Read How Much Exercise Women Need According To New Study

Last week there was an article in the paper that was causing some buzz among women. If you are a member of my fan page on Facebook, then maybe you read it because I posted the link to the fan page.

Here is what these researchers came up with. Just to maintain a normal weight throughout your lifetime, women (and this study was geared specifically to middle-aged women) need to exercise 60 minutes a day, 7 days a week.

How does that sit with you?

I know some of my female clients were already moaning and groaning. 7 days a week!! Who has that time, they would say. I think this research might be counterproductive because people might just say heck with it. I can only get in 2 or 3 times a week, so if they want 7 then what is the point of going 2 or 3 times? I know that is what you're thinking. Right?

To clarify, the findings were geared for women who wanted to maintain their current weight and not do any special diet. And I think that right there is where we can start contradicting this finding.

I had recently launched my new Fit Blueprint program and one of the fundamental theories of this workout is that you are only exercising 3 times a week, for 30-45 minutes. That is what I do during the week and I have no health issues. Yes, I know I'm not a middle-aged female, but I feel that the same principles apply and here is the reason.

Another principle of my e-book discusses eating healthy. If you eat right (and I'm not talking about dieting and cutting calories), I'm talking eating the right foods and avoiding the CRAP, you will not only maintain your weight, but probably lose fat at the same time.

Do you remember my client Andy? He lost 44.4 pounds of fat, just by changing his eating habits and he hasn't even started exercising yet. You can see his video by clicking here to go to my blog, in case you don't remember his story.

I believe that you can not only maintain your weight, but lose or gain weight, by exercising 3 days a week. It is all predicated on your diet. If you are eating healthy then you should have no worries, but if you aren't eating healthy, then you might have to exercise 7 days a week. But even that is a crapshoot.

You remember my article on Chipotles. If you go there for lunch and dinner, you could easily be consuming 2400 calories and that isn't including breakfast, snacks throughout the day, beverages, etc. Do you really think that 60 minutes exercising where you are burning 300-400 calories (if you are pushing it) is going to off-set that type of eating??

So, if you want to avoid having to workout 7 days a week, then you need to examine how you are eating. Then you can get yourself in better shape, by doing 3 efficient/intense workouts each week to tone and sculpt your body. If you want to read more about my Fit Blueprint program, click here. If you like it, you could download it today and start your new exercise program tonight.

Side Notes:

• We are going to run an April Fool's Special (without the April Fool's joke). It is for anyone who wants to try us out and get put on a personal training program specialized for them. It will be 3 individual sessions, plus our Metabolic Nutrition program (the same one my client Andy used to help him lose fat) for $125. A good way to get on track before summer. Click here to read the details and get signed up. I'm only going to offer this special through April 1, 11:59pm.

Athletes We Worked With That Had Success This Past Season

To honor some of the athletes we have worked with, here is a list of those that got some end of the year recognition for their accomplishments in their winter sport this season.

ATHLETE SPORT AWARD
Sam Bott (Gahanna) Basketball
• Special Mention All-OCC Ohio Division
Sam Bradway (Hilliard Davidson) Basketball
• Special Mention All-OCC Central Division
Aryelle Covington (Reynoldsburg) Basketball
• Honorable Mention All-Districict Division I
• Honorable Mention Dispatch All-Metro
• First Team All-OCC Ohio Division
Kavunaa Edwards (Pickerington North) Basketball
• Special Mention All-Ohio Division I
• First Team All-District Division I
• First Team Dispatch All-Metro
• Player of the Year OCC Ohio Division
• First Team All-OCC Ohio Division
Taylor Jones (Pickerington North) Basketball
• Special Mention All-OCC Ohio Division
Madi Miller (New Albany) Basketball
• Honorable Mention All-OCC Capital Division
Nicole Olszewski (Pickerington North) Basketball
• Third Team All-District Division I
• Honorable Mention Dispatch All-Metro
• First Team All-OCC Ohio Division
Katie Papesh (Dublin Scioto) Basketball
• Honorable Mention All-District Division I
• Honorable Mention Dispatch All-Metro
• Second Team All-OCC Cardinal Division
Lily Watson (Bexley) Basketball
• Honorable Mention All-District Division II
• Honorable Mention Dispatch All-Metro
• First Team All-MSL Ohio Division

Awesome Leg and Butt Workout Guaranteed To Shape Them

This workout I'm going to discuss I can't take credit for. I saw this workout awhile back in Men's Health magazine I think. But I have implemented it into my program with both my athletes and wellness clients and it gets great results. Of course, this is after the soreness subsides and you regain feeling back in your legs. Just kidding...well maybe not.

In all seriousness, if you have some sort of joint issue, you might want to skip this routine, but if you don't and you can get through the first workout, it will really shape up those legs all the way through to the glutes.

Here are your four exercises:

1. Speed Squats
2. Lunges
3. Split Squat Jumps
4. Squat Jumps

This is all done with your bodyweight, no extra weight is needed. I will definitely have to make a video of this so you can see it in action.

So you will start with 24 speed squats. Make sure your form is correct, keep the back tight, get the top of the thigh parallel, and go as fast as possible. You must go the full range of motion. You will then rest 1 minute.

As soon as a minute is up, you will start 24 lunges (12 lunges on each leg). You will alternate, stepping forward and pushing back to the starting position, then alternate the leg. Full range of motion is important here as well. Then rest a minute.

Now you will start 24 split squat jumps (12 on each leg). This is what usually gets everybody. You will start in a split squat position, with one leg in front and one leg behind on the ball of the foot (kind of like a squat position). You will lower your leg down until the back knee almost touches the ground, then explode up into the air, switching leg positions, landing with the opposite leg forward. Repeat for repetitions. Rest 1 minute upon completion.

Finally, you want to do 12 squat jumps. Squat down low like you did with the speed squats, then jump up as high as you can. When you land, fall right back into a squat and repeat.

That is one set. You will then rest for 3 minutes and repeat the entire set.

If not by the end of the first set, definitely by the end of the second, your legs will feel shot. You'll probably be sore the next several days, but that is a good thing. Walking funny can be expected. Once the soreness subsides, this will be a breeze.You will want to do this 1-2 times a week. As you get better, you just decrease your rest time and you can increase the number of sets to 3 or 4.

I'm telling you, this is a great leg and butt workout. You will really feel it in your legs and they will get stronger and leaner as time progresses. You will hate me after the first workout, but once you are getting complements on your legs, you will forget all about me and take all the credit for yourself. Just kidding!

Low Impact Cardio Circuit

So this week's newsletter is about that 4 minute fat loss cardio circuit I discussed a few weeks ago. In case you missed it and the accompanying video I created, you can see it on past blog posts.

To refresh your memory, I was saying that this 4 minute fat loss circuit is a better way to burn fat than doing a long, slow boring walk. It gets the heartrate pumping, gets you burning more calories, and if you are combining it with strength training, you will continue to burn fat all day long.

I had a few comments that some of the exercises I was doing in the circuit were to high impact, or hard on the joints for people who have tender knees, hips, or ankles. So, I'm going to describe a low-impact fat loss cardio circuit that you can do to substitute.

Do not confuse low impact with low intensity. These movements are supposed to be easier on the joints, but you still want to do them as hard and fast as you can. The goal is still the same. You want to get that heartrate up and be breathing as hard as I was during the video.

So here are the 4 cardio exercises I came up with to improve fat loss.

1. Walking Suicides - You will have a path of say 10 yards (30 feet). You will walk as fast as you can to the 5 yard mark, walk back to the starting point, walk up 10 yards, and walk back to the starting point. Then repeat. The whole time, I would make big motions with your arms. This will help get the heart pumping harder and spend more energy.

2. Step-Ups - Pick a really low step, 6 inches high will say. And step up with both feet, then down with both feet as fast as you can. If you have joint problems, then you don't want the step to be too high. Once again, I would pump your arms as you are doing this to get the heart going.

3. Side to Side Touches - These are real simple. Just move side to side and while you are doing it swing your arms with big motions. Either move your arms in big circles, clap in front of you, but just move the arms.

4. Shadow Boxing - If you stand stationary, punch in the air, but get your body into it. Punch hard and punch fast. This will really get your heartrate going. Please don't throw your arm out though.

So those are 4 exercises I came up with that might help you do your cardio routine yet, keep it low impact for the joints. Once again, I would try to do each exercise for 15 seconds then rest 45 seconds. Then hit the next exercise. All 4 exercises will take you 4 minutes to complete and 3 circuits of those will take you 12 minutes to complete.

Try it out and let me know what you think. I am always trying to tweak my program, so your suggestions would be appreciated. Especially if you have a few more exercises that you have done that I might not have thought of.

The Andy Rahe Video Discussing His AWESOME Fat Loss

I discussed this in my previous blog post, but this is a short teaser video that I shot with Andy Rahe. Andy participated in our nutritional program and in 4.5 months he lost 44.4 pounds of fat. Pretty incredible! You can see the entire video with your purchase of The Fit Blueprint. You can read about this great new fat loss program by clicking here.

How To Lose Fat And Gain Muscle Just By Eating Alone

Awhile back I had talked about one of my clients who was needing to lose weight. He came to us in October and I think I discussed it mid to late December. Well, I have some incredible news on his progress.

My client's name is Andy and in 4.5 months he has lost 32.5 pounds. WHICH IS AWESOME!! He has gone from 276 to 243.5.

His bodyfat has dropped from 44% to 31.7%.

This means that his fat mass went from 121.4 lbs. to 77 lbs. Which means he has lost 44.4 POUNDS FROM FAT!!

Consequently, his lean muscle mass went from 154.6 lbs. up to 166.5 lbs. An increase of 11.9 pounds and why the scale weight reflects a 32.5 pound drop and not a 44.4 pound drop. Now how is that possible??

I'll explain that in a moment, but I wanted to tell you that Andy was kind enough to let me interview him on tape. The physical differences are amazing. I am putting together a 4 minute teaser video that will be up on my blog shortly. It is pretty insightful, but I say teaser because the entire video will be used as an extra bonus for my new fat loss program I will be offering shortly. He has some great tips on how he was able to drop those pounds with just food alone.

Now, how did he gain muscle without lifting any weights? I, of course, have encouraged him to start exercising, but at least he is following the nutritional formula.

I have always stated that I don't care about how much weight a person loses, I care about what kind of weight that person is losing. I have seen clients lose 30 pounds, but it is mostly water and muscle and not fat. They probably were on some low calorie diet where they had to starve themselves. 9 times out of 10 they ended up gaining the weight back and then some.

I also have said, that in order to burn fat you need to eat. I have never discouraged people from eating. I want you to eat a lot, it's just you have to know what you are putting in your mouth. Because my low calorie dieters didn't eat enough calories to allow their body to burn fat, they ended up tricking their body into thinking it was starving. When that happens, your body stores fat because it is emergency energy and uses muscle for energy. Muscle weighs more than fat, thus your scale weight drops, but your metabolism slows down.

We figured out Andy needed to eat 2450 calories a day to burn fat. That was what his body needed to get the energy it required and burn fat. And as you can see the proof is in the pudding.

Now, exactly what Andy was eating and how he planned his days is all in the video, but let me tell you this. His weight loss was exactly how it is supposed to go, nice and gradual. And get this, his doctor said that if he can lose another 25 pounds, he will take him off of his blood pressure medications. THAT WILL BE A GREAT DAY!!

So congratulations to Andy. Once I post his video on the blog (it is just a teaser - like I said the entire video will be a bonus for purchasing my new fat loss program), you can take a look for yourselves. Hopefully, this will inspire some of you out there, that this does work and that there will be a light at the end of the tunnel.

5 Ways Girl Scout Cookies Won't Ruin Your Fat Loss Program

I actually got this idea from a fellow personal trainer, Holly Rigsby, and since my daughter just sold a zillion of these boxes, I thought it would be good to share these 5 tips with you.

1. Eat in moderation. This is the key to a lot of good nutritional plans, but when it comes to people's vices, don't neglect them entirely (unless you are that strong willed), use moderation. Eating cookies isn't going to ruin your fat loss program, but eating them at every meal and for snacks will. As long as you are eating healthy the majority of the time (80-90%), a cookie after dinner isn't going to hurt you at all. Plan them in your meals, just like you plan anything else.

2. Portion Size. Just like eating chips or other snacks, you don't want to eat these bad boys straight from the box. You will start to one, then another, then another, you get my drift. Portion them out, so that you will only eat what is appropriate, then move on.

3. Serving Size. Even though you are eating them in moderation, still be aware of the serving size. I have a weakness for foods that have peanut butter in them. There is a Tagalong Peanut Butter Pattie that has a serving size of 2 cookies that equal 140 calories, 80 of those from fat. So if you eat 4 cookies (even though they are small) that is 280 calories right there, 160 from fat. You can eat those like they were nothing. So be aware of this when you are looking at portion size and make the right choice.

4. Out of Sight, Out of Mind. Do NOT leave these cookies just sitting on the corner. That is an open invitation for snacking and eating way too many cookies. Put them away in a cupboard, or even some high drawer, so they aren't as accessible. I'm not trying to have you jump through hoops and hurdles to eat these things, but it certainly is better than them sitting in the wide open yelling, "Hey I'm over here. Eat me! Eat me!"

5. Enjoy Them. If you follow the previous 4 tips, then you should be allowed to eat these cookies guilt free. Don't crush yourself over the fact you are having a cookie. These things only come around once a year (of course it seems like a lot more than that doesn't it) so enjoy them. As long as you are eating more good meals than bad and exercising, this is a fine reward.

I hope this helps you out as you are eating these cookies. This really applies to all desserts, everything in moderation. As long as you are surrounding your few cookies with positive healthy habits, you have EARNED the right to eat that cookie.