Top 5 Olympic Games Commercials

With the Olympic Games coming to a close, I can't help but feel sad.  All the events, world records broken, legends cementing their statuses, and surprise medallists have not failed to impress in London.  In fact, I was eagerly anticipating the Olympics much more than the Euros.  The simple fact that all the Olympic athletes (bar the professionals that compete in the Olympics) are hungrier than most other athletes gives you this sense of fulfillment cheering them on.

That being said, the Olympic Games, as with any other major sporting event, is the time for commercials to shine just as much as the athletes.  Here are my five favorite commercials:


5. Visa Ads: Isinbayeva & Comaneci
There were plenty of great ads by Visa, but I had to choose my favorite one and ended up choosing my favorite two :).

 

4. Rona Olympic Relay
I'll admit, this commercial really cracked me up when they reached Montreal.  Great music too.

Smartphone your way into fitness!

Click on the link to see some of the best apps on Health and Fitness for your iPhones and Androids!
(Thank you "Rola")

Click here for Health and Fitness Apps

My CrossFit Experience

I've heard so much about this new sport of fitness called "CrossFit".  It combines weightlifting, strength training, and an elevated heart-rate with all the exercises.  I finally had the chance to try it out, albeit, after my friend (thank you Nazem!) somehow convinced me to do an hour of circuit training right before (not the best of ideas but a challenge nonetheless).

I tried it out at Inspire Gym in Blajat street in Kuwait.  Not the first place I would have thought to try it out in, since I've heard so much about it from Montreal already, but I am certainly glad I did it there.

The following exercises was the workout put together by the instructor:

1Km Run
90 Lunge Walks
80 Vipr Standing Overhead Shoulder Presses
70 Kettle Bell Swings
60 Back Raises
50 Air Squats
40 Sit ups
30 Vipr Leg Raises (lower abs and core workout)
20 Pullups
10 Burpees

All of these were to be competed within 40 minutes.  I managed to finish up in a little over 34 mins.  Oddly enough, the only two women in class completed it faster than I did (maddddddd respect!)

I was pleasantly surprised and really impressed with the intensity, tenacity, perfectionism, and professionalism  demonstrated by the instructor; always cheering you on, always correcting your form, never letting you cheat your way out of an exercise.  Moreover, the actual exercises themselves were quite rewarding once completed.  In other words, once you have completed one type of exercise, you genuinely feel a sense of accomplishment and motivation to carry on to the next exercise.  The biggest advantage of CrossFit-ing is the fact that the exercises are constantly varying; never allowing your body to grow accustomed to specific exercises and igniting the fat burning and muscle-building in your muscles.

All in all, I wholeheartedly recommend CrossFit to the following types of people:

1. Those who do not enjoy weightlifting
2. Those who like to take classes
3. Anybody looking to raise the level of intensity of their workouts
4. Those looking to reduce body fat %

I believe I have fallen in love with fitness all over again.

5 minute Breakfasts!

When it comes to eating habits, there are quite a few bad ones out there.  There are those that eat out all the time and rarely cook at home, there are those that do not eat enough protein/carbs/fats in their diet, there are those that eat too much of protein/carbs/fats in their diet, etc.  The list could go on and on, especially if you hail from the Middle East.

One of the most common bad habits stems mainly from the young professionals: early to mid twenties and working.  I'm pretty sure at least 7 out of every 10 do the following: SKIP BREAKFAST.  That is one of the most awful bad habits.

Why you should never skip breakfast:

1. It directly causes to more belly fat
2. Your awareness and concentration are affected 
3. It leads to binge eating in the evening
4. It distorts your eating at lunch and puts you in a "food coma"
5. It causes significant drops in your body's metabolism

I'm pretty sure I can dig up a few more reasons why you should not skip breakfast, but that's not the point of this post today.  The most common excuse made when people skip breakfast is the fact that "there is not enough time".

The following are 4 examples of breakfast meals that do not take longer than 5-10 minutes to prepare:

Motivation

What are you waiting for?

Thank you Roula Haddad.

Are your habits making you fat?

One of the main ideas I try to convince people to undertake and possibly the best piece of wisdom passed onto me is that being healthy is a habit and a lifestyle, not something you can do for a short while and reap the benefits.

David Zinczenko, Editor-in-chief of Men's Health Magazine, was one of the first people I chose to follow on Twitter.  Not only does he drop very wise words of wisdom, but he also authors the great "Eat this, not that!" books.  Click on the following link to see a list of habits that make you fat:

20 Habits that make you fat - By David Zinczenko

A few of these habits I would like to highlight:

- #1 Eating "Low-fat"
    Usually low-fat = more sugar to "enhance" the taste so be careful!
- #3 Sleep
  Remember that a lack of sleep is detrimental to your physical health!
- #5 Drinking Soda
  Diet is just as bad as regular.
- #6 Skipping meals
  Doing this makes the insulin spike the next time you eat a meal = more fat stored
- #11 Eating off large plates
  If you recall the Food Experiment YOU should try post that I put up a while back, this actually works
- #15 Not drinking enough water
  One of the biggest problems people have is not drinking enough water, how is your H20 intake?

Superhero Workouts

Every time yet another superhero movie comes out, I always fantasize about how awesome it would be to actually audition and land the next superhero role.  Aside from the fame and fortune, what I am really looking for is to get paid to be in peak physical condition.  You can't really ask for more!

The reality is that it is very unlikely that any of us land a superhero role, but why not try to look like some of them?  Here is a compilation of all the superhero workouts that Men's Health Magazine and various other sources have to offer.  Pick your poison:

Immortals workout

Thor workout

Batman workout

Wolverine workout




















300 workout

Spartacus workout

My 3 week Gym Experiment

The first part of the series of 3 week experiments started off with the "3 week Food experiment" where I eliminated all types of simple carbs from my diet during the week, and thankfully got to gorge during the weekends.  The results were very astounding as I saw a major shift in body composition during those weeks.

The next experiment I took on was a very simple one in instruction, but was a challenge to stick to, especially in the first week.  The experiment was to perform the following exercises:

• Monday - Saturday, which was 6 consecutive days a week
• 50 pull-ups (or chin-ups)
• 100 push ups 
• To be completed throughout the day

The first few days were definitely the toughest.  I couldn't even extend my arms fully.  But by day 5, the soreness faded and performing the exercises was starting to get easier to do.

Immediately after the first week, I realized there were gaps in this workout:

1. No matter how much you work out, if you do not consume enough protein you will not grow to the maximum potential
2. The lack of squats/deadlifts and various other leg exercises
3. Engaging in intense conditioning/cardio 3-4 times a week was going to cause some muscle atrophy

With all the gaps mentioned, I did realize that although the muscle mass gain was not as high as I expected, the following results stood true:

•  A solid foundation was definitely built
• My chest and upper back have filled up a little more evenly rather than concentrated in a majority area
• Measuring the circumference of my arm pre and post experiment, I have gained a little under an inch

The Results

Injured again? How to stop injuries!

There are so many factors these days that happen that can throw off your momentum; studying for tests/exams, a busy work schedule, lack of gym motivation, or even a night out having fun with friends.  One momentum killer you should do without is getting injured.


Not only do injuries kill your momentum, they could severely throw you off course from all the progress you have made by finally developing an exercise routine!

I should know!  My hip injury this summer kept me on the sidelines for over 2 months.  That resulted in a gain of 10lbs of fat and some major muscle loss.

Injuries are ... the worst!  Here are four ways to help prevent injuries:

How bad do you want it?

The following is an inspirational video about success.

Do not think that the concept of success only applies to overall success.  Break it down into individual goals and use the same measure.  Whether it is your personal life, your health, your career, or anything else, you set your own scales.

"When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, you'll be successful"


How Bad Do You Want It from Greyskale Multimedia on Vimeo.

Thank you Ahmad Absi Halabi for the video!

Do you want it this bad?

A food experiment YOU should try

First and foremost, I know its been ages since my last blog post.  The combination of tons of people from out of town showing up and Ramadan has not been the easiest of combinations to juggle.  In the spirit of getting back into blogging, let's make this a short read and an easy task.

If you read my blog posts but find it hard to actually act on some of the advice, why not try an experiment that is easy to pull off?

You do not need to engage in any physical exercise for this experiment, nor do you need to watch what you eat or even break a sweat.  I stumbled upon this article while I was bored one day and I thought this may be very interesting for people to try.

All you need to do is...wait for it....Use smaller plates.
Thats right.  Studies have shown that your brain does not distinguish between the amount of food you eat, just whether or not the plate is full.


So why don't we pull a fast one on our brain and use smaller plates.!

http://lifehacker.com/5828866/switch-to-salad-plates-for-better-portion-control

How to fully benefit from your workout

I'm pretty sure everyone will have an answer they are pretty sure of when they read the title of the post.  Some might say that drinking a sports drink (Gatorade, Powerade, Isostar, etc) may be the best, others will say that a protein shake/smoothie (natural ingredients or not) may be improved choice, whereas other answers will definitely rise such as water, specific juices, milk or soy milk, or whatever else.

Then again you will have people that say forget drinks altogether, since they are mainly "empty carbs" that provide a reasonable amount of protein/salts/hydration but also have a downside of being liquid form = less digesting and absorption of nutrients.

By now you must be thinking: "enough with this intro, just let me know what it is I should be consuming right after a workout!"

So which one is it?

How to sleep better

 



Sleep is always one of the most important factors that people tend to overlook.  Not only is sleep crucial for recovery (healing your muscles, joints, tendons and ligaments after a workout), but sleep deprivation leads to an imbalance in your system from a health perspective.



 

 Sleep deprivation may lead to the following side effects :

• Increase in appetite => you experience so many lows due to a lack of sleep that your body starts craving foods that will give you a quick pick-me-up.  Foods that do that are usually high sugar/calorie/processed foods.
• Headaches
• Loss of memory
• Increased stress and irritability
• A general increased risk of diseases such as diabetes and heart problems
• etc

 

Correct your posture!

Bad posture is a common problem.  Whether you've had it for a while or developed it due to a laborious desk job that sucks the strength out of your back.

Perform the following exercise illustrated below in order to counter the bad posture habits that you have.  The exercise is called "opposite arm and leg raise".   The title is pretty self explanatory.