Fitness 1 by Coach KK

Most of us who are into strength training must have heard the words "Power Rack" at some point in their training years. While an extremely beneficial piece of equipment, the power rack is rarely found in gyms in India especially gyms in smaller cities and towns. A standard Power Rack consists of four vertical columns attached to each other, hooks for placing the barbell, safety bars for catching the barbell (if it may fall) and a pull up bar. It is designed keeping the most important parameter i.e. Safety in mind for the strength training enthusiast. A Power Rack is easily confused with a squat rack, which most gyms have or even a smith machine which is a totally different equipment serving a different purpose. Some other terms used to describe a power rack are power cage, half rack (which is basically half i.e. having only two vertical columns) and a squat cage. A standard heavy weight power rack should be a compulsory item in a gym or even at home if you train at h...

For those that may not be familiar with calories and macro nutrients can go through  Calculating Current Macros and Calories  this post will give a brief introduction on calculating current calorie and macro nutrient intake. Based on this current intake adjustments can be made to accommodate for a fat loss aimed dietary intake. Do keep in mind that there can be a difference between your recommended daily calorie intake and the current daily intake you'r consuming. If there's a big gap between these two numbers then it may be better to not reduce calories further as it may lead to a further slowing down of metabolism and thereby hindering the fat loss goal. I have done the following calculation taking a hypothetical individual "A" as an example. This is just to explain the concept and you should not assume this to be the recommended fat loss intake and thus should only understand the concept rather than start following it. Example: Recommended Body Weight Maintena...

Weight loss unarguably is one of the most common fitness goals that keeps on confusing most, even though it is well studied and information relating to it is freely available. Following are my top 5 tips to help you know more about weight loss, how it can be achieved and effectively managed even if you've tried and failed before. Medical Check-up: Believe it or not but this is probably the most underrated weight loss parameter. This helps to check for any pre-existing medical condition (hormonal, etc) and nutritional deficiencies (vitamin d, iron, etc.). Sometime clearing these nutritional deficiencies and/or addressing the necessary medical issue may be all that is needed for weight loss. It is always better to get a check up done by a qualified doctor before starting any random type of diet and exercise program.  Calorie Deficit: No matter how much you sweat in the gym, if you’r not in a calorie deficit as per your needs, weight loss will not happen. Calorie deficit m...

The question of using whether free weights or machines or both often arises in the mind of gym rats. Free weights are mainly the freely adjustable dumbbells, fixed weight dumbbells, fixed weight barbells and plate loaded barbells. These are some of the common free weight instruments found in most gyms and can even be purchased for personal use at home. Machines are classified as fixed weight machines, plate loaded machines, cable and pulley machines, hammer strength machines, etc. Although the use of either free weights or machines is dependent on the goal for which the individual is training, sometimes because of lack of availability or maybe making a purchase for personal use at home or for simply the sake of trying a new thing, choosing between free weights and machines becomes necessary. Following are three simple factors that may work for most people while choosing either free weights or machines or both: Training Goal: If training for a specific sport such as olympic w...