Author: ramin32

My New Routine & Diet

Routine

Day 1 (30-45 min cardio)
Just pick up something fun like cycling, running, or some sort of team sport.
Day 2 (Push Day – Chest, Triceps, Shoulders)

  1. 5 min chest & shoulder warm up
  2. 3 x 20 pushups
  3. 3 x 15 dumbbell flies
  4. 3 x 10 incline push ups (from chair)
  5. 3 x 20 dips
  6. 3 x 15 skull crushers
  7. 3 x 10 military press
  8. 3 x 10 lateral raise
  9. 3 x 10 front raises
  10. Cool down by statically stretching all muscles worked this day for at least 30 seconds.


Day 3 (Legs & Abs–super set–no rest between sets)

  1. 5 min legs & abs warm up–bicycles are a good option.
  2. 3 x 20 squats (with dumbbells on shoulders)
  3. 3 x 10 leg raises
  4. 3 x 15 leg curls on the swiss ball
  5. 3 x 20 crunch on swiss ball
  6. 3 x 20 lunges (with hanging dumbbells)
  7. 3 x 20 side crunch (both sides)
  8. 3 x 20 calf raises
  9. 3 x 20 jackknives on swissball
  10. Cool down by statically stretching all muscles worked this day for at least 30 seconds.

Day 4 (Pulling Day – Back, Biceps, Lats)

  1. 5 min back bicep lats warm up.
  2. 3 x 10 pull ups
  3. 3 x 10 isolated curls
  4. 3 x 20 shrugs
  5. 3 x 10 rear deltoid raises
  6. 3 x 20 rows
  7. 3 x 20 dead lifts
  8. 3 x 20 back extension
  9. 1 x 10 pull ups (optional)
  10. Cool down by statically stretching all muscles worked this day for at least 30 seconds.


Day 5: Rest
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Repeat from Day 1
 

Diet

Breakfast: Three eggs (boiled or fried), 1 bowl of oatmeal with milk and cinnamon and 1 cup of black tea.
Lunch: Half a salad, a portion of complex carbs (brown rice, whole wheat bread, sweet potato, etc), a good portion of protein and one cup of black tea.
Afteroon Snack: 1-3 servings of fruit, yogurt or nuts.
Dinner: Half a salad, a portion of complex carbs (brown rice, whole wheat bread, sweet potato, etc), a good portion of protein and one cup of black tea.
Evening Snack: 1-3 servings of fruit, yogurt or nuts.
 

Guidelines

  1. Find the heaviest dumbbell you can lift 10 times with good form. You can get cheap ones on Craigslist.
  2. If the workout is not followed by a meal, make sure to replenish your energy with 1 fruit and a yogurt or some other form of fast digesting protein.
  3. Train yourself to eat slowly and stop eating a soon as you are no longer hungry–even if there is food remaining on your plate. When creating portions for yourself opt for less (but enough to satisfy), and add more if you’re still hungry. Once there’s more food on your plate it’s hard to stop.
  4. Keep a water bottle at your desk. I refill mine about 4-5 times a day. It’s especially important to stay hydrated during your workout. I drink about 3 cups per workout.
  5. And finally, everything in moderation, including moderation.

Ramin-Approved Oatmeal Raisin Cookies!!!

Ingredients:

  1. 1 3/4 cups Whole Wheat Flour (good slow digesting carb)
  2. 1 3/4 cups old fashioned oats (good slow digesting carb)
  3. 3/4 cups softened butter (contrary to popular belief, fat doesn’t make you fat)
  4. 1 cup of raisins 
  5. 1 tsp baking soda
  6. 1 tsp cinnamon (cinnamon lowers the glycemic index of carbs by 20%!)
  7. 1 tsp nutmeg
  8. 2 eggs
  9. 1/4 tsp salt
  10. 1 cup of honey (natural form of sugar, okay in moderation)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  2. Mix flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda. Set aside.
  3. To soften butter: bring water to boil in a small pot, turn of the heat, and place the cup of butter into the pot for 5-10 minutes. Cover the cup with a flat plater for faster melting.
  4. Beat eggs, mix in butter.
  5. Add eggs and butter to dry mix (step 2). Mix thoroughly. Butter should not be visible.
  6. Add in honey, oats and raisins. Mix thoroughly.
  7. Sprinkle some whole wheat flour on 2 baking sheets.
  8. Set a bag of flour nearby, scoop up small balls of the dough, pad both sides with flour and place flat onto cooking sheet 2 inches apart.
  9. Cookies will be ready after 15 minutes or until you see slight browning around the edges.
  10. Let cool for 20 minutes.

Makes 30 cookies.

Complete Home Gym for Under $100

Can’t afford the gym, or simply prefer to workout at home? No problem! You can get all the benefits of a gym for under $100.

  1. TKO Anti Burst Fitness Ball Set 75cm ($19.40) 
  2. Champion Barbell 15-Pound Solid Hex Dumbell with Ergo Grip ($15.19 x 2) 
  3. Iron Gym Total Upper Body Workout Bar ($24.99)
  4. Valeo Yoga Kit ($19.99) 
  5. Your body (priceless :) ).

Total Sum = $94.76
For a complete full body workout routine check out this post.

Paleo Doubts of Mine

Plain Oatmeal
Plain Oatmeal

1 Banana
1 Banana

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For those unfamiliar with the Paleo Diet, the premise is simple; you simply eat whatever your hunter-gatherers ancestors ate before the advent of agriculture. This means removing all grains, legumes and dairy from your diet. Leaving you with lots of vegetables, fruits, meats, fish, fowl, nuts and healthy oils. The rationale behind this diet is that it takes a long period of time (something like 10,000 years) for a species to adopt a new diet, and we haven’t passed that threshold yet. Paleo advocates also claim that some components of grains are actually toxic and detrimental to overall health.
I’ve gone Paleo for the past 8 days in an attempt to optimize my health and nutrition. For the first few days it seemed to be a welcome change; I’ve lost the need to have to munch on something every couple of hours and maybe even felt a bit more energized. But recently I started getting strong carb cravings and feelings of malnourishment. I should note that in tandem with this diet, I am also working out pretty rigorously following my usual routine. So that might be causing my body to crave more carbs.
In keeping up with the Paleo guidelines, I end up binging on fruits and tubers. All this consumption of Paleo-aproved carbs got me thinking if the diet is sound. By comparing the nutritional facts we learn that a single banana has more carbs than a bowl of oatmeal! Is this Paleo thing really ligit?! I am being unfair — Paleo enthusiasts do suggest limiting your fruit intake. But what would be the harm in replacing my morning banana with a bowl of delicious oatmeal?
Reading through Mark Sisson’s The Primal Blueprint reveals some holes in his biological rationale for going “primal” (Mark’s cooler version of Paleo). He mentions that a high carb diet leads to an over-production of insulin. Which, in turn, causes cells to become unreceptive to glucose — causing malnutrition and the buildup of body fat. But fruits have carbs too!
Dylan Klein does an amazing job at explaining the flaws of The Paleo Manifesto.
Coincidentally positive results from going Paleo might just be some sort of placebo effect taking place. If I recall the statistics correctly, more people heal from placebo drugs compared to actual ones. So there you have it!

Expensive shoes or proper running form?!

Ever since I started running, I experienced varying severities of foot pain. At first, I though that the answer was to find the perfect running shoe. There was much hype in the fore-foot running shoe market, but it didn’t seem anything more than just hype. I got myself a pair or Vibram Five Fingers, played around with the Newtons, tried various other brands found in your local sporting good stores. Unfortunately nothing helped me get rid of the pain. Running shouldn’t be this hard and painful, our bodies are naturally designed to run.
I’ve come to the realization that no matter how expensive your shoe is, if your form is not correct, you will continue to experience foot pain. Simply relying on expensive running shoes, while running blindly is not the way to go!
This is what I found works best for me:

  1. Land on your fore-foot instead of your heal to activate your body’s natural shock absorbent mechanism.
  2. As you strike be conscious of the landing to ensure that the bottom of your foot touches the ground in parallel and does not pronoate or supinate (roll slightly to the right or left).
  3. Lean slightly forward.
  4. As you move your arms from side to side keep the movement to a minimum; avoid having your hands pass the center of your torso. This helps prevent shoulder strain and leaves you with more energy for where it’s actually needed — your legs.

During this morning’s run, for the first time, I put conscious thought into every single stride with focus on the above 4 tips. The run felt comfortable and painless. I even felt like running more than my usual distance! As I have already mentioned,  this is what I found worked well for me. You have to do some research and experiment with various techniques to see what helps for you.
The key point to take home is that by buying into the whole shoe market idealogy we have neglected to learn the proper running form. We must regain control of our bodies, and help it do what it does best, naturally.
I would love to hear about your tips that helped you during your runs!

The Skinny on Whole Wheat and Fiber


What are whole grains, and what makes them so special? It’s pretty simple: during the milling process, the bran and germ of the grains are kept intact, but removed in refined grains.
What are the benefits of removing the bran and germ? Great shelf life for the manufacturer and softer texture in baking. Unfortunately you lose a lot when you lose the bran and germ, because they contain higher amounts of vitamins, minerals, fiber, essential fatty acids, antioxidants, and phytochemicals.
Fiber found in whole grains help you feel fuller for longer periods of time, which in turn helps you maintain a healthy diet and stops you from over-eating. Refined or enriched grains digest much quicker leading to fat gain, energy crashes and overeating (due to less satiety). On the other hand, whole wheat digests much slower. Slow digestion yields slow release of energy, providing longer-lasting energy and increased satiety.
Studies show that when athletes eat whole-grain carbs before exercise, they have greater endurance, burn more fat during exercise and at rest, and they eat fewer calories during the day.
Another added benefit of whole grains, is that  they aid in reducing the risk of different diseases and cancers. Whole grains have also been showed to decrease the amount of bad cholesterol (LDL) and increase the amount of good cholesterol (HDL). Fiber which is found in high volumes in whole grains, helps regulate your gastrointestinal system. If that wasn’t enough, fiber also help maintain healthy levels of blood sugar in your system which prevent the onset of type two diabetes.
Now that we know the benefits of whole wheat, that doesn’t mean that we can eat whole wheat bread and pasta all day long! Whole wheat should be mixed with plenty of vegetables and protein in your diet. The recommended amount is around 3 ounces. A one-ounce serving can be in the form of a slice of bread; a half cup of cooked cereal, rice, or pasta; or about 1 cup of dry cereal.
When purchasing whole wheat make sure to read the ingredients and not simply fall for the advertising. The ingredients must specify: “whole grain” or “100% whole wheat”.
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