Category Archives: Fitness

Create A Morning Routine That Helps You Lose Fat!

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If you eat a decent breakfast and lunch, with perhaps a nutritious snack in between, you should be taking in enough calories to function properly throughout the day and feel alert until dinnertime. After dinner, many of us stop eating and do not eat anything at all until morning, while some of us snack once or continuously. However, throughout the evening and night, the body continues to function and burn calories, even when sleeping. After six to eight hours of sleep, we awake with a need to consume more calories to get through the day.

Morning is the time of day when the body is most depleted of calories. This is a great opportunity to burn fat from the body. Instead of the exercising at night to burn excess calories left over from your last meal, experts suggest a morning workout of the same intensity and length will burn three times as many calories as the afternoon or evening workout. This is simply due to the fact the body will expend the existing calories in the body then will dig down to use excess, stored fat to produce energy.

To get the most out of your morning workout, health experts recommend working out for at least thirty to sixty minutes for optimal fat burning results. Prior to working out, avoid consuming calories of any kind, as the body will use these before they begin to burn the body fat available for energy. Do not worry, however, as a good breakfast is part of a fat burning morning routine when consumed after the morning workout. Exercising in the morning kicks the body’s metabolism into high gear, burning many more calories throughout the day than if you wait to exercise until nighttime.

Of course, part of a fat burning ‘morning routine’ is…well… the routine. By consistently working out each morning, your workout for the day is complete, you’ll be better equipped to cope with the day’s stresses, and you’ll enjoy better impulse control over your food choices throughout the day. Choosing healthy breakfast foods, rather than skipping breakfast, and eating after your workout will significantly curb food cravings throughout the morning until lunch time. When that morning donut cart rolls through your office, you’ll be able to smile confidently and say “No thanks.”

Starting the day with a healthy workout and a nutritious breakfast is your best opportunity to commit to burning fat and getting into serious shape. Fitness expert Rob Lagana is available to help you, and will customize a nutritious, fat burning meal plan to help you reach your goals.

Q&A What is core exercise?

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Core exercise are exercises that focus on either the stabilzation, endurance or strengthening of the core muscles. Core exercises focus on the abdomen, the lower abdomen and hips, the obliques, stabilizing muslces, the spine and the back muslces, as well as the butt. Core exercises train these muscles to work together properly to maintain proper balance, agility, posture and movement to help the body move efficiently as well as preventing injury.

Some examples of core exercises are the plank hold, side plank, floor bridge, bicycle crunches, reach throughs, push ups, back extensions and a number other exercises that focus on the trunk of the body.

The point of core exercises is to train the many large and small muscles that help control and stabilize the spinal column and pelvis to build endurance and strength and be better able to control the spine and pelvis when forces are applied to it during daily activities and physical activities. Core exercises can and should be incorporated into every workout you perform each time you exercise. This can be accomplished by performing as many exercises as possible while having your spine and pelvis unsupported by a bench or seat. This will require the core muscles to engage to stabilize the body.

The Absolute Proven Tip to Avoid Pitfalls in your Training

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Training too often and trying to adapt in too many different ways all at once (power, strength, hypertrophy, endurance) will result in overtraining.

A smart approach is to use periodization training, Periodization training is simply a planned training program. You can have weekly, monthly and yearly plans. It has been shown to be an effective form of program design. The primary benefit is to allow for maximum levels of adaption and minimize overtraining.

You can train different forms of strength and control your volume of training. With periodization training you can write down your progress and then reassess your training either on a weekly or monthly basis. This can help you avoid stagnation, training plateaus, overtraining and assist you with reacher your goal faster.

Overtraining is like an overload to your system. The body can’t keep up with the adaptations your trying to meet in your fitness, bodybuilding or sports training. If your using periodization training for sports, you will greatly benefit by progressively adapting to increased levels of volume training and avoid overtraining.

Some symptoms of overtraining are:

Loss of appetite
Headaches
Depression
Decreased Immunity
Sudden drop in performance
General Bitchiness
Insomnia
Gradual Increase in Muscle Soreness

By using the a planned program such as periodization training, Overtraining syndrome is easily preventable. Unfortunately, most athletes avoid periodaztion training because they rely too much on their instincts. By design your instincts tell you to remain comfortable or ignore the the above symptoms because when you start reaching a over trained state, your instincts which are your internal feedback mechanism will not give you an absolute accurate decision to treat and avoid overtraining.

Q&A What can I do for my low blood pressure?

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In my experience, I have had clients with low blood pressure and they have asked me if their low blood pressure would improve with training. The answer is YES.

Anybody with a reading if 90/60 mmHg or lower is regarded as having hypotension (low blood pressure). People with low blood pressure have some protection from factors which raise blood pressure to undesirable levels. However, low blood pressure may be a sign of an underlying problem, and can cause unpleasant symptoms.

Below are the most common symptoms of hypotension:

Blurred vision
Cold, clammy, pale skin
Depression
Dizziness
Fainting
Fatigue
General feeling of weakness
Nausea
Palpitations
Rapid, shallow breathing
Thirst

Two of the main causes that I see more often in clients are:

Dehydration

When your body loses more water than it takes in you eventually become dehydrated. Hydration levels (levels of water in the body) do not have to drop much before you start feeling dizzy and weak – dehydration-induced weight loss of just 1% can lower blood pressure enough to cause symptoms. Dehydration can be caused by severe diarrhea, vomiting, heat, overusing diuretics, and over-exercising. If water or blood levels drop dramatically the patient can go into hypovolemic shock – the severe water/blood drop in volume means the heart cannot pump the blood properly, resulting in life-threatening hypotension.

Endocrine problems (not including diabetes)

The endocrine system is a system of glands involved in the release of hormones – examples include the thyroid gland, and the adrenal gland. The thyroid gland makes and stores hormones that help in the control of the heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and the rate at which food is broken down and converted into energy (part of metabolism). Low blood pressure can be caused by hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) or hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid). If the adrenal glands do not work properly (adrenal insufficiency) there is also a risk of hypotension – the adrenal glands are located just above each kidney and are chiefly responsible for regulating the stress response.

There are 2 critical things to normalize low blood pressure based on the above potential causes:

1. Drink More Water. The average person that exercises for 30 minutes in a neutral climate with no health issues, needs around 3 liters of pure water a day. Start sipping on water throughout the day until you reach 3 liters and any other fluids on top of that is bonus (Alcohol and Coffee is excluded).

2. Use slow, safe exercise progressions to build muscle. Muscle building exercise raises your T3 (active thyroid) raising your core temperature. Muscle building also reduces overall stress in the body, because in order to build muscle, you must attain an anabolic state. An anabolic state can only be achieved by a healthy strong metabolism.

A health strong metabolism, means that your good hormones and enzymes are being built up at a optimal rate.

Rob’s 5 Tips To Help You Lose Weight and Stay On Track On Your Own

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1) Have a mental picture in your mind, and PLAN your weight loss project.
Any successful project starts with a plan, and you should look at losing weight the same way!! Thinking about details such as..where you stand presently, where you want to be, and the steps you will take to get there! And this includes planning your meals and preparing them in advance! This has helped me tremendously!
2) Look at your weight loss project as a whole life changing experience, and not as a diet!
Focus more on the idea that you have now chosen and made a commitment in taking a NEW path of a healthier lifestyle, and you can be certain that just as I you will start to witness as your body changes and becomes new again! Start by promising yourself to only allow nothing but healthy foods in, and watching your portion control,along with also starting to take small steps in making exercise part of your new daily lifestyle! Join a gym if you can, and if money is an issue for you, there is always the local YMCA’s which have a program in place to help with funds as EVERYONE deserves to live a healthier active life!
3) Use all the resources you can to help make this project succeed.
Visit your local library, do some online searches, talk to your family doctor. Get EXCITED about Re-educating yourself basically on how you can change your unhealthy body into a brand new healthier one!! You would be surprised at how much info is actually out there, and how amazing this sort of project becomes! Just remember nothing will be handed to you, its up to you to take charge of your own life, and to act on it!
4) Get mentally prepared by acknowledging the fact that it is not going to be easy.
This might be the BIGGEST challenge that you will ever make for yourself, but remember the self rewards that come with being challenged are 100x better! Being challenged makes you a stronger person both inside and out! Also remember to keep in mind especially if you are having a bad day, that in the end it WILL be all worth it, and that it certainly DOES get easier as times goes on! Just stay strong and don’t let weakness defeat you, and remember you are so much stronger! Have patience and work through it day by day, week by week…don’t focus on the end goal.
5)Set little goals before reaching your end goal.
This will make the time go by faster, and you will be excited when passing these little goals as you reach them and not even realize that you are getting closer to the bigger goal with each passing day! These can be anything from special monthly occasions, weekly weigh ins, monthly pics. Perhaps your doctor can arrange some weekly weigh ins, FREE OF CHARGE!! Whatever it is that will help keep you motivated while working towards you end goal.

Just remember we all deserve to be healthier and happier, so challenge yourself today!

Q&A What type of exercise training program do you recommend?

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I recommend a training program, that includes both a custom diet and
customer exercise workout. The diet is specific to your body type
which can be classified by your skeletal frame, lean muscle and age
and sometimes even specific to your geno-type, which can be
classified by your blood group. No exercise training program is ever
complete without healthy nutrition that is well rounded and custom
for you. The exercise program would target your weak areas first,
which help you build a stronger foundation and would include cardio,
flexibility, balance, core and resistance training with weights.
The exercise program, would take you through phases of training.
These phases of training are specifically designed to follow
biomechancial, physiological and functional principles of the kinetic
chain. They provide systematic progression that minimizes injury and
maximizes results. There are many different variables used when
creating a training program and they are specific to the client’s
weakness, strengths and goals. Once the body starts adapting in a
productive way, after a planned time period, these variables change.

Boost Your Metabolism

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Metabolism is all about breaking down tissues / cells and rebuilding them.. The cycle of this creates your metabolic rate and the rate that you need is unique to your conditions. The advice below will make sure you have a guide to keeping the metabolic cycle going, which will lead you to lean muscle mass.

1. Build Muscle Mass Strength training builds lean muscle
tissue, which burns more calories at work or at rest, 24 hours a
day, seven days a week. The more lean muscle you have, the
faster your metabolism will be. How do you start strength
training? Try some push-ups, or a few squats or lunges. Use 5
lb. free weights to perform simple biceps curls or triceps
pulls. Do these exercises three to four times per week, and
you’ll soon see a boost in your metabolism as well as an
improvement in your physique.

2. Do Not Skip Meals or Drastically Reduce Your Caloric
Intake If your body senses that food is in short supply, it will
slow your metabolism to conserve energy. Over time, the result
is that when you do eat (even if you consume the same foods as
always) your body will be slower to use the calories as fuel,
thus creating a backlog of unwanted pounds. A good strategy is
to cut your caloric intake by no more than 500 calories per day
and never less than 1200 calories total each day. Once you
determine your goal for calorie consumption, divide those
calories into 6 different small meals/snacks through out the
day.

3. Increase the Amount of Protein in your Diet Most
researchers agree that protein helps to stabilize the secretion
of insulin into your blood stream, a process that can affect
metabolism. The average person would benefit from protein intake
at a minimum of 70 grams or higher each day.

4. Aerobic Workout 3 Days a Week Even though exercise doesn’t
affect your RMR, the extra calories you burn could add up to an
additional 1-2 pounds of weight loss per month.

5. Increase Movement in Daily Lifestyle The more you move,
the more you burn! You can actually make a significant addition
to the number of calories you burn each day by relatively minor
changes in lifestyle. This can be as simple as taking the stairs
instead of the elevator; park a distance from the mall or
office; window-shop with your best friend rather than sit over
coffee; walk the dog instead of just let him out; do a little
gardening or clean house while you talk on the phone. Making
these types of changes for just 20 minutes of your day will
cause you to burn an additional 100 calories per day or an
additional pound per month. Making more of these changes can
help you burn as much as an additional 1,000 calories per day!

6. Go For an Evening Walk Although exercising any time is
good for you, evening activity may be particularly beneficial.
Many people’s metabolism slows down toward the end of the day.
Thirty minutes of aerobic activity before dinner increases your
metabolic rate and may keep it elevated for another two or three
hours. What that means for you: those dinner calories have less
of a chance to take up permanent residence on your hips!

7. Get Adequate Sleep As funny as it sounds, sleep
deprivation may make you fat and not just because you’re
susceptible to cases of the late-night munchies. According to
researchers at the University of Chicago, women who got less
than four hours of sleep per night had a slower metabolism than
those who slept for a full eight hours.

What about supplements? Diet supplements that claim to increase
your metabolism have flooded the marketplace. Our advice is to
beware. Stimulants (such as caffeine, ephedrine, nicotine, and
others) have not been clinically proven to increase metabolic
rates. It may be that they stimulate a person to simply be more
active, which then burns more calories.

A supplement is just that…
Use it to supplement your diet with missing nutrients and to
hydrate the body with special nutrients in order to acheive
either a anti-catabolic state or anabolic state. There is no
magic pill, so beware of miraculous marketing hype.

31 Ways to Motivate Yourself to Exercise

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The hardest part for most people is to stay motivated with diet and
exercise. Here are 31 ways I suggest that you keep your motivation.
Get motivated. Build the Passion. Keep it for good! 2011 is going to
be a super exciting year! Are you pumped ?

  1. Find a training partner or even better, a coach and commit to a
    schedule.
  2. Buy a dog and take it for a long walk everyday. The fresh air
    and sunshine can give you more energy. You also have a chance to
    clear negative thoughts and focus on your goals.
  3. Don’t think about exercising or diet, just do it. If it’s already
    on paper, your a step away from doing it.
  4. Get out of bed early, have a tall glass of water and use a cardio
    machine in your home.
  5. Buy a cardio machine for your home, if you don’t have one, then see 4.
  6. Eat to live life with the right amount of energy and transform
    your body. Don’t live to eat, especially when you eat junk. Garbage
    in = Garbage out. Your body should be a temple, not a tent.
  7. Never miss 2 workouts in a row.
  8. Give away 1 or 2 articles of your fat clothing each week.
  9. Buy 1 or 2 articles of clothing which are tight fighting and
    show off your body each week, If you still look fat in them, keep
    them around and focus on diet and exercise to start looking better in
    them.
  10. Once 9 is fine, then start socializing more. At night on the
    town, does wonders to keep your motivation high. You’ll realize fast
    where you stand and where you need to go with your image.
  11. Choose friends that will take you higher and higher. Friends
    that have similar interests. Just because you’ve been friends with
    someone for 20 years and they don’t share your view or don’t want you
    to succeed for some reason, doesn’t mean you have to hang around them
    all the time and influence you to make poor decisions. Find new
    friends.
  12. Reward yourself. Reward yourself. Reward Yourself. Every time
    you noticeably start looking better and feeling better, give yourself
    positive verbal pep talk, then go shopping for something nice !
  13. Get a tan. You’ll notice so much more changes in your physique
    as the tan will accentuate your cuts.
  14. Walk into an old age home and take a look around. You’ll find
    that some are in their 60s. Prevention is key. When I’m 60, I’ll be
    in my own Rambo movie, doing my own stunts.
  15. Whoever says “Working out is not everything in life.” is right.
    It’s not everything, but that session that you dedicate makes you
    move ahead 100 times more than the person that complains about it.
    Keep a balance, but never neglect your right to a better life.
  16. Make it your goal to get a professional photo shoot done.
  17. Write down your intentions for the month which lead to your
    goals. The more details the better.
  18. Plan things that are fun, like a vacation, a photo shoot, play a
    sport or take your kids to disneyland for 3 days, (alot of walking..)
    so you have a reason to motivate yourself to exercise.
  19. Plan to go to a concert and meet the band !
  20. Watch an inspiring movie, like href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b1GKGWJbE8">“The Secret” or
    “Never Back
    Down”     or “No
    Retreat, No Surrender”
  21. Make an example of what you will accomplish, so that others can
    follow and be inspired by you.
  22. Blog your complete body transformation experience, like my client
    Rosy did, who lost 150 lbs in 1 year.
  23. Take body part circumference measurements every 2 weeks. Log as a
    measurement of your transformation.
  24. Take a front, back and side photo of yourself every 2 weeks. Log
    as a measurement of your transformation.
  25. Make a Pros and Cons list about exercise and eating healthy.
    Make Pros and Cons list about not exercising and not eating healthy.
    Why would you not want to feel and look better on a consistent
    basis?
  26. Write down 1 thing each day that is going to move your life
    forward. Would you not want to increase your longevity and enjoy a
    better life ? What you write down is completely realistic.
  27. Create in your mind what you want. Believe you deserve what you
    create. Accept the things that will help you move forward toward your
    creation.
  28. Avoid distractions. A distraction could be a person or event,
    that pulls you temporarily away from your goals or creations. The
    best way to avoid them is to ignore or move away from them.
  29. Meditate which clears and refreshes your mind and allows you to
    continue to focus on your goals.
  30. Plan to get naked more often. Seeing yourself naked can surely
    motivate yourself to get in shape faster and stay in shape. Don’t be
    afraid of your skin !
  31. Don’t think of the problem for too long. Thinking of the problem
    wastes time. You should be thinking of the solution and benefits that
    it will bring into your life. Make a decision to act on your
    solution.

Do Better

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The first step is to believe that you can do it and set your
goals.

Write down why you really want to change and want you want to truly
accomplish for yourself. Use short term goals, weekly to monthly and
long-term goals. Go ahead and be surreal, you deserve to surpass your
expectations.

Visualize how you want to look and feel for at least 1 minute, several
times throughout the day. Associate physical activity with your mental
image. Don’t worry about what you look like now. Instead reach beyond
your current mental state and enhance yourself.

You can put mini visual reminders in key spots around your home, work
and car. A couple of years before I first competed in bodybuilding, my
wall at home was completely covered in inspiring photos. It was like
a shrine. I also had motivational phrases posted on the wall.

An example would be; “Vision without action is a daydream. Action
without vision is a nightmare.” – Japanese Proverb

The second step is to see your doctor.

Your doctor can keep track of your general health and check for any
concerns. Doctors play a vital role in your overall health assessment
and can also give you their opinion on ways to change your lifestyle
to lead a healthier life.

The third step is to get a fitness assessment.

Have a qualified health and fitness professional perform an evaluation
which is commonly called a fitness assessment to look at your
strengths and weaknesses and create a plan. The more detailed the
assessment, the better the trainer gets to customize the plan for
you.

In today’s population, there is an increase in work related stress and
postural imbalances. All which affect your breathing pattern. It is
important to take the time to inhale deeply and exhale slowly 10 times
in a row and repeat throughout the day. Even problems with your core
has a direct effect on your breathing and on your all the muscles
involved in your breathing.

The trainer can see if you have muscle imbalances. If you sit all day
or do something that is repetitive throughout the day, chances are
that you have muscle imbalances. These imbalances affect your kinetic
chain. You want to correct kinetic problems before they get worse.

As an example, repetitive injury is very common in the workplace. A
good fitness program is used to correct muscle imbalances and improve
flexibility that will rehabilitate the problem.

The fourth step is to put healthy food in your body.

Imagine your body as highly priced automobile, like a Bugati Veyron
(my favourite). You put low grade fuel, you get low grade performance
which can result in breakdown.

Food for fuel directly affects your body’s metabolism. Most people
that have been on low grade foods, don’t notice the continued negative
effects such as lethargy, brain fog, stress, high blood pressure, high
sugar, high fat cravings and less than optimum hormone production.
They don’t know what’s it like to have that high end metabolism.
Little by little it becomes worse, until you have an habituated
lifestyle.

Start eating whole natural foods, which are unprocessed, and contain
macro and micro nutrients that your body needs to run on and repair
itself.

Healthy food doesn’t have to taste like cardboard. Be creative.

Evaluate what’s in your fridge and cupboards. Most people know which
foods are good and which are bad. Take the bad foods and remove them
from your home. If you need extra help, consult with a dietitian.

The fifth step is to incorporate your support network.

Call, e-mail, share with friends, family, peers. Create a blog,
discuss your lifestyle change and what your going through with your
friends and family. This allows people to become actively involved in
supporting you.

Change some activities you do with your friends.

Remember that in all you do, you should praise yourself. Reward
yourself for your small step accomplishments. This doesn’t mean
breaking the principles, this means using them to make you even
happier about your choices. As an example, you lose 15 pounds, give
yourself a cut and style at your favourite salon or you did not miss a
workout for 2 weeks straight, give yourself time to enjoy a relaxing
bath with colour and aromatherapy.

“The beauty of tomorrow is that you have today to create it.” –Timon
(Efthymios) Roussis