1. Why Women Should Lift Weights
2. The Best Natural Fat Burner: L-Carnitine
3. The Importance of Branch Chain Amino Acids While Dieting
4. How to Get the Most out of Your Cardio Session (pdf)
5. Anthony's Recipies(pdf)
6. Dieting 101 (pdf)

Why Women Should Lift Weights

How many women reading this right now are frustrated with the way they look? How many of you are doing hours of cardio and starving yourselves to be skinny? Well what if I told you there was an easier way to get in shape, would you believe me? Well the answer ladies is quite simple....Lift Weights!!

The problem is that too much emphasis has been on cardio and dieting for women, which the importance of lifting weights is never spoke about. Most women are under the impression that working out with weights will make them “bulky” and “man-like”. This is far from the truth! I am going to shed some light for all you women out there. There is only one thing that burns fat and that is Muscle! So what this means is that the more muscle you have on your body the more efficiently your body can burn fat! Muscles are the only metabolically active tissue in your body, and that means they require calories to work, and if that doesn’t make you smile maybe this will…the primary source of energy for your working muscles is fat!

So Ladies The more muscle you have on your body the more fat you burn, and the more calories you burn through out the day. If you have a certain amount of muscle on your body you can eat a reasonable diet without gaining weight. This is what we fitness professionals would like to call a good metabolism. A good metabolism doesn't happen by accident. I do admit genetics play a part in metabolism, but you'd be amazed how much metabolism can be affected by your life choices.

Most women are programmed to think they have to weigh a certain amount to be happy. Ladies I am telling you to get rid of that “scale mentality”. Who cares how much you weigh? The most fit and lean bodies are often considered overweight if you place them on the standard height/weight chart. Why? Because muscle is so dense that it weighs more than fat. Muscle also holds about 60% more water than fat tissue causing muscular people to weigh much more than their "skinny fat people”. What you should be most concerned about is your body fat percentage. That is what it all comes down to, your body composition.

To be lean you need to have a high percentage of muscle and a lower amount of body fat. Muscle in women deteriorates at almost every stage of their life. This is why women must workout with weights! Weight training rebuilds your lost muscle and therefore fixes and speeds up your metabolism

Still convinced you will look “Man-like” if you lift weights? There is one key hormone that causes “man-like” muscle growth and that hormone is testosterone, which women lack. So Ladies workout with weights to prevent muscle deterioration and give you the shape and curves you deserve!

The Best Natural Fat Burner: L-Carnitine

L-Carnitine is one of the best natural fat burning supplements to take....L-Carnitine basically transfers the long chain fatty acids into the mitocondria (powerhouse) of the cell....so in simple terms it uses stored fat for energy! When dieting it also reduces the effect of hunger (which can kill most diets)...Scientists have been studying L-Carnitine since 1937 and it has proven to have a positive effect on weight loss and health...You should take between 2000mg-4000mg 10 minutes before Meal 1 and Before Workout.
 

The Importance of Branch Chain Amino Acids While Dieting:
A Key Supplement for Getting Lean and Gaining Muscle

What are Branch Chain Amino Acids?

Branch Chain Amino Acids are the "Building Blocks" of the body. They make up about 35% of your muscle mass and must be present for molecular growth and development to take place. There are 22 total amino acids which are divided into two groups, essential amino acids (which can not be manufactured by the body) and Non-essential amino acids (which can be made by the body). For the main concern of this article I will be speaking about the Branch Chain Amino acids or BCAA’s as they are referred to. The branched chain amino acids are Valine, Leucine, and Iso-leucine. The BCAA’s make up approximately 1/3 of muscle protein. BCAA's reduce muscle fatigue, speed recovery, decrease the loss of other amino acids from muscle during exercise and help the body absorb protein. A deficiency in any one of these Aminos will cause muscle loss. Unlike other amino acids, BCAA's are made in the muscle and not the liver.

What do BCAA’s do?

Whenever we lift a weight we cause damage to the muscles. Since BCAA make up about 1/3 of the muscle proteins, we can only conclude that when we exercise we break down these BCAA. We get out BCAA’s through diet but extra supplementation may be necessary. When our body senses BCAA in our blood stream it stops the breakdown of muscle and switches the body into grow mode! BCAA’s tell our body that we have significant amount of amino acids in order to build or maintain muscle, stop breaking down other muscle tissues. By taking a BCAA supplement prior to and immediately after exercise we give our muscles plenty of branch chain amino acids to use thus sparring addition muscle tissue from being broken down.

Why is this important if you are trying to lose weight?

Branch Chain Amino Acids are definitely a must when it comes to losing weight. They help to retain muscle mass which in turn leads to a greater decrease in muscle loss. The more muscle our bodies have the faster our metabolism will be. So if we maintain or even gain muscle we increase our resting metabolism which will lead to a greater fat burning capability.

Do BCAA provide any other benefit?

Sure, studies have shown that they help to stimulate protein synthesis (help the body make new proteins), decrease fatigue, helps to form other amino acids, and help to increase energy. Along with all the benefits I have listed it also has been known to reduce hunger while dieting due to the amino acid leucine. Leucine triggers insulin in your body causing your body to think it is satisfied and not hungry!

How to take BCAA’s? Which product do you recommend?

You can take BCAA many ways. It mainly depends on your goals. When mass building I suggest taking 5g in the morning as soon as you wake up, 5g PreWorkout, 5g During Workout, 10g Postworkout and 5g before bed. When on a more calorie restricted diet I suggest spacing them out throughout the day (view a sample of my day below)

Here is how I recommend taking your BCAA’s while on a lower calorie diet:

• 6am Wake up - 5g BCAA with breakfast
• 9am - 5g BCAA
• 11:30am PreWorkout Meal - 5g BCAA
• 1:30-2pm - 10g BCAA with post workout meal
• 3:30pm - 5g BCAA
• 5pm - Meal 4
• 8pm - 5g BCAA
• 9-10pm - Meal 5
• 12am before bed - 5g BCAA
• 3am - Meal 6 with 5g BCAA
• 6am repeat cycle

Any type of BCAA product is fine as long as it has a 2:1:1 ratio of Branched Chain Amino Acids (L-Leucine, L-Isoleucine and L-Valine). The BCAA product I recommend is Scivation’s Xtend. Along with having the proper ratio of BCAA it also includes Glutamine, Citrulline Malate, and Vitamin B6 that will give you the energy you need to maximize your training while enhancing recovery at the same time.

Here is a link for the Xtend: http://www.scivation.com/scivation_xtend.htm

References:
-Norton, L. (2005) soon to be published data, will add reference when the journal article is published.

DISCLAIMER: All diet, nutrition and training information contained herein is provided for informational purposes and is not meant to substitute for the advice provided by your own physician, dietician or other medical professional! This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, mitigate or prevent any disease, medical problems or substitute for appropriate medical care. Consult your physician with questions before starting this or any nutrition, exercise, diet or dietary supplement program. Anthony Bevilacqua and ABFitnessTrainer.com assume no liability for any injury, death, personal loss or illness.