps Two Hand Cable Curls
(Dumbbell Concentration Curls on Weeks 2&3)
B2: 2 sets 15-18 reps Single Arm Dumbbell French Press
(Lying Dumbbell Extension on Weeks 2&3)

C1: 2 sets 12-15 reps Incline Dumbbell Curls
C2: 2 sets 12-15 reps Cable Tricep Kickbacks
(Dumbbell Tricep Kickbacks on Week 3)

D1: 3 sets 12-15 reps Single Leg Standing Calf Raise

DAY 4
A1: 2 sets 20 reps Swiss Ball Crunch
A2: 2 sets 8-10 reps Back Extensions
15-20 Minutes of Interval Cardio

DAY 5
A1: 3 sets 8-10 reps Squats
(Close Stance Squat on Week 3)
A2: 3 sets 10-12 reps each leg Front Lunges
(Backwards Lunges on Weeks 2&3)

B1: 3 sets 12-15 reps Leg Extensions
B2: 3 sets 10-12 reps each leg Side Lunges
(Side Lunge with Hop on Week 3)

C1: 3 sets 10-12 reps each leg Single Leg Press
(Split Squat on Weeks 2&3)
C2: 3 sets 12-15 reps Step Ups
(Single Leg Deadlift on Week 3)

D1: 2 sets 8-10 reps Front Raises
(Side Lateral Raises on Week 2)
(Bent Over Lateral Raises on Week 3)

DAY 6
A1: 2 sets 10-12 reps Hanging Knee Raises
A2: 2 sets 8-10 reps Superman
30 Minutes of High Resistance Low Intensity Cardio

The Maniac's Spring Break Workout for Men: Stage 1

MEN'S WORKOUT STAGE 2

MEN'S WORKOUT STAGE 3

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE WOMEN'S WORKOUT!

So you want to get in shape for Spring Break? Have you started a routine yet, or have you merely just thought about getting in shape at this point? Well there is no time to lose, to build something great you must act now my friends. Spring break is only a couple months away, but lucky for you I have planned your workouts for you. I have designed a 9 week program that will get you bathing suit ready despite how many cookies you crammed down your throat these past holiday months.

I have split my 9 week routine into three different stages. Stage 1 will consist of heavy compound movements that will kick off the fat burning process and build up those major muscle groups i.e. chest, back, legs, and shoulders. Stage 2 has been designed with complex exercises increasing the intensity of your workout but decreasing the load lifted in order to accelerate the fat loss process. Stage 3 will finish up the program having you do a lot of isolation exercises bringing a big “pump” to your muscles. This will bring out all the hard work you have put in bringing out the fine detail in your muscles.

The whole program has been designed to focus on four areas of your body to ensure the ladies will be gawking whether you have your shirt off or on. You will be focusing a lot on building the back, chest, shoulders, and bringing out those abs. Having great abs is key when you’re on the beach, but girls could care less what your abs look like when you have your shirt is on. This is why the program has been designed to bring out that oh so important upper half of your body. Is that girl at the club going to come up and talk to that scrawny guy or is her attention going to be drawn to the guy with wide lat spread, powerful chest, and bulging shoulders?

INSTRUCTIONS: For the first week you will be performing two exercises back to back in a superset fashion. I have organized the supersets by letter. You will perform one exercise and without rest you will be performing the second exercise, then you will rest 60 seconds. You will do the amount of sets and reps prescribed. On ab days for the first week I want you to perform all the exercises in a row as a circuit. You will rest for 60 seconds once you complete the circuit then repeat the circuit twice more. You will then perform cardio once your ab workout is over.

For the second and third weeks you will be supersetting two exercises again, only this time you will perform the first exercise, rest 60 seconds, perform the second exercise, and rest 60 seconds. For ab days you will be performing supersets. You will perform an exercise and immediately perform the next exercise, then you will rest 60 seconds. Take note on Day 4 you will be performing a triset. Perform this exactly how you would a superset.

It is extremely important that you take 5 to 7 minutes to warm up before performing any of these workouts. It is especially important to take the time to stretch and warm up your core before doing ab exercises. This is essential if you want to develop great abs! If you have any questions or concerns on how to perform any of these exercises feel free to comment below or e-mail me at maniacs.gym@gmail.com. You can also do a search on Bodybuilding.com or YouTube. I will be posting Stage 2 and Stage 3 of my exercise program shortly.

WEEK 1
DAY 1
A1: 4 sets 6-8 reps Barbell Bench Press
A2: 4 sets 6-8 reps Pullup (Regular Grip)
B1: 4 sets 6-8 reps Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
B2: 4 sets 6-8 reps Barbell Row
C1: 4 sets 6-8 reps Incline Barbell Bench Press
C2: 4 sets 6-8 reps Single Arm Dumbbell Row
D1: 3 sets 10-12 reps Incline Dumbbell Flys
D2: 3 sets 25 reps Lat Pulldowns

DAY 2
3 sets 8-12 reps Crunch on Swiss Ball
3 sets 7-10 reps each side Lateral Bridge
3 sets 8-10 reps Knee-In
3 sets 6-8 reps each side Swiss Ball Lower Body Rotation
15-20 Minutes of Interval Cardio

DAY 3
A1: 3 sets 8-10 reps Standing Curls w/ Curl Bar
A2: 3 sets 8-10 reps Tricep Dips
B1: 3 sets 8-10 reps Hammer Curls
B2: 3 sets 8-10 reps Lying Tricep Extensions w/ Curl Bar
C1: 3 sets 8-10 reps Reverse Curls w/ Curl Bar
C2: 3 sets 8-10 reps Close Grip Dumbbell Bench w/ Neutral Hand Position
D1: 3 sets 20-25 reps Concentration Curls
D2: 3 sets 30 reps Tricep Pushdowns w/ “V” Bar
E1: 3 sets 15-18 reps Standing Calf Raise
E2: 3 sets 15-18 reps Seated Calf Raise

DAY 4
1-3 sets 10-12 reps Kneeling Medicine Ball Throw
1-3 sets 8-10 reps each side Medicine Ball Bicycle
1-3 sets 10-12 reps Overhead Squat
15-20 Minutes of Interval Cardio

DAY 5
A1: 3 sets 6-8 reps Barbell Military Press
A2: 3 sets 8-10 reps Bent Over Deltoid Raises
B1: 3 sets 6-8 reps Upright Row
B2: 3 sets 8-10 reps Cable Side Deltoid Raises
C1: 3 sets 6-8 reps Leg Press
C2: 3 sets 6-8 reps Leg Curl
D1: 4 sets 6-8 reps Squat
D2: 4 sets 6-8 reps Forward Lunges
E1: 3 sets 6-8 reps Dumbbell Squat
E2: 3 sets 6-8 reps Barbell Stiff Leg Deadlifts

DAY 6
1-3 sets 6-8 reps Medicine Ball Wood Chopper
1-3 sets 8-10 reps Slow Sit-Up
1-3 sets 6-8 reps each side Saxon Side Bends
1-3 sets 10-12 reps Deadlift
15-20 Minutes of Interval Cardio

WEEKS 2 – 3
DAY 1
A1: 3 sets 10-12 reps Dumbbell Bench Press
A2: 3 sets 10-12 reps Pullup (Reverse Grip)
B1: 3 sets 8-10 reps Decline Barbell Bench
B2: 3 sets 8-10 reps Barbell Row
C1: 3 sets 8-10 reps Barbell Bench Press
C2: 3 sets 8-10 reps Seated Pulley Row (Narrow Grip)
D1: 3 sets 15-20 reps Pushups
D2: 3 sets 12-15 reps Single Arm Dumbbell Row

DAY 2
A1: 3 sets 30-60 seconds Plank
A2: 3 sets 6-8 reps each side Twisting Swiss Ball Crunch w/ Knee Raise
B1: 3 sets 8-10 reps Hanging Leg Raise
B2: 3 sets 6-8 reps Full Contact Twist
15-20 Minutes of Interval Cardio

DAY 3
A1: 3 sets 8-10 reps Incline Dumbbell Curl
A2: 3 sets 8-10 reps Smith Machine Close Grip Bench
B1: 3 sets 10-12 reps Preacher Curls
B2: 3 sets 10-12 reps Lying Tricep Extension w/ Curl Bar
C1: 3 sets 8-10 reps Barbell Curls
C2: 3 sets 12-15 reps Diamond Pushups
D1: 3 sets 8-10 reps Standing Dumbbell Curls
D2: 3 sets 8-10 reps Tricep Kickbacks
E1: 3 sets 12-15 reps Single Leg Calf Raise
E2: 3 sets 12-15 reps Calf Press

DAY 4
A1: 3 sets 8-10 reps Swiss Ball Crunch
A2: 3 sets 6-8 reps Swiss Ball Lower Body Rotation
A3: 3 sets 6-8 reps Superman
B1: 3 sets 8-10 reps Cable Crunch
B2: 3 sets 6-8 reps Suitcase Deadlift
15-20 Minutes of Interval Cardio

DAY 5
A1: 3 sets 8-10 reps Barbell Shrugs
A2: 3 sets 12-15 reps Rear Deltoid Machine
B1: 3 sets 8-10 reps Dumbbell Military Press
B2: 3 sets 8-10 reps Front Raise w/ Curl Bar
C1: 3 sets 8-10 reps Squats
C2: 3 sets 8-10 reps Backward Lunges
D1: 4 sets 8-10 reps Hack Squats
D2: 4 sets 8-10 reps Seated Leg Curls
E1: 3 sets 8-10 reps Leg Extensions
E2: 3 sets 8-10 reps Step Ups

DAY 6
A1: 3 sets 6-8 reps V-Up
A2: 3 sets 8-10 reps Swiss Ball Reverse Crunch
B1: 3 sets 6-8 reps each side Full Contact Twist
B2: 3 sets 6-8 reps Back Extension
15-20 Minutes of Interval Cardio

20 Fat Loss Tips and Tricks

So with the New Year rolling on in I decided I would help my readers out with some fat loss tips. After about three weeks into the New Year I figured some of you could use some help. For those of you who haven’t started with your “I want to lose weight.” resolution I figured this would be a great start for you!

Tip #1 Take the Stairs – The basic concept behind losing weight is to burn more calories than you consume. When you do this it forces the body to search for alternate sources of fuel, such as your body’s fat stores. The bigger your calorie deficit, the more weight you will lose, and a little goes a long way when added up. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, stand instead of sit, walk instead of drive, park in the back of the parking lot, or just get to the gym.

Tip #2 Eat Smaller Meals more often – Contrary to popular belief when you diet you want to eat more! You need to help get your metabolism revved up in order to burn more calories. In order to do this you need to eat meals more often, such as five to six meals a day. The meals won’t be big,you are going to want to eat smaller meals. If your body is constantly ingesting and digesting food it will speed up your metabolism to keep up with the demand, and a faster metabolism means more calories burned!

Tip #3 Cardio in the Morning – Doing cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach is the optimum time for burning fat. Basically your body hasn’t eaten in so many hours and your glycogen levels are depleted. The body uses glycogen as its first source of energy, before it goes into burning fat. With your glycogen stores are depleted the body can immediately start burning fat. Working out on an empty stomach will allow you to burn 300% more fat.

Tip #4 Eat Breakfast – You absolutely have to eat breakfast if you want to lose weight. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, because it gets your metabolism revved up at the beginning of the day. Starving your body will make it think it’s going to go long periods without food. As a survival instinct it will go into fat storage mode not knowing when the next meal will come. Without breakfast your metabolism will have trouble getting kick started for the day.

Tip #5 Cut the Junk – If you want to lose weight you have to cut the junk. I’m talking about refined sugars and processed food. No pop, chips, cookies, crackers, white bread, sugary cereals, anything that comes out of a wrapper, and basically anything that comes from your grocery’s frozen food section. These foods will spike your insulin which will then drop it very low causing your body to store fat. So eat foods less processed to keep your insulin levels steady to meet your fat loss goals.

Tip #6 No Late Night Snacks – You shouldn’t eat three hours before you go to bed at night. Any food your body hasn’t digested before you go to bed your body will end up storing it as fat when you go to sleep. You see your body doesn’t need much energy to sleep, so whatever energy from food it has it will store as fat for later use.

Tip #7 Brush your Teeth – Yes you read it right tip #7 is brush your teeth. A great way to curb your appetite, especially at night when you are craving carbohydrates is to brush your teeth. After you brush your teeth you will have that clean minty fresh taste in your mouth, and you will not want to eat anything. Try it, it really works!

Tip #8 Drink Plenty of Water – Water is the best thing you can have when trying to lose weight. Keeping well hydrated keeps your body healthy and happy. You have to have water in order complete the body’s many processes. Water can also help give you that full feeling when you’re eating smaller meals. Also drinking cold water will give your body a metabolic boost increasing the amount of calories burned.

Tip #9 Get Your Protein – Protein is very important when trying to lose fat. First, protein will help preserve muscle mass when you restrict your calories. Second, it is said that ingesting certain proteins, such as soy and whey, will help burn more fat. Thirdly one of your body’s greatest fat burners is muscle! The more muscle you have the more fat you are able to burn.

Tip #10 Eat Plenty of Fiber – When dieting to lose fat it’s very important to try to get at least 25 grams of fiber a day. Fiber helps you digest your food and keep things moving. Also fiber will help slow down the digestion of carbohydrates which will help keep your insulin levels steady.

Tip #11 Eat Whole Grains – Adding whole grains to your diet is a wise choice when trying to lose weight. These type of carbohydrates are slow digesting and won’t spike your insulin levels putting your body into fat storage mode.

Tip #12 Have a Grapefruit – Grapefruit contains a type of fiber called pectin. The pectin found in grapefruit tends to slow the digestion of carbohydrates preventing your insulin from spiking. One study that I read stated that three servings of grapefruit or grapefruit juice lead to significant fat loss around test subject’s midsection.

Tip #13 Spice it Up with Cinnamon – Cinnamon is all the craze right now for fat loss. In an article published by the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry they showed how cinnamon was a great way to cut fat. In the studies they found the “polyphenolic polymers” in cinnamon mimicked insulin, which increased sugar metabolism and reduced the need for sharp spikes in insulin. So try adding cinnamon to your meals in order to melt the fat away!

Tip #14 Bring the Heat! – Eating spicy foods is a great way to speed up your metabolism. The “heat” or “burn” you feel from the capsaicin in spicy foods has a thermogenic effect on your metabolism, meaning it speeds it up. Ever started sweating after eating something extremely spicy? This is a sure sign your metabolism is picking up to break down the capsaicin you just ingested. With your metabolism revved up it will be able to burn more fat. I like to add things like hot sauce, salsa, cayenne pepper, and fresh jalapeños to my food for that extra kick.

Tip #15 Drink Your Tea – Green tea is a powerful antioxidant and is a well-known “fat burner”. You can look on the ingredient list of almost any diet pill and you will find green tea as one of the main ingredients. It is said to help lower your blood sugar levels and is beneficial to diabetics. Try adding 2 to 3 cups of green tea a day to your diet to take advantage of it’s benefits.

Tip #16 Antioxidants are Key – Antioxidants are substance’s that prevent cellular damage caused by free radicals. Free radicals are formed as a by-product caused by oxidative stress when working out. Adding antioxidants to your diet is necessary in order for your body to help repair itself which will drastically help your recovery between workouts. Proper recovery is needed if you are going to exercise regular in order to burn fat. Try adding berries into your diet as well as great sources of vitamin C.

Tip #17 Caffeine – Caffeine is not only a powerful stimulant to help be focused and energetic during your workouts, but it is also said to help utilize fat as an energy source. In addition to this, caffeine is also said to be a thermogenic (substance that speeds up your metabolism). Caffeine can be used to help meet your fat loss goals, but it’s fat loss effects are only realized in people who don’t regularly consume caffeine on a daily basis. Try getting no more than 300mg of caffeine a day, which is equal to about a cup and a half of coffee.

Tip #18 Cheat on Your Diet – I know, I know, this sounds crazy, but you will drive yourself crazy dieting all the time and you will be less likely to follow through with your diet if you keep it strict 100% of the time. Some people will have one day a week where they are off their diet, or a “cheat day”. On “cheat day” you can eat what you want and whatever you have been craving. On this day your diet does not apply. Doing this will actually help confuse your metabolism and make it more reactive to your diet when you go back on it the rest of the week, giving you better results.

Tip #19 Be Accountable to Someone – It’s always good when starting a diet to have a buddy to diet with. This person can help keep you accountable as well as you can help keep them accountable for their diet. If you can’t find someone to diet with it sometimes helps to at least announce your intentions to people, because you will more likely keep to your diet knowing that other people know you’re on a diet.

Tip #20 Set Goals – Like any other task in your life you need to have some goals. You will not be able to do what you want, if you can’t specifically right out your intentions on a piece of paper. For more information on setting goals you should reference one of my posts on goal setting here.

There you have it 20 great fat loss tips and tricks. I hope this helps each and every one of you with your fat loss goals. Now get to the GYM!

The Gym Maniac

Building a Successful Diet Part 5: Bodybuilding Nutrition

Today’s post will be wrapping up my “Building a Successful Diet” series. Today’s topic of interest: Maximizing your nutrition in order to minimize your need for supplements. When doing research for this post I noticed there wasn’t very much information on this topic! In this post I will be going over some popularly used sports supplements and I will be letting you know what sources of food I found to be high in these supplements. If you haven’t read Part 4 click here:

Building a Successful Diet Part 4

The first supplement I immediately researched was glutamine! Glutamine is a very powerful amino acid that is used for recovery of the muscles. In my opinion glutamine is by far better than creatine! Glutamine allows for noticeably quicker recovery after your workouts, as well it will reduce soreness after your workouts. When I supplement with glutamine, I try to get about 15 grams of glutamine throughout the day in approximately 5 gram dosages. So what are some good natural sources of glutamine? Well of course any protein source is good for obtaining amino acids, but we can’t be eating meat ALL the time! Spinach, sunflower seeds, and parsley are all good sources of glutamine. Just be sure to note that heat will destroy the amino acid glutamine, so these foods are best when eaten raw. Yes, Popeye had it right kids, eat your spinach! One article I read from Spinachwords.com claimed that 1 cup or 7.5oz of spinach had approximately .75 grams of glutamine in it. Now this isn’t a whole lot, but this is a very good way to supplement your glutamine intake for the day.
Sunflower seeds are a great source of glutamine, but I also found they were a great source of arginine as well (a two for one!). One article I read recommended you eat a half cup of sunflower seeds throughout the day. A half cup of sunflower seeds will bring you 3 grams of glutamine!

Every website I looked at that gave suggestions for good sources of glutamine pointed me straight to parsley. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find out exactly how much glutamine parsley contained. However I did find out this, parsley contains a flavone called apigenin. According to Dr.’s Donald R. Buhler and Cristobal Miranda of Oregon State University a flavone is a type of flavonoid. In a nut shell flavonoids are natural occurring compounds found in fruits and vegetables that have diverse biochemical and antioxidant effects. So what is apigenin’s biochemical effect? Apigenin is supposed to help block bad estrogen from inhibiting the body’s use of testosterone. Apparently this has a strength-boosting effect. According to an article I read entitled: “14 Natural Anabolics: Power Foods that Act Like Supplements” apigenin can be found in 10mg dosages in supplements. So how much parsley do you have to chow down on to get the amount that is in supplements? Get this, one tablespoon of chopped parsley will suffice!

The next popular supplement that we all know and love is creatine. There are so many myths and misconceptions out there about creatine it isn’t even funny. Believe it or not your body actually needs creatine! In fact your body when it doesn’t have enough creatine from dietary needs, will actually synthesize its own creatine. When I supplement with creatine, I try to get about 5 grams before my workout and 5 grams after my workout. Creatine is a naturally formed substance and is pretty easy to find. In one pound of lean beef you will be able to find 5 grams of creatine. You can also find creatine in fish such as salmon and tuna, and any type sashimi is also a great source. In salmon you will find 4.5 grams of creatine in one pound. Fish is probably the better source, because it also contains a high amount of the amino acid methionine, which is used in the synthesis of creatine.

Next on the list is arginine. Arginine is used to increase the nitrogen levels in the body, which in turn vasodilates blood vessels allowing for greater blood flow within the body. This greater blood flow allows for more oxygen and nutrients to get to your muscles in order to provide energy during your workout. The increase blood flow also is beneficial to your muscles when they are recovering after your workout. When supplementing with arginine I try to get about 3.5 grams before my work out and about 3 grams before I go to bed at night. Again any protein source is great for getting amino acids, but what other foods can you eat that are high in arginine? The answer is nuts and seeds! The best sources would be pumpkin seeds, peanuts, and sesame seeds. Other good choices would be almonds, walnuts, and hazlenuts. I found in my research that a 100 gram serving of these seeds and nuts can contain anywhere from 2-4 grams of arginine. Unfortunately a 100 gram serving of nuts is going to contain a lot of fat, not to mention eating this amount of nuts everyday could get expensive. Still though a little bit is better than nothing! Plus you will be getting a great amount of arginine from all the protein you eat during the day. But don’t worry I have one more way you can get arginine.

Your body can produce arginine from another amino acid, citrulline! Citrulline is becoming a popular ingredient in most NO supplements, due to the body’s ability to produce arginine using it. The addition of citrulline will also make your NO supplement very expensive. But guess what? There is a food that is an incredible source of citrulline, watermelon! The article I mentioned before: “14 Natural Anabolics: Power Foods that Act Like Supplements” stated that you could eat 24 ounces of watermelon pre-workout. This would provide you with 20 ounces of water, 50 grams of carbohydrates, and most importantly 3 grams of citrulline! 3 grams of citrulline should be plenty for your workout, this amount can be found in a lot of supplements.

Continuing on with the topic of keeping your nitric oxide levels high, there is also a vitamin that will help with this. I’m talking about vitamin C! Vitamin C will keep nitric oxide levels high in the body, and is essential in protein synthesis. Vitamin C is also of course a great antioxidant, and when taken will reduce soreness in your muscles after your workout! When supplementing with vitamin C I try to get about 3,000 mg throughout the day in 500 to 1000mg dosages. Let’s think here where can we get vitamin C from? Hmmm… Were you going to say oranges and other citrus fruit? Well yes you are correct in thinking that, but you might be surprised to hear that yellow bell peppers have three times the amount of vitamin C per weight as an orange! In fact according to an article I found at HealthAliciousNess.com oranges ranked number 9 in foods with the highest concentration of Vitamin C. You can view the article

here.

Another supplement taken by bodybuilders, which is a staple in every supplementation program, is a multivitamin! Now I don’t suppose you could replace a good quality multivitamin, but there are some foods that are vitamin dense. As I was doing research for this post search after search for foods that were high in certain vitamins and minerals, I would always get dark leafy greens! Spinach, Swiss chard, turnip greens, kale, collard greens, and arugula are all LOADED with vitamins! Another vitamin dense food I came across was dried fruit. Basically the fruit maintains all the vitamins it had when it was fresh, but watch out because they are loaded with calories. Dried fruit might be a good addition to
your diet if you are trying to gain weight.

Now that you have all this knowledge of what to add to your diet to make it more balanced, you need to do one more thing. When you don’t take steroids and you don’t take supplements, every little BIT counts! You must not forget about digestive health! Eating all of these healthy foods will not do your body any good if your digestive system isn’t working efficiently. Not to worry, there are a few things you can add to your diet to improve digestion.

First off you will need to add digestive enzymes to your diet. Digestive enzymes will help break down your food in order for it to be used. Foods that contain digestive enzymes are pineapple, papaya, and figs. The second thing you will need to do is increase the good bacteria in your intestines. Promoting the growth of good bacteria keeps your intestines healthy, and when your intestines are healthy they break down and absorb more nutrients! Yogurt is a great source of probiotics as well as fermented foods such as sauerkraut and kimchi. The third thing you will need for digestive health is plenty of fiber! As I went over in Part 2 fiber is very important because it keeps everything in your intestines moving. One source of fiber you might find of interest is grapefruit. Grapefruit contains a great amount of fiber called pectin. Pectin is particular great at slowing the digestion of carbohydrates (a characteristic of fiber I went over in Part 2). When trying to lose that stubborn stomach fat trying adding three glasses of grapefruit juice throughout your day! The fourth and final thing that is a must for digestion is probably one of the most anabolic substances! What’s this magical substance you’re wondering? It’s water, water, and more water! Sorry it isn’t some sort of special “super-food”, but yeah water will make or break your diet. Your body needs plenty of water in order to aid digestion. My suggestion is to drink 8 to 16 ounces with every meal!

With this arsenal of information you should be armed and ready to go to make a very successful diet. As you have read here, there are many foods to eat, from all different food groups. You really need to eat a variety of things every day to get everything your body needs. The best thing to know when trying to follow a strict diet is that you can’t possibly get everything you need to eat everyday so it’s always good to change your diet up from week to week so you are not deficient in any areas. Also any serious lifter could never completely throw out a supplementation program and substitute it by eating regular food. I really don’t think anyone on Earth could be capable of this. So get out there, diet hard, lift even harder, and get huge!

The Gym Maniac

Building a Successful Diet Part 4: Fat

Continuing on with my “Building a Successful Diet” series I will be blogging about the dreaded macronutrient FAT! Just hearing the word makes people cringe and slowly look down at the mass sitting on top of their stomach. Fat has built up quite the bad reputation over the years, with so many overweight Americans dropping dead from heart problems, it’s no wonder we fear fat so much. I’m not here to preach about the dangers of too much fat. I’m here to explain why fat is important in your diet, and how you can use fat properly and in a healthy way. If you haven’t read Part 3 yet click here:

Building a Successful Diet Part 3

A lot of diet advice you will hear is to cut fat and fat is horrible for you and blah blah blah etc. The truth is that fat is extremely important as well as CHOLESTEROL. I know this post is supposed to be about fat, but fat and CHOLESTEROL just go hand-in-hand. I have read up on fat a lot and there seems to be some conflicting information out there. Some say nuts are a good source of fat, some say they’re a bad source. Some say eat avocados others say avoid them. The best advice I can give you is to eat what you want and pay attention to how your body responds to what you eat. In my opinion fats from plants like nuts and avocados will do you good. As far as sources of fat from animals I think they are useful just not in large quantities.

With animal fats you have to worry about SATURATED fat. SATURATED fat will lower your GOOD CHOLESTEROL (HDL) and raise your BAD CHOLESTEROL (LDL). In addition to SATURATED fat, animal fat also contains CHOLESTEROL. Contrary to popular belief your body actually needs and will use cholesterol! Yeah it really will! Your body uses CHOLESTEROL in order to produce hormones such as TESTOSTERONE. Your body also uses fat to produce HORMONES as well, this is why fat is important in a diet, and should not be cut from the diet all together. If you keep fat out of your diet, many studies have shown your TESTOSTERONE levels will take a nose dive.

Another way to utilize fat in a beneficial manner is to slow the digestion of carbohydrates. Why would you want to do this? Well, when you slow the digestion of carbohydrates by consuming fat, your body won’t need to have a drastic insulin spike in response to the carbohydrates. So also contrary to popular belief, consuming a “reduced fat” food item is worse for you than eating the same food item with all the fat still in it! When you take fat out of food, making it “reduced fat” or “fat free” your body will end up having a greater insulin release when the food is consumed. Since fat slows the digestion of carbohydrates taking fat out of the food allows for the carbohydrates in that food to digest more quickly. With a quick spike in insulin comes a proportionate drop in insulin or "crash" causing your body to go into fat storage mode. Essentially you end will end up gaining more fat than if you had eaten the food with the regular amount of fat!

Already I have mentioned several sources of fat: nuts, avocados, and animal fat from meat. There is also plant based oils and dairy. So what is the difference between all of these fats? Well you can organize the different types of fats into three main groups: SATURATED fat, UNSATURATED fat, and TRANS-fat. As I said before you will want to avoid SATURATED fat, but a little bit won’t hurt you. You can identify SATURATED fats, because they are generally solid at room temperature. UNSATURATED fat can be divided into two categories: MONOUNSATURATED fat and POLYUNSATURATED fat. So what’s the difference? Basically the difference is on the molecular level having to do with carbon chains and how they’re bonded. UNSATURATED fats can be identified as being liquid at room temperature. TRANS-fats are chemically altered UNSATURATED fats. Your body will have no use for TRANS-fat and you should avoid consuming this type of fat altogether. TRANS-fat will not only raise your BAD CHOLESTEROL levels, but it will also lower your GOOD CHOLESTEROL as well. TRANS-fat can be identified on
many of your food labels as partially HYDROGENATED OIL.

So how should you plan fats into your diet? First off you should eat a small amount of fat in the first couple of meals of the day. As you progress later into the day you should be eating slightly more fat. Your last meal or two should have the majority of your daily fat in it. You should be eating a lot of fat and very little carbohydrates. You need fat at night to slow the digestion of carbohydrates and protein at night in order to gradually feed your muscles throughout the night. Another reason to consume fat at this time is that your body produces a lot of anabolic HORMONES at night and needs the fat in order to produce these HORMONES.

As you can see fat plays a vital role in your dietary needs. Remember fat is a calorie dense macronutrient and there is no reason to consume large amounts of it. SATURATED fat should be limited, TRANS-fat should be avoided altogether, and MONOUNSATURATED fat should make up the bulk of your dietary fat intake. This will conclude part 4 of my “Building a Successful Diet” series. Be sure to catch part 5 where I will be discussing the best ways to get the nutrients you need to build muscle!

Building a Successful Diet Part 3: Protein

Continuing on with my Building a Successful Diet series, my post today will be all about Protein! Yes protein, the building block of rock hard muscle! There are so many different sources of protein which one is the best? I will be able to answer these questions and much more in the following. If you haven’t had a chance to check out Part 2 of my “Building a Successful Diet on Carbohydrates click here:

Building a Successful Diet Part 2

So I’m not sure if you know this but not all proteins are created equal. Literally, comparing protein sources is like comparing apples to oranges! I’m sure you may have heard whey is the best protein, or is soy a far superior protein, maybe casein? The truth is there is no superior protein. Each protein has different qualities that are beneficial depending on your nutritional needs. For example: whey is a great source of protein, it is easily absorbed and digests relatively quickly. It has what is called a high biological value. Biological value is the amount or percentage of a protein source that is actually utilized by your body. Other proteins, such as protein from wheat, aren’t digested as well and have a low biological value. So going from the easiest usable protein to least usable source of protein would be: whey, milk, eggs, fish, chicken, beef, beans, grains. I know beef is low on the list but it is still a good source of protein, just not as good as chicken. So now that we know that not every source of protein absorbs the same, why not just eat the best absorbing one? Well that’s just one dimension of protein. Your body needs different sources of protein and can benefit from different protein sources at certain times during the day.

First thing when you wake up a good source of protein to take is whey. Your body just went about eight hours without food and needs protein now! Your body will start breaking down muscle to feed itself, if it doesn’t get a source of protein quickly. Since whey is a fast digesting protein this is a perfect source for this need.

A lot of people like to eat eggs for breakfast. Eggs are a solid source of quality protein and are great because it is one of the few sources of protein that has a complete essential amino acid profile that your body needs. Essential amino acids are amino acids your body can’t produce naturally and thus you need to get them from other sources. It’s important to get all the amino acids your body needs, because if you’re deficient in one area it can affect other processes in your body in a negative way.
Other sources of protein such as chicken, fish, beef, nuts, beans, and grains are good throughout the day. Your body needs some real food; you can’t just chug down protein shakes all day! These are great protein sources because they provide your body with plenty of vitamins and mineral it will need.

A great protein source to have pre and post workout again is whey. Your body needs the amino acids during your workout to feed the muscles and to keep them from going catabolic. You will also need more amino acids to keep your muscles from going catabolic again post workout. If you have the money an even better source of post workout protein is another version of standard whey isolate, hydrolyzed whey! Hydrolyzed whey is a more broken down version of whey making it quicker and easier to digest.

Finally at night you’re going to want protein that is going to help you recover and protein that is going to digest slowly. When you go to sleep at night, this is your body’s time to recover. You will need a slow digesting protein source at night, because your body is going without food for eight hours. During this time your body will start cannibalizing itself, to get the protein it needs to recover if it doesn’t get fed. So you need a protein for recovery and a protein to keep your body from cannibalizing itself. A great recovery protein source is soy isolate. Due to soy isolate’s high glutamic acid content, it is a great protein to have post workout or before bed time. Glutamic acid is the amino acid L-glutamine. L-glutamine is an extremely fantastic amino acid that has amazing recovery capabilities for your body! The protein you want to digest slowly while you sleep is casein. Although soy is a slow digesting protein, casein is definitely slower. Casein is something you will want to ingest right as you’re going to bed, some bodybuilders will even wake up in the middle of the night just to have a casein shake!

As you can see each and every protein has its own role in helping your body recover from working out. As I said before there is not one protein that is better than the other. You need to utilize each protein to your advantage to gain the maximum benefit each protein has to offer.

If you enjoyed this post please remember to follow me on Facebook and Twitter!

The Gym Maniac

Building a Successful Diet Part 2: Carbohydrates

So continuing with Part 2 of my “Building a Successful Diet” post, today’s post will be all about the proper utilization of carbohydrates. You will need to consume certain carbohydrates at different times of the day, and good understanding of glycemic index will be helpful in taking advantage of your body’s natural processes. If you haven’t read Part 1 click here:

Building a Successful Diet Part I

The first thing you will need to understand is how to utilize your body’s insulin spikes. There are different times of the day you want to take advantage of spiking your insulin. Why on Earth would I want to do that you say? Insulin is a powerful anabolic hormone that helps your body utilize testosterone and growth hormone that would otherwise go to waste if not taken advantage. So the name of the game is to spike your insulin when you have high hormone levels. So when are your hormone levels the highest?


When you go to sleep at night your body repairs itself by elevating your hormone levels. When you wake up your hormone levels start to fall again. So as soon as you get up in the morning it’s a race to get something in your stomach to spike your insulin in order to take advantage of your high hormone levels. Another great time to spike your insulin is right after your workout. Partly to return your glycogen levels back to normal before your muscles go catabolic, and partly because your hormones are again at high levels. This is where having a good knowledge of glycemic index comes in handy. You can always look up the glycemic index of foods online. Here is a link to a list of commonly consumed foods and their glycemic index ratings: http://www.diabetesnet.com/food-diabetes/glycemic-index

So what if you’re out and about and don’t have a chart to reference the glycemic index of foods when you’re grocery shopping? A good way to estimate how your insulin will be affected by different foods is to simply “eyeball it”. The more processed a carbohydrate source is, the higher in glycemic index that food will be. For example wheat bread vs. white bread.

With wheat bread you can actually see the grains, and see that it is a much less processed product than white bread. White bread is higher in glycemic index, because in order to make it, the wheat is ground down completely. Cereals like Cheerios you might think would be good for you because it’s made with oats, but if you ever crushed a Cheerio it turns into dust, there are no grains. So Cheerios have a high glycemic index rating. Basically the more your body has to work to digest a carbohydrate, the more slowly that carbohydrate will be turned into usable blood sugar, and the less of a response your insulin will react to the consumption of that food.

Other than the two exceptions where you eat high glycemic index carbohydrates, for the rest of your diet you are going to want to stick with lower glycemic carbohydrate sources. If you ate high glycemic carbohydrates all the time your insulin levels would constantly be up and down causing your body to store fat when the insulin is down. Eventually your body would lose its sensitivity to insulin releases causing your body to go pre-diabetic. So as you can see you want low glycemic carbs throughout the day. The low glycemic carbs will allow your body to store up glycogen (usable blood sugar) in your muscles which is what they use for energy during your workouts. The low glycemic carbs will also allow your insulin levels to keep steady so the carbs aren't stored as fat.

Another way to help control insulin is eat more fiber! There are two types of fiber soluble, and insoluble. The type that helps your body from having a higher insulin spike is soluble fiber. The soluble fiber slows the digestion of the food reducing the body’s need for releasing a greater amount of insulin. Insoluble fiber is great to add to your diet too. This is the type of fiber that adds “bulk” to your food and keeps things moving through your intestinal tract. Adding insoluble fiber to your diet will keep your digestive system healthy and happy, which is very important. Your digestive system is where your body gets all of its nutrients from, which in turns feeds your muscles! So you need to be sure and take very good care of your digestive system, and that my friends is a whole other post all together.

One little tip before I go: A great post workout drink when you can't get the protein and the carbs? Chocolate milk! No joke chocolate milk gets the job done! I read up on a study where cyclists were told to ride for a certain amount of time, maybe two hours or something. Then one was given water, another was given a sports drink, another chocolate milk, and another a protein and carbohydrate fortified recovery drink. Then they were told to get back on their bikes and ride till they “bonked” (a term used by endurance athletes describing when they completely run out of energy). The cyclist that drank water dropped almost instantly, the sports drink cyclist dropped out a little later, and the other two went a little while longer, ending up pretty much tying. So yeah chocolate milk is awesome. Apparently the combination of carbs and proteins found in chocolate milk are extremely conducive to recovery.

A Simple Diet for Simple Goals

So I wanted to write a follow up post for those of my readers who aren’t interested in following such an involved diet. The following diet is a good general outline of how to and what to eat in a more simple diet. This should be geared toward people who don’t have ambitious body transformation goals. This

Alright so I’m going to give you choices of what to eat. You will need to eat 4 maybe 5 meals a day if you can. Five is better than four of course but whatever your schedule will allow you should do, because the point of the diet is to be able to do something you can live with. Don’t make it so hard that you mess it up, get discouraged, and quit, just like you may have heard before, K.I.S.S. keep it simple stupid!

Meal 1 Breakfast
This is the most important meal of the day! You absolutely HAVE to eat breakfast! This is the meal that will get you metabolism revved up for the day and will allow you to burn fat. This should also be your biggest meal of the day, and it will be ok if you have something sugary with breakfast but don’t go overboard with it.
Breakfast Items:
Fruit – bananas, oranges, apples, blueberries, strawberries, etc.
Oatmeal – it would be best to get old fashioned oats and sweeten with honey or agave nectar, but if you don’t like that just get those little packets that are flavored
Whole Grain toast – you can put whatever you want on it I would steer towards jelly/jam instead of fats like peanut butter or butter if you want to use fats use just a little
Eggs – you can eat some egg whites, but if you don’t like them you can have scrambled eggs with a ratio of one whole egg for every egg white
Cereal – you can always eat cereal just be sure to find one not sugary like Kashi cereals, and be sure to use skim milk

Meal 2 Snack
Make sure you get a snack; this will keep your metabolism going!
Fruit – fruit is a good snack because you can usually take it with you
Yogurt – yogurt makes a good snack just be careful of all the sugar I think you can find a low-carb yogurt
Veggies – veggies are a good snack because you get fiber, and they fill you up just be aware that they have little caloric value meaning they don’t have a lot of calories
Dried fruit – dried fruit is good but pricey and don’t go overboard with dried fruit because there is usually a good amount of carbs in a little fruit

Meal 3 Lunch
Time to start putting in a little more protein into your daily diet, I usually eat some meat, some salad, and a yam or something for lunch.
Meat – Chicken, tuna, fish, lean steak these choices are better than lunch meat, but you can have lunch meat on a sandwich if you want
Carbs – yellow potatoes, yams, whole grain bread, whole grain pasta
Fruits
Veggies

Meal 4 Snack
For your last snack I would try to incorporate more fats into you snack and less simple carbs. You can have some of the things you would have in your first snack just be easy on the carbs and try to get your calories from protein or fat.
Nuts – walnuts, almonds etc. peanut butter maybe have some ants on a log!

Meal 5 Dinner
If you get hungry after dinner eat a small healthy snack but do not eat within three hours of going to bed. You need to really cut the carbs at night and if you get hungry eat something high in fat maybe some peanut butter or hummus. Also one trick I have heard of doing is drink a big glass of water then brush your teeth, you won’t want to eat after brushing your teeth.

Meats – chicken, fish, lean beef (lean steak or even lean ground beef)
Carbs – brown rice, multigrain pasta, etc
Veggies
Nuts

Just some little tips when dieting: Its all about portion control, basically just eat a little bit just enough not to be hungry. You should be able to fit your meal easily on a small plate. Until you know how much to eat, just eat a little, take a break, drink a large glass of water, wait ten minutes and if your not hungry, quit eating! You’re going to be eating four or five meals so all of them will be small. If you drink, I would limit or cut out alcohol out of your diet as well. Don’t even think about eating anything out of the freezer section, that crap is all processed and not good for you and full of calories. If you think you have done well for the week you should have a cheat day, but I find my diet is more effective if I try to do well for two weeks then take a cheat day. Try to make better food choices, it’s the little things that you do that make a big difference. Once you diet for a week or two you will probably notice that you keep eating the same things over and over again, you should find new things to eat because your body will get used to eating the same things over and over.