Nootropics and Exercise.

Focus, Memory, Cognitive Function.

All of these things play vital roles in our workouts. From coordinating our movements to remembering sets and reps, brain power is mandatory in fitness.

Just about everybody wants to improve their memory and concentration to help them get rid of the brain fog they experience from time to time. What if a small dose of an organic compound could help accomplish this?

Sounds bogus, doesn't it?

My journey with Nootropics started with a product called Alpha Brain. I had heard from friends and Clients that this stuff (while expensive) was helping them to Work Out more efficiently, concentrate better, pass tests easier, and focus. This piqued my interest to say the least, but I was very skeptical thinking it was probably just a Placebo Effect. That being said, I was willing to give it a try because I could use improvements in these areas.

Between work, school, being a Fitness Blogger and everything else life throws at me, A little edge would be very well appreciated in my life.

The results came very quickly. I highly doubted the claims made by everyone, and even despite that, I was feeling more coordinated and explaining difficult concepts to clients became much easier.

The problem with Alpha Brain is that it's Expensive. For those who are better off than I am, this isn't a concern and the product is well worth it, but I was after something less expensive and equally effective.

This journey led me through numerous sources of research, I read article after article. Scientific study after Double-Blind test and I ended up with a small list of Nootropics that I was going to price check.

Piracetam: This is known as the Father of all Nootropics as it was the first introduced to the Market. There is no doubt that it works and it works well. Piracetam works by increasing the activity of neurotransmitters within the brain. Because of this, it improves mental performance, memory retention, and coordination. Some Countries are exploring the use of Piracetam to reverse the symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease. Compared with $1.50 a pill for Alpha Brain, Piracetam can be had for .50 cents for an entire days worth. 

Noopept: Noopept was discovered in Russia in the early 90's, and is a peptide. Peptides are naturally occurring Biological Molecules that are made up of Amino Acids. Noopept is a very fascinating Nootropic in that it seems to do everything that other Nootropics can, only on a milder scale. The other thing about Noopept that sets it apart from the competition is the price. It's extremely inexpensive. 5 cents a day inexpensive. While Noopept is more mild per dose than Piracetam, it's dose is 10 mg three times daily, while Piracetam doses at 10-20g three times daily. Stated otherwise, the dose is 1,000 times smaller.

5-HTP : When used as a Nootropic, 5-htp is great for improving mood and relieving stress. It is extracted from Griffona Seed and is all natural. Our bodies regularly make 5-htp from Trytophan found in Eggs, Milk and other foods we eat. 5-htp is metabolized into Seretonin, which is what makes us happy. I use 5-htp before interviews, exams and also when I can't sleep.

Using Nootropics has taken my workouts to the next level. And while I'm not a Doctor or a Pharmacist, I know a good product when I find one.

Cheers,
John.

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Pre-Workout Nutrition.

It's never a wise decision to start a workout on a full stomach.

Tale as old as time; Everyone has been in a situation where they ate a little too much, and now they're in a full blown Food Coma.

But even if you don't overeat, a belly full of food is your enemy if you want optimum performance during a workout. Digestion takes energy, and we want as much energy as we can get.

Some people opt to work out on an empty stomach, but that isn't a good idea either.

It's best to eat a small, smart meal so that our bodies have enough energy to sustain us through a workout.

As discussed in a previous article on Carbohydrates the best choice for fast energy are simple carbs. This will give us a quick insulin spike that will give us enough energy to perform our best during the day's workout.

Here's an example of the type of thing I consume pre-workout:

• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen strawberries 
• 1/2 cup blackberries
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 1 banana
• 1 cup Greek yogurt 
• 2 tablespoons agave nectar or stevia to taste

Without getting too 'Nutrition Geek' on you guys, let's briefly discuss some of the benefits of these ingredients and why they are wise choices for pre-workout nutrition.

The Berries will give us our simple carbohydrates in the form of fructose while the bananas, in addition to more fast carbs will give us Potassium.

Potassium is absolutely excellent for preventing (and alleviating) cramps and fighting through the soreness still lingering from yesterday's workout.

The Greek Yogurt will give us Probiotics, and also a decent dose of Protein, which, as discussed in my article on Calories is necessary for building lean muscle.

 All of these things combined will result in the perfect nutritive cocktail for a great workout.

Using food to our advantage can make a huge difference, make sure that your food is working for you, and not against you.

Cheers,
John.


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Back Exercises with Resistance Bands.

So we've covered some Leg Exercises and Arm Exercises with Resistance Bands, and now let's focus on some Back Exercises.

The back is another muscle group that is often overlooked. From the spinal erectors, to the rhomboids, lats, trapezius and a ton of other muscles, the back is pretty complicated.

This complexity is important for the functionality of our Posterior Chain.

I can't tell you how many people I've known or met who have back problems. In our day to day lives we all do a lot of lifting. Grocery bags, dog food or whatever else it may be; the majority of these lifts involve the back in some way shape or form.

First off, let's focus specifically on the spinal erectors or Erector Spinae. These run the span of our back and protect our spine from injury, which (considering that the bulk of back problems are in the Low Back) is why these muscles are perhaps the most important in our Posterior Chain for injury prevention.

A Powerlifter isn't likely to injure his/her back when lifting a 50 pound object. A small statured person who doesn't have a strong back, however, could do some serious damage to themselves if they lift incorrectly. So let's get buff.


The Romanian Deadlift:

This is not a Back Specific movement, as it targets the Hamstrings and Glutes; but it also targets the Spinal Erectors. From a standing position with the bands under your feet as shown, slowly lower down as far as you're comfortable with while keeping your back straight. Now lift your upper body back up to the starting position, squeezing your glutes at the top. Perform for 3 sets of 8-12 reps.


Seated Rows: 

The Lats, or Latissimus Dorsi are another crucial part of a strong back. Refer to the back diagram above to see their location. Seated rows with Resistance Bands are a great way to target them, and have the added bonus of toning your biceps in the process.

From the seated position shown, start with your arms extended out in front of you. Then, keeping your elbows to your sides begin pulling back until your reach the position shown in the picture above, making sure to retract your scapula (squeeze your shoulder blades together) at the end of the motion repeat for 5 sets of 8-12 reps.

 Shrugs:

Another important member of the back muscle club is the Trapezius but I always feel like a dork when I say 'Trapezius' so I call them traps. The traps play a key part in many lifts. For instance when you have a bag of groceries in each hand, you are working your traps. As with before, refer to the back diagram to find their location.

For our purposes, let's disregard the first in these three positions and start from a standing position. With a firm grip on the bands, raise your shoulders up towards your head until you've reached the ending position shown in the image above, making sure to squeeze at the top. This is a great finisher and can be performed for three sets of 8-12 reps.

A strong back is not only important for overall functionality, but also for injury prevention. Make sure yours is strong enough to stay injury free and make day to day tasks easier.

Cheers,
John.

Spread The Word and make Money by starting a Fitness Website. Hosting and Domains by Host Gator. 1 Penny your first Month: Code BANDWAVE01

Weight Loss without the BS.

This chick gets it.

Weight loss is without a doubt the most confusing area of the Fitness World. This is true for a number of reasons. These include the fact that, quite frankly, most of what people are being told on Television and even on popular fitness websites (which will remain unnamed) isn't true.


Magic pills, powders, 8 meals a day. They are very good at convincing us that all this is legit.

You'll recall from my previous article on Calories that there are three basic Macronutrients from which we get our daily caloric intake.

When a person is at a point in which they are burning fewer calories than they are consuming within any given 24 hour period, they are in what is known as a Caloric Surplus. Regardless of whether these calories are spaced out over 5 meals, or two giant meals a person in this state will gain weight.

With regards to weight loss, this person would want to either increase their activity level (thereby burning more calories), decrease the amount of calories they consume or both.

Somewhere during the process of this change in habits, this person will reach a point where they are burning exactly as many calories as they consume.

This point is known as homeostasis. A quick note on this: Homeostasis is not a bad thing, nor is it something we should be afraid of. Once a person has accomplished their ideal body, or even their temporary goals, losing more weight will not be desirable. This should be stressed for The Ladies, nobody likes a stick figure despite what Hollywood would like you to think.

But we're not trying to stay the same, we're trying to lose weight.

If we want to lose weight, we are after a Caloric Defecit. This is a point at which we are burning more calories than we consume, and thereby burning stores of Body Fat.

I recognize that this is something that most of you already know (many even know it but deny it). 

For you guys and gals, I want to explain that it's important to define things so we have a definitive place to turn if things aren't going our way.

So let's examine how we as Humans burn our Calories:

70% of a Persons calories will be burned during the day by our bodies without our help. The body will burn them to digest, to produce hormones, to fuel our organs and a litany of other tasks. 

20% of a Physically Fit Adult's calories are burned during day to day tasks. From walking to the car, to climbing stairs; all of these factor in here. This is where exercise is an absolute game changer. In the case of a Sedentary Adult, this number is usually closer to 8% or even less. 

6-10% of a Persons calories are burned through a process known as the Thermic Effect of Food. Different foods have different thermic values, and require more energy for the body to digest. I will go more in depth on Thermogenisis in a subsequent article.

These numbers represent what's known as Total Energy Expenditure (but the cool kids call it T.E.E). This is the total amount of calories burned during any given 24 hour period.

So:

In the case of a Sedentary Adult, let's suppose he/she is burning 70%+8%+6%. This person has burned 84% of the calories they consumed that day, and they will gain weight.

If this person increases their activity level to 25% as opposed to 8% they will lose weight. It is literally that simple. If, in addition to increasing their activity level they opt to decrease the total amount of calories they consume within a day, they will lose weight faster.

Some guidelines for weight loss:

Sweat your ass off. 35 minutes cardiovascular exercise daily (if you aren't breaking a sweat you're doing it wrong!)
This exercise can come in the form of Power Walking, Jumping Jacks, Plyometrics or even walking the dog (he's getting ancy).

Drink lots of water. I'm a freak, and I am also a Cardio Junkie, so I regularly drink 2 gallons of water a day. For those of us who aren't so freakish, I'll put it to you like this (gross alert) you want your urine to be straw colored or lighter. Replacing soft drinks with ice water, or water with lemon, for some people can shave off hundreds and hundreds of calories a day. I had a client with a powerful lemonade addiction who consumed 750/cal daily just from drinking lemonade. You can see how this adds up.

Sleep like crazy. 8 hours nightly. During sleep our bodily systems still need to function. This means that our bodies are doing us a huge favor by burning calories in a fasted state. Getting enough sleep cannot be stressed enough.

Cliff Notes:

Eat less, exercise more and you'll lose weight and accomplish your goals. I promise you that.

Next up: More exercises that can be performed at home with Resistance Bands. 

Cheers,
John.

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There are a lot of myths and misconceptions regarding Weight Loss. Here are a few things that actually work, and people have had success with.

I wanted to share this infographic with you guys to show a few simple things we can add to our day to day routines to help us accomplish our goals.

Cheers,
John.
(Psst. The part about Breakfast is Broscience :)

 

Spread The Word and make Money by starting a Fitness Website. Hosting and Domains by Host Gator. 1 Penny your first Month: Code BANDWAVE01