Fitness tip of the Day

Goal setting is a very important part of your long term workout plans. If you set goals too high they will take too long to achieve and you may lose site of them. If goals are set too low you may not be making the best progress. Begin by writing down three realistic goals that you can stick to. The following are a few examples;

1. I will lose 5 lbs by the end of the month.
2. I will jog for 20 minutes minimum 3 days a week.
3. i will eat a healthy breakfast every morning to get my metablolism kick started for the day
4. I will increase my bench press by 5 lbs a week.

Try to avoid unattainable goals that will only frustrate you. Once you have attained one of your goals then replace it with a new one. This will help to motivate you on your life changing path to better health.

Nutrition tip of the Day

Have you ever gone to a party and all there is to eat are foods high in fat or made with endless calories. Well here is a recipe i found on http://healthy.betterrecipes.com that is better on the waistline and enjoyed by many.

Cheesy Spinach Artichoke Dip

Wilted spinach is combined with low-fat or fat-free cream cheese and sour cream, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses, and chopped artichoke hearts, then heated.

Ingredients:

3 cups fresh spinach, chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 8 oz. fat-free cream cheese, softened
1 8 oz. Neufchatel cheese, softened
1/2 cup low-fat sour cream
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 14 oz. artichoke hearts (not in oil), drained and chopped
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Sliced bread, crackers or vegetables

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute garlic in olive oil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add spinach and cook until just limp. Remove from heat. In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheeses, sour cream and pepper with a mixer on medium to high speed. Reduce speed and fold in cooled spinach and garlic, the 1 1/2 cups mozzarella and the parmesan. Fold in artichokes by hand. Spoon mixture into either a 1 1/2 qt. baking dish (greased) or several smaller ones. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until bubbly. Serve with crusty bread, assorted crackers or vegetables.



Notes: Use a small crock pot to keep the dip warm during a party. This recipe makes a lot, but it freezes well so it's OK to freeze half for a future use.



Number of Servings: 16-20

Give it a try and let me know how you think.

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Classified - Oh... Canada

Fitness tip of the Day

Here’s a way to help those on a split shift routine to add a bit change to their workout. Alternate your muscles every week for a 3 week cycle. This way your body doesn’t get used to working in a specific pattern. This way requires 3 days a week and gives 4 days of rest. Remember rest is important to the recovery of muscle fibers and 4 days is sufficient enough for beneficial muscle growth.

Week 1
Monday - Chest/Biceps
Tuesday - off
Wednesday - Shoulders/Legs
Thursday - off
Friday - Back/Triceps
Saturday - off
Sunday - off

Week 2
Monday - Chest/Shoulders
Tuesday - off
Wednesday - Back/Biceps
Thursday - off
Friday - Triceps/Legs
Saturday - off
Sunday - off

Week 3
Monday - Chest/Back
Tuesday - off
Wednesday - Triceps/Shoulders
Thursday - off
Friday - Legs/Biceps
Saturday - off
Sunday - off

I personally like to do abs on 2 of the workout days with 1 or 2 exercises each day. If you don’t specifically workout on those day you can cycle the 3 days as the week’s progress. At the end of a 6 week time period take a full week off to give your muscles a complete rest and the cycle can start fresh again.

Chest
Flat Dumbbell Bench Press
Incline Barbell Bench Press
Flat Bench Dumbbell Flies
Incline Dumbell Flies

Shoulders
Standing Military Dumbbell Press
Lateral Raises
Rear Delt Flies

Biceps
Standing Barbell Curls
Preacher Dumbbell Curls
Seated Dumbell Curls

Triceps
Tricep Press Downs
Dips
Skull Crushers

Back
Deadlift
Pull Ups
Seated cable Row
Bent Over Barbell Row
Bent Over 1 Arm Dumb bell Rows

Legs
Squats
Romanian Deadlifts
Lunges/Split Squats
Calve Press

Abs
Sit-Ups
Pikes
Bicycles
leg lifts

Try it out and add a bit of change to you workout routine. Feel free to let me know what you think and remember; if you’re not sweating, you not working hard enough.

Fitness tip of the Day

If you are looking to lose fat chose exercises that burn the most calories. Stick with compound exercises over isolation exercises. The difference between the two is that isolation exercises use one muscle that crosses over one joint (ie. the bicep curl, which uses the bicep muscle and crosses over the elbow joint). A compound exercise uses more than one muscle and crosses over more than one joint (ie. the squat which uses a combination of the quads, glutes and hamstrings and crosses over the knee joint and the hip joint).

Compound exercises uses more muscles therefore requires more energy to perform them. This will burn more calories and fat per set. The more compound exercises you use in a workout will result in a better fat burning routine.

The following image is an example of the squat press. This exercise not only uses the leg muscles but also invloves the shoulder muscles. In the image she is using a barbell but thhis exercise can be done with dumbells or even cans of soup for beginners.

Video of the Day

Nutrition tip of the Day

Many people have a hard time with making low fat choices of food. A simple way to make a change for the good is to pick your condiments or food additions wisely. Some condiments are high in fat and are overlooked when preparing your meals. Here are some examples of good and bad condiments and additions you may add to your food.

GOOD Condiments:

Salsa
Cocktail sauce (But be aware that it is high in sodium)
Soy Sauce (But be aware that it is high in sodium)
Mustard
Stone Ground Mustard
Lemon
Herbs and Spices
Vinegar
Ketchup
Grated Parmesan Cheese (if used sparingly)
Horseradish

BAD condiments or food additions:

Butter or Clarified Butter
Margarine
Real Bacon or Real Bacon Bits
Cheese
Hollandaise or White Sauce
Regular Salad Dressings
Sour Cream
Cream Cheese (unless stated that it is low fat)
Cream
Whipped Cream

Fitness tip of the Day

When getting started with an exercise program begin with a cardio exercise you enjoy. It’s no fun to exercise if you hate it. And you won’t keep it up for very long. Pick something that’s fun — running, walking, swimming, biking, hiking, rowing, stairmaster, etc. After the initial phase when you’re getting used to exercise, you’ll start to have a blast and look forward to it.

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A friend of mine just started up his own production company and i want everyone to see his work. Soon you'll be seeing all his videos on Youtube, Much Music and MTV.
Check it out.



Where Would I Be- First Word feat. Najjah Calibur
Directed by Ryan Kyriacopoulos