Eyes On The Prize Tiger: Focusing On Your Goals

I think - in my humble opinion - that the main reason many of us don't get the results we're expecting has two possible reasons:

• We have unrealistic expectations in terms of timeline and the changes we think we can churn out during a given time period.
• We aren't focused on what our real goals are, rather, we have an abstract concept of where'd like to be, therefore lack the mental focus to get there.

The truth of the matter is that you won't make it very far if you don't have a concrete plan with realistic expectations and milestones set in place. The milestones are arguably the most important aspect of the whole thing; they allow you to perform regularly timed checks to see what's working, what isn't and what needs tweaking in order to get right back on track.

Lacking in focus seems to be a problem for those who treat the concept of fitness as something recreational or seasonal. I like to think it's the most intimate of commitments one can ever make in their lifetime; dedicating yourself to constant self improvement. You should feel so committed to your body and health you'd be willing to drive up to Vermont and hold a commitment ceremony with your body.

I see way too many guys (and girls) who treat their time in the gym or on the track as some sort of social experience. They shoot the shit with each other, try and pick up someone or just flat out show up to enjoy the show. When I'm working out, I'm in my zone, nothing will distract me or make me forget why I was there in the first place. I'm here because what I'm doing there amounts to a religious experience. It's that time of the day when it's just me inside my head, no work, no family, no friends, no bills to pay and no errands to run. It's my time to shine and focus on doing what I do best; give my body the treatment it deserves - by putting it through hell.

This isn't to say that balance isn't the most important bit of all. I'm not asking you to turn into a machine which only sees food as macro and micro-nutrients and every movement as a potential exercise. We leave that shit for professional body builders. Your life should stress on balance, on finding the time to do the things you enjoy with people you love. Taking care of your body and health affords you the energy and - increased time - to so to the fullest.

Until you gather up the mental focus to make your health a priority, create a proper plan which accounts for your exercise, accompanying nutrition and more importantly, how this all fits in your life in a wholesome manner that stresses on balance in life, you may not get anywhere near where you want to go.

Recipe of the Day: Carrot Ginger Soup To Warm Your Deadbeat Heart

Winter’s been getting harsher and harsher as the years have passed by (Suck it, global warming advocates!) and we’ve been forced to become more creative in the way we deal with it. Be it setting the cat on fire for warmth, rubbing ourselves against our neighbors, or getting more creative in the kitchen to bring about some warmth from within.

Everyone likes soup. If you know someone or are yourself someone who said they don’t like soup, you’re lying pieces of shit with no soul.

I slightly digress.

Living rooms in Cairo circa 2014

Below is my favorite soup recipe that is 110% guaranteed to thaw out your icicles and help you to momentarily stop stuffing kittens down your underwear. It’s super easy to make, and I guarantee it’s one of the tastiest - and healthiest- soups you can gorge down on during the cold days. Let’s get to it!

Ingredients (Serves two people)

• 4 tablespoon - Olive oil
• 1 Onion -- peeled and chopped
• 2 Garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon - Chopped ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon - Mustard seed
• 1/2 teaspoon - Ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon - Cinnamon powder
• 1/4 teaspoon - Fresh hot pepper
• 6 to 8 Carrots
• 3 1/2 cups of water
• 2 cup - Labneh
• 1 tablespoon - Honey

Directions

1. Saute the onions and garlic in a pan with the olive oil.
2. Add the spices and cook for several minutes, stirring constantly.
3. Slice the carrots into discs.
4. Add to the pot and cook a few minutes longer.
5. Add 2 cups water, cover tightly and simmer for 30 minutes.
6. In a food processor or blender, puree the cooked carrots with the remaining 1 1/2 cups water.
7. Return puree to the pot and whisk in the labneh and honey.
8. Heat the soup, but do not boil.

There you have it! Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Living With Fat: Why You’re Destined To Fail Before You Even Start

That’s hardly an inspiring title for an article now is it? Well, it’s intentionally so. You see, I’m about to talk about what none of your personal trainers, gym buddies or fit friends who have been doing this for years will tell you. It’s something that’s almost the world’s worst kept secret if it weren’t for the fact no one likes to address it outright and prefers to give it the elephant in the room treatment. (Which would be impossible to ignore given the fact your average African elephant weighs approximately 5 metric tons and your average household room is roughly 6x6 so that’s a pretty tight and awkward situation to just breeze through)

I digress.

You’re going to fail.  A whole lot.

It may seem and sound like the ultimate cliché, but you should know going into this that you can learn nothing without having failed. How do you know if what you are doing is good unless there are other things that can be done that either do nothing or do negative impact? Your only knowledge of success is based primarily on the premise of repeated failure. That’s how most humans grow from the fleshy pre-packaged predator meals they are as toddlers into 6-lane-highway-crossing-the-road-while-on-the-phone adults capable of making good judgment calls.

The only issue is, unlike life experience that happen and register in your brain on a subconscious levels, we’re almost always acutely aware of our thought process and experience during our on-and-off healthy living experiences. The issue is multiplied by the fact that the fitness industry almost promotes this whole concept as though it can be taken as a cycle or a short-term goal where you can have the body of your dreams within weeks if not hours. It doesn’t help that we’re constantly bombarded with images of superhot fitness models on magazines and websites that are a never-ending reminder of the tub of lards we are.

Failure – especially when it comes to fitness and leading a healthy lifestyle – is downright imperative. You won’t be getting very far – and certainly not maintaining your gains and success – without repeated failure. Failure is pivotal because it’s a flagging of what needs to be changed. Your nutrition might need tweaking. You might need to change the way you workout. You might need to not spend so much time sitting at your desk. You might need to improve your sleep patterns. Whatever it be, it’s of the utmost importance that you listen to your body and gauge your plateaus and setbacks as temporary educational failures.

The issue here of course is that most people quit upon being introduced to their very first experience of failure. A lot of people simply can’t handle or fathom why it is that they’re not flexing out their guns and opening beer bottle caps using their abs within weeks of starting to workout and just straight up quit the whole thing. The obvious mistake is that most people do treat it as a short-term process with no real lifelong commitment in mind.

That’s where you fucked up big time kids. Without that mental switch and belief that this is a lifestyle – note the term “life” at the beginning of the word insinuating longevity – you won’t get very far. You’ve got to know, realize and wholeheartedly believe from the bottom of your heart that while you can draw short-term goals; they ought to fall within a larger long-term plan. A plan that involves a lifestyle commitment from nutrition, general activity, exercising and more.

If it sounds like a hard concept to grasp, don’t worry, it is. It’s something that can take some time to develop internally until you are finally ready to accept – and more importantly learn – from your failures along the way. If you grab a Big Tasty in a moment of despair, if you skip working out for a week because you’ve got a big project coming up at work and just don’t have that kind of time, if you get injured and can’t workout for a while or just about anything else that can be considered a setback.

It’s okay to fail, as long as you keep on going.

Facing the Mirror: Own Up To Yourself

This isn’t easy. Sorry, allow me to rephrase. This is fucking difficult. It is a fucking burden waking up before dawn around 4:30 AM, when it’s so dark you step over your cat and bump into every piece of furniture on the way to the bathroom. It’s bloody awful is what it is. But it’s a choice I choose to make 5 to 6 days a week, every week, all year round.

I make this choice because four years ago I decided that my body is a priority. Not just that I’d eat more greens, call 19991 less often and make more movements than bed rolls. It was a decision to take my body to the furthest it could go, and then some more. I strive for physical perfection, not a magazine cover perfection mind you, but my version of perfection. A shady and somewhat dodgy and constantly fluctuating image deeply engraved in the back of my head.

You probably think I’m talking aesthetics here. You’re only 33% mistaken. Aesthetics are definitely a measure for progress for me, but I recently crossed the mental block that had positioned it on the #1 spot and enabled me to realize that it ought to be a #2 or #3 indicator. For me, performance gains have taken the driver’s seat. Aesthetics will happen and more importantly - will constantly fluctuate.

You see, there’s a reason all those bodybuilders and fitness models talk about their on and off season diets and workouts, it’s because you can’t - and shouldn’t - maintain a 4% body fat all year round. You simply won’t progress with body fat that low. Whether you like it or not, your body needs fat in order to grow.

Why am I saying all this shit? Good question. It’s about that first paragraph. It’s about how difficult it can be to commit to this sort of lifestyle when you don’t have the drive or motivation. Many people make it their New Year’s resolution to hit the gym and drop the pounds and enter the next Summer with their Diva look on the beach. Yet less than 10% of people actually follow through with that. Most people hit the gym for a couple of weeks or one month max, and seeing no dramatic changes they are dissuaded and just abandon this whole fitness thing altogether. It’s an all too common scenario that’s become a ridiculous cliche at this point.

What’s the biggest issue there though? It’s simple. You think in short bursts. You have no long term vision. Of course relying solely on long term visions can be equally vicious as it can leave some people disheartened by the fact they’re not achieving their vision soon enough. It’s about setting realistic deadlines, milestones and evaluating your progress throughout by combining short term and long term goals in everything you do. You need a long term goal to be working for, whether it’s to be a certain weight class, or to lift a certain number of KGS in your one-rep max or how fast you can clock out a one kilometer run. It’s just as important to have many short time attainable goals over the course of the year which can help keep you motivated and enable you to reach this long term goal of yours. Short term goals also help you in reevaluating your overall plan and tweaking it accordingly if something isn’t working like you thought it would.

I’m writing all of this shit because it is all too common in my life to come across those who say that it’s difficult to commit to this lifestyle and they’re not necessarily mistaken. It is however an issue of prioritization. Is this important to you? More important than the convenience of lazying about? It’s a choice you have to make, no one else will make it for you. You must decide to respect your own body and be committed to its well being in nutrition and exercise alike.

What’s it gonna be hot stuff?

Breaking Past Your Plateau 101

Everyone reading this will undoubtedly go - if they hadn’t already - through a plateau. What’s a plateau, you ask? Simply when you hit a period of time where you current exercise/nutrition routine just stopped producing the effects it used to deliver at the beginning. You’re not losing weight, you’re not gaining muscle, you’re not dropping fat and you’re flat out about to lose it.

As time goes by, you’ll find that plateaus are a natural part of your fitness journey. They’re merely an indicator that it’s time to switch things up. The human body is exceptionally adept at getting used to physical stimulus, so you always want to keep things hot and spicy. Don’t treat your body like you treat your significant other. You deserve better. The thing is about plateaus is that they will only get significantly tougher with time as you continue to make your routines more challenging in order to break out of the previous plateau. This post will discuss training methods exclusively in terms of dealing with plateaus as dedicating a single post to both exercise and nutrition on this subject would mean I quit my day job and dedicate myself full time to writing this crap. I am going to assume you’re in charge of your nutrition and know how to tweak it in order to complement your current fitness regimen and goals.

All of this can seem rather daunting, but it’s really a matter of efficient mixing and switching. It’s about changing up all the different variables in your training and nutrition, the different training methods to employ and surpassing one’s genetic limitations.

image source: www.bodybuilding.com

Let’s start with a simple matter of prioritization.

We all have different muscle groups which respond differently to exercise. Some people have chests that seem to build themselves, legs that barely need a workout to look like plump oak tree stumps, and at the same time, their triceps seem unresponsive or just able to keep up. I for one am blessed with trapezius muscles that seem to be on a self-sustaining growth spur without the need of any direct stimuli while my forearms are dead set on never changing. Despite your best efforts, sometimes those smaller muscle groups just aren’t playing ball, and that’s when prioritizing muscle groups comes in handy.

First of, you need to identify which muscles or muscle groups are lagging behind. This will help you with the planning of your entire week/workouts. You can dedicate the beginning of your week after you’ve become well rested to those lagging muscles to make sure you hit them with all you’ve got. You can also target the weaker muscles at the beginning of your exercise if you’re training different muscle groups on the same day. At the same time, you can also start progressively increasing the workload on those lagging muscles while reducing or maintaining the workload on your other superior muscle groups in order to prompt more growth in the lagging parts. I realize about 10 guys reading this just shat out their pre-workouts as they read the word “reducing” but I can assure you that despite how much of a step back that may seem, maintenance of muscles is much easier than building them in the first place!

image source: www.bodybuilding.com

Another issue seems to be that most people perform their workouts in the 8 - 12 reps range. While that’s all good and dandy, your body can become too used to this set up to influence any drastic changes. I hereby bring you…...the pyramid sets!

The beauty of pyramid sets is an amazing mixture of low, mid and high-repetition training which will leave your muscles in tears - and primed for growth! You can employ pyramid sets with virtually any kind of workout that requires resistance. There are three kinds of pyramid sets which one can incorporate into their workout routine to invigorate their training and push their body to new and uncharted limits to break out of that plateau.

The ascending pyramid set for instance relies on the premise of you increasing the weight with each set. Suppose you’re performing four sets of barbell chest presses or squats. On the initial set, you’ll dish it out using a weight that will enable you to hit 16 repetitions. On the second set, you’ll add more weight but only aim to dish out 12 repetitions this time around. By the third set your weight should progressively increase and aim for 8 repetitions and by your last and fourth set, you should be lifting at your maximal capacity and aiming to hit 4 repetitions - at full functional range and perfect form of course! Conversely, the descending pyramid set works the other way around with you starting out with the heaviest weight and lesser reps and working your way down from there. The third type is the full pyramid which is mostly restricted to more seasoned veterans or experienced bodybuilders and this one sees an average 6 - 10 sets per exercise with a split that’ll look something like 16-12-8-4-8-12-16 in terms of repetitions with weights changing as your reps change.

image source: www.bodybuilding.com

Another trick in the book is using one’s near-maximal workloads when lifting weights. What does that mumbo jumbo mean? Basically that you should lift way heavier than you normally would, and that the weight should be challenging enough that your maximum reps - ensuring perfect form - could not surpass 2 to 5 repetitions. The majority of your muscles are composed of fast twitch muscle fibers which I’ve written about before. These fibers react best and are most recruited with heavy loads. That doesn’t mean that your other muscle fiber types are neglected with these lifts, on the contrary, they are most definitely involved, but since the majority of your muscles are made of the earlier type and you’re aiming for speedy growth, heavy lifts can definitely be a big game changer for you. Obviously this isn’t something you should do day in day out every day for weeks but rather something to incorporate for lagging muscles every now and then to break through the plateau.

And finally, let us not forget everyone’s favorite pastime event - cardiovascular training. 90% of us probably perform the usual run for 30-60 minutes on the treadmill or use the stationary bike using the same speed/resistance for the entire period of time. While this is all fun and dandy, it can become quite tedious and in fact counterproductive if carried on for a long enough period of time. The above constitutes as LISS cardio. Low Intensity Steady State cardio or LISS for short, labors under a simple premise; steadiness. Basically, to get a specific rate going and hold on to it for prolonged periods of time. Example: Perform 5-minutes of brisk walking to get your muscles warmed up and ready for what’s to come. Then, finding a suitable jogging speed (usually between 6-9 km/hr for most people) maintain this for a period of 30-45 minutes followed by 5 minutes of brisk walking for cool down.

What you need to be bringing to the table is some HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training if you like longer conversations at your local gym. HIIT focuses on something else entirely; intervals. After a nice 5-minute warm up brisk walk to get your muscles ready for what’s to come, alternate walking/sprinting speeds in set periods of time. Example: Sprint for 30-60 seconds followed by 2 minutes of brisk walking/jogging and repeat these intervals for 15-20 minutes followed by 5 minutes of brisk walking for cool down. You can apply that same basic premise to virtually any cardio activity, be it running, cycling, swimming, rowing the EFX machine, the treadmill, stair-master or otherwise. HIIT can even be applied to weight lifting where you dish out a set of 10-12 reps followed by 20-30 seconds on the stationary bike. The weight lifting bit is technically the slower interval here so you get the basic gist of it.

“Breaking your plateau can also mean that you’re getting closer to taking more instagram selfies with significantly lesser clothes”

image source: www.bodybuilding.com

HIIT has the benefit of triggering a hormonal response which sheds body fat as well as adds on muscle. It’s preferable not to perform HIIT exercises more than three times a week (and always AFTER your weight lifting routine) with rest days in between as it has an impact on your muscles. You should avoid performing HIIT workouts on an empty stomach as it depletes your carbohydrates stores rather quickly.

Rest assured, plateaus are a very natural part of the fitness life. Your body will get used to what you do. You have to continuously give it something new, keep it guessing and challenge it and set new limits. If you keep doing what you’ve always done, nothing will change.

There you have it folks, some tips and tricks and classic lifehacks which can trigger your body into breaking out of a fitness plateau. Worst case scenario, you’re stuck in a plateau, nothing is working for you, rob a bank, get plastic surgery, bang a stranger, become an alcoholic, develop a festering ecosystem of yet to be discovered STDs in your genitals, become a scientific success story, die a happy yet unapproachable celebrity figure.

10 Tips To Help You Shred Off Blubber

Instead of the classic article/feature style I usually bestow upon you I figured that since 99% of my readers are probably inflicted with ADD it’s perhaps best if I switch to a bullet point format every now and then so your feeble minds can keep up.

Today I’ll be dishing out 10 tips for the average fitness rookie in terms of nutrition that can help you actively be on your way to torch off your body’s stored fat reserves. Keep in mind this is all supplemented by an active lifestyle which includes regular physical training at least three times a week for no less than 30 minutes per session. Here goes…

1. Organic Vs. Factory Produce

Yes they maybe a bit heavier on your wallet but not all foods are created equal. Mass produced meat, dairy and even veggies/fruits often undergo processes which aim to cut down on the time it takes for them to reach levels at which they’re ready for sale. This usually means cutting corners as well as the liberal tampering with genetics in order to produce more faster. Organic foods often contain substantially higher amounts of healthy micronutrients, more vitamins, and more goodness. Organic meat means that the bovines from which it was produced were probably grass-fed, had space to walk around and exercise their muscles - resulting in better meat that actually contains up to 70% more Omega-3 fatty acids. As long as you can pay the rent, feed the cat and still have enough change to go to the movies on weekends, your switch to organic bought food won’t be as financially detrimental as you think. Sources for organic foods in Cairo include Gourmet, Makar Farms and interestingly enough, Army outlets (they produce veggies/fruits/dairy/meats all of which is organically grown!)

2. Go For the Complex Carbs

I’ve discussed before the benefit of complex carbs over simple ones. Simple carbs trigger a spike in your insulin hormone, which is the main hormone responsible for regulating fat storage in the body. Get your insulin levels peaking beyond a certain point, and BAM, all those lovely carbs you’re gorging on were just instructed by your body to be transformed into fat for storage. Complex carbs on the other hand are excellent pre-workout food choices due to their ability to deliver energy in a sustainable manner throughout your workout and not leading to a spike in insulin and in so, avoiding the crash! Complex Carbs include sweet potatoes, potatoes, whole grains (bread/rice/pasta), legumes, oatmeals and a wide variety of vegetables. Drop the croissant and munch on that sweet potato buddy!

3. Egg it Up

Various research studies have proven that the consumption of eggs in your breakfast meal lowers your overall caloric intake throughout the day. And they’re goddamn right at it too! Eggs are one of the most complete-protein foods out there, meaning they contain all the essential amino acids required by the body for the building of muscle tissue as well as promoting satiation and curbing hunger. You can have it boiled, scrambled, sunny side up or benedit - just skip the butter!

4. Gorge On Blubber (the good kind!)

It may seem counterproductive at first, but it’s vital for you to understand that not all fat is created equal. There is good fat and bad fat just like there are good carbs and bad carbs. Good fats are usually monounsaturated and are commonly not stored in the body but used for energy instead. Those can be found in damn near every fish in the sea (think salmon!), avocados, extra virgin olive oil, peanut butter and nuts among other sources. So long as you keep your overall fat intake under 30% of your overall caloric intake (unless you’re a powerlifter), ingesting good fats as an integral part of your diet can actually help you burn off stored fat.

5. The Only Way to Go is Pro

Pro for Protein. As discussed up there with the eggs bit, protein is one macronutrient that promotes satiation, meaning that it curbs hunger and makes you - and your filthy brain - feeling fuller for longer. Ingesting a high protein diet (think 40% of overall intake) puts your body in a hypertrophy mode (muscle building) which in turns burns fat for energy. The increased consumption of protein has been directly linked with the increase in specific hormones that actively control hunger levels. Just make sure you’re ingesting quality protein from varied sources which include poultry, beef (although not as often), fish, legumes, nuts and dairy. Avoid the canned stuff, it’s low quality over-salted mass produced shit. And no, hot dogs are not proper protein. Neither are nuggets. 

6. Green Doesn’t Always Stand for the Environment

Vegetables ought to be a much bigger part of your life. You know how many ingredients go into my average salad? 17. That doesn’t even count the protein or spices/condiments I add on there. There is certainly no shortage of diversity of vegetables in Egypt. We’re blessed with the fact that in 2014, street vendors are still ferrying off the produce from local farms as opposed to trucks unloading it into supermarkets from mass production plantations. Make sure a large percentage of your carbohydrate intake comes from vegetables to reap the benefit of complex carbs, fibers, minerals and vitamins. A salad ought to resemble a painting, an explosion of color and a celebration of life, and then drizzle some balsamic vinegar on that bitch!

7. Going Nuts Doesn’t Always Mean You’re Going Crazy

Nuts are notable high in fat. But it’s good fat! That being said, that doesn’t mean you’re free to consume a kilogram of almonds undeterred. They’re still quite high in calories but they do make exceptionally good snacks/meal additives and can help curb off hunger just as much as protein can. Think a handful (dozen) mixed nuts with a side of fruit/dairy as a midday snack between meals or a dozen nuts sprinkled atop your salad for some added protein. Try and go for the raw unsalted variety which you can purchase at nuts stores (I buy mine from مقلة صلاح الدين  on Merghani st. next to Seif Pharmacy for instance and they carry raw unsalted almonds, raw unsalted cashews, unsalted roasted peanuts and unsalted roast walnuts among other things)

8. Drop The Sweets

Seems like the obvious thing to do but don’t be thinking generic candy here. Your fancy ass latte from Starbucks which you slam against your face before work can be easily adding 200-400 calories to your day and you’re not even aware of it. For some reason, most of us don’t consider liquids as containing calories, perhaps because we drink water - which has zero calories - so we assume that applies to anything else that’s not a solid. On that note, milk is not a goddamn beverage it’s a fucking meal item. Easy on that shit son.

9. Turn Your Insides Into a Swimming Pool

I ain’t talking about that eight cups of water a day shit. I’m talking three to five liters of water every day. Despite you feeling otherwise, you’re mostly water. Water that can walk and talk. So sort of like a reverse thing from what Jesus did, except not at all the same, but I digress. My point being, you ought to be drinking water every hour on the hour as long as you’re awake. Yes, that will mean a trip to the little girls’ room every 30 minutes or so, but your kidneys, brain, digestion, immunity and muscle repair functions will be eternally grateful. Consuming water 30 minutes before your meals can also facilitate digestion and lessen your overall caloric intake. Always leave your home with a nice 1.5 liters bottle at hand and whenever you’re out, skip the Pepsi and go for some H2O.

10. Spice! Spice baby!

Spice your damn food! Don’t be a flavorless fool! Look ma’ I made rhymes! I’m not talking about your pathetic salt and pepper shakers either. I’m talking chili powder, ginger powder, cumin, cinnamon, paprika, oregano, thyme, black seeds, crushed mint, mustard seeds, mixed spices and anything else you want to thrown on there. Spices that actively regulate your hormones, help increase your body’s ability to blast belly fat as well as make something as inedible as tuna become delicious!

Bonus Tip: An Apple A Day...

The old adage didn’t come out of thin air you know, apples are really a superfood, as they contain chemicals known as polyphenols which have been found to boost muscle strength, endurance, and even fat loss, especially around the abdominal region. But apples alone can get a bit boring, fruits ought to be as much a part of your diet as vegetables and protein are. Grapefruit, banana, strawberries, pears, grapes, cantaloupe, kiwis, dates and many more (although not all at once you bad boy you!) can provide your body with a steady stream of fibers, minerals, vitamins and a healthy sugar rush!

I hope this has been somewhat helpful for you, if anything to give you some basic pointers about what you should be doing and what you should be avoiding. Bonne chance!

Got Legs? Leg Workouts for Beginners

This one needn’t be long or complicated. It is after all, for beginners.

So a lot of you are new to the whole fitness game thing. That’s cool. Welcome to what could be the best self-loathing addiction of a lifetime you’ve ever signed up for.

I’m going to save you a whole heap of trouble right now and let you know that if your newbie ass is skipping on legs workout for the purpose of focusing solely on upper body development, then congratulations, you are royally fucking yourself. Do you want to end up as Johnny Bravo? Good as his hair looks, you may or may not have actually noticed the fact he never actually gets the girl. Guess why? Chicken bitch ass legs. That’s why.

That seems sexist in retrospect. As though all my readers are teenage males. They probably are. But for political correctness’ sake let’s assume you’re a reader of the female variety. That’s right, a vagina owner. Reading this. Right now. On my blog. I knew it would happen if I waited long enough! I gotta call my mom and let her know!

So ladies, did you know that in order to get that crazy ass Brazilian booty, then exercises such as squats are your new BFFs? Weight lifting creates muscles, which in turn stretches your skin, burns fat and gets that booty poppin’ and those legs rockin’!

Keep in mind, this post isn’t a biblical text on all things legs. Merely an introduction to the most basic (yet most influential) exercises to perform to build a solid foundation. Now that we’ve given you reason and motif, let’s get down to business!

Squats = Booty + Strength + Shape + Glory

Hands down, there is no single compound exercise that delivers more impact all over your lower body than your classic squats. As a compound exercise, it activates multiple muscle groups simultaneously, resulting in the release of Growth Hormone [GH] (famous for its ability to torch stored fat and add muscle mass). Squats trigger your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, hip flexors, calves and even your core into action. As one of the classic compound workouts, it’s also a classic mass gainer. If you have a flabby ass or shabby legs, this is the exercise to perform to counteract that.

The exercise can be performed with your very own body weight (with numerous variations) or free weights using a barbell (front or back) or dumbbells. You can also use the smith machine or the leg press machines for the same results (albeit with less impact on your stabilizer muscles and core)

Squats are all about the perfect form:

1. Make sure your feet are shoulder width if you’re performing a classic squat (especially if you’re going heavy with the weights).
2. Make sure your knees never extend beyond your feet on your way down.
3. Make sure to inhale going down and exhale going up.
4. Make sure that the motion is coming from your hips and that you’re squeezing your glutes to get back up.
5. Make sure you don’t over-extend beyond the 90 degrees angle on your way down.
6. Make sure to trigger your core into action by focusing on using it for stabilization when using free weights.

Lunges = Definition + Loud cursing + More Glory

At first glance, lunges may appear ridiculous, like they’re meant as some sort of warm up exercise or a stretch. Do not be mistaken youngling, this exercise will give you a run for your money. Big time.

This one is also a compound exercise with arguably more localized focus on the hamstrings and glutes than anything else but it still activates muscle fibers all over your legs. This exercise is notable among gym goers and Leg day addicts for the “cuts” or definition it brings about one’s legs. Squats may add the size, but lunges give it the tone!

Lunges are - like all exercises ought to be - all about that right form. Getting both your legs in the 90 degrees angle is crucial to both maximize the benefit of the exercise as well as to stave off possible injury or imbalances. That being said, some experts argue that changing your angle of descent (by expanding or narrowing how far apart your legs are from each other) can impact your individual muscles differently with narrow descents focusing more on the quads and hamstrings while the wider strides give your glutes the workout of a lifetime.

If you’ve always skipped legs day or just never saw the purpose behind those workouts, I hope the above has managed to persuade you to at least give it a shot sometime this week.

Let me know how it goes, and above all, perform everything in perfect form, have an experienced lifter show you how it’s done, and stay safe!