Is it hard to build muscle on a vegetarian diet?

Depending on how strict of a vegetarian you are, there are still plenty of ways to get protein from your diet. The key will be getting complete proteins and also important is keeping up your energy levels so you can make it through the workout.

If you are not a very strict vegetarian, you can just eat fish and seafood and you will be fine for protein.

If you are choosing not to eat fish, then you still have things like nuts, beans, legumes and eggs which are also great sources of protein. It is definitely possible to build muscle from these sources of protein. One important thing to remember when eating vegetarian is to balance your omega 3’s and omega 6’s. Try using flax or chia seeds to help with this.

Some vegetarians rely on fortified protein drinks or snacks, which are all right, but a very strict vegetarian will need to consider the source. What ingredients are being used to fortify these foods? Some of these drinks and snacks will conflict with some vegetarians’ beliefs.

To think of it more philosophically, consider that many of the animals we eat get their protein from the earth. Think about how we eat cows, pigs, chickens, etc. These animals are fed grains, corn and soy mostly. So it is definitely possible to get protein from sources that aren't animals. Even in nature we are genetically closest to primates such as chimpanzees, monkeys, gorillas, etc. These primates are largely not meat eaters. Gorillas have plenty of muscle and their primary diet is bamboo, fruits and stems.

As for your workout, as long as you maintain good energy levels (have a good sleep routine, avoid stress, and eat a complete and balanced diet), and you eat lots of vegetables, then you should be able to make it through your workout just fine. And as for protein, if you eat a diet rich with natural sources of protein you will likely be getting a complete diet of all the essential amino acids (proteins).

Google: “best sources of vegetarian protein” or something very similar and find some foods you really like. Don't be afraid to experiment a little with new foods too.

How can I learn how to deadlift properly?

The Deadlift: Perfect Every Time

1. Take your stance, feet a little closer than you think it needs to be  and with your toes out more than you like. Your shins should be about  one inch from the bar, no more. This places the bar over the mid-foot –  the whole foot, not the mid-instep.

2. Take your grip on the bar, leaving your hips up. DO NOT MOVE THE BAR.

3. Drop your knees forward and out until your shins touch the bar. DO NOT MOVE THE BAR.

4. Hard part: squeeze your chest up as hard as you can. DO NOT MOVE THE  BAR. This establishes a "wave" of extension that goes all the way down  to the lumbar, and sets the back angle from the top down. DO NOT LOWER  YOUR HIPS – LIFT THE CHEST TO SET THE BACK ANGLE.

5. Squeeze the bar off the floor and drag it up your legs in contact  with your skin/sweats until it locks out at the top. If you have done  the above sequence precisely as described, the bar will come off the  ground in a perfectly vertical path. All the slack will have come out of  the arms and hamstrings in step 4, the bar will not jerk off the  ground, and your back will be in good extension. You will perceive that  your hips are too high, but if you have completed step 4 correctly, the  scapulas, bar, and mid-foot will be in vertical alignment and the pull  will be perfect. The pull will seem "shorter" this way. 

DEADLIFT TUTORIAL VIDEO 

Chose between strength training and running for optimal health and fitness, what would you choose?

The better choice is a combination of the two.

Strength training to help tone and build up your muscles.

Cardio (running) to help your cardiovascular system and to help more with weight loss.

If you’re goal is weight loss, then it’s cardio.

But you also need to consider your diet. If you don’t watch what you eat, then all the exercise programs, whatever it may be, won’t help with your overall health or weight loss.

Running:  Provides little if any strength training.  Just Cardio.

Strength:  If you do your strength training correctly (HIIT), you will achieve both cardio and strength while only training strength.  You can lift weights in such a way that you circuit your exercises and have absolutely no rest in between.  I assure you that you will get more cardio that way than from running.

Top 5 Android Apps For Maintaining Health and Fitness

Abs Workout

Abs workout is the best app to get 6 pack bodies within fewer periods i.e., 42 days. This app says there is no shortcut to do and you need to perform 6 exercises daily at home and no need to go gym and trouble yourself. This app doesn’t suggest any pushups, sit ups and pull-ups.

Before starting, ask fitness trainer how you should perform these exercises. Belly fat is not reduced by this app but you will observe flat muscular abs/six-pack.
Download Abs Workout

Calorie Counter – MyFitnessPal

If you want to lose weight, this is the best app that you select. First you need to complete the registration process which asks your name, date of birth, weight, height etc.


Also you need to enter details like target weight loss, how many times you do exercise per week and for how many minutes etc.
As soon as you are done with the registration, a summary page will be opened for you, which show the amount of calorie consumed by you and the left over calorie to be consumed in a graph form.
Download Calorie Counter – MyFitnessPal

Endomondo Sports Tracker

Endomondo sports tracker is one of the very popular apps around now. This is the best and very useful app for who do running, walking, cycling and distance based activity.

An audio couch will keep you motivated and make you set new goals every time. Also your workout observes the heart rate and lap tames.
Download Endomondo Sports Tracker

Instant Heart Rate Pro

Check your heart rate using this Instant Heart rate app by just downloading in your phone. First enter your age and gender so that it calculates the heart rate zones.

Now place your tip of the index finger over the camera of your smart piece and it detects your heart rate in less time.
Download Instant Heart Rate Pro

Pocket Yoga

This is one good android app for fitness that helps in doing yoga. Yoga is gaining its popularity in maintaining health and fitness day by day.

This yoga app is a detailed voice and visual instructions teaching you 27 different sessions with 150 beautifully illustrated yoga poses.
Download Pocket Yoga

What are your health and fitness goals and how do you motivate yourself to achieve them?

It is okay to set the goals, but know clearly what are the system you are going to follow and implement that is aligned to your goals. Why is it so hard to form good habits? Why is it so difficult to make consistent change? How can we have the best intentions to become better, and yet still see so little progress? And most importantly, is there anything we can do about it?

Goals are not your habits!

Are your goals- the way you want our bodies to look and the good health you want to enjoy, the respect you want to receive from your peers and the important work you want to create, the relationships you want with your family and friends and the love you want to share.

If you don’t have these small goals and which are more fulfilling in life, then you go ahead and define a big goal(Health wise- lose 40kilos in one year, Earn X amount to gain respect, Have the perfect partner with awesome kids, Work to change the world). These goals are very good and common but there are lot of challenges with it. The typical approach is you jump start with a great motivation to fail quickly and wish you had more willpower as your new dream or habits drowns.

The new approach is to slow down, take one day at a time. Find out what you enjoy as a process. Focus on a single, comfortable change for one day at a time. Next day, repeat only one thing, and that process is really huge in building habits.

So Focus should be on Lifestyle, Not Life–Changing Too often we get obsessed with making life–changing transformations. Losing 40kgs would be life–changing, drinking 8 glasses of water per day is a new type of lifestyle. Running a marathon would be life–changing, walking 30 minutes every day is a new type of lifestyle. Earning that X amount would be life–changing, working an extra 5 hours per week on things you love is a new type of lifestyle. Have a dream partner and kids of a movie frame would be life-changing, but being kinder to a stranger now and then is a new type of life style. It is okay to dream big, but start with the small life style changes. If you’re serious about doing things better than you are now — then start small. You can imagine all your existing habits, good or bad, you will find out that they are so small and so automatic that you don't even think about it. So to make new and good habits which you know for sure good for you is to make tiny changes that our brain could quickly learn and automatically repeat. Those should be enjoyable, explorable and benificial. What if you drop all those big goals which drains you, frustrates you and demotivates you or you can only achieve them when you have better resources, better time, better luck..etc in the near but not known future…..but instead as tiny, as small, as easy behaviors that are repeated and cultivated which makes your dream a reality, you without realizing how big you have achieved.

best diet health and fitness books

1. The Precision Nutrition System Why? It's practical information delivered by people who actually coach other people. Many fitness and diet books are assumptions made by writers who have an interest in fitness, but many of them lack real world experience. Other books I've read by nutrition or fitness professionals tend to take a very biased viewpoint on nutrition as well, so it's refreshing to read a book that discusses how to eat, rather than telling you exactly what to eat. This system is built around optimizing your diet (i.e. showing you how to craft a diet that suits YOU, as opposed to the masses). It will show you how to break down your diet for various objectives (mass gain, weight loss, health, etc...) and is very simple/easy to follow. They have one of the most down-to-earth 'real-world' nutrition approaches I know of, that focuses more on long-term adaptation and less on the typical '12-weeks-to-a-ripped-physique' short-sighted approach. They don't beat up on various types of food (i.e. carbs are bad for you, or meat is bad for you, or vegetarians are sickly, or any other nonsense), they recognize that the world of food isn't so much good food vs bad food, but rather a spectrum of eating that is either more optimal for an individual, or less optimal. Really nutrition and diet is a lifestyle, not 'something-you-go-on' and I think the folks at PN get that. Some of my other recommendations won't fall into that category. At $97 it's a bit more of an investment than your typical book, but it's a worthwhile resource that you will find yourself using years from now. Including a cookbook.

2. In Defense of Food (Or The Omnivore's Dilemma or even Food Rules - they are all decent reads, but Omnivore's Dilemma is a longer read, while Food Rules is a shorter read, In Defence of Food falls in the middle. Note:Food Rules is a bit abstract without the other two books) Why? It's not a diet book so much as a perspective book. Practical advice not served up by a dietician, a nutritionist or a fitness professional of any kind but a good writer who happens to maintain a healthy weight eating optimal foods. The basic principle of the book 'Eat real food, not too much, mostly plants' is almost spot on (I would specify 'whole foods,' then add in that lean proteins and healthy fats are important in the mix, not just plants...). This book will give you insights into the food ecosystem, and the quality of your food. All of which I feel are important concepts to grasp, the quality of your food matters. However, it may leave you feeling the need to eat exclusively organic and local food, which is just unfeasible for some people financially. If you can, I highly support the idea, but it's not an absolutely necessary component of having a healthy diet in the long run. Health is influenced by a variety of other factors that are not diet, including physical activity, stress, sleep, environment, social influence, occupational influence, etc... I think these books address the typical assault many 'diet' books on macronutrients, or specific 'types' of food, which I've always felt is a mistake. White Potatoes aren't 'bad' for you, they are just less optimal for certain people, under certain context or at certain times. Most 'diet' books will tell you that X is bad, end of story. I hate fear mongering books of that nature, and generally discourage them. I recommend avoiding books that tell you X foods is bad and Y foods are good. Food doesn't work like that, very few things are flat out 'BAD' for you, they just might not be 'ideal' for you. There is a spectrum of food choices and I think people should generally shoot for the highest quality they can manage on that spectrum the majority of the time. At the end of the day you eat food, not protein, not carbohydrates and not fats but food. Another important concept to understand, so I like that Michael Pollen discusses reductionism in these books, though I don't completely agree with his stance on it (reductionism is a necessary component of the scientific process).

3. Mindless Eating Why? A good chunk of nutrition, has little to do with what and everything to do with the environment in which you eat. This book reveals a lot of the psychological components surrounding eating, and provides strategies for combating them. Like why eating in front of a T.V. leads to eating more, or why eating from large plates leads to eating more, or drinking from short fat glasses will make you drink more, or why eating quickly leads to eating more, etc...etc... There are a lot of environmental cues and circumstances that marketers have influenced you in many more ways than you think (i.e. supersize me -- the idea of exchanging 'greater value' for your dollar at the expense of your waistline). This book can help make you more mindful of the influences that exist presently over how you eat on a daily basis and how you can combat them to eat better, more easily.

How to Overcome the Mental Blocks Ruining Your Workouts

You've heard the saying: Performance is 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical. You can be in peak physical shape, but if your mind isn't in the right place, your training is going to take a hit. These difficulties usually come in the form of mental blocks, or not being able to accomplish something you feel like you should be able to tackle. Sound familiar? You're definitely not alone, says Lani Lawrence, Psy.D., senior staff psychologist for the University of Southern California athletics program. """Having mental blocks are completely normal — most athletes experience them,"" she says." These mental blocks are usually triggered by feeling overwhelmed, she says. This can be due to a number of things such as pressure, burnout, stress, anxiety, or the fear of trying something new. A mental block isn't exactly the same as a motivation hit. Not feeling the motivation to keep up with your workout routine can go hand-in-hand with a mental block, but the two don't necessarily need to be related. For one, you can have the motivation to fix what's wrong, but whatever mental block is standing in your way makes any effort unable to work. Still, some of the same tricks you can use to stoke your motivation can be used to overcome mental blocks, too, says Lawrence. Here, seven ways to get back on track so you can push past a plateau or get through the hardest part of that workout.

One of the reasons you might be feeling overwhelmed is because you have one massive goal staring you in the face — say, for instance, you want to cross a marathon off your bucket list. Pretty intimidating, right? Instead of trying to go straight from 0 to 100, Lawrence recommends starting small and breaking your overall goal up into a series of achievable pieces, making them easier to tackle. """I tell my athletes: 'How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.'""" Chewing off one bite at a time increases your confidence, which therefore boosts your performance, says Lawrence. So how exactly do you go about setting these small-scale goals? Lawrence abides by the acronym: SMART. Your goals should be specific, measurable, adjustable, realistic, and time-limited. Let's go back to the marathon example. Here's what Lawrence says that could look like: Specific: You want to finish your marathon in under four hours. Measurable: To train, you'll run three to five days a week, beginning at two miles each run and increasing your mileage by 5 percent each week. Adjustable: On days that you are injured or fatigued, you can either cross-train or take an extra day to rest. Realistic: You've planned out days and times that you'll be able to run for the next three months, including all increases in mileage. Time-limited: You'll complete your marathon training in three months.

You may have joined a gym simply because it seemed like the easiest way to get in shape, but if you're not feeling motivated to get there, maybe it's time to switch things up. Lawrence recommends asking yourself what type of environment you best perform in. Maybe it's one where you're completely alone, maybe it's just you and a coach or trainer, or maybe it's a group full of people. Also make note if you thrive in a calm, relaxed setting, or if you need something a little more pressure-filled to be able to get things done. And if you realize your ideal environment isn't the one you have jotted down on your workout plan? See how you can tweak it. For example, if you realize you perform best in company, your solitary runs might not be cutting it. So instead, find a running club in your town, or ask a few friends to join you.

If something isn't working in your training plan, it might be time to re-evaluate the bigger picture. What did you originally set out to achieve, and is this still what you want? "Lawrence suggests asking yourself questions like: ""Why did I initially take up this sport or begin working out?"" ""Have those reasons changed?"" ""Do I still find it fun?"" ""Is there something else out there worth seeing if I'll like better?""" By questioning your motives, you might realize your heart isn't 100 percent into the activity, which could explain why you're having trouble with it. A few ways to recognize that things aren't working include feeling irritable or frustrated during the activity, a general lack of energy, or negative thoughts throughout. So what do you do when you realize you aren't happy with your training anymore? """Having a plan B or even C can be really beneficial of 'failing forward' and progressing if there's a setback,"" Lawrence says. In other words, refocus your energy into figuring out what else you want to try, and go try it."

How to Lose Fat Fast Read more https://stronglifts.com/fat-loss-101-how-to-lose-fat-fast-with-free-fat-loss-diets/

You can lose fat fast and forever without waking up at 5am to run on an empty stomach, without exercising 6x/week, without feeling hungry all the time or cutting your favorite foods forever and without expensive supplements.

You only need 3 things to lose fat: strength training, healthy nutrition & cardio. This post will give you a simple, efficient fat loss plan so you can get your body fat to dream numbers while still have a life & eat normally.

1. Get Stronger. Strength training increases cardiovascular fitness, strengthens joints & bones, builds muscle, improves flexibility, … And it also helps fat loss.

    Maintain Muscle. More strength is more muscle. Strength training builds muscle and prevents muscle loss so you don’t get skinny + fat.

    Burn Fat. Strength training prevents your metabolic rate from going down when dieting. This means more fat loss.

    Stick to Diet. Exercising positively influences your eating habits. You’ll stick to your diet better if you do strength training, losing more fat.

You’ll get best results doing a free weight routine of compound exercises like Squats & Deadlifts. Check StrongLifts 5×5: it only takes 3x45mins/week.

2. Eat Healthy. Eat whole, unprocessed foods 90% of the time. Whole foods come as close as possible to their natural state: without added sugars, fats, sauces, … Buy raw foods and cook them yourself.

    Protein. Necessary to build & maintain muscle so you don’t get skinny + fat. Protein also satiates and has the highest thermic effect. Eat a whole protein source with each meal: beef, poultry, fish, dairy, whey, etc

    Veggies & Fruits. Fill your stomach, but usually low in calorie. Also high in fiber, water, vitamins & minerals. Eat veggies & fruits with each meal: spinach, broccoli, kale, asparagus, apples, oranges, etc.

    Healthy Fats. Fat doesn’t make you fat, bad nutrition & lack of exercise do. Healthy fats help fat loss: they satiate and slow down digestion. Eat healthy fats with each meal: fish oil, olive oil, mixed nuts.

    Water. Thirst can make you think you’re hungry. Avoid soda, alcohol and fruit juice. Drink 2 cups water with each meal and sip water during your workout. Green tea and water with squeezed lemon are OK too.

3. Eat Grains Post Workout Only. Grains like pasta or rice are very caloric dense: 100g blank pasta has over 350kcal while 100g broccoli has only 35kcal. Limit your intake of grains to post workout only to automatically reduce your caloric intake.

    Eat Less Starches. Eat proteins, veggies, fruits & healthy fats with each meal. Carbs from veggies & fruits are OK, this isn’t a zero carb fat loss diet. Don’t eat starchy carbs except post workout.

    No Workout = No Carbs. If you do strength training 3x per week, you can eat starchy carbs 3x per week post workout. Eat proteins, veggies, fruits & healthy fats with all other meals.

    Eat Whole Carbs Only. Whole carbs promote fat loss and take longer to digest. Avoid white carbs. Eat whole carbs only: brown rice, whole grain pasta, whole grain bread, oats, quinoa, …

4. Eat More. Frequent meals prevent hunger by keeping your blood sugar stable. Frequent smaller meals also decrease your stomach size over time, which means you’ll feel full sooner. Eat every 3 hours.

    Eat Breakfast. Build the habit of eating breakfast and try one of these breakfast recipes. Cook your food for the day while making breakfast.

    Eat Post Workout. The only meal where you can have carbs to replenish energy stores. Whole meal of protein & carbs or post workout shake.

    Eat Every 3 hours. 6 smaller meals per day instead of 3 large ones. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, pre-bed and 2 snacks.

5. Add Cardio. Excess cardio burns muscle instead of fat, causing the skinny + fat look. Never do cardio only. Add cardio to speed up the fat loss you get from strength training & healthy nutrition.

    Moderate Intensity. 60-70% of your max heart rate. Breathing heavier than at rest, not gasping. Your goal is fat loss, not exhaustion.

    3x45mins. Start with 15mins cardio post strength training 3x per week. Build up to 3x45mins per week by adding 1min each workout.

    Elliptical Trainer. Aka the crosstrainer. There are many cardio machines you can choose from, but this one remains my favorite.

A Step-By-Step Guide to Getting Iron Abs

The science of weight loss is fairly straightforward: "You simply have to burn more calories than you consume," says trainer Richard Levy. "Try to cut 500 calories a day from your diet. Your body will sense the drop in food and compensate by using stored fat as energy."

"Eat little and often to prevent you craving the wrong foods. Aim for six meals a day: this will keep your blood sugar stable," says Pip Hartnell, chief nutritionist at Pure Packages. And never skip meals. Going without food for more than four hours causes the body to suppress its calorie-burning capacity.

"Kick the booze. Not only is it high in calories itself, it also reduces the amount of fat calories you burn, boosts your appetite and drops your testosterone levels," says personal trainer Ross Chouler.

 "Eat the right kind of carbohydrates," says Hartnell. "Avoid processed carbs such as white bread and go for the slow-release variety of beans, lentils, oats, brown rice, whole wheat and rye." "Make sure you get enough protein," says Hartnell.

"Your body uses 20% to 30% more energy to digest it than it needs for carbohydrates. And if you're looking to build muscle, you need to eat two grammes of protein per kilo of bodyweight." Try to tuck away some protein-rich food (fish, chicken, turkey, eggs, milk, tofu, pulses) at every meal.

Eat Breakfast After the Gym for a High Metabolism

The big breakfast debate has been settled. Until now, the opposing cases have been presented as follows: skip breakfast and train fasted to spike your metabolism and increase your total fat burn by 8 per cent. Alternatively, wait to digest your morning eggs in order to train harder for faster gains. Both are enticing – which is confusing. But the latest research from the University of Scranton confirms that fasted exercise is the tastiest prospect for weight loss. And not for the reasons previously thought.

Scientists set out to discover how timing breakfast around a morning workout could affect appetite for the rest of the day. Two groups were fed exactly the same breakfast at different times, before being given the green light to indulge as they saw fit for lunch and dinner.

Subjects who ate their first meal after swinging a kettlebell, rather than before, consumed 900 fewer calories throughout the day. This supports previous research linking exercise to a decrease in the brain’s neural response to food imagery.

At a time of year when willpower is vital, the prospect of a 900-calorie deficit with zero hunger pangs is most welcome. As is the free pass provided by a hungry morning workout to really make a meal out of your breakfast. Grab’n’go toast no longer cuts it. Salmon and eggs, on the other hand? Emphatically, yes.

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Salman Khan First Look From Race 3 as Sikander Releasing 15th june 2018..