Body Transformation Blog 4: Mike Chang

Mike Chang has had an amazing transformation over the years and is very well known for his youtube channel sixpackshortcuts which has millions of views and subscribers. Mike lost a lot of fat and put on a lot of muscle and he encourages others to do the same via youtube videos. On his youtube channel he has motivational videos about how he lost weight and how anyone can do it, he also posts hundreds of videos about different exercise for different muscles and nutritional videos. Mike Chang is a great inspiration to all who aspire to get a better physique and if you are looking to lose a bit of fat or maybe put some muscle on i would definitely recommend you have a look at his youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/sixpackshortcuts?feature=watch or his website: sixpackshortcuts.com

Mike woke up one day and wasnt happy with his body so he decided to change it and has not only made a great change but also a great career out of working hard in the gym, if he can do it why not us?

Patrick Jabbour

Supplements Blog 3: Protein

 Protein is a nutrient that is essential for growth and development. Our muscles are made of protein and some of our most important anabolic hormones are made of protein including insulin and growth hormone. In terms of sport, protein is the primary essential nutrient capable of building new muscle and repairing damaged muscle. Protein is found in both animal and plant sources, with animal sources being the best source of complete protein due to high availability of all amino acids. Consuming our protein through supplements is an easy way to maintain increased protein needs as a result of exercise without consuming bulky and often calorie high foods and meals. There is a huge variety of protein powders and formulas in the market.

The protein supplements can be broken down to either mass-gainers, lean-gainers, or weight loss protein to suit ones particular goal 

Mass-Gainers 
Gaining weight requires that you increase the amount of calories you eat. Specifically you must consume more calories in diet, than you expend in energy. Doing this with regular foods quickly becomes monotonous, expensive, and difficult after a couple of days if not sooner. So a great healthy way to gain weight is to supplement your regular diet with a Mass Gainer. The top 3 weight gainers are: 

                      

Weight Loss Protein
The prime goal for any strength trainer is to gain muscle weight without gaining dreaded body fat. Integrating Protein into your regular diet ensures that you can build muscle, increase strength, & gain lean muscle weight, whilst preventing excess body fat from creeping in. The only problem is that protein alone cannot sustain a healthy body. So, most protein formulas contain Carbohydrates, which can easily convert to fat if not managed correctly. The top 3 Fat loss proteins are: 

                                    


Andrew De Silva

Diet Tips for a Healthy Life Blog 1 : The Basics of Dieting

Diet has to be the most important facet to obtaining your fitness goals. Whether looking to bulk up, lean up or just overall live a healthier life diet is the biggest facet that must be taken into consideration in order to achieve what you want. Understanding the key macro-nutrients is the most important first step to any diet.
Calories
A calorie is a measure of energy. When your body ingests food it converts it into energy for everyday tasks such as breathing, walking and all around living. Not to mention the excess calories you burn off when strenuous exercise is undertaken! The average adult burns around 2000 calories a day by simply living. You must look at calories depending on your goals. For example, if you eat 1500 calories, your body will be in a deficit and burn fat for energy. The opposite will occur if you eat more it is not this simple however and the most attention must be paid to the type of calories you ingest. 1000 calories per day of chocolate and nothing else will not lead to a healthier lifestyle! However, when exercising, lifting weights etc. your body will be able to ingest more calories and still  be in a deficit. This is why when looking to bulk you must eat for a surplus!

Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are one of the 3 key macro-nutrients, and contain around 4 calories per gram. Carbohydrates are turned into glycogen in the blood and utilised as the bodies first preference for energy. This is why they are extremely important for your body to function properly. However, simple sugars will turn into glycogen quickly in your body and if not burnt quickly will turn to fat. This is why low glycemic carbs such as brown rice, oats or sweet potato are essential when looking to have long lasting energy as they break down slower in the body and give you a long lasting supply of glycogen.

Protein
Protein is another one of the key macro-nutrients and forms the building blocks for our bodies. We are actually made up of proteins and this makes it essential to ensure we get enough through our diets. They also contain 4 calories per gram and are found in foods such as chicken, beef, lamb and fish. Adequate attention must be payed to the amount and type of protein we get through our diets and this will be discussed in future blogs.

Fat
Fat is probably the most unfairly scrutinised macro-nutrient! You will always see new products claiming to be low-fat yet contain a significant sugar increase from the full fat version. Fat is simply another nutrient for our bodies just like protein or carbohydrates. It is simply the fact that fat contains 8 calories per gram which gives it the bad name. It is simply important to avoid saturated and trans fats found in fast food and to ingest good, unsaturated fats found in nuts, fish, beans, lean meats and many other foods! these assist in the lubrication of joints and many other tasks which help avoid many problems later in life. In fact, eating too little fat can actually cause a number of health problems. So, try not to think of fat as your mortal diet enemy, but rather a helpful counterpart in the pursuit of your healthier lifestyle! 

Overall, controlling the macro-nutrients above and manipulating them to your advantage will be the greatest asset to achieving your fitness goals and I will show you how to do this in future weeks!

James Hallab