Canyoning, caving and climbing in South Wales

MF's Max Anderton finds out why you don't need to go abroad for an action-packed long weekend away

When deciding where to holiday with your mates it’s far too easy to overlook the UK. Sure, some European cities might have cheaper beer and the promise of beautiful women waiting to be whisked off their feet by English gentlemen. But, a) the latter part of that almost definitely isn’t true, and b) do you not remember the Hostel films?

Ill-informed, torture-porn based xenophobia isn’t the only reason why holidaying in the UK shouldn’t just be for caravan enthusiasts and groups of colourful backpack clad Spanish children. Turns out we also have a shitload of fun things to do. From impressive mountains to scale, beautiful waterfalls to swim, craggy coastlines to navigate and networks of caves to explore there’s no shortage of activities to choose from. And that’s before you consider other manly activities such as quad biking, clay pigeon shooting and err

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How to train for off-road races: 5 top tips

Advice on how to prepare your body and your legs for the toughest long distance pursuits

Merrell Ambassador Dr. Andrew Murray and Scottish running coach and endurance runner Donnie Campbell recently ran the 10 highest peaks in Britain in a record 13hours and 10minutes. Here are their top tips on training for major off-road pursuits.

Build Your Miles

The key for getting your legs used to ultra marathon mileage is simply putting in the miles. The number of miles you run each week can be easily recorded by many Smartphone apps whilst make sure that your longer runs are done at a pace where you can hold steady conversation and where your heart is working at no more than 70% of its maximum.

As a guide start by increasing your weekly mileage by 5-10% each week focusing on logging the extra miles during your long run . Be sure to keep these runs specific to the event you're taking part in, if it’s a flat run, train on the flat but if it’s a hilly run train on slopes. Try and avoid running on asphalt as much as possible to reduce the risk of repetitive impact injuries.

N.B. Andrew was building upon a remarkably good base fitness level so we started by running around 5 hours for his long run the first week and building up from there.

Hill Sprints

To build power in your legs, increase your VO2 max. To prepare the body for the unpredictable nature of the highlands and ascending mountains at speed Andrew was prescribed prolonged hill sprint sessions lasting 45 minutes to an hour, once each week.

To replicate these sessions yourself scout your local environment to find a steep gradient and perform circuits by sprinting up the hill at 90-100% for 1-2 minutes followed by a recovery walk or jog back down the hill. Placing such physical demand on your body will quickly build your VO2 max.

Tempo Sessions

These are again best run over similar terrain, as you’ll be facing on the day of your event. For this you'll be looking to run close to your race pace for 10k for 45mins to an hour, helping push your lactic threshold. Tempo running is part of the staple training plan of many Kenyan distance runners and whilst Andrew, as a resident of Edinburgh, benefitted from having an array of varied terrain ready for him to tackle, runners should look to travel where possible to keep their training novel and exciting.

Concentrate on your core and balance

Andrew was set a challenge to set aside half an hour 2 times a week to perform a series of core exercises using medicine balls and kettle bells to fire up the power in his glutes and core muscles. The reason for this is that the glutes provide the power for an athlete to tackle steep terrain and the core is essential to stay balanced and keep good running form over technical trails.

 

An example workout could be as follows:

 

Complete a circuit workout by combining 20 one legged squats with kettle bells on each leg (helping to build strength and balance)

 

20 squat jumps with kettlebells (to help build dynamic power)

 

One minute plank and 30 sit-ups with a twist and 30 back raises (to work not just your abdominals but the oblique and lumbar regions)

 

Rest for 30 -60 seconds after each set, repeat the circuit 3 times.Nutrition is key

You can't out train a bad diet. This expression is particularly relevant in a society where a growing number of people are competing in grueling endurance races along with working a steady 9-5 job. Learning from the Elite Kenyan runners again, you should be looking to fuel your body with carbohydrates as that is your bodies preferred energy source, more specifically, complex carbohydrates such as whole grains and fresh fruit and vegetables, also you need some lean protein in your diet to help repair damaged muscle tissue from training and some natural fats to aid body function..

N.B. During the peak of Andrew’s training for the Big 10 he was exercising for around 20-30 hours a week which meaning that he constantly needed to make the right food choices or risk dangerous energy deficits when training.

Dr Andrew Murray is a Merrell Pack leader, shop his kit via http://www.merrell.com

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How to build bigger biceps: The 5 key moves

Bicep routine now showing results? Here are five must-do moves to get sleeve-busting arms from Charles Poliquin

There are dozens of biceps exercises. The trouble is, unless you’re involved in this business full-time, you tend to adopt a few exercises and do them over and over again to the exclusion of all others. 

This is simply a list of five of my favourites. Obviously, many of them will be familiar to you. However, you may want to read the descriptions anyway because you might discover a new way to do that particular movement or you might find that you’ve been doing it incorrectly.

One-arm dumbbell preacher curl

Most biceps exercises require some assistance and stabilisation work by other muscle groups, but the preacher bench was designed to isolate the biceps. Most gyms have standing and sitting preacher benches. I prefer the seated version because it minimises cheating. 

Sit on the bench with one arm fully extended. Use your free hand to lock your triceps in position. As you curl the weight, keep your neck aligned by looking straight ahead. You want to keep tension on the muscle throughout each rep, so don’t curl the weight up until your forearm touches your biceps, but make sure you do lower the weight all the way back to the start.

Incline dumbbell curl

This is a simple, common exercise and the most effective for isolating the long head of the biceps, but I see it done incorrectly time and again. 

Recline on an incline bench with a dumbbell in each hand and your arms fully stretched out. Curl the dumbbells up together while keeping your elbows still, at least through the first 90

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Why hormones are so important to your training

MF explains how to harness the power of your hormones to ensure you're getting the best out of what you're eating and how you're training

If you spend any time in a gym, you’ll probably hear guys talking about how their training is going. You’ll also hear them discussing their nutrition strategies for bulking up or getting lean. And you may even hear them chat about what they’re doing to speed up the recovery process ahead of their next session. 

What you’re unlikely to hear, however, is talk about what they’re doing to optimise their hormones. You won’t hear it because, even though your hormones dictate everything from your mood to your ability to pack on muscle, this is an area of performance that’s almost entirely overlooked. 

Our guide to the key players in your hormonal cascade (the term used to describe how they work together) will help you solve the final piece of the training puzzle.

Testosterone

Also known as: The

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How technology can make you a better cyclist

We spoke to Dr Auriel Forrester, a sports scientist from Scientific Coaching, about new technological advancements in cycling What technology do you use to help cyclists?

We can measure all sorts of data from cycling.  Heart rate, speed, cadence and even power output can all be recorded and tracked. Our SRM captures information at intervals down to fractions of seconds so you get the most accurate information about your ride. A screen allows you to keep track of all these statistics in real time while you ride. 

How does data-tracking technology improve cycling?

I use data from technology to work with cyclists to produce training schedules.  This works so well with cycling because of the sheer wealth of information.  Rather than measuring heart rate alone, like a runner might, we can keep tabs on the result of that increased heart rate

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Quick and healthy stir-fry recipe

Eat well in minutes with this speedy, protein packed stir-fry

Having a quick stir-fry doesn’t have to mean a trip to your local Chinese takeaway. This healthy recipe, from chef Karol Gladki (karolgladki.com), can be made in minutes, allowing you to enjoy all the benefits of a hearty meal with minimal hassle in the kitchen.

Ingredients

250g chicken fillets / 1 pack of egg noodles, cooked / 1 pack of stir-fry vegetables / 2tbsp low-sodium soy sauce / 1tbsp sesame oil / 1tbsp sesame seeds / 1tbsp olive oil

To makeHeat the olive oil in a frying pan or wok over a medium heat.Season the chicken and then add it to the pan, searing it for around 2 minutes on each sideAdd the vegetables and noodles and fry for four minutes, stirring occasionally.Add the soy sauce, sesame oil and seeds, stir through to warm and serve immediately.

Chicken is an excellent source of lean protein and vitamin B3, which helps to prevent your body storing fat.

Egg noodles contain protein to build muscle and carbs to replenish your glycogen stores and give you energy.

Sesame seeds contain high levels of selenium, which kills off harmful free radicals that interfere with muscle growth.

 

 

Read more about: Healthy eating healthy stir-fry healthy eating For more exercise, weight-loss and diet tips, get the magazine. Subscribe now and we'll give you 5 issues for

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How to get a six pack: 27 abs foods

If you want a six-pack, eating the right things is crucial. Here are the foods that will help build and reveal your abs Step one: Burn fat

Everyone has abs, but you won’t be able to see them if they’re hidden beneath a layer of fat. These will help you burn it off

1. Broccoli  is a low-calorie food that’s packed with fibre, which will fill you up and help you to lose weight, according to research from the US Department of Health & Human Services.

2. Cinnamon can help to blunt insulin response in the body, stopping you from storing fat, says an American study.

3. Cheddar is a good source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which helps you to lose weight and build muscle, a Swedish study found.

4. Mushrooms are a great low-calorie way to add bulk to stews and pasta sauces, according to American research.

5. Sweet potatoes are a low-GI food and research from the US found they don’t promote fat storage by causing your insulin levels to spike, unlike normal potatoes.

6. Apples contain antioxidant polyphenols, which help to prevent your body from storing fat, according to a German study.

Step two: Boost your metabolism

This will cause your body to burn more calories, helping to make you lean and expose your abs

7. Green tea contains molecules called catechins, which have thermogenic properties and improve metabolism, a study published in the Chinese Journal Of Integrative Medicine found.

8. Chilli peppers are a great source of capsaicin, which helps to ramp up your metabolism, says a study in the American Journal Of Clinical Nutrition.

9. Blueberries can help to inhibit the formation of new fat cells by altering lipid metabolism, according to research from the Texas Woman’s University.

10. Grapefruit contains chemicals that reduce insulin levels, which in turn can cause increased metabolism, American research discovered.

Step three: Eat meat for protein 

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Chris Pratt workout tips

Get in superhero shape with advice from celebrity trainer Duffy Gaver, who helped Chris Pratt transform his body for Guardians Of The Galaxy

How long did you spend training Pratt?

We worked together for six months before he began shooting Guardians Of The Galaxy.

What did his workout regime look like?

He’d lift weights four or five times a week for an hour at a time. For the first few months it was mainly traditional bodybuilding sessions to add size, targeting specific muscle groups on separate days (the actual splits changed from month to month). Towards the end we started mixing things up and adding in circuit training and P90X workouts to help get him lean.

Did he do anything else outside of the gym?

Yeah, he was really active. He did a lot of mountain biking, running, swimming and kickboxing. Adding these kinds of sports helped to keep things varied and enjoyable.

What was the secret to his success?

Hard work, dedication and making the right choices, which is all you can ask for as a trainer. If I could do the training for my clients I would, but I can’t. The discipline and drive has to come from them, and Pratt was excellent in this regard.

Did he have a specific nutrition plan to follow?

Absolutely. He worked with a nutritionist called Phil Goglia, who structured his diet to complement his training regime.

The physical transformation from his previous role in Delivery Man is impressive. How much weight did he lose?

He lost around 60lb

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Unilateral training: Key questions answered

Lifting with one arm or one leg at a time is a great way to balance growth, work your core and minimise injury, says trainer Adam Gethin What are unilateral moves?

Simply put, a unilateral movement uses one arm or leg rather than both to move a resistance from point A to point B. One of the most popular unilateral moves is the single-arm dumbbell biceps curl. Exercises that require the use of both arms or legs are called bilateral lifts.

Why should I do them?

There are many benefits to using unilateral moves. One of the main ones is the improved isolation of a target muscle

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How to identify and fix common nutritional errors

Go to bed late, eat what you like and still get lean. Sounds impossible? Not if you understand the power of hormones, says John Romaniello

John Romaniello is a man you should listen to. Not only is he a world-respected strength coach, fat-loss expert and fitness model, he’s also head of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s fitness advisory board

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Healthy American breakfast

Bored with your full English? Then swap it for a muscle-building morning meal from the USA, courtesy of chef Adam Gray The meal: American breakfast

Much like an English fry-up, an American-diner breakfast tends to consist of cheap eggs and unhealthy trans fat-loaded meat. This home-made alternative uses quality ingredients and smart cooking techniques to help you achieve your gym goals and satisfy your taste buds.

The swap: White flour for wholemeal 

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Muscle -building vegetarian meal plan

there are plenty of vegetarian-friendly sources of muscle-building, body-repairing protein. Whether you’re a full-on veggie or a carnivore who likes to dabble, try this plan and become a green giant.

Breakfast

Porridge oats with milk combines a hefty dose of protein with slow-release carbs to help fuel your morning.

Lunch

Roasted butternut squash with goat’s cheese (serves 2)

1 butternut squash, halved / A pinch of chilli flakes / 1tsp thyme /
1 garlic clove, crushed / 2tsp olive oil / 1 courgette, chopped / 1 red pepper, chopped / 100g goat’s cheese / 50g pine nuts / 100g cherry tomatoes, halved / 1tbsp parsley / 1tbsp parmesan

To makeHeat the oven to 180

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3 gym mistakes and how to change them

and how simple changes can help you become the athlete you’re meant to be

Performance coach Mike Robertson is the founder of Robertson Training Systems in Indiana, USA, which has helped athletes and clients from all walks of life get fitter and achieve their performance goals through personalised programmes and a series of fitness books and DVDs. He talks to MF about his three foundations of training

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The 7 best supplements to support your training

Are you getting the right supplements to support your training? MF details the perfect pills and powders to pop

At examine.com, the independent nutrition encyclopaedia of which I’m medical editor, we analyse dietary supplements. My work has shown me that you should take a target-driven approach: decide on your goals, from fat loss and muscle gain to athletic performance and health, determine which supplements will help you achieve them, then check your levels with your doctor to figure out if you actually need the boost. Here I’ve highlighted the supplements that our research has shown to be effective

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Common training injuries: A comprehensive guide

MF’s comprehensive guide to common workout induced injuries and what you can do if you have one

Soreness is to be expected after an intense workout, but there’s a difference between the pain of a recovering muscle and the pain of incurring serious damage. Men’s Fitness has paired up with Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist Simon Rice to create a brief guide to some of the most common training injuries.

Ankle Injuries

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High cholesterol levels: Q&A

Avoiding junk food is the key to healthy cholesterol levels so you avoid serious cardiovascular disease, here's what you need to know

What does cholesterol do?

This compound plays an important role in helping the body to build and repair cell membranes and improving communication between cells. It also helps with the production of hormones, including libido-boosting testosterone. Most cholesterol is produced in the liver, although small amounts are also generated throughout the rest of the body.

What’s the difference between HDL and LDL?

Cholesterol circulates around the body in your bloodstream by binding with protein particles and forming lipoproteins. There are two main types of these: high-density lipoproteins

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5 ways to excel at your sport

How a little love and passion could help you to excel at your chosen sport

As winner of six world swimming championships, two Commonwealth Games golds and ten European titles, Mark Foster knows the recipe for sporting success. Here he explains to MF why being in love with the sport you’re doing is the first step to becoming truly great at it.

Commit to it

My dad nearly drowned because he couldn’t swim. As a result, he was determined that my sister and I learn, so he took us to the local pool every Sunday for swimming lessons. I loved it and while the other kids were splashing about dunking each other and stuff like that I used every second of the lesson to practise my strokes, quiz my coach and do all I could to be the best in the class. My swimming teacher was the mother of Sarah Hardcastle

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Balanced protein and carb meal plan

These quesadillas offer a tasty way of packing on muscle and recovering from workouts

Protein and carbs are crucial to growing muscle. But if you want to maximise your gains, you need to eat the right amounts at the right times. This meal plan staggers hits of both through the day to help fuel your gym efforts and build lean muscle tissue, including a recipe provided by Michelin-starred chef and duathlon champion Alan Murchison. 

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5 ways to reveal your six-pack

Coax your abs out from hiding with these 5 six-pack revealing tips

It’s one of the most common grievances amongst avid gym goers. You train and train and train your abs with endless sessions of crunches and sit-ups but your six-pack just isn’t popping out like you want it to. It can seem like you’re fighting a losing battle but the good news is that the issue can likely be whittled down to one of a few things. Identify your main weakness and make the necessary changes to get well on your way to a cover model worthy six-pack.

You’re diet isn’t properly honed  

It’s cliché and somewhat over-used but the saying

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How to boost your immunity: 10 top tips

Keep your body in peak condition by following these tips on boosting your immunity

As it’s national immunisation month in July it takes more than an apple a day to keep the doctor away. It turns out that setting yourself some healthy habits and eating some pretty surprising nutrients will help keep your immune system on guard.

You can ensure your body and immunity run smoothly by following these tip tips from health and Fitness Coach- Jamie Lloyd.

 1. Avoid sleep deprivation

Sleep deprivation has a powerfully detrimental effect on your immune system. The perfect example are college students who get sick after pulling all-nighters cramming for exams.

If you're tired when you wake up in the morning, you're not getting enough sleep, or maybe not enough quality sleep. Either way, your immunity is probably compromised. Poor sleep is associated with lower immune system function and reduced numbers of killer cells that fight germs. Killer cells are also the part of the immune system that combats cells that divide too rapidly, as they do in cancer. Lower their numbers and you may be at greater risk for illness.

Studies have shown that chronic sleep deprivation also contributes to heart disease, gastrointestinal problems, and other medical illnesses. One study on the effects of sleep deprivation showed that a group of men restricted to 4 to 6 hours of sleep per night experienced changes in hormone function and carbohydrate metabolism that mimic aging changes; the lack of sleep was making them older faster.

2.  Release yourself from the stress trap

No doubt about it, stress is an Immune Buster.

The loss of a job, the death of a spouse, the breakup of a marriage

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How to shed fat fast: Key questions answered

Want to get rid of those final stubborn bits of fat? Clever use of cardio is key

If your chest is bigger and stronger, along with your arms, shoulders, legs and back, you’re well on your way to building a new body. However, if you’re still struggling to shift the stubborn fat from your belly, it may be worth adding some cardio sessions to your weekly training programme to blast it off.

That doesn’t necessarily mean a two-hour gentle run but high-intensity cardio, which has similar fat-burning, muscle-building effects as weight training. Here’s all you need to know, with answers to some of the most common questions on fat loss.

Question: I’ve been running for years but I don’t seem to lose any weight. Why is this?

Answer: Low-intensity cardio training, such as jogging is one of the most popular tactics for weight loss but it’s far from one of the best. Long-duration, steady-state cardio is not an efficient way to burn fat

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Protein: 6 common questions answered

MF answers some of your most pressing protein related questions

Protein is the key nutrient for anyone looking to build muscle and burn fat, but it comes in many guises from powders and supplements to premium steaks and peanuts. While many people know that having plenty of protein in your diet is important, there are still a lot that people tend to be unsure of. How much should you eat? What are the best sources? Etc. So take note, MF have taken the liberty of answering some of the most common questions related to the mightiest of macronutrients.

1.  Is it better to take protein powder or eat real food?

 This is quite objective really. Of course it isn’t the best idea to source all of your protein intake from powder, if you were to only ever be using one, it should be whole foods, but there is an important place in your diet for both. Powders are great due to their sheer convenience, value for money, immunity-boosting benefits and the fact that they can be digested far quicker post-workout than an entire steak. On the flip side, whole foods provide myriad additional nutrients such as iron and magnesium that many powders do not. Striking a balance between the two is always advised, but as we mentioned if you have to leave one out just ask what you’d rather, gorge on a whole roast chicken or down another cookie and cream flavoured shake?

2.   What stands out as the best source of protein?

Again this isn’t a question that has a definitive answer. What you should be looking for is anything that is considered a

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6 essential foods you’re probably not eating

A selection of vitamin-packed foods that you’re probably leaving out of your diet

Yes, you might be popping a load of supplements down your throat on a daily basis, but no amount of vitamin pills will give you all of the nutrients that you need to maintain a healthy body, while building muscle and burning fat. It might cost a bit more and require more effort but there are certain foods that will be extremely beneficial to have regularly in your diet, providing vitamins and minerals in abundance. You may already eat some of them, but we can guarantee that you haven’t tried them all, so for the sake of variation and nutrition be sure to crowbar a few of these into your diet on a regular basis.

Marmite   

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How to cook the perfect steak

A big juicy steak’? We’re guessing more than a few, and fortunately steak is an excellent muscle-building food, packed with protein, creatine and testosterone-boosting zinc. It’s also simple to prepare, if you know how. Mike Reid, executive chef at Gaucho Group, explains how to get it right every time with his foolproof steak plan.

Fillet

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What is carb back-loading? Q&A

Eating all your carbs in the evening could be the key to fat loss, says nutrition expert Scott Baptie What is carb back-loading?

In a nutshell, you avoid eating carbs throughout the day, eating only protein and fat. You save all your carbohydrates for after your workout, which should take place in the late afternoon or early evening.

But I thought carbs were bad for you?

Not at all. There are many cases of

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A guide to sleeping on long-haul flights

Here’s how you can get the best possible sleep on long-haul flights, and beat jet lag

Signing up to do an Ironman in Australia, a marathon in the states or going on a tour of Asia with your sports team all sound like amazing ideas on paper. After all, you get to combine a holiday with something you’re passionate about and have been training for over the last weeks, months or even years. The only potential problem? Arriving exhausted from the long-haul flight you take to get there.

Being sleep deprived is one of the worst possible states to be in when competing in any kind of physical activity, at any level. As well as the feelings of general fatigue associated with tiredness a study by the University of New South Wales found that even moderate sleep deprivation slows reaction times so much that it’s the equivalent of being tipsy.

Lose the lag

If your flight is during the day you need to make sure you stay awake so you don’t interfere with your body clock, then when you land you need to ensure you don’t go to sleep until it’s nighttime. Still, the interruption of your internal body clock (technically known as your circadian rhythm) can still affect you. This is because it’s controlled by cells in the brain that regulate your brain’s production of melatonin (the hormone that controls your sleep cycles) based on how much light or darkness you are exposed to. In short, jet lag can be a bitch.

If you can, book enough time off work so you can have at least three full days to recover after landing before your event. If you’re sleep-deprived before flying, passing through more than four timezones, or are travelling east then five days is optimum. 

Science of sleep

When flying through the night you need to try and get as much sleep as possible, especially if you’re landing at your destination in the morning. British Airways recently ran some interesting experiments where they used specially made blankets to monitor passenger’s brainwaves to visually represent how relaxed they were (the blankets were connected via Bluetooth to a brainwave sensor and woven with fibre optics that changed colour in real time, see below) and find out what people should avoid to get the most sleep possible.

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How to get bigger and stronger by thinking harder

Use the power of your brain to help you improve on your size and strength

How can my brain make my muscles bigger?

Your muscles are controlled by your brain via neural pathways that connect to each and every one of your muscles. Electrical impulses from the brain tell your muscles to contract and relax, and it’s these actions that allow you to do everything from standing to running to lifting a weight. 

Most of these actions are subconscious: you move without thinking about the muscles involved. But if you do think about the movements, especially when training, you will improve your mind-to-muscle connection

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The CrossFit Games: everything you need to know

The 8th annual CrossFit Games kick off on the 25th of July. Here's how to enjoy the sport of fitness from your house

Since the annual CrossFit Games were created in 2007 to let devotees of CrossFit - the training methodology that preaches 'constantly varied' workouts full of gymnastics moves, Olympic lifts, heavy lifting and intense cardio - test their training methods, they’ve gone from an open-to-all-comers event held on a ranch to a stadium-based spectator sport that claims to crown the fittest men and women on Earth. But how does it work? Who’s going to win? And are the competitors really that fit? Here’s everything you need to know.

How does the competition work?

It varies - massively. In the first year of the Games, there were three events. In 2009, there were eight, including a hilly 7km trail run and deadlift ladder. In 2012, the event started two days earlier than everyone (including the athletes) thought it would, with an off-road triathlon and a run through a military obstacle course, and finished five days later with a back-to-back run through three of crossfit.com’s signature workouts (Elizabeth, Isabel and Fran, which test everything from pull-ups to snatches). In line with CrossFit’s philosophy of testing the

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Top six ways to improve your fitness

Test your fitnessCo-ordinationExplosivenessEndurancePower endruanceStrengthAgility Use these six simple tests to measure and improve your fitness

Are you the fittest person you know? It’s time to find out. Six trainers have devised simple tests to gauge every aspect of your fitness. We're testing co-ordination, explosiveness, endurance, power endurance, strength, and agility. So round up your mates and settle the question once and for all.

For more exercise, weight-loss and diet tips, get the magazine. Subscribe now and we'll give you 5 issues for

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How to choose the right workout tools

How to pick the right training method at the right time to get the best results and see faster gains

Choice is usually a good thing, especially when it comes to political parties, lifestyles and sandwiches. It’s often a good thing in the gym too: everyone gets bored doing endless deadlifts or running on the treadmill time after time. But it can be tempting to programme-hop like a rabid frog, never sticking with one thing for long enough to see its benefits. 

The solution is to choose your workout weapons carefully and use the right ones at the right time. Here’s how to do that. 

Odd lifts

There’s nothing wrong with adding variety to your programme, but think about why you’re doing it. For example, when doing heavy front squats your form will break down around eight reps in, but you’ll be able to perform back squats better for longer. So if you’re planning a high-rep squat session

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3 ways to burn off stubborn body fat

The most effective methods of shedding body fat that just won’t seem to go

Most of you will know what we mean by stubborn body fat. It can be found in different parts of the body for everyone, but most commonly it’s that pesky little paunch found in the lower stomach area, covering up the six-pack and causing an annoying shape at the base of your t-shirt.

The most important thing to note about stubborn body fat is that it is physiologically different than other types of fat. Fat of the stubborn variety has a far higher density of alpha-receptors compared to betas, receives less blood flow than stubborn fat and is a lot more insulin sensitive. Subcutaneous fat is more stubborn than visceral fat (the fat around your organs) or intramuscular fat (the fat in your muscle). On men the most stubborn areas for fat build up tend to be the love handle/lower stomach area. Here are three ways to beat it:

No more dieting

Dieting by eating less than normal is not always the correct way to get rid of stubborn fat as it forces your body to engage in more severe metabolic compensation. You’re eating less but exercising more causing a deficit that will induce cravings and decrease your resting metabolic rate.

So basically your body will have primed itself to resist any further losses in body fat while making it far more likely that you’ll want to binge on junk food to make up for the lack of energy. If this binge does occur then guess where the fat will be stored? Yep, that pesky stubborn area.

Dieting in the traditional way is a recipe for making stubborn fat more greedy and stingy. Dieting may be making your fat parts fatter. To stop dieting you simply do one of two things. You either eat less and exercise less (ELEL) or you eat more and exercise more (EMEM). What you don't do is continue eating less and exercising more.

ELEL

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Beach body fat-loss meal plan

IntroductionMondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturdaySunday Go shirtless with confidence this summer with a bit of help from our month-long fat-loss plan

Whether you want to look lean and trim or show off your hard-earned muscle, you'll need to burn off any excess fat before you've got a torso you can be proud to display. This meal plan, devised by personal trainer Sion Colenso, will help you shed that unsightly flab by cutting your calories to around 1,600 a day. There's no need to worry about losing your muscle, though, because it includes plenty of protein

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Healthy fats meal plan

Lose body fat by eating healthy fats with this plan

The bottom line is that eating fatty foods doesn’t make you fat. While hydrogenated fats and man-made trans fats are bad news if you want a flat belly, most natural fats will actually do you good

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How to cycle carbs: One week meal plan

Cutting carbs isn’t the way to burn fat or build muscle. Cycle them instead to see great results

Carbohydrates get a bad rap when it comes to muscle-building and fat loss. They cause insulin spikes, which can result in your body storing more energy as fat rather than using fat for energy. But manipulating your carb intake is one of the best ways to get stronger and leaner. 

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How to lift heavy: 6 strongman tips

Want to be strong? build serious strength with tips from former UK,s strongest man and Bodypower Expo ambassador Terry Hollands

Lifting weights is one thing. Lifting gigantic rocks, pulling vans and pushing cars takes a different sort of strength entirely. But it isn’t just gigantic men who can do it, and strongman-style training can see you reap all sorts of benefits.

Terry Hollands is a man who knows about strength. With two third-place finishes at the World’s Strongest Man competition under his ample belt after a nearly decade-long career, he’s made an excellent case for claiming the title of the greatest British strongman of all time. Even more impressive is that although he practised judo and rugby in his youth, he’s only been training seriously since 2004. How does he do it? By training like a maniac.

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The Rock interview: Hercules

The Rock' Johnson on building the body of a demi-god to play the title role in Hercules What attracted you to the role?

Making a movie about Hercules has been a passion project of mine for a very, very long time. He’s a character who’s inspired so many people over the centuries, myself included. I had one of those old fashioned painted posters of Steve Reeves as Hercules when I was a kid. There’s a moment in Hercules Unchained, where he breaks his chains from the pillars and screams out,

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How to improve your pull-up: 2 quick steps

Two simple things that you can do to see vast improvements in your pull-up power

Ah, the pull-up, the ultimate in body weight exercises, often the subject of many a competition between gym goers with a point to prove. The more pull-ups you can do the stronger you are surely, right? Especially if you can do over ten wide-grip pull-ups, you deserve a big pat on the back. But the best way to measure and improve your pull-up power, thus ensuring you see size and strength gains, is not just by always trying to beat your personal best by banging out as many pull-ups as you can do in a row. There are other ways to ensure that you’re making improvements in your pull-up, pushing you to be able to carry a heavier load and perform more reps ensuring bragging rights for many a month.

Hangman

An essential component of being a pull-up pro is mastering the hang. Being able to hang from the bar is a great form of loading, enabling your body to harness the power of brachiation (hanging and holding all of your body weight, much in the same way that apes do it.)

So if you’re aiming to hit the highs of 25 non-stop pull-ups you’ll first need to train your upper body to hang from the pull-up bar long enough to do that many reps. Try testing it, hang from a pull-up bar for as long as you can and note down your best time, then double that number and that should give you a good indication of whether or not you can hit your pull-up goal. If you’re aiming to hit 25 and you can only hold on for 30 seconds, it’s highly unlikely you’ll be able to hit your goal. Spend some time practicing your hang. As you’re able to hold on for longer you’ll find that the amount of pull-ups you can do will go up.

Roll out

The pull-up is a fairly contentious move as it can often cause a pain in the elbows as the arms lock when you allow yourself to hang, especially in older gym goers who have put their joints through the ringer for a number of years. Those people are often advised to use the ab-wheel roll out move to mimic the key body movements of a pull-up. It might sound weird, but think about it, an ab-roll out requires tight abs, a hollow core and an explosion over the top when you come to finish.

Working with the ab wheel actually looks and feels like a proper pull-up attempt, the main difference being that it is harder on the abs and is easier on the elbows as you move your body back and forth between movements. 

Try a couple of sets of 10 using the ab-wheel next time you workout. With the mechanics of the ab wheel fresh in your mind and nervous system, do a pull-up with feet crossed and knees squeezed together and "ab wheel" yourself over the pull-up bar. You’ll notice that it feels far more like you’re performing an ab wheel move than a pull-up and it’s likely to make the pull-up motion a bit easier, whilst giving your elbows a bit of a rest.

 

 

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Fat burners: the best ones

Can fat burners help you lose weight? MF investigates thermogenics and their alternatives

If you’re looking to shed weight fast, fat burners are becoming an increasingly popular option. From the promises that most adverts make, you’d be forgiven for thinking fat burners are magic pills that melt away excess fat as you sit at your desk. In fact, they’re designed to speed up the rate you can lose weight when combined with a healthy diet and regular exercise.

Going off course on your diet is one of the biggest stumbling blocks for people who are trying to lose weight, especially thanks to the increased appetite that comes with frequent exercise. Though you’ll still need a healthy dose of willpower to combat bad food decisions, fat burners can help by suppressing your appetite and keeping up your energy levels even on a calorie-restricted diet

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Sugar free diet plan put to the test

Some scientists believe sugar is the real cause of the obesity epidemic. See what happens when we put a sugar free diet plan to the test

Day 14, 5.45pm. The defining moment of my month without sugar. One of my colleagues leaves a packet of biscuits on his desk. When you give up sugar, as it turns out, afternoons are the hardest part. You’re tired and stressed and you long for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up.
 
I had decided to give the white stuff up for two reasons: first, a nutritional rap sheet that starts with empty calories and, evidence suggests, proceeds to addictiveness and the promotion of obesity. Second, there’s no such thing as

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Healthy smoothie recipe: Energy-boosting

This smoothie provides two of your five a day as well as a winning blend of fats, protein and energy Ingredients1 banana, chopped80g frozen mixed berries250ml milk 1tbsp peanut butter1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder20g creatine monohydrateThe nutritional info

Bananas are full of vitamin B6, which is essential for the metabolism of amino acids and building new muscle

Berries are a source of vitamin C, which is key in the formation of collagen to help rebuild connective tissue

Milk contains saturated fat, which is a vital building block for testosterone

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Get a summer six-pack: 5 nutrition tips

Five of the best nutrition tips for getting a six-pack in time for summer

If you want washboard abs, what you do in the kitchen is just as important as what you do in the gym. But knowing what advice to follow can be tricky. Every week sees new fad diets emerge, while nutritionists and scientists contradict each other on a regular basis. To guide you through this confusing subject, we’ve distilled the wisdom of the world’s leading nutrition experts into easy-to-follow guidelines.

Get green

There’s no such thing as too much veg, especially if you’re talking about vegetables grown above ground. The Food Standards Agency’s (FSA)

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How to build muscle on a vegan diet: 5 top tips

You don’t have to eat meat to put on muscle, here’s how to do it on a strictly vegan diet

As veganism is a lifestyle that completely prohibits the consumption of any and all animal based products it is a common misconception that those who subscribe to this lifestyle can’t put on muscle and train to the same level as those that get their protein from animal sources. It is indeed more difficult to find as many sources of high quality protein on a plant based diet but this doesn’t mean that serious muscle gains can’t be made. It’s simply a case of tailoring your diet to meet your body’s needs, ensuring that it gets enough protein from plant sources. 

Matthew Keeney, an ex bodybuilder turned raw food chef explains some of the benefits of training on a vegan diet:

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20 best protein foods

These foods are packed with protein to help you build lean muscle

If you want to build muscle, burn fat and recover better after your workouts, protein-rich foods should be a staple of your diet. We've selected our top 20 below - ranking them based on their protein content per 100g - all of which boast additional health benefits and allow you to enjoy a variety of delicious muscle-building meals and snacks.

Nutritionists generally recommend consuming at least 2g of protein per kg of your bodyweight daily if you're trying to build muscle, so browse the list below, work out your portion sizes and tuck in.

Beef jerky

is the name given to dried pieces of lean beef that have been cured so they can be kept for a long time without going mouldy. Keep some in your gym bag for a meaty hit of protein and creatine anytime you need it.
Protein content: 72g

Tuna steak

is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, among other valuable nutrients. It's far more meaty and flavoursome than the canned version (with a price tag to match) and can be served rare, or even just seared.
Protein content: 31g

Chicken

has a good level of protein, however, if you're watching your fat intake make sure to go for breast rather than legs or thighs.
Protein content: 30g

Pork chops

are also great sources of selenium, an essential mineral that's linked to a lower risk of prostate cancer. There is five times more selenium in pork chops compared to similar cuts of beef.
Protein content: 28g

Caviar

may be associated with the rich, but the canned stuff can be bought in supermarkets with a price tag that doesn’t require an off-shore bank account. If you do treat yourself, expect a protein-heavy snack that's also full of a red blood cell component called haemoglobin that helps your blood carry oxygen more efficiently.
Protein content: 25g

Canned tuna

in water contains approximately 111 calories and is completely fat-free.
Protein content: 25g

Cod

is super low in fat, but full of flavour. Avoid the fish and chip shop battered version if you want your protein without an additional serving of cooking oil and the saturated fat it’s packed with.
Protein content: 24g

Salmon

has piles of omega 3 fatty acids that make it great for a range of things from eye health to fat burning. Ditch the bacon and have this with your eggs in the morning for a healthier start to your day.
Protein content: 24g

Tempah

is a soy product with high levels of easily absorbed calcium. Unlike most other soy products tempeh is not processed (and therefore packed with extra crap) and is considered a whole food.
Protein content: 24g

Pheasant

has a significant level of B vitamins, potassium and iron. It sounds expensive, but head to your local butchers and you might be surprised at how affordable this game meat can be.
Protein content: 23g

Crab

is low in calories, a good source of vitamins, minerals and selenium. It’s also a natural source of omega 3 fatty acids, which can help to improve memory, decrease the chances of having a heart attack, decreases your risk of cancer and may even help to improve depression and anxiety.
Protein content: 22g

Lamb

is a good source of easily absorbed zinc, iron and selenium, which all help to boost your body’s immune system.
Protein content: 20g

Turkey

is high in protein, low in fat and is also an amazing source of vitamin B6 and niacin, both of which are essential for regulating your body's energy production.
Protein content: 19g

Bison

is a bit of an exotic meat here in the UK, but it’s definitely worth seeking out if you can find some. It tastes delicious and as well as being a good natural protein source it’s super lean with only 2.42 g of fat per 100g serving.
Protein content: 18g

Cashew nuts

have a high level of antioxidants, which according to the British Journal of Nutrition are essential for good heart health.
Protein content: 17g

Quinoa

can be a useful way to add more healthy wholegrains to your diet. Perfect for vegans, it's also gluten-free, cholesterol-free and fat-free.
Protein content: 14g

Goose eggs

actually contain more protein than chicken eggs, and they taste richer. Consider switching for a breakfast treat.
Protein content: 14g

Greek yoghurt

is packed full of healthy bacteria and enzymes that do wonders for your digestive health.
Protein content: 10g

Hummus

is loaded with healthy fats. Its other nutritional benefits include calcium and natural antioxidants. Try using it to replace mayonnaise for healthier and tastier sandwiches.
Protein content: 8g

Tofu

has been shown in studies to lower bad cholesterol levels and may even help prevent certain types of cancer.
Protein content: 8g

Read more about: Nutrition Healthy eating Muscle building meals Protein protein food protein sources build muscle Disqus - noscript Submitted by Steve Marshall on Sat, 2014-02-08 17:53.

Salmon... fish... why are these not included ?

Submitted by Max Anderton on Wed, 2014-06-04 14:52.

They are now!

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Does The Atkins Diet work?

Is The Atkins Diet a good way to lose weight and keep it off?

A diet that doesn’t count calories and doesn’t limit steak, cheese or bacon intake sounds perfect to most tastebud-owning humans. So perfect that at its height in the early 2000s, one in every 11 Americans was on it, including A-list celebrities of the time such as Catherine Zeta-Jones and Jennifer Aniston. And if you visit the official website you can read countless stories of people claiming to have lost over 110kg.

We know what you’re thinking: what’s the catch then? No carbs.

Well, not exactly, but The Atkins Diet is partly responsible for the idea that carbs are to be avoided if you want to lose weight. This can be true, but the Atkins approach is strangely specific. During the induction phase

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Healthy packed lunches

Batch cook meals at home to save money and build a supply of delicious,

Save money and give your tastebuds a treat by making packed lunches at home to eat at work. Not soggy sandwiches or sad-looking salads. Proper home-cooked food that's easy to make, tastes amazing and won't declare war on your waistline. All you need is some Tupperware, a microwave at work and a spare Sunday afternoon and you've got lunch sorted for weeks.

The fat burner: Chicken curry

Though you might not usually associate curry with healthy eating, if you use lean chicken breast, minimal oil and add plenty of chilli you can turn this British staple into a quick and simple metabolism booster.

Servings: 4

Ingredients 

2 tbsp olive oil (or vegetable oil) / 2 large onion, chopped / 4 garlic cloves, chopped finely / 2 large tomato, chopped / 2 tbsp tomato purée / 2 medium chilli, chopped / Half tsp chilli powder / Half tsp coriander powder / Half tsp cumin powder / Half tsp turmeric powder / 3 chicken breasts / 2 tbsp yoghurt / 260g basmati rice / cauliflower / ginger / coriander

To makeFry the onions with garlic, tomato, tomato purée, chopped chilli and spices. Cook for a few minutes and then add 4tbps water.Add chicken and cook for 10 to 15 minutes on a medium heat, then add the yoghurt and stir. Add pepper.Meanwhile, cook some rice following the packet instructions and boil or steam the cauliflower.Add ginger and coriander to the curry to your preferred taste.Serve with the rice and steamed cauliflower. The protein punch: Meatloaf

Popularised in America during the Great Depression as a way to stretch family's small food budgets, this hearty dish is packed full of protein and far tastier than its humble origins make it sound.

Servings: 8

Ingredients

250g dried mushrooms / 250g bulgur / 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil / 1 small onion, chopped / 1 stalk celery, chopped / 2 cloves garlic, minced / 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce / 425g can of diced tomatoes, drained / 125ml low-fat evaporated milk / 125ml tomato purée / 1 large egg / 2 large egg whites / 250g lean beef mince / 125g dry breadcrumbs / 60g chopped fresh parsley / 2tsp dried thyme / Half tsp salt

To makeSoak the mushrooms for 30 minutes and soak the bulgur in 250ml boiling water for 30 minutes.Preheat your oven to 175 ºC.Fry the onion, celery and garlic. Cook for five to seven minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce and cook for a further three minutes. Add the tomatoes, evaporated milk and purée, stirring to combine. Continue cooking for about three minutes. Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool.Whisk the egg and egg whites, then add the beef, breadcrumbs, soaked bulgur, mushrooms and finally the tomato mixture. Stir in the parsley, thyme and salt, and mix with your hands.Shape the mixture into a loaf and bake for one hour.The energy booster: Quinoa casserole

Used by the Incas to increase the stamina of their warriors, Quinoa contains Lysine which is crucial to tissue growth and repair.

Servings: 10

Ingredients

375g quinoa, uncooked / 2 heads of broccoli, cut into small florets / 3 tbsp butter / 3 tbsp white flour / 1 small onion, diced / 500ml semi-skimmed milk / 1 clove garlic, crushed / 1 tbsp French mustard / Quarter tsp cayenne pepper / Salt and pepper, to taste / 220g  cheddar cheese, grated / 375g shredded chicken

To make

Cook the quinoa according to the packet's instructions.Boil the broccoli and add to the quinoa.Make the sauce by melting the butter and whisking in the flour, onion, garlic, mustard, cayenne, salt and black pepper.Cook for two minutes then stir in the milk.Remove the sauce from the heat and add the cheddar.Mix the sauce with the broccoli-quinoa mixture.Bake in a casserole dish for 35 minutes.The lean muscle builder: Chilli con carne

The official state dish of Texas, this recipe is low in fat and sodium, plus has metabolism-boosting chilli to help you get that summer six-pack without starving yourself.

Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 tbsp oil / 200g lean beef mince / 2 onions, finely chopped / 2 garlic clove, crushed / 800g tin of chopped tomatoes / 2 tbsp tomato purée / 1 tsp chilli powder / Half tsp cumin / Half tsp coriander / 1 red pepper, chopped / 200g mushrooms, sliced / 2 small tins of kidney beans / Black pepper, freshly ground  / 300g basmati rice

To makeCook the mince until it's brown.Add the onion and garlic and cook for three minutes.Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée and spices and simmer for 15 minutes.Cook the rice according to the instructions on the packetAdd the chopped pepper, sliced mushrooms and kidney beans and cook for two more minutes.

Once you've cooked each of the dishes leave the food to cool down completely before putting individual servings in the freezer.

That's a total of 26 lunches. All tasty, all healthy and all cheap as chips (cheaper if we're talking Nando's!)

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5 muscle building ways to jazz up your meals

Eating healthy doesn’t have to mean living a Spartan lifestyle. Add the right condiments to your plate for lean muscle-building benefits

Chicken and broccoli. Egg whites and spinach. Mountains of brown rice and raw veg. It’s little wonder strict diets are hard to follow. But, whether you’re looking to shed weight or add muscle, it doesn’t have to be this way. You can spice up your food with healthy condiments, sauces and dips that will not only make meal times less of a chore, but can make achieving your goals easier too. Here’s what you should look out for.

Guacamole

This Mexican dip is full of healthy monounsaturated fats and tons of fibre. Because it’s basically just avocado mixed with onions and tomatoes, it’s really healthy. It’s calorie-dense, so it’s best for those who want to add calories to their diet for muscle gain. 

It also contains a lot of carotenoids, which have anti-inflammatory properties and have been shown to boost your body’s absorption of key antioxidants. If you’re trying to lose fat you could replace mayonnaise with guacamole in a sandwich because it offers that same creaminess but with fewer calories.

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Fat -fighting carbonara recipe

Want a creamy but healthy pasta feast? Chow down on chef Adam Gray,s waistline-friendly variation The meal: Spaghetti carbonara

Blood-sugar spiking white spaghetti and calorific double cream do not a lean man make. Luckily, this recipe contains neither, so you can enjoy a mouth-watering carbonara without worrying about your waistline. The lack of white carbs should leave you feeling a lot less bloated too, while the cheese and pancetta provide a hefty hit of muscle-building protein.

The swap: Cream for natural yogurt 

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5 best sources of protein for vegetarians

How to hit your protein quota and fuel muscle growth on a vegetarian diet

Going meat-free while training is becoming less and less taboo as the cost of good quality meat continues to rise and vegetarian meals grow in popularity as meat eaters realise that they’re often cheaper, lower in calories and better for the environment. It’s actually far easier to get enough protein without eating meat than people might think, but the common question that often arises refers to whether or not these meat-free protein sources offer the full amount of amino acids present in meat-based protein. In total there are 20 different amino acids that can form a protein, and nine that the body cannot produce on its own.

Meat and eggs are indeed complete proteins, and beans and nuts are not, but humans don’t actually need every essential amino acid in every bite of food in every meal that we eat, we only need a sufficient amount of each of the amino acids each day. A lot of dieticians actually believe that plant-based diets tend to contain such a wide variety of amino acid profiles that even vegans are pretty much certain to get all of their amino acids with very little effort.

There are plenty of ways for you to hit your full protein quota when it comes to meat-free Monday; here are 5 of the best:

1. Mycoprotein AKA Quorn

First developed to combat the growing global food shortages, mycoprotein is better known in the UK as

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Protein: 6 common questions answered

MF answers some of your most pressing protein related questions

Protein is the key nutrient for anyone looking to build muscle and burn fat, but it comes in many guises from powders and supplements to premium steaks and peanuts. While many people know that having plenty of protein in your diet is important, there are still a lot that people tend to be unsure of. How much should you eat? What are the best sources? Etc. So take note, MF have taken the liberty of answering some of the most common questions related to the mightiest of macronutrients.

1.  Is it better to take protein powder or eat real food?

 This is quite objective really. Of course it isn’t the best idea to source all of your protein intake from powder, if you were to only ever be using one, it should be whole foods, but there is an important place in your diet for both. Powders are great due to their sheer convenience, value for money, immunity-boosting benefits and the fact that they can be digested far quicker post-workout than an entire steak. On the flip side, whole foods provide myriad additional nutrients such as iron and magnesium that many powders do not. Striking a balance between the two is always advised, but as we mentioned if you have to leave one out just ask what you’d rather, gorge on a whole roast chicken or down another cookie and cream flavoured shake?

2.   What stands out as the best source of protein?

Again this isn’t a question that has a definitive answer. What you should be looking for is anything that is considered a

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Protein powder: A comprehensive guide for beginners

Protein supplements can help you get more from your workouts. Here’s how to use them

Are you doing everything right in the gym but still not quite seeing the results you want in the mirror? One way to get greater rewards from your efforts and perhaps increase your overall well-being is to add protein supplements to your diet. If you’re new to this sometimes-confusing world, this guide will help you understand everything you need to know about protein supplements.

Protein: the facts

Eating plenty of protein helps provide your body with all the nutrients and calories it needs to grow and repair muscle tissue. Of the four types of macronutrients that provide calories

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Robocop workout tips

Build cyborg strength with training advice from Robocop star Joel Kinnaman's trainer, Bobby Strom

Bobby Strom is a personal trainer who has worked with a host of celebrities, including Britney Spears, Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson. Here he talks to MF about training actor Joel Kinnaman for his leading role in last year’s Robocop remake.

What kind of shape was Joel in when you first met him?

He was lean and fit because he’d been doing a little training already. We just made him leaner, bigger, stronger and in superior condition.

When did you start working with him?

I’ve been working with him since January 2013, when he had to get in shape for filming, but we’ve continued to the present day.

What did the training sessions consist of?

The Robocop suit that he had to wear was heavy, so we did a lot of core and stability work to protect his back, using a TRX, a Bosu ball, stability boards and resistance bands. We also did a lot of high-intensity interval workouts that I call

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Fat burning drinks: 5 of the best

Hydrate yourself with these nutrient packed, stomach flattening drinks

It isn’t only what you eat that you have to watch when trying to lose weight, you have to keep on top of what you’re drinking. Alcohol and carbonated, sugary drinks are just as dangerous to a growing waistline as junk food can be, so consuming the right thirst quenchers should be high on your list of fat burning priorities.

Try one of these badboys the next time you’re feeling thirsty to ensure that you’re only downing drinks with the right nutrients.

1.  Iced peppermint tea

Both wonderfully refreshing and highly effective as a belly flattener, iced peppermint tea is a great drink for a hot summers day. Peppermint helps your stomach to process fat, which ensures that even foods that are high in fat can be digested quickly, which will help stave off fat stores and prevent bloating.

 2.  Dark chocolate shake

Yes, we’re including chocolate in a fat burning list, because the dark kind can actually be quite a positive weight-loss tool as it decreases the appetite and lessens food cravings. Dark chocolate is also very rich in healthful antioxidants, including a powerful compound called theobromine, which has been shown to help lower blood pressure and have other health benefits.  The fat content in a good dark chocolate should come solely from the natural healthy fats occurring in cocoa butter and not from any other added fats.  Any chocolates with added fats or other additives would generally not be as healthy. A good dark chocolate shake could also be considered as an energy-boosting snack, packing 400 calories with little saturated fat into one helping.

3.  Watermelon smoothie

Smoothies are a great guilt-free way to keep well hydrated while taking on plenty of nutrients, as long as you keep them as sugar free as possible. Watermelon offers the perfect low-calorie smoothie base. As well as being a natural hydrator due to its water high water content it is also packed with nutrients, including cancer-fighting lycopene, as well as an essential amino acid known as arginine.

4. Green tea

As well as reducing your risk of contracting heart disease and cancer, green tea contains significant amounts of catechins; antioxidants that recent studies have shown can help to reduce belly fat. Try sipping on green tea before a workout, as the compounds found inside it can help to increase your body’s fat burning capabilities during aerobic exercise.

5.  Pineapple frappe

As well as being the perfect drink to sip in the sunshine this blended pineapple drink contains two key fat shedding ingredients. Add a tablespoon of flaxseed oil (which will add monounsaturated fatty acids), proven fat burners, while pineapple itself contains bromelain, an enzyme that helps to break down protein, reduce bloating and ease digestion. 

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How to lift heavy: 5 top tips

Louie Simmons, the world’s best powerlifting coach, explains the rules on how to lift heavy

Louie Simmons is a powerlifter, strength coach and owner of Westside Barbell, possibly the gym with the strongest members in the world. With 50 years of competition experience in powerlifting, he’s also coached some of the best athletes in the sport including Dave Hoff, who currently has the biggest combined deadlift, squat and bench in the world at 3,005lb (1,363kg).

Technique matters

How you do powerlifts can show your weak points. If a bench press bar ends up over a lifter’s face, I know they have weak triceps. You must press the bar in a straight line out over you, lower it straight down and press it back up as straight as possible. That way you eliminate any rotation of the shoulders, which causes rotator cuff injuries or soft pec tears. 

In the squat, people often lean over

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How to get bigger legs: 8 essential tips

Say goodbye to chicken legs with MF's 8 essential tips for getting bigger legs

One of the most common utterances from those that go to the gym is that they dislike training their legs. The legs are a far less fashionable muscle group to train, mainly because they probably attract the least attention, especially as they’re covered up for the majority of the year if you live in the UK. People that only train their upper-body and completely skip their lower are often lovingly labeled t-shirt trainers (only training the muscles that will make them look good in a tight tee.) But the t-shirt trainer is missing a trick as the muscle growth benefits of training your legs are well documented, heightening the release of growth hormones and testosterone throughout the whole body, aiding the quicker growth of other muscles around the body. 

So if you suffer from skinny legs and you want to swipe the t-shirt trainer monkey off of your back, follow MF’s 8 essential tips for building bigger, stronger legs. 

1. Train quickly 

You’ll often be told that you should move through your weight lifting exercises at quite a slow pace to put your muscles under the maximum amount of stress. While this does apply for much of the upper-body, making explosive, faster movements actually builds muscle faster in the legs, allowing you to do more reps. Try to time your leg exercises, doing as many (controlled) reps as you can in two minutes, taking a short rest, before doing another set. 

2. Don’t bother with cardio 

Cardio based exercises like swimming, cycling and running do engage your leg muscles and may help them to get stronger, but they won’t help them get bigger. These exercises force your body to use up a lot of energy without actually putting the leg muscles through enough strain to force them into growth. Hit the cardio when your legs are at a size that you’re happy to maintain. 

3. Don’t neglect your stabiliser muscles 

A lot of guys working on adding muscle to their legs completely neglect the smaller stabilsing muscles found in the hips. These help to prevent injury and ensure correct stability and movement of the pelvis and hips. If these muscles aren’t working correctly, all other movements become far less effective and potentially more dangerous. Be sure to train your adductors (inner thigh) and your abductors (outer thigh) as part of any routine, especially prior to deadlifting or squatting. 

4. In order to get tone and definition use isolation movements 

The leg curl and leg extension machines found at most gyms are perfect for this. Put the weight on a medium resistance and go for high reps to sculpt your hamstrings and quad muscles. Make sure you set the machine up correctly for your height to prevent injury. The joint of your knee should line up directly with the axis of the machine. 

5. Ensure balance by training unilaterally 

The majority of people are either right or left dominant. Meaning one side of their body is pretty much always going to be doing a bit more work than the other, creating a slight imbalance in muscle size and growth. Add unilateral exercises like single leg squats or lunges to ensure that both of your legs are developing evenly, this will guard against any muscular imbalances. 

6. Don’t forget your calves 

The calves may not be the sexiest or most fashionable muscles to spend your valuable gym time training but they’re important for balanced, thick looking legs. Concentrating on the bigger quad and hamstring muscles may seem the logical approach to bigger legs but only working on those and leaving out your calves could put you at risk of making your legs look completely out of proportion. 

For calves that you can be proud of stand try standing with a dumbbell in each hand and your toes rested on a black 2-3 inches off the ground. Make sure your heels are on the floor, and your hands are by your sides. Raise yourself up all the way onto your toes, stop and then lower yourself back down again. Three sets of ten every leg session will get you well on your way to bigger calves. 

7. Remember to warm up 

Raise your core temperature with five minutes of light cycling or running, followed by a proper stretching session focusing on your calves, groin, quads and hamstrings. If you haven’t warmed up properly you are leaving yourself more open to injury while limiting your chances of growth. 

8. Keep your body well fuelled 

Don’t forget that your glutes and your legs are the biggest muscle group in your body, so keeping energised is integral if you’re going to be training them hard. Consume good quality protein before and after training as well as protein powders to ensure that you don’t tire when hitting those leg muscles hard. 

Unsure what leg building exercises to do or confused about how to do them? Check out our comprehensive guide. 

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How to get lean: 5 lesser-known tips

5 unconventional ways to help you smash through that plateau and get lean for summer

If your summer holiday is fast approaching and you still haven’t quite got as lean as you’d like for the beach we might just be able to offer you a helping hand with some alternative tips to get you lean enough to see that six-pack. It’s easy to hit a plateau when trying to get lean. You keep doing the same fat burning cardio exercises, but you don’t want to cut out more calories from your diet as you’ve worked hard to build up that muscle. It can leave you in a confused, dog chasing its tail, state, but no longer, for we have unearthed five ways to get you lean that you may not already know.

Saturated fats aren’t so bad

We know, we know, saturated fats are meant to be the enemy when it comes to shedding weight and getting lean but you need fats in your diet, both saturated and unsaturated, if you want to get all healthy and lean. Think about it like this; back in the days of the caveman, they didn’t exactly eat low-fat meats did they? They ate whatever it was that they could find, so there is no point in trying to avoid foods such as eggs or beef where these fats are naturally found. Just keep away from adding any extra saturated fats to what you’re already taking on.

Keep stress under control

A study published in 2011 by Brunel University found that rats placed in extremely high-stress situations that they were not accustomed to start to use sugary and fatty foods to self-medicate. This was because the comfort food had a calming effect on the rats’ brains, restricting the release of the stress-related hormone that sends messages around the body, one of which is to store fat.

Check out our guide to beating stress if you want to keep from comfort eating.

Re-assess your consumption of refined carbs

If you’re one of the many people out there who train consistently and have adopted an optimised diet but you’re still not hitting your targets and seeing the progress that you’d expect by this point then you might want to consider reevaluating the amount of refined carbs that you’re still eating. The hormone insulin is responsible for driving weight gain in the body. Refined carbohydrates are the real issue here, as they have the strongest affect on insulin, whereas fat and protein have little to no effect on it whatsoever. If you’re consuming a lot of refined carbs like white bread and processed snacks we’d bet that you start to notice quite a big difference if you cut them out.

Hit the gym on an empty stomach

It can seem relatively difficult having to train on an empty stomach, as it can sometimes feel like all you can think about as you start to expend energy and have nothing in your system is to replace it. But if it was good enough for Schwarzenegger back in his Mr. Universe days then it’s good enough for us, and you. The best time to workout if you’re attempting to get lean is first thing in the morning, after you have fasted all night, when your blood sugar is at its lowest. If you really struggle to get through a workout on an empty stomach then try eating something that your body is able to digest quickly like fruit or a protein shake before you start your session.

Hold off on eating straight after your workout

Another semi-conventional thing that you could tweak to get yourself lean is to stop eating straight after your workout. Hold on before you go absolutely insane. Hear us out. Often when people eat straight after a workout they consume too much, as there is a compensatory mechanism where we get hungry and then overeat because we’re thinking subconsciously that we’ve been training so can therefore consume extra calories.

Don’t worry too much about replenishing your glycogen stores. Out bodies have around 1,800 calories tucked away in glycogen stores, it’s highly unlikely that your workout will have burned away all of them, so you can afford not to eat straight away. 

Read more about: Lose weight how to get lean Disqus - noscript Submitted by Steve Marshall on Sat, 2014-06-14 09:49.

Good article, thanks.
The guideline about how long, post workout, is best to eat and the ratio of protein/fat/nutrition could be inserted ? Please advise.
Thanks

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The importance of unilateral training: 4 key benefits

Single-limb unilateral training is the key to a strong, balanced physique, says strength coach Ben Bruno What is unilateral training?

This term means performing exercises that work one limb exclusively or that are biased significantly towards one limb. In a single-leg squat, for example, you stand on one leg, while for a split squat you stand on both legs but place much more emphasis on one of them. This approach is different from bilateral training, which uses both limbs evenly in moves such as the barbell squat or deadlift. The benefits might not be immediately obvious but they are numerous.

Improve balance and stability

A key benefit of unilateral training is that it allows you to even out any strength or size imbalances. Most people tend to use one side of their body more than the other in everyday life and this bias can be exacerbated if you only do bilateral training. Most sporting activities involve unilateral rather than bilateral movements, so adding unilateral exercises to your training can help improve sporting performance and reduce the risk of injury. 

Unilateral exercises also help to strengthen stabilising muscles. The single-leg squat helps to build stability in your hips, for example, while upper-body unilateral exercises such as the one-arm dumbbell press recruit core muscles that are crucial to stability.

Lift heavier

Many people think that unilateral exercises don’t allow you to use enough weight to build strength. In my opinion, these people simply haven’t done enough unilateral training to become strong using it. A good example is your legs, which you can overload more easily with a unilateral exercise. I find that once people master the Bulgarian split squat, they can handle roughly the same amount of weight on it as they can on a front squat

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The five most important supplements

Adding supplements to your training and diet plan can accelerate your gains, says Charles Poliquin

If you’re serious about changing your physique, you know you need to train and eat in the right manner to build new lean muscle mass while burning unwanted fat. But training hard can deplete your body of vitamins, nutrients and other compounds essential for muscle gain and fat loss. Even with the best diet possible, it can be incredibly tough to get all these vital elements. This means using supplements. Here are my top five

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What is a healthy body fat percentage?

MF investigates what exactly constitutes a healthy body fat percentage

In order to understand body fat percentage, we must first understand the biology behind body fat itself. On the surface, fat is fat. In reality, there are two types of body fat: essential and stored. Essential fat, unsurprisingly, is essential to the normal and healthy functioning of the body. For men, this accounts for roughly 3% of total body weight.

Without essential fat, it would be impossible for our bodies to process nutrients like vitamins A, K, and D, which assist in immune health, blood clotting, and the absorption of calcium. Furthermore, fat is essential to the protection of our organs as well as to the insulation that regulates our internal temperatures. The other type of fat, called storage fat, is the result of a calorie surplus. When we eat, calories that are not used for immediate functions (such as breathing and heart rate) are converted into the triglycerides that make up storage fat.  A frequent surplus of calories causes fat stores to accumulate, resulting in weight gain whereas a recurring calorie deficit forces the body to use its stored fat as energy, depleting the supply and resulting in weight loss.

Put simply, fat is a collection of unused energy and is vital to our survival as humans. Body fat percentage, then, is the ratio of fat to total body weight. Many factors such as height, gender, and genetics can have an impact on this number, bringing us back to the topic in question: Generally speaking, the

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How to build muscle: The 7 key stages

The 7 key stages in the process of breaking down and rebuilding muscle fibres 1. The warm-up

As your heart rate increases, blood is pumped into your muscles, warming them up and allowing them to extend fully. The blood also supplies the muscle fibres with oxygen.

2. Under tension 

At the start of a rep, your muscles are under tension and stretched. As a result more blood is pumped into the protective sheaths of the muscle fibres, supplying even more oxygen and nutrients.

3. Initial spark

As you lift a weight, your central nervous system relays this to the nerves in the sheaths around the muscle fibres, telling the fibres to contract. If you do the exercise correctly your muscles will activate in a particular sequence, which your nervous system adapts to. As you repeat the workout, your nerves get more efficient, allowing you to do more. This is the first adaptation caused by weightlifting.

4. Chemical reaction 

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the immediate energy source for these muscle contractions. It is broken down within the body’s cells to release energy. The cells’ creatine, phosphate and glycogen reserves are also converted into ATP. This process creates lactic acid as a by-product.

5. Feel the burn

Once the glycogen stores in your cells have been depleted and lactic acid starts to builds up the muscle can’t work efficiently, so you have to rest. As you do so, aerobic (oxygen-based) muscle respiration occurs, processing the lactic acid back into glycogen and giving you an energy source for the next set.

6. Successful failure 

As you reach failure on the last set of a given exercise, your fast-twitch muscle fibres are completely fatigued. Microscopic tears (

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5 key benefits of swimming

How swimming can help you to lose weight, build muscle and feel great

Swimming is generally regarded as a great way to help you to improve your heart rate and blood flow and to help maintain a healthy weight. But for a lot of people that’s where they see the benefits of swimming end, without realising all the little muscle building and fat burning benefits that swimming provides that other forms of exercise do not.

Hitting the pool for a good few laps not only helps with your general physical fitness, but it provides a number of other benefits such as breath control and muscle toning. There are few workouts that you can do that offer so many peripheral benefits, allowing you to tone muscle, burn fat and wear Speedos all at once.

1. Muscle toning

As water is 12 times as dense as air, swimming is a far more effective way of toning your muscles than any other form of cardiovascular exercise that you can do on land. When you swim you get the cardio part of your workout while also working on an even body tone. Working out in water provides a certain amount of water resistance, which has a similar effect as using a light weight on a resistance machine at the gym. However, submersion in water creates a more even, controlled resistance on the body so there’s no concern about having to count or equalise repetitions when it’s time for lifting. The amount of resistance involved will be relative to the force you are pushing the water with, which allows you to control how hard you’re working with ease.

2. Forces you to work on your breathing

There is a far higher level of moisture present in the air when you’re at a swimming pool in comparison to the dry air that you’ll experience at a gym. The moisture in the air makes it far easier to breath, perfect for those that suffer with asthma and find cardio in the gym or in the park that bit too hard on their lungs. Studies have shown that swimming can vastly improve asthma symptoms, even a whole year after your swimming routine stops. Swimming is not only beneficial to asthma sufferers however, it can also help to increase your lung volume and force you to learn better breathing techniques that can aid you when lifting weights or running.

3. Work out for longer with less stress on your body

As water has the handy habit of supporting your bodyweight, it serves as a great way for people with injuries or those suffering from obesity to get a good workout, without risk of over doing it and causing further physical issues. Swimming is also one of the few sports that doesn’t cause any stress to the skeletal system. When you workout in a pool you are far less likely to make contact with any hard surfaces that may put a strain on your body as all of your motions will be cushioned by the protective barrier of the water. Even better, if you’re swimming in a heated pool, the heat will loosen joints and muscles that will help prevent injuries during your workout. 

4. Get flexible

When you’re at the gym you’ll tend to use isolation machines that work specific areas of the body, where as swimming allows you to use a lot of the bodies muscles at the same time. The strokes that utilise a wide arc such as front crawl  target a lot of the arm muscles that are missed in basic exercises, while the scissoring movement made with your legs forces your body to use more of your leg muscles in a plethora of fluid motions. Swimming is also really helpful as a way to elongate and stretch out your whole body as you keep reaching further out with your strokes.

5.  Mental tranquility

Unsurprisingly the idea of endlessly running around a track or cycling on a stationary bike doesn’t appeal to a lot of people and can actually prove to be quite stressful. Swimming actually boosts endorphins in the body that increase feelings of wellbeing. Studies have shown that swimming produces the same

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Stand up paddleboarding (SUP) 101

An introduction to SUP, the fastest growing watersport in the world

SUP or Stand Up Paddle Boarding is one of the fastest growing water sports in the UK. Standing above the water on a board, 'SUPers' pull themselves through the water using a long, single bladed paddle. Although initially invented as a leisure activity, more and more people are seeing the health and fitness benefits of the sport.

Even at the most basic level, stabiliser muscles are constantly tested to keep you balanced above the board. From your core right through to your feet, your muscles will be in constant use to balance. The more unstable the board, the tougher the work out. Exercising your stabiliser muscles keeps you and your joints strong, making you less likely to get injured in other activities.

Paddling on a SUP is a full body movement. Initially you must extend your body to reach forwards with the blade and give yourself the maximum reach for the upcoming stroke. Then when the blade is dug into the water, the paddler has to drop their weight down, crunching and contracting their abs to drive the paddle backwards. To finish the stroke all of the power is pushed through the legs and into the board, providing a boost of speed for the next extension. This action of extending and contracting is like doing a crunch whilst holding a squat every time you paddle. Over time this repetition will increase your muscular endurance, strength and with the right nutrition, definition.

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6 essential foods you’re probably not eating

A selection of vitamin-packed foods that you’re probably leaving out of your diet

Yes, you might be popping a load of supplements down your throat on a daily basis, but no amount of vitamin pills will give you all of the nutrients that you need to maintain a healthy body, while building muscle and burning fat. It might cost a bit more and require more effort but there are certain foods that will be extremely beneficial to have regularly in your diet, providing vitamins and minerals in abundance. You may already eat some of them, but we can guarantee that you haven’t tried them all, so for the sake of variation and nutrition be sure to crowbar a few of these into your diet on a regular basis.

Marmite   

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Exercises for bigger arms

Find out how to get bigger arms by using exercises that target every major muscle

The biceps come high up on the list of glamour muscles for most men. It's what you flex when you want to show off your muscles. Go into any gym and you'll see rows of men curling barbells in an attempt to build bulging biceps. Yet the biceps are among the smaller muscles in the body, and they aren't even the biggest muscles in your arms.
 
Your triceps make up about two thirds of your upper arm muscle mass and, as the name suggests, they are made up of three different muscles or 'heads'. The long head and lateral head combine to form the horseshoe shape at the top of your arm, while the medial head runs beneath the long head down to the elbow. Their job is to straighten your elbow, so they come into play every time you push something away from your body, such as when you do bench presses.
 
Because the arm muscles are relatively small, many people combine arm training with bigger muscle groups. Biceps training goes well with back training because they both involve pulling movements, while triceps and chest training go well together because they both involve pressing motions.

The key to effective arms training is to focus on the muscles you areworking and not allow larger muscle groups to take over by swingingyour body.
 
What follows is the best selection of exercises for building your biceps, triceps and forearms, plus variations so that you (and your muscles) don't get bored.

5 tips for bigger arms

Keep the intensity high

If you want to stimulate arm muscle growth as a part of your bodybuilding routine it’s important that you increase the intensity of your exercise. Walk into the gym with the mindset that you are going to be forceful with your muscles, pushing them to adapt and grow for your routine, rather than just lifting what you already know you can manage with ease. You need to aim to increase the weight and / or the number of reps that you’re performing on each visit, or at least decrease the amount of rest time you’re having between sets. Your arms workout should always be progressive in its nature; you want to beat your previous session in at least one way.

Hit your triceps the hardest

While the biceps are indeed the showpiece muscle of the arms, don’t forget that the triceps make up the majority of yours arms muscle size, 60% of your upper arm roughly. Incorporating dips, push downs and close grip presses will help to increase the mass and overall tone of your triceps.

Multi-jointed exercises are a must

On the days when you’re training your chest, shoulders and back, be sure to utilise as many multi-jointed exercises as you can. This will work your biceps (back) and triceps (chest) as secondary movers. So incorporate shoulder press, row pull downs, bench press and pushups into your workout routines to build bigger arms faster.

Limit your sets and don’t overtrain

Overtraining your arms is a big no-no. They aren’t the biggest muscle group in your body so they need ample recovery time. A lot of people tend to do too much arm training in their pursuit of t-shirt stretching arms, but both your biceps and triceps do not need more than one primary workout and one secondary workout each per week. Don’t cut into arms recovery abilities by overtraining them, rest is just as important as reps.

Make time to stretch

Yes, you might be pushed for time at the gym but always try to make time to stretch. Doing this after you train your arms will help with recovery and there is ample evidence that stretching these muscles will also extend the fascia. Think of fascia like a white sock over your muscle that restricts their growth. The more that you open it up, the more space that you’ll have to build more muscle. This type of stretch is quite intense, not your usual light pre-workout moves, more weighted and lengthy stretches that really open your muscles up. 

Forearms: Wrist curl Triceps: Triceps press down Triceps: Dumb-bell kickback Triceps: Seated one-arm overhead triceps extension Triceps: Lying triceps extension Triceps: Bench dip Triceps, chest: Close-grip bench press Triceps, chest: Dip Biceps: Hammer curl Biceps: EZ-bar preacher curl Biceps: Seated dumb-bell curl Biceps: Barbell curl
Biceps, lats: Chin-up

Read more about: Arm exercises Biceps exercises Tricep exercises Build muscle Get a six pack triceps forearms biceps For more exercise, weight-loss and diet tips, get the magazine. Subscribe now and we'll give you 5 issues for

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The Side-Effect of Looking Good

Looking good on vacation is a great side-effect of being healthy

Regular exercise has been known to have great effects on health conditions from diabetes to high blood pressure and more. There have been plenty of reports of people getting off meds or at least needing them less often or in lower doses.

Exercise improves mood. Really, try it. Go for a run or lift some weights. Slam a medicine ball. There, don’t you feel better? Physical activity stimulates various brain chemicals that may leave you feeling happier and more relaxed. You may also feel better about your appearance and yourself when you exercise regularly (especially when you get the side-effect of fitting better in your clothes), which can boost your confidence and improve your self-esteem.

Physical activity can also give you a little energy boost. Are you feeling a bit run down? Run on a treadmill. Winded just climbing the stairs to GymIt? Meet with a trainer and try some circuit training. And if just feeling and looking better isn’t enough motivation, the Mayo Clinic says that Regular physical activity can lead to enhanced arousal for women. And men who exercise regularly are less likely to have problems with erectile dysfunction than are men who don't exercise—If that won’t motivate you to get in gear, nothing will.

In the end, while you may be exercising to look good for your high school reunion or a vacation to Cabo, that weight loss is really just a side-effect of being healthy and getting the most out of life.

Photo: Arvind Balaraman

Tags: exercise, health, fitnessComments Physical excercices do make us healthy inside too. I myself feel happy after workout.Posted

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