How Much Protein You Need and

Pro Bodybuilders eat about one gram (sometimes even 1.5 grams) of protein per pound of body weight or per pound of non-fat tissue. I'm sure you've seen that the recommended dail

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Sunday, April 5, 2015

What Are The Best Bodybuilding Exercises For Building Muscle?

This is a common question most people new to bodybuilding will ask. Often, they will reach for one of the many excellent books on the subject of bodybuilding for an answer.

Unfortunately, most bodybuilding books will lump in scores upon scores of bodybuilding exercises in their pages as a means of making the book as comprehensive as possible.

There is nothing wrong with this because the ability to look up a great deal of information of a number of bodybuilding exercises is most definitely valuable. However, the important basics of a bodybuilding workout can be overlooked. So, for those that are seriously concerned over what exactly are the best bodybuilding exercises, here is a comprehensive look at those exercises that are the most important:
Bodybuilding Exercises

The Squat: Here is an undeniable fact that most people looking to develop lean muscle mass must become aware of as quickly as humanly possible: the squat is the most important of all bodybuilding exercises for building muscle mass. Why is this? There are several reasons and the most important is that heavy squat work will release an enormous number of natural steroids in the body. Essentially, the body's growth hormones are naturally mass produced which has an enormously positive effect on the rest of the muscles in the body.

Additionally, the legs are the foundation of the body. They are needed to support the weight and mass that rests upon. As such, any serious mass building of the upper body must be followed by serious leg mass bodybuilding exercises since these properly developed legs are needed to support the weight of the elevated mass.

The Bench Press: Speaking of the upper body, performing the bench press regular helps develop the upper chest and torso to its best and most massive appearance. Really, what bodybuilder could even remotely be taken seriously if he did not perform bench presses?
Bodybuilding Exercises

The Military Press: The military press creates the massively powerful shoulders needed for a symmetrical upper body. In addition to the amazing physique benefit one will gain from properly developed shoulders, the enhancement of a person's physical strength derived from these exercises will be significant as well. That is why the barbell and dumbbell military presses should always be linchpin exercises in one's workout program.

The Biceps Curl: Honestly, you can develop significant mass in the biceps through bench presses and military presses alone. However, if you want to be sure your biceps have decent symmetry, working out the biceps with biceps curls (barbell and dumbbell exercises) remains strongly recommended.
Abdominal Crunches: The abdominal muscles make the core of the body. This is the part of the body most people's eyes are drawn to since it is at the center of the body mass. As such, it is best to always develop your abs to their finest since many physiques will be judged on their abs.

The Dead Lift: The dead lift certainly helps boost muscle mass but it is suggested to perform this exercise with light weights to prevent injuries. Actually,
it may be advised to hold off on this exercise until one gains some strength and experience.

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Balance Pose of the Week: I Walk the Line


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Friday, April 3, 2015

Friday Q&A: Doing Yoga with Shoes

Dancers Tying Shoes by Edgar Degas
Q: I have been asked by a person who wants to try yoga for the first time if she can do yoga with her shoes on, as she finds her balance is not at all good without ankle support due do an injury in the past. She had broken her ankle and leg and her foot faces outward at an angle.

A: The simplest answer is: Yes, of course! There have been numerous occasions when a student of mine, for one reason or another, needed to wear some sort of shoe/sandal/slipper in order to safely participate in class, especially when they were dealing with a painful foot condition of some sort. Why, just last night I had a young student show up for class with a two-day-old ankle sprain wanting to take class. The ankle was wrapped heavily in an ace bandage, which of course limited his flexion and extension at the ankle joint quite a bit. Despite these limitations—and with some timely suggestions from me throughout the class—he was able to successfully take class without removing his ankle support. 

I recall a time when one of my own feet was painful enough, likely from a mild case of plantar fasciitis, so that I had to wear flip-flops while teaching yoga in order to eliminate the pain and allow me to do my job of moving about the studio during classes. One of my teacher trainees also developed pain in both her feet and was advised by her doctor to wear low tennis shoes and not go barefoot for at least six months. She purchased a dedicated pair of shoes she only wore in the studio (so as to keep them and the wood floor clean), and was able to continue her yoga studies and take yoga classes as the feet healed.

A friend of mine, a long-time yoga teacher, found out a few years back that she had a leg-length discrepancy (see Friday Q&A: One Leg Shorter than the Other for general info on this issue), which was causing her pain in her legs and hips. Her health care person suggested she wear a thin, customized sandal on the foot of her shorter leg when she is doing standing poses, and while she is standing and teaching. Since then, her pain has gone away and she continues to wear the sandal now, many years later. 

Now, getting back to your student with the ankle and foot issues, you may need to do more than okay her to wear a dedicated pair of shoes to class. To allow her to experience poses with safe and helpful alignment, you may need to really creative in modifying standing poses by using other props. One of my favorite tools for this is the yoga wedge, which can be placed under the heel or ball of the foot as needed to deal with stiffness or immobility of the ankle joint It often helps with balance in poses like Triangle pose (Trikonasana) and Extended Side Angle pose (Utthita Parsvakonasana). 
So, prepare to get creative with practitioners who present unique challenges like this and you should be able to find excellent ways for them to start or continue their yoga practice! 

And with traumatic injuries, as your student has, this may be a temporary situation as the trauma heals slowly. So it may be that letting her start out wearing shoes and then periodically try some poses without shoes may eventually allow her to do yoga with bare feet. See Recovering From Ankle Injuries for information about ways to use yoga to help foster this healing.

—Baxter

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7 Reasons Why You Should Love Yoga Props

by Nina

Although we’ve heard that some yoga teachers say using props is “cheating” (see Cheating at Yoga?), we couldn’t disagree more. For us here at Yoga for Healthy Aging, props are quite simply a godsend. In fact, it took me some effort for me to whittle down the reasons why we think props are so beneficial—and loveable—to just seven. Yes, we love props so much because they:

1. Keep Us Safe. Using a prop can help prevent injuries caused by overstretching or misalignment. For some people—whether due to lack of flexibility or anatomy (short arms), reaching the floor is difficult and using a prop, for example, in Triangle pose (Trikonasana) or Half Moon pose (Arda Chandrasana) can make the difference between overstretching your hamstrings and keeping them healthy. And for people who are stiff or have back problems using a prop in a backbend like Camel pose (Ustrasana) can reduce stress in the low back. Someone whose arms are misaligned, with a carrying angle for example, can use a strap just above the elbows to prevent uneven wear and tear on the elbow joints in Downward-Facing Dog pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana). 
Camel Pose with a Bolster
2. Stabilize Us. For people with balance problems or who are weak, using props in standing poses can keep you from falling. You can use the wall (with a foot or hand on the wall) or you can support yourself with a chair. Even a block to support your hand can help stabilize you in the pose. 
Triangle Pose with the Wall
3. Allow Us to Breathe. Using a prop to achieve a healthy alignment—one in which your spine retains its natural curves and your chest is open— helps you to take deep and easy breaths. For example, if your hips are tight, sitting on a block or folded blanket allows you to maintain an upright posture, rather than collapsing your chest. Using props can also help reduce pain in a pose, like foot or knee pain in Hero pose (Virasana), and allowing you to be more comfortable, well, that makes breathing easier, too. 
Hero Pose with Block and Blanket
4. Let Us Heal. After you injure yourself or experience illness or surgery, using props allow you to gradually restore strength and flexibility to a challenged area. For example, someone recovering from a wrist injury could practice Downward-Facing Dog pose with hands on the wall, then hands on a chair, and then hands on blocks while moving through the healing process. 
Downward-Facing Dog with Chair
5. Let Us Relax. Without props, there wouldn’t be restorative yoga! In restorative poses, the props allow you to take the shape of a pose, such as backbend, twist or forward bend, without muscular effort so you can stay in the pose for long periods of time and relax deeply. And in more active poses using props in poses that otherwise push you to your absolute limits allows you to be comfortable—or at least more comfortable—while still obtaining the benefits of the pose. 
Supported Child's Pose
6. Empower Us. When you’re ready to progress beyond the basics, props can enable you take the first baby steps working toward a challenging pose. For example, practicing Warrior 3 (Virabradrasana 3) or Side Plank pose (Vasithasana) with a wall is a good way to get started working toward the classic versions of the poses. And how else could we work on One-Legged King Pigeon pose (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana) without blankets, blocks and a strap? 
Warrior 3 with the Wall
7. Enable All of Us! No matter what shape you’re in—even if you can’t get down to the floor, can't stand up or can’t move parts of your body—props allow you to take the shape of a pose and obtain the benefits of stretching, moving your joints, and breathing mindfully. (I once taught yoga to a paraplegic who had very tight shoulders and back pain from rolling his wheelchair with his arms.) As a matter of fact, my new motto is this: With yoga props, there is always a way.
Hunting Dog for Those Who Can't Kneel
For suggestions on how to make your own props using common household items, see Making Your Own Yoga Props.

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Best Chest Workouts for Mass

The best chest workout should help you to build your pecks and arms muscles while getting rid of fat at the same time. There are many more different chest exercises out there than most people realize and deciding which ones go best together to form the best chest workout for you can be tricky. You don’t need too many exercises work out the exact same muscles or areas. For the best chest workout you should be working out different areas of the chest by doing things like some exercises lying down and some vertical. You can also do some on a decline like a decline press.
Best Chest Workouts for Mass

Bench Press (with Barbells or Dumbbells)

Dumbbell Fly’s

Cable Crossovers

Smith Machine Incline Press

Dumbbell Pullover

Push Ups

Incline Bench Press

There are also many great chest exercises using the medicine ball that can be incorporated into your chest workout. There is no one definitive workout that has been decided upon as the best chest workout: there are tons of chest exercises out there to choose from that do different things. A chest workout is an important part of your overall workout routine and is important to
 your physical fitness as a whole. Plus, strong pecks look good ?.

How To Build Muscle Quick With Three Fast Muscle Building Tips

How To Build Muscle Quick With Three Fast Muscle Building Tips
We live in a McQuick world today and we want everything NOW! So how do we build muscle quick? Unfortunately, there really is no McQuick method to build muscle fast if your idea of fast is yesterday. However, if your idea of fast is like six weeks then we can build muscle quick if we work on it. In fact, we can build muscle and see a quick difference within three weeks. At least I began seeing a great difference in my muscle building in about three weeks.
How To Build Muscle

Tip # 1 The first tip in building muscle quick is to stop eating all that junk food. It is real hard to build muscle period, let alone quick, if we are constantly eating the wrong kinds of fat. You need to read the nutritional labels on the foods you eat and learn how to understand them. I was a junk food junkie eating just about anything I wanted to eat and it was showing big time in my big belly and flabby arms. Until I was willing to change my eating habits I had no chance of building my muscles. It is not easy to change bad habits but it can and must be done.

Tip # 2 The second tip in building muscle quick is to spend time actually exercising your muscles. What you need to do is to set aside a specific amount of time and then stick to it. I work at my muscle building weight program for 20 minutes three specific days a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. The other days I simply watch what I eat and touch my toes. If you do not set that time aside you will not build muscle quick and in fact won’t build muscle at all.

Tip # 3 The third tip to build muscle quick is choosing the right exercise routine. Get some expert advice before you start this process and it is not a bad idea to talk with your physician and make sure your heart is up to it. However, if you eat right, set the time aside and stick to a good exercise routine you too can add muscle to your physique. I have reviewed two good muscle building programs that have helped me in setting my goals and fulfilling those goals when it comes to eating right and exercising right. Check out my website for more details.

I have lost my belly fat, my arms are no longer flabby, and even my wife says I am looking pretty good. Age does not play a part in this I am 58 years old and feeling and looking great. A simple small change in my eating habits, a simple home gym used only three times a week twenty
 minutes a day using the right exercise program will do wonders for you as well.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

The Aging Brain: Brain Changes During Healthy Aging

by Ram
Self Portrait by Joan Miro *
I have written several articles in the past regarding the brain, brain pathology, the mind, and mental exercise. Much of that focused on the brain in a pathological setting in addition to modalities necessary to improve and strengthen the brain and mind including yoga, meditation, and pranayama. But an important question is: what happens to the brain during healthy aging? Do we know the changes in the structure and function of the brain as the individual ages without any underlying neuro-pathological condition? Actually, there are a number of laboratories that are focusing on brain changes during aging with hopes that this would lead to a better understanding of brain function during a pathological condition. Most of the evidence has come from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of age-related changes in brain. Thus far we know the following:
  1. As a person ages, certain areas of the brain, including the prefrontal cortex (an area that covers the front part of the frontal lobe) and the hippocampus, shrink to size. Thus, the functions attributed to these two areas, namely, learning, memory acquisition and recall, planning, cognitive behavior, personality, social behavior and decision making, all are compromised as the person ages.
  2. Shrinkage of the brain is associated with a concomitant increase in the ventricular space (the ventricles are cavities surrounding the brain region where the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is produced).
  3. The cortical thickness is reduced by 0.5% and 1.0% in most brain areas.
  4. The volumetric brain reduction is also associated with shrinkage of neurons, reductions of synaptic spine density and total synapses. There is a general reduction in white matter (myelin covered axons) due to neuronal death. This affects the communication between neurons resulting in reduced function.
  5. Blood flow to the brain reduces with age because the arteries shrink and there is also reduction in the growth of new capillaries.
  6. In some people, structures called plaques and tangles accumulate inside and outside of the brain that disrupt the communication network between neurons.
  7. Aging also triggers the production of free radicals. Free radicals have a tendency to interact with cellular structures and cause their destruction.
  8. The presence of plaques, tangles, and free radicals triggers inflammation. If inflammation goes unchecked, it can elicit several brain disorders.
What about mental function in healthy older people? Due to changes in the physical structures of the brain, mental capacity and functions also change. Generally people complain about a decline in mental ability, including learning new things, recalling/retrieving information, and keeping up with latest technological advances. Aged individuals will also perform poorly on complex tasks of attention, learning, and memory. In contrast, if these individuals are made to practice the same tasks, their scores are often similar to those of young adults. Furthermore, as they age, adults often show improvement in other cognitive tasks, including vocabulary, verbal knowledge, and information analysis. This may be due to the compensatory mechanisms unfolded by the brain to cope with difficulties that certain regions may be having.

While it is obvious that there may be a general decline in mental abilities, more recent evidence points out to the adaptive functions of the brain aka brain plasticity (see The Power of Mental Exercise) as people age. Learning/stimulating environments maintain, build, and remodel neural network connectivity and also trigger production of nerve growth factors that stimulate new neural connections (see How Yoga Sequences Are Brain Aerobics). The brain actively grows and rewires itself in response to stimulation and learning (see Svadhyaya, Reading, and Brain Strength). Other stimulating factors include lifestyle, environment, and genetics. 

Furthermore, the concept of cognitive reserve is being investigated to explain why some people remain cognitively healthy as they get older while others develop cognitive impairment. Cognitive reserve refers to: 1) the brain’s ability to function smoothly even when some function is disrupted and 2) the extent of brain damage required before changes in cognition are evident. Individuals differ in their cognitive reserve capacity owing to genes, education, occupation, lifestyle, or other life experiences, all of which provide immense resistance to deleterious changes and damage in the brain that occurs during aging. 

A list of lifestyle changes that older adults can implement to preserve healthy brain aging and an overall good health include:
  • Controlling risk factors for heart disease, diabetes and obesity
  • Maintaining a normal range of cholesterol
  • Maintaining blood pressure at healthy levels
  • Maintaining a healthy weight
  • Getting a good night & refreshing sleep
  • Enjoying regular exercise and physical activity
  • Low to moderate consumption of sugary foods
  • Eating a healthy diet that includes plenty of vegetables and fruits
  • Engaging in intellectually stimulating activities
  • Maintaining good social ties with family and friends
As discussed in previous posts (Mental Exercise, Yoga, and the Perfect Brain), a steady practice of yoga, meditation, pranayama, and cognitive exercises work beautifully as part of the preventive strategies. All the previous posts advocated incorporating some form of yoga on a daily basis that could not only add new life to the dull and routine tasks of everyday life but also keep the brain fit physically, mentally and emotionally.

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