Exercise | Freestyle Fitness Addiction

Posts Tagged ‘exercise’

Are You a Magic Seeker? ->By ChickenTuna

Saturday, March 19th, 2011

I. love. this. Great motivation! For me…and to spread to my clients! When they are quibbling about not seeing results after one workout and one clean meal…or people asking me about how effective L-Carnitine is or anything else…yet their diet is not 100%…I want to say “what’s the point??”…no supplement can counteract an inconsistent diet…Anyway, “ChickenTuna” has been a contributing member of BodySpace (associated with BodyBuilding.com) for many years now and her abs are more than memorable. Yes, I know some of you (esp. gals) would think her body is too much, but personally I think she looks phenomenal. And her message is fantastic. I came across this on her website and I MUST SHARE. Read this and remember this. Everyday.

"ChickenTuna"

ARE YOU A MAGIC SEEKER?

Are you trying to find the ‘right fat burner’ that will give you a fit body tomorrow while you are still enjoying your cakes, cookies, ice cream and pizza?

Are you looking for the ‘right exercise’ that will make a certain body part look perfect after just one session?

Are you not even concerned with exercise or eating right, and looking for a magical potion, book or scheme to lose weight and be fit?

Are you eating 5 or 6 small healthy meals a day but thinking there is a magical combination of food and eating times? …so after over analyzing food plans for months and months… you think maybe you need one less serving of carbs or an extra serving of protein and then you will wake up the next day with your dream body once you crack this crazy caper of finding the right magical nutrition combination that everyone is keeping secret from you? Or maybe you’ve been eating right for an entire 3 days and you are wondering why your body hasn’t transformed yet. There is no secret magical food combination. In most cases of over analyzing and micro managing food plans, the problem is not the plan.. it’s YOU! You are not following it or eating lots of crap in addition, thinking ‘what difference will a little cookie or pizza make’ and you are sabotaging results.

Are you debating if you need to do your weight training in a full body work out style, or a body part split? Or maybe overanalyzing whether you should do weights first or cardio first? And once you figure out the right answer you will be in top shape after one session? Either style workout is fine as long as you do it consistently.

Are you attempting to figure out if eating oatmeal is a better carb than brown rice? If so, you are seriously seeking some magic. It doesn’t matter, they are both good carbs to eat.

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, you are searching for magic and probably won’t reach your goals until you get real about being consistent, dedicated, and hard working all the time to reach your fitness goals over a long period of time, not 2 days.

Many people are in complete denial that exercising and eating right consistently is required to be fit.   Most problems happen when people are looking for a scheme to eat all the food they love and also have the best looking body possible. It comes down to a choice.   I know if I were eating crappy foods I love everyday ( like peanut butter cheesecake) I would not have a fit looking body and would not be happy about that, and nobody would be surfing into my website to find out about being fit because I would be in terrible shape.

Magical exercises don’t exist. Magical routines do not exist. If legs are your weak spot, do LEG exercises. Make sense? If arms are what you want to focus on… do ARM exercises. If any magic happens, it is when you do your workouts consistently, when you work HARD while working out, and  when you eat right all the time. There is no magical routine.   Regardless of all the exercising you do, you will no see any defined muscles or have that ‘toned’ look unless you lower your bodyfat.

Magical food combinations don’t exist… All you can do is eat the proper amount of food for your goals and eliminate the wrong food. Nutrition and workouts can always be improved, but there is no magic formula.   If you want to see any magic happen, stop eating crap for a few weeks and you’ll be amazed.

Progress takes time and only happens when you are consistent, so don’t give up.

Advice for Success

1. When you don’t feel like doing your workout, do it anyway. You’ll feel better afterwards.

2. When you feel like eating pizza for dinner, eat grilled chicken instead, you will survive. You’ll feel great about your choice the next day.

3. Keep doing the above every week consistently. Consistency is KEY.

You can keep searching, hoping and praying there is magical potion, scheme, or pill to get you where you want to be, but you’ll just keep spinning your wheels. You already know what you need to do… put down the crap and you won’t be wondering where your results are because you will see them for yourself.

It would be really nice if you could go out buy some cream, rub it on your ass, and get rid of cellulite… but its just not going to happen that way. Cellulite goes away as your bodyfat goes down by eating right and exercising consistently.

Why is this section here? Because over the past 17 years while I’ve been struggling each week to squeeze in my workouts on a regular basis, and say no thank you to all the junk food that is offered to me each day… I have seen many people around me try every scheme possible, (anything but eating right and exercising) from pills to crazy diet schemes, and I have yet to see anyone ever have any success or achieve becoming fit that way.

Please do not write me and ask me about taking pills or any secrets or tips.. if you do, you really don’t get it. Get yourself a big serving of hard work and sacrifice, swallow it down, and digest it.

>>Awesome, right?! Absolutely perfectly well said, IMO. How do you feel about this?

On a side note, Tiger Muay Thai represent! Check out UFC’s president Dana White rocking the Tiger Muay Thai shirt : http://www.magicalray.com/im-not-gay-but-ufc-president-danawhite-does-know-how-to-dress.html

XOXO

Tags: abs, chicken, consistency, diet, exercise, motivation, nutrition, six pack, tiger muay thai, tuna, Workout
Posted in Figure, Fitness, & Bikini, MMA, Motivation & Mindset, Nutrition / Recipes, Training | 1 Comment »

15 Tips for Accelerated Weight Loss

Sunday, August 8th, 2010

Want to shed weight fast? Here are some tips for accelerated weight loss. This is not necessarily a way to live 24/7, but they can help to get you over a hump if your weight loss is stalled, or if you *cough* come back from an Alaskan cruise and want to counteract the week of sitting on a boat coupled with multiple course meals at every glacier….

Eat 3-5 oz of lean protein per meal.
Increase meal frequency.
Ditch processed foods.
Ditch high carbohydrate foods, including breads, potatoes, and reduce consumption of fruit and nuts. Altering your macro-nutrients to a lower carbohydrate distribution can have a significant impact on your body composition!
Ditch sugar.
Load up on mostly non starchy veggies. My FAVORITE: a salad with spinach, cabbage, celery, arugula, jalapenos, broccoli, cauliflower, hearts of palm, a little artichoke, a little edamame, and some protein like hard-boiled egg whites, chicken, and turkey. With a lil bragg’s amino acid, a lil olive oil, a lil balsamic, and a lil lemon juice. TO DIE FOR.
Sleep more. I need to work on this!
(source)
Eat organic. Don’t poison yourself with pesticides! This hampers your body’s abilities to function optimally- including your metabolism.
Stick to low glycemic LOAD food.
Shoot for a ratio of Omega 6’s to Omega 3’s of 1:1. Most people consume a disproportionately high amount of Omega 6’s to Omega 3’s.
Increase your water intake. Insufficient amounts of water in your body will hinder effective breakdown of fat.
Reduce your sodium consumption.
Exercise 6 days a week- mixing higher and lower intensity cardio with weight training. Especially for folks who don’t do any sort of interval or strength training at all- this can help tremendously! And stretch. You want your muscles at their optimal length!
My client, Brendan, and me
Think positively. Be present. Smile and laugh. Stress increases cortisol, which can lead to increased cravings and/or increased fat storage. You don’t want this!
Keep a food and/or workout and/or emotion log to stay mindful and to discern patterns.

Tags: exercise, food log, glycemic load, omega 3's, organic, patterns, positivity, protein, sleep, veggies, water
Posted in Nutrition / Recipes, Training | 11 Comments »

Even Dogs Need Exercise

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Haha! I am just learning iMovie, so I decided to try out some techniques on a video with our beloved pit, LUKE!! Yes, Omar puts Luke on the treadmill because he needs exercise! He has a lot of energy he needs to let out, because we don’t want our house torn apart! Isn’t Luke adorable?? Maybe I am a bit biased because I’m the mommy but I don’t think so…

Tags: cardio, dog, exercise, treadmill
Posted in Training | 3 Comments »

Best Practices in Fat Loss

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

Endless waves upon waves of good-intentioned fat-loss seekers tie up their running shoes and walk around their neighborhoods, flock to the gym and trod on their cardio equipment of choice, only eat twice a day, and never get their heart rate above their “fat burning zone.” Yet their jeans remain too snug, the zipper gets harder to close, and women and men grow steadily frustrated with how infrequently they eat, how much cardio they do in their low-heart-rate, “fat burning zone,” yet still fail to lose weight.—->What’s the deal?!

…I’ve re-read “The Science of Fat Loss” by Alwyn Cosgrove (only one of the most sought-after fat loss specialists in the industry) and it was a truly invigorating read. I feel passionate about fat loss, and feel compelled to relay and comment on some of his most salient principles for fat loss success…

HOW YOU BURN CALORIES

First of all, let’s talk about energy expenditure. In a day, you may burn, say, 2000 calories. That is contributed in a small way from factors such as the thermic effect of food, lifestyle (e.g. how much do you move in your job? How sedentary or active are you?), and exercise (e.g. 60 min spin class, half hour lifting weights, etc.). The majority of the calories you burn in a day, however, come from how much muscle mass you carry. Your resting metabolic rate is DIRECTLY related to how much muscle you have. Therefore, someone with a lower body fat percentage will automatically be burning more calories at rest than someone at the same weight with a higher body fat percentage. Do you want to burn fat? Then you want to burn calories, right? So will lifting weights make you “bulky”? No! FOOD can make you bulky- EXERCISE can make you LEAN! Muscle is your fat burning machinery. Lift weights to lose fat!

THE FALLACY OF LOW-INTENSITY AEROBIC TRAINING FOR FAT LOSS

Check out, for example:

Geliebter A, Maher MM, Gerace L, Gutin B, Heymsielf SE, Hashim SA.

Effects of strength or aerobic training on body composition, resting metabolic rate, and peak oxygen consumption in obese dieting subjects.

Am J Clin Nutr. 1997 Sep; 66(3): 557-63.

In a comparison where they burned the same amount of calories during the training session, the strength training group lost significantly more fat than the aerobic training group. Furthermore, the aerobic training group lost significantly more lean body mass than the strength training group (clearly a detriment if muscle is your fat burning machinery).

Why is the myth of the fat burning zone so prevalent? Why do so many women and men think that doing steady state low intensity aerobic training is the way to achieve fat loss? (That’s actually the lowest priority in the hierarchy of fat loss, which I will cover a little later in this entry.) If you look at the chart below, you can see how an individual’s respiratory exchange ration (RER) corresponds to the utilization of either fat or carbohydrate as an energy source for fuel. As you can see, an RER of around .70 or .71 (NASM Essentials of Personal Fitness Training) uses a maximal percentage of its fuel from fat. So that’s where we want to work out? But an RER of .7 is achieved when we are at complete rest. Is complete rest the way to burn calories and fat? Not so, my friends. If body fat loss is desired, you must expend as much energy as possible. And that doesn’t come from resting.

THE HIERARCHY OF FAT LOSS

What are the best practices in achieving fat loss?

1. Proper Nutrition

Eat 5+ meals a day. Limit your consumption of sugars and processed foods. Eat plenty of non-starchy vegetables. Drink more water and cut out calorie-containing beverages. Eat lean proteins throughout the day. Save starchy foods for breakfast and/or post workout only.

chickensalad2

2. See #1

You cannot out-train a crappy diet.

Remember, the more exceptional the compliance, the more exceptional the results. The better you eat, the better your results.

3. Activities that burn calories, maintain/promote muscle mass, and elevate metabolism.

You can do this through metabolic supersets, tri-sets, and circuits. This is characterized by heavy resistance, 8-12 reps (maybe less for more advanced clients or maximal strength goals, and maybe more for deconditioned individuals), 6-8 total body exercises, time under tension of 45-60 seconds (the actual time exposed to the load), and relatively short rest periods (e.g. 15 sec to 1 min). By sequencing the sets with non-competing exercises, it reduces rest needed per body part before you move on to the next exercise, and you are able to do more total work, so you can burn more calories by working ALL your muscles rather than doing a tricep kickback…resting…waiting to recover…doing another set of tricep kickbacks….rest….wait…and again…and maybe again….and then you’re done with your workout and haven’t burned too many calories, and haven’t elevated your metabolism. With metabolic supersets, tri-sets, or circuits, you are initiating EPOC, or Excess Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption. This is the process whereby the metabolic rate recovers to pre-workout levels. This is AWESOME, because it means you are still burning more calories even after your workout!

4. Activities that burn calories and elevate metabolism.

high intensity anaerobic interval training
high intensity aerobic interval training

5. Activities that burn calories but don’t necessarily maintain muscle or elevate metabolism.

steady state high intensity aerobic training
steady state low intensity aerobic training

CONCLUSIONS

Most importantly, you must have a clean diet. With regards to exercise, resistance training that creates as massive a metabolic disturbance as possible provides you with the most bang for your buck. If you have additional time, go ahead and add some intervals (as hard as you can). If you have even more time, go ahead and bang out some steady state higher intensity cardio. If you have even MORE time to spare, then lastly go ahead and implement some low intensity steady state cardio. The moral of the story is- staying in the “fat burning zone” (e.g. RESTING) is NOT the way to go! Ladies and gents, go out and move with the most vigor you can! Lift heavy weights and WORK! Build your fat-burning machinery- your MUSCLES! The more lean muscle mass you possess, the higher your metabolism will be, and therefore the more fat you will burn! Follow this strictly and expect to see amazing changes in your physique~

Tags: aerobic training, anaerobic training, body transformation, cosgrove, EPOC, exercise, fat loss, lifting weights, lose fat, lose weight, metabolic circuit, metabolic circuits, metabolism, myths, nutrition, resistance training, science of fat loss, starchy carbs, supersets, tri-sets, Workout
Posted in Figure, Fitness, & Bikini, Nutrition / Recipes, Training | 9 Comments »

Dynamic Mobility: Reduce Injury & Make The Most From Your Workouts!

Saturday, February 27th, 2010

Fascia

What is it?

Dynamic mobility is a great warm up before training. Although there is a bit of semantic confusion in the phraseology, I am referring to “mobility” as contracting your muscles and taking your joints through their ranges of motion actively, as opposed to passively.

What does it do?

Increase flexibility
Prevent injury
Enhance performance
Make the most out of your exercises

How does it work?

More and more research has been showing that static stretching before workouts is not the optimal time to do this. When you, say, lay on your back and stay in a stretch for a minute or more, then switch positions and lay down some more and hold it for another minute, and so forth…do you think your nervous system is firing up? Actually, the opposite occurs, and the signal between your muscles and your nervous system weakens, which can result in reduced strength and power output, and less coordination within your body, which can lead to injuries!

When you warm up by actively moving your joints and muscles through their ranges of motion, you are stimulating your nervous system and enhancing the signal between it and the muscles. This leads to an increased power and strength output, greater joint range of motion, and a much more efficient performance. You also get the synovial fluid (fluid in your joints that helps cushions and lubricate) going in your joints, greatly reducing joint friction. Now your body is warm and your joints are ready for exercise!

AFTER working out then, you can perform your static stretching, and by doing so, you will relax your system and prime your body for recovery.

What do I do?

Begin with about 5-7 minutes of continuous moving activity to raise body temperature, increase blood flow to your muscles, and activate your nervous system. Any sort of cardio will do, such as biking, a light jog, or elliptical. Once you have completed your light cardio, continue with dynamic mobility, then your workout (e.g. resistance training), then do static stretching.

Even if you are just doing “legs” you still need to work on TOTAL BODY mobility. Question: If you pull one section of a spider web, does the whole rest of it remain intact? No! The whole thing will shift. This is the same in your body, due to your fascia, which is an amazing three-dimensional soft-tissue network in your body. If your shoulder girdle is tight, for example, you will not generate the same fluid arm swing you need in running, and this has ripple-down effect to your hips, knees, and ankles. Therefore, understand that tightness in one section of the chain can impact a body part much further away (e.g. arch of the foot can impact the back!) SO, work on total body mobility and watch the positive cumulative effect unfold after a few weeks.

SAMPLE DYNAMIC MOBILITY PROGRAM

Perform each exercise for 6 -10 reps each, in a smooth, continuous manner. Start with smaller and slower ranges of motion and progress over time in amplitude and speed. Note that anatomical distinctions (below) are loose.

Upper Body:

Arm swings
- Overhead/down and back
- Side/front crossover
Forearm stretch
Wall slides

Neck:

Flexion/extension
Lateral flexion
Rotation (look R, L)

Trunk and Shoulder Girdle:

Flexion/extension
Lateral flexion
Rotation (hands up, elbows out)
Inchworm
Knees to Chest
SL RDL
Bird Dog

Lower Body:

Hip circles
Hip twists
Leg Swings
- Flexion/extension
- Cross body flexion/abduction
Frankensteins
Quad stretch
Sumo Squat to Stand
Reverse Lunge to Twist
Spiderman
Scorpion
Ankle Bounce
- Double leg
- Single leg

I hope to post some video soon. For now, I hope you appreciate the message that we need optimal length-tension relationships in our entire kinetic chain to build our athletic base and prevent injuries. Please feel free to comment or email me if you have any thoughts or questions

Tags: dynamic mobility, exercise, flexibility, frankensteins, hamstrings, injury prevention, optimize, performance, quads, stretch, stretching, warm up, Workout
Posted in ACL Rehab/Prehab, Training | No Comments »

Functional Core Fitness is open for business!

Monday, February 1st, 2010

Functional Core Fitness personal training studio is open for business! Omar, my wonderful partner and truly one of the best trainers I’ve ever met, has been in the fitness industry over ten years and has owned his own business for something like 5 years now. He finally decided it’s time to open up his own studio. The swiftness at which he completed this was astonishing!! He found a spot, knocked down walls, painted, installed lighting, and who knows what else, ordered equipment, set it all up, and opened it up TODAY! All of this within a month! It is still a work in progress, but it will be hooked. up.

Grand opening party tentatively set for three weeks from now.

Currently we have stability balls, kettlebells, med balls, TRX, JC bands, a bike, versaclimber, mini trampoline (!), BOSU balls, Valslides, a slam wall, slam balls, dumbbells, squat rack, bench press, foam rollers, jump rope, dynamax balls, etc etc…I’m probably missing a bunch of stuff. We WILL get: dance floor, a treadmill, mirrors, etc. If anyone has a hook up on these items, let me know!

We will offer personal training, boot camps, and hopefully a TRX class, breaking class, and other group fitness classes. Let me know if you are interested in taking a class!

I will post pictures soon. Exciting!!

Tags: awesome, best, BOSU, core, elite, exercise, fantastic, Fitness, functional, group fitness, kettlebells, mountain view, personal, phenomenal, san francisco bay area, six-pack abs, south bay, stability ball, studio, trainer, Training, TRX
Posted in Local Attractions, Training | 2 Comments »

Weeks 1 & 2 Update

Monday, January 25th, 2010

So, it has been one week and 3 days since I started my program. Here’s how I’m doing:

Week 1 I followed every thing I specified, except for the daily ice bath. I’ve been stretching and I indeed, rested, which is quite a severe and vexatious feat for me. I went in to the gym and did stationary bike at a snail’s pace a few times but didn’t really break a sweat, which means I wasn’t working hard, because when I work I’m like a faucet, leaving slime-marks in my path. I know you love the visual.

I tried doing an ice bath, by filling up the bath water with cold water and adding several trays of ice cubes to plunge the temperature. I had several towels waiting for me, for when I would emerge from the bath. I tried to psych myself up, and dipped my feet into the freezing water. As I gingerly lowered myself into the ice bath, I was hyperventilating, practically yelling and moaning from the extreme discomfort.

ARGGG!!!

COLD!!!

I could only lower myself in as far as my waist. After about 4 minutes passed, I got up, toweled dry, then retrieved an ice cup (Dixie cup filled with water and left in the freezer, that you tear off the first few inches of cup to reveal a smooth surface to rub with when you’re ready) and iced my shoulder. A few more times during the week I iced my shoulder. Didn’t do any more ice baths.

I have followed all the specifications of Week 2 so far, except the icing.

Current states:
Foot kind of hurt the past two days, but feels good today.
Knee is feeling good.
Shoulder has been hurting when I push off my forearm or hand, such as when I brace myself to stand up. Looking forward for this pain to diminish as I continue my rehab.

Week 1 down, 12 more to go! The “rest” part is the hardest part for me, so as I continue through my program it should get “easier” for me. Please send love and health and positive thoughts my way! Thank you!!

Tags: ACL, exercise, foot, plantar fasciitis, recovery, rehab, rest, shoulder, Training
Posted in ACL Rehab/Prehab, Training | No Comments »

Posts Tagged ‘exercise’

Are You a Magic Seeker? ->By ChickenTuna

15 Tips for Accelerated Weight Loss

Even Dogs Need Exercise

Best Practices in Fat Loss

Dynamic Mobility: Reduce Injury & Make The Most From Your Workouts!

Weeks 1 & 2 Update

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