» 2009 » November

Well now that good old Thanksgiving is done and over it's now officially the time for Christmas.  I wanted to make a quick guide giving you some of the best stuff the fitness industry has to offer.

Everything I'm recommending in this post is because I believe in it and I personally use it for myself and for my clients.

Also everything here can be used in your own home for a kick ass home workout.

And with that here is my 2009 fitness Christmas shopping guide!

TRX Suspension Trainer. This is my most favorite piece of exercise equipment because you can literally take it anywhere and get a fantastic total body fat burning workout with it.  I use it with every one of my clients and they all love it.  If I could only own one piece of fitness equipment it would be this hands down.

Valslide. The Valslide is another very versatile piece of fitness equipment because it can be used in an unlimited number of planes.  You can do alternating push-ups with it, lunges, leg curls, etc.  You'll also be recruiting more muscles per exercise and therefore burning more fat and building more muscle.

SuperBands. SuperBands will give you the best bang for your buck.  They are super cheap and you can do a ginormous number of exercise with them.  You can do a lot of crazy partner drills and the SuperBand is the only piece of equipment that can vary its resistance so your muscles will be working differently then with any dumbbell.

Kettlebell. Awwhhh the Russian response to the dumbbell.  The Kettlebell can be used for so many compound exercises than it's crazy.  You can burn more fat doing exercises with these babies and can get your heart pumping a mile a minute.  Forget the treadmill, try a Kettlebell.

Foam Roller. The cheapest way to get all the knots and kinks out of your body.  Trading a measley $25 for a quality foam roller can do wonders for your body and your recovery program.  I integrate foam rolling into my own and my clients warm-ups for injury prevention and overall muscle and strength gains.  If your body has density issues it's going to hinder your performance, use a foam roller and your life could change, mine did.

PowerBlocks. Adjustable up to 50 lbs. these dumbbells are great for a home workout and is a much wiser solution than buying 2-dozen pairs of dumbbells.

That's it!  Get your Christmas shopping done early so you can enjoy your holidays and get your workout on!

Hey hope you're gearing up to have a fantastic Thanksgiving filled with fun and joyful memories.

The holidays can be a scary time but if your nutrition and your workouts have been going well then I honestly wouldn't make that big a deal out of Thanksgiving dinner and all the calories.

Now I'm not saying to go buck wild and chow down the farm but there's no need to feel guilty out of eating one yearly meal.

Thanksgiving only comes once a year and if you're doing good with your nutrition then I don't hesitate to splurge on my Thanksgiving feast.

But I do want to hand off some tips to you that will give you the edge to keep off some of those extra calories.

Tip #1: Workout Hard In The Morning

By working out hard in the morning you're going to be depleting your glycogen stores and eating later will actually help replenish your body rather than sinking it.  Walking at a steady pace on the treadmill isn't going to cut it neither, you're going to have to break a good sweat to get you're body to ring itself out.  I use the sponge analogy all the time with my boot camp members and clients, after an intense workout your body is like a dried out sponge and we want to replenish it by giving it the nutrients it needs.  After working out is also a great time to have some starchy carbs.

Tip #2: Eat Your Vegetables First

When you arrive for your Thanksgiving feast I would think it to be a good idea to eat the vegetables (the stuff we all hate) first. Why? Simply because if you fill yourself up a little bit with the healthy stuff then you're less likely to pig out on all the bad stuff later.  A variety of vegetables are the one thing that you can't get enough of when it comes to eating.  And if there aren't going to be any vegetables at the dinner you're planning on going to then just chow down some before you go to the big feast.

Tip #3: Choose Your Dessert Wisely

Now I'm a pie and ice cream guy when it comes to Thanksgiving dessert.  In fact I don't think I've missed having that combo after my Thanksgiving dinner since the first time I had it! But after I eat that I'm usually done when it comes to desserts.  I'll at least wait 15 minutes to let my stomach settle and to let my mind recognize that I'm actually full before I'll go back for seconds.  What to get out of this story is that I choose my dessert wisely, pick out my favorite and I'll ENJOY it to the fullest.  I'm not plowing down every dessert I see in sight, pick your favorite and enjoy the heck out of it and be done.

Have a great Thanksgiving and enjoy your one (hopefully one!) Thanksgiving feast of the year!

Do you have a healthy Thanksgiving tip? Be sure to share it with us…I'll give you all the credit I swear!

Hey! Hope you're doing great…if you haven't heard yet about the movie New Moon yet then you're going to want to check out this guy named Taylor Lautner.

This is the workout routine Taylor Lautner used to get ripped for the film New Moon were he plays a werewolf named Jake.

Now I don't train Taylor but I did do my homework and found out what his trainer has been doing with him along with some of the exercises.  Piecing together everything I could get from his trainer and what Taylor talked about in interviews I put together this workout routine.

Taylor Lautner has put on an impressive amount of lean muscle mass since the first film and I was curious to see what his trainer was doing with him.

First he used much heavier weights than what the typical workout uses.  His trainer used up to 40% heavier weight then what you would normally use…but they made sure he kept proper form throughout the exercises.

He kept his nutrition on point which his trainer says makes up about 85% of Taylor's great results from this workout routine.

His trainer always changes up the reps and sets…one week they'll go 3 sets of 8-10 reps next workout they'll go 4 sets of 15 reps…always keep the body guessing!

Eccentric Pull-ups / Band-resisted Push-Ups

Hanging Leg Raises / Ball Leg Curls / Prone Cobra

Ball Jacknifes / Reverse Crunches

Extra virgin coconut oil is a great natural weight loss and energy supplement for you to take that benefits your health and nutrition.  In fact, it's one of the few supplements that I recommend to all of my clients who are trying to lose weight and stay healthy.

But isn't coconut oil a saturated fat?

Yes, it's true that coconut oil is a saturated fat but the thing that separates coconut oil from other unhealthy saturated fats is that extra virgin coconut oil is made out of short and medium chained fatty acids.  These are more readily broken down my the body and can be used to crank up your metabolism and drop some fat!

So the coconut oil works by raising your internal body temperature and therefore boosting your metabolism.  Another great benefit is that it's a great way to get a quick burst of energy.

So how do you take it?  What I do is simply warm up some water, take a tablespoon of coconut oil and mix it in until the oil dissolves.  Then all you have to do is drink it!

Coconut Oil also won't go bad nearly as fast as other oils and you can also use it on your skin and chapped lips!  It's a one stop shop!

If you're not sure what to do or used to the old school warm-up for 5 minutes on the treadmill business then this is for you…

In this video I'm giving you 5 of my favorite dynamic mobility exercises for warming-up that will help prevent injuries to your knees, hips, back and shoulders.  These are very simple exercises that most people will be able to "easily" do.

I used to do the 5 minute warm-up on the treadmill stuff for years before I found out about doing this stuff.  I wish I knew then what I know now.  I could have saved myself weeks of back, knee and shoulder pain.

These exercises should be done after a proper full body foam rolling session, followed by some static stretching and then these dynamic mobility exercises.  After doing these exercises you can extend the warm-up by doing some dynamic warm-up exercises.

Warming-up is critical to protecting your body from injuries and it should NEVER EVER be ignored or bypassed because you're in a hurry.  Because trust me once you start skipping the warm-up you're going to be much more likely to get hurt and have aching joints.

Throw these exercises into your next warm-up routine, these dynamic mobility exercise routine can be done in under 5 minutes and will do wonders for preventing injuries.