Highlights from Men’s Health July/August 2016

2007 was a huge year for me. I graduated high school, entered college, and started a quick transition from being more than an athlete that grew up in a gym. While I loved Arnold in my youth (mostly thanks to Conan the Barbarian), I was instantly attracted to Muscle Magazines that featured him. With the challenges of being a college student, I wanted something more lifestyle based and to make a long story short, I became a monthly subscriber to Men’s Health. I think I’ve received every issue since 2007 in the mail and while it’s hard to continue to crank out new material, they do so in a way that attracts your average Joe that wants to make a change.

I’m going to give you my highlights on the magazine released the month before the new release. For example, September is now on sale, so I’m going to share what sparked my interest in the July/August issue. I don’t want to take any business away from them, but this might help you highlight some of the really unique material being released. After nearly a decade of subscription, I’ve seen a lot of recycled material, so for the first time, here you are.

Image source

Aug072016

Top 10 Workout Songs in August 2016

Collaborations and remixes reign in this month’s top 10 list—with all but one of the tracks being credited to multiple artists. In the mix, you’ll find an unlikely pairing between country superstar Brad Paisley and pop siren Demi Lovato. Equally unusual is a club cut featuring Bright Light Bright Light and Sir Elton John. Lastly, there’s a Top 40 hit featuring festival giants Major Lazer, Danish songstress MØ, and Justin Bieber.

On the remix front, you’ll find an ode to weekend featuring Flo Rida and Jason Derulo and an uptempo version of the rap anthem “All the Way Up.” In addition, there’s a song that Alan Walker released as in instrumental dance cut in 2014, which was re-released with vocals in 2015, and is back on the charts in 2016—after being reworked by Tungevaag & Raaban. For all of these tunes and more, check out the full top 10 list—according to the votes logged on workout music site Run Hundred.

Aug062016

Why Cross Training is Important

Switching up your workouts is key for surpassing plateaus, getting stronger, and better at the physical activity you do. The body is constantly trying to find homeostasis and when you make a routine that you follow daily, weekly, monthly, etc., it’s not as hard for your body to reach towards homeostasis. However, if you throw your body curveballs by doing different workouts, you’ll be doing muscle confusion. For example, my week looks something like this: rest, boxing, muay thai, home circuit, traditional strength training, and hiking. I’m getting hard workouts in, but they are different. My body doesn’t have a chance to get used to any exercise because I’m pushing it to do different movements to challenge strength, speed, flexibility, and more. We wanted to share an awesome infographic brought you by Ghergich and Clubwoodside. Enjoy below:

Do cross training stay hungry and fit!

Aug022016

5 Hard and Fast Rules for Morning Workouts

Please enjoy a guest post from James McDuffy of Muscle Growth Expert.

Experts seem to be adamant that working out in the morning is probably the best part of the day to do so. Not only do morning workouts incinerate body fat much quicker, they also get the blood flowing, so you’re ready for what the day has in store for you. In reality, all this is a bit of a Utopian dream because many people and I include myself in this bracket…HATE MORNING WORKOUTS! The moment my alarm clock starts going berserk, the torment begins…that noise seems louder than it actually is, ringing through my ears like there’s no tomorrow. Quite often this leaves me in a bad mood if I’m honest. Quite often, it’s the girlfriend who tells me I’m in a grumpy mood, because I don’t realize it myself.

In actual fact, things don’t necessarily have to start out this way. The long and short of it is…how you start the day pretty much sets the precedent for the rest of the day, and this can include what you eat and how effectively you work out. If you get out on the wrong side of the bed, you’re increasing the chances of raiding the fridge and reaching for all the comfort foods you can, followed by a rushed half- assed gym session because you’re running late! Just to reiterate, a bad morning usually means a terrible day! To avoid being an ogre in the mornings, there are steps you can take to get your mojo back so your:

mood is better
metabolism works like clockwork
body is optimized to maximize fat-burn and build lean muscle
buzzing with energy.

A few simple steps that take no longer than a few short minutes are suffice for all of the above. So here goes…

Jul202016

A New Way to Get Plant-Based Nutrition

If you’re a vegetarian or vegan, you may have trouble getting enough protein in your diet each day. You have to be very thoughtful and meticulous in order to even get the minimum! Protein is important, it helps our muscles stay healthy and get stronger, it helps us stay full, helps to build and repair tissue, and it also helps create enzymes, hormones, and more. Does that sound important yet?

We’ve talked about Sunwarrior before here and that’s because they have solid ingredients and feed us protein without all the meat. This time, I’d like to talk about “Illumin8.” Sounds exciting. You’re probably wondering what the heck it is! Well, let’s find out from an excerpt of their news release:

Jul192016

Healthy Strawberry Smoothie

It’s easy to get sucked into unhealthy breakfast foods–they’re practically everywhere. Too much unnatural sugar here, too much hydrogenated fat there, and so on and so forth. Here at Hungry & Fit, we try to provide you with healthy and enjoyable recipes. This one especially takes no time at all–in fact, just one minute of your time. I think you may be able to swing that. We present to you a Healthy Strawberry Smoothie–nice and refreshing for the summer and doesn’t hurt the waistline either! This new research from a Cornell Food & Brand Lab research team found that of the 147 participants who do not struggle with weight problems, 51% consume fruits and vegetables for breakfast. We partnered with Wyman’s to build you a better breakfast. It’s pure, unadulterated frozen fruit, ready for the smoothie of your choice.

Jul012016

My Soylent Experiment

Well, this might be considered a failed experiment. Don’t take that the wrong way. I did this back in Q1 and now we’re in Q3. We made this into a YouTube review and I wanted to not make this too scientific for the general population, but this was released far later than expected. (Through this post on the blog…obviously, since you’re reading it.) Therefore, I want to keep this as simple and straightforward as possible. I’m going to give you the same feedback that I gave to the number of people who messaged me about this, while I was doing it and posting about it on social media.

Jun302016

The Urge to Treat

DK’s Donuts (in Los Angeles) is a dangerous place, but I’m sure you have something similar near you. Take a few seconds to scroll down and check the pictures out. At that point, you have a few choices. Keep reading, go out and get a sweet treat, or close this window out and try to purge the thought of delicious food from your short-term memory. Either way, we’re tempted every day by various things that make us want to break away from what we feel is the right thing to do.

Jun092016

Visit These Yoga Holiday Spots

Please enjoy this article by Christopher Austin and Shaktihimalaya.com. Namaste!

Get a more meaningful travel experience with these Yoga holiday spots.

Yoga has become an increasingly popular pastime for many people. It allows you to still your mind and body in a hectic world and build you inner strength. It is something that many people continue to do whilst on holiday, however, it is actually possible to go on a yoga holiday; here are some of the best places to visit:

Les Passeroses, France

Jun072016

The Top 10 Workout Songs for June 2016

Please enjoy a post from our friends at Run Hundred.

The summer possesses a strange magic that allows it to draw pop songs out of the woodwork—even from acts that aren’t necessarily pop acts. Even if the season itself isn’t pulling the strings, music lovers are definitely gravitating to big choruses from a variety of sources. In this playlist, we recap the best of those for working out in June.