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Written by Alan B. Densky, CH
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Despite the popularity of the Atkins Diet, it is often greatly misrepresented! Popular, yet slightly exaggerated depictions of the program portray dieters eating nothing but vast quantities of meat and fat. Although the diet itself may not be quite this simple, many dieters following the program have successfully lost weight and improved their health.
On this program, dieters follow a highly specific program based on limited carbohydrate intake. Emphasis is placed on the nutritional aspects of the diet over exercise and other factors, although getting physical activity is also important to weight loss. There are four stages in the Atkins plan:
Induction: For the duration of this two-week phase at the beginning of the diet program, dieters can only consume up to 20 grams of carbohydrates each day. Dieters can ingest high protein foods such as meat and fish, fats such as oils and butter, and other food with little to no carbohydrate content. Many foods with carbohydrates are not permitted at all, including alcoholic beverages.
This early phase is intended to help the body go from burning carbohydrates for energy, as it normally does, into burning fat stored in the body (the state known as ketosis). Most dieters begin to lose pounds during this phase.
Ongoing Weight Loss: During this stage, dieters gradually increase their carbohydrate intake by adding 5 grams of carbohydrates into their diet each week. Dieters adjust their diet, losing weight to put themselves within 5-10 pounds of their target weight, before moving into the Pre-maintenance stage.
Pre-maintenance: Dieters use the Pre-maintenance stage to find out the maximum amount of carbohydrates they can ingest without experiencing weight gain. During this stage, dieters add 10 grams of carbohydrates to their diet each week. Once dieters reach their target weight and can maintain it for a month, they move into the Lifetime Maintenance phase.
Lifetime Maintenance: For lasting results, the Atkins program is designed to be maintained throughout the dieter's lifetime. Using the strategies that helped the dieter reach their target weight, the dieter maintains an eating and exercise program to stay at their target weight. Individuals can revert to previous stages if their weight starts to rise again.
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Written by Darren O Connell
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If you're looking for serious muscle growth then you will need to follow some universal muscle building rules. Muscle growth will only occur when certain elements are in place and triggered correctly. There are many things you can do to improve your muscle building results like change your routine, change your sets and reps and change your diet for the better. Making these changes will change your results. Here are 5 secrets for massive muscles that you can use or consider.
1. You must lift heavy weights - How often have you heard that one? Heavy weights, how heavy is heavy? The weights must be heavy enough that by the time you get to 6 reps you are struggling to reach 8 to 12 reps. You should not be able to do 15 reps. The ideal rep range for muscle growth is 8 to 12 reps but in order to induce muscle growth you should struggle on the sixth rep while pushing for 8 to 12. You should always have someone on standby when you are pushing heavy weights.
2. Keep your workouts under 1 hour - Train with high intensity but never go over the hour. It is a waste of time and recovery energy when you go over the hour. 45 minutes is even better. The idea is to induce muscle growth by warming up the muscle area sufficiently then hitting the muscle groups hard (2 muscle groups per session is good) and then get out before the hour.
3. Do fewer sets and fewer body parts - There is absolutely no reason to do six sets of this exercise and six sets of that exercise. You can but you will get little or no results for it, especially if you're trying to lift heavy weights and train intensely. It cannot be done successfully. 2 to 3 sets per body part is more than enough to induce muscle growth, not counting your warm up sets. 2 body parts per session is all you should be concentrating on at time, some people only train 1 body part a session with great results.
4. Eat 8 meals a day - It's easier than you think. You can eat 4 solid decent meals along with 3 or 4 protein shakes. There's breakfast lunch dinner and snack and there's also the pre and post training meals or shakes, and you can fit in a protein shake last thing at night just before bed. You need those calories and protein to ensure sufficient energy for recover and muscle growth.
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