Protein Shakes for your daily workouts! By Michelle

Protein Shake Recipes:

After all the workouts you've been doing and your goal is to gain muscle, lose weight or sustain a healthy body, protein shakes are the way to go! Protein shakes vary depending on what you want to achieve and the source of protein can include any of the following:

• Milk
• Whey
• Casein
• Egg
• Soy
• Rice
Here are some simple recipes you can try:

Breakfast: Vanilla Coffee Shake
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups low-fat milk
2 scoops vanilla protein
1/2 cup low-fat, coffee flavored ice-cream

Berry Shake:
INGREDIENTS
2 scoops whey protein
8 raspberries
4 strawberries
15 blueberries
2 cups non-fat milk
1 handful ice

Chocolate and Peanut Butter:
INGREDIENTS
1 cup skim milk
1 pasteurized egg whites
1 tbsp smooth peanut butter
2 1/2 scoops chocolate protein
1 scoop creatine
1/8 cup of sugar-free hazelnutcreamer

Mass Builders:
INGREDIENTS
2 scoops vanilla whey protein
2 Granny Smith apples
1 scoop creatine powder
1 handful ice

Some tips for taking your shakes:
For Pre workouts: It is best to have your protein shakes half n hour before
For Post Workouts: Have a shake with some carbs
Before bed a shake is optimum!

References:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/proteinshakes.html 

Today's workout by Alex

Went to the gym today and did the following workout!

Cardio Training

- 3.5km on the treadmill in 20 minutes, interval training, alternated from 7km/h to 13km/h.
- 7km on the excercise bike in 20 minutes, average speed of around 30km/h.
- 1km on the rowing machine in 5 minutes, average speed of around 20km/h.

Weight Training

- 30 reps on the butterfly machine.
- 30 calf presses.
- 30 lying leg curls.
- 30 machine shoulder presses.
- 30 bench presses.

Ab Training

- Medicine ball workout, 150 reps
- 20 push ups.
- 30 sit ups/ crunches with 10kg weight plate.

Hope all our readers are well and meeting your fitness goals!

Chest exercises by Chia Way

A lot of guys go to the gym to build a big, thick chest. Most beginners go to the gym to build a massive chest. This post discusses the chest, its function and recommended exercises. Try these 5 great chest workout exercises for size.

The chest is made up of two muscles that work together to make the chest function. The muscle are the pectoralis major and pectoralis minor. Basically, the pectoralis minor is located directly underneath the pectoralis major. Overall, these chest muscles start at the clavicle and insert at the sternum and the armpit area (humerous).

The three different functions of the chest muscles are the side arm pitching motion, the ability to bring your arm up and down at your sides, and the classic arm wresting motion. 

Though the chest is made up of one single mass of muscle, it should be trained like it was broken into 3 parts. The upper, middle and lower portions of the chest are stimulated best from changing the angle in which you execute the exercise.

The upper chest is best stimulated from exercises done on a 45 degree incline bench. The middle chest is best stimulated from exercises done on a flat bench, and the lower chest is best stimulated from exercises done on a 45 degree decline bench.

The exercises I recommend may look simple, but it is good for beginners to start with these exercises. For those who are going to the gym often can increase the intensity of these exercises, decrease rest time. 

Exercise 1 - Barbell Bench Press (3 sets of 10 reps)

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/images/2014/5-best-excercises-for-a-bigger-chest-bpi-graphic-1.jpg

Exercise 2 - Incline Dumbbell Press (3 sets of 10 reps)

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/images/2013/cellucor-bbs-chest-3.jpg

Exercise 3 - Flat Dumbbell Fly (3 sets of 10 reps)

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/images/2013/cellucor-bbs-chest-4.jpg

Exercise 4 - Dips (3 sets to failure)

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/images/2014/5-best-excercises-for-a-bigger-chest-bpi-graphic-4.jpg

Exercise 5 - Push-up (100 reps)

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/images/2013/cellucor-bbs-chest-5.jpg

Week 1 – Cardio Workout by Alex

(Above image from http://www.phillyburbs.com/blogs/sweat_stains/treadmills-at-the-gym/image_22c1f09e-c742-11e0-9774-0019bb30f31a.html?mode=jqm)

Cardio workouts are designed to improve overall fitness in the form of constant physical activity. Cardio workouts can help to improve stamina, help lose fat, improve overall fitness and lose weight by burning calories. There are a number of different types of cardio workouts available, including cycling, walking and running and rowing. It is important to balance out speed and intensity whilst training cardio, it is for this reason that many fitness experts recommend interval training whilst training cardio. The following cardio routine will have you at your fitness goals in no time!

-        *Begin with 1km (1000m) on the rowing machine, at full intensity for the entire duration. This loosens up the muscles to prepare them for the workout.

-       * Move to the treadmill, and run 4km. With the treadmill, it is much more effective to use interval training instead of maintaining a constant speed, so for this part of the workout you should use a ratio of 700/300, that is, run 700m on the treadmill at a fast running pace (in this instance, we shall use 12km/h), then walk 300m on the treadmill at a fast walking pace (in this case, we will use 6.5km/h), and repeat for the full 4 kilometres, that is, repeat that cycle four times.

-          * After the treadmill workout, have a rest and a drink of water before moving across to the exercise bike. On the exercise bike, ride for 20 minutes at a reasonably constant pace on medium intensity. Try and travel at a speed which allows you to travel 6 to 7km in the 20 minutes, so, an average speed of approximately 20km/h. Each time, try and better your distance travelled in the 20 minutes, by travelling at higher average speeds.

This workout should be repeated at least 3 times per week in order to be effective, more frequent workouts will ensure greater effectiveness and faster achievement of fitness goals.

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