Category: news

Every weekend I publish a recap of the best health and fitness articles I’ve read over the past week. Here are my favorites.

Get It Right: The Deadlift

I’ve never knew such a long article about the deadlift was necessary, but it is and this one’s really good. It goes through everything you need to know about how and why the deadlift works.

Fat Guy’s Family Fitness Adventure Begins

It would be so much fun to do something like this with my own family. I can’t wait to start following along to see how they all progress.

Man Up Monday Workout – ‘Body Weight Ascending Ladder’

There are six different body-weight exercises here, each one starting at 3 reps as you go through a set of all six exercises. You go up 3 more reps each time you start a new set until you reach 21. I’d imagine that you’re gonna be really tired after this workout.

DIY Rowing Machine

Instructables.com has an awesome DIY rowing machine project for those out there who are also handy. Don’t row too fast or you might start a fire! 😉

Iron Evolution: Phase 5 – Westside Barbell, Technique

This article is not only informational, but also pretty funny. Dave Tate describes his experiences working with Louie Simmons at Westside Barbell in Columbus, Ohio. I would love to be able to work with someone like Louie who could optimize my own squat stance and technique one day.

2011 Bodybuilding.com Military Challenge

Bodybuilding.com puts together some great bodybuilding challenges throughout the year and a new one is about to start for military personnel and their spouses. Check it out!

How Can I Train My Core for Summer?

If you need to work on your core (and who doesn’t?) here are some great exercises from Joe Dowdell, a professional trainer to pro athletes and A-list celebrities.

The Carpe Credo: All Birthday Cake and Alcohol is Vegan

I really like the message behind this article. It discusses how none of us can really be 100% vegan no matter how hard we try, but it’s all about doing what we can.

Happy Birthday Cake Shake

This sounds delicious. It sounds unhealthy too, but it’s not! I’m going to try to make a vegan version, which I don’t think will be too hard. I can’t wait.

Yoga Boosts Stress-Busting Hormone, Reduces Pain, Study Finds

If you’re suffering from chronic pain, fatigue or stress, you should consider taking up yoga. Even if you don’t suffer from any of those you should do it anyway. You’ll feel great!

Did, Cravings, Die! 11 Things You Can Do To Kill Them Where They Lay!

I’m super strict about my nutrition and I prepare all of my meals for the entire week over the weekend to avoid straying from the plan, but there are some really goods tips here even I can probably use.

Andy Bellatti on Soy vs. Dairy Risk

Many nutritionists like to criticize soy because of its estrogen content, despite the fact that plant-based estrogen works differently in our bodies than does the “feminizing” estrogen we usually read about. Even so, this article discusses what nutritionist never talk about – the estrogen properties of cows milk and other dairy products.

Every weekend I publish a recap of the best health and fitness articles I’ve read over the past week. Here are my favorites.

The Kettlebell Experiment: Bring One To Life For $10

I saw this video when Tim Ferris’ book, The Four Hour Body, was just released and I immediately went out and bought the supplies to build my makeshift kettlebell. It actually works very well. I just came across the video again and wanted to share it, so here you go!

The Biggest Loser Diet

This article doesn’t go in-depth about the Biggest Loser diet, but it does offer some of the fundamentals. The pros and cons section provides some interesting thoughts.

How to Deadlift Like a Pro

Despite being such an obvious sales page, this article and accompanying video have some great tips on doing deadlifts correctly. This info comes from Andy Bolton, who was the first man to ever deadlift 1000lbs in a powerlifting competition so he must know what he’s talking about.

10-Year-Old ‘Workout Kid’ Has Grade Schoolers Sweating And Football Coaches Drooling

Here’s a wild story about a 10-year-old kid, C.J., who has an addiction to fitness. It’s recommended that kids don’t lift weights until at least the age of 15 but he does only bodyweight exercises and cardio. He eats well, has tons of muscle and even trains older kids at the gym, all of his own will. His parents are actually trying to get into better shape because C.J’s work ethic has shamed them into it. Inspiring kid!

For Runners, Soft Ground Can Be Hard on the Body

Have you ever been told that running on softer ground can protect you from injury? I’ve heard it many times. It’s common advice, and it’s wrong.

How Alcohol Is Harming Your Body

It seems that alcohol, no matter how much, can eventually lead to cancer. Why does everything fun cause cancer! 🙁

5 Nutritional Hacks to Ease Your Headaches

I know you hate getting headaches, so read this article for tips on getting rid of or preventing headaches in the future. With the heat wave we’ve been having over the past few weeks, make sure you stay hydrated and maintain your electrolyte balance.

Gym Etiquette: 11 Common Faux Pas

I absolutely hate when someone takes a 5 minute break on a machine and won’t move to let other people use it. My next biggest pet peeve is when people don’t put weights back after using them. Interestingly, it seems the biggest offenders in my gym are regulars who have been there for years. I guess they think they get special privileges.

Ten Best Running Locations in the U.S.

I probably won’t visit any of these spots other than the one in Colorado, but it would be awesome to be able to run all ten of them.

Every weekend I publish a recap of the best health and fitness articles I’ve read over the past week. Here are my favorites.

Meatless Grilling at its Finest

These aren’t the everyday recipes you come across on the internet. These look like they were made by professional chefs. I’d really like to make these to show my friends and family how good food can be when eating vegan.

You, Only Bigger: 5 Principles for Greater Hypertrophy

These 5 tips are exactly what I’m working on right now to gain weight and mass. Excellent advice.

Lightened-Up Banana Bread

Here’s a recipe for a lighter (and vegan) version of banana bread. I’ve already made this and it came out delicious. I’ve also calculated the nutritional information. If you slice it up into eight proportional pieces, each slice contains 229 calories, 5 grams of fat, 44 grams of carbs and 3.4 grams of protein. Not too bad.

8 Reasons to Include Soy in Your Diet

Soy seems to be major target of negativity in the nutritional industry. I think this might be the first article I’ve ever read about actual benefits of soy. Interesting!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Crunch ‘Blizzard’

Being vegan, I didn’t think I’d ever eat a Blizzard again, but thanks to Angela Liddon over at “Oh She Glows,” I can now make my own. I’m super excited for this one.

Why I Soak Dried Beans for 24 Hours

So it seems that soaking your beans for 24 hours before cooking can reduce the amount of gas they create. Sounds like a win to me. I cook 1-2 lbs. of beans every weekend (to the displeasure of my fiance ;)) so this tip will be put into effect immediately.

Recipe: Rainbow Salsa

There’s nothing better than fresh salsa. I’m not a big fan of bell peppers, but I’ll still give this one a chance because it has mango in it 😀

Is Canola Oil Bad For Me?

I was wondering this exact thing last weekend. I don’t have any canola oil because I always use extra virgin olive oil for cooking, but I was making some banana bread last week and the recipe calls for it. I read not to use olive oil in the banana bread because it can overpower the taste so I had to use some old leftover corn oil I had in the cabinet. While I wasn’t able to use canola oil that time, I was thinking about buying some for the next time I make banana bread when I have bananas that are going bad. Now I know that canola oils is perfectly fine.

New Method for Making Human-Based Gelatin

Did you know that gelatin is made by using the bones and skins of animals. Gelatin is found in lots of the food people eat such as Jello, candy bars, gummi bears, marshmallows and it’s often the dissolvable shell of drug capsules found on medicine pills and supplements. Well now it looks like human gelatin genes can be inserted into a strain of yeast to produce a form of gelatin that won’t result in harm to animals. Weird, but good news!

From Fluffy to Ripped, Sans the Obsession: Chris Brown’s Transformation

I really like success stories like this one. A lot of people, even me, worry that losing a lot of weight will result in dropped numbers on exercises like bench press, deadlift and squats, but this guy cut fat and lifts heavier than before.

Why Do Protein Shakes Cause Bloat and What’s Better, Soy Or Whey

This is an excellent article about protein shakes with answers to common questions from four experts in the healthy and fitness industry. The article goes through the types of protein powders you should look for, and other questions you may have such as the difference between concentrate and isolate protein powders and why protein shakes can cause gas.

Every weekend I publish a recap of the best health and fitness articles I’ve read over the past week. Here are my favorites.

My First 5k

I just set up a new website for my fiance because she wanted to capture her journey on becoming a competitive runner. This is her first post about running her first 5k.

The Aquaman

My fiance was so excited about her new site and having a place to share her journey, she put up another post only a day after the first. This one’s about the upcoming Aquaman race, which I plan to attend to cheer her on and take pictures 😀

Chewing Ice: A Sign of Iron Deficiency?

It’s weird how the brain and body works sometimes. If you’re deficient in iron, you might have a strange desire to chew ice. Some people even have been also known to want to smell things such as gasoline, ammonia or body odor.

Why Do Most Vegetarians Go Back To Eating Meat?

It seems that one of the biggest reasons vegetarians return to meat is because of health reasons, commonly anemia due to a lack of iron. As a new vegan, I can’t speak on experience, but would guess that most of these vegetarians were not eating properly and weren’t taking vitamins. Some of the more disappointing reasons from people in the study are things like getting tired of the lifestyle or social acceptance 🙁

Can Biking in a Skirt be Considered a Crime?

This is one of those stories that is so ridiculous that you wonder how some of these people become police officers in the first place.

Pumpkin Protein Bars Recipe

Sounds delicious, but I’ll have to replace some of the ingredients with vegan alternatives. High protein, low calories. I can’t wait to make them.

Twin Study Shows Lifestyle, Diet Can Significantly Influence Course of Macular Degeneration

Articles about macular degeneration always interest me because my Grandma has it. She has lost her vision completely in one eye and the other seems likely to be lost too. This new study shows that a diet high in vitamin D could help reduce the risk of macular degeneration. This is good stuff to know now before you lose your vision too.

What’s in your food? 1500+ possible food additives

This huge list is the reason you shouldn’t be eating processed foods. It’s hard not to eat processed foods sometimes, but I try to keep it to a minimum as much as I can. Eat foods that only contain a few ingredients and ones that you can pronounce.

Same Ingredients, Three Meals – Italian

This is a neat idea. Here are three different Italian meals you can make using the same basic ingredients, each with only a slight moderation. And they are all vegetarian too!

Every weekend I publish a recap of the best health and fitness articles I’ve read over the past week. Most of the articles are new but some might be older, which often come up during my own personal research. Here are my favorites.

Have a great 4th of July weekend!!

Happy 4th of July from VegWeb

One of the funniest misconceptions about being vegan is that the only things we can eat are salads and berries. My family thinks this way too, no matter how many times I try to tell them, so that’s what they serve at family get-togethers for me and my fiance. So it’s up to us to bring foods for ourselves, which is where this excellent list of recipes will come in handy for this 4th of July weekend.

Attention Scale Addicts, part 2

This is a fantastic article explaining exactly why you shouldn’t become obsessed with the scale. Check out Deb’s before and after results, both at a weight of 155 lbs. She eats 3900 calories per day right now too. That’s more than I eat!

Photoshop Disasters – AB Exercise Ball

You won’t learn anything from this article, but it’s certainly funny. This company just took workout photos and photoshopped the Ab exercise ball into the shots terribly.

How to Select Fresh, Ripe Produce

I suck at picking out fruit, especially bananas and avocados. I always have to wait days before I can actually eat it because it’s so under-ripe that it won’t even peel. This article has some great tips. I never thought about smelling my fruit before buying it before 😉

tigroo //Unbreakable//

Tim Ferris tweeted about this video and couldn’t pass up mentioning it here. Watch this B-boy show off his skills. You’ve gotta have lots of strength and balance to pull moves like this off.

5 Reasons that I Think Treadmill and Elliptical Machine Workouts are a Waste of Time

I agree with almost everything said in this article, but won’t deny that using the elliptical helped me lose 25 lbs. in three months. While I did find it extremely boring at first, I eventually grew to like it, especially after setting up Netflix on my iPhone.

“Compound Exercise Overload” to Force Muscle Growth and Gain Strength

Feel like pummeling one specific muscle group over and over for a week? If so, you might want to consider compound exercise overload. I’ve never heard of anything like this, but I really like the idea. I’d love to try it out.

Tips for Running with your Dog

These are some really good tips that I can agree with based on experience. We’ve been taking our dogs out on runs recently and had to learn this stuff the hard way. One additional tip I’d recommend would be to carry along a foldable water bowl to pour water into during your run.

Eat Before You Work Out to Burn Fat Without Losing Muscle

New studies show that not eating before your workout will leave your body with no fuel. The fat burning process will stop quickly and your body will begin to burn muscle instead. Eat before you workout!

9 Ways To Improve Your Body As Quickly As Possible

Some of these tips might seem basic to you, but this is an excellent guideline to follow if you’re just getting started on improving your body.

TO SOY OR NOT TO SOY???

Finally an article against soy that isn’t using out-of-date nonsense such as how soy supposedly causes man-boobs. This information comes from a certified vegan dietitian and makes some great points. I will still continue to consume soy for now, but I’ll be keeping this in the back of my mind.

Every weekend I publish a recap of the best health and fitness articles I’ve read over the past week. Most of the articles are new but some might be older, which often come up during my own personal research. Here are my favorites.

Japan scientist synthesizes meat from human feces

I suppose this is a good thing, but will something like this ever take off? I don’t think anyone will ever accept the fact that this “meat” was created from human feces. Interesting though, lol.

Eccentric Training for Athletes

Eccentric training is the act of resisting the weight, instead of simply push-pull. You might also know eccentric training as negative reps. Resisting more weight than you can lift as long as you can is an awesome way to train if you’re looking for something new and this article has plenty of workouts that won’t require a spotter.

Olympic Triathlon Nutrition Plan

This article isn’t as thorough as I was hoping it would be when I read the title, but it’s still got some useful tips for anyone considering participation in a triathlon.

Healthy Iced Raspberry Mocha

Damn, this sounds good. I just bought a package of raspberries that I need to use too.

Chocolate Mousse

This chocolate mousse is made with silken tofu, which doesn’t sound so appetizing, but after tasting some of the vegan recipes made with tofu as an ingredient over the past couple of months, I have no doubts that this isn’t delicious.

Bodybuilding The Vegan Way

In my quest to become vegan, I’m so happy that my fiance found and sent this article to me. There’s a complete nutrition plan too!

Get Drunk Not Fat

Alcohol is one of those things that lots of people worry about giving up when they want to get in shape. The Get Drunk Not Fat website will help you figure out which drinks you can have that will have the lowest amount of detrimental impact on your body.

Every weekend I publish a recap of the best health and fitness articles I’ve read over the past week. Most of the articles are new, but some might be older, which come up during personal research. Here are my favorites.

Recipe: Blueberry Buckle

Another awesome recipe from the good people at Beachbody putting out the P90X newsletter. This is probably going to be my breakfast for the entire next week.

Vegan Lemon Curd

Mmmm, I love lemon treats. I definitely want to think of something to make with this lemon curd soon.

10 Reasons to Control Your Salt intake, Right Away!

If you don’t already manage your salt intake, you should read this article. Salt seems to be in everything. You’d be amazed at how much excess sodium we consume on a daily basis when you actually track it. I do my best to manage it, but it seems nearly impossible to stay below the daily recommended intake.

Tasting! Whole Grain Brown Rice Krispies

I had to post this because I freakin’ love Rice Krispies and now they are made with brown rice! I’ve never compared cereal nutritional values, so I have no idea how much healthier brown rice makes Rice Krispies, but it sounds like an improvement to me.

From Fit to Fat to Fit Again: Man Gains Weight On Purpose

Drew Manning set up an experiment to go from fit, to fat, and back to fit again. The goal is to show people that it’s possible to get fit and stay fit.

Is Late Night Eating Better for Fat Loss and Health?

Martin Berkhan is the king of intermittent fasting info on the web. Everything he talks about on his site is backed up either by science or personal experience. This time he takes on the myth that eating late at night will cause fat gain.

Ronnie Coleman’s Get Huge Program

Ronnie Coleman is well-known in the professional bodybuilding world and for good reason. The man is huge! This program requires working out 5 days straight with two days of rest and about 5500 calories of food per day. Wow. I actually think I might do this one starting in two weeks.

How to eat when you’re really broke

If you maintain a very healthy diet, you probably already know most of this. Foods like oats, grains, brown rice, beans, etc. are cheap. There are plenty of other good tips in this article if you need to save some money.

Every weekend I publish a recap of the best health and fitness articles I’ve read over the past week. Here are my favorites.

The Burger Lab: Building A Better Big Mac

The Big Mac is one of my favorite fast-food hamburgers of all time. I don’t really eat fast-food much anymore and when I do, I definitely don’t get the Big Mac now that it’s the size of a tiny hamburger and is priced at $4. What a rip-off. But now with this in-depth rebuilding of the Big Mac, I can make my own!

Finally, the Truth About Soy

This is a must-read. Just in the past two weeks since announcing that I will be transitioning to veganism, so many people have told me that soy is bad for me and will cause man-boobs (moobs). I’ve read many studies over the years on both sides of the argument, but I lean more to the side that says soy is safe. It’s not the only thing I’ll be eating once completely vegan, but I’m certainly not afraid of it.

Fat Burning Zone Myth; Going Slower Burns More Fat

When I started doing cardio to burn fat a few months ago, I had this same question. The elliptical machines and treadmills at the gym showed that keeping your heart rate only slightly elevated would burn more fat than high heart rates. It didn’t make any sense to me. Some research showed exactly what this article explains. Basically, it’s not true.

Gaining Mass with P90X

If you’ve ever done P90X, it should be obvious to you that you aren’t going to be the next Arnold Schwarzenegger, but you will get in great shape. If you do want to get huge though, read this mass building plan created by the P90X team.

Ryan Hughes’ Muscle Building Program

I always love these programs from Bodybuilding.com. This one looks difficult, but doable. That’s a ton of calories to eat though. 4,689 calories per day is enough to make most people sick. I would imagine it would take me a week or longer to get used to that diet.

Ryan Jones Transformation Story: 45 lbs of Monstrous Muscle Gains

This is an inspirational story for anyone who has felt self-conscious about being skinny. I was just as skinny as this kid when I was his age and people don’t realize how embarrassing it is. I wish I had come across this post when I was a teenager.

Breaking News! USDA Replaces Food Pyramid with MyPlate

It’s about time the food pyramid has been updated. The new dietary guidelines set forth by the USDA now recommend that plates contain half fruits and vegetables and less meat and dairy. Sounds like a good step forward in reducing obesity rates in the U.S.

This Week’s Must-Have – Cacao Tea

Mmm, this sounds delicious. I wonder if my local supermarket has them in stock yet. I hope they aren’t too expensive.

Hero Training Workouts Get You in Shape and Prepare You For Heroics

If you want to be able to jump from rooftop to rooftop, you’re going to have to work on strength, speed and endurance. Do these workouts to get in “hero” condition.

Cycling in the City: How to Stay Safe

A friend of mine was just hit by a car while riding his bike through the city. He broke his wrist, dislocated his knee cap and broke his tibia in 15 places. It wasn’t his fault, but it’s a good reminder to make sure you’re taking all the proper precautions when riding your bike.

Jack3d Review

Jack3d is a preworkout supplement that I’ve been wanting to try. I just did a review of N.O. Xplode which is in the same category as Jack3d. Both seem to come highly recommended from people all over, but most preworkout formulas also have their drawbacks.

Tips to Deal With Your Obese Child

If you’re a parent, you need to be cautious of your child’s nutrition. There are lots of great tips here on dealing with an obese child as well as preventing it.

Happy Memorial Day weekend! Enjoy the outdoors, BBQ and spend some time with the family! Oh, and read the articles below 😉

Laura Bailey Fitness 360

Laura Bailey is one super-fit woman and a 2011 BodySpace Spokesmodel finalist. Working with Bodybuilding.com, she has put together a complete fitness program – one for muscle building and one for cutting fat. Choose the one that fits for you and stick to it.

Top 10 Detoxifying Foods

I’ve never tried a detox before or even really had the desire, but I might consider adding some of these foods to my diet. This article has a nice list of things you can consume to provide a gentle detoxification to aid in the removal of toxins in the body.

Soy Free Vegan Ice Cream

I wasn’t sure how this was going to come out since it’s just frozen bananas and peanut butter, but it actually came out really good. I liked it a lot.

Top 10 Veg-Friendly Major League Ballparks

I would’ve never guessed that many baseball fields would have any good vegan options, but it looks like plenty of them do. And what’s even better is that Coors Field in Denver, which is where I live, is at number 5. Sweet!

Eat to Compete: Training Diet

A carb-rich meal plan from the Iowa State University teaches you how to eat before, during and after training. This is an awesome resource. Read it!

5 Great Food and Nutrition Tools

There are four really cool tools mentioned here and one that I’ll never use because I’m not in the Weight Watcher’s program.

Mushroom Compound Suppresses Prostate Tumors

A compound called polysaccharopeptide was extracted from the “turkey tail” mushroom and during early test trials in mice, it has been found to be 100% effective in suppressing prostate tumur development. Awesome stuff!

Spinach Stir-Fry

Another awesome vegan recipe from the P90X newsletter. These guys just keep putting out awesome stuff.

3 Ways To Bench Press Safely When You’re Training Alone

Anyone who has ever bench pressed alone has asked this question. I definitely have. I would love to get a power rack in my house but I just can’t afford it right now. I’ve always kept the collars off my bar so that I could dump the weight to the side in case of failure, but I really like the “roll of shame” tactic mentioned in this article.

Mark Zuckerberg Only Eats What He Kills

The CEO of Facebook has started a new diet in which he will only eat what he kills. My favorite quote – “A bunch of people told me that even though they loved eating pork, they really didn’t want to think about the fact that the pig used to be alive. That just seemed irresponsible to me.” This means that most of the time he’s a vegetarian, but he has killed a lobster, chicken, pig and a goat for food so far.