Did you write down your New Year's Resolutions? Because you should!

Inevitably we are again at this moment of the year when we normally get these thoughts about what we would like to achieve or change in the coming year. Here is how to make these thoughts become a reality...

Spend 15 mins of your time alone
Find 15 minutes of your time to just sit down in a room by yourself and contemplate on the things you would like to achieve/change. Are you not completely satisfied with your physical performance? Think about what is hindering you from your goal. Maybe you have not tried quitting fast food or you do not get enough sleep. Probably you would like to get that car you really want but you do not have money? Think about the different aspects of your life and identify the things you desire most

Write them down on a paper
I know some of you might think this is a cliché but is not! I have experienced it myself. Often I write down my goals on a piece of paper and I stick the papers on the mirror in my room. Sooner or later these turn to become a reality. Once you see your goal written down black and white, you see it suddenly starts seeming more real than it was before that. So, write down all things you would like to change. No matter how simple they are. For instance, "I am going to bed 30 minutes earlier", "I am eating healthy foods " or "I am eating healthier than before ", "I am managing my money wisely". Pay attention and use affirmative words and tenses. Make it sound like it is already a reality and you are half way there !

Even better - visualize them with pictures !
My favourite is though the method of using pictures. I was just thinking about this and a friend of mine told me he put a picture of the MMA club in his car because he wants to start practising it and be good at it. Great! You can put pictures on your wall, mirror, change your desktop background with a picture of your desire (or make a collage!). Chose where to place the pictures strategically - where you will know you will be looking at them every day. If you have a fitness model or someone with a great physique that you admire, put a picture of him/her as a background of your phone. It is that simple!

What are your ways to make New Year's resolutions? If you have some, please, share with us. 

Affirm your goals by sharing them with us!

Workout 'Power Through'

Want a workout that is challenging and yet does not require going to the gym? Here is one for you. Actually this one is for everyone! I love such workouts. The idea of AMRAP workouts it to do as many reps as YOU can for the time given. This means you are challenging your own capabilities. 

The 'Power Through' workout consists of 2 sets of exercises. Each set is repeated 3 times with 30 seconds rest in between the rounds. And each exercise goes for 45 seconds so set your timers! Do as many repetitions of each exercise as YOU can. Do not make it easy for yourself! But if you really need a break, you can stop for 5 - 10 seconds. 

Sequence 1

1. Switch kicks - Start from standing position. Elbows are bent and close to your body. Imagine there is someone in front of you and you have to kick him in the stomach. Kick with a straight leg, heel comes out. Switch legs in the air. To do that you need to use your core power. Therefore, keep your abs contracted! If you find switching legs in the air way too much for you, you can modify. Straighten the leg out and high, putting it back on the ground and repeat with the other leg. Do not forget to keep the core contracted

Do as many reps as you can for 45 seconds

2. Jump Squats - Get down in a squat position. Your feet are spread at least shoulder width apart or a little bit wider (depending on how flexible you are). Bent your knees until you come to 90 degrees. Make sure your knees stay behind your toes and not leaning in front. Your back should be flat, chest open and you are gazing in front of you. Chin also parallel to the floor. The centre of your weight is on the outside of your feet and on your heels.

From this position, push yourself off the ground with your feet, squeezing your gluteus and abs to help you with the jump. Jump with straight legs and land softly in the same squat position. AMRAP (as many reps as possible) for 45 seconds !

3.Oblique plank - Get down in a plank position. Your wrists are below your shoulders. Your body is in a straight line. (*Note: Make sure your butt is not too high or your hips are not dropping to the ground) Your core and inner thighs are contracted. Bring your right knee out and towards your body. Take the leg back to straight plank. Take the left knee out and towards your body. Take it back. Repeat. Do as many reps as you can for 45 seconds and do not forget to keep the right form !

4. Floor runs - After you are done with the oblique plank, keep the plank position. Bring one knee to your chest, put the leg back and repeat with the other knee. Like you are running with your palms on the floor. Do as many reps as you can for 45 seconds.

Rest for 30 seconds. Repeat the sequence 3 times in total

Sequence 2

1. 20x high knees + 4x push ups - From a standing position lift your right knee up above your hip. Switch with the other knee. Use your lower abs to lift the knees up. Always land softly to prevent injury. Do 20 repetitions and get down on the ground for 4 push ups. If you need modification of the push ups, perform them with knees on the ground. 

2. Burpees - From a standing position place your hands on the ground close to your feet. Jump your feet out and lay down on the ground. Jump your feet back in and jump up clapping your hands above your head. Make sure you are using your abs to help you jump. Do as many reps as you can in 45 seconds !

3. Triceps dips - Get yourself a chair next to a wall or use a step or something that can hold you. If you cannot find anything you can also do it on the ground. Place your palms on the chair (or floor) behind you with fingers pointing towards your body. Knees are bent and elbows straight. Bent your elbows as low as you can (without your butt reaching the ground) and push yourself up to straight arms again. Do as many reps as possible (AMRAP) for 45 seconds.

Rest 30 seconds. Repeat the sequence 3 times in total. 

Enjoy your workout and we are waiting for your comments !

Food Supplements: 6 Good Reasons to Take Them

From personal experience, I have found out that people who do not use supplements is because they do not have a good opinion about them. Supplements are not only the powders and pills bodybuilders take. Supplements can be taken from anyone for various reasons. The purpose of the supplements is to supplement your diet: they provide your diet with what it is missing. Why do I think your diet might be missing anything??? Read below...

1. Insufficient nutrients in our food

I am sure this is not the first time you are hearing this. But now it is time to start paying attention to this fact. The food we buy nowadays does not come from grandma's garden as it used too. It comes from green houses and genetically modified crops, seeds, etc. A tomato you buy at the local supermarket chain does not contain the same nutrient values as a tomato grown in your private garden (nor it tastes like one!). The fruit does not contain the same amount of vitamins and anti-oxidants. The levels of minerals and the quality of the fats is not the same. This is why do not get surprised if you still get sick sometimes although you do eat a lot of veggies and fruit. Here is one good reason everyone has to take supplements - to give to the organism the amount of nutrients it needs to be healthy and to function properly. 

2. Poor food preparation 

Here is another reason which has come just as the first one because of the technological developments. I really like gadgets and technologies but, damn, I do not like the commercial ways in which they are used. Do you have an idea how many households in your country have microwaves? In the two countries I live probably 95% of the households do own one!(1) Did you also know that warming up at a high-temperature in the microwave can "kill" the nutrients in your food (2)? Next time when you decide to use the microwave make sure you at least put it at a lower temperature or just use the stove instead. 

3. Obesity / Weight Loss

Now, this is important. I guess some of you might be immediately thinking about those pills that promise you to lose weight whatever you do - workout or not, eating well or not. Let's clear this up. It is impossible to lose weight if you keep on eating the wrong things. When you want to lose weight, you need to increase the amount of protein intake. Protein helps you keep the muscle while you are burning the fat and, according to some researches(3), satisfies hunger better than carbohydrates. Therefore, supplementing your diet with protein helps you lose more weight and get a fit and healthy look. 

4. Athletic performance

Athletes need to perform. And in order to perform at the highest of their abilities, they need fuel. Food is the fuel of the body. It gets stored in the body in the form of glycogen. So getting some calories before a training is important to increase performance. Supplements can give you the right amount of calories right before the workout without making you feel heavy.

Another reason why athletes take supplements is because they need a higher amount of protein to replenish their body and recover their muscles after trainings.(4)

5. Bad Sleep

There are also natural food supplements that can help you sleep better. The good sleep is vital for your body functions! When you sleep deep you get increased mental performance, focus and increased metabolic rate. The latter means that you also burn more calories during the day. Therefore, you should tackle your insomnia problems if you are aiming to lose weight as well as if you have any kind of stress in your life. 

6. Hormone imbalances

Many males have insufficient levels of the male hormone testosterone and this prevents them from gaining muscle mass. On the other hand, the exceeded levels of the female hormone estrogen in both women and men is what makes it hard to lose the extra fat. 


Do you have your 'stubborn' areas? Meaning do you have areas that seem to be keeping the fat more than other parts of your body? Depending on which is the stubborn part of your body, you can define which hormone is imbalanced. Therefore, taking the right supplement in this case is crucial for losing the stubborn fat. (5)



Tip: Always check out the labelling when you buy supplements you have not used before. It is an idea to also check out internet about opinions of people who have used the brand. Make sure you take natural supplements, like the ones you can find here: http://www.mywinwebpage.com/92561/index.aspx

References:

1) More than 90% of the American households do own at least one microwave: http://www.housewares.org/pdf/mw/mw_v3n4.pdf

2) http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf970670x
3) http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/high-protein-diet-weight-loss
4) http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/topicoftheweek19.htm
5) http://www.poliquingroup.com/Tips/tabid/130/entryid/357/10-very-good-reasons-for-you-to-take-supplements.aspx

Bodyweight Interval Training

What I love about interval trainings is that it can never be too easy. Why? Because you have to go as fast as you can. So the stronger you become, the more reps you do. You get it? Now go get ripped with this 50:10 protocol bodyweight workout and nothing more !

4x Exercises 4x Rounds 50:10

The workout consists of only 4 exercises. Each exercise goes for 50 seconds followed by 10 seconds rest (the 50:10 protocol. We've done that before!) .You've got to go as fast as possible in these 50 seconds, kicking your heart rate go up. Make sure you breath a lot during the exercise and the 10 seconds of rest to get enough oxygen to your muscles. This is  very important when you are doing HIIT (Read more about High Intensity Interval Training).

Repeat the sequence for 4 rounds. Trying to score higher reps on each round. Together with the warm up it should last for about 20 minutes. It is also a good idea to stretch for 3 -5 minutes after the workout.

1. Jump Squats

Get down in a squat position. Your feet are spread at least shoulder width apart or a little bit wider (depending on how flexible you are). Bent your knees until you come to 90 degrees. Make sure your knees stay behind your toes and not leaning in front. Your back should be flat, chest open and you are gazing in front of you. Chin also parallel to the floor. The centre of your weight is on the outside of your feet and on your heels.

From this position, push yourself off the ground with your feet, squeezing your gluteus and abs to help you with the jump. Jump with straight legs and land softly in the same squat position. AMRAP (as many reps as possible) for 50 seconds ! Write down your scores.

2.Jump Lunges

Set up your lung position. From standing make step out with your right foot and bent your knees. The front knee is about your ankle at 90 degrees. The back knee is below the the hip also at 90 degrees. Do not bring the back knee too much to the back or to the front.

From this position, push yourself off the ground with your feet. Switch legs and land softly in the same position. The only different is that now your leg foot is in front and your right foot is back. Repeat the jump and switch. AMRAP for 50"! Write down your score

3. In&Out Abs

Get down in a plank position. Your shoulders are above your wrists. Neck is long. Your back is flat. Your legs are straight, so you are on your toes and palms. Maintain your body line straight. If you look yourself into the mirror, fro your head to your toes your body should be aligned in one line. Do not lift your butt or collapse your hips. In order to maintain straight body line you need to contract the abs. Work those abs ! They should be contracting during the whole time.

From the straight plank position, jump with your feet in, between your arms. Then jump them out, back into the straight plank position. Do as many reps as possible for 50" ! Write down your score

4. Triceps Dips

Get yourself a chair next to a wall or use a step or something that can hold you. If you cannot find anything you can also do it on the ground. Place your palms on the chair (or floor) behind you with fingers pointing towards your body. Knees are bent and elbows straight. Bent your elbows as low as you can (without your butt reaching the ground) and push yourself up to straight arms again. Do as many reps as possible (AMRAP) for 50". Write down your score


Try to perform better with every round. Even one rep more is an improvement! For a maximum recovery, take some good protein.

This Is What Happens to Your Body When You Exercise

Have you been wondering what are the exact processes that happen in your body when you exercise ? Did you have an idea that your exercise is directly connected to increased brain functioning? Read this article to read about the positive benefits from exercising on your body and beyond... 

By Dr. Mercola

One of the key health benefits of exercise is that it helps normalize your glucose, insulin, and leptin levels by optimizing insulin/leptin receptor sensitivity. This is perhaps the most important factor for optimizing your overall health and preventing chronic disease.

But exercise affects your body in countless other ways as well—both directly and indirectly. Here, however, even the most unexpected side effects are almost universally beneficial. For example, side effects of exercise include but are not limited to:

• Improved sexual function
• Changes in gene expression
• Clearer skin
• Improved mood
• Improved sleep

What Happens in Your Body When You Exercise?

 A number of biological effects occur, from head to toe, when you exercise. This includes changes in your:

• Muscles, which use glucose and ATP for contraction and movement. To create more ATP, your body needs extra oxygen, so breathing increases and your heart starts pumping more blood to your muscles.
Without sufficient oxygen, lactic acid will form instead. Tiny tears in your muscles make them grow bigger and stronger as they heal.
• Lungs. As your muscles call for more oxygen (as much as 15 times more oxygen than when you’re at rest), your breathing rate increases. Once the muscles surrounding your lungs cannot move any faster, you’ve reached what’s called your VO2 max—your maximum capacity of oxygen use. The higher your VO2 max, the fitter you are.
• Heart. As mentioned, your heart rate increases with physical activity to supply more oxygenated blood to your muscles. The fitter you are, the more efficiently your heart can do this, allowing you to work out longer and harder. As a side effect, this increased efficiency will also reduce your resting heart rate. Your blood pressure will also decrease as a result of new blood vessels forming.
• Brain. The increased blood flow also benefits your brain, allowing it to almost immediately function better. As a result, you tend to feel more focused after a workout. Furthermore, exercising regularly will promote the growth of new brain cells. In your hippocampus, these new brain cells help boost memory and learning. As stated in the featured article: 

“When you work out regularly, your brain gets used to this frequent surge of blood and adapts by turning certain genes on or off. Many of these changes boost brain cell function and protect from diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s or even stroke, and ward off age-related decline.” 

A number of neurotransmitters are also triggered, such as endorphins, serotonin, dopamine, glutamate, and GABA. Some of these are well-known for their role in mood control. Exercise, in fact, is one of the most effective prevention and treatment strategies for depression.
• Joints and bones, as exercise can place as much as five or six times more than your body weight on them. Peak bone mass is achieved in adulthood and then begins a slow decline, but exercise can help you to maintain healthy bone mass as you get older.
Weight-bearing exercise is actually one of the most effective remedies against osteoporosis, as your bones are very porous and soft, and as you get older your bones can easily become less dense and hence, more brittle -- especially if you are inactive.

Your Brain Health Is Directly Related to Exercise

A related article published by Lifehacker.com focuses exclusively on brain-related changes that occur when you exercise. While I just mentioned that neurotransmitters, chemical messengers in your brain, such as mood-boosting serotonin, are released during a bout of exercise, that doesn’t account for all the benefits your brain reaps.

“If you start exercising, your brain recognizes this as a moment of stress. As your heart pressure increases, the brain thinks you are either fighting the enemy or fleeing from it. To protect yourself and your brain from stress, you release a protein called BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor). This BDNF has a protective and also reparative element to your memory neurons and acts as a reset switch. That's why we often feel so at ease and like things are clear after exercising,” Leo Widrich writes.

Simultaneously, your brain releases endorphins, another stress-related chemical. According to researcher MK McGovern, the endorphins minimize the physical pain and discomfort associated with exercise. They’re also responsible for the feeling of euphoria that many people report when exercising regularly.

Scientists have been linking the benefits of physical exercise to brain health for many years, but recent research has made it clear that the two aren't just simply related; rather, it is THE relationship. The evidence shows that physical exercise helps you build a brain that not only resists shrinkage, but increases cognitive abilities. Exercise encourages your brain to work at optimum capacity by causing your nerve cells to multiply, strengthening their interconnections, and protecting them from damage. There are multiple mechanisms at play here, but some are becoming more well-understood than others.

The rejuvenating role of BDNF is one of them. BDNF activates brain stem cells to convert into new neurons. It also triggers numerous other chemicals that promote neural health. Further, exercise provides protective effects to your brain through:

• The production of nerve-protecting compounds
• Improved development and survival of neurons
• Decreased risk of heart and blood vessel diseases
• Altering the way damaging proteins reside inside your brain, which appears to slow the development of Alzheimer's disease 

Both Fasting ans Exercise Trigger Brain Rejuvenation 

Growing evidence indicates that both fasting and exercise trigger genes and growth factors that recycle and rejuvenate your brain and muscle tissues. These growth factors include BDNF, as just mentioned, and muscle regulatory factors, or MRFs.

These growth factors signal brain stem cells and muscle satellite cells to convert into new neurons and new muscle cells respectively. Interestingly enough, BDNF also expresses itself in the neuro-muscular system where it protects neuro-motors from degradation. (The neuromotor is the most critical element in your muscle. Without the neuromotor, your muscle is like an engine without ignition. Neuro-motor degradation is part of the process that explains age-related muscle atrophy.)

So BDNF is actively involved in both your muscles and your brain, and this cross-connection, if you will, appears to be a major part of the explanation for why a physical workout can have such a beneficial impact on your brain tissue. It, quite literally, helps prevent, and even reverse, brain decay as much as it prevents and reverses age-related muscle decay.

This also helps explain why exercise while fasting can help keep your brain, neuro-motors, and muscle fibers biologically young. Sugar suppresses BDNF, which also helps explain why a low-sugar diet in combination with regular exercise is so effective for protecting memory and staving off depression.

This Is Your Brain When You Exercise

BDNF and endorphins are two of the factors triggered by exercise that help boost your mood, make you feel good, and sharpen your cognition. As mentioned by Lifehacker, they’re similar to morphine and heroin in their action and addictiveness—but without any of the harmful side effects. Quite the contrary! So, how much do you have to exercise in order to maintain a sunnier disposition and better memory long-term?

According to a 2012 study published in the journal Neuroscience, the “secret” to increased productivity and happiness on any given day is a long-term investment in regular exercise. And a little each day appears to go further than a lot once or twice a week.

"Those who had exercised during the preceding month but not on the day of testing generally did better on the memory test than those who had been sedentary, but did not perform nearly as well as those who had worked out that morning,”the authors note.

The reasons for this can perhaps be best perceived visually. Take a look at these images, showing the dramatic increase in brain activity after a 20 minute walk, compared to sitting quietly for the same amount of time.

There is a minor caveat, however. The researchers also discovered that exercise does not affect the brains of all people in exactly the same way. Some people, about 30 percent of people of European Caucasian descent, have a BDNF gene variant that hinders post-exercise BDNF production. The people with this BDNF variant did not improve their memory scores, even when exercising regularly, as significantly as those without this variant. Still, the research clearly suggests that—with individual variations as to the degree—regular exercise will cumulatively enhance your memory and other brain functions.

You Don’t Need to Train Like an Athlete to Reap the Benefits of Exercise

If you are sedentary there is hope for you. In her book, The First 20 Minutes: Surprising Science Reveals How We Can Exercise Better, Train Smarter, Live Longer, New York Times bestselling author Gretchen Reynolds addresses the issue of exercise as a way to improve longevity and happiness as well.

"The first 20 minutes of moving around, if someone has been really sedentary, provide most of the health benefits. You get prolonged life, reduced disease risk - all of those things come in in the first 20 minutes of being active,” she said in a 2012 interview.

Similarly, research published in 2008 found that those who exercised on work days experienced significantly improved mood on days that they exercised. Interestingly, while their mood remained fairly constant even on non-exercise work days, their sense of inner calm deteriorated on those days. According to the authors:

“Critically, workers performed significantly better on exercise days and across all three areas we measured, known as mental-interpersonal, output and time demands.”

Key findings included:

• 72 percent had improved time management on exercise days compared to non-exercise days
• 79 percent reported improved mental and interpersonal performance in exercise days
• 74 percent said they managed their workload better
• Those who exercised regularly also reported feeling more than 40 percent more “motivated to work” and scored more than 20 percent higher for concentration and finishing work on time

But remember, it is FAR better to exercise regularly. I believe it is also vital to engage in regular movement if you have a sitting job like most of us do, including me. I typically sit in front of a computer for more than 12 hours a day. What I have recently appreciated is that standing up every 10 minutes (with the help of a timer) and engaging in some type of brief exercise, is an enormously powerful habit to minimize the damage of long term sitting.

Aim for a Well-Rounded Fitness Program

Ideally, to truly optimize your health, you’ll want to strive for a varied and well-rounded fitness program that incorporates a wide variety of exercises. As a general rule, as soon as an exercise becomes easy to complete, you need to increase the intensity and/or try another exercise to keep challenging your body.

Additionally, more recent research has really opened my eyes to the importance of non-exercise movement. Truly, the key to health is to remain as active as you can, all day long, but that doesn’t mean you train like an athlete for hours a day. It simply means, whenever you have a chance to move and stretch your body in the course of going about your day—do it!

And the more frequently, the better. Everything from standing up, to reaching for an item on a tall shelf, to weeding in your garden and walking from one room to another, and even doing dishes count. In short, it’s physical movement, period, that promotes health benefits by the interaction your body gets with gravity. That said, I recommend incorporating the following types of exercise into your program:

• Interval (Anaerobic) Training: This is when you alternate short bursts of high-intensity exercise with gentle recovery periods.
• Strength Training: Rounding out your exercise program with a 1-set strength training routine will ensure that you're really optimizing the possible health benefits of a regular exercise program. You can also "up" the intensity by slowing it down.
• Stand Up Every 10 Minutes. This is not intuitively obvious, but emerging evidence clearly shows that even highly fit people who exceed the expert exercise recommendations are headed for premature death if they sit for long periods of time. Personally, I usually set my timer for 10 minutes while sitting, and then stand up and do one legged squats, jump squats or lunges when the timer goes off. The key is that you need to be moving all day long, even in non-exercise activities.
• Core Exercises: Your body has 29 core muscles located mostly in your back, abdomen and pelvis. This group of muscles provides the foundation for movement throughout your entire body, and strengthening them can help protect and support your back, make your spine and body less prone to injury and help you gain greater balance and stability.
Exercise programs like Pilates and yoga are also great for strengthening your core muscles, as are specific exercises you can learn from a personal trainer.
• Stretching: My favorite type of stretching is active isolated stretches developed by Aaron Mattes. With Active Isolated Stretching, you hold each stretch for only two seconds, which works with your body's natural physiological makeup to improve circulation and increase the elasticity of muscle joints. This technique also allows your body to repair itself and prepare for daily activity. 

Sources & References:

• http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2013/09/20/exercise-health-benefits.aspx
• http://lifehacker.com/5938216/what-happens-to-our-brains-during-exercise-and-why-it-makes-us-happier 
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=22554780