Trainer » Simeone Abi

The Top 5 Mistakes You’ve Been Making While Trying to Gain Muscle

Simeone Abi — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 20:00:17 +0000

It’s completely fine to make mistakes while working out, we are humans after all; but what if you don’t even know you are making mistakes as you train? This is one common reason why a lot of people do not experience the muscle gains that they expect, or would like, when they train. Read on to see the top 5 mistakes most amateurs make in training, and what to do to avoid them:

Insufficient Calorie Intake

Muscle building requires a healthy amount of calories, which is one of the reasons why muscle building is good for weight loss—because it helps to burn the calories stored in fat. When you’re trying to bulk up, the rules are pretty much the opposite of what to do when you’re trying to lose weight: you have to take in more calories.

Not Eating the Right Food

Doing the opposite of what you would do if you were trying to lose weight does not mean, you should simply go out there and eat just anything you can find. The most effective foods for building muscles will be high quality proteins such as lean meats, fish, eggs, yoghurt and cheese, whey, and soy.

Not Getting Enough Sleep

Sleep is a crucial element of any fitness plan, whether you are trying to lose or gain weight. Sufficient amounts of sleep are required for the body to recover and rebuild after exercise. Heavy muscle training without sufficient recovery and rest will not only likely be ineffective, but could also depress the immune system and lead to frequent minor illnesses which would set your training back.

Doing Isolation Exercises

Most beginner muscle builders have a tendency to hit the gym and go head straight for the first pair of dumbells they set their eyes on; however, for beginner trainers, the evidence suggests that calisthenics—exercises using body weight—are more effective for muscle building. This is because most body weight exercises are compound exercises which stimulate the release of higher amounts of Human Growth Hormone. Calisthenics have limited potential for building size, though, and after a certain point, you will make better muscle gains by using incrementally heavier weights.

Over-training

Over-training is a classic rookie mistake that could very easily set your training back by days and yield very limited results. To understand why this is so, you must understand how muscles grow: when you work out, your muscles sustain tiny tears and then grow by making slight increments to muscle fibers, in the process of repair which is what leads to the visible increment in muscle size. When you over train, though, some muscle fibers sustain tears that take too long to heal, which prevents you from continuing your training and eventually even when the torn muscles heal, you might have lost the gains made in other muscle fibers.

Conclusion

If you follow the tips we’ve outlined here, you are nearly certain to blast through the obstacles you’ve been facing, and achieve the muscle building results that you desire.

A personal fitness trainer will be able to help you design a fitness plan that works just for you, and will help take your muscle gains to the next level. If you would like to hire one, please get in touch with us at:

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You can get in touch with us 24/7 and one of our experts will not only give you a free consultation but also help you pick out an appropriate male or female personal trainer to meet your needs. One-on-one personal training lessons are available in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman and RAK.

How to do the Oblique Crunch

Simeone Abi — Fri, 04 Dec 2015 10:45:54 +0000

Obliques are the muscles which run along the side of the abdomen and play a major role in stabilizing the spine, help you bend from the side or twist your upper body, support the lower back, enhance the appearance of having a slim waist, and improve posture.

The oblique crunch has been identified as being one of the most effective ways to develop this muscle and we’re going to show you how to do it effectively:

First, some essentials:

It is important to include an aerobic warm up as well as stretching after you finish working out; as with any other exercise.

Breathing properly is one of the most difficult parts of any oblique move, so you might have to pay extra attention to making sure you get this part right. Be sure to exhale as you lift your upper body off the floor and inhale as you return.

When doing side oblique exercise, don’t lift from your neck. This could very easily lead to injuries and does nothing to develop your obliques. Make sure your obliques do the work.

How to do the Oblique Crunch:

The oblique crunch concentrates on both your internal and external obliques. To perform this move, lie on your back, with your hands behind your head so that your fingers are resting behind your ears. Open your elbows and stretch them to the sides with your hands still behind your head; keep your shoulder blades on the floor, lift your knees up and keep them together as you bring them to one side. Keep your legs stacked up on each other.

Lift your upper body in a slow and guarded movement from the floor and contract your rib cage towards your pelvis and return to starting position slowly. As you progress, do five to ten repetitions and ten to twenty progressively, on each side.

If the oblique crunch is difficult, you can do it with your arm crossed over your chest; but be careful to keep your chin up as if you are holding an orange under your chin, while performing the oblique crunch. This is important because it helps prevent neck injury. You should also, always exhale as you lift your upper body up towards your pelvis and inhale as you return to starting position.

Conclusion

The side oblique is a wonderfully effective move for getting these powerful muscles into shape and functioning more effectively. Be sure to use these steps we have shown you here to train your obliques consistently.

A personal fitness trainer will be able to help you design a workout plan that works just for you, and if you would like to hire one, we would be glad to connect you with someone you can trust. Please get in touch with us at:

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Pilates Exercises for Stretching Your Spine

Simeone Abi — Fri, 04 Dec 2015 08:34:25 +0000

Pilates are used extensively to help develop flexibility and agility, but certain Pilates moves are also very effective for straightening out the spine, which helps to relieve tension and back pain. Although most human adults probably won’t grow any taller than they already are, spine straightening exercises such as the Pilates moves we are going to show you, can actually help you gain an extra inch of height. So, if you would like to know how to stretch your spine effectively, keep on reading this article.

The Basic Cat

If you have a cat, then this move should be familiar to you. To get started, get down on all fours, ally your hand underneath your shoulder and your knee underneath your hips and allow your back to assume its natural position in a nonaligned spine.

Curve your back a little; allow your head to rise with your butt sticking up and out. Pull your navel in towards your spine and squeeze your butt, with your lower back curved like a C, continue rounding it into the upper back. Finally, allow the head to drop forward slowly. Your back should be curved to the extent possible and your spine making a C shape at this point. Return to starting position and repeat.

The Sexy Cat

The sexy cat requires a bit more coordination because it is more or less a modification of the basic cat. It is three dimensional and loosens up more areas of tightness than the sexy cat because you spiral the hips and spine.

Start off by doing one basic cat to get your spine contracting, then twist your hips in one direction and simultaneously in the opposite direction with your head and neck. Next, rotate your legs as if you to inscribe a full circle on the wall behind you in one direction, and in the other direction, mimic this motion with the crown of your head.

Conclusion

Be sure to go for the fullest stretch in each of the directions and try not to hunch your shoulders, let them relax down away from your ears. These two “cat” moves are an excellent way to stretch out your spine and develop your agility.

A personal fitness trainer will be able to help you design a fitness plan that works just for you, and if you would like to hire one, we would be glad to connect you with someone you can trust. Please get in touch with us at:

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5 STRETCHES FOR MUSCLE TRAINING

Simeone Abi — Sun, 22 Nov 2015 16:39:07 +0000

The yoga stretches and their benefits are known and proven, it does not just enhance flexibility, but also builds muscle strength. They strengthen and lubricates the muscles, and plays an important role in muscle enhancement.

If you practice this stretches regularly, they can enhance your functional strength, muscle coordination, and muscular endurance especially in your core which results to an increased functional independence. These five stretches should be able to help in your muscle training;

The Natraja pose

The natraja pose is one of the ‘most’ effective postures for you to improve your balance; it builds your core muscle and contracts your hamstrings, glutes, shoulder and strength abdominals and chest muscles.

The locust pose

The locust posture is effective for strengthening the lower back; it gives a good contraction to your arms and shoulder muscle, and improves flexibility in your pelvic belt.

The warrior stretch

You will notice a huge difference in your overall body strength and endurance if the warrior stretch is being practice regularly; it improves flexibility in your hip and knee joint. If you want to tone up and strengthen your hamstrings and gluteus muscles, then the warrior stretch is a good workout.

The plough pose

Plough pose is super effective in strengthening the abdominal, back, neck and shoulder muscle; it also tones your legs as well.

The bow pose

This pose is in a bow like shape, if practiced properly and regularly, gives proper contraction your back and abdominal muscles. The pose improves flexibility and lubrication in the shoulder, knee and the elbow joint. The pose is very effective in toning arms and leg muscles.

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Dealing With Bad Gym Etiquette

Simeone Abi — Fri, 20 Nov 2015 19:55:35 +0000

Gym etiquette covers a range of behaviors, from wiping the equipments after using it, to not hogging on to one machine. Some people don’t just get that its important to not let someone else swim in your pool of sweat, so they should come to the gym with their own towels. How do you deal with such people? Hopefully this article will help you address someone who isn’t being considerate.

Address them directly; by doing that you become a human who actually has a personality.

If that doesn’t work out, discuss their conditions in the gym. Do not do it in a disrespectful manner, be polite and respectful but not apologetic. Don’t make them alienate themselves from you because of an aggressive an aggressive manner or because they think you are an easy target , just be specific and give specific examples of how their behaviours affect the others.

If that doesn’t work either, inform them you will discuss the matter with the staff. If he/she thinks you are soft or are some sort of a sissy, or tries to insult you, ignore that; they are only trying to make you get angry and stop talking, or they just want you to back down. Just buttress on the fact that you will not.

Discuss the matter with the staff, in doing that do not exaggerate but state it how you see it. If you exaggerate, it will weaken your case but being objective and practical will strengthen your position.

If the staff are not willing to help then talk to the gym manager.

Most times people feel so embarrassed when you tell them they’re doing the wrong thing. If someone keeps the equipments at the wrong places and you tell them to keep it at the right place, he/she will be embarrassed and not do it again, also, make it audible enough in order for the people around to hear you so that they will not make the same mistake that person made.

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Weight Gain And Workout Tips For The Skinny Guy.

Simeone Abi — Mon, 16 Nov 2015 10:45:26 +0000

It’s generally an excuse when you say you don’t find it easy to gain muscle through exercise. We can bet anything that its the fact that you don’t eat more and recover better to gain muscles that’s making you to lazy about.

This article takes you through the do’s and don’ts to adhere to if you’re trying to gain some weight and build muscles for skinny guys.

Train better, and not harder because as long as your exercises are done with heavy weights they can stimulate muscle growth with just a few exercises and activate as many muscle fibers as possible.

Get eight hours of sleep per night because it is crucial for the growth hormone’s release, it is also good if you can take naps as well.

Keep a log; try to improve by adding more weight or reps because your muscle size will always follow as your strength goes up.

Track your calories, strength gains, take pictures and weigh yourself weekly. It will keep you motivated if you know that you’re losing your skinny look and gaining more weight with time.

Do not overestimate your food, since you need to gain weight, track your calories and your daily food intake to make sure you are consuming more calories than you are burning.

Never train hungry, feed your system with a least three solid meats prior to training, or eat the biggest of your meals after your morning workout. Would you take your car out with an empty tank? No of course not, your car will run out of fuel on the road. Same is the case with the human body; you cannot expect to take your body through a gruelling training session on an empty stomach.

With much food, you wouldn’t want to go from skinny to chubby, but from skinny to muscular so get into strength training. More strength needs more training so start by doing free weights, compound exercises, and squats etcetera.

Perform every of your workout once per week, and rest a day between and always complete all set for one exercise before moving on to the next.

Finally, if you follow these steps, in one month you should have added 15 to 20 pounds to the squats and deadlift and like 10-15 to the bench press. In addition, you should definitely have also gained three or more pounds to your weight. If you haven’t already, then you should consider adding more calories to your daily diet.

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5 Rules Of Gym Etiquette

Simeone Abi — Sun, 15 Nov 2015 18:10:36 +0000

Etiquette is a code of behaviour that is required in every little thing done. At the office, church, mosque, your home, the bank and even on the streets. If rules of etiquette can be followed everywhere, it should also be accepted in a place where there is profuse sweating, tank tops and grunting.

Generally, people think the expectations of a weight room is different from that of a symphony or a Louvre, but truth remains that manners are just the same, doesn’t matter where and when it is been portrayed.

There are rules and regulations to be adhered to in any gym you find yourself, it is best if you follow the rules and have an awesome gym experience. In a situation where you find someone violating the rules, don’t be afraid to inform the staff. Its not called snitching, its called being hygienic and patriotic, because the rules are for everyone.

Here are five most common and simple rules you should adhere to; these rules are found in the rules and regulations of any gym you go to in the world.

Carry a towel always

Carry a towel whenever you are hitting the gym, this is one top rule you find in every gym. Keep your sweat to yourself; wipe off any bench or machine you use. It is really gross when you pick up a slippery weight or lie down in a total stranger’s pool of sweat. If you forgot to bring a towel, use your sweat shirt or better still, use the paper towels provided by the gym.

Just Chat or just train

When you talk to others during your session, there’s a tendency that you’ll move slower and waste time with the equipments rather than focusing on the exercise. You either talk to your friend or you train.

No cell phones

Do not bring your cell phone with you. Many people go to the gym to switch off and forget all about work, chores and business, you are there to exercise and not answer business calls. In a situation where you receive a call, take it outside so as not to disturb the other people.

Put back your gears

Your gears won’t put themselves away; put them back where you took them. The mats, dumbbells, balls, bands, etc, definitely have their different locations, don’t just use them and leave them on the floor, put them back.

No flex zone

Ok we know you have worked really hard for those six packs you are flaunting, but come on man, not everyone is comfortable with that. Just save yourself the selfies for when the gym is less crowded or better still, snap it from home. You are making the girl next to you uncomfortable, she needs to concentrate on her routine and not get distracted by your sexy abs. Don’t be snapping selfies from every angle of the workout floor.

These are the few rules that you should adhere to in order to keep you from being ‘that boy/girl’ if you are just starting or restarting your fitness quest.

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Six Motivation Steps To Help you Get To The Gym.

Simeone Abi — Sun, 15 Nov 2015 12:37:06 +0000

Joining a gym is easy, sometimes it becomes too easy as the promises made by the gym instructors and the magazines gives you a vision of a newly svelte you, minus all the hard work in-between.

After one or two weeks you become lazy, and sometimes it hits you that you have actually made a commitment on something and even when you are now too lazy to attend, your wallet is still actively contributing.

Rather than you regretting every time you pass the street where your gym is, or catch side with your gym membership card, why not own up to your commitment and stay motivated about turning up and achieving what you always wanted to?

These are few steps that will get you motivated to revisit your gym and get that body you’ve always wanted.

Put on your gym clothes; the process of going to the gym and exercising can be intimidating, and sometimes scary so why not break it into smaller steps? Start by making a commitment. Make a commitment that you are just going to put on your gym clothes and get to the gym, if you get there and don’t feel like exercising, don’t. Just tell yourself that you will just go home as soon as you get there. The odds are, once you are there it won’t be that hard to convince yourself to do at least 15 minute of exercise. There you have it, you have done25 minutes. Once you are done with the 15 minutes, convince yourself to do another 10 minutes, and keep pushing yourself incrementally.

If the money you’ve spent doesn’t motivate you, try squeezing yourself into a pair of jean you’ve wanted to wear for a long time but can’t because you are too big for it, and see how well it will go. Better still, bring out all the clothes in your closet you wish you could fit into, including the one you are wearing that’s stretching unforgivably and use them as a motivator to get back to the gym. Take pictures of yourself trying to wear those tight clothes and stick them where you will see them as reminders of what really needs to happen.

Treat yourself to some nice gym gear if you haven’t already done so. Head out to a store that sells workout clothes and purchase some gears that will make you look and feel good. Since the gym is the only place you’ll get to wear these good stylish gears you’ve bought, you have a new reason to go there.

Going to the gym is with a friend is fun. Ask your friend to come along and help keep you motivated. Hitting the gym with a friend is more like hanging out with him or her, you can schedule a post workout coffee and chat to increase the enjoyment.

Motivate yourself using mental imagery, picture yourself at the gym working out and making it and enjoying it the way you’ve always wanted. Close your eyes and see the figure you’d like to have with all your gym effort, maybe like that of your favorite celebrity. This will motivate you the most to hit the gym.

Listen to music, music is life and music is entertainment. When visiting the gym wear your MP3 player or your iPod, and listen to those favorite tunes, include new ones you’ll like to listen more. Music is a great motivator, its more enjoyable when you can move to the beat at the same time. Training to your favorite music has a positive effect on the limbic system of your brain; it causes your emotions to respond favorably to the exercise.

Finally, do not stick to one workout; challenge your body to new exercises.

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5 foods that cause bloating

Simeone Abi — Thu, 29 Oct 2015 18:47:32 +0000

Bloating is a condition where the abdomen feels uneasily full and gaseous, and may also be visibly swollen. Bloating is common, about 16-30% of people experience it regularly.

Bloating might be a symptom of a serious medical condition; it is usually caused by something in a diet. Below are 5 types of food that cause bloating you should be aware of

CARBONATED DRINKS

Some of the gas from these drinks gets trapped in the digestive system, which may perhaps cause uncomfortable bloating. Instead of these, you can drink plain water instead, or alternatively take coffee, tea and fruit-flavoured water.

GARLIC

Garlic is very popular both for flavouring and as a healthy remedy and like onions, it contains fructans which are fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols (FODMAPs) that can cause bloating.

Allergy or intolerance found in garlic is also very common, like belching, bloating and gas. Though cooking garlic may reduce these effects, it is also advisable to try using other herbs and spices such as thyme, parsley, or basil in cooking.

CRUCIFEROUS VEGETABLES

Cruciferous vegetables include broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts among others. There are very healthy, they contain essential nutrients like vitamin C, K, iron and potassium. However, they also contain FODMAPs which may cause bloating in some people.

You can alternatively go for cucumbers, lettuce, sweet potato and zucchini.

APPLE

They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away; apples are one of the most popular fruits in the world, high in fiber, vitamin C and antioxidants and have also been with numerous health benefits. Apples have however also been known to cause bloating and some other issues for some people.

Fructose is a FODMAP and contains high fiber, they can both be fermented in the large intestine and may cause bloating and gas. Other alternative fruits in place of apples are oranges, strawberries, blueberries, bananas, and mandarins

BEER

The popular term ‘beer belly’ refers to not only increased belly fat, but also the bloating caused by drinking beer. Beer is a carbonated beverage and is made from sources of fermentable carbs like wheat and rice.

Bear contains both gas (carbon dioxide) and fermentable carbs which are two very popular cause of bloating. So instead of drinking beer, you could settle for red wine, white wine or spirits. These can cause less bloating.

Finally, bloating is a very common problem that can be resolved with simple changes. If you have persistent bloating problems, then you should try eating foods and fruits with low FODMAPs. It can be effective for other digestive problems, not just bloating.

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5 effective fat burning workouts

Simeone Abi — Wed, 28 Oct 2015 08:48:35 +0000

We always want the best for us when it comes to fitness and working out, and we also want the workout that burns more calories than the other in the shortest amount of time. Incorporate these five fat burning workouts in your routine and watch how the pound the pound will fly out in no time.

Plyometrics exercises

Plyometrics are a good way to burn calories, exercises like jumping jacks and jump muscles help in building strong muscles and burns about 10 calories per minute. The key to this exercise is to keep your moves quick and land softly as you hit the ground so your legs and core muscles are engaged.

Superset exercises

Supersets pair two different types of exercises, one right after the other with no rest between. It’s a circuit workout with high intensity interval training, it increases cardio element of any strength training routine and helps you build muscles and loss fat in less than no time.
To do this exercise, chose two types of moves to pair with either working the same or other muscle groups, perform each set for the normal amount of repetitions and rest once you’ve completed each superset.

Tabata exercises.

Tabata may sound scary but it’s actually not, it is another form of high intensity interval training that burns on average, 13.5 calories per minute. For tabata, you do four minutes of high intensity training between 20 seconds of max and 10 seconds of rest, try for two or three rounds.

Kettlebell exercises

Kettlebell workout is another great way to burn calories fast, it burns a whooping 400 calories in 20 minutes; fast right? This is because it is a multiplanar movement, you move side by side, then in and out. It is more functional than just going up and down. These kettlebells help simulate how you actually move in real life. So get started with your own kettlebell workouts.

Short workout exercises

Short workouts are also good fat burners, you can still get your expected results even if you had a few minutes to sweat. If you never seem to fit into a solid workout then you should try short workouts, recent studies shows that 20 minutes of regular exercise can actually cause changes to your muscle’s DNA. The trick here is just to exercise at your maximum potential.

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