Blog closure on the 30th of october

Hello All

I am writing this post to let everyone know that the blog will be closed later on this week due to maintenance. On the 30th of ocrobe i will be shutting the blog for the day to add new features new posts and give it a whole new look so be sure to check thast out when its back up on the day. Thankyou all foe your time and spread the word :)

Ben - STA Fitness.

how to burn more fat

Now the one thing that i get asked alot is "how can i burn more fat when i am doing my workout. well this post is dedicated to those people ... enjoy

Lets start with the basics 

now we all know that getting rid of that belly fat is not quick and its not easy. it takes time effort and dedication to lose weight. thats why its so hard for some people.
CALORIC DEFICIT . that is your friend and let me tell you why ladies and gentleman.
#caloric deficit is when you are burning off more calories than you are consuming . this is a good thing because that is what is needed to tap into those fat sources. when your body has no more energy to burn it will find it in the body. this is where it starts burning the fat from your body. So try and do that.

Here are some ways you cqan get rid of that fat youve put up with for too long.

The 3-step plan outlined here will:

• Kill your appetite.
• Make you lose weight fast, without being hungry.
• Improve your health at the same time.

Step 1 – Eliminate Sugars and Starches

The most important part is to remove sugars and starches (carbs) from your diet.

These are the foods that stimulate secretion of insulin the most. If you didn’t know already, insulin is the main fat storage hormone in the body.

When insulin goes down, fat has an easier time getting out of the fat stores and the body starts burning fats instead of carbs.

Another benefit of lowering insulin is that your kidneys shed excess sodium and water out of your body, which reduces bloat and unnecessary water weight 

It is not uncommon to lose up to 10 pounds (sometimes more) in the first week of eating this way, both body fat and water weight.

This is a graph from a study comparing low-carb and low-fat diets in overweight/obese women (3).

The low-carb group is eating until fullness, while the low-fat group is calorie restricted and hungry.

Cut the carbs, lower your insulin and you will start to eat less calories automatically and without hunger 

Put simply, lowering your insulin puts fat loss on “autopilot"

Step 2 – Eat Protein, Fat and Vegetables

Each one of your meals should include a protein source, a fat source and low-carb vegetables. Constructing your meals in this way will automatically bring your carb intake into the recommended range of 20-50 grams per day.

Protein Sources:

• Meat – Beef, chicken, pork, lamb, bacon, etc.
• Fish and Seafood – Salmon, trout, shrimps, lobsters, etc.
• Eggs – Omega-3 enriched or pastured eggs are best.

Protein is the macronutrient that contributes most to fullness and eating adequate protein can raise your metabolism .

Low-Carb Vegetables:

• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Spinach
• Kale
• Brussels Sprouts
• Cabbage
• Swiss Chard
• Lettuce
• Cucumber
• Celery
• Full list

Don’t be afraid to load your plate with these low-carb vegetables. You can eat massive amounts of them without going over 20-50 net carbs per day.

A diet based on meat and vegetables contains all the fiber, vitamins and minerals you need to be healthy. There is no physiological need for grains in the diet.

Fat Sources:

• Coconut Oil
• Butter
• Olive Oil
• Lard
• Tallow

Eat 2-3 meals per day. If you find yourself hungry in the afternoon, add a 4th meal.

Don’t be afraid of eating fat, trying to do both low-carb AND low-fat at the same time is a recipe for failure. It will make you feel miserable and abandon the plan.

The best cooking fat to use is Coconut oil It is rich in fats called Medium Chain Triglycerides These fats are more fulfilling than others and can boost metabolism slightly 

There is no reason to fear these natural fats, new studies show that saturated fat doesn’t raise your heart disease risk at all

Bottom Line: Assemble each meal out of a protein source, a fat source and a low-carb vegetable. This will put you into the 20-50 gram carb range and drastically lower your insulin levels.

Step 3 (Optional) – Exercise 3-4 Times Per Week

You don’t need to exercise to lose weight on this plan, but it is recommended.

The best option is to go to the gym 3-4 times a week. Do a warm up, lift weights, then stretch.

If you’re new to the gym, ask a trainer for some advice.

By lifting weights, you will burn a few calories and prevent your metabolism from slowing down, which is a common side effect of losing weight 

Studies on low-carb diets show that you can even gain a bit of muscle while losing significant amounts of body fat 

If lifting weights is not an option for you, then doing some easier cardio workouts like running, jogging, swimming or walking will suffice.

 i would recommend checking out some of the other posts for this tip because there is plenty of things to help you out 

you can pick up cheap weights from anywhere. check some out HERE

now that i have shared with you these tips i hope that you can see these and hopefully apply them to your workouts. i advise you check out other parts of the blog for more info 

Als please check out this product which i have tried and tested myself and it works. if it doesnt work for you a refund is given . so check out this 3 week diet

you get so many benefits from this product with guides for eating exercises etc. check it out 

as always thanks for reading 

how to burn belly fat

The average man's body houses 43.2 pounds of fat. And at any one moment, that number is either increasing or decreasing—it's never stagnant. Spend more of each day burning fat than you do storing it, and over time, you'll bury your belly forever. Sound simple? It is. You see, there's no single secret formula for losing fat. In fact, find 100 successful losers and they'll give you 100 different ways to win the battle of the bulge. But we did them one better. On the following pages, you'll find 101 tips designed to help you lose your love handles, bust your gut, and define Define your abs. Simply incorporate three or four into your life every day, and you'll finish off your fat easier and faster than you ever imagined possible. you could be seeing less bely fat in just a few weeks

Eat more protein.
About 25%-30% of the calories in each gram of protein are burned in digestion, compared to only 6%-8% of the calories in carbs. Do the math: You save 41 calories every time you substitute 50 grams of protein for an equal amount of carbs.

Read labels.
Avoid foods with "high-fructose corn syrup" in the ingredients list. Since 1971, consumption of this sugar substitute—which is used to sweeten soda, commercial baked goods, and even condiments—has increased more than 350% in the U.S., paralleling the rise in obesity.

Get off your ass.
Do every exercise standing instead of sitting. "You'll expend up to 30% more calories," says Joe Stankowski, C.P.T. The solution for the bench press? Dips.

Mix up your movements.
When you lift, perform supersets in which you alternate between sets of lower body exercises  and upper body exercises. That way, your lower body rests while your upper body is working. "This allows you to work your muscles maximally with very little downtime between sets for a faster, more effective workout," says Craig Ballantyne, C.S.C.S.

Exercise blind.
When you're using the elliptical trainer, try letting go of the handles and closing your eyes. (Be careful!) Without the visual feedback, your core muscles will have to work harder to keep you balanced, burning more calories.

Embrace yardwork.
View any type of physical activity—even those you try to avoid, such as mowing the lawn—as a chance to burn fat and condition your body. (Just make sure you use a push mower.)

Snack on dill pickles.
They have one calorie per slice.

Take larger steps.
When using the stair climber, skip one out of every five steps. Then take one large step to get back to your normal walking pattern. This step recruits additional muscle, upping fat loss, says Cameron McGarr, C.S.C.S.

Rent motivation.
Once a week, watch a movie that inspires you to exercise. Examples: Rocky (for the gym), American Flyers (for cycling), Hoosiers (for team sports), and Chariots of Fire and Without Limits (both for running).

Break a record.
Challenge yourself to run farther in the same amount of time—even if it's just one-tenth of a mile—every single workout. This ensures you're always burning more calories from one workout to the next.

- See more at: http://www.mensfitness.com/weight-loss/burn-fat-fast/101-ways-lose-your-gut#sthash.x9h8Eesc.dpuf

p.s i thought this was a great read and some good tips. id suggest checking them out and let me know what you think .

How to train calves

It's no secret that building amazing calves is one of the hardest training feats imaginable. Most people just accept their genetics and surrender to the idea that they'll never have great calves. You know the people I'm talking about: you see them with huge upper bodies and skinny "bird" legs. Or they have "cankles" where the calf runs down into the ankle with zero shape or definition.

If you've ever heard, "Are those your legs, or are you just riding a chicken,"' then I'm talking about you!

All too often, I see people treating their calves like their abs... They either train them almost every day after they're done training more "important" body parts, or they ignore which muscle group in the calf they're actually training.

Regardless of how developed or underdeveloped our calves are, we can learn how to speed the muscle growth and improve overall performance. The following is an in-depth review of the anatomy of the lower leg and proper tips for optimizing your calf workouts.

To get a visual, follow this link to a calf anatomy chart:
Calf Anatomy Chart

• The gastrocnemius is the calf muscle that is visible from the outside of the body. It attaches to the heel with the Achilles tendon and originates behind the knee on the femur, crossing two joints. The function of the gastrocnemius is to elevate the heel (known as plantar flexion). This muscle is primarily a type II fiber (fast twitch).
  
• The soleus is not visible when looking at the body from the outside as it lies underneath the gastrocnemius on the rear of the lower leg. The function of the soleus is exactly the same as the gastrocnemius: to raise the heel. The only difference is that it works in a different position: with the knees bent. This muscle is primarily a type I fiber (slow twitch), and it makes up roughly 60% of the calf.

• Improper Training Techniques : do you understand which exercises are stimulating the correct fibers? If your calves aren't growing, chances are you're unaware of how to train slow- and fast-twitch muscle groups or you don't know which exercises isolate the soleus vs. the gastrocnemius.
  
• Not Moving Through the Full Range of Motion (ROM) : bouncing up and down while holding at the top won't work in most cases. Allowing the maximum ROM is crucial for full fiber stimulation and breaking the calf plateau.
  
• Inflexibility! People with "cankles" suffer from poor flexibility in the ankle joints. The calf cannot grow unless it's exposed to different terrain variables during walking, running, and training. Flexible ankle joints will force the calves to respond, which will result in greater definition and less chances for injury. Notice how hikers have great leg development? They expose their lower bodies to different terrain like rocks and uneven surfaces forcing the ankles to move more, which in turn stimulates the calves.
  
• Not Enough Variation : most calf training on machines involves the simple motion of moving up and down with weight directly above the legs or under the feet. Adjusting the variables by moving the location of the weight placement will stimulate different parts of the calf. Wait... Before you adjust your feet like everyone else does, make sure you first try to adjust the angles of motion. (I'll explain how in a minute.)
  
  Here's an interesting fact to support this theory: magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) indicates that foot position doesn't change muscle action in the seated calf raise (Tesch, 1999). In other words, moving your feet around (pointed inward, pointed out) doesn't make much difference to stimulate growth.
  
• Training Calves on Upper Body Training Days : research indicates that high-intensity elbow flexion decreases blood flow to the calves and may hamper performance (Kagaya, et al., 1996). Training calves and the upper body limits blood circulation—the less blood circulation to the calves, the slower the muscle growth.
  
• Performing Cardio on Calf Training Days : this is a big mistake if you're looking to grow your calves! If you do cardio the same day you train calves, the slow twitch fibers in your calves might like it, but you can bet your fast-twitch fibers are depleting, and the cardio will greatly hinder recovery.

As revealed above, the soleus makes up 60% of the calf... so it's obvious that training the soleus properly would lead to the best gains in calf size and strength. Also explained earlier, it's a slow-twitch muscle, which means it responds best to slow contractions and high reps. Based on that, calf exercises working the soleus should be done relatively slowly (for at least 30 seconds) with a full ROM until complete fatigue is achieved (then repeat). I highly recommend the seated calf raise as one of the best exercises to work the soleus.

The gastroc is a type II muscle, meaning it responds well to explosive contractions with low-rep and heavy weight protocol. Still obeying the full ROM rule, use a heavy weight for less than 30-second sets. Ideal gastroc exercises are standing calf raises and donkey calf raises.

The mother of all calf exercises that yields the greatest growth, uses ROM, and introduces multiple variables for proper Type I & II stimulation is the standing one-leg calf raise. But there is a twist I want to recommend to really optimize muscle fiber stimulation and growth. Find a ledge that allows you to lower your heel as far as it'll stretch while holding a dumbbell on the same side as the working leg (use the other hand for support). With a straight posture, slightly bend your knee 20 degrees and hold at that angle. Hold the weight in front of you for 7 reps (no rest) and then hold the weight to your side for 7 reps (no rest) and then hold the weight directly behind you for a set of 7 reps. Rotating the weight around from the front to the back exposes the lower leg to different variables integral for growth-stimulating development.

Another positive calf stimulating regiment is plyometrics. A series of athletic drills (bounding, jumping, mechanics, etc.) can really force serious recruitment of those fast-twitch fibers of the lower leg. An awesome example of a type II fiber stimulating exercise is HIIT (high-intensity interval training). Short sprints and bursts of speed are great for building the lower legs as well as for burning fat.

 found this program really helpful so check it iut here. 

Remember the following points...

• Identify what exercises are working either the gastroc or the soleus. Train the soleus slowly with high reps. Train the gastroc with an explosive tempo using heavy weights for low repetitions.
  
• Practice variations! Incorporate one-legged standing calf raises using multiple locations of weight placement.
  
• Keep those ankles flexible. Always use maximal ROM!
  
• Avoid training upper body and cardio on calf training days.

take all this into account and youll have massive calves in no time

How to burn more fat with interval training

Losing weight and building fitness doesn’t have to mean pounding pavements all week. Your shortcut lies in High-Intensity Interval Training. Cancel your Sunday run and use start-stop exercise instead

Just give it a fortnight

That’s how long it takes to gain results you can see and feel using HIIT. Over 14 days you build the same endurance and power with 135 minutes of interval training as you’d get from 630 minutes of traditional steady-state endurance work. Did we mention it’s a lot less boring, too?

Forget flat surfaces

Horizontal jogging won’t do you any favours. Set the treadmill at a 10% gradient to boost your leg strength, reduce your risk of injury when pushing your limits and help you work up more of a sweat. Do 30 seconds on an incline then 30 seconds off for 12-15 sets. Then just get the hell out of there.

Pick your poison

One interval distance was not made to rule them all. Instead, adapt the length of your efforts to your current goal. If you want to finish your next 5K faster, do 4 x 800m runs. If a half marathon is more your thing, speed up then slow down every mile. Your next race time will speak for itself.

Don’t run on empty

Ignore what you’ve heard about it burning more fat. When doing intense bursts, energy is vital: 20g of protein before a session is ideal and enhances your calorie burn rate over 24hr.

Carb up, no guilt

To maximise your muscle gains from interval training, carbohydrates are firmly back on your menu. The oxidative stress from intense bursts of exercise can prompt your body to turn on your muscles for energy, eating them away. Avoid this by enjoying a couple of handfuls of brown pasta or two slices of wholemeal bread before any HIIT session and relish the fact you don’t have to justify it to yourself.

Make a speedy recovery

It sounds horrendous but if you want to deal with soreness quickly, supra-maximal HIIT is your new masseuse. It removes the painful metabolic by-products of training, such as lactic acid, much more effectively than any sort of steady-state recovery cardio. Although you’ll probably need to lie down afterwards.

Supplement before your workout

For the best leg up during HIIT, take amino acids before your session. Men who took them 30 minutes prior to training were found to build 42% more muscle than those 
who dosed up after.

Save the best for last

To maximise its benefits, perform HIIT at the end of your workout. If you can contemplate anything other than stumbling into the shower afterwards, it’s a sign you’re not doing it properly. The pain in your hips won’t lie.

Check out the actual article here at http://www.menshealth.co.uk/fitness/running/how-to-burn-more-fat-with-interval-training

P.S Check out my post on Six pack abs HERE

Thanks for reading 

how to boost testosterone

A testosterone shortage could cost you your life. As if losing muscle mass, bone density, and your sex drive to low T levels wasn't bad enough, new research shows the decline can also increase your risk of prostate cancer, heart disease, and even death. Follow these steps to lift your levels and lengthen your life. 

1. Uncover Your Abs

As your waist size goes up, your testosterone goes down. In fact, a 4-point increase in your body mass index—about 30 extra pounds on a 5'10" guy—can accelerate your age-related T decline by 10 years. Check out the six pack workoutl

2. Build Your Biceps 

Finnish researchers recently found that men who lifted weights regularly experienced a 49 percent boost in their free testosterone levels. "As you strengthen your muscles, the amount of testosterone your body produces increases," says David Zava, Ph.D., CEO of ZRT Laboratory. You need to push iron only twice a week to see the benefit.

3. Fill Up On Fat 

Trimming lard from your diet can help you stay lean, but eliminating all fat can cause your T levels to plummet. A study published in the International Journal of Sports Medicine reveals that men who consumed the most fat also had the highest T levels. To protect your heart and preserve your T, eat foods high in mono unsaturated fats—food such as fish and nuts.

4. Push Away  From The Bar

Happy hour can wreak havoc on your manly hormones. In a recent Dutch study, men who drank moderate amounts of alcohol daily for 3 weeks experienced a 7 percent decrease in their testosterone levels. Limit your drinking to one or two glasses of beer or wine a night to avoid a drop in T.

5. Stop Stress

Mental or physical stress can quickly depress your T levels. Stress causes cortisol to surge, which "suppresses the body's ability to make testosterone and utilize it within tissues," says Zava. Cardio can be a great tension tamer, unless you overdo it. Injuries and  fatigue are signs that your workout is more likely to lower T than raise it.

ALso check out these muscle building products HERE

As always thanks for reading