Anonymous asked: my diet is great but i need a workout that will allow me to reach my limit. i was thinking doing a cross fit workout. can you give a cross fit workout routine for 12 weeks, which is proven to help you gain muscle and get ripped. help out a brother
hey sorry it’s take so long for the response! i haven’t been on tumblr in a long time.
check out this website: http://www.crossfitbrandx.com/index.php/forums/viewforum/16/?f=16
crossfit posts a workout of the day 5 days a week for free. this website - crossfitbrandx.com takes those workouts, which are designed for super athletes and breaks them down to 5 different levels of difficulty depending on your level of fitness.
crossfit will get you in great shape! however, if you want to put on muscle the key is upping your calories. you have to give your body more calories than it needs for maintenance function. it’s also important to up your protein. shoot for a gram of protein per pound of your ideal bodyweight. ie if you want to get your weight up to 170, eat at least 170 grams of protein per day. i can’t stress enough how important calories are though! try to snack on calorically dense foods throughout the day such as peanut butter or other nut products.
if you’re trying to put on muscle, you probably won’t be able to do it while keeping your current definition or becoming more cut. worry about that later as it’s much easier to cut than bulk. really it just has to do with carb intake and managing your insulin levels. once you master those concepts it’s smooth sailing. when i was my mos ripped i was eating a slice of chocolate cake after every workout!
does that help at all?
Hey everybody, so this is the first entry of a series I will be writing on my philosophy on fitness and health in general. I’ll warn you now that in these entries I will go off on tangents, but they will all be relevant to the message I am hoping to deliver. My goal in these entries is to give you an overall understanding of fitness, how it can make your life better, and how to be fit with minimal intrusion on the rest of your life and your busy schedule.
Part 1: Contemporary Fitness
Living in any environment with a connection to the outside world, it’s easy to see that body image has become an omnipresent obsession. Flip through a magazine, watch TV for a half hour, or go to the movies and I’m sure body image will come up in some way, shape, or form. Often, it’s in advertisements in which a very muscular man or attractive woman advertises a particular product. Use OldSpice and you’ll look like Terry Crews, buy Victoria’s secret and you’ll look like this, etc.
While we all know that these media pressures are especially harsh on women, here are some statistics that reveal the true ugliness and even sadness of what women are subjected to on a daily basis.
- “It is estimated that the diet industry alone is worth anywhere between 40 to 100 billion (U.S.) a year selling temporary weight loss (90 to 95% of dieters regain the lost weight).”[1]
- “research indicates that exposure to images of thin, young, air-brushed female bodies is linked to depression, loss of self-esteem and the development of unhealthy eating habits in women and girls.”
- “The American research group Anorexia Nervosa & Related Eating Disorders, Inc. says that one out of every four college-aged women uses unhealthy methods of weight control—including fasting, skipping meals, excessive exercise, laxative abuse, and self-induced vomiting.”
- “the Canadian Women’s Health Network warns that weight control measures are now being taken by girls as young as 5 and 6.”
- “Several studies, such as one conducted by Marika Tiggemann and Levina Clark in 2006 titled “Appearance Culture in Nine- to 12-Year-Old Girls: Media and Peer Influences on Body Dissatisfaction,” indicate that nearly half of all preadolescent girls wish to be thinner, and as a result have engaged in a diet or are aware of the concept of dieting.”
- “In 2003, Teen magazine reported that 35 per cent of girls 6 to 12 years old have been on at least one diet, and that 50 to 70 per cent of normal weight girls believe they are overweight.”
- “Overall research indicates that 90% of women are dissatisfied with their appearance in some way.”[2]
- “Researchers generating a computer model of a woman with Barbie-doll proportions, for example, found that her back would be too weak to support the weight of her upper body, and her body would be too narrow to contain more than half a liver and a few centimeters of bowel. A real woman built that way would suffer from chronic diarrhea and eventually die from malnutrition. Jill Barad president of Mattel (which manufactures Barbie) estimated that 99% of girls aged 3 to 10 years old own at least one Barbie doll.”[3]
- “Canadian researcher Gregory Fouts reports that over three-quarters of the female characters in TV situation comedies are underweight”
- “Twenty years ago, the average model weighed 8 per cent less than the average woman—but today’s models weigh 23 per cent less.”
(All statistics taken from http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/women_and_girls/women_beauty.cfm)
I hope that you found these statistics disturbing because they are exactly that. To reiterate, 25% of women use unhealthy dieting methods including not eating and throwing up after meals, 35% of girls 6-12 years old have been on at least one diet and 50-70% of normal weight girls believe they are overweight. I apologize for the redundancy of this paragraph, but this information is crucial not only for an understanding of physical well-being, but more importantly – mental well being. I don’t know about you guys, but if I had to choose between happiness and a beautiful body, I would choose happiness every day. If you disagree than god bless you and I hope you are already happy.
I find two things particularly disturbing about these statistics. First of all things are only getting worse. This is not an opinion; it is a medical fact. We are becoming both mentally and physically unhealthy due to our obsession with body image. Ironic isn’t it? The ideal woman’s body, that of a Barbie doll, is both unattainable and fatal!
This leads me to my second point: These unhealthy body images are accepted by the masses. We’ve already got 6-12 year old girls dieting and striving for a body that will kill them. Aside from the physical damage being done here, I would like to talk just a little bit more about the mental damage being done. Starting at a young age, a child’s first exposure to media really, he/she is told that he/she should look a certain way. This appearance is unattainable. This being the case, being unable to attain what the child sees as the standard, he/she will feel that something is wrong with him/her. This can easily and probably will lower self-esteem and could lead to depression. Low self-esteem and depression along with other mental ailments seem to be common today dulling how seriously they should be taken. Furthermore, low self-esteem could easily make the afflicted person feel that he or she is not worth the effort to get better. See how this is such a slippery slope? Both mental and physical health are necessary for a great life and a great life is mandatory in my eyes! We only get to live once and each day is a beautiful gift to enjoy.
I hope you’re not bored by now and if you are I understand but men, I encourage you specifically to stick with me through the next couple of paragraphs. Women, you can skip these next few paragraphs as they will focus on male body image.
Although women do have it much worse off than men when it comes to body image, as of the 80’s, we men have developed a strong sense of body image ourselves. Here are some facts for the fellas: (I apologize for the lack of numbers here, but I’m going to use an excuse – men worrying about body image is a fairly recent phenomenon so there isn’t as much data on it as there is for women.)
· “One body-image study found that 45 percent of men were dissatisfied with their physiques; women were only slightly less satisfied at 55 percent.”
· Unlike women, men don’t only worry about being overweight; they also worry about being underweight and not muscular enough. There is even an official medical condition for this second worry – “muscle dysmorphia”
· According to DePauw anthropologist Eric Silverman, “As androgyny and gender equality increases, it unfortunately becomes very threatening to a lot of men,” says Eric Silverman, a DePauw University anthropologist who specializes in the study of body image… “As androgyny and gender equality increases, it unfortunately becomes very threatening to a lot of men,” says Eric Silverman, a DePauw University anthropologist who specializes in the study of body image.”
· “the number of men exercising has increased more than 30 percent since the start of the decade”
· “on average, [men] went to the gym 88 days a year…that was six days more than women”
· “About one million American men have tried [performance enhancing] drugs once; up to 6 percent have taken them by age 18
· “eight million Americans being treated for eating disorders, one million are men”
· “men make up about 10 percent of anorexics and about 20 percent of bulimics”
Aside from all the above information, I just read an absolutely riveting theory on the concision of the aids epidemic in America and the beginning of men’s body image obsession. In the 1980’s AIDS came to America and became a huge threat especially to gay men in America. One symptom of AIDS is extreme and unhealthy weight loss. As AIDS became a problem in America’s gay community, gay men began to associate skinny bodies with a lack of health and these bodies became unattractive. As a response, gay men began hitting the gym in hopes of packing on muscle to avoid this. Thus a well-muscled body became the ideal in the gay community. Being that gay men generally take better care of themselves than straight men and often appear more attractive (style, sophistication, and looks). This body, born as a result to the 80’s AIDS epidemic became the standard for all men and initiated men’s hyperawareness of body image.
(All of this information, bulleted points to the aforementioned theory were taken from http://www.infoplease.com/spot/mbi6.html)
(NOTE TO READER: I am not homophobic. I have nothing against people of various sexual orientations and do not discriminate. I believe that we are all equals and the above theory is only speculation and is not meant in any way to blame or attack gay men in America. I admire the courage of gay men, lesbian women, and bisexual men and women to be themselves in a culture where they are often not accepted)
I hope I’ve laid a conceptual foundation for fitness and health that I will continue to elaborate on in this series. Physical fitness and health are important, but should be placed in perspective and never be placed before mental health or overall well-being. Furthermore, although I have stated that things are getting worse regarding unhealthy behavior to attain a certain physical appearance, there IS hope. Awareness is the first step to enlightenment and I know that as this continues to become a bigger problem, awareness will increase and eventually society will gain a healthier perspective and we will come out stronger. Thanks for your time and I hope that this was of some help to you.
Part 2 will be coming soon.
[1] The diet business: Banking on failure. (BBC News World Edition, Feb 5 2003). http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2725943.stm
[2] 2. The Canadian Women’s Health Network (Body Image and the Media). http://www.cwhn.ca/node/40776
[3] Barbie boots up. (Time, Nov 11 1996). http://www.time.com
Laughter is healthy
Author’s credentials: Military Special Operations Officer, Military Physical Training Specialist, Special Operations Combat Controller, Triathlete, and Muay Thai Champion
There’s no question that Lauren is a fitness guru. In his second chapter “How I got Here” he outlines his military experience and recounts the grueling all day exercise routine that caused an 85% attrition rate in his particular branch. After one failed attempt, Lauren graduated and went on to break the U.S. military’s underwater distance swim swimming 133 meters in 2 minutes and 23 seconds, a record he holds to this day. Content of this book aside, Mark Lauren has accomplished more in fitness feats in his 38 years of life than most fitness professionals would aspire to in a lifetime.
Book’s Fitness Focus: More efficient and shorter workouts using only bodyweight exercises
Most of the books fitness theory is found in chapters 5 and 9. Chapter 5 defines fitness in a way that should not come as a surprise to any fitness enthusiast. His definition includes: power, flexibility, speed, etc.
Chapter 9 describes training intensity in which he explains to readers the importance of workout intensity and why there is no need for workouts to exceed 30 minutes.
Accessibility and Theory: Program is intended for layperson
What makes this program so accessible is: the no equipment necessary approach to fitness, the brevity of suggested workouts, and the balanced lifestyle he suggests. The last of these features is evident in his nutrition chapter. Rather than proposing a new diet, he seems to suggest simply eating healthy tips that can be taken to different degrees depending on the reader’s commitment to fitness.
Format: First 52 pages (10 chapters) are Lauren’s own fitness theory and the next 119 pages (Chapter 11) provides picture demonstrations of over 110 bodyweight exercises
The first part of the book is written in paragraph format introducing the reader to fitness. With its basic ideas it is best for beginners, but is a good refresher for advanced athletes providing another, less demanding, angle on fitness in addition to some interesting facts that should allow you to further fine-tune your own training.
Overall rating: Two thumbs up
A must read for anyone who actually likes reading on fitness (I might be the only one XP) or just wants a practical approach to getting fit. In either case, this book will be another weapon in your fitness arsenal of knowledge that will help you take it to the next level!
Men who get 25-35% of their calories from good fats produce on average 25% more testosterone than those who don’t.
