Introduced in 1992, the USDA food pyramid gave Americans a general guide to how they should eat. Growing up in the United States, I personally was blasted several times with this so called “food pyramid.” We were told that a healthy diet should include, 6-11 servings of grains per day, and only 2-3 servings of meats, nuts, or beans. So, great, now that all americans know how they should eat, we should become a more healthy country as a whole. We all know how that’s turned out. In this article, I hope to reveal the conspiracy of the food pyramid, as well as explain (and prove with data) why it is an ineffective diet plan. In addition, I will suggest a much more effective diet that actually makes sense.
Besides perhaps 300, Blade Trinity stars one of the most ripped main casts ever assembled, featuring Wesley Snipes, Ryan Reynolds, and Jessica Biel. For this film, Jessica Biel lowered her body fat down to about 8% and Reynolds was able to lower his to an astonishing 3.8%! In this great video, the actors and their trainers discuss some of their techniques they used to attain this amazing results in a relatively short about of time.
By the way, if you haven’t yet read my seperate article on the in depth training and diet program of Ryan Reynolds, I encourage you to read it. I also plan to write a similar article about the training of Jessica Biel, perhaps sometime in the next week.
For many of us, gaining muscle mass can be a serious struggle. In spite of hard-work, dedication, and a decent workout routine, skinny guys can have a lot of problems in actually seeing any results. While weight loss has been emphasized recently, being extremely skinny can actually be just as embarrassing as being overweight. In Scrawny to Brawny
But with this in mind, I am going to review this book from the perspective of an ectomorph who is attempting to increase their lean muscle mass while still keeping their body fat percentage at a fairly reasonable amount.
Sphere: Related Content
Like most guys, you probably want a bigger, stronger chest. I don’t blame you; a developed chest is a sign of power. As a result of this being such a desirable group of muscles, there are dozens of different workouts you can find to help strengthen your pectorals. But in this list, I will try to narrow down the many many chest exercises out there to just 5 extremely effective and easily performed exercises that can hopefully better your physique as well as increase your bench.
One of the most common piece of advice being thrown around right now in regards to health is that everyone should drink at least 8 glasses of water every day. This ubiquitous 8×8 rule (8 glasses, 8 ounces each) is religiously followed by many people, despite any real evidence to support this claim. With this article, I hope to dispel this ridiculous idea that you must drink 64 ounces of water per day in order to stay hydrated.
So just where did this myth begin? One possible source is a Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council that recommended approximately “1 milliliter of water for each calorie of food,” which would amount to roughly two to two-and-a-half quarts per day (64 to 80 ounces). The catch to this claim is that it did not say that you needed to actually drink 64 ounces of water per day; instead you should get a total of 64 ounces of water from various sources, including drinks as well as food.
Sphere: Related Content
Recently, artificial sweeteners have been showing up in in pretty much any type of food or drink out there. These substances, such as saccharin, aspertame and sucralose (splenda), have a sweet taste while promising to be nearly calorie-free. Unfortunately, many of these sweeteners have been (tentatively) linked to numerous health problems, including CANCER and possibly even weight gain (the mechanism for how this happens is debated). But there is another low-calorie sweetener available that is completely natural and seems to be much safer.
This natural sweetener is stevia, a derivative of the plant Stevia rebaudiana, which grows natively in Paraguay and has been used for centuries by the natives. “Discovered” in 1903 by Dr. Moises Santiago Bertoni, this natural plant is 300 times as sweet as sugar but with virtually no calories or carbs! As an added benefit, stevia can withstand cooking temperatures, so unlike many artificial sweeteners it can be used in cooking.
Sphere: Related Content
Recently, you may have been hearing about the health problems associated with a diet high in high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). But what does this sweetener do to your body biologically that makes it so dangerous? In this article, I will explain the history and the process of making HFCS, as well as the biological reasons why HFCS can be harmful to your health.
Up until the 1970′s, the only major sweetener was sugar (sucrose). But between 1975 and 1985, HFCS began to be rapidly introduced as a sweetener in the United States, less than 3 decades after its invention in 1957. This rapid introduction happened because in the United States sugar has high tariffs, which makes natively grown corn a much cheaper solution. Currently, although we know the risks of HFCS, removing these ingredients from American foods would be very difficult because it would devastate the corn industry, an important American agricultural industry. These high-fructose corn syrups are ny of a group of corn syrups which have undergone enzymatic processing in order to increase their fructose content and are then mixed with pure corn syrup (100% glucose) to reach their final form. Standard HFCS comes in 3 varieties: HFCS 90 which is approximately 90% fructose and 10% glucose; HFCS 55 which is approximately 55% fructose and 45% glucose; and HFCS 42 which is approximately 42% fructose and 58% glucose.
Sphere: Related Content
With all the information out there about how to lose weight, naturally skinny guys (and girls) can feel neglected. For people with a fast metabolism, their greatest challenge is much different than that of a person of a more average build.Skinny people like this are called ectomorphic, which is one of the 3 basic body types. Unlike the other 2 basic body types, ectomorphs have trouble gaining weight and therefore must follow a much more disciplined eating plan to gain weight.
As I mentioned before, there are 3 different basic body types: endomorphic, mesomorphic, and ectomorphic.
Sphere: Related Content
To be serious about gaining muscle mass, one must eat at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. For the average person (especially he average american), this can be difficult, as their diet consists of mostly grains, fruits, and vegetables and relaively small amouts of meat. While fruits and vegetables are very imporant to a healthy diet, these two food groups offer virually no dietary protein. To get this extra protein in your diet, you should eat more meat and dairy, with an emphasis on the foods in this list. These following 10 food are specifically chosen for their high protein content and ranked based on protein content and value (as well as biological value for one item in this list).
A muscular back is one of the ultimate symbols of power, as well as a very useful group of muscles to develop for athletic performance. In total, the dynamic bent-over dumbbell row works 13 separate muscles, including the middle trapezius, the lower trapezius, the rhomboids, and the biceps. With the help of this magnificent exercise, which is one of my favorites, you too can have a powerful back like the one in the picture to the right.
But before you can perform this great exercise, you are going to need some equipment. Most importantly, you will need a pair of dumbbells or a barbell (I will discuss this variation later), as well as a bench to support yourself on. You can purchase some pretty good adjustable dumbbells You can buy some great adjustable dumbbells here
