by Ken LeClair

Myth has it that guys with big muscles are short on brains…NOT TRUE…most of the world’s top bodybuilders and top athletes are actually quite intelligent and successful in business careers as well. Science shows that lifting heavy weights and staying conditioned through adult life ,while eating a healthy diet, not only keeps testosterone and human growth hormone levels high but also increases blood and oxygen flow to the brain.

A brain that is the beneficiary of elevated blood and oxygen flow stays active, alert and increases brain cells while the inactive couch potato’s brain collects dead brain cells that lead to Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia. So the next time you read about an athlete making hundreds of millions of dollars, keep in mind that the healthy brain of the athlete will be enjoying all that dough for a very long time. The average Joe who aspires to being a lot more than average would be well advised to head to the gym and pick up some weights unless of course a couple of six packs of beer and a 42 inch waist is what he really wants.

by Ken LeClair

So you worked out with heavy weights all fall, winter and spring and you got big. Well, now it’s summer and there’s a million things to do like go to the Jersey Shore or Long Island beaches, or a pool party at Harrah’s or a deck party in the city and you just want to look cool and pick up chicks but you want to stay in shape too. Besides you don’t want to scare the girls away either do you?

Now when you go to the gym think “lite” as lite beer…you can drop the weight by 30-40 percent and still pump that iron and get a pump in the bis, tris and pecs and look great without the King Kong look you had when it was snowing . Yes, you’ll lose an inch or two here and there and now your waist will fit into that pair of jeans that’s been languishing in the closet. That is if you’ve been watching your diet and drinking a few protein shakes each day instead of fast food junk.

Enjoy the summer..here comes the 4th of July already and from now till Labor Day go lite be happy and safe.   But remember..right after Labor Day it’ll be time to up the weights and pump iron just like Arnold and the gang!

by Ken LeClair

So who wants a six pack ….no not a six pack of ice cold beer…SIX PACK ABS!   Every guy wants to have both but is it possible? Well, it is and it isn’t so pay attention and maybe you can have your six pack and drink it too. Most guys have a six pack hidden by a layer of body fat,  so what needs to be done is get rid of that layer of fat and let those abs be exposed.

So how do you do that? First of all you have to exercise as in lift weights or get on the treadmill and you need to do crunches..You can do crunches on your living room floor or in the gym- doesn’t matter just as long as you do them. Next get on the scale and weigh yourself and then measure your waist line. Okay, now you know how many pounds you need to take off and how many inches you need to lose. If you are 20 lbs and 2- 4 inches over where you “use” to be ( or want to be ), you know what you have to do. Yup, cut back on your caloric intake. Multiply your desired weight times 10 and that is how many calories you can have per day. So if you want to weigh195 lbs- 195  X 10= 1,950 calories per day..not exactly a starvation diet. That’s six 300 calorie meals or five 400 calorie meals or four 500 calorie meals.

Can you have that ice cold six pack of beer on a hot summer night? Yes, but choose light beer that has half the calories of regular beer and keep it to one six pack and don’t use it to wash down a pizza. Have one bottle of water or club soda between beers and the damage will be light enough so as to not derail your abdominal six pack plan. Remember the more crunches you do, the better the abs.

by Ken LeClair

If your goal is to have a great physique with muscles and a six pack or to excel at your chosen sport and keep your testosterone level at peak levels keep reading. If you want to have a fat stomach and no muscles with low testosterone and all that entails don’t read this.

Daily alcohol consumption will put the damper on your efforts to build muscle and burn body fat. The body stores the calories in alcohol as fat while at the same time converting the essential amino acids consumed as protein into fat instead of muscle. The net result will be an increase in the percent of body fat with a net decrease in muscle tissue.

Heavy drinking as in binge drinking or having 8-9-10 plus drinks will lead to a dramatic decrease in serum testosterone levels and this will cause corresponding decreases in aggression ( a male trait), lean muscle mass, muscle recovery, over all athletic performance and will cause testicular shrinkage, enlarged breasts along with decreased sperm production. Not a pretty picture.

These are the near term results of heavy drinking, the long term results are far more serious for your body, your ability to earn a living and your personal relationships. If you care about what you see in the mirror, if you care about being financially successful or socially successful you must realize that heavy drinking will, if left unchecked, rob you of your looks, your financial security and in the end rob you of any chance of a truly happy and successful future.

by Ken LeClair

Everyone woman’s nightmare ….breast cancer….we all know someone or of someone who was diagnosed with breast cancer and subsequently went through chemotherapy, radiation treatment or a mastectomy only to have the cancer spread causing their untimely and tragic death. Is there a way to prevent the actual onset and or the reoccurrence and spread of this cancer?

Yes and yes! There is documented evidence that by simply taking an aspirin a day the onset of breast cancer
can be halved and the re-occurrence and spread of this cancer can be cut by 71%.. This same aspirin will also cut the risk of colon cancer and prostate cancer and also greatly reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke.

It is also known that calcium supplementation will cut the risk of breast and other cancers by 40% while warding off osteoporosis as well. But keep in mind that the calcium will not be absorbed unless you have adequate vitamin D-3 which most women and men do not. Unless of course you take 5,000 I.U. per day.

You can buy the calcium and Vitamin D-3 in most health food stores and many pharmacies or online, and of course you can buy the aspirin almost anywhere (keep in mind that the coated aspirin is the preferred kind to take as the straight aspirin may cause bleeding stomach ulcers).

by Ken LeClair

DAY ONE- LEGS:

SQUATS
DEADLIFTS
LEG EXTENTIONS
LEG CURLS
SEATED CALFS
STANDING CALFS
ABS

DAY TWO- CHEST & TRICEPS

FLAT BENCH
INCLINE BENCH
FLIES
DIPS
SKULL CRUSHERS
OVERHEAD EXTENSIONS
V-BAR PULLDOWNS
ABS

DAY THREE- BACK AND BICEPS

PULLUPS OR PULLDOWNS
SEATED ROWS
BENTOVER ROWS OT T-BAR ROWS
BARBELL SHRUGS BEHIND THE BACK AND IN FRONT
BARBELL CURLS
INCLINE DUMBBELL CURLS
HAMMER CURLS
ABS

DAY FOUR- SHOULDERS:
OVERHEAD PRESS
SIDE LATERALS
FRONT RAISES
REAR LATERALS
UPRIGHT ROWS
ABS

Two days a week are not enough and five are too many.  Never workout three days in a row…these rules apply to those who are not elite bodybuilders.

by Ken LeClair

Based on the 2004 Census one quarter of India’s Hindus are vegetarians. The Hindu ideal of vegetarianism is based on the principles of not wanting to slaughter or mistreat animals, health concerns over eating meat and bad karma from the fear of an animal about to be slaughtered passing into the psyche of one who would eat the animal. Sound reasoning has to agree that these are honest and sincere reasons not to eat animals.

Most sane people would be appalled to watch what happens as animals are led into a slaughter house or as live chickens were tossed into vats of boiling water. Food poisoning from spoiled meat sickens and kills thousands every year and fatal diseases are passed to many from eating cows infected with a brain rotting disease, not mention hoof and mouth disease and trichinosis. It has been observed that when a person gets a heart transplant they sometimes begin to take on the personality of the person who’s heart they received. So it is conceivable that a terrified animal’s meat might cause ill effects if eaten.

There are vegetarians who eat fish, some eat eggs, milk and cheese and some who are vegans eat no animal products at all including milk, eggs and even honey. I am strongly impressed with the Hindu reasons for not eating animals and I am going to seriously consider this as a life style change. Being as my current diet is made up of tuna, eggs, turkey, Muscle Milk and broccoli I will have to make some big changes..

by Ken LeClair

Had a tough day at the office?  Monday got you down? It rained a little on your parade? Head to the gym and pour out that pent up energy gurgling inside you!  Yes, go at those weights with all the gusto you have and the next thing you know everything will be coming up roses! Or at least it will feel that way.

Once you get the blood pumping through your veins into your muscles and throughout your entire body the world will look altogether different. The energy and vitality harbored inside you now has a venue to expand upon and enjoy. Nothing like a little adrenaline to get things going your way. You can feel your muscles pump up as the weights move and the hum of testosterone and human growth hormone kicks in.

Now you are back on top of the world, the master of your destiny and the one who is calling the shots. There is no better feeling than a great workout that leaves you totally pumped and primed to be the ruler of your own destiny.

submitted by Julie Graber, www.delightfulhealth.com

Are you looking for a pick me up that is also good for you? A natural solution without the caffeine jitters! You have heard about green tea and all the wonderful benefits of drinking this beverage but have you heard about Matcha? It has 10 times the nutrients of regular green tea!! It also has 70 times the antioxidants of orange juice and 9 times the beta carotene of spinach.
What can Matcha do for you?
• Raises your Energy,
• Boosts your metabolism, by 35 to 40% in regular drinkers
• Contains L-theanine, which improves mental alertness, increases calmness and reduces stress
• Powerful anti-aging activity due to the super-charged antioxidants
• Lowers blood pressure
• Decreases LDL or bad cholesterol
• Minimizes symptoms of PMS
• High levels of polyphenols and catechins which are cancer preventatives
• Stabilizes blood sugar levels
• Powerful antibiotic and antiviral activity
• Strong blood detoxifier and alkalizer, due to the high chlorophyll content
• I learned about Matcha several years ago from Dr. Andrew Weil and have enjoyed it ever since. I love mixing Matcha with some hot water, Truvia and a little cream. If you are avoiding dairy another great option is coconut milk, very yummy!
Now with the weather warming up, I make a wonderful Matcha ice-cream using coconut milk! Enjoy Matcha and have fun with it! Delightful Health does carry an excellent Matcha that is a very bright green (so it is very fresh!) I have had other Matcha’s that are a lot duller in color which means they have been sitting around for awhile. So it loses some of the antioxidant and nutrient content over time.

by Ken LeClair

On March 1, 2010 I weighed myself when I got up and tipped the sale at 177 lbs.  My waist measured 35” and my abs were not visible to the human eye. A few days before a friend had suggested that I should pose for a “before” picture and that was the INSPIRATION I needed to change my eating from winter to “get ready for summer.”

First of all I had to become the opposite of a vegetarian and only eat things that have a mother and a father that bleed- egg whites, tuna, turkey and chicken were the only foods I ate for two weeks. The only other food allowed was good fats as in olive oil, canola oil and soybean oil. My body, cut off from carbs, switched to burning fat for energy and the scale began to move in the right direction.

After 2 weeks, I was able to add broccoli and salad greens to my diet and wow did they taste great! After 3 weeks, I was able to add Muscle Milk protein shakes and Weight Watchers Pita (100% whole wheat, no sugar or high fructose corn syrup added with 15 carbs and 9 grams of all important fiber). I knew I had to keep my diet below 2000 calories a day so I ate 4-5-6 meals spaced throughout the day…do the math…six 300 calories meals…

My goal was to get to 162 pounds and this morning I weighed in at 162.2 lbs, my waist measured 33” and a six pack of abs was visible for the eye to see. I have more than adequate energy and my strength has not declined and I am “cut” if not shredded. I have adopted a healthy diet of lean meat, Muscle Milk, vegetables, salad and Weight Watchers 100% whole wheat pita. I am keeping my calories at or below 2000 per day and I am taking all of the vitamins and supplements I mentioned in my previous blogs. And special thanks to my friend Ravi for telling me I should take a “before” picture!