Posts by Craig Ballantyne
Choosing the Right Weight
Going to the gym is intimidating enough. But not knowing how much weight to use for an exercise can make you feel even more uncomfortable. If you grab a weight that’s too light, you’ll waste your time. If you grab a weight that’s too heavy, you risk injury.
Read MoreBattle of the Ab Exercises
To get six-pack abs, most people think they’ll have to do hundreds of crunches. But crunches involve spinal flexion (rounding forward), and research shows that spinal flexion can lead to herniated discs. Knowing this has sent me on a long and exhaustive search for safe and effective ab training.
Read MoreThe Anti-Aging Effects of Exercise
Growth hormone is known as a “fountain of youth” in the anti-aging community because it helps build muscle and burn body fat. But research has shown that people who are overweight tend to have lower growth hormone levels.
Read More2 Fountains of Youth
Life extension is one of the most popular research topics in the world right now. You might have heard what scientists have learned about calorie restriction, for example. Many studies have found that if you cut calories from an animal’s diet, they can live longer. This works with mice, monkeys, and even household pets.
Read MoreH2O Weight Loss
The researchers looked at 173 overweight women (aged 25-50) who reported drinking less than one liter of water per day. These women were then instructed to increase their water consumption, and were studied for a year.
Read MoreStrange Internet Trend for Weight Loss
Nutrition bloggers have a strange habit. They like to take pictures of their meals and post them on their websites. But recent research has found that this might be giving them an unexpected benefit.
Read MoreThe Worst Thing You Can Do for Muscles
There are some things we should NOT do to our muscles. One of the worst is to stop moving them.
Swedish and American scientists teamed up to find out just how bad complete bed rest is for muscles. In the study, they subjected eight men to a three-day period of lower-limb suspension (for one leg only).
Read MoreHigh-Protein Diets for More Fat Loss
While the media focus on low-carb vs. low-fat diets, they tend to miss the point about high-protein diets. It’s well known in the fitness industry that higher protein intakes help with fat loss. For one thing, protein helps control appetite.
Read MoreWhat’s a Good Substitute for Bread?
As bread is always being lambasted as being too high in carbs, exactly what can be used as a substitute that is both nutritious AND practical – i.e., that can be used every day to make a sandwich for lunch? Everything I can think of has a grain in it!
Read MoreWhy Workouts Make You Say “Ouch”
My trademark attorney just e-mailed me and said he was going to the gym for the first time in 18 months. I quickly e-mailed back and told him to take it easy.
As anyone who has started a new exercise program knows, his muscles are going to be sore. But why is that? And why does it take a day or two for it to happen?
Read MoreDon’t Diet TOO Much
Bodybuilders have long known that if you eat too little for too long, you can actually decrease your resting metabolic rate (the number of calories you burn at rest).
Read MoreWhy Nuts Do NOT Make You Fat
I’m a huge fan of eating raw nuts for health and weight loss. But every time I recommend them, folks ask me, “Won’t all the calories and fat in nuts make me gain weight?”
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