Counting Calories: Resources & Mobile Apps

Whether your goal is to build muscle, lose fat, or simply maintain your body weight, one thing that you should be doing to some extent is counting calories.  You calorie intake is going to be the determining factor what your body weight does because if there’s a miss-match in energy coming in versus energy going out, your body weight will be changing.

How do you count calories for best results? Let’s take a quick look at what you need to know.

Determining Your Target Calorie Intake

The first thing that you need to do is determine your target calorie intake.  A very simple way to do this is through a multiplication factor, which tends to be a very good estimate for most people.

Assuming moderate levels of activity (3-5 workouts per week), you should take your bodyweight in pounds and multiply by 14-15 (or your weight in Kg and multiply by 6.4-6.8) to get your maintenance calorie intake.

Daily Calorie Intake = Weight in Kg x 6.5 on average

If you want your weight to stay the same, you should eat this amount each day.

To Lose Weight

If you want to lose weight on the other hand, since you have to decrease your calorie balance by 3500 to lose one pound, aim to decrease your food intake by 250-500 calories per day. This will yield a ½ to one pound of fat loss per week.

To Gain Weight

If you want to gain weight on the other hand, then you would want to add those 250-500 calories per day to gain at that rate.

Remember that these are just estimates though and that you should adjust your calorie intake every 2 weeks based on the progress you’re making.

Useful Online & Mobile Resources

To help make calorie counting easier, make sure that you use some of the resources available to you.  www.CalorieKing.com lists a very comprehensive database of foods that you can get the calorie information for:

 or if you prefer calorie counting on your IPhone, try www.DietOrganizer.com for help:

After counting calories for a few weeks you should have a pretty good idea of how many are in the foods that you generally eat, so maintaining a regular calorie count shouldn’t be all that difficult.

So make sure that you’re making good use of calorie counting. It’s one way to ensure that you reach your bodyweight goals.

Have you tried any iPhone software for calorie counting? please share your experience in the comments below.
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Infographic on High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

At Fitness O2, we always try our level best to share knowledge and insightful tips / articles: we stumbled on this great graphic depicting how High Intensity Interval Training (think of bootcamps) works your body.  Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here goes :):

You can find more Health and Fitness News & Tips at Greatist! (thank you Greatist :) )

Bootcamp: What Your Body Goes Through

If you’ve just decided to join a boot camp class, it’s important to understand what’s going to occur in your body as you work your way through it. Many people don’t quite know what to expect when moving through this type of workout program so by gaining an understanding of it, you’ll feel more motivated to pus h through until the end.

Let’s take a look, week by week, what your body will be doing as you move along through the course.

Week 1

During the first week, your body is going to be learning the new movement patterns and rapidly getting stronger. You may not see weight loss during this time as you might begin to add lean muscle mass while you burn fat.

Rest assured you are making progress though, so don’t let the scale steer you otherwise.

Week 2

During the second week of bootcamp, you’re going to start seeing more increases in your fitness level as you gain the confidence to move through each form of exercise that you’re doing.

In addition to this, you should notice your resting heart rate go down as your body gets into better cardiovascular condition.

[FUN FACT] According to Wikipedia, Lance Armstrong's resting heart rate was 32 beats per minute!


Week 3

Moving on to week three, now you will start to see faster weight loss occurring as your burning more calories with the higher amount of work you’re putting into each session. You should be starting to notice that you feel stronger everyday as well and that you’re noticing positive changes taking shape in your body appearance.

Week 4

Finally, by the time the fourth week arrives, you’ll notice you have more energy on a day to day basis, you’re able to see more visible muscle definition, and activities that may have tired you out in the past likely no longer do.

At this point you should be feeling good moving forwards and should feel comfortable to add more weight to your exercises or join an advanced bootcamp class.

If you stick with this form of training, there’s no question it will lead to great results, so work hard and you’ll reap all the benefits it has to offer.
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The Squat from a Weight Lifter's Perspective

by John Maxwell
Fitness Trainer - Fitness O2




Hey readers, for those of you who don't know me, my name is John and I am the newest member of the Fitness O2 team. 

I am going to talk you through one of the best exercises that u can do the SQUAT!  I'll tell you how to perform it i.e. what to do but also what to avoid!

Firstly why is the squat so good?

·           It is a massive calorie burner

·           It improved core strength

·           It stimulates growth by release of endorphins

·           The Correct technique can improve balance and coordination

·           It can be used in a multitude of fitness goals

                                           

Squat: The Set Up

Place hands on the bar shoulder width apart

Duck head under bar and place it on the meaty part of your back

Take the weight of the bar and remove from the rack

Take a step back from the rack

Squat: The Right Move

Before we start ensure feet are shoulder width apart toes pointing forward, elbows under the hands, chest up and out back straight!

Ready? Lets do it!

1.    Keeping the weight under control the whole time

2.    Start the movement as if you were sitting down! Bend the hips first

3.    As you come down bend the knees (avoid allowing the knees to push forward)

4.    Ensure the head is up and back is straight!  This is important! Don’t allow the back to arch and strain

5.    Continue to lower until the thigh is parallel with the floor

6.    45 degree angle at the knees and hips

7.    That’s us down now to return to the start position

8.    Drive upwards in the reverse motion pushing through the heels

9.    Continue till you are upright and you have a slight bend at the knees and hips

10. Well done this is one rep!

How Many Should You Do?

Well it really depends on your goals and level of experience. In the beginning I recommend high reps and low weight say around 3 sets of 12-15. This will allow you to master the technique!  After a period of time you can increase the weight and lower the weight aim for around 8-12 reps at 4 sets for increasing size and 4-6 reps at 3-5 sets for strength.

Now we have the basics of how to do the squat, what are we waiting for lets rep it out or leave me a comment if you have any questions, I’d be delighted to answer.

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Getting Married Soon: 3 Tips To Get In Shape Quickly

If you have a wedding right around the corner, chances are you’re starting to pay close attention to how you look.  Fortunately, you can definitely whip yourself into great shape even in just a few weeks using the following quick-tips with your workout program.

Many people think that they have to devote hours to their workout session to make progress, but that’s just not the case.

Use these tips and you’ll be seeing positive changes very shortly:

1. Hire a  Good Personal Trainer

The first way to get in shape quickly is to make sure you book a session with a personal trainer. This trainer will be able to pinpoint your biggest ‘problem areas’ and then provide specific exercises that target those.

When you’re working with a trainer, the program will be much more customized so you’ll see far faster results.

2. Tabata: Crank Up The Intensity

Second, make sure that you really push yourself hard during each session. One particular type of training, referred to as ‘Tabata’ training has you alternating between all out bursts of physical activity lasting 20 seconds supplemented with 10 seconds of rest.

You complete this a total of 8 times for a four minute workout and if done properly, it will cause you to burn fat for hours after the session is completed.

Choose any activity that you prefer – sprinting, cycling, or even doing squats with a set of dumbbells. As long as it gets your heart rate up, it’ll provide strong benefits.

3. No Time? No Problem! Break Your Sessions Up

Finally, the last quick tip to help get in shape quickly for your wedding is to make sure that you break your sessions up.  Don’t have time for a 30 minute gym workout? No problem.  Try two, 15 minute sessions instead.

This is actually superior from a fat loss point of view as you’ll get two metabolic bursts throughout the day, helping to increase your total calorie burn.

With you being so busy planning your wedding, it’s far easier to fit in those workouts if they’re short and sweet.  Do not discount the benefits that can be had with just 10 minutes of physical activity.

So there you have it – three great tips to help you firm up, lose fat, and look great for your wedding day.
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