The Home of Christian Finn http://www.thefactsaboutfitness.com/blog burn fat, build muscle, get fit Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:41:36 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Build Bigger, Stronger Muscles With This "Odd" Diet Tip You've probably read a lot about how antioxidants can ease muscle soreness, reduce muscle damage and speed up recovery after a tough workout.

And if you're like many people, you probably take vitamin supplements that contain these antioxidants.

But there's something even better. And it's so effective (and so easy) that you'll probably have a hard time believing it!

]]> http://www.thefactsaboutfitness.com/blog/recover 1 Simple Rule For Burning Fat Faster You've probably been told that the best way to predict your maximal heart rate — the maximum number of times your heart can beat each minute — is to subtract your age from the number 220.

But where does the formula for calculating your maximum heart rate actually come from?

Can it be trusted?

And if you're trying to lose weight, should you use it to work out your "fat burning" zone?

Here's the surprising true story of the popular (but flawed) 220 minus age formula...

]]> http://www.thefactsaboutfitness.com/blog/max The Best Diet For Building Muscle "I want to try building muscle on a low-carbohydrate diet," a reader told me the other day. "I've just seen a study showing that it's the best way to lose fat and gain muscle. What do you think about it?"

It would be great if there was one single diet that worked best for muscle growth, fat loss, athletic performance, optimal health or whatever else you can think of.

Unfortunately, in my opinion at least, no such diet exists.

If your goal is to gain the maximum amount of muscle in the shortest amount of time, the diet you follow will be very different to one designed for fat loss.

I'll explain why in a moment.

First, I want to address a few of the issues with the study supposedly showing that a low-carbohydrate diet is the "best diet " for building muscle and losing fat.

]]> http://www.thefactsaboutfitness.com/blog/the-best-diet-for-building-muscle Workouts That Fight Fat There are always parts of your body that seem more "resistant" to losing fat than others. For women it tends to be their hips, thighs, belly or arms. For men it's usually the chest, belly or lower back.

Most people approach the problem in the same way, which is to exercise the area of the body where the fat is located.

You’ll see men attempting to “burn off” the stubborn fat from their stomach with hundreds of sit-ups, or trying to lose their “man boobs” with dozens of sets on the bench press and cable crossover machine. To get slimmer hips and thighs, many women seem prepared to spend what seems like hours on the inner and outer thigh machines.

There is, however, a better way. And it’s one that actually works.

]]> http://www.thefactsaboutfitness.com/blog/stubborn-fat How To Tame Your Belly Fat PJ, like many of my Online Coaching Club members, wants to drop some belly fat. But since he started back in the gym after a short time off due to an injury, he noticed that he was actually gaining fat instead of losing it.

"About a month ago I started building up to my usual workouts after a few weeks off injured. But since upping the training I've started to gain fat, especially around my belly. I've heard that too much exercise can increase my cortisol levels, which can lead to fat gain. I think I have a tendency to overtrain, though I'm not really sure what overtraining is. Is overtraining causing me to gain fat in my belly?"

Here's what I told him...

]]> http://www.thefactsaboutfitness.com/blog/belly-fat-overtraining Tom Venuto's Holiday Fitness Challenge To You http://www.thefactsaboutfitness.com/blog/holiday-challenge Another No Gym Muscle Builder You’ll like this.

Not only is it a highly effective exercise for working both the front and back of the thighs, it’s also great for the glutes (perfect for ladies wanting a firmer backside).

WARNING: If you've never done it before, then approach with caution. This exercise is almost unrivalled in its ability to generate extreme muscle soreness. If you push it too hard you’ll be limping around for days!

]]> http://www.thefactsaboutfitness.com/blog/another-no-gym-muscle-builder Cardio Carnage For Fitness And Fat Loss If you’re bored with your current workout, or you just want to try something a little different, Cardio Carnage is an extremely challenging and highly advanced four-discipline workout that uses several different types of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) to push your cardiovascular fitness to the next level.

But be warned... it’s not for the faint hearted!

]]> http://www.thefactsaboutfitness.com/blog/cardio-carnage More Supplement Industry Secrets Revealed Last week, I told you about a few of the “tricks” used by some supplement companies to create those before and after pictures you see in the magazines.

Today, I’ve got another short (69 seconds) clip from the documentary Bigger, Stronger, Faster that will "pull back the curtains" and reveal another supplement industry "secret"...

]]> http://www.thefactsaboutfitness.com/blog/supplement-industry-secrets The Truth About "Before And After" Pictures If you've ever wondered whether some of those "before and after" pictures you see in the magazines are real or not, this is a short (68 seconds) video clip you might be interested in.

It's taken from a documentary called Bigger, Stronger, Faster, which is worth watching if you haven't seen it already.

Even though it's old news to anyone who's seen what goes on "behind the scenes" in the supplement industry, a lot of people are surprised when they realize that this kind of thing goes on.

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