Smoking part 2 (Effects upon sport)

Welcome to 5.14 Fitness,








This post will be the follow up post from one earlier this week, which coincidentally is also on smoking, so if you haven't checked it out yet please do so.




Everyone knows smoking is one way to decrease your performance, however not so many people actually know how- this post will try to change that!




Effects




Tabaco smoke has been proven to rapidly increase the risk of serious health problems in regular smokers as well as those who have been exposed to significant amounts of second-hand smoke. Some of these health conditions include cancer, emphysema and bronchitis. It is for reasons like this, that smoking has such a bad effect on sporting performance.


Lack of Oxygen in the Blood

During exercise, your heart rate increases so that your muscles get enough oxygen to function and move. Normally, the higher the heart rate, the more oxygen is needed by the muscles. Tabaco smoke contains carbon monoxide, which sticks to the haemoglobin (the stuff that carries oxygen) in your blood better than oxygen, this means that your muscles are unable to get the sufficient amount of oxygen that is required during the exercise. This results in your heart working even harder and you not being able to exercise as well of longer periods of time as your muscles are starving of oxygen.


Narrowed Blood Vessels

Smoking narrows your blood vessels, this side affect makes pumping blood across your body a slower and more difficult process while exercising. this is due to the fact that the chemicals inside Tabaco make the vessels smaller and harder to cram the thick, oxygen loaded blood through, similar to when one lane is closed on a duel carriage way- traffic is caused as cars are slowed down.  In addition it also puts added strain on your heart every time it beats, because it has to work harder in order to supply your body with the oxygen it needs to function.


Increased Resting Heart Rate


Your increase your resting heart rate by smoking. Your resting heart rate is amount beats per minute your heart produces when your are not doing any activity. This number is massively increased in smokers due to the extra work your heart must do so that it can meet all the physical demands of your body. This also means that when you are exercising, your heart rate could potentially rise to dangerous levels in order to meet the physical demands your muscles need.


Airway resistance


Airway resistance refers to the rate in which air goes in and out your lungs. Some research shows that one inhalation of a cigarette can increase the resistance by up to three times. Which means you have to breath harder to inhale the amount of oxygen you need as your lungs take longer to inhale. Other factors such as tar build-up, inflamed mucous membranes and reduced air capacity will also increase airway resistance, this makes it more difficult to produce the oxygen your body needs when exercising.


Hope this helps, part 3 to be release soon. Please read again, check out other posts, some comments plus ones etc., would be nice and any following is returned (you can also add the blog to your reading list and follow that way so please do so it is much appreciated)- work hard and peace!








Jason

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Daily Diary: Remembrance Sunday

Welcome to 5.14 Fitness,


This post is just another weekly diary post to inform you on my progress towards goals. Today is remembrance Sunday, which is not only an inspirational day for us all to reflect upon but also a day that means a lot to me in particular as I have friends/family who have served/are currently serving in the armed forces and it is an important day for us to remember what they do and have achieved.


My goals for the month

Moving on, so this week I have been trying out some new workouts but I have also been aiming to get back in to the swing of things and back into routine.  As per usual my big aim is to increase size and performance as it will help me in all the sports I compete in and raise the level of my performances dramatically. In particular strength, speed, endurance and flexibility are things that can really help you stand out in any sport so I see at as an important area to push towards.


What actually happened


So this week actually went pretty much how I intended, big shock I know! But I started the week off well, the new bicep workout was going well, I was stretching reasonably often and I was already feeling the benefits, I also brought back the stomach fat burning workout which I did on Thursday and Friday, surprisingly I also managed a brief general ab workout and had time for squats. I will be perfectly honest, my legs have been aching a bit recently so I have been cutting back on the squats as the legs are not used to having to work and carry out normal duties, so hard I think they require the most rest time at the moment. Despite my good progress, I did drop most exercises on Saturday, after football I spent the rest of the day out with the lads which was good, but should be kept as treat- mostly due to the unhealthy food I consume.


Bringing me on to diet, I have said a balanced one is the one for me but that gradually became more fatty as the days went on and this was not necessarily too bad of a thing as it did remain reasonably healthy, just the fatty food section sneaked up a tad higher than intended, and fatty foods do provide energy which gets you bigger quicker, but anymore than what I had would have been too much I think.


Results


I feel as if I had a reasonably successful week, and that I am hoping to see improvements in performance soon, I have started to see the buds of a couple such as legs starting to grow but we still have a fair way to go before I have made noteworthy progress. Inside I feel fine and confident, outside I look to be healthy and generally not too bad maybe a bit more size and a bit less belly fat than at the moment but I will soon work that off!


Next Week


I am super busy with sporting fixtures starting Monday, so I do not know if I will have too much time to post but it will good for burning that belly fat so it is well worth it. I will workout when I can, but listen to my body and rest when I need one as well.


Lessons Learnt


Listen to your body- if you need a rest, take one. |There is no point in over working when the muscles need time to grow and develop, it is necessary to take a rest so that you can get the best results. You also increase chances of injury; that helps no one!


Hope this helps, had a really useful week full of lessons and information. Please read again, check out other posts, some comments plus ones etc., would be nice and any following is returned (you can also add the blog to your reading list and follow that way so please do so it is much appreciated)- work hard and peace!


Jason

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General Weight Loss Ideas

Welcome to 5.14 Fitness,


So some people have been in touch with me saying, that I do not do enough on weight loss, ie information for those that are over weight and trying to do something about it. Well as you know, all your comments and much appreciated and taken to heart. Therefore this post will cover a basic routine that will help you loose the unwanted weight.


Diet


You need to eat a balanced diet, starving yourself does no good, in fact you actually break down muscle as it is easier to get goodness out of than the stored energy in fat. A balanced diet consists of 30% fruit and vegetables, these are foods that are full of healthy vitamins and nutrition, but also fibre which, to be short, helps you shit out all the bad stuff- which would else be stored, not nice! Carbohydrates should be kept to the same amount ( 30%), they are what provide you with the energy to be active all day, and release energy over long periods of time. Protein 20%, this is used to help build/repair muscles, helping you be able to push your self harder in order to burn the calories and ultimately loose weight- be careful protein foods are also high in fat and saturated fat. Dairy is what should make up around 15%, as they are good for bones, however again high in fat and there is also less of a variety in this food group. The final 5% would ideally go to fatty foods, but although we need fats for energy (short release) we could actually go without this food group as we can obtain the nutrition from dairy and protein. Try to eat 3 times a day and if you need a snack a piece of fruit is always a great choice!


Activities


You need to exercise in order to burn off the calories (use up the energy) that we consume during the day. The more you exercise the more energy is used, so the body will be required to use some of the stored energy it has (fat). By using up the stored energy you are decreasing the fat percentage in your body consequently reducing your size and weight. A good tip would be to exercise more than one body at the same time as you burn more calories as you are doing more, for example swimming- arms and legs. 
I suggest completing some form of endurance whole body activity everyday as they burn the most calories, this could include: running (a mile a day is good goal) swimming if it is raining or if you live some where like the uk the seasons affect everything and also cycling.
In addition to this you want to do weight free exercises at home every day as these two will help burn them extra calories and target particular areas. To start with I would recommend:

1. 25 step ups each leg
2. 25 sit ups
3. 25 star jumps
4. 25 squats
5. 10 arm exercises - press ups (if possible) chin ups, tricep dips etc.

It is important to steer away from the weights with if you are trying to reduce your size as all you will end up doing is building fat under muscle making you look even fatter. Despite the fact you are burning calories, your body will put on fat in order to get stronger to light the weights, in addition your mass will increase due to the extra weight from the muscle.


Hope this helps, more posts coming soon, please do all the normal stuff, any following is returned, read again- work hard and peace!


Jason


ps Get in contact if you have any ideas or queries.

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Daily Diary: End of Month Analysis

Welcome to 5.14 Fitness,

So I know that it is November today, but it is also the end of the week and it feels like a good time to reflect not only on the week but on the entire month of October.


My goals for the month


Okay, so my target was to try and bulk up and increase my performance as much as possible, this initially includes working-out a lot and eating loads of food in order to get the calories I need to grow. I had planned to go to the gym in order to do some light weight training (as it is the fastest way to gain size), as well as completing weight free exercises at home in order to tone muscles and push for that little something extra. Diet wise I have already said that I wanted to eat as much as possible in order to get the nutrition that I require, this included foods full of fats such as crisps, donuts etc. , as they contain some of the highest amounts of calories. How did I get on?


What actually happened


Well I started off eating loads of absolutely anything and everything, however after about a week or so I decided it was not working for me. I felt bloated and unhealthy, it was like I could feel the fatty foods inside my body. Therefore I decided I would revert back to eating a balanced diet, which lasted me about a week before Halloween, where I reverted back to the original diet plan in order to fit in with my social life- parties and nights, its that time of year! So on to my exercising; I have managed to keep to reasonably regular routines, despite being forced to drop stretching in a hope to accommodate time to sleep and recover, in other words I was too tired. My other routines actually built up towards the end of the month, as I found a new routine to increase size and power, this being exercising in smaller reps but more sets. This is due to the fact you are working your muscles on strength not endurance and your power- the ability to explode. I was also able to visit the gym a fair few times as well, which I believe did help me build muscle but I should be careful not to stunt my growth, I intend to keep this up for next month.


Results


How did it go? Well I think I should start off with the positives: I do feel bigger and stronger. I believe that the change in workout approach has proven to be a success and has resulted in me looking physically bigger and sturdier. Negatives being once again I feel bloated and unhealthy, furthermore I have actually lost definition in my abs which is never a good sign. I have to blame the poor diet, causing excess fat to store around my mid section covering my abdominal muscles. Performance wise I am yet to see a difference, although I have been working hard I have not found exercises any easier to complete or any real results in sports other than an improved shot power at football- but these things are said to take time so I shall stay committed and hopefully progress shall develop.


Next month


Well the first thing to change will be diet, back to the good old fashioned balanced one, although it takes longer to reach goals I feel better for it and the gain in body fat is not something I am proud of.
Stretching will also return to the routine, due to the fact I shall be doing some weight training and I do not wish to stunt growth, moreover in will help increase flexibility which is never a bad thing,


Work out routine:

• Stretching twice a day
• General ab workout will return as well
• Fat burning ab routine
• Defining ab workout- I started off with this but changed half way through
• Squats numerous reps
• Press ups numerous reps
• Gym work (undecided)

Lessons learnt


Eating cleanly is the form of diet most preferred by my body, power and size require lots of sets smaller reps and that I need to stick to my commitments and not tailor my workouts around my life style.


Hope this helps, had a really useful month full of lessons and information. Please read again, check out other posts, some comments plus ones etc., would be nice and any following is returned (you can also follow the blog that would be awesome)- work hard and peace!


Jason

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Halloween Scares

Welcome to 5.14,


Darkness. It's impossible to see. You stumble helplessly in the shadows. Your palms are sweaty and slipping off the walls as you trust body parts aimlessly towards where you think you could find a light and end your fall into the fathomless pit of despair- darkness. The room feels bigger than it did before, filled only by the melodic sound of you breathing. You try to calm yourself but the sounds become more rapid and intensified. You're panicking and you do not know why. Images start to flash and whirl; memories of horror films and stories you have heard. You know they are fake but believe they are real. At last the light is located and you grasp at it instinctively, it is on and all fear is revoked. The sack of sweets are laying on the table. Carefully you prise your hand in size, removing a mars bar slowly before cautiously unwrapping it... a few minutes later: all plans of dieting and commitments are broken! Back to square one!


Sorry about the introduction, I know what you are thinking: " Thought this was a fitness blog", well it is, I just thought I would do something a bit different and vary it up a bit. The message of this post is from a topic that I have not really touched on before and that is bad diets.


We all like chocolate, ice cream and other sweet treats, but that is exactly what they should be: TREATS. They should not make up more than 10% of any healthy diet, even if you are trying to put on size this is not a good way to go about it, this is simple as they are full of calories (energy) and when we have too much energy we have to store it (fat). 


A bad diet/nutrition is likely to damage your physical health and mental ability, to be short, bad dieting can help with increasing stress, tiredness and your ability work/ concentrate, in addition it can contribute to the development of other health problems including:

• obesity
• dental issues
• increased blood pressure
• increased cholesterol
• heart disease and stroke
• type-2 diabetes
• osteoporosis
• certain types of cancer
• depression
• eating disorders (bulimia, anorexia, obesity)

Moreover, who wants to be over weight? I know we do not want to admit it, but it is human nature to judge people on first impressions and if you look over weight you are automatically associated with laziness, lack of care and greediness- this is seen as unattractive, even if this is untrue.


So I beg of all you people, that are working hard towards a goal and making real progress, not to let it slip tonight. Do not give in to temptation, you will feel so disappointed afterwards- believe someone who knows.


Thanks for reading, hope this helps, please read again, do all the normal stuff and any following is returned- work hard and peace!


Jason


p.s happy halloween
       

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How To Increase Muscular Strength

Welcome to 5.14 Fitness,


Okay, so over the last week or so, I have decided to change my goal focus towards improving strength and performance. Today's post will be a walk through on how to increase your muscular strength.


So to start with what is muscular strength? Muscular strength is the amount of force exerted against a resistance. In other words; how strong your muscles are.


How do we improve muscular strength? The big mistake I was making was that I was doing one of two sets of heavy rep exercises, consequently as I am seeing/testing how long I can last, I am working on muscular endurance primarily and strength as a bonus feature.


What you should be aiming for is about 5 sets of much lower and much more intense reps, with breaks in between, and after a while once you have been completing the workout for a while and getting used to it (your muscles have grown and adapted in order to do this) you then start to increase the number of reps and so on and so fourth. This is a far more efficient way or increasing muscular strength as it tests/works on the muscles ability to explode from a static (exerting force).


Another tip on improving strength in a muscle is by, at the start and at the end of a workout, do a single set of low reps of what ever exercise you are doing. This does not work your muscles too much, but it does increase efficiency. This is due to the fact that more of the resistance (weight) is being taken by the targeted muscle area, rather than it being too heavy and having to share out the resistance across the body- affecting muscles you are not working on by taking away from the targeted ones. So if you are benching 100kg, only 60kg of that 100kg may reach your arms and chest. However if you bench 60kg, it is not testing your muscles as much, but the entire 60kg will reach the targeted muscles, having the same affect and consequently increasing your strength and efficiency. Keep working at this and only increase the resistance after you have increased the resistance of your main workout a few times and are finding the low rep warm up particularly easy.


My final bit of advice is concerning food; eat lots of protein. I have said this so many times in previous posts (if you want more detail check them out), protein is what makes your muscles grow and develop. It is the fuel to your car, the mushroom to your Mario! Without enough protein, getting results will take so much longer and you will have to work so much harder to achieve the same results. Trust me when I say do not go meat crazy, as too much of the stuff is not good for you, it is often high in fat so you could be wasting all your efforts by consuming too much. In addition the other food groups have a purpose also, so leave some room for them. But some extra protein with every meal, will sure as hell give you the results you are after, concerning strength, far quicker and much more noticeably too. I would say about 20%-30% of your diet, is a healthy range without going too over the top.


So there were my tips on how to improve muscular strength, ways to test it include the sergeant jump test and by lifting weight recording results and then trying again a week later and see if you can lift more.


For more posts similar to this please come again, thanks for reading, do all the usual stuff, any following is returned and greatly appreciated- work hard and peace!


Jason      

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Daily Dairy: Gym Reboot and Routine

Welcome to 5.14 Fitness,


Just another diary post this time, so as I have said in recent posts I have been trying to gain size ( in particular in legs, arms and chest). Todays post will be a review of progress.


So I have been doing normal arm workouts everyday as well as going gym every day as well- I have to admit, I have cut back on abs and only been doing the occasional workout. At the gym I am only lifting medium/light weights due to the fact I am paranoid of stunting growth, but weights are still the fastest get bigger. Another thing about lighting to heavy is that the muscle force exerted will shared out around the body in order to make it easier to light, so perhaps only 5kg of a 10kg weight will reach your bicep. It is because of this that I am very selective over the weights I use, for bicep I think 7kg is about enough without causing any real damage. For more information on lighting weights check out my previous posts.
So my weight routine consists of:

• 3 sets 25 reps 7kg bicep
• 3 sets 12 reps 10kg chest (dumbbell)
• 2 sets 25 reps 30kg bench (warm up)
• 3 sets 10 reps 40kg bench
• 1 set 25 reps 50kg pull down bar
• 5 sets 12 reps 25kg legs

As for my results I am yet to say I am seeing any physically, but have not yet been doing this new routine for a week yet so I think it will take a bit longer than a couple of days to see anything. On the other hand I am already feeling more energetic during the day, I am sleeping better and I am feeling stronger- so that is all positive.


Moving on to my diet; to say I have kept it clean would be a lie. It has been high calorie, but I am disappointed to say that it has not been all the fatty foods that are good for you (like nuts). Although I have had a lot of fruit, vegetables and protein; I have been snacking and eating a lot of sugary foods (these do help build muscle though so it might not be as bad as I thought)!
Ideally lots of protein and carbohydrates are what I am after and are what I am trying to target next week as my area of improvement.


That is it for this post, more to come soon I promise. Thanks for reading, please do all the normal stuff- work hard and peace!


Jason

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New arm muscle builder (basic)

Welcome to 5.14 Fitness,




Today I shall be sharing one of the new workouts I have designed, this one in particular will be focusing on arms primarily but also a bit on chest.
Similar to the General Ab Workout, it is a workout that focuses on all types of goals; therefore improving all: definition, strength and endurance on the particular body parts- arms and chest.
It is a pyramid workout- one where you start off with low reps and gradually build up-, this type of work out I found excellent for improving results and strengthening muscles, so all those who want to put on size listen up.
I would recommend  performing the routine at least every other day in order to achieve any real results, it is not particularly long; it will last roughly 10 minutes so it is not asking for too much attention. It requires no equipment other than a place to do tricep dips from. Complete at a maximum intensity with 25seconds rest between sets.

Overall Arm Builder:

Set 1

• press-ups 15 reps
• tricep dips 15 reps
• leg curls right 15 reps
• leg curls left 15 reps
• triangle centred press-ups 15 reps

rest


Set 2

• press-ups 20 reps
• tricep dips 20 reps
• leg curls right 20 reps
• leg curls left 20 reps
• triangle centred press-ups 20 reps

rest


Set 3

• press-ups 25 reps
• tricep dips 25 reps
• leg curls right 25 reps
• leg curls left 25 reps
• triangle centred press-ups 25 reps

rest


I will experiment and get others to try this out with different variations before I post a more detailed and advanced version of this workout along this the levels of experience.


Thanks for reading, expect more posts soon, please read again and do all the stuff, you know what it is by now (if your new check out older posts)- train hard and peace!


Jason

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Stretching

Welcome to 5.14 Fitness,


I know it has been a few days since I last posted and for that I apologise. However, I have been so busy over the last few days, I have hardly had time to exercise let alone post. This has been mostly due to my participation in physical activity as this is the time of year where all my commitments are at peak season and overlap. More bad news- this next week is going to get even busier, so if I do have time to post I might not have time/energy to exercise fully.


I have barely workout at all this week, this has been due to the fact I do not want to tire or over work myself as I know I have more competitive activity the following. So I admit I have been holding back in order to make sure that I go the distance and do all the things I have signed on for.


A routine that I have been keeping to more strictly (even over these past few days) has been stretching.
Stretching is a great way to increase flexibility (and control) as well as helping prevent you from injuries, increasing performance (as you have more control over muscles and they react shaper due to the build up of acid/energy being sent round the body), but stretching can also improve posture.
Posture is not important?
Here are some benefits:

• keeps bones and joints aligned, so muscles can be used to their full extent
• decreases the irregular erosion of joints
• relieves stress on the ligaments holding the joints in the spine
• keeps the spine healthy and mobile
• helps you stay more energised during the day, you do not tire as easily as you are not wasting energy on moving unnecessary movements
• prevents muscular pains and cramps
• relaxes the body, so it helps wind down your body to go to sleep
• helps you 'grow'. Your body is straighter making you taller, even though your body is still the same size. Like a curved line and straight line, the straight line looks longer but they are the same length
• it is also more appealing to the opposite gender to have good posture and not slump over     

I try to stretch at least twice a day- even when I am not feeling tight or playing sport. I stretch once in the morning to help shake off any cramps or muscle pains and to prepare my self for the day and once at night in order to help me sleep easier, as sleeping is when your body changes. You should hold stretches for 30 seconds this enables enough acids to reach the targeted muscles and prepare your body, I know it seems like a long time but new research shows anything less does not do the job properly and you might as well not stretch at all. I was given this information by a UK doctor when I was receiving therapy on my knee, and they are properly one of the more reliable sources.


Hope this helps, thanks for reading, please do all the normal stuff (all following to be returned)- work hard, peace!


Jason


in partnership with    fivepointonefourfitness.weebly.com     

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When to start lifting

Welcome to 5.14 Fitness,


Okay, so this is a post that some have been anticipating over the last couple of days, the reason it has taken so long is that I was not sure either but I have just finished asking around and I think I now have enough information at my disposal to be able to post on it. The reason I do this is because I do not want to be giving out advice on matters that I am guessing  on, so I will tell you now I cannot confirm 100% what I am saying, but it is what I would recommend from the knowledge I have.


Weight lifting is the fastest/easiest(?) way to gain stronger and larger muscles, therefore making it a crucial part of bodybuilding. In fact some people's work outs consist solely of weight lighting, as there is no faster way to get results. However there have been arguments made that by lifting weights too young you are stunting your growth, so your body is not reaching the maximum height it is capable of reaching.


So the argument goes like this; by lifting weights before you have finished growing, will stunt your growth as it is changing your body's focus. Instead of growing upwards (and outwards slowly), your body reverses its priorities and starts to grow outwards mainly and upwards at a much slower rate.
Another theory is that by lifting too heavy too early, you damage your cartilage plates (the things between bones and joints which regenerate to make you taller), this is because the weights are having too much impact of these plates, which will eventually stop changing when you have reached your maximum height.


But it has yet to be proven scientifically that these theories are true, due to the lack of evidence


On the other hand as a young person who has lifted weights, I can tell you that after you will have improved sleep (which has been scientifically proven to help with growth all over the body). So if you are sleeping better your body is having more chance of repairing and changing  so that you will get bigger muscles but also get taller as well. In addition to this there is also of yet any evidence that weight lifting stunts your growth.


In conclusion I would recommend that if you are still at peak growing points and your body is still waiting to develop to stay away from regular weight training sessions, just to be on the safe side as to be honest the argument is swinging towards the stunt growth side. Moreover, if you look at most bodybuilders (who started lifting young) hardly any of them clear 6 foot, coincidence? |I my self have lifted heavy but I am now trying to steer away from this side of muscle building and sticking to weight free exercises because, even though they take longer to get results, they build pure muscle fibres. Anyway, when you reach your late teens your body will fill out naturally and all these people who train weight free (with smaller muscles and pure muscle fibres) will then become dench as there body focus naturally changes to growing outwards at this age and they can then start to lift free of mind. So in other words I would recommend staying off the weights until you are at least 16 and starting to come close to your maximum height; you can then start to lift in order to get the further elements only weights can give you and at least this way you will be sure you are not affecting growth.


I know this is a topic of controversy, but I hope this helps; all the usual stuff-peace!


Jason


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sorry in need of another days rest

Welcome to 5.14 Fitness


I woke this morning and my body ached from head to toe, and after a full day of school and badminton training I am well and truly shattered. I am going to have to apologise for not exercising as I know I need to back into the swing of things, but I feel as if I need another days worth of recovery. This is in order to do everything that I need to do tomorrow and be able to push myself harder. Rather than doing a half arsed workout now and as my body will still be tired another half arsed one tomorrow.
If you are suffering from serious fatigue and feel that all your body needs is sleep, you are probably right it does and that is the best thing you can do for it in that situation.


Once again I apologise; I should be fine for tomorrow though, so do all the usual stuff and peace!


Jason

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Quick Update: Where I Am At

Welcome to 5.14 Fitness,

 

This post is just going to be a general round up of information with bits of health details added as well- just to show that I am pulling my weight!

 

First month as a blogger:

 

First things first, I have to say a big thank you to all of you for reading and following the blog, over 500 views in the first month, I had no idea things would take off so quickly. I am so grateful to all those who have been plus oned my post and followed me this has really helped promote the blog, please continue to do so, really love the support.

 

Posting plans:

 

So as some of you will know, I am away this weekend; I am kayaking 26 miles in just under two days in order to raise money for charity. Therefore, I doubt I will be able to post much this weekend, however from then on after I will post more regularly, focusing more attention on my goals and progress. In addition to this, I will add more pages, topics include:

1. Health
2. Key words
3. Diets
4. Foods
5. Workouts
6. Exercises
7. Topical knowledge

I will try to add a page at least once every other day.

 

Pictures and personal details:

 

Okay, I admit I promised these a long time ago but I am having technical problems with the pictures and I want to do a page on this all at the same time. I will do my best to upload these as soon as
possible.

 

General Abdominal workout update:

 

1 set (it is just a one set workout- no breaks):

• 15 reps = Novice
• 25 reps = Beginner
• 35 reps = Intermediate
• 50 reps = Professional
• 75 reps = Body builder

 

same number of reps for each activity

 

• Sit-ups
• Side Sit-ups left
• Side sit-ups right
• Bicycle crunches (both legs to a rep)
• Russian Twists (both sides to a rep)
• Jackknife
• leg raises (six inches from floor, endurance)

Jacknife times:

• 20 secs = Novice
• 30 secs = Beginner
• 50 secs = Intermediate
• 1 min = Professional
• 2 mins = Body builder

 Thanks for reading please visit again; all the usual stuff; more posts coming soon- peace !

Jason

 

 

 

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Try to improve yourself (without loosing yourself)

Welcome to 5.14 Fitness,



No one is perfect! Something that people have always told one another, but can you imagine what it would be like to be perfect? Lets be honest who has not wanted to be the best at something or improve at something else. Well that is called desire and that is what your goal is based on. A goal is something that you want to reach or achieve, by committing and working hard. it should not have to be too over the top, but  be realistic to where you are at in your life and capable to reach with hard work. It is a good form of motivation to think about your goals whilst you are exercising and this will help increase your intensity and commitment, therefore also your results and how fast you get them -in the long-run!
It is also good to make changes to your lifestyle that do not have to effect your health directly, for example if you have a load of old clothes lying about cluttering up your house, you could donate them to charity. This not only helps out the charity but also creates a more positive feel about your house, and the more positive you feel the more you will be positive on your exercising and sporting commitments.
Another good change could be a change of friends. I know it sounds drastic just hear me out, if all your friends are smokers and drinkers that go to clubs every Friday, they are a negative influence on you. That alone puts you in a negative frame of mind or worse, convinces you to do the same as them, which breaks your commitment to health. Your friends need to support your lifestyle choice and should not put you under peer pressure to join in, if they do this and are unsupportive of something that means a lot to you, are they really your friend?
However, if your friends also share your commitments and hobbies you can discuss your progress, go to the gym together and find out what works for one another- sharing ideas- which is how we all learn and further our knowledge.







Thanks for reading, please check out the blog again soon; if you have any ideas/comments/questions feel free to contact me all your opinions are valid and are respected greatly; remember to plus one everything, share the blog with friends, follow, eat clean and work hard- peace!


Jason

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Sleep

Welcome to 5.14 Fitness,




This morning I am going to post about part of the "Fitness Holly Trinity." Okay so just to make sure everyone is clear on the trinity, it is:

1. Eating clean and dieting towards your development (eating the right foods for your activities)
2. Working-out / exercising
3. Recovery (sleep)

So todays post will be based on the importance of sleep and why we need it, to achieve our goals.


Sleeping is pretty much your body's rush hour, it is where all your muscles grow and develop as well when your body releases hormones. But most importantly, in my eyes, it is when we recover , so we can push ourselves harder the next day.


If you do not recover properly and then try to exercise, your performance will be considerably less than what it would be if you had a good night sleep before hand and were pumped and ready to give it your all. We have all been there when you are very short of energy and tired, despite this you know you have to stay committed to your goals so you exercise anyway and you cannot reach your normal performance. Well yes it is great you are staying focused and committed, even though you are pretty lifeless and it happens to us all you need to make sure in this scenario that you give 100% intensity. For example lets say you are totally flat and only have 50% of your normal energy; when you workout you use all of that 50% in your exercise- that way you are not wasting your time and you will still get results.




How to avoid this, well it is pretty simple; make sure you get plenty of sleep. You should aim for the minimum of 8 hours every night, this is to make sure that your body stays alert and ready for the whole day! I am not a good sleeper, I struggle to drop off, but I know I need a lot of sleep so I do a few simple things before hand.


Ways to improve your sleeping:

• Do not work-out in your bedroom. A bedroom should be for two thing sleep and sex, if you do too many things in there, your brain will forget to associate your bed with sleep and it will prepare you for working out (pumping you up ) rather than sleep (winding you down )
• Do not work out directly before you go to sleep, as I said exercising gets your adrenalin going and body pumped, so exercise at least an hour before you go to bed
• Remove all electricals (phone, pad, laptop etc.) from the room. Not only are they distractions they can as stimulate the brain, which keeps it alert.
• Keep the room dark. Light is another distraction and your brain associates it with day time; the time you are most active
• Stretch before you go to bed. Stretching helps relax the body and allows the muscles to go loose which also helps with recovery and movement. It helps avoid injuries, keeps the body flexible and relaxes the mind. I would recommend yoga or ti chi but if you do not do these don't worry stretching the old fashioned way works equally as well.

Thanks for reading, please check out the blog again soon; if you have any ideas/comments/questions feel free to contact me all your opinions are valid and are respected greatly; remember to plus one everything, share the blog with friends, follow, eat clean and work hard- peace!








Jason      

            

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Muscle size- in realation to fat

Welcome to 5.14 Fitness,




Okay guys, today I will be writing about a subject on which there is much confusion and a topic in which I have been asked a tone of questions on.


So does having big arms mean you will be stronger with someone who also works out just with smaller arms?




Here is the little introduction behind this post, so today I have been hanging out at my buddies gym and we were talking about size and the best way to get etc... My mate is a top rugby player; he plays all most everyday and goes to the gym at least once a week and he has huge arms! Despite this I (who am significantly smaller- muscle wise) am able to lift more, do more chin-ups, press ups and so forth.




How? Well chin-ups and press ups do depend on how much you weight (but his weight to rep ratio is still lower than mine), well to cut a long story short: size does not always equal a greater strength and performance.


This is probably due to the density of our muscle fibres; my mate is a rugby player, therefore he has adapted his body to play rugby.

• He needs to get bigger (muscles) to increase his centre of gravity so he does not get pushed over so easily, he plays rugby almost everyday at a constant high intensity 
• He needs to gain weight so he gain more momentum, he eats more to gain more weight 
• He needs to get stronger so he can compete more on the field; he lifts heavy but quite inconsistently to achieve this

However, he thinks as he is playing rugby- a sport than uses a lot of your body- he can burn so many calories it does not matter what he eats. More calories equal more energy?  This is true but when he is eating rubbish and not exercising what do you think happens to all that food. It turns to fat!


So to review my mate:

•  He exercises at a high intensity every day
• He eats a lot (and most of it is shit)
• He lifts heavy when he can be bothered to workout

The result he gaining size very quickly and looking pretty good, but he is not as strong as someone who eats clean, works out consistently, does high reps of reasonably light weight and also takes time to rest. This is because  he is working hard, destroying and rebuilding muscle fibres so much that his body cannot keep up as he does not take as much time to rest. Consequently his body needs fixing and quickly, so it simply finds something that it can use to increase the weight of his muscles, what is an easy source to manipulate that can be found in the body? I know what about all the fat from the shit his been eating! So what has happened is fat cells have developed between the muscle fibres in his arms, making them look bigger and making them harder to break down. So the muscle in his arm essentially consists of some muscle supported by fat!


This is fine for when he is playing rugby and it is helping his game- it is a problem most players of the sport suffer from and one that I am conscious to avoid-, but what happens when he stops playing rugby or he gets injured and is out for a while? Well his muscles will no longer be needed ( as he is not exercising ) so his body will break them down and as he is eating unhealthily he just add more fat to his arms. So he will have lost muscle and got fat, this will make it hard for when he starts exercising again as he is now totally out of shape and is sent back to square one- all his hard work... lost!


How do you avoid this scenario? Well I would recommend eating clean and if you need calories try foods such as nuts and cereal which contain a lot of energy. When lifting only use light weights, I am 14 and I only lift 5kg dumbbells; this is partly as lighting too heavy can stump your growth or lead to accidents, so stick to something light, yeah I know it takes longer to reach your goals, but that way you will have pure muscle fibres! Another tip is too not only exercise regularly (football, running, rugby, whatever) but to workout (work specific muscle groups, e.g. sit ups, press-ups, squats) consistently. My final piece of advance is to get a lot of rest in there as well, this is when your body actually changes, and by rest I don't mean days on the x-box, I am talking about sleep; aim for the minimum of 8 hours a day (or should I say night?)! If you stick to these tips you will not only get great results you will also minimise the risk of any problems that could occur.


Thanks for reading, please check out the blog again soon; if you have any ideas/comments/questions feel free to contact me all your opinions are valid and are respected greatly; remember to plus one everything, share the blog with friends, follow, eat clean and work hard- peace!


Jason        

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Drinking

Welcome to 5.14 Fitness,


Today I will walk you through what you should drink as well as what you should avoid. Everyone knows about healthy eating, but not so many people think about what are the right substances to be drinking.


Most people know that drinking alcohol is not something you should do before exercise as it will decrease your sporting performance. This is because it effects your balance, co-ordination and how you think and act (making you more confident but it also lowers your level of concentration and focus), therefore your general performance will not be as strong as per normal.
Another type of drink you should definitely steer well clear of are fizzy drinks and sodas! Why? Because they are jam packed full of sugar and caffeine, which does provide a source of short release energy, but they can destroy your liver and kidney, cause diabetes as well as raising blood pressure which can lead to heart attacks and strokes. If I was to recommend a weekly dosage 1-2 cans is more than enough, as (although they taste great)they need to be kept in moderation and if possible, you should remove them from them from your diet entirely.


I am now going to move on to one of my favourite drinks and it is one that is actually good for body: milk. Now the important thing about milk is that you do not get full fat; I know it tastes the best and we will all miss its creamy texture, but it is simply not good for you. It is literally fat in a bottle; fat raises cholesterol, blocking veins which can again lead to heart attacks strokes and other cardiovascular issues. You should ideally drink at least one (proper glass that is actually full) of red top milk everyday, however for people such as myself who need their milk to have some taste and flavour green top milk is the next best thing. But having a glass a day is crucial! You need to have milk as it contains calcium; this strengthens bones and teeth, but it also contains protein which is used for muscle growth and repair.


 I am now moving on to a drink which is good for you as well as bad for you- a bit unusual I know just bare with me.  Juice! As in apple, orange and cranberry- the stuff you have for breakfast in the morning. Although it contains vitamins, it is essentially sugar water and we all know what sugar does, in fact it is equally as sugary as some fizzy drinks. Some people ignore this fact as they are natural sugars so they must be okay, well yes we do need some sugar but there is no difference in terms of damage to your body between natural and processed sugars.
The final sugary drink is a drink that is mostly consumed by younger people but squash is again sugar water but only this time without the vitamins. In addition many people make the drink far too strong which just increases the sugar levels further- not good.


To finish, the drink that I recommend most is plain old water. Why? It can provide more energy than any energy drink (so consume about 2 hours before exercise to make sure you get energy and it does not sit in his stomach- which leads to a stich), it contains fluoride which is good for your teeth and the final factor supporting this beverage is that it contains 0 calories and sugars so it does exactly no harm to your body. I would recommend drinking water with every meal ( I know it is boring and flavourless but if you have it with food it is not so bad believe me) everyday.


Hope this helps, thanks for reading; please plus one everything, comment, follow, eat clean and work hard-peace!


Jason

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Emotions

Welcome to 5.14 Fitness, 

I am going to start off with something quite serious, the reason I did not post the other day was because I was visiting a close friend of mine who has just been diagnosed with cancer.

 This is obviously a very bad situation, however later that day I was able to use this emotion to push my self harder and increase the  intensity of my workouts. This makes exercising more effective so I will be able to train the same, but with a greater intensity, I will be able to get better results.

Other ways to increase your intensity by using your emotions to motivate yourself to work harder and reach your goals, is to listen to inspiration music. This does not necessarily have to be a dramatic all out, heart felt song, but something that clicks with you and gets you pumped and rearing to achieve. For me 'Am I wrong?' does the job, but I also vibe with Eminem tracks- such as 'Not afraid', 'No love' and 'Survival'- but it is really a song that gets your adrenalin rushing and this varies from person to person.

You can also do the same by thinking of situations that get you wanting to work hard ( often sad ones )or your personal goals and imagining you reaching them. These are all great forms of motivation that can improve your workouts, and results making your goals one step closer to reality.

Hope this helps thanks for reading; plus one everything, follow and comment, eat clean and work hard- peace!

Jason 

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