My Latest Article For Healthy New Age on Power 90, Power 90X, and Power 90X Plus

When I'm not posting here or writing my column for The Examiner, I have a regular gig with HeartCore Corporation. Here's one of my latest articles at Healthy New Age: "What is the Difference Between Tony Horton’s Power 90, P90X, and P90X (Plus) Extreme?" By Carol Bardelli

Feel free to click on the link and check it out.

For information on my Power 90X results and P90X workout reviews check out the sidebar.

Enjoy the Power 90X videos below.

Delicious foods and recipes with surprising health benefits - part 2

Fresh plants have medicinal properties.

Eating certain foods to treat and prevent health issues is an ancient practice going back to the birth of the Egyptian civilization and Old Testament biblical times.

Chinese medicine has long believed in and practiced the balancing of Yin and Yang through eating certain foods. Imbalances in our diets can cause illnesses and energy blockages that affect mood as well as physical health. Chinese food theraphy is commonplace even today in the chinese culture.

Read more, get the recipes, and watch the videos.

Smoking and its Effects on Your Body

Smoking cigarettes is both damaging to your body and to your bodybuilding goals. Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemical compounds. The most well known of these compounds is nicotine, which, despite some reported positive effects such as elevation of mood, is much more harmful than helpful. Nicotine increases the risk of heart disease and stroke, and has only a negative effect on growth. Aside from the above, nicotine and other well known agents in cigarette smoke are known to cause many other diseases and cancers. Lung cancer, gum cancer, and lip cancer are some examples.
There are many well known health problems associated with cigarette smoke, but there are also general lifestyles accompanied with it. Smokers are known to be more irritable than nonsmokers, and normally see more problems with sleep patterns. Anxiety is also more predominant in smokers than in their nonsmoking counterparts.
On a bodybuilding level, male smokers have been known to have higher estrogen and lower plasma-testosterone levels than nonsmokers do.
Smokers will claim that there are benefits to smoking, but there are none. Smoking cigarettes is no different than scratching a mosquito bite. Whatever pleasure is gained from it would not be there if the bite wasn't there to begin with! Cigarettes don't give you any pleasure above and beyond what you had as a nonsmoker. Its effects on your body in terms of possible health effects are plentiful. Top it off, the hormonal and metabolic effects of tobacco cause lack of mental and physical energy, endurance and recovery, and you will experience these problems in both your everyday life and in the gym.

Source: Health Canada

Troy Alves

Delicious foods and recipes with surprising health benefits

Guacamole with onions, tomatoes, and avocados are healthy.

Many foods we take for granted have health benefits we overlook. Often food really is the best medicine. We know from reliable research that you really can eat yourself thin, if you eat the right foods and use a dieting model like Cheat Your Way Thin by Joel Marion.

Below are a few common vegetables most of us love, and a few of their health benefits:

Read more, get the recipes, and watch the videos.

King Justice

King Justice The great teen bodybuilder returns at 158 pounds! muscle flex

Androstene : A Better Look

Muscle World offers you state-of-the-art sports nutritional products backed by solid, real science. No glandulars, no trendy concoctions, no boron or deer antler -- just research proven sports nutrition. Our Muscle World Supplements page has more detailed information about each of our products. Plus we're happy to help you with additional information about how to get the best results from their use. Our current focus is on Androstenedione or Androstene.

FACT: Androstenedione has been shown in controlled studies to raise your body's testosterone levels by over 337%! This is very significant and highly desirable to the athlete looking to increase performance, add strength and increase muscle size. Basically, testosterone is the juice which fuels muscle growth and the more you have, the faster you'll grow.

When you increase your testosterone level, you increase your ability to build lean muscle mass and to recover. You also lower the catabolic effects that weight training has on muscle tissue. Quite simply, you get more results from your training.

And you get the results faster! Testosterone is one of the most potent anabolic substances known.

Why do you think steroids are so popular and effective?What is the Supplement Androstene?Androstene is a new supplement that is considered an "adrenal- androgen" (an androgen produced in the adrenal gland). It's a metabolite of DHEA and has some unique characteristics that make it the most effective testosterone booster known to date.

Androstene will help athletes with less than perfect genetics to build more size and power than previously possible and it will set a new standard in performance enhancement supplementation.

How Does Androstene Work?Androstene exerts its anabolic effect as a result of an enzyme conversion reaction in the liver.

When you use Androstene, an enzyme in the liver acts on the molecular structure of Androstenedione, and through this one reaction converts it almost completely to testosterone. This fact is important, as there are other substances, which convert to testosterone but also convert to estrogens as well.

Estrogens cause the secondary female characteristics which steroids are notorious for. Studies have even shown that a 100-milligram dose of Androstene does not appear to effect luteinizing hormone (LH) or folical stimulating hormone (FSH), therefore it will not suppress your body's natural testosterone production. This means when you stop using the supplement, there will not be a sudden drop in testosterone causing you to gain fat and lose muscle.

This is a real plus.Although further studies need to be performed to see if higher doses of Androstene will effect these two regulating hormones, up to 100 mg per day does not but it does increase testosterone levels over 300%.How Effective?The International Olympic Committee test checks the ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone (T/E).

This ratio is usually 2 or 3 to 1. However, the IOC allows for a ratio as high as 6 to 1. Anything over 6 to 1 is considered a positive for exogenous testosterone (steroid).You could take a 200 milligram injection of testosterone cypionate (commonly used steroid drug) and still maintain a testosterone / epitestosterone ratio of less than 6 to 1. A 100 mg dose of Androstene will result in a T/E ratio of over 13 to 1! These are real and powerful numbers.

To summarize, it looks extremely promising and early results are very impressive. However, there is no magic pill. As with any performance enhancing supplement, your results will still directly depend on what training program you follow. And you still must supply your muscles with the protein and other nutrients required for growth. Maximum muscle growth in the shortest amount of time requires attention to every aspect involved - training, mental approach, proper diet, and the right nutritional supplementation. Every detail is important.Androstene is certainly a supplement scientifically proven to enhance testosterone levels. If you're looking to put on muscle, strength and increase overall sports performance then you need to look at this supplement carefully.

http://shopcity.net/MuscleWorld/androstene.html

Lack of basic nutrition knowledge contributes to overweight and obesity

Too much high calorie foods add up to too much body fat.

As we grow fatter as a nation, we seek answers as to why our waistlines continue to grow. We know we eat too much and move to little, but still seek an elusive and easy way out of our predicament beyond the old answer of diet and exercise.

Reading through the blog-o-sphere of diet and nutrition blogs, readers will find differing opinions on why people become overweight or obese. Recent blog entries included Kevin Dill of 'Low Carb HIT' asking “WHY DO WE GET FAT??”

The author of 'The Last Atkins Dieter' blog stated “People know what the right foods to eat are, and when they're ready, they'll make the right choices.” See below why this isn't always true.

'Diet Blog' commented on a UK Times piece – “Besides, there is the embarrassing fact that those who eat and drink junk do so for cheap comfort and because they are either too poor or too ignorant (or both) to prepare healthy food.” The author of 'Diet Blog' said, “To say that fat folks are too stupid is one heck of a judgment call.“ Again this viewpoint doesn't always hold up.

And Jimmy Moore of 'Livin' La Vida Low Carb' wrote an entry entitled, “Why Do People Have An 'I Don't Care' Attitude About Their Need For Weight Loss?”

People get fat for a miriad of reasons including emotional difficulties, using food as a coping mechanism, eating for entertainment, and simply not understanding what constitutes a portion size. (Hint: NOT the heaping mounds of food brought to you on a platter at Applebee’s or the Super Size Value meal at McDonald’s.)

Click here to read more and see video demonstrations below.

Save on your grocery bill with a vegetable garden and free recipes

In our current weak economy people are turning to creative ways to save money. One of the most flexible parts of most household budgets is the cost of food. Two ways to lower our food bills are to eat out less, and grow our own vegetables.

Gardening is fun, easy and more popular than ever. It's mid June and not too late to get started planting a garden of your own. Planting season, depending on where you live, runs from early April to late October. Children love to participate and learning to grow their own food can be an educational opportunity. You can also use this opportunity to teach your child basic cooking skills and enjoy family time in the kitchen. Teaching your children that vegetables are nutitious and tasty will help everyone in the family control their waistlines.

Read more, get the recipes, see the videos.

Beautiful Boy

Tips To Build Muscles Fast

By:Chris Chew

So you want to build muscles fast? So you can just simply join a gym, lift weights regularly and after a few short months, you should be able to build enough muscle mass to take part in your neighborhood bodybuilding contest?

If it is that simple, then why is it that most people in the gym do not seem to gain much muscle even after years of weight lifting?



Well, things are not as simple as it seem or otherwise, personal trainers and muscle building books will have already gone the way of the dinosaurs, extinction.

Here below are some basic building muscle mass tips and of course, these are just tips and are not comprehensive.


1) Eat Eat And Eat - To build muscles, you must eat and then eat again. You must consume more calories than you burn them. After all you are adding mass to your body and where do those mass come from if you have insufficient calories to build them?However, try to choose good calories such as protein and complex carbohydrate. Calories from fats and alcohol do not count.


2) Up Protein Consumption - Proteins are muscle builders. You must make sure that you consume enough protein. You should consume about one gram of protein per pound of your body weight everyday if you want to build muscle mass fast. If you don't get enough protein, your muscles won't grow since you are not feeding them.


3) Health Supplements - Many people erroneously think that they do not need to take supplement to build muscles or supplements are not good for health. Hey, health supplements are food for your body and if chosen correctly, they can help you to build muscles faster.For those of you who think that supplements are harmful chemicals, then why are they called health supplements instead of drugs?For instance, some your protein sources come from eating meat. However, too much meat can cause complications such as most meats contain saturated fat which can clog your heart and arteries. So instead of eating too much meat, you can take protein supplements to get your protein.Also take multivitamins for anti-oxidant protection and to aid faster recovery.

4) Lift Weights - This is a bit of a misnomer. If you want to gain muscle mass fast, you must not only lift weights, you must lift heavy weights and lift them through compound exercises.Compound exercises like deadlift and squats work many muscle parts at the same time, that means you work almost your entire musculature instead of a single muscle group like say, dumbbell bicep curls.However, the correct lifting technique and form of lifting is very important so as to prevent injuries and make your training more effective.

5) Lift Free Weights - Use free weights like dumbells and barbells to recruit more muscle stabilizing and therefore more muscle fibers can be worked on. The more muscles you work on, the bigger they will become.

6) Get Enough Sleep And Rest - Have rest days in between your workout days and do not work the same muscle group more than twice a week. This is because your muscles need to recover from your workout to grow. More is not better in this game.

You should also get more than 8 hours of sleep if possible. Contrary to popular belief, your muscle grow when you sleep, not in the gym.

If you practice the above routine consistently, you will strat building muscles fast. Of course there are many more things you will need to know to build muscle mass effectively, but the above tips should get you along the road

Low carb vegetarian diet has health and weight loss benefits

Vegetables are versatile, nutritious, and plantiful this time of year.

A recent study revealed that overweight people who ate a low calorie vegetarian diet, that was also low in carbohydrates, for a mere month lost weight. This test diet was chiefly plant based. Proteins eaten were also made up of plant based foods like beans and legumes.

Not only did subjects lose weight, they experienced improvements in blood cholesterol levels and lowered other heart disease risk factors like blood prssure. The report was published in the June 8th 2009 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

Read more, get the recipes, annd watch the videos.

Is modern life making us fat?

Simply, the answer is yes. Modern conveniences contribute to overweight and obesity. You've heard it before, our modern lifestyle with all its gadgets and time savers like electric toothbrushes and can openers, washers and dryers, remote controls, drive-thru banks, dry cleaners, fast food chains, and in Las Vegas drive-thru wedding chapels, contribute to our weight problems. We move considerably less than our parents and grandparents did.

Here's an eye opening example. A modern housewife performs mundane chores regularly, one being her daily chore of making homemade dinners to keep her family healthy. She avoids fast foods and prepackaged processed foods.

Read more and watch the videos.

All American Sunday dinner menu and recipes

Independence Day is only a month away, summer is upon us, and it's time to relax. Homemade dinners are an opportunity to enjoy family and friends, as well as save money.

Below are a few recipes to get you started. A smart tip for money saving home cooking is to keep a well stocked pantry. When you keep the most used spices, condiments, and staples on hand, your weekly grocery list can concentrate on perishables like meat, fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy, and restocking basics.

Share a home cooked meal with those you love. Consider eating your home cooked dinner outdoors. Try a new twist on an old tradition of conducting your Sunday family dining inside by setting a casual table on your patio or deck. You'll be glad you did.

Click here for the recipes and videos.

Summer recipes for light and healthy meals

Summer is upon us, the weather's heating up, and we don't want to slave over a hot stove any longer than necessary. Here are a few healthy and light recipes to kick off your summer dining. Minimal heat required. And be sure to check out the cooking videos below.

Classic and Elegant Shrimp Cocktail

Read more and see the videos.