Know what the problem with losing weight is? More often that not even after you actually begin to succeed, you find that you’re actually not really succeeding quite the way that you hoped you would be.

While certain parts of your body may certainly be slimming down, others will stay stubbornly flabby, and this can make your shape look even a little worse than you thought it was to begin with.

Mainly, the reason why this happens in the first place is because your body isn’t really programmed to lose weight uniformly. Instead, it loses weight in direct response to what you’re doing and which parts of your body you’re working most.

Due to that, if you’re doing something like walking or running, you’ll find that it’s your legs, and possibly arms that end up slimming down the most, whereas your belly area and even inner thighs will not slim down as much.

Naturally, the solution to this is simple: Total body exercises.

Some exercises out there are just better at encouraging uniform weight loss than others, mostly because they use a wide array of muscles throughout the body and thus help you to mold yourself into a more desirable shape.

Using a wide array of muscles also has the dual advantage of toning the muscles in those areas too, which means that whatever flab does remain is better supported by the lean muscle bulk that you’re going to be building up there too. End of the day, this is going to help you even more than the actual fat loss will.

How about we take a look at three types of exercises in particular that will help you with a total body workout:

-Swimming

How many times have you enviously looked at the perfect bodies of swimmers? Well, now you know how they get those types of bodies, seeing as swimming is a total body workout that really does help a huge number of different muscle groups.

What’s more, it is a form of resistance training too, so it serves as a strength building exercise as well.

-Walking

Nothing special, no memberships, do it anywhere. Walk 15 minutes from your house in the morning and turn around. The easiest 1/2 hour excercise you’ll ever do. Walk a littler faster than you need to.

-Rowing

Just like swimming, rowing is going to work just as many muscle groups, and also is a form of resistance training and so it shares similar benefits. All in all, this is a great way to work out, although it might be difficult if you don’t have the necessary equipment (and lake!).

-Aerobics

Definitely the most accessible of the three, aerobics by nature is geared towards providing as complete a body workout as possible, and it is something that you can even do from the comfort of your own home!

If you like swimming, great! If you have the necessary prerequisites for rowing, that’s great too! But otherwise, aerobics is probably going to be the single-best option that you have in terms of getting in a total body workout.

Ever heard of the phrase, “You are what you eat”? Without a doubt that is part true, and you should already know that your calorie intake is going to be inextricably tied to your weight loss efforts. By consuming less calories, you’ll force your body to burn through fat – that much is common knowledge.

However losing weight isnt just all about what you eat, it is about how you eat as well!

What the above statement means is essentially that your eating habits can play as big a role in your weight loss efforts as the actual content of your meals does. Many people don’t realize this, but eating habits can form a powerful weight loss tool, if you channel them correctly.

So let’s start off by learning a few of the best eating habits that you could foster:

Eating many regular but “smaller” meals

Most people eat 3 main meals a day that are spaced out about 4 to 5 hours apart. As such, by the time they’re done with one meal and ready for the next, they’re pretty ravenous and this can often lead to overeating.

If you were to instead eat more ‘small’ meals throughout the day, you’ll find that you’re not exposed to this risk, and at the same time will give your body more time to metabolize the food and use up the energy that it gains from it.

Consume lots of water

Water is simply irreplaceable and you should be drinking at least a liter or two a day. More importantly though, for weight loss, consuming water is going to ensure that you don’t end up having hunger pangs, and overeating when it comes to meal time.

Never eat late at night

Wherever possible, try to ensure that your very last meal is at least a whole 4 hours before you go to sleep. That should allow your body ample time to use up the energy gained from it, so that there isn’t any excess energy to be stored as fat when you sleep.

Snack on fruits wherever possible

Occasionally we all crave a snack in between mealtimes, but if you can avoid fattening chocolate bars and sweets and instead much on an apple or orange, you’re going to find that you’re going to be cutting down on your calories a lot.

Each of these four habits will play an important role in your weight loss regime, if you start to foster them. Not only will you find that your calorie intake is reduced by cutting on overeating and high-calorie snacks, but you’ll also find that your newfound eating patterns allow your body to work through whatever calories you do consume in a more efficient manner.

End of the day, this will add up to a powerful edge in your efforts to lose weight, as you’ll quite literally be helping your body to properly make use of the energy it gains from food.

And that is something that is certainly worth acquiring these habits for!

If there is one common problem faced by most working adults when it comes to losing weight it’s this: There simply aren’t enough hours in the day to be able to devote enough time to it.

After all, your daily routine probably consists of waking up early, going to work, grabbing lunch at the most convenient place possible before going back to work, and then finally grabbing dinner somewhere before going home utterly exhausted from the day.

Even if you do have a few hours left free after you go home, chances are you already have other commitments that you need to attend to.

Now if this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Countless other working adults are in the same shoes and it’s no surprise that you’re having trouble finding the time to fit in a weight loss plan into your busy schedule. But although it may be tough, it isn’t impossible.

Here’s how you start:

Find a diet that you can stick to

Don’t try to go for any specific diet if you’re not going to be able to pick and choose what you eat while you work. Instead, try some alternatives with the sole idea of cutting down on your average calorie intake.

Bring some fruits to work to snack on as and when you can, and then eat a smaller lunch if you have to go out. Also, drink lots of water throughout the day, so that your appetite remains under control. Simple enough, right?

Of course this is just an example. End of the day, the idea is to cut on your calories, so as long as you can find something that works for you, go with it!

Choose between gym workouts or home workouts

Sometimes there’s just no time to go to the gym, especially if it is located quite a ways away, and you’re going to waste time traveling to it before you head home. So what you could do instead is just workout at home.

Alternatively, you could wake up earlier and get in a quick workout at the gym before you start work.

Really, the choice is yours, but the idea is to choose the most convenient option to fit into your lifestyle. If you really can’t find any time, even just 20 minutes of some exercise or other before you go to sleep is better than nothing at all and shouldn’t be too hard to squeeze in!

Notice how fitting in a weight loss plan is all about finding what you can cope with and going with it? For working adults, that really is the key that they require.

Don’t opt for the “best possible option”, instead opt for the “best possible option that is convenient for you”. If you do this, you’re far more likely to end up sticking to your weight loss routine, which is the most important thing in the long run.

After all, being on the best option is pointless if you quit after a week, right?

Hand-Over-Hand Staggered ChinUps…Rip your Back!

If doing regular chin-ups has become too easy then this will make you hate them all over again….

The Staggered ChinUp is just about THE best exercise you can do not only for your back but for your entire body. It’s a classic bodyweight exercise that never gets old.
Now, if you’re a fan of the chinup, You’ll love this version. It’ll blow up your biceps AND lats like nothing you’ve seen!

If you can’t do at least 8 to 10 regular chin-ups you might want to master that first – this is far more difficult and you’ll need that basic chinning strength to do it.

OK, Ready?

Go to your normal chin-up bar (no special equipment needed!)

Now stand under one end of the bar facing along the bar (as opposed to the usual pull-up position)

Take a staggered chinup grip on the bar – from your normal wide grip, move 1 hand to right in front of your shoulder leaving the other one wide. (You’ll switch off later)

Now pull yourself up to one side of the bar – the side you’ll want to pull to is the same as the hand that is FURTHEST from you. Basically, if your left hand is furthest away, pull up on the left side of the bar.

Now lower yourself down PART WAY…NOT the whole way. You should have some bend in your elbows. At this point, move your furthest hand over behind your nearest hand (hence the hand-over-hand name!).

The key here is to be sure you’ve got a bend in the elbows and tension on the lats. Because when you take one hand off, you’re basically putting your entire bodyweight (just for a moment) on the one lat. VERY big time tension here.

Once you’ve placed the hand, pull yourself up to the OTHER side. Lower yourself down, step your hand backward on the bar again. Now pull up to the other side again.

Continue along the bar until you run out of bar then go back the way you came, moving your hands forward this time. Keep going forward and backward along the bar until you can’t do any more reps.

It’s a BRUTAL back exercise that makes regular chins look like nothing. By the time you’re done, your entire back and your biceps will be so swollen full of blood, you won’t believe it. The continuous tension and bodyweight combination really makes for a potent back attack!

Click here for pictures and video of this exercise in action.

And drop me a line to tell me what these staggered chinups feel like to you.

Continue reading “Staggered Chin-ups for a ripped back | Staggered Chinups” »

I’ve been away from this for a while. Hope you noticed :-)  Here’s why:

As I’ve been researching, reading and learning more and more about weight loss and fitness, I started to realized that all the old knowledge is, well…old!

The whole mindset of X set of Y reps over Z different movements per body part just isn’t right. Or necessary.

There’s a lot I want to cover and I’ll be doing that in the coming weeks but just know that these new ideas will make a huge difference and if you, like me, hate the same ‘ol, same ‘ol gym routines (like I never want to go again) you’re gonna love the new stuff.

Talk to you soon,

-Davey-