Tough Little Workouts

Workouts designed to get you fit, fast

Archive for category Hints and Tips

Skim Milk vs. Milk: Which Is Healthier?

Jul 26

Posted by Funkster in Diet and Nutrition, Hints and Tips | No Comments

Skim milk is full of goodness, and it is a good choice for slimmers because of the extra calcium and fortified vitamins without the additional calories from whole milk. The latter may taste better, but which is healthier?

Why Use Skim Milk?

If you have ever tried whole milk, the lid is usually full of fat. With skim milk, this fat is skimmed off to reduce the overall fat content and calories. Fat is filling to the body and keeps us fuller for longer, but if the same foods can be purchased fat-free, most would choose the latter version. Skim milk contains 0.5 percent of milk fat or less, whereas whole milk contains 3.5 percent. Skim milk is obviously a healthier choice to reduce the consumption of fat in the body. For each cupful of skim milk (16 oz.) there are 91 calories compared to 147 in whole milk.

Positives and Negatives of Skim Milk

• Positive. Contains more calcium than whole milk. The top layer of whole milk containing fat does not contain calcium, so by drinking the same amount of skim milk more essential calcium is absorbed by the body to build strong bones.

• Negative. Can taste watery and bland. Extra sugar or sweeteners may be added to a low fat products to add depth of flavor.

• Positive. Contains less fat and calories. If you switch to skim milk, enjoy saving 1/3 of the calories in whole milk. The fat percentage is drastically reduced per 16 oz. cupful from 3.5 percent (whole milk) to 0.5 percent.

• Negative. The body cannot absorb calcium from skim milk without the fat.

• Negative. Both Vitamin A and D – contained in milk – are fat soluable. Without the fat, the body cannot absorb vitamins or the proteins in milk.

Why use Whole Milk?

Whole milk products do taste better than skim milk products if you can live with the fact that what you consume will be higher in fat and calories.

Positives and Negatives of Whole Milk

• Positive. The body is easily able to absorb calcium, essential amino acids contained in the proteins, and the vitamins because of the fat content in whole milk.

•Positive. Glycosphingolipids are contained in milk fat and improve the health of the immune system and metabolism.

• Positive. In moderation, consuming saturated fat has been shown in studies to raise High Density Lipoprotein levels (good cholesterol).

• Negative. Too much whole milk will cause weight gain because of the calorific and fat content.

• Positive. Whole foods are nutritional because they are not processed.

Which is Healthier?

Contrary to popular belief, most people believe that skim milk because of its lower fat content is healthier. Whole milk, in moderation, is healthier for the body because it can absorb the vitamins and calcium easily. When foods undergo processing, including skim milk, the nutrient content often reduces too. Skim milk may contain fortified vitamins, but if there is no fat in the product, how can the body absorb the essential amino acids in the proteins, or the calcium and vitamins?

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How to Do Seated Oblique Twists with a Medicine Ball

Jul 24

Posted by Funkster in Hints and Tips, The Workouts | No Comments

The Russian Twist or seated oblique twist is an important abdominal exercise that strengthens various areas of the abdominals, specifically the rectus abdominis (six pack muscle), the internal obliques (cover the six pack muscle), and the external obliques (cover the internal obliques).

The abdominal muscles are one of the basic core muscles in the body, together with the trunk. Every movement performed by the body engages the core muscles, so it is always better when they are kept strong so you can live a stress free and painless free body. Strong internal and external oblique muscles prevent backache and can build strength and speed in competition-based events like sprinting and racquet sports.

How To Perform a Seated Oblique Twist Correctly

  • Sit on a mat or flat cushion on the floor for extra comfort. Performing on a hard surface puts strain on the back. Bend your knees and make sure that your feet remain on the floor.
  • With any abdominal exercise, it is important to pull in the abdominals so tense them to further work them and keep them stronger over the long term. Sit up at an angle of about 45 degrees.
  • Remember to breathe throughout the exercise. Breathing correctly allows you the concentration to perform the oblique exercises correctly. Exhale during the exercise and inhale when resting after the rep.
  • Grab hold of a medicine ball with handles (if possible). Aim to hold the medicine ball straight in front of the body.
  • Keep the abdominals tense throughout, and use your abdominals and the weight of the medicine ball to twist your torso to the right side to touch the floor.
  • Keep the abdominals tense, breathe correctly, and twist the medicine ball to the other side and the floor. That is one rep.
  • In order to build strong abdominals, especially the oblique muscles, the muscles need to become slightly stressed in order for tears to take place in the abdominal area. With the right protein rich foods, the muscles grow in strength, strip off fat, and you will achieve a toned sexy body.

Benefits of Seated Oblique Twists

  • This exercise tones the side abdominals which many people forget to train when they perform crunches. It will develop the enviable V side muscles as seen on athletes.
  • A stronger abdominal and core prevents backache.
  • It builds strength and speed in other areas; especially sprint work and racquet sports.

It is important to note that when any undertaking any bodyweight exercise like a seated oblique twist, rest days are important to refuel the muscles. Nutrition is also important, especially on training days. Always try to beat your target number of repetitions. For beginners, try to perform 5 to 10 repetitions. Sticking to the same number of reps will not build a strong body over the long term.

The body is designed to build in strength, so performing the correct exercises and fueling the body with protein rich foods like eggs, red meat, fish, and nuts/seeds will help your muscles to grow. Rest is essential. If the body ever feels overworked through training or even basic work, it can break down and become ill.

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Press-ups

Jul 20

Posted by Funkster in Hints and Tips, The Workouts | No Comments

Press-ups are the perfect bodyweight exercise. You do not need to join the gym to perform press-ups, although most people need an excuse not to workout. Press-ups use up to seventy percent of your bodyweight, so it is a perfect exercise in which to tone up, gain muscle mass, improve your resting metabolism, and burn off fat.

I can successfully perform around forty press-ups without a break. This is enough for a woman (or so I think) because it keeps my chest pert, as I hate uncomfortable bras. I used to attend boxing training, and I soon built up my upper-body strength. Press-ups will burn calories…and lots. It tones the upper body of the back, biceps, triceps, chest (perfect to tone the tits, girls), and abdomen. Remember to make sure that your back is straight while performing press-ups. If you are new to press-ups, perform them on your knees and make sure to lower your chest almost to the floor as one rep.

There are a variety of press-ups to try. I like to perform press-ups with my feet resting on a box. This is a tough exercise, but it works the abdomen perfectly. Try resting your feet on top of the other foot and perform fifteen press-ups before carrying out the workout on the other foot. This increases the amount of bodyweight that you lift during a press-up and will toughen the exercise.

Another way to strain the muscles through press-ups is to purchase a stability ball. Balance the feet on the ball, lower your chest to the floor in a press-ups, and then curl the feet in on the ball to work the hamstrings and abdomen. Try to work up to 10-12. I literally break out into a sweat just performing twelve of these bastards. Nevertheless, work through the pain barriers by training your mind with positive mantras like ‘no pain’ or ‘one more minute and its over’. Another great motivator is music. The right song makes me go further. Pendulum and Prodigy are fantastic to listen to during a hard bodyweight training sessions.

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Fat Burning Percentage

Apr 20

Posted by Funkster in Hints and Tips | No Comments

I’m having a break from bodyweight training, and doing more cardiovascular exercise these days. I’ve just been to the gym and cycled for an hour. I still kept it intense and hard, one minute riding on high resistance, one minute casual riding. Then I did twenty minutes of hills, and finally I pressed the ‘fat burning’ button for the last twenty.

Apparently, for my age the ideal fat burning heart rate for me is 123. Bearing in mind I had stoked it up to 180 after my rapid cycling, it took about five minutes to bring it down to this level. I felt so lazy, and sweat started to dry on me and turn me goose pimply. During a workout, I like to sweat sweat sweat, or what’s the friggin point? After three minutes, I gave up and went back to my tough workouts.

How the hell can people get fit if they don’t even try to work their heart? A heart rate of 123 for me  during a workout is absolutely nothing. Even when I used to speed walk to work, I would have a guess that my heart rate was 150 or something in that region. Intense training is the best way to burn off fat. Keep the heart rate high, and the metabolism heightens. My goodness, if I would have cycled at 123 beats per minute for sixty minutes, I probably would have only burnt off 150 calories next to my 450 effort. It did make me feel extremely euphoric afterward.

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