Saturday, October 29, 2016

Old Is The Wrong Time Of LIfe To Get Fat And Weak


A friend of mine who I’ve been nudging in the direction of becoming fit because he’s old and fat gave me an insight into the ball of confusion that is getting fit by those who are far from it.

A fitness routine is just not on sedentary people’s radar; they tend to ignore what looks to them to be disorienting and complicated.

Ain’t nothing complicated about being overweight: overeating = overweight, so nobody gets a pass pretending they never heard of that equation. But I admit the noise concerning fitness is deafening. So many “experts.” So many theories. So many idiots online writing how-to’s and what-not’s as if theirs is the last word on the subject.

I like to recommend something I myself do: watch youtube videos. There are videos for every level of fitness interest, from clueless to professional. Watch and learn: learn what interests you and what does not. Sign up on youtube and you can save those videos you like for your chosen routine. It’s true there are a lot of dunderheads giving stupid and even dangerous advice, especially the macho male types who preach that if you’re not practically killing yourself working out that you’re basically a sissy, but these sad guys/gals are obvious: hey, you’re only trying to get fit, not compete in the Olympics.

Sifting through all the fitness material in print and online is confusing, but starting off with a very basic at-home program that includes classics like push-ups and chin-ups will indeed produce results. For working abs, sit-ups have always been hard on the back, as are crunches done incorrectly, but planking is effective and there are dozens of variations for which there are a ton of videos online. Planking is fairly recent in popularity. Planking is not only effective, but for many it is much more enjoyable than old school situps and crunches. There are literally scores of different ways to work the midsection, and combining three or four different abdominal exercises in your workout will soon produce results without the tedium.

Just remember, it took you years to get into poor shape, but it will take only weeks to see your first initial improvements. You can’t expect to reverse years of damage entirely in a couple of months, and you can’t view your new diet and fitness routine as temporary: it is a lifestyle change so that you might enjoy better health, increased strength, higher self esteem and increased mobility.

Old is the absolute wrong time in life to decide it’s OK to get fat and weak.

Monday, October 17, 2016

How Does Your Protein Drink Taste?


How Does Your Protein Drink Taste?

My informal survey of the opinions on Amazon.com expressed by those providing their views on protein powders was eye-opening because the most often expressed criteria placed TASTE at the top of the list of attributes. Taste. Not quality of protein, or quantity. That’s telling right there. A scoop might contain 5 gms of protein in one product and 25 in another, but reviewers didn’t seem to notice this or other far more crucial factors than taste.

I recently switched from IsoPure whey protein, which I have used for at least 15 years, to MyProtein Iso:Pro 97. This MyProtein product, which is made in the UK, landed at the top of the list on LabDoor.com, the website that tests supplements for both quality and value. IsoPure Dutch Chocolate tasted fine, but I always added a big spoon of Hershey or Droste cocoa powder and pure vanilla flavor to intensify the taste.

MyProtein Iso:Pro 97 has no added flavor or sweetener, which is ideal, so you can make it taste any way you like. Many people don’t like sucralose or other artificial sweeteners, so the absence of a sweetening agent is a big plus for many. (MyProtein does make other protein powders with sweeteners.)

Best of all, MyProtein was 2/3 the price of IsoPure, so that made me really happy.

As far as MyProtein’s effectiveness, I will monitor that as best as one can do so and report later. Effectiveness is hard to quantify due to most people changing up many fitness/workout factors at once, such as a modified workout technique or length of workout session, adding other supplements as well, such as NO2 and Creatine, etc., getting more sleep, and on and on.