There are several reasons that people do not lift weights but several more reasons why it is important to add weightlifting to your health and fitness regimen.

This week I am hoping to write a few articles that will help you understand what it takes to lift weights as well as the how and why weightlifting is important, but today lets just start with the basics.

First of all did you know that fewer that 10% of the population actually does any weightlifting in their pursuit of fitness? I know that the number is low for a few reasons. Read the rest of this entry »

Looking to make a change and lose some weight? I have reviewed the top diet on the internet and you can go and read over 200 comments people have made about why this diet has worked well for them, as well as some of the problems.

Tags: energy, little injuries, plague, weightlifting

I used to do a lot of really heavy weightlifting, nothing like a pro bodybuilder, but have always been impressed by the Mr Olympia. Last weekend the Mr Olympia took place and Dexter Jackson won the Sandow (Mr Olympia trophy) and the title as Mr Olympia 2008.

Dexter has been a very high level bodybuilder for many years first placing 9th in the 1999 Mr Olympia so it has taken him until his 10th Olympia to win one.

There are many many bodybuilding contest but the Mr Olympia has overshadowed all of them except maybe the Arnold Classic, which is a contest sponsored by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Even the Mr Universe, which was popular in the 1960’s and 1970’s, does not have nearly the hype surrounding it as the Mr Olympia has.

The local sports shows as you may have noticed do not seem to talk about bodybuilding or this contest although there are a lot of hardcore followers that knew exactly what was happening this weekend in Las Vegas. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: arnold classic, Arnold Schwarzenegger, bodybuilders, bodybuilding contest, Dexter Jackson, Dorian Yates, Las Vegas, Lee Haney, local sports, mr olympia, Olympia, olympia 2008, Ronnie Coleman, Universe, weightlifting

Michael Phelps is a phenomenal athlete and it has to do with a few things. Michael works out hard, very hard with 5 hours a day working out and training as well as goal setting an a giant diet. In fact the most I have ever been able to eat is around 5,000 calories a day when I was doing a lot of weightlifting, Michael Phelps eats 12,000 calories a day every day.

According to nutritionists, the average man of the same age and height (Phelps is 6′4″) should be ingesting about 2,000 calories a day. By comparison, Phelps consumes a staggering (doctor-approved) 12,000 calories probably a weeks worth of food for a mere mortal in a single day.

Here is a typical Michael Phelps breakfast: Three fried-egg sandwiches topped with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise. And that’s just to get his stomach warmed up for the main portion of his breakfast, which includes two cups of coffee, a five-egg omelet, a bowl of grits, three slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar and three chocolate-chip pancakes. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: elite athlete, energy, Energy drinks, food, great Olympic level athlete, michael phelps, muscle glycogen, Olympic, Olympic athlete, olympic level, phenomenal athlete, Swimming, weightlifting

Carbohydrate loading is a method that has been used for at least 20 years now by marathon runners and other endurance athletes. The idea behind carb loading is that you would eat a huge amount of carbohydrates, usually complex carbohydrates in the 12-18 hours before competition. The Mayo Clinic came up with this great primer on the how, what and why of Carb loading.

Carbohydrate loading can improve your performance during high-intensity endurance exercise. Use this strategy to prepare for a marathon, triathlon or another endurance event.

Perhaps you’re training for a marathon or triathlon. Or maybe you’re a long-distance swimmer or cyclist. Whatever your sport, if you plan to complete 90 minutes or more of high-intensity exercise, carbo-loading (carbohydrate loading) may improve your performance.

Carbohydrates: The body’s fuel

The food you eat contains carbohydrates, protein and fat. These nutrients supply the calories your body uses for energy. Although your body needs all three nutrients, carbohydrates are your body’s primary source of energy.
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Tags: athlete, average athlete, bloating, carbohydrate-containing sports, cramps, cyclist, dairy products, diabetes, energy, food, Loading Carbohydrate, long-distance swimmer, Mayo Clinic, registered dietitian, soccer, Sports Medicine, Swimming, triathlon, weightlifting

I ran across this article about strength training and getting started in strength training by Mark Winston. This is a great start to how you have no excuses not to start weightlifting and building strength is just gettting started and moving up from there. 

The most important thing for you to realize is that when I first started bodybuilding, I didn’t look anything like I do now. I can remember being teased as a child by the “skinny” kids in my neighborhood – oh yes, they all had fun calling me “chubby” and pointing out that I had to wear “husky” pants while their moms could shop for them in the “slim” section of the local clothing store.

As an adult I know that kids can be cruel when teasing one another and that they lack the maturity to understand the harmful impact of name calling. But as a child being teased, my ego was crushed and I felt very insecure about my physical appearance – especially when I was hanging around the skinny kids. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Author, Mark G. Winston, Mark Winston, pumping iron, weightlifting, workout program

A new study was released over the last week showing what many older people already know, that weight training is a very important part of keeping you young.

The study says resistance exercise for people 65 and older can actually reverse important aging effects on skeletal muscles, to the point where they work genetically like those found in people four decades younger.

“We see big improvements … after weight training,” said Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky, an associate professor at the McMaster University Medical Centre.

“Many people were reporting they could pick up their grandkids, they could carry more groceries, it was easier to go up the stairs,” said Tarnopolsky, an expert on muscle diseases and one of the paper’s two lead authors.

There are several reasons for this change and most of it is in the physical changes that take place in the mini powerplants of cells and this, says the good doctor promises to make things better for many people for years to come.

The study looked at DNA expression in the muscle cells of 25 healthy seniors, who had undergone twice-weekly resistance training for six months.

It concentrated in particular on the cellular mitochondria, the “powerhouses” that fuel activity in cells. They are typically depleted in older people, with many of the genes that affect them turned on or off by age. This depletion resulted in a loss of muscle mass and many of the mobility restrictions often found in seniors.

But Tarnopolsky said the genetic “fingerprints” of the exercising seniors actually shifted from their age-altered state to one more closely resembling those found in young men and women in their mid 20s to 30s.

“We improved or reversed to a large extent the … gene signature of aging,” he said.

The reversal was accompanied by a 50 per cent improvement in strength among the seniors.

Starting out about 60 per cent weaker than their younger study counterparts – determined via knee extension capacity – the training seniors ended up 38 per cent weaker after a half year of training.

Tarnopolsky said weight lifting might remove some of the mitochondria damaged by age-related stresses, replacing them with genetically intact ones. As well, it may turn on genes, switched off by age, that offer muscle cells protection from damage.

This is a very interesting although small study but the ramifications are huge. Anyone that is in there 60s or 70s though should talk to a doctor before beginning a weightlifting regimen but the effects on your life can be fantastic.

Tags: associate professor, Mark Tarnopolsky, McMaster University Medical Centre, weightlifting

My article on gaining weight when quitting smoking that I wrote has really struck a nerve with a lot of people and for that I am glad.

I myself smoked cigarettes for over 10 years and have now been a non smoker for 7 years. I thought that if you are currently trying to quit cigarettes then maybe telling my story would help some people over the hump and help them quit.

I started smoking when I was 18 or 19 years old. I was drinking on the weekends and sometimes would have a cigarette while drinking. This eventually led to having cigarettes the day after I had been out for the night and this eventually led to an almost a pack a day habit. I smoked for a lot of years knowing how unhealthy a habit it was and at the same time I was playing tennis and weightlifting a lot. You can imagine the conflict I would feel going to the gym and being winded afterwards and then lighting up a cigarette. Also I often had trouble falling asleep at night worried about one day getting lung cancer and dying from it, I even thought that maybe the next day was the day I would get cancer. I always tried to keep myself at some level of fitness but in my late 20’s my level of fitness dropped off.

I tried to quit smoking many times. I tried cutting down on my smoking, I tried going cold turkey and I even tried using nicotine patches but the trouble with trying to quit smoking is the habit coupled with the nicotine addiction. I would have a cigarette before a fell asleep and then my first cigarette of the day would be first thing in the morning when I woke up so suiting was very difficult and I always feel for anyone trying to quit as I know what kind of a lifestyle change that it takes to quit smoking.
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Tags: calgary, cancer, fatigue, heart attack, lung cancer, overall energy level increases, pain, physician, shortness of breath, Tennis, Vancouver, weightlifting