24 Day Challenge - End Of Year Sale

Since it is the end of the year, I wanted to offer a discount on something new that we will be offering. It is called the 24 Day Challenge. This challenge can be utilized for you to kick start your New Year's resolution for fitness.

The first 30 days of a fitness program are the hardest. Therefore, if you can follow an organized exercise and nutritional plan for those first 30 days, you will see results quicker, thus continue to follow your program once those 30 days have passed. I feel so confident that if you follow are program's guidelines, you will see results in 24 days and really want to adhere to the program.

This is something new that we are incorporating into our services and hope that you are intrigued enough to take advantage of it. The sale is going to save you as much as 20% off this program. To find out more details on this program please click here.

This sale will end December 31, 2009 at 11:59pm, so please act fast. If you do not receive this email in time, please look at this program anyways. It will be well worth your investment to make 2010 a healthier YOU!

5 Tips To Lose Weight During The Holidays

The holidays come and everyone has an excuse why they shouldn't exercise.

"Oh, let me eat the holiday fun foods, put on weight, and I'll get started next year." That is BUNK!

Here are 5 tips I discovered to help you lose weight or continue losing weight during the holidays.

1. Get A Strategy: It's not that you can't enjoy the holidays, but figure out a plan of attack. If you are going to a party, eat healthy around that party. Maybe eat healthy right before the party, so you don't overindulge. Or use that day as your cheat day. One day of Xmas cookies and eggnog isn't going to kill you.
2. Schedule Your Workouts In That Strategy: Maybe condense your workouts to 20-30 minute intense circuits. That way you can still get your workouts in and find time for other things.
3. Move Around: Get active. Play with your kids or walk around the block. Don't just stuff your face full of food, lie around, then eat leftovers an hour later.
4. Moderate Portions: Enjoy those wonderful foods, but eat in moderation. Load up on the fruit salad first before having that reindeer cookie. Instead of having 2 buttermilk biscuits, have one.
5. Don't Feel Guilty: As I stated earlier, plug in a cheat day. If you feel you went overboard, don't beat yourself up over it. Get back on track the next day. Remember, if you have been exercising and eating healthy up to that point, one day won't send you over the top.
The worst thing you could do is to stop all the good habits you are doing for the next month. This is the time to continue those positive traits because they will help you enjoy the holidays and get through them at the same weight if not less.

NASCAR Champ Uses Fitness To Fuel His Victories

Jimmie Johnson has all but secured his fourth consecutive Sprint Cup Series Championship. He has been basically, the Tiger Woods of NASCAR these last four years. There are a lot of factors to his success, but one of them is definitely his fitness regimen.

Johnson follows a strenuous fitness workout each week to keep his abilities sharp. He works out four times a week and performs a total body routine that emphasizes strength and endurance rather than mass. That means a little bit less weight and higher reps.

He spends a lot of time keeping his heartrate elevated during the workouts. During a five hour period driving in a car, Johnson's heartrate goes anywhere from 130 - 150 beats per minute. He needs to get his body acclimated to that. To help, he jumps rope during sets of his weight routine. He also does a lot of running work in his workout, specifically sprint drills.

One of the biggest things he has to work with is keeping his body in balance. Because his sport calls for him to drive to the left all the time, his body has to handle all those specific g-forces and loads you deal with at that high of speed. Keeping the body balanced will help him to better handle those forces and that is the challenge. Dumbbell work helps a lot for this kind of training.

He has also committed to a healthy meal plan. Johnson says you have to treat your body like your car, a fine tuned machine. The empty calories you put in through junk does your body no good. He eats plenty of proteins and good carbs with lots of vegetables.

This is an example of another great athlete taking fitness and nutrition to another level. Could he get to where he is without doing this? Maybe, but he certainly isn't taking that chance to find out.

A Great Video For Toning Your Arms

I'm showing another compound exercise that helps you shape up your arms and save time. It is a biceps curl into a shoulder press. Take a look at the video and see if it helps you out.

Video Demonstrating A Ball Chest Press

A stability ball chest press is a great exercise to develop your chest, while also strengthening your core. This video demonstrates how to do the exercise.

Video To Prevent Elbow Pain

This video shows two exercises that will help prevent or relieve "tennis elbow" or tendonitis in the elbow. I have a lot of clients, non-athletes and athletes, that get this condition and it is pretty easy to get rid of you just have to be consistent with it.

Video For A Good Leg Exercise

This video is a Split Squat with a one armed shoulder press. It is a combo exercise that develops a multitude of muscles and burns a decent amount of calories at the same time. Real quick video.

An Exercise For Lower Back Pain

This video shows you how to do a regular plank. It really helps strengthen your lower back and the entire core region. Once again, doing this will help you achieve a flatter stomach as well. Hope you enjoy.

Video Demonstrating A Great Exercise

This is a video of me demonstrating a push-up into a dumbbell row combination. It helps your chest, back, and core. It is demanding, but effective. Especially, if you need to save time. I hope you enjoy!

Yet Another Reason To Avoid High Cholesterol

A new study published recently in the journal Dementia & Geriatrics Cognitive Disorders found that borderline to moderately high cholesterol levels in people aged in their 40's significantly raises the chances of developing dementia (such as Alzheimer's) later in life.

Cholesterol levels 240 or higher the risk increased 66 percent. This level is considered high. Levels between 200 - 239 are considered borderline and the risk increased 52 percent.

Having low cholesterol isn't going to prevent dementia, but having high cholesterol will certainly improve the chances of acquiring it.

Yet another reason to maintain good health and live a long fulfilling life.

Great Exercise For Your Stomach And Obliques

Here is a video of an exercise we are doing with our clients now that really strengthens your core and tightens your obliques (or your sides of the stomach). Check it out and I hope you like it.

This Exercise Thing Works - New Testimonial

Wendy Engel wanted to get stronger and firm up. Here is what she accomplished in 12 weeks.

Lost 6.5 pounds, 4.5 from fat
Decreased body fat by 2.7%

She did it by strength training twice a week and doing cardio on her own, as well as following the nutritional program we offer which includes utilizing our Advocare products to help her inbetween meals. This is what she had to say:

"I have been working with Adam twice a week since April 6th and in that short time (3 months) have had pretty good results. Adam not only works with you regarding the weight training aspect but he also monitors your eating and cardio work-out habits. I have learned that the weight training is only a piece of the puzzle and you have to have good nutrition and cardio. My fat % has gone down and I have already dropped a size in my clothing. I am a person who is athletic but has never lifted weights before so at 46 I felt like a total weakling. I know I am getting progressively stronger as the weeks go by....I am enjoying the 6 1/2 pound weight loss also!!!"

A Few Recent Client Successes You Might Want To Hear About

I love sharing success stories from my clients. I have a few here today that don't have to do with any weight loss or gain successes. These stories are about injuries and how exercise helped to heal those injuries and get them back to doing their normal activities they love to do in their life.

The first story is about Bob. He had an issue in his forearm, around the elbow area. It could have been some tendinitis, but whatever it was it was hard for him to do some of his normal exercises. So what we did was cut out all the exercises that caused him discomfort. Then we instituted some wrist curls in the hopes of strengthening that area and reducing the strain that was causing him some pain. Not as young as he used to be, this healing process was going to take awhile, but sure enough after about 5 months, he is pain free in that area. He is back to doing the normal exercises we do for arms and not having any issues whatsoever.

Connie was having some discomfort in her rhomboids (right in the middle of her upper back). Usually, a result of tightness or weakness, we did a few exercises that deviated from the norm, but hit those areas particularly well. In a matter of weeks, she was pain free. No issues whatsoever, and we routinely do exercises to hit that area so it doesn't happen again.

Finally, there is Doug. Doug likes to golf, but his lower back was killing him. He always had to take a cart and really struggled to play well with his lower back being the way it was. We instituted a total body workout that included a special focus on strengthening his core and stretching out the posterior chain of his legs, lower back, etc. In a span of 6 weeks, he was feeling great and not only could he WALK 18 holes, but he could also walk another 9 afterwards relatively pain free.

These are some good examples of what exercise can do for you. Hopefully, I will be able to tell more in the upcoming months.

Eating 2700 Calories A Day And Still Losing Fat

One of our clients who participated in our Metabolic Assessment program had some fabulous results. I wanted to share her results with you, so you can see what wonderful progress she made.

Sue White - Pre picture February 3, 2009


Post picture, April 4, 2009


Here were her measurements for that time as well.

Weight - Pre: 126, Post: 118
Bodyfat - Pre: 31.1%, Post: 27.2%
Fat Mass - Pre: 39.2 lbs., Post: 32.1 lbs.
Lean Mass - Pre: 86.8 lbs., Post: 85.9 lbs.
Shoulders - Pre: 41.5", Post: 40.88"
Chest - Pre: 38", Post: 35.125"
Waist - Pre: 32.75", Post: 29.88"
Hips - Pre: 37.5", Post: 35.5"
Arms - Pre: 11.5", Post: 11"
Thighs - Pre: 23", Post: 21.5"
Calves - Pre: 13.75", Post: 13.25"

How did she achieve these results? Well, Sue originally came to us to help improve her conditioning for her marathon running and shed some bodyfat. She wanted to tone up. So, we had to give her a caloric amount to eat that would provide her for the energy she needed and burn bodyfat at the same time.

For her, that amount was 2700 calories a day. She participated in our Training Camp classes 3 times a week and then ran 3 other times a week as well to prepare for her marathons.

Not only does she look GREAT, but she feels great. She has a lot more energy for her conditioning and recovers a lot better.

Think about how doing our Metabolic Assessment could help YOU achieve your fitness goals. You could have wonderful results, just like Sue did.

Hydroxycut BAD!!

I read an article this past weekend that I've been meaning to comment on and have been pretty busy until now. It was an article that stated the FDA is urging consumers to stop using any Hydroxycut products.

Anyone who has had problems losing weight, knows what Hydroxycut is. It is the "super fat-burning" supplement that comes in a pill that will solve all your weight loss problems. People have been running to buy these products, while I have urged my clients to avoid them at all costs.

I had not heard many positive things about Hydroxycut when it came out, but it was tough to convince people it was bad. I'm telling them not to pop these pills, when the alternative to weight loss is...gasp... exercise and eating properly. I was fighting an uphill battle.

But, now the FDA is on board saying these products can be hazardous to your health. Some of the problems that have been linked with Hydroxycut products are liver damage leading to liver transplants, seizures, cardiovascular problems, and kidney failure.

Is trying to lose 20 pounds of fat quickly, really worth all that??

I'm just the messenger, but Hydroxycut is bad. Go ahead and google it and read up on it yourself. The much safer and surer process to weight loss is following a proper nutrition plan and exercise. When people can finally accept that, then it will make the weight loss battle a heck of a lot easier.

6 Week Stunning Transformation

I wanted to post results of one of our clients, Jim Conrad. He was one of the first to try our new nutrition program and it is working perfectly for him. He is getting his exercise and cardio with Jono, and he participated in our nutrition program which is telling him EXACTLY what to eat. He is following it to a "T" and having great results. Enough of my babbling, here it is.

2-4-2009


3-18-2009


This was all in 6 weeks. Here are his Before and After measurements:

Weight - 248, 226
Bodyfat Percentage - 38.1%, 31.1%
Lean Body Mass - 153.51 lbs., 155.71 lbs. (everything but fat)
Fat Mass - 94.49 lbs., 70.29 lbs.
Biceps - 15 1/8", 14 1/4"
Chest - 48", 46"
Shoulders - 57 1/8", 52 1/8"
Waist - 45 1/2", 42 1/4"
Hips - 45 1/2", 42 1/2"
Thighs - 25 1/2", 23 7/8"
Calf - 17 1/2", 17 1/4"

Notice how he last over 24 pounds of fat, but only 22 pounds on the scale. That is because he increased his lean mass (water and muscle), by over 2 pounds. This helps increase his metabolism.

Now here is the kicker, he did this by eating around 2141 calories a day. That shows our program works. If you want to understand why he can eat so much and lose fat, contact me.

Another Fat Loss Testimonial

Morgan Murphy was one of our 14 Week Fitness participants and I've finally put together her 2 1/2 minute testimonial. The video isn't the greatest, but I think you can hear her answers well enough to understand what she did to accomplish her goals.



Here were her final results. The pre-measurements were taken September 8, 2008 and the post-measurements were taken December 23, 2008.

Weight: Pre - 176, Post - 168
Bodyfat: Pre - 32.1%, Post - 31.1%
Shoulders: Pre - 45.5", Post 43"
Chest: Pre - 42.25", Post 40.5"
Waist: Pre - 37.75", Post 36.125"
Hips: Pre - 44", Post 41.5"
Arm: Pre - 13", Post 11.75"
Thigh: Pre - 25.75", Post 25"
Calf: Pre - 15", Post 14.875"

I Don't Think A-Rod Did Anything Wrong

Maybe I'm getting more numb to this whole steroid issue as I get older and more athletes are doing it, but I don't think he did anything wrong in taking them.

Do I condone it? I can safely say no! But, I can say no from not being in their shoes. I haven't played major league baseball, or even sniffed the big leagues. I don't know what pressure they are under to perform well. I don't know the pressure they feel that if they don't take steroids, they will lose their job. I don't have the competitive drive the have to be the very best at whatever cost.

A-Rod is arguably the best player in baseball and if HE is taking steroids, I'm sure there are a lot of other people that are taking them. I'm also tired of all these people getting on their high horse about how he lied to us and has disgraced the game, blah, blah, blah!

I'm sure all those people NEVER lied about anything in their lives. I'm sure if they did lie, they eventually told the truth on their own, NOT when they got caught.
I would have loved for A-Rod to say this, "I took steroids from 2001- 2003. I felt a lot of pressure to live up to my contract, so I took steroids. I don't feel it was a mistake because a lot of other players were taking them, MLB didn't have a steroid policy at the time, I won several MVP's, and quite honestly this information wasn't supposed to be leaked out to anyone, ever. I do not condone the use of steroids. This was my personal decision to use these drugs."

If we as the public were really that concerned about baseball players taking steroids, then attendance would NOT be at an all-time high in baseball parks.
What kind of message is this sending to the kids? Well, that is discussion each parent should be talking with their own children. I would say this:

The reality of the situation is at the highest level, there will be athletes taking these drugs. The cheaters will always be miles ahead of the testers. Understand, though, that these professionals are still very gifted athletes to be at this level. Your average schmo can't take this stuff and become A-Rod. You have to be gifted and lucky to even get to that level. If you are lucky enough to even make it to that highest level, you will have to have someone get the facts for you about this stuff to make your own decision.

I don't think any of us can sit here and say we would definitely not use the stuff, if we were faced with obtaining a multi-year contract that could set you up for life. Or finally making the big leagues or going back to the minors for another year. We can be mad that another baseball player has chosen that path and ruining the game, but I don't think we should say we wouldn't do it.

If you had asked me did A-Rod do anything wrong 10 or 15 years ago, I would have said heck yes. But, this box is open and is never shutting. I think he did something wrong, it just doesn't bother as much as it used to.

4 Nutrition Tips For A Healthy Heart

It is American Heart Month and a healthy heart is a lot simpler to obtain than you think. It won't help you mend a broken heart from a rotten Valentine's Day, but it might help you live long enough to have a lot more happier Valentine's Days.

Adam Kessler, Columbus health and fitness expert explains: "If you eat the right foods and can really correct a lot of health problems you may have, but helping your heart is probably the number one issue. That is your motor that keeps you going and it HAS to be strong."

Kessler offers these four nutrition tips that will make your heart healthier and stronger.

1. Eat a lot of omega-3 fatty acids. "There is no question about the benefit of omega-3's. They help lower the chances of heart attacks and double your survival rate."

2. Avoid processed foods. "Food processing zaps 60-90% of heart healthy vitamins in foods. Hydrogenated oils, which are in many processed foods, destroy omega-3's by turning them into trans fats. Trans fats have become more dangerous to you then saturated fats."

3. Pick foods high in fiber. "High fiber foods help clear your body of cholesterol. The less cholesterol you have, the better chance that you won't have a heart attack. High cholesterol clogs your arteries and prevents blood flow to the body. This is bad."

4. Take a multi-vitamin. "Food processing also strips foods of many vitamins and minerals that help your heart. Adding a good multi-vitamin supplement can help replenish those lost nutrients and make your heart a lot healthier."

Kessler concludes, "Nutrition is the hardest thing for people to follow. I'm a firm believer that if you can eat healthy the majority of time, your body will reap the benefits and you can live a long, fruitful life."

If you would like to find out more about developing health eating habits for weight loss, Adam Kessler is holding a Nutrition Workshop right here in Gahanna very shortly. All are welcome. For more information visit http://fitnessplanning.com/ybf.htm.

5 Eating Habits of the Super Slim

Columbus, OH, 1/21/09 – You may be surprised to find out that to be super slim, you do not have to diet, in fact in many cases it’s the opposite… You might need to eat more!

Columbus health & fitness expert Adam Kessler explains, “Most people are not overweight because they eat too much food, believe it or not, many heavier people aren’t even eating 3 meals a day. Generally it’s what they eat that’s the problem, not how much they eat.”

Adam offers up these 5 nutrition tips you can use right now to fix your diet and halt the weight gain:

1. Don’t be afraid to snack. “You should eat veggies, nuts rich in Omega-3’s like almonds and walnuts, or high-fiber/high-protein snack bars/shakes (just be sure you choose the ones with low sugar) between meals because they keep your appetite at bay, stopping you from overloading at your main meal. Plus, a snack in the afternoon can help prevent that dreaded 3PM energy crash.”

2. Create a meal plan. “It’s important to keep your food intake regular, so your body gets into a nice pattern and knows exactly when food is coming in and how much. If you eat irregularly, your body goes into fat storage mode and that doesn’t help with weight loss.”

3. Drink more water. “Oftentimes when you feel hungry, you might actually just be slightly dehydrated. Put that Twinkie down and have a glass of water instead.”

4. Take your vitamins. “Stocking up on the right vitamins is important too, a deficiency in Vitamin B5 for example affects our body’s ability to utilize fat. You’ll usually find multi-vitamins in the pantry of the super slim.”

5. Become food smart. “Finally and most importantly, educate yourself and be nutrition savvy. Know exactly what you are putting into your body, and what it will do to you”

Kessler concludes “It’s funny because most people already know all this and yet never get started. I urge them to because if you can keep healthy eating up for just one month it becomes a habit, and then it’s no longer a chore, it’s instinctual and pounds will be shed because of it.”

If you would like to find out more about developing health eating habits for weight loss, Adam is holding a Nutrition Workshop right here in Columbus very shortly. All are welcome. For more information visit http://fitnessplanning.com/ybf.htm.

Awesome Testimonial

Here is a short video of Michelle Lyons, who participated in our 14 Week Fitness Program. She had an awesome change for her and made some great points in the video about how she felt, a HAPPIER attitude, and how great the boot camp classes were.



Here were Michelle's measurements:

The dates we did them were
9-8-08, 10-14-08, 11-13-08, and 12-23-08

Weight: 316, 309, 299, 294 - 22 lbs. difference

Bodyfat: 48% 151.7 lbs. of fat, 47.5% 147 lbs. of fat, 47.3% 141 lbs. of fat, 47.3% 139 lbs. of fat - .7% change, 12.7 lbs. of fat lost

Shoulders: 56 3/4", 55 1/4", 53", 51 3/4" - 5" difference

Chest: 56 1/4", 55 1/4", 54", 54" - 2 1/4" difference

Waist: 58 1/8", 54 1/2", 54 1/4", 53 1/2" - 4 5/8" difference

Hips: 60 1/4", 60", 58 1/4", 57 7/16" - 2 13/16" difference

Arm: 15 3/4", 15 3/4", 15 1/2", 14 7/8" - 7/8" difference

Thigh: 28 5/8", 29 1/2", 28 3/4", 27 3/4" - 7/8" difference

Calf: 19 1/2", 19 3/4", 19 1/2", 19 1/2" - 0" difference

Michelle made great strides and we'll keep it off. Please post any comments that you have on the blog.