Things That Make Good Employees Quit

It’s pretty incredible how often you hear managers complaining about their best employees leaving, and they really do have something to complain about—few 

things are as costly and disruptive as good people walking out the door.

Managers tend to blame their turnover problems on everything under the sun, while ignoring the crux of the matter: people don’t leave jobs; they leave managers.

The sad thing is that this can easily be avoided. All that’s required is a new 

perspective and some extra effort on the manager’s part.

First, we need to understand the nine worst things that managers do that send good people packing.

1. They Overwork People

Nothing burns good employees out quite like overworking them. It’s so 

tempting to work your best people hard that managers frequently fall into 

this trap. Overworking good employees is perplexing; it makes them feel as if they’re being punished for great performance. Overworking employees is also counterproductive. New research from Stanford shows that productivity per 

hour declines sharply when the workweek exceeds 50 hours, and productivity drops 

off so much after 55 hours that you don’t get anything out of working 

more.

If you must increase how much work your talented employees are doing, you’d better increase their status as well. Talented employees will take on a bigger workload, but 

they won’t stay if their job suffocates them in the process. 

Raises, promotions, and title-changes are all acceptable ways to increase workload. 

If you simply increase workload because people are talented, without changing a 

thing, they will seek another job that gives them what they deserve.

2. They Don’t Recognize Contributions and Reward Good Work

It’s easy to underestimate the power of a pat on the back, especially with top performers who are intrinsically motivated. Everyone likes kudos, none more so 

than those who work hard and give their all. Managers need to communicate with 

their people to find out what makes them feel good (for some, it’s a raise; for others, 

it’s public recognition) and then to reward them for a job well done. With top 

performers, this will happen often if you’re doing it right.

3. They Don’t Care about Their Employees

More than half of people who leave their jobs do so because of their relationship with their boss. Smart companies make certain their managers know how to balance 

being professional with being human. These are the bosses who celebrate an employee’s success, empathize with those going through hard times, and challenge people, even when it hurts. Bosses who fail to really care will always have high 

turnover rates. It’s impossible to work for someone eight-plus hours a day when they aren’t personally involved and don’t care about anything other than your production 

yield.

4. They Don’t Honor Their Commitments

Making promises to people places you on the fine line that lies between making them very happy and watching them walk out the door. When you uphold a commitment, 

you grow in the eyes of your employees because you prove yourself to be 

trustworthy and honorable (two very important qualities in a boss). But when you disregard your commitment, you come across as slimy, uncaring, and disrespectful. 

After all, if the boss doesn’t honor his or her commitments, why should everyone 

else?

5. They Hire and Promote the Wrong People

Good, hard-working employees want to work with like-minded professionals. When managers don’t do the hard work of hiring good people, it’s a major demotivator for 

those stuck working alongside them. Promoting the wrong people is even worse. 

When you work your tail off only to get passed over for a promotion that’s given to someone who glad-handed their way to the top­­­­­­­, it’s a massive insult. No wonder it 

makes good people leave.

6. They Don’t Let People Pursue Their Passions

Talented employees are passionate. Providing opportunities for them to pursue their passions improves their productivity and job satisfaction. But many managers want people to work within a little box. These managers fear that productivity will decline if they let people expand their focus and pursue their passions. This fear is unfounded. Studies show that people who are able to pursue their passions at work experience 

flow, a euphoric state of mind that is five times more productive than the norm.

7. They Fail to Develop People’s Skills

When managers are asked about their inattention to employees, they try to excuse themselves, using words such as “trust,” “autonomy,” and “empowerment.” This is complete nonsense. Good managers manage, no matter how talented the employee. They pay attention and are constantly listening and giving feedback.

Management may have a beginning, but it certainly has no end. When you have a talented employee, it’s up to you to keep finding areas in which they can improve to expand their skill set. The most talented employees want feedback—more so than 

the less talented ones—and it’s your job to keep it coming. If you don’t, your best 

people will grow bored and complacent.

8. They Fail to Engage Their Creativity

The most talented employees seek to improve everything they touch. If you take 

away their ability to change and improve things because you’re only comfortable with 

the status quo, this makes them hate their jobs. Caging up this innate desire to 

create 

not only limits them, it limits you.

9. They Fail to Challenge People Intellectually

Great bosses challenge their employees to accomplish things that seem 

inconceivable at first. Instead of setting mundane, incremental goals, they set lofty 

goals that push people out of their comfort zones. Then, good managers do 

everything in their power to help them succeed. When talented and intelligent 

people find themselves doing things that are too easy or boring, they seek other 

jobs that will challenge their intellects.

Bringing It All Together

If you want your best people to stay, you need to think carefully about how you treat them. While good employees are as tough as nails, their talent gives them an 

abundance of options. You need to make them want to work for you.

What other mistakes cause great employees to leave? Please share your thoughts 

in the comments section below as I learn just as much from you as you do from me.

The inspiration for this article came from a piece authored by Mike Myatt.

3 Crucial Food Lists

(What Lean & Muscular People Eat) By Tom Venuto,

In a past fat burning tips article, I shared the 1-2-3 E-Z meal creation formula. This is the same formula that has been helping bodybuilders and physique athletes gain muscle and lose fat for decades. Today I want to answer some of the questions I've been receiving about the Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle meal template, WHICH IS:  lean protein + starchy carb + fibrous carb, and specifically...what to eat!

All over the internet you see lists of the "BEST" foods to eat and of course the "WORST" foods to eat. These are helpful sometimes except for a couple of challenges; you might not like those "best" foods, or you might not be able to eat those foods (allergy / intolerance).

There is a danger in following someone else's food list (even an expert / guru) unless you understand the context in which those recommendations are given and you customize the list for your own needs. On the other hand, if you know about the 3 classic bodybuilding nutrition food lists - lean proteins, starchy carbs and fibrous carbs - and you understand the distinctions between those types of carbs, then putting together meals and entire daily meal plans is a snap, especially if you keep your diet flexible and not rigid.
 
Choose Follow The 90-10 Rule: These food lists are not supposed to be a rigid prescription for you - they are merely tools to help give you ideas. These are what I have observed as the most popular foods eaten by the leanest and most muscular people in the world, bodybuilders and other physique athletes. You are not limited to these lists and you should choose the healthy foods that you enjoy.

I also want to point out that you certainly don't have to eat only the healthy (aka "clean") foods on these lists all the time. These are simply the types of foods that successful fat-burners, body-builders, fitness models and phyique athletes eat most of the time.

I recommend eating nutrient-dense, mostly unprocessed foods about 90% of the time. With the other 10% of your calories each week you have some flexibility. Many people call them "free meals" or 10% meals or "discretionary calories."

If you use this 10% system, then you can rest easy knowing that as long as you stay inside your calorie limits for the day and the week, you will not gain fat and in fact, you can continue to get leaner. Plus, sticking with your program will be easier because you're not depriving yourself.  Now, onward with the lists of those foods we recommend you eat most of the time. We'll start with protein:

Lean Proteins:

• Eggs: whole (best option), egg whites, or liquid versions.
• Meats: chicken breast, turkey breast, top round steak (very lean red meat), leanest cuts of bison/buffalo, lean game meat (elk, venison, etc),
• Seafood: salmon (fish with high omega-3 fat content), tilapia & other white fish (lean fish), shellfish, tuna & other cold water fishes.
• Dairy: lowfat cottage cheese, plain lowfat or nonfat Greek yogurt, or high protein dairy products.
• Protein Powders /Protein Shakes (whey, casein, or mixes).
• Beans, legumes,& similar, listed last simply because they are the least “bio-available” (have the least readily available proteins).
• Obviously vegetarians have to use high protein plant sources, but the principle and objective is the same for everyone: Have a lean protein source with every meal. Simple. Part 1 of the 3-part meal DONE!

 
Next is the fibrous carbs. These include vegetables which are usually high in fiber and always low in caloric density. Think greens and think non starchy veggies.

Fibrous Carbs: broccoli, asparagus, green beans, onions, bell peppers (green, red, or yellow), tomatoes (yes, I know, technically it's a fruit), cauliflower, spinach, lettuce / mixes of leafy salad greens, cucumbers, celery, squash (all varieties), mushrooms, brussels sprouts. There are many other examples, but this list should be able to get you started.

This of course, is only a partial list, but these are the fibrous carbs that I see appear on fat burning meal plans of "the lean people" more often than any others. Put a lean protein and a fibrous carb together and 1 + 2, you now have a maximum fat burning meal (meaning, its high protein content is thermogenic and the meal is hard to overeat due to the low calorie density and the food form). This could actually create automatic fat loss.

Starchy Carbs: old fashioned rolled or steel cut oatmeal (unsweetened), yams or sweet potatoes, white baked potatoes (sensibly dressed), brown rice, beans, peas and legumes, quinoa (and other less common grains - spelt, amaranth, etc), 100% whole grains and whole grain products (pastas, breads, tortillas, etc).

By far the first four - oats, yams, potatoes and rice are the most popular starchy carbs in the physique world - staples. These are the natural starches. Beans and legumes are also popular and grains like quinoa are rising in popularity (can be served like rice or as a morning porridge).

Grains have really been beaten up lately (diet scapegoat of the year), even the whole grains, but for people without problems with wheat or gluten, whole grain pasta and whole grain breads do show up on physique athlete meal plans, and we see lean and muscular athletes eating them all the time - mostly however, in the muscle building phase and or at post-workout meals.

Now Put Them All Together: Putting it all together you can see that a traditional muscle building meal is 1 + 2 + 3: (lean + starchy + fibrous)

Examples: eggs + oatmeal + omelet veggies, tilapia + rice + asparagus, or chicken breast + potato + broccoli
What about fruit? That's a separate topic, but yes, plug your favorite fruit into any meal instead of fibrous carb calories.
 
Example: eggs + oats + mixed fruit cup

What about dietary fats and dairy products? Good question, because dietary fat is important for both health and body composition...There are fats inherent in the protein foods, sometimes a significant amount depending on the type (example: just one extra large whole egg has 5 grams of fat), and 6 ounces of Alaskan sockeye salmon, has 14.5 grams of fat - the healthiest kind of fats - omega 3). Even many carb foods contain small amounts of fat (example: a cup of oatmeal has 6 grams of fat).
 
By following the 1-2-3 meal builder template above, usually dietary fat is already at 15% or so of total calories (even higher if you're not eating mostly lean proteins), and that's why you don't have to "add a fat" at every meal (that's why it's not a 1-2-3-4 meal builder formula).
 
What you can do is simply add a serving or two of additional healthy fat to any meal or two, to bring you to your desired level of dietary fat for the day (examples: you might use olive oil in your dressings or cooking, add nuts to meals or snacks, sprinkle flaxseeds on your cereal, put avocado in your salads and so on). Some people, especially those who don't eat fatty fish simply choose to take fish oil supplements, and then they've got the healthy fats covered.

You have to be a little careful with dietary fats. There are unhealthy and healthy fats, but even the healthy kind have the highest calorie density of any food - 9 calories per gram. Some people add in too much healthy fat and then wonder why their fat loss has stalled.

What about dairy products? Another good question. Dairy products contain some of the highest quality proteins you can eat - casein and whey - plus vitamin D and calcium, so dairy products can be used as a part of your plan. Simply add them in as your calories and macros allow. If you use a high protein dairy product, it can actually be dropped into the template as a protein (you'll see dairy is at the bottom of the protein list).

Unfortunately, many people are lactose intolerant and cannot eat dairy, and others simply don't want to eat dairy products. Therefore, we consider them optional and they are not specifically mentioned in the classic "bodybuilder's meal template."

What about the amount of carbs, protein and fat? There is a little number crunching required to hit your daily calorie and macro goals, but that is not difficult or complicated, especially if you use a spreadsheet, an app or online software.

The only "tricky" part is the manipulation of that starchy carb intake - the X factor. That takes some knowledge of how your body type responds to concentrated carbs. We find that protein, vegetables and healthy fats should be eaten by everyone. But the amount of concentrated carbs may have to be customized (based on your goals and how well your body metabolizes carbs).

Weight-Training Mistakes You Don't Want to Make

Overview

With so much conflicting information out there, it’s hard to know what you should and shouldn’t be doing in your workout. While almost every type of activity is positive, wasting time isn’t. So that you can make the most of your time in the gym, on the next slides we reveal the 12 biggest mistakes to avoid in your weight-training workouts.

MISTAKE #1: Skipping Your Training Log

It’s hard to remember all of the specifics of your workout: weight, tempo, repetitions. As you start a new workout session, having a training log will help you immediately identify what you did last time so you can attempt to do it better. It’s also motivational to look back over a long period and see how far you’ve come. If you do decide to hire an experienced coach at some point, showing him a log will help him develop an effective program. Start a log in either a notebook or on your smartphone. Some things to include: date, body weight, exercise, weight, tempo, rest and how you felt before and after your workout.

MISTAKE #2: Working Out Without a Goal

What do you want to accomplish? It might be a quantifiable goal like running a 10K, or maybe a more emotional one like wanting to look good naked. The goal is the starting point, and without it your training will be haphazard. There are no best exercises, but there are a lot of great exercises specific to a goal. Without a goal there’s also no way of measuring progress. Write down your specific goals and ways to quantify them. For example: “I want to be at 7 percent body fat by August 7, 2017.” Now you have a way to measure your progress and make sure that your training is moving you closer to your goal.

MISTAKE #3: Program Hopping

There are a lot of people who will make fantastical promises about the results you’ll see from their programs. You’ll likely feel a desire to change your current program because you think that another one is better. Don’t. Stay the course. Consistency is the key. Find a program you enjoy, put on your tunnel-vision glasses and stick to it for a minimum of four weeks before considering another plan.

MISTAKE #4: Following the Pack

There’s always a fad workout or exercise that everyone in the gym seems to be doing. It’s possible that this exercise is a good one, but more often than not it’s just another exercise -- no better and no worse. If you’re already on a program, resist the urge to try out a new exercise and stick to the awesome plan that you’ve been working through. If you are curious to try a new variation, understand what the movement is intended to do and whether or not it will bring you closer to your goals. If it will help, then consider plugging it into your next program.

MISTAKE #5: Not Pushing Toward Progressive Overload

Simply put, progressive overload refers to making everything a little harder each workout. Ideally, you will get a little bit better every time that you step into the gym. Progressive overload doesn’t just refer to weight. Common ways to incorporate progressive overload include using a heavier load, using the same load for more repetitions, doing the same amount of work in less time, performing more sets with the same load and using the same load through an increased range of motion. Mix it up to ensure continued progress.

MISTAKE #6: Resting Too Much (or Too Little)

Ignoring rest periods can limit your progress. Not only is it important to efficiently use your time, but also to maximize a desired training response. If your main goal is training for hypertrophy (muscle gain) and you are resting three to four minutes in between every single set in your workout, you are going to be spending a lot of the time in the gym and never get an optimal training effect. Research rest times that will result the greatest training effect for your goals, and keep an eye on them during your workout. You don’t have to sit there with a stopwatch or worry that your session will completely go to waste if you deviate a little from the plan, but just be mindful of your recovery periods.

MISTAKE #7: Spending Too Much Time in the Gym

This is one of the most common training mistakes that plagues the fitness industry. In America we have been force-fed “more is better,” so when you’re told you should be training for an hour, you may think, “If 60 minutes is good, then 120 minutes is even better. Double the time, double the results, right?” Wrong. This type of thinking is what leaves lifters injured, weak and discouraged. Quit wasting your time in the gym. Get in and get out quick! At most, aim to spend 45 to 60 minutes (after you are properly warmed up) weight training -- and make it count.

MISTAKE #8: Always Going for a Record

We all know people who have been working out for years yet never seem to show any major improvements in body composition or strength. Often the reason is that these people are always going for a record. Training in the gym should be viewed as practice -- a place where you continually work to improve. Showing up to the gym and putting more weight on the bar than you can lift properly and struggling through one sloppy rep is a surefire way to stagnate in your strength goals. Dial in your technique and control the weight, concentrating on feeling your muscle contract through each rep.

MISTAKE #9: Avoiding a Spotter

Some lifters feel like using a spotter demonstrates a lack of confidence. This could not be further from the truth. A spot can help build confidence and also allow you to push yourself further on certain sets, even if it comes from nothing but verbal encouragement. Some movements, such as the bench press, require a spotter to help lift the bar off of the pins in order to keep the lifter safe. Don’t be afraid to ask for a spot.

MISTAKE #10: Sacrificing Technique for Weight

S

acrificing proper technique for more weight will hinder your progress. It’s also a great way to get hurt. Consistency is arguably the most important aspect of any training program, and if you injure yourself you are going to have to put on the emergency brake. Common thinking is that you need to add more weight to the bar if you want to get stronger or look better. This isn’t the only way. Performing the rep slower, for example, will lead to higher levels of muscle activation and more muscle gain in many cases. Proper technique often recruits more muscle and is easier on the joints, ensuring that you don’t get hurt.

MISTAKE #11: Focusing on Your Strengths

There’s a trap in which we are all at some point ensnared: We tend to do things that we’re good at and avoid things we aren’t. It’s a vicious circle. It’s important to embrace weak muscles and movements if for no other reason than because they will experience gains faster than an already well-trained body part. If something is difficult, it’s probably because you aren’t very good at it. This could mean scaling back your other training and increasing the volume and frequency on the weak body part.

MISTAKE #12: Not Respecting the Tempo

Tempo refers to the speed of movement of a lift. In my opinion, it’s both the most important and most ignored variable of training. A change in tempo with the same exercise can elicit a completely different effect. Using a slower tempo (specifically on the eccentric phase of the movement in which you bring the weight back to resting position) will have a vastly different feel and training effect than if you were to perform the movement as fast as possible while still maintaining control. Be sure to monitor the tempo of your repetitions, and, depending on your training goals, it may be wise to implement a tempo different than what you normally perform.

What Do YOU Think?

Have you been training with weights? Are you seeing the results you’re looking for? Do you make – or see others at your gym making -- any of these weight-training mistakes? Were these tips helpful? Are there any mistakes we missed on our list? How often do you lift?

Last Updated: Apr 08, 2016 | By Jon Goodman

How to Train Harder and Stay Injury-Free

By ERIC VELAZQUEZ

Training is good. Training hard is better. But training consistently is the key to drastic, lasting change to your health, performance and body composition. Unfortunately, there are a lot of things that can (potentially) disrupt that consistency. Work, family, commutes and social gatherings can all upend your schedule -- often suddenly -- leaving you a day late and a workout short in the gym. But the most sinister impediment to an undisturbed workout schedule is injury.

When we say "injury," we're not referring to the joint aches and muscle soreness that are part and parcel of an intense love affair with the iron. We are referring to soft-tissue injuries to muscles, tendons and ligaments -- both acute and chronic -- that require ample rest to heal. But while those tissues convalesce, the rest of your physique suffers: Muscle is lost, fat is stored and lungs return to stasis. And the worse the injury is, the longer the recovery time (read: the doughier you stand to become).

The good news is that you can fortify your muscles and joints against these types of injuries by simply taking a few pre-habilitative steps before and after workouts. Some of these tactics can even drastically (and immediately) improve performance and enhance recovery. Put another way, you'll be able to train harder more often with less chance of injury.


1. Stop stretching before workouts

Stretching is still cool. Just not in the way that it's been taught by generations of short-sighted PE teachers. In fact, the long-held practice of static stretching has been found to decrease performance while offering no greater protection against injury.
Studies have shown that static stretching before training can negatively impact strength. A better bet is dynamic stretching, which calls for you to perform several range-of-motion exercises that increase your body's core temperature, excite your nervous system and generally prepare your joints and muscles for the work ahead.
Dynamic stretching routines vary greatly, but the goal should be to spend three to five minutes working your way up through a series of activities of increasing intensity. Before squats, for example, you may follow a progression like this, doing each activity for 15 to 20 seconds: jogging in place, jumping jacks, high-knee running in place, partial body-weight squats, full body-weight squats and squat jumps.
If you've done it right, your heart rate should be elevated and you should have a light sweat going. Researchers have found that this type of warm-up improves strength and flexibility -- virtues that help reduce injury risk.

2. Do a specific warm-up

When you're done with your dynamic warm-up, it's time to get specific. Using the squat example again, this means getting under the bar and performing a few light sets, generally in a higher-rep range. This helps to increase blood flow to the muscles and joints that you'll be working, but, more importantly, it helps to engrain proper movement patterns ahead of your heavier work.
This brain training ahead of your working sets helps you work out more efficiently, limiting the small deviations in form that can send you to the trainer's table. Take advantage of these sets by focusing on every part of the movement, and do as many sets as you think are necessary before piling on the plates.

3. Stretch it out

Like we said, stretching is still cool, but timing is everything. After your workout is the time to sit and hold some static stretches with the muscle groups you've trained. Warm muscles are more limber than cold ones, meaning that you'll get a truer stretch with less risk of injury at this time.
You should hold each stretch for at least 30 seconds and up to 90, the top end of which has been shown to improve flexibility. Breathe slowly and deeply on each stretch, getting a little "deeper" into each stretch upon exhaling. Static stretching post-workout also can help speed recovery and has been shown to reduce (not eliminate) next-day muscle soreness.

4. Roll it out

Almost universally, professional athletes say that getting frequent massages is key to their success. Much to the dismay of our checkbook, they're not wrong.
Massage is a restorative process that promotes blood flow (and thus recovery) while also keeping muscles, connective tissues and fascia supple and healthy.
One cheap alternative? A high-density foam roller can help rub out pesky knots and release tension in aching muscle bellies -- a process known as myofascial release -- all without the costly enlistment of Helga's man-hands. Though painful at first, the use of foam rollers can help rejuvenate muscles and tendons between workouts.

5. Rest

Have you ever started a new workout routine only to be sidelined in the first week with a screaming shoulder, sore knee or achy back? "Yes," said every person reading this. In our enthusiasm, we sometimes trick ourselves into believing that we should be consistent at all costs -- even when our body is telling us otherwise. A better approach would be to temper your initial efforts and instead insist on a gradual progression from week to week. You don't have to lift all the weight on the first day.

Once you have that urge in check, it's important to let muscles recover between workouts -- 48 to 72 hours is a good general guideline. Eight-time Mr. Olympia Lee Haney said it best: "Stimulate, don't annihilate." And sleep. If you're not getting seven to nine hours a night, you can compromise the ability of the central nervous system to properly recruit muscles during intense training, which makes injury a near certainty.

The 7-Minute Cardio-Sculpting Workout

By Jessica Smith

Can you really get a good workout in if you've got less than 10 minutes to spare? You bet! Toss that “I’ve got NO time to work out” excuse out the window and try this no-equipment, total-body cardio-sculpting routine for an efficient and effective session you can do anytime, anywhere. Do each exercise shown for 30 seconds, back-to-back (no rest in between) to keep your heart rate up and burn more calories in much less time.

Check it out

The 3 Secrets to Losing Belly Fat

By JAY BRADLEY



As a health and wellness coach, the number-one question that everybody asks isn't, "How do I live longer?" or "What can I do for more energy?" It's almost always, "How do I lose this tummy?" In a world where we're bombarded by ads promoting four-, six- and eight-packs, it's no wonder we're obsessed with abs.

While having tight and toned abs is partly genetic, the great news is that there are a number of things that you can do today to firm, slim and define your midsection for good.

1. Drink Green Tea: Green tea has been shown to boost the immune system and fight cancer-causing cells in our body, but it also works very well to assist in the burning of excess weight and body fat. The epigallocatechin gallate component in green tea acts as a thermogenic, meaning that it stimulates the fat-burning process. You'd need to drink at least seven cups of green tea per day to get the effects of two to three capsules of a green-tea supplement, so I suggest taking them in the morning to avoid caffeine stimulation later in the day or choose a decaffeinated version.

2. Interval Cardio: The good news is that long cardio sessions are over and interval cardio is taking its place. Interval training involves sprinting or pushing the body into an anaerobic state in short bursts of exertion for 20 to 30 seconds with rest periods in between.

When doing interval cardio, there's less oxygen available to the muscles and the body will more quickly fatigue. A 20-minute session of interval cardiovascular exercise just three days per week stimulates the fat stores in our body and works to burn excess weight.

On either the elliptical machine or recumbent bike, do a three-minute warm-up. Increase resistance and sprint for 30 seconds, then reduce resistance again and perform a 90-second cool-down. Do this eight times followed by a two-minute cool-down at the end for a total of 19.5 minutes just three days per week. That's it.

3. Eat More Fat: This seems completely contrary to logic, but the latest research shows that by consuming more healthy unsaturated fats, such as coconut, avocado, olive oil, fish, nuts and seeds, not only do we feel satiated longer, but our systems also gets busy stimulating the fat-burning process within our bodies.

Studies have found that those who ate foods higher in healthy fats, such as those found in the Mediterranean diet, had a lower body-mass index. This means less body fat and a leaner frame than those who ate a low-fat diet. They also lost excess weight more easily.

We all want to look and feel our best, and getting there just takes some consistent effort. By following these simple steps and committing to them for a minimum of three months, you are well on your way to a slimmer, tighter and more toned belly -- just in time for summer!

*Always consult with your physician before starting any exercise, diet or supplement routine.

--Jay

How Porn Is Messing with Your Manhood

Research is suggesting that pornography addiction may be distorting our ideas of healthy sexual relationships, causing erectile dysfunction, social anxiety, depression, compulsivity, desensitization, anorgamsia, delayed ejaculation, difficulty having sex with real partners, and abnormally low sexual desire. In this week’s eSkeptic, renowned psychologist Philip Zimbardo and author of Your Brain on Porn, Gary Wilson, discuss the problem of pornography addiction.

BY PHILIP ZIMBARDO & GARY WILSON


Finding a needle in a haystack would be easier than finding an adolescent male who hasn’t seen online porn. Surveys indicate the average boy watches roughly two hours of porn every week with porn viewing becoming common by age 15.

The most popular porn site—PornHub—reported that the average Millennial porn session lasts 9 minutes, while the average age young people have sex for the first time is 17 years old. This means the average boy has had about 1,400 porn sessions prior to having real life sex. So why aren’t more people asking what kind of effects porn is having on these young viewers? 

Almost all people can recall the first erotic image they saw; like a flashbulb memory it is forever emblazoned in our minds. There appears to be a special window of time when visual sexual interests form most readily: adolescence. When this critical period gets hijacked by watching copious amounts of online porn, it seems some men can suffer from what one Italian urology survey called “sexual anorexia,” or difficulty having sex with a real partner. Many of the young Italians in the 28,000-person survey started “excessive consumption” of porn sites as early as 14 years old and later, when in their mid-20s, they became inured to “even the most violent images.” Professor Carlo Foresta, head of the Italian Society of Andrology and Sexual Medicine (SIAMS), explained that the problem worsens when young men’s sexuality develops independently from real life sexual relationships. First, he said, viewers become less responsive to porn sites, then their libido drops, and finally it becomes difficult to get an erection. 

Read the full article:

How Porn Is Messing with Your Manhood