Why You Should do Body-Weight Exercises

There are a lot of different types of fitness programs, from those you do at the gym, to
at-home workouts. Each of these varies is intensity, type, and benefits. If you are
interested in something you can do at home without equipment, body-weight might be for
you. Here are some of the top benefits of doing body-weight exercises.

You Can do it Anywhere

This is definitely one of the top benefits of body-weight exercises. You don't have to
leave your home or find a gym. There is no equipment you need to purchase and find a
place for, plus it costs you nothing. Body-weight exercises rely only on your own weight
and the intensity you bring to each move. You can do them at home, in the office, at a
park or the beach, just about anywhere. While traveling, it is easy to do them in your
hotel room or on your balcony, without having to look for a gym or go for a run.

It Works Out Your Entire Body

Another reason to start incorporating body-weight exercises into your fitness routine is
because it can workout your entire body. Most body-weight moves will target one
specific area, but also benefit others as well. For example, elbow planks are often done
for your core and abdominal muscles, but your arms, shoulders, and even your leg
muscles are also getting a fantastic workout. Moves like jumping jacks, wall sits, 
burpees, and mountain climbers are similar; they are working multiple muscle groups at
the same time.

There is Cardio and Strength Training

Many people believe body-weight is just for strength training, but a lot of moves provide
high-intensity cardio as well. If you don't like boring cardio workouts, do the jumping and
high-intensity body-weight moves instead! This is when you do the moves that require
lifting your body from the ground and doing jumps. There are many different types of
jumps aside from just jumping jacks. Plank jacks, punches, and skaters are some other
moves that provide an excellent cardio workout.

Body-weight is Perfect for Lean Muscles

Since you aren't adding in any weights with these moves, you are working on long, lean
muscles. You don’t have to worry about bulking up, though you will be able to lose
weight and tone your body with body-weight exercises. You can still do some weights, 
but incorporating more body-weight moves really focuses on those long muscles.

Metabolism - What is it and How Can I Control It?

Many of my clients were initially overweight, not all, but most were. In fact, more than 60% of my clients came to me to help them lose weight. The other 40% is a mixture of people who want to live longer, who want to look sexier, who want to add muscle to their physique, or who just want to live a healthy, energy-rich life.

Today, I'm going to focus on helping those people who want to lose weight, not because I think that the topic of weight loss is more important than other topics I could cover, but because I think I need to clear up a few false ideas that are circulating in the industry.

First and foremost, if you're overweight, there's a very good chance that you have a low metabolism! I know that might not be shocking to you. You may have already thought that you had a slow metabolism, but here's why I'm re-stating it...

Having a slow metabolism means that you can eat 'only a little food' and still gain more weight than your neighbor who eats far more than you every day of his or her life.

Your metabolism is basically a bunch of organs and glands that are responsible for regulating how your body burns food for fuel and how it converts that food into energy. These include the thyroid, pancreas, stomach, small and large intestines, and the colon.

When you have a slow metabolism there's a good chance that one of more of these systems is out of balance or just plain not working properly (and that's almost always due to improper living, disease, drugs, or a severe accident).

But there are more causes for being overweight other than having a low metabolism. You see, overweight people tend to eat when they're not hungry, they tend to have a larger appetite, they tend to eat "diet foods" more often (which are rarely conducive to weight loss as the label suggests), they tend to eat before they go to bed, and worst of all they tend to see themselves as being overweight.

Now you can clean up almost all of this mess by living a healthy lifestyle, or if you've read any of my books or listened to any of the audio programs my company has out, then you already know all the basics associated with living a lean, healthy lifestyle.

But the underlying problem that can never be cleared up simply with your actions, is the way you see yourself when you close your eyes.

My studies regarding the National Metabolic and Longevity Research Center literature have taught me that overweight people constantly think about their weight in a negative way, thus creating the undesired effect. It's true that you become what you think
about, and if you constantly see yourself as being fat, you'll never be thin!

Here's a tip...for the next 30 days (it takes 28 - 30 days to change how you subconsciously think of yourself) take a few minutes in the morning and picture a great looking, tight, sexy body from head to toe - then put your face on that body. 
Do this exercise again in the mid afternoon, and then again right before you fall asleep at night.

Do this for 30 days and I guarantee that you'll experience a dramatic change in the way your body looks.

The Health Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar is a raw and unfiltered type of vinegar, which is how it gets its darker amber color. Organic apple cider vinegar is less expensive than gourmet balsamic vinegars. Aside from being used as a natural cleaning product, it also has a lot of health benefits:

• It Lowers Blood Sugar Levels - Apple cider vinegar lowers blood sugar and increases insulin sensitivity. Drink a couple tablespoons before bed or add to meals. The lower blood sugar helps with type 2 diabetes.

• You Can Lose Weight Faster - It helps you to lose weight by making you feel fuller.

• Reduces Your Risk of Heart Disease - Apple cider vinegar lowers blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels, which helps to reduce the risk of diabetes.

• It Helps With Indigestion - Try a little apple cider vinegar before a meal to help with indigestion.

• You Can Soothe Your Sore Throat - Combine the vinegar with warm water for a sore throat gargle rinse. It soothes the sore throat and the acidic environment helps to kill infection bacteria.

• Improve Your Digestion - Mention some specific digestive issues people have and how apple cider vinegar can help. Encourage 1-2 tablespoons before a meal, with a glass of water.

• Sunburn Remedy - Apple cider vinegar can be a natural sunburn remedy, similar to the affects of aloe. Add some vinegar to a lukewarm or cool bath and soak in it for at least 10 minutes.

• Get Rid of Dandruff - It also helps with buildup and dandruff on the scalp. The hair can be rinsed with diluted apple vinegar.

• Clear Up Your Complexion - Apple cider vinegar is often used for the skin, especially as a face wash to clear breakouts.

• Get Rid of Razor Bumps - For razor bumps, apply some apple cider vinegar to the area with a cotton ball. There is no need to dilute it.

• Reduce the Signs of Aging - Washing your face with apple cider vinegar not only reduces the look of lines and wrinkles, it also helps to reduce age spots. It can also help clear up the skin, which always helps provide a more youthful appearance.

• Help Balance Your Skin's pH Levels - Due to the high acidity in apple cider vinegar, it is perfect for people who have issues with their skin's pH levels.

• Use as a Natural Face Toner - Dilute the ACV with water, then use a cotton ball in the solution to apply to your face as a skin toner. This minimizes your pores and is good to do daily.

How to Create Your Own HIIT Routine

If you've had some experience with HIIT workouts, you know how powerfully effective
they can be, but what if there's something you want to add or change? Familiarity with
the process used by HIIT might make you want to try some new and interesting
variations of routines that can help to bring a feeling of freshness to a workout that
might be getting stale. Alternatively, you might be searching for a way to focus on a
specific area that has been troublesome. Fortunately, this is a short guide on how HIIT
is organized, and how you can learn how to create your own HIIT routine. 

Know What You Are Targeting

To begin, it's of paramount importance to establish what areas you're planning to work
on. That will help you to choose what kinds of moves that you are going to be doing. 
Find a good exercise that suits this purpose and provides a sort of balance. If you're
planning to do longer HIIT workout sessions, try to pair high intensity movements with
low intensity movements for the best results. It's not going to be effective or practical if
you try to do 30 minutes of high intensity workouts. That may reduce your returns and
even expose you to the possibility of injury. 

Work and Rest Intervals

It's important to set very carefully planned and realistic goals. HIIT needs to be
performed at your highest level of effort for a predetermined period of time, and
choosing to perform certain exercises can be very discouraging if you pick a high
number of seconds for an exercise that engages your entire core. Try to keep it within a
reasonable limit. Be sure that your rest periods between the exercises are also
reasonable and consistent so that you get the absolute best out of your routines. Some
exercise can also be placed back to back to give your set variety if you're looking to
really push hard. It's all up to you, just be sure to be smart about it. 

Get to Work

Now that you have a set of parameters, you can get into your workout and experiment. 
If you find yourself feeling strained, you should seriously consider scaling the exercise
back a small amount until you can perform it without feeling as though you're going to
be injured. The point of all of this, is to reach higher levels of health, and to get into
better shape!

Depression in Men: Signs and What to do About It

Cultures around the world have long considered men to be permanently stoic and emotionless. Research has revealed that this misconception is often forced upon men at childhood, leaving them with very few tools to deal with their emotions. Recent studies have also shown that depression in men is far more common than previously known, and that it affects men from all ethnic, financial, and educational backgrounds. Due to societal norms, men have been found to be far more adept at hiding their emotional state, making diagnosis much more challenging. In the following article we'll be looking at some of the signs of depression in men, and what can be done about them. 

Stress

Men have been known to report stress rather than depression, either out of unawareness, or because it is more socially acceptable to report their negative experience as stress. This phenomena contributes heavily to the difficulty in determining if a man has depression. 

Sleep problems

Problems with sleep patterns may emerge when a man has depression. In most normal cases, a person may feel sad for a few days, but in cases of major depression, symptoms appear and can last for weeks. Another one of the most common symptoms is loss of sleep or irregular sleep patterns. 

Stomachache or backache

Sometimes depression can manifest itself in physical ways. One signal that the symptom is depression related, is that the symptom cannot be detected or treated in the usual ways. This is commonly true of depression based aches and pains. 

Difficulty Concentrating

Studies have shown that cognitive function is heavily influenced by depression. It is common for the person with depression to have a hard time concentrating on even the most familiar tasks.  

What You Can Do

(1) Seek Professional Help

Speaking with a professional that has experience with depression can help you to find solutions. A doctor may suggest medications or therapy to help you to sort out, or get to the root of what is causing the depression. Medications can cause side effects that could give you a new set of issues, so it's import to weigh these options carefully with your doctor.

(2) Exercise

It has been known for a long time that exercise can be a way to manage depression. Although it may be difficult, having a good workout can release endorphins that can chemically ease the feelings caused by depression.