50 tricks to insantly build a better body

SRDJAN POPOVIC BLOOM TO FIT

COPYRIGHT

DISCLAIMER

This ebook is protected under the Creative Commons license. No commercial use, no changes.

However, feel free to share it, post it, print it, or copy it. Send it to your friends and your family. Get it out there for the world to see.

At the end of the day, everybody wants to build a better body.

Be aware that this ebook is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It is NOT meant to be medical or fitness advice and is not meant to replace a personal trainer, doctor or nutritionist. None of the information in this ebook is intended to constitute specific medical, physical or training advice. Please see your physician before changing your diet, starting an exercise program, or taking any supplements of any kind. Don’t try anything you read here without professional advice and supervision.

http://www.bloomtofit.com/

INTRO

WELCOME

Hey! You just got your hands on the hottest new ebook from Bloom to Fit.

Yup, it’s true. We all want a better body. A better body is one that not only looks better, but feels better. A better body stands taller, moves more efficiently, exhibits balance & coordination. A better body is a healthier body and it allows you to do the things you want to do with ease. It allows you to live life like it’s meant to be lived. There are numerous factors that come into play when it comes to building a better body. Nutrition, strength, functionality, mental capacity, flexibility, soft tissue quality and many more. They all have to be in place, intricately combined to make you and your body better. This ebook attempts to cover all areas.

Some of the information presented in this ebook comes from very valuable sources (which I will share). Some you will know, others you will not. For the most part, however, the information presented is a culmination of my own experiences in the world of fitness and my ultimate pursuit for a better body.

It’s time to get building. Better. To your success,

Srdjan Popovic Bloom to Fit

http://bloomtofit.com/

http://bloomtofit.com/


TRICK 1

A TASTE OF

SUPERFOODS

You want to be superhuman right? Then you might want to fill your plate with some superfoods.

Superfoods are both food and medicine. They are, as David Wolfe explains in his book Superfoods, a class of the most potent, super-concentrated, and nutrient-rich foods on the planet. They have the ability to tremendously increase the vital force and energy of one’s body and are the optimum choice for improving overall health, boosting the immune system, elevating serotonin production, enhancing sexuality, and cleansing and alkalizing the body. They meet and exceed all our protein requirements, our vitamin and mineral requirements, essential fatty acid requirements, and much more. They are extremely powerful and, fortunately, readily available (if you know where to look for them).

Some of the best superfoods on the planet include Goji berries, cacao powder, maca root powder, honey & bee pollen, spirulina and hempseeds. Check your local health food store for some.

50 Tricks to Instantly Build a Better Body Srdjan Popovic


TRICK 2

EAT ALONE

If you’re overweight, take a look around and see who you’re hanging out with. The people you choose to surround yourself with have a huge impact on your eating habits. This is what Thaler and Sunstein had to say in their incredible book Nudge:

“Obesity is contagious. You’re more likely to be overweight if you have a lot of overweight friends. An especially good way to gain weight is to have dinner with other people. On average, those who eat with one other person eat about 35 percent more than they do when they are alone; members of a group of four eat about 75 percent more; those in a group of seven or more eat 96 percent more.”

So if you want to lose weight, eat alone. Or find a (small) friend to have lunch with.



TRICK 3

MOVE AWAY

FROM YOUR

COMFORT

ZONE

There’s no denying it. Humans love comfort. Being comfortable brings out a feeling of safety and control. It also brings out a feeling of false satisfaction.

Truth is, your comfort zone is not a good environment for change. In fact, it’s terrible for producing results.

If you want to excel - to create change - you need to move away from the comfort zone. As your comfort level goes down, your potential for results begins to rise exponentially.

It all comes down to the Law of Comfort. You can see the details here.


http://www.bloomtofit.com/the-powerful-link-between-comfort-and-results


TRICK 4

WATCH YOUR

SODIUM INTAKE

Sodium is essential for survival. It helps regulate fluids and blood pressure in your body. It helps transmit nerve impulses that allow muscles to move and contract. It also helps with digestion as it transports essential nutrients to the bloodstream.

For adults, the average recommended sodium intake is 1,500 mg (about half a teaspoon of salt). But, today, the average adult consumes 3,300 mg of sodium – more than twice the recommended amount!

So what happens when we have too much of a good thing?

Well, excess sodium can disrupt normal functions within the body and it does so by restricting the necessary fluid transfers to various systems and organs in your body. It causes veins and arteries to constrict, making it difficult for the heart to efficiently pump blood through your body, leading to hypertension. Excess sodium is also stored in your fat cells causing your cells to retain additional fluids leading to some significant weight gain.

If you want to build a better body, you have to watch your sodium intake. Learn to read food labels. Limit going out to eat. Or check out this article.


http://www.bloomtofit.com/what-is-so-bad-about-sodium


TRICK 5

GO MINIMAL

26 bones, 20 muscles, 33 joints and hundreds of tendons, ligaments and sensory receptors. These are your feet. And they’re beautiful.

Unfortunately, millions of years of biomechanical evolution have been impacted by a simple, yet somewhat carelessly thought-out invention – the (running) shoe. The shoe and its excess padding take the foot out of its natural environment. It takes away its natural ability to sense what’s happening, thus creating more good than bad.

Go barefoot. Or try the Vibrams. They will strengthen the muscles in your feet, improve mobility of ankles, eliminate heel lift, improve your overall balance and stabilization and allow your foot and body to move naturally. They will bring you back to your roots and bring your closer to the environment.

Maybe it’s time to go minimal.


http://www.bloomtofit.com/vibram-fivefingers-a-revolution-in-footwear

http://www.bloomtofit.com/vibram-fivefingers-a-revolution-in-footwear


TRICK 6

TRY IF

IF? Yup, it stands for Intermittent Fasting and it’s one of the most effective dieting strategies for ridiculous fat loss. But it’s not really a diet. It’s a lifestyle. And with it you can lose up to 1.5lbs per week. The strategy revolves around 1-2 fasting days per week. Now, most people are under the impression that fasting forces your metabolism to slow down. But, research actually shows that short periods of fasting does not alter metabolism and does not break down muscle. The best part about the strategy is that is very flexible and isn’t built around restrictions. You can enjoy the foods you love but still be in a caloric deficit, which is necessary for losing weight. If you’re interested in IF, check out the details here.


http://accd2gu90nw3mxd4fj1sphmwxr.hop.clickbank.net/?tid=EBOOK


TRICK 7

LOOKING TO

GAIN MUSCLE?

IT’S SIMPLE

If you’re trying to gain some serious muscle, here’s your checklist:

• Aim for sarcoplasmic hypertrophy

• Shorten your rest periods

• Train at high volumes with low weights

• Focus on cumulative fatigue

• Put your ego to bed

• Eat like a mofo, but strategically

Simple and direct.

If you’re confused about any of those, check out how I gained 19lbs in a short 8 weeks. It will tell you everything you need to know. It’s all here.


http://www.bloomtofit.com/how-i-gained-19lbs-of-muscle-in-8-weeks-with-visual-impact


TRICK 8

GET A

HANDLE ON

KETTLEBELLS

If you asked me to choose only one piece of fitness equipment to use for the rest of my life, it would without a doubt be the kettlebell.

I cannot stress enough how effective kettlebell training is for building a better body. I’m talking about ridiculous bang for your buck here. The unique design of the kettlebell puts your body through dynamic, multi-directional movements that relate extremely well to real-life movements.

Kettlebell training will help you develop incredible cardiovascular fitness, a bullet-proof core, a well developed posterior chain and just an overall better body.

If you want to know how to get started with kettlebell training, you can grab a free copy of my Ultimate Kettlebell Training Guide. Get it here (for free).


http://www.bloomtofit.com/free-training-guide


TRICK 9

BE KIND TO

YOUR SOFT

TISSUES

Your soft tissues - muscles, fascia surrounding muscles, tendons and ligaments – get very little attention. It’s kind of sad really. You work so hard to try and build a bigger, stronger, better body yet you don’t take the time to take care of your front line – your soft tissues. Adding some soft tissue work to your regular routine will drastically improve the quality of your soft tissues. And improving the quality of your soft tissues can minimize build up of trigger points and eliminate nagging pains. Some examples of soft tissue work include deep-tissue massages, trigger point release, myofascial release. You can Google those. Or simply invest in a few cheap tools (foam roller, lacrosse ball, tiger tail) and do the work yourself. Easy.



TRICK 10

LEVERAGE

THE MIND TO

MUSCLE LINK

As you already know, your mind is a very powerful being. I just don’t think you know how powerful it can be. You don’t know how to leverage this power. In Pavel Tsatsouline’s book, The Power of the People, he brings up a very important yet largely misunderstood aspect of training – the mind to muscle link. This link is what can turn a mediocre workout into an incredible one. It comes down to concentration and ultimate focus. No matter what exercise you are doing, you need to concentrate on each and every movement you are making. This is as much kinesthetic as it is mental. You need to feel and listen to your body as it’s going through the movement. Take the bench press, for example. For each repetition you perform, feel your muscles contracting. Feel your grip tightening around the bar. Listen to your breathing and focus on fully contracting every muscle group in your body so your entire body is working in union to move that bar. When you can focus intently on each repetition of any exercise, I can guarantee that you will dramatically boost the effectiveness of your workout.



TRICK 11

STRONG

ANKLES FOR

A STRONG

BODY

People don’t realize how much stress is imposed on our ankles each and every day. These joints are constantly bombarded with forces from all different angles and directions.

Think about this for a second. The ankle joint is required to withstand 1.5 times your body weight when you walk and 8 times your body weight when you run. Talk about stress!

This is why it is imperative that you take care of your ankles before injuries occur. You need to take the time to strengthen them.

Here is a list of ankle strengthening exercises you can do to improve the rigidity, stability, mobility and strength of your lovely ankles.

Trust me, they’ll thank you.


http://www.bloomtofit.com/how-to-strengthen-ankles-for-life


Goji berries are the most nutritionally rich berry-fruit on the planet. Traditionally used in the Chinese medicinal system, goji berries are a complete protein source and they are packed with vitamins and minerals. They are also one of the highest antioxidant-containing foods in the world. Known as an adaptogen, a substance with a combination of therapeutic actions on the human body, Goji berries enhance strength, stamina, longevity, and sexual energy. They also contain polysaccharides that strengthen the immune system. Moreover, Goji berries are the only food known to help stimulate the human body to produce more HGH (Human Growth Hormone) naturally. Note that as we age, we produce less HGH so this makes this powerful berry the greatest anti-aging superfood. If you want to live longer, check your bulk or health food stores and get yourself some Goji berries.

TRICK 12

LIVE LONGER

WITH GOJI

BERRIES



Water. A basic necessity of life.

So why are we not drinking enough of it? Why do we settle for lattes and Gatorades instead?

I can’t stress enough what a difference water can make to the quality of your life. The effects are absolutely incredible, but you won’t understand unless you try it yourself.

Hydrating excessively will detoxify your body and improve the health (and look) of your skin. It will raise your energy levels and better cushion and lube your joints. It will drastically reduce your risk of diseases and infections. It aids with digestion, regulates your body temperature and helps with recovery. The list goes on.

How much water should you drink? Well, the more the better. Aim to drink 2 litres per day and watch how your body changes .

TRICK 13

HYDRATE

EXCESSIVELY



TRICK 14

SKIP THE

NONSENSE,

GET A

SKIPPING

ROPE

It used to be a game. Something you would do during recess. Then it all stopped because it wasn’t cool.

It’s time to get back to your roots.

A skipping rope is a vital tool to add to your fitness arsenal. It’s light, portable, and inexpensive.

Skipping rope is an incredible form of training. It requires overall coordination of your body. Your limbs have to be in tune with each other. You have to be sharp and focused at all times. To skip at an effective pace, your brain is forced to make extremely quick calculations to recognize the skipping rope’s distance, direction, speed, and position.

On top of all that, you burn 20 calories per minute.

What else do you want?

Here are some cool skipping rope variations you can try. Enjoy.


http://www.bloomtofit.com/23-skipping-rope-exercises-extended-video


TRICK 15

TRAIN AT YOUR

PEAK ENERGY

LEVELS

One underlying fact about humans is that we are all different. The same can be said about our energy levels.

Depending on who you are, your habits, your physiology and psychology, your energy levels will peak at a certain time .

What you want to do is time your workouts so they are done at your peak energy levels.

How do you know when your energy levels are peaking? Are you a morning or night person? It’s clear that some of us feel vibrant in the mornings while others are wired in the darkest of hours. You know yourself best.

Understanding when your energy levels peak is important when it comes to structuring a better workout. If you find you’re a morning person, try hitting the gym or the track when you wake up. If you like to stay up, schedule your workout for the evening.



TRICK 16

WORKOUT

JOURNALS FOR

IMPROVED

PRODUCTIVITY

This is one of the simplest things you can do to build a better workout and thus a better body.

Bringing a workout journal with you and tracking simple numbers (reps, sets, weights, rest times, notes) will dramatically increase your productivity in the gym.

Let me ask you a question. How do you know if you are truly improving? How do you know if you are really building a better body?

Tracking your workouts will help you get a better understanding of what’s working and what’s not. You can then eliminate the things that don’t work and put more emphasis on the things that do. You get rid of the waste and progressively make your workouts more efficient and productive.



TRICK 17

TIME YOUR

REST PERIODS

Nobody does this. At least nobody I’ve seen.

During my little muscle building challenge (where I gained 19lbs in 8 weeks), I made a cool discovery:

The length of your rest periods will make or break you. Depending on what you’re trying to do (gain size, build strength), your rest periods have to be a set length.

Bring a timer. Winging it doesn’t work.

Once you start timing your rest periods, you’ll see just how quickly your rest periods fly by. What you thought was a nice 60 second rest period is actually a good 3 minutes.

Try it out. You’ll see for yourself.


http://www.bloomtofit.com/how-i-gained-19lbs-of-muscle-in-8-weeks-with-visual-impact


TRICK 18

CARDIO AFTER

WEIGHTS

This is an ongoing debate that will never be settled. But I wanted to share a little study with you that I think will be enough to convince you to do cardio after your weight training routine. Check it:

During an extensive research study, scientists from Japan have discovered that when subjects performed cardio before weights, their growth hormone response to the weight training workout was blunted by roughly 1,100% compared to when they did weight training first.

Yes, 1,100%!! Either do your cardio after weight training or just do it on another day.



TRICK 19

NUTRITION IN

100 WORDS

This is all there is to know about nutrition. Thanks to Cave Girl Eats for this cool little post. Nutrition in 100 words: Eat real, unprocessed food, as close to nature as possible,

and listen to your body. Pretend the modern supermarket doesn't exist. Choose foods that could be grown, hunted, or gathered -

nothing packaged or processed. Support local farms when possible. Eat animals, marine life, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and

fruits. Eat plenty of healthy fats from pastured animals, fish, coconut, avocado, olives, and cold-pressed oils.

Drink water. Incorporate traditional, nutrient-dense foods: fermented

vegetables, organ meats, and homemade bone broths. Above all, ditch the "gurus," "programs" and "diets" and

get back to basics. Connect with your intuition and allow it to guide you.


http://cavegirleats.com/

http://cavegirleats.com/


TRICK 20

IF IT’S WHITE,

IT AIN’T RIGHT

Avoid any carbohydrate that is white.

White bread, white rice, white pasta – white flour in general.

I read this interesting little tidbit in Tim Ferriss’s 4 Hour body:

“Chlorine dioxide, one of the chemicals used to bleach flour (even if later made brown again, a common trick), combines with residual protein in most of these foods to form alloxan. Researchers use alloxan in lab rats to induce diabetes.”

You read that right. It’s used to produce diabetes. So if you don’t want to get fat and sick, stay away from the white stuff.



TRICK 21

STAY AWAY

FROM DIET

SODAS

We’ve all heard that sodas are bad for you. So we moved onto diet sodas. Thanks to neat packaging and smart marketing, diet sodas snuck their way into lunchboxes all across North America.

But as the saying goes, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is. A decade long study of 500 men and women found that:

“Soda drinkers experienced a 70 % greater increase in their waistline than non soda drinkers. Those who consumed two or more diet sodas per day experienced their waistline increase at five times the rate of those who never drank the stuff”

Factors such as exercise, smoking, education and social class didn’t play a role – the results stood.

Lesson: If you don’t want your waistline to balloon, stay away from the ‘diet’ stuff.



TRICK 22

GET OFF

YOUR ASS

Did you know that, on average, we spend more time sitting down than we do sleeping.

We spend 9.3 hours a day with our asses glued to the chair. Somehow, I don’t believe our bodies were designed for this.

Here’s the truth: sitting for more than 6 hours a day makes you 40% likelier to die within 15 years than someone who sits less than 3 hours.

Sitting ruins our backs and our postures. It shuts off our leg muscles, makes our posterior chain tight and weak. Sitting drops our calorie burning to 1 per minute and makes us fat.

It’s time to stand up for your health. Check out how to make small adjustments to reverse the effects of sitting here.


http://www.bloomtofit.com/are-you-sitting-too-much


TRICK 23

GET A FEEL FOR

RESISTANCE

BANDS

You’ve seen them. You’ve tried them. But have you truly taken advantage of them?

Resistance bands are an incredible tool for building a better, more functional body. Once used solely as a rehabilitation tool, the resistance band is excellent for targeting your muscles in a completely unique manner.

What I think makes resistance bands so effective is what I refer to as the progressive resistance effect. When you are lifting a dumbbell or a barbell, the resistance is constant throughout the entire movement. But when you are pulling a resistance band, the resistance changes. It increases (or progresses) through the course of the movement. I think this mimics every day movements more effectively because rarely are we faced with constant loads and forces.

So if you want to build a better, more functional body, try out resistance bands. You just might get the feel for them.



TRICK 24

BUILD

POSITIVE

HABITS

Did you know that up to 45 percent of our daily actions are done by habit, without conscious thought?

It’s true. We don’t think about half of the things we do. We just do it.

You need to leverage this phenomenon and build positive habits that will help you build a better body. If you can initiate positive, healthy behaviours and repeat them enough until they become positive, healthy habits, you will put your pursuit of building a better body on autopilot.

Now that’s something special.

If you want to know how to initiate these positive habits and put them on autopilot, read this article.


http://www.bloomtofit.com/how-a-simple-little-marketing-tip-can-get-you-fit


TRICK 25

DO YOGA

REGULARLY

Yoga is beautiful. Originating more than 3,000 years ago in India, yoga provides both physical and mental benefits.

Physically, yoga helps improve flexibility – something majority of the population is sorely lacking. As you fight through various postures, you lengthen your muscles and improve the range of motion of your muscles and joints. Through difficult isometric holds, yoga will strengthen your muscles and improve your overall endurance. It teaches you how to control your body and make your breathing more effective.

Mentally, yoga teaches you how to quiet the mind so you can focus your energy where it matters, to you. It is an incredible stress-reliever and it is considered by many to be a form of meditation as it provides a sense of inner peace and purpose. It teaches you how to become more aware of your body.

If you want to build a better body and a better mind, introduce yoga into your life.



TRICK 26

GET ON HIIT

HIIT. The term has been thrown around like a rag doll in the fitness industry over the last decade. It stands for High Intensity Interval Training and it will transform your body if weight loss is your primary objective. Numerous studies have shown that steady state cardio (like jogging at a slow, constant pace, for instance) is ineffective when it comes to losing weight. HIIT, on the other hand, is much more intense and much more effective for losing weight. Here’s what you do: HIIT can be done on any piece of cardio equipment or it can be implemented into your outdoor cardio training. The idea is to alternate intensity levels. Let’s take a look at running on a treadmill as an example. Instead of running at one pace for a set period of time, you will alternate between a 30 second sprint and a 60 second slow jog. You will continue alternating between the two intensity levels for a set period of time. Training in a HIIT format has a much greater metabolic carryover than steady state cardio and will be much more effective for weight loss and overall cardiovascular health.



TRICK 27

INCORPORATE

A DYNAMIC

STRETCHING

ROUTINE

Dynamic stretching. Nobody seems to know what it is.

But incorporating a dynamic stretching routine can drastically improve the effectiveness of your workouts. It will better prepare you for your workout .

A dynamic stretching routine uses dynamic movements to take a muscle through its full range of motion. It warms up the joints and properly prepares muscles to be loaded from various directions.

If you need a place to get started, here’s a list of some great dynamic stretching exercises.


http://www.bloomtofit.com/5-killer-dynamic-stretching-exercises


TRICK 28

DYNAMIC

STRETCHING

BEFORE,

STATIC

STRETCHING

AFTER

When we think of stretching, most people think of traditional static stretching –extending and holding one muscle group in a specific position for a set period of time. But research shows that static stretching before a workout actually deactivates muscles and makes them weaker. This is not what we want going into a workout. Instead, perform a dynamic stretching routine before a workout to effectively prepare your muscles and joints for action. Then perform a static stretching routine after your workout to lengthen the muscle and release built up tension. So remember. Dynamic stretching before. Static stretching after.



TRICK 29

END THE

ISOLATION

Your body is not designed to work in isolation. It’s designed to function as a single system – and it needs to be trained in that way as well. Although a great starting point for ultimate beginners, machines force the body to move the weight in a way that complies with the design of the machine. What this does is create biomechanical inefficiencies. Switching to barbell or dumbbell training, however, allows weight to be moved in the way the body is designed to move it because every aspect of the movement is determined by the body. Here’s a great example outlined in Mark Rippetoe’s book Starting Strength. There is absolutely no way for a human to utilize the quadricep muscle in isolation from the hamstrings in any movement. There is no natural movement that you can do to achieve this. So why in the hell would you train your quadricep in isolation? If you run, walk, ski, or play any sport, the quadriceps and hamstrings function together to balance forces on either side of the knee. So since they always work as a unit, they should be trained as a unit. So as your training experience progresses, move away from machines and isolation and move towards compound movements (barbell training, kettlebell training, sprinting, etc.)



TRICK 30

GET A FOAM

ROLLER

When it comes to improving the quality of your soft tissues, a foam roller will become your best friend.

This incredible little tool is available at all gyms but is rarely utilized by anyone.

A foam roller is great for breaking down trigger points and releasing built up muscle tension. There are different levels of ‘firmness’ you can get depending on your training experience, form and intensity (I find the high density ones work best).

Use the foam rollers at your gym or get one for yourself to use at home. You can get one here. I highly, highly recommend it.


http://amzn.to/tAVjnp


TRICK 31

SPRINT

Without a doubt, sprinting is the most effective way to build a stronger, more efficient, and an overall better body. This is the best form of full-body training on the planet. In short, a sprint consists of a series of short but very intense concentric contractions by a number of muscle groups. Each muscle contraction during a sprint consists of explosive accelerations and decelerations that will leave your body sore from head to toe, guaranteed. Sprinting has an incredible metabolic carryover, meaning you’re going to be revving up your metabolism and initiating ridiculous rates of fat loss. The strength and efficiency of your heart will improve as you’ll reach near maximal heart rates. If in doubt, sprint. Check out everything there is to know about sprint training or get started with a few sprinting workouts.


http://www.bloomtofit.com/sprint-training-sprinting-workouts-part1

http://www.bloomtofit.com/sprint-training-sprinting-workouts-part-2

http://www.bloomtofit.com/sprint-training-sprinting-workouts-part-2


TRICK 32

UP THE

INTENSITY

The intensity at which you train will largely determine the kind of results you will achieve. It all comes down to your energy systems. Your body uses different energy systems depending on the intensity of the activity. During lower intensity activities, your heart is capable of delivering the necessary oxygen and nutrients to your working muscles – we call this aerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise is geared to improving cardiovascular fitness and is not very effective for fat loss. Now, as your intensity level begins to rise, your heart becomes incapable of delivering the necessary oxygen (which the body uses to burn to create energy), so it begins to use the anaerobic system to create the necessary energy. Anaerobic exercise, like sprint training, has an incredible metabolic carryover, meaning you will raise your EPOC levels and shed weight at a much faster rate. First determine your goals. If weight loss is your objective, up the intensity.



TRICK 33

BE PATIENT

We now live in a world where having patience is rare.

Nobody has patience anymore. You want everything to happen yesterday. You want results but you want them immediately. It just doesn’t work this way.

The problem is that when it comes to building a better body, feedback is not immediate. It’s slow and it takes time. Time most of us don’t have time for.

To be successful and to build a better body, your patience has to outlast that initial feedback period for results. It just has to. If you can be patient enough to see that first sign of change, you will have all the motivation in the world to keep going.

So for the sake of a better body, be patient.



TRICK 34

BETTER YOUR

CORE, BETTER

YOUR BODY

There’s more to your core than just those pretty abs. Your real core is comprised of both deep and superficial muscles. It is an intricate culmination of your abdominals, obliques and various muscles of the posterior chain.

Your core is your hub.

Nearly all athletic and non-athletic movements originate from your core. It is the origin of movement. So if your core is weak, your body is weak.

Strengthening your core will improve your posture, improve the efficiency with which you perform all movements, minimize injuries and help you do every day activities with ease.



TRICK 35

STOP WITH THE

CRUNCHES

The world is in love with crunches. You’ll see them being done at any point at any gym around the world. Guaranteed. But Dr. Stuart McGill from University of Waterloo brings up a very good question: “What happens when you perform a sit-up?” The answer reveals everything: “The spine is flexed into a position at which it damages sooner.” Dr. McGill’s research has come to find that a crunch generates at least 3,350 Newtons of compressive force on the spine. Note that anything above 3,300 is unsafe. So every time you do a crunch, you put an unsafe amount of stress on your spine and increase your chances of lower back injury. Stop performing crunches before you do any further damage. Do this instead.


http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/01/19/the-man-who-wants-to-kill-crunches/

http://www.bloomtofit.com/the-plank-exercise-most-effective-core-exercise


TRICK 36

LISTEN TO

YOUR BODY

If you take a second to listen, your body will tell you everything.

It will tell you how it’s responding to the foods you eat. It will tell you how it’s responding to different forms of stress (training). It will tell you when it’s ready to work and when it needs rest. It will tell you when to feed it and when to hydrate it. It will tell you if it’s in pain. It will tell you if it’s feeling good.

If you listen, it will tell you everything.

Listen to your body. Then take appropriate action.



TRICK 37

BUILD

STRENGTH

THE RIGHT

WAY

If you want to build incredible strength, you have to train in a specific manner. A manner you’re probably not used to.

There is a big misconception that to build strength you need to lift heavy weights until your arms fall off. But that’s only partially true.

Building strength is accomplished through the strategic combination of heavy weights and low volumes. I’m talking about 2-4 repetitions max. Choose a weight that will allow you to perform 2 to 4 reps without causing your muscles to fail. You should always have one or two left in the tank.

By never failing, you strengthen your neuromuscular system, teaching it to execute stronger contractions. Stronger contractions result in greater force generation which means more weight can be lifted.

If strength is your mission, never teach your muscles to fail. Or you will fail.



TRICK 38

BRIDGE UP

Spinal flexibility is rarely talked about. Nobody really cares. But what if I told you that increasing the flexibility of my spine was how I got rid of all of my back problems.

Introducing the bridge. You’ve seen it done a million times, most often by gymnasts, sometimes by that crazy guy at the gym. But know this: when performed regularly, this exercise will help lengthen your spine and create more space between your interverbal discs. It will relieve back pain and has the potential to add up to 1 inch to your height! Nice.

My buddy Greg from Kinobody put together a great post teaching you how to work your way from the easiest to the most complex variation of the bridge. Check it out here.

Enjoy.


http://www.kinobody.com/1066/stand-to-stand-bridge-tutorial/


TRICK 39

DRINK COFFEE

As surprising as it may be, coffee is the number one source of antioxidants for Americans. Who would’ve thought? There is a lot of confusion about coffee, so here’s what you need to know. More likely than not you are a fast metaboliser of caffeine (you don’t get jittery after drinking it). If that’s the case, these are all the amazing benefits you’ll get:

- Improved focus & concentration - Reduced risk of diseases - A source of antioxidants - Improved cognitive function - Decreased risk of Alzheimer’s The benefits speak for themselves. The effects are good for 2-3 cups so there is no reason to be drinking any more than that. The point is that it’s fine to enjoy coffee. Problems only arise when we load it with sugar, milk and cream and go crazy with our quantities. So go ahead. Grab a cup of Joe. You’ll live.



TRICK 40

GO DEEP ON

YOUR SQUATS

This may not apply to everyone, but if you’re a regular squatter, pay attention.

The only effective way to squat is to squat deep – hip joint past the knee joint. What a lot of people love to do is partial squats – not going down all the way. This is partially because it’s an easier movement and you can lift more weight this way so you appear to look stronger.

Here’s the problem. Your physiology is not designed for partial squats. A partial squat makes the squat anterior dominant – 90% of the work is done by the quadriceps. This creates an excessive pull on your shin bone and creates large shear stresses on your knees. If you do this regularly, prepare to say good bye to your knees.

What a deep squat does is engage your hamstrings (and glutes, etc.) as well. Now you have a 50-50 pull between quadriceps and hamstrings, thus balancing the forces and eliminating excessive shear stresses on your knees.

In the process, you will also create stronger, sexier legs.



TRICK 41

CELL PHONES

OUT OF POCKET

(FOR GUYS)

With the rise of technology and smartphones, it’s hard to find a guy without a cell phone in their pocket. Actually, it’s next to impossible. But there have been numerous studies done (outlined in Tim Ferriss’s 4 Hour Body) that all point to one disastrous fact: cell phone radiation impairs sperm function. If you want to improve your sperm count and your sperms morphology (shape) and motility (swimming direction), you need to stop carrying your cell phone in your pocket (or near your testicles). Get an arm band or simply turn your phone off when it’s in your pocket and you know you aren’t using it. Studies have shown that by removing the constant bombardment of cell phone radiation to your testicles, you can nearly triple the quantity and quality of your sperm. Girls, you have nothing to worry about.



TRICK 42

SLEEP LESS

We all love sleep, but most of us have no clue what’s happening when the lights go off.

Overnight, your sleep follows a predictable pattern, shifting between deep sleep and REM sleep (periods of dreaming). Together, the stages of REM and non-REM sleep form a complete sleep cycle that lasts about 90 minutes and repeats about four to six times over the course of a night.

So here’s a little trick to make getting out of bed a little easier. Set your wake-up time to be a multiple of 90 minutes, the length of the average sleep cycle. What this does is it ensures that you don’t wake up in the middle of deep sleep (what makes mornings so tough). So instead of sleeping 8 hours, try setting your alarm so you only sleep 7.5 hours. It sounds crazy but it works.

Stick to multiples of 90 minutes. Sleeping plays a big part to our growth and recovery. To build a better body you need your beauty sleep.



TRICK 43

MEASUREMENT

IS MOTIVATION

In 1955, The Hawthorne plant of the Western Electric Company in Illinios found out something significant: increasing lighting in the plant made workers more productive. Then someone pointed out a confusing detail: productivity also improved when they dimmed the lighting. In fact, making any change at all seemed to result in increased productivity.

Whatever the change, workers suspected they were being observed and therefore worked harder. This is known as the "observer effect".

Seeing progress in changing numbers creates a positive feedback loop. Measure yourself regularly, but don’t build an addiction.

Your results will light a motivational spark to keep going – to keep getting better.



TRICK 44

TEMPORARY

IS FOR

SUCKERS,

MAKE IT A

LIFESTYLE

The biggest mistake people make when trying to build a better body is they put in effort for temporary results. Think fad diets, for instance.

Only a few people understand that to truly build and have a better body, you have to make lifestyle changes and build positive habits. And you have to do this forever.

Forever might sound like a long time but I truly believe that it is worth all the effort if you get to enjoy your life a little bit longer and a little bit better.

Stop thinking in temporary terms. If things don’t happen right away, wait. Adjust. Make changes. But always think long term.

Temporary is for suckers.



TRICK 45

LOSE THE

MIRROR

This is something I have grown accustomed to over my years of training and something I learned from my Muay Thai trainers back in Thailand. It’s also something that Mark Rippetoe emphasizes in his book Starting Strength Basic Barbell Training (2nd Edition).

Lose the mirror.

We all know that gyms have mirrors on all their walls. As much as we use them to check out how good we look, these mirrors are designed to give you feedback.

The problem is that it gives you invalid feedback. For any multi-joint exercise that you’re doing, using a mirror will most often only give you information about one plane (usually the frontal one because you’re looking at it straight on). For an exercise such as a squat, for instance, you need information from all planes, not just one to ensure that you are doing the exercise with proper form.

Start getting away from the mirror. Learn to feel the exercise, not just see it. You will begin to develop a kinesthetic sense of movement as you pay attention to all the sensory inputs provided. Eventually, just the feel of the exercise will tell you if you’re doing it right.

I recommend getting help from an educated trainer as you begin to transition from visual to kinesthetic. The trainer should inform you if you are doing the exercise correctly so you learn what the correct feeling is.



TRICK 46

TAKE PRIDE

IN YOUR

POSTERIOR

CHAIN

If you really think about it, the majority of movements you make are in the forward direction. You basically live your life moving forward. You see forwards, you walk forwards, you pick things up in front of you. So it’s natural that we tend to forget about the things that are behind us – like our posterior chain. Our posterior chain is composed of what’s behind us – hamstrings, glutes, lower back. Things we can’t see. Since we don’t see it, we don’t really think about it. You can’t really flex your posterior chain in the mirror, can you? But little did you know that the posterior chain is the most important component of the musculature that is directly responsible for the overall movement of the body, as well as the source of our power. With so much attention placed on the front of our bodies (for form rather than function), it’s truly a groundbreaking experience to realize what your body is capable of with a strong posterior chain. So take pride in your posterior chain and take some time to strengthen it. The results will astound you.



TRICK 47

FOUNDATION

TRAINING FOR

A STRONGER

POSTERIOR

CHAIN

This is one form of training most people have never heard of. I discovered it way back when I was looking for ways to strengthen my posterior chain and fix the issues I had with my back.

It was love at first sight.

Foundation training is something different. It’s a method of training that completely redefines your core by placing all the focus on the posterior chain.

The program, created by Eric Goodman and Peter Park, focuses on retraining your muscles and establishing new – biomechanically correct – muscle memory. The program teaches you to move the way your body is designed to move.

Foundation Training is imperative for building a better body. You can find out more information about it here.


http://foundationtraining.com/home


TRICK 48

PAY THE

PRICE

Very few people reach the levels of success that they dream of. Why? Because it takes effort. It takes serious, consistent effort.

In the wonderful book Unlimited Power, Anthony Robbins tells a story of Bunker Hunt, the Texas billionaire, who was asked once if he had any piece of advice he could give people on how to succeed. Hunt’s response tells it all:

“Success is simple. First, you decide what it is you want specifically; and second, you decide you’re willing to pay the price to make it happen – and then pay that price.”

Same principles can apply to building a better body. Tremendous effort and consistent action is necessary to build a better body for life.

Are you willing to pay the price?



TRICK 49

A BIT OF

CINNAMON

GOES A LONG

WAY

An excellent tip I picked up from Tim Ferriss’s incredible book, the 4 Hour Body: Adding a little bit of cinnamon to your meal has the potential to reduce the glycemic index of a meal by up to 29%! If you’re not familiar with the glycemic index (GI), I’ll give you a simple explanation. The higher the GI rating of a food, the more that food will cause your blood sugar to jump. In general, the more a food causes your blood sugar to jump, the more weight you will potentially gain. The reason why cinnamon works is that it slows the rate at which food exits the stomach, which means you will feel fuller faster. Adding a bit of cinnamon to your meal also lowers LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglycerides. Now that’s some incredible stuff. How much cinnamon you ask? About 1 to 1.5 teaspoons will do the trick. If you don’t like adding cinnamon to your food, do this: add a teaspoon of cinnamon to a glass of warm water and drink this before a meal. Trust me, cinnamon goes a long way.



TRICK 50

PHOTOGRAPH

YOUR FOOD

BEFORE YOU

EAT IT

This is a cool little trick I picked up in Tim Ferriss’s book 4 Hour Body. It turns out that simply taking a picture of your food before you eat it will make you more aware – more conscious – of the choice you are making. And it makes you aware before the damage is done. Most of you have heard of a food diary or food journal – a simple tool that requires you to log the foods you’ve even, often long after eating. These tools are flawed because they create awareness after the fact – after the damage has already been done. Try taking a picture of that bag of chips before you eat it. Trust me, you’ll think twice. Tim calls it instantaneous intervention. I like that.



CONCLUSION There you have it – 50 things you can do to build a better body for life. Remember that your quest for a better body is not a temporary one. It is life long. You need to instill positive habits, try new training strategies, make right food choices, and try as many of the things outlined in this book to truly build a better body. Thank you so much for taking the time to read the ebook. I hope you were able to pick up some useful tips and tricks. If you enjoyed what you read, do me a favor and share this ebook with as many people as you can. Get it out there. Help me spread my message and help others on their quest to build better bodies.

Click here to SHARE Thanks! I hope to see you at my blog! Srdjan Popovic Bloom to Fit

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