Fitness Articles of the Week #7

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


How I Lost 25 Lbs. in 3 Months

This is my own personal essay of how I lost 25 lbs. in three months while doing the Transformation Challenge from Bodybuilding.com. This goes through my exact routine, my diet and the supplements I used while on the program. How could I not mention it in my weekly roundup? 😉


Hack Your Muscles: Comparing the Best Post-Workout Beverages

What should you drink after a hard workout? Maybe milk, maybe cherry juice. Many people choose sports drinks and flavored waters. This article also discusses the use of cherry juice and even beer. Personally, I drink a protein shake with L-glutamine and creatine.


Athletes Get Faster Recovery With Weird Yoga Exercise

I’m not sure I care for the sensationalist title of this article because if you think the seated twist is weird, you probably think any yoga move is weird. Anyway, I’ve seen a few videos from Julie Downey and they’re always good, despite that she takes FOREVER to get to the point. Check out this video on doing the seated twist which Julie claims to help increase respiratory capacity.


3 Massage Therapy Benefits That Helps Exercise Recovery

For a long time, massage has been used to aid in recovery after hard workouts. Some studies say they are beneficial and others claim them to be pointless or to even have a negative impact on recovery. This article was written by someone with tons of experience, so I definitely suggest reading it.


Going Meatless – Post from Raul of VegLatino

This is an interesting interview with a Raul, a long-time vegetarian since 2006. He discusses how and why he became a vegetarian, the myths of meat being a nutritional requirement and finding things to eat when you’re on a meatless diet.


Do You Think Liposuction Will Get Rid of That Fat Forever?

This study shows that people who have had a liposuction procedure eventually see fat return within a year, which is redistributed to other areas of the body. The cosmetic shape benefit is usually retained, but liposuction is not a weight loss procedure.


Sitting is Not Bad For You

The news and the internet has been chock-full of information lately about how sitting all day can increase the chance of heart attack, so it’s nice to see an article on the other side of the coin. This article says that you shouldn’t stay in one posture all day, sitting or standing. Sounds like good advice to me.


6 Reasons Yoga’s Great for Guys

There are some great points in this article. I love yoga personally, but I always hear from my friends about how they don’t think it’s worth adding to their routine because it won’t build muscle or make you stronger. How wrong they are.


Get Rid of That Stitch in Your Side with This Three Minute Fix

Don’t you hate getting a side-stitch in the middle of a good run? Here are some quick tips to fix it. One method that I use that wasn’t mentioned and has seems to work for me is changing my breath to inhale/exhale opposite of the leg that was hitting the ground previously. It’s just something I heard a long time ago and started to do.


Joy’s Recipe Revamp: Banana Bread

Mmm, nutritionist approved banana bread. I can’t wait to make this one.


10 surprisingly healthy treats

If you have a sweet tooth and need some healthy options to keep you away from fatty desserts, check out these 10 recipes. These all look delicious.


Gym In a Bag Review (Minimalist Home Gym)

This is an awesome idea, but this official version is too expensive. They are selling the “Gym in a Bag” for $90, but I bet you could put this together with the stuff you need for less than $50.


No Blender? No Worries! 5 Novel Uses for Protein Powder

If you’re not the type of person who likes to drink their protein, consider using it in your food instead. I’ve actually made variations of two of the recipes in this article; protein pancakes and protein fruit dip. Both are awesome and tasty!


Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness by Robert Cheeke Review

I’m definitely considering switching to a vegan lifestyle sometime in the future, but I want to do lots of research first to make sure I have a supplement and nutrition plan in place to make sure I stay as strong as possible. This review looks like it has pointed me in the right direction for one of the first books I should be ordering.

Fitness Articles of the Week #3

Before every weekend I publish a recap of the best health and fitness articles I’ve read over the past week.

Enjoy!


Hurry Up & Grow: 11 Tips For Super-Efficient Workouts

There are some great tips here for getting a good workout in a shorter amount of time. I really like the tip from Heather Rininger about doing 5 minutes of cardio between sets. That would be a killer workout.


Some Long Lasting Fatloss Exercise Myths – Taken Apart!

It’s always good to see articles like this spreading. There is so much bad advice floating around and it’s so hard to separate the facts from the old advice that has been dispelled in the last 5+ years.


Should I Weigh Myself Everyday?

Interesting post with pro’s and con’s to weighing yourself every day. Personally, I like weighing myself daily and marking it down on my workout sheets because I can compare my weight one week to the previous week and see how my weight has changed and if it has had any effect on how much I lifted that day. I do think I’ll be changing to once-a-week weigh-in’s soon though.


The Best Bodyweight Strength Exercises on Earth

These are some great bodyweight exercises to add to your arsenal. I’m mostly adding this one to my list because I want to start doing Handstand Push-Ups.


Carrot Cake Smoothie

This just sounds way too delicious not to mention.


Body Building Grandma Ernestine Shepherd Bench Presses, Runs Marathons At 73

This is amazing. I can only hope I’m in half as good of shape as she is when I’m 73.


Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

I’ll tell you right off the bat that this article is long. It’s six pages long, but it’s absolutely worth the read. This is what anyone who isn’t already a bodybuilder needs to know. Set aside some time and get through this one.


How Your Appetite Affects Your Decisions

Dieting is a big part of many of our lives, but if you’re not eating enough, it could be affecting the decisions you make.


Fitballin’

A whole new use for a fitball at the beach. If you have a gymnastic bone in your body, you’ll love this. I, on the other hand, would break my neck.


How to Make Perfectly Boiled Eggs

Hard-boiled eggs are really easy to make, but I’ve always had a hard time making them perfect. Perfect to me means that the shell comes right off. I suck at that part. Lifehacker linked to the post at the bottom of the article as well as to posts on making perfect fried eggs, scrambled eggs and poached eggs.

How to Burn 317,890 Calories in 44 Days

I’ve really been into cycling a lot lately. I just bought a new Trek road bike about a month ago and it wasn’t exactly cheap, but it’s awesome. I love it. I’ve already ridden it a little over 200 miles so far and my hopes are to start riding it three times per week to work. I ride at around 18-20 mph and it’s 14 miles from my house to work, so 28 miles per day is pretty good, I think.

Not as good as what Paul Spencer from the UK can do though. On August 21st, 2010, Spencer completed a Guinness World Record for the “Fastest Cycle Across America (N-S, W-E).” The prior record was set at 444 days and Spencer completely obliterated it. He crossed America in only 44 days, 3 hours, 2 minutes and 26 seconds.

He started from Blaine, WA at the border of Canada and rode to San Ysidro, San Diego, CA at the border of Mexico. After that he drove to Los Angelas where he got back on his bike and rode to City Hall in New York City. He averaged about 106 miles per day! I haven’t even gone on a 100 mile ride yet myself.

The entire journey was captured and chronicled on a site set up specifically for Spencers wild challenges (yes, he’s done others) at YesHesMad.com so if you want to see what it took to do something like this check out the site. This could be the information I need to beat his record 😉

Over the 44 day trip, Spencer rode 4,662.48 miles, rode for 316 hours and 53 minutes, and burned a whopping 317,890 calories. How is this guy not a toothpick after that?