Brunos Fitness

Archive for November, 2009

In desperate attempts to achieve the “ideal” weight and shape, many students turn to disordered behaviors such as restrictive dieting, a variety of fat burning or muscle building products, exhaustive exercise, and/or cigarette smoking. They may starve themselves because they hate their bodies, eventually overeat because they get over-hungry, feel incredibly guilty after eating, and then try to get rid of the unwanted calories.

Keep in mind that your weight and body composition are determined by a number of factors. Some of these factors (such as your calorie intake and level of physical activity) can be manipulated. But other factors (such as your body type, bone structure, the way you store fat, and other genetic variables) cannot be manipulated. Most people simply lack the raw materials to build the “ideal” body, regardless of how strict they are with their eating and exercise regimens.

Consider this, only about 5% of American women have the ultra-long and thin body-type that is seen almost exclusively in the media. Women who attempt to achieve this body type (but lack the genetic material to do so) are setting themselves up for years and years of yo-yo dieting, weight fluctuations, disordered eating, and depression.

Similarly, the body ideal projected to boys and men in most muscle magazines and cartoon action figure heroes is impossible to achieve without illegal anabolic steroids. In most cases, if a man claims to have achieved this ideal with hard training and strict diet alone, he probably didn’t. There is a physiological limit to how much muscle a man can attain naturally, given his height and body fat percentage. In other words, it’s physiologically impossible to gain unlimited pounds of pure bulging muscle mass while maintaining an ultra lean, ripped body (with only 3-7% body fat)–even when following the “perfect” training and diet program. Once you reach your maximal muscle mass, any further gains will come from both muscle AND fat. So, men who have greater muscle mass/size tend to have higher body fat percentages as well (e.g. 10-15%).

Thus, it is important to be realistic when determining how you want to look to avoid sacrificing your health and happiness for an impossible goal.

1. Realize that you cannot change your body type. Learn to love and respect your body and to work with what you have.

2· Invest time and money in yourself, rather than the diet and supplement industry. Spend your extra money on flattering clothes, fitness equipment, haircuts, massages, and other personal indulgences–not on diets.

3· Stop weighing yourself. Focus on how your clothes fit and how you feel. If you keep trying to achieve an unrealistically low body weight for you, you’re setting yourself up for failure, depression, disordered eating, and decreased quality of life.

4· Stop comparing yourself to others.

5· Celebrate your body and the marvelous things it can do when you are fit and well-nourished. So often, we take these things for granted.

6· Move and enjoy your body. Go walking, swimming, biking, and dancing. Do yoga, aerobics, and weight training…. not because you have to, but because it makes you feel strong and energized.

7· Surround yourself with people who have a healthy relationship with food, weight, and their bodies. It will make a difference in how you feel about yourself. Also, remember to set a good example for others by refraining from “fat talk” when you’re with friends and family.

8· Stop your negative thoughts and statements about yourself. Focus on what you love about yourself. Compliment yourself. Talk to your body the way you would talk to a good friend.

9· Reclaim your own inner strength. Focus on the unique qualities and personality traits that make you a special and successful person.

10· Nurture your inner self. Enjoy things you find relaxing (e.g. music, bubble baths, fragrances, candles, massages, reading, writing, napping), be close to nature (e.g. garden, sunsets, beach, stars), and/or seek spiritual connection (e.g. prayer, meditation, inspirational reading, reflection). Feeling good on the inside is key to feeling good on the outside.

11· Examine the degree to which your self-esteem depends upon your appearance. Although it may seem natural to wish you looked like a fashion model or a body builder, basing your happiness on this desire may lead to failure. Unrealistic goals can prevent you from exploring ways to enhance your life.

12· Broaden your perspective. Talk to people you trust, read books about body image, or write in a journal. These activities may help you to recognize emotionally destructive thoughts and put body image into perspective.

13· Recognize that “fat-ism” is a form of discrimination similar to sexism, racism, and classism. Assumptions that body shape determines attractiveness, personality, and success are incorrect and unjust. Combat discrimination when possible. Question assumptions and generalizations which promote the belief that one “type” of person is better than another.

It is easy to sabotage your own health. Without even realizing it, you could be setting yourself up for numerous health problems down the road, simply by making bad lifestyle choices. There are several ways that you could be endangering your health and shortening your lifespan. But those poor health choices can easily be changed, and it is never too late to improve your health.

1. Smoking – Smoking is a highly addictive habit that affects millions of people. The effects of smoking can lead to cancer, heart disease, and emphysema. It can also have long-term negative effects on your throat, your digestive system, your skeletal system, and your skin. And, the smoke that is released from cigarettes can cause great harm to those around you.

2. Poor diet – Both eating too much and eating the wrong types of foods can lead to long-term health problems. Eat too much (meaning having no regard for portion sizes) and you are likely to suffer from hypertension, obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes, and heart disease. Eating the wrong foods (meaning fast foods, high fat snacks, and highly processed foods) can also lead to obesity, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Any of these conditions can cause stroke, heart attack, and death. Stick to natural, fresh foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains for the bulk of your diet. “Cheating” once in a while is ok, too!

3. Excessive drinking – Excessive drinking can lead to long-term liver damage, and it can affect your overall physical and mental health. Drinking and driving cannot only injure or kill you, but it can injure or kill others as well. The key to drinking alcohol is moderation, and if you have had even one drink, let someone who has not been drinking drive the car.

4. Not moving your body – Exercise is hard. It takes time. It takes commitment. But it helps you to control your weight, look great, feel strong and limber, have more energy, it lowers your blood pressure, increases your HDL cholesterol (that’s the good one!), and relieves stress. Why wouldn’t you want to do something that will give you all of those things? Walk, jog, swim, play with your kids in the backyard – do something to keep your body moving!

5. Ignoring stress – Some stress is good, it can be a motivator. Too much stress, though, can lead to a whole host of problems if it is ignored: high blood pressure, depression, severe headaches, or digestive problems. Find something that you enjoy doing and that relaxes you: exercising, meditating, gardening, and reading, anything that helps you leave your stress at the door.

6. Not sleeping enough – Not getting enough sleep affects your judgment, your reaction time, and your mood. This can put you and others in danger, and it can affect your professional and personal relationships. Try to get at least 6-8 hours of sleep each night.

7. Friends – This could be the main reason most people make bad lifestyle choices, friends have a major influence in our lifestyles. Consider a friend who likes to go out and party and drink over the weekends. This can contribute to all of the 6 bad choices as stated above. Make sure your friends support your healthy lifestyle change and are not there to sabotage it.

Training the energy systems

(Aerobic system)
The aerobic energy system is the one you use when you engage in moderately intense exercise for over two minutes. It is responsible for what is commonly known as “stamina,” or how long you are able to sustain an activity.

For soccer, this is especially critical, as you frequently run back and forth across the field without any rest periods. To train this energy system efficiently, include two or three longer steady-state cardio sessions in your workout.

You will get the best results from running — either outdoors or on the treadmill. Maintain a moderate pace for 30 to 45 minutes.

(Anaerobic system)
The anaerobic system allows you to perform all the stop-and-go movements involved in soccer. Over the course of a game, you often need to run at an “all out” speed, then quickly recover so you can do it again.

To accomplish this, add one or two interval training sessions to your workout. Run as fast as you can for 30 to 60 seconds, followed by a period of light activity for one to two minutes. Repeat this process six to eight times.

By training this way, you will also increase your body’s ability to handle lactic acid, therefore reducing your chances of fatigue.

(Training for agility)

Agility training can be accomplished through a series of exercises that involve attaching a rope to a weight sled. Perform 8 to 12 reps of each exercise, for a total of two working sets.

(Bilateral drills)

For these exercises, tie a rope to each leg.

Bear Crawl: Get down on your hands and knees and pull the sled along the ground.

Forward Walk: A simple forward walk, focusing on snapping each leg through the movement.

High Knee: Similar to the forward walk, but raise your knee as you walk forward.

Lateral Slide: Walk laterally using a slow and controlled step.

(Unilateral drills)
For these exercises, tie a rope only to one leg at a time.

Forward Walk: Same as the bilateral exercise, but with only one leg.

Lateral Push Slide: Attach the sled to the lead leg, which you will then push over the other in a lateral direction.

X-Over: The same motion as the lateral push slide, but with the rope attached to the trail leg, which you cross over the lead leg.

Lateral Pull Slide: Attach the rope to the trail leg and take a large side step with the lead leg. Then, bring the trail leg to the lead leg without crossing over (use a wide step).

Backward Walk: Focusing on one leg at a time, perform a backward walk, staying low to the ground.

(Training for strength)

The final aspect you need to be concerned with is that of leg and core strength. Do traditional strength-training exercises to develop a strong and powerful lower body.

Complete four sets of six reps for each of the following exercises. Focus on pushing as much weight as you can and move the weight through the range of motion as fast as possible. This will help to develop not only leg strength, but also power.

Barbell Squat: Stand and rest a barbell on the back of your shoulders. Slowly squat down, keeping your knees in line with your toes.

Stiff-Legged Deadlift: Place a barbell on the floor. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and grasp either end of the barbell, keeping legs straight (but not locked or hyper-extended). Slowly rise to a standing position and lower once again.

Lunges: Hold a dumbbell in each hand and take a long step forward. Slowly lunge down, and then rise back up as fast as you can.

Hanging Knee Raise: Grasp an overhead bar and lift yourself off the ground. Then, raise your legs up to at least 90 using your abdominal muscles.

1- Get up and stay up
Whatever you have to do to get out of bed, do it. Put the alarm clock across the room. Set the timer on the coffee maker to start brewing. Run to the bathroom to relieve yourself and jump in the shower. The hardest part of the morning mountain climb is taking that first step out of bed. Don’t let that little voice start whispering, “Just 10 more minutes.” Ten more minutes is never enough and it will turn into another 10. Don’t hit snooze, just get up the first time. Whatever you do, don’t crawl back into bed once you’ve gotten out, no matter how inviting.

2- Establish a routine
Even if you’re using these techniques to get up early for a flight, it’s best if you establish a routine the days leading up to it. Make coffee, pour a glass of orange juice, brush your teeth, get into the shower; whatever works for you, do it the same each morning. That way you’ll get into your morning without having to think about it. Also, use an alarm clock with a battery backup to ensure a power outage doesn’t mess up your schedule. If you can, keep your routine even on the weekends, though we acknowledge that takes a lot of willpower.

3- Go to bed early
This seems brain-dead obvious if you’re wanting to wake up early, but too many people will put off going to bed thinking: “Well, I’ll be tired tomorrow either way.” Getting six to eight hours of solid, uninterrupted sleep makes all the difference when getting up early and staying focused through the day. Many guys will make the excuse that they can’t go to bed until after midnight. You can — you just have to start the process early. One thing that will help you hit the racks is getting off your computer at least an hour before going to bed. Also, don’t watch TV right before going to sleep, especially the news. Let your brain have time to wind down. Read a book or write in a journal.

4- Drink water
Don’t go crazy and down eight glasses right before crawling in bed, otherwise you’ll be up in two hours. The point is to drink a couple glasses of water, so you’ll be hydrated throughout the night and in the morning. Dehydration will cause you to feel sluggish and only make it that much harder to wake up early. Also, avoid caffeine and alcohol. Caffeine for obvious reasons, it’s a stimulant, and while alcohol is a sedative, it commonly leads to restless sleep. Eating before bed doesn’t bother some, but for others it can cause heartburn and bad dreams. Use discretion with food, but definitely stay away from late night spicy dishes.

(Fights muscle fatigue)

Caffeine from coffee will also fight muscle fatigue. So slurp up a cup of coffee before performing a demanding activity like running, weightlifting or before a long day in the garden, and watch your performance increase.

Evidence shows that caffeine intensifies muscle contractions, masks the discomfort of physical exertion and even speeds up the use of the muscles’ short-term fuel stores.

At this point, you must be saying to yourself, “this guy must be sponsored by a coffee company.” But to be perfectly honest, I have my regular dose of coffee everyday. I know, however, that it can lead to health-related problems when consumed in exaggeration.

Overdoing it (4-5 coffees a day) can over-stimulate the nerves and generate some pretty nasty side effects. It can leave the drinker feeling restless, irritable, and make his hands tremble. In extreme cases, it can create severe insomnia.

(Addiction?)

Coffee has been heavily criticized for the fact that its caffeine content is addictive and unhealthy. But I think that if we would stop consuming everything scientists discover to be cancer prone or unhealthy, we would be left to surviving on bread and water. It’s like many things in life: if you drink coffee with moderation, it can actually be beneficial.

The caffeine contained in coffee will give you a significant boost of energy. It usually provides you with an increase in performance for more monotonous tasks like filing or simple bookkeeping, and it can also help you stay awake during drawn out tasks such as long distance driving or working as a security guard.

(Gives you a little boost)

When tired, caffeine can help you sharpen some complex mental skills like manipulating numbers or recognizing words. So it’s not bad to ingest one or two cups of coffee a day.

One cup in the morning to get things started, and one in the early afternoon after your lunch takes effect after you start feeling drowsy. It’s no secret why they call the 15-minute breaks, “coffee breaks” — it gives you a chance to get up from your work station, pick up some coffee and regain your energy.

As a result, your productivity will increase both from your time away from the PC and from the effects of the natural stimulant.

(Avoiding the jitters)

One quick tip to avoid the jitters and severe withdrawal symptoms is to keep your caffeine intake fairly steady. If you are looking to lower your caffeine intake from coffee, do it gradually over a course of a week or two.

For example, if you drink 5 cups of coffee a day, cutting it down to 4 cups will reduce your overall caffeine consumption by 20%, but if you cut it down to 2 cups it will reduce it by 60%, which is more likely to cause withdrawal symptoms.

If you haven’t started drinking coffee yet, I suggest you try it once in a while when you start feeling tired and enjoy its great taste. If the taste is what keeps you away from the hot drink, try one of those cool mocha lattes.

They are offered virtually everywhere but vary from one coffee shop to the next, as each one tastes better than the other. They are also offered in many fruit flavors and are a great source of refreshment on those hot summer days.

Another great way to avoid withdrawal symptoms is to opt for tea if you need a quick pick-me-up. While tea does have caffeine, it is not as addictive as coffee and does not cause the same side effects.

Don’t be afraid to get that quick caffeine fix from coffee every now and then; just remember that like everything else, too much of anything is not good.

(Side effects)

Other side effects from excessive caffeine consumption are diarrhea, copious urination, while some people can even experience facial flushing. It’s hard to say how much caffeine is needed to trigger these side effects because everybody’s body will react differently.

Occasional drinkers might experience the side effects after one cup whereas usual drinkers might get jumpy when drinking one more than usual.

Caffeine creates a dependency, and its main problem is caffeine withdrawal. This means that if someone who usually drinks between one and three cups of coffee a day suddenly stops drinking it, that person could develop headaches.

Other major drawbacks of quitting the brew are anxiety, light depression and fatigue. Obviously these might seem like very severe side effects but only a minority of coffee drinkers will experience them.

The following list is made up of the most popular selections in specific order from what’s fine and dandy to the very best.

10- Sharply shaped shoulders

Of the 100 women surveyed, a vast majority had a lot to say about shoulders. They like it when a man has well-defined, broad shoulders because they’re a sign of strength and masculinity.

One woman wrote, “I love when a man moves his shoulders and you’re able to see the (muscle) definition.” Another gal added, “Running my fingers across broad, lean ones excites me immeasurably. That’s why I love giving my boyfriend massages in this area.” So it’s time to get to work at the gym, and as the list goes on, you’ll quickly come to the same realization yourself.

9- Chiseled chest

All men love a nice pair of breasts — real or fake. As long as they look good, we’re not complaining. Well, women have the same requirements (minus that whole fake thing though).

Perfect pecs are part of the whole image women have conjured up in their fantasy-filled daydreams. Most ladies said that they like being able to envision what a man’s chest looks like under his clothes. The way a sweater or chemise falls on a man’s body, they profess, reveals a lot about what’s under there.

How fair is that? They get to have those push-up, water-filled, padded bras that create a complete illusion of what’s really under there. And what do we have? I think Seinfeld ’s Kramer was on the right track with the man’s bra — or should I say The Bro ?

8- Bulging biceps

Come on… you knew it was coming. Big, well-defined biceps don’t just signify strength, they also reveal that you’re taking good care of your body. And if there’s one thing women love, it’s a man who takes care of things.

As with the chest, women love when they’re able to get a hint of a man’s biceps either through his sweater or when he wears a T-shirt and they can see the start of the rippling muscle (their words, not mine).

It also doesn’t hurt when guys are able to lift them up and maneuver their bodies effortlessly when they’re engaging in crazy “slam you up against the wall” sex. So I guess that mom was just kidding all those times she told us that it’s what’s on the inside that counts. Real funny.

7- Luscious lips

Oh my, what big ass lips you have! That’s right guys; we’re not the only ones who long for Angelina Jolie-like lips. Women like full mouths on men not just for their aesthetic appeal, but for those more intimate things we can do with them.

One woman wrote, “I love to suck on a man’s thick lips until they’re swollen and then I like to rub ice on them while I kiss them.” Yeah, I like to do that to lips too, just not the ones she’s referring to.

But women were very diverse in the lip department. Some liked only thick bottom lips and some even preferred thinner lips. Perhaps that’s because they all prefer the…

6- Tantalizing tongue

If there’s one talent that women appreciate immensely, it’s a man’s ability to use his tongue as though it were a saliva-producing penis with an attitude. Lots of women were quick to point out that the tongue is the strongest muscle in the body, but that is highly debatable.

Although some women chose the tongue for those intimate kissing sessions, most specified that it was because they enjoyed being kissed “down there.” Down where? Can u lingis?

Everything from using the tip of your tongue to tease the clitoris to using your entire tongue to lick the vagina from top to bottom was mentioned here. Even penetrating her with it was quite popular. I notice that upon this subject, the ladies’ writing began getting somewhat shaky. Hmm, I wonder why?

5- Hygienic hands

“One thing I love about my boyfriend are his big, thick, clean hands.” Until I heard the word hands , I could’ve sworn that she was talking about something else. Actually the word “clean” threw me off somewhat. Do most men have filthy hands?

Another surveyed woman mentioned that a man’s hands say a lot about him. Come on , I thought, that’s just a myth . But she was referring to other things like what he does for a living and what he emits about himself to the world.

A more interesting woman stated that she loves sucking on a man’s fingers and mimicking fellatio. So keep those hands in tiptop shape; you never who might want to wrap their mouth around those fingers.

4- Honed hips

Whereas in this day and age, the smaller a woman’s hips the better, surprisingly enough, women also like holding on to our hips when having sex. They love the fact that our hips are narrow. I think they’re just jealous.

“I find that hollow area under the ribs that ends above the hipbones irresistible. A woman’s hands belong there.” I couldn’t agree more.

3- Awesome abs

It’s absolutely no surprise that women love that washboard stomach. The ripples are the epitome of what a man is defined by. Men should strive for that six-pack, and no, I’m not referring to Budweiser.

Some women didn’t necessarily require rock hard abs, but a flat stomach was important just the same. “No woman wants to have sex with a man who has to physically lift his belly in order to put it in.” Wow, I never knew that that was possible!

Women do have a point though. I’m not rushing to hop into bed with any woman whose stomach jiggles and is loose, so why should they? Taut tummies are a prerequisite in the bedroom, so like I said before: hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to the gym we go…

2- Primped penis

Ah finally, they got to my personal favorite (but only my own ding-a-ling, that is… not that there’s anything wrong with that). And although they didn’t specify that size matters, they did say that they required a “good size.” Yeah, good and plenty…

But more importantly, a lot of women mentioned that a properly groomed groin area was very important. “I don’t like spitting out curly, coarse hair when I’m in the middle of a fellatio marathon.” So break out the razors, wax and depilatories, it’s time to make a forest clearing.

Other things that women mentioned:

Proportionate skin color (body to penis) Not too veiny Circumcised Uncircumcised Not too small Not too big Thick Nice smell (I guess they expect reciprocity)

1- Buff butt

I guess the one thing this survey goes to show is that women are not that much different from men. Then again, I don’t think they’re as big on slapping our butts as we are with theirs.

Some women wrote that they love those “half-moon” butts, while others preferred the “slightly curvaceous” ones. “It’s usually the athletic guys that have the nicest butts…

While on the quest for fat loss, many people place far too much focus on how many calories they are burning during their exercise sessions, while forgetting to account for the calories that will be burned because of that exercise session — after all is said and done. If you train in the proper way, you can actually greatly enhance the total amount of fat burned with your exercise program by taking advantage of these additional calories lost after the training program is completed.

These calories are collectively known as Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC). What this basically represents is how many additional calories your body will burn after the exercise session has been completed in order to return your body to the state it was in before the exercise took place.

This will include a variety of different processes that are related to recovery, such as increasing the amount of muscle glycogen contained in the muscle that’s been depleted during the workout, restoring the blood lactate levels to normal and bringing down the heart rate and body temperature.
what affects epoc?

If your goal is to achieve a maximum fat loss, you will want to optimize EPOC as best as you can, thereby increasing the total number of calories you burn that day.

The degree of EPOC you experience has a direct correlation to the intensity of your workout session. The harder you are able to work out, the more you will disrupt all the measures listed above and, therefore, the more energy your body will need to expend to bring them back down to normal once again.

Furthermore, there are certain variables within your workout that you can alter to get that “after burn” up even higher:

Rest periods
When trying to maximize EPOC, taking slightly shorter rest periods will help. This forces your body to work harder without as much recovery between sets, so you will require more in-depth recovery after the session has been completed.

You don’t want to take it so far that you sacrifice your ability to lift heavy weights, because that, as you will learn, also increases EPOC.

Dark berries
Main vitamin or nutrient: Antioxidants

One benefit of consuming dark berries — such as blueberries, cranberries, blackberries, and raspberries — is that they keep your body clean by eliminating toxins and pollutants. The dark pigments in these super foods have a more powerful amount of antioxidants than any other produce offered at the supermarket.

Antioxidants in your food can save you from almost anything when it comes to your health, and this includes slowing down the aging process. The dye that is released from the skin of this fruit is the most nutritious part because it is the richest in these age-defying, disease-fighting antioxidants.

Aside from keeping you looking and feeling young, antioxidants prevent illnesses and ailments that come with age. For one, dark berries lower bad cholesterol and they are more cardio-protective than wine — so eat your heart out, and your heart will thank you later. Another way they slow age-related diseases is by protecting your brain from memory-related problems, such as Alzheimer’s or loss of memory after a stroke.

You can eat your way out of cancer, viruses and memory loss, and you can seriously slow the aging process with these dark spurts of goodness, so add them to your power shakes or your cereal in the morning.

Alternatives: Plums, cherries, red wine

Beans
Main vitamin or nutrient: Fiber and protein

Beans are high in fiber, which is beneficial for a number of reasons. Fiber is necessary for maintaining a healthy digestive system. It moves easily and quickly through the digestive tract, cleaning it and allowing it to function properly. Regular amounts of fiber in the diet have been shown to help ward off certain digestive illnesses, including irritable bowel syndrome and colon cancer.

The fiber in beans also helps people maintain or lose weight. This is because high-fiber foods have a low glycemic index, which means that your blood sugar levels will not rise quickly after you eat them. Beans are a low-calorie food that will make you feel full and curb your cravings for higher-calorie foods. Blood sugar levels remain more stable when beans are included in meals, so they make an excellent choice for dieters.

Beans are also high in protein, which is the building block for skin tissue, hair, bones, nails, muscles, and blood. They are a great source of protein because, unlike meat, beans supply it without the cholesterol and fat. So eat your beans and build those lean muscles you’re after.

Alternatives: Tofu, peas, lentils

Kiwi fruit
Main vitamin or nutrient: Vitamin C

If you travel a lot, sleep weird hours or are stressed out, chances are your immune system is low. Vitamin C is necessary for the healthy functioning of the immune system, and kiwis are higher in vitamin C than oranges or any other commonly known fruit.

Not only is vitamin C the primary antioxidant that destroys free radicals and helps lower the rate of certain types of illnesses, but consuming it daily can protect the body against respiratory problems, such as asthma or dry coughs.

Also, eating kiwifruit once a day can lower the risk of blood clots in the body, preventing heart attacks and strokes. In fact, kiwis can replace the daily aspirin people with heart problems are required to take, because they prevent clotting in the vessels that supply the brain and heart with blood.

Alternatives: Oranges, papayas

Carrots
Main vitamin or nutrient: Beta-carotene and alpha-carotene

For hundreds of years, carrots have been thought to promote good vision, and modern researchers have proven this belief to be true. Carrots are especially good at improving night vision because the body converts beta-carotene into vitamin A, which is absorbed by the retina. There, it is transformed into a pigment that aids night vision. Consuming beta-carotene also prevents the eyes from getting cataracts. Think about it: If you eat your carrots now, you’ll be able to check out babes when you’re 95. Not a bad deal.

Carrots keep your cells communicating as well. Beta-carotene promotes cell-to-cell communication, which is good for tissue maintenance and repair. Good cell communication also prevents your cells from going wacko and getting cancerous on you. But beta-carotene isn’t the only cancer inhibitor in carrots: Scientists are finding that alpha-carotene is even better than beta-carotene at preventing tumor growth.

Carrots are also good for your skin. Having a sufficient amount of beta-carotene in the body will protect it from common skin problems and diseases. For example, if you’re in the sun a lot, carrots help protect the skin against the damage caused by UV rays.

On the other hand, if you’re a workaholic and you don’t get enough sun, adding carrots to your daily diet will give your skin a nice tanned look. The orange color in beta-carotene gets deposited under the skin. Eat your carrots daily, and you’ll impress the ladies with a healthy “outdoorsman” glow.

Alternatives: Sweet potatoes, winter squash

Chili peppers
Main vitamin or nutrient: Capsaicin

If you’re an active guy, you want your body to be in top shape so you can get the highest level of performance when you’re busy functioning in full force. Capsaicin is a nutrient found in chili peppers that is a natural anti-inflammatory and helps improve circulation. Chili peppers literally clean your blood of mucus and toxins, making it easy for oxygen to be supplied to your cells, so this spicy beast will keep you in top shape for years to come.

Also, contrary to popular belief that spicy peppers cause stomach ailments, chili peppers help fight off ulcers. So if you have a weak stomach and a high level of stress in your life, add chili peppers to your diet to avoid painful stomach problems.

Even more important is that chili peppers help prevent prostate cancer, a leading killer in cancer-related deaths among men. So get the inside of your mouth fireproofed for this spicy number and keep your body ablaze.

Alternatives: Cayenne pepper, jalapeno peppers

It seems like when you walk through a gym these days, everyone is huddled around the free weights doing arms, while there is no one to be seen at the squat rack. Men often decide to forgo any leg training and just concentrate on their upper bodies. They figure that since they went for a run that morning or did some interval training on the bike the day before, they have already worked their legs enough.

The truth is that working your legs will indirectly help your upper body grow. Your leg muscles are incredibly large; when stimulated, they release a large amount of testosterone — the primary anabolic hormone responsible for muscle growth — throughout the body. Thus, you will benefit your upper body on days you don’t even work it out.

Also, having a strong lower body is the best basis for the rest of your training. Otherwise, it is like trying to build a house without a foundation — not very effective. So be sure you don’t pass up your leg training sessions any longer.