In current days, when you talk about weight loss, carbohydrates are seen as bad guys in the picture. The consequence? Tons of diets emerged where this macro nutrient is almost fully prohibited…

So, what is a Low Carb Diet?

Just as the name points out, it’s a diet where a very low intake of carbohydrates occurs. Low Carb Diet don’t mean zero carbs, they just limit their daily consumption. Normally, very generally speaking, they are diets that allow below 130g of carbs per day

What can you eat?

There are no banned foods at this points, but of course foods high in carbs are limited. That means that food like bread, pasta, rice, sweets and even a few fruits are severely restricted.

RELATED: UNVEILING THE “TREND DIETS” – THE “WARRIOR DIET” (PART 5/6)

Meal examples:

• Breakfast: Omelet  with peppers, onion, light cheese and a side of fruit.
• Lunch: A generous salad bowl, containing different types of raw leaves with pieces of meat or fish. Depending on the carbohydrates available for that diet, the salad might have some croutons or fruit.
• Dinner: A protein source rich in fat, like salmon, beef or pork with sautéed vegetables and some type of low carb vegetable/tuber like carrots or pumpkin.
• Snacks: Nuts, cheese, dried meat, protein bars…

Now let’s take a look at the pros and cons!

Pros:

1. Since carbohydrates make up for a large percentage of the calories that a person eats throughout the day, cutting carbs is a simple way to cut calories. This calorie cut will contribute to fat loss, and that’s why many people think that this type of diet is more efficient.
2. By reducing carbohydrates, most people tend to increase their intake of fiber and protein, which helps both in fat loss and hunger satiety.

Cons:

1. The crucial aspect to retain is that carbohydrates aren’t monsters.
2. Carbs are our main source of energy, even though it’s possible to obtain energy from carbs and fats, carbs are by far the most efficient way to fill up the tank.
3. By cutting carbs you’ll feel more fatigued and lose performance during your workouts. If strength and muscle mass are concerns of yours, you shouldn’t ban this macro nutrient.
4. Even if you’re in a low carb diet, you can still gain fat, since those diets are normally higher in fat.
5. Carbohydrate levels should be based on a person’s weight and physical activity.

With that being said…

Here is where the superiority of flexible dieting is revealed, since it allows a customization to each person’s needs. By having control/goals regarding macro nutrients, we are able to understand what our body requires to achieve a certain result or goal. It’s like preparing a formula 1 racing car for a specific race. Each person is an independent and unique body, so it makes perfect sense that their diet should be so as well.

Have the best of both world with no diabolical sacrifices.

As a follow up to our forearm article, we decided to talk about another muscle that many people forget to give attention to, the posterior portion of the deltoids.

It not only can, but SHOULD be trained!

SEE ALSO: HOW TO MAINTAIN YOUR DIET WHILE TRAVELLING!

The Deltoid is constituted by 3 portions (at least): Anterior, Lateral (Medial) and Posterior. It is responsible for the main movements we can do with our arms (height and direction).

If there’s a lack of proportion between these three portions, you might end up with a few problems, like bad posture, for example.

Don’t you worry, we’ve got a solution.

A simple way to start using this muscle more frequently, specially it’s posterior portion, is by doing more rows in your back workout. This type of exercise hits the posterior delts like the bench press hit’s the triceps. This means that even if it is a secondary muscle performing the movement, it gets some significant stimulus.

Prioritize training for this portion of the muscle, seeing as it’s normally underdeveloped. For example, work it 2 or 3 days along your training week. It’s also important to vary the exercises throughout the week!

RELATED: MYTH: HYPERTROPHY TRAINING DOESN’T BURN FAT!

Training tips:

• Properly warm up your shoulders, including the rotator cuff;
• Face Pull – It’s an excellent exercise to develop this portion of the deltoid. For correct execution of this exercise, it’s crucial that you maintain your back tight and straight and chest outwards.
• Bent-Over Rear Delt Cable Raise – In this exercise, it’s important that you focus your energy on pulling with your elbow instead of your hand, seeing as your elbow is moved backwards by your shoulder, as a pose to the hand, which is pulled backwards by the triceps;
• Rear Delt Dumbbell Rows – Maintain your body parallel to the floor, elbows wide (+- 90 degrees). You can always perform this exercise with a bar if you find it hard to perform with dumbbells, maintaining all of the above mentioned principles.

With a name as incredible as this, you can only assume that you’ll achieve incredible muscle gains and interplanetary strength gains on the bench press. But does the “Warrior Diet” actually have any advantages?

So, what is the “warrior” diet?

In the 90s, there were some studies done on the impact of dieting on Western people’s weight. They arrived at the conclusion that there was an over-consumption of food, due to the existence of so many meals throughout the day, which lead to this diet. Basically it consists in the reduction of the number of daily meals to just one (usually at night), where only organic food was consumed. This means that normally, between 10am and 6pm you can’t eat a single thing. It’s thought that this was the way in which hunter-gatherers ate. They hunted during the day and ate during the night.

What can you eat?

This diet also shares a few basic principles with the Pale diet. It encourages the consumption of natural or organic products, where the foundation of the diet revolves around meat/fish, fruit and vegetables- So alcohol and processed sugars are totally off the table.

Meal examples:

• Breakfast – Nothing
• Lunch – Nothing once again
• Dinner – This meal has to be considerably large, where you can start by eating a salad with many types of raw leaves along with meat or fish. Then, you can eat carbs and fats like beans, fruit, nuts or even brown rice or oatmeal.

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons:

Pros:

1. Like in any “primitive” style diet, it can be quite healthy seeing as you eat an abundance of vitamins and minerals.
2. There’s no doubt that the caloric intake will be reduced, since it’s limited to one meal a day.
3. This type of diet can help to distinguish the concepts of hunger and desire, an important aspect in our opinion.

Cons:

1. Training “heavy” or a lot, will be quite hard while following this diet, since appetite will shoot up because of the high levels of energetic consumption.
2. Less fuel in the tank, less mileage…Even under the premise that our bodies will adapt, performance can be significantly lower since you’ll undergo extended periods of time without food.

RELATED: HOW TO MAINTAIN OUR DIET WHEN WE TRAVEL (PART 1/2)

With that being said…

Here is where the superiority of flexible dieting is revealed, since it allows a customization to each person’s needs. By having control/goals regarding macro nutrients, we are able to understand what our body requires to achieve a certain result or goal. It’s like preparing a formula 1 racing car for a specific race. Each person is an independent and unique body, so it makes perfect sense that their diet should be so as well.

Have the best of both world with no diabolical sacrifices.

The time to speak about one of the largest elephants in the room has come…CREATINE! Contrary to what many people believe, creatine is NOT an anabolic steroid. It is simply a compound composed of three combined amino acids: arginine, glycine and methionine. So you can calm your families’ anxiety down, it’s not “the stuff”. Creatine is a molecule produced by our body, where many groups of phosphate are stored, which then lead to the creation of creatine phosphate containing high levels of energy. During stress periods, creatine phosphate releases energy to aid cellular function. That’s where strength increase come from after one uses creatine as a supplement. But, it also helps in other fields such as brain, bone, muscle and liver function. Creatine can be found in various foods, but mainly in eggs, meat and fish. It also provides several benefits in terms of the cardiovascular and nervous systems.

RELATED: HOW TO WORK THE LATERAL PORTION OF THE DELT (SHOULDER)

There are many types of creatine, but creatine mono-hydrate is the cheapest and most effective form. Micronized creatine mono-hydrate is easily dissolved in water so it’ll be easier to take. Creatine can be taken using a loading phase, using 0,3g per kg of body weight for 5-7 days. It can then be followed by a maintenance phase of at least 0,03g per kg of body weight per day, for 6-8 weeks if cycled, or even for an undetermined period of time (without any more loading phases). For example, a person weighing 82kg would be taking 25g of creatine per day during the loading phase and 2,5g during the maintenance phase. Due to the low cost that this supplement has, many people take around 5g per day during this same phase, which reveals many benefits. For those who have a high activity level and more muscle mass, you can progressively increase your intake up to 10g per day (take note that there’s no point in rushing, this increase could take anywhere from 3 to 5 years, depending on muscle mass built).

RELATED: UNVEILING THE “TREND DIETS” – THE “BRO DIET” (PART 2/6)

Creatine doesn’t NEED to by cycled (some people just feel safer doing so), because studies reveal that it poses no risk to human health, contrary to what many people think (many assume that it negatively impacts kidney functioning). A study was conducted using only people who possessed only one kidney, taking 20g of creatine per day. They presented no negative kidney impacts. If you’re looking to increase your performance in the gym, creatine is a good solution, since many studies have shown that after the first time you introduce creatine as a supplement, performance can increase up to 20%. It’s a supplement to take into account.

The time has come for us to share the last piece of the unveiling the “trend diets” saga. We decided we should include this last type of diet because even though vegetarians choose this diet for ethical reasons, the industry tries to creates some confusion in peoples’ heads. For example, that being strictly vegetarian is healthier than being an omnivore.

What does being vegetarian imply?

A vegetarian doesn’t eat animals, period.

Some vegetarians eat animal products like dairy, eggs and honey, contrary to vegans, for whom eating anything animal or animal related is strictly out of the question.

There are other times of vegetarianism beyond this one, but this is all we’ll talk about.

RELATED: HOW TO MAINTAIN OUR DIET WHILE TRAVELING (PART 1/2)

What can you eat?

Fruit and vegetables are a good starting point!

All things like grains, legumes, dairy products like cottage cheese, milk, yogurt and some meat substitutes, such as tofu and soy are accepted.

Meat, fish and seafood is out of the question.

Meal Examples:

Breakfast – Oat flakes with milk, peanut butter and vegetarian (pea, soy, rice…) protein powder.

Lunch – Salad with 4-6 different types of vegetables, cottage cheese, onions and pieces of fruit.

Dinner – Sautéed vegetables with brown rice or noodles, along with tofu or soy.

Snacks – Fruit, vegetarian protein shakes, protein bars, nuts, peanut butter, veggies…

So, as always, let’s take a look at the pros and cons:

Pros:

1. Vegetarian people have been proven to be healthier or to have a greater life expectancy than carnivores in many studies. But, this is because of the fact that they pay more attention to fruit, seeing as they ingest more vegetables, fruit and fiber, hardly eating any fast food.
2. Once more, this has to do with their lifestyle and the fact that they don’t include meat in their diet.
3. In addition to all this, the fact that they don’t succumb to the luxury of stopping at a few places for some bites of a hamburger, makes them find delicious ways to cook food that normally people don’t even eat. So, cooking wise it can develop some skills.

RELATED: DANILO, ANDRÉ, DAVIDE E  JOÃO’S 8 WEEK TRANSFORMATION!

Cons:

1. As you were probably expecting, lack of protein. By cutting our all meat and fish, they are seriously limiting their protein sources.
2. Of course they can obtain protein from several vegetable sources or even tofu and soy, but most often than not, these sources don’t offer a very rich amino acid profile.Not to mention the lack of protein concentration in relation to carbs and fats, which will be quite predominant in this diet.
3. It becomes very hard to hit micro nutrient goals with such high concentrations of carbs and fats as a pose to protein.

With that being said…

Here is where the superiority of flexible dieting is revealed, since it allows a customization to each person’s needs. By having control/goals regarding macro nutrients, we are able to understand what our body requires to achieve a certain result or goal. It’s like preparing a formula 1 racing car for a specific race. Each person is an independent and unique body, so it makes perfect sense that their diet should be so as well.

Have the best of both world with no diabolical sacrifices.

When most women approach their coach, or simply get into a gym, their list of goals, generally speaking is to achieve a firmer stomach, glutes with a better shape and thinner thighs.

For a coach, generally speaking, it’s rare to hear a woman say she wants a bigger, firmer chest. Actually, many women are under the impression that chest training isn’t necessary, or that it’s only suitable for men, fearing becoming less feminine.

Ladies…This is wrong. There’s no reason to be afraid. The clarification of a few aspects should help you overcome this barrier.

RELATED: HOW TO TRAIN ABS!

Myth nr. 1 – Will chest exercise decrease my breast size?

This myth was created thanks to female bodybuilding, since the competitors step on stage with relatively “flat” chests, which most women don’t find feminine. But, it isn’t muscle that makes the breasts small, it’s the energetic deficit!

Most female competitors step on stage with a very reduced percentage of body fat, considered unhealthy for a woman. Breasts are primarily composed of adipose tissue, so if you reduce body fat, so will they.

According to some studies, women need between 10 and 13% body fat to maintain basic physical and physiological functioning.

So, if you maintain your body fat levels at a level that’s considered healthy, you won’t have a problem.

Myth nr. 2 – Will chest training make my breasts “harder”?

This myth is actually comical to us… if a few bench press sessions made your breasts go from soft to hard as stone, who would need a sports bra anyway? This doesn’t happen.

By training your chest, only the layer of muscle under the breast’s adipose tissue will be worked. As long as, once again, you maintain your body fat levels in check, you won’t have a problem. What can happen is that that portion of muscle might make your breasts stand out even more.

Myth nr. 3 – I can only do push-ups!

Many women add this exercise to their training routine as a staple after they start to question their upper body development. Like any other muscle group, the chest needs to be worked enough, using some variety of exercises and load (weight).

A simple combination of incline bench press and cable crossovers can provide the variety and resistance you need. Contrary to push-ups, which when you hit a certain level of development, will no longer provide strength gains. Unless you add a few plates on your back to add resistance.

At the end of the day, that’s what makes us go to the gym, becoming stronger and healthier!

RELATED: HOW TO MAINTAIN YOUR DIET WHEN YOU TRAVEL (PART 1/2)

So, if you want to have a body that you’re proud of, you should include this muscle in your weekly routine. Try it out!

Fibre is a well-known nutrient, but not well understood. Basically, it’s a carbohydrate that our body cannot digest.

Fibres are classified as soluble or insoluble.

Between the two, insoluble are the least interesting from a fat loss standpoint, so we’re going to focus on the soluble ones, that can have greater impacts on our metabolism and health.

RELATED: UNVEILING THE “TREND DIETS”  – THE PALEO DIET (PART 3/6)

Fibres help the intestinal flora!

It’s estimated that there are around 100 trillion bacteria living inside our intestines. It can seem like something undesirable, but it’s quite the opposite!

There are many types of bacteria that perform the most different roles in terms of health, like weight control, blood sugar levels and immunity.

Just as any other organism, they need food to remain healthy. This is where soluble fibres come into play. By increasing the quality and growing the intestinal flora, you produce a greater pro-biotic effect that will promote better health in general, including weight control

Intestinal flora helps fight inflammation, a key aspect in child obesity!

The importance of intestinal flora is known for quite some time, as well as it’s anti-inflammatory benefits. It produces several nutrients, including small chain fatty acids that feed the colon cells.

This will reduce intestinal inflammation, which the promotes proper digestive system function.

Even though inflammation is a process, that in a short term helps our body fight strange bodies or even repair damaged cells, long term or chronically, it becomes dangerous and can be totally destructive for our body tissues.

Now it’s known that chronic inflammation is responsible for many “western” diseases, like cardiac problems, Alzheimer’s or even metabolic problems There is also evidence that shows that it can be key for weight gain and obesity, since it has effects on hormones like Leptin.

Fibre can help appetite reduction!

Even though many people don’t believe in counting calories, to lose weight it’s necessary for you to be in some form of a caloric deficit. Since less calories in means less energy in, the less you store.

Most food rich in fibre present a certain viscosity and even density, which makes them bulkier and harder to eat and digest by our stomach. Result? Faster satiety.

So, if it helps keeping your mouth shut, it helps you to lose weight!

RELATED: THE BEST WAY TO CONTROL HUNGER!

Here are a few good sources of fibre: