Fat Loss Secrets of Fitness Models

Fat loss is easy once you understand how hard it is.

Once you realize that fat loss is hard work, and not just as easy as eating some celery, drinking really cold water, and slamming down some "metabolism boosters", that's when you'll really start to get results.

When you accept sticking to your nutrition program will take effort, only then will you start planning and preparing your nutrition to meet your fat loss goals.

Same with exercise. When you understand that harder workouts are more effective, then you'll start to plan your workouts accordingly.

Over the past year I've interviewed over a dozen fitness models (men and women) for Oxygen and Maximum Fitness magazines, and their secrets to success are as plain as day.

They know it is going to be hard work to get ready for a photoshoot, but what do they know that you don't know?

First, they've got their nutrition plans down perfectly. And when I say planned out, I don't just mean they have a meal plan torn out of a magazine. Instead, they have their shopping lists prepared.

They have time set aside for cooking, cutting, and chopping. These men and women have more than enough tupperware to store and freeze their food for the week.

Fitness models take their meals with them and aren't so naive as to believe that they will be able to find something "healthy" at work or on the road. They are not willing to sacrifice results for convenience. They have accepted the hard work that comes with eating for fat loss. Have you?

Second, fitness models know what works - not only in the kitchen, but also in the gym. They've recorded their workouts, studied the effects of various exercises, rep ranges, and workout frequencies.

They have accepted that their can be NO guesswork in a fat loss workout program. That's why fitness models plan their workouts in advance, and write down the results in a training log for analysis.

If you aren't doing that, then you're doing nothing more than playing a workout "lottery" and hoping you'll come up lucky.

Third, and perhaps most importantly (because its hard to have the first two factors without this one), fitness models surround themselves with a supportive environment and social support groups.

How many fitness models do you think are married to sedentary, overweight smokers? How many fitness models do you think hang around men and women that start drinking at 4pm every Friday?

Having the right social support group and supportive environment can make or break your fat loss program in less than a minute. Research shows this. Experience proves this.

All it takes is a bunch of co-workers to surround you at your desk with a box of doughnuts and pressure you into "having just one". The next thing you know its 3 days later and you haven't had a decent meal since.

According to the research on social support for fat loss, there are at least 2 proven ways to harness the powers of others for your fat loss goals.

First, include a health professional in your social support group. This could be your doctor, a nutritionist, or a trainer that you see on a regular basis. But you need to be accountable to someone.

This will work best for those of you that can't find support among your family, friends, or co-workers.

Second, if a member of your social support group also loses weight, you'll have a greater chance of succeeding. So try and get family members, friends, and co-workers directly involved. Get them from cheerleaders to active participants in the fight against fat.

I hope these tips help you out. If you don't have any social support right now, by all means, send me an email on your progress and at least hold yourself accountable to me.

If you need help planning a workout, please visit:TurbulenceTraining

I promise you Turbulence Training will give you to the fat loss you deserve and desire.

Sincerely,

Mr. Fat Loss and Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training


About the Author

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

Fat Burning Bodyweight Circuit Exercises

When you travel, you worry about missing your workouts and eating poorly...So you must plan ahead for both (apples and almonds for planes, trains, & automobiles)...and bodyweight circuits for "no-equipment fat burning".

And while I have bodyweight exercises that are just as hard as the bench press and barbell squat in one of my bodyweight workouts, today we'll focus on replacing intervals with bodyweight circuits.

To do a bodyweight circuit...

a) Pick 3 lower body exercises

b) Pick 3 upper body exercises

c) Alternate between a lower and upper body exercise without rest, till you are done all 6 exercises

d) Rest a minute.

e) Repeat 2-3 more times until you are done 20 minutes

For example, this is a great circuit that doesn't need any equipment

1) Prisoner Squat (12 repetitions)
2) Elevated Pushups (8 reps per side)
3) Single-Leg Deadlift (10 reps per side)
4) Close-grip Pushups (As many reps as possible)
5) Jumping Jacks (30-60 reps)
6) Cross-Body Mountain Climber (12 reps per side)

Whew. That's pretty advanced...for a beginner, we'd slow it down like this and take some breaks between exercises...

1) Wall Squat (8 reps)
2) Kneeling Elevated Pushup (5 reps per side)
3) Lying 1-leg Hip Extension (8 reps per side)
4) Plank (30 second hold)
5) Jumping Jacks (5-10 reps)
6) Side Plank (15 second hold per side)

Safe travels, and of course, always check with your doctor before beginning a fat burning bodyweight circuit exercise program.

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

How to get that bikini body?

So what does it take? first off, let's start with a plan of attack! A bikini body requires more than your day to day or 2 times week Body Pump/Spin class session. It requires a precise plan of what, when, where, how... one that will assess where you currently are with you're physique, what exactly you want to do with it/at what particular time frame, and how you're going to get there.

Several short, medium goals stacked together to lead right to the long range goal is a good start. A contest perhaps? Which is by far the ultimate culmination of the art of physique known as bodybuilding or figure competition.




"But, I don't want to compete...I just want to have that look" is a common phrase and that's OK too. Not everybody has a desire to be competitive. However, we use it to define a particular look that can be attainable at a specific date in the future, where you can fix all the laser focus required onto arrive that day in the best shape.

Proper training must be put in place along with a fat elimination eating plan, a grouping of shaping exercises, and recovery strategies to name a few, that will allow you to make it to the target.

This shouldn't be scary, but a certain amount of butter fly's should be felt as you come to the realization that you can do this! It is possible... as many of the women that have joined our program have made this once in lifetime commitment become a reality.



So is you're idea of the perfect body on the radar screen? Is you're current plan moving you toward this type of body? Then read on so we can lay out a road map that will allow you to act out your goal.

How do you get started? Hire someone that is competent enough to check you're current level of bodyfat. Also, take time to record all the meals you eat so you can get an accurate idea of what you call a "clean" diet.

Next, clean house! remove any of the processed/man made "junk" (anything that didn't exist 3000 years ago) and set up a basic out line that WILL allow the following to occur:

1.Eat every 2-3 hours.
2.Eat protein with every meal.
3.Eat veggies or fruit with every meal.
4.Eat “other” carbs with post workout meal only.
5.Eat essential Fats with all meals.
6.Water is the only liquid!
7.Add variety with whole foods.
8.Plan to eat specific meals/specific times.
9.Every 4-6 days add higher; non-processed carbs in meal plan (cheat meal!).

Once we have you're food together, we plug in an appropriate cardio program consisting of low to high intensity techniques to burn the most amount of fat and to enhance recovery.

There are many opinions and misconceptions... best time? Best on an empty stomach? Jury's gonna be out on this for any real conclusive "best" when, where, how, ultimately
..........it really depends on each individuals temperament and time availability.

Split sessions of morning cardio and several hours of food and rest in between before weight training work best for the person with time available before work/ school. If time is a factor, post workout, high intensity intervals gets it all done inside 75 minutes.

Types of cardio vary from person to person, indoor cardio can become very stagnant- opt for outdoor activities such Naked Commando,Elite Commando or Super Cardio. These types of workouts are very time efficient and give added toning to lower/upper body muscle groups.

These videos are samples or groups of movements that can be done in part or the complete menu for a totally dynamic workout to stoop the indoor blues!

The most challenging part to figure out for most people is the selection of the appropriate exercises that create the best shape to all the areas of the body that are lacking, deficient or just not balanced to the rest of the muscle to create the ideal symmetry. This can be done with both machine/free weight program designs.

Which is best? We find that a combination works well and can add variety as well as isolate target areas of each muscle. Compound (multi muscles involved)and isolation (one muscle within a group) with a goal of increased shape and symmetry, sometimes as we get fatigued, machine training will allow complete training effect to occur.

There are literally hundred's of movements that can be used and like an artist the correct brush size or tool must be used to create the look on the body we want. When dealing with healthy, injury free clients, the selection can be much easier. However, with special injuries or while trying to work around an injury, certain movements can and should be used to help keep you moving forward on the journey without skipping a beat.

Many theories exist on the combinations of push, pull movements and balancing these exercises out for a rehab approach while training, and it's important but beyond the scope of this article and is addressed when postural assessments are performed to determine what direction our client's should consider adding to their over all program of exercises.


M2FitnessPros is a full service, boutique training studio with private appointments only. Group training with outdoor classes and semi private, also detailed fat loss- nutrition coaching specific for competition levels of bodyfat. Complimentary consultation is available. Pine Ave, Long Beach, CA. 562.435.4639

Six “Pillars” of An Effective Nutrition Plan

A guest author with a very similar approach to our own philosophy......and a few more bells and whistles. Enough support and solid system to help ensure success that I strongly recommend a look at this program. sometimes a message told another way is enough to make it sink in. Herr without further adieu Naked Nutrition
expert, Mike Russell.

We all want results. Whether it is more muscle, less fat, or both. We want results. You can lift all the weights you want and grind out session after session of interval training but if you are'nt paying attention to what you are eating then all this effort is a waste. The #1 most important part of any fat loss or muscle growth program is nutrition.

Nutrition is confusing though right?

There are new “discoveries” being reported by the media almost every day. It is a full time job keeping up with all this information. Fortunately you can get that body you want…. you can achieve that lean, muscular body that you’ve been coveting by consistently applying relatively simple nutritional guidelines.

I call these guidelines the 6 Pillars of Nutrition. Here they are:

1. Eat five to six times a day.

2. Limit your consumption of sugars and processed foods.

3. Eat fruits and vegetables throughout the day.

4. Drink more water and cut out calorie-containing beverages (beer, soda, etc.).

5. Focus on consuming lean proteins throughout the day.

6. Save starch containing foods until after a workout or for breakfast.

These rules are the key to unlocking your best body. As you can see by looking over the list, the 6 Pillars of Nutrition are not based on fads or diet crazes. No, instead they are the results of the distillation of piles of nutritional information into the most effective strategies described in a practical manner so that you can apply them to your life today.

The first question I get about the 6 Pillars of Nutrition when my clients are initially exposed to them is “Don’t I have to count calories?” No. No calories counting. I have recently had a client lose just under 50lbs of fat in 3 months by following these principles. No calorie counting, no measuring food. Why make it more complicated than it has to be?

We all live busy lives right? Nutrition can’t be a focus during the week. It needs to be automatic. That’s what makes these principles so powerful. They make nutrition a no-brainer. If you are obsessing over calories, macronutrients, and grams of insoluble fiber please stop. Outline an eating strategy that falls inline with the 6 Pillars of Nutrition. You will spend less time fussing over what to eat and the changes in your body will astound you.

If you still insist on most closely monitoring your food intake I still don’t recommend that you count calories or grams. I always say no one eat 14 grams of fat, they eat 1 TBSP of olive oil. It only makes sense to track and monitor actual amounts of food right? This is why I created the Naked Nutrition Serving system where I outline when and what type of foods to eat and you just pick the foods you like - not calories, not grams, but actual amounts. This approach is practical and it delivers results.

About the Author: Mike Roussell is a nationally renown sports nutritionist studying to receive his doctoral in nutrition at Penn State University. Mike coaches people from a variety of background (athletes, business professionals, house wive, etc) in achieving the body of their dreams. Mike has distilled down his extremely effective approach to nutrition in the manual Your Naked Nutrition Guide. Go to http://www.NakedNutritionGuide.com /mrfatloss to find out more.

Quitters, Campers, and Climbers of Fat loss and life.....

What does it take to succeed in life?

Why do some people face adversity and soar to new heights while others give up? According to author Paul Stoltz, it comes down to a person’s AQ or “adversity quotient.” In his book, Adversity Quotient, Stoltz says that a person’s adversity quotient has a greater influence on his success than his intelligence, education, or social skills. After a lifetime of study, Stoltz says there are three kinds of people in life: quitters, campers, and climbers.

Quitters see a mountain and give up. These are people who face life’s adversity and opt out, cop out, back out, and drop out. They see the mountain and abandon the climb. They abandon their dreams and take the easier path. Quitters use the language of limitation—words like can’t,” “won’t,” and “impossible” and phrases like “We’ve always done it that way,” “It’s not fair,” “That will not work,” and “I’m too young, old, fat, skinny, tall, short, weak, male, or female.”

Campers see a mountain and settle down. These people start the climb but become weary and look for a smooth, comfortable plateau on which to avoid adversity. They focus their energy on filling their tents with material goods and settle into a convenient and comfortable lifestyle. They usually have decent jobs with good pay and benefits; however, their days of excitement, learning, growth, and creativity are long gone.By waiting out the storm, they wait out life and succumb to the gravitational pull of the campground.

Climbers see a mountain and grab their gear. Regardless of their background, disadvantages, or misfortune, these people continue the ascent. They refuse to allow age, gender, race, physical or mental disability, or any kind of obstacle to get in their way. To climbers, the campground is a base camp; to campers it is home.Climbers use language like “do right,” “do your best,” “let’s see it happen,” and “how.” They speak of possibility, challenge, and things as they can be.


Think
What is your adversity quotient? Do you see yourself as a quitter, a camper, or a climber?

Can you point to a time or event in your past where you stopped being a climber and became a quitter or a camper? What happened? How might you regain the “climber” spirit?

Reflect
Ask yourself ,"where is my climber’s attitude"— how can you remove the tendency to give up or settle in, and to fill each moment in your day with a “let’s see it happen” spirit.

Act
If you are a quitter or a camper, the good news is, you don’t have to stay that way! How might you begin to make the transformation into becoming a climber? Start with small steps, but don’t hesitate. Begin
now!

Foam roller series update and reminder........

But I just had a serving size?......Oh, I thought you meant.....

The "REAL" Terrorist at large!