A diet high in iron is vital for men who exercise because of its role in transporting oxygen around the body. But iron deficiency causes other problems, including tiredness and difficulty concentrating. The NHS recommends at least 8.7mg per day for men. Here are the best foods to up your intake.

Bran Flakes 20mg per 100g

Drinking a glass of vitamin C-rich orange juice with these foods will help the body absorb more iron.

Sesame Seeds 10.4mg per 100g

Sardines 4.6mg per 100g

Grilled rump steak 3.4mg per 100g

Crab 28mg per 100g

So why do you need Iron? There are many benefits of having an iron rich diet.

Benefits

1. Iron is anti cancer
2. It boost the body’s energy level and as a result will improve physical performance.
3. Improves the body’s immunity
4. It encourages restful sleep and prevent insomnia
5. It also helps in preventing difficulty in learning among children

Who Would Benefit?
The adult RDA for this mineral is 14 mg daily, equivalent to a handful of dried apricots or a beefsteak. However, in treating certain health problems, the amount can be increased. Certain people may find that iron supplements could help them maintain a healthy body. If you experience the symptoms below, ask your doctor about the possibility of taking iron supplements

Painful Periods
Iron supplements may help to ease the pain associated with monthly menstruation. You may need to take the supplement daily.

Fatigue
If your doctor believes that your weak body or frequent fatigue are associated with poor iron intake in the diet, your condition can be improved by using iron supplements.

Improve Concentration
Young girls who have poor dietary iron intakes would normally have academic problems because they just cannot concentrate in their classes. Iron supplements have been proven to be beneficial in this scenario.

Treat Anaemia
If you have this health problem, your doctor would normally prescribe you with iron supplements.

Sources – http://www.oohoi.com/healthy_living/vitamin-info/benefits-of-iron.htm – Benefits of Iron – 1st June 2006

Everyone always asks about ways to keep your body in shape. Here’s three ways you can keep both your mind and body in top shape.

There’s now yet another reason to keep yourself in shape – you become smarter. The University of California (UC) conducted a research study that found people who had higher body mass had smaller brains. This included memory and planning areas of the brain.

I want to show three quick and simple ways to boost your brain, let’s face the music – if you spend 45 minutes on a treadmill four times a week, for the next 6 months – that is an average of 180mins a week which is 720mins a month which is 4320 mins half a year, which is 8640 mins of running a year. That is a 144 hours and about 6 days of running non-stop. The amount of calories you can burn, the amount of endorphins you can release is incredible. Being fit means thinking fit – I know that makes no sense, but here is a statement someone said to me at the gym: “If you look good, you feel good”.

1) Do Puzzles – Sudoku

Playing mind games, filling crosswords and continuing to challenge yourself whilst your on a train for example – is a great way to train your mind to cancel out everything around you – keep at it and you can really build a tolerance of working under pressure.

There are countless studies that have shown doing puzzles or learning a language can build neural networks in the brain. This helps you stay sharper for longer.

2) Eat oily fish

Oily fish is great food. Oily fish are heavy in Omega-3 which transports nutrients to your brain.

Oily fish are high Omega-3 fatty acids. They are vital for healthy nerve cells and help transport nutrients into brain cells. Eggs, flaxseed and kiwis are other good sources too. A monthly dosage of oily fish can help restore dead brains cells too.

• Includes fish such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, trout and herring.
• Omega-3 rich – which also means it prevents you getting heart disease.
• Good source of vitamins A and D (did you know that?!)

3) Get breathless

Working out for at least 30 minutes three times a week will not only fight fat, it will also improve circulation to your brain, flooding it with oxygen and nutrients to keep it working effectively.

You can muscle up next year after all the holiday food with some of these simple tips. Before I mention them I wanted to let you know about some cardio boosters. Cardio boosters are a way to jump your energy levels and place your brain into thinking you can work out longer. I’ll give you an example: A cup of coffee or anything containing high levels of caffeine can reduce your brains perception on how hard you think you have trained. The high levels of caffeine (Note I have not mentioned Lucozade Sport with Caffeine Boost – I find it the worst taste and I can never finish it, the Lemon Plus one) act as stimulant that interferes with the part of your brain that is responsible for dealing with pain – The University of Illinois in the US say’s that the caffeine can give you this energy boost resulting in you training for longer without mentally and physically taking note. Another cardio booster is having a warm shower before your morning training sessions – not only because it’s like -100c outside (Manchester) – but having a hot shower gets your blood pumping to your muscles and priming them for action and doubling as an effective warm-up ahead of early-morning sessions, helping you avoid strains and tweaks. Take a read of our “4 steps to go from skinny to biggy”..

#1 Go easy on the cardio

I can tell you know that your six-pack will only come out of hiding when you have reduced your body fat down to around ten per cent, but this doesn’t mean you should spend hours pounding the pavement. In order to put muscle on you need to consume more calories than you burn, so that means keep your cardio sessions brief. Having short breaks between your weight sets will work your cardiovascular system and your muscles.

#2 Stick to complex moves

You need to keep to Isolation movement, such as biceps curls and calf raises. They are great for building up your muscular endurance. The fact is however is that these exercises won’t build mass in the same was as squats, deadlifts and bench presses do. These compound moves involve more than one muscle group which means they’ll shock shock your body, flooding it with good ol’ testosterone and leading to greater sizes gains – everywhere.

#3 Keeping sets short

Cranking out hundreds of reps will fatigue your muscles but it won’t make them grow back bigger. Stick to low-rep sets with heavy weights to overload the muscles, fatigue them faster and force them to grow stronger.

Someone told me (at the gym where I go) that they heard the more hardcore lifters mention that you should stick to low rep building – start on the shoulder press at 10kg and do 15 reps. Then go up the next weight, 15kg and do 15 reps, then go up to 20kg and do 15 reps – just keeping adding the weight on as you go on each rep and at each session.

#4 Eat up

The average man needs around 2,500 calories a day just to maintain his weight, so you should take on 500 more calories to put on muscle – naturally speaking this doesn’t mean eating more calorie-dense foods (junk food). You can get high quality protein from eggs, fish, nuts and lean meat, all of which make these the best source for muscle-building grub. You should aim for 1.6g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight every day – you should also take it an hour before you workout and 20 minutes after your workout.

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