Jacked: Coming Out as a Vegetarian

Coming out. It’s a phrase usually associated with coming out as gay and it comes with a dramatic tell of secrecy and vulnerability that many can relate with or that the listener can’t even fathom. In 2009, I came out. As a vegetarian. I’ve experienced both coming out as a homosexual and coming out as a vegetarian and to be honest, I think coming out as gay was probably easier.

Some are going to disagree, and that’s fine. But with my experience, everyone knows how to deal with a gay or lesbian. Will & Grace and other television shows have made being ‘different’ in terms of sexuality somewhat acceptable. But coming out as a non-meat eater, or worst yet, vegetarian and vegan? (for those who don’t know, vegetarian and vegan are two different things – to be a vegetarian means who abstain from eating meat. To be a vegan means to stay away from dairy. Put them both together and you’re like the funnest person to be around during a dinner party). In short, our society is so meat-hungry that when faced with someone who’d rather just stick to vegetables as their main course and diet is just … well, it’s hard to swallow.

Whenever I reveal my herbivore tendencies, the conversation usually plays out like, “You’re … uh … vegetarian?” Inwardly, I sigh and reply, “Yes … and on top of that I try to be a vegan. That just leaves a whole lot for me to eat.” And though that sounds snarky and bitchy, I’m being honest! I still have a lot of things that I eat and in fact it opens the door to a slew of foods and dishes that I wouldn’t even think of eating or preparing if I were making meat the center of my eating plan.

Many men may be skeptical of the vegetable-based  diet and eating plan. When it comes to fitness and nutrition we hear or read a lot about the importance of protein, meat and dairy in our diet to get big muscles and abs. We’re really programmed to think believe claims such as drinking milk is the only way we’ll get the calcium our bones need or that eating meat is the only way to feed and to grow muscle. Or you’ll be told that you need the B vitamins found in a meat’s blood to stay healthy! All of these food myths are things we’re told and taught and yet we’re never taught to question their source. A lot of these studies and diet recommendations come from meat and dairy industry funded studies and research! Of COURSE they’re gonna do their best to sell you on the idea that you need meat and dairy to survive.

Well, guess what … you don’t need meat or dairy to get lean, grow muscle and get fit. Sure, I was skeptical at first like you may be when reading this. You couldn’t convince me that sticking to a strict veggie diet could do all of these things like cure you of acne, help ease off the affects of depression, help you lose weight. The moment I cut back on meat and dairy, the  and fat started melting off and that was even before I started exercising most days of the week.

The moral of the story is that you shouldn’t be afraid of trying something different if you really want to see changes in your life and specifically in regards to your health and fitness. Is being a vegetarian hard? No. The hard part is usually dealing with friends, family and strangers telling you that you’re going to waste away or that you’re starving yourself or worst yet that you’re anorexic or bulimic because you’re opting for a heap of greens or veggies rather than another slab of decomposing, rotting flesh (because you know, that’s really what you’re eating when you eat meat, no matter how you slice it or look at it). People ask how did I lose weight and how can they lose weight. I always tell them to exercise but truthfully, it’s all about your diet. If you go vegetarian and vegan, you’re going to feel more energetic than you did when your body was slowed down by hormone-pumped meats. Your skin is going to clear up of acne and blemishes and the pounds are just going to start falling off with little effort. There are tons of cookbooks and Web sites out there with vegetarian and vegan recipes, too. The key to weight loss is healthy sacrifice. Want to get healthy? Then what are you willing to give up?

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Jacked: Kick-Ass Exercises For Your Butt

Today bottom’s up, literally. When asking guys on Twitter what they felt was a trouble area, many responded it was their behinds. Yes, women may go around wanting a Nicki Minaj, Beyonce, or Jennifer Lopez ass but it seems guys are equally interested in an impressive romp. And hey, why not? Your butt (or glutes to be a bit more proper) is a big muscle and many of us go through our day sitting on it and not thinking much about it. Likely, you aren’t working it out because you aren’t sure what you can do to beef it up. Many guys will make the mistake of eating to fatten it up. Ugh. That’ll lead to a big butt, flabby abs, and big everything else.

To get a bigger, muscular, more impressive ass you need to work it out like any other body part. Sure, you aren’t going to to be pumping weights with your cheeks but doing a combination of some of the suggested exercises below will you tone your posterior and have all the girls (and guys) breaking their necks to get a peek at your bootylicious bottom:

1. Squats: If there’s one move you’ll always see recommended as a must, it’s a squat. You can do a squat with or without weights. This is a super move that trains your thighs, hips, buttocks and hamstrings. The beauty of this simple move is that it works all the muscles that build your legs and help sculpt your butt. For men, by laying a barbell across your back as you slowly squat, you’ll probably see more of an impact on your body from this move than a woman would. You can also modify this move by holding dumbells at your sides and squatting as you do the move. You don’t have to use any weight at all with this move; simply leap up in the air three times and take note of your foot positioning after the third leap; that’s your proper squatting position. The idea is to perform this move slowly as you descend and to really squeeze your glutes (butt cheeks) and abs in tight as you raise.

2. Lunges: Ever heard the phrase “put your best foot forward”? Then you can apply that thinking to this move. The lunge emphasizes your quadriceps (the muscles around your knee joint), back of the thighs, hamstrings and glutes. If you haven’t been able to pick up on it, building stronger, muscular legs is the secret path toward an impressive butt. Again, combine some weights with this move to really charge it up. Try holding a barbell across your back as you do this move or at least a pair of dumbbells should be held in your hand to make this move a bit more complex and work more muscles. And keep in mind that you can (and should) reverse the lunge or even do lunges to the side to hit and work different muscles.

3. Kickback: This is a move all of you naughty boys should like. Get down on your hands and knees and raise your head slightly. Keep your leg slightly bent as your raise it behind you. Do this move slowly and as you raise your leg, hold it in place for a few seconds and really squeeze your glutes at the top of the move to feel the burn. Doing a kickback quickly doesn’t do much good at all so take it slow and feel the burn.

4. Step Up: Find an elevated platform and rest one foot on it. Use your legs and glutes to propel yourself upward to a standing position, squeezing your glutes as you “step up” on the platform. This is an easy move you can do anywhere. Not only will this move help shape your butt but it will also work your core (abs).

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Jacked: Unconventional methods of losing weight, shedding fat

Today, weather wise, was  a glorious day here in North Carolina. Blue skies, temperatures in the high 6os, shirtless hot male runners abound. Let’s face it, folks. Though parts of the country are bracing for more winter weather, we’re nearing close to Spring which means we’ll be giving the finger to all of this snow, frigid temps and saying hello to warmer temps, shorts, shirtless runs and skin-baring outfits. Or will we?

The problem many guys face this time of year is the realization that we’ve really let ourselves go over the past few months. At the end of summer you may have had an awesome body from all the outdoors running you did, how well you ate, the motivation you had to stay fit so that you could rock that awesome gym bod you worked hard for … just to hit the winter and the holidays to let it all go. First came Thanksgiving when you eased up a bit to make room for all the turkey and trimmings; then came Christmas with all the parties and festivities and to top everything, you let your entire fitness plan drop like the ball on New Year’s Eve. Now here we are at the end of January, approaching a new month, and getting closer to that season where we’re going to baring skin and showing off for all the hot boys (or girls for those bi guys).

So, we all know that February is the shortest month of the year. Really, it’ll be here and gone before you know it and March will bring with it more warmer days as spring officially starts. So, is it too late for you to reclaim that awesome pre-holiday body by the time spring starts in March? Yes. You could easily start eating better, slash carbs, cut out sugars and basically be a tad bit miserable for the next few weeks or you could get a bit experimental and try some new tricks that may jump start your weight loss and fitness plan. You may or may not have heard about a controversial new book by Tim Ferriss titled The 4-Hour Body. In the book Ferriss writes about some uncommon things you can do to speed your fat-loss that’ll lead to a healthier you. I haven’t read the book but I have seen Ferriss make his rounds on the talk shows to talk about his book and different tips. He was recently on The Dr. Oz Show where Dr. Oz looked closely at three of Ferriss’ recommendations and somewhat endorsed them. So, it’s clear we don’t have much time to get our body in order and perhaps Ferriss’ speedy fat loss method will suit our needs. Here are some interesting, uncommon methods that could help you shed that winter weight and get the body you’ll want to show off in a few weeks:

1) Eat 30 grams of protein within 3o minutes of waking up. It’s always been recommended that you eat breakfast every morning and that you eat it soon after waking up to stoke your metabolism. Eating 30 grams of protein hasn’t been a common recommendation because that could translate into eating something like 5 eggs, which many would consider a heart-attack waiting to happen. Eating protein early in the day not only revs up your metabolism (leading to more calories being burned) but will give you a shot of energy that you’ll benefit from throughout the day. Know how you feel sluggish after lunch? It’s probably due to a lack of protein. The protein you consume at breakfast doesn’t have to be from eggs. Re-think breakfast and look at it as your first chance to fuel your body and muscles. You could easily consume a protein shake (whey) or even eat some tuna. Yes, these aren’t necessarily seen as breakfast staples but don’t you want a faster metabolism, less fat covering your abs and more muscle to impress all the boys in the yard? Thought so.

2) Ice Therapy. One of a guy’s favorite phrases seems to be “chillin'” and if you take that phrase literally, you could actually lose weight! You can trigger hormones in your body that are responsible for fat burning by lowering your body temperature. The colder you are, the more work and effort it takes your body to do simple tasks. Think about the summer and how easy it is for you to run and sweat. Now think about running during the winter. You don’t sweat as much, but you’re cold and you probably think you’re burning fewer calories. Wrong! The colder you are, the more calories you’ll burn when you work out because the (brown) fat in your body will work harder to keep you warm. Ice therapy can be done in a variety of ways including placing and holding ice packs on your upper back, cold showers and by taking ice baths. Ferriss recommends saving ice baths for later on in your ice therapy routines and limiting them to 10 minutes, 3 times a week.

3) Pig out once a week. This is the most controversial of Ferriss’ recommendations. He says you should allow yourself one day out of each week to let go, eat whatever the heck you want regardless of its nutritional value and that by pigging out once a week, you’ll actually lose weight. You may scratch your head at that but there’s some validity to it. Spiking your calories once a week if you’re eating healthy the other 6 days out of the week isn’t going to wreck your fitness plan is actually a common recommendation. I know, I know. There are guys you’ll encounter in the gym who will say they eat healthy every fricken day of the week, every month, every year and have sworn off anything that has sugar or fat in it and they’ll look ripped and will make you green with envy. Then there are guys who look ripped and have rippling abs who will tell you that they eat everything from McDonalds to cake and ice cream and yet it doesn’t show. What gives? It’s allowing yourself to eat the foods you crave that’ll actually benefit your diet plan. Many people find it hard to eat healthy because they think the commitment has to last a lifetime. Then they cave, they indulge, and give up on eating healthy ever again. Sound like your last relationship?

Indulge. It’s good for you. But do it in moderation and include  a “cheat” day in your week. My recommendation is to have your cheat day land on a weekday rather than a weekend because if you allow yourself to indulge on a Saturday, you’ll carry it over and give yourself a pass to indulge on a Sunday and the bad eating will snowball into the week. Unlike Ferriss, I don’t recommend or endorse an entire day of pigging out. I am behind a “pig out” meal once a week including a somewhat unhealthy appetizer, main course and dessert. It’s also found that before you pig out you can help direct where the calories from the meal will go – either to your muscles as fuel or to fat, by drinking a little grapefruit juice before your pig out meal and doing a bit of exercise after your bad meal within an hour of consuming it. Did you slip up during the week? Do body squats for a minute. This simple move can help you use the calories from the cheat meal as fuel rather than having it store on your body as fat.

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Jacked: Eat Your Way to Better Sex

In other “Jacked” features thus far we’ve covered exercises and moves that will make you look good on the outside. It seems fitting with another weekend upon us, and the partying, hooking-up and debauchery that will follow that we flip the switch and get inside you. Oh, how dirty that sounds, but we’ve stressed the importance of nutrition to your health. Sure, we could easily have done a post about foods that are good for you but these foods aren’t so exciting. So what if we said you could kick your sex life into the stratosphere just by eating certain foods? No exercise, no karma sutra, no pills but simple foods you’ll find in the grocery store down the street. Yes, I’m sure we have your undivided attention now.

These “jacked” features focus on health matters impacting males, and more specifically gay males because let’s face it – most of the media ignores our group when addressing health issues and groups us all into hetero-territory. Sex is probably central to us gay, bi and “alternative” men. It drives our decisions, it comes to define our relationships with various people, it motivates us to get into the gym and spend hours trying to get the perfect body … so that we’re desirable sexually to those we crush on! Certain foods can actually make the sex we have even better. Ready to get your sex life on the right track this year? Incorporate the following foods into your diet and you’ll be eating your way to better sex in no time.

1) Celery: Full of two pheromones that can rev up androstenone and androstenol, two pheromones that can help you attract potential mate better than American Idol does tone-deaf singers. Chewing on celery releases these two pheromones into your mouth and travel up your throat to your nose. Then they enhance your arousal and as you become more turned on, your body releases that “I’m looking to pounce” scent that makes you desirable to those around you. This natural mood booster happens pretty quickly so put aside those poppers and other nasty drugs and start chewing on a long stalk to signal you’re ready to get your freak on.

2) Cereal: Sure, Rice Krispies may promise to put the snap, crackle and pop into your life but it’s those cereals that contain Thiamin and riboflavin that really get your revved up. Both vitamins help you to use energy more efficiently so instead of feeling drained and too tired to pounce on your partner or one night stand, you’ll have them begging you to take a break. These vitamins will help your nervous system function better which means you’ll be stimulated more and will get more pleasure out of the sex you have. Look for fortified breads and cereals that contain these two vitamins and ditch those with an abundant amount of sugar.

3) Eggs: Have a problem with over stimulation? Are you the one minute man Missy Elliot sang of? Time to crack an egg. Let’s face it – sex can spark a bit of apprehension, nervousness and stress in us all. Eggs will replenish your body’s depleted B vitamins which will make you less stressed and will help prevent your rocket firing off before launch.

4) Vanilla Ice Cream: We all cringe at vanilla sex but should be screaming for some vanilla ice cream before we do the deed. Grab a bowl of vanilla ice cream if you’re in need of endurance. It comes packed with calcium and phosphorous – both give you more energy and rev up your libido. All that calcium will also make your orgasms more powerful. Why vanilla? A study conducted by the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation of Chicago found that the smell of vanilla relaxed men, reduced any stress they felt and eased inhibitions. Before you meet up with your Mr. Big, indulge in a bowl and be ready to impress.

5) Blueberries: Got a problem keeping Ole’ Dick at attention? Blueberries are a great natural remedy for men suffering from erectile issues. They have soluble fiber that will not only help with cholesterol issues but they also have compounds that will help relax your blood vessels, improving circulation, thereby keeping ole’ Dick standing tall and proud. A lower level of cholesterol will also allow for more blood to reach the penis, leading to better erections as you move from the twink category to the daddy area.

6) Steak: Getting bored with your relationship or the guy you thought would forever keep you entertained? You may be in need of some real protein. The protein in meat will naturally increase your levels of dopamine and norepinephrine. What are those? Well, those are two chemicals in your brain that can raise sensitivity levels during sex. Steak and other meat protein sources have zinc which helps with arousal. That juicy meat you’ll chew on will boost your testosterone levels and limit a hormone known as SHBG that will prevent blood from flowing to the penis and reduce your stamina.

7) Chocolate: If you’re looking to increase your sensitivity, you need to go dark – chocolate that is. Eating dark chocolate with a high cocoa content gives you a slight natural high and will ensure that even the slightest touch on your skin will be enough to send your hormones in a tizzy.

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Jacked: Size Matters (When exercising)

If you flip through any health or fitness magazine you’ll find a load of great exercises that you can do to get pumped and fit. Go to the gym and you won’t see anything new – you will see people running (and hogging) the treadmills, others pedaling away on the cycles, muscle guys hoisting hundreds of pounds of weights into the air and the collection of intimidating machines. In other words, when it comes to fitness and exercise, there’s really nothing new to discover. You can easily Google “weight lifting” and come across tons of new moves. You can then go into the gym, do those moves, and see very little progress. The most frustrating part – you know those moves should work and that you ought to be ripped because you’ve seen guys do those moves before and they have a body like The Situation while you’re looking like The Disaster. What gives?

Here’s a secret – it’s your size. Gay guys are all about measurements and size – length, width, height, girth, inches – they all play a big role in gay men’s lives … but not in the area of exercise. Look at your body. Now think of all the guys in your life. Are you all the same exact size, shape and have the same form? Probably not. The exercises you’re doing in the gym or on your own may not be doing much good simply because they don’t fit your body type. Gasp, revelation! If you have long arms, you could be weak in the area of bench pressing. If you have short arms you won’t be able to deadlift as much as, say, someone who’s a couple inches taller than you. Are you a fan of the squat? The length of your legs plays a big part in determining how much weight your body can handle. To stay motivated in the gym, you obviously need to see results. To get results, you need to do exercises that fit your height and body type. Here are some considerations that may drastically change how you work

Flat Feet: If your feet are flat (that means, without an arch) your feet may roll inward when you run, jump or even do a simple thing like walking. What’s so bad about that? This limits your performance during exercises and especially when lifting weights. Your feet shouldn’t roll in as you exercise; they need to do the exact opposite to power-up your moves. The Fix: Do exercises that strengthen your hamstrings and glutes such as hip raises.

Small Hands: They may look cute but are killers when it comes to your exercise. The smaller your hands, the quicker they will give out on exercises that require a firm grip. You may also have more difficulties gripping weight bars, though you probably haven’t heard many complaints about your hand action before. The Fix: You have to work toward improving your performance during pulling exercises. Train your forearm and strengthen your grip with moves like the Farmer’s walk. Or, try holding a heavy kettlebell or dumbbell in fromt of your thighs for 30-60 seconds.

No Butt: Ah, not so bootylicious? It’s a downer because we all like a firm, perky bottom. Flat butts and backsides are usually the result of your pelvis being tilted too far toward the back at the top. This is a health problem because it could mean that your lower back is vulnerable, making you prone to spinal injuries. The Fix: You need to strengthen your hip flexors and overall posture. Try yoga which sets out to align your body, make you more flexible and tones your muscles. And have you seen some of the hot “earthy” men that wind up in yoga class? Seriously, get in there. Not like that … well … maybe … moving on.

Long vs. Short Arms: Oh, we all like our men tall, dark and handsome but guess what – tall guys, or guys with long arms in general, are at an disadvantage in the fitness realm. It’s been found that long-armed men may be prone to more injuries, especially when it comes to the ball-and-socket shoulder joint. Shorter-armed men have a slight advantage but when it comes to pivotal muscle-building moves like the deadlift because you have to squat lower and that puts a bigger strain on your back. The Fix: Long-armed guys should do quick-movement moves like medicine-ball throws. During the deadlift, shorter-armed guys should keep their torsos upright. Do this by keeping your legs farther apart before and during the squat.

Long Legs: For anyone over 6 feet tall, damn you lucky bastards. My envy and jealousy aside, longer leg bones means that on moves like the back squat, the bar has farther to travel on each rep. This means your muscles are working harder each move you do and you’ll have a harder time increasing your strength and your size. You know that old mindset of tall, lanky guys being a bit clumsy?  Turns out that taller guys tend to have poor form during exercise. The Fix: Stop trying to show off in the gym. When you do leg exercises, use less weight. You can increase your reps to compensate but overall, decreasing your weight will decrease your back strain.

Overall, if you’re working toward your ideal body, keep in mind that not all moves are created equal because you aren’t like everyone else out there. Your body is unique and the moves you’re doing are going to differ between you and those of your friends. So wisen up boys and become size queens – your fitness and your health may depend on it.

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Jacked: 3 Chest-busting Moves

Women aren’t the only ones who want an impressive chest. Sure, it’s frigid and cold as hell outside but in another two or three months we’ll be back in moderate temperatures that will warrant us to bare chests and skin more. For men, there’s really no better way to show how fit you are than by building and chiseling a muscular chest. Picture the scrawny, flat chested guy you see running with pale skin in the heat of summer. Eh. He’s cute. Now picture the muscular guys walking around with skin-hugging tanks. What’s the first thing you usually notice? It’s the chest.

If you’re working on improving your body, what better place to begin but your chest. Sure, many guys will purposefully work and overtrain their arms and abs, but hey, aren’t you forgetting the pecs? There are a few moves you can do to build a bigger, muscular, head-turning chest. While these aren’t anything new, there are a few tweaks you can make to these classic moves to get more out of your chest workout.

1. Dumbbell Fly: While holding two dumbbells in your hands, keep your palms facing one another. With your back against the floor, keep a slight bend in your arms as you outstretch them to the sides. Bring the dumbbells together overhead, positioning them over your chest. Lower the dumbbells back to the sides. Super move: Reverse the fly. Take a towel and fold it in half. With the dumbbells in hand, place each hand/dumbbell just outside the ends of the towel. Slowly lower your chest toward the floor. Muscles worked: Pecs, back, core (abs).

2. Dip: You can use a dip machine (a contraption with bars that you can hang onto) or simply use an elevated surface such as the seat of a chair, edge of a table or step. Place your hands further apart and slowly lower yourself so that the seat of your butt nearly touches the floor. Slowly rise back up. Super move: Use a V-shaped dip bar rather than the usual parallel bar; you’ll work more muscle. Muscles worked: Triceps, chest, shoulders.

3. Dumbbell bench press: While grasping a dumbbell in each hand, and with your palms facing each other, press the weights above your head; slowly return the weights down to the starting position. Super move: Keep your muscles tucked in at your sides. As you push the weight upwards, rotate your wrists so that your palms face forward, a tweak that will worked more chest muscles. Muscles worked: Shoulders, triceps.

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Jacked: 6 Nutrition Tricks to Burn Fat, Build Muscle

If you’re a gay guy you probably see it all too often on sites like Manhunt or Grindr – guys who claim to have a muscular build who are really robust and fat. If you’re in the gym you may also notice all the guys who seem to live in the gym but hardly look like it. What gives? You see, guys are really good about working out and lifting weights. They are also really dumb when it comes to nutrition and what they’re putting into their bodies.

If you’re hoping to get ripped and think you can do it with just exercise, you’re not going to get the results you want. Hell, you’re really just wasting your time and venturing to the gym to cruise and check out guys in their jocks in the locker room. If you’re serious about getting into shape and living a healthy lifestyle, you need to wisen up about what you’re consuming. You would be surprised how something as simple as your choice of beverage can impact everything from the fat that covers your abs to how many added years you have tact on to the end of your life to enjoy. Below are 6 tips and easy tricks that will have you not only shedding some heavy weight but will also leave you feeling energized and ready to tackle whatever life throws at you. You want to burn fat and see muscle without having to spend hours in the gym, right? Of course. Then make these minor tweaks to your daily habits to see impressive results:

1. Ditch coffee and switch to green tea. You probably think tea is for real queens but green tea is for anyone looking to speed up their weight loss. There are dozens of studies and sites hyping the greatness of green tea and for the most part, you should believe them all. A study done last year reported that a combination of green tea extract and caffeine resulted in more weight loss than just caffeine alone. A lot of muscle guys and studies will quickly tell you that caffeine is great for you but few will tell you that the caffeine in tea, green tea specifically, can rev up your metabolism naturally. Oh, and did I mention green tea will boost your immune system, keeping you healthy all year long and will cut your risk of various diseases? Drink 3-4 cups each day. The Benefit: You’ll burn an additional 3,500-10,000 calories each month if you do this daily.

2. Boost your testosterone with supplements. Yes, lifting weight does naturally boost your testosterone and you may feel quite manly as you lift and squat for the boys in the gym but you still aren’t getting enough testosterone flowing. University of Connecticut has done research and recommends taking 2 grams of L-carnitine each day before your lift. Why? It can increase the number of testosterone receptors in your body by 13%. The more receptors you have, the better your testosterone will be able to help you recover and grow more muscle.

3. Drink a protein shake before you workout. The standard has been to workout and then you enjoy a protein shake afterward. Wrong. To give your body a boost of energy that will help you workout better and perform your exercises with more vigor, drink that shake before you workout. Your body will be thankful for the boost of nutrients and while working out will better use them than if you were to consume them afterward. This simple move increases the uptake of amino acids in your body by 79% and it’s those amino acids that are used by your body to build muscle, not the weight you’re lifting.

4. Weigh in often. Oh, don’t be a little gurly man – step up on the scale and do it often. You shouldn’t be weighing yourself for the sake of comparing your weight to other guys but as a way to track your progress. Listen guys, everyone is a different height and therefore there’s no real standard of what’s skinny and what’s fat. Weighing yourself helps you figure out if you’re packing on pounds or if you’re slimming down. Tracking your weight, and what you eat for that matter, makes you feel more accountable. A 2008 study revealed that both women and men lost more weight when they weighed themselves at least once a month. I say weigh yourself once a week as a reminder of what you’re trying to accomplish with your health and training.

5. Eat more fruits and vegetables. Gay or straight, guys tend to think that eating steaks and meets is a good diet.  A guy will quickly run out for a burger or pizza but will often times forget to balance that diet with fruits and vegetables. You need to eat and for the most part, you need to eat often and lots of food to keep yourself fueled. Cut back on the meat for once and start deep throating some vegetables and fruits. Penn State did a study on people who ate a diet of mostly fruits and vegetables for 12 months and found that they lost more weight than those who followed so-called “low-fat” diets. Need more incentive? Doing this could help you lose 5-10 pounds each year.

6. Take creatine and beta-alanine for muscle growth and strength. Yes, creatine gives you an energy boost that you can use to pound out more sets in the gym but you’ll be able to do even more in the gym when you take creatine with beta-alanine. This will help you tire less easily when you’re training hard and so you’ll do more, and you’ll see greater results. Take 6 grams of beta-alanine along with your creatine each day you workout.

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Commie Gym Tips

A couple of months ago Muscle & Fitness magazine ran a feature about how to train like a Commie. The title may not be politically correct but the content of the article was something worth talking about. Think back to movies like Rocky or The Karate Kid or heck, any movie in the 80s or before that featured some foe from the Soviet Union. What did all of those characters have in common? They were muscular, fit, healthy and almost unbeatable. Head out to a gym or ask a lot of guys what sort of body they want and they’ll usually say they want the abs, the pecs, the muscle, the ripped and cut look. So who better to go to than the Russians for tips on getting this look?

Workouts need to begin with stretching and the biggest mistake many make is that they do the usual static, dull, stand-in-one place stretch. Stop. Your body was built to move and even with a stretch, you need to get your muscles warmed up. Do dynamic stretching: skip, high kick, jog, jump rope. These and other moves will get you going and ready for an intense workout.

Next, learn how your body functions. Here in the U.S. guys will do one routine and will stick to it for days and months and while they’ll see slight changes, they’ll hit that glorious “plateau” and will be stumped as to what to do to overcome it. Over in the Soviet state, athletes and their trainers understand that the body adapts to any exercise you do after 6 weeks. In other words, every 6 weeks, change it up in the gym or do something new to continue to change your body. After a few weeks, add more weight to your lifts; go from running a treadmill to jogging outside; use lighter dumbbells or a kettlebell instead of just sticking to a barbbell. CHANGE!

Ever hear a guy talk about getting a massage or hitting the steam room after a workout? You probably thought they were just trying to get their rocks off (which may have been the case) but in actuality, they probably were doing more good for their muscle development than you thought. Russian athletes were always taught the importance of refreshing and recovering from an overly taxing workout. Alternate between recovery methods like saunas, massages, showers and baths to help your muscles repair and recoup faster.

Lastly, Russian training is really all about technique. Many guys will run to the gym and hop onto a machine or will thrust a dumbbell into the air without properly learning how to do anything. Ask a trainer or search online for tips and the proper way to lift so that you not only are benefiting from your exercise but are preventing yourself from being injured.

Here are a few “Soviet” moves to try the next time you workout”
1) Plyometric Push-Up [Chest, triceps]- Lower your body to the floor as if you’re doing a regular pushup. When you’re almost touching the floor with your chest, explosively push back up so that your hands leave the floor. Land on your hands and repeat.  (5 sets, 5 reps each).

2) Hanging Leg Raise [Hip flexors, abs]- Hang from an overhead bar with your hands positioned outside shoulder width. Raise lets parallel to the floor and with your feet together try to raise your feet all the way to your head. (3 sets, 15 reps each)

3) Good Morning [Lower back, hamstrings]- Position a barbell across your shoulders and back (or across your traps for those who know a little anatomy). Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart and grip the bar firmly as you bend at the hips until your torso is parallel to the floor. Slowly return to starting position. (5 sets, 5 reps each).

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Get Jacked … with Man Crush Fitness

Happy new year! 2010 was a long, long, long ass year and I don’t know about you but I’m looking forward to bigger and better things in 2011. Last year was a good year for this blog. People have flocked to this blog in the hundreds each day and have really made it one of the Internet’s best kept little dirty secrets in terms of blogs. I took the last week off to re-energize and examine the blog. First, you’ll be happy to know that 2011 will bring forth a whole slew of hot “man crushes” featuring the hottest male celebrities, athletes, musicians and media personalities. If you’re interested in some amateur guys and pics that may not be exactly safe for work, then head over to the Tumblr edition of The Man Crush blog. We’re also on Facebook (www.facebook.com/mancrushblog) and on Twitter (@man_crush) and both are updated on a regular basis.

There’s also a big new section of this blog that will be starting fairly soon – Jacked. Oh, now it’s not exactly what you think. Like any gay male, I’m into staying fit and working out. The entire idea behind The Man Crush Blog is that men are hot, beautiful, handsome, well sculpted and as you noticed, most featured here and on our Tumblr are fit and have awesome bods. I want everyone to be “crush worthy” and plan on including a slew of fitness, exercise and health tips written for and geared toward gay, bi and all the other men who drift over here. One of the “Jacked” features will be a series of posts that reveal the workout routines of some of the hottest male stars and athletes. Others may be hot exercise or nutrition tips to help you in your journey of transforming your body. Yes, the Jacked posts are geared toward gay men but really, whether you’re a man or woman, you’ll find something in them that can be of great use to you. I’m simply writing them for gay men because when I read magazines like Men’s Fitness, Men’s Health and Muscle & Fitness they completely ignore the fact that a lot of their readers are gay or non-heterosexual men and so I’d like man Crush to be a place where you not only come to obsess and (ahem) jack off to hot guys but a place where you’ll come to get your body right and “jacked” so that you too can be crush worthy!

Be on the lookout for posts tagged “jacked” for all sorts of health and fitness goodness. Also, talk to me! Unlike some bloggers I do interact with my visitors. If you want a chance to appear on our Tumblr, send us your photo. Have a comment? Leave it on here or shoot me an E-mail at mancrushblog@gmail.com.  Happy new year and as always, be sure to get your crush on!

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