Getting Rid of freckles

01.32 in bodybuilders, bodybuilding, freckles, get, getting, how, involved, make, makes, Money, of, rid, sa, smarter, spotters, with, you

Can you get rid of freckles without surgery or cosmetic procedures? Short answer: yes.

Freckles… freckles… freckles. People who don’t have them want them, but for most of us who have them, we’d rather do without these ‘beauty spots’. Freckles are nothing more than concentrated deposits of melanin (the pigment in our skin). The bad news is that the cheaper and most natural freckle removal methods won’t take freckles away over night, but the good news is that there are things that we can do to fade them away, to the point where most of them disappear forever. Here are 2 solutions that you can look into to get rid of those ‘sun kisses’.

Lemon Juice

Lemon juice acts similarly to a bleach when it is contact with the skin because it is acidic. Because of the acidity, it works as a mild exfoliator, removing a small portion of the lop layer of skin onto which it is applied. People use lemon juice to lighten the colour tone of their skin and freckles, and sometimes on areas like the arms to correct tan lines. Because of lemon juice’s ability to lighten the skin, it is a great tool to help fade freckles. Some freckles will even fade to the point where they are no longer visible, although some will fade but still stay. Unfortunately, this takes time and will take more than just a few days to work effectively.

Directions and Use:

Dab undiluted lemon juice on the skin to lighten up tan lines or freckles before going to bed and let it dry out. Wash off in the morning after waking up and repeat every night. The skin should start to lighten and freckles can fade – sometimes to the point of disappearing – after a few weeks.

Exfoliation

Exfoliating the skin removes the outer layer of skin which is made up of dead skin cells. Frequent, thorough exfoliation helps the skin to rejuvenate itself, even to the point where the concentrated melanin deposits (freckles) are removed and new, spot-free skin replaces the area.

Directions and Use:

DO NOT exfoliate more than once in one session and DO NOT exfoliate two days in a row. You need to give your skin time rejuvenate and give the new skin (underneath layers) time to adapt to becoming the new outside layer of skin. DO NOT scrub until your skin starts to go red or pink and DO NOT scrub until it starts to feel painful. After a good exfoliation, your skin will look shiny and polished. DO NOT exfoliate more than twice a week. The reason why you should not exfoliate too much, too often or too hard is because the point of exfoliation is to remove the uppermost layer of skin which consists of dead skin cells and overdoing it will lead to the removal (and damage) of the healthy, living skin layers which you want to be as healthy and untouched as possible to look good and rejuvenate into better looking skin. DO NOT scrub until freckles disappear and DO NOT scrub until freckles appear lighter. Just do a light scrub twice a week with a few days of ‘rest’ in-between sessions and after a few weeks, the speeding up of skin renewal brought on by exfoliation will lead to the gradual removal of the concentrated melanin formations. You will not see any differences after the first few exfoliations but freckles can fade or disappear after a few weeks to months.

One of the most popular exfoliation methods is the use of exfoliation gloves that can be purchased at most supermarkets. These gloves don’t cost too much and can be re-used over and over again. You simply put the gloves on before going into the shower or bath and then lather them with soap and water (which creates a soapy lather similar to a scrunchie). Rub the skin all over your body with the lathered gloves in circular motions and rinse when done.

Another popular method of exfoliation is through the use of pastes that contain a grainy or sandy substance that can buffer the skin. You can purchase these pastes at stores or make them at home by using combinations like baking soda and water, salt (smooth salt only because the larger, coarse salt can hurt the skin) and olive oil or even mud made with clean, treated sand and water. Rub the exfoliating paste onto the skin in circular motions for a few seconds and then rinse off afterwards.

The lemon juice and exfoliation methods are effective, cheap and easy to do. However, they will take a long time before you start seeing a difference in freckle reduction. There are, however, other methods of freckle removal that are more instant, but are more expensive and require the consultation of a professional.

Dermatologists (the skin doctors) offer freckle removal services. If you are interested in this method of freckle removal, ask your doctor for more information and for a referral to a good dermatologist in your area. During a 30 minute to 1 hour session with the dermatologist, he or she will burn off the first (outermost) layers of skin on a freckle to instantly remove it. This does hurt, but the burning off motion takes about a second per freckle and a dermatologist could take off over 50 freckles in a single session. Your skin will need time(usually a few days to two weeks) to heal from this in the areas where the doctor has taken off the freckles and it will look like you have chicken pox with all the red marks (and in some cases, scabs) where the doctor has removed freckles.

Another method of freckle removal is more expensive and uses intensive light pulses which penetrate through to the deepest layers of skin to break up melanin formations. After this light stimulation, the freckles start to break up and disappear after a day or two. This does not damage then skin or make any marks, and actually also helps to keep the skin looking younger.

Well there you have it, who said you couldn’t have the body you want!? 

STAY STRONG!

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How Bodybuilders Make Money

07.55 in bodybuilders, how, make, Money

Bodybuilding is one of the more expensive sports. The cost of supplements, nutrition and food needed to grow your body is no joke. Once you start getting serious, just going to the gym and eating whatever, whenever you want is not going to cut it. A proper diet that ensures the best growth is costly. Unfortunately we live in a world where the healthiest and most nutritious food is expensive. People in this sport can generally spend up to a THIRD of their salary on gym memberships, supplements, food etc.

Even with paying the high price for your passion, can you make enough money in bodybuilding to support your aspirations AND make a living out of it?  

Short answer: No. You need to get a job to support your dreams. You need some sort of income to buy and use the supplements and food you need to get you to your desired physique.

Long answer: Yes. There are many bodybuilders who make enough to live off and some even score good coin from it as well, working in the industry as a career. They earn in a combination of ways listed below.

How can Bodybuilding Make Me Rich?

Winning Cash Prizes at Bodybuilding Competitions

This is not how bodybuilders make a living. This is the first thing that comes to mind when people consider the income of body builders. This is like an occasional bonus to the best of the best in the sport. The competitors at the top of their category do not count on getting this money and you cannot either. Planning to live off prize money solely is going to get you in a financial mess mixed with disappointment. Congratulations to those who win money at shows, but dont count on it.

Being Sponsored by Companies

If you perform well enough at bodybuilding shows, there will be companies who would be interested in sponsoring you. These companies are most often supplement companies who want to use your image to sell their products to their target market: other people who want to look like and be like you. These companies are not limited to just supplement companies, and can be an energy drink, gym or other corporate companies as well. As stated in our Make a Career out of Bodybuilding article, getting a sponsorship is not as easy as stepping on stage and hoping companies are going to chase you down with cash in their hands. 90% of the time you are going to have to work for it. The competition for sponsorships is quite tight. Therefore, building a great relationship with your sponsor/s is essential.

 Some bodybuilders make a living with this kind of money. However, the amounts of bodybuilders who can live off a sponsorship are below 5% among the pros. A sponsorship could be as small as a years supply of their brand of supplements, or wont be enough to cover your nutrition costs, never mind your living costs as well.

Modelling

Modelling and guest posing gigs can provide for additional income. This is also usually not a lot of money until you become well known and have established a strong brand that people recognize and want to pay for. This is also very competitive so it will be hard work for you to establish yourself from the crowd to get noticed by those who pay for models. The amount of bodybuilders who make a living from modelling is extremely low. It is a little more than the amount of people who live off sponsorships.

Personal Training

Many bodybuilders become personal trainers as a way of doing what they love and working in the same industry to pay the bills. The two are linked: the better they perform in bodybuilding competitions, the more clients with the same goals will want to be trained by them and therefore the more they can make from training others, by charging more per session. Working at a gym always has its benefits to the bodybuilder. He gets to network and has a bigger chance of possibly meeting someone who could help him get further in his career. Although you need to get qualified first, you can make a living from personal training, although its not going to make you rich. A large portion of people who compete in bodybuilding shows are personal trainers.

Being a Contest Coach

Being a contest coach, similar to personal training, can also provide a steady stream of income that you can depend on, but wont make you rich. In order to become a contest coach, you need to know how the contests work. You need to have the skills to transform a newbie into the best performer he or she can be onstage. You need a reason for people to believe that you can really help them to do the best they can at these shows. The better you do at your own shows, the more sought after you will to others wanting to be as successful as you.

Monetizing and Expanding on Your Personal Brand

If you want to make money out of bodybuilding, you need to develop your personal brand. You should become a brand that people admire. You can grow your brand by competing and placing in shows, gaining a big following on social media like Facebook and Twitter, trying to get as much publicity in the media as possible, and even offering to write guest posts for websites like SA Spotters. You should aim to reach as many people as possible. They should see your name repeatedly and start respecting your authority in the sport. Once you have developed a brand within the industry, you can start capitalizing on it by selling you own merchandise, partnering with another company to use your brand to reach a target market, or becoming a product ambassador for larger companies. The bigger your personal brand gets, the better the opportunities are. Once you are well known, magazines and other media might offer you good cash for interviews, appearances, etc.  

Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is an often over-looked, and possibly lucrative, way to make money out of bodybuilding. If there is a product or service that you can provide that people are willing to pay for within the industry, you have a business opportunity. Starting a business in bodybuilding has many possibilities and ways of going about it. Although you can make endless amounts of money this way, it will require sharp business skills and the chances are also very high that you will make nothing (or even lose money) trying to start a business.

Tips and Advice

Decide: For Cash or For Fun?

Unfortunately bodybuilding is not like other sports because you cant try to qualify for a team and then get a salary depending on the club you belong to. If you want to make a living from it, you need to be clever about it. If you want to take up bodybuilding seriously, you need to decide whether you are going to do it for the sport of it or if you are going to need to make an income from it as well. If you dont need an income from it and have another way of making a living for yourself and can afford expenses like nutrition, then feel free to pursue it the best way you choose, like through hard training and entering competitions. Many of the greats have other forms of income and do bodybuilding professionally, even though they dont earn much from it. On the other hand, if you want to make your earnings from bodybuilding alone, you will need to be smart about it and plan well. You cannot plan on cash prizes for contests, so you will need to decide what other areas listed above you are going to do to make a steady income. 

Think Long Term

If you are planning to live off bodybuilding, you will need to make a short-term, mid-term and long-term plan regarding finances. Perhaps get a normal job while you study to become a personal trainer, and once you are a personal trainer, work on starting a business that works well with your passion for bodybuilding.

Multiple Revenue Streams

The key to making a lot of money is through multiple revenue streams, instead of relying on only one way of making money. You first goal should be to establish a steady income, then your second should be to somehow get a secondary income, and with the extra money from the secondary income you can figure out the best way to turn the additional income into more money.

Think Apart From the Rest

As with any industry, the better you can differentiate yourself from the rest of the crowd as being superior from the rest, the more successful you will be. If you stand ahead of the rest on stage, as a personal trainer or business you can make a lot of good money. Originality Wins.

Be Money Smart

Save and use your money wisely. Make sure you always have enough for rainy days and keep your expenses as low as possible. The worst thing you want is to cut supplements in the middle of the month because you thought you would get more money and didnt!

We hope this info was useful. Please let us know in the comments below. Stay Strong! 

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MIRACLE MAKE MONEY NOW

21.01 in and, bad, benefits, bigger, bodybuilders, days, for, good, gym, make, miracle, Money, muscles, now, of, skipping, stretching

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Creatine and its Different Forms

15.17 in and, athletes, benefits, bodybuilders, break, creatine, different, drinking, for, forms, how, its, juice, lemon, make, Money, of, plateau, that

Creatine has gained a lot of popularity in bodybuilding and sports circles over the last few years. Today we look at what creatine actually is, what it does and the different forms that it is available in.

What is Creatine?

Creatine is an organic acid that contains nitrogen. It is organic because its molecules contain carbon and it is acidic because it has a pH level less than 7. Dont let the word acidic scare you; acids are very common in the body. For example, proteins are broken into amino acids in our bodies. Nitrogen is needed to make protein for new tissue (like muscles, skin and hair).

Creatine is a natural substance found in meat and fish and in our bodies naturally. It is not essential to consume creatine to sustain human life, because our bodies produce creatine naturally from the amino acids glycine, arginine and methionine.

Creatine has the primary role of supplying energy to the body, particularly the muscles. Energy cannot be created with creatine.

Creatine as a Pre-Workout Supplement

Creatine is often sold as a pre-workout supplement because it increases the bodys ability to produce energy at a faster rate. Since the body can produce more energy, it is able to achieve a greater work load during workouts, which in turn leads to greater strength and muscle growth. This allows people to achieve their workout goals at a faster rate than normal.

Creatine is very effective in boosting anaerobic performance, such as weight lifting, sprinting and other activities that require short bouts of energy.

Creatine as a Muscle Building Supplement

Taking a creatine supplement leads to greater weight gain, initially in the form of water retention and then later in the form of muscle growth. By pulling water into muscle cells, creatine increases protein synthesis. There are many protein shakes and meal replacement supplements that contain creatine to boost muscle growth and recovery.

The Risks of Taking Additional Creatine as a Supplement

A great deal of research has been done on the possible health risks of taking creatine as a supplement, of which almost all studies conclude that creatine is safe to use. There has been some speculation that creatine damages the kidneys or the liver, but no studies have been able to prove this so far or find any correlation between creatine consumption and kidney or liver damage. However, it is still recommended that people with any kidney or liver issues avoid creatine supplementation.

It is generally recommended that not enough studies have been done to prove that creatine supplementation is safe for people under the age of 18, since the long-term effects of creatine during the growth phase before adulthood are not completely known.

Negative side Effects

Studies have not shown any negative side effects that could cause long term health problems in adults so far, however some people do experience short-term negative side effects because creatine retains a lot of water. For example, creatine monohydrate would have a lower absorption rate than other forms of creatine. This means that the unused creatine sits in your gut until your body expels it with other waste products. People can experience nausea, bloating, stomach pain, diarrhea and cramps if a large amount of creatine sits in the gut, pulling too much water into it. 

Does Creatine Actually Work?

The effects of creatine vary from one individual to the next, since bodily function, genetic make-up and substance interactions differ between people. There have been some cases where people dont get any of the positive benefits of creatine after weeks of use, where others benefit greatly in contradiction. One key example of the different levels of benefit that individuals receive from creatine is the example of diet. Since creatine is only found in meat and fish foods, vegetarians would generally see a much greater effect from creatine supplementation than people who eat a lot of meat and fish, who are already consuming creatine.

Additionally, some forms of creatine work better than others, not all creatine is equal. Some people respond better to some forms of creatine when others respond better to other forms. In general, creatine in powder form has shown to be more effective in studies, compared to liquid forms (even so, some people report having a much more positive effect using the liquid form).

Different Forms or Creatine

There are different forms of creatine which can be bought at stores as supplements. Here is a list of the most common forms and their key characteristics.

Creatine Forms by Processing

Creatine Monohydrate

• Is the most popular form of creatine
• It is the most basic, natural form of creatine which is the least processed
• It is less soluble in water compared to most other creatine forms

Micronized Creatine

• Is basically micronized creatine monohydrate
• Micronizing the creatine breaks it down into smaller parts
• This increases the amount of the creatine that is absorbed and actually used by the body

Creatine Serum (Liquid Creatine)

• Is basically creatine monohydrate which has been dissolved in water
• It is supposed to be absorbed more easily, but some people report no effects of this form whilst others report that it works well
• Some argue that this liquid form of creatine breaks down because of the water content over time, rendering it useless

Buffered Creatine

• Is made at a higher pH level than regular creatine monohydrate
• It supposedly has the same effects as monohydrate without the possible negative side effects like stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea and cramps. 
• It is also believed that it does not break down as much as monohydrate, meaning that less in needed for the same effect as monohydrate

Creatine Forms by Bonding with Other Substances

There are many other creatine forms that companies create by bonding it with other substances, and many more will be created by these companies in the future. 

Creatine Ethyl Ester

• Is creatine combined with ester on a molecular level
• Is said to be the form of creatine with the highest absorption percentage 
• Apparently, everybody feels the positive effects of this form of creatine and doesnt cause any negative side effects like stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea and cramps

Effervescent Creatine

• Is creatine combined with sugar/sodium and a bubbling agent
• Has better absorption and taste than regular creatine

Creatine Citrate

• A form of creatine with molecules (citric acid) that increase absorption
• It is more water soluble and absorbent, but is needed in a higher dose for the same effect as creatine monohydrate 

Di Creatine Malate / Tri Creatine Malate (Tri is More Absorbent)

• Another type of creatine that is bonded with molecules (Malic Acid) to increase absorption
• This creatine form is also more water soluble

Creatine Orate

• Another form of creatine bonded with a molecule (Orotic Acid)
• Orotic Acid increases energy production in the body. So basically, creatine orate has two different substances that both increase energy at the same time

Creatine HCL (Hydrochloride)

• This is creatine bonded with hydrochloric acid
• It is more water soluble and absorbent than monohydrate
• Many say that this is the best form of creatine around at the moment, whilst others say that it does not work

Creatine Nitrate

• Creatine that is bonded to nitrate
• This form has the benefits of creatine combined with the additional benefits of nitrate, which also aids the bodys energy production systems

Final Word of the Day

Creatine can work for you, but remember that we are all different and respond to it differently. Fortunately, there are many forms that are available for you to try and see what feels and works best through trial and error. Be safe and dont use creatine if you are under 18, have any kidney or liver damage or are cutting for a bodybuilding show (because creatine retains water). STAY STRONG!

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