Muscle Building in the Office

Here is a free gift about how to build muscle in the office.


5 Keys to Office Muscle

The holidays can be a train wreck to building muscle. Especially, if you work in an office setting throught out the holidays. Why you might ask? Let's just say everyone brings out the betty crocker in them and starts baking cookies and pies. It's like a junk food fest. If you are not careful it could start you on a month long binge of junk food. The fact is most people know when the Holidays are coming, but never prepare a strategy to turn the office into a muscle building factory. Below I listed several strategies that will build you a rock hard body and keep your hands out the office cookie jar. At least, keep your binges at bay.

1) Park far away from the office - This allows you to enjoy a walk that wil help burn the extra calories that are taken in during the holidays. It also helps the recovery process after some tough workouts in the weight room.

2) Drink plenty of water- Water, not only saturates the cells and moves food properly through your digestive system. It also keeps you full, which decreases the chance of shoving that extra chocolate cake in your mouth.

3) Bring healthy snacks to the office - There is nothing that helps you stay full like snacking periodically throughout the day on snacks that will help you build muscle and keep fat gain at a minimum. It will also regulate your insulin which is beneficial to stopping fat gain. Some examples are beef jerky, nuts, dried fruits, and high protein bars. Keep those snacks nearby and your physique will be the talk off the office.

4) More Activity- It simply makes sense to do more when you eat more. It is a formula of more in and more out for you if you plan to be ripped and muscular during the holidays. This could be just walking around the parking lot during lunch to burn some belly fat and flush out any bad blood from a greuling workout. It is low impact enough that it will not cause any soreness and will be easy to recover from. It is also a great time to ramp up the intensity of your workouts because your feedings will be at an all time high during the holidays. That is a prime time to pack on some serious slabs of muscle. Keep the wokouts short because if you are married like me this is when the wife will have you shopping all over the place.

5) Build a support group- It is great to have people that are after the same goals that you are. It will build accountability and create an atmosphere of success. That is of course if you have motivated people in your group. I like training with people that push themselves to the limit and are not there to talk. It creates an atmposhere for challenges and moving serious weights. If you have ever lifted with some motivated athletes you know all about the atmosphere I am talking about.

Coach Lamour is a performance enhancement specialists in the Jamestown, NC area. He has played football professionally and coached the pop warner level all the way up to college. He has written articles for EliteFts.com and currenlty enjoys training fat loss clients and athletes of all ages. He can be contacted at grorie@triad.rr.com. Pick up your free gift at http://wwwthechamber-jimmy.blogspot.com/

Get Fit Moms

7 Fat Loss Strategies For Busy Moms
By Holly Rigsby, CPT
www.FitYummyMummy.com



Would you like to "jump start" your metabolism and lose your ‘mommy belly' once and for all? If so, the following seven tips are exactly what you need to improve your workouts and ignite your metabolism. Try some or all of these tips, but beware, the result may be a number of admiring second glances and the need to pull your ‘skinny jeans' out of the closet.



1. The majority of your workouts should be composed of free-weight, bodyweight or cable exercises.Compared to machines, free-weight, bodyweight and cable movements often require more skill, create muscular balance, and have a greater metabolic cost. For example, it is more difficult to balance the weights, and to coordinate muscles when performing free-weight exercises. Although this may sound like a disadvantage, it is actually a benefit. By balancing and stabilizing free-weights or cables you are working more muscles through a greater range of motion resulting in more muscles developed and more calories burned.



2. Use exercises that work more than one muscle at a time.When focusing on fat loss, you can't worry about "shaping" exercises, instead you should use exercises that'll get you the biggest bang for your buck and work as many muscles as possible. Isolation exercises can be used at the end of a workout to work on a specific target area, but they just serve to supplement your core movements.Virtually every savvy fitness professional is privy to the fact that compound exercises recruit the most muscle groups for any given body part.If you seek lean, toned muscles and the increase in metabolism that comes with them, you must choose exercises that work as many different muscles as possible. One of the main reasons why squats are superior to leg extensions for improving your body is that they also work your butt, hamstrings and inner thighs in addition to toning your quadriceps while leg extensions focus on just the front of your thigh and don't really offer any other benefit. That same rationale hold true for arm exercises too. That's why dumbell presses and dips will are more valuable for your arms than triceps kickbacks and pushdowns.A good rule of thumb is to use movements that will allow you to use the most weight. These will have a systemic effect on your body that'll help maintain or increase your lean muscle, and in turn ignite your metabolism.



3. Pair exercises.Pair your exercises together so that you alternate between upper-body exercises and lower-body exercises or between exercises that target opposing muscle groups (e.g. chest and back).This type of approach will keep your workouts short and efficient by eliminating much of the downtime that comes between sets of a single exercise since you are working on one movement while resting from another. This approach can also yield huge benefits in your mission to burn fat. Since you'll constantly be moving and keeping your heart rate elevated, you'll be burning far more calories than you would during a typical workout.



4. Keep your reps between 8 and 12.Through research, it has been determined that the best range for building lean muscle is roughly between 8-12 reps. Since the main focus of your resistance training efforts is to gain lean body mass and stimulate your metabolism, this rep range fills the bill perfectly. "High reps for tone and fat loss" is one of the biggest (and most unproductive) training myths! Somehow the aerobics, yoga and Pilates' community have convinced us that when we perform bodyweight exercises or light resistance training for high reps, our muscles magically take on a beautiful shape without growing or bulging. On the other hand, if you challenge yourself with moderately heavy weights, your body will take on a bulky, unflattering appearance. If you believe this, you probably still believe in the Tooth Fairy!



5. Rest only 30 to 60 seconds between sets.When you keep the rest periods under one minute, it's easier to stay focused on the task at hand and keeps your heart rate elevated. In addition, it forces your muscles to recover more quickly between sets, along with keeping your nervous system revved up.If your first movement in an upper/lower body pair is squats, you might want to rest 60 seconds before attempting your second movement. However, if your first exercise is a fairly "easy" exercise, like lat pull downs, you might only wish to wait 30 seconds before doing the second part of the pair.



6. Perform total body workouts.You must drop the notion that muscle groups work independently of one another. Muscles work together and should be trained that way. Besides, not only does this approach mean less time in the gym, but by working the whole body three times per week, you'll be maximizing the fat burning effect of your program.



7. Cardio is not the cure-all for fat loss.Cardiovascular exercise aids in the creation of a caloric deficit, but the caloric expenditure during cardio is temporary. Strength training addresses the core of the problem by permanently increasing the rate at which the body burns calories by adding muscle. The best programs will include both strength training and cardiovascular training, but the core or the programs effectiveness is resistance training.Take these strategies and incorporate them into your workout routine. Not only will you save a lot of time, but you'll also soon see a leaner and more toned body. Not to mention a few more turned heads and the re-emergence of your skinny jeans.


About the Author
Holly Rigsby is a nationally recognized women’s fitness coach, certified personal trainer (CPT) and the author of the internationally popular e-book – Fit Yummy Mummy - Burn Your Baby Fat & Get Your Body Back. www.FitYummyMummy.com to get your FREE copy of her special report: "The Five Ways To Boost Your Metabolism."

Why young athletes are slow?

It is not uncommon to ovehear parents talking about how their kids need to run faster. There is not a single skill that will make more of an immediate impact than speed. It is no wonder that sports training centers are being built all over the country. Every parent wants their child to have an advantage over their competition. There are some great centers out there that allow these young athletes to reach their maximum potential. But there are some that are not even worth a second look. Many are filled with fancy equipment and drills to fool parents into bringing their child to these programs. In reality, kids in the age range of 10-16 are not going to grow optimally by learning a bunch of drills.

Drills may create an athlete that is more coordinated within that drill. But I think at that age the athlete must concentrate on strength, which is what is most lacking in these younger years. The reason being is that speed is mostly about how much force you can apply to the ground and how much force you can absorb. Don't get me wrong...I am not saying that technique, conditioning, agility, and mobility are not important. I am saying that most athletes at that age are just not strong enough and that must be exhausted first before you address all the other abilities that aid in developing complete speed.

The Keys to Six-Pack Abs

Almost anyone that is looking to be healthy wants to have six-pack abs. Most people thing it is something that only happens when you are in your twenties. This is absolutely not true and a six-pack is very possible if you are following the right program. The first thing that you must realize is that six-pack abs are mostly a result of sound nutrition and low body fat levels. I will tell you one thing it does not take are hundreds of ab crunches a day. Mike Geary has developed a full proof way to get those abs that you have always wanted in his program the truth about six-pack abs. Click Here!

The former athlete

What makes former high school athletes or college athletes let themselves go after their careers are over? They used to be chilsed, mobile, and in great health. You look at them now and you cannot even tell they played sports. I understand that life has a way of changing things... kids, work, and a flat out busy schedule. I think that mostly these former athletes have lost their focus on health. There is no longer a reason to stay in shape. In their younger days they had to stay in shape to perform well in their sport.

The older these former athletes get the more the excuse about time arises. It is a bunch of crock because many people waste time watching hours of TV, hanging out with friends, and various activities. I am not saying that you should not have a life outside of staying in shape. How hard is it to get a 30 minute workout three times a week? Some of you all might say I spend more time than that and still look terrible. Maybe you need to pick your exercises more wisely or you still have your hands in the cookie jar. Until these former athletes get sick of their pot belly roast they will forever complain about how great they used to look. Make up your mind, get a good workout plan, and work hard. You can look better than you used to look in your former days if you want it bad enough. Get back to Vernon Davis shape!

It's Football Time

It's football time for anyone that enjoys football. I coach my ten year old's tackle football team, so it is coaching time for me. I cannot help but look at the training of some of the other coaches that share the field with us, since I am a peformance coach. One of the biggest mistakes I see is the use of lactic acid training. This is training that is done for more than 20 seconds continuously, which release a lot of lactic acid. Lactic acid has been shown to be a contirbutor of muscle soreness. The young body at the ages of 7-12 cannot process lactic acid well, which is why training this way causes more of a diminishing training effect. Why do coaches continue to run these little guys into the ground?

I think it is matter of old school thinking. Their coaches from the past have convinced these coaches that running this way is the only and best way to prepare for sports. The problem is most of these coaches are basing these beliefs on what type of conditioning was acceptable for them in college or high school. The problem is these kids are not in high school or college. What should be done to condition these young kids? I keep all conditioning drills 20 seconds or less and allow complete recovery. The point is that these kids are very untrained and conditioing should be basic and not produce lactic acid to produce the best effects.

Muscle Gaining Secrets

Have you ever wondered why you can't put on any muscle? You have probably tried every supplement known to man, read every muslce magazine there is, and spent countless hours in the gym. All the answers that you need can be found in Muscle Gaining Secrets by Jason Ferrugia. Jason Ferruggia is a world renowned fitness and performance coach. He has helped thousands of athletes, hardgainers and weekend warriors achieve their goals in record time. He is a regular contributor to several magazines such as Men's Fitness, Men's Health and Maximum Fitness. He is available for consulting, coaching, and speaking on a limited basis.

Click Here!

Check yourself before you wreck yourself

This was a line in a song I used to listen to, but I have found that it can apply to training also. Last week friday I decided to go against everything that was going on at the time and make it a heavy squat day. I should have known what was going to happen next. I lifted heavy although I only slept 4 hours the night before, performed a short warm-up, all the weights feeling heavy, and lifting heavy for 4 weeks straight. I guess I do not have to tell everyone that on my third heavy set I strained my lower back. Needless to say, I took this week off.

Summary of my points

* Listen to your body to decide when to take a break
* Make sure you properly warm-up
* Pay close attention to your exercise form
* Don't lift heavy all the time
* Be sure to get adequate sleep
* Eat a snack with a decent amount of protein & carbs to sustain your energy level

Fat Loss Circuit by Craig Ballantyne

7-Minute Weight Loss Circuit
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
http://www.turbulencetraining.com/

One thing we have to lose from our workout mindsets is the idea of this "60-minute workout". Forget about spending that much time in the gym. Instead, choose better exercises that are more efficient. This will allow you to get your workout done faster, eliminating the "no time" workout excuse.

To do so, you need to eliminate irrelevant exercises. I know you want to do an exercise for shoulders, and one for arms, and one for abs, and one for this and that. But before you do, ask yourself, will these really get me to my goal, or have I just been convinced by bodybuilding magazines that I need 40 sets per workout to get results?
Now, taking those lessons, we can then create some pretty incredible bodyweight workouts as well. And these bodyweight workouts can get finished fast!
In fact, here is a 7-minute bodyweight circuit that can help you lose weight, burn calories, and blast your metabolism. You don't need machines or weights. You can do this anywhere!
Bodyweight squat (10-20 reps)Pushup (10-20 reps) - do it on your knees if you mustReverse Lunge (10 reps per leg)Plank (30 second hold)Close-grip Pushup (10-20 reps)Side Plank (20 second hold per side)Mountain Climber (10 reps per side)
Do this with no rest between exercises. Rest 1 minute at the end of the 7-minute circuit and repeat up to 3 times.
If you are a beginner, do fewer reps and take longer rests.
It's a tough, tough bodyweight circuit, especially the combination of two exercises late in the circuit. This combo literally exhausted me to my knees...twice...before I was able to finish the circuit.You can do the circuit up to 3 times.
Another weapon in your fat loss arsenal. Now you'll know how to train efficiently and eat effectively for fat loss.
Don't wait any longer to get started! Get all of these bodyweight exercises, and more, in the Turbulence Training workouts that you can do in the comfort of your own home. No more annoying drives to the gym, waiting in line for machines in an uncomfortable environment, or being intimidated by the super-buff gym bunnies. Lose fat, get fit, and workout your way - at home with only a bench, a ball, and dumbbells.

Sincerely,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MSAuthor, Turbulence Training
About the AuthorCraig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit

Such a time as this

Everyone is in a such a time as this experience. What is this experience you might ask? These are questions you ask in life that you can't answer. For instance, the family you were born into, the place you live, the height you are, and the daily trials you go through. Only God can answer these questions. The point is there are certain things that are going to be in your life for the meantime and there is nothing you can do about it. What you do in that meantime could determine how you live life on a daily basis.

Training for a goal is no different. You might not like the way that you look in the meantime, being second string on a sports team, or your overall health. You can choose to complain on a daily basis, believe you do not have time, and accept your situation. Option 2 would be to find a reputable fitness coach, gain some confidence, learn as much as you can while going to the process, and knock your goals down one at a time. It's not what you do in the meantime, but what you learn that will determine your continued success.

Consistency is Key

Do you want to know the key to being stronger, more athletic, or losing weight? The key is being consistent with your plan of action. If you have scheduled 3 workouts a week for 2 months, then you have to find a way to get those three workouts in. If you are on a nutrition plan you must at least be 90% compliant. I laugh when people say I don't understand why the plan is not working for me and they are missing a ton of workouts. They also are not following their meal plan. Instead they make excuses why they can't do things. One of the big things that I push in my speed camp is that the kids should never make excuses.

My challenge to most of my clients is that I guarantee success with the programs I design if my clients are consistent with adhering to the program. I was able to build a good amount of stength and muscle off of poorly written strength programs in college because I was consistent. The best thing I can think off to keep consistent is to keep a folder and record your workouts. How can you tell if you are on course if you have no record of what you are doing? I promise you that if you would committ to two months of focused effort you would be amazed at the results.

Making Progress

The end of the 4 week speed camp is approaching fast. I have been very impressed with the progress of the young kids. They have all improved their bodyweight squat form, running technique, and strength. We have been working on a variety of mobility movements, speed strength, conditioning, and coordination. Also, one of the big things that is beyond their control that the kids need to be aware of is their diet.

Two of the camp attendees Keith Copper and my son Camdon have hit some tremendous PR's. Keith has improved his lunge technique and ten yard dash big time. Camdon has set a new camp record with a 3:00 plank hold. The big thing about these two guys that make them succeed is their willingness to work hard and compete. Be on the lookout for these two in the future at whatever they may attempt.

Get Lean & Mean

This simple statement takes me back to a time when one of my buddies was being watched by many NFL scouts to play wide receiver. We were in Virginia going through a warm-up before our football game and a scout said that Junior Lord guy is definitely lean and mean. I believe he was referring to the low body fat that Junior carried at that time and the amount of muscle that was on his frame. In training some of clients, I have noticed that many of them want that same look of being lean and mean. My response is if we want to look like athletes then we have to train more like athletes. Say goodbye to the endless hours in aerobics classes, light dumbells, and lond cardio sessions. Can they work? I think they can for a period of time, but what happens when the body adapts to that style of running and becomes more efficient at this type of running and does not see a need to grow or burn fat to keep up.

The answer is the body stops burning fat and starts burning muscle. What happens from there is the smoothed out skinny-fat look. Not a pretty site! I just believe that there are far more efficient ways to burn fat and preserve muscle. Most fat is burned in a caloric deficit state which means your body does not have enough glycogen stored because of the decrease of carbohydrates to endure a long cardio session. My solution is to lift big weights to give your body a reason to hold on to that muscle, keep your diet on point, and do short intense interval workouts. Weight training is an experiment and everyone's body is different, so the only way to measure your success is to keep track of your results.

Speed Camp is here

The Speed & Agility camp has finally arrived and has kept me very busy this summer. It has been a great experience working with the kids and helping them improve as athletes. In the short time that I have been working with the kids I can tell that the biggest obstacle for kids is strength. Strength limits their ability to get in certain athletic positions, hold certain positions, and reach maximal speed with running. It is funny to me when I see different coaches making 9 year old kids lift weights without preparing their young bodies with relative strength exercises such as pull ups, push-ups, lunges.....

The simplest cues can dramtically change the time that they run in certain speed drills. The reason being that most kids have no idea of how to run. Arm swing drills, knee step over drills, floor drills, and wall drills are most effective because I think they force the kids to learn optimal technique for speed. I would have loved to have had an opportunity to learn how to run at such an early age. I will be updating the results of the camp and am excited about what is to come.

Controlled Variety is Key

If you want to lose weight or gain muscle you have to force your body to adapt to a new stimilus every now and then. If you don't believe just look at the people at your gym that has been doing the same thing for years and you will see they look the same that they did when you first saw them. I attached an article from MSN that explained why you should vary your exercise routine periodically.

Efficiency is a good thing when you're talking about running your business. But it sucks the benefits out of your diet and workout. The more efficient your body is at exercise, the fewer calories it burns. Think of the guy in your health club who does the exact same workout every time you see him, with the exact same weights. He never looks better from one year to the next because his body has become so efficient at doing those moves that it doesn't need to grow bigger muscles or burn more fat in order to finish the workout.
Science has shown us some good strategies for making exercise less efficient:

Strength training
You can make your lifts less efficient in two ways by increasing the amount of weight you're lifting, or by choosing exercises that are more challenging to your balance and coordination.
Let's say your maximum bench press is 200 pounds. Lifting 200 pounds once is very inefficient; your body throws every muscle fiber into it. But lifting 50 pounds four times is very easy, and thus efficient. The metabolic cost of lifting 200 pounds once is thus greater than the cost of lifting 50 pounds four times. Doing maximum-effort sets of three to six repetitions with, say, 165 to 185 pounds would be a better way to overload your metabolism than doing sets of 10 to 12 reps with lighter weights.
The least efficient lifts are those in which the weight is over your head. This would include standing shoulder presses, as well as exercises such as squats or lunges in which you hold a weight overhead. So instead of doing shoulder presses in a machine or sitting on a bench, stand and crank them out.
Endurance exercise
No surprises here: If you perform intervals, in which you go hard, then easy, then hard again, you take the efficiency out of your run, swim, or ride. You can call this the "Old Science of Weight Loss," since studies have shown the fat-burning benefits of intervals since the early '90s.
Your diet, too, can be made less efficient, and thus more calorically costly. I showed in the previous section how a higher-protein diet kicks up your metabolism, a sign that your body is burning calories inefficiently. But if that protein comes in the form of high-calcium dairy milk, yogurt, cheese you take the inefficiency one giant step further.

The Gym

I went to the gym and as always it was an entertaining experience. I have a membership at the local YMCA and there are some things that always seem to happen when I am there. There was a trainer that had a middle aged lady doing med. ball squats on the Bosu Ball. Are you kidding me? I almost puked right there. You have no business on an unstable surface if you are not strong enough to manipulate your body weight. It's no wonder that this lady's body has not been transformed and will never be transformed until she raises her metabolic debt with intervals and resistance training. It is awful to see people flush money away with trainers that create entertaining circus acts that make you tired and get no results. Remember that anyone can get you tired but it takes a professional to help you lose weight, be an athlete, or become brutally strong.

The second story made me laugh so hard I could not contain myself. I am not one to laugh at other's misfortunes, but I can't believe how much misinformation there is out there. There is one guy in the gym that benches and curls with a weight belt on. I understand the belt going on when you are deadlifting or squatting heavy weight. Although, the belt should be used as a reference point to push out your stomach against the belt, so that you spine is braced for absorbing the weight. The downside of the belt when used improperly is that it shuts off the natural stabilizing ability of the stomach muscles. The moral of the story is take of the weight belt and get stronger stomach muscles.

Another thing that puzzles me is that everyone thinks they are an expert at weight training. How else can you explain why so many train themselves? Many people see the need for an expert accountant, expert surgeon, and expert engineer. But when it comes to learning proper exercise technique, progression tactics, and program design most trainees feel they are the expert. I guess that is why most people in the gyms look the same year end and year out. I better go over my workout before I blow a gasket.


Rack Lock outs
3x3-5- Worked up to 405 lbs.

Lo Row
4x10+10- 120 Lbs.

Shoulder Press - 135 lbs.
2x6
Chins-n-Dips- Bodyweight
3x8

Don't leave home without it

Today I made a crucial mistake. I left home this morning without my pre-workout snack. I paid for it during the workout and felt real sluggish. The pre-workout snack should consist of some quality protein, carbs, and something that helps make you mentally alert. Some people might try to make their own mixture of these ingredients, but I just want something that is very easy to grab so early in the morning. I have found the defranco bar to be my energy bar of choice. I know what you might be saying, " Not another protein bar." I have probably tasted a ton of protein bars in my life and I will agree that most of them taste like a pile of chalk with very little benefit. However, I have found the defranco bar to actually give me a steady boost of energy through out my workout and the necessary macronutrients to complete my workout with some gusto to spare.

Bar Stats:
When on the go, use the DeFranco Energy Bar as a convenient meal replacement. The appetite-suppressing effects of high protein, L-Tyrosine & caffeine combination should keep you energized & satisfied until your next meal.Nutrition Facts* Calories – 300* Protein – 28g* Total Carb – 26g* Sugars – 8g* Total Fat – 8g* Saturated Fat – 5g* L-Tyrosine – 1800mg* Caffeine – 115mg . You can purchase it at www.defrancotraining.com

5/16 Workout
Front Squat- Worked up to 4x5 135,185,205,225
Pull-Ups- BW 4x5
Bench- Worked up to 3x6-8 135,185,225,275, 225-8,6,6
DB Split Squat- 8,7,6 each leg
Dips- 3x8 w/ Isp Holds
Plank- 3x 30 sec holds

Active Recovery

I have been working out for 17 years and the older I get the more I realize the importance of Active Recovery. What in the world is Active Recovery you might ask? It is a method of recovering from the muscle damage and lactic acid build up that is caused by intense workouts. It has many benefits and is something that I feel everyone should do. It is not very time consuming and can be done at home. Although, most advanced lifters might need to perform a small workout in order to effectively flood the muscles with nutrient rich blood to heal their damaged muscles.

The beginner and some intemediate trainees can get away with a short workout. This workout will probably contain some prehab exercises with a light dumbells and some body weight warm-up exercises. I know that the last thing that most people want to do after a tough workout is a small workout, but trust me it will do wonders for you workouts. Mentally you will be more alert for your next workout, the quicker recovery will allow you to lift at a higher level, and you will improve mobility and work capacity with the extra workouts. These workouts should not last more than 20 minutes.

The Magazine Lifter

I can't believe what I saw in the gym last week. Yes, I spotted the magazine lifter. You know, the guy that is working out based on what he is reading in the muscle magizines. He carries his magazine from bench to bench confident in the fact that he will look like the super action hero physique he sees in the magazine. Weeks pass by and months... The sad truth is he never seems to shake the pot belly that stares at him every day.

One of the main reasons for this is because what works for the bodybuilder who might be on steriods and is genetically gifted will not work for the average trainee. The bodybuilder can get away with training arms and shoulders on one day, back and tri's on another, legs on one day, and bi's on another day. The average trainee will need to be more economical with their training. They will need to choose exercises that will allow them to work more than one muscle, so that they can be more time efficient. Besides, who has time to spend two hours in the weight room doing 6 exercises for chest on one day.

I know that most average trainees like the beach muscles like the pecs, arms, etc... But if you do not train movement patterns you will most likely suffer from imbalances, lack of muscle gain, and CNS fatigue. I know some trainers say that you have to totally abandon isolation exercises, but you can incorporate some here and there if your main movements are compound movements. I know that these exercises are not mainstream like DB curls and endless variations of bench, but believe me there is no quicker way to add slabs of muscle, loss fat, and enhance recovery within a properly designed program.

Mistakes made by the Magazine Lifter

1. Train with too many isolation movements

2. Does not allow time to recover from the exercise because of training everyday

3. Only trains each muscle group once per week

4. Does not lift maximal weights and therefore does not tap into the high threshold motor units which have the greatest potential for strength and muscle growth

5. Performs way too much volume ( Sets & Reps) which negatively affects the bodies ability to recover

6. Blindly follows someone else's programs without considering his unique weaknesses and strengths

7. Waste time hunching over to read magazine which puts him in spinal flexion and puts his neck in a poor postion.

8. Does not train functionally. For example trains the hamstrings only as knee flexorss on leg curl machine. The hamstrings are hip extensors as well as knee flexors.

Track your progress

Have you broken a record lately? You do not have to be an olympic medalist to break a record. One of the biggest flaws that I see in program design is that once someone starts to follow a program they do not track their progress. There are only a few ways that I have found to progress effectively and they are load, sets, or reps. If you continue to do the same workout over and over again and never lift more wieght, do more sets, or do more reps than your body will adapt to the stimulus and stop making progress.

The best way that I have found to make progress is by tracking your workouts. I use a binder where I write the amount of weight, sets, and reps I have done for a particular workout. When I attempt that same workout next week I attempt to add more weight, do more reps. or more sets. But if you don't know where you are at you will never know if you progressed. One of my football coaches told me that you never stay the same you either get better or get worst. If you are not tracking your progress you might be getting worst.

Get your mind right!

HAYS, Kan. - Sitting on the front row in her college classes carefully taking notes, Nola Ochs is just as likely to answer questions as to ask them. That's not the only thing distinguishing her from fellow students at Fort Hays State University. She's 95, and when she graduates May 12, she'll be what is believed to be the world's oldest person to be awarded a college degree.

It is amazing to see someone have so much determination that they are willing to pursue a college degree at the age of 95. This example of perseverance shows us none of us have any excuses as to why we cannot achieve our dreams in life. If your goal is fat loss than you need to put away anything that is not helping you achieve that goal. It might be poor eating habits, unsupportive people, lack of strength training. If your goal is becoming stronger than you need to get to weight room and start eating properly. I believe anything worth having is worth fighting for.

Life is full of trials and tribulations, but it is how you react to them and how you use them that will determine your success. I will never forget what Loren Johnson who played football at Virginia Tech told me one summer. We went to the same high school and he was in town for the summer and he showed me his strength and conditioning manual which stated if you have trouble finding a place to lift weights find a way to get strong. That statement stayed with me for the remainder of life because it taught me when you want something bad enough you will not let anything stand in the way of your success. In my years of coaching people for fat loss, as well as athletes to increase speed and strength the one reason some were successful and others were not was perseverance. They both had the same information, but the ones that stopped making excuses and attacked their missions were the ones that made incredible gains.

Fat Loss Success

I wanted to give some props to two of my clients that I designed a program for. They both had the same goal of fat loss, but that does not mean that I designed the same workout for both. A long time ago I used to work for a commercial gym and one of the perks of signing up for a membership was a generic program that everyone followed. Needless to say that most of the people did not get any significant results. Does the doctor prescribe the same medicine for a cold as he does bronchitis? Of course not! Training must follow the same formula. Everyone has their own weaknesses, dietary needs, and different responses to strength training. There is no magic pill like the fat loss industry would like us to believe or one size fits all program. It takes hardwork and discipline to lose weight, gain strength and muscle. It includes learning what exercise program works for you and gets you the results you are looking for. Let me give you several reasons why both of my clients lost 3 pounds a week.

1) They cleaned up their diet. They stayed away from fried and high fat foods. Ate veggies and fruits, got healthy fats from nuts, and fish, decreased their carb intake. Drank plenty of water and ate lean protein.

2) Peformed strength routines with weights as resistance along with body weight exercises.

3) Focused on improving reps, sets, time each week.

4) Accountability to me

5) Got focused and made up their mind that they would complete their mission

What is dying in your life?

I attended easter service this past weekend and the topic was about Christians living a resurrected life. Pastor explained how Christians should not have anything that dies in their lives when they are living a resurrected life. Even death cannot be seen as death because if you believe in heaven and have met the requirements you are simply just transferring to another location and not completley gone. This message made me ponder how many people have fitness goals but for whatever reason have allowed them to die. Below I have listed several reasons why our fitness goals die.

1) Faith - Whatever the object of your faith is will determine what you receive from what you believe. Whenver you sit on a chair you believe that the chair will hold you up, but since your faith is in a chair you can only get what the chair produces. What are you putting your trust in? Is it something or someone that has the ability to help you or is limited?

A)We do not believe the program that we are using will produce the results that we seek
B) We believe the lie that we are getting old and our metabolism has slowed down
C) We believe that we cannot lift the weight because we are not very strong
D) We believe what negative people have spoken over our lives

2) Hope - What do you expect to happen when you step out on the sports field or gym?Do you expect to have a great workout and dominate your sport? If you do not expect greatness chances are greatness will not come near you.

A) Hope that you run that great 40
B) Hope that you look like you are 20 again

3) Vision- If you cannot see yourself as being successful at the goal you are seeking then you have nothing to look forward to. Don't ever stop dreaming about what you see yourself accomplishing because it keeps you focused on the destination.

Ouch My Hammy

I am a big fan of Football and I can't believe how many hamstring injuries occur on a daily basis. I see anything from a hamstring strain all the way to a pull. Why is this happening so often? Especially at events like the NFL combine and pro day workouts. These guys are given the best experts money can buy according to their agents. If you look at the way some of these athletes warm-up and probably the way they had been using their hamstring prior to these events you might see why there are so many hamstring injuries. It drives me crazy to see athletes who have not put any effort into training for 4 years of college and then want to train like there is no tomorrow once they find out they have a chance to make some money at the NFL combine. I compiled a list of why athletes might experience these hamstring problems and I hope it helps athletes realize it takes more than a quick stretch to be injury free.

Why the hamstring injuries occur?

1) Tight hip flexors that may be caused by prolonged sitting or poor trianing

2) Poor Glute Activation

3) Poor Pelvic Position due to overuse of hamstring

4) Imbalance in Hip Dominant v.s. Quad Dominant exercises

5) Lengthened or weak abdominals especially the rectus abdominis and external obliques

How can you fix the hamstring problems?

1) Glute activation exercises ( Glute bridge, Bird dog, & fire hydrant)
2) Stretch your hip flexors
3) Planks, Reverse crunches
4) Stop sitting so much
5) Do a thorough dynamic warm up

This writing was heavily influenced by Mike Robertson,Brijesh Patel, and Eric Cressey

The Open Rack

Next time you go to your gym take a look at who is at the squat rack squatting. Most of the time in many public gyms you will notice that not too many people are squatting. Why you might ask? It could be because it takes a lot more effort than a leg extension, but it would do a lot more for the average trainee. The squat done properly works the big leg muscles like the hamstrings, quadriceps, upper back muscles, and lower back muscles. The fact that the squat work so many muscles would make it one of the most effecient exercises in the gym for the average trainee which has time constraints.

It makes sense to me to work as many muscles with one exercise as opposed to doing five different exercises and risk being overtrained. The problem is most gym goers have been tricked into thinking they can just follow the same long routines that are done in the muscle magazines. You know, the routines that say do 5 different exercises for chest and 5 different exercises for your shoulders. These routines end up disappointing many because they are not built for the average person trying to put on some muscle, they are built for genetically gifted and chemically enhanced body builders.

The fact is the people that spend the most time in the squat rack squatting are the people with the most muscle on the average in the gym. If you don't believe me next time you go to your gym make sure that you look at those that sit there and ride the bike all day compared to those that are the squat rack. I guarantee you the squat guy will win hands down. Now that you are seeing the benefits of the squat don't just go in there and do 4x20. I would start with 3x6 and work on perfecting the form, increasing weight by 5% if the form is perfect, and vary your reps when you have done them for about 3-4 weeks. Also, if you are a beginner I would do the squats more than 2 a week.

Post Workout Drink

I will go ahead and say that this is one of the most important meals of the day. As I look around many gyms, I notice that although this topic has been exhausted by many fitness professionals it is very much ignored by many gym goers. I hope you notice I said fitness professionals instead of personal trainers. If you heard Alwyn Cosgrove's interview with Dax Moy you understand that there is a difference between the two. Anyways, back to the post workout drink.

I cannot figure out why with all the benefits of the post- workout drink why it continues to be ignored. Could it be possible that people do not want these listed benefits?

• Increased muscle protein synthesis
• Better and faster recovery from endurance, strength, and interval training
• Reduced muscle soreness and perception of fatigue
• Decreased muscle protein breakdown
• Further enhanced glycogen resynthesis vs carbohydrate alone
• Further enhanced immune function vs carbohydrate alone
• Increased use of fat for energy at rest, as well as during training and competition

I have come to realize that people only purchase what they value. Why is Starbucks such a successful company selling coffee beans, water, and milk? They have related to the consumer that this coffee experience is worth the value placed on it. Someone said do not trust what has not been tested by trials. I can personally say that using a post workout drink has tremendously enhanced my recovery, my energy for the following workouts, and helped me preserve muscle mass. I have also noticed a drop off in performance when I have not used a post workout drink and my body usually takes longer to recover from a workout.

Dangers of the high school chamber

I am amazed a what goes on in some high school weight rooms. I will guarantee you that if you go to your local high school weight rooms chances are you will see poor form on exercises, improper warm-ups, poor supervision, and lack of pre-hab training. It is not uncommon for a high school kid to tell you that he benches 300 lbs. The problem is he will not tell you that the weight was moving through a partial range of motion, his spotter lifited half the weight, and his back was off the bench.

These inflated numbers are occuring because some of these coaches do not stress proper technique. It's no wonder that so many kids are injured in high school sports. I am not saying that you can prevent all injuries, but one of the benefits of a properly designed strength program is to help prevent injuries. Why is the PE coach the strength coach? A PE coach might know the basics of physical education, but does that mean he is qualified to teach strength techniques, flexibility training, pre-hab, recovery methods, and speed training. That is like allowing a nurse to perform heart surgery. That's just not going to cut it.

I think most high schools do a great disservice to their student-athletes. Money is easily invested into books, and eductaional facilities which is very important. But how can we allow our kids to participate in these different sports that cause a tremendous amount of trauma to the body and not invest in the things that will help them avoid injury? How much longer will this go on?

I think we as parents have to either demand better strength coaches or hire strength coaches to ensure that we are not putting our kids in danger. Ask the coach what his program entails and why he includes certain things in his program? If a coach cannot tell you why he does certain things run as fast as you can. You also want coaches that are constantly learning because the fitness industry is constanly changing with new studies and techniques.

Breathing is essential

Whoever prescribed how we should breathe during exercise? The more I experience life the more that I learn that what works for one person may not work for another person. In my research of this topic, I have learned that some coaches advocate that it is more natural to breathe out during the eccentric phase and in during the cocentric phase. It may be natural but does it pass the real world test. Most trainees breathe out during the cocentric phase and in during the eccentric phase. Who is right?

I can tell you that I have had more success with breathing out during the cocentric phase and in during the eccentric phase. Will that work best for everyone? Of course not! Training is the art of finding out what your body adapts best to. It could be because my body has adapted to breathing this way in the 16 years I have been lifting weights. I can tell you if that is the case, but I can tell you that I improve my lifts, feel more natural, and lift with more purpose breathing this way.

I feel more comfortable breathing my way when I am lifitng big weights because I have conditioned my body to breathe this way. Trust me you want to have confidence when you have some weight on the bar. You do not want to lose your concentration by wondering when to breathe in or when to breathe out. Stick to what you know if you keep improving from week to week. When the progress stops then you should be looking to make changes.

There are even some instances when holding your breath is beneficial. It helps to your hold your breath in the acceleration phase of a short sprint. If you master it, it will knock off some time off your ten yard sprints. I cannot give you the science behind this but I can give you results. It took my 10 yard dash from 1.68 to 1.47. This method can also help you when doing a 225 rep bench test in the first 10 or so reps. I think it causes the body to panic which triggers the brain to produce more force. I have found the quicker you can execute the first 10 reps in this test the less likely lactic acid will catch up with you and muscle fatigue. Don't knock these techniques before you try them. If it works for you keep doing it.

Intensity

Intensity is probably one of the missing links in most programs. I can think back to high school and even college and notice how we made tremendous progress because our intensity level was high. I would not say that we had the best program design or the most injury proof exercises. The basic factor of intensity caused us to push our limits to lift heavier or longer, which allowed for muscular adaptations. It helped us to get stronger and bigger.

I can't tell you how many times I work out at commercial gyms where I see the same routines being done with little or no effort. But we also want to see tremendous gains. Is that crazy or not? It takes new amounts of muscular contraction to get new amounts of muscular growth. If you are lifting the same weight, for the same amount of reps, at the same speed I am going to guarantee you that your progress will be stalled. Next time you are in the gym do less talking and push yourselves. You will thank yourself for it.

Recovery at last

Recovery is something that is very rarely discussed, but I would venture to say that it is one of the big reasons that progress is not made in fitness programs. Recovery is the time between training that allows the muscles and central nervous system time to recuperate from being used in strength or speed training. I can remember being in high school lifting day after day and wondering why I was not getting stronger. High Intensity running and strength training cause stress to the muscles and minor tears, which need time and active recovery methods in order to heal. The healing process creates an adaptation by the muscles, which in turn enlarges muscle to compensate for the stress that was put on the muscle.

There are two types of ways to fatigue the body, which are metabolically and neurologically. Metabolic fatigue is usually much more evident by the DOMS ( Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) , which we usually feel after a heavy bout of training. Central Nervous Fatigue is often the hardest to determine, but can be made visible by the way we feel, and the effort that we are able to put forth into training. The take home message is listen to your body and rest when you feel you don't have much to give.

There are several modes of recovery that I think are beneficial:

1) Vary your external resistance and stress from High to Low CNS stressors

2) Do not lift or run every day

3) Drink a post-recovery shake with adequate amount of BCAA's, protein, and carbs

4) Massage and contrast showers

5) Stretch all tight muscles ( Trapezius, psoas, hip flexors, etc...)

6) Rest ( 8-9 hours sleep)

7) Light additional workouts to increase nutrient rich blood flow to eliminate waste in blood and lactic acid.

If you are not improving, make sure that have some recovery methods or I will be telling you I told you so. And you put yourself at greater risk of injury.

Stunting your child's growth

Many parents are concerned about stunting their child's growth through physical activity, but the truth is that their growth my be hindered through lack of physical preparation. Those same parents that are concerned with their growth will have that same child specialize in one sport. Specializing in one sport is dangerous for youth because you limit the variety of motor pathways they are able to learn. Studies have shown that children that are exposed to more than one sport at early ages are on the average better overall athletes. They are able to pick up different sports faster because they have learned numerous motor pathways. The take home message is let your child play many different sports like Football, baseball, swimmming ......

Another myth that has me scratching my head is when you hear parents say that they are worried about their kids lifting weights because it will stunt their growth. Kids put their bodies through much more trauma participating sports such as little league football. I do agree that the kids should learn the techniques, build a general preparation base, and be supervised before they start a strength training program. As you can see, the thing that is most stunting the children's growth is our lack of information.

I think there are several things that have stunted the growth of the youth and I have listed them below.

1) Lack of physical activity- Spend too much time in front of the TV

2) Unsupportive parents- Spend more time tearing them down instead of encouraging them

3) Play one sport through out their youth- Have not learned a variety of skill sets

4) Poor diets - Look at how many cases of obesity are reported in the U.S.

5) Lack of proper periodization for strength gains - Many coaches never develop a General Preparation Phase in their programs

6) Parents are flat out too serious in Little Leagues - The news reports parents fighting with coaches over playing time all the time.

What is your 40 time?

The NFL combine has come and gone. The all important 40 yard dash will come under constant scrutiny during this time. Why are so many athletes hung up on the 40? It does not indicate what kind of athlete you are in my eyes. How often will you run a straight line sprint on a football field. Probably never!

The truth is since the NFL, as well as national high school combines are making a big deal about it you have to perfect it. It could mean mean milllions of dollars lost in the NFL and a loss of a scholarship for college if you do not do well at this test. I was misinformed for years by poor instruction in high school and college on what the best method was to improve on this test. I tried sprinting more but that just improved my muscular endurance and conditioning. Why do we run 880 meter runs for football anyways? Most Colleges are working on speed endurance and conditioning but rarely work on speed.

I did not make any progress in my 40 yd. time until I used the instructions I received from Joe Defranco's tape on Mastering the combine. I learned that the 40 was all about technique, stride frequency, and stride length. I learned the Valsalva breathing method. Once you learn what effects the 40 yd. dash you can design a program that works on your starting strength, power, and flexibility. All these instructions coupled with hardwork took me from a 4.66 40 yard dash my freshman year in college to running a 4.30 for the New Orleans Saints when I graduated college.

There are a lot of factors that can help improve your 40 yard dash, but until you know what those factors are you are behind in the game. Don't let a misinformed coach make you less than your best. Find someone that has done what you are attempting to do and knows how they got there to teach you. In the end it might help you become the best athlete you can be. If you have any questions feel free to email me at jimmyl@camco.net.

Steady State Cardio v.s. Interval Training

Steady state cardio or long bouts of cardiovascular activity via the treadmill, bike, or elliptical is not the best idea for losing fat in my opinion. Long bouts of cardio has been entrenched in the minds of many for years, ever since the aerobic craze in the eighties. I am sure many remember the ruffled socks, head bands, and sweat until you drop routines. I read an article that explained that many of these aerobics fans that would go for 6 days a week are now suffering from many joint ailments such as Arthritis.

These findings have not stopped many at the gym from following the same path. If you go to most commerical gyms you will be amazed how many people will trot at the same pace for hours on that elliptical or treadmill. Also, pay attention to who are the most lean or musular at the gym. I guarantee it will be the poeple that are strength training and using some type of interval training for conditioning. On the other end of the spectrum the many on the bikes and ellipticals moving at a slow pace look the same they did last year.

I know that this can be attibuted to other unhealthy habits in conjunction with their poor choice of conditioning. One of the problems with long bouts of cardio is that constant repititive motions lead to overuse injuries. Studies have shown that testosterone decreases after an hour, which would decrease the ability to grow muscle. And muscle helps burn fat. The amount of time it takes to complete these hour or 2 hour sessions cause problems because the number one complaint of many is they don't have enough time. Moreover, they are boring and cease to work after our body adapts to this type of work.

How does interval training work. They are many ways to interval train. Some use shor high intensity efforts with recovery for a minute or two. Others use a slightly less intense effort with short rest periods. Which one do you use? You pick one according to your level of prepardness and change up once the body adapts and you are no longer getting results. Some key points are to make sure that you ease your way into intervals if you are not used to this type of training. Maybe start with 15 secs. of sightly intense work with a minute recovery if you are a beginner and work you up. A study in December in the Journal of Applied Physiology and conducted by a team at Canada's University of Guelph found that just two weeks of alternate-day interval training increased moderately active 22-year old women's fat burning ability by 36%.

Here are some Advantages of choosing Interval Training over Steady State Cardio:

1) Saves time. Most intervals last about 20 minutes in comparison to 1 to 2 hours on the treadmill with old school cardio.

2) Stimulates a greater release of growth hormone. Studies have shown that intense interval training produces growth hormone which build lean muscle mass.

3) Better for your joints. The intervals should be done on alternate days not back to back and I usually recommend for about 3-4 days out of the week. There is also less exposure on the joints because it takes less time to complete.

4) Metabolic disturbance. Interval training increases metabolism and post-exercise oxygen consumption which has been shown to burn fat for 24 hours after the interval bout.

5) Creates variety. Interval training can be done with body weight exercises, on exercise machines, with medicine balls, with weights, and outdoors. Interval training is an effective method that has many tools.

Are you sucking in your stomach?

Why are so many people sucking in their stomach while working their ab muscles? Most likely because their trainer told them that this was the best way to target the transverse abdominus. I too fell into the ab hollowing fad, but quickly noticed that you might put yourself at risk of injury with this technique. Stuart McGill, a renowned expert on the back has found ab hollowing to put the spine at risk. It makes since because when lifitng heavy weights or running ab hollowing puts the spine in more of a flexed position, which is the position that is most responsible for low back injuries. I have included a piece of an article from the New York Times, which goes into detail as to why you should avoid sucking in your stomach.

“If you hollow in, you bring the muscles closer to the spine, and you reduce the stability of the spine,” said Stuart McGill, a professor of spine biomechanics in the department of kinesiology at the University of Waterloo in Ontario. Try rising from a chair with a hollowed out stomach; not only are you “weak,” he said, but “it’s very difficult.”
Dr. McGill, who has treated patients with back disorders for 25 years, has measured spinal loading forces and their effects on spinal stability with computer models and in test subjects wired to computers.
His findings dispute not only the validity of drawing in, but also the very notion that the transverse abdominus plays a pivotal role in stability. All abdominal and back muscles are important, not just this one, Dr. McGill said.
Some trainers who once thought that drawing in was the key to protecting their lower back and building a strong midsection are now having second thoughts. Vern Gambetta, the author of “Athletic Development: The Art & Science of Functional Sports Conditioning,” now thinks the move is difficult to teach and too unnatural for athletes to maintain while being at their competitive best.
“In most sporting activities, things happen too fast to consciously think about contracting a specific muscle,” Mr. Gambetta said.
He and others have also seen that no matter how many times people hollow out their stomachs, firing the transverse abdominus rarely becomes second nature.
“I don’t know of a study that shows that drawing in becomes a subconscious reflex,” said Shirley Sahrmann, a professor of physical therapy at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Some say the problem is the way people are taught to fire their transverse abdominus. Most of the time, exercisers are lying prone when they are told to consciously fire the muscle. Less often they are taught to perform an exercise that engages the transverse abdominus.
“I would rather facilitate the motion that turns the muscle on all by itself,” said Gary Gray, a physical therapist in Michigan who has been trying to re-educate other therapists to abandon the drawing-in technique. “Motion is the thing that turns on muscles, not the mind.”
Dr. McGill said there is a better way than drawing in to protect the spine and build the core. For those about to lift something heavy or, say, leap for a rebound, he recommends bracing all the abdominal muscles — something he said the body does more naturally during exertion.
“Bracing is stiffening the abdominal wall,” he said, explaining the difference. It’s a neutral position. “It’s not sucking in and it’s not pushing your belly out,” he said.
The easiest way to teach it: “Pretend you are going to get whacked in the belly,” he said. The body’s natural response is bracing.

The power of the mind

There has been a lot of talk of positive thinking lately in the news. The new book " The Secret" has sold close to 2 million copies emphasizing how positive thinking can make things happen in yur life. In this book the author describes what she calls the law of attraction, in which thoughts good or bad attract more of whatever they are about. Could there be some truth to this?

I believe that what " The Secret" is writing is nothing new and has been discussed in the bible since the beginning of time. In Proverbs chapeter 23 and verse 7 it says as a man thinketh so is he. What are you thinking about these days? Are you thinking how bad of a day this is going to be? Well, do not be surprised if you do have a terrible day.

The more that I look at people that society have deemed successful the more that I see that they all shared a powerful mind. I am not talking about being knowledgeable, but having an inner belief that what they were attempting was great and would come to fruition. Maybe we have little because we think small. Someone said never consult a small mind with big visions. Again, what are you thinking and who are you talking to?

I know you all are probably thinking what does this have to do with losing fat and gaining muscle. There goes those thoughts again. I have compiled a list of what I believe are ways that the mind can be beneficial in achieving the best fitness level possible.

1) Speak things as though they already happen. What you say with your mouth only confirms what you believe. Speak well of what you are attempting and see if that doesn't help your outlook as well as your results.

2) The central nervous system controls how efficient we are at recruiting muscle fibers to perform the different tasks that we require. I believe if our thoughts are positive we have a better chance of our CNS working optimally.

3) In athletics, as well as any fitness programs mental toughness is one of the biggest difference makers in success. It is also one of the least trained part of many programs.

4) Stress which is controlled by negative thinking can be detrimental to a fitness program. Studies have proven that stress increases cortisol, which is a hormone that negatively effects muscle growth.

I hope that this has made you think about what is going through your head, as well as what you say. Stop saying that this day is going to be awful and that you hate your job. If you continue to be negative I would hope that I am not around you because I do not want to receive what you are attracting.

Why can't I Iose weight?

Many people asks themselves this question on a regular basis. But few have the commitment, support, or knowledge to make it happen. I can't tell you the amount of times I hear this statement. It may be at locker room at the gym, the break room at work, or from countless friends. The truth is that it is not as easy as the diet pill commercials would like you to think. You are not going to change overnight because let's face it. It took years to pack on that weight. By now, you are probably saying enough of the talk let us know how we get there.

1) Clean up your diet. Say goodbye to the processed foods, high glycemic carbs, and saturated fat. Start adding lean protein, plenty of vegetables, and good fats like fish oil, cashews ....

2) Drink plenty of water and green tea. Leave the sodas in the machines and stop drinking the coffee with all that sugar and cream.

3) Use interval training instead of the hour long boring elliptical and tredmill sessions. Studies have shown that strength training coupled with interval training burn more fat throughout the day after you are done working out than steady state cardio. Gain some muscle and lose some fat.

4) You do the same things and expect different results. Your strength training look the same as they were years ago. Who invented the 3 sets of 12 reps rule. If your goal is losing fat there is nothing better than supersets and circuits. There are many ways to lose fat, but use one that works please.

5) Get a support group. There is nothing more powerful than many people working towards one goal. Studies have shown that people burn more fat on the average working with a group than alone.

6) Commitment is the biggest key to achieving your goals. Anything that is not believable by you is not achievable by you. How many New Years resolution are you going to make without seeing any progress?

7) There are no indicators in your fat loss program. You must have certain indicators that tell you whether your program is working. You might track your progress by taking your body fat percentage periodicly, monitoring your strength in different exercises, or taking before and after pictures.

I have listed several reasons why many people do not succeed in their pursuit of weight loss. The rest is up to a made up mind and a relentless effort. Life is much more enjoyable when we are as healthy as we can be and doing something fun. There is nothing worse than when a man or woman is carrying a front butt in their mid section. If you have any questions please email me at jimmyl@camco.net.