Lupe’s politically charged hitter “Words I Never Said” has just been released as the most recent single from his album Lasers. Check out the video in all its low-res cut-up glory below.
Chad
I’m Looking For A Heart Beat (Advice on Cardio Training)
So you wanna know how healthy you are.. You don’t have measuring tape. You don’t have skin fold calipers. You don’t even have a scale. You don’t have a track, or a treadmill. So we don’t know how much you weigh, can’t figure out your BMI (body mass index), calculate your body fat percentage, or have you perform fitness tests. The next best thing: You’re resting heartrate. Boom.
Your heart contains 4 chambers: two atriums and two ventricles. The heart contracts ventricles to pump blood through your body. Are you with me? Cool. The amount of blood that is pumped with each contraction (beat) of your heart is referred to as stroke volume (SV). The SV of an adult is normally 75 to 80 mL per beat. The rate that your heart beats is called… Heart Rate (HR)! A person’s HR is usually 70-80 beats per minute (bpm). Together, the stroke volume and heart rate are collectively referred to as cardiac output (Q), which is used to judge the overall performance of the heart.
As much as I’d like to as a health and fitness professional, it is next to impossible for me to test your stroke volume. However, I can find your pulse and count it for 6 seconds, add a zero to that number, and pretty much know your heart rate. Knowing your heart rate is extremelly important in gauging the amount of work your body does during exercise, and is the best tool when knowing how long to recover from multiple sets of circuit exercising.
For my clients, we first determine maximum heart rate by subtracting their age from 220. So if you were 25, your max HR would be 220-25… which is 195 bpm. Any amount of work you perform will have your HR at a certain percentage of that; for instance, if you wanted to burn fatty acids during cardio exercise you would want your HR to be 65-75% of your maximum HR (.65-.75 x 195 = about 127-146 bpm). You should spend 30-60 min in this 1st Zone 3-5 times a week for weight loss. If you are strength training to either get toned, bigger, or more athletic, you should perform cardio in a 2nd Zone that is 80-85% of your Max HR (156-166 bpm) in an interval. For instance, warm up 5 minutes in Zone 1, then take one minute to get to Zone 2. If you can’t get there in one minute, that’s fine, just return to Zone 1 and try harder for Zone 2 after 5 more minutes. Repeat and cool down for 2-3 minutes, making your total workout time about 20 minutes. That looks like this if you’re 25:
- Zone 1 for 5 min warm up (resting HR to about 130-150 bpm)
- Zone 2 for 1 min (try to get and stay around 155-165 bpm)
- Zone 1 for 5 min ( cool back down to around 140 bpm)
- Zone 2 for 1 min (get between 155-165 bpm)
- Zone 1 for 5 min (stay above 130 bpm)
- Last Zone 2 for 1 min (stay below 165 bpm)
- 2-3 minutes of a cool down (return to resting HR)
The best way to figure out your resting heart rate is to check your pulse first thing in the morning. Remember, count the pulse for 6 seconds and add a zero for an approximation of your total heart beats in a minute. That’s your resting HR. Do that 3 days in a row and determine the average. Your resting HR will get lower and lower as you perform more and more cardio, so that’s why I can tell your fitness level through it. So if you consider the average heart rate being 70-80 beats per minute and yours is below 60, I’d say you’re in pretty good shape. Unless it’s zero. Then you’re probably dead.
Chad
Sorry, We’re Splitting Up… Your Routine
So I walked into a local store the other day and overheard a couple of thinner men in their mid-20s discussing their work out. These were leaner, dare I say, skinny guys who were discussing the type of ab workout Schwarzenegger would have done in the 70s. Kind of dumbfounded on why they would be devoting most of their workout to their core every day of the week (your core is made up of muscles that need rest just like all your muscles!!), I continued listening to hear them talk about just working out arms and chest. No talk of legs at all. Why? Not enough time. If you find yourself trying to put on muscle with time constraints and no results, a split routine may be the best bet.
A split routine system involves breaking the body up into parts to be trained on separate days. When doing this, you give yourself extra time per workout. SO, no excuse for looking ridiculous with a huge upper body, burnt out damaged abs, and weak chicken legs. That’s not a hyperbole, I live at a the beach and see it all the time. Here are some sample 2, 3, 4, 5, and even 6 day split-routines for your body:
2-Day Routine: Monday – Chest/Shoulders/Triceps; Tuesday – Back/Biceps/Legs
3-Day Routine: Mon – Chest/Shoulders/Triceps; Wed – LEGS!! Fri – Back/Biceps
4-Day Routine: Mon and Thu – Chest/Shoulders/Triceps; Tue and Fri – Back/Biceps/Legs
5-Day Routine: Mon – Chest, Tue – Legs, Wed – Back, Thu – Shoulders, Fri – Biceps/Triceps
6-Day Routine: Mon and Fri – Chest/Shoulders/Triceps, Tue and Sat – LEGS!!, Wed and Sun – Back/Biceps
The most important part of training body parts multiple times a week is RECOVERY! The amount of core training can be dictated through exercise selection for these body parts. An individual’s needs should be addressed through a specially tailored program specifically addressing your needs and goals. That just means I wanna meet you! Anyway, drink plenty of water, get some sleep, and eat breakfast!
As Always, You’re Welcome
-Chad
First Image Found Under Split Routine
Make Some Noise feat. Every Famous Person Ever
Beastie Boys new video for “Make Some Noise” off of their album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two. Ch-check it out May 3rd!
http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2011/04/20/beastie-boys-make-some-noise-video/
Work Hard, Die Young (sometimes)
As you should know by now, heart attacks occur very often. So often, in fact, that according to the World Health Organization cardiovascular disease accounts for more death than anything (17.1 of the 58 million deaths from all causes a year). So, your heart keeps you alive and can most likely stop working. Looks like what I learned at St Alphonsus kindergarten has some merit.
In a 2004 study conducted by The Lancet it was estimated that stress accounted for 1/5 of the heart attacks around the world. Of course, the adage that we work ourselves to death would suit here. However, I would never suggest something like that without empirical evidence (as I pick up a recent University College London study). So this study says that after monitoring workers under 50 years old for 12 years, those that reported work stress were 68 percent more likely to suffer from heart disease. That’s a majority.
Taking smoking into consideration it was shown that approximately 2.5 percent of those who worked 7 to 8 hours developed heart disease, compared to 4 percent of those who worked more than 11 hours. So clock out sooner and you probably won’t clock out sooner, ya dig?
New Single For Cutie
Death Cab For Cutie just released the video for their single “You are a Tourist” off of the upcoming May 31st release of Codes and Keys. Enjoy!
Chad
Stare Into Sun
Check out London duo Graffiti6′s song Stare Into the Sun below, and look for upcoming updates regarding the fitness tests previosly posted.
In the meantime I’m going to an Orioles’ doubleheader.
10 Fitness Tests
Ever wondered what it meant to be completely “in shape?” Doctors use Body Mass Index, your weight in kilograms divided by your height in squared meters. Bodybuilders and athletes in weight regulated sports use body fat %. The military uses a slightly more holistic approach, using measurements of speed, upper body strength, and flexibility. After some searching for what would be considered I came across some good starters. I’ll write up info on each assessment, namely how to execute and increase performance, but these are some general guidelines I like.
NOTE* These are difficult tests to perform, so make sure you are in a safe, controlled environment with a buddy before you get started.
Dwight Howard Passing The Vertical Assessment
Bench 1.5 times bodyweight
Run 1.5 miles in 10 minutes
Vertical Jump 26 inches
Leg Press 2.25 times bodyweight
Swim 700 yards in 12 minutes
Perform 40 pushups
Hip-to-Waist Ratio of .81
Run 300 yards <1 minute
Touch Your Toes
75 foot kneeling basketball throw
Posted in Performance
Tagged assessment, bench press, in shape, performance, vertical
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BURN IT DOWN
Couldn’t resist.. Click if you like dubstep.
Chad
Sleep Your Way To A 6-Pack
Alright.. Admittedly, the title seems a bit absurd. But it’s legit. You can get abs. If you’re obese, if you’re scrawny, it doesn’t matter; they’re there. A study presented at a meeting of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity, for example, found that people who sleep two to four hours a night were 73 percent more likely to be obese than normal sleepers.
Stanford, along with U of Wisconsin, researched participants in the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study and reported that a 3.6 percent increase in BMI corresponded to an average nightly sleep duration decrease from eight hours to five hours. Data showed a 14.9 percent increase in ghrelin and a 15.5 percent decrease in leptin in people who consistently slept for five hours compared with those who slept for eight.
If you were her, this is what you'd look like sleeping.
Ghrelin, a peptide secreted by the stomach, stimulates appetite and increases before meals. Leptin, which affects body weight and is secreted primarily by fat cells, signals the hypothalamus regarding the degree of fat storage in the body; decreased leptin tells the body there is a calorie shortage and promotes hunger, while increased levels promote energy expenditure. The results were consistent regardless of participants’ gender, BMI, or eating and exercise habits.
Okay, so we need to eat less, move more, and drink more water. Now, sleep 7-8 hours a night and you are well on your way to a six pack!! You’re welcome, as always.
Chad