Gorilla Chin Crunch For Abs, Lats and Biceps

Video: This exercise works your abs as well as the lats and biceps.

An Overview of Arbonne’s Dietary Supplements

Arbonne weight loss products are made in Switzerland by the globally renowned Arbonne group. All of their weight loss products are based on natural vegetable extracts and the company positively embraces the rule that good health and maintained weight loss is best achieved by finding a balance in what we eat.

The Figure 8 – a weight loss program designed to help you lose weight in eight weeks – is the Arbonne weight loss flagship product and challenge. The program consists of a variety of supplements and Arbonne recommends starting the challenge with their “Daily Detox Tea.” The tea is said to foster overall good health and helps restore the balance in nutrients that Arbonne promotes. It does this by way of flushing out the kidneys, liver and the blood and helps prepare the body for the weight loss that is to come when following the Figure 8 weight loss program.

The “Going, Going, Gone!” dietary supplement that is said to help anyone using it to boost their energy, subdue their appetite and increase metabolism.

The “On the Go! Weight Loss Chews” that are also part of The Figure 8 Arbonne weight loss program is a bag of treats for those who struggle with the proverbial sweet tooth. They are delicious snacks that are suppose to help control and limit appetite as well as giving an energy boost between meals. So no longer do you have to suffer hunger pangs between meals and run the risk of ruining all your hard work by snacking on a traditional chocolate bar, no these Weight Loss Chews are designed to take the edge off that and leave you satisfied.

The Arbonne weight loss program also consists of the “Go Easy! Protein Shake” which is said to help you take in twenty essential vitamins and minerals as well as much needed protein. When you consider that protein is a great appetite suppressant then the claim that this shake can help control hunger might well be valid.

On the same note, there is also a fiber supplement that Arbonne produces as part of their weight loss challenge. The “Go Anywhere! Fiber Booster” is a mix of dissoluble fibers that are derived from fruits and grains. Fiber is important when trying to lose weight because it adds the necessary bulk to a diet that keeps the digestive system working healthily.

The truth is there are a glut of companies out there claiming to have the secret to weight loss you simply have to ‘buy into’ their particular brand of product or program to make your weight problem disappear. The Arbonne weight loss program seems to be one of the less sensational!

Grilled Veggies

Ingredients

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 red onion

2 zucchini

2 yellow squash

12 oz asparagus, trimmed

1 roasted red bell pepper

1 1/2 cup lightly packed arugula, chopped

1 cup mixed baby greens

2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Directions

In a medium bowl, whisk first 4 ingredients to make the dressing. Gradually add oil while stirring fast.

Heat barbecue or pan to medium high.

Brush onion, zucchini, yellow squash, and asparagus with 1/2 of the balsamic dressing. Grill or saute vegetables until just cooked through, turning occasionally.

Allow veggies cool slightly, then cut into small pieces and place in large bowl.

Add roasted bell pepper, arugula, and greens; toss with enough dressing to coat.

(Makes 4 Servings)

Shoulder Exercise – Arnold Presses

The Arnold presses will also help build the strength in your shoulders. Over time you will start to see the definition in your shoulders. If the Arnold presses are done correctly you will feel the burn in your shoulders. The burn lets you know you are working your shoulders correctly and they are burning the calories. These presses will also be felt in your triceps.

When getting prepared to do Arnold presses you will need an exercise bench that has a back on it and a set of dumbbells. It is best to start this exercise with light weights until you get the hang of it.

Grab a dumbbell with light weights for each hand. Then sit on the bench with your feet flat on the floor. The feet should be placed evenly with your shoulders. Sit straight up and press your back against the back support on the bench.

Once you are sitting properly lift the weights toward your face. You will lift the weights so they are almost aligned with your shoulders. The palms of your hands will be pointed towards your body. Your elbows will be pointing toward the floor while your arms are resting by your torso. This is your starting position for Arnold presses.

While exhaling, start slowly raising the dumbbells into the air. While you are raising the dumbbells you are going to rotate your hands. Keep rotating your hands until your palms are facing the wall in front of you. Your hands should be totally rotated by the time you have the dumbbells above your head. Your arms will be straight up and down when the dumbbells are in the correct position. Now hold the position for a couple of seconds then start inhaling.

As you are inhaling start bringing the dumbbells back down to the start position. While lowering the weights you will once again rotate your hands. Once in the start position your palms will be pointing your body. This is now considered one complete repetition. Do the recommended amount of repetitions for your work out.

Remembering to rotate your hands while doing the Arnold presses might take some time. You will get it after a couple sets of repetitions though.

If you have lower back problems it is recommended you always do this exercise while sitting down. If your back does not have any problems, then once you have the routine down; try the Arnold presses standing up.

Remember the burn is how you know the shoulders are getting the proper work out. This is also a sign that you are burning off the calories to obtain the definition in your shoulders that you have always wanted.

While still concentrating on the shoulders get ready to push them to the limit of no return. The front plate raises are going to help you intensify the burn and keep the calories burning away. This exercise will help complete the work out for concentrating on the shoulder area and building your strength up.

Eight Popular Weight Loss Diets

People are obsessed with diets. They are constantly seeking the right diet to help them lose weight. There are currently eight popular diets that have worked effectively for many people and providing more options for dieting.

1. Atkins Diet focuses on controlling the levels of insulin in the body through the food consumed. It is based on the consumption of proteins in the diet to reduce the levels of insulin in the bloodstream. The increasing of the proteins leads to weight loss in many people.

2. Zone Diet creates a nutritional balance with 40carbohydrates, 30fats, and 30protein. The focus is to control the insulin levels that will result in weight loss. The diet consists of unrefined carbohydrates and fats including nuts, olive oil, and avocado.

3. Vegetarian diet concentrates on eating non-animal based foods except for eggs, honey, and dairy products. Vegetarians have a lower body weight; suffer from less diseases, and longer life spans, according to current studies. Since the meat products have been removed from the diet, vegetarians consume less fat according to the studies.

4. Your Vegan diet is more a philosophy and way of life since the diet does not include any animal-based products including eggs, honey, dairy, and meat products. The concept of the diet is based more on environmental and ethical reasons versus health related issues.

5. Weight Watchers Diet focuses on weight loss, exercise, and a support network or group. Dieters have the ability of meeting in person with the groups or using online services for support. The diet reduces the types of foods consumed while increasing the levels of exercise.

6. South Beach diet focuses on the levels of insulin and refined carbohydrates in the diet. The foods consumed are low in fat as a method of controlling the insulin, which leads to weight loss and better health.

7. Raw Food Diet involves eating foods and drinks that are not processed but are only in their original form and organic. There are four types of raw foodists, raw vegetarians, raw vegans, raw omnivores, and raw carnivores. The belief of consuming the food in the raw form is the food does not have additives or extras that will cause health related issues including weight gain.

8. Mediterranean Diet is a diet from Southern Europe that focuses on the eating habits of citizens of Crete, Greece, and southern Italy. The concentration is on a lot of plant foods, fresh fruits as dessert, beans, nuts, cereals, seeds, olive oil for the main source of dietary fats, cheese and yogurts for the main dairy foods, moderate levels of fish, consuming less than four eggs a week, limited amounts of the red meat, and limited amounts of wine. The Mediterranean Diet consists of fat with the saturated fat less than 8of the caloric intake.

There are benefits of each type of diet. Depending on the personal life style, there is a diet available for everyone.

Cable tricep extension – one arm

When you have hit a plateau and your triceps just do not seem to be gaining anymore muscle, grab the cables. Working out the triceps with cables will get you over the hump so you can still build your muscles. There is a difference when working with cables versus working with weights. The cables are going to keep the tension on the triceps the entire time you do the extensions. By keeping the tension on the triceps they will not get to rest so the muscles will start building up again.

There are many different cable tricep extension exercises that can be done when working out. Always make sure when doing the tricep extensions that you are doing the exercise correctly.

When doing the one arm tricep extension select the amount of weight you will work with. Then stand straight with one foot in front of your body and the other behind your body. It will look like you are walking just in smaller steps. Make sure you are standing right in front of the stack of weights. With your palm facing the ceiling grab the handle of the pulley. Slowly pull the handle until your arm is bent just a little under 90 degrees. Your forearm will be next to your body almost at waist level.

Once you are in position pull the handle all the way down until your arm is straight. If you are moving the upper part of your arm then you are doing the exercise incorrectly. The only part that will be moving in this motion is the forearm. Exhale as you are bringing your forearm down.

While your arm is straight down tighten your triceps. Hold the triceps tight for just a second. Then inhale and bring the forearm back up into your starting position. Continue performing this until all the repetitions are done then switch hands and start the whole procedure again.

For the low cable tricep extension select your weight then lay on your back on the bench. With knees bent place each foot flat on the ground on each side of the bench. Make sure your head is laying flat and pointing at the weights. With your palms facing towards each other grab the ends of the rope. Your elbows will point toward the sky and your hands will point at the machine.

While exhaling pull your forearms straight up so they are pointing at the sky. Once again only move your forearms and not your upper arm. While the forearms are pointing straight up tighten the triceps. Hold them tight for a few seconds then start inhaling as you go back to the starting position. Continue through all the motions until you have completed all your repetitions.

Both of these cable tricep extension exercises will help build the muscles again when you have hit a plateau with free weights.

While still concentrating on the triceps, get ready to work them out some more with the weighted bench dips.

Alternating Hammer Curls

Alternating Hammer Curls are a specific exercise aimed at your increasing the strength in your Bicep muscles. Hammer Curls are best done with dumbbells in each hand as they help you to control the rate at which your Biceps strengthen, improve in size and looks. Having strong Biceps not only looks good but allows you to get better at other exercises that involve weights.

When using weights you need to make sure that you have a buddy or a spotter with you so that they can help you to keep your form and technique right so that you do not accidentally sprain or damage any other muscles in the process. Standing straight with your feet firmly planted shoulder width apart and your arms at your side with your palms facing you, you need to curl each weight alternatively in each arm up till at chest height. Using lighter weights and building up to heavier weights is the right way to go, as you may find at first you are unable to lift weights that you think you can as you are using your Bicep muscle alone rather than any other muscles to support the lift. Concentrating on one muscle takes time and patience. Holding your Bicep and using a counting system will improve the rate at which you increase the size and power of your muscles. Always keep your wrists locked so that you do not inadvertently damage them in any way.

In effect only your forearms should move as this ensures that the concentration on your Biceps is absolute. There are variations of this exercise if you need more support for your back or if you need more support for your legs. This can be achieved if you sit down on a bench to do the Alternating Hammer Curls. You can use the back support if you need it or not if you do not. The exercise is performed exactly the same with a straight back and your feet shoulder length apart. Tuck your elbows into your waist and use only your Biceps to pull up the weights, in alternate raises.

Keeping your breathing measured and controlled will allow you to lift heavier and heavier weights over time and will benefit your training regime as a whole. Inhaling as you raise the weights and exhaling as you let go after your count will help you to fully take control of the muscle in question which in this case is your Bicep. Muscles are always improved, sculpted and built upon better when they are taken from a lower weight mass as this controls the amount of stretching the muscle does which builds stronger and more reliable result. Stretching before and after exercise minimizes the chances of damaging your muscles, so make sure that you stretch fully as looking after yourself does not start or end with the exercise alone. The look and feel of your arms has to include in your regime Alternating Hammer Curls because without them your workout regime is not complete.

Green Tea Weight Loss Is It True

So the Chinese have had green tea now for around 4,000 years. They’re keen with herbs and stuff, and they stick with green tea’s ability to help you lose weight. Case in point: the Japanese. Their society is literally addicted to green tea, with local demand pushing the local supply of high-grade green tea to the limit. And if you notice, it’s rare to find overweight Japanese. And they attest it all to their insatiable thirst for green tea.

So here’s the question: are green tea weight loss diets plausible?

The quick answer to that question is a resounding yes! Whether through drinking green tea or through dietary supplements, green tea weight loss diets revolve around the time-tested reliability of green tea to help in weight reduction.

Green tea weight loss: The Scientific Studies

The Study:

There is this physiologist, William Rumpler, who’s currently investigating the effects of green tea on the energy expenditure and fat oxidation of the body when exposed to green tea. In English, that means your body’s generation of energy for you to work and the tendency to burn up fat for fuel. Both are ways for you to lose weight.

The only weight-reducing component that they’ve identified in green tea is the caffeine. However, when they had other subjects consume caffeinated water instead of full-strength green tea, they experienced some strange results. Not surprisingly, the subjects who took full-strength green tea had significantly greater energy expenditure and fat oxidation levels in their body.

The Implications:

All they could do is attribute the weight-loss effects of green tea to confounding variables. Simply put, this means that they don’t know what the heck it is in green tea that helps people lose weight. The only thing the scientists are sure about is that it helps you lose weight. More studies in this field will probably isolate what makes you lose weight when you drink green tea.

But no matter what research will yield, they’ve already proven the fact that green tea weight loss diets work. And that’s what really counts.

The Bonuses:

Other related studies about green tea indicate that not only will you lose weight, but you’ll also have a healthier life in the process: antioxidants help clean up the damaging free radicals that float around in your body, your intestinal track is less likely to absorb excess cholesterol, and your risk to get cancer is significantly lowered.

What more could you ask from green tea weight loss diets? You get what you want and even more, all for just drinking a couple of cups a day!

The Wrap-up

Green tea weight loss diets not only help you lose weight, but you’re losing it naturally and healthily. There’s no need to take in chemical poisons to lose weight; no need to undergo surgical procedures that’ll cost a small fortune and create a scar on your body. All you need is a healthy lifestyle complemented by a green tea weight loss diet, and you’re sure to go down the road to a slim and healthy future.

Mull about it over a cup of green tea.

How to Make a Low Cal Peach Shake

Ingredients

1 cup frozen unsweetened peach slices

1 – 8 ounce container low-fat raspberry yogurt

1 tablespoon honey or granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Put the mugs in freezer to chill. In a blender, combine peaches, yogurt and honey. Cover and blend until almost smooth. Add skim milk and vanilla. Cover and blend until smooth. Pour into chilled glasses and serve.

Shoulder Raise

Video: This exercise targets the shoulder muscles.