Here’s a classic funny video that displays this principle pretty clearly.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLiV7yr3HDY

The problem with this method is your body changes as you try to change it so you have to change your approach to be a step ahead.  So how fast you lose weight, how your body actually changes/whether you become lean or not, how you feel as far as energy, whether you’re improving your overall fitness level and function in life, etc. are all dependent on more specific factors.

The main 2 factors are the type of exercise plan and nutrition plan you are on. This is where it gets more complicated and really becomes a science if you want to maximize the results you’re going to get because using the same method of attack will work for a little while but your body will catch up eventually.  e.g. The amount of calories your body burns when you do a certain exercise lessens over time.  So keep the Eat Less/Move More principle in mind but remember you need to change to keep your body changing.

It can be overwhelming/frustrating trying to figure all this out so one great solution is Bootcamp and we’re offering a trial right now for $1.

When done properly, the squat is very beneficial and will actually strengthen your knees, back, etc.  But most people that squat, don’t get low enough.  They only perform “partial squats” instead of full squats. This happens for 3 main reasons.

1) Laziness: They just don’t want to work that hard. It’s much easier & more comfortable to do partial squats.
2) Pride: They have to use less weight or do less reps to perform full squats so they don’t appear as strong (happens very often with guys).
3) False Info: They have heard and believe squats are bad or “Getting too low is bad for your knees” but the pic below speaks for itself.

So if you’re already squatting, then continue to work on your form and perform full squats (make sure you are getting low enough).  Then after you master that, add weight, increase the amount of repetitions you can do in a certain amount of time, etc.  And if you’re not squatting, you’re missing out and need to start…today!

1) It is a functional movement. The squat movement is a daily part of life.  Every time you sit in a chair or stand back up, you are doing a variation of a squat.  When you get in or out of bed, down on or up off the floor, on or off the toilet, guess what you have to do…squat.  If you’re not able to squat, your mobility in life is very limited.

2) It burns a lot of calories. Caloric burn is the name of the game when it comes to weight loss and getting lean so why not do the exercises that are going to burn the most calories.  The squat is one of those.  You get a lot of ROI with this one (Return on Investment).  We call that “getting a lot of bang for your buck.”

3) It boosts your metabolism. Not only do you burn a lot of calories while doing them, squats have the ability to help you build a lot of muscle.  And the speed of your metabolism is a direct product of the amount of muscle you have.  This means you will burn more calories while you AREN’T working out.  Sounds like a pretty good deal huh?

Most people don’t like doing squats, though, because they aren’t a comfortable exercise to do.  I mean I even have a Love/Hate relationship with them. Love them for all the benefits but I’m not going to lie. They are tough and can cause some serious nausea when done with some intensity as well as a lot of soreness…Check back soon for more on the squat in Part 2.

Unfortunately, bootcamps do have their downside. Many fitness instructors want to jump on the bootcamp bandwagon without having any of the skills or experience to design custom workouts for the wide variety of fitness levels typical in large group training. This can be flat out dangerous (not to mention a waste of your time and money) so I thought I’d offer you 10 tips on how to properly select a bootcamp that will be a good investment, get you results and keep you safe at the same time.

Outdoor Bootcamp

The Top 10 Bootcamp Safety Checklist

1.) The Instructor(s) Must Be Certified With Nationally Recognized Institutions such as the American Council on Exercise or the National Academy of Sports Medicine. There are many online pay-for-certifications where people can get a certificate with little or no knowledge of proper training methods.  And many of them have book knowledge but no hands-on/practical experience.  This is a big part of what gets people hurt and gives fitness a bad name!

2.) The Instructor(s) Must Look The Part And Walk The Walk. If the trainer takes physical fitness seriously and is on the cutting edge of new training methodologies, they will be fit themselves, plain and simple. After all, who wants to take advice from someone who is in worse shape than they are!  I’m always perplexed at why a client would choose an out of shape trainer but regardless this is seriously an embarrassment to the industry, not to mention the trainers themselves.

3.) The Instructor(s) Must Be Experts With Exercise Progressions. Every exercise has the appropriate regression and progression based on your current fitness level. Overweight, de-conditioned beginners SHOULD NOT perform the exact same exercises as their more fit counterparts. If you ask your trainer if he/she can show an exercise modification that better suits your particular situation and they have no idea and give you a blank stare, you should leave and leave quickly!

4.) The Instructor(s) Must Make Themselves Available for 10-15 Minutes Before and After Every Session. Although a good trainer can effectively train the group as a whole and still give that personal touch, he/she must be willing to speak with clients before AND after every workout to answer questions and address any personal issues that might arise within the scope of your training or in related to other very important topics like nutrition.

5.) The Program Must Emphasize Body Weight Before External Resistance. There should be no added weight to any movements until you have mastered the key foundational body weight exercises in full ranges of motion like push-ups, squats, lunges, etc. A red flag should be raised if you are being instructed to add weight to a movement that you have yet to master with your body weight alone. This one’s important because it’s not a matter of if you will get hurt… it’s a matter of when!  Too many trainers are more concerned about putting on a show and “hurting people with exercises that are too advanced” than taking the time to teach proper technique.  Foundational movements must be mastered and safety should always be a top priorty.

If you’re looking for a bootcamp (or personal training) in the Charlotte, NC area, I’m confident that I meet these criteria and would love to have you join us!  Our next phase begins next week.  More info here.

Check back for part 2 of this post soon…

Christmas is over and the New Year is just around the corner. The parties and holiday “splurging” you were going to enjoy is now coming to an end. So now what? You told yourself you were going to start that new diet/exercise routine after the holidays, and yet you haven’t made a plan for yourself to start. Watch out for these traps that will have you in a pit, discouraged and getting no where…and maybe even packing on the pounds instead of shedding the excess ones you already have.

• The “I’ll start tomorrow” trap-You know you’ve said it. We all have. For some reason, we can excuse our way out of making change TODAY, while still setting us up for failure TOMORROW. Guess what? There is always going to be a tomorrow. So, if your mentality is “I’m going to eat this/enjoy that and start my diet/exercise tomorrow,” then when tomorrow actually comes, we can just tell ourselves that we will start the next day. There is always another party. Someone else’s birthday is next month. More cake and more vacations. More reasons (in your head) why you shouldn’t be disciplined than reasons why you should buckle down and really go after your goals. This is a dangerous trap as it can have you putting on excess weight in the meantime, while you are prolonging your start to a healthy life, making it that much harder for you to lose the weight you want. The reality is, when you want it bad enough and get yourself motivated, tomorrow becomes today, and there are no more excuses!

• The “I had a great workout today so I can eat whatever I want” trap. The answer to this one is NO! Don’t do it! This is a common misconception that can have you gaining weight even when you are hitting the gym regularly. If you are trying to lose body fat, you definitely don’t want to have this mentality. You cannot out-train a poor diet. Don’t undo all the hard work you put in during your workout by packing a bunch of greasy, high calorie, fatty foods into yourself. Let your workout be a supplement to a great, carefully planned, well-rounded diet.

• The “I can’t do this” trap. This is the most dangerous one of all. So maybe you’ve had a few failures or been uncommitted in the past and haven’t succeeded in reaching your fitness goals. You cannot start telling yourself that you can’t do it, or the reality is, you never will. You CAN do it, you just need the motivation and the right tools to get you there. It might require more effort or hard work than you’ve ever put forth before, but you definitely can reach your goals if they are realistic and important enough to you. Don’t talk yourself out of it.

Let us help you get there! January Bootcamp is right around the corner, and is a great way to start the New Year! No more excuses, let us keep you from falling into these traps and help you get a jump start toward reaching your goals. Click here for more information and here for our new membership program and rates! See you there!

So if you want awesome info like this delivered automatically to your email two times a month, then Sign Up Now (top right of this page)! If you don’t then you’re missing out because Issue #3 comes out tomorrow, December 15th and there will be a lot more great content coming your way. Here’s a quick preview…

Few quick questions to get you started:

• Are you well balanced meals and snacks: protein, carbohydrate and healthy fats every meal?
• Are you eating at least 5 times a day with regards to the previous question?
• Do you eat breakfast every day?
• Is water your primary source of liquid and how much are you drinking?
• Are you getting multiple servings of fresh vegetables each day?
• Fiber?
• Do you consume sugar multiple times per day and how much?

There you go. Those are a handful of questions to get you started.  Just to clarify, a poor diet is not just about fast food per say, it might be the liquids you’re consuming, eating too little, too many refined carbs, too little protein, no variety, etc.

Regardless of transforming your body, your long-term health is at stake with regards to nutrition.  So get serious.  You deserve it.

]]> http://bodybybuck.com/fitness-myths/you-cant-out-train-a-poor-diet/feed/ 1 http://bodybybuck.com/fitness-myths/confused-about-fitness-and-the-wii-fit/ http://bodybybuck.com/fitness-myths/confused-about-fitness-and-the-wii-fit/#comments Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:27:37 +0000 Old Posts http://bodybybuck.com/?p=1187 Conversation about weight loss and the Wii Fit…

Person: I’ve heard  about your bootcamp but I’ve got a great routine at home.

Me: Okay.  Just curious, what does your routine consist of?

Person: I’m on the Wii Fit everyday and it’s tough!

Me: Wow. So how’s that working for you?  Seeing some results?

Person: Well it’s definitely working.  I feel it and I know the results are coming.

Me: Now don’t get me wrong, some exercise is better than none but to be honest, you’re probably not going to transform your body with the Wii Fit.

Person: Well I know it works…

Okay. Conversation over.  Seriously – this person is really confused or deceived.  Yes some exercise is better than none and every little bit helps but transforming your body takes a lot of hard work and discipline.  Better look elsewhere and start incorporating some other stuff or you’ve got a really long, frustrating road ahead of you.  And for fun, check out the video.  Good stuff!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iYBmAVuBns[/youtube]

How about 2,000?  Not really.  There’s really no way to answer this question correctly and not knowing your current bodyfat level, measurements, eating habits, medical history and exercise program, I can’t even begin to make a fair assessment but I’ll share a few quick thoughts.

There are many factors that can contribute to getting 6 pack abs. “Doing situps/crunches” is not an important one (I’ll explain).  Honestly you don’t necessarily have to do any situps or crunches to get 6 pack abs.  Here are 6 things you do have to do:

• First your nutrition has to be on point.  You need a well balanced diet (high protein, healthy fats, and natural carbs) that stokes your metabolism and provides your essential vitamins and nutrients. That means no starving yourself here.

• You have to create a caloric deficit (burn more calories than you consume) to help get rid of your bodyfat through an exercise program.
• You need to have an intense weight training and cardio program several days per week that includes interval training.
• You have to do compound movements that offer a lot of “Bang For Your Buck.”  You actually can’t spot reduce in your body – this means you can’t make your body burn fat from a particular area by exercising that area (yes advertisements can be very deceiving here).  That’s why hundreds/thousands of situps won’t necessarily burn fat from your “belly.”
• You need adequate rest through sleep and time off from training.  Your body can’t recover properly without rest (I promise  I know this first hand).
• You have to be committed long-term and ready to change your lifestyle.  This is a process.  Not a quick fix. You didn’t get a “belly” overnight so you can’t get a “six-pack” overnight.  Anyone who promises differently is NOT telling the truth.

Still feel lost?  You can hire a personal trainer or an even better solution is bootcamp where we’ll help you with all of these (for less than the price of 2 sessions with a trainer).  There’s still room.  Register Now!

Quite deceiving, huh? Remember if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is…