Tuesday, October 28, 2008

How to Make a Protein Shake

Proteins are the basic building blocks of any living being. Proteins are made up of essential and non essential amino acids, both of which are equally important in building up the muscles and cells in a body.

There are many people who go for regular work outs. It becomes very essential in these kinds of people to have a proper amount of protein in their diet. Regular gym goers and people who regularly work out generally tend to go for protein supplements like energy bars or protein shakes.

The main advantages for going for a protein shake is to recover faster from the tiredness of work out, to maintain lean muscle due to consumption of proteins like whey protein which are low in fat and carbohydrates but rich source of proteins. It also helps in acting as a meal replacement therapy, in the sense that if you regularly take protein shakes in your meal you can easily skip that one time meal since the protein shake itself provides you with enough and more calories required for that particular time of the day.

There are different ways to make a protein shake, but the below mentioned will be the best and easiest way to make a shake for your balanced meal. The blender must be off when the milk is poured into the jar. The whey protein powder must be added to the milk and the milk and protein must be blended in the jar for about 15-20 seconds.

Once the milk and the protein powder are blended, the blender must be turned off and any fruit of your choice must be added. The fruits added may be bananas, raspberries, strawberries etc that would give a good and refreshing flavor to the shake.

The ingredients must then be blended nicely in the jar in medium speed or a greater speed so that all of them get mixed thoroughly and the fruits are completely bended with the milk. A tablespoon of virgin coconut oil can be used to give a coconut flavor to the shake. Coconut oil increases the metabolic rate and tends to help in achieving weight loss at a faster rate. It also helps in reducing certain risks associated with cancer and other cardiovascular risks.

Flaxseed oil can also be used in the shake due to different roles of flaxseed in daily diet. Flax seeds are rich in omega three fatty acids and hence play major role in reducing cholesterol, blood pressure and arthritis.

The shake is now ready to drink with a wonderful flavor of your choice. The shake must be had after 15-20 of your workout since it is in this time that the body requires protein to a maximum extent.

The protein shakes must usually be made with simple but strong flavors to mask the taste of the protein as such. The flavors can include fruity flavors like bananas, raspberries, strawberries etc or flavors like chocolate, vanilla, honey nut and crunch or roasted almonds.

The protein shakes prepared can be for various purposes. It can be used by some to gain weight or by some to lose weight. People who go for protein shakes for gaining weight tend to use 2% or whole milk with extra protein powder in the recipe mentioned since that would help in gaining weight.

People who are on a diet to lose weight tend to use skim milk in the recipe since that helps in building lean muscle.

People who are allergic to dairy products can use soy milk. Soy milk is also an alternative for people who tend to go on a low carbohydrate and cholesterol free protein shakes.

Care must be taken that the fruits used and the milk used must be fresh ones, since if not they might harm your body. Natural fruits or nuts whatever used must also be rich in protein since that would increase the energy you get from your shake. It is always better to go for natural flavors rather than using artificial or synthetic flavors since they may cause harm to the body at a later stage in life because of the synthetic chemicals used for flavoring.

Thus by using all the natural ingredients available in your fridge all the time, a great protein shake that would boost your body can be made.


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Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Achieve a Beach Body Tips

Having great physique, huge muscles, smart personality is something every men desires. As we all know that there are many gym and fitness center established to help people in building huge muscles. You must have visited a beach to spend some loving moments with friends and family. Beach is a place where a person likes to enjoy the touch of water. But due to an awkward and ugly physique many times you hesitate to open your clothes. You see several young boys roaming all around you in swimming costumes showing off their beach body. You must be wondering how they get a beach body. Let me tell you that even you can get a beach body. All you need is a proper diet and regular workouts. If you really desire to get a beach body then I can provide you some useful tips which can help you in making a beach body. Summer is somewhere near so I suggest that you should start making a beach body from today onwards so that you can also show your beach body and can enjoy the thrilling atmosphere of beach.

Let us discuss some of the factors through which you can get a beach body:

Firstly decide the time up to which you want a beach body as your workout and diet will be based on the time period in which you need a beach body. Make sure what will be your diet and what all will be your initial workouts to get a beach body. This is essential as through these you can build your muscles to get a beach body. You should also gain some basic knowledge about health and fitness so that you can prepare yourself in that way. The main areas of your body on which you have to pay special attention are chest, arms, triceps, biceps, shoulders and thighs. You can also perform workouts in order to build abs. In the initial stage you have to build up muscular arms, big chest and huge shoulders and after you succeed in getting them you can start with cardiovascular workouts to build up your key muscle groups.

A cardiovascular workout helps in burning the top layer of fat of your body. It is essential because by burning the top layer one can easily build huge muscles but for starting this workout one have to build good muscles. The key to get a beach body is weight training, correct nutrition and cardiovascular training. Many people perform the two building blocks properly that is weight training and cardiovascular training but fails in doing the third building block correctly that is proper nutrition. Because of improper nutrition the muscles fails to develop in a proper manner. It is well known that heavy weights are essential for building huge muscular body but for lifting huge weights strength is needed which is provided by proper nutrition. So in order to get a beach body you should pay proper attention to your nutrition. You should take in a proper diet, full of proteins and other essential macronutrients so that you can have the strength to lift heavy weights.

All you need to do is to make a correct nutritional plan so that your muscles and your body can get proper nutrition. This will help you in doing workouts in a proper manner. You can easily get broad shoulders and muscular arms and can also tone every muscle of your body. You will not even feel shy in opening your cloths on the beach as then you can show your beach body. To get a beach body you have to do all these exercises and make sure that you continue them as regular workouts is very vital in maintaining the beach body.

By doing regular workouts you will keep increasing you rate of metabolism which is essential for burning fat and calories. By doing these workouts you can easily maintain a fit and healthy body. You can even join a fitness centre or a gym in order to get best results. You can also consult a physiotherapist as he can advice you how to get a beach body in a more perfect way. You can also consult a trainer for performing different workouts. Make sure that you opt for a right workout for building a muscular body. Do not ever push yourself in completing a set or workout as you can cause yourself an injury.

So, start your workouts and training in order to get a beach body and pay attention on your diet as a nutritional diet is must to get a beach body.


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