Yesterday was very very interesting.  A couple of things were repeatedly brought up to me and I had to finally blog about it.  At first, I thought maybe it  was pure coincidence, or maybe we were all on the same page?  So, out of the many conversations, comments, and eavesdropping in the gym,  I heard two main topics:

- My Blue shirt looked good and I should wear blue more often as told to me by 5 different people.  The 6th one (Allen our new trainer) said it was weird on me because he was used to seeing black and red.  Whatever…hehe.

- “My schedule is too busy.  I can barely eat or even drink water!  I’m rushing to work and so I skip breakfast!”  Blah blah blah

Well, the blue shirt did look good and it represented our ultra sound body fat testing device by Bodymetrix.  But that’s not why I am writing.  That’s a different topic.

I’m writing because people are telling me that they go four to six hours without eating because they are BUSY.  I had a long talk with a client yesterday about eating every 2-3 hours and that it was a struggle for her!!  The work environnment doesn’t allow for her to eat on a regular basis.  I scolded her and now she is taking a stand for her health and going to talk to her boss about getting some time to actually take a break and eat some food and drink water.  Hey, I’m not responsible for what happens if her boss reacts differently.  But Good For Her!

SIDE NOTE: A message to employers, bosses, managers, and all those who make those decisions; “What the Hell?!”  You want happier healthier employees? Geez

Seriously?!

Ok so these clients are busy.  I understand.  And to put it in perspective for those who gave me an excuse…  Let me give you an insight how my “BUSY” day went.

Tuesday Night:

I finished training a client who barely eats because she is “busy”.  We talk about shakes and quick healthy snacks.  I don’t give her any excuses so I gave her my personal jug of chocolate powder shake, flax seed, and organic fiber.  Ah ha! Now she can’t say anything. hehe.  I then lecture her about making time to workout outside of meeting with me; but I myself haven’t worked out yet that day.  Cmon, It was a BUSY day right?  I have an excuse.  I was about to walk out the door when Willie (Element 5 Fitness Master Trainer) suggested we do a workout that entails:

ANGIE WORKOUT:

100 double Kettlebell squats, 100 pushups, 100 pullups, 100 hanging abs. 

Instead we were inspired by a member doing some boxing so we boxed for 45 minutes and perform thai  kicks in the combo.  Boy that was tough!  As we ended, Willie and I both agreed that it was well worth the time to stay an extra 45 minutes to get that workout in because it reset and renewed our spirits!

SO here we are to Wednesday:

YOU WANT BUSY?

4:00 am – wake up and get ready

4:45 am  – drive to Redmond from Bothell.  Pound a shake and an apple while driving

5:30 am to 6:00 am – measure bodyfat for two clients using Ultrasound device

6:00 am to 7:00 am - Strong and Sexy Bootcamp

7am to 7:30am – Measure Bodyfat again

7:30 am – Train the “Welcome back from Vegas” format for this client. HA!

8:30 am – Train the “Welcone back from Palm Springs, San Diego, Mexico, LA, was just sick, and leaving again to LA” format for these two clients. Double Ha

9:30 am - Train the “Just came back from San Diego, gained 10 pounds but lost 5 since coming back and then heading to China WORKOUT” format; but client and I call the session 15 min early as he is BEAT! Good work.

SIDENOTE: Is there a pattern here? hmmmm

10:15 – Run to QFC and Starbucks and grabbed turkey, zuchinni, squash, snap green peas, oatmeal at starbucks. ARGH have only 15 minutes till 10:30 appointment!

10:30 am - Train and talk to client about boss who wont allot time to eat and replenish fluids.  Encourage client to talk to boss.

11:30 am - Leave to Noon Strong and Sexy Bootcamp at Downtown BellevueFirst Street Fitness with Water Babies Crew.  Yes EAT and DRIVE! Turkey and veggies.

12:00 pm – Train noon crew in “They didn’t go to vacation” format

1:30 pm – Train and gave client the  frustrated look.  Suddenly she wasn’t “trying” she  just DID IT!!

2:30pm – Train, Nutrition talk, uh oh…stopped exercises to perform Muscle Activation Techniques Jump Start low grade exercises.  Talked with client about Red Carpet event she is preparing for Bobby Engram Foundation to fight sickle cell disease.

3:30pm – Head to Woodinvilleto train Basketball crew on Strength Format.  Finished Turkey and veggies and ad some grapes from a friend’s cute daughter who offered me some.  Was reminded to wash grapes first to make sure they are clean.  She was too cute.

4:30 pm – Head to Downtown Bellevue for Strong and Sexy Bootcamp evening class and new client. 

5:00pm   – Arrived earlier so I grabbed a Labrada Lean Body shake at Emerald City Smoothie about 4 blocks away.  Water base, adams peanut butter, fiber, calcium, glutamine, amino acids, flax oil, and a small stick of Ostrich jerky.  Popped open computer and sent some files (SSbootcampmanual) but wireless died and I didn’t want to deal with it, so I WORKED OUT! 

5:30 pm – class time…

6:30 pm – New Client, 15 yrs old.  I call him G35 because thats the car he wants.  His mom came to watch…Um NOT on my watch! (sorry for the pun) I put her on a bike and had her do 35 minutes while she watched.  Don’t think she liked that very much in the beginning.  She was loving it later though.

7:30 pm – wrapping up

UGH TRAFFIC

8:00 ish pm – Brown Rice chicken and an orange.

Popped open computer and still did some more work. 

So essentially I went from 4am straight till 9pm ish.  Don’t give me this “I cannot eat” crap and “I cannot workout”.  I have used that before.  You just saw my day.  ‘Nuff said…

If you need some great information on quick exercises for you BUSY folks… Go to

http://www.fitinahurry.com/

Your Fitness Coach,

Belton Lubas

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In the quest to burn fat, build muscle and attain a flat belly right in time to show it off at the park or beach this summer there are many obstacles and challenges that will get in the way.  Getting to the gym has become much easier than eating right.

This is where a good protein shake comes in handy.

There are so many options available now that it makes it even more confusing.  However, knowing what to look for will make this process a convenient “no brainer”.

What To Look For

First look for a brand of whey protein powder that is 100% All Natural.  It should state “no artificial sweeteners”, “no artificial flavors”, “hormon free”, “antiobiotic free”, and “BSE free”.  On the ingredient list you’ll ideally want to have 10 ingredients or less on the label.  Depending on the brand they may have a combination of whey protein sources, and that’s ok.  The flavor protein powder you choose will depend on which recipes below seem tasty to you.  For more variability it’s usually easier to go with vanilla.

Shake It Up

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup

Mix one serving of chocolate protein powder according to directions with a heaping tablespoon of all-natural peanut butter and half of a banana.  Blend it with crushed ice cubes and enough water to your liking in terms of thickness.

Banana Split

Mix one serving of vanilla or chocolate protein powder according to directions with half a banana, half cup of chopped pineapples, and four frozen strawberries.  Blend it with
crushed ice cubes and enough water to your liking in terms of thickness.

Cookies and Cream

Mix one serving of vanilla or chocolate protein powder according to directions with four to six drops of peppermint extract.  Blend with ice for about 30-45 seconds, then add about four low-fat all-natural chocolate wafers, and blend at a slow speed for an additional 10-15 seconds.

Cinnamon Roll

Mix one serving of vanilla or chocolate protein powder according to
directions with half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon.  extract.  Blend with crushed ice cubes and enough water to your liking in terms of thickness.  This one is especially good with skim milk, soy milk, rice milk, or almond milk.

PB & J

Mix one serving of vanilla or chocolate protein powder according to
directions with a heaping tablespoon of all-natural peanut butter and four to six frozen strawberries (or any berry of choice). Blend
with crushed ice cubes and enough water to your liking in terms of
thickness.

Post-Workout Power Juice

Blend six to eight ounces of all-natural orange juice with one serving of vanilla protein powder, half a banana, half cup of plain yogurt, and ice cubes to your liking.

So these are just a few easy protein shakes to get started.  Add more or less fruit or other ingredients to suit your taste buds.  If you opt for milk as your fluid of choice try to stick with skim milk, low fat soy, rice, & almond milk, or non-fat to low-fat plain yogurt.  Keep the juices for ONLY post-workout shakes, but try to keep it between six to eight ounces (gotta still watch out for the excess sugars).

Are you already a protein shake aficionado?  Share your recipes in the comments section.

PS – These are my brand recommendations,

MRM 100% All Natural Whey (Vanilla or Chocolate) – for protein only, and can be found in most local health food stores

Prograde Lean – for a full meal replacement shake

Prograde Workout – for pre or post workout only (has been university tested and featured in Men’s Health)

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[Photo credit: Shootsnikon]

Having trouble sticking to your fitness routine?  Shake it up a little by working out first thing in the morning.  It’s a huge mental shift, but with the sun coming up earlier, early morning workouts will help you jump start your metabolism for the rest of the day.

In addition, you can avoid the stress of battling decisions between your workout and possible last minute evening activities that would have competed with your time, you won’t have to think about getting your workout in, and you’ll find yourself getting more work done during the day.

So challenge yourself to get up earlier and in less than two weeks I guarantee you’ll see and feel a difference.

PS, Still need some pick me up help in the morning? Here are two quick dynamic flexibility exercises to get the blood flowing.

Perform 2 sets of 10 reps for each exercise.

1. Cat/Camel

2. Opposites (aka Bird Dog)

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You may or may not have heard of the term “TEF”, or “Thermic Effect of Food”.  For whatever reason “TEF” isn’t widely discussed.  Maybe it’s because talking about good nutrition can be boring, or because there’s so much advice out there that we almost become immune to it.

However, you might want to listen up for this one simple tip, because it’s going to help you (if you apply it) burn an extra 100-300 calories per day.

Here we go.

Every time you eat, at least 10% of your calories is being used for digestion.  This is your body’s natural furnace, aka “TEF”, and it represents the calories burned in order to process the calories consumed.

[Photo Credit: sheedypj]

Protein has the highest TEF at 25-30%, with carbohydrates and fats not even being close at 7% and 3% respectively.  For every 100 calories (25 grams) of protein you eat, your body burns 25-30 calories to simply digest and use the protein.  This is one of the reasons we recommend that you build your meals and snacks around good sources of lean protein, especially if your goal is fat loss.

In comparison, if you ate a meal or snack that was 100 calories of carbs only, such as toast and jam, your body would only burn 7 calories.  Obviously, not the way to go if you want to burn more calories so throw away those useless “100 Calorie” snack bags pronto.

[Photo credit: 3liz4]

So again, if your goal is fat loss then imagine if you combined lean protein with a good carb source that totaled 400 calories and half of those calories came from protein.  That’s 50-60 calories burned from protein, and 14 calories burned from carbs totaling at least 64 calories of TEF.  If you ate four meals like this that would be an additional 256 calories you burned in a day not including the fat blasting calories from your workout.

The simplest thing to do to burn more fat and increase your energy levels is to increase your protein intake, and not only your meal frequency but the regularity of those meals.  Doing this will boost your metabolism quickly and will keep it elevated for several hours.  Talk about an easy way to fight fat, especially if your combining the right foods.

Now go chow on some fat-burning protein!

- Rommel Acda, MATS, CSCS

Have questions or comments?  Please let me know in the comments section.

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With spring in full effect most people are hitting the gym hard to achieve that flat belly.  However, a lot of people are also seeking to achieve amazing looking arms to show off during the summer as well.  Most of our female clients are concerned with getting rid of the “back-of-the-arm” jiggly wiggly’s, and are tired of it jiggling long after they’ve stopped waving.

Good nutrition will of course help, and interval training will improve the fat burning process, however specific weight training will boost the “toning” effect.  (I can’t stand the word “toning”, but hey I gotta use it).

Follow this three exercise “superset” to attack the stubborn “jiggly” in your triceps so that you can break out the tank tops and show off your newly shaped arms!

The Workout

Perform each exercise for the prescribed amount of reps.  Make sure to select a weight that will fatigue your triceps for the prescribed reps.  Transition between each exercise with little (no more than 10 seconds) to no rest.  After you perform the third exercise rest for one minute, then repeat for two more times to complete three sets.

Exercise 1: Narrow hand position pushups – 5 reps

- Use a full range of motion!  Don’t wuss out and only go half way down.  Your chest should almost touch the floor.  If you can’t complete 5 full reps, then do whatever you can and move on to the next exercise.

Exercise 2: Plank to pushup position – 10 reps total

- Start from a plank position on your forearms then transition into a pushup position.  You will not perform a pushup though.  Do five reps starting with your left hand and the other five transitioning with your right hand.

Exercise 3: Rope Pressdowns/Extensions – 15 reps

- Using a rope attachment from a high cable pulley, hold the ends of the rope with your palms facing each other.  Keep your knees soft and slightly lean your upper body forward, while keeping your back flat.  Start with your elbows bent at 90-degrees, then straighten your arms as you slightly pull the rope apart.  Do not separate the rope too much as this will create too much pressure in your shoulders.

[Photo credit: figureathlete.tmuscle.com]

Here’s a video that demonstrates exercises 1 and 2.

Work Hard!

- Rommel Acda, MATS, CSCS

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