About Me

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I'm someone who has been around gyms for a longer time than I can remember.... I got certified as a Personal Training Specialist, few years ago, in Montreal, Canada.....Honestly, this certification, except for the fact that it had opened a door for me to get involved in the fitness industry, had added nothing to my knowledge...through the years that I have worked with fitness clients and fitness professionals I have learned that a lot of them knew very little about fitness and nutrition; that made me eager to help people, in any way possible, to achieve their fitness goals and improve their well-being.... Basically, that's one of the main reasons which made me start this blog.... In closing, I would like to say that I'm not a WRITER who decided to start a blog about fitness just because all the other topics were taken...Actually it's the other way around.

Friday, May 27, 2016

Tap into your inner warrior


That one extra rep you do at the end of a certain exercise defines your whole workout and improves your fitness level, but how would that improve your daily life outside the gym?? Well, I'll tell you how!
Mental strength goes hand in hand with physical strength, or as they say sound body sound mind... If you have the determination and the focus to do that extra last rep in every single set of each exercise of your workout and if you have the will power to push your body beyond its limits at the gym to take your fitness state to the next level, you'll gain a great deal of confidence that takes your mental state to a point where you can feel that inner warrior within yourself and only then you'll start to believe that you can achieve anything you desire in life where nothing and no one can stop you from taking your life wherever you dream to.

Sunday, March 15, 2015

It's all about the Lactic Acid

How about accelerating your body's fat loss process without losing the muscle mass you have worked hard to gain!! as a matter of fact you might end up gaining more muscles...sounds interesting right? Scientific researches have proven that combining lower body exercises with upper body ones (the German Body Composition workout is a great example on that) raises the lactic acid levels in your blood which in turn increases the growth hormone and testosterone secretion in your body. While the growth hormone helps you gain more muscles the testosterone breaks down the fat and gets you leaner...

Still on the couch? Come on get to work, pick 2 lower body exercises let's say  Dead Lifts(A1) and Elevated Split Squats(A2), another 2 upper body exercises like "dumbbell" Bench Press(B1) and  narrow grip Pull Ups(B2) and 2 arms exercises like "dumbbell" Biceps Curl (A3) and Triceps Skull crusher(B3)

Day One: Alternate A1 with B1 , rest  30-45 seconds between sets and do 3 sets of 10-12 reps. Take a 2-3 minutes break , move to A2and B2 to do exactly what you did with A1and B1,  finally take another 2-3 minutes break before repeating the same process with A3and B3.

We're not done yet!! These were the exercises for your "Day One" training and since I know that you are too lazy to pick any exercises for your "Day Two" training then I'm gonna do it for you..your 2  lower body exercises are Romanian Dead Lifts(A1) and Squats(A2), your 2 upper body exercises are Incline "dumbbell" Bench Press(B1) and wide grip Pull Ups(B2) and your arms exercises are "dumbbell" Biceps Hammer Curl(A3) and Push Up Triceps(B3)...use these exercises to do your "Day Two" training, follow the same routine  like in "Day One"

This is how you gonna break this workout down: Mon: "Day One", Tue: off, Wed: "Day Two", Thur: off and Fri: "Day One"  then you start again on Mon with "Day two" and so on for 4-6 weeks.. Shorten your rests between sets by 10-15 seconds every  two weeks.

Please note that the above exercises are not for beginners but the workout plan itself could be used by anyone who is willing to train hard... So if you are a beginner who wanna  try this workout then simply  choose a different set of exercises for each day and hit the gym.

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Always know what's on your food



Eggs: concerns linking them to dietary cholesterol are a bit over exaggerated, so you can probably eat more eggs than you think. You gonna  be having 6-7 grams of protein in one large size egg(70 calories, fat:5g, carbs:1g, protein 6g) and guess what, egg yolk contains  9  essential amino acids. Amino acids are considered the fundamental building blocks of our tissues and the singular component of protein (check the link on the right side of the page to learn  more about amino acids)

Oatmeal: the perfect complex carbohydrates that you can have before training. It gives you a large amount of energy for an intense workout. In 100 grams(68 calories, fat:1.4g, carbs:12g, protein:2.4g)

Plain greek yogurt(zero fat):  a good source of  protein, in 100 grams(fat:0.4g, carbs:3.6g, protein:10g), and a great post workout food especially when mixed with 2Tbs of honey and a scoop of whey protein. Greek yogurt is a natural alternative for supplement vitamin B12, it's also packed with probiotics and high in potassium  (check the  link on the right side of the page to learn more about probiotics)

Banana: the best fruit to be consumed after a workout, With 400mg of potassium and 25grams of carbs nothing can beat that as a recovery food after an intense workout

Almond:  don't have chocolate for a snack between meals, have a hand full of almonds instead. Scientific researches have shown that consuming 40 grams(230 calories, fat:19.6g, carbs:8.8g, protein:8.8g) of almonds on a regular basis  may reduce you're bad cholesterol levels (LDL) and lower the risk of heart related diseases.

Friday, February 13, 2015

No offense body builders

I don't want to get bigger muscles and look like those body builders, I just want to get defined and toned muscles... So do I really need weight training in order to get that??  If you have never asked this question to your trainer you probably have had thought about it......I can tell you one thing, getting bigger muscles is a full time job so you are not gonna look like a body builder because of weight training...

What is weight training anyway? It's a type of resistance training which is any exercise that causes the muscle to contract against an external resistance with the expectation of increases in strength, tone, mass, or/and endurance.....so weight training is that "external resistance" which can be performed using free weights like dumbbells and bars, bodyweight exercises like push ups and/or weight machines....

So if you just hit 30 or if you are already over 30 years old and you've never done any weight training then you better start doing it or any other type of resistance training....here are five age-related benefits of resistance training:

1-Triggers a temporary boost in the hormone testosterone, a hormone necessary to protect bones and maintain muscle mass. Aging and high stress levels may lower testosterone levels in both men and women.
2-Supports a healthy heart muscle and helps lower risk of all heart and health-related diseases. Heart disease remains the number one disease that results in early death.
3-Reduces the stress response that is responsible for the weight gain around the belly; boosts level s of "happy" endorphins and hormones that improve mood and general wellbeing.
4-Preserves lean muscle tissue which is the key to: managing metabolism and body weight, promoting tissue repair and  serving as building blocks for the hormones that help regulate your biochemistry.
5-Helps to preserve immune health which weakens naturally with age and environmentally with lifestyle.

Friday, February 6, 2015

For the brave


Almost everybody seem to be convinced that fitness is a life style well, it's if you are a professional bodybuilder, a fitness professional or a world class athlete...for the rest of us the "life style" thing is just another lame excuse not to workout and keep enjoying our beer, cheeseburgers, and pizzas....

If you are willing to get into shape, no matter what you do for a living, don't let the "life style" thing get in your way......I'm not asking you to train 20 hours a week, count your calories or weight your food; all you need to do is train hard and eat healthy....How would you do that? first, dedicate 45 minutes of your day to workout at the gym or at your living room, it really doesnt matter where as long as your giving it your best and taking short breaks...second, open your fridge throw out all the junk and processed food then fill it up with vegetables, fruits, fish and chicken...third, replace your white rice with brown rice, your white pasta with brown pasta and your white bread with multigrain bread (check the link on the right side of the page to know why you need to do that )  ... last, cut down on your alcohol consumption, drink plenty of water and eat 3-5 small portion meals a day....

I can hear what you're thinking!! you're saying: that's easier said than done! Well I've never said that it was gonna be easy, it's actually hard but all it takes is strength and will power...that's why it's for the brave...so are you up to the challenge!!!!

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

The side effect


People set different goals when it comes to training. Some wanna lose weight, some wanna gain muscle mass, some wanna get their muscles toned, some wanna maintain their fitness level, and so on...as a matter of fact only few of them wanna get into shape...by "getting into shape" I mean getting into a healthy mental and physical state, where you'll be more focus and productive at work and where you can go up and down the stairs, if the elevator is out of order, without losing your breath or where you can carry your grocery bags without pinching your lower back...

If your goal is to be happy, healthy and prosperous in life then be one of those who wanna get into shape when it comes to training...trust me you won't be happy and healthy by gaining muscle mass while getting all messed up in the head during the process...at the same time you won't be happy and healthy by losing the extra weight while getting your immune system weak and fragile...

Bottom line, if you wanna improve your well-being then you gonna have to adjust your training goal to "getting into shape". Do so, and in no time you'll find out that gaining the muscle mass, losing the extra weight, toning the muscles or maintaining the fitness level will be just a "side effect" of your hard work at the gym, determination, dedication, commitment, and healthy eating habits.