Not Your Average Fitness Tips

Archive for May, 2010

With Memorial Day upon us, it’s the unofficial start to summer in Boston.  Before the start of the long weekend, I wanted to briefly discuss ways to perform cardio without machines.  Do you really want to spend time in the gym performing steady state cardio when you can be outside enjoying the nice weather?  I certainly don’t!  I’m just going to list some common ways to substitute your steady state cardio with more enjoyable activities that provide similar benefits.  I would still recommend performing a HIIT workout routine to really burn fat, such as Turbulence Training.  Please feel free to add your favorite summer time activities that also provide a nice cardio benefit. Continue Reading…

What to eat after workout is a big concern for many individuals. If you’ve ever read bodybuilding literature, you’ve heard that the requirement for post workout nutrition is to have protein and carbs as soon as possible after you finish lifting. Why? So that you can take advantage of an optimal time in which your body turns everything into muscle. As usual, bodybuilding literature doesn’t exactly tell the whole story.

Before going into more details, I’ll cut right to the chase. Having protein and carbs after lifting is somewhat important, but it’s not absolutely critical immediately after exercising or even within one hour of exercising. The studies that bodybuilding literature reference to justify this are full of holes. The bottom line advice is that you should probably have a healthy mix of carbs and protein 1-2 hours after a workout, but it doesn’t have to be some fancy protein shake or energy drink. Chocolate milk is just as good as anything on the market. Continue Reading…

Whether you’re 20lbs overweight or 5lbs overweight, a HIIT workout routine can help you burn belly fat fast.  In my opinion, it’s the best cardio for weight loss.  While you can achieve your weight loss goal by combining diet, strength training, and even steady state cardio, HIIT can take your fat burning to the next level.

What is HIIT?

HIIT stands for high intensity interval training.  The basic premise behind HIIT is that you work really hard for a short burst and then have an active recovery period.  Generally speaking, you may sprint for 30 seconds and then jog or walk for 1 minute.   You would repeat this workout routine numerous times for the best effect. Continue Reading…

While many of you probably dread re-living high school math, I was always a bit of a math geek.  Formulas always made a lot more sense to me than foreign languages or reading comprehension.  So today I’m going to throw a weight loss formula out there and see if we can’t solve an age old question…how do you lose weight?  Let’s do some math!

Let’s start with a simple equation for weight loss:

Calories Eaten – Calories Expended Exercising < BMR

That doesn’t seem so hard, does it?  The big challenge is that we have to further define these variables. Continue Reading…

Does a simple walking routine that any person can perform really offer more benefits than an intense cardio session?  Yes, it’s true.  The bottom line is that walking can be more beneficial to your overall health than any other form of cardio or interval training.

My walking partners...Jack weighs me down while Benny pulls me along...

Continue Reading…

This weekend I decided to splurge.  My family attended a birthday party for a one year old that had all my favorite foods.  By the end of the day I had consumed 2 burgers, 2 pieces of “cupcake” cake, 2 home-made cupcakes, 4 Oreos with chocolate covering, 2 home-made cookies, ~200 M&Ms, and some chips and fruit.  It was a fantastic meal.  As you can tell, I’m a sucker for baked goods and sugar.

Near the end of the party, someone asked how I stayed in good shape despite filling up plate after plate of food.  My answer was simple: intermittent fasting two times per week offsets cheat days every once in a while.  I didn’t want to get into all the details so I told them to check out my website.  The next question was about how I could be so dedicated to fitness and allow myself to eat all that food.  Another easy answer: a day like this will allow me to stay in shape for the rest of my life.  That requires some more explanation. Continue Reading…

You’ve followed all the rules for getting six pack abs.  You perform high intensity training to burn fat.  You know you can’t spot reduce belly fat.  You know crunches are worthless.  You know your body fat is below that magical 10% point at which six pack abs are generally visible.  Yet, your abs aren’t visible.  Is your body fat tester broken?  Are the only people with six pack abs genetically predisposed to have them?  These are the types of questions that go through my head as I now have a visible outline of abs but not quite the beloved six pack abs.  However, I’m not overly concerned.  Why?  Well, there may be some truth to the above questions, but I’d like to offer a couple simpler answers. Continue Reading

I found this article on MSN from Runner’s World.  It discusses weight loss myths.  I was shocked at how similar my beliefs were to this article.  For years the mainstream media has been feeding us a lot of nonsense about diet plans and weight loss tips.  Much of this is driven by the embedded conflicts in the health and fitness industry.

Are supplement companies really going to perform studies that show you might not need as much protein as they say?  How many food companies are going to study the effect of eating less?  Heck, a segment of the food industry exploded with the popularity of “low carb” diets…even the beer companies were in on it!  Needless to say, the article shares a lot of tips that I consider unconventional.  With continued media coverage, maybe one day these will be “average fitness tips” instead of “not your average fitness tips.” Continue Reading…

I’ve posted a detailed Vacation Body Blueprint Review.  Please check it out under Best Workout Routines, and let me know your thoughts.

“Achieve Elite Levels of Sharpness For Vacations and Events (FREE course)”

The official start to summer is just 6 weeks away.  Are you 5-10lbs from your goal weight?  Do you want to make sure you have an ultra lean body to hit the beach?  Even though it’s a short amount of time, you can still achieve your goal.  It’s going to take dedication and hard work, but I promise you that the results will be worth it.  Take note that these tips are designed to help you go from a good body to a great body in a short amount of time. Continue Reading…