Wow, I can't believe it's been this long since I wrote an entry here. This is from a recent post that I wrote on PhitZone

Make the most of your time and effort

Stop wasting your time. Lifting weights is the only way to make real progress. There is nothing wrong with cardio work. It may not be my favorite thing, there is a time and place for it. But did you know that you will see faster results through strength training?

Let’s start off by assuring anybody with a concern (ladies?). You will not bulk up like a man. Big muscles are built through a combination of strength training, a large amount of calories, and genetics. For those of the fairer sex, this means testosterone.

Build a better body

Lifting weights builds muscle. Muscle burns fat for fuel. Lift weights-burn fat. Burn fat, speed up your metabolism. Speed up your metabolism, continue burning fat. That’s a pretty sweet cycle.

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“How do I lose weight?” Is this not the hot question today? With good reason too. We’re hit on an hourly basis with commercials for various products ranging from diets to pills. Exercise equipment to surgery. The list goes on and on. Frankly, it makes my head spin.

All of these products sell the “easy fix” for obesity. The concept of weight loss is not difficult to grasp. Losing weight could be described as simple, but never easy. The old adage of something seeming to be good to be true applies here. Some wise decisions go a very long way.

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At one time it was normal to see athletes stretching before a game. The image of a baseball or football team doing their warm-ups assuredly includes stretching their upper and lower bodies. Or the jogger stretching their calves, thighs, and hamstrings before setting off at the local park.

Have you ever seen a runner pull up lame with a hamstring or groin pull? How about a soccer player with stress injuries to their knees? Or the baseball or tennis player with tennis elbow? Could it be that performing these static or ballistic stretches prior to exercise is not doing what they are supposed to do?

Continue on to Stretch for better fitness

An all too common fact is that many people do not warm-up prior to doing physical activities such as playing sports or exercising. Performing this simple act can reduce injuries, as well as increasing performance.

For the average person training in a gym, a light jog on a treadmill or slow bike riding for ten minutes is adequate enough to start things off. For an athlete competing in a sport, dynamic warm-ups are recommended.

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In Part 1 of this series we discussed the first component of getting that lean, muscular look; diet. We covered why diet is arguably the most important component when it comes to being ripped.

As we mentioned in part 1, the idea behind getting that shredded look is to strip off as much fat as possible. While burning fat through diet is job one, stripping the fat through physical cardiovascular work would be next.

You can get a good burn on a stair machine, bike, or elliptical machine. For that matter, don’t count out any aerobics classes, such as kickboxing, that are offered in the gym or local community centers. When it’s all said and done though, the treadmill is the tool of choice.

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There are any number of different reasons for going to the gym. Many women work out to be “toned”. Some men lift just to get big. There is no doubt that even more have a vision to get ripped.

To be ripped is to be muscular with little body fat. In turn this shows the definition of muscle.

The average male model, or natural bodybuilder, has a look that is desirable for many to have. Not to mention that is an attainable look. Notice that I did not say easily attainable.

Read the rest here...

Man, these late nights working are not condusive to getting my workouts in. Bad Tod... bad!

I love food. I love Mexican/Texmex food. Living in south TX means that there is an abundence of my favorites. That's very bad for me. My will must be strong!!! Damn those breakfast tacos!!!

Just published an article on becoming a personal trainer on PhitBlog. Check it out.

Oh boy, had a couple of beers, and ate too much last night, and now I'm really feeling it. I have a weight routine tonight, but may add in some HITT on the treadmill as well.

Working on a couple new blog posts, and an article for examiner.com. Just not enough time in the day...

Check it out, Steve over at Muscle and Brawn just published a piece that I wrote about whey protein. I love it when other peeps publish my stuff.

Starting a new routine. Been so busy with work and PhitZone.com that I've managed to put on a few pounds. On the plus side, the blog and forum are coming together. On the down side, I've neglected myself.