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In his latest Q&A session, Bullz-Eye.com Fitness Editor Mike Furci discusses high protein diets, weight training vs. cardio, and chest workouts. Q: Mike, 1. “Screw cardio!” Are you serious? I think it’s a known AND proven fact that a good mix of cardio and weight training will provide a better fat loss program than just weight or cardio training alone. ESPECIALLY if we consider HIT cardio training. A: It is true, HIT cardio (I assume you’re referring to interval training) is the best way to go if you’re going to put the time in. However, sorry to inform you, it is not a “proven fact” that a mix of cardio and weight training is the best way to go. Show me the evidence of long term success. There is NONE. Visit any gym and you’ll see what I mean. The majority of people who perform cardio regularly don’t make permanent gains. Cardio is vastly overrated as a means of losing body fat. In fact, if a person who is overweight embarks on a cardio program and doesn’t change their eating habits, they are doomed to failure. Adding muscle is the key, combined with a diet lower in refined foods, especially carbs. Filed under: Exercise and General fitness and Running and Weight training and General training and Bodybuilding and Chest and Nutrition and Diets and Sports Health and Fitness and Protein Comments: None |
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Summer is around the corner, and chances are you aren’t looking or feeling your best. You want to get in shape, but like most you’ve put it off again and again since January. Bullz-Eye.com fitness editor Mike Furci lists his top 11 tips to look and feel better this summer. Everything on the list is designed to optimize your metabolism and turn you into a fat burning machine. Filed under: Exercise and General fitness and Men's Health and Wellness and General training and Nutrition and Diets and Supplements and Fat burners and Motivation Comments: None |
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The Cabbage Diet? In his latest Q & A session, Bullz-Eye.com fitness editor Mike Furci says forget about fad diets and stick to the basics: exercise & healthy eating. Filed under: Exercise and Men's Health and Wellness and Weight training and General training and Nutrition and Diets and Sports Health and Fitness and Protein Comments: None |
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The best way to lose weight is to do cardio, right? Wrong! Bullz-Eye.com’s Mike Furci debunks common fitness myths, including whether or not eating a diet high in protein is unhealthy for your liver and kidneys. Click here to check out Mike’s Fitness Myth Busters column. Filed under: General fitness and Weight training and General training and Bodybuilding and Power lifting and Abs and Nutrition and Diets and Supplements and Sports Health and Fitness and Protein Comments: None |
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Unstable Surface Training (UST) has moved from being used almost exclusively in rehabilitation to becoming common place among personal trainers and strength coaches. One can’t go to a gym and not see somebody training on a Bosu ball, stability ball, wobble board or foam pad. It’s so popular entire books have been written on this type of training. But do not be fooled by its popularity. UST is not popular because it works, but because of a tremendous media campaign. The fitness industry is always looking for something new. They know here’s huge money in marketing a piece of equipment and/or workout program. Performing exercises on unstable equipment can be challenging no doubt, but research has not shown that the type of balance, and core stability developed through UST will transfer to any sports skill. Performing exercises on unstable equipment will make an individual proficient at performing resistance exercises on unstable surfaces but will not improve sports performance. Is UST training even necessary? Researchers from Appalachian State University compared trunk muscle activity during stability ball and free weight exercises. The stability ball exercises utilized were the quadruped, pelvic thrust and ball back extensions. The free weight exercises were the squat (SQ) and deadlift (DL). During all exercises muscle activity was collected using electromyography (EMG). During the study trunk muscle activity during SQ and DL’s was equal to or greater than which was produced during stability ball exercises. This was true even when 50% of the 1 rep max was used during SQ and DL. The role of UST is again shown to be in question. Filed under: Weight training and General training and Bodybuilding and Power lifting and Abs Comments: None |
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It’s no secret that when most guys decide to start lifting weights, they do it to try and improve on one of these three muscle groups: their chest, arms and/or abs. Well, Bullz-Eye.com fitness editor Mike Furci has you covered on one of those three muscle groups in his two-part guide: Nine weeks to bigger arms. In part one, Mike discusses how to train your biceps, with a focus on four fundamental principles: variety, concentration, form (not poundage) and work the muscles from all angles. Mike also details the exercises, tempo and sets you should use to help develop your biceps. In part two, Mike writes about triceps and once again gives you the exercises, tempo and sets you need to complete your goal of bigger arms. Now all you need to do is get to work. Filed under: Workout programs and Weight training and General training and Bodybuilding and Specific workouts and Arms Comments: None |
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…make sure you have a competent one, too. Here’s a video clip to help encourage your ass to have a partner or spotter who knows what the hell they’re doing. (Thanks to one of our readers, Build Muscle Fast, for sharing the clip). The kid who breaks the fish tank and yells out, “Mom! Mom!” is hilarious. Filed under: Exercise and General fitness and Weight training and General training and Bodybuilding and Power lifting and Motivation and Xternal Fitness and Xternal Furci Comments: None |
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If you are approaching 40 years of age or beyond, you are probably starting to realize you can no longer train like you did in your twenties. I learned this lesson the hard way. At 36, I tore both quadriceps in seven places. Thank God the MRI revealed they were mainly fascia tears not requiring surgery. None-the-less, I had to walk with crutches for a week. 18 weeks later, I tore my right hamstring. At 38, I had to have my triceps reattached. At 39, I partially (20%-25%) tore my right pec, but opted not to get surgery. After that last injury I finally threw in the towel. I thought my days of pushing my body with high intensity workouts were over. Although, all the areas had been injured in previous years, I still trained in fear because none of these injuries had any preceding symptoms. Consequently, my training took on a very slow tempo with insufficient loads. This type of training left feeling like shit, physically and mentally. Why train at all if I can’t train hard. Instead of training smart and doing what I should do for my body, I was too concerned with how I wanted to train. Almost to the day, a year after I tore my pec, I was so frustrated with my lack of progress, I decided something had to give. I ended up going back to the basics. I came to the realization I had to train myself as I would any other client. I had to concern myself with what my body could and needed to do. The first thing I did was give up exercises that caused me pain no matter how much I loved performing them. One of these, unfortunately, was the barbell squat. With 2 bulging disks it’s not worth the pain or the risk. The second change I made was incorporating more functional exercises into my workouts. These mainly included unilateral exercises and a few stability exercises. Perhaps the biggest change I’ve made is the way I approached my work sets. Since I am no longer competing, there is no need for me to walk that tight rope between training with 100% intensity and injury. Don’t get me wrong, I still perform my sets to failure, but will not train through pain. I also stopped doing any kind of cheating at the end of my set to push the limits. In order to make gains one has to pushing the limits, but it has to be wrangled in. For this to happen, the goals you set that govern drive must be adjusted to your current capabilities. I have reached a point where I take my time with my goals by practicing wisdom not ego. Through training smarter, I found a renewed vigor and enjoyment I had 20 years ago. Filed under: Workout programs and Weight training and General training and Bodybuilding and Motivation Comments: 1 Comment |
Although I would recommend a lower volume, higher intensity approach, the above article has some great info on getting the job done with quality instead of quantity. I’m glad to see articles in mainstream magazines debunking the myth that more is better. Filed under: General fitness and Workout programs and Weight training and General training and Bodybuilding and Specific workouts Comments: 1 Comment |
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Just a small reminder that safety comes first when lifting heavier weights: Filed under: Weight training and General training and Xternal Fitness and Xternal Furci Comments: 1 Comment |
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