» 2010 » March

Hey I hope you had a great weekend and are having a great day today and setting the tone for a positive and productive week.

Today’s video post I’m going to give you a Swiss Ball core routine with 5 targeted exercises designed to flatten your abs.

There is a little bit of equipment involved for this ab workout and you guessed it…It’s a Swiss Ball

To buy your own Swiss ball just click the link right here.

This workout routine can be done in about 10 minutes and you can do it virtually anywhere as long as you can carry the Swiss Ball around with you.  Heck, you can even deflate it and take it with you when you travel, all you have to do is just pump it up when you’re ready to use it.

There is a hint of pilates in this workout and in addition to working out your core and abs, this workout routine will also hit those love handles and trim up your obliques.

Fitness is an all around game and you can’t neglect you nutrition and just do you workout, I’m a firm believer that nutrition will be responsible for 70-80% of your results.

A Swiss ball is a very basic piece of fitness equipment that everybody should have and I all tell my clients that it’s a wise investment.

I hear a lot people complaining every day about how expensive something is but they never even consider how much value they can get out of it, always focus on the positive side of things.

For example, when I’m working out I always focus on the results that I want and NEVER think about how hard I’m going to have to work to get it, I always acknowledge it’s going to be hard but I’m always focused on the outcome.

So you can be one of those people who complain and play the blame game or you be one of the top 3% who take action and do work! The choice is yours…

So be sure to watch the video below and please post a comment with what you think!

I’m going to take a stand today against energy drinks and how badly they’ve taken over America.

For those who don’t know what energy drinks are (where have you been?) they defined as “soft drinks advertised as boosting energy. These drinks usually do not emphasize energy derived from the calories they contain, but rather through a choice of caffeine, vitamins, and herbal supplements the manufacturer has combined.”

You’ll see energy drinks virtually at any gym or even at the local high school as students drinks them after buying them at the local 7-Eleven with their parent’s lunch money.

I’m going to say this once and for all…energy drinks are a crock.

Energy drinks are nothing more than sugar and caffeine designed to give you a quick sugar rush and then leave your body crashing soon afterwards.

They also claim to have other ingredients that are meant to make you feel as though you have more energy such as B vitamins and taurine.

Well to be frank, energy drinks are nothing more than well marketed sugar water.

You’ll see the cans with their eye-grabbing logos and it’ll look really cool but you’ll be wasting your money on them.

Energy drinks can cost between $2-4 for a can smaller than a can of soda and the quick fix that it supposedly provides is nothing more than a rush of sugar.  You could do the same by eating some Skittles.

Their popularity as undoubtedly risen over the past two decades and are huge in the rave scene (where people stay up all night dancing).  In fact, many raves don’t even sell alcohol because it’s a depressant and they don’t want people to leave, instead they’ll focus on selling energy drinks to keep people in their clubs til the wee hours of the morning.

Another popular drink you’ll find people at the bar drinking is a mixture of an energy drink and alcohol such as the ever-so-popular Jägerbomb. This is a deadly combination as you’re mixing a depressant with an stimulant.

This has caused a few deaths and will undeniably give you a bad hangover the next morning.

They’ve also found people who mix energy drinks and alcohol have a weaker perception of how drunk they really are and are way more likely to keep drinking.  This has lead to more sexual assaults, drunk driving accidents and more overly-drunken people.

The vitamins that are in these energy drinks are B vitamins and they are water-soluble vitamins.  Meaning you’re body will only absorb as much as it needs and it will pee out the rest.  You’ll notice a bright yellow tint to your pee if you’ve been taking your multi-vitamin.

Energy drinks are a marketing machine getting people hyped up on caffeinated sugar water.  Athletes how use these drinks are much more likely to become dehydrated, suffered heat stroke, tremors and heart attacks.

Researchers have said that if you’re a teen or adolescent athlete that you should only be drinking water before, during, and after training.

So why doesn’t the FDA come in and do something about it?

Well it’s out of their jurisdiction they say. Since the FDA treats energy drinks as dietary supplements, as long as the manufactorer isn’t putting anything illegal in it’s drink they can’t tell them what to do.  The manufactorer decides how much caffeine, sugar, taurine, vitamins etc. they want to put in the drinks.

So I hope this helps with your decision to drink and promote energy drinks.  I think it’s pretty obvious my stance on the matter and if you’re looking for long term goals then I honestly suggest working on improving your nutrition, sleep, training and mental strengths.

And stay off the over-marketed caffeinated sugar water.

So it’s that time of the year again.  Spring has sprung and that means there’s only 90 days until summer! Wooohoo!

Ok, I might of just seemed like I slammed a Red Bull right before posting this but actually I’m really looking forward to some beach time this summer (in case you couldn’t tell…)

A big sticking point I’m always hearing from my clients is that they’re always looking for fun and effective ways to blast their abs hard and get it done quickly.  Because who really wants to do 500 situps?

I sure as heck don’t, and for those of us who have a life would agree…that’s why I created this fast 3-minute flat abs workout.

Ideally you could pound this workout at the end of your training program or after you’ve done some HIIT training on the treadmill, but if you’re just sitting back and watching some TV then doing this workout will be way better for your abs then eating potato chips and watching the latest episode of LOST.

But I’ve noticed a lot of people who do these quick workouts also like to do the half-assed and with no attention to form whatsoever.  And this is going to be their ab kryptonite.

Form is the key and everybody will get 10x better results.

Even if you get 5 times as many reps but your form is bad, you’re results will not even come close to those who do it right.

So even though this flat abs workout was meant to be done fast, it doesn’t mean that it should be done half-assed.

And onto the workout…

Here you go Spring Breakers! Time to shake off the Freshmen 15 and start burning some CHUB!

Hey hope you’re doing great with your weight loss journey and you’re enjoying some of this spring weather.

I want to tell you my sandwich story.

After a hard workout I strolled over to the local Whole Foods for a sandwich and as I was walking outside to take a seat and enjoy my sandwich I noticed that all the tables were filled. (This isn’t unusual when the weather gets nice).

So I asked this middle aged man who had a table all by himself if he would mind if I could take a seat next to him.

He nodded and as I sat down I started some obligatory small talk with him.

Eventually we got to the point when he asked me what I do and I told him, “I help transform people lives through exercise and nutrition while motivating them to become happy and healthier.”

He then threw out the joke that I often hear, “So your the guy who likes give people pain!” and he gave a chuckle.

I chuckled back to be polite but told him that I enjoy helping people transform their lives and like anything you really want you have to put some hard work in to achieve it.

I even told him to check out some of my training services but he told me he couldn’t afford the “expense” as he chugged a soda and ate potato chips.

I tried explaining that it’s more of an investment and he could either pay to transform his life now or wait it out and pay the doctors and the medical bills later.

He then told me that he wouldn’t be able to keep up with the workouts.

I told him that we have progressions for every exercise so even if you’re a beginner you can still work out with the advanced guys.

Then he told me he has a bad knee and lower back and he would just hurt it even more…and as he said this you could see his shoulders rolled forward and he was slouching.

I told him we go through a foam rolling and stretching warmup as well as muscle activation, joint mobility, and a correction of body imbalances throughout the workout.

He then told me that he gets bored easily and works all the time so he won’t want to commit to anything.

And then it dawned on me, whatever I told this guy he was just going to come up with another excuse.

So I quickly hurried up and finished my sandwich, wished him a good day and went on my way.

There are so many excuses out there and the worst part is that people choose to fill their lives with them.  I’m not saying he should  train with me but take the initiative and stop making excuses.

“What the mind can believe the body can achieve.”

Whether it’s with getting your dream body, building your business, or having a loving and happy relationship.  You’ll get whatever you put into it and excuses will only hold you back until it’s too late.

This is a great quote from the man Tony Robbins: “Changing our belief systems is central to making any real and lasting change in our lives.”

Our bodies naturally always want to take the easiest way out, unfortunately it’s rarely the right way.  Have a great weekend and decide what you’re going to do to take action!

Matt Damon just released a new movie Green Zone and in this post I’m giving you the details on how to take your own training program up a notch and get ripped like he did by following this workout.

In the video below there are lots of details as to what Matt Damon would do during his training and workouts for the film Green Zone.  Matt was already in fantastic shape for the film Invictus and he cranked up his training even more for Green Zone and you can tell he cut down a lot.

For this Green Zone workout you’re going to want to train at a very high intensity AKA boot camp style.  The training program involves a circuit exercise format so there are 5 different exercises that you rotate through.

Do each exercise for 45 seconds and then rest 15 seconds before going on to the next exercise.

After you do the circuit 3x then you’ll want to hop on the treadmill and finish out with some High Intensity Interval Training for 10-20 minutes.

You can do this up to 5x a week Monday through Friday and then do extra double cardio days Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

For nutrition in the Matt Damon training program it is recommended having a 60-20-20 nutrition split. 60% carbohydrates, 20% protein, 20% healthy fats.

You can even go above and beyond the combat boot camp training and fill up a backpack with weights or water bottles and go hiking or crank up in the incline on a treadmill so you simulate it.

These workouts are going to help you burn fat fast but it won’t be easy, there’s a price to pay, but if you can take the heat then you’ll be rewarded!

Create Greatness,

Josh