Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Five Things That Can Be Learned From Weight Loss Tv Shows



Five Things That Can Be Learned From Weight Loss Tv Shows



The show the "Biggest Loser" has been on for years now. Now another show enters the weight loss genre of TV "Extreme Weight Loss From” ABC. This show actually focuses on people who were rejected from appearing on the Biggest Loser for being too overweight .

I believe that there are some amazing things to be learned from these shows.

1. You are often more capable than what you think you are when it comes to training and eating correctly.
2. You need to take responsibility for your actions and realize that you gained the weight yourself through your own bad choices.
3. You need a strong support system. You need someone to hold you accountable so you stay on course to hitting your goals.
4. Training, eating correctly, and doing cardio are extremely hard work. The casual training while having conversations you see at the local gym aren't going to cut it if you want to transform your body.
5. You should never give up. If you set a goal and don't meet that goal then set another goal and try to hit that one until your hit ultimate goal of body transformation.

I'm not a big TV watcher, but when you are trying to eat correctly,weight train or do cardio this weight loss genre of TV can actually be a valuable tool in your arsenal to helping you stay motivated and achieving your own fitness goals.

Friday, May 27, 2011

The Truth About Age And Fitness Training




The Truth About Age And Fitness Training

I was about seventeen years old. I had various first place wins in my weight class in teenage and open mens class bodybuilding competition. I dedicated a lot of time to bodybuiding and I knew that I was good. I was waiting to be called to the stage when I noticed a man with almost all gray hair,with a lightly wrinkled but determined looking face wearing a large black sweatshirt.

When he took off his sweat shirt, he amazed myself and everyone else backstage. He was a human tank! Large chest, well developed wide shoulders, a perfect six pack and a tiny waist, with a pair of huge deeply striated legs to bottom off the rest of his body. My heart sunk I knew from a glance there was no way I could beat this guy.

This grey haired spectacular bodybuilder walked past me, entered the forty years old plus Masters competition and changed my idea of age forever.

That competitor was fifty five years old.

Metabolism does change as you get older it slowed down but in my experience not nearly to the degree that most people claim. Your appearance is controlled more by what you do then by what age you are especially when it comes to how much muscle or fat you hold.

In my experience as a personal trainer over the last Ten years I have consistently had the best training experiences with people as far as attitude and results that were age 40 and older.

The best experience I have ever had was with training as far as getting results is an individual named Joseph Williams. Who I began to train for competitive bodybuilding at 53 years of age. Joe's other acomplishments include becoming a champion in over 10 other body building championships from the state to international level and competeing against me.

Let me break down just some of the things I have learned about age and fitness as I have been blessed to have trained individuals from as young as 12 to as old as 70 something (my 70 something year old client never did tell me her exact age)

1. Training males as young as 12 years old I have seen significant increase in muscle and strength
2. I have experienced very little strength degradation related to age of until after 65 years old.
3. In training my 70 something year old I and was amazed to see her actually acquire striations in her leg muscles through our training together.
4. I have come to believe that major changes in body fat as as far as age happen more because of age related activities than metabolism
examples:
(some Kids under the age of 12-activities- skateboarding, riding bikes playing tag)
(some Adults over the age of 30-activities- watching tv, watching kids play, playing cards).

5. I have seen males get stronger simply by going from their 20 into their 30s and 40s I'm not taking about with training I am talking about simply aging! Strange but also awesome and true.
6. The strongest most powerful males I have ever trained have been over 40 years old!(shout out to Bob and Rick)


While age does slow the metabolism down as you get older it is nowhere near the amount that the average person thinks.

I would suggest for young kids to wait until the age of 12 to begin serious training (though I have had my kids doing some type of causal training as young as age 2).

Don't use your age as an excuse for significant fat gain or muscle loss, instead I hope you use this info to motivate yourself to get training!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

How To Start Training When You Have No Idea How To Start






How To Start Training When You Have No Idea How To Start

Someone very close to me asked how do you start training when you have no idea how to start training?

Four things came to my Mind

1. Make the decision to start training and eating right
2. Make a plan or find some one to help you make a plan (this blog might be a good place to start)
3. Set a goal
4. Stick to the plan
example
1. I am tired of how I look and feel. I will start training and eating better Monday of next week

2. I will only eat food that I bring in for lunch or buy at the cafeteria. I will not eat anything brought in by sales reps or goodies that any employees bring in from home.
I will do some type of physical activity at least 20 mins every other day even if its only during commercial breaks

3. My goal is to gain control of my eating within the time of 1 month. I will only eat what I plan to eat. I will begin doing regular physical activity every other day by the end of the month.

4. I will make a concerted effort to stick to the plan.

This isn't everything you need to bring about a major change to your body, but it is a start.

“A thousand mile journey begins with the first step”

Lao Tzu

Monday, May 23, 2011

Friendly Competition Might Be The Key To Hitting Your Fitness Goals


THE ARMS RACE

Use Friendly Competition To Hit Your Fitness Goals

As a kid another kid says "how fast can you get to the front door of the house from the street". You think “I don't know and why would I care”. All of a sudden the kid says "I'll race you!" And you immediately not only care but are already running towards the house trying to win.

Hitting your fitness goals whether they be losing fat or gaining muscle is largely achieved by having the proper motivation. Trying to get motivated can be tough especially after coming home from work feeling tired.

Enter George my good friend and neighbor from down the street. He sends me a text “I have been training and dieting for the last two weeks. Now George is one of the few people I know that once he sets his mind he can motivate himself to train to the point where he will change fast, really fast. As soon as I heard George announce to me that he was training, all I could hear in my head was “WANNA RACE?”

Competition definitely gets the motivational juices flowing. Now George and I are linked in an "arms race" and its good for myself and my friend George. Since George has begun telling me his training activities, I have started eating every 2-3 hours, joined LA Boxing in Turnersville for cardio, begun weight training 3 times a week. These are the general things I need to do to achieve my own 3 month fitness goals.

I used to pit my Personal training clients against each other for all of our goods in friendly competition. Christine versus Danielle, Bob versus Rick, Victoria versus Carmella and let me tell you the results were very impressive! There is something about competition that stirs people on to greatness.

Friendly competition just might be the key to helping you succeed in hitting your fitness goals before summer!


Thursday, May 19, 2011

Sample Diet for fast Fat Loss




Sample Diet for fast Fat Loss

Here is a sample diet that isn't the most exciting to eat, but brings results quickly.
Sometimes people ask me to give them a diet and they will add, please try to make it exciting.

Picture going to a restaurant (pick your event-birthday,wedding anniversary, graduation, etc) and watching everyone excitingly pick there taste prepared meals while you prepare yourself to order a dry chicken breast and a glass of water. Guess what people dieting isn't exciting In fact it stinks.

However oh those beautiful results! Nothing like that glimpse in the bathroom mirror as you pass by and going from trying not look, to stopping, looking spending around, walking on and then coming back to look again.

Long story don't worry about the diet not being exciting. The excitement of catching people staring at your results from eating all those boring foods all those annoying times a day should more than make up for the lack of excitement in your daily meals.

Sample Meal

7:30 am 1 bowl oatmeal (not the instant kind)
9:30 am 3 egg whites , 1 egg yoke
11:30 am 2 Pieces of fruit (example: orange, and a pear)
1:30 pm 1 Piece of chicken about the size of one of you hands
3:30 pm 2 Pieces of fruit
5:30 pm 1 Piece of chicken about the size of one of you hands
7:30 pm 1 protein Shake ( I currently use Pure Protein 100%whey Protein)

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Interactive Tips On Training Your BodyType

All the body types have strengths and advantages that people with other body types would often like to have. The quickest way to make rapid change in your physical appearance of your body is to know your body type and to train according to it. I can not stress how important this is.

If people are interested please comment and let me know and I will go over in more detail in the future on how to train according to you own individual body type.

Click the link for a bigger version of Ali Arango's Musclegeek Body Type Tips Guide

Monday, May 16, 2011

Lose Massive Fat In 3 Months. Is it possible?


The quick answer is Yes! Remember the question" Can you really lose a massive amount of FAT in 3 months?"

Its amazing the change in appearance that you can have in a fairly small amount of time. Granted it takes suffering, perservarance, and discipline but what good things in life usually don't.

Ok heres the most important question how do you lose a massive amount in 3 months?

1. Eat 6 small meals a day, each meal should be about both of you hands cupped together. Eat Breakfast like a king, Lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.
2. Do some type of muscle-training at least 3 times a week-duration should be about 45 mins to an hour at the longest. (you can train short and hard or long and easy)
3. Do 20-45 mins of cardio at least 3 times a week.

Just wanted to put out some quick tips since I am about to enter the 3 month schedule myself. I usually lose about 20-30 pounds of actual weight and about 10-15 pounds of body fat in that period.

By the way I found an excellent source of cardio at the LA Boxing gym in Turnersville N.J. I don't work for them or get any endorsements from them but my gosh the cardio workout they put me through was excellent. Much respect to them and I truly believe they are one of the best ways to get off some body fat acquired while siting behind a desk, completing the design and flash work for a corporate website.

If anyone is interested they give out free classes to people who have never been there before. Today I will be attending the first of my own 3 month period cardio Kickboxing classes there. I think they start around 5:30 pm. I'll be there at least 3 times a week.