Elliptical vs Treadmill

While in my local gym recently I found myself trying to decide whether to use the elliptical trainer, otherwise known as the cross trainer or the treadmill. I set about researching which is best and why. This is the ultimate elliptical vs treadmill comparison and I hope to give you all the required facts about both to help you decide which to use and why.

What is an elliptical trainer?

An elliptical trainer or cross trainer is a stationary exercise machine found in pretty much all gyms and more and more at peoples homes. They are popular as they offer a way to exercise with little to no impact on your joints.

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Elliptical vs Treadmill

Flat Stomach Exercises For Beginners

There are many flat stomach exercises you can perform to get six pack abs but first you need to understand the abdomen. The abdomen contains the muscles that most beginners struggle with because they take a long time to develop and need a low level of body fat to be seen. The abdominal muscle group consists of three main muscles:

1. Rectus abdominis – commonly known as the abs, this is a large flat muscle wall that runs from the lower chest to the pubic bone.

2. Obliquus abdominis – commonly known as the obliques, this muscle runs diagonally along the side of the mid-section from the lower ribcage to the pubic area. The internal obliques lie underneath the external obliques.

3. Transversus abdominis – this is a thin strip of muscle that runs horizontally across the abdomen.

You can target these muscles effectively by performing the following flat stomach exercises:

1. Crunches – 3 sets of 15-20 reps. This exercise will work the upper abs.

2. Pelvic tilts – 3 sets of 15-20 reps.This exercise will target the lower portion of the abdomen below the navel.

3. Side bends – 3 sets of 15-20 reps. This exercise will work the obliques.

As with all exercises you need to take care in scheduling specific body parts. To begin with you should incorporate your abdominal flat stomach exercises into a program similar to the one suggested below:

Day 1: Biceps, Back, Abs

Day 2: Hamstrings, Shoulders, Abs

Day 3: Quads, Forearms, Calves

Day 4: Triceps, Chest, Abs

For the first couple of weeks complete one set but then add one set each week to a maximum of three. At the end of three months you will be ready to move on to more intensive intermediate level exercises.

Flat Stomach Exercises

Hi guys, I recently came across a new website blowing the myths around flat stomach exercises and nutrition out of the water. Crunches, planks, ball work and more are all covered there. Correct exercise form and technique are shown. Take a look.

The Body Blogger - Elliptical vs Treadmill Post

Head over to The Body Blogger to read an article about the elliptical vs treadmill debate. I have just put the article online and it contains some valuable information comparing both machines and their effect on your fitness and body composition.

Protein For Bodybuilding

Protein For Bodybuilding

I have recently started working on a new site that aims to provide valuable information around the use of protein for bodybuilding results. The site will discuss whole food sources and supplements and I hope it will give you a clearer understanding of the pros and cons of both.

Pop over a take a look.

Water & Weight Loss? The facts

You might have already heard about water and weight loss. The only problem is that you are uncertain if this is really effective. After all, most experts will talk about having a good diet and a regular exercise routine so that you will have a slimmer figure. Actually, water is very essential if you want to cut the extra pounds.

Here are some water and weight loss benefits:

Water is very essential for the normal functioning of the body. By having enough liquids in your body, your rate of metabolism will improve and this is necessary if you want your body to be more efficient in converting the substances that you take into energy. For instance, with enough liquids, your digestive system will work more efficiently and the conversion of fats into usable energy will be faster.

This is also a good way so that you can manage your hunger. By drinking about 6 to 8 glasses a day, your appetite will decrease. You might also want to try drinking a glass of water before you take your meals. This way, your stomach will have the impression that you are already full.

By having enough liquids in your body, you will also be able to release the excess. You will be able to release those that are stored in your thighs, waist, or arms. This is a good way so that you can lose the extra pounds since your body no longer holds onto every drop that you have taken.

How much should you take?

In general, you should take around 6 to 8 glasses a day. However, there are also some instances when you need to drink more especially if you are already obese. There is also a need for you to consider the weather condition. If it is too hot, you will need to drink more because there is a high chance that you are sweating a lot. There are also some studies that claim that it is better if you will drink cold water. They claim that they can burn fats better than the warmer one although there is still no hard evidence to support this claim.

However, you should also remember that water is not a type of medication that can drastically help you lose the extra pounds. It can only make your body systems work more efficiently and speed up the shedding of fats. Nonetheless, water and weight loss go hand in hand.

What Causes Weight Loss?

Do you want to know what causes weight loss? Probably, you are already obese and you are concerned with your health. Probably, you also just want to have a better figure. Losing the extra fat is actually a very simple matter only if you are going to take into account these simple tips.

When trying to learn what causes weight loss, one of the first things that you should check is your diet. After all, anything that you take in will manifest all throughout your body. This is why you need to avoid the foods that are packed with calories such as cakes, sodas, biscuits, and the likes. You should focus more on those that are filling and have more nutritional value. If you are uncertain about the kind of diet that you should have, you may take the advice of a nutritionist or a dietician. You can also look for the recommended daily allowance that is appropriate for your age.


Aside from eating the right kind of food, you should also eat at the right time and with the right interval. Experts believe that it is much better if you will eat 6 small meals a day than have 3 large full meals. This way, your body is always satisfied and you will avoid getting hungry and overeating.


Exercise is also a very important factor. With exercise, you will be able to burn the calories that you have taken in. You will also increase your rate of metabolism and make the digestive processes more efficient. You can try some cardiovascular exercises such as swimming, jogging, cycling, or running. You can also burn fats through weight training. You can try some routines at home but it is better if you will go to the gym.


Being healthy and fit is essential for your well-being. Healthy diet and regular exercise routines are what causes weight loss.

Weight Loss Using Green Tea

You might have already heard about the use of green tea for weight loss. However, you are somewhat reluctant to try this out due to the numerous claims that various herbs can really help someone lose the extra pounds. But if you will take a look at the properties of this green tea, you will definitely love to give it a try.

Actually, the use of green tea for weight loss is long been supported by several people all over the world. It is believed that the Chinese have discovered its benefits for centuries until several people have picked it up. One reason is that it contains catechin-polyphenoils that are very effective in fat reduction. It can lower the body's cholesterol level and release carbohydrates. As a matter of fact, studies show that 2 to 3 cups of this herb can help a person lose 80 calories each day.

It has also anti-oxidant properties. This means that it can cleanse the body from harmful chemicals and impurities. It can eliminate impurities that can cause various diseases. The free radicals are de-activated before they can cause any damage to the body.

There are actually several products that contain this herb. However, it is also essential for you to make sure that you will only look for those that contain all-natural ingredients. This is why it is also necessary that you read the label first. You should also be certain that the brand is approved by the FDA so that you can be assured that it is really safe and effective. More importantly, seek the the opinion of your doctor if you are undergoing other medical treatments.

Moreover, you should also remember that having a good diet and a regular exercise routine is still essential. The use of green tea for weight loss is very effective but you should still have a healthy lifestyle.

Get yourself involved in a weight loss challenge

Get yourself involved in a weight loss challenge

A weight loss challenge can be any sort of activity or contest that you decide to participate in and use as a motivational tool. It could be as simple as sharing your weight loss results with friends or family members and running a competition amongst your group or as big as involving an online community with the same interests or goals as you. Whichever way you decide to do it you should find some sort of reward to compete for in order to keep motivation levels high. You should also remember to keep things fun along the way too!

As mentioned above a prize or reward can add to the motivation of people involved in the challenge so make sure this is mentioned often, ideally when sharing your weight loss amounts and setting your next goals. Include as many people in your challenge will help keep the momentum. Include those who have only a few pounds to lose as well as those with bigger goals. You can keep the weight loss recorded as percentage of the starting bodyweight to help keep things even. You should avoid making the challenge about the amount of weight lost only; try to include varied tasks week to week to avoid the main goal being extreme weight loss.

Create your first challenge

To create your first challenge you need to come up with a goal that you would like to achieve. Ideally you will already know likeminded people that would like to take part with you to lose weight together. A challenge can be the motivation you need to push you on your way to the weight loss you are aiming for. It can help create some healthy competition that will involve people rather than push people away.

A word of caution when it comes to setting your challenge, make sure that you avoid any unreasonable expectations when creating your challenge. As mentioned above use percentage weight loss rather than actual weight loss as expecting someone who is considerably smaller at the start of the challenge to lose the same amount of weight as a larger person is unreasonable and could be unhealthy. By considering the above you should form a group of people all with the same goal, all looking to motivate you towards your weight loss goals.

Lose Weight, Exercise First Thing In The Morning

There are many possible excuses standing between you and your desire to lose weight. Some of these may include “I don’t have time before work” or “I am not a morning person” with too many more to list here. I would hope that as you are here reading this article you are not looking for the excuses but rather the advice and support needed for you to reach your exercise and weight loss goal.

I will cover why it is good to exercise in the morning shortly but wanted to quickly mention that weight loss can only be achieved through action. You need to do your best to fit something in regardless of a busy schedule or any similar excuse. Just ten minutes walking is enough to raise your metabolism and set you up for the day ahead. Avoid falling into the comfort zone of making excuses and push yourself to do something, no matter how small each day.

Why exercise in the morning?

Research shows that people who exercise constantly tend to be people who exercise in the morning. These people follow a routine and by doing so get consistent results.

Along with a good nutritious breakfast, exercise first thing in the morning helps to raise your metabolism. This means that your body is put into a calorie burning state that can last for ten hours or more following exercise. This is excellent for weight loss.

Exercise in the morning will ‘wake you up’ and make you feel more energised. Brain activity is increased as a result of exercising making your more alert and productive. This is better utilised in the day as opposed to when you are asleep at night (e.g. if you had trained in the evening).

Generally exercising in the morning will not get interrupted by other aspects of your life. There is less chance of things cropping up and taking priority early in the day. Mornings are normally very structured allowing you to allocate a consistent exercise slot into the routine. You always have the option of getting up a little earlier in the morning to create extra time whereas creating time elsewhere in the day may not be possible. Getting up earlier may be hard at first but do it often and consistently enough and your body clock will adjust. Exercise promotes better sleep when you go to bed meaning you will recoup your lost sleep in the morning with better quality sleep at night.

Dieting For Dummies

Dieting seems to change in a similar way to fashion, one day it's in, the next it's out. I bet at some point you find yourself sitting watching TV, indulging in food you know you shouldn't but it's fine because the advert you just saw told you that getting into shape is as easy as ten minutes exercising a day or something similar.

The truth is getting into shape and losing your unwanted weight will only come from hard work and dedication. If you are not prepared to put the effort in you will not get any results out and you might as well close this article now. However if you are interested in losing weight, toning your physique and realise that you will need 100% of your effort please read on.

Getting the body you so badly want is at your finger tips. I believe that it is possible for everyone to achieve providing you set small, realistic goals and put the effort into meeting them.

One mistake I have seen a lot of people do is huge amounts of cardio, day after day, treadmill or cross trainer to the point where they wear their trainers out or worse still reducing the amount of food they eat to the point where the nutrition in their diet would barely support a small child. If you find yourself in or close to one of these situations you will find yourself frustrated with the lack of results. I see it time and time again.

The biggest impact to help you lose weight will always be proper nutrition. It should never be complicated or difficult, you are just aiming for 'healthy' foods in the correct amounts whilst avoiding 'bad' foods and overeating. This will be the single most important thing for you to get right. Your metabolism is reacts to what you eat, when you eat and how often you eat. Eating the correct foods at the right time during the day are some of the things you will need to figure out in order to reach your weight loss goal.

You may have heard that the most important meal of the day is breakfast? Well this is true. No excuses here, you have to make time to eat breakfast every day for fast weight loss. This is the meal that kick-starts your metabolism for the day, making it work faster after your nights sleep. The rest of your food for the day needs to be split over a number of smaller meals. Eating large portions 3 times a day will result in your metabolism slowing down.

Your body is very clever in it's ability to take care of itself. If it notices large, irregular meals your body will start to hold onto the food for use later, storing it in the subcutaneous layer of the skin as fat. Make sure you get your meals regularly and don't skip your breakfast.

Eating a good combination of healthy carbohydrate, fats and protein will ensure your diet is balanced fulfilling all the needs of your body. Add in a little bit of exercise daily including some resistance training as carrying muscle tissue also encourages your body's metabolism to remain higher than normal.

Rapid Weight Loss Techniques

A person’s weight can affect them in many ways. It is not just their physical appearance, things like their quality of life, self-esteem, mood, health and disabilities are things people easily forget about. Losing weight always results in a lot of positive changes. It is for this reason most overweight people spend a lot of their time searching for a weight loss technique that will help them to lose weight, trim fat and remove one or more of the above negative effects from their lives.

As with any change made to your lifestyle or diet you should always consult a doctor and ask them to provide you with advice and a weight loss regimen. They will normally carry out a full physical examination and base their suggestions on hard facts, giving you the safest way to achieve your weight loss goal. All weight loss regimens will consist of some if not all of the following:

• What should you eat?
• How much should you eat?
• When should you eat it?
• What is my current activity level and how much exercise should I do?
• When should I exercise?

To help you to lose weight quickly multiple techniques are used. Proper mind-set, exercise and diet are all combined. You should begin by creating a diet, a food plan for the week that is easy to make as well as easy to follow. Combine this with an exercise plan that allows between fifteen and twenty minutes a day of fast walking, running, cycling or swimming. Pick one exercise depending on your current level of fitness and swap and change as you improve whilst increasing the time spent exercising.

Set yourself realistic and achievable goals. This will give you the correct mind-set whilst making small improvements. Setting unrealistic goals will lead to indiscipline and discouragement slowing down your weight loss progress.

You will need to learn to listen to your body as you adjust your diet and your exercise routine. Everybody reacts differently to the changes enforced by a diet and exercise routine. What works for one will not necessarily work for another. You will feel aches and pain from exercising but you will need to realise when your body is warning you of an impending injury. You will feel hungry when you initially decide to reduce the amount of food you eat daily, or spread your meals out more throughout the day but learn the difference between eating enough to keep your metabolism up and your day to day activities fuelled and eating too little where your body will drop into ‘starvation’ mode, slowing your metabolism and weight loss down.

You should also make sure you are drinking lots of fluids to stay hydrated. Thirst is often mistaken for hunger and you will end up eating when a drink would have satisfied the need. Drinking at least 8 glasses of water spread throughout the day will help avoid this. Also fat loss happens a lot faster in a hydrated person than in a dehydrated person. If you are not sure if you have drunk enough, drink more. Stick to plain old water where possible as this has the best hydration to calorie ratio. Avoid sugar rich sports drinks.

Stick with it, Good luck!

Weight Loss Diet Guide

Listed below are some of the best weight loss and dieting tips that are easily followed day in, day out for fast results:

• ·         Don’t skip meals! One of the most common mistakes people make is skipping meals. By doing this the body slows down its metabolism, attempting to conserve calories rather than burning calories. You need your body to be burning calories for as much of the day as possible in order to lose weight. Eating regularly increases the body’s metabolism.
• ·         Eat your food slowly, chewing before you swallow. This helps with proper digestion but also allows your brain time to register that you are consuming calories and in turn realise that you are full and don’t need any more food. Eating too quickly prevents this mechanism from controlling your appetite and you will over eat, gaining weight.
• ·         Split your meals into smaller portions and eat 4 to 5 times a day. This will help prevent over eating as you will be consuming less food at a time and helps to keep your metabolism up for more of the day.
• ·         Good fat can help with weight loss. Don’t but all fat out of your diet as it is essential for some of your body’s functions. Eating fat will not necessarily make you fat. Moderation and healthy fats is the key.
• ·         Try to reach your weight loss goal with a friend or family member as this will make it easier for you. You can motivate each other and help keep each other on the right track.
• ·         Don’t eat too close to bed time. Leave approximately 2 hours between your last meal of the day and bed time and reduce the amount of carbohydrates that are in your last meal as these are more likely to be stored as fat.
• ·         Create a shopping list for your trip to the supermarket and stick to it. Try to plan your meals with healthy choices and put these onto the list. The supermarkets put all the special offers close to the entrance and the tills to tempt you. These normally consist of bad choices but won’t be on your list so make sure you avoid them!

Discipline and a plan are important. As one of the tips above suggests reaching your goal will be easier with a diet buddy to keep you on track.

Thanks for reading.