The Fitness Buster: Norwich CT 1-on-1 Personal Training & Small Group Training

Exercise is a Way of Life

2011-06-12T13:55:00.000-07:00

Now that we know we are healthy enough to participate in exercise from the post Exercise Program Preparation and have put together a Game Plan that will allow us to develop some consistency in our routine and life, I want to take some time in this post to really get you to understand that the journey you are about to embark on is the most rewarding trip you will ever take and the best part is that it never ends. See, exercise is something your bodies active tissue (muscle, organs, bones) needs in order to stay healthy so it is not a journey that holds any destination in sight.

How do I stay fit? The answer is simple, but before I give the answer I want to comment on the question.

What is "fit?" It is such a broad term with a wide range of acceptable answers. Does it mean fit to run a marathon? Fit to play in a summer softball game? Fit to walk 18 holes of golf? Fit to mow my lawn, plant my flowers, and do my housework? Fit to care for myself?

I will choose to answer the question with "fit" being defined as my body being prepared to provide me with a quality of life, able to do the things that I enjoy.

How do I stay fit? The simple answer lies within my motto: Exercise is a way of life, not an event. Each day exercise or activity, as I prefer to say, is part of my life. I find enjoyment in moving; my body does not like being still for long periods of time. When I am watching TV for a long period of time I usually get up and do some push ups, if I have taken a long ride in the car I usually do some bodyweight squats when I get a chance to stretch out my legs. Human movement makes my body feel good and in return I have a leaner more muscular body.

This way of life has been with me for as long as I can remember, just as eating, sleeping, and brushing my teeth have been a part of my life since birth.

On most days I wake up and use my rower to get the blood flowing. I ride a bike or walk for transportation as much as possible, and I stretch each (I should even do this several times a day). More than once a week I do some resistance training but never at a super high intensity since I no longer play competitive sports and most of it is a set of exercise here and there each hour I have clients. I choose stairs instead of escalators or elevators when possible. I enjoy a wide variety of activity interests, but often these activities provide my social life as much as my activity life.

I also enjoy meeting challenges such as playing flag football or a Cross Fit Met Con, but these events are not the foundation of my fitness. It is the daily activity and the attitude that moving the body is a good thing that provides the foundation for my fitness.

Activity is available in a wide variety of intensities. Much of my activity is moderate in intensity, and it may not be for more than 10 minutes, but the surgeon general's recommendation for health is for 20-30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity on most, if not all, days of the week. The 20-30 minutes can be broken into smaller segments, and the health benefit is still met. When I am preparing for a more vigorous goal, such as participating in a Crossfit workout, I step up my intensity and duration to prepare my body, but most of the time my activity is moderate.

People assume that I am fit because of my job. My job may make it easier for me to find ways to participate in activities, but it is my motto that allows me to be fit. My career is devoted to helping people find ways to include activity as a part of their lives. It is important to me to provide a positive role model for people of all ages, but the main reason that I am fit is because being active is a way of life for me.

The Game Plan

2011-05-20T17:19:00.001-07:00

So lets hypothetically say that I haven’t exercised in over a decade, I use the elevator whenever it is possible, I have a uncontrollable sweet tooth, and I am over stressed from my family and work.

How can I start taking back control of my life?

Well the first step will be to organize my strategy so that I don’t become overwhelmed, which will surely raise my chances of success ten fold. Did you know that 92% of those with New Years Resolutions fail and we see all of these successes and failures by march only three months later. Well I definitely want to be hanging out with the 8% that made it through march this year that’s for sure!

If you look at what science studies are telling us about exercise and nutrition then you might spend more time studying them than taking action from what you have learned just like I did, so instead of experiencing paralysis by analysis I am going to make super easy rules I am going to follow to the letter that will be implemented for all the major components to getting in shape Nutrition, Cardiovascular Conditioning, Strength Training, Fasting, Hydration, ect…

Lets start with the most important factor, shall we, “Diet”. Some experts believe that our Diet makes up as much as 80% of our results. Now, although I don’t believe in exact numbers for an individual because everyone is different in there own right I do believe that the diet does play the most integral role in any physical goal someone has. Like the old saying goes, “you are what you eat”.

So, with that said I will refer to mine as the “Parameter Diet”. What I will do when I am buying groceries is walk into the store and first find my fruits and veggies, followed with a visit to the deli to get lunch meat that have the lowest sodium and least amount of preservatives that I can find. Once done with the deli I will avoid the isles all together and make my way to the dairy section and do my best to buy all natural butter, almond milk or soy milk and sometimes real milk (milk is a crutch for me since living on a farm in Wisconsin, so I will do my best:), and then free ranged eggs before I leave the dairy section. My last stop will be the stores bakery to get multi grain bread or wraps that are as fresh and as wholesome as possible.

Thats it, I will not fall victim to the isles where all the prepackaged, high preservative foods live. Seasons are something I already have at home so variety is always available and fresh and my needs are met.

Now that I have minimized my nutritional needs, I need to take a look at my life and re-prioritise so that I can have a focused mind. My first move will be to get 7 pieces of paper out and write down every hour of the day on each piece from 12 am-12 pm. I will answer simple questions about things I do daily and filled in the times with the most amount of details I can come up with. So on a average day this is what I have come up with.

10 pm-5 am – Sleep

5-530 am- Get dressed, brush teeth, drink a glass of water, eat a piece of fruit. Out the door for work.

6-630 am – When my first clients (the breakfast club crew) come in to workout.

730-8 am - Eat breakfast (usually a omelet) and take my vitamins.

9 am- Clients

10 am- Clients

11 am- Afternoon Break, small snack

12 pm- Workout

1 pm- Recovery Drink that has a 4:1 carbohydrate to protein ratio

2 pm- Lunch

3 pm- Clients

4 pm- Clients

5 pm- Quick snack, Clients

6 pm- Clients

7 pm- Light Dinner

No that you know how I have simplified my grocery shopping and how I have written out my schedule so that I may re-prioritise what is important to my current and future goals.

I think you should do the same (it just might help

Exercise Program Preparation

2011-04-14T11:43:00.000-07:00

So we are looking to get back in shape, right? Lose weight, gain muscle, tone up and sculpt, ect.

Now I know what your are thinking, what exercises will we be doing? How about the rep ranges, sets, super sets, giant sets, how about a little HIIT? Well like my momma dukes use to say, “Hold your horses.” Like I said, in order for our results to become part of our lives instead of some fad diet or quick fix routine, then we must start out at the beginning it will allow us to build the quickest momentum that will give us lasting results, no matter what the goal is.

We first must start with the paperwork which consists of your Medical history review, Risk factor assessment and stratification, Prescribed medications, Level of physical activity, Establishing whether physician consent is necessary, Administration of fitness tests and evaluation of results, Setup of exercise prescription, Evaluation of progress with follow-up tests. The first four parts to this process are answered through the industries two standard preparticipation health screening questionnaires.

In the Fitness Industry you will find two standard preparticipation health screening questionnaires that are commonly used to answer these questions for you or your Personal Trainer, those are the PAR-Q and the Health Status Questionnaire.

The Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire, more commonly know as the PAR-Q, is a self-administered questionnaire that is a simple, concise, and is a safe pre-exercise screening tool for individuals that would like to start a moderate-intensity program and/or activities. The idea behind this form is to screen potential participants by asking them 7 questions and if he/she answers yes to any of the 7 questions, they are directed to contact a physician before undergoing a fitness test or pursuing regular exercise.

If you are more likely to want to get involved with a high intensity routine similar to what you would experience in a small group or boot camp setting, then the Health Status Questionnaire with do a more thorough job of identifying whether you have risk factors that may affect a individual from beginning a exercise program. You can use this link as a resource to find a PAR-Q form http://www.csep.ca/forms.asp.

So your probably saying to yourself, why do I have to go through a screening in order to exercise? I walk everyday and have know problem, I just want to lose weight what’s the big deal?

Well first off, lets take the scenario that you visit the doctor before starting your program (my recommendation).Imagine you have waited 3 years to start exercising again, the Dr. says you have to lose 60 lbs and you are at a very high risk factor for (CHD) Coronary Heart Disease. Now by just visiting the Dr. you now have a good idea on where you need to start because he/she naturally identified your risk factors by having you fill out paperwork and by asking you questions.

But what if you avoided this crucial step and ignored what indications your body was telling you by starting a program that was to vigorous for you to begin and just 2 weeks later you ended up in the hospital for a triple bypass heart surgery, what would you say then?

Ya, I would second check whether or not I can start exercising too! Besides you are really canceling out your chances of risk just by be able to answer no to all 7 questions on the PAR-Q. So do yourself a favor and go through answering a PAR-Q and if you have a doctor or insurance and really want to take the safe approach then go get a physical done with your physician. It can’t hurt to get a better idea on where you and your health stands.

Exercise Anywhere

2011-02-16T08:24:00.001-08:00

A few exercises you can get in no matter where you find yourself.

It happens to everyone. You're in a rush to get to the gym when life takes over and you simply can't make it to your workout. Now what? If you keep your eyes open, you'll find all sorts of opportunities to exercise no matter where you are.

Sound like something that would benefit you? Read on to learn about seven simple exercises that will keep the blood flowing through your body when life keeps you from your favorite exercise equipment.

Kegels

These may not improve your visible physique, but kegels are essential to your good health. And they're not just for women. To perform kegels, tighten the muscles that stop your flow of urine and hold for a few seconds. Relax and repeat, and you'll reduce your likelihood of accidental urine leakage. It may not seem glamorous, but it increases your confidence in public, and as Jack Palance said, "Confidence is very sexy." Do this one anywhere and any time you're sitting down.

30-Minute Minimum. Even when you can't get to the gym, aim for at least 30 minutes of exercise each day for optimal health.

Calf Raises

Standing in the grocery line can be a drag. Keep your head up by doing a few sets of calf raises. Stay balanced by holding your cart and then raise yourself up on your toes. Once you hit the peak of your lift, hold for a second and return to the ground. Repeat as many times as you can. And if you're afraid you look strange, pretend to be looking for someone in the distance every time you go up.

Knee Dips

Newbies will want to raise one foot about half a foot from the ground, while balancing on the other leg. Bend at the knee until your lifted foot almost hits the ground. Do this 10 to 20 times and repeat with the other leg in the air. Old timers should lift and bend one leg until the shin is parallel to the ground. Using the same motion as with the partial knee dip, go down until your raised leg almost hits the ground. Perform 10 to 20 reps and repeat with the other leg lifted.

Doorframe Push

Find a sturdy doorframe and stand in it. Place the back of your right forearm on the right side of the frame and the back of your left forearm on the left. Then push out as if trying to make the doorframe fall apart. Do this for 10 to 20 seconds, relax, and repeat.

Side Bends

Grab a water bottle or large phone book with both hands extended over your head. Keeping your arms straight, bend your waist to the left, tightening your abdominal muscles. Bend as far as you can and then return to the starting position and repeat to the right side. Shoot for 10 to 15 repetitions.

Stair Climbing

Ever wondered if you could get up the stairs in less time than it takes to wait for the elevator and ride it to your desired floor? There's only one way to find out. Take the stairs! By walking the stairs on your way up and down, you increase your strength and your balance and you may even get there faster.

Breathing

You do it all the time, but concentrating on your breathing and doing it correctly can add to your physical well-being. For exercise-worthy breathing, sit straight up on the edge of a chair with your hands resting on your thighs or knees. Allow your shoulders to relax and look straight forward as you exhale powerfully out of your mouth. Tighten your abs and bend forward to get all the air out of your lungs. Then relax and inhale through your nose, while returning to your upright sitting position. Once your lungs are approximately half full, exhale through your mouth again. Repeat 10 times.

5 Exercise Goals for Beginners

2011-02-06T10:48:00.001-08:00

A handful of things every newbie should put on his or her exercise to-do list.

Just getting started exercising? Congratulations! Your decision is one that will bring you face to face with improved health, looks, energy, and more. While there is a great temptation to swallow the entire gym whole in one bite, it's better to take stock and come up with goals that fit your needs.
Ready to create some gym-worthy goals that will help you reach your destination of a better, healthier life? Get started with the list below.

Goal 1: Find a Time

The first thing you have to do before you work out is figure out when you're going to head to the gym. Sure, you may go to the gym on a whim on occasion, but you can't depend on these spur-of-the-moment trips to help you meet your other fitness goals. Rather, you're going to have to come up with a regular time to get to the gym. Whether it's at 4 a.m., during your lunch hour, or right after work, having a predetermined time to exercise will help you with the next goal.

Goal 2: Stick with It

Once you've figured out when you can work out, it's up to you to make sure you follow through. Though you may think the benefits of exercising are enough to keep you going strong, you may be wrong. To make it a little easier to stick with your routine, give yourself a goal of sticking with your routine three days a week for three months. Once you've been at it for that long, it should be cemented into your schedule, making it easier to stick with exercise for the long haul. If you constantly need another goal, reset your clock for another three months a week or two before completing the initial three months.

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. - Jim Ryun

Goal 3: Trim or Tone

Toning up and trimming down are often the primary purposes for working out. If these are reasons for your new interest in exercise, use them to your advantage. Every day you work out, write down your weight, the most important measurements to you, and the exercises you perform. Over time, you'll be able to see improvements in all three areas. And if you're having trouble in one (it can be difficult to continue losing weight after a certain point), you can be encouraged by other statistics, such as your lowered blood pressure or how much longer you can stay on the treadmill now than when you first began.

Goal 4: Be Honest

When you're first getting into your exercise regimen, it's easy to be forthcoming about your workout routine. After all, you're in the gym three times a day, lifting more weights in a day than you have in the past four years, and running six miles during lunch. But it becomes more difficult to be honest when you've been at it a while. To keep yourself honest, get an exercise partner to hold you accountable. The best way for this to work is to work out with this person every time you go to the gym. This way, your partner knows when you've worked out and can help you work out at the intensity necessary for you to meet your other exercise goals.

Goal 5: Limit Rewards

It's not uncommon for people to feel they deserve rewards for every positive thing they do. If you're one of these people, you may seek a reward for your exercising prowess. But it's important to see the way you feel and look as your reward. Sure, there's nothing wrong with missing a day at the gym or licking an ice cream now and then. However, if you're not careful, your reward system can wind up making it impossible for you to meet your exercise-minded goals.

Pushup Progressions the Right Way

2011-02-04T08:59:00.000-08:00

So your short on time, you need a cost effective way to get slabs of lean mass across your chest or just want to pass this years pushup test. Well just like anything else there is a right way and a wrong way to Master something. The right way builds momentum up so that you reach your goals while the wrong way makes you hit plateaus or get you discouraged during your program.

Check out this awesome Pushup Progressions video I found on YouTube by Mark Sisson from marksdailyapple.

Pushup Progression - Primal Blueprint Fitness
Mark Sisson demonstrates all four pushup movements, part of the Primal Blueprint Fitness program. Visit www.marksdailyapple.com to learn more and get the free ebook.

There are hundreds of progressions for pushups if you really wanted to learn them but the ones in the video are a awesome foundation.

If you feel that these are to juvenile for you and want to truly master pushups in general I can not recommend Paul "coach" Wades book Convict Conditioning enough. It gives you 10 progressions starting out from the wall pushup all the way through the most advanced one arm pushup with insight that will make you a master of your own body.

The Short and Sweet Routine

2011-01-30T11:18:00.000-08:00

The fastest way to keep your exercise routine regular.

If you've spent some time away from the gym, you may feel like taking on the world at your return. Sure, a three-hour marathon workout may make you feel like you conquered the world, but it takes regular exercise to get your body in good shape, so bite off a little at a time.
Need a little more convincing? Read on to get a few reasons why a short routine may be the best way to get and stay strong.

It's Easier to Maintain

The thought of a prolonged workout may be intriguing at first, but getting to the gym the third and fourth time for an equally long workout won't be easy. Nothing is as easy the second or third time - especially if it involves draining yourself of all energy with hours of nonstop exercise. Do yourself a favor by going for the short, the sweet, the manageable.

It Fits in Your Schedule

Along with a short routine being easier to maintain, it also fits into your schedule with greater ease. This means that while you may think you've not got time in your busy day to squeeze in a trip to the gym, you actually do. On those days when it seems impossible to hit the gym, it's much easier to make it happen if your routine only requires 20 or 30 minutes, compared to some of the more time-intensive workouts.

It Gives You Variety

Short routines may seem stifling on your creativity. But if done right, they can provide a great amount of variety in your routine. Shoot for four exercises during each session and choose different ones every day. Go for two arm and two leg exercises one day, one arm, two legs, and an abdominal exercise the next. Keep things switched up by tossing in an all-aerobic day or a full body workout in the pool.

It Helps You Focus

One of the big problems of staying in the gym for too long is the ease with which you can lose your focus. You may have shown up with grand plans, but two hours into it, you realize you've been standing around shooting the bull more than you've been working out. By sticking to a short routine, you know exactly where you're going from your first step into the weight room to the final lap in the pool, ensuring your body gets a workout throughout your time at the gym.

It Gives You a Partner

Finding yourself in the midst of a marathon weight-lifting session gets old fast for you and your workout partner. To make sure your spotter will always be there by your side to offer encouragement and join you on the road to better health, use a shorter routine. It'll help you both stay on track.

Into the Long

Wonderful as a quick workout is, it's not always the best choice. In fact, a longer routine may be called upon to help you meet your goals. So when is longer better?

Typically, a longer routine is best suited for body builders and people training for something that requires spectacular endurance. If you're training for a triathlon, marathon, or other endurance sport, you should learn how to push your body as hard and as long as will be necessary to compete well during your chosen athletic event.

However, unless you're a body builder, you probably shouldn't spend all of your time in the gym. You would be better off maintaining a short routine under the barbell and pushing your limits outside of the gym, practicing specifically for your chosen sport. That means learning how to swim for a mile without stopping, running for 15 miles or more, and riding your bicycle so you'll be ready when the gun is fired at the starting line.

Fair Well to our "Fitness God Father"

2011-01-24T09:46:00.000-08:00

Jack LaLanne was a American fitness, exercise, and nutritional expert, lecturer, and motivational speaker who is widely referred to as "The Godfather of Fitness". At 96 years old Jack passed away, you can check out the story here:

Jack LaLanne Dead: Fitness Guru Dies At 96
LOS ANGELES — Jack LaLanne, the fitness guru who inspired television viewers to trim down, eat well and pump iron for decades before diet and exercise became a national obsession, died Sunday. He was 96.
Publish Date: 01/23/2011 21:59
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/23/jack-lalanne-dead-fitness_n_812845.html

Have you ever been influenced by someone that you think of as a mentor but never had the privilege of meeting him?

Well thats how I feel about "The Godfather of Fitness" because all he wanted was to encourage others to live a healthier more enjoyable lifestyle. I find that honorable and hope to do my part in carrying on his legacy.

We are talking about the guy that that set a world record by completing 1,033 pushups in 23 minutes and he completed it live on the TV show "You Asked for it" with Art Baker. Or how about at age 40 when he swam the length of the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge underwater with 140 pounds of equipment, including two air tanks... still a undisputed world record.

Check out more of his feats and honors at his website. The Godfathers Feats

For goodness sake, jumping jacks are named after him. That in itself is unbelievable to think about.

I think every living person likes to separate themselves from the world by being the first to do something or being the best at something, no matter what that something is. I am no different but Jack LaLanne was like a machine. He opened the first modern health spa, had the first nationally syndicated exercise show on TV, first to develop the leg extension machine and weight selector machines. He was a chiropractor, bodybuilder, and fitness guru that touched millions of lives.

Here is a video with jack discussing why we need to stop being tired.

Jack Lalanne - Stop being so Tired
Thanks jacklalanne.com

Honor the "Godfather of Fitness" by checking out his webpage and seeing what he was able to achieve.

Jack LaLanne

He was truly a leader to us all.
In honor of such a great man the fitness buster will be dedicating 2011 to "Jack LaLanne" the man that inspired a nation to get into shape.

Get More from Your Body

2011-01-20T17:25:00.000-08:00

How you can improve your body's performance in four steps.

It seems everybody who knows how to exercise has a tip or two on how to get your body to operate at its maximum potential. Which ones should you use? The ones that work for you. Believe it or not, most tried-and-true ways to get more from your body work. At least they work for a certain group of people.

Trying these different techniques will help you determine what it takes to help your body get to the next level of fitness and provide you with a better, stronger self.

Strengthen Your Core:

Just the name of your core should be enough to convince you of your need to keep it strong and healthy. When your core is weak, the rest of your body is at a distinct disadvantage. Add some muscle to your core with sit-ups, double crunches, crunches while resting on an exercise ball, and other core-strengthening and core-stabilizing exercises. The end result will be more than a good-looking set of abdominal muscles. It will be a set of good-looking abdominal muscles that supports you properly and efficiently in all endeavors you undertake - whether walking briskly through the airport with two carry-on bags tossed across your shoulder or going for a gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling.

Get Vitamin D:

You've known for a long time that vitamin D is important for strong bones, and strong bones are important if you want your body to do its job as well as possible. Did you know that vitamin D is also important for another reason? Recent research shows that vitamin D may play a great role in whether an athlete is able to take his or her performance to the next level. Runners who underwent rigorous training reduced their sprint times by 7.4 percent with the aid of vitamin D, while their counterparts who did not receive vitamin D increased their times by a meager 1.7 percent. So if you want to get the most from your body, take a vitamin D supplement or get out in the sun.

Kick Back:

Taking some time off to relax seems counterproductive when you want your body to be stronger and more efficient. But if you don't take time to relax and get proper amounts of sleep, your body won't be there for you when you need it most. Instead, it will be ready for naptime. In addition to getting plenty of sleep, you should also relax your body during the day. By forcing yourself to let your limbs hang loose and your fingers drop carelessly, you stretch out your entire body and reduce your stress levels immediately. Take this time to breathe, and breathe deeply. Deep, focused breathing is a great way to reinvigorate your muscles with oxygen-rich blood, and it's easy to do. So relax a little now and your body will be ready to help later.

Drink It Down:

Water is one of your body's main building blocks, making up nearly three-fourths of your body mass. Are you getting enough of it? If not, you're putting your body at a disadvantage that is difficult to overcome with energy bars and electrolyte-filled drinks. When in doubt, drink water. It will give your body what it needs to stay strong and healthy, keep you from growing weak and faint, and will help you feel fuller faster, all benefits that help your body operate at its peak all the time.

Cold-Weather Workouts

2011-01-11T17:30:00.001-08:00

Should you get moving when the weather outside is frightening?

When the weather outside starts to get cold and foreboding, you may be tempted to stay inside by the fire with a warm cup of tea and some comfort food in your lap. However, you should know that heading out the door for some cold-weather workouts will reap great rewards if you take care to stay warm and safe.

Read on to learn how to pump up when the wind is biting and your nose is bright red.

Dress Right.

Running and playing in the cold requires you to be very thoughtful about your wardrobe. Obviously, you can't take off in a t-shirt and shorts. Instead, you'll want to wear layers of clothing. As you begin to sweat, remove a layer to keep your sweat from causing you to get cold later. Then put your outermost layers back on when you begin to grow cold. For best warmth, the layer against your body should be polypropylene or another synthetic material, followed by fleece and then something waterproof and breathable on top.

In addition to staying warm, you should remember to stay safe. As it is often darker during the cold months, take precaution to remain visible to oncoming traffic. Wearing clothing with reflective surfaces will help others see you, even from a distance. You should also make sure your shoes have good enough traction to keep you on your feet as you run across various surfaces. And if you're participating in skiing, snowboarding, or other winter sports, wear appropriate safety gear to avoid hurting your head, knees, and other body parts.

Work the Wind.

Blowing, freezing wind is one of the hardest parts to overcome if you're trying to force yourself to work out in the cold. Keep the wind beneath your wings by facing the blowing breeze during the beginning of your run or bicycle ride. This way, you'll be running with the wind on your way back home, making the return trip much more pleasant and making you more likely to want to do it again the next day.

Think Hot.

While you'll need to plan your wardrobe and your wind sprints with the weather in mind, you'll need to change your mindset to a warmer climate to ensure your overall good health during a winter workout. Wearing sunscreen in the cold may seem senseless, but the sun still has the power to burn your exposed skin during the winter. Actually, you may be at increased risk for sunburn if you're working out at a high altitude or in an area with a lot of snow. So be sure to lather up before you head out for your cold routine.

You'll also need to think hot weather with regards to your hydration. Becoming dehydrated may seem to be a concern only valid during the hot summer months, but you need plenty of liquids in your system year round to keep your system well watered. To avoid dehydration, drink plenty of water before, during, and after your workout - even if you don't feel thirsty yet. Because once you feel thirsty, your body is already dehydrated.

Get Back In

For the most part, you can exercise in the cold and reap only benefits from your routine. Sometimes, however, exercising in the cold isn't a good idea. If you exercise outside when you shouldn't, the results can be bone-chillingly bad. When should you get back inside? The following are signs that you need to get inside and stay there:

The temperature is below 0 degrees Fahrenheit (or –17.8 degrees Celsius). At these temperatures, you're at risk for lowering your body temperature, which can have horrid results.
You experience frostbite or hypothermia. The initial signs of frostbite include numbness, loss of feeling, paleness, or stinging in the fingers, face, and toes. Hypothermia is recognized by unstoppable shivering, fatigue, loss of coordination, and slurred speech. If these symptoms are present, seek emergency medical attention immediately.

Fit or Fat?

2011-01-03T04:49:00.000-08:00

What should you set your eyes on?

If you watch much television or read many fitness magazines, you may think that becoming ripped is the goal of anyone who works out. But should that really be the goal of your exercise routine?

Ever wondered how to view the division between fit and fat? You're not alone.

Understanding Overweight and Obesity

Ideally, every person will weigh the proper weight that allows him or her to function well during the day. Since being underweight or overweight can do significant damage to the body's organs, bones, and joints, obtaining and maintaining a healthy weight is paramount to overall good health.

However, as very few people in the developed world are underweight, the primary issue people face with regard to their weight is being overweight or even obese. In some parts of the world - the United States of America primarily - the number of people who weigh more than they ought has grown to such numbers that an epidemic has been declared.

When an individual's body mass index (BMI is a measure of body fat based on a comparison of your height and weight) is 25 or higher, the individual is deemed overweight. A BMI of 30 or higher indicates obesity. Falling into either category greatly increases an individual's risk for diabetes, heart disease, cancers, and countless other diseases.

What Makes You Fit

Thanks to a recent study published by the American College of Sports Medicine, the view of what it means to be fit may be changing. That's because the study found that while being thin is nice, it does not mean you're fit. Rather, being fit requires some effort.

During the study, three groups of overweight individuals were told to do three different things. Group one was told to keep doing what they were doing, group two was put on a diet, and the third group was put on a diet and given an exercise regimen to stick with throughout the duration of the six-month trial.

When the study was complete, the two groups of people that changed their habits lost weight. Researchers expected this, as did the general public. What is surprising many people, though, is that losing weight was found to not be enough to improve a person's overall fitness.

Only the group that dieted and exercised regularly improved the function of their internal organs and thereby enjoyed increased overall fitness. In other words, both groups who dieted dropped weight (approximately 10 percent of their overall body weight), but exercise was the deciding factor in whether an individual improved his or her blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and cardiovascular fitness.

Making the Difference

As the study showed, exercise makes the difference in being fit, fat, or naturally thin. So what does this mean for you? It means that sticking with your regular exercise routine - no matter how difficult it may be at times - isn't just a good idea for your good looks. It makes all the difference in your good health and well-being.

But how hard do you have to work out? It depends on your goal. The individuals in the study were put on exercise routines that burned off 500 calories for men and 400 for women each day. However, these were overweight individuals who could safely lose a substantial amount of weight. If you're already at a healthy weight and want to take your overall fitness to the next level, you may want to burn even more calories. Just remember to do it safely, eat plenty of healthy foods every day, and not overwork any specific muscle group during your routine.

What are Refined Carbs?

2010-12-30T12:19:00.000-08:00

Understanding the difference between refined carbs and those other ones.

You're bombarded with information about carbohydrates. You may have even been frightened of them at one point - or maybe you are right now. However, not all carbs do the same thing. Actually, some carbs are good for you and necessary to keep your body going strong. Where do refined carbohydrates fall on the health scale? You're about to find out.

Not the Best

To get a refined carbohydrate, a food is taken that contains carbs. Then, everything else in the food is taken away, leaving only the refined carbohydrate, which is either a starch or a sugar.

When eaten, refined carbohydrates give your body a quick boost in glucose (a.k.a. sugar), which can be helpful right before you get started in some sort of athletic endeavor, such as a sprint or a soccer game. However, eating refined carbohydrates on a regular basis, regardless of what you're doing afterward, can leave you with a rather useless store of carbs.

See Them Now

To avoid eating too many refined carbohydrates, you should know what they look like and where they're most often found. Thankfully, they're rather easy to see, so you can sidestep them with ease. Most often, refined carbs are white on their own, but they can hide inside various foods without being recognized.
The following are a few common foods that contain refined carbohydrates:

white bread
white rice
foods ending with the word “starch”
foods that use puffy or shredded grains

What to Choose Instead

Since refined carbohydrates aren't doing your body much good, you ought to do your best to go for foods with the other kind of carbohydrates. Whether you call them good carbs or all-natural carbs doesn't matter. What matters is what comes with these carbohydrates that is stripped from their refined peers.

One of the items that gets stripped from carbohydrates during the refining process is fiber. Since fiber is helpful in your goal of good bowel health; avoiding diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and kidney stones; and obtaining and maintaining a healthy weight, you don't want to spend much time eating foods that have gone through a fiber-stealing process. Instead of going with fiber-stripped carbohydrates, choose foods that contain fiber-rich carbs. Good choices include fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains.

Your Need for Carbohydrates

Still not convinced that you need carbohydrates in your diet? Has the popular no-carb diet craze messed with your head so much that you continue to fear this necessary part of your daily regimen? Then there's something you should know.

While you don't want to fill up on refined carbohydrates (as you already know), you do want to eat plenty of good carbohydrates. In fact, otherwise healthy adults ought to use as much as 65 percent of their daily intake of calories to consume carbs. That means that every other bite you eat should contain healthy carbohydrates for optimal health. So what are you waiting for? Wave goodbye to those white, worn out refined carbohydrates, and open your arms and your mouth to health-boosting whole grains, fruits, and vegetables!

Why No-Carb Diets Works

If you've ever gotten into a diet that cuts you off from all carbohydrates, you probably lost some weight. If you're supposed to need carbs, why did you have such great weight loss success when you cut them from your diet? There are three reasons.

The first is that cutting carbohydrates from your diet often results in a loss of water weight, as not eating carbs may cause you to urinate more frequently and with greater volume.

The second is that any diet that forces you to avoid one sort of food altogether will result in eating fewer calories. While this is a good thing at first, it's healthier to trim calories from all the food groups instead of picking on carbohydrates only.

The third is that diets that trim carbohydrates do not trim protein or fat, which both cause you to feel full faster and longer, reducing your desire to eat.

Making Exercise Fun

2010-12-29T05:26:00.000-08:00

What you can do to have a better time in the gym and reap better results.
Exercise routines, like everything in life, can become a bit too routine. After a while, working out can seem more of a chore than anything, and when this happens, it becomes difficult to muster up the will to get to the gym. But working out doesn't have to be dull and lifeless. With some fun-boosting steps, you can add some new life to your routine and cause you want to get in the gym more often.
Wondering what you can do to put a smile on your face when you're under the barbell or in aerobics class? Wonder no more!
Switch It Up
Burn out occurs in the gym when you do the same thing day in and day out. The most obvious solution is to do new exercises that stretch your abilities. Turn to an exercise pro to learn some new exercise ideas to slip into your repertoire. You can also fun up your routine by walking out of the gym and going to your local playground. Grab a bar for a few pull-ups and then head over to the monkey bars. Go back and forth a couple times and then head to the swing set for some swinging. Do all these exercises with joy and vigor and you will easily reach your target heart rate, all while having a good time.
Exercise...the poor man's plastic surgery.Unknown
Grab a Partner
Is there someone in your life who makes everything a little bit more fun? Why aren't you exercising with him or her? Whether it's a spouse or significant other, long-time neighbor, coworker, best friend, or priest, working out with someone you enjoy spending time with will make your workouts more fun as well.
Push Yourself
If you're not making the most of your time in the gym, you're probably not going to enjoy being there. While forcing yourself get in one more rep may not seem like a blast, it can be extremely gratifying. And for most people, doing a job well translates to fun. So if you want your routine to be more fun, you should work your body as hard as you want it to appear you work it.
Go Mental
Another fun way to improve your exercise is to use your imagination. Sure, you may be surrounded by average Joes and Jos in the gym, but you don't have to see it that way in your head. Instead, picture a gym full of elite athletes, all working as hard as possible to be the best in the world. Just remember - you're one of them, so you have to work just as hard - if not harder than - them.
Move It or Lose
Some of the most fun workouts occur when you're not worried about how many calories you're burning. Instead, you're simply playing a game that requires a lot of movement. If you're not into basketball or tennis, try something that requires you to move or be moved, such as kickboxing, boxing, or mixed martial arts. Each of these sports requires you to be in optimal shape. And if you don't stay mentally focused and on your toes at all time, you'll be on your backside in no time. Pretty good incentive to work harder than your opponent.
Game Away
Though video games have traditionally been a detriment to good health, a number of new video game systems and arcade games require players to be on the move. If you have access to these games, use them for a change of pace in your routine, as you dance, jog, and play your way to a better, more fun workout.

How to make a home-made Kettlebell

2010-12-28T09:39:00.000-08:00

So you want to shed some pounds, develop those curves you haven't had since high school, and take back control of your health. Well if you were to meet me in person and ask if you were to do just one thing on a regular basis to get fit, what might that one thing be.

I would respond by saying Kettlebell swings! Why? Because it is a exercise size that puts all it's emphasis on your back side, also known as your Posterior Chain, which just so happens work work the area of our body we know longer think about because no one takes the time to try and turn around while looking in the mirror.

The kettlebell is amazing for conditioning your body both aerobically and anaerobically, fancy turns for saying cardiovascular and strength training, but more importantly it allows for functional movement that will recruit both your primary and secondary muscles during exercise.

To me that just means you will work those major muscles your so desperate to show off along with your small stabilizer muscles that are made for controlling all your movements, like your rotator cuff in around your shoulder girdle.

Well I am familiar with Kettlebells through my time training at SECT Crossfit in Baltic CT. but by no means am I a Master trainer or super Kettlebell advocate. But they are however, on my must master New Years resolution list. So, I did a little digging on home-made designs and store bought commercial Kettlebells. The store bought kettlebells are expensive and worth every penny there weight in gold but I am not sure what weight I need to start at for perfect form and a good challenge so I found a few home-made versions I liked the best but the one I decided on using was the one illustrated in The 4-Hour Body by Timothy Ferris.

Awesome read by the way, it is super informative and down right simple to implement. It literally takes all the guess work out of the equation. In Fact, I liked Tim's book so much I have decided to use it as my start to the new year plan. Feel free to be my guest and join me, it is going to be awesome!

This will be my chance to really start using the Kettlebell in my routines but also another opportunity to implement and understand exactly how Tim lives his own life, which is pretty cool I think.

I found a link to amazon if you would like to grab yourself a copy :) check it out here:
The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman

If your not into reading or maybe you have another routine you will be implementing for the New Year, no worries I am sure this book won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

However, if you still want to learn how to make a home made Kettlebell then check out how I made mine from Tim's Book below.

First I went to Home Depot on my way to the gym this morning to pick up the supplies. I decided to pick up enough supplies for three Kettlebells but for your home version you really only need one. The instructions called for

1 = 3/4" x 12" nipple which will make the shaft (I found that a 10" works a little bit better)
2 = 3/4" x 4" nipples which will be the handles (I got 6" ones oops :) I will def make the switch to 4")
1 = 3/4" "T" Fitting that connect the shaft to the handles
1 = 3/4" Floor Flange
1 = 3/4" Spring Clamp (I bought the ones at the store but they are flimsy so I will upgrade soon)

All together it cost me a total of $55.96 for the supplies that will make 3 universal Kettlebells that I can easily get 75 lbs on. To compare the savings I Googled some prices and found a 45lb premium Kettlebell going for $72 which seemed like a median price for them. So, that means I saved $17 total and got not only universal Kettlebells that I can interchange the weight from 0-75+ lbs but I was able to make three of them total. Now thats what I call a worthy investment.

So lets put this Baby together, shall we. I used Pictures because it is really that simple :)

Step one:

Step two:

Step three:

Like I told you, I made three Kettlebells total a 55 lb, 45 lb and 30 lbs respectfully. This is a picture of the three I made for under $56.

If I went online to Amazon.com or went to the store to by these Kettlebells I would have seen similar prices as the ones below.

55 lb Kettlebell = $58 (lowest price on Amazon)

45 lb Kettlebell = $45 (lowest price on Amazon)

30 lb Kettlebell = $30 (lowest price on Amazon)

That means if I were to have bought these from a store it would have cost me a total of $130, and that is using the cheapest prices I could find on Amazon. So by taking 10 minutes out of my drive I saved a total of $74, not bad for ten minutes huh. With that much savings I could have made 6 Ketlebells and still put $18 in my gas tank. I consider this the most economical decision. The only downside to these vs. regular Kettlebells is the fact that one arm swings are out, but as far as I am concerned I have to master the 2 arm swing first anyway and by the time that happens I can promise you I will find a way to make a handle that will do the job.

Enjoy the homemade advice, get the store and make yourself a kettlebell :)

And if you just finished your latest read then I urge you to take the time to buy and read The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman by Tim Ferris. Its for your own Health.

Sleeping Your Way to Weight Loss

2010-12-24T05:28:00.000-08:00

Can catching Zs help you drop lbs?

You've been working at shedding that last five pounds for months, and nothing seems to work. You cut back on the amount of calories you eat, work out twice a day, and say no to every sweet temptation that has passed your way. So why do those extra pounds keep such a firm grip on your hips? It could be your unwillingness to hit the hay.

That's right. According to legit medical research, spending an ample amount of time getting shuteye is essential to helping your body get rid of those unwanted pounds. Wondering how it works? Prepare to be amazed.

Getting Hormonal

Inside your body are all kinds of hormones that are responsible for doing all sorts of things. Two of these hormones, leptin and ghrelin*, have a stronghold on your appetite. In other words, if these two hormones decide to make you feel hungry, you're going to feel hungry. They work by causing you to feel hungry (ghrelin) and informing your brain that you've had enough to eat (leptin).

While these hormones function quite well most of the time, a lack of sleep can result in your leptin levels to plummet and your ghrelin levels to rise. As a result, you feel hungry more than you ought and your brain never has a clue that you've had enough to eat. When this happens, you can only imagine the damage that can be done to all the hard work you've put into looking your best.

Put It to Bed

Now that you're ready to power up your sleep for an easier time with weight loss, you may be wondering how to get better sleep. The first step is to give yourself enough time to sleep. You may be able to function on four or five hours of sleep each night, but most people require more. On average, shoot for eight hours, give or take an hour. It may mean giving up your late night dancing ways or beginning your workout a bit later in the morning, but getting your body's hormones regulated will pay off.

In the event you're already spending plenty of time in bed at night without feeling rested in the morning, you may be living with a sleep disorder. From sleep apnea (pauses in breathing as you sleep) to restless legs syndrome (irresistible urges to move your legs when you rest) to narcolepsy (constant sleepiness), sleep disorders disrupt your bedtime routine and your entire day from the moment you wake up. With proper diagnosis and treatment, you can find the relief you need from your condition and beginning sleeping better and losing weight with greater ease.

*Sleep loss also changes the amount of another hormone (cortisol) produced by your body. Like the combination of leptin and ghrelin, cortisol is also directly responsible for regulating whether you feel hungry or full.

The Other Way Around

Getting plenty of good sleep is essential to your ability to obtain and maintain a healthy weight. At the same time, losing weight is a good way to improve your ability to sleep well.

Why? For a number of reasons.

First, overweight people are more likely to suffer from sleep apnea, a condition that causes the sufferer to stop breathing for prolonged periods, as he or she sleeps. In many cases, losing weight actually results in the individual being cured of sleep apnea.

Another reason weight loss helps you sleep is because of the frequent link between being overweight and suffering back pain. While back pain is bothersome during the day, it can be extremely bad when the sufferer lies down to sleep, making it difficult to fall asleep and stay that way.
So whether you find yourself attempting to lose weight or get better sleep, you can't have one without the other!

Throwing the Perfect Party

2010-12-23T06:15:00.000-08:00

Before we get back to the next day of understanding our blueprint I just wanted to let you read this great article on how to throw the perfect party. I know if you are like me during the holidays it can be overwhelming just trying to get the arrangements made so I think you will enjoy this post :)

Ill be back tomorrow with how to implement your blueprint planning with time management so that you can get the biggest return on your investment.

So with that said, Enjoy!

Do you have a big bash coming up at your place? Then you better make it perfect!

If you've been to many parties, you have probably been to a dud or two. And with your upcoming party, you may fear the same fate awaits you! But grab your fears and toss them in the trash, because with these tips, your party is sure to be the talked-about event of the year!

Try a Theme

Anyone can have a party. For a memorable party, go with a theme. No matter what you love, you can use your passions as you plan your party. From a Hawaiian luau or a beach party to ghosts of music past or favorite movie stars, your theme can be whatever you choose. To make sure the theme sticks, make every aspect of your party stick with it. This requires you to go beyond decorations for your shindig. Make every piece of food and every drink you serve go with the theme of the party. Having a hard time finding appropriate food and drinks? Make some of your favorite dishes and drinks and give them appropriate names. Remember-it's your party, and a good party requires creativity!

Sell, Sell, Sell!

Convincing people that they're in a tropical paradise is no easy task. Especially if they have to drive through a winter wonderland to get there. That's where your positive energy comes in. If you're apprehensive about your party and don't think everything about it is fantastic, how do you expect others to get excited? To make sure everyone who comes to your party remembers nothing but a good time, sell the party's theme constantly. If you're convinced the party is a blast, so will your fellow partygoers.

Stop Hosting and Relax

Want to see the party through a partygoer's eyes? Then stop slapping snacks on people's plates and get out in the party! Get involved in whatever fun stuff you have in store for those who come to the party. After all, how else will you truly know how fun the party is if all you do is serve, clean, and worry about everyone having a good time? Turning off your inner host or hostess helps you enjoy the party and will put everyone around you at ease, which helps them enjoy the party as well.

Invite Right

Want people to long for your upcoming party? You've got to let them know how great it's going to be with a killer invitation! For the best invitation, consider the theme of your party and do something unique and memorable. Sure, you could get some party invites from a local store, but why not take matters into your own hands with some homemade invites that'll catch attention and get them in the party mode instantly?

Remember Details

Now that you've got your food and drinks all set, and the decorations are picture perfect, you may think your planning is over. Well…you're wrong. Once people begin showing up, do you know where they're going to park? Where will you put purses and jackets? Also, what happens if someone brings a date, stretching your food and drink rations? Planning for anything and everything helps make sure your big party will go off without a hitch. Or at the least, planning helps it look like there weren't any hitches.

Know Thy Guests

Planning a party can be a big stress. It can be even more stressful if you don't know the taste buds of your guests. Well in advance, begin to learn what your guests enjoy eating and drinking and accommodate accordingly.

This doesn't mean your guest list determines whether you have hamburgers or hotdogs. Rather, if a lot of the people coming are vegetarian or vegan, cut the meat out of your menu. Or if someone has a food allergy, don't risk a reaction by keeping the allergen in the corner. Instead, don't have the food at the party at all.

These may seem like minor issues, but your guests will appreciate your thoughtfulness if they don't have to worry about eating something they'd rather not.

Your Weight Loss Tool Box

2010-12-21T10:00:00.000-08:00

Today we start mind mapping out our journey for our 2011 New Years fitness resolutions, you can call it a blueprint, mind map, plan, whatever you want but no matter what all those names become one thing. A very distinct path that you will lay out with a clear vision of what your goal is at the end of the journey.

When I was growing up I was the rowdy kid in class (class clown if you will) and never did you see my grades sink more than when I stopped using that agenda the school system gives you the first week of class.

In essence we will be making our fitness "Agenda" if you will.

We must first start by understanding our personal circumstances. Like where we plan on achieving our goals. Are we going to join a local gym (I'm not a fan of club jobo), maybe a fitness bootcamp (were getting warmer), how about a personal trainer (still warmer and I think you should hire one at least once), or maybe small group training (my personal favorite)?

Over the next couple of weeks we will break down each service I have mentioned above but for now just leave your options open and whatever you do don't sign on the dotted line until you know what works best for you. Go around and get one trial offer after the next until you know what feels most comfortable. Its a lot cheaper this way and you won't waste your time or money by signing up and then quiting because it isn't what you expected it to be.

You may be deciding to workout at home and if that's the case, what equipment do you own? Just your bodyweight, bands, dumbbells, kettlebells, medicine balls?

Just start putting your list together because knowing what you have available is a crucial part in building your personal tool box.

Now that you have an idea of what is available to you lets start to figure out how we are going to make this plan run like a well oiled machine.

I need to ask you a series of questions that will literally make you super successful or fail miserably depending on how honest you are with yourself. Just remember that no one is looking over your shoulder and no one is grading you, you can literally write your plan and journey in a diary if you want no one else knowing what your doing. I don't care, my only concern is your health and you reaching your desired goal without quiting.

So lets get started shall we and just remember it doesn't have to be exact, just typical. I mean when was the last thing you experienced exactly how it was suppose to be.

What time do you wake up on a typical daily basis?
When do you go to work?
When do you get your breaks?
What time do you finish up with work?
When do you get your shopping done?
When do you spend time with friends and family?
When and how often is exercising on a regular basis for you realistic?

As you might have guessed the last question is a very important factor on how quickly you are going to reach your goal but that does not mean you run with the herd and shoot to go 6 times a week for a month just because the marketing and buzz words are on TV for the weight loss resolution people. This year you will be different and when summer comes around and you go to the beach, your friends are going to be so envious of your results that they will pay you for this websites name.

So I know there is a million more questions you want answered. How do I do this, what is best, am I doing this right... Blah Blah Blah...

Hold your horses will ya, I have given you 8 solid questions that you need to answer prior to anything else so get started there please. I am literally going to take you by the hand for the next 3 months and show you step by step how to become success with whatever you put your mind to and not only that I am actually going to be doing the exact steps with you. I have to walk in your shoes if I want to help you achieve success, so I will be starting out at the easiest of exercise progressions, start implementing the easiest of nutrition habits and most importantly when I slip up and go out to eat, fast food, restaurants, go for drinks with friends, or buy my favorite candy bar you will be the first to know about it, because I want you to know I am human just like you and no one is perfect. We aren't meant to be.

So sit down tonight and figure out your daily habits (the seven questions 4 paragraphs up) and what type of program or facility you will be using to reach your goal whether at home, in a gym, bootcamp, personal training or my favorite which is a good combination of all three and that is small group training which usually doesn't have more than 10 people per class and feels very personal.

See you tomorrow where we start plugging your answers into our blueprint.

{I found this on Google and thought it was the best illustration ever :}

Beginning "2011" on the right path

2010-12-20T05:40:00.000-08:00

So I know today is the 20th of Dec. but its going to take me this final week and a half to draw up my blueprints for this years resolutions. Preparation can be the most important factor of a plan in order for it to become successful.

If you have visited the Fitness Buster before then you know this website is about providing relevant fitness advice that can give you the answers you seek in order to lose weight and live a life full of vitality.

Well to my regret I have found that my website has done exactly what every other fitness site has done and that is provide awesome relevant content full of action steps that can help you on your quest as long as you implement them.

But I feel like that by itself is not enough which is why today, 5 days before christmas, I am rededicating this website to providing you with a blueprint on how to achieve your fitness and wellness goals. Consider this post my early Christmas present to you (like the one above :)

That means you won't find those super hyped up programs all over this site that make false promises and push your emotional buttons so that you make a impulse decisions. Instead I will talk straight to you instead of in circles so you too can stop analyzing every small detail of your life and take action that will result in huge rewards both physically and emotionally. The Fitness Buster will be your fitness family that you will come to trust when you want Real Results. Every three months we will implement a program that will bring us to our next level of achievements.

So bare with me as I prepare to put my personal thoughts and ideas into words that you may use on your journey. You are invited to follow along or watch my personal transformation as I take on lifes physical, emotional, and mental challenges that all of us face daily even during the quest for total fitness.

I will show you when to progress your exercises and routines but more importantly how to implement daily lifestyle changes that it will take in order to reach your goals all while avoiding the dreaded plateau effect.
We will know how to make homemade equipment, if it is cost effective for us to do so and we will find where to buy if it is not. This will allow us to spend more time taking action rather than being distracted by gimmicks and fancy marketing.

I am sure you are just as aware as I am of all the books, e-books, programs, and experts that claim to have the magic solution to all your problems.I would like to be perfectly honest with you.Not all fitness programs are created equal and we all have specific weaknesses we need to work on but the majority of the time it is more about the attention to detail and effort we put forth than it is about what you have purchased.

Since I am a personal trainer and business owner here in Norwich CT. I want to play to my own strengths on this journey so once again I will start by getting into the best shape of my life using a step by step approach that you can use and follow along with.

We will first start by using exercises that utilize only our bodyweight since this will allow us the greatest foundation by arming us with the knowledge needed to be able to exercise anywhere and at anytime no matter what circumstances we come across. After becoming masters of our bodies we will implement the most functional tools at our disposal like barbells, kettlebells, dumbbells, bands and anything else you would like. But we will do it one at a time and with clear direction so we understand how to reach our goals.

After looking at how I may get these points across I have found two paths I can take. The first as a teacher, or the second being a student.Well after a lot of thought I decided to trailblaze a new path that will be an even blend of both teacher and student so bare with me. The journey will start by using a blueprint made up of action steps to get us started.

Once our confidence grows and results show we will evolve and as I attend seminars, certifications, host interviews we will learn from the experts while simultaneously adapting their methods into our own lives.

I hope your anxious, I know I am! 2011 is going to be one productive year I can tell you that. Embrace it and change will be inevitable.

So consider the rededication of this website a early christmas present and extra motivation to raise those toast glasses on New Years :) because it will be a sign that we will be celebrating your new found success. We will do it together.

If your are a over achiever and want to get started right away or are maybe just curious to know what program I will be using starting out come New Year's then feel free to check out by buddy Steve Kambs Rebel Fitness Guide . He owns and operates Nerf Fitness and uses metaphors from movies like Lord of the Rings, Harry potter, video games, and anything else he can find in order to level up his own life.

He gives you a simple to the point understanding on why a person gains weight, how to eat to lose weight and how to exercise without killing yourself by using limited tools other than your body weight. It may just be the most massive fitness guide you can find online, narrated by a guy who had to walk the entire journey in order to get fit.

Steve has created a comprehensive plan to better fitness for anyone. You can lose body fat, gain muscle and get stronger with an exercise program that really does work and does so without a lot of equipment, time, or even a gym membership.

Steve and I will guide you step by step in a honest, fun and helping way that can "level up" your life to higher levels. Check out the Rebel Fitness Guide to gain a better understanding of the program I will be using to to start my personal transformation journey. This will be like nothing you have ever experienced before so make sure to sign up for my monthly Newsletter to the right of this page and not only will you get a free report on the truth about supplements but you will also always be informed of our next step in the journey. Go here now to grab your report.

Our time to Celebrate is upon us, Enjoy it!

Finding Cardio Effectiveness

2010-12-14T12:34:00.000-08:00

We all love our cardio, right? Hang on... what was that? Did I happen to hear a collective sigh? Yes, cardio is usually the most hated portion of a work out. Especially if you haven't yet found your cardio niche. Or, perhaps you have found your cardio niche... but now you've reached a plateau and don't seem to be breaking through to the next level of fitness that you're striving for. Don't despair. There are many ways to break through those barriers, both born of boredom or lack of challenge, in order to maximize your cardio time.

Find Your Forte

That's right. Take the time to try many different forms of cardio. Find the type of cardio that you absolutely love. It needs to excite you, to have you jumping out of bed, saying "Yes!" in the morning. Try anything and everything. Some of the best forms of cardio include the usual suspects, like running, bicycling, elliptical trainers, swimming, aerobics, rowing, and walking. Some lesser known, but still very effective, forms of cardio include skiing, dancing, rock climbing, martial arts, and team sports. Try everything. Pick your power! If you enjoy what you do, you're going to be motivated to continue. And not just continue... you'll be motivated to keep moving forward, to keep challenging yourself and achieving more goals. That will help prevent the plateau effect!

Find the Time

Make your cardio work out effortless, just a normal part of your day. Is there a time in which you're most likely to work your hardest? For some people, it means first thing in the morning. They're up, they're focused, and they're not being distracted by other things. Other people prefer the afternoon because they're more energetic at that time. Again, whatever your preference may be, you need to take the time to find out. Try doing your cardio at different times. See what works best. Then make that time your cardio hour (or half hour, or 45 minutes). It takes decision making out of the equation. "Oh look, it's 5:30pm. Time for a run." To be honest, it doesn't matter when you do your cardio, as long as it works for you, and as long as you're actually doing it!

Find Your Challenge

Whether you vary the speed, the distance, the intensity, the type of movement, or the type of cardio entirely, you need to challenge your body. Don't keep cycling 10 miles in 45 minutes if you always cycle 10 miles in 45 minutes. Try for 12 miles in 45 minutes, or 10 miles in 30 minutes. Also vary the intensity of what you're doing within the work out.

Work out in intense bursts, and then pull back a little for a break. There is any number of combinations suggested by researchers. For example, you could cycle as fast as possible for 8 seconds, followed by a 12 second lighter intensity "rest period". Other researchers talk about intense bursts of activity with lighter "rest periods" in terms of minutes. It's all up to your endurance level and your ability to pay attention during your cardio!

Don't Be Slack!

If you're working out for an hour, but average around 60% effort, then you're wasting that extra time. You would be better off working out for 45 minutes at 80% effort. You will save yourself 15 minutes, and your body will adapt, and therefore become fitter and stronger, at a faster rate due to the higher level of effort.

Cardio should form a part of every fitness fan's routine, and with a little research and discovery about yourself, you can ensure that you're making the most of the time you spend pounding those machines or pavements!

Reduce Muscle Soreness

2010-12-13T10:29:00.000-08:00

Many people should probably exercise more often and with more intensity. Now is the time to kick excuses out the door, because you're about to learn how to reduce your risk of sore muscles. You'll feel so good that you will be motivated to make time in your day to exercise. So get started!

Okay, so now you might be thinking about where to start. Should you warm up or stretch first? Here's the simple answer - both.

Start with a good warm-up to lower your risk of having sore muscles the next day. Warming up your muscles (especially the major muscle groups you'll be using during exercise) is one of the best ways to prevent muscle stiffness and injury. A good warm-up consists of moving your body by slowly walking, gently jogging, and light participation in the activity you're warming up for. The goal is to increase your heart rate a little bit, which increases your muscles' temperature so they move more easily. Your warm-up period doesn't have to take long, either. Five minutes or so will do the trick.

Once you've revved up your body with a good warm-up, you're ready to start stretching. Stretches are most beneficial when you hold them for at least 30 seconds, but a good rule of thumb is to start by holding a stretch for just five seconds and work your way up to 30 seconds as your body gets used to the stretching and exercise. As you stretch, be sure not to bounce as this action can increase your risk of injury. If you're not sure how to stretch or you want to make sure you are performing your warm-up and stretching properly, visit your local gym for advice.

It's true that the warm-up period of your exercise is more self explanatory than stretching, so here are a few simple stretching techniques and positions that may help.

Calf stretch - This is a great stretch if you're going to be using your legs during exercise, such as when you run or play many team sports. Begin this stretch by facing and standing about two feet away from a wall. With your heels flat and your back straight, slowly lean forward and press your hands and forehead against the wall. You should feel this stretch in your calf right above your ankles.

Hamstring stretch - You've likely heard of a lot of people who get hamstring injuries, so this exercise is obviously very important. Lie with your back flat on the floor and both knees bent. With your feet flat on the floor, slowly bend your right knee up to your chest, place both hands behind your right thigh and then extend your leg upward. You should feel the stretch in the back of your leg. Repeat this exercise with the left leg.

Neck stretch - This is a good stretch if you're going to be working out your upper body, especially the shoulders. Standing upright, hang both arms by your side. Then take one arm and twist your palm so it is facing out. At the same time, grasp your head with your other hand and gently pull your ear toward your shoulder. Stop and hold when you feel the first signs of stretching along the side of your neck. Repeat on the other side.

Okay, there's no time for excuses anymore now that you know how to warm up and stretch. Get out there and get moving and have a great time - you're going to feel great!

The Other Side of Warming Up

Yes, that's right. Warming up and stretching are not the only parts of a healthy work out plan. Cooling down is just as essential if you want to prevent injury and sore muscles the next day. Just like you spent a few minutes warming up your body and your muscles in order to exercise them, you should take at least five minutes to cool down the temperature in your body and muscles after a good work out.

Walking is a great way to end your exercise session, and you can even utilize many of the same stretches to cool down as you did to warm up. With a cool-down period, you give your body a few minutes to relax and return to normal functioning after exercise.

Check out My Online Magazine

Avoid These Exercises

2010-12-09T09:48:00.000-08:00

Six common exercises that will make you hurt for an uncommonly long time.

"No pain, no gain." In most cases, the saying is true. But that's not always the case in the weight room. In fact, some exercise-induced pain can put you on the injured list and the sidelines for a long time to come. So before you jump into the gym with a no-holds-bar attitude, remember which exercises to avoid.

#1: Behind-the-Head Military Press

It looks good when done properly, but rarely is. By doing this exercise with incorrect posture and technique, you run the risk of painful pinching and inflammation of the shoulder tendons. In rare cases, you may even suffer a tear in the rotator cuff. The same danger is present in other behind-the-head exercises, so be cautious any time you have weights in your hands and your hands are positioned behind your head.

2: Extended Bend Leg Presses

If done properly, there is nothing wrong with leg presses. The problem comes when you overzealously or ignorantly bend your legs too much. In order to get a good workout without causing damage to your back and knees, avoid bending your legs at the knee more than 90 degrees. If you have a hard time keeping your knees from slamming against your chest, reduce the weight your pushing until you have better control.

3: On Your Back

There are a number of exercises that require you to lie on your back with your feet in the air. Whether going head under heels until your feet touch the ground behind your head or pretending to ride a bicycle in the air with your back on the ground, be cautious before getting started. These exercises cause unnecessary strain on the neck's nerves and ligaments and spine and can result in long-term, irreversible damage.

4: Upright Rowing

Like the behind-the-head military press, lifting weights (not curling, but pulling) toward your chin can cause shoulder impingement and other damage to nerves in the shoulder.

5: Sloppy Stair Steppers

After spending 30 minutes on the stair stepper or stationary bike, you may have the urge to lean on the machine's handles. Don't! Doing so may make you feel slightly relieved, but the benefits are only temporary. If you're not careful, you could hurt your elbows, shoulders, and even spine. On top of that, your lack of posture prevents your body from the workout it deserves.

6: Overkill on Anything

Want to get great abs? Do work on the bench press. Want to sculpt your triceps? Do some squats. By putting all of your attention on a certain muscle, you run the risk of ignoring your other muscles and suffering future injury in these ignored muscles. There's nothing wrong with targeting a muscle or muscle group for improvement. Just remember the rest of your body needs some attention also.

Get more at: the Fitness Buster Magazine

Exercising in the A.M.

2010-12-06T09:26:00.000-08:00

How getting up early gives you the advantage.

When the sun begins peaking over the horizon, you shouldn't be burying your head underneath a pillow, praying it will get dark and turn into night again. Instead, you should take advantage of the early hours to get in an hour of exercise. Why? Because the benefits far outweigh your desire to sleep in a bit.

Benefit #1: You'll Lose Weight

Exercising during any time of the day is proven to help you obtain and maintain a healthy weight. However, recent research hints that exercising in the morning gives your weight-loss goal an extra push. How's it do this? By improving your life a few ways all at once.

The first change is that working out during the first few hours of the day helps you sleep better, whereas working out in the evening can actually make it more difficult to sleep at night. Since healthy sleep habits assist your weight-loss goals, it only makes sense to want better sleep. Working out in the morning also helps your metabolism to get high early on in the day and stay there throughout your day. In addition, exercising early puts you in a healthy mindset from the moment you wake up, helping you make better decisions later in the day.

Benefit #2: You'll Stick with It

Another reason morning workouts benefit you is the ease with which you can stick with them. Whereas it can be difficult to find time during your busy day to squeeze in exercise, making exercise the first thing you do during the day ensures you get in some calorie-burning time no matter what the rest of the day may bring.

Think you may not have the strength to stick with an early morning exercise regimen? Remember that in addition to sleeping better, early exercising gives you increased energy and gets the blood pumping throughout your body. This helps you fire on all cylinders, whether you have a big meeting coming up or have to pull a double shift at the warehouse.

Benefit #3: You'll Get a Raise

As if an energy boost in the morning and increased metabolism weren't reason enough for working out in the morning, this early-morning fix-all may be just what your career needs. If you're skeptical, think about your attitude at work. Have you been down in the dumps? Too tired to go the extra mile?

Working out first thing in the morning may give you the boost you need to get past these issues. Once your boss recognizes your improved can-do attitude, your sudden willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty, and the infectious smile you carry everywhere you go, you may find yourself on the fast track to promotion. And to think-all of this just because you woke up a few minutes early for some running, weight lifting, bike riding, swimming, or calisthenics!

Creative Morning Routines

Getting your exercise every day is no easy task. Getting it in before the rest of your family is awake can be even more difficult-especially if you've not a morning person.

To make sure you get your fill of morning exercises, keep these tips in mind.

Leave the car at home. Once you've eaten a healthy breakfast, hop on your bicycle or grab your running shoes and get to work the old-fashioned way by your own power. Just be sure to keep an extra change of clothes on hand so you don't have to wear your sweaty outfit all day.
Do something fun. Everyone has different interests. To make sure you get up every morning and get in some exercise, make your routine fun. Whether you prefer kayaking, bike riding, or push-ups, implement this into your early morning routine and you'll have fun as you improve your health.
Become specialized and start teaching. Wish there was a spinning class at 6 a.m. at your gym? Find some likeminded folks and work to become a teacher of the class. As a teacher, missing class isn't possible, so you'll be sure to get your routine in first thing in the morning, even when you'd rather stay in bed.

Find out more at my online magazine.... The Fitness Buster Magazine online

Lose Lots of Weight (Safely)

2010-12-05T10:26:00.000-08:00

Need to shed 100 pounds? You don't have to go into the operating room.

Everybody has a different plan for losing weight. But no matter what diet pro you ask, they'll all agree on a few tips that will help you lose lots of weight without putting your health in jeopardy.
So if you're ready to transform your body into the sleek and slim shape you've been dreaming about, start reading and prepare to change your life.

Get Medical Before, During, and After

Losing lots of weight shouldn't be done alone. You'll need the support of your physician as you're on your journey. There are many reasons to stay in touch with your doctor throughout the weight-loss process. First, your physician can work with you to determine which weight-loss strategies will best meet your needs. Your doctor can also help you adjust to your new body. If you've been living with lots of extra weight for a long time, the weight-loss process can be shocking to your body. By keeping your doctor by your side, you'll be able to make sense of any unexpected reaction your body may have to thinning down.

Cut Back on Your Meal Plan

Being overweight or obese comes about for a number of reasons. One of the most common is overeating. To battle this obstacle to your thinner future self, you'll have to cut out some of the food you consume during the day. Start with a goal of reducing your caloric intake by 250 or 500 calories a day. If the thought of tracking calories is overwhelming, do something a little easier, like cutting out dessert after dinner. It may not add up to 250 calories, but it's a start. And every bite you don't take counts.

Listen to Your Body

Once you get used to eating fewer calories, you can begin to consider a more difficult step: listening to your stomach. While you may have grown accustomed to eating thousands of calories every day, your body doesn't need that extra food to function. Actually, those extra calories do nothing but slow your body down and put your entire body in danger of bad health. Begin paying attention to your body's signals and stop eating when your stomach says, "Full!"

Exercise with Fervor

In addition to cutting back on the amount of calories you eat, you'll have to beef up your exercise regimen to shed pounds quickly. Not currently in any kind of exercise program? Then you'll see dramatic results when you begin.

Regardless, you can expect to lose a lot of pounds in the blink of an eye if you have the time and dedication required. For the most rapid weight loss, get a personal trainer and spend a minimum of an hour every day working out intensely in the gym. For slower, more methodical weight loss, shoot for 30 minutes of moderate exercise five days a week.

If You Crash, You'll Burn

Most overweight and obese individuals have tried multiple crash diets. Unfortunately, as you may know, crash diets usually have the same result: you get burned. When you're serious about losing lots of weight, a crash diet may be appealing. But beware: Diets that sound too good to be true usually are. And if you find a diet that doesn't require a lot of sacrifice on your part-careful watching over your calorie intake and plenty of exercise-it is, indeed, too good to be true.

If you liked this article, check out my online magazine for more...The Fitness Buster Magazine

A Lesson from Ip Man

2010-11-30T06:37:00.000-08:00

Are you a Martial Artist enthusiast? Maybe you just like action films with good fight sequences, I know I do.

Either way, you need to watch the biography about Bruce Lee's Master Ip Man, it is a unbelievable story and I dare to say one of the best martial arts film I have watched. I wasn't about glamour moves that have a ton of wires and crazy moves that you know is just for the movies (although I believe there is a little) but in fact about how a man mastered martial arts through practice and diligence. The movie doesn't even make it clear on what he does for a living, but whatever it is allowed him the life of freedom that made practice a convenience.

Check out a movie cover

In the photograph you see is Donnie Yen practicing on the famous Wing Chun dummy, something I have never seen in real life. But I know Bruce Lee (I am the biggest fan) used it religiously.

What I took from the movie was simple, Ip Man never cared about theory, he cared about results. He made it very clear in a practice bout between himself and a young man that was a restaurant owner. The kid asks to practice because he learned some new moves from his master that he wanted to try out (although it was more of a way to get Ip Mans opinion). Well soon into Ip beating him to a practice pulp, he turned to the young man and said, "stop reciting theory and just hit your target."

Man did that statement resonate with me, have you ever felt like you will get started with something after you learn just one more thing? Or maybe that you can not start your new mission for fear that you may screw something up?

I know I do, in fact until recently I found myself in what I have heard to be paralysis by analysis for over 2 years. See I have always been athletic (top tier athlete on every team I have played on) but never the very best on the team or at any one thing. Just a well rounded athlete. I liked to challenge myself with exercises and goals that were totally out of my realm (except dancing :) I have to left feet lol).

I always loved the challenge of something new but more importantly I would never stop because someone said so. Well I have been making the transition from the life of a student, child, adolescent into the man that has emerged on the other side. A gym owner, recreational athlete, hobby seller dweller....

But during the course of what we will sum up as my quarter life crisis I changed. I stopped challenging myself to keep working hard and trying new things. Instead I got stuck in the educational bubble that sucks you in like the most powerful vacuum. I forgot that you only get good at what you practice, and learned education is only as good as what is put to use. Simply put, actions speak louder than words.

Thanks for the lesson Ip Man, you have set me on the path to trail blaze my way back to the "Action Taking" trail my life's journey started on.

If you haven't seen the movie it is definately worthy of your movie collection. Check out Amazon they have it for a great price.

Fitness Vacation

2010-11-22T10:55:00.000-08:00

So over the weekend Ginger (on the left) and I headed up to Conway, New Hampshire to hangout with two of my college friends. They were awesome hosts and there dog Sedona gave Ginger more attention than she wanted, lol.

It was absolutely hilarious how Sedona would nip and Gingers back legs (what a instigator) but she had awesome patients and although Megan didn't like the growling noises, Alex and I assured her that in was all in good fun ;)....

So minus the fact that I was in the mountains of New Hampshire and clearing my mind from the last 3 months of hard work. I still managed to get my workout in! I stuck to what we have been talking about with body weight calisthenics and got a great pump and good sweat going. The workout was simple, I started off with a warm up of 150 jumping jacks and 20 up/downs then proceeded to 3 core exercises that will target pretty much every muscle you have. They were, push ups, inverted rows (off there porch since there was no pull up bar), and squats.

Since there was no external load I had to increase the intensity by lowering the rest time and increasing the number of repetitions. I have used this convenient vacation strategy for over 10 years now and would rank them up with any other routine I use in the gym. I am just a sucker when it comes to incorporating variety, after all it is the spice of life.

Fitness Hierarchy

2010-11-17T07:41:00.000-08:00

So your asking the question what is the best way to train, exercise to perform, reps, sets, weight, etc...

In my opinion it will always be and always has been, body weight calisthenics. Why? Because if you master your body then you can train anywhere at any time while having the body of your dreams. We are here for over all health and wellness, which means we must first be able to use what we have been given.

For the sake of time and getting you started in a timely manner I want to direct you to one of the most educational sites on the web when it comes to living a healthier lifestyle, over time I will tell you my favorite sites that are a must read, but for go to Marks Daily Apple and download his free primal blueprint ebook. It is filled with knowledge that will build upon your foundation.

We will start will the primal blueprints progressions for push ups, pull ups, squats, over head presses, and planks.

For those of you following along but have exercises in mind that you are comfortable with or want to perform instead feel free but remember that you must have a minimum of 1 exercise per muscle group, so a push, pull, squat, press and core all have to be covered.

Lets Exercise :)

2010-11-12T08:59:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we covered how you should start to implement your meals into your daily routine and we touched in very vague detail on the nutrition you should strive to feed your body. As you may have noticed I have been feeding you very light details in a step by step action oriented way.

I want you to stop reading and start performing, as you follow my website and this community of fitness families you will have no choice but to continue learning. As we start the steam engine rolling and start incorporating a healthier lifestyle I can then start to get you to improve upon more things that may in fact have a bigger benefit to you.

Proper form during exercises, better nutritional strategies developed for specific goals or maybe a understanding how certain supplements, herbs, and natural remedies can in fact make a positive impact on your health. But if I don't get you started we fall into the crowd of "Conventional Wisdom" thinkers and get rapped up in a state of Paralysis by Analyses.

Now that you can visually see what your day looks like and understand when you have time to yourself lets add in sometimes that we can exercise at. The minimum amount of time you must open up in your schedule will be two days and the maximum will be six days. I like to leave at least one day for full recovery, my actual training habits lean toward three days a week of HIIT met con (cross fit style) followed with a less intense full body circuit that allows for more of a aerobic training zone. For now don't get stuck on making the right choices I just want you to chose what just seems to fit your preferences, we will fill in the gaps later.

If I was starting out from scratch and wanted to condition by with the best foundation I would go back to the best basic movements our bodies know. Come on, I know you know what they are!

Thats right. Push ups, Squats, Pull ups, Presses, and Planks, I call them "The Fit Five" lol.... I know it may sound elementary to some of you, but I learned this lesson when I was 12, reading a book about the famous Bo Jackson (my favorite athlete of all time) who avoided the weight room like the plague because he hated how it effected him for days after the workouts (DOMS, delayed onset muscle soreness). He made a deal with his coaches while growing up, that he would workout on his own and for whatever reason if his conditioning was not up to par with what they felt was needed for the team, then he would hit the gym. HE was able to run a 4.1 forty ,lighting speed and still considered to this day one of the fastest verifiable times at the NFL combine, and did I mention he weighed 225 lbs of solid muscle, so needless to say Bo never made it to the gym and went on to win the Heisman trophy at Alabama and become the first major athlete to play both professional football and baseball.

Should I go onto to talk about Hershel Walker? Who was well known for setting out to perform 100,000 push ups, crunches and sprinted thousands of miles in a year. Oh, did I mention he was 12 years old when he started out on his mission? Can you even imagine a 12 year old considering this feat as a New Years Resolution? I sure can't! I personally read about both these stars when I was young and I have to say with regret that I didn't have what it took to do what they were able to. They possessed sheer dedication and determination in my opinion. But one thing these two Greats shared was a incredible work ethic and a love for keeping things simple, using only there body weight and surroundings to accomplish unheard of feats.

So again, if I were to start over and build a solid foundation then "The Fit Five" is where I would start for strength training exercises. In fact, lets do this right. For those of you who have not purchased a routine you are looking to use during your transformation and are looking to incorporate the best alternative to spending money on one or a gym membership.

Lets start at ground zero, using our own weight to get fit. We have the rest of our lives to purchase programs that I have personally reviewed and found true to there word. I know the holidays are coming so lets work on perfecting our blueprints for the next two weeks. Since December is my B-day month and we are all over achievers, will begin our "life style makeover" December 1st, 2010. Why not? I dunno about you but I feel a sense of excitement while finishing this post, ants in my pants, I think I have just lit a torch to a trail ahead that I can't wait to travel along. Lets get ready.

You have two HW assignments this weekend. 1) Every time you eat this weekend, don't worry about what it is yet, I want you to be aware of how long it takes you to feel satisfied. 2) Take a walk and see how long you can last (for time, or distance) and then write it down.

Monday we will talk about the progressions to "The Fit Five" and how to figure out what exercise is the right exercise to start with.

Enjoy your weekend :)

Nutrition Blue Print

2010-11-11T09:18:00.000-08:00

OK, yesterday we got started by mapping out your day to a typical work week and I am sure you did great :) I mean who knows your schedule better than you do. If you need a reminder on how it should look, take a peek at my Google calendar example right here to the left (the image will display larger if you click on it). Well lets get back to our planner or calendar that you are using to write your schedule on. Now that you have your day planned with when you wake up, go to work, when you get your breaks, get off work, typical errands needed to be done throughout the week, and when you go to sleep.

I want you to now plug in when you will be eating. Now I know you want to start asking all the typical questions like, Shawn but what should I eat, how much, how often, whats best, whats the worst, blah blah blah... Listen, we will get to all of that just relax, and be open and honest with yourself, it wasn't the last few weeks that caused you to be where you are at was it? "Conventional Wisdom" will cause you to second guess all of this planning you are doing and when that happens just remember that there are over 18,000 diets available today and yet 66% of America is overweight, half of whom are considered obese.

See, if we make a blueprint the right way this plan will last us for the rest of our life because it will always be able to transform to our life's current circumstances. Don't fall for one of those cheap well marketed headlines saying, "Lose 10 lbs in 7 days, Guaranteed". It just simply won't happen and if your anything like me and my family you will just keep the product without ever returning it, then it becomes a fancy paper weight with a new title called-Good Intentions to Get Back In Shape. You don't want that, do you?

With that being settled, let's start to understand how our nutrition dictates your well being. It all starts with the building blocks of our body, macro nutrients and micro nutrients, which is simply what you know as protein, fat, and carbohydrates (macro), then you have vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals (micro). Now over the next couple weeks we will get into great detail about nutrition and roles it plays, but for today and simplicity purposes on getting you started with your plan lets just say your body needs over 40 nutrients to support life, and that's just the ones we know about so far.

There are many foods that are good sources of these various nutrients, but no single food provides everything! Let me say that again, there is no single food that stands above the rest. This is precisely why Variety is the Spice of Life. Eating a Variety of foods, preferably in their whole form, is the best way to get all the nutrients your body needs. Some of these nutrients require others for optimal absorption (we will cover this later), but excessive amounts may result in health problems. What does that mean? I like to think of that old saying, to much of any one thing can be bad.

So lets get back on track. In order to rev up our metabolism so that we are consistently in calorie burning mode and staying away from fat storing we must incorporate two things into our lives. 1) We must eat small regular meals so that our body feels satisfied and safe which translates into burning fat. The body won't hold onto access weight unless it feels it needs it, simply because the more weight you hold on your frame the harder your body has to work. 2) We need to workout regularly so that we activate muscle tissue so that we raise the metabolism which translates into more energy needed to survive, making the body pull energy from fat.

Everything we have just talked about doesn't make sense until right now, I want you to take your calendar and write down the time you eat breakfast in the morning, if you don't then start too, remember we need the metabolism to stay high which means after 6-10 hours of sleep with no food we really need a pick me up in order to rev it back up to fat burning mode. Now that you wrote down when you eat breakfast, write down when you eat lunch and dinner on a regular basis (the two most commonly eaten meals).

Done? Great.

So now we have a regular schedule of 3 square meals, thats awesome. We want to aim to get in 4-6 small meals a day (5 seems to work best for me, 3 meals 2 snacks), so take those times your wrote down for breakfast, lunch, dinner and add in a snack between breakfast and lunch, then between lunch and dinner. This will give you 5 times to eat throughout the day and ensuring that our metabolism stays high. Make sure to only eat until satisfied which takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to let you know, so just be conscious of what and how much you are eating.

Here is a rough example of what my day may look like (underlined when my meals and snacks are):

Stay tuned tomorrow where I show you how to implement and schedule in your workouts, whether you want to workout twice a week or six times, it wont matter how often.

Richard St. John's 8 secrets of success | Video on TED.com

2010-11-10T13:13:00.000-08:00

The 8 secrets to success is a video you can't miss while striving to reach new goals and dreams!! Enjoy :)

Richard St. John's 8 secrets of success | Video on TED.com

Mapping out our Blue Print

2010-11-10T08:38:00.000-08:00

So lets start to build our blue print to a healthier life, shall we?
First you need a calendar, so you can do what I do which is use Google calendar (I use Google for everything :) or run off to your local Staples or Office Depot and grab a appointment book.

Now that we have our calendar in front of us all I want you to do is look at one day, your average day, something that will replicate our weekly life (work runs us all so your work week tends to work perfect).

Lets start with when you go to bed and when you wake up shall we. So if you typically go to sleep at 9pm then write 9p, if it is 3 am because you work in the restaurant industry (like I did for 9 years) then that is fine too. remember this is a blue print that will help you control your life, not your neighbors, not your familys, and def not your favorite movie star. Represent sleep time with Zzz if you want, or be a little more creative :) just have fun with it, it is your plan and I don't think anyone likes being boring.

So during your work week you tend to have daily habits (we are all creatures of habit, especially me), that means you tend to wake up at the same time daily, follow the same tasks (brush your teeth, take a shower, eat breakfast, etc.) in the morning. That will be our first step, take the time you wake up and right that down next to the time that your alarm goes off. Some find that writing side notes can help but for now you can be as general or as detailed as you would like.

After you have woken up a bit I want you to write down when you leave your house for work and when your work day starts. Remember your schedule is your schedule and it is a part of your life, so don't think what your writing down is wrong, it is not, only you can know what your typical day looks like.

Now from here I want you to add in your Lunch break and any other breaks you may get (cigarette breaks don't count, we are here to get in shape) and the when you get out for the day. If your break varies then thats fine, just put a time that it will be sooner or later, this blue print can be a floating plan if you have a floating schedule.

After work we all get time to enjoy what we call life (lol, that's funny right) whether it is totally full of adventure (like scaling the Statue of Liberty) or whether you like to keep to your self and stay at home and relax. We all go to the grocery store (I hope, please no fast food) and we all shop for our necessities, whatever that may b so write down the time you would typically do this as well.

If you are hesitant on what you should right down don't be, this is your personal calendar and I don't know many people that go around showing others. Just as a example I'll show you a rough copy of mine. Just click on the image to see it.

Tomorrow we will talk about when and how we should eat in order to maximize our metabolism, stay tuned and keep your daily calendar handy.

Start with a Plan!

2010-11-09T11:39:00.000-08:00

Reducing what you eat takes a little planning! These are my recommended first steps!

Firstly work out a pattern of meals that suits.

Some find that a big healthy breakfast reduces big meals later in the day. Most people find three balanced meals, two smaller ones and one main meal is usually enough. Decide what works best for you, you may be very close to a routine that will work already.

Reduce your calorie intake by reducing fats and alcohol. Both are energy dense (high in calories) and they simply fail to keep hunger away for long. Choose complex carbohydrates particularly fiber like beans, peas, lentils, starchy vegetables and fruits, instead of simple carbohydrates like refined sugars in soft drinks, candy, baked goods, jams, jelly, and especially fast food.

Reduce your portion size by choosing a smaller plate, it tends to give you the impression that you are eating more. Start by always adding your fresh foods first like, fruits vegetables, lean protein, nuts and seeds before grabbing any grains, breads, cereals, pastas and baked goods. By doing this you assure your body has a nutrient dense meal and will help in any spike in insulin you may get from the man made carbohydrates that taste so good.

Eating 5 helpings of fruit and veggies a day really does help to keep your weight under control and healthy. They hold most of the vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals that our bodies need to fight off disease so remember to provide enough of them to eat. I like keeping fruits for my snacks throughout the day and having my vegetables with my meals, it assures my body the nutrition it needs while taking care of my sweet tooth (yes, I am a sucker for sweets too).

Don't think that you can’t eat out or have celebration meals. In Fact I encourage them! They keep you sane and allow you to celebrate a goal that’s been accomplished. Just plan ahead to allow for some calorie indulgence. When you’re there carefully select your meal and eat small portions, it’ll help to avoid any problems of guilt. Always remember, food chains give bigger and bigger servings now a days, and are packed with calories, so you can always have half of your meal boxed and save it for later.

Any changes aren’t for just days or weeks but for life, a longer and healthier life.

Eating healthier and changing your lifestyle.

Start thinking about the whole picture, don't just say 'I should do something!'
ACT NOW and do something small today!
Planning.

Majority of dietitians and fitness experts all agree that planning is VITAL to success!

You should plan in advance how changes can be achieved, think about the structure of your life and your preferred lifestyle.
If it is not compatible with a realistic lifestyle, experience shows us that you simply won’t sustain the changes.
It’s usually possible to find a solution that’ll work well for you with pre-planning. We’re all creatures of habit, make sure the habits are good ones!

Keep a regular monthly check on your weight. By adjusting exercise and eating levels you can maintain your weight within the 3-5 lb range.

Increasing your energy output

Experience tells us that regular exercise is a vital component of any healthy lifestyle. Very few of us manage to keep to our lower weight unless we take part in regular exercise.
Exercise helps the energy balance, improves heart and lung function, and reduces self-pity, boredom and snacking time.
The higher the exercise level the better, but when it comes to starting out even walking or cycling rather than using cars or motorbikes, and using the stairs instead of lifts helps. I believe any adjustment is better than none.

How to keep to a healthier diet

The first thing we need is to think about is that the change is not for just days or weeks but for life, a longer healthier life. Making small positive changes over time will help you achieve a much healthier life, it'll also be easier to maintain a good weight and keep fit and active.

Step 1: have a plan
Plan in advance how it can be achieved within the framework of the preferred lifestyle.
If it is not compatible with a realistic lifestyle, experience shows it will not be sustained. It is usually possible to find a compatible solution with pre-planning. We are all creatures of habit, right? So, evaluate yours and then hold onto your good habits and throw out the bad ones. Be realistic and never be too hard on yourself, stress is the leading free radical builder in your body and that will only make your job harder.

Tomorrow we will talk about making a Blue Print that will be Personalized to your life that can be used as soon as that day.

Don't Wait for New Years

2010-11-08T05:30:00.000-08:00

Did you know the average person gains 7-10 lbs during the holidays?

Astonishing huh? I bet when I said that you thought about it real quick, snickered and said,"that sounds about right." lol

Well why exactly is that? Because who doesn't like stuffing themselves until there pants need to be unzipped, while surrounded by there loved ones.

I can already taste the warm mouth watering turkey, mash potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, candy yams, biscuits, man oh man the list can go on and on and we haven't even talked about the dessert and beverages, like pumpkin pie and eggnog..

Well did you know you can eat to enjoy every last one of these foods during the holidays, without the weight gain?

Well you can! And all you have to do is avoid the pressure of stuffing yourself until you hit the red line on your tummy pressure gage. See I am the first to say the holidays are a fantastic time of the year, I love them. But when it comes to eating, I always spread out the food. I will go up for small to medium size plates instead of that over loaded large one you see uncle Earl grab on your right.

I think of the the holidays as the ultimate snack fest and you know what happens, I have noticed that people don't measure how much you eat with just the amount of food on a plate but also (and maybe more importantly) how many times you walk through the buffet line, people always make the statement to me, your going up for more? See, I can down my fair share of food (I commonly get told I have the appetite of a horse) but what is weird is that all I do is graze throughout the day and typically thats how I always am even on holidays, I just eat a little bit more of everything :)

So if you are looking to make it through the holidays then do what I do, start off with a small to medium size plate of your main course what ever that is, turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, mash potatoes. Then when your done sit and relax, have some conversation with a loved one, so that the digestion can start to take place. It may take about 20 minutes for your stomach to relay the message to your mind that you are totally satisfied, so take your time.

Now this is where it gets fun, see once those 20 min go by your body makes you aware of how full you are. You will most likely say to yourself, "I feel totally satisfied, man that food was good, but I could eat like 2 more plates easy." See thats not a bad thing, remember we want to enjoy the holidays not regret them after words. That feeling of satisfaction is your key to success, it puts you on the right path to knowing how full your gas tank (stomach) is. Your body will store fat sooner and more often when you have that amount of access food in your system.

Now that we know what it feels like to be satisfied, now all we want to do is graze and graze a lot, as much as you want but never to the point of total fullness, where you may feel like sleeping or unbuckling your pants. Make the conscious effort to spend a little more time talking and having fun and less time at the buffet line and you will find that the holidays can be a blast without the weight gain.

Stay Nutritionally "Informed"

2010-11-04T09:44:00.000-07:00

Be Informed!
Make a habit of reading nutrition labels while grocery
shopping. Many foods seem similar to one another, but a quick
comparison of nutritional content will show otherwise.

There will always be debate on whether going organic is best because research studies are divided. However, without a doubt, lean meats, fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds can skyrocket your success in your weight loss journey.

I personally try to eat organically for a couple of reasons.

1. I feel it means a healthier ecosystem

2. It helps to avoid eating to much pesticides, chemicals ect.

3. I can make a better effort at supporting the local farmers of my area

I guess I may be deceiving myself by supporting my beliefs but at the same time our country as a majority is made up of entrepreneurs and if we don't support the hard working "blue collar workers" of America, then who will?

So with this belief, I try to live a active, green, eco-friendly, healthy life the best way I possibly can. Can you say the same?

2. Never Say Never!

2010-09-23T12:46:00.000-07:00

Enjoy life! Have a slice of birthday cake and treat yourself to a burger every now and then. When you deny yourself all of life’s indulgences you will set yourself up for weight loss failure.

But be smart: have a small piece of the cake and forego fries with that burger!

Keep Your Body Guessing!

2010-07-14T04:59:00.000-07:00

Ever find yourself in the same old rut when it comes to your workouts? Doing the same workout over and over is not only boring—it also slows down your results by not giving your muscles a chance to recover.

Alternate your exercise routine, for example take a Pilates class on Monday and then lift weights on Wednesday.

Efficient Stress Techniques in Norwich, CT

2010-06-07T19:23:00.000-07:00

Are you frequently stressed out? Stress is a part of daily life, anywhere you go it is unavoidable that you deal with various circumstances that can stress you out. Stress is often the cause of countless medical conditions and it wears you down, Norwich, CT Personal Trainer recommends that you must do something with stress to prevent it from dragging you into decline.

Stress relief techniques can aid you in increasing energy and focus, it also helps in fighting diseases and even comfort of minor pains. To take a breather a day of work and stressors, stress relieving methods can help out in boosting you back to work mode.

Persons leading a busy lifestyle, can’t do away with daily stress. When you are frequently in conditions like this, there are quite a few de-stressing actions that can help you out.

Deep Breathing is a weathered de-stressing activity that is often included in countless work outs. Set aside 20-30 minutes of time within your day to have the opportunity to do activities that may help in cutting off those stressful activities. Deep breathing is best done sitting up or lying down. Breathing must come from the abdomen, when inhaling and exhaling movement from of the shoulders breathing.

Progressive muscle relaxation is also another procedure in relieving stress. It is done by starting with the muscles in the lower extremities going up. Contraction the muscles and releasing it facilitates muscle movement and proper circulation of blood.

Adopting a healthy lifestyle is one way to lessen stress. Picking out the appropriate food to consume, taking in the suggested amount of fluids, and most prominently exercise. When you’re fit and healthy, you will have a better resistance against stressors mostly the ones affecting the body physically. Regular exercise is also a fine way to leave go of stress, your Norwich, CT Personal Trainer can aid you out in incorporating those deep breathing exercises in your daily exercise habit.

Keeping your humor intact will aid a lot in relieving stress, as the cliché goes that ‘laughter is the best medicine’ and it certainly is true with managing stress. Laughing stimulate the release of endorphins fondly also known as the happy hormones that inhibits pain and makes a sense of elation or a feel good experience. Exercise as well can help in the release of endorphins that is why health buff who felt the exercise rush keeps returning for more.

If stress gets you down, Norwich, CT Personal Trainer says you can bear in mind these natural and helpful ways to keep you going again, stress relief doesn’t have to be high-priced when you be acquainted with just the right thing to do in the middle of a stressful day.

Are You on Baby Food? Norwich Personal Trainers Take a Deeper Look

2010-05-31T17:46:00.000-07:00

Are you aiming to loose some weight? Norwich Personal Trainer says that many people struggle to loose weight and in the attempt to do away with the struggling and go directly to the results, the competition on which weight loss solution is the most effective is up in the market.

Latest in the form of dieting techniques for faster weight loss receives more attention from critics and health enthusiast because of the speculated celebrities who may have been under this new fad in the stream of weight loss solutions.

The Baby Food Diet may sound like baby food but it is, this diet is the newest comer in the arena of weight loss solutions and it is said to be behind the terrific body of Jennifer Aniston. Minimizing food intake is the baby food diet's ultimate concern, regular food intake is replaced by portions of baby food while 2 regular adult meals in a day is cut off. The crave for food especially the junk ones are said to be suppressed by taking in baby food instead. When you are under this diet, you are only allowed to have one adult meal a day which is preferably dinner and 14 servings of baby food for the rest of the day.

The creator of the baby food diet says that unlike other forms of crash diets, this one has a way of keeping the digestive tract going while eating puree rich, fat free, gluten free and organic food. This diet helps people who really crave for junk foods to somehow suppress their cravings because it will be replaced by jarred baby foods.

One thing that critics have seen to be the problem with the baby food diet is that it lacks supplication for the nutrition that is lost by skipping a few meals a day and baby food certainly cannot make up for that loss as it is not made to supplement adult requirements. The Baby food diet permits you only little amount of calorie intake and it may leave you feeling weak especially if you are a person with an active lifestyle. Another possible problem that it may bring is binge eating. The longer food cravings are suppressed, the more a person will want to have a taste of the food the he or she id craving for and the bland taste of the jarred baby food may not be tasty enough to satisfy the person's satiety.

According to Norwich Personal Trainers adding in exercise in a diet regimen is an important factor as it adds up to the effectiveness and long term effect of your weight loss solution, but the baby food diet does not suggest the need to have exercise. Exercise whether under a certain program or merely regular exercise may still be the best choice for people who desire to loose weight the healthy way.

In search for the most effective weight loss solution, some will try to find the most critical sounding and odd looking ways to try if it works for them but you may not know that the solution that you have been looking for is as simple as moving your body and burning out your calories. In choosing all the available alternative weight loss solutions you should consider safety and health first on the list, trying out some methods that you think will work out for you is ok. In finding good methods to try, always consider what experts have to say so that you will be guided with the positive and negative effects of the strategy that your about to go into.

Norwich Guide in Choosing the Right Weight Loss Solution

2010-05-24T20:35:00.000-07:00

Are you having problems with your weight? You might be one of the many Americans who have been suffering from obesity. Norwich, CT Personal Trainers observes that the society continues to impose an image that is considered to be the standard for beauty and confidence and many are trying to live up to that standard to fit in with the norms.

Are you trying to figure out which weight loss strategy will work best for you? then you are in the same light as hundreds of people are trying to figure out the same thing; so read on and find out some information from Norwich, CT Personal Trainers in some of the most popular strategies for weight loss.

Medications for weight loss or more popularly known as diet pills were originally prescribed for obese patients. Intake of diet pills has different effects and it varies depending on the action of the drug. There are diet pills that work as appetite suppressants, fat burners, and those that makes the person's metabolic process faster. Diet Pills should ideally be prescribed by your doctor, however over the counter drugs are emerging in the market and they can come as a possible health threat because some of them are not FDA approved. Many are encouraged in buying over the counter weight loss medications as they are readily available but others end up ineffective. In addition, these type of drugs can be expensive and it's effect may vary. Health experts have revealed that taking diet pills alone to achieve your desired weight loss may not be effective but it should be with the aid of regular exercise and a healthy diet.

When we think of weight loss, we then associate it with bariatric surgery as a surgical intervention. The bariatric surgery method has been popular for a time, but as researches went about, it has some positive and negative side. Bariatric surgery's aim is to perform a surgical operation, rerouting the intestines for faster food passage, therefore a person who undergoes bariatric surgery feels full even when they have eaten lightly. But the downside is that because of quick passage in the intestines less nutrition from the food that was eaten is absorbed. Per observation, health experts associated a number of nutritional deficiency cases to bariatric surgery. Every surgery comes with a life threatening risk and bariatric surgery is not an exception, another worst thing that may happen is you may be left with a hefty amount of hospital and medication bills.

Liposuction has been the leading choice when it comes to surgical solutions to weight loss. Many people who doesn't want to get into exercise opt to undergoing liposuction to loose weight and it is by way of suctioning excess fats in the fattiest areas of the body; but mind you liposuction is not an effective solution to a long term and permanent weight loss, without exercise going through liposuction may end up being a waste. Going through liposuction may be life threatening and it is advised that you should be in tip top shape before undergoing the surgery which means a lot of preparation and possible medical complications. Liposculpture suction lipectomy or simply liposuction is executed to remove excess fats from the fattiest areas of the body particularly the abdomen, thigh, buttocks, and neck. If you plan to go under this type of surgery, you should ensure that you are in optimum health and you should not be pregnant. Immediate fat disposal is achievable in liposuction but it does not guarantee of a sag free body right after surgery, exercise should be done to achieve a fitter and leaner you.

Exercise is the oldest and the most effective weight loss routine that has been around for ages. Today, even exercise has innovations; there are variety of exercise routines available that fits your lifestyle and needs. There are personal trainers and gym instructors who can help or assist you in your health needs. It is probably the safest and healthiest way of loosing weight, with no side effects. The choice is in your hands, but in choosing exercise as your weight loss strategy, you can earn a lot of benefits which includes cardiovascular health. Personal trainers can give you the ease of working out even in your own home where it is comfortable for you to do your routine exercises, they can also create remedies for busy parents and working clients so that they can still have time to be healthy despite the busy schedule.

The road to weight loss is bewildering and the most puzzling part is choosing the weight loss technique that will work out for you, learn to choose wisely. Norwich, CT Personal Trainers say that you must learn to choose carefully and learn the pros and cons of your options.

Household Exercise Alternative from Norwich, CT Personal Trainers

2010-05-10T01:50:00.000-07:00

Do you often have a busy week and you just find it hard to include your exercise schedule inn? Well, according to Norwich, CT Personal Trainers you should know that even when you're at home there are a lot of things you can do to push through with your exercise routine.

Norwich, CT Personal Trainers observes that busy parents may find it hard to follow through with their exercise program because they have to juggle work and family tasks altogether. The alternate but temporary household exercise might help you in your quest to religiously go on with your exercise program.

Catching up with weight lifting can be so tiring, by just thinking of it may frustrate you and turn you off with exercise. Don't you know that by simply carrying your baby can be as good as lifting weights? It helps with toning your biceps and triceps. Another household chore that can help you with firming your biceps and triceps is by simply carrying that weeklong grocery bags to the trunk of your car or directly to your kitchen and mixing that lumpy pancake can help in firming that arm. Wiping your windows gives you double benefits as it also does its part carving your arms and back. If your washing machine got jammed and it is the reason why you lag behind your exercise program then you might have that single reason not to be all grumpy, washing your clothes by hand helps in sculpting your forearms, shoulder and chest.

The healthiest and the easiest way to do abdominal exercise is laughing. Laughing contracts your abdominal muscles and gives your cardiac muscles a healthy exercise. The whole family can join in your quest to health that family joke time session can really boost your abdominal muscle contraction and increases happy hormones in the body that helps you do away with depression. You’ll be surprised how funny you can get. Aside from the uplifting family time, you’ll get the added gain of a slim abdomen. Playtime sessions with your children can be another outlet for you to expand your exercise domain. Make your children help you out with trying to complete your crunches or sit-ups, you both will enjoy it.

If you want to continue with fat burning and toning your legs, you can do it by simply walking the dog or taking your family to the park. In gyms, we use equipments such as treadmills to walk or run on, but brisk walking or jogging through the neighboring streets with family and friends while enjoying the sights that you pass by can give you that sense of enjoyment and it may come as a form of relaxation and stress release.

Now you know another convenient way to push through with your fitness program even when you are away from your fitness abode from Norwich, CT Personal Trainers.

Fat Facts of the Flat Belly Diet in Norwich CT

2010-05-04T22:25:00.000-07:00

Norwich, CT Personal Trainers say that health diets that are available today come in different forms and each claim to be effective in contributing to weight loss and health benefits. The latest in the field of diet however is the Flat Belly Diet, presently the object of scrutiny among many weight loss aficionados if such diet works.

MUFA'S or Monounsaturated fats are present in a variety of food groups, according to the flat belly diet, one of these foods should be present in every meal as this food also helps in the reduction of cholesterol in the blood. The main aim of this diet is to reduce belly fats. People who have undergone this diet claimed to have felt the improvement within a short span of time.

The diet helps in hastening the fat burning process, and is said to be recommended by the American Heart Association to reduce the risk of stroke and heart diseases because of the presence of monounsaturated fat in the diet.
The five food groups that are recommended to be present in every meal are the following: Good oils, sesame oil, olive oil, and soybean oil), Nuts and Seeds (ex. Almonds, cashew nuts), Avocado, Chocolate, and Olives. These foods are considered to be heart friendly.

However critics of the said diet say that this diet is of no difference than any other diet available that offers the same benefits. The diet does not highly recommend exercise that according to Norwich, CT Personal Trainers is essential when having the goal of long term weight loss. The diet requires less calorie intake per day that may not be suitable for active people who wish to undergo with the diet. The diet may indeed reduce the belly fats but it does not guarantee a firmer abdomen free of sag.

From the view of Norwich, CT Personal Trainers, the most effective diet that one could have is the regimen that allows you to adhere to your nutrition needs and improves your lifestyle so that you can achieve optimum health. To fitness enthusiasts, being trim and fit also considers the person's health and nutritional needs at the same time. The fitness program should match the person's lifestyle and daily activity. Doing away with smoking and unrestricted drinking of alcoholic beverages, Eating fresh fruits and vegetables instead of processed foods and fast food meals, and regular exercise will definitely have you on your way to the road of good health.

Tips from Personal Trainer in Norwich, CT on How to Find the Right Personal Trainer.

2010-04-25T02:31:00.000-07:00

Getting healthy can be an uphill struggle and finding a personal trainer who share your vision and help you start out with being healthy is just as difficult. The achievement of having your desired body is dependent in several factors, but Personal Trainers from Norwich, CT states that the supreme contributor in getting fit is having the right personal trainer. There are a lot of things to consider in finding the right personal trainer for you, but these few reminders are of greater importance.
Norwich Personal Trainer’s suggests that looking for the Personal Trainer's Credentials can help you find out if your trainer is credible or not. Formal training is a vital qualification for personal trainers. It is advisable to look for them from your personal trainer. Referrals from friends and officemates who have undergone the same training with a certain personal trainer can help you to achieve your cause. If you can’t have any referrals then search for testimonials from prior clients. This could give you an idea as to how the trainer works.
Looking for someone that you can easily get along with, is not only applicable in searching for friends, but is useful in finding a working buddy as well. Personality counts. When having to work with someone, he or she should be in the same level of thinking as you are, find someone that you feel comfortable working with. Having a Personal Trainer that you have problem working with can add up to your burden. It is significant for a trainer to know how to listen to the concerns of their clients, that way the trainer will be able to create effective ways to motivate his/her clients.
Your personal trainer should at least have basic knowledge in nutrition. Your trainer should know the nutritional contents of the food that you eat; the trainer should be able to advise you the correct way of doing your diet. First hand knowledge in proper diet and healthy food options should be an essential tool for your trainer. Your personal trainer can be your guide to the right food that you can eat and the ones that are essential to your diet and fit your routine.
Personal Trainers from Norwich, CT suggests that your trainer should be able to handle your muscle spasms and body aches. Working your body out especially for the first time can give you body aches. A trainer that has knowledge in how to handle this problem will come in useful. Most qualified personal trainers are certified physical therapist, when trainers with these credentials are available, it is best to put them first on your list.
Getting in shape is a lot of work. It certainly requires perseverance and positive motivation. What lightens up the burden is the encouragement that comes from your personal trainer and your determination in reaching your goal. Choosing a personal trainer is in your hands, you just have to choose well and make sure that your trainer's personality fits you and he can address and respond to your health needs.

Healthy, Wealthy and Wise

2010-04-19T09:54:00.000-07:00

Health is wealth as the saying goes, but staying healthy is so much more. When you keep your body healthy, you adopt a positive way of life.

Obesity, hypertension, Diabetes, and Cardiac problems are major diseases that have caused permanent damage and deaths to many. The best way to prevent these diseases and save your life is rather simple.

Staying fit allows your body to repel many types of illness particularly those that are caused by high cholesterol and fats. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle involves, eating the right kind of food, exercising regularly, and having a positive state of mind.

When you have all these three it will be easier to live the healthy life that you desire. Being healthy is not just an individual goal, but it has to be the goal of the entire family as well, the greatest reward that health can give is the chance to see your family happy and disease free.

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Women and Weight Loss

2010-04-09T09:56:00.000-07:00

Wanting to Loose those extra pounds can be an exhausting endeavor, there are a lot of women who have been struggling to loose weight but failed to succeed.

One thing that leads to the failure of many is the feeling of discouragement and the lack of resistance to unhealthy food. If you want to loose weight, the most important factor is the planning phase, where you set a goal for yourself and think about the outcome that you want to have. Listing down your reasons why you want to loose weight is an effective tool for motivation.

Diet also plays a big part in this challenge, as food intake is the major contributor to weight gain. Diet does not mean food deprivation, but it means eating the right kind of food and choosing those that has less calories and more nutritive value.

Fruits and vegetable are all time favorites of health conscious individuals; it is wiser to follow their example. How one thinks or a person’s state of mind is the key to achieving success. When you think of your goal, you have to make a way to achieve it.

The Perfect Golf Swing

2010-03-30T14:29:00.001-07:00

I've talked with a lot of my clients who absolutely love golfing. I came across this gem of a video on the Perfect Swing. Who doesn't want a perfect swing right?? :)

Atkins Diet?

2010-03-22T08:30:00.000-07:00

There is argumentation about the Atkins diet, which focuses on the developers of the diet and to people that are on the diet. Many arguments on the internet also exist, which state that the Atkins diet is a viable diet and should be allowed to be tried by more people in order for them to receive the benefits of this great fat burning diet. A present study shows the difference of the Atkins diet fat burning effectivity for those who use it.

But, not everything in these debates are true and they need more studies. Despite this, the truth remains that Atkins has proffered forth few important services within the diet that makes the user lose weight. To the average person, losing weight would be a boon that he or she could not pass up, and with this diet, nothing is different.

With the Atkins diet, this is one of the best things about this diet – it replaces the bad things that go into your body and makes your body burn fat cells for fuel. There are constantly new diet fads that are going up all of the time, trying to take the place of more experienced diets that are showing themselves to work well for those who try them. For the debate of Atkins diet, this is always the issue, as it always has to battle against different diets who want to replace it and from those people who does not consider its effectiveness.

The Atkins diet can also save individuals money as it lessens the amounts and types of food you need to get, thus reducing cost and increasing accessibility. Saving money in an economy in recession like ours is a must. And, with prices continuing to rise, it's easy to eat junk foods because of changes in price. However, the diet will provide a limited selection of foods to choose from (typically focusing on meat) which will minimize the amount of food needing to be purchased and consumed. This is also right for people who want to use some of their money for other expenses for the house.

Many individuals are not aware of how to best care for their health and make a number of mistakes, which result in problems in the long run. This unfortunate form of ignorance can easily damage a situation or a person’s health. Following the Atkins diet allows each person to start setting goals for his or her health while using the guidelines of the diet.

However, while there are more debate for the Atkins diet, every person will decide if they want to try it and then decide the outcome for his or herself. It can be a great plan when used properly with supplements and a healthy exercise program. While the diet may not for everybody, there are still more controversy for using the Atkins diet.

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Turning 40 and Your Health

2010-03-15T09:11:00.000-07:00

Many People at age 40 experiences several health problems, some like to say that 40 is the new 30 for women of today, and that age is just a number. This is actually very evident to most of us, and women will often describe age and only being as old as you feel. But, even after all the affirmations, it is obvious for women or men to feel young, health, and actually BE healthy, they must get a handle on their overall wellness. One of the common health problem of women is osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is a term that explains a degenerative disease of the joints. This is the number one kind of arthritis in the U.S. It affects over 20 million adults and over 50% of all people over the age of 65 have some evidence of osteoarthritis. Some global fact about this disease include that it is less of a problem in East Indians, South African's and Southern Chinese, but highly common in the Japanese populations.

Men at age 40 experiences Andropause. This is when a man's hormones naturally begins to decline, often starting in their late forties or early fifties. In continues to decline well into the eighties. Controversy surrounds the disease as many believe the belief of male menopause is more fiction than truth. The Andropause is a gradual process and not exactly the same as menopause. However, like women undergoing menopause, the decrease in hormones in men result in them suffering from symptoms of the Andropause. However, like menopause, symptoms of andropause can vary from person to person. Turning 40 is one of the key psychological milestones in a person’s life when they evaluate who they are and where they want to be going.

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Don't Stress...Might Kill ya

2010-03-10T15:49:00.000-08:00

Stress is unavoidable. However we conduct our lives we're going to run into stress on a daily basis. And dealing with stress actually causes chemical changes in our brains which can of course affect our health. And it doesn't just end there.

Some types of stress are fleeting, and very short-lived. Usually with minor things like feeling like you always choose the slowest line at the store This sort of annoyance happens to all of us. The issue is how you handle it. Most people will simply decide to look at the magazine rack, which is conveniently located near the register, or just daydream for a few minutes. But some people will let the tension build. You can almost see the frusturation building with every second they have to wait in that line.

Obviously we want to be like the prior, and take this moment as an opportunity to catch up on our gossip. The first may read something interesting on the cover of a magazine and the second may escape from the chaos of the day with her daydream. But the person that is literally stressing out over the wait is doing more harm to himself than he realizes.
Stress can affect us on many levels. This person is not likely to have a smile on his face as he heads out of the market. I'm sure it will take a person like this quite some time to cool down. And it is very likely that this is behavior that is routine for this person - in other words, this person does not have very good coping skills.

In time this person is likely to experience any or all of the following problems:

Difficulty sleeping
High blood pressure
Lack of energy
Headaches
Feelings of depression
Tension & anxiety that won't let up
Back or neck pain
Change in weight
And more

As you can see, stress can build and lead to some bad stuff. But, to be fair, some people just have more stressful lives to live than the rest of us. I'm sure we all know those that have had more hardships, trials, and tribulations than the average person. It is also important to note that some things that are perceived as good, such as having children or buying a home and moving, are also very stressful.

These issues are cause to so many health problems including heart disease, low immunity, ulcers, emotional disorders and the list goes on. We my not be able to eliminate stress, but we can learn to cope. We can work on using mature coping mechanisms when we are feeling stressed, but even more than that we can be more proactive.

To stay healthy we can eat better, drink lots of water, get plenty of sleep, and workout. Increasing our physical health is a fantasitc way to also increase our ability to cope with stress more healthfully. Be kind to yourself. Take time to smell the roses, chill out, and remember your hobbies. Every day you should budget at least 15 minutes that are just for you, that is your time to do what you need. Try not to sweat the small stuff.

Visit Me: http://www.thefitnessbuster.com

Standing Pushup

2010-03-03T08:38:00.000-08:00

Audio to come soon!

For More Info:
Shawn Guiney
860-857-8689
www.thefitnessbuster.com

Varied Pullup Progressions (Video)

2010-03-01T07:25:00.000-08:00

Demonstration: More to come...

For More Info:
Shawn Guiney
860-857-8689
www.thefitnessbuster.com

Pull up Progressions (Video)

2010-02-27T11:21:00.000-08:00

Demonstration:
...more to come

For More Info:
Shawn Guiney
860-857-8689
www.thefitnessbuster.com

The Half Way Mark

2010-02-26T16:50:00.000-08:00

So as of today Feb. 26, 2010, Mel and I have made it half way through P90X! Its been a fantastic ride so far but now I am ready to push it up a notch in the second half. This program has changed my life upside down and I love it.

First it started by Mel finagling me into working out at 6 am, which was more of a time I was use to going to sleep than ever waking up, even in high school I was the guy walking into home room covering up a yawn as the bell was ringing.

Then it was the combination of the yoga X and kenpo X that threw me for a loop, since my whole life I have trained for sports that lacked the edge of a flexibility program not to mention a self defense experience that what totally new to me (nothing like wrestling!).

Anyway, although this program takes 8 hours of my week I have to say it has been well worth it to date and I cant wait to see the results I get out of the 2nd half. Stay tuned for my stats to bare witness to my improvement and make sure to leave a comment!

Improving Libido With Natural Supplements

2010-02-24T10:44:00.000-08:00

Libido in other terms is generally referred as sex drive or desire. A high libido is the basic requirement of giving love, pleasure and full satisfaction to your partner. Maintaining your libido is very important for a fulfilling life. But due to several problems men lose their libido. This article discusses major causes of low male libido and how to prevent it.

A high libido is what every man desires, but only few really enjoy the pleasure of full satisfaction during lovemaking. Many men suffer from a temporary loss of libido. The good news is that the temporary loss of libido can be recovered through natural, safe and effective male enhancement supplements.

Many men who suffer sudden or temporary loss of libido may be able to improve it by simple lifestyle changes. In this article you will learn the biggest causes of low libido and some useful ideas and tips that can help.

Why libido declines?

1. Stress - One factor that can reduce sex drive is stress. You can take herbal anti-stress supplements like ashwagandha that act as overall body tonics. Ashwagandha also works as a natural aphrodisiac and boosts libido. Other useful supplements are ginseng and ginkgo which work to reduce stress and also increase blood circulation and nitric oxide production.

2. Decreased nitric oxide levels - Nitric oxide is the key in the erection process and if you don’t have enough, you simply won’t be able to get a proper erection. Nitric oxide naturally declines with age and is the problem for most older men. However, there are methods to boost it naturally and safely.

When a man has sexual feelings, the brain communicates these thoughts through the nerves, and these are transmitted to the genitals. The nerves relax the muscle cells by releasing nitric oxide into the walls of the blood vessels entering the penis. This allows greater blood to flow to the penis and an erection is the end result. If insufficient nitric oxide is produced then you will have a poor erections.

How to improve libido?

1. Zinc - It is required for the production of testosterone and zinc content of the prostate gland and sperm is higher than in any other body tissues. Zinc not only promotes testosterone, but also helps to maintain semen volume which together aide in maintaining libido and keeping your sperm healthy.

2. Selenium - Modern farming methods decreases selenium levels in foods so its deficiency is common. Almost half of the selenium in a man is in the testes and seminal ducts and men lose selenium in their semen. This helps explain why its so important for optimum sexual performance.

3. Magnesium – It is vital for the production of sex hormones, such as androgen and estrogen and the neurotransmitters that modulate the libido such as dopamine and norepinephrine.

4. Amino acid – If you have a goal to increase nitric oxide levels simply take L Argentine, a non-essential amino acid. It boosts sex drive and adds some vigor to your love life.

Continue routine preventive measures such as nutritional dieting, and exercise. It also helps to keep an open and honest communication system with your partner. There is never a reason to feel depressed, ashamed or embarrassed – you’re not alone.

Core Strength Training

2010-02-20T11:48:00.000-08:00

If you have been involved in bodybuilding for a while, you've probably heard fellow lifters discussing stabilizer muscles. There are many things out there that might sound complicated, but you're lucky, this isn't one of them.

Much like how a foundation stabilizes a house, your stabilizer muscles help to keep you balanced and upright when moving. Your stabilizer muscles are not directly involved in the lifting of the weight, but help keep your body steady, through isometric muscle contractions.

Now if you think about it, these muscles sound pretty important. If you didn't have stabilizer muscles your knees would buckle during squats and your elbows during the bench press. The good thing is that if you've been doing many full-range-of-motion, free-weight movements you've already been training them.

Free-weight movements, which includes any exercise done with a barbell, dumbbell or cable (I consider cables redirected dumbbells, as you are not lifting the weight in a guided path) require you to balance the weights yourself, as you are not lifting the weight in a pre-set path, as with machines.

Shawn Guiney
860-857-8689
www.thefitnessbuster.com

Empty Calories

2010-02-15T11:45:00.000-08:00

How much nutritional bang are you getting for the calories you take in?

The term "empty calories" refers to calories that have no nutritional value aside from providing energy. Not that energy is anything to sneeze at -- but if you're watching your weight and making food choices based on the number of calories, you might as well get as many "bonus" nutrients as you can -- protein, vitamins, minerals, and so on -- from the foods you choose.

Easy example: compare a cup of milk to a can of (non-diet) soda or a glass of wine. They all provide about 130 calories of energy. But only the milk provides calcium, protein and other nutrients. The soda and wine have sugar or alcohol, but little else that nourishes your body.

The bottom line: eating well means you combat cravings -- that results in healthier eating habits over time.

For more info and a FREE Session contact me-

Shawn Guiney
860-857-8689
www.thefitnessbuster.com

I can't believe rest week is over

2010-02-14T09:39:00.000-08:00

I believe one of the most important things the majority of people neglect in there fitness programming is weeks of rest and recovery. The human mind has such a addictive personality, once we are determined to start something and commit to reaching our goals it is like a light switch has been flipped. Then we start planning out our goals and outcomes, but once everything is planned out in a organized realistic manner all of a sudden a little voice in our head tells us that we can reach our goals faster if we work harder and take less rest. Sometimes though, there just aren't any shortcuts and when it comes to our health its totally true. You need time to health and recover so y0u can come back and work that much harder. So, tmrw 2-15-10 I will be starting week 5, one month down and 2 to go. Recovery week sure was nice though ;-)

Good Ideas for Building Confidence

2010-02-10T11:32:00.000-08:00

Do you need a confidence boost? Here are a few tips...

* Look for a model (someone who has self confidence) and learn from them. What is it they do that makes them confident, how do they act?

* Focus on your achievements rather than your failures. If you do find yourself thinking about how you failed then look at what you managed to do right and how you could correct what you did next time.

* Learn how to feel good about yourself.

* Act as if you were self confident! You will feel more confident.

* Focus on who you are and what you like about yourself. Why do your friends like you?

* Prepare thoroughly for any task so that you can be sure you are ready.

* Work on any skills you need to do what you want, you can never be overtrained or over skilled for any challenge in life.

* Work on your relaxation skills

* Always smile and stand up straight

* Set reachable goals for yourself and break difficult tasks into smaller steps

* Reward yourself when you succeed no matter how small the achievement

* Finally, I advise you not to be too competitive or compare yourself with others. Be yourself and accept that life is not a race against others but your self confidence depends on you and your personal needs.

Ideas to Improve Your Golf Swing

2010-02-08T11:42:00.000-08:00

Have you ever dreams of a perfect golf swing like Tiger Woods or Ernie Els? Well me too! It is amazing how graceful and powerful swings they can do.

Having a good swing requires continual practice but here are three excellent tips on how to improve your golf swing very quickly.

1. Warm up.

Just like any sport, golf players will need to warm up before starting playing golf. This is the first mistake that many amateur golf players make. It is recommended to come early at the golf course and take a few minutes to stretch those muscles and warm up. This will make your muscles “recognize” that they are in for something and that they need to be ready. Taking a few swings in the driving range will also help you get tuned up and perform better. You won’t improve your golf swing without first warning up.

2. Regular Exercise.

This is really important, not necessarily only for golf. Constantly exercising your body and muscles will keep them toned and ready for any activity. This will also prevent common body aches and pains that you usually feel when playing golf.
Getting into the habit of exercising, especially tuning up your muscles will have a great impact on your swing. It will enable you have a good stance and increase total balance and control on your swings. So to improve your golf swing, remember to exercise as often as you can.

3. Do Not Swing Too Hard Yet.

It is really attractive to give your swing that extra effort. Having said that, it is certainly not a good idea, unless you already have the control of your swing. The key to a powerful and graceful swing is the balance and control that you have, add to it the proper form and stance.

Try to do these things when you play golf again. And do these regularly, and then notice the change it will make on your next golf swing.

If you really want to improve your golf swing then you have to find help. Online there are countless of course that will really help you better your golf swing easily and fast.

Contact me for more info:

Shawn Guiney
860-857-8689
www.thefitnessbuster.com

Cool Top 10 Health Tip List

2010-02-06T11:40:00.000-08:00

Discovery Health Channel National Body Challenge medical advisor Dr. Pamela Peeke shares her top 10 tips and I'm sharing them with you:

1. Get real and be specific. Write down three or four realistic goals that you can stick to. For example, "I will try to lose one pound of body fat every week. I will walk for 30 minutes minimum five days a week." Avoid fantasy-land goals that will only frustrate you.

2. Get prepared. Throw away all the junk, the processed, and the "bingeable" foods now and replace them with fresh, whole foods like lots of water and veggies. Buy a new pair of walking shoes and find some clothes in your closet you feel comfortable to walk in. During a lifestyle change, if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail!

3. Get support. Whether it's your best friend, spouse, or pet, it helps to have some nonjudgmental and nurturing support when trying to lose weight, especially during trying times.

4. Make daily notes. Research has shown that keeping track of your daily exercise and food intake in a journal or notebook will increase the likelihood of success. Keep it simple, or if you're inspired, write a novel! The key is to hold yourself accountable.

5. Create a food-free reward system. How about a new workout outfit, pair of jeans, shoes -- or what the heck, even a spa treatment, shopping spree, or weekend getaway? You deserve this kind of treatment when you reach your goals.

6. Buy a pedometer. A pedometer keeps track of how many steps you take daily. Wear it every day, around home, work, and while exercising. Your National Body Challenge goal is to increase your steps by 10,000 or more daily! Remember this: You'll burn roughly 100 to 125 calories by taking 2,500 steps (about one mile). The goal during the challenge is to burn 300 extra calories and to eat roughly 200 calories less in a day. This 500-calorie deficit is equivalent to one pound of body fat per week and a healthy boost to your self-esteem.

7. Don't skip breakfast. Research shows that the most successful "losers" never skip it. Try to keep it balanced with some protein, a healthy carb, and a small amount of fat. Here are some examples: an egg-white omelet with fresh berries and a piece of whole-wheat toast, or a skim milk shake with fruit and yogurt.

8. Nix the late-night eating. If you eat a lot of excess calories after 8 p.m., you wear them the next morning. Put a stop to this by making sure you have a healthy dinner consisting of lean protein, veggies, and fruit.

9. Eliminate processed sugars. Processed sugars are carbs that have been stripped of their valuable nutrients. How can you identify these sugars? They are all white: table sugar, pasta, rice, and bread, and they're nothing but trouble, since they kick up your appetite for more of the same.

10. Have a mid-afternoon snack. This will curb your appetite and provide fuel for your after-work walk or workout at the gym. Some great snack ideas include: reduced-fat peanut butter on a multi-grain cracker, a couple of pieces of low-fat string cheese and an apple, cottage cheese with pineapple, or try a low-fat cheese microwaved in a whole-wheat pita.

Get started today, Come on down for a free session:

Week 3 is the week for me

2010-02-01T17:39:00.000-08:00

Why? because, next week is rest week!

Today (chest and back) was pretty tough, although I went up in reps a average of 2-5 per exercise (until the end of round 2, lol), it seemed to go by in slow motion. All it takes is one long weekend for a friends B-day and its like you are starting all over (I hate that). But although it was tough, again, I am glad I had the discipline to make it to the gym and make sure I got it done. After all, Mel and I have committed to 90 days and I am determined to see it through. My parents have always told me not to ever give up, so why start now.

Now although I am making the program seem so terrible, it really isn't that bad at all. In fact it is exactly what it says it is, Extreme, and deep down I secretly luv the routine. I feel like a athlete again for the first time since college (3 years now, man time flies). Well hopefully tomorrow is nothing short of spectacular, wish me luck tmrw is plyometrics :-)

And stand by for the end of the week, I plan to give you a breakdown of the program and show you exactly how I performed throughout the first 3 weeks.

Week 2 Started off tough

2010-01-26T19:33:00.000-08:00

Alright, its Tues Jan. 26th, and after playing flag football for 3 hours on Sunday let's just say i'm glad I have survived chest and back on Mon but especially plyometrics today! After sprinting more on Sunday than I have in 3 years (since playing my last season of college baseball) I feel like my hip flexors punched me in the gut for waking them up @ 5 am. Lets just say yoga on Thursday is going to be a blessing in disquise.

Well I just wanted to say, it's early on in the program but I guarantee that it will only get better. On the flip side, minus the 5am wakeup call, I love the 6 day a week routine (Sunday being optional and much deserved) it makes me feel like a athlete again and that in its self is a awesome feeling.

I know some of you are waiting to see my results, but for those interested in seeing what p90x is all about, check out my coaches site www.beachbodycoach.com/esuite/home/shawnguiney.

And make sure to ask questions, although this blog has come about for my personal transformation, fitness is also my job so being here to help you with your transformation is cherry on top of this journey :-)

The workouts didn't go anywhere

2010-01-23T09:57:00.000-08:00

So although I had to postpone the start day by three days, the intensity was the same come Mon Jan 18, 2009. My personal transformation is finally under way!

Now for those of you that know me your probably saying to yourself, Shawn your a Personal Trainer and in good shape.

But the truth is that over the last year, working on my clients needs and my business started, I feel like I have fell off the path and its time to get back on! Why P90X? Simple, because both the company (Team Beachbody) and the workouts stand for everything I believe in.

Now I know as a personal trainer, it sounds a little far fetched that I would represent a in home training system that requires no trainer at all, but the truth is that I want to help others look and feel great about themselves.

Fitness offers so many benefits both physically and mentally whether its building your self-esteem, a higher energy level, reducing your stress, or lowering your LDL (Bad) cholesterol and while raising your HDL (healthy). Now, you can Pay me $50 a hour to show you the correct way to exercise built around your goals using your strengths and weaknesses, or you can get clearance from your Dr. and take a leap of faith by being proactive for 1 hour a day, to reach your goals faster than ever!

I am One week in, Join me and we can do it together!

1 week down 11 to go! Stand by for my before and after pics from before I started.

Check out my coaches link for P90X

Are you ready for 90 days of pain?

2010-01-12T11:37:00.000-08:00

So today Jan 12, 2010 @ 6 am I completed the fit test for P90X. However, tomorrow is the day 1 and counting and I have to say that I am pretty excited.

For those of you out there that have made resolutions to tone up, lose weight, or just get in overall good shape, but hate the idea of your typical globo gym because for the next three months you are waiting your turn in line for a specific machine or worse you may have to sign up for it.

Then P90X is the perfect system for you, it will save you time by never leaving your house, money by never driving, and get you looking better than your typical cardio machine and circuit routine than the gym will offer you, Guaranteed!!

I am so confident, that I am willing to offer you free support during the next 90 days I personally will be using the program :-)

Just check back daily and you will find the stats of my workout of the day, a recipe, and a tip of the day. You can literally follow along and get into shape with me!

For those of you interested, I hope you take me up on this offer because you wont find anything else like this ever again, I promise!

My New Years Resolution for 2010 is to help 500 people get into the greatest shape of there lives. Will you be one of them? I hope so.

Either way tomorrow the 90 day count down begins, check back and keep me motivated...

Talking about the basics

2009-11-06T14:33:00.000-08:00

OK everyone, so its been 4 weeks of P90x now and although 6 days a week is tough, I feel amazing. I have to admit my mentality is more along the lines of cross fit HIIT (high intensity interval training) but the super setting and intensity that p90x has put together makes for a great routine for those of you who like to workout daily. You know how the infomercials for p90x make it seem extreme? Well I have a few things to say about that: First that it is a intense workout but most importantly that anyone who wants to try the program can! It is literally based on progression after progression of Body weight, Bands and dumb bell exercises, but mostly body weight. I have broken the videos down and you perform 14 exercises for chest (predominately push ups), 15 exercises for back (mostly variations of pull ups and back flys), 34 exercises for legs which consist of squats and lunges, 12 exercises for the shoulders (mostly a combination of overhead presses), 10 exercises for triceps, and 14 exercises for biceps (both a combination of moves that are commonly seen in the gym). So my question is why the intimidation from everyone about how it is to much to start with? I think it comes from ignorance, people are speaking out of fear without knowing what p90x really intails. Well I hope that I can help, keep a eye out for weekly videos breaking down all the exercises in the videos so you can truly understand what this program is all about!!

The Fitness Buster

2 weeks down 10 to go!

2009-10-24T10:59:00.000-07:00

OK so two weeks in to p90x and I can honestly say I feel like I'm a athlete again, working out 6 days a week and enjoying every minute of it. Now although this program is designed to transform your body and get you back to the image you have of yourself in your prime (lets just say high school) lets be honest, you have to be pretty serious about getting in shape to workout 6 days a week. But that's the thing, the right fitness program isn't any one program in particular but in fact just the routine you are currently involved in because you don't know if a program will be for you until you actually give it a shot. There's programs made for 2 days a week, 3 days a week, days a week etc. but the 3 key factors that stay the same during every routine are: Consistency, Intensity, and Timing. So if you don't decide to commit then you will lack all three which in return brings no results, so pick a routine that intrigues you and go for it. Ask me questions, leave me comments and most of all never give up short of your goals because anything can be accomplished with the end in sight.

Shawn Guiney

the fitness buster

your fitness critic

First week down 11 to go!

2009-10-18T08:08:00.000-07:00

Ok fitness fam,

So here we are 1 week in with P90X, yahoo! This week we had;

Monday: Chest & Back

Tuesday: Plyometrics

Wendsday: Shoulders & Arms

Thursday: X stretch (in place of yoga x)

Friday: Legs & Back

Saturday: Kenpo X

Sunday: Rest day and a chance to tell you how the round up of the week

After looking throughout the internet and what is available in the stores I am confident to say that P90X is the most professional, effective and efficient way to get fit @ home and thats why it gets two thumbs up from me! Lets see how the next 83 days go! And remember, although bringing you my own products is great, I am the fitness buster and I am priding myself in being a fitness critic that doesn't sell you on great marketing but on great results and great programs So it is your responsibility to start being more aware of whats around you and improving your fitness senses, so if you find a program you want my input on shoot me a comment! I will test the program and give you my professional opinion on how I feel it stands against the rest and if it meets my standards you will see it endorsed by me. Remember to ask questions and always strive to better yourself!

My deepest apologies

2009-10-03T08:17:00.000-07:00

Okay so I know I am not very good at keeping up with technology and this blog is definitely one thing I have slacked on. So as of today I am making a resolution, now I know its a little early in the year to do this but it is very much needed. As of today 10-3-09 I will be changing that by posting at least once a week about facts and myths in the fitness industry. This will be more effective with participation from everyone so do me a favor and post questions you would like answered by me and other fitness experts that I will be interviewing. By doing so this will assure you the reader are getting pertinent quality information that you feel will help you the most in reaching your goals.

Lets get it on!

2009-05-21T13:51:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone is ready to start transforming into lean mean exercising machines! starting Monday will be the first day on a journey to better ourselves. We will be starting with what I call Power Hour, its Five basic movements that will put you on the right path to success by waking up those muscles we have been hiding and that metabolism that has been hibernating and it is very similar to Cindy from Cross fits protocol for those of you who are familiar with that type of training. The rules are simple 5 pull ups, 5 squats, 5 push ups, 5 crunches, 5 Superman's every minute on the minute for as long as possible, the faster you move the more rest you get! No cheating. The ultimate goal in this workout will to be to try and last one hour (1500 reps total) but you decide the rules and strive to be the best you can. I hope you come join in on the sweaty fun!

Knowledge is power

2009-05-17T05:55:00.000-07:00

3 days of learning from some of the most experienced internet entrepreneurs on the planet and I made it up for Saturday and that's it, can you believe it. Sometimes I wish work wasn't as important as our passions that we would love to spend all our time doing.

Ok so here's what is going on, I just got back from my 2nd Ryan Lee (check him out, he is hands down one of the most influential people in helping me make my passion a reality, check him out @ www.ryanlee.com) conference out in Stamford Ct. where I learned about how to communicate better through the internet. There was so much information my head is still spinning and this was from only 1 day, I can only imagine what the others who were able to stay for all 3 days feel like.

So with that being said the biggest to lessons I took away from the summit was this 1) building a internet business runs parallel to getting fit and when I say that I mean this "Slow and steady wins the race" which means in order to see success you need to go out there and achieve it. 2) No matter what kinda shape you are looking to get in or business you are trying to grow it always better to get started than to procrastinate because you have this feeling in your gut telling you things need to be perfect in order to get started. Listen perfection is for those of us who are spiritual and religious because God is the only one who is perfect, so stop trying so hard! And that is coming from me, the worlds #1 procrastinator. All you have to do is try your absolute best and learn from your mistakes. So with that being said, from my website from this day forward will be used to reach out and show you exactly what it is you need to do in order to take back control of your weight and health with no fluff or promises that can not be kept.

One day at a time,
Shawn Guiney
the fitness reporter

Weight Loss Myths 101

2009-05-14T20:13:00.000-07:00

You’ve tried virtually every “diet” you can think of and still haven’t lose weight. Or, perhaps you’ve lost weight only to quickly gain it back. You feel like you are in a never-ending battle that you just can’t win. Does this sound familiar? Stop beating yourself over the head in frustration!

More than likely you just aren’t armed with the right information to help you be successful in reaching your weight loss goals. There are so many diet misnomers floating about that it’s easy to feel like your drowning. The first step toward success is distinguishing fact from myth and using the power of knowledge.

To help you get started on the path to permanent weight loss and health living read below to learn what’s true and what’s false in the world of dieting. Take the quiz below to test your knowledge and you’ll learn what it really takes to beat the scale. Read each question and answer true or false. Then read below to find out whether or not you guessed right.

Skipping Meals Is a Good Idea
You Can Spot Reduce Certain Parts of Your Body
Eating Late At Night Makes You Fat
If Something Is Fat Free, You Can Eat As Much As You Want
Eating Less Than 1200 Calories Will Accelerate Weight Loss
Salads Are Always A Great Eating Out Choice
You Can Lose and Maintain Weight Without Exercise
If You Only Lose One Pound A Week You Need A New Diet
You Shouldn’t Exercise Every Day
You Should Wait To Strength Train Until You’ve Lost Weight

1. False. The idea behind this myth is that you’ll consume fewer calories in the entire day. The reality is that you probably will consume at least the same amount, if not more. Skipping a meal lowers your blood sugar. Low blood sugar usually makes you very hungry. In return you end up eating quickly and probably making poor food choices when those hunger pains come a knocking. Eating several small meals per day helps you stabilize blood sugars and control your appetite.

2. False. If you slave over 200 sit ups a day, it still isn’t going to get rid of your spare tire. Fat is lost evenly throughout the body. You can’t focus on one body part and only work it in an attempt to reduce that fatty area. To help a trouble spot you must focus on overall fitness – aerobic workouts, strength training, good nutrition and more. That’s the only way to reduce extra fat.

3. False. Your body doesn’t determine your weight based on WHEN you eat. It just cares how much you eat. What’s important is determining how many calories are coming in versus how many are going out. You need to find the right balance based on how much your eating and exercising. If you take in more calories than you burn, then the extras will be stored as fat. That’s true whether you eat at night or not.

4. False. For the most part, a calorie is a calorie is a calorie. Sure, it is a little more complex than that but just keep in mind that for every extra 3,500 calories that you take in and don’t burn off, you will gain a pound. Does it matter if all of those 3,500 calories are fat-free. No! Your body just cares that the extra calories were consumed. Plus, fat makes you feel full. If you don’t eat enough of it, you may find yourself constantly hungry and you may end up consuming more calories than if you had eaten something with fat in it.

5. False. In fact, it may have the opposite effect. Too few calories per day causes your body to adapt to a minimal amount of food, and slows down your metabolic rate. The body may think it’s “starving” and actually hold onto every bit of food to ensure survival. Then, when you begin to eat normally, your calorie needs are reduced and you end up gaining more weight even though you are consuming less food.

6. False. Sometimes you’d be better of eating a burger than a salad. Many restaurant salads are dripping in high calorie, high fat dressings. Plus, they often add fatty toppings like croutons and bacon bits. If you are going to choose a salad, be sure the dressing and extras don’t sabotage your calorie counting.

7. True. When it comes right down to it, weight loss is about the difference between intake and output. As long as you are burning more calories then you are consuming, then you should be able to lose weight. So, exercise isn’t a necessity but it certainly is the best approach. Study after study has proven that groups that both maintain an appropriate calorie intake and also exercise have better weight loss successes and are better at keeping it off. Plus, exercising provides SO many health benefits it would be crazy not to include it as part of a healthy lifestyle.

8. False. Losing 1 – 2 pounds per week is actually an excellent weight loss rate. If you lose more than that, then it’s very likely that it won’t be permanent. You’ll just end up gaining it back. When you lose at rapid paces, typically you end up losing water weight and muscle weight. You want to lose fat. So, even thought the scale may show less, you won’t be as healthy and won’t look as good.

9. True. It’s not necessary to exercise every single day of the week. Sure, it’s great if you can get some type of physical activity in on a daily basis. But, it also is important to give your body rest time to recover and improve. For example, you don’t want to lift weights every day working the same muscles. They need time to rest. And, intense cardio workouts daily can wear you down. Resting one day a week can actually help you.

10. False. Strength training is an essential part of good fitness. Virtually everyone should include some type of strength training in their weekly workouts regardless of whether they are wanting to lose weight, just maintain it, or build muscle. And, muscle actually helps your metabolism (e.g. helps you burn calories), so you should do it as part of a weight loss program.

What We Are About And How To Get Started

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This blog is dedicated to anyone that wants to add fitness to there life but really don't know how to get started. I will be spending my time cutting through all the industries myths and get right to the heart of what you need to do.

First we need to ask ourselves two questions; are we willing to accept change and are we willing to learn whats needed to look and feel the way we want? Can you look at yourself and say I want to get fit and healthy, because if you can then you are capable of adding healthy habits to your life and I will show you how! So lets get ready for a better you.

Hello everyone, my name is Shawn Guiney and I am currently a Personal Trainer in Southeastern Connecticut. Whether you have met me personally or have stumbled across this blog on accident you will quickly learn that this website is dedicated to getting results. So lets show you how to get started!

The Fitness Buster: Norwich CT 1-on-1 Personal Training & Small Group Training

Exercise is a Way of Life

The Game Plan

Exercise Program Preparation

Exercise Anywhere

A few exercises you can get in no matter where you find yourself.

Kegels

Calf Raises

Knee Dips

Doorframe Push

Side Bends

Stair Climbing

Breathing

5 Exercise Goals for Beginners

A handful of things every newbie should put on his or her exercise to-do list.

Goal 1: Find a Time

Goal 2: Stick with It

Goal 3: Trim or Tone

Goal 4: Be Honest

Goal 5: Limit Rewards

Pushup Progressions the Right Way

The Short and Sweet Routine

The fastest way to keep your exercise routine regular.

It's Easier to Maintain

It Fits in Your Schedule

It Gives You Variety

It Helps You Focus

It Gives You a Partner

Into the Long

Fair Well to our "Fitness God Father"

Get More from Your Body

How you can improve your body's performance in four steps.

Strengthen Your Core:

Get Vitamin D:

Kick Back:

Drink It Down:

Slow It Down

Cold-Weather Workouts

Should you get moving when the weather outside is frightening?

Dress Right.

Work the Wind.

Think Hot.

Get Back In

Fit or Fat?

What should you set your eyes on?

Understanding Overweight and Obesity

What Makes You Fit

Making the Difference

Bigger than BMI

What are Refined Carbs?

Understanding the difference between refined carbs and those other ones.

Not the Best

See Them Now

What to Choose Instead

Your Need for Carbohydrates

Why No-Carb Diets Works

Making Exercise Fun

What you can do to have a better time in the gym and reap better results.

Switch It Up

Grab a Partner

Push Yourself

Go Mental

Move It or Lose

Game Away

How to make a home-made Kettlebell

Sleeping Your Way to Weight Loss

Can catching Zs help you drop lbs?

Getting Hormonal

Put It to Bed

The Other Way Around

Throwing the Perfect Party

Before we get back to the next day of understanding our blueprint I just wanted to let you read this great article on how to throw the perfect party. I know if you are like me during the holidays it can be overwhelming just trying to get the arrangements made so I think you will enjoy this post :)

Do you have a big bash coming up at your place? Then you better make it perfect!

Try a Theme

Sell, Sell, Sell!

Stop Hosting and Relax

Invite Right

Remember Details

Know Thy Guests

Your Weight Loss Tool Box