Think Skinny This Holiday Season
The holiday season is upon us once again. One of the reasons the American waistline is ever expanding is holiday weight gain. Depending on the study, the average American gains between 3-11 pounds during the holidays. Most don’t lose the holiday weight during the ensuing New Year’s resolution rush to the gym. So year after year we Americans get fatter and fatter. My approach during the holidays is…break even. Don’t gain and don’t lose. Enjoy the holidays, but don’t over indulge. The way I see it, you’re already ahead if you start the New...
read moreBody Weight Only Boot Camp Workout
Here is a full body, metabolism boosting boot camp workout with exercises I consider to be fundamental movement patterns. Most other exercises are some variation of these basic exercises. The advantage here is that it can be done virtually everywhere. The only piece of equipment required is the best piece of equipment you will ever own…your body. If you’re on the road traveling and don’t want to miss your workout or you can’t get away from the house to go to the gym. This 20 minute workout will really rock your world. I initially excogitated this workout for...
read moreNo Gym Equipment…No Problem
“It amazes me that most people spend more time planning out next summer’s vacation than they do planning the rest of their lives.” Patricia Fripp, Professional Speaker This can certainly be true for many people especially when it comes to planning their exercise and nutrition during these challenging summer months. To combat this dilemma we are trying a couple of new things this summer. First, we are taking our workouts outside. The morning boot camps are actually outside at a near by park. Second, we are having the first ever EXL Fitness Skinny Jeans Lifestyle...
read moreHierarchy of Fat Loss (Factor #5)
The least effective tool in your fat loss arsenal is exercise that burns calories but does not do anything for increasing your metabolism or maintaining your lean muscle tissue. Enter traditional, steady state “cardio” including hard cardio and low intensity cardio. Both these have their benefits in the fat loss fight but should play only a small role. What is “hard cardio”? Technically it is cardio performed above your anaerobic threshold (AT). This is the point at which your body burns only blood sugar or muscle glycogen for fuel (not fat). This is typically around 75%...
read moreHierarchy of Fat Loss (Factor #3)
In the last post I introduced the 2 most important factors in fat loss…nutrition and nutrition. In fact, nutrition is so important I don’t even bother measuring or testing a client’s body fat unless they have committed to a nutrition plan (preferably Precision Nutrition or The Carb Rotation Diet). This week I’m continuing with the Fat Loss Hierarchy with #3… #3 Activities that maintain or promote lean body mass (muscle) and elevate metabolism. It goes to reason that you can burn more calories by increasing your total resting caloric expenditure i.e.: resting metabolic...
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