The Labor Day weekend is here. You’ve worked hard, have some ice cream! What? Could this site dedicated to ripitude actually be advocating such false doctrine?
Actually, FitTransition Commandment #10 states: Have a Free Period once a week. One of the reasons why people slip into perpetual bad nutritional habits is due to perpetuated behavior. Allowing yourself a period during the week where you eat anything you want is a good way to stay sane and excited to “get back on track” for the upcoming week. It’s amazing how this works.
I’ve worked hard this week in the gym. I’ve eaten my appropriate share of cottage cheese, small apples with real peanut butter, protein shakes, and I even had scallops and shrimp with salad and no carbs (broccoli instead of mashed potatoes) when I went out to lunch yesterday with a friend. I also hit a new low this week of 215 lbs and am moving closer to my goal, so my personal testimonial is that this works!
So you’ve been neglectful and need to work upper and lower body in the same day, but you’ve only got 15 minutes to do it. What do you do? Here’s a regimen that will knock your socks off and leave you breathless but PUMPED!
First, you have to know how to do an Arnold Press. If I have two dumbbells and curl them to just under my chin, with the forearm straight up and down, this is the starting position. From here your shoulders rotate out to what would normally be the starting position for a military press, and the finishing movement is to press all the way up. Sometimes I like to clack the dumbbells together at the top to signify finish. OK, now you’re ready for the regimen:
To be done with 6 reps, 3-4 sets with three minutes in between each set (all 4 exercises constitute one set)
That’s it! A quick, major-muscle regimen which you’ve got to try!
The government doesn’t owe me a living. My problems are not the government’s fault. It’s not the government’s responsibility to bail out banks and auto makers, nor to regulate commerce except to protect and serve justice. Wake up people! Take your country back!
For that matter, take your health back! Your health is your responsibility! Following a healthy exercise and nutrition regimen will allow you to take control of your life and health. Fittransition is designed to empower you. Be empowered!
A recent article by the NCSF suggests that you may be fooled when using an elliptical trainer. Not that anyone’s trying to lead you astray, but that most likely the formulas for calculating caloric expenditure are derived from a combination of treadmills and steppers, and the latter two use greater acceleration and deceleration forces. Since work=force x distance, and the up motions on both stepper and treadmill are greater, more work is accomplished.
Ellipticals are great for injuries or sore/stiff joints. I use them all the time. Yesterday I needed to do some heavy benching but due to some intense weekend racquetball (finally beat my little brother!) I was very sore and stiff. The elliptical was just what I needed to warm up. All things considered, when I’m not feeling “joint challenged” I will run on the treadmill.
Just realize that the calorie numbers on the elliptical may not be what they purport. Better to judge your work output based on your heart rate! Now go work out!
Nuts are a great source of protein, fiber, and selenium. These are all ab-flattening ingredients. First, the protein and fiber fill you and keep you satiated longer than snacks high in sugar and carbs.
Second, the selenium in nuts may be important. One study among an American sampling of 8,000 indicated that people with lower selenium levels had larger waistlines!
There you have it! Eat more nuts and less bread or other high-carb snacks. Just remember to stay away from “honey roasted” and other spiced nuts which have dextrose, sugar, or other sweeteners in. Always check the ingredients!
I’ll admit up front that not every man’s or woman’s goal is to get bigger or stronger, but for you who are attempting to do so, read on! My years of experience has shown that I only grow and improve my lifts and size when I lift heavy. The problem is in thinking that you can do it all the time.
Heavy lifting causes stress and trauma to joints, bones, muscles, ligaments and tendons, not to mention your heart and cardiovascular system. Such stress and trauma isn’t a bad thing - it repairs itself better and stronger - but you have to cycle it with lighter days, cardio to flush out toxins and avoid long term soreness, and sometimes, plain old rest in the form of several days off.
If you read the FitTransition system, you will find that the program cycles to a 3 and 1 RM program in Phase III, but Phase III is only designed to be sustained for no longer than a month or less, then you must cycle back to Phase I or even take a week off. Depending upon your goals and objectives, cycling your training phases or taking some time off will actually help you to grow quicker in the long run, and without injury.
The Division of Geriatric and Palliative Medicine, University of Texas Medical School, 2009, has shown that exercise can delay or prevent the top three health issues that baby boomers will face as they get older, namely:
I find the depression issue particularly helpful, since most depressed souls (in my observation) don’t exercise consistently! I’ll never forget a wise ecclesiastical leader who once counseled me to go for a run when I felt like life was pressing in. Now, I’m a terrible runner, but he was right. Running gives you a chance to clear your head, to think, and to get those endorphins counter acting the depressed physiology.
It doesn’t have to be running though. Sometimes when I’m angry there’s nothing like throwing some iron around in the gym. Swimming, cycling, elliptical trainers, even just walking or hiking are all great ways to clear the head. When life gets tough, the tough get physically active!
Have a great workout today!
When we designed the FitTransition Program, we decided to use only quality, proven, and safe supplements, optionally available with the eBook to enhance and hasten results. However we wanted to do this in a safe and effective way. That is why, for example, the lean-out product selected for our Complete Kit is stimulant free.
Further, our creatine product, which aids in muscle growth and recovery (and hence fat loss) is readily absorbed and utilized due to unique technology associated with the product. The National Council on Strength and Fitness reported this FDA statement recently about a few dangerous products on the market:
Dietary Supplement Alert from FDA “Last month federal regulators warned consumers that several body-building products sold as nutritional supplements have been identified to contain steroids or steroid-like substances, citing reports of acute liver injury and kidney failure. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it issued the warning because of increased reports of medical problems in men who had used such products, including stroke. The FDA cited eight popular products in particular, all from American Cellular Labs, including Mass Xtreme and Tren Xtreme, which the agency found to contain hidden and potentially hazardous steroids. In a perceivably passive initial move, the FDA sent a letter warning the American Cellular Labs to make the products comply with federal regulations. In mid-July, federal agents executed search warrants for the California-based company and for a San Francisco outlet of Max Muscle, a chain of sports nutrition stores, some of which sold the products cited by the FDA.”
Should any products ever be deemed to be unsafe in the FitTransition Kit, they will be replaced in our line up immediately. Further, we will never endorse pro-hormone products. The 10 Commandments of FitTransition, combined with the phased exercise regimen will have you seeing tremendous gains.
Finally, even with vitamins, always read and follow manufacturer dosage and serving recommendations. More is not always better!
A recent Penn State study showed that people swapping half the roast beef and rice on their plates in favor of lightly buttered broccoli felt full, yet ate 86 fewer calories. Think about it: veggies contain water, fiber, and tons of nutrients - no wonder they leave one feeling satisfied. Some of the top picks in this study for weight loss (fullness of stomach etc.) included peppers (my favorite), cabbage, zucchini, cauliflower and cucumbers.
Eat those veggies, lose more weight!
Often people will include both cardio and weights in the same session. The question is often asked, should I lift or do cardio first? Well consider this. If you do cardio first, you will burn the glycogen stores in your muscles, which they need to perform resistance training. Potentially, if you try to lift after moderate to intense cardio, your muscles won’t have the fuel they need to efficiently function.
Studies have shown that resistance training first is more effective in building or maintaining lean muscle mass and burning fat. Theoretically then, after a good resistance training session, the cardio work will start dipping into fat stores and burn overall fat. It is thought that perhaps cardio first, followed by intense resistance training can actually begin muscle catabolism or in otherwords break down your muscles for fuel. That of course is the opposite of what you’re trying to achieve.
In summary, you may warm up with light cardio for 10 - 15 mins., but lifting first and the performing cardio training is a much more effective strategy!
