What are Sets and Reps? – The difference between sets and reps

What are Sets and Reps? – The difference between sets and reps

I know this is a very basic and simple idea to grasp, but there are many fitness beginners out there who don’t know what the difference between a set and a rep is and are just too embarrassed to ask, but its an important piece of information to know if you want to get fit and especially if you want to get fit quick. So whether your goal is to fat loss or to build muscle, you need to know the difference between sets and reps.

Rep – one full movement of the exercise being performed

Set – several “reps”

So lets say you get down, right now and decide to do 15 push ups..
You just did 1 set of 15 reps of push ups. Lets say you decide to take a 2 minute break
and then do another 15 push ups.. You now have down 2 sets of 15 reps of push ups.

It’s pretty simple, the real confusion about reps and sets comes into play when you get confused about
doing low reps with heavy weight or high reps and light weight.

A lot of people claim that for the best fat loss results you want to go light and do a high number of reps.
Then there are people who say if you’re main goal is to build muscle you want to go very heavy and have
a low amount of reps.

To my knowledge and in my experience I keep it pretty heavy for 8-10 reps and 3-4 sets.
Every once in a while I will go light and do high reps. Sometimes I do this for one day, sometimes an entire
week, or sometimes only for 1 set I go light..

The main thing is to just change things up shock your body. If you’re keeping your body guessing then results will come a lot quicker than if you stick to the same workout routine for months at a time.

9 Tips To Eating Healthy During The Holidays

During the holidays it is easy to forget about fitness and end up overeating. So here is a list of 9 tips to eating healthy during the holidays.

Eat the healthy food first

Why is it that the first helping of food we want to pile onour plates during the holidays is always the most unhealthy choice? Probably because it’s the best tasting! Well during Thanksgiving, Christmas eve and Christmas I like to make my first trip to the healthiest trip. This usually means I eat lots of salad and vegetables first. The reason for this is if you stuff up on healthy stuff, you won’t have as much room left for the unhealthy choices.

Know what you’re eating

During the holidays my family all gets together and everybody brings a different dish. Its kind of hard to know if what you’re eating is healthy since there isn’t goign to be a nutrition facts label on your aunt’s mashed potatoes or your grandmas lasagna. It’s important to ask if you’re unsure what the ingredients. This means asking if they used whole milk, skim milk, etc. . .

Eat slowly

Don’t be so quick to shovel the food in your mouth. As tempting as it is to eat a rare dish that your family may only prepare once or twice a year, slow down so your stomach has time to warn you that you are getting too full.

Watch what you drink

At most family parties there are a variety of sodas, fruit juices and beers. Be the healthy one and skip all those empty calories by maknig your way over to the sink and grabbing a tall glass of ice water.

Chose your seat wisely

The closer you sit to the buffet, the more likely you are to be tempted into going back for 2nds.. and 3rds.. and 4ths. Be careful about not only what foods you eat, but how much you eat.

Have a plan

Before you head out to your holiday dinner have a plan on how much you’re gonig to eat and what you’re going to eat. I usually have to show up at atleast 2 or 3 holiday parties so I make a plan to never to eat too much at one party.

Don’t save up your hunger

A lot of people like to starve themselves all day before their holiday dinner. Bad idea. THere is no better way to make sure you’re going to overeat than to starve yourself all day and then suddenly walk into a room filled with food. Chances are you’ll be so tempted to eat everything in sight that you can’t help but overeat.

Don’t diet

Holiday’s just aren’t the right time to diet. Theres too much temptating involved. Instead, try to maintain your current way and not skip skip gym excessively. Theres pleanty of time to diet after the holidays.

Other Holiday Health Tips

Park far

When shopping we will drive around for 15-20minutes looknig for a close parking spot. Try not to be too worried about getting a close parking space. Instead, settle for a medium to far parking distance, you’ll burn more calories!

I’d love to hear your holiday health tips, so feel free to leave a comment!

8 Everyday Health Tips

Portions – Limit yourself! With the holidays coming up this might seem hard, and as tempting as it is.. you don’t have to eat everything in sight. Eat until you’re satisfied, not full.. and definitely don’t keep shoveling food down the hatch once you already know you’re full.
Breakfast – They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, yet it seems to be the most skipped meal of the day. I know its hard to find time in our busy schedules these days to eat in the morning, especially when you work a full time job or if you’re a student, but hey, it doesn’t have to be a big continental breakfast. Even eating something small before you hit the road and get on with your day is better than not eating anything at all.

Take a walk – I live in Michigan and the weather is unpredictable. One day we might use the heat the next we might use the air conditioning, but if the weather allows it I definitely recommend you get off the couch and go outside for a walk. Even a 10-15 minute walk each day can greatly improve your health.

Drink Water - It is easy to go overboard on the fountain drinks these days. When you’re at a restaraunt that offers free refills its hard to keep track of how many sodas you drank, but I’m telling you, the easiest way to cut back on 250 calories, even 500 or more calories each day is to drink water instead of soda and fruit juices. Plus theres PLENTY of other reasons water is good for you.

Here is a test..

Go drink two 8oz glasses of water, if you do not have to use the bathroom within 45minutes, chances are you were dehydrated and didn’t even know it!

Keep a food journal – Keeping track of what you eat makes it easier to fix your mistakes. Chances are if you’re picking up a pen to write down in your food journal that you ate an entire box of oreo’s you will know your limit next time. Imagine if somebody found your food journal and saw that you eat an entire box of oreos once a week! How embarrassing! Keeping a food journal is a great way to get your diet in check.

Limit T.V Time – With all of the entertainment on TV its hard to find something better to do outside, but the average American watches way too much television. Get up and do something

Limit Computer Time – This is something I’m guilty of, but I have been getting better at lately. Just like the average American watches way too much TV, the average American spends way too much time on the computer. It is especially bad when you work at an office job where you’re behind a computer for hours at a time (Which I do) and then you come home and get on your computer for an additional 3-4 hours for personal use (Which I also do). So take my advice, limit your computer time, you’ll have to work twice as hard in the gym to make-up for all that lazyness.

Losing The Last 10lbs

Many people experience the problem of not being able to lose those last 10lbs of stubborn fat. You worked your butt off (literally) in the gym all year and avoided junkfood. Now you’re struggling to get rid of those last 10lbs. Its almost as if losing those last 10lbs of fat is harder than it was to lose everything before it. Don’t worry! I’ve got some tips for  you.

Change your routine

If you keep doing the same things you’re going to keep seeing the same results. This is true for almost everything, especially fitness. No matter what aspect of fitness you’re talking about, whether it be fat loss or muscle building if you keep doing the same thing you’re going to see the same results. So when you find that you have hit a plateau you need to CHANGE SOMETHING. Whether it be your workout routine or cardio routine. So if you’ve been seeing great results with heavy lifting, but suddenly hit a plateau. Try a liter weight and higher reps for a couple of weeks. If you’ve been doing slow cardio and hit a plateu then try a high intensity .

Check your diet!

Having a clean diet is extremley important, ESPECIALLY NOW that you’re down to those last few lbs. You may have thought that now that you’ve almost met your goal that you can start to slack a little bit, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Now it is more important than ever to be on your P’s and Q’s when it comes to having a clean diet.