Ultimate Back Blast Routine

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You have more knowledge about strength training than expert contestants on Jeopardy know about Shakespeare. However, despite all of your knowledge about fitness, you still might know not that you are actually doing more harm with some of your preferred back moves than good, which can strip your results away and possibly put you in danger of harming your back.

Fortunately, we are here to assist you. Keep reading to learn more about what the common mistakes are that are related to the four most popular back-building exercises in addition to the solutions to correct them. Once you are clear on those, you are ready to try out our back-boosting workout.

After you have become thoroughly familiar with those back-building blunders, then you have the confidence you need in order to take on this effective but challenge back program. Do it two times a week on nonconsecutive days and prepare to turn some heads in under one month.

Exercises

Barbell Bent-Over Row

• Muscles Targeted: rear deltoids, biceps brachii, trapezius, rhomboids, latissimus dorsi.
• Blunder: Rounded back
• Due To: Improper starting position
• The Breakdown: According to Mike Hanley, CSCS, who owns the New Jersey-based Hanley Strength Systems, many individuals pick up the bar from the ground, round their back, and reach their arms and rotate their scapulae forward. As they are rowing, they remain like that.
• How To Improve: Begin with the bar placed on the rack rather than the floor.Rachel Cosgrove, CSCS, who is a co-owner of the Southern California-based Results Fitness, says that you should next get into a ‘shortstop position.’ Your back should be straight, your chest should be high, your hips low and your knees bent.
• Set Up: Stand while keeping your feet apart at hip-width, and use an overhand grip at shoulder-width on the barbell. Bend forward, while keeping your back straight, until your torso is at a 45 degree angle to the floor. Tighten your abs and draw together your shoulder blades.
• Action: Drive your elbows back and up to smoothly pull the bar. Also keep your arms to your sides close in order to avoid using momentum. At peak contraction, pause for one count. Then return to your starting position slowly.

Wide-Grip Pulldown

• Muscles Targeted: rear deltoids, trapezius, rhomboids, latissimus dorsi
• Blunder: Leaning back too far when pulling the bar down
• Due To: Excessive weight
• Breakdown: According to Cosgrove, whenever too much weight is used, you begin pulling using your entire body rather than your back muscles being targeted. In addition, excessive weight pulls your arms out of the proper position, which causes you to push back your elbows and round your shoulders.
• How To Improve: In order to lighten the weight, your shoulder blades should be pinched together and your focus should be on moving the bar towards your collarbone instead of your thighs. Cosgrove also adds that at all times you should keep your elbows under the back, and not backward or forward.
• Set Up: The bar should be held with an overhand grip that is wider than shoulder-width. Your thighs should be secured underneath the pads. Slightly lift your chest and retract your shoulder blades.
• Action: Smoothly pull the bar towards your chest, keep your chest lifted and drive your elbows down. Once the bar almost touches your collarbone, and then to start, reverse your actions.

Seated Cable Row

• Muscles Targeted: latissimus dorsi, trapezius, rhomboids
• Blunder: Pulling the weight be seesawing back and forth
• Due To: Use of momentum and weak core muscles
• Breakdown: Hanley says you need to have a strong core in order to stabilize yourself while you are rowing. If you use too much weight or your abdominals aren’t strong enough, it places you at risk for injury or spinal strain.
• How To Improve: Cosgrove says, imagine somebody’s knee is in the middle of your back and is demanding that you sit up straight, and then lift your chest and engage your core as you are drawing the handle in. Keep your reps slow and reduce the weight.
• Set Up: Sit at a row machine and use a neutral grip (with your palms facing one another) on a V-handle. Make sure to sit up tall, lift your chest, draw back your shoulder blades with your knees bent slightly.
• Action: Your shoulders should be kept back and your torso steady as you are drawing the handle towards your stomach, with your elbows driven back and arms close with your side. The pause, and reverse slowly.

One-Arm Dumbbell Row

• Muscles Targeted: trapezius, rear deltoids, rhomboids, latissimus dorsi
• Blunders: Torquing and/or twisting of upper body and torso
• Due To: Excessive weight
• Breakdown: The fact that you adapt a lean while you are hoisting a dumbbell that is too heavy doesn’t just have an awkward appearance – it can be very dangerous as well. According to Cosgrove, when you twist you may end up using your trapezoids more than your lats. That can also put your spine and lower back in danger. Another factor is speed. You will be using momentum as well, which detracts on how effective the move is.
• How To Improve: Use a lighter dumbbell and perform the exercise while you are facing a mirror. That way you can watch your form. Hanley offers this trick: Think of your shoulder blades tuck in your back pockets, draw them back and down, before you do the row. That will put them in the correct position and more back muscles will be engaged.
• Set Up: Put one knee and hand onto a flat bench. In your other hand hold a dumbbell, Your palm should be acing in and your harm hanging down straight. Draw your shoulder blades into together towards your spine and flatten your back.
• Action: Your elbow should be driven up as you lift the weight towards the side part of your rib cage. Keep your arm into your body close. When you get to the top of the motion, make sure that your shoulders are square. Pause one count, and then lower slowly.

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How to Get the Most From Your Fitness Tracker

The fitness tracker business is booming as the simple idea of a pedometer measuring your steps (remember those cute little things?) has transformed into a Bluetooth/GPS-enabled device that can now do everything from count your swimming laps to navigate your hiking trip. But the attrition rate of fitness trackers has been tracked for years with some studies saying that a third of fitness tracker owners ditch their gear. Reasons folks decide to stop using the wearable tech range from information fatigue (entering every single meal every single day can seriously get tiresome — or even obsessive) to feeling like a failure for not …

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5 Best New Protein Powders for Every Type of FBG

Overwhelmed by the sheer number of protein powders out on the market? Hey, us, too. But if you’re looking for the best new protein powders to give a whirl, we have thoughts. Because we’ve tried some pretty awesome ones here of late! Here are five new protein powders that are making our smoothies a little more fit bottomed, no matter our goal. Best New Protein Powders 1. Sunshine Protein. We’re big Kerri Walsh Jennings fans, and this new protein powder is named after her super cute and super accurate nickname: Six Feet of Sunshine. Certified organic and a blend of sunflower, pea and pumpkin seed protein, …

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Skinnytaste Dinner Plan (Week 17)

Happy Saturday! Week 17 of sharing my weekly dinner plans. I use The Skinnytaste Meal Planner pictured below to plan my dinners for the week (you can of course use any meal planner).

A 52-week meal planner, food tracker and exercise tracker in one. I’ve included the Smart Points next to the recipes since I am currently on Weight Watchers. Also, if you have The Skinnytaste Cookbook, and currently on Weight Watchers, I have all the Smart Points listed here for your convenience.

Meal planning is a great way to get organized before heading to the supermarket to get ready for the week! My breakfast is usually something quick like eggs with fruit, a smoothie or avocado toast. We’re a family of four, so if a recipe serves more, it’s either packed up for everyone’s lunch or eaten the next day as leftovers. If you would like to see some of the previous week's dinner plans, click here.


Skinnytaste Dinner Plan (Week 17)

Monday:  Easiest Pasta and Broccoli (meatless monday)

8 Smart Points

Tuesday: Crock Pot Chicken and Black Bean Taco Salad

9 Smart Points 

Wednesday: LEFTOVERS

Thursday: Carne Bistec with rice and House salad (cookbook)

4 Smart Points plus 5 SP for ¾ cup rice

Friday: Spicy California Shrimp Stack

5 Smart Points (I’ll have 2 for 10)

Saturday: Date night out!

Sunday: Stuffed Buffalo Chicken Breast with House salad (cookbook)

5 Smart Points

Click Here To See The Full Recipe…

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Spicy Bacon Egg Salad

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Ingredients

• 2 pieces nitrate-free turkey bacon, cooked and chopped (certified gluten-free if necessary)
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 2 tablespoons plain non-fat Greek yogurt (certified gluten-free if necessary)
• 1 tablespoon mayo (or use another tablespoon Greek yogurt)
• 2 teaspoons Sriracha (or other hot chile sauce)
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 6 large hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
• cabbage or lettuce wraps, for serving

Directions

1. Stir together first 8 ingredients in medium bowl.
2. Portion and serve on cabbage or lettuce wraps.

Source: Spicy Bacon Egg Salad – MyFitnessPal 

Image Credit: Spicy Bacon Egg Salad 

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Sculpt a Solid Six Pack with These Exercises

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Would you like to whittle your waist into a six pack? Sounds almost too good to be true, yes, but trust us, it works. Check out these exercises.

X Jump. Also called a jump squat, you do the exercise by first standing with your feet slightly closer than the width of your shoulders. Then, get into squat position, and ball up your hands into fists. Jump out of the position with your arms and legs stretched at a 45-degree angle. Land softly, then get back into squat position with knees bent softly to avoid joint shock. Do this for 2 sets, with 25 reps each.

Single leg strike. Single leg strikes target your arms, legs, and core. To do them, start with your feet spaced lunge-length apart, with your right leg back and your arms overhead holding a 15-pound dumbbell. Then bring your right knee up while bringing the dumbbell down to the side of the right knee; bring the knee back down and touch the ball of your right foot to the floor as you extend the dumbbell back up. Make sure to keep your arms straight as you work the dumbbell. Before bringing the knee up again, you can tap the ball of your right foot. Do 25 quick reps, 2 sets.

Seated bicep curl and crunch. Another ideal exercise for whittling your waist into a six pack, a seated bicep curl and crunch starts with you sitting on the edge of a flat bench with a dumbbell in each hand. Then bring both feet up to the height of the bench, with your knees bent at a 90-degree angle. Then lean your torso back by 45 degrees in relation to the surface of the bench. Hold the position, then do bicep curls with both arms while trying to get your knees as close to your chest. Extend your arms back and let your feet fall back down without touching the floor. If you wish, you can also hold a dumbbell between your feet to engage your lower abs. Do a set of 20 reps, and another set of 16 reps.

• Dumbbell chest scoop. To do a dumbbell chest scoop, get your right leg at least two feet behind you with both arms holding dumbbells at least 12 inches from your hips. Bring the dumbbells in a scooping motion towards your chest until they form a V at chin level. Bring them back to your sides, engaging your core the entire time. Repeat with the left leg behind you. Do two sets of 20 reps.
• Pop up plank. Get a bosu, then prop yourself on it with your elbows bent. Prop yourself up into a full plank working your arms and core, then land back with both palms face down on the ball. Prop your elbows at a 90-degree angle, then repeat. Do two sets of 12 reps.
• Offset punch and lunge. Stagger your feet around 30 inches apart with your right leg forward, arms held out in front of your chest, palms facing each other and holding dumbbells. Descend into a lunge while punching your left arm forward and rotating your wrist until the palm is facing the floor. Rise up and bring the arm back in front of the chest. Repeat with your left leg forward and your right arm punching out. Do two sets of 20 reps for each leg.
• Dumbbell twisting lunge. Finally, whittle your waist into a six pack with a dumbbell twisting lunge. Get a dumbbell that weights anywhere between five to eight pounds, hold it with both hands with your arms extended in front of your chest and your feet spaced wider than your hips. Twist your torso while pivoting on your feet to the left, simultaneously dropping your right knee into a lunge as low as around four inches from the floor. Rise up and repeat on the other side. Do each side without stopping for around 20 reps and two sets.

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“Is Organic Better For Our Health?” The Answer Will Truly Amaze You

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With a lot of people shifting to what many believe are healthier alternatives, many would ask, “Is organic better for our health?”

In fact there are a lot of benefits that comes with shifting to organic food, most especially with one would consider going back to basics and tuning the body back to natural substances instead of synthetics.

Many would agree that the biggest health benefit that one could get with organic is the absence of chemical substances especially with pesticides. The organic method of growing vegetables for food is that these crops are grown without the use of pesticides.

Scientific studies have shown over time that pesticides have been known to cause a slew of disorders in the human body like nerve damage, birth defects, cancer and long term neurological disorders, among others.

Other health risks associated with the use of pesticides are not only limited to consumers, but also those involved in the growth and production processes of these pesticides themselves.

In a 2014 publication by the British Journal of Nutrition, a combined study analysis of more than 300 research findings indicated that organically –raised crops like broccoli, apples, carrots and blueberries have been found to have substantially higher concentrations of antioxidants and essential compounds beneficial for the human body.

Taking the limelight in the current debate on health are organic meats. These are farm-raised cattle and swine that are fee only with natural vegetables and crops sans the fortified vitamin-enriched mixed feed.

Organic meat on the other hand, like farm raised free range chickens and ducks, have been found to contain higher levels of omega 3 fatty acids and essential antioxidants that help fight diseases in the body, as well as strengthens the immune system.

These animals are also not injected with any growth boosters to speed up growth to increase production in less time, but are rather cared for the old fashioned natural way.

Studies have shown that these organic meats contained 50% more omega 3 fatty acids especially since organic production are found to likely boost essential nutrients in foods.

These omega 3 fatty compounds have been linked to reductions of cardiovascular diseases, better immune functions and improved neurological development.

A plausible explanation why organic crops have higher levels of antioxidant properties and compounds because they are more exposed to higher levels of stress, allowing their immune systems to naturally combat these stressors. These increased immune processes would highly benefit humans consuming these organic foods as well.

So is organic better for our health? Yes, they may be priced a bit more but the benefits far outweigh the costs.

Source: Is Organic More Nutritious? New Study Adds To The Evidence – NPR News 

Image Credit: Is Organic More Nutritious? New Study Adds To The Evidence

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