SPORT BODY
Using actual science and facts to back-up our statements
April 2014 Issue 1
2014
EARN
muscle
SUCCEeD
and Body
Getting ready for summer?
Build more muscle lose more fat
6 pack abs uncover
Tricks to
Success
HOT & FIT
s s e n t i F e l a Fem Real
r e s u lt s l a e r d ts an Workou
content
April 2014 issue
www.sportbody.com
The Beginning
Flexibilty
Toned Legs
Lose Fat
03 04 05 06 07 08 09
Motivation
Toned Arms
Toned Abs
Conclusion
that
Getting Abs
ROCK .
PAGE 7
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editor
Nathan Weissbock
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authors Nathan Weissbock
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designer Nathan Weissbock
1
Model: Meaghan Blakely photos: Nathan Weissbock
Motivation is defined as the process that initiates, guides and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. Motivation is what causes us to act, whether it is getting a glass of water to reduce thirst or reading a book to gain knowledge. In this case, it is the urge and drive to want to workout. How do you find motivation to exercise when you just don’t feel like getting off your butt? I ask myself this question every now and then, and I have the feeling I’m not the only one. There are a million ways to motivate yourself to exercise. And trust me, I’ve had days when I’ve struggled with exercise. Most recently, the things that have helped include finding a workout partner (one of the best motivators!), logging my exercise, reading magazines, books and websites, and rewarding myself. Even action movies give me the occasional pump!
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FLEXIBILITY
Mostly everyone knows the proper order of exercising is to warm-up, stretch, exercise, cool-down, and stretch. People who believe this may be putting their muscles in more harm than you may think. In a general description, here is what happens to your muscles when you work them out: When you lift weight, your muscles exert force in order to overcome the stress. When you exert more force than what your muscles are used to exerting in daily activities, they develop micro tears in the fibers. This is normal and what needs to happen in order for the muscle to grow and become stronger. The micro tears allow the muscle to expand very slightly and the rebuilding of the tears is why you feel sore. Your muscles have elasticity to them which allows them to move and produce force. The more elastic (flexible) they are, the more they can safely produce force. In order to get the muscles elastic, they must have adequate blood flow to them to keep them warm. If this is done, the muscle are less likely to sustain injury due to tight, cold muscles.
If muscles are not warmed up before beginning to exercise, you have a higher risk of tearing your muscles. This is because not enough blood is getting to the muscle fibers to warm them up and make them flexible enough to produce the force needed to overcome the stress. When stress is exerted on the tight muscles, they may tear. The same happens with muscles if they are attempted to be stretched without properly warming up. The stretching is what helps make the muscles elastic. Like stated before, the more elastic the muscles are, the safer they are able to and the more force they can produce. But if cold muscles are stretched, they have a high possibility of injury. This injury could include anything from pulling to tearing to even snapping. Think of it like a cold rubber band, if the rubber is cold, it does not stretch very well. You begin to stretch it and may see small cracks in the band. This could be the tearing of your muscles. If you keep stretching the rubber band, it may snap on you. This is the same as your muscles. If you keep stretching a cold muscle it may snap.
aining Maint ility is flexib rotect op tant t ossible r o p im mp elf fro s r injury u o y
Think about how you work out. Consider taking 10 extra minutes to warm-up and stretch your muscles. 10 minutes of preparing to exercise is better than weeks of recovering from an injury. 4 Sport Body | April 2014
Toned Arms Model: Marizza Flores photos: Nathan Weissbock
What is required to achieve those arms you seek
S W
o, what is the secret? Get Ready… it’s Push Ups! Yes, you heard us right. And while it’s one of the longest standing and most basic exercises, by doing the right variation and the right number of reps, your arms will transform before your very eyes. hy pushups?Like most women, when first introduced to ‘strengthtraining,’ I was not a fan. I thought strength training’ meant ‘getting big’ (which is a myth by-the-way). And, let’s be serious, as a woman, the last thing you want is big bulky muscles, right? Rather, most of them want a long, lean and toned look. And push-ups do just that! They train the triceps (which is 2/3 of the arm) and the biceps).
Funny thing is, amongst many modern fitness enthusiasts, the push-up is often overlooked due to its simplicity. A lot of people are under the misconception that something so basic couldn’t possibly be the best overall upper-body exercise out there. Even members of the primal community who know better than to buy into mainstream hype are often skeptical of my claim that the humble push-up is nature’s perfect exercise. But my favorite thing about push-ups is that they don’t require anything more than a floor, so you can do them anywhere. And as I always say, If you don’t have a floor, you’ve got much bigger problems!
Neck
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Keeping the head looking straight ahead will ensure that this keeps your back and neck striaght, which will prevent injury
Strong Legs
Model: Kelsey Hayes | Photos: Nathan Weissbock
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quatting is one of the best lower body exciercises for you. By moving your body through a full range of motion, you’ll not only build strength; you’ll boost flexibility as well. Deep squatting helps to increase range of motion in the entire hip complex.
The benefit: reduced back pain and an easier time getting around in daily activities or sporting events. Squat exercises thoroughly engage the quadriceps, hamstrings and calf muscles, which helps to tone and strengthen the legs. Slowing the motion down makes the workout that much more intense. Doing squats gives the glutes a powerful workout, helping to tighten and lift the butt. To increase this effect, give your glutes an extra squeeze when returning to a standing position. Squats engage the core muscles of the body. Abdominal and back muscles are needed to keep balance during the movement. The result is a tighter, flatter abdomen and a stronger lower back. Make a conscious effort to hold in your abdominal muscles while squatting down to increase this effect. Once you’re comfortable with doing squats, you can increase the difficulty by adding weights. Try holding dumbbells at shoulder level or use a barbell across your shoulders. You can also use one dumbbell; hold it in front of you with both hands while squatting. It’s especially important to maintain proper form when using weights. Keep your knees aligned with your feet and don’t squat beyond the point where your thighs are parallel to the floor.
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Core
Model: Kirsten Lee
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Photos: Nathan Weissbock
The Weighted Sit-up
You can use weighted plates, medicine balls, bars or resistance bands to supply the resistance when performing weighted sit-ups. When using resistance bands, the band must be tied to something stable behind you, and you can hold the ends of the band with your hands behind your head. Beginners should start with very light weight.
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it-ups are one of the oldest and most used abdominal workouts out there for several reasons, including the facts that they can be done without any expensive gym equipment and that they target the abs directly. As with any type of resistance exercises, adding weight offers the advantage of increased strength, muscle tone and muscle size. Weighted sit-ups are an effective abdominal workout when proper form is used, but you must know what you’re doing before attempting these sit-ups.
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You are at risk of injury when performing weighted sit-ups. Using too much weight is one of the easiest ways to injure your neck or back. If you notice that you’re stressing your neck excessively during the exercise, you are probably using too much weight. Good technique is far more important than how much weight you can hold. Try to keep your head and back in a straight line throughout the entire movement. This will force your abdominal muscles to work rather than your back and neck.
fat burning Illustration: Nathan Weissbock
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The HIIT Workouts
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hen most people think of cardio, they think of long, boring jogs, or endless hours on the elliptical. I have good news for you: there’s a method of cardio that takes much less time and is far superior to jogging to help you burn fat. It’s called High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). High Intensity Interval Training involves alternating between very intense bouts of exercise and low intensity exercise. For example, sprinting for 30 seconds, then walking for 60 seconds is high intensity interval training. HIIT can be used both anaerobically (in the gym with weights) and aerobically with cardio. Exercise physiologists used to believe that “steady state” cardio was superior for fat loss because relatively more fat is used by the body as fuel at lower exercise intensities than at higher intensities. The “Fat Burning Zone” shown on most cardio equipment as only 60%-65% of max heart rate is really a myth and is NOT optimal for burning fat. Yes, you burn more fat relative to glycogen when going for a walk, but what we care about is total fat burn. At higher intensities, you are burning far more fat, even though the fat/glycogen ratio is lower. In addition, interval training allows you to exercise at very high intensities for a much longer period of time than steady state, so you burn more fat.
“When you drop a pebble into a pool of water, the pebble starts a series of ripples that extend until they encompass the whole pool. This is exactly what will happen when you give your ideas a definite plan of action.” -Bruce Lee
Between work and family commitments, it‘s all too easy to let your diet and fitness routine slide. But while getting back into shape isn’t easy, it is doable -- with several lifestyle changes. By adopting a healthier diet, incorporating exercise into your daily routine and staying motivated, you can be on your way to better health in no time.
There will be times you will want to give up, unmotivated, not passionate enough to move on, but we hope to make sure that does not happen. We want to be with you every step of the way and make sure you reach your goal. You have already taken the first step in your journey by reading this magazine. Don`t stop now.
We hope that you join us on this amazing journey we are about to go on, and by subscribing to this magazine, you are about to impart on the adventure of a lfetime.
Model: Joë Dion-Croteau
Photos: Nathan Weissbock Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.
Fit
Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.
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