Fitness and BodyBuilding Tips

Squats are probably the best exercise for lower body. Apart from quads,hamsting and glutes squatting also workout the core abdominal muscles. They help build strength and stamina of the entire body.
But squatting comes with its own risks. A wrong posture can result in serious back pain and injuries..
Follow the below steps for attaining a proper posture while squatting-
1. The squat rod should be placed at shoulder height.
2. Position yourself under the rod so that it rests on your traps and shoulders.
3. Lift the bar off the rack grabbing it with a wide grip.
4. Keep the feet shoulder width apart with knees slightly bent.
5. Now go down bending from the hips as if you sitting on a chair.
6. Keep going down till the thighs are parallel to the ground.
7. Now push back. 
Remember to exhale while pushing up and inhale while going down. Make sure you do not arch round your back.
If you are beginner start with light weights and try attaining a better posture before moving onto heavier weights. Note the heavier the weights in squats the more effective it gets.


So what are you waiting for...Shut-up and squat :)...

SuperSet is a training regimen  when two or more exercises are performed back to back without any rest in between. SuperSets are meant for fast muscle growth but you compromise on strength and power as you use lighter weights here.Using SuperSets you do more in less time which is what is required for building quality muscles.
Super sets are categorised in three different types:
1. PreExhaustion Super Set- Here you preexhaust your muscle by doing an isolation exercise and then immediately hit it with a compound exercise. For example you do db fly first and then immediately do a bench press. I am not a big fan of this type of superset.
2. PostExhaustion Super Set- This is the reverse of PreExhaustion. You do the compound first and then hit with the isolation. I prefer this over PreExhaustion as i am a big fan of compound exercises and i can use heavier weights for my compound exercises and reduce the weight for the isolation.
3. Antagonistic SuperSet- Here you workout the opposite body parts in a superset eg biceps curl and then triceps extension.

I go for antagonistic super set for my arms workout and post exhaustion super set for Chest workout. For legs and shoulders i go for my normal heavyweight training as i prefer strength and power for these body parts rather than big muscles.

Below is my super set workout regimen. Remember that  there should be no rest in between the exercies in a superset else you negate the effectiveness of your superset.
Arms-
I combine compound exersices with 1 antagonistic superset exercise.
1.  Barbell Curl -  4 Sets of 8-10 reps with a max of 90 secs of rest in between sets.
2.  CloseGrip Bench Press- 4 sets of 8-10 with a max of 90 secs of rest in between sets.
3. SuperSet-
  Inclined DB Curl+Skull Crushers--4 sets with max of 1 minutes rest on between a super set.No rest between DB Curl and the Skull Crusher exercise.

Chest-
1. Flat Bench Bench Press- 3 sets of  8-10 each
2. SuperSet
Flat Bench DB Press + Flat Bench DB Fly-  3 sets of 7-10 each
3. SuperSet 
Inclined Bench DB Press +Inclined Bench DB Fly - 3 sets of 7-10 each
4. PullOvers- 3 sets of 8-10 each

If you have not tried SuperSets till now then it give it a shot and i bet you won't be disappointed if you keep doing it for 4-6 weeks with proper nutrition.

There is a big difference between males and females, in the way fat is metabolized and stored in their bodies.In this website the diet and workout plans are primarily meant for males but doing certain changes in the plans should do the trick for females too.
Below are the key points you should follow-
1. Drink lots of water through out the day. At least a glass of water every 1 hour.8 litres of water a day should be your target. 
2. Avoid saturated fats like cheese,butter etc.
3. Green leafy vegetables and fresh fruits should be mandatory in your diet.Avoid canned or bottled fruit juices altogether.Go for fresh fruits.
4. Reduce your salt intake as much as possible. Sodium  present in salt acts as water retainer and makes you look fluffy because of excess water retained in your body.Processed foods like fried chips,salted snacks etc have lots of salt.Avoid them.
5. Avoid sugar and sugary foods.
6. Increase your fibre intake. Switch from white rice to brown rice , from white bread to whole wheat breads etc.
7. Reduce your calorie intake as you go down the day i.e. breakfast should comparatively be the heaviest meal for you and dinner the lightest.
8. Split your meals throughout the day. Rather than having 3 big meals have 5-6 small meals.This increases metabolism so you lose fat faster.

Sample Diet Plan-
Breakfast (8:00) - SkimMilk (100 ml)+Oats(50 gm)+4-5 almonds+2 boiled Egg (avoid yolk)+1 banana
Snack(10:30) - 1 apple 
Lunch (12:30) - 2 Whole meal chapatis or Brown rice  with curry+Green leafy salad+2 boiled egg(avoid yolk)
Snack(4:00)- 1 apple + 5-6  unsalted almonds
Workout 5:00  to 6:00.
Dinner (7:00)- Green leafy salad+2 boiled eggs (avoid yolk)+yoghurt (unsweetened fat free one)
Dinner should be atleast 3 hours before bed.

Sample workout routine-
Concentrate  mainly on cardio exercises but do include a little bit of weight training.
Monday -
1. 30-40 minutes of cardio workout on treadmill/cross-runner etc.
2. Ab crunches 3 sets
3. Leg raises 3 sets
4. Planks 3 set
http://www.ehow.com/how_2215326_do-plank-exercises.html
 
Tuesday-
1. Squats 3 sets of 10-12 each..Refer the below link  for correct posture.
http://www.ehow.com/video_2350761_squat-exercise-tips.html
2. Lunges 3 sets of 10 each..
http://www.ehow.co.uk/video_2350762_lunge-exercise-tips.html?pid=1&cp=1
3. Leg Extension 3 sets..
http://www.ehow.co.uk/video_2350763_leg-extension-exercise-tips.html
4. Cardio for 20 minutes

Wednesday-
1. 30-40 minutes of cardio workout on treadmill/cross-runner etc.
2. Ab crunches 3 sets
3. Leg raises 3 sets
4. Planks 3 set
Refer http://www.ehow.com/how_2215326_do-plank-exercises.html

Thursday-
1. Lat Pulldown 3 sets of 10-12 each. Refer below video  for correct posture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjaxA6hIQHg
2. Shoulder lateral raise 3 sets of 10-12 each.Refer below video  for correct posture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASNNE44n_Zk
3.Dumbell curls 3 sets 10-12 each
4. Cardio for 20 minutes

Friday-
1. 30-40 minutes of cardio workout on treadmill/cross-runner etc.
2. Ab crunches 3 sets
3. Leg raises 3 sets
4. Planks 3 set
http://www.ehow.com/how_2215326_do-plank-exercises.html

Saturday-
30 minutes of cardio or any sport

Sunday-
Rest

Disclaimer: Consult your physician before starting any diet plan. Provide him the plan which you intend to follow.

People tend to ignore Legs workout from their workout routine as they are not apparently visible from outside. But do remember that legs form the base of human body. Not for nothing did Albert Einstein once said - “The legs are the wheels of creativity". I still do not understand this quote completely though :)..
Legs  probably form the most important body part of a human body and ignoring these precious gifts will not do you any good. You do not want to end up with great chest or arms but skinny chicken legs.You need strong legs to support your strong upper body else you would end up with a hunched physique.
Working out legs is not that time consuming too. You can finish your legs exercise withing half an hour max. You can combine this with any of your upper body workouts too.I prefer combining back and legs in a day.Refer the Workout routines to see the list of leg exercises in combination with back workout. Go for compound exercises when you work out your legs like Squats or Lunges..
Keep following this blog and the website.I will be adding a few videos on how to do these exercises with correct posture.

HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training-
Note: HIIT is intended only for advanced trainers. Beginners should stick to the normal 30 minutes cardio workout.
Steps-
1. Strech-Strech your muscles properly specifically the leg muscles.
2. WarmUp- Warmup by doing brisk walkin for a couple of minutes
3. Get Set- Now start running at your normal speed for a period of 6 minutes.
4. Sprint- Now speed the treadmill to the fastest speed you can run.Basically you need to sprint now for a period of 1 minute.
5. Slow down- Now get back to your original speed and keep running for a furthur 5 minutes.
6. Sprint- Repeat step 4.
7. Repeat step 5.
8. CoolDown-Repeat step 2.

This should take you a total of 20-25 minutes.Once you get comfortable with this routine you can reduce the slowdown period and increase the sprint periods.
As this is a high intensity routine, do not do this daily. 2-3 times a week in just fine.