If you are searching a better way of living, a life that doesn't
depend on
chemicals - literally, drugs! - to keep you awake and
motivated, if you are
tired of being tired, then being wired, and
then being tired again, then set
the coffee cup down, step away
from the supersized Diet Cokes, and turn to
holistic living.
There are better, healthier ways to achieve higher levels of
physical and
mental energy.
Here are ways to get more energy, naturally.
1) Exercise
It doesn't matter what time you exercise, just be consistent. Fit
it in
based on your schedule and personality. If you have to do it
first thing when
you wake up, just do it. Don't even let yourself
think about it. Just get
started.
A lot of people think too much about their plan. That's why
Turbulence Training works for so many people...they don't have to think, they just follow
the workouts and get done fast.
Focus on intense strength training for 20 minutes followed by a
brief
interval training session to boost your metabolism all day
long.
Exercise is a drug. Like caffeine and nicotine, exercise causes the release
of many chemicals into your blood, resulting in mental stimulation and an
improved sense of overall well-being. Exercise just makes you feel good.
2) Eat smaller, more frequent meals.
Skip the cycle of starving and feasting characterized by no
breakfast, a
high-carbohydrate lunch, and a huge dinner. Instead, eat breakfast and then
continue to eat every 3 hours for the rest of the day.
Research shows that a high-fiber breakfast helps control appetite and
increases mental alertness all morning, and improves your ability to process
information.
Do not skip breakfast and rely on a coffee to get you through the
day. You can get up 10 minutes earlier to have a
protein shake, some almonds, and an apple.
3) Eat only whole, natural foods, such as fruits, vegetables,
organic
proteins, raw nuts (not roasted in oil), Green Tea, water.
Trying to run on processed foods is a recipe for an energetic
disaster.
Stick to whole, natural foods during the day, snacking
rather than binging on
big meals, and you'll never feel like dozing off.
If a food is from a bag or a box, it doesn't deserve a place in
your
nutrition plan. Avoid all added sugars.
Bonus Tip!)
Take mini-breaks during the day to work on your mobility.
Work environments zap our 'energy'. From poor posture, to
eye-strain from
computer screens, your office, cubicle, and car
seat will suck the life out
of you.
Daily exercise breaks are essential to not only boost energy,
but
mobility. Each day, as your computer sucks you into its visual
vortex,
your upper body becomes rounded forward and tense. You need to reverse that
movement. Here's how...
Stickup
Stand with your back to the wall and feet about 4 inches from the
wall. Place the back of your arms against the wall with upper arms parallel to
floor and forearms at 90 degrees. Stick up your arms over head while keeping
your arm against the wall at all times. Slowly return to below the starting
position tucking your elbows into your sides and bringing shoulder blades
together. Repeat for 12 reps. Do this every 60-90 minutes.
In addition, get outside into natural light whenever possible.
For a complete exercise and nutrition plan to help you burn fat,
sculpt
your body, and give you all-day energy, get started with
Turbulence Training
today!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
The Best Bodyweight Exercises
Here are 3 bodyweight exercises you can do anytime, anywhere to burn
fat, stay energized, and avoid overeating.
Bodyweight exercises help you burn fat shockingly fast, without any fancy equipment.
1) Any Single-Leg Exercise
The pistol (single-leg squat to the floor) is the most advanced
1-leg exercise. But you can also do assisted single-leg squats with a band, or onto a bench, or even with a Stability Ball between your back and the wall.
If you aren't ready for single-leg squats, you can use Bulgarian
Split Squats, Reverse Lunges, regular split squats, or lying 1-leg
hip bridges if you are a beginner.
2) Decline Push-ups
These are harder than normal pushups, thanks to your elevated feet. And in this position, you can still use a close-grip to fatigue
your triceps, a "piked-hip position" to build your shoulders, or
even the Spiderman leg motion to work on your abs.
3) Bodyweight Inverted Rows
I choose these over chinups and pullups because bodyweight rows let your chest rest, while your back is strengthened. It's the perfect compliment to a pushup.
Do 8-12 repetitions per exercise. Don't rest between exercises. Go through the circuit up to 3 times, resting 1 minute after each
circuit.
Get in shape fast with Turbulence Training,
Bodyweight exercises help you burn fat shockingly fast, without any fancy equipment.
1) Any Single-Leg Exercise
The pistol (single-leg squat to the floor) is the most advanced
1-leg exercise. But you can also do assisted single-leg squats with a band, or onto a bench, or even with a Stability Ball between your back and the wall.
If you aren't ready for single-leg squats, you can use Bulgarian
Split Squats, Reverse Lunges, regular split squats, or lying 1-leg
hip bridges if you are a beginner.
2) Decline Push-ups
These are harder than normal pushups, thanks to your elevated feet. And in this position, you can still use a close-grip to fatigue
your triceps, a "piked-hip position" to build your shoulders, or
even the Spiderman leg motion to work on your abs.
3) Bodyweight Inverted Rows
I choose these over chinups and pullups because bodyweight rows let your chest rest, while your back is strengthened. It's the perfect compliment to a pushup.
Do 8-12 repetitions per exercise. Don't rest between exercises. Go through the circuit up to 3 times, resting 1 minute after each
circuit.
Get in shape fast with Turbulence Training,
Monday, March 5, 2012
Top Weight Loss Mistakes
Six Mistakes People Make When Trying to Lose Fat
1. They fail to consider the consequences of their actions.
It is always helpful to think "Will this help me or not? Is this a positive step or not?" If you can see that every action that you take is either helping you lose fat or stopping you from losing fat, then you will start to make better choices. So remember that everything you eat is either for or against fat loss. And every exercise choice you make is either for or against fat loss.
2. They neglect to control their insulin and blood sugar
levels - 2 key factors in determining whether or not the body fat will come
off.
If you eat processed foods you are guaranteed to elevate your insulin & blood sugar levels. If you do that, your body sends the message, “Store fat!”, and you won’t make any progress. So avoid white-flour based bakery products, sugary drinks, and almost any carbohydrate snack that comes in a bag or a box.
3. They don’t take 30 minutes to plan their next day’s food intake.
If you fail to do this, you will set your fat loss efforts back. Without a good meal plan, you are left to hunt and gather food in the modern world. And that’s a recipe for fat loss disaster. You are bound to eat something processed if you aren’t prepared. You will lose the fat burning benefits from yesterday’s workout and it will take until the end of the following day to get back on track.
4. They don’t eat enough vegetables.
You should eat fibrous vegetables at every meal to assist your fat loss efforts. By doing so, you’ll control your blood sugar and insulin - thus supporting the optimal hormonal situation for fat loss.
5. Their hormones become less effective with poor lifestyle
choices.
If you are out drinking alcohol and staying up late on the weekend, you are shutting down your fat loss and messing up the optimal hormonal environment for fat burning. Optimal hormonal levels for fat loss, is the underrated key to building your best body ever.
6. They don’t plan and monitor their training sessions.
If you are still going to the gym without a plan, then you are going to have a hard time losing fat. And if you aren’t recording your workouts and eating habits, then you aren’t losing as much fat as you probably can. To fix this mistake, start by getting on track with strength training and interval training. It’s guaranteed to get you lean.
Did You Know Ab Workouts Slow Fat Loss?
Not only are most traditional ab workouts a waste of time, but they also slow
your fat loss efforts. Each workout you spend crunching takes time away from
more effective fat loss methods - such as interval training.
That's right, the common man's and woman's ab workout taken from Shape magazine or Muscle'n'Fitness often hurts their fat loss program more than it helps it.
Instead, focus on exercises that build a 6-pack AND burn a lot of calories at the same time. That's why I'm a big fan of making EVERY exercise an ab exercise (by bracing the abs in every movement), as well as using total body ab exercises (such as Mountain Climbers, the Spiderman Lunge/Climb, and the Stability Ball Jackknife).
These exercises use far more muscle mass than a traditional crunch. In fact, some of the total body ab exercises are "interval-like" in nature, helping to put more metabolic turbulence on the body, and as you know, that's what burns calories during AND after the workout.
Now of course you know that you can't spot reduce the fat on your body - so doing an endless number of crunches not only does little for you in terms of losing fat, it also wastes your time in your quest for a 6-pack.
Here are a couple of strategies to maximize your workout time when your goal is to get lean, and get down to a low-enough body fat percentage to see your abs in as little workout time as possible:
A) First, simply cut back on your ab training - If your goal is to
simply lose fat, gain a little muscle, and just look as good
possible, then you can't spend 30 minutes on abs everyday. You can build your 6-pack by doing less than 30 minutes of ab exercise per week.
B) Second, replace your crunches with the total body ab exercises I mentioned earlier. Also, if you have access to a cable machine, you can do weighted ab exercises such as kneeling cable crunches.
C) And finally, if you are doing intervals for fat loss as I
recommend, you can use the following approach to increase the
difficulty of your ab and interval training. However, this is an
advanced method only.
During your interval workout, perform an ab exercise during your active recovery period. For example, if you are doing running intervals on a treadmill...
Run for 60 seconds at your work interval speed. Immediately stop the treadmill, get off, and go into a set of 20 Mountain Climbers. Climb back on the treadmill and start it up for your next interval. Repeat for 3-6 intervals.
You can also use basic spinal stabilization "ab exercises" such as
the plank, side plank, or advanced plank versions (i.e. plank with your arms on the ball) to train your spinal stabilization while under heavy breathing stress.
Remember: Always train safe, with good form, and be conservative. Don't try to be a hero in the gym, but you should safely challenge yourself in each workout.
Stick to the Turbulence Training if you don't know where to start.
That's right, the common man's and woman's ab workout taken from Shape magazine or Muscle'n'Fitness often hurts their fat loss program more than it helps it.
Instead, focus on exercises that build a 6-pack AND burn a lot of calories at the same time. That's why I'm a big fan of making EVERY exercise an ab exercise (by bracing the abs in every movement), as well as using total body ab exercises (such as Mountain Climbers, the Spiderman Lunge/Climb, and the Stability Ball Jackknife).
These exercises use far more muscle mass than a traditional crunch. In fact, some of the total body ab exercises are "interval-like" in nature, helping to put more metabolic turbulence on the body, and as you know, that's what burns calories during AND after the workout.
Now of course you know that you can't spot reduce the fat on your body - so doing an endless number of crunches not only does little for you in terms of losing fat, it also wastes your time in your quest for a 6-pack.
Here are a couple of strategies to maximize your workout time when your goal is to get lean, and get down to a low-enough body fat percentage to see your abs in as little workout time as possible:
A) First, simply cut back on your ab training - If your goal is to
simply lose fat, gain a little muscle, and just look as good
possible, then you can't spend 30 minutes on abs everyday. You can build your 6-pack by doing less than 30 minutes of ab exercise per week.
B) Second, replace your crunches with the total body ab exercises I mentioned earlier. Also, if you have access to a cable machine, you can do weighted ab exercises such as kneeling cable crunches.
C) And finally, if you are doing intervals for fat loss as I
recommend, you can use the following approach to increase the
difficulty of your ab and interval training. However, this is an
advanced method only.
During your interval workout, perform an ab exercise during your active recovery period. For example, if you are doing running intervals on a treadmill...
Run for 60 seconds at your work interval speed. Immediately stop the treadmill, get off, and go into a set of 20 Mountain Climbers. Climb back on the treadmill and start it up for your next interval. Repeat for 3-6 intervals.
You can also use basic spinal stabilization "ab exercises" such as
the plank, side plank, or advanced plank versions (i.e. plank with your arms on the ball) to train your spinal stabilization while under heavy breathing stress.
Remember: Always train safe, with good form, and be conservative. Don't try to be a hero in the gym, but you should safely challenge yourself in each workout.
Stick to the Turbulence Training if you don't know where to start.
Example of Nutrition Food List
Fruits · Apples · Oranges · Blueberries · Melon · Peaches ·
Grapefruit · Raspberries
Vegetables · Peppers (red, yellow, green, & orange), ·
Spinach · Asparagus · Broccoli · Snow Peas · Mushrooms · Frozen mixed
vegetables · Tomato sauce
Protein Sources · Chicken breasts · Turkey breasts · Salmon
fillets · Lean beef · Skim milk & low-fat, low-sugar yogurt
Carbohydrates · Oat bread · Oatmeal (no sugar added) ·
Whole-wheat pasta
Other · Green tea · Unsalted, not roasted, Almonds
You’ll notice that most of these foods come without a food
label. Most of the foods that you should avoid come in a bag or a box. Building
a shopping list that contains very few bagged or boxed items is something to
aim for. But when you do purchase something with a label, make sure to avoid
two of the unhealthiest ingredients:
1) High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) 2) Hydrogenated or
partially-hydrogenated vegetable oil (the sources of trans-fatty acids)
You might have heard of these two ingredients. They are
strongly associated with obesity and other lifestyle-diseases (such as
diabetes).
Nutrition Advice
Chances are your nutrition is terrible. Or at the very least, your nutrition
plan is good but you allow yourself far too many treats. The bottom line: You can’t succeed in your fat loss program if your diet
is average.
From what I read, most people’s nutrition plans are far too poor to allow them to lose fat. And yet they are working harder than ever in the gym and wondering why they aren’t losing fat. No workout will help you build muscle and lose fat if you keep eating at fast-food restaurants, drinking sugary sodas, and raiding bags of leftover mini-candy bars.
And it’s frustrating because the secrets to fat loss nutrition are so simple. The best approach is eating several small meals per day, with each meal containing lean protein, vegetables, and other whole foods. You must eliminate unnecessary calories such as soda and high-fat, high-sugar snacks (like mini-Snickers bar ). If you’re trying to lose fat, you can’t have treats every day. If fat loss is the goal, then cookies, apple pie, ice cream, nachos, fried foods, etc. just don't make the cut, as unfortunate as it is.
Research shows that an increased intake of fruits and vegetables is associated with fat loss (nutritionists never put a limit on the number of vegetables that people should eat - provided they are not fried or covered in fat or sauces). Other research suggests that replacing carbohydrates with almonds (a source of fiber, protein, and monounsaturated fats) leads to greater weight loss. Almonds are a very healthy snack and help curb hunger. A typical serving is 1 ounce of almonds (about 22 pieces) and can replace chips, chocolate bars, and cookies in your diet.
Make sure you are logging your food intake and making notes about your energy levels when you eat certain foods. Soon you will identify the nutritional reasons for your fatigue or for your consistent energy levels. You will quickly associate sugar and fried foods with poor mental performance, while noticing that small, whole, natural food-based meals and snacks help keep you alert and full of energy.
If you are overweight and just starting to improve your nutrition, you should begin losing at least 1 pound per week (probably 2 or more) simply from the nutritional changes.
Nutrition is that powerful. Don’t expect to start eating perfectly tomorrow, but you should slowly build up to eating much better and healthier than you were yesterday. Try to improve your nutrition plan everyday. Stay consistent and focused with your nutritional approach. You can do it. Here are three nutrition changes that would pay huge dividends for a fat-loss beginner:
1) Eat several small, whole food meals per day.
2) Don't consume any unnecessary liquid calories (i.e. no soda, alcohol, or sweetened beverages). Drink more water – nutrition experts recommend 3 liters per day.
3) Eliminate processed carbohydrates and sugar from your nutrition plan (no soda, cake, chips, white bread, or chocolate bars).
If your current nutritional plan is preventing you from losing fat, then it’s time for you to start working on building better eating habits. This can be as simple as committing to one small nutritional improvement per day (such as replacing your lunchtime soda with water) and one large nutritional change per week (such as setting aside time on a Sunday to prepare a weekly menu and all of your meals).
But you need to have a plan to make this work, just like how you have a plan for your workouts. Your nutrition plan should include the contents of every meal, as well as your grocery list for the week. This will enable you to have meal alternatives for nights when you might need to be running from one event to the other with no time or healthy snack alternatives when you are on the road between meetings.
It’s important that you make your plan something you can follow. If you are currently eating 7 meals per week at the golden arches, it wouldn’t be realistic to plan to replace those meals with carrot sticks and tofu this week. A better plan would be to substitute a couple of those meals with healthier sandwich options and then work on improving things even more in the following weeks.
So here’s a three-step guideline on building a better nutrition plan:
1) Prepare a weekly menu. Outline each meal and snack for every day of the upcoming week. Take into account the possibilities that you might work late or get invited out to lunch. The more options you have and preparations you make, the better you will be able to stick to your fat loss plan.
2) From your menu plan, you’ll now know what foods and ingredients you need to make it through the week. Make your grocery list and stick to it. Grocery shopping is your first opportunity to break some bad nutritional habits. You can’t eat chips, cookies, or cakes if you don’t have them in the house – so don’t buy them and you’ll avoid any future temptation.
3) Prepare the meals or prepare the ingredients so that making the actual meal doesn’t take a lot of time. Like shopping, it’s best to do all of these preparations at one time (such as on a Sunday or another day off).
From what I read, most people’s nutrition plans are far too poor to allow them to lose fat. And yet they are working harder than ever in the gym and wondering why they aren’t losing fat. No workout will help you build muscle and lose fat if you keep eating at fast-food restaurants, drinking sugary sodas, and raiding bags of leftover mini-candy bars.
And it’s frustrating because the secrets to fat loss nutrition are so simple. The best approach is eating several small meals per day, with each meal containing lean protein, vegetables, and other whole foods. You must eliminate unnecessary calories such as soda and high-fat, high-sugar snacks (like mini-Snickers bar ). If you’re trying to lose fat, you can’t have treats every day. If fat loss is the goal, then cookies, apple pie, ice cream, nachos, fried foods, etc. just don't make the cut, as unfortunate as it is.
Research shows that an increased intake of fruits and vegetables is associated with fat loss (nutritionists never put a limit on the number of vegetables that people should eat - provided they are not fried or covered in fat or sauces). Other research suggests that replacing carbohydrates with almonds (a source of fiber, protein, and monounsaturated fats) leads to greater weight loss. Almonds are a very healthy snack and help curb hunger. A typical serving is 1 ounce of almonds (about 22 pieces) and can replace chips, chocolate bars, and cookies in your diet.
Make sure you are logging your food intake and making notes about your energy levels when you eat certain foods. Soon you will identify the nutritional reasons for your fatigue or for your consistent energy levels. You will quickly associate sugar and fried foods with poor mental performance, while noticing that small, whole, natural food-based meals and snacks help keep you alert and full of energy.
If you are overweight and just starting to improve your nutrition, you should begin losing at least 1 pound per week (probably 2 or more) simply from the nutritional changes.
Nutrition is that powerful. Don’t expect to start eating perfectly tomorrow, but you should slowly build up to eating much better and healthier than you were yesterday. Try to improve your nutrition plan everyday. Stay consistent and focused with your nutritional approach. You can do it. Here are three nutrition changes that would pay huge dividends for a fat-loss beginner:
1) Eat several small, whole food meals per day.
2) Don't consume any unnecessary liquid calories (i.e. no soda, alcohol, or sweetened beverages). Drink more water – nutrition experts recommend 3 liters per day.
3) Eliminate processed carbohydrates and sugar from your nutrition plan (no soda, cake, chips, white bread, or chocolate bars).
If your current nutritional plan is preventing you from losing fat, then it’s time for you to start working on building better eating habits. This can be as simple as committing to one small nutritional improvement per day (such as replacing your lunchtime soda with water) and one large nutritional change per week (such as setting aside time on a Sunday to prepare a weekly menu and all of your meals).
But you need to have a plan to make this work, just like how you have a plan for your workouts. Your nutrition plan should include the contents of every meal, as well as your grocery list for the week. This will enable you to have meal alternatives for nights when you might need to be running from one event to the other with no time or healthy snack alternatives when you are on the road between meetings.
It’s important that you make your plan something you can follow. If you are currently eating 7 meals per week at the golden arches, it wouldn’t be realistic to plan to replace those meals with carrot sticks and tofu this week. A better plan would be to substitute a couple of those meals with healthier sandwich options and then work on improving things even more in the following weeks.
So here’s a three-step guideline on building a better nutrition plan:
1) Prepare a weekly menu. Outline each meal and snack for every day of the upcoming week. Take into account the possibilities that you might work late or get invited out to lunch. The more options you have and preparations you make, the better you will be able to stick to your fat loss plan.
2) From your menu plan, you’ll now know what foods and ingredients you need to make it through the week. Make your grocery list and stick to it. Grocery shopping is your first opportunity to break some bad nutritional habits. You can’t eat chips, cookies, or cakes if you don’t have them in the house – so don’t buy them and you’ll avoid any future temptation.
3) Prepare the meals or prepare the ingredients so that making the actual meal doesn’t take a lot of time. Like shopping, it’s best to do all of these preparations at one time (such as on a Sunday or another day off).
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