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Showing posts from August, 2020

Jump Rope to Burn Fat and Calories

Jump roping is a great, fat-burning exercise that be made into a workout on its own, or added to another routine. In this week’s  Keep it Fresh , Ashley and her coach IFBB Pro Summer Montabone show us how to determine the correct jump rope size, some jump rope variations for increasing the fat burn, and an alternative exercise for beginners. Check out the video and give it a try this week! In addition to being an IFBB Pro, Summer Montabone is NSCA- CSCS certified and certified prenatal instructor. Summer is an advocate for wellness and seeing her clients live healthier lives, and Summer’s Fitness is the vehicle through which Summer changes people’s lives for the better. Summer is the founder of  MySpeedCoach.com , comprehensive sports performance and Speed & Agility training, which offers not only developmentally appropriate middle and high school programs, but elite training for professional athletes, as well. In addition, she has founded Team VIP (Very Impressive Phys...

Four Signs You Are Working Out Too Much

Working out regularly is great for your health, building muscle, and keeping your weight in check, but it is possible to train too much, where your hard work can actually backfire. Here’s why: when you overwork your body, you actually deplete muscle stores (such as when you do too much [...] from The Bloq https://ift.tt/ZW7Dv6

Alternate Your Rep Range for Better Results

For many years, I have alternated my repetition range from week to week with outstanding results. The main objective for my approach is the stimulation of the muscle fibers by exposing them to different types of stresses from week to week. Each week of the month consists of a different approach such as Week 1: 30 repetitions, Week 2: Supersets, Week 3: Drop Sets, and Week 4: Heavy. In Week 1, I use a weight that is lighter but will still create stress on the muscle fibers, usually by the 20th repetition. It provides a severe stress to the muscle bellies without the stress being dissipated to tendons and ligaments. In Week 2 , I’ll superset using a rep range of 15 repetitions and 15 repetitions divided between two different muscle groups. For example, I’ll do 15 pull-ups supersetted with 15 lateral deltoid dumbbell raises, and repeat for two rounds. In Week 3 , my rep range is performed in a drop set of seven repetitions each, totaling 21 repetitions, dropping down from the heavies...

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Celery

If you’ve been grocery shopping lately, you’ve probably noticed that the celery section is either sold out or costs much more than it usually does. And it’s hard to ignore all the hype around “celery juice” (yes, it’s a thing — but why??) Don’t get us wrong — celery is a great vehicle for dips, adds a refreshing crunchy texture to salads, and helps create the base of many soups and stews, but what gives? And it is really all that in terms of nutrition? Read on and get the 411 on this suddenly popular vegetable. Celery Nutrition Facts Celery is a low calorie, low carb, crunchy green vegetable that has gained a lot of popularity as a weight-loss food, and more recently, celery juice has been promoted as a cure-all for things like digestive distress and skin health. Here’s the nutrition breakdown for 1 cup of chopped celery provides: 14.1 calories 0.7 g protein 0.2 g fat 3 g carbs 1.6 g fiber It also contains decent amounts of vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, p...

How to Survive a Pandemic is now out in paperback!

My newest book, How to Survive a Pandemic , is now out in paperback! This book cuts through the prevailing noise and nonsense and reveals not only what we can do to protect ourselves and our loved ones during a pandemic, but also digs deeper into the roots of the problem and tackles the fundamental question:  How can we stop the emergence of pandemic viruses in the first place?   All proceeds I receive from the book are donated to pandemic prevention charities such as the The Good Food Institute and the Plant Based Foods Association . Order your copy today! New volume covers B12, fasting, & climate change My new volume is out today and is available as a streaming video so you can start watching it immediately. Here’s the full list of chapters from the new volume—a preview of what’s to come over the next few months on NutritionFacts.org: Are Aluminum Pots, Bottles, and Foil Safe? Stainless Steel or Cast Iron: Which Cookware Is Best? Is Teflon Safe? Are Melami...

The Flint Lead Crisis May Be the Tip of the Iceberg

Back in the 1960s, a Pulitzer prize-winning scientist described the problem of childhood lead poisoning as “so well defined, so neatly packaged with both causes and cures known, that if we don’t eliminate this social crime, our society deserves all the disasters that have been forecast for it.” As I discuss in my video Lead in Drinking Water , “We have the knowledge required to redress this social crime. We know where the lead is, how people are exposed, and how it damages health. What we lack is the political will to do what should be done.” Unfortunately, “many policy makers consider the costs of action primarily in economic and financial terms and ignore the costs of inaction on human health and communities’ livelihoods.” “At this point, most Americans have heard of the avoidable and abject failure of government on the local, state and federal level; environmental authorities; and water company officials”—in fact, failure across the board—“to prevent the mass poisoning of hund...

Why Women Should Lift Weights

On a regular basis, clients tell me that they are afraid to strength train because they are afraid of getting “bulky.” When paired up with cardio and the right nutrition, strength training will  NOT  make you bulky. Fit, firm and tone is not bulky. In fact, you will more than likely drop a few sizes as your body composition changes. Where’s the bulk? It’s definitely not in the slimmer waist, tighter butt and things or those toned arms.   Here are six fantastic benefits of strength training: 1. Strength training will make you stronger.  And when is strength ever a bad thing? Whether it benefits your girlfriend when you help her move, or impresses the hot guy at work when you beat him in arm wrestling, there just isn’t a downside to being strong. 2. Building muscle gives you shape.  The best part is you have the ability to put that shape EXACTLY where you want it! You can make yourself more symmetrical (which is a sign of beauty across all cultures), balanc...

Air Fryer vs. Instant Pot: Which Is the Better Choice for You?

Smart kitchen tools can feel like a godsend. They make cooking faster, easier, and less stressful, and they can also make your favorite meals healthier. Air fryers  and Instant Pots are two kitchen gadgets in particular that can transform meals and make meal prepping as easy as hitting a button. But do you need both? For all your air fryer vs.  Instant Pot  questions, we’ve got you covered! Air Fryer vs. Instant Pot: What Can You Cook? Let’s start with the basics: What the heck is an Instant Pot — and how does an air fryer work? An Instant Pot is an electric pressure cooker and “multicooker,” while an air fryer is a countertop convection over that essentially “fries” your food with super hot air and a little (optional) oil. You can use both the air fryer and the Instant Pot to prep some of the same foods, but generally speaking, “air fryers are better used for foods you want to crisp or dry out, like healthier versions of French fries, ‘fried’ chicken, or apple...

How the Lead Paint and Gas Industries Got Away with It

We have known for thousands of years that lead can be toxic and for more than a century that children could be poisoned by lead paint. Since those first cases, the “lead industry has mobilized against the advances of science,” as I discuss in my video How the Lead Paint Industry Got Away with It . By 1926, lead poisoning was already “of relatively frequent occurrence in children,” yet “the United States continued to allow the use of lead-based paint until 1978.” In contrast, in Europe, many countries said, Hmm, poisoning children? No, thanks. and “banned the use of lead-based paint as early as 1909.”  “The delay in banning lead-based paint in the United States was due largely to the marketing and lobbying efforts of the lead industry,” profiting from the poison. It knew it couldn’t hold off forever, but the industry boasted that its “victories have been in the deferral of implementation of…regulations.” And now, “peeling paint turns into poisonous dust,” and guess where i...

What to Eat Before a Workout: 5 Simple Tips

Sneakers? Check. Headphones? Check. Inspiring playlist? Check. There are a few things you wouldn’t want to start a workout without — and the right fuel should be one of them. A pre-workout meal or snack can help you power through whatever reps, sets, and routines you have planned. So how can you decide what to eat before a workout? There’s no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to the best foods to eat before a workout. “For some, working out on an empty stomach is fine,” says  Tiffany Ma , RDN, a registered dietitian based in Brooklyn, NY. “But generally, most people report feeling better and less fatigued when they eat before a workout.” Here’s how to pick the  best pre-workout snack  for your next sweat sesh. 1. Focus on Carbs Carbs get a bad rap, but they’re an important energy source for your workouts. Your body breaks down carbs into glucose, some of which is stored as glycogen — your body’s main source of energy  during high-intensity workouts . ...

Hormones and Weight Loss

Ladies— have you ever felt that your  hormones  were working against you when you were  dieting  and trying to lose weight? Well, perhaps you were not entirely incorrect! Oftentimes, low-calorie diets can adversely affect certain hormone levels, especially those hormones that stimulate appetite and cause increased hunger. This is frequently the reason many women wind up gaining weight back after a diet ceases. Two such hormones that do those things are called “the hunger hormones,” ghrelin and leptin. Ghrelin and Fat Storage Ghrelin, a 28-amino-acid peptide hormone that is secreted primarily by the stomach, is implicated in signaling hunger to the brain and increasing food intake. It may also stimulate fat storage. Ghrelin levels have been found to increase when a person consumes a  low-calorie diet  (eating less than their resting metabolic rate), and decrease when a person eats too many calories. Research is showing that the ghrelin receptors (GSR1a) ...

Should I Eat Before Working Out?

Knowing when and what to eat before your workouts is a skill worth learning. With the right approach, a pre-workout snack or meal can give you the energy and nutrients you need to crush your goals. But if you get your timing or food choices wrong, you’ll pay for it later — like when you’re trying to sweat it out with  #mbf Muscle Burns Fat   or  30 Day Breakaway . If you’ve ever wondered, “Should I eat before working out?” keep reading to brush up on the dos and don’ts of pre-workout nutrition. (The tl;dr answer is “yes”!) Why You Should Eat Before a Workout Fueling before exercise can help prevent fatigue and hunger, as well as boost muscle energy stores to help you perform your best, says  Mascha Davis, MPH, RD , the author of  Eat Your Vitamins . Eating before a long and/or intense workout can help you get through the entire session without bonking. That’s when your body runs out of carbs and stalls mid-workout. And, of course, you can also include...