Bodybuilding and Figure Techniques for Thanksgiving and the Holidays

Ah yes, it's that time of year again. The holiday season! Aside from the soul-crushing characteristics of winter, I really enjoy this time of year. Everything's festive, people are happy, and there are some great family gatherings to look forward to.

And as I'm sure is the case with most of your family gatherings, there will be plenty of food to be had and eaten. Especially with Thanksgiving coming up in just a few days!

Source: allianceabroad.com

While this is a wonderful thing for most people, those of us who are constantly thinking about the decisions we make with food and how it will affect our bodily aesthetic can experience the anxiety of what to eat and what not to eat on festive occassions and said family gatherings.

But fear not champions of fitness and aesthetics! I'm here to offer you my experience and advice for getting through your holiday meals without the guilt, as well as offer some techniques and gameplans you can use to make the most out of your family meal and make it a net positive (mostly) for your caloric, macro, and nutritional needs on the day.

Holiday meals can quickly get out of hand, but they can also be a powerful ally, as there are a lot of great food options that can help put you closer to your goals. So here are some tips / foods you should look out for  this Thanksgiving / holiday season that you can use to help maximize your goals and enjoy the boutiful food choices in front of you!


EATING TIPS

To clarify, a lot of these eating tips will be centered around what MY experience / traditions are with my family and household. Your circumstances my certainly differ, but I believe a lot of these tips to be fairly universal:


Pace Yourself

There will be tons of options the first time you step up to the dinner table. You'll see tons of really satisfying foods that you are going to want to attack immediately. But hold on there champ. You don't need to turn your stomach into a supermarket your first go around, and you don't need to plow it down right away. Get a moderate amount of food, and enjoy each bite. Take time to enjoy this bounty of food you have just been graciously given. Take in the moment. Talk with your relatives. Let the food actually make it to your esophagus before you're ready to rush back for seconds. Eating too quickly will make you want to go back more and more often, and thus open up any tendencies for overeating. Take your time.


Pick foods that will help your macro requirements

Holiday foods, especially during Thanksgiving, offer bountiful amounts of food that are great for hitting your macronutrient requirements. In fact, a lot of these food choices are foods that you would typically find in a bodybuilder's diet.

The most obvious example is the turkey. I believe I've discussed turkey in a previous post on nutrition and protein sources. To refresh, what you need to know about turkey is that it is a super lean meat with tons of protein. You can get tons of protein from turkey without eating too much of it and breaking your caloric bank for the day. For those of you intersted in putting on muscle, be sure to hit the turkey hard....but of course don't go overboard. You wouldn't want to eat more than a pound of turkey on the day...which would more or less equate to 100g of protein give or take a few grams. However, if you plan on making turkey your primary source of protein / exclusively what you'll be eating for the day, then you can and should of course eat more to fill your protein needs.

Source: livefitwithstephanie.com

At my holiday gatherings, deviled eggs are also a popular option. In my opinion,  you don't really want to go for what's inside the deviled eggs (the yellow part), as it typically contains a lot of extra ingredients that will break your diet. Instead, I eat just the egg whites. I've also discussed egg whites before, and what you need to know is that they are essentially pieces of pure protein with a great amino acid profile with practically no calories per 5 grams of protein (if memory serves me correctly, you're looking at about 25 calories per whole egg white).

There might be other protein options at your Thanksgiving table. Be on the look out for other pieces of whole meat, like your chicken breasts, beef products, and bean / legume dishes as well.

Source: cdn2-b.examiner.com

For carbs, sweet potatoes tend to be a very popular option at holiday gatherings. That's target number one to me at holiday gatherings. Sweet potatoes are a fantastic complex carb source for bodybuilding. You'll probably also have rice and grain options at your table. You can also eat as many fibrous carbs as you want in the form of salads and leafy greens.

For fats, I would recommend just eating the residual fats that come along with the foods that you are eating. Chances are the people who cooked your food added some form of fat or calorically dense ingredient, and it's a macro you definitely don't want to be overeating. You also don't need so much of it that you need to seek out the foods that are high in them.


Load up on whole foods / high fiber foods

I'll get into the toppings / etc in a second, but be sure that the foods you decide to eat have very little of them on them. What I mean by that is that you want as little ingredients on your food as possible, so that you don't over eat on the calories. You don't need to drown your turkey in whatever condiment or topping / dressing that is available to you. Enjoy the whole ingredients. When you become liberal with the residual ingredients, you start inviting excess calories to the party that you will be unable to account for. The less screwed around with the ingredients, the better you'll be able to ballpark the effect it's having on your body.

Source: golfdigest.com

Also, aim for high fiber foods, like beans, brown rice, and definitely the vegetables. They will fill you up quickly and make you less inclined to want to continue eating.


Watch the toppings

Very important concept here folks. Sure, the 4 oz of turkey you're eating may have like 120-150 calories in it, but the gravy swimming pool you just threw it in could make that number skyrocket in no time at all.

Source: sogoodblog.com

Try to avoid the toppings / dressings / dips / etc. Try enjoying the food as it is. If you absolutely need to put stuff on your food, try a conservative amount first and see how you like it. Also, consider putting said sauce on the side and dip your food into it. Or, better yet, dip your utensil into said sauce and then go over to the food you are eating.


Take small portions each time

Another important concept. A good strategy you can employ is to only take a small amount of the foods you want to eat. Doing so will make it so that you're constantly going back and forth to the dinner table. That might get old for you after a while, and thus you may be less inclined to go back. You'll pay more attention to your body and ask yourself if it's really worth going back. You'll also be less inclined to overeat since the chances are there isn't anymore food left in front of you. As a lot of people know, leaving food on your plate as you're sitting there in front of it will make you more inclined to want to keep eating it. Not a good thing if you're watching your figure.

Source:img.webmd.com/

Don't drink your calories

Don't just use this technique for holiday gatherings, but use this technique ALL the time if you're bodybuilding or watching your figure. You should never drink your calories, as liquid calories will never fill you up as adequately as whole food will, and it's easy to blow up your caloric intake for the day in less than a minute. I understand that there are people out there who actually enjoy drinking alcohol for whatever reason, and that there might be some delicious sparkling apple cider with your name on it.....but pump the breaks on the drinks guys. You can take your diet from zero to destroyed in a very short amount of time. Stick mostly to water, with the occassional drink. And when you drink your drink of choice, drink it in moderation and small portions.

Source: i.dailymail.co.uk

FOODS TO LOOK OUT FOR (GOOD / BAD)

The Good:

Here are some popular Thanksgiving / holiday foods to look out for (biased towards protein...but your goals could be much different):

Turkey - High in protein. Lean meat. Calories aren't that high.

Sweet Potatoes - A nice starchy complex carb. Needs very little to make it taste good.

Salad / Leafy Greens - High in fiber and typically high in nutrients. You can eat as much as you want.

Deviled eggs without the yolks - Pretty much just solid blocks of pure protein for not that much of a caloric hit.

Source: igourmet.com

Just be smart with your decisions guys. I know you pretty much know what foods would be better for you. Use common sense and don't let your mind control your body into making terrible food decisions.


The Bad:

Here is a list of the foods you should avoid during your holidays....but you should probably avoid them any time of the year...regardless

Cakes and Pies - Tons of calories per slice. And a lot of those calories are empty. A nuclear bomb to all the hard work you've done towards your nutritional goals.

Alcohol - Don't even get me started. Screws with protein synthesis, empty calories, makes you lose control. No nutritional benefit whatsoever. I don't care what you have to say about red wine. I'll probably have to write a post on this in the near future.

Candies - Simple sugars with no nutritional value. Loaded with carbohydrates that can easily be converted straight to fat.

High Fat Toppings and Dips - Very easy to pour the stuff on for toppings, thus leading to an overload of calories very quickly. As for dips, can you really only dip just once? Same concept applies. The only real exception MIGHT be salsa, but even so, the items you typically use to dip are not nutritionally sound either.

Source: www.4eagleexpress.com

With these techniques and ideas in mind, you should be able to enjoy your holiday within reason. It's important for you to prioritize the things in your life, and to ask yourself whether one day of excess is worth the added excess of work you'd need to do to get back on track. I'm not saying you can't have ANY fun during the holidays, as you should, but keep in mind that, as I've alluded to many times, life is a balance. The amount of fun you have this holiday season eating food is directly proportional to the work you'll have to do afterwards to work it off and stay back on track. Just be smart about it. Find that balance of fun and discipline to attain the closest you can possibly be to the best of both worlds.

Have a great Thanksgiving you guys!

-Jtrain

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*Have a question about natural bodybuilding / fitness / nutrition / stress? Need some advice? Email me at jtrainfitness@gmail.com and I will answer it on this blog! Be sure to enter your email to receive alerts for when the next blog post has come out, and be sure to tell your friends about this blog! Follow me on twitter @jtrainfitness and tell your friends to do the same!*
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A Discussion on the Theory of Muscle Toning

Tell me how many times you've heard somebody, especially the ladies, say something like this:

"I don't want my muscles to get too big, I'm just trying to tone them."

Insanely low weight with insanely high reps for incredible muscle tone!!!!
Source: healthlob.com

.....Or something along those lines anyway. 

Personally, I've come across countless people in my years of bodybuilding and going to the gym who, upon discussion of what their fitness goals are, seem to believe this perpetuated theory that giving your muscles practically non-existant resistance and doing reps until you're blue in the face will stimulate your body into creating firm (but not large) muscle with great definition.......i.e. "tone" the muscle.

I don't want to pick on the ladies but, let's face it, this is a pretty gender-specific topic. Most guys who are interested in muscle manipulation aren't typically inclined to NOT want increase their muscle size and look aesthetically masculine and intimidating. So please excuse me if this blog post comes out sounding sexist in any way. This topic just tends to heavily overlap with one gender more than the other. I assure you that I'm not trying to single out and insult a particular gender here.


There is No Such Thing as "Toning"

Let's just go ahead and get it out of the way. Toning does not exist. There is no scientific phenomenon of your musculature and muscular development that will distinguish other muscular responses from something exclusively determined to be "toning". I think that the muscle firmness, tightness, and adequate size are the results of many other responses and lifestyle changes that actually do exist and are actual muscle training responses. In particular, I believe that what most people mistake as "toning" are the result of 3 bodybuilding phenomena:

Muscle Pump:

This touches on the "firmness" and modest increase in muscle size aspects of muscle toning. When lifting weights, especially when targeting specific muscle groups, the body rushes blood and bodily fluids to the muscle being stimulated. The result is an increase in muscle size and firmness from a filling of the muscle. One could confuse this with "toning", if they believe that such a thing exists, but in fact it's actually what bodybuilders and weightlifters refer to as a "pump". It's only increased muscle fullness from bodily fluids being rushed into the muscle group and will actually end within an hour after working out.

Source: vhlab.umn.edu



Nutrition / Leanness:  

This is another important concept to consider when concluding that you are "toning" your muscles. When individuals decide to workout, they often times also start to change the way that they eat. The definition that many people talk about when trying to "tone" their muscles is not a result of anything known as toning but rather the result of removing bodyfat from changing your nutritional scheme to one conducive for weight loss to achieve a lean physique. The only way to increase your definition is almost exclusively through dietary fat loss, with development of your muscles through weightlifting exercises thrown in. None of these concepts are related to anything called toning. 

Source: awakentheabswithin.com

Weight Training:
While I do not believe in any phenomena called toning, the techniques employed by those who workout with the notion that it does in fact exist do have some merit.

If the goal for working out is to increase muscle size and definition, a great concept to incorporate into your weight lifting routine is to aim for high repetition sets (high repetition = muscle failure for a given lifting exercise at 12-15 repetitions). However, the weight still has to be heavy enough to stimulate your muscles to grow. Weight that is too light will not provide a proper stress / load on the muscles, and thus a proper stimulus won't be achieved for muscle growth. Swinging around light weight violently and for an absurd amount of repetitions will not burn fat either. If you wish to burn fat, focus on nutrition first and supplement it with cardio. Weight training isn't optimal for this. Furthermore, lifting weight that is nowhere near heavy enough will result in a wasted workout from a weightlifting perspective. 


 

Source: tcpersonaltraining.com

 


Myths Surrounding Muscle Growth in Genders

Alright, now let's get into something I've been wanting to talk about for a while. This is where it gets pretty gender specific.

I've stated that I have had countless people tell me that their goal is muscle toning. But I've had just as many women tell me that they are terrified of putting on slabs of muscle like men are capable of, and do not want that kind of aesthetic. I think that's where the latching on to the "toning" craze comes from, because it offers women some idea of an ideal cap to muscle growth while also keeping the leanness that they also desire. But let's get into some flaws with this way of thinking.

WOMEN DO NOT PRODUCE ENOUGH TESTOSTERONE TO GAIN THE SAME MUSCLE MASS OF A MAN OF THE SAME HEIGHT AND BUILD. It is important for you to understand that. Women are women and have feminine features because they produce more estrogen than testosterone. A woman can only become heavily muscular, to the levels of a male of equal build, if they supplement with testosterone through synthetic hormone usage. If you are a natural bodybuilder, or are weightlifting without the use of steroids / sythetic hormones, you will always have a cap on how much muscle mass you are able to gain.

Source: newimageshealthcare.com

This means that for women especially, the amount of muscle mass you could theoretically put on is much more limited to that of a male. You can work out and lift weights until you're blue in the face, but chances are you will never get to a level of muscularity that is overly dramatic and masculine or doesn't fit with your frame.

So to say that you are working out in a way that isn't conducive to growing large amounts of muscle will moreso limit your progress than build your aesthetic to something you want. By not stressing your muscles fully, and constantly pushing yourself to the maximum in the gym while weightlifting, you are impeding an already slow process and in turn will not see optimal results, and will take much longer to see any progress at all.


 "Muscle Toning" does not exist, and one should never build a workout routine around this myth. Muscle fullness and size, along with muscular defintion comes from dedicated weightlifting with proper stress on the muscle, along with sound nutrition that loses enough fat to see the muscle definition that you currently have. One should always push their weight maxes for maximum muscle growth. Women are not able to gain an outrageous and unwanted amount of muscle due to their lack of testosterone and excess of estrogen unless they are supplementing with synthetic hormones / steroids. Be careful not to spin your wheels in the gym with inadequate stress on the body that lead to a wasted workout.

-Jtrain


 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*Have a question about natural bodybuilding / fitness / nutrition / stress? Need some advice? Email me at jtrainfitness@gmail.com and I will answer it on this blog! Be sure to enter your email to receive alerts for when the next blog post has come out, and be sure to tell your friends about this blog! Follow me on twitter @jtrainfitness and tell your friends to do the same!*
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Shaving - The Big Bad Blog Post About Staying Well-Groomed

 

Is this a bodybuilding / wellness blog? Absolutely. Does this topic have anything to do with any of those? Well, kind of. I like the focus of this blog to be on fitness, nutrition, and positive aspects of well being, and I think topics that focus around the appearance of one's self is somewhat related to that. Whether you agree or disagree however, this is a topic I've been really wanting to talk about for quite some time, and am excited to finally get to do so!

Source: realmenbarbershop.com

I don't want to say the whole "I used to be like most people" thing, because I think it's extremely obnoxious and condescending to people who just might not know any better about any given topic. However, when it comes to shaving, most people use either an electric razor, a disposable razor, or one of those heavily marketed mach-whatever blades that promise to clean your house and brew you a cup of coffee in the morning on top of giving you the "closest shave possible". But I think there are better and cheaper alternatives to shaving that you might want to explore before continuing to use any of the above mentioned items.

If you're one of those guys who takes pride in never shaving and growing a rainforest on your face, then this post is obviously not for you. I totally appreciate and respect the fact that beards and moustaches look really good on a lot of guys, but for those of us who believe their own personal facial aesthetic is most fully optimized by a clean-shaven look, read on!

In this blog post, I'd like to get into the different tools of the trade when it comes to cost-effective and efficient shaving. While this post might have some value for the ladies, the focus will be mostly on male facial shaving. I'm also going to advocate turning to traditional forms of shaving, as I feel I've been "awakened" to the glory that is old-fashioned shaving with a double-edged (DE) safety razor and/or a straight razor due to their effectiveness, cost efficiency, and "intimacy" in the experience.


Things to Consider Before Shaving

Before you start shaving, here are some things you should always be congizant about:

1) ANYTHING that touches your face needs to be properly cleaned

• This goes for your hands, the blades, and ESPECIALLY the towels you will use. Bacteria grow on surfaces over short periods of time, and reusing items that are not thoroughly cleaned invite infection and acne / breakouts to the party....which you don't want. Be sure that your face / body is thoroughly washed as well. Use a new towel every couple of days, wash your hands before shaving, and use rubbing alcohol to clean the blade before every shave. When drying your face, NEVER rub your face. Blot dry. If you rub, you can potentially spread around bacteria that can lead to infection and breakouts.

Source: walmartimages.com

 2) Make sure the hair you are going to shave is soft / heated with hot water

• This is why it's optimal to shave after coming out of the shower. Hair that has been soaked in warm / hot water is softened and not as stubborn when you run a blade through it. The comparison of shaving after soaking in hot water and completely dry is akin to cutting a warm stick of butter compared to cutting a cold stick of butter. You're asking for a lot of difficulty when you shave dry and without any prep-work to the hair follicles. Also, be sure to heat the blade with warm water before the shave and in between each series of shave passes.

 

Source:web-images.chacha.com

3) Change your blades often

• This is one reason why using the Gillette Mach series or any comparable company's "advanced" razors are not efficient. But I'll get to those later. It is important to replace your blades often to ward off infection, and to have a sharpened blade that easily does the job as opposed to a dulled-out overused blade that will give you tons of problems while shaving. If a blade falls on the floor or in the sink, CHANGE IT IMMEDIATELY. It's not worth the risk of infection. 

Source: charlesnicholls.co.uk

Types of Razors and their Uses

Disposable Razors

I know what you're thinking. Cheap, doesn't get the job done, and will do more harm than good.. But hold on a second. I think that disposable razors definitely have their place in one aspect of shaving. If for no other reason, they are great for one thing: shaving areas other than the face.

Source: pics2.ds-static.com

The face is a different beast when it comes to using products or taking a blade to it for some reason. It is more delicate and sensitive than the skin on other parts of the body (i.e. torso, arms, legs, back, etc.). So you have more freedom to not take as much time worrying about the damage you'll do (but please do still be careful). The skin around the body is more resilient against abuse, and therefore won't take the delicate protocol that I'll explain once I get into facial shaving.

Disposable razors are great in that they are very cost-effective and get the job done when you want to say, shave your chest to bring out the definition in your upper body, or simply want to clean up what's growing wildly on your body. Since those body parts cover a larger portion than your face, the razors are worn out a lot quicker than if you were to use it for facial shaving. That's why it's good to have a razor you can throw away nonchalantly and buy in mass quantity, if you need to shave larger areas often.

The same rules as previously stated still apply here though. Do not use the same blade often, and make sure it's fresh / clean. Run under hot water to heat the blade up a bit. For bodily shaving, a raking motion is ok....but is definitely not a technique I would advise for facial shaving. If you CAN go in solid straight lines that don't back track though, that is definitely preferred.

Summary: Great for body shaving. Cheap and cost-effective. Able to be replaced easily.


Multiple-Blade "Advanced" Razors

Oh man, don't even get me started.

For the longest time I used these razors because they were and still are marketed so well in trying to make people believe it's the only game in town. The only way for a great shave. That you'd have to be STUPID not to use these razors. I realize now however, that I was literally just throwing my money into the trash can.

Guys, 5 blades aren't better than 3 blades. 3 blades aren't better than 1 blade. IN FACT, increasing the amount of blades increases the chances of ruining your face when you shave with these. The fact that the refill cartridges cost so much means that a lot of people will let the same blade sit and grow a bacterial utopia, ready to invade the face the next time its owner thinks they're a little more hairy than they'd like....not to mention the continual use that will lead to a dulled blade. There is literally no upside to using these unless you like wasting money, and do not respect your face at all. They are a scam. Highway robbery without a gun.

It kind of reminds me of a funny MADtv skit from way back in the day:

Summary: Do not use. Better alternatives exist.


Safety Razors and Straight Razors

The best option in my opinion for facial shaving. You spend a very reasonable amount of money to get started, and they almost immediately pays for themselves.  

Straight razors differ from safety razors in that straight razors are essentially a handle with a fold-out bar that holds a whole razor blade for you to shave with. Other straight razors actually have the blade permanently attached to them that requires a leather "strop" that must be used to sharpen the blade before each use.

A straight razor

Source: boker.de

 

A safety razor is a metal device shaped like a classic razor that loads a razor blade into it and has more protection against cuts than a straight razor would. Safety razors can be single-ended (SE) or double-ended (DE), indicating how many sides expose a razorblade.

A safety razor

 Source: customshaving.com

These razors really turn shaving into an amazing hobby. You really feel a sense of ownership in using and maintaining your safety razor. You can choose the razor brand of your choice, depending on which one works best for you in terms of the level of sharpness you are looking for and your skin's sensitivity. Replacing razors cost you literally pennies, and investing $10 into high quality blades can last you for an entire year. This gives you quality sharpness for a close shave, and the efficiency and hygiene that comes with being able to replace your blades often.

Straight razors are for the more advanced shaver. I would recommend starting out with a safety razor before going all in on a straight razor.

Summary: My preferred method of shaving. Cost-effective, efficient, and gives an unmatched level of shave.


Other Equipment

Badger Hair Brushes

If you're going to go all in on the old-fashioned style of shaving, I highly suggest you spend the money in getting a badger hair brush. Similar brushes come in nylon (I think), as well as boar's hair and other material, but badger hair is good in that it can hold the right amount of moisture to load your creams and soaps with, while also being firm enough to exfoliate and bring out the hairs on your face to be ready to shave. They are also soft enough as to not damage your face. I can't really speak to a particular brand (I've been using Escali), but a quick google / amazon / etc search will point you in the right direction. Consider also getting a stand that holds your safety razor (if you go that route) and badger brush so that it doesn't lay in a place where it can get contaminated and is able to hang dry.

Source: tweezerman.com

Shaving Soaps / Shaving Creams

Here is where you can really start to make the shaving experience your own. Shaving soaps and creams come in a variety of scents, and you can mix and match to suit your preference during the experience. Shaving Soaps and creams are what you load your badger brush with to create a lather to apply to your face to help the razorblade glade across your face as you shave.

Source: cdn1.bigcommerce.com

I can't really speak to the EXACT difference between shaving soaps and shaving creams, but soaps tend to be more slippery, clear, and may be cheaper than creams. Creams on the other hand, are more lathery, don't glide as well as soaps, and can be more expensive. The two may also be fortified with different things (such as aloe vera) to add beneficial ingredients to your face as you shave.

Personally, I load my badger brush with both a shaving soap AND a shaving cream. It's amazing. The brand I would recommend for shaving soaps is Colonel Conk, while I would Recommend Taylor of Old Bond Street for creams.

Source: cdn.classicshaving.com

Cleansers, Toners, Exfoliators, and Moisturizers

Let's take it to an even greater extreme shall we?

All three aspects of the shave are important (the pre-shave, the shave, and the post-shave). This is definitely true for the post-shave. This is the cherry on top of the process you just put your face / body through. It's also extremely important. You just ran a blade across your face and potentially nicked / cut yourself in the process. It's time to not only make your face feel even more like 100 bucks, but to also prevent infection and adverse effects that may come with what you just did.

I suggest using toners, exfoliators, and moisturizers for your face. This doesn't go just for shaving, and I will write a post in the future discussing them in further depth. In the mean time, here's a rundown of what each does and the products I recommend:

Cleansers:

As stated, it's important to make sure your face is clean before proceeding to shave it. Do not use a cleanser that completely strips away the oil in your face, and be cognizant of what works for your face. When your body is stripped of too much oil, it reacts by producing more oil that can clog pores and cause acne.

Source: skinfo.com

This is why many people opt for a sensitive skin cleanser. Personally, I don't even use a cleanser that has alcohol at all, and recommend using the foaming facial cleanser by Cerave.

Toners:


Toners clean your face. They remove dirt, dead skin, makeup, etc. They also give your face a nice firming quality, for a healthier look. They are also gentler than many facial soaps and cleansers. For shaving and every day use, I recommend witch-hazel toner by Thayers.



Source: images.iherb.com

Exfoliators:

Exfoliators remove dead dry skin and expose healither younger cells to give your face a healthy young glow. Kind of like a toner, with more of an emphasis on removing dead skin. Exfoliators can be physical (sugar / mineral scrubs), or chemical. Chemical exfoliators with beta hydroxy acid (BHA) can help fight razor bumps that some people get after shaving. I recommend Paula's Choice exfoliator, but cheaper alternatives are also available. When shaving, it's probably best to use a chemical exfoliator, since you're more concerned with hygiene and not so much smooth skin. 



Sources: wasmachtheli.com



Moisturizers:

Used to lock in moisture on your face and body (moisturizers do not add moisture to your skin). This is helpful in that dry skin actually promotes acne development. As stated, when you strip away the oils of your skin via alcohols and other products that you put on your face, your body reacts to the dryness by producing more oil for your skin. This in turn may cause pores to be clogged by this oil production and in turn cause acne to develop.

Source: walmartimages.com

There are some great moisturizers out there. For daily use, I recommend using a moisturizer that also has sunblock (with a good SPF...around 30 or so), as UV radiation can be a big culperate in facial aging. Neutrogena's "Visibly Even" moisturizer is a great product. For nightime use, you don't need UV protection, so you don't need a moisturizer with sunblock. For the night, I recommend Cerave PM facial moisturizer.

Source: pics1.ds-static.com

How to Shave

Alright, now let's get into the shave! Here are the steps you need to take for the best shave of your life:

1) Loading the brush

•  Make sure your face has been properly soaked with warm water. Blot dry your face with a clean towel, leaving your face not wet, but damp / moist.
• Wet your badger brush with warm water and "flick" the excess water into your sink. If you want, you can also rub some of the water across your face for more softening of the hair follicles.
• Open your shave soap container if you opted for shave soap. Swirl the badger hair brush inside clockwise and counter-clockwise until the soap starts to lather and "load" onto the brush.
• If you are using / also using shave cream, take a pea-sized amount (a q-tip end / fingertip amount) and put it on top of your badger brush.
• Find a clean bowl / holder and put a few dabs of water inside. DO NOT PUT TOO MUCH WATER. Swirl until a lather starts to generate. If there is no lather and the soap and / or cream is too thick, add a little bit of water. If you added too much water, load your brush with some more soap or cream.
• DO NOT....UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, FILL YOUR SINK WITH WATER AND DIP YOUR TOOLS IN THERE. A lot of people do this when shaving, but it is another great way to spread bacteria all over your face since since sinks are often times used to spit toothpaste into, clean items, etc. Run all tools under fresh water from the faucet.

Youtube Channel: geofatboy

2) Lathering your face

• After you have swirled your badger brush into a nice lather, bring it up to your face and rub in a swirling motion to get all of the hairs / bring them to the surface. Go across the cheeks, under the nose and lip, and neck. 

Youtube User: PallMallBarbers

3) Shaving

• There are different names for the directions you choose to shave in. Take a close look at your hairs to see what direction they grow in. The facial hair on the face is often times growing downward, while the hair at the bottom of the neckline is often times growing upward. Shaving in the direction of the hair growth is called "with the grain", while shaving in the opposite direction is called "against the grain", and shaving perpendicular to any hair growth is called "across the grain".
• You DO NOT have to apply a lot of force. If you try to control the blade, it WILL punish you for it, and you will pay for it..........with blood. Simply let the weight of the razor glide through the hairs as you shave each time. If you are using a safety razor, tilt / angle the razor so that you feel the razor blade properly angled to catch your hair for optimal shaving. 
• Start by shaving WITH the grain. Angle your face so that whichever part of your face you are shaving is nice and taught to allow proper gliding and shaving of the razor and the hair follicles. Use nice, straight, long motions, and never go over what you've just shaved in a single set of passes. Do 1-3 passes before running the blade under water to better expose the blade again for more passes. With the grain might be different for different people depending on how your hair grows. You don't necessarily need to follow the same order in terms of direction of passes either (I just personally recommened with, against, and across the grain ordering), so find what works best for you.



Source: photobucket.com

 

• Lather again with the same badger brush you loaded, and repeat the process with against the grain and across the grain passes. Note: When doing across the grain passes, you might be best served only doing it for the part of your face ABOVE the neckline. That has been my experience anyway. I go twice with the grain for the neckline.
• Once you've finished doing your passes each way, wash your face first with warm water and a clean towel to get rid of all of the excess lather residue. Then, wash your face again with cool / cold water. Pat dry
• Once you have patted your face dry, use cotton balls to apply toner, exfoliator, and moisturizer.....in that order.
• Enjoy your new fresh-feeling face!!

Youtube User: Geofatboy

Shaving can be an important aspect of grooming and maximizing your aesthetic. It can be a very personal experience that will leave you feeling nice and fresh. I highly recommend that if you haven't already invested in the straight razor / safety razor / old-fashioned shaving method for your face, that you give it a try today. You won't be sorry. Also, if you haven't tried using disposable razors to maximize the aesthetic of other parts of your body, you could give that a go as well to stay well groomed. Give it a try!

-Jtrain

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*Have a question about natural bodybuilding / fitness / nutrition / stress? Need some advice? Email me at jtrainfitness@gmail.com and I will answer it on this blog! Be sure to enter your email to receive alerts for when the next blog post has come out, and be sure to tell your friends about this blog! Follow me on twitter @jtrainfitness and tell your friends to do the same!*
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Plateau Busting Techniques: Drop Sets and Supersets



Happy first full week in November guys! I hope you're excited for another new week, full of possibilities, and are starting to make plans for what I'm positive will be an exciting upcoming holiday season!

Let's start off this brand new week with a brand new Jtrain Fitness blog post on a topic near and dear to my heart: drop setting and supersetting your workouts to bust through plateaus.

You may or may not be already heavily invested in the bodybuilding game. However, whether you are or you are not, this is an important topic that can be applied to the workouts of the novice lifter, the more experienced lifter, the natural bodybuilder, the unnatural bodybuilder, and many other kinds of people and their realms of fitness.

At some point in your lifting, you may start to notice that you are plateauing in your strength or physique aesthetic. No matter how hard you continue to train, how consistent you are, or how many new exercises you choose, you don't appear to be making any new progress.




A picture of a plateau....because there aren't too many pictures online properly illustrating bodybuilding and plateaus
Source: africa-and-beyond.co.uk

This is the point where, in my opinion, you need to start implementing not so much different exercises as much as techniques that stimulate your muscles with a stress it hasn't been trained to be able to endure and handle. Your muscles are a lot like a student. If they think they can pass your class without doing any of the homework, they will never do the homework. If you aren't constantly testing them with new, more difficult or challenging things, they will have no incentive to grow or prepare themselves to handle a challenge.

That's where drop setting and supersetting come in. Way back when I started getting interested in bodybuilding, I was fortunate enough to start out following someone who stressed the importance of constantly lifting until complete muscle fatigue (failure) and using techniques to further push that exhaustive barrier (mainly through drop sets). I think that constantly fatiguing / stressing / shocking my muscles every day, week in and week out, forced my body to try and build a defense against such intense stress, and thus gave me the results I was after.

So what is a drop set? A drop set is simply performing the same exercise with lighter weight after lifting until failure doing said exercise at your initial heavier weight. Perform the exercise as you normally would, with great form and intensity, until you can't possibly lift the weight any further....even if your mind is screaming for your body to do so. Once you achieve muscle failure, stop doing whichever exercise you're doing with that weight. Immediately drop the weight (choosing a lighter set of dumbbells, or decreasing the weight on a machine) and do the exercise again with that lighter weight, going until failure again. I usually drop the weight by 20-30 pounds, and may actually incorporate MULTIPLE drop sets within one set if I feel like I can keep going, or don't necessarily feel the pump as much as I think I could be. Sometimes I use drop sets for every set for a given exercise, or save them for the last two sets.

Source:menshealth.co.uk

A superset is kind of like a drop set, in that it is performed immediately after you've achieved failure or are done performing an exercise. What makes a superset different however, is that instead of performing the same exercise at lighter weight, you perform a different exercise immediately after. In my opinion, the two exercises should be somewhat related and attack different angles or different parts of whatever muscle you're trying to work out. To me, if you're doing a completely different exercise, you aren't riding the stress you've been exerting on a particular muscle group, and thus don't freak out the muscles as much as they could be. If you attack the muscle group at the same angle with the second exercise, you won't necessarily get optimal stimulation from that exercise (again, in my opinion). From what I've seen, supersets typically are comprised of two exercises, but can incorporate more than two exercises.

Source: afterburneffecttraining.com

Drop sets and supersets are PHENOMENAL tools you can use to help get yourself past a fitness / aesthetic plateu, make gains in strength and ability, as well as grow mass relatively "quick". They work your body out past exhaustion and are a great substitute for a workout partner if one isn't available.

Incorporate these techniques into your bodybuilding / fitness routine today for optimal gains!

-Jtrain

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*Have a question about natural bodybuilding / fitness / nutrition / stress? Need some advice? Email me at jtrainfitness@gmail.com and I will answer it on this blog! Be sure to enter your email to receive alerts for when the next blog post has come out, and be sure to tell your friends about this blog! Follow me on twitter @jtrainfitness and tell your friends to do the same!*
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