Building lean muscle is really the best way to lose weight and keep it off permanently.

Interesting fact:

For every pound of lean muscle you build, count on losing an extra 35—50 calories per day, or up to 1,500 calories a month or 18,000 calories per year while resting. That’s approximately 5 pounds of bodyfat you can eliminate at rest. That’s Per Pound. Build 5 lbs of lean muscle and you burn and eliminate 25 lbs of body fat in one year just by doing this one thing. Here are more tips thanks to Korr Inc’s website (Korr makes state of the art metabolic testing and oxygen uptake testing equipment for the fitness and wellness industries.)

1. Build Muscle Mass Strength training builds lean muscle tissue, which burns more calories at work or at rest, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The more lean muscle you have, the faster your metabolism will be. How do you start strength training? Try some push-ups, or a few squats or lunges. Use 5 lb. free weights to perform simple biceps curls or triceps pulls. Do these exercises three to four times per week, and you’ll soon see a boost in your metabolism as well as an improvement in your physique.
   
2. Do Not Skip Meals or Drastically Reduce Your Caloric Intake If your body senses that food is in short supply, it will slow your metabolism to conserve energy. Over time, the result is that when you do eat (even if you consume the same foods as always) your body will be slower to use the calories as fuel, thus creating a backlog of unwanted pounds. A good strategy is to cut your caloric intake by no more than 500 calories per day and never less than 1200 calories total each day. Once you determine your goal for calorie consumption, divide those calories into 6 different small meals/snacks through out the day.
   
3. Increase the Amount of Protein in your Diet Most researchers agree that protein helps to stabilize the secretion of insulin into your blood stream, a process that can affect metabolism. The average person would benefit from protein intake at a minimum of 70 grams or higher each day.
   
4. Aerobic Workout 3 Days a Week Even though exercise doesn’t affect your RMR, the extra calories you burn could add up to an additional 1-2 pounds of weight loss per month.
   
5. Increase Movement in Daily Lifestyle The more you move, the more you burn! You can actually make a significant addition to the number of calories you burn each day by relatively minor changes in lifestyle. This can be as simple as taking the stairs instead of the elevator; park a distance from the mall or office; window-shop with your best friend rather than sit over coffee; walk the dog instead of just let him out; do a little gardening or clean house while you talk on the phone. Making these types of changes for just 20 minutes of your day will cause you to burn an additional 100 calories per day or an additional pound per month. Making more of these changes can help you burn as much as an additional 1,000 calories per day!
   
6. Go For an Evening Walk Although exercising any time is good for you, evening activity may be particularly beneficial. Many people’s metabolism slows down toward the end of the day. Thirty minutes of aerobic activity before dinner increases your metabolic rate and may keep it elevated for another two or three hours. What that means for you: those dinner calories have less of a chance to take up permanent residence on your hips!
   
7. Get Adequate Sleep As funny as it sounds, sleep deprivation may make you fat and not just because you’re susceptible to cases of the late-night munchies. According to researchers at the University of Chicago, women who got less than four hours of sleep per night had a slower metabolism than those who slept for a full eight hours.

What about supplements? Diet supplements that claim to increase your metabolism have flooded the marketplace. Our advice is to beware. Stimulants (such as caffeine, ephedrine, nicotine, and others) have not been clinically proven to increase metabolic rates. It may be that they stimulate a person to simply be more active, which then burns more calories. Some of these products can be harmful and we do not recommend their use. Hot peppers (specifically jalapeno and cayenne) may increase your body’s release of stress hormones such as adrenaline, and may stimulate you to burn more calories. Green tea drinkers were shown to burn an extra 70 calories per day in a recent study. Researchers believe the increase is caused by antioxidants known as catechins

Technorati Tags: boost metabolic rate, build muscle, burn calories, weight loss, weight loss tips, weight training

Here is something I do myself and encourage my clients to do as well. Its called foam rolling and I do it once a week. I believe that it is very important for flexibility and performance.

Simply by using your own body weight on the rolls, you will be reducing pain and tension, and restoring normal muscle length and balance. Optimum muscle balance helps to provide optimum joint motion leading to optimum performance. The foam roll itself is inexpensive and something everyone should have.

This article is summarized from one written for trainers. I have copied the relevant portions.

ILIOTIBIAL TRACT (IT Band)

Position yourself side lying on foam roll.

Bottom leg is raised slightly off floor.

Maintain head in “neutral” with ears

aligned with shoulders.

Roll just below hip joint down the

lateral thigh to the knee.

*************************************************************

PIRIFORMIS

HAMSTRING

Place hamstrings on

the rollwith hips

unsupported. Feet

are crossed to

increase leverage.

Roll from

knee toward

posterior hip

while keeping

quadriceps tightened.

*****************************************************************

QUADRICEPS

Body is positioned prone with

quadriceps on foam roll. It is

very important to maintain proper Core

control (abdominal Drawn-In position

& tight gluteals) to prevent low back

compensations.Roll from pelvic bone

to knee, emphasizing the lateral thigh

******************************************************************

TENSOR FASCIA LATAE (TFL)

Position the body as described above.

Foam roll is placedjust lateral to the

anterior pelvic bone (ASIS).

******************************************************************

ADDUCTOR

Extend the thigh and place foam

roll in the groin region with body prone

on the floor. Be cautious when

rolling near the adductor complex

origins at the pelvis.

********************************************************************

LATISSIMUS

Position yourself side lying with arm

outstretched and foam roll placed

in axillary area. Thumb is pointed

up to pre-stretch the latissumus

dorsi muscle. Movement during

this technique is minimal.

RHOMBOIDS

Cross arms to the

opposite shoulder to clear the shoulder

blades across the thoracic wall.

While maintaining abdominal

Draw-In position, raise hips

until unsupported. Also stabilize

the head in “neutral.” Roll mid-back

area on the foam.

*******************************************************************

PB Elite Molded Foam Rollers - Buy From Amazon

Technorati Tags: foam rollers, foam rolling, injury prevention, muscle recovery, self-myofascial release

Working out hard is great but muscle recovery is an equally important part of the equation.

Here is an article courtesy of Jeff Galloway U.S. Olympian and author of “Marathon: You Can Do It.” Jeff’s quest for the injury-free marathon training program led him to develop group training programs and to author Runner’s World articles which have been used by hundreds of thousands of runners of all abilities. His training schedules have inspired the second wave of marathoners who follow the Galloway RUN-WALK-RUN™, low mileage, three-day, suggestions to an over 98% success rate.

GET PROPER MUSCLE RECOVERY

Correct training recovery is essential - but it takes time. This routine will speed it up.

By Jeff Galloway

Orignally published 12/17/2007 in Runners World

I’m constantly on the lookout for new ways to help my leg muscles recover so that I can enjoy my next run. And the faster or longer the previous effort, the greater the recovery challenge.

After years of fine-tuning various techniques, I’m happy to report that I recover faster today than I did years ago. What’s my secret? Two words: immediate action. If you jump-start your recovery as soon as you finish a tough workout or race, you can speed up the process considerably.

So after your next tough run or race, do your normal cooldown, then follow my five-step routine. It’ll get you ready for your next challenge in no time.

1. Move your legs-then raise them.

After a hard race or run, you can help your leg muscles pump out waste products by walking for 5 to 10 minutes afterward. If you want to eat or drink while you’re walking, that’s fine. Just keep moving at a nice, easy pace. After your walk, sit down and elevate your legs for up to 10 minutes.

2. Keep your legs cool.

Next you’ll want to soak your legs in cool water for 5 to 10 minutes. Any cool water source will do-think tub, pool, stream, pond, or (if you’re lucky) the ocean. And it’s still beneficial to soak your legs even 2 or 3 hours after your run.

The most courageous soakers add ice cubes to their tub water, but cold water straight from the tap works fine. Avoid hot-water soaks, as they can actually slow down your recovery process.

3. Repeat step one.

If you can fit it in, go for another 1- to 3-mile walk later in the day, then elevate your legs for another 10 minutes. Remember: Like the walk immediately after your hard training effort, this walk should be slow and comfortable.

4. Give your legs a rubdown.

Whether you seek out a certified massage therapist, a friend, or you do it yourself, massage can really speed recovery by improving circulation and helping to remove waste products from your muscles. The sooner you rub down your tired leg muscles, the better. That’s why most major marathons provide massage tents in the finish areas (and why there are such long lines of runners there).

Keep in mind that you may feel some pain as your stiff muscles are massaged. But that pain level should never rise above 6 on a scale where 10 represents excruciating pain.

5. Walk the next day.

The day after a very hard effort, it’s better for your legs if you walk for 30 to 60 minutes rather than taking the day off completely. Walking brings more blood flow (with its nutrients and oxygen) to your tired muscles, which accelerates the recovery process.

Foster’s Rule

Sometimes it’s difficult to know just how much rest you need after a hard race. Here’s a good rule, courtesy of New Zealander Jack Foster, a former marathon world record holder in the over-40 age division: Take 1 easy day for each mile run in a hard race.

I extend Jack’s rule to any particularly tough workout. For example, if you run a 6-mile speed session that leaves your legs begging for mercy, alternate a day of walking with a day of slow running for the next 6 days.-J.G.

Technorati Tags: Jeff Galloway, muscle recovery, muscle recovery strategies, Runners World, running