HEALTH & FITNESS
Sunday, 26 October 2014
Sunday, 18 May 2014
Dr Mathena Satyanarayana Raju Diet Plan

The diet recommended by Dr. Raju, a naturopath
from India, is a strict raw food diet that is unlikely to appeal to many
people. It is a diet that uses no salt, sugar or oil, and emphasizes
drinking copious amount of water.
Dr Mathena Satyanarayana Raju
Dr. Raju has a thriving health product
business in India. At his website, he sells books, cds, eBooks, and
videos. He appears on Maa TV, a Teluga language station in India, for
30 minutes on Monday through Thursday. His fans sing his praises to the
heavens. Dr. Raju is described as "the embodiment of all virtue." He
is said to be "the reincarnation of Gandhi." It is also said that if
you follow Dr. Raju's advise, you will never have a chronic disease.
The Dr. Raju Diet
Rise at 5 a.m. and consume two liters of
water before 7 a.m. For breakfast, eat carrots, tomatoes, and other
vegetables. Use no salt, sugar, or oil. Everything is to be eaten raw.
Lunch consists of groundnuts, soybeans, cashew nuts, and similar
foods. Dinner is to be eaten before 6 p.m. It should consist of all
kinds of fruits. If there is no other fruit available, you can eat five
bananas.
Wednesday, 14 May 2014

CIRCUIT 1
1. HANGING LEG RAISE
Reps: 8–12 Rest: 0 sec.
Hang from a pullup bar with palms facing forward or each other— whichever is more comfortable. Contract your abs and raise your legs to meet the bar. Do it fast, as if you’re trying to kick the bar. Control the descent.
1. HANGING LEG RAISE
Reps: 8–12 Rest: 0 sec.
Hang from a pullup bar with palms facing forward or each other— whichever is more comfortable. Contract your abs and raise your legs to meet the bar. Do it fast, as if you’re trying to kick the bar. Control the descent.
2. AB WHEEL ROLLOUT
Reps: 8–15 Rest: 0 sec.
Kneel on the floor and hold an ab wheel in front of you by its handles. The wheel should be directly under your shoulders. Brace your abs and roll the wheel forward until you feel you’re about to lose tension in your abs. Pull the wheel back.
Reps: 8–15 Rest: 0 sec.
Kneel on the floor and hold an ab wheel in front of you by its handles. The wheel should be directly under your shoulders. Brace your abs and roll the wheel forward until you feel you’re about to lose tension in your abs. Pull the wheel back.
3. BACK EXTENSTION
Reps: 10–12 Rest: 60 sec.
Set up on a back extension bench so your legs are locked in place and the pad is under your hips. Bend your torso forward as far as you can without rounding your back. Then extend your hips until your torso is straight.
Reps: 10–12 Rest: 60 sec.
Set up on a back extension bench so your legs are locked in place and the pad is under your hips. Bend your torso forward as far as you can without rounding your back. Then extend your hips until your torso is straight.
CIRCUIT II
1. LANDMINE TWIST
Reps: 8–10 (each side) Rest: 0 sec.
Wedge the end of a barbell into a corner. Hold the opposite end with both hands at arm’s length on the sleeve (the part where you load the plates). Swing the barbell to one side, lowering it to hip level. Swing it to the other side. Roll your body back when you feel your abs are about to lose tension.
1. LANDMINE TWIST
Reps: 8–10 (each side) Rest: 0 sec.
Wedge the end of a barbell into a corner. Hold the opposite end with both hands at arm’s length on the sleeve (the part where you load the plates). Swing the barbell to one side, lowering it to hip level. Swing it to the other side. Roll your body back when you feel your abs are about to lose tension.
2. SEATED BICYCLE CRUNCH
Reps: 20–30 (each side) Rest: 0 sec.
Lie on your back on the floor and place your hands by your ears. Crunch your torso up off the floor and twist to your left side. Draw your left knee up to meet your right elbow. Reverse the motion and repeat on the other side. You should look like you’re pedaling a bike. Don’t sacrifice range of motion for faster reps.
Reps: 20–30 (each side) Rest: 0 sec.
Lie on your back on the floor and place your hands by your ears. Crunch your torso up off the floor and twist to your left side. Draw your left knee up to meet your right elbow. Reverse the motion and repeat on the other side. You should look like you’re pedaling a bike. Don’t sacrifice range of motion for faster reps.
3. RKC PLANK
Reps: Hold as long as possible Rest: 60 sec.
Get into pushup position and place your forearms flat on the floor. Move your arms slightly forward so the bend in your elbows is greater than 90 degrees. Brace your abs and lock your knees, feeling your quads contract. Squeeze your glutes. Now try to pull your elbows toward your knees— they shouldn’t move, but you’ll feel your core working harder. Hold this position for time.
Reps: Hold as long as possible Rest: 60 sec.
Get into pushup position and place your forearms flat on the floor. Move your arms slightly forward so the bend in your elbows is greater than 90 degrees. Brace your abs and lock your knees, feeling your quads contract. Squeeze your glutes. Now try to pull your elbows toward your knees— they shouldn’t move, but you’ll feel your core working harder. Hold this position for time.
CIRCUIT III

1. SWISS BALL ROLL OUT
Reps: 10–12 Rest: 0 sec.
Kneel on the floor and rest your forearms on a Swiss ball. The ball should be directly under your shoulders. Roll the ball forward as you did with the ab wheel until you’re about to lose tension in your abs, and then roll back.
Reps: 10–12 Rest: 0 sec.
Kneel on the floor and rest your forearms on a Swiss ball. The ball should be directly under your shoulders. Roll the ball forward as you did with the ab wheel until you’re about to lose tension in your abs, and then roll back.
2. RUSSIAN TWIST
Reps: 8–12 (each side) Rest: 0 sec.
Sit on the floor with knees bent 90 degrees and extend your arms in front of you. Lean back a bit so your torso is 45 degrees to the floor. Rotate your body as faras you can to the left, and then to the right.
Reps: 8–12 (each side) Rest: 0 sec.
Sit on the floor with knees bent 90 degrees and extend your arms in front of you. Lean back a bit so your torso is 45 degrees to the floor. Rotate your body as faras you can to the left, and then to the right.
3. WEIGHTED SWISS BALL CRUNCH
Reps: 8–12 Rest: 60 sec.
Lie back on a Swiss ball and hold a dumbbell on your chest with both hands. Your feet should be flat on the floor at a width that offers stability. Crunch your torso up off the ball and hold two to three seconds.
Reps: 8–12 Rest: 60 sec.
Lie back on a Swiss ball and hold a dumbbell on your chest with both hands. Your feet should be flat on the floor at a width that offers stability. Crunch your torso up off the ball and hold two to three seconds.
Monday, 12 May 2014
Yoga asanas for Thighs and Buttocks:
1. Chair pose:
This asana will require immense stamina and you may experience pain in your legs in the initial first practices. However, by doing it regularly,you will gain flexibility and the pain will go away:
- Start by standing with your feet together.
- While inhaling, raise your hands over your head.
- Moreover, bend your knees slightly and dip into a squat while exhalation.
- Remain in this position for 30-60 seconds and again come back to the standing position.
- Beginners can do it for ten times and increase the counts as you get into practice.
2. Dance of the legs:
Lie on your back with closed eyes and raise your left leg straight up as much as you can and ensure you inhale at the same time.
- Without any straining, your right leg should be still on the floor.
- Now tighten your abdomen as you exhale, fold your left leg at the knees and press it close to the chest. Remember not to leave your hand, continue holding the ankle still.
- Now raise your head to meet the knees of your left leg while remaining in that position for 5-10 seconds.
- While putting your head back on the ground, inhale deeply, release the left leg, and repeat the same with right leg.
3. Deep squats:
This yoga exercise for thighs works wonders!
- Stand with both your feet about 12 inches apart and bring the arms in front of you with palms facing the ground.
- Now squat down with a deep inhalation, while you bend down ensure your knees are forming a 90 degrees angle allowing you to dip down in the position.
- Get back immediately to standing position while exhaling and repeat again.
4. AnandaBalasana (Happy child pose):
5. Warrior pose I (Virabhadrasana I):
Stand straight with your feet apart.
- Now shift your left foot to the side such that there is a three to four feet distance between both the legs.
- Keeping your left foot straight; rotate it to your left side entirely where your right foot rotates slightly.
- Now spin your torso to your left side making sure your legs are in the same position.
- Bend the knee of your left leg; carry your torso forward to the left side where you raise both your hands above your head in a Namaste.
6. Warrior pose II (Virabhadrasana II):

7. Bridge Pose (SetuBandhasana):
Lie down with your back on the ground with stretched legs and bend your legs at the knees with your feet grounded.
- Place your hands by your side with palms facing the ground.
- Now lift up your hips off the ground towards the ceiling, letting your hands and feet to be on the ground.
- Hold this position by lifting your hands over your head.
- To bring a little variation to this asana, lift up one of your legs in the air, hold it for some time, and repeat it with the other leg too.
8. Three-legged Dog Pose:
Start with the downward dog pose.
- Lift your right leg high up in the air supporting yourself on two hands and your left leg.
- Hold for five breaths, put your leg down and repeat with the other leg too.
9. BaddhaKonasana (Cobbler’s pose):

- Sit on the floor with your knees bent so that both the soles of your feet are facing each other.
- Keep your spine elongated ensuring that your posture is straight.
- Press the soles of your feet together and hold this pose for a minute.
10. Locust Pose:
Lie down with your belly on the ground and place hands by your side with palms facing the ceiling.
- As you inhale, lift up your legs and your upper torso and support yourself on the abdomen.
11. Reverse Warrior or Crescent Moon Pose:
Start off by standing in Warrior II position.
- Now gently arch your torso backwards and place your left hand over the back of your left leg.
- Raise the right hand over your head and hold for five breaths while repeating with the other side.
12. Standing Hand to Toe:
These asanas will help you to tone down your thighs and buttocks very easily.Sunday, 11 May 2014
6 Tips for a Ripped Six-Pack

While diet is certainly the main factor in getting that shredded look in the middle, training your abs with regularity is also important. Regular abs training not only helps you achieve that M&F cover model look, but it boosts your overall core strength, making you stronger on all the lifts that burn the most fat such as the squat, bench and deadlift.
Here are 6 tips to help you conquer your abs neglect.
1. Train abs, calves and forearms together
The big-boy lifts—the ones that build the most muscle—are quite understandably the priority for most guys at the gym. The problem is, once you're finished squatting, leg pressing and benching yourself to complete exhaustion, you probably don't want to dive into an abs session. To remedy this, M&F Fitness Director Jimmy Pena, MS, CSCS recommends scheduling one session a week for abs, calves and forearms. "Training all of these bodyparts together in one session ensures that you're attacking them with the utmost intensity," he says. "No need to worry about being too tired to get to them at the end of your workout."2. Do your abs at home
The good thing about abs is that they can be trained anywhere. "If you find spend some time at night watching television, promise yourself to do abs during all commercial breaks," says M&F Senior Science Editor Jim Stoppani, PhD. Cycle between reverse crunches, oblique crunches and regular crunches for sets of 12-20 reps. You can also do this at the office. Every hour drop to the floor and cycle through these three exercises. (Note: This works best if you have an office with a door, or if you're not concerned about your coworkers thinking of you as a body-obsessed lunatic.)3. Do your abs in traffic
Yeah, you read that right. In traffic. But how? "Do static ab contractions while driving," says Stoppani. "Simply flex your abs and hard as possible while crunching down and exhaling. Hold for a count of five, then relax and repeat until you get to where you're going." You can also work your deep transverse abdominis—the muscles that keep you from having the dreaded beer gut—by pulling your belly button in toward your spine, and holding for a count of 10. Repeat this up to 10 times.4. Do staggered sets
In between sets, instead of resting with your glutes on the bench, rest that muscle group while doing an ab exercise between sets. "But only use this method if working a smaller bodypart," cautions Pena. "Doing abs in the middle of a heavy workout—between sets of squats, for example—can weaken your core and put you at risk of injury."5. Learn to multitask
Instead of walking out on a good abs workout, learn how to multitask. In particular, you'll want to read up on the tri-sets method, which presents an equally challenging spin on the abs/calves/forearms workout listed above, and the cardio/abs HIIT (high-intensity interval training) routine, which is guaranteed to work in no time flat.6. Rethink abs training
Instead of merely focusing on the aesthetic reward at the end of the tunnel, give more thought to how abs training contributes to your overall body composition. "Having a strong set of abdominals absolutely makes you stronger on all of your bigger lifts like squats, deads, benches, and overhead presses," says Pena. "And those are really the lifts that cause lasting, dramatic changes in your body because they work the most muscle. If you're skipping abs workouts, then you're not just shortchanging your abs—you're reducing your overall potential for a better look."Thursday, 8 May 2014
Fat loss is primarily a struggle with keeping your diet clean and nutritious at the same time. Here is how to get your 6-pack abs to really pop!
Diet

48 Protein Shake Recipes
Tired of drinking the same boring, bland tasting proteins shakes? Try these superb shakes and mix things up with fresh ingredients and a variety of supplements.Calories
Figuring out your calorie intake is paramount so what you need to do first. Most people starting out on a fat loss program will begin losing body fat at an intake of about 13 calories per pound of body weight (provided you are doing workouts 3-5 days a week), but don't be surprised if as you progress you have to bring this down closer to the 9-10 calories per pound range.At the lower body fat levels, your body is going to fight you harder to get the six pack abs you're after. When you get to the point of having to lower them this much, it's wise to calorie cycle between the very low levels and slightly higher levels to ensure that your metabolism doesn't crash. Place a few more calories (and carbohydrates) on days you have a heavy workout and lower them again on days you don't.
Protein
Next is your protein intake. When shooting to get the six pack abs look, protein needs to be high. It'll boost your metabolic rate up, prevent the lean muscle mass loss that typically accompanies very low calorie diets, and keep you from feeling hungry. Make no mistake about it, when you're at 9 calories per pound of body weight as your intake, you will be very happy to have the extra protein content of your diet up higher.Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are the nutrient that gets discussed the most when the topic of the six pack abs comes up. Cycling these tends to be very effective for results since as you go lower the body will burn up more body fat and you'll also reduce your overall water retention, making you appear leaner.They are important to keep in there some days, however. If carbs are too low for too long of a time, energy levels will drop, cravings will become extremely intense, and your resting metabolic rate will plummet. At the very least, put 25-50 grams both before and after your workout sessions on the hard days and never omit vegetables (a low calorie carbohydrate) source from your diet.
Every three to four weeks on an intense diet also be sure to have a full fledged high-carb weekend where you eat a much greater number of carbohydrates in order to keep your metabolism firing. This short carb-up period should be primarily focused on high-carb, low fat foods while keeping your protein intake relatively constant to prevent fat from being regained.
When done correctly these are extremely beneficial at preventing stalled progress and something every strict diet must have.
Fat
Finally, you must not forget fat. When it's time to really get ripped up so you can get the six pack abs physique, you will not be eating all that much dietary fat. Limit it to only a few grams per meal coming from the absolute healthiest sources such as flax seeds, flaxseed oil, olive oil, nuts, and fatty fish or fish oil.Keep in mind a long-term maintenance diet should provide more daily fat to your intake (15% of total calories minimum) but for the purpose of this plan, you'll be taking it lower.
Like any other time, be sure to avoid fat in the time period right before and after your workout as this will only slow the digestion process. Those meals should be strictly protein and carbohydrate meals and then 4-7 grams of fat should be added to 3-5 of your other meals during the day depending on your overall calorie requirements.

Other Factors
Finally, don't forget some of the other factors that will influence how easily the six pack abs come to you. These include things like sodium intake (which can result in a bloated appearance), the amount of sleep your getting each night (which is important to control carbohydrate cravings), as well as how much clear fluid you're drinking on a daily basis.You must remember that in order to get six pack abs, you're going to have to take an entire lifestyle approach to it. What you do in the gym definitely does matter, but if you're not on your game the rest of the time, you're still going to struggle
Sunday, 4 May 2014

Image © John Serbey
You must adhere to a strict low fat diet and do plenty of exercise, for no matter how many crunches you do, your six-pack will not becoming apparent until the layer of fat covering them is gone. So, with that in mind, here are 10 things you must do to make your six-pack dream a reality.
Eat small regular meals throughout the day
"For those aspiring for a chiselled mid-section, reducing body fat is vital," says Simon Jurkiw, a nutritionist from Maximuscle, one of Europe's largest sports nutrition brands. "Everyone has abdominal muscles, however, most can't see them due to the layer of fat covering them.
"Small balanced meals help to regulate blood sugar levels which, in turn, minimises unnecessary insulin release, which will result in fewer food cravings and less fat storage."
Perform cardiovascular exercise

Image © John Serbey
"The role of cardiovascular exercise in obtaining a perfect six pack is simply to increase energy expenditure," he says. "Forty-five minutes on the cross trainer will not only burn off calories, but will continue to increase the metabolism for a prolonged period after."
Don't overdo it
"The abs will be working whether you do hundreds of reps or just perform one or two," says Tony Lyons, head personal training instructor at Soho Gyms.
"Abs are high rep muscles, so l don't see the point of going over twenty five reps. Just change the exercise or increase the intensity of each rep to add resistance."
Sports nutrition

Image © John Serbey
"Nutrients such as caffeine and green tea have been shown to increase the metabolism as well as increasing the amount of fat the body uses as fuel," he says. "This is an ideal complement to a training and nutrition plan. One such product is Thermobol, from Maximuscle, which contains a blend of nutrients."
Abdominal exercise
"An abdominal training plan should focus on all areas of the stomach, not just lots of sit-ups," says Jurkiw. A balanced abdominal training session could incorporate a circuit of:
- Sit-ups
- Sit-ups with a twist (so right elbow goes across to left knee and vice versa)
- Hanging leg raises (bring knees up to make it easier)
- Plank
- Side plank
Maintain good posture

Image © John Serbey
"You should hold your shoulders back when engaging your core workout to reap the full benefits of each sit-up," says Lyons. "You can also use a Swiss ball to practice your balance, which again will activate your core."
Shake it up a little
There's nothing fun about doing sits-ups all day, but you can help beat the boredom by including some variation into your abdominal workouts.
"Perform a variety of exercises on your abs training day so you don't get bored," says Lyons. "Change your routine around. Use a Swiss ball one day and in the following workout use a TRX."
Prioritise your workouts

Image © John Serbey
He says: "Most people often leave their abs workout till the end of their training routine when they're possibly rushed for time or are too tired, which is why you should sometimes start your workout off with abdominal workouts."
Target the weaker areas first
Your abdominal muscles have three different sections: the upper, middle and lower abdominals. Each requires different workouts, as no singular exercise will effectively target all three. Lyons says that it's best to start work on the weaker lower abdominals first before targeting the stronger areas.
He says: "Make sure you work on the weakest part of your abs first -upper, middle, lower or intercostals [the muscles between your rib and chest]," he says. "Getting the most difficult one out of the way at the start will mean you can put maximum effort into the rest of your workout."
Pick your parents wisely
"Genetics will play a role in muscle fibre distribution and fat distribution," says Jurkiw. "Some people find it easy to have washboard abs, whereas others have to work a bit harder for it. Fat storage will play an important role - some are genetically predisposed to store fat around the abdominal region, whereas others will store fat in other areas.
"Clearly there isn't much you can do about that now so it's better to focus on the previous tips."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)