Want those rocking ladies legs?

Are you wanting to get those hot ladies legs? With it almost being swimsuit season, it might be time to do a killer leg routine to get them ready. Throw this leg day into your routine for the next 6-8 weeks to walk with confidence.

Box Jumps

Start out with the box jumps to help your legs get warmed up. Perform 5 sets of 20. Keep the box height to right below knee level.

Elevated Reverse Lunges

For these reverse lunges, keep your box around 6 inches high. Start on top of the box and step backwards, lowering your knee as far as you can. Really stretch those hip flexors. Do 3 sets of 12. If you can, use dumbbells.

Body Weight Squats

Looks easy enough, right? Well don't be to happy yet. We are going to do something called Tabata Squats. Do the squats and in control. Perform 20 reps as quick as you can, rest 10 seconds and repeat. I want you to do this 3 times, so you will be doing 60 reps per set. Complete 3 sets and expect to transform your lower body into hot ladies legs.

Stiff Leg Deadlifts

This exercise is a form exercise. Keep your back straight, shoulders back, and head up. On the contracting movement, focus on pulling with your hamstring and butt. Do 3 sets of 12.

Calf Jumps No video for this one yet. It's a simple exercise though. With your feet side by side, jump as high as you can only using your calves. Don't allow your legs to bend other than on impact of landing. As soon as you hit the ground, explode back upward as high as you can. Perform 3 sets of 25. Finish it off with a set of quick explosive calf jumps, only coming off the ground a half inch. Something like a boxer does when jumping rope quickly. Do this for 30-60 seconds.

Give this workout a try for a while and watch those ladies legs shape up.

Combine this routine and some healthy foods to eat and you will see results in no time. You can find more nutrition and fitness articles from my blog, Go Healthy Fitness

Bad effects of energy drinks.

Everyday in your local gym you will find energy drinks being sold. These drinks are known to give the consumer an energy boost and help prolong a workout. Recent research has shown the effects of energy drinks may be worse than we have thought.

An Australian medical team did a study using 30 young adults. The experiment was designed to test the effects of stimulant drinks on a human's blood system. The subject's blood was tested before given 1 can of sugar free Red Bull. One hour later, they tested the blood again.

One of the researchers, Scott Willoughby, said "One hour after they drank Red Bull, their blood systems were no longer normal. They were abnormal like we would expect to see in a patient with cardiovascular disease?" Does this sound like a good effect of energy drinks? No way. Willoughby believes if you have high blood pressure or are under a lot of stress, the drink could be life threatening. Other studies have shown it increasing heart rate and blood pressure, which is a common effect of caffeine.

This isn't the first time stimulant drinks have been linked to health troubles. These drinks are banned in Norway, Uruguay, and Denmark. An Irish student drank 3 cans of Red Bull after strenuous exercise and died. After 3 more people died in Sweden in 2001 who drank it with alcohol, the product was under review. BBC Northern Ireland released a report about recommendations when consuming a stimulant drink. This report was created by the Food Safety Protection Board (FSPB).

The report recommends:

Children under the age of 16 should not be allowed these beverages

Take caution when combining stimulant drinks and alcohol

They should not be consumed during exercise or a sporting event

They should be classified with other beverages of high caffeine content

Next time you are looking for an energy booster, think about what you're doing to your body. Good substitutes for stimulant drinks are green tea or ginseng.

If your trying to get the motivation to lose weight, don't rely on energy drinks. It all depends on proper nutrition and exercise. You can read more fitness and nutrition articles at Go Healthy Fitness.

Rotator Cuff Anatamy explained

I thought I should do a short article of what exactly is the rotator cuff anatomy. Hopefully this will help people understand how to prevent common injuries to the shoulder.

There are four points in the shoulder where bone meets bone. Two of these cause most of the problems with exercisers. The A/C joint and the gleno-humeral joint..

A/C Joint
The A/C joint is where the shoulder blade meets the collarbone. These two bones are held together by only a ligament. With too much pressure or a large impact, you can stretch or tear this ligament allowing the bones to seperate. This is what happens when someone separates their shoulder.

Gleno-humeral Join
The Gleno-humeral joint on the other hand is where the shoulder blade meets the arm bone, the humerus. This joint is what most people think about when they think of the shoulder. It includes the glenoid fossa which is the depression into which the ball of the upper arm bone fits. This is a ball and socket joint. The muscles and tendons in this area are what keep the bones in the correct position.

There are many muscles that cause movement of the shoulder and make up the rotator cuff anatomy. Most of these muscles are responsible for more than one movement. An example of this is the bicep. It is used for flexing the arm, but it also assists in raising the arm forward. Other muscles involved in shoulder movements include the shoulders(duh), chest, triceps, and the lats.

To prevent injury or perform rotator cuff therapy, try my small exercise routine. You can find more exercise and nutrition tips at my blog, Go Healthy Fitness.

The 300 Workout, are you up to this advanced workout?

If you've seen the movie 300, you know what workout I'm talking about. It's been quite a fad ever since the movie release. Who wouldn't want that chissled look all the actors display in that movie? But this routine is an advanced workout so be ready.

This routine was created by Mark Twight. Mark is a former world-class mountain climber. He took the cast of actors and stuntmen to Gym Jones in Salt Lake City and had to whip them into shape within 12 weeks. By the look of his routine he is a strong believer of "no pain, no gain", just another tactic of an advanced workout.

The Workout:

• 25 pull ups
• 50 deadlifts with 135 lbs.
• 50 push ups
• 50 box jumps with a 24 inch box
• 50 Floor wipers at 135 lbs.
• 50 Kettle Ball clean and press at 35 lbs.
• 25 pull ups

Now before you hop in the gym and try and do this, you have to realize this isn't the workout they did 5 days a week for 12 weeks. This "300″ routine was built as a graduation workout to test the cast at the end of their training regimen. Twight says, there were months of training involved. He had to transform the actors and stuntmen physically and mentally for this advanced workout.

This routine will be grueling and exhausting but if you want to give it a try one day, go for it and let me know how you did. Each exercise doesn't need to be completed in 1 set, you can use as many sets as needed, but your wanting to complete the entire workout in as little time as possible. Andrew Pleavin, who played Daxos, completed the routine in 18 minutes and 11 seconds.

Training to be able to handle this involves many forms of exercise. The participants did an assortment of high intensity interval training, heavy load/small volume training, and sometimes a series of smaller workouts that when put together made an interesting amount of load and volume. Twight even says, "some days were used to break the guys pyschologically." They liked to call thse punishment days.

The training required 90 minutes to 2 hours a day at 5 days a week. They were also required to undergo fight training. They were only given enough food to recover from their workouts. This helped burn any extra fat on their bodies. Nutrition is always a must for an advanced workout.

William Kraemer, PhD, is a professor of kinesiology at the University of Conneticut in Storrs. Here is what he had to say about the program to WebMD: "This program was done for a stylistic effect, to look like a Spartan. The out of shape person who starts this 300 test is going to be dead the first day. No one could do this without prior training. You have to progress."

Dr. Kraemer says the amount of breakdown to muscle fibers taking place in this program may be severe enough to be toxic for the kidneys. He says, "If you have heart problems, you could have a variety of problems with this workout" He mentions anything from serious tissue break down to a heart attack. "It's too extreme for the average person."

If you are looking to prepare for this advanced workout, then you need to prepare your body. Try out this 4 day weight lifting workout to help get your body ready. You can find more fitness and nutrition articles from my blog, Go Healthy Fitness

4 Day Weight Lifting Workout

This weight lifting workout is great for all levels of weight lifters. It has the right proportion of compound and isolation exercises to get the muscle development we are all looking for. For the beginner, this routine is great for learning many exercises and preparing the ligaments and tendons for heavier weights and lower rep routines later on. The intermediate to advanced lifters out there should consider using this routine as an 8-12 week buffer between low rep, heavy weight routines. If exercises are to be substituted, replace with compound exercises with compound exercises and the same goes for isolation movements.

Many times I will be asked if this weight lifting workout is more for someone wanting to lose weight, or for someone wanting to gain muscle. When it comes to lifting weights, nearly all routines will be beneficial for either goal. Diet and cardio are what play the major role in weight management. The 3 off days in this routine are great to do cardio if your goal is to lose some weight and along the way this routine will help build muscle. If your goal is to gain muscle mass, use the off days as rest days for maximum recovery.

This routine should be performed for 8-12 weeks. The first two weeks are used to find the maximum weight you can perform and complete each exercise. The 4 day split will increase strength rapidly and efficiently if you focus and complete the entire workout. Your working to complete all sets and reps at the maximum weight you can handle. For example, On week 3 you bench press 185 lbs. 3 sets of 8 reps. Week 4, you will increase the weight to 190 lbs. If only 2 sets of 8 reps are completed and the last set produced only 2 reps, 190 lbs. will be used on week 5 as well.

If you're looking for another weight lifting routine, check out my blog, Go Healthy Fitness.

10 Tips to Teach Your Children Healthy Eating Habits.

There is a rapidly growing problem in parts of the world, especially America, with child obesity. Most obesity comes from bad habits learned at a young age. By teaching your children healthy eating habits, you can help your child develop a longer healthier life. Helping kids eat healthy isn't difficult. Take a look at these 10 tips on how to help teach your children healthy eating:

Make your food kid friendly

Cut your kid's food into shapes. Cookie cutters come in hundreds of shapes. Let your child pick the shape.

Don't treat dessert like a reward

If you present sweets as a reward for good behavior, they will associate dessert as being a better food. Offer fruit as a reward instead. "If you eat all your peas, you get an orange"

Ask them

When your doing your grocery shopping, ask which fruits and vegetables they want. When deciding on dinner, ask them to choose a healthy food.

Snack in the kitchen

If your kids want to eat snacks, keep them in a designated area. This will discourage chowing down on some potato chips in front of the television.

Mix and match

Add a healthier food to a tastier food. You could chop up onions or green peppers and use them in a spaghetti sauce. Serve raw vegetables with a fat free ranch. My mother always added fruit to my cereal which worked great.

Healthy on the go snacks

Do your kids want a snack when they go out and play? Skip the junk food and give them a fresh fruit, a cereal bar, or some string cheese. This really helps teach your children healthy eating habits.

Lots of variety

Don't stick to the same old healthy foods. Add something new every once in a while to spice it up. Put an assortment of roasted almonds, rasberries, and pineapple.

Use your blender

Add some skim milk, fat-free yogurt, and a scoop of low fat ice cream and make your very own protein smoothie. The kids will love it and it's a good snack after they've been playing.

Whole grain is your friend

Offer some good carbs to boost your childrens energy. A whole wheat pita with peanut butter is one of my favorite snacks. There are many other choices out there like whole grain pretzels and cereals.

Set an example

Don't expect your children to eat healthy if you aren't. Don't eat anything you wouldn't want your child to eat. Let your kids catch you snacking on a healthy snack like a bowl of grapes.

Everyone wants their children to live a long and healthy life. Help them achieve that by teaching children healthy eating habits at a young age.

Don't forget to eat healthy yourself! If you find yourself getting bored with your diet, check out my list of healthy foods. It's easy to make quality meal plan with these good food choices. You can find more nutrition and fitness articles from my blog at Go Healthy Fitness.

How to test your body fat percent.

When people think of getting in shape and toning up, they think of weight loss and the scale dropping. This isn't necessarily the case. Body fat percentage is the real figure you should be paying attention to. Let's just think about it for a minute. If the scale dropped 10 pounds and your body fat percentage stayed the same, you would have lost a majority of muscle. Muscle is the component that gives us that nice shape. There are many ways to test your body fat percent.

In this article, I will give a brief explanation of each measuring practice. Soon I will add more in depth articles of each method.

Underwater Weighing - A.K.A. Hydrodensityometry Weighing

This method is known as the most accurate. It measures your body density by determining your volume. The person is first weighed outside of the tank. Then they are weighed again completely submerged under water. The density of fat is lower than water while the density of muscle and bone is higher than water. They can determine the body density by using standard formulas.

Underwater weighing may still have its flaws. Athletes tend to have denser bones and muscles than non-athletes, which may lead to a lower body fat percentage than is accurate. While the body fat of elderly patients suffering from osteoporosis may be overestimated. This is still the best way to test your body fat percent.

Skinfold Measurement - Calipers

Calipers are a hand help device used to measure several skinfolds. The measurements of these skinfolds are entered into an equation and your body fat percentage is determined.

I've always been a big fan of calipers. They are cheap and they are easy. I have used an electronic caliper for years. It only asks for 3 sites instead of the standard 7, but I find it gets me a solid consistant number. The accuracy of the measurements are going to depend highly on the person actually using the calipers. It takes quite a lot of practice to find the right areas to measure. This is the most convenient way to check body fat percent.

Total Body Electrical Conductivity

This method sends a weak electromagnetic pulse through your body. The pulse reacts to the amount of water in the person's body. This measurement is based on lean muscle tissue being a better conductor of electricity than fat.

Bioelectrical Impedence

Bioelectrical Impedence measures the electrical signals throughout the body as they pass through muscle, fat, and water of the body. With the readings given and proven scientific formulas, body compositions can be determined.

Which methods have you guys tried?

Learn how to really transform your body with these 10 strategies. You can read more articles on losing weight and toning up at Go Healthy Fitness.

Get that shut eye...the link between sleep and health.

I'm sure everyone knows by now that an average person requires around 8 hours of sleep. Many of us in the adult world find this extremely difficult. You wake up early to get ready for work. You get off work late in the evening with only a few hours before you have to go to bed to get those full 8 hours. I know the feeling. I've been doing it for a while, but when you're active, you require this sleep even more. Some people will require more sleep than others, and other individuals are able to function without sleepiness or drowsiness after as little as six hours of sleep. There is definitely a link between sleep and health.

According to the National Sleep Foundation(NSF), Sleep is essential for a person's health and wellbeing. Scientists that study sleep disorders have shown not enough sleep can cause problems with the brain and nervous system, cardiovascular system, metabolic functions, and immune system. So you can see how a problem in any of these areas will hinder your exercise performance.

It doesn't matter what training program you are following. You will never get the results you want without the proper sleep and nutrition. When trying to build muscle, like we all should be, sleep is very important. When you sleep your muscle cells repair themselves causing growth. Sleep and health go hand and hand. You need muscle for the optimal health, and you need sleep for muscle growth.

A lack of sleep can increase your stress levels and mood. This will affect your workouts in a negative way. Consistently not getting enough sleep will cause symptoms that are similar to over training (Article coming soon). And, contrary to common myth, the need for sleep doesn't decline with age but the ability to sleep for six to eight hours at one time may be reduced. (Van Dongen; Dinges, Principles; Practice of Sleep Medicine, 2000)

Thank Military.com for providing a few tips on getting a good nights sleep:

Never Oversleep

You won't be able to catch up on lost sleep. Sleeping longer than 10 hours of sleep will change body patterns and makes it more difficult to fall asleep the night after.

Exercise or Hard Physical Work

If you exercise or have to work hard, you will have an easier time falling asleep

Sleep in a quiet area

A cool climate, calming music, or a humming fan will drown out exterior noises allowing better quality of sleep

Relax before bed

Try and avoid exercising 2-3 hours before bedtime. By relaxing a few hours before actually sleeping, you prepare your body for the state it needs to be in. Don't watch TV in bed

Remember to get your sleep and health will be easier to achieve.

Learn more ways to stay healthy by doing cardio. Read our article on 5 ways to enjoy your cardio Firm that body up! You can read more articles from Travis Petelle at Go Healthy Fitness.

Having a Baby? Exercise For an Easier Pregnancy

If you've come to this article, it's more than likely you or a loved one will be expecting a baby. Exercise should not be out of your regimen. Exercising while pregnant was always looked down upon in the past. Still to this day, my pregnant clients will get evil stares from older women in the gym. Don't let these looks turn you away from exercise. You'll only be helping your baby. Exercise isn't just for athletes.

It is recommended to exercise while pregnant as long as you're healthy and your doctor approves it. Exercising while pregnant has many benefits such as:

• feeling better physically and emotionally
• prevents excess weight gain, allowing you to get to your pre-pregnancy weight much easier
• builds stronger muscles, bones, and joints which helps when carrying the extra person
• helps prevent gestational diabetes
• relieves stress
• builds stamina needed for labor

Pregnant women who have been involved in an exercise program can continue with their regular exercise programs, providing they have no health problems. If you haven't been involved in an exercise program, now is a good time to start. The exercise regimen will be easier during pregnancy so it will be a good transition to full effort exercise after the arrival of the baby. Exercise can fatigue a pregnant women more easily. This is common even early in pregnancy.

Make sure to eat properly and get enough fluids while pregnant with an exercise regimen or not. You should be eating small meals throughout the day. A sedentary pregnant women requires around 3,000 calories per day after the first trimester. Her caloric requirements will be higher if she is active. You have to eat more to supply the baby. Exercise will cause you to require even more calories.

There are precautions when exercising while pregnancy. Exercise intensity should never be higher than it was before becoming pregnant. Yoga, walking, the stationary bike, and aquatic exercises are all great ways to exercise while pregnant. A low impact aerobics class is also very beneficial. Stay away from any form of exercise that causes changes in weight-distribution, balance, or coordination. An example of this is outdoor biking. You don't want to increase your risk of falling while pregnant. First and foremost think of the baby. Exercise done properly is always best.

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends:

• Stay well hydrated before, during, and after exercise
• During the first trimester especially, avoid heat and humidity. This is when the fetus is undergoing its most important growth.
• Avoid heavy lifting
• Stop exercise if you're feeling fatigued

You want to be able to hold a normal conversation during cardio. Any more intense than this is too much. I also recommend sitting while lifting. If you stand, blood can pool in your legs and cause dizziness. Also avoid lying flat on your back or stomach after the first trimester. By lying down, you can restrict the blood flow to the uterus and endanger the baby. Exercise the recommended way and you won't have to worry about these conditions.

Here are some warning signs to keep in mind when exercising while pregnant. If you experience any of these, stop exercising:

• pain in lower pack or pelvic region
• excessive fatigue
• dizziness
• shortness of breath
• vaginal bleeding
• difficulty walking
• contractions
• decreased fetal movement
• rapid heart rate at rest

Once again, Congratulations! Now get to work and stay fit. Remember, before beginning any exercise program, especially while pregnant, consult a physician first. Stay tuned for an upcoming article on a pregnancy routine!

There are many more important aspects of health to consider while being pregnant. Take a look at this article about the link between sleep and health. You can find even more articles at Go Healthy Fitness.

Why Gain Muscle? Female Worries Put to Rest

I was bombarded today by women who all had very similar questions about gaining muscle. Female clients have a fear of lifting weights. They were scared they would become bulky and too muscular. Since this question comes up quite often in my industry, I thought I would write an article discussing the benefits of muscle. Female worries put to rest.

First off, let's clarify that just by lifting weights you are not going to bulk up. This is especially the case for most women that consider resistance training 3 sets of 25 reps at light weight. Gaining muscle, female or male, to "bulk up" requires organized nutrition and training regiments. A well rounded weight lifting program can add a solid amount of lean body muscle which has many benefits.

So why is this muscle such a great thing to have. Muscle has a lot of benefits. For one, muscle burns more calories at rest than fat does. A pound of muscle will burn around 50 calories at rest. Let's think about that in a long term perspective. If you were to add 10 pounds of muscle this year, you would be burning 500 more calories at rest each day. If you consider one full week of this extra calorie burn, you will be burning 3500 calories more at rest. 3500 calories is equal to 1 pound. 10 extra pounds of muscle and a well balanced nutrition plan will have you burning up to 1 pound of fat per week.

Muscle is also a very attractive body part. A muscular, toned body is much more appealing to the opposite sex than a sedentary shape. The toned look is gained by lowering your body fat percentage, not just total weight.

Building muscle comes from resistance training. The benefits that comes along with the resistance training are also very appealing. The weighted stress put on your bones cause the bones to add calcium and make this makes the bones stronger. Your ligament and tendon strength will also be improved from resistance training. Studies have shown muscle to improve ones resistance to disease as well. withstanding stress, and the improved flexibility gained by strength training also reduces the likelihood of pulled muscles and back pain.

Get out there and start a weight training program if you haven't already. I will be posting some nice weight programs in the near future, so stay tuned and enjoy your body transformation. You should always be increasing muscle. Female clients still argue with me, but its well worth it.

You can determine how much muscle you have now with proper testing techniques. Check out my article on the different ways to test body fat percent. You can read more articles at Go Healthy Fitness.

The Proper Way to Warm Up - Exercise The Right Way

An important part of working out that is often overlooked is the warm up. Exercise can be dangerous without doing this correctly. I've been working with clients lately that have been experiencing some injuries. I have been focusing on repairing these injuries and it made me think about the importance of the warm up. Exercise longevity will be much higher if you start now.

A proper warm up exercise can increase your blood flow which will decrease your muscle stiffness, decrease risk of injury and improve performance. Your body temperature will increase. A warm muscle will contract more forcefully and relax more quickly. The chance of pulling a muscle is much lower as well.

Once you're warm, your blood vessels will dilate which in turn reduces the stress put on the heart. An article by Elizabeth Quinn states: "The temperature of blood increases as it travels through the muscles, and as blood temperature rises, the amount of oxygen it can hold becomes reduced. This means a slightly greater volume of oxygen is made available to the working muscles, enhancing endurance and performance."

So how should you warm up? Well warming up is best defined as gradually increasing intensity of a certain exercise until you are at your working intensity. When it comes to cardio, choose a nice steady slow pace to warm up with. A good method to use when warming up with weights is to have 3-4 warm up sets. Choose a very light weight to complete your first set. You should easily be able to complete 15 reps. This is usually around 50% of your working weight. On your second set, do 12 reps of 65% of your working weight. Your final set will be 8 reps at 80%. Once you have done this you are ready to start your workout.

Stretching is also a very important part of the warm up. Exercise can be much less painful with loose muscles. Stretch the muscles you will be using for the day. The best time to stretch before a workout is right after your warm up. This way the muscles will be nice and loose already from the increased blood flow. It will be less likely that you over stretch and accidentally pull a muscle.

Learn how to build that quality muscle, female or male, by checking out more articles from Go Healthy Fitness.

How to get the motivation to lose weight

I hope those bodies are shaping nicely. I was speaking to two clients of mine the other day. They were talking about the great progress they have made. Both of these ladies have a combined goal weight loss of 370 pounds, but man are they determined. In the month I've trained them, they have a combined weight loss of 32 lbs. These women are not quitters and they have set their mind to their goal. They can already see what they will look like in the mirror at their best. And they will reach their goal because of this. They didn't choose to do this alone. They found out how to get motivation to lose weight.

No matter what your goal is, decide now if you really want to reach it. Reaching any goal is going take some work. You can't slack off and expect to get good results. I speak with too many people that believe they will get results with little to no effort. Their exercise lifespan soon dwindles, and they never return to the gym. If your looking to lose 50 pounds, gain 20, or just tone up that butt, you're going to need to put effort into it. It's not hard to reach your goal, it just takes some time.

Many people don't know what steps to take to reach your goal. That's where this website and a personal trainer can help. Don't be afraid to approach a personal trainer with questions. The majority of trainers will gladly help you, most will even offer a free session or two. You might have to listen to a sales pitch at the end but you get can a lot of information by just asking. A personal trainer is perfect way to get the motivation to lose weight. If you're considering hiring a trainer, I would definitely recommend it. I am a trainer myself and I enjoy to have another person train me every once in a while. Just to see the training style they would have for the goals I'm trying to accomplish. Changing a routine up every once in a while is always a good thing.

To lose those unwanted pounds, you're going to need a diet plan to lose weight. Read more articles from Go Healthy Fitness.

Do You Have a Diet Plan to Lose Weight?

We all know the trouble of shaping our bodies to the figure we want. Getting those perfect abs, that rock hard chest, or those toned legs all take time and knowledge of what steps to take. Now I want to ask you, what steps are you taking toward your goals? Have you taken a step today? Do you have a diet plan to lose weight?

If your new to the fitness world and have found or been looking for the gym to help take you to the next level, remember it will take more than just a gym membership. ONLY 5% of people with gym memberships will obtain the results they desire. Why is this? Well, 95% of gym members don't have a set plan on what to do next. If you've attended a gym for years and still haven't seen the results your looking for, then it's time to take a look at what you've been doing and change it. A diet plan can usually push you to the next level.

Here are some quick tips to help you plan for your fitness goals. First, start writing down what you do each day. Keep a journal of your workouts as well as what your eating. If you can see what you've done in the past, then you can change it later if needed. Keep measurements of yourself. You always want to know where you were and where you are now. If you don't do this the mind will play tricks on you. Since changes do happen slowly, your own eyes have trouble actually seeing the results. That's why we require numbers to help us see what we've attained. Don't let your weight bring you down...a better number to pay attention to would be your body fat percentage. And lastly, do some research. It doesn't take but a few minutes to read a fitness article or have a small chat with a local personal trainer.

So don't wait till next week to plan your next step. Start right now. I want to know:

What's your strategy?

You can add different healthy foods to your diet plans to make things interesting. There are new weight loss noodles, Asian treats, which can help lower your weight. You can read more articles by Travis Petelle at Go Healthy Fitness.

The power of bean protein

Don't let the size of a bean make you underestimate its power. These little guys will pack a punch to a healthy diet. Beans are packed with a ton of benefits, as are many other legumes. You can see great results using bean protein. They can reduce the risk of stroke and heart disease, and prevent cancer. You can save some money with beans too. They are pretty cheap to buy.

So other than the common health reasons, how can beans help in your workouts? Well beans are full of fiber, protein, iron, and folate. All of these help with building muscle and burning fat.

Here are some tips on using beans:

• Always rinse canned beans. They are usually packaged in a high-sodium liquid. We don't need anymore salt.
• You can add beans to an entree to get the extra benefits. I like to add a handful to a salad to up my protein intake.
• Use beans with other foods. Lentils, peas, chickpeas, bean dip, and hummus are all great with beans.

For those using legumes as their main source of protein, legumes don't contain complete proteins like meat does. You should combine them with grain or dairy products throughout the day to meet your nutritional needs.

If you're not a big fan of beans right now, don't worry. They will grow on you. You can make any food taste good if you have the right recipe. Here is a good recipe for a 3 Bean Chili that will fill you with bean protein:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can chickpeas
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 can chicken-broth(low sodium)
• 1 onion diced
• 3 diced jalapenos
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 tbsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tbsp. cayenne

Using a large pot, heat the olive oil on medium-low. Saute the diced onion in the pot for 3-5 minutes. Add the turkey and let it brown, this takes around 5 minutes. Put in the rest of the ingredients and stir. Allow this to reaching boiling and turn the heat down to simmer. Let this cook for 20-25 minutes stirring randomly.

This will make 6 servings of a delicious 3 Bean Chili. Each serving has 295 calories, 5 grams of fat, 32 grams of carbs, 30 grams of protein and 11 grams of fiber. Enjoy the power of bean protein.

Still trying to get your proper intake of protein? Then you should consider finding the best protein supplement for you. You can find more nutrition and fitness articles from my blog, Go Healthy Fitness.

Learn how to break past your weight plateau

Have your results come to an abrupt halt? You've hit a weight plateau in your training. Anyone who works out will hit a plateau eventually. But don't worry, plateaus can be broken through. Don't let them frustrate you and cause you to slack off your routine.

Whatever fitness level you are, you can change your body anyway you want. As your body transforms, your nutritional and exercise needs will transform as well. What you did when you started working out might not have the same results a few months later. Your body adapts to your workouts. It is trying to make the things you do daily easier for you.

A plateau in exercise is when you aren't getting results from your training. This is the point when your body has adapted to what you're doing. Most people find a weight plateau when they are trying to lose those last 10 pounds around the belly, but plateaus also happen often when building muscle. So what can you do to get past your weight plateau?

Switch up your exercise routine
You should be changing your routine every 8 to 12 weeks. The change of exercises or rep/set scheme will keep your muscles on their toes. And don't think because you've done a routine you can't come back to it later. Find 3 or 4 routines that give you great results and rotate them throughout the year.

Check your diet
After you've been training for over 6 months, the amount and type of food you eat will play the major role in your results. If you've hit the weight loss plateau, take a look at what your eating. Clean up some of the foods, eat more vegetables, or take an unneeded snack out and see what results you get. The opposite goes for trying to gain muscle or strength. If your lifts don't seem to be rising anymore, then up your calories by 250-500, and try that for a few weeks.

Listen to your body
No matter what it is you're doing, your body will tell you if it's working or not. We are all made to transform the way we stress our bodies. By running miles everyday, you're transforming your body into a long lean endurance machine and vice versa. Getting the results you want is mainly learning what your body reacts to best. And as your body transforms, so will the exercise and diet that gives you the best results.

Good luck on those results. And remember don't get discouraged because you aren't seeing overnight results. You will break past your weight plateau soon.

Some people try and help boost past their weight plateau with energy drinks. Before you do this, think about the effects of energy drinks. You can find more nutrition and fitness articles from my blog, Go Healthy Fitness.