Q&A – How to Gain Weight and Build Muscle for Skinny Guys (With Regev Elya)

Jan 20 by GuestPoster

Author: Regev Elya, creator and author of FreshBeetle, a website dedicated to sharing my knowledge and passion of nutrition and exercise. I’m deeply interested in the biological sciences, and especially the human body. I’ve been through a 62lbs transformation and literally went from being a poor scrawny guy to the strongest guy among my peers.

These are questions that I get asked all the time. I thought it will be a good idea to write them down and answer them publicly so that everyone can benefit from their answers. If you have any more questions, feel free to drop me an email at regev@freshbeetle.com . I will do my best to answer each and every question that is being thrown on my way. Good luck!

Q: ” Do you need meal replacement shakes ? All of my friends say that because I’m a skinny dude, I can not possibly grow without unnatural intervention, such as these weight gainer shakes. What are your thoughts about it? Thanks in advance – Sean. “

A: First of all, these meal replacement shakes are not more ‘unnatural’ than a bag of cornflakes. This is just processed food, nothing more. You certainly don’t NEED these shakes although they might be useful if your appetite is not high enough. I have gone all the way from 55kg to 83kg without any powdered protein or gainer product. You can certainly do the same. It is just powdered nutrients. If you can get them from natural whole foods – all the better.

Q: How do I gain weight as a skinny guy with fast metabolism? Is it all about the foods as everyone says? Thanks!

A: Well, it’s mostly nutrition. I mean, the best plan in the world will not make you big – it will make you strong. Nutrition helps you get bigger. The exercise portion simply means you will get more muscle relatively to fat with the excess calories from nutrition. Make sure you consume loads of whole foods nutrients, and exercise heavy – squats, deadlifts, bench presses, and other complex multi joint exercise that will help your body to grow as a systematical whole. This is the way monsters have been produced for ages.

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Choose the Right Home Gym Equipment

Jan 16 by GuestPoster

Home gyms have been popular for quite some time now because it gives people freedom on their time, rules, regulations, setup, and money. You can purchase the right types of home gym equipments at http://www.nordictrack.com/. Before buying one though, keep in mind that the equipment must fit the house, give the desired benefits, and affordable.

If yo decide to set up a home gym, you will need more than one piece of equipment since you should get the proper workout for the whole body. Prior to buying multiple pieces of equipment, find a convenient spot for your home gym inside your home or apartment. It should be spacious enough to do the exercise routines on and off the equipments. Bigger venues can be beneficial especially if people choose to add mirrors and refreshments inside.

The gym equipments’ sizes should fit the house. There are plenty of compact and foldable fitness equipments that people can try as it also yields the best results. Buying equipments that does not fit in a room would be wasted as it might end up in storage. Choose machine types that will give the maximum benefit by providing every part of the body exercise so that money and space will not be wasted.

Cost is another factor people should look at. Buying a home equipment is generally cheaper than exclusive membership in a gym. However, it is better for an individual to buy machines that give more benefits and exercise the whole body instead of paying for equipments that are restricted when it comes to giving workout routines for different body parts.

People can try fitness machines such as ellipticals, treadmills, bicycle, and stair steppers. These machines have models that possess the space-saver function, which allows people to fold the equipment and store it properly in a closet. Other makes of these equipments also involve a compact and sleek design that will fit a person’s training area or just the living room every time they get to workout.

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post that does NOT necessarily represent the opinions of our editorial team.

Questions? Comments? Weight Loss Tips?

Why not add to the conversation in the comment section below! Are you trying to lose weight? What type of diet are you following? What are you struggling with?

Want to share some weight loss tips with fellow readers? I’ll be looking forward to hearing from you!

Thanks!

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Diet Tips for 2012: Welcome to Paleo Diet!

Jan 12 by GuestPoster

So the new year has arrived and with it so have dreams and resolutions to make it the best it can be. One aim that people typically love to go for is sorting out their health and fitness and trading old shoddy diets and lazy fitness regimes for new ones. There is a problem though, most diets just don’t work. Most people can’t stick to them or don’t see results fast enough to warrant the effort and cost that’s involved. Some of them are even problematic and potentially dangerous, such as the “treacle” diet as championed by certain celebrities.

So what are some great and low risk ways to drastically improve your health and diet that are proven to work?

Nutrition 101

Guess what. Our bodies aren’t actually designed to metabolize carbohydrates and grains.

Processed sugars, wheats and grains do us far more harm than good and there is a succinct correlation between countries in which they are eaten and high rates of diabetes and cancers.

This is because our entire digestive systems and energy regulatory systems evolved at a time when these foods simply didn’t exist. The only available food sources were fresh vegetables, meats and nuts. No crisps and chocolate bars. Think more raisins and lamb steaks. This is what we should be eating.

Welcome to the paleo diet.

This is where the Paleo diet comes in. With huge health benefits and an unrivaled history of helping people lose huge amounts of fat with out carving into muscle Paleo is the best way to go in my experience. You basically remove all processed carbs and sugars from your diet and replace them with healthy vegetables and meats. A typical Paleo day might look like:

Breakfast: omelet with peppers, ham and spinach

Snack: nuts and fruit

Lunch: honey and mustard chicken salad with pine nuts

Snack: banana

Dinner: Green Thai curry with broccoli, chicken and mixed vegetables.

It’s actually pretty delicious and you can check out the Paleo diet recipes at Paleo Banquet. Also be sure to read the Primal blueprint and the 100 healthiest foods for great information on what you should be putting into your body in 2012.

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post that does NOT necessarily represent the opinions of our editorial team.

Questions? Comments? Weight Loss Tips?

Why not add to the conversation in the comment section below! Are you trying to lose weight? What type of diet are you following? What are you struggling with?

Want to share some weight loss tips with fellow readers?  I’ll be looking forward to hearing from you!

Thanks!

read more