Have you ever looked at high intensity athletes such as martial artists (MMA Fighters), track stars, gymnasts, etc, and wonder how and why they have a physique like that of a bodybuilder posing at the night of their showing?  You see 6-pack abs, ripped muscles, and basically just a lean mean fighting machine? 

These high intensity athletes are not freaks of nature (well, some of ‘em are), but more or less people who have truly maximized their genetic potential through High Intensity Training.  Whether it is their profession or a passion, you can see across the board the effects of their training.  One class of high intensity athletes are martial artists such as MMA (Mixed Martial Artists) Fighters. 

GSP http://www.sportsbettingandcasino.com/files/2008/01/georges-st-pierre.jpg

As of late, you have seen the explosion of MMA into the mainstream affecting everything from clothing lines, media, pay-per-view, haircuts (kidding), etc.  But when you look at how these high intensity athletes train, it is amazing.  There is something to be said about the energy demands and requirements for this type of training.  This form of training is anaerobic (without oxygen) in nature and has what we call an “afterburn” effect aka EPOC (Excess Post Oxygen Consumption).  Unlike traditional cardio aerobic programs where you stop burning once you stop your exercise, anaerobic exercise keeps on going for hours afterwards thus maximizing fat loss!  It is the Energizer Bunny of fat loss! Keeps going and going and going… 

BJ Penn http://www.newzealandmma.com/home/images/photos/bjpenn.jpg    

Manny Pacquiao http://hibachibaby.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/manny-pacquiao.jpg

Although many cannot handle the actual intensity of how hard Martial Artists truly train, you can still get involved in high intensity training starter programs and maximize the benefits from it.  As you progress, you can increase the workload and change up the routine to accommodate your progressions.

So how many calories can you burn?  Well, let me just say that your body composition determines that.  Obviously if you are heavier, your energy demands are greater.  For example, did you know that you can burn up anywhere from a low end of 300-600 calories OR 800-1200 calories per hour of boxing training?  Those numbers are dependent upon the body mass of the individual.   But before you get excited about your fat loss journey, keep in mind most people CANT go for an hour of boxing let alone 15 minutes.  Now remember, boxing is one format of a high intensity exercise.  You are missing the point here if you start buying gloves and a heavy bag.  I’m talking about high intensity training and using martial artists as an example.  Look at the example below demonstrating high intensity vs traditional cardio training below:

-       154 pound person who runs at a pace of 8 mph will burn 320 calories in 20 minutes. That same person, walking at 3 mph for an hour, will burn 235 calories.

Now take that into your training protocol and you will see that you do NOT have to train for an hour.  Train Smarter not just harder. 

The Strong and Sexy bootcamp program with Element 5 Fitness has incorporated this form of training into their programming.  All over the Eastside clients are experiencing fat loss with this type of training.  From 25-50+ pounds of fat loss, you may wonder why participants at the Strong and Sexy Bootcamp classes are experiencing this phenomenon.  Well, if you were paying attention to the paragraphs above then you would know why!

I have included some of the sample workouts below that were incorporated in our Strong and Sexy Bootcamps classes.  This is a 30 second format PER exercise.  You cycle through the three exercises one after another WITHOUT rest.  The only real rest you will probably get is a 5 second transition between stations. 

30 second format EACH exercise EQUALS ONE SET:

-       Bench Press OR Band Punches 30 seconds

-       Reverse Lunge with Band Row

-       Jump Rope OR explosive cardio format

Repeat these exercises 4 or 5 times through!  That itself covers a quick six to seven and a half minutes!  Once you combine 3 – 4 formats of this type of training, you will have covered at least 20-30 minutes of a high intensity type of training. 

If you dare, try this format and adjust the intensity and tempo to get a killer workout!  Welcome to the FITNESS WARRIOR LIFESTYLE!!!

Yours in health,

Belton

Valerie Bertinelli was on the Today Show this morning and talked about how she lost 40 pounds and looks and feels sexier than ever at age 48.  She’s the face of the new Jenny Craig campaigns, which took her goals to a whole new level of responsibility and accountability.  It allowed her to stay true and hold strong for her fitness goal in front of a national audience by not only losing the weight, but to prove to herself and to us that she can keep it off.

I can’t stress this enough when it comes to weight loss.  Social support and accountability is a huge component to get you to your goals.  It’s often overlooked or downplayed, because too many people are afraid of putting themselves out there.  Who cares what people are going to think.  They can’t make you feel inferior without your consent anyways so forget about the naysayer’s.  

Valerie didn’t care about what people would have thought, and by putting herself out there she was able to help many women believe in themselves to go for it too.  Especially in their late forties where most women think it’s nearly impossible.  It’s never, ever too late.

So how did Valerie do it?

Believe it or not, she lost majority of her weight without hiring a personal trainer and by doing five days of moderate walking, and sticking to the Jenny Craig nutrition plan.  The Jenny Craig system focuses on a fixed diet plan, and a reduced calorie diet using a 60/20/20 ratio (60% – carbs; 20% – fat; 20% – protein).  Most people would have a hard time losing weight with this plan, but it worked very well for Valerie.

As for her exercise, I would have incorporated at least two days of strength training, because it further stimulates your metabolism by building fat burning muscle.  However, I believe her routine worked well for her simply because she BELIEVED it would.

You see, most people overlook what’s going on in their heads and are usually somewhat skeptical of trying out a new fitness program.  Losing weight is not rocket science, but the problem is that most people have poor follow through, get frustrated, try a different routine (but still have doubts), get frustrated again, and then it becomes this vicious cycle over and over.

The result is being obsessive about exercise, but see absolutely no results.  If this is you, I encourage you to take a step back.  Choose a workout routine and nutrition plan that will complement your schedule.  Then implement it with a passion and believe that it will give you the results you desire.  

If you can do this I guarantee you’ll enjoy your journey.

Ok – Comment time.

Did you enjoy this post?  Have you tried Jenny Craig, and if so how was your experience?

Please share in the comments section below.

- Rommel

PS, Take a look at my simple home/office workout routine ==> Click Here.

I have just been recently featured in Craig Ballantyne’s Turbulence Training Fat Loss Blog.  Craig is a fat loss expert and writes for Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines.  When he speaks about fat loss, listen up!

He also has a strong stance on how cardio is a waste of time in regards to fat loss.  This is something we’ve preached to you guys over and over.  

Check out my blog post and download Craig’s “Dark Side of Cardio” report.

Enjoy!

- Rommel

My new blog ==>http://www.fitinahurry.com

This year we decided to start featuring and awarding the top boot campers per each phase of our Strong and Sexy Boot Camps in 2009.  First one up is Miranda Maurits who attends our Redmond boot camp location.  Congratulations to Miranda for being our top performer in Phase 1 (January 5 – January 31, 2009).

Here’s what she has to say about her experience…

Who’s going to be our next top performer?

- Rommel

This will be a quick post.  Just wanted to share with you examples of a high-carb/high-protein post-workout meal and a high-protein/high-fat breakfast meal on my non-workout days.  The first two meal pics were taken last Friday morning after my workout.  This was breakfast at Gilbert’s on Main Street in Old Bellevue.  I had a spinach and havarti cheese omelette with baby red potatoes, a blueberry bagel, a glass of all-natural Odwalla OJ, and a glass of water.

BUT, Rommel you said we should try to eliminate liquid calories, such as juices.  If you limit it to post-workout you’re usually in the clear, because your body can utilize the insulin spike to shuttle amino-acids into your muscle cells for recovery.  However, it shouldn’t be abused or it will backfire on you if your goals are fat loss.  There’s definitely a delicate ratio of carbs to protein that should be followed.

The photo below was my breakfast on Saturday at Hector’s in downtown Kirkland.  I think it’s called the “Protein Power” breakfast.  It’s a ground chuck and ground sirloin patty over a bed of steamed spinach, an egg on top, tomatoes, plus I added a small side-salad.  This meal has no starchy carbs, just antioxidant rich veggies, serious protein, and normal fats to go with it.  BUT, Rommel that’s a fatty meal!  Yes, but I didn’t combine it with starchy carbs, and according to Dr. Berardi and his Precision Nutrition system it’s all good!  More on his system next time.

90% of my nutrition adheres to “Protein plus Fat and Veggies/Fruit”  unless it’s post-workout, in which those meals are “Protein plus Starchy Carbs/Fruit”.  This is a system I’ve incorporated into my lifestyle since 2003, and for me this has been the most effective program.  The other 10%, well cheat meals of course!

Ok, this just made me hungry again, so see ya later, gonna chow on some muscle building protein!

- Rommel

The James Bond Girls have become as famous as 007 himself.  With exotic looks and far out names it’s hard not to notice the women who portray Bond’s girls.  Their presence is almost as necessary as all of 007’s cars and cool hi-tech gadgets.

I came across an article in which three of the Bond girls shared their secrets to maintaining a sexy physique.

The latest Bond girl, Olga Kurylenko said she cross-trained with martial arts and high-intensity circuit weight training.  Her nutrition tip was to not overdo it with sugar, and said “The only time I had dessert was at friend’s houses!”

Halle Berry’s tip was along the lines of using an external motivator.  Her motivation was knowing that she had to wear that orange bikini in Die Another Day, and to “walk sexy” coming out of the water.  She too cut out sugar, ate more fruits and veggies, and focused on short, intense, and effective circuit weight training.

Michelle Yeoh explains that regular exercise is part of her life, and it’s important to incorporate it into your everyday lifestyle.  She doesn’t diet, eats most things in moderation, but eats a lot of fruits and veggies.

These tips are great examples of how you don’t need to overcomplicate your fitness routine and eating habits.  Cutting out refined white sugar and increasing your consumption of fruits and veggies is something we’ve been preaching consistently.  Make exercise a priority in your life, but find a way to make it fit seamlessly even if it’s literally just doing 1-2 sets of bodyweight squats and pushups.  You perform those two sets intensely enough it will still provide you great benefits in as little as four minutes per day.

So get off your butt right now, bust out as many squats as you can in 20 seconds, followed by as many pushups as you can in 20 seconds, and repeat that five more times.  You’ll be worked for sure, and when you’re done you can bite into your favorite fruit.

Have fun with that!

- Rommel

Valentine’s Day is here, and there’s a VERY good chance you have plans to eat out with your significant
other.

And while we want you to have a great time, we do NOT want you to kiss your fat loss goals goodbye. Here are three quick Valentine’s Day Fat Burning Tips to help keep you on track.

1) Make sure you get a good workout in that day. Preferably a circuit strength training routine utilizing the Tabata protocol as described here.  It’s your insurance policy to burning fat all day long.

2) DO NOT starve yourself all day long in anticipation of your big night out.  You’ll just piss your body off, and impede the fat burning process!

3) If you’re having a chocolate craving – it is Valentine’s Day after all – you want to have some good dark chocolate on hand.

(Note: We recommend Prograde Cravers. See the bottom of this email as they are on sale till tomorrow night!)

4) Start Valentine’s Day off with 1-2 cups of water when you wake up. You also want to drink 1-2 cups before each meal as it will help you from consuming WAY to many calories.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Yours in health,

The Element 5 Fitness Team

PS – Here are all the details on Prograde Nutrition’s 14% off Prograde Cravers sale.

Organic Dark Chocolate Prograde Cravers have no preservatives, only 180 calories and they come in three delicious flavors: peanut butter, almond butter and spirulina.

The even better news is they are on sale for Valentine’s Day.

Here’s everything you need to know:

- Again, because it’s Valentine’s Day, the sale is 14% off all purcahses of Prograde Cravers

- When you checkout you will enter this coupon code to save the 14%:    vday0909

- Shipping will take 3-5 days, so while WE HIGHLY
recommend you jump all over this sale.  Buy them as a
healthy gift for yourself or others.

- Sorry, Prograde Cravers are not available overseas

- The offer cannot be combined with others from Prograde and it ends this Saturday, February 14th at 11:59pm EST.

- Prograde Cravers are NOT available in stores anywhere.

You can only find them online here: Prograde Cravers

Four minutes? What?! You’re probably thinking, “Great, here’s another fitness scam!” Nope, sorry to dissapoint you.

Enter the “Tabata Protocol”.

In the past few years this protocol has become extremely popular as a personal training and fitness bootcamp tool. Why? Simply, because it produces results in less time!

The Tabata Protocol is a simple interval routine proven to improve fitness levels and performance. The protocol is performed for a minimum of 4 minutes upwards of 16 minutes. Have I sparked your interest yet?

It is named after Dr. Izumi Tabata, a former researcher at Japan’s National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya. Tabata and his colleagues researched and studied just how effective Japan’s speed-skating coach’s workouts really were. What they discovered became a major breakthrough in the fitness field.

Here’s what they found:

Tabata Protocol (TP) vs Traditional Cardio (TC)

14% (TP) vs 9.5% (TC) improvement in aerobic capacity
28% (TP) vs 0% (TC) improvement in anaerobic capacity
The Tabata protocol proved not only to be more effective than traditional cardio, but to also be more effective than typical interval training.

The awesome part about these findings is that these results were experienced by elite athletes. Many studies perform their protocols on beginners so that they can show amazing results to prove it’s
effectiveness. Then follows the slick marketing that they’ve come across a superior fitness tool to produce the results you’ve been looking for. Hopefully, by now you should know that any beginner will
get results on any program. But, when a protocol produces results in elite athletes who have superior conditioning, well it’s hard not to listen.

Make sure to consider the source. You can view the abstract for the Tabata protocol here.

In my previous post I mentioned how to get started on a beginner Tabata workout. So let me give you two more ways to perform them with traditional weight training exercises.

To review, Tabata intervals consists of 20 seconds of high intensity work, followed by only 10 seconds of rest, and repeated for a total of 8 rounds. You can perform 2 more rounds to complete 16 minutes of total
work. A word of caution, start out with one round then see how you feel. If you do it right one round might be enough to send your breakfast out your mouth. He,he

Ok, so there are many ways to construct a Tabata workout, but I’ll only go over two of them.

Sample 1: use two non-competing exercises to perform 4 sets of each exercise

1) Squats: perform as many as you can in 20 seconds

Rest only 10 seconds

2) Pullups: perform as many as you can in 20 seconds

Rest only 10 seconds, then repeat until you complete 4 sets. Rest for
30-60 seconds then perform 1-2 more rounds if you think you can.

or

Sample 2: use four exercises that utilizes a push,pull,squat,twist/core

1) Squats: perform as many as you can in 20 seconds

Rest only 10 seconds

2) Bench/Chest Press: perform as many as you can in 20 seconds

Rest only 10 seconds

3) Dumbbell Rows: perform as many as you can in 20 seconds

Rest only 10 seconds

4) Band Woodchops/Twists: perform as many as you can in 20 seconds

Rest only 10 seconds, then repeat for one more set to complete 4
minutes. Rest for 30-60 seconds then perform 1-2 more rounds if you
think you can.

* For both samples I’ve discovered that a weight that you can normally perform 10 reps with is a good start. I also recommend performing your reps as fast as possible, WITH good form, so please use
common sense.

Give these a shot, do it right, then let me know how you feel tomorrow!

In light of our new president Barack Obama taking his place in the White House I thought I’d present a quick post about his workout routine, which was presented in the June/July issue of Men’s Fitness.

The article basically states that Obama would start his day with a hotel gym workout or a brisk 45-minute run. He would also play pick-up basketball on more stressful days.

For such a busy schedule, this is a fairly mediocre workout routine. Don’t get me wrong, at least he’s staying active and taking care of his body for the rigors of being president of the US. His workout routine is simple, is good for maintenance, helps reduce stress, and is a routine that most people can partake in.

With an even busier schedule starting tomorrow I recommend the Tabata interval protocol (which I’ll explain more about in another post). Tabata intervals consists of 20 seconds of high intensity work, followed by only 10 seconds of rest, and repeated for a total of 8 rounds. Utilizing bodyweight exercises are a good way to introduce yourself to Tabata intervals.

Here’s a beginner sample,
- Alternating Lunges: as many as possible in 20 seconds
- Rest 10 seconds
- Pushups: as many as possible in 20 seconds
- Rest 10 seconds
- Repeat 3 more times to complete 4-minutes of total work

The Tabata protocol has been proven to produce amazing results in less time, but more on that later.

Enjoy!

* I apologize for the delay from technical difficulties. I have to
re-record with a voiceover, still a newbie to editing video’s.

Ok, so in my previous post
I gave some brief information about how traditional static stretching
prior to weight lifting or sports activities may increase your chance
of injury, and that dynamic/active stretching is more appropriate to
prepare your body for these activities.

Below I’ve provided a basic format to follow, which includes foam
rolling (self-massage) exercises. Foam rolling helps to break up the
knots within the tissue (fascia) that wraps around your muscles. Just
understand that foam rolling will help increase the health and
integrity of your fascia, which increases blood flow, reduces recovery
time and soreness, improves flexibility, and may also help to improve
your muscles ability to contract.

Self-massage: 1-2 sets per area
- IT Band
- Calves
- Lats
- Upper Back

* Slowly roll about 3-5 inches along the muscle belly until you find a
tender spot. Once you find a tender spot, stay on that spot for about
10 seconds then continue moving another 3-5 inches to find another
tender spot. Move up and down the length of the muscles being worked on
to complete one set.

View the Video Here
Dynamic/active flexibility: 5-10 reps each side
- Y-Squats
- Forward Stationary Lunges
- Side Lunge with Rotation
- Spiderman Hip Combo
- Hip Swings
- Shoulder Rotations

* Move gently into each position, and hold for about one second without bouncing.

View the Video Here