| The 3 Best Exercises to Tone Your Legs |
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One of the most common questions from my female clients is: “What do I have to do to tone up my legs?” The truth is reps and sets will play a slight role in toning muscle throughout the leg, however there are a few very effective exercises that safely and effectively tone your legs muscles. Keep reading, you might be surprised.
#1 Best leg exercise to tone your legs – The Dead Lift
Most women want their glutes toned or “lifted”. There’s no doubt, the Dead Lift is the best exercise to tone the glutes and backside of the legs. As an added bonus, the dead lift also is the most functional exercise you can do; meaning that the strength and tone you build will actually correlate to better performance in sports, outdoor activities, and your overall health and wellness.
• Start with a Kettlebell between your legs. Take a hip width stance with the balls of your feet inline with the handle on the Kettlebell. Think of sitting back with your hips as far as you can until your hands reach the handle
• Take a firm grip with both hands on the handle, pull your shoulders back, and stand up driving your heels into the ground and squeezing your glutes at the top of the motion
• Don’t pause, slowly sit back into position and repeat. Your lower back should remain arched and shoulders pulled back tight
#2 Best leg exercise to tone your legs – The Dumbbell Reverse Lunge
Lunges are a great lower body exercise that helps with ankle, leg, and hip stability. More importantly the Reverse Lunge stresses the posterior chain much more than a normal forward or lateral lunge, targeting primarily the glutes and hamstrings.
• To start, try the motion with just your bodyweight in order to get your form down
• Take a hip width stance with both legs, take a large step backwards with one foot, bend your back knee making sure the front lower leg remains vertical
• Once you have you’re technique down grab a pair of relatively heavy dumbbells and repeat the motion again
• Squeeze your glutes as you finish the exercise and repeat. You should feel a pull in the back of your front leg as you stand up from the reverse lunge.
• Try doing one side at a time until you get used to the exercise then move to alternating reverse lunges to make it slightly more challenging
# 3 Best leg exercise to tone your legs – Stability Ball Leg Curls
The Stability Ball Leg Curl is a great exercise to target the back of your legs.
• Grab a stability ball and lay on your back with your knees at a 90 degree angle and ankles on top of the ball
• Squeeze your glutes and lift your hips off the ground. Keep your glutes squeezed tight, hold your hips off the ground and roll the ball toward your butt and back to perform the rep
• If that’s too challenging start with a simple hip lift and work your way toward the leg curl
All 3 of these exercises purposely target the backside of your body. Most of us think some combination of step-ups with a light dumbbell curl or shoulder press is the most effective way to a better body. The problem lies in the fact that exercises such as step-ups target the quadriceps (thigh), which is naturally the lower body’s largest muscle group. Continuing to work the quads leads to “feeling like my legs are big” as well as dysfunction in the hips, legs and ankles.
There are plenty of other great lower body exercises to perform, but I chose these because of their low risk to high benefit ratio as well as the quick results and performance gains they yield. Give them a try and let me know what you think!
Move Better. Feel Better. Look Better!
posted: March 20, 2012
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| Pull Here For A Bigger Chest – Chris Abbott of Total Fitness and Health tells you why most guys never get |
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The number one thing most all guys are looking for in the weight room is to get a bigger chest, and beyond that, they would love nothing more than to bench press every single day.
Its seems logical that if someone wanted to get a bigger chest that naturally they would do chest exercises such as bench press, push ups and fly’s. However, that’s only part of the equation. Often time’s the guy who’s staring at himself in the mirror thinking how big his chest looks, really just has a bad case of upper crossed syndrome and his shoulders are just extremely internally rotated.
Rather than hop right into what exercises to do for a bigger chest, I know that’s what most of you are looking for, I’m going to start by explaining how you can begin to correct upper crossed syndrome since a vast majority of the population as it.
Upper crossed syndrome is described as someone having a rounded upper back, tight and overactive pecs as well as weak and under active rhomboids and scapular stabilizers. It develops in a vast majority of the population due to the fact that most of our days are spent at desks in front of computers or on the couch in front of a TV. Unaware of our posture we slouch and before you know it this becomes a habit and our muscles become tighter and tighter. The shoulders, chest, hip internal rotators and inner thighs all become extremely tight and create muscle imbalances as a result of this repetitive nature. Poor posture and how it affects your workouts could spark a whole other article in itself so for now I’ll stop at that.
First things first, reduce the over activity in the chest and anterior portion of the shoulders. This can be done with a foam roller or what works best is a lacrosse ball placed against a wall on the mid to outer portion of the chest. Roll around the area for about 30 seconds stopping on trigger points to release the tension in the muscle. Click here to see for yourself http://www.youtube.com/user/totalfithealth This is like hitting the reset button for your chest and shoulders. Tension becomes less and less as pressure is applied to the trigger point more and more. Our goal is to reprogram the body and get it away from wanting to slouch forward and get it used to standing tall with a big chest and straight back.
Following this, some scapular activation with some wall slides or what I’ve come to love lately is a band pull series geared toward activating the muscles around the scapula and mid back. Take a mini band and cut it in half or use a small piece of tubing. Put your arms out in front of you, keep your elbows straight and pull back on the band. The band should finish right across the bottom of your chest. Perform this 10 times then do the same motion overhead and then diagonally in front of you switching which hand is on top of the other after 10 reps. You should feel tightness in your mid back following the exercise. Combined with the wall rolls, these activation exercises help to immediately decrease the tightness in the chest.
If you’re following where I’m going with this you’ll probably realize that the trick to a bigger chest really doesn’t have much to do with the chest at all.
In order to push something away from you, you need a solid base of support. That solid base of support comes in the form of your back and shoulder stabilizers. Having just stretched and activated the scapular stabilizers it’s now time to work them in the proper fashion.
Most people don’t pay attention to their shoulder blades when performing a bench press or push up for that matter. The shoulder blades should be kept down and back throughout the entire motion of both a push up and a bench press. Try a push up right now without thinking about form, just hop down and do a quick push up and take note of how easy or difficult that may be.
Now focus on keeping your shoulders down and back throughout the entire push up. You should feel tightness underneath your armpits. The second time around should have felt a lot easier. You have more of a solid base of support and therefore the transfer of energy through your hands into the ground is more direct.
“Pushing” is exactly what a bench press or any chest exercise is for that matter. The more stable the shoulder joint is, the more load it will be able to handle and the more power you will be able to exert.
The truth is there are a ton of different ways to get a bigger chest, high volume training, muscle isolation (mainly used for body builders that work out for 3 hours a day for 7 days a week), bodyweight, tempo training, etc. As long as you have a strong back all of them will be very effective, hence the title pull here for a bigger chest!
TRX rows, single-arm cable rows, pull ups, pull downs, bench rows, and kettle bells rows are great examples of exercises to do to get a bigger back. Your new upright posture will certainly make it seem as though all you have been doing is chest when really you may not have been doing much pushing at all. If you’re someone who has upper crossed syndrome then balance your workouts so that you are always doing a 2:1 ratio of back exercises to chest exercises. That combined with foam rolling and scapular muscle activation will help tremendously in creating better posture.
To speed up results follow the 5 nutrition habits listed on our website. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter and be sure to stay up to date with the latest training and nutrition tips on how to live a healthier, stronger life. If you have any questions or want to come try us out please e-mail me at chris.abbott@totalfitnessandhealth.net, and we can set you up on our 2-week free trial. Till next time...
Move Better. Feel Better. Look Better!
Chris Abbott
posted: August 30, 2011
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| Amazing Results From Chris Abbott, Take Advantage Of Our Holiday Offer! |
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If you were given an opportunity to lose 6.87% body fat, 8.77lbs of fat, and gain 5.76lbs of lean muscle between now and new years, would you take advantage of it?! Of course you would!
Start 2012 off on the right foot and blast your body with some amazing results from Chris Abbott and Total Fitness and Health. The holiday season is a time for giving, and that’s exactly why I’m going to give you the best gift possible, amazing health and fitness results! Take a look at what some of our members accomplished in as little as 4-6 weeks:
- In 6 weeks Mike lost 3.3% body fat, 6.42lbs of fat, and gained 5.62lbs of lean muscle!
- In 5 weeks Tina lost 6.87% body fat, 8.77lbs of fat, and gained 5.76lbs of lean muscle!
- In 6 weeks Key lost 5.71% body fat, 10.29lbs of fat, and gained 13.29 pounds of muscle!
- In 4 weeks Eric lost 2.05% body fat, 4.28 pounds of fat, and gained 4.28lbs of muscle!
- In 8 weeks with just 2 workouts a week, Kathy lost 3.33% body fat, 4.9lbs of fat, and gained 2.4lbs of lean muscle!
The results don’t lie; we get you results plain and simple! Our secret is simplicity and consistency, simple to in implement programs and consistency with those programs creates amazing results! Normally we run a two week free trial to give our potential members a chance to try out our system. Over the holiday season we are going to extend that free trial offer from now until the first week of new years! But you have to act now!
If you sign up between now and the end of the week 12/2/11, you can train with Chris Abbot and Total Fitness and Health absolutely free until the first week of 2012. That’s 4 weeks of free unlimited personal training, unlimited Quick Burn group classes, and nutrition coaching! You saw what some of our members achieved in as little as 4 weeks, so why wait?
Some of you might be saying to yourself, “man I really wish I could take advantage of this offer, but I’ll be gone for the holidays”. That’s ok, I understand a lot of people travel throughout the holiday season, which is why I will rollover any unused weeks you are not able to use during the offer, assuring you’ll get 4 weeks of free unlimited personal training and the results you want over the holidays! But remember you have to contact me before the end of the week to get in on this great offer.
As another gift for the holiday season, I’ll be giving away 6 months, 12 months, and even a year of free unlimited personal training to those of you who refer 4, 8, and 12 people to Total Fitness and Health respectively!
There’s never been a better time to start achieving your goal than right now. You could reach your goals and potentially not spend a single penny! Remember contact me by the end of the week to take advantage of this great offer. Please forward this to anyone you know who could benefit from unlimited personal training, absolutely free! I know I know a handful of people!
Follow me on twitter @chris_abbott1 and @totalhealthfit, “like” my Facebook page Personal Trainer LA and be sure to stay up to date with promotions and get great fitness, nutrition, and motivational advice. Happy Holidays everyone and I hope to hear from all of you soon!
Move Better. Feel Better. Look Better!
posted: November 29, 2011
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| Easy Steps to simplify your workout and get better results |
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For most people, working out less or making things easier mentally doesn’t equate to getting better results. It’s hard to wrap your head around the idea that doing less will actually get you more. Doing less is only one aspect to the equation; its what you’re doing less of and still doing that makes all the difference in the world. To help make things easier for you here’s 5 tips that can help to simplify your workout and get your better results.
1.) Write your One Goal on a piece of paper with a pen, it may look overwhelming, that’s why you chunk it down. Set a timeline for when you’d like to achieve your goal and break it down into smaller monthly goals that help you reach your main One Goal. From there chunk it again to weekly goals. By now your One Goal should be looking rather small and much more attainable. Lastly break it down to daily tasks that will help keep you on track towards achieving your goal; these may be little things like eating an afternoon snack or remembering to take your fish oil and vitamin D in the morning. Writing all this down makes it feel more real and provides you with a bit of excitement in anticipation that you’re actually going to achieve your goal. Place these chunked down goals and tasks in an area where you will see it often. Try to limit yourself to 3 tasks a day and to focus on one goal a week.
2.) Pick a time to workout that works for you everyday. Being consistent is the key to success. You may have a busy schedule that doesn’t allow you to be very flexible, in which case I would recommend you try to workout as early as you can. It might be difficult at first but mornings tend to be the time that most people can afford to workout they just prefer to not wake up early. The problem with waiting till the afternoon or even after work is as your day goes on you get tired, you start to dread going into the gym, work ends and all you’d like to do is go home. Get it out of the way and get on with your day. You’ll feel much better, won’t stress out about having to make it to the gym, and you’ll be more productive at work, its been proven. If you’re someone who only works out at night that’s ok too, the key is to be consistent.
3.) Never skip a workout more than two days in a row. Taking days off is completely different from skipping a workout. Getting better results is all about creating better habits, stretching, nutrition, foam rolling, staying hydrated, even just making it to the gym. These are all good habits you try to create in route to achieving your goal. Rest days are planned into the program to give you just that, rest and the ability to recover from your workouts in order to come back stronger. Skipping days every now and then is fine but the more and more they become an occurrence the more likely it is to develop into a bad habit. Unfortunately this is just the way things works, its always much harder to do a good thing and easier to do a bad thing. Don’t let skipping workouts become a habit. If you find you consistently take or need the same day off every week adjust your workout routine so maybe you workout two days in a row, take two days off, and then workout another 2 days to finish off the week.
4.) Find a workout buddy. Working out with a friend is always more fun and will always get both of you better results. It holds you accountable to yourself and for another person. Days when you don’t feel like working out your workout buddy can lift you up and visa versa. If you’re someone who is new to working out I highly recommend you find a workout buddy. Starting something new can be a very difficult task. A workout partner gives you someone to help you feel more grounded and comfortable in a new environment.
5.) Perform this workout, or choose your own consisting of 2 circuits, 3 exercises each, and perform the workout 4-5 days a week. By only doing 6 exercises and bunching them into 2 different circuits, it’s extremely time efficient enabling you to get your workout in, get out of the gym, and get on with your life. Here’s an example of what I mean.
Circuit 1: Ball Slams, Pushaways, and Reverse Lunges – perform 5 sets of 10 reps of each exercise performing 10 on each arm with the pushaways (using a slick service such as a tile or gym floor, grab two towels and place one hand on each while in a push up position. Squeeze your glutes to stabilize your hips and reach out as far as you can with one arm, slide it back into position by pulling in with your hand and repeat on the other side). Rest 30-45 seconds in between sets and give yourself a 2-3 minute rest before starting the next circuit.
Circuit 2: Rear Foot Elevated Split Squats (RFESS), TRX Row, Push Up – perform 4-5 sets of 8-10 reps each exercise. For beginners I recommend starting off with only 3 sets. To perform a RFESS find a bench or a box, facing away from the bench reach back and place the top of your foot on the bench so our shoelaces are flat on the bench. Lower yourself down as you sit back into your hips. Drive through the heel to stand up and squeeze your glutes. You should feel this in the front leg behind the leg (glutes and hamstrings) and slightly in the quads (front of the leg). If you’re only feeling it in your quad sit back into your hips more and make sure the knee doesn’t travel forward. Rest 30-45 seconds in between each set.
Move Better. Feel Better. Look Better!
posted: January 26, 2012
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| Back to the basics, Push Ups |
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Exercise of the day: Push Ups
One of the most basic exercises, however a majority of people do them wrong. When done correctly push ups work your chest, shoulders, triceps, and core. The number one limiting factor for most people is typically core stability.
Start at a height that you are able to maintain a solid plank both down and up. Squeeze your Glutes, pin your shoulder blades down and back, grip the ground and "pull" yourself towards the ground. Go down for 2 seconds and up quickly. Repeat.
People often ask how to get a big chest and "melons" for shoulders.... This is how! 10 sets, 10 reps
posted: November 30, 2011
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| Live in LA? Get Unlimited Training sessions from Chris Abbott and Total Fitness and Health! |
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Today I bring a bit of inspiration, motivation, and determination to the table. How often do you wish that you could see a trainer every time you worked out? I’m sure you’ve probably said to yourself, “Man if I had him/her every day I would be in a amazing shape!” Well as a new company I have more or less been on a trial and error type of system as far as sessions, pricing, incentives, etc. go. After returning from yet another seminar just a couple weekends ago I was asked by one of the presenters what I am passionate about? What inspires me? What motivates me? Deep questions. I had to think for a little bit about each one and then I came to this conclusion.
Fitness, as I’m sure all of you could have guessed, inspires and motivates me, and I am truly passionate for it. My family inspires me. The mountains inspire me, but most of all I’m passionate about changing peoples lives. I’m inspired by the determination I see in my clients to live a better life, and that is why I am in this business!
I feel fortunate enough that I have the knowledge, tools, and skills to help change someone’s life. I feel that there is a great sense of responsibility that comes with having these tools and this knowledge. Under most systems, and currently mine, people have to pay more money for more sessions. Obviously seeing a trainer every day becomes a very expensive cost at that point. After analyzing how many people were working out 1-2 days a week on their own, monitoring who was getting the best results, and thinking of ways to use my knowledge, tools, and skills as best as I possibly can I have now come to this conclusion.
UNLIMITED SEMI-PRIVATE TRAINING SESSIONS! I know what you’re thinking, “How can you do that? Are you serious?” Yes I’m serious! For me its simple, I know I can dramatically help you live a better life with the advice and training I provide, so why should I deprive that from you and charge you more for wanting to make a difference in your life? Well I no longer will, in fact you’ll be rewarded with unlimited training sessions for wanting to make such a change in your life!
Going forward the new system with Total Fitness and Health will be unlimited semi-private training sessions (3 on 1) for a flat rate of $337 per month. This includes the Quick Burn classes that I teach on Mondays and Wednesdays at noon and Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7pm. If you’re currently not working with me and are interested in stopping by to try it out, you are more than welcome to come in for a two-week FREE trial. You’ll get as many training sessions as you’d like, access to as many Quick Burn classes as you’d like, as well as an initial fitness assessment and nutrition coaching along the way. I’m basically giving my services away! Under other systems this type of commitment could cost you upwards of $1,500 a month. That’s almost 4.5 X what 1 month will cost you to get guaranteed results with Total Fitness and Health.
As I leave you today, I want you to ask yourself the questions I was asked a couple weekends ago. What inspires you? What motivates you? What you are passionate about? If feeling healthy and fit motivates you, if seeing people lose hundreds of pounds on the Biggest Loser inspires you, if you’re passionate about living a fun, active lifestyle with your family, then I think together you and I make a great team, and a team is much stronger than any individual can ever be.
If you have any questions or comments please feel free to email or call me. If you have facebook, check out my page at Personal Trainer LA or if you have Twitter please follow me @Chris_Abbott1 and @Totalhealthfit. Get nutrition and exercise tips, work outs, and life and motivational inspiration to help you make a change in your life. I look forward to having all of you on my team!
Move Better. Feel Better. Look Better!
posted: November 9, 2011
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| Need a Quick, simple, and effective warm up routine? |
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Here's a quick, effective warm up that can be used as a morning routine to get the blood flowing or is great for pre-workout.
Push up position calf stretch – assume a push up position and place one foot on the heel of your other foot. Come up onto your toes and then drive your heel down to the ground. Avoid any ballistic movements and bouncing. Move at a moderate pace. You should feel a stretch in the back of your leg and ankle. Perform 10 repetitions on each side.
Push up position step and overhead reach – Following the calf stretch flow into this next one. Bring one foot up next to your hands so one leg is straight and the other is placed along side one of your arms. If you have a difficult time getting into this position use a small step or box to place your hands on. This will make it easier for you to bring your foot forward. Once in position reach straight out with the arm closest to your front foot. Get a good reach and then rotate upward toward the ceiling. You should feel a nice stretch in your mid back, hamstrings, glutes, and lats. Perform 1 overhead reach and switch sides replacing one foot with the other and reach with the other arm. Perform 10 total reps in an alternating fashion.
Deep Squat – Lastly stand up and take a hip-width stance. Reach back with your hips as far as possible slowly lowering yourself to squat position aiming for the tops of your thighs to be parallel to the ground. Maintain a tall posture with your chest up and shoulders back. Once your elbows have reached your knees place them inside both knees and use them to pry your legs apart. Make sure to keep your feet flat on the floor. This will also give you stability to maintain a tall posture. Attempt to sit down and back and remain tall at the same time. Thinking of driving your head into the back of your car seat will help to lengthen the spine. Hold for 2-3 seconds and stand up. Perform 8-10 reps and get on with your workout!
posted: January 30, 2012
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| Holiday Workout Program |
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The Holiday season is in full swing, people are backing their bags and heading out of town for up to two weeks at a time. For most this means a break in their workout program, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Most people feel if they can just remain the same weight over the holidays they’ve succeeded. I understand that, and while that’s ok, know there are easy workouts you can do at home that require no equipment and can even enhance your results while away over the holidays.
Because about half of my clients will be away for the holidays, as well as my self, I decided to make a couple different holiday workout programs for everyone to benefit from. One will be nothing but body weight exercises for those who are traveling to a place where going to a gym is neither an option nor a desire. Another will be a TRX workout for those of you that travel with a TRX. If you don’t have one and would like one they are a great holiday gift and TRX is actually running a holiday promotion, just use the code TRXGIVE when checking out and receive 20% off your order. I love mine and often do entire workouts just with that one piece of equipment! Last will be a modified gym workout kept simple, and time efficient so as not to take up too much of your free time during the holidays. Just choose one that’s right for you and get to work!
If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me at Chris.Abbott@TotalFitnessandHealth.net. Be on the look out for a great weight loss challenge program starting in January to help kick start your new year’s resolutions! Till Next time…
Move Better. Feel Better. Look Better!
BODY WEIGHT
3 sets
Front Plank – 60s
Jumping Jacks – 20
Burpee’s – 10
3-4 sets
Reverse Lunge – 15 ea
Push Ups – 15
TRX
3 sets
Body Saw – 10
Assisted Squat Jump – 10
Anti-Rotation Press – 10ea
3-4 sets
Elevated Split Squat – 10 ea
Row – 10
Assisted Single Leg Squat - 10 ea
GYM
3 sets
Front Plank – 60s
Stability Ball Stir the pot – 10 ea
3-4 sets
Ball Slams – 10
Dumbbell Goblet Squat – 10
TRX Row – 10
posted: December 18, 2011
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| Why you’re Probably Not Eating Enough To Lose Weight: Part 1 |
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Diets seem to fade in and out like the latest pair of trendy jeans to wear. People constantly change their diets hoping to stumble upon one that finally works. The problem with a generic diet plan is it doesn’t address certain personal factors that may prevent you from losing or gaining weight.
Naturally we are creatures of habit, the mind and body seek out what’s most readily remembered and that which requires little to no thought behind an action. This is why starting a new diet and workout program is so difficult at first. You’re going against what the body likes and wants to do which is to keep things easy for you.
Our topic, why you’re probably not eating enough to lose weight, needs to be addressed on a few different levels. In part 1 we’ll discuss what’s the best way to eat and how to create healthy eating habits.
At Total Fitness and Health we teach 5 habits to a healthier, stronger lifestyle. We shy away from the word diet because as discussed earlier the key is to ingrain better habits, not just follow a program for a few months and revert back to our old ways. We don’t want your mind and body to think twice about eating protein with every meal, or having a piece of fruit rather than that slice of bread you’re craving. Each habit is equally important but for the sake of making an easy transition from your current diet to the 5 habits, they are numbered from 1-5 starting the frequency and amount of meals to eat per day you should be eating. Read through the 5 habits and take note about your own diet. Be brutally honest as any fibs well only further delay you making the full transition down the road.
Step 1. Eat 5 Times a Day
For most of you this will seem totally foreign. The typical train of thought is to east less when trying to lose weight. The first key to nutritional success is eating more frequently. This is good for two reasons; the frequency increase will actually raise your body temperature slightly which will increase your metabolism, burning more calories, the second; when you eat more frequently naturally portion sizes become smaller, which helps to regulate total calories consumed per day. Simply put this is a must do for a healthier diet and faster results!
Figure out how many hours a day you are awake and divide that number by 3. It typically comes out to about 5. This is how many meals a day you should be eating. One of the reasons why you need to eat this many times per day is because the traditional 3 meals a day diet doesn’t give you nearly enough meals to fit in all your nutritional needs. This leads to heavy snacking in between meals and binging during breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you’re not eating 5 times a day start adding a meal per week until you are comfortable with your new routine.
Step 2. Eat a Complete Source of Protein with Every Meal
Now that you are eating 5 times a day its time to make sure what you’re eating is what you should be eating. The staple to any meal is a complete source of protein. A complete source of protein typically comes from animal products such as chicken, turkey breast, beef, fish, and dairy including yogurt, cottage cheese, and milk. The grain quinoa is also a complete protein. These protein sources contain all the essential amino acids that your body needs for protein synthesis which helps your muscles repair themselves following the grueling workout you should be putting yourself through.
Shakes often come in handy to fulfill this need throughout the day as either a mid morning or mid afternoon meal. A quality casein shake will satisfy your protein needs if you are unable to have an actual meal due to work constraints or lack of time. Most people think that protein shakes are reserved for athletes or people who want to gain weight. To quote Mike Boyle “Think of a protein shake as a chicken breast”. That’s really all it is, it’s a protein supplement, just like your fish oil is a fish oil supplement. If you’re not eating enough protein or don’t have time during the day to eat it, drink it! Neglecting your protein intake can not only delay muscle recovery but also delay your weight loss or weight gain, something that you do not want! Men should eat 1-2 servings with every meal, which is about 40-60 grams. Women should eat at least 1 serving of 20-30 grams with every meal. In part 2 of this article we’ll discuss how you can more accurately determine how much protein you need to be eating per meal.
Step 3. Eat Fruits and Vegetables with Every Meal
Steps 2 and 3 pretty much go hand and hand. You might as well think of them as one step all together. However when trying to make the switch from your current diet its often easier to take things one slow step at a time. Its been proven that someone is 80% likely to achieve a goal when they have just 1 thing to achieve, as soon as you throw in a second one, the percentage drops to 20%! Not a very good rate of success. Even for those of you that are very diligent with everything you do in life make it an effort to take your nutrition transition slowly and results will come faster and last longer!
When choosing what fruits and vegetables to eat look for dark, leafy greens and bright colors. These will be more nutrient dense foods. Make sure to have 2 servings of vegetables and 1 serving of fruit (again look at the size of the palm of your hand).
Step 4. Reduce your Carb Intake
If you have a goal of weight loss it’s best to get most of your carbs from your fruits and vegetables. Breakfast and post workout are the only times that you will want other types of carbs including brown rice, quinoa, yams, potatoes, and oats. These are just a few but are some of the best choices. If you have a goal of weight gain make sure that the carbs you are eating are whole grain, unprocessed, and unrefined.
It’s important to begin taking a post workout shake if you don’t already do so. Post workout nutrition is extremely important! This is the one and only time we encourage you to have a sugary smoothie or shake. Post workout your body is depleted both mentally and physically, the spike in your insulin levels will help to absorb more nutrients as well as help get your CNS (central nervous system) back on track and avoid leaving your lethargic and drowsy throughout the rest of your day. Needless to say, post workout shakes also aid in recovery. Faster recovery leads to more energy for the next workout, which means better results for you!
Shakes should try to have a 2:1 carb to protein ratio for post workout nutrition. Feel free to indulge here, if you’re having a post workout shake then you’ve earned it. Note despite how much you may enjoy your post workout shake make sure you reserve it for just that, post workout and only post workout. For some people the post workout shake alone is a reason for them to workout, hey whatever works!
Step 5. Do Not Avoid Fats
Again yet another area of nutrition where people feel they just can’t bring themselves to change. The food pyramid has always taught us to eat fats and oils sparingly. Because of this, naturally most people have a negative view of fats and oils. However not all fats and oils are bad for you. In fact a there a lot that can help you live longer, healthier lives! The key is having a balance of all three types of fats. Saturated fats are the worst type of fat and also the type people eat the most! Animal products contain saturated fats so there is no need to think of actively eating more of them. Monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats both have numerous health benefits and therefore are necessary to include in your diet. Fats like olive oil, omega 3, omega 6, avocado, flax, peanuts, fish, almonds, canola, and safflower are all examples of great sources of healthy fats to include in your diet.
If you’re not following these 5 habits already begin now! Start at the top of the list and gradually work you way down taking a week or two to get used to each new step. Remember, its been proven that someone is 80% likely to achieve a goal when they have just 1 thing to achieve, as soon as a second is thrown in the percentage drops to 20%! Implementing the 5 habits with a solid workout program is a surefire way to fast, long lasting results!
In part 2 of this article I’ll be discussing body types and give you helpful formulas that will determine how many grams of each macronutrient you should be getting in each of your 5 meals throughout the day.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter and be sure to stay up to date with the latest training and nutrition tips on how to live a healthier, stronger life! If you have any questions or want to come try us out please e-mail me at chris.abbott@totalfitnessandhealth.net , and I can set you up on our 2-week free trial. Till next time...
Move Better. Feel Better. Look Better!
Chris Abbott
posted: September 7, 2011
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| Sled Pulls; The Catch all exercise! |
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Harness yourself to a sled, load that sled with some heavy weight and walk aggressively for a given distance. That’s the quick easy instruction on how to do a sled pull. Most people would take one look at that exercise and say, “You’re crazy”! I must admit, it does look a bit manly, and seems like it should be reserved for big guys in pads on a football field. But at further glance, there really is a lot more going on here.
Strength – Yes there is clearly some lower body strengthening going on here, in fact what I think works best for a coaching tool is to mimic the strong men doing the tracker pull; short choppy steps, powerful ground contact, and rhythm.
Power – Needless to say there is certainly a lot of lower body power development going on as well. The fact that you are performing a natural gait easily correlates to on the field, court, or ice power that is fully functional
Cardio – Give yourself a distance of about 40-50 yards; perform 5-6, even work up too 8-10 rounds pulling the sled down and back. If your not breathing more heavily than you do on your typical “cardio” days then you need to man up and throw some more weight on there. The exercise should shoot your heart rate sky high, increasing your anaerobic and aerobic cardiovascular systems as well as your metabolism, which is the key for fat loss. If you haven’t read my article on the keys to fat loss check it out. You’ll need no further explanation as to why this is a great cardiovascular exercise!
Last but certainly not least, the sled pull serves as a great corrective exercise tool as well!
The corrective exercise craze is still in full effect. Slowly more and more people are beginning to realize that you don’t have to spend ¾ of a training session performing corrective exercises involving a table, some mini bands, and a small step stool. More often than not people come to a trainer to lose weight. Everyone has a need for corrective exercise somewhere in his or her body, so what’s the easy solution? Perform exercises that naturally correct people’s movement patterns while building strength, and increasing their metabolism! Goblet squats are a perfect example of this, however after performing my sled pulls the other day it became quite clear to me that the sled pull could now become my favorite strength, power, cardio, and corrective exercise! Not only was it building strength, power, and both my anaerobic and aerobic cardiovascular levels, it was it was correcting my left hip extension movement pattern!
Here’s a little bit more a specific breakdown to the sled pull in order to fully show you how this quickly can be used to correct movement patterns, I’ll assume you have harnessed yourself to the sled and threw a significant amount of weight on there as well. There are really just two steps:
Step 1. Lean forward slightly to put tension on the sled, the angle should be very slight and just enough to put the weight of the sled on your body. From here flex the hip by driving one knee straight up towards your chest, get your knee at least hip height and strive for above your hip without losing your balance and allowing the leg to rotate outwards.
Step 2. As you begin hip extension think of driving the ball of your foot flat into the ground, this should be forceful and direct. As soon as the ball of your foot strikes the ground think of squeezing your butt to complete the full hip extension cycle and repeat.
This is what you would see in a slow motion viewing of a properly executed sled pull. This becomes a corrective exercise for a few reasons; one, your core is automatically engaged because of the load harnessed to your body (In re-patterning the body’s movement patterns the core becomes a key focal point). More often than not the core simply does not turn on first prior to hip extension or hip flexion. With the sled pull there is no need to think of “activating” the core, the load on the sled will do so for you. Because your core is working throughout the entire hip flexion and hip extension cycle you are therefore in effect correcting a hip flexion and hip extension movement pattern deficiency; over time of course.
So long as you remember to extend the hip with your glute, (every step think “squeeze my butt”) the forceful ground contact with each strike drives home the idea of a glute dominant hip extension rather than most peoples hamstring dominant hip extension.
As if that wasn’t enough for my finisher the other day, a co-worker of mine suggested I do a bear crawl sled pull. New to me, but yet again love at first sight! Check out what it looks like here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9jarYymKT8
This particular exercise is yet another catch all. The nice thing about the bear crawl pull is that you can involve the upper body as well by pulling your scapula down and back with each cycle of your hand. I like the crawl for more of a flexion dominant exercise and the straight up pull for more of an extension based exercise. The straight up pull can be loaded a number of different ways, I personally like holding a sand bag with a zercher hold. This really engages the core and makes the whole exercise a lot more difficult!
Breaking the two into these categories fall right into place with most peoples knee dominant and hip dominant programs. Although both seem like knee dominant I think the overall effect could be more hip dominant for the straight up pull and more knee dominant for the bear crawl pull. Maybe these will be the next great strength exercises and eventually replace the heavily favored back and front squat. Deadlifts are just too much fun, so we can’t do away with those, who knows though time will tell. Happy sled pulling!!
Follow me on twitter @Chris_Abbott1 and @TotalHealthFit. If you live in the LA area stop by or give me a call, I’d love to help you achieve your fitness goals!
Till next time….
Move Better. Feel Better. Look Better!
posted: October 19, 2011
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| Sled Pulls; The Catch all exercise! |
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Harness yourself to a sled, load that sled with some heavy weight and walk aggressively for a given distance. That’s the quick easy instruction on how to do a sled pull. Most people would take one look at that exercise and say, “You’re crazy”! I must admit, it does look a bit manly, and seems like it should be reserved for big guys in pads on a football field. But at further glance, there really is a lot more going on here.
Strength – Yes there is clearly some lower body strengthening going on here, in fact what I think works best for a coaching tool is to mimic the strong men doing the tracker pull; short choppy steps, powerful ground contact, and rhythm.
Power – Needless to say there is certainly a lot of lower body power development going on as well. The fact that you are performing a natural gait easily correlates to on the field, court, or ice power that is fully functional
Cardio – Give yourself a distance of about 40-50 yards; perform 5-6, even work up too 8-10 rounds pulling the sled down and back. If your not breathing more heavily than you do on your typical “cardio” days then you need to man up and throw some more weight on there. The exercise should shoot your heart rate sky high, increasing your anaerobic and aerobic cardiovascular systems as well as your metabolism, which is the key for fat loss. If you haven’t read my article on the keys to fat loss check it out. You’ll need no further explanation as to why this is a great cardiovascular exercise!
Last but certainly not least, the sled pull serves as a great corrective exercise tool as well!
The corrective exercise craze is still in full effect. Slowly more and more people are beginning to realize that you don’t have to spend ¾ of a training session performing corrective exercises involving a table, some mini bands, and a small step stool. More often than not people come to a trainer to lose weight. Everyone has a need for corrective exercise somewhere in his or her body, so what’s the easy solution? Perform exercises that naturally correct people’s movement patterns while building strength, and increasing their metabolism! Goblet squats are a perfect example of this, however after performing my sled pulls the other day it became quite clear to me that the sled pull could now become my favorite strength, power, cardio, and corrective exercise! Not only was it building strength, power, and both my anaerobic and aerobic cardiovascular levels, it was it was correcting my left hip extension movement pattern!
Here’s a little bit more a specific breakdown to the sled pull in order to fully show you how this quickly can be used to correct movement patterns, I’ll assume you have harnessed yourself to the sled and threw a significant amount of weight on there as well. There are really just two steps:
Step 1. Lean forward slightly to put tension on the sled, the angle should be very slight and just enough to put the weight of the sled on your body. From here flex the hip by driving one knee straight up towards your chest, get your knee at least hip height and strive for above your hip without losing your balance and allowing the leg to rotate outwards.
Step 2. As you begin hip extension think of driving the ball of your foot flat into the ground, this should be forceful and direct. As soon as the ball of your foot strikes the ground think of squeezing your butt to complete the full hip extension cycle and repeat.
This is what you would see in a slow motion viewing of a properly executed sled pull. This becomes a corrective exercise for a few reasons; one, your core is automatically engaged because of the load harnessed to your body (In re-patterning the body’s movement patterns the core becomes a key focal point). More often than not the core simply does not turn on first prior to hip extension or hip flexion. With the sled pull there is no need to think of “activating” the core, the load on the sled will do so for you. Because your core is working throughout the entire hip flexion and hip extension cycle you are therefore in effect correcting a hip flexion and hip extension movement pattern deficiency; over time of course.
So long as you remember to extend the hip with your glute, (every step think “squeeze my butt”) the forceful ground contact with each strike drives home the idea of a glute dominant hip extension rather than most peoples hamstring dominant hip extension.
As if that wasn’t enough for my finisher the other day, a co-worker of mine suggested I do a bear crawl sled pull. New to me, but yet again love at first sight! Check out what it looks like here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9jarYymKT8
This particular exercise is yet another catch all. The nice thing about the bear crawl pull is that you can involve the upper body as well by pulling your scapula down and back with each cycle of your hand. I like the crawl for more of a flexion dominant exercise and the straight up pull for more of an extension based exercise. The straight up pull can be loaded a number of different ways, I personally like holding a sand bag with a zercher hold. This really engages the core and makes the whole exercise a lot more difficult!
Breaking the two into these categories fall right into place with most peoples knee dominant and hip dominant programs. Although both seem like knee dominant I think the overall effect could be more hip dominant for the straight up pull and more knee dominant for the bear crawl pull. Maybe these will be the next great strength exercises and eventually replace the heavily favored back and front squat. Deadlifts are just too much fun, so we can’t do away with those, who knows though time will tell. Happy sled pulling!!
Follow me on twitter @Chris_Abbott1 and @TotalHealthFit. If you live in the LA area stop by or give me a call, I’d love to help you achieve your fitness goals!
Till next time….
Move Better. Feel Better. Look Better!
posted: October 19, 2011
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| Nutrition, Exercise, and Motivational Tips of the Week |
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Nutritional Tip of the Week:
Start taking a fish oil, and green tea extract supplement.
Fish oil has been proven to benefit the cardiovascular system, brain function and development, as well as help to speed up your metabolism.
Green tea extract is labeled as a fat burner and really it does help to burn fat. In order to burn fat your fat cells need to be oxidized, which is which strenuous activity that makes you breath heavily is good for fat loss. Green tea extract actually helps to oxidize your fat cells so that when you workout your readily able to burn more fat. I recommend taking 2 capsules in the morning with breakfast and 2 mid day. It also helps to give you a little kick-start to your day and mid afternoon.
Exercise Tip of the Week:
Break up your weekend run into smaller more intense sprints
If you’re currently running for exercise think about why you are. Is it for fat loss or sport? If its for fat loss you’ll be better served trying a “less is more” tactic. For fat loss again you want to pick exercises that are going to make you breath very heavy. My recommendation for this week, break up your long run into smaller more intense bursts of speed. Do a warm up jog of about 5 minutes followed by 6-8 15 second all out effort sprints. Stop and walk for a rest period of 45 seconds to a minute and then repeat. When you are done cool down with another 5 minute jog. This workout will be less time consuming than most normal run workouts and give you that sought after “after burn” effect that people look for in a workout. You’ll increase you metabolism and start to notice a difference after just a week of 2-3 days of sprinting. If you have heart or health issues please consult a doctor prior to trying this method.
Motivational Quote for the Week:
Jump and the net will appear
To quote Nike, “Just Do It”. If you’re a little apprehensive to starting something new or maybe feel like the risk is too much to take on whether it be in work or play, sometimes the best thing to do is jump. Life has a way of creating a safety net.
Facebook: Personal Trainer LA / Twitter: @Chris_Abbott1 and @TotalHealthFit
MOVE BETTER. FEEL BETTER. LOOK BETTER!
posted: November 14, 2011
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| Out of town? Here’s a quick workout you can do in any hotel room with just a couple bath towels! |
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“I can’t workout this weekend, I’m going out of town”. Does wherever you’re going have a gym near by or in the facility? “Not really, plus I’ll be extremely busy”.
Sound like a familiar conversation? Most people use going out of town as a great excuse to get a break from their normal workout routines. At first glance, a place with no gym coupled with a busy work schedule would validate the thought of not being able to squeeze in a quick workout. That’s exactly why I’m going to tell you how you can get a quick workout in with only a couple bath towels and still make it to your business meeting on time!
First, if you’re staying at any halfway decent hotel, I’m going to assume you have access to a bathroom and a couple of bath towels. If you don’t, might I suggest finding another place to spend the night! The bathroom will need to have tile or wood flooring in order for the towels to slide easily across the floor. If there are only carpeted floors throughout the room, a good investment would be to purchase a pair of Valslides. You can buy them through www.performbetter.com or www.valslide.com .They’re roughly $30 and will give you the ability to bring with you an entire arsenal of exercises with just one small mesh bag.
If you’ve used the valslides, or something similar before, then you already know the multiple workouts possibilities there are with these tools. Here is a quick one that will leave you panting, pumped, and ready to tackle your business meeting head on.
Step 1: R.A.M.P (Range of Motion-Mobility, Activate, Movement Prep)
The term is from Rachel and Alwyn Cosgrove’s gym, Results Fitness. The exercises used are designed to do exactly what it sounds like, get you prepped for you upcoming workout. I like to use these 5 exercises that address the most common movement pattern deficiencies then add a few more to get the heart rate pumping a little more.
Leg Lowering – Lie on your back with your hands at your side, stick both feet up in the air and keep your feet together, lower one leg while keeping the other one in the same position. You’ll feel this in your core as well as the hamstring of the leg that is in the up position.
Quadruped T-Spine Rotations – Start on your knees and elbows with one hand placed behind your back, dip your shoulder down and turn your head inward toward your body, put pressure in the floor with the hand that is on the ground, rotate up and around and look over your shoulder. You should feel a stretch in the middle back and shoulder as well.
½ Kneeling Hip Extension w/ Core Engagement – Take a knee next to a bed or object that you can press into, squeeze your glute on the down leg, keep a tall posture and lean forward over the front knee. Your knee should travel over the toes of your front foot. Shift out for 2-3 seconds and come back in. Keep your glute tight as your shift out.
Mountain Climbers w/ Overhead Reach – Start in a push up position, keep a tall posture as you bring one foot forward toward your hands, keep your foot flat on the ground and reach overhead with the arm on the side of the leg you just raised, bring it back down and repeat.
Squat to Stand w/ Core Engagement – Take a slightly wider than hip width stance and place a pillow in front of your feet, bend down and apply pressure to the pillow with your legs straight, keep pressure on the pillow and squat down with your butt out and elbows in between your knees as you get lower, keep pressure in the pillow and raise one hand over head, take pressure off the pillow and raise the other hand overhead, stand up with both arms remaining overhead and repeat, alternate which arm you raise first each rep.
Pogo Hops – Hop in place as quickly as you can. You’re looking for short; quick repetitive hop off the ground.
Jumping Jacks – Everyone should know how to do a jumping jack!
Crossover Jumping Jacks – Same as a normal jumping jack but rather than having your arms go overhead, cross the arms in front of your body and extend back, think “thumbs in, thumbs out” as you alternate in and out.
Perform 1 set of each exercise with 10 reps per side.
Step 2: The Workout
The idea here is to do as many rounds of the circuit as you can in the given amount of time you have. For this workout we’ll use a time of 10 minutes.
Jump Squats – Place your feet about hip width apart, butt out, chest up, squat down and jump up.
Push Ups – Shoulders down and back, squeeze your glutes, grip the floor, lower yourself down for a count of 2-3 seconds and power up.
Towel/Valslide Leg Curl – Lie on the floor with your arms at your side, bend your knees with your feet placed on the valslides or bath towel, extend your hips by squeezing your glutes and lifting your hips off the ground, remain tight in the glutes, and slowly slide your feet out for a count of 2-3 seconds, quickly slide back in and repeat.
Kneeling Towel/ Valslide Ab slideout – Get a pillow to kneel on, perform a typical ab wheel rollout with your hands on the towel or slider, squeeze your glutes as you slide your body forward for 2-3 seconds, keep your shoulders down and back and power back in
Jumping Split Squats – Take a split stance position, squat down, jump up as high as you can and land in a split stance with the opposite foot forward and repeat.
Do 10-12 reps of each exercise and again perform as many rounds as you can in 10 minutes. This workout may seem deceivingly easy at first glance; you’ll rethink that thought after you start your second or third round real quick! After your workout, down your post workout shake, shower up, and go tackle whatever obstacles you may have for the day! I bet you’ll see your productivity increase as well.
Combined with the warm up you’re looking of a total time of about 15-20 minutes for a kick ass workout that will, well, kick your ass! The combination of these exercises are designed to keep your heart rate high, build strength, endurance, and power, increase your aerobic and anaerobic cardiovascular systems and increase your metabolism!
Impossible you say? Try it out 2 days a week for 2-4 weeks and see how you feel. Just try to make it into a gym or use some bands to get some pulling in for the upper body. Buy some from www.performbetter.com and you’ll have absolutely everything you need for a great workout anywhere you go! Its 20 minutes people, I can’t make it much more simple for you!
Move Better. Feel Better. Look Better!
Follow me on twitter @Chris_Abbott1 and @TotalHealthFit
posted: October 1, 2011
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| Want to build strength, burn fat, and increase your cardiovascular fitness? |
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Of course you do! Here is a great workout to do all of the above. Its simple, intense, and effective. Follow @Chris_Abbott1 and @TotalHealthFit for more workout posts. Get to it!
Kettle Bell Swing - 15 reps
Stability Ball Stir the Pot - 10 ea direction
5x
Valslide Leg Curl - 10 reps
Single-Arm DB Push Press - 5 ea
5x
TRX Inverted Row - 1o reps
TRX Single-Leg Push Up - 10 reps
5x
posted: November 15, 2011
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| Metabolic Group Training System to Start with Chris Abbott |
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Stay tuned for more info on our new metabolic group training system. Going anaerobic will never be so much fun!
posted: September 13, 2011
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| Build a rock solid core and beat low back pain at the same time! |
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If you’re like most people when you hear the word “core” you think abs. And when you think of abs you think sit ups, crunches, side bends, twists, etc. The fact is your “core” is really much more than just your abs and sit ups, crunches, and side bends are some of the least effective exercises you can do if you’re looking to improve your core strength and stability. In fact they can even cause damage to your spine.
What really makes up your core? Draw an imaginary line right below your chest and then another right below your hips. Anything in that region makes up ones core. No longer are we talking about your abs we’re talking about your abs, sides, lower back, hip flexors, and glutes. Combined these areas are the most important aspect to anyone’s body and typically will be a good indicator of fitness level and risk of injury.
The muscles that make up your core are meant to do one thing, stabilize your torso and hips. When those muscles don’t work properly the end result is often low back pain and possibly even spinal surgery. When choosing exercises to safely and effectively work your core think of ones that are going to force your to stabilizers to work.
If you think about it, what type of stabilization does a sit up or a crunch force you to do? Not much at all considering that you’re lying on your back. However, exercises such as planks, roll outs, glute bridges, and anti rotaion exercises force you to withstand an opposite line of pull or fight gravity in an effort to maintain your spine in a neutral position.
Planks are quite possibly the best exercise to work your core. They’re not exactly a “sexy” exercise or one that people look forward to doing; yet provide the body with tremendous strength and stability gains when done properly. To set yourself up for a plank start by lying on your stomach and place your elbows underneath your shoulders. Pull your shoulder blades down and back creating stiffness to your upper back. Dig your toes into the ground and squeeze your butt. Lift your hips off the ground and you should immediately feel tightness in your lower back and stomach.
It’s important to note that you should be feeling tightness in your lower back but not pain. If you are not able to squeeze your glutes the entire time while holding the plank position the force from holding the plank is going to go directly to your back and create pain.
Start with 30 seconds and aim for 1 minute, if you can do that play around with some different options to force your core to work a little harder. Reach out with one arm 10 times or lift up one leg 10 times. The weight shift will place a higher stress on core stability.
Another essential exercise for core stability lies in the hips. I often like the use the saying “the hips don’t lie” when talking about strength, stability, and power. Most people have the inability to actually use their hips the way they are supposed to and therefore end up having low back pain and poor performance in a number of areas in life. The reason? The lower posterior portion of the thigh called the hamstring is typically the culprit. Hamstrings are meant to stabilize the knee while glutes are meant to stabilize the hips. When your glutes aren’t working properly the hamstrings work double time to stabilize both the knee and hip, hence you end up with tight hamstrings from overuse and a sore lower back from lack of stability. The Glute Bridge is yet again another simple exercise to perform that provides tremendous gains as far as stability and function.
Lie on your back with your feet on the ground, knees bent slightly less than 90 degrees. Drive your heels into the ground and lift your hips up by squeezing your glutes tight. Hold for a 3-4 second count at the top and slowly lower your hips back down to the ground. Tap the ground with your hips and repeat the motion 10-12 times. When done properly you should feel tightness in your glutes and slightly in your hamstrings. If you’re feeling tension primarily in your hamstrings take a rest, massage them either manually with your hands or use a stick or foam roller to release the tension. After about 30 seconds of massage try the exercise again.
Much like the plank, once this becomes too easy move towards elevating your hips on a box or bench and possibly even try single leg. Don’t make core training any harder than it needs to be, these two exercises provide a lot of back for your buck and work in creating a rock solid core and pain free lower back. Pair them together and perform 3 rounds of each to get a very effective core workout.
Move Better. Feel Better. Look Better!
posted: January 16, 2012
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| 5 Easy Ways to Make Your Life More Enjoyable Today |
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When I first got into the fitness business about 3 years ago, my thought process was, which path could I take to make the most money? That’s a logical thought process, right? After all money is what drives us to make most of the decisions we make throughout our entire life. I worked hard, was persistent in continuing my educational knowledge and practice, and sure enough money came. But things just didn’t seem right. I was happier but still not thrilled to be doing what I love for a living, and making a living in LA for that matter. I continued this lifestyle for another year after wondering why I still wasn’t feeling so happy about my current situation.
About 7 months ago I was at my first fitness seminar (Rachel and Alwyn Cosgrove’s Counting Reps to Counting Revenue. Highly recommended!). There was a spark inside me that ignited. I began to look at things with a different light. Thinking a little deeper into the reasons as to why I acted on certain things and brushed off others. As I attended more and more seminars, that spark grew and grew, until it fully engulfed my life.
4 months ago I quit my comfortable, reliable, corporate job and fulfilled my dream to open my own fitness business. Despite the risks and uncertainties that surrounded my new venture, I noticed an immediate change in my mood. My life became more enjoyable, business thoughts came more easily, and my view of “success” had changed significantly.
I made some simple changes to my life along the way that made a huge impact on my quality of life and I want to share those with you today. No matter where you are in life, or what you’re doing, each of these steps can help you live your life rather than ride along waiting for it to stop.
Step 1: Write down what your goal is
What do you want to do with your life? Everyone has a passion and a dream; most people don’t let that passion come to life. They cover it as to keep it away from the world they live in in fear of it disrupting their current routine lifestyle. To quote Alwyn Cosgrove “The time to nurse an idea is at the time of its birth. Every minute it lives, gives it a better chance of surviving”.
Step 2: Create a path and direction toward achieving your goal
Without direction you might as well be aiming in the dark. Everyone sees that light at the end of the tunnel but it’s the people who also see the path to that light that become the most successful. Find your path and stick to it!
Step 3: Create a monitoring system for yourself
Figuring out what it is you want to achieve and finding a way to achieve it is only the first step. Unless you take action, none of it matters. Most people fail at this point because they fail to adhere to what they have just created. Personally I like the use of my dream board. On it I have what motivates me, what inspires me, and what I’m passionate about. I have my goals, and the steps in which to achieve my goals. Every night I write down what my goals and tasks are for the next day. As I complete them I cross them off. Not only will you feel good about completing your tasks but you will be much more productive. You can’t remember every thing you need to do, even if it’s just for 1 day. Write things down, “writing creates clarity” – Todd Durkin.
Step 4: Surround yourself with like-minded individuals
Misery loves company. Don’t let the fact that most people around you will look at your new outlook on life as “stupid” or make less of it. Those are the people that will forever be chasing the carrot at the end of the stick and never fully enjoy what they’re doing in life. Find successful like-minded individuals and surround yourself with them. Don’t just look for people who have been there and done that, look for people who have been there, done that, and are still doing it! For me its attending seminars, staying close with my family who I know supports me in everything I do, even reading books, and now with technology, twitter and Facebook make it easier than ever than ever to follow the lives of the most inspirational, motivational people out there.
Step 5: Have fun!
This is quite possibly the most important step of them all. If you haven’t read the book Drive by Daniel Pink, do so. In it he talks about what he calls motivation 3.0, a 3rd and bigger motivating force behind the best actions ever taken by anyone in the world. That force is intrinsic motivation, simple enjoyment of the task. Don’t allow your “play” to become “work”. This in a sense is what happened to me at the corporate level. I was too focused on chasing numbers that I was unable to enjoy my passion of fitness. It became boring and less motivating for me. Now I treat my work as play. My sessions are more enjoyable and I take pride in the fact that everyday I’m changing someone’s life!
As I said earlier my view on what a ‘successful” person is has now changed significantly. Each person will have his or her own personal level of what success is. For me I consider the fact that I own my own fitness company, do what I love for a living, am fit and healthy, am getting a puppy in a couple months, and every day help to change someone’s life, success! You control your thoughts, and your thoughts control your actions. Write your own success story and start to live your live the way you want too!
posted: November 18, 2011
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| The Keys to Fat Loss - From A Personal Trainer in LA |
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A lot of my clients ask me why I don’t want them using things like the elliptical or stationary bike, and try to get them away from their normal 30-45 minute treadmill run. As I was explaining why to one of my clients the other day I thought this is probably be something that most people who are trying to lose weight would like to know.
When it comes to fat loss there are a few things that one must know first and foremost. I’ll get right in to it and start by breaking down how your body burns calories throughout the entire day.
There are 3 main components to how your body burns calories:
1. RMR (resting metabolic rate)
2. Exercise and activity
3. Diet and Nutrition
Each of these 3 components makes up the amount of calories your body burns every day. The one component most people focus on when trying to lose fat is exercise and activity. People think “If I just workout more, I’ll lose more fat” or “I’ll just start running everyday” and expect pounds to shed off. Lots of people look at calorie counters and judge a workout’s effectiveness by how many calories they burn in a given session. There are even group fitness class’s titled “The 500 calorie workout”. People are missing the bigger picture.
When looking at the total amount of calories you burn throughout the entire day, exercise and activity only account for 20-30% and diet and nutrition counting for a mere 10%. When you add those up we’re still left with 60-70% of your total calories burned coming from methods outside of exercise, diet, and daily activities. That huge chunk of caloric burn comes from your RMR.
Your RMR is basically what your body burns at complete rest. If you were to lie in bed and do nothing all day, this is how many calories you would burn. So if your RMR accounts for 60-70% of total calories burned, and exercise and activity only counts for 20-30%, if someone wanted to lose weight it would make more sense for them to attack their RMR and raise that as high as possible, rather than look for biggest caloric burn in a workout session. Now the question everyone wants to know is “how do I raise my RMR?”
There are many ways to raise your metabolic rate, but some are more effective than others. Proper nutrition can raise your RMR, eating more frequently raises your body temperature, which can raise your RMR, however we circle back to exercise and activity for the most effective way to increase your metabolism.
Muscle’s demand calories, the more muscle someone has the higher their RMR is. This is a reason why athletes are constantly eating and why they have little to no body fat! Their muscles are absorbing all the calories they can get in order to maintain top performance. When caloric intake does not meet the amount needed from your RMR, your body pulls from other sources such as muscle and fat for energy. For those who don’t have a lot of fat, muscle gets used as energy and those hard working hours you put in at the gym, all go to waste.
When looking at someone who has fat to lose rather than an athlete that has minimal body fat, a window of opportunity opens.
It should now make sense that the more lean muscle mass a person has, the more calories that person needs eat to in order to maintain their lean muscle mass. And with a goal of fat loss if we can get that person to gain as much lean muscle as possible while restricting their caloric intake slightly, that new lean muscle is going to have to take calories from other sources in the body. BODY FAT!
Continuing our sequence on how to raise your RMR, we now know it accounts for the majority of the calories burned throughout the day, and that the best way to raise it, is to build more lean muscle, so naturally we wonder, what are the best exercises that build the most lean muscle?
At Total Fitness and Health we staple our program design around traditional total body exercises such as deadlifts, squats, pull-ups, and push-ups, typically alternating between an upper body and lower body exercise within one set. This combination keeps the heart rate elevated and allows one part of your body recover, say your upper body from a pull up, while working another, in this case the lower body. This gives body parts 2-3 minutes of rest in between sets that allows you to lift the heaviest weight you can for the given amount of reps, which builds more lean muscle.
Maybe you’re someone who doesn’t like to lift weights, but still wants to lose weight. We have yet to talk about cardio and how, or if it effects your RMR. It somehow becomes lost in the mix of all this strength talk. If we’re so focused on building lean muscle one might ask, “when and what do I do for cardio”? The truth is that cardio is any activity that will get you breathing heavy. When you start to lift the weight you’re capable of and not those little silver dumbbells in the far corner, you will be breathing heavy. With that said people DO need to perform some specific type of “cardio” training. Its good for your heart and increased oxygen intake is a big factor is fat loss.
Maintaining that strength is our main focus within a weight loss program, we take that into consideration when choosing cardio exercises to do. Start thinking of cardio exercises that will build lean muscle. For starters take away the elliptical, cross trainer, stationary bike, and any other piece of equipment that you can cruise on while watching T.V. Now it becomes a little harder.
In today’s world most people are aware that they should be doing intervals rather steady state cardiovascular training, and if you’re not aware open any Men’s or Women’s Health magazine and there are sure to be an article or two for you to read on interval training.
There are two types of interval training, anaerobic and aerobic. Aerobic is the typical 30-45 minute routine most people do on the elliptical and probably could do for hours on end. Aerobic intervals last anywhere from 2-10 minutes and are typically done at an intensity equal to 75 or 80% of their maximal effort. While aerobic intervals are better than simple steady state training, minimal strength is needed or produced during this time because the body is always trying to simply hold a steady pace.
Anaerobic is just the opposite and why most common gym goer’s and people with a goal of weight loss avoid it all together. It sucks! Its short, quick, intense, and will more than likely give you the feeling of wanting to throw up after your first few times doing them. Sorry people, I know that not the answer you were looking for but hey, if weight loss was easy everyone would be fit and personal trainers wouldn’t exist.
Despite how much one may hate performing anaerobic intervals there are some perks. For starters anaerobic interval sessions typically last a mere 10 minutes. Think how much time that just saved you during your whole week! Second it builds strength, which by now we all know is the golden ticket to fat loss. Really you can take any exercise and make it an anaerobic interval simply by just going as hard as you can for 15-30 seconds.
The interval times are kept low so that you give your all out effort. When told to do a sprint interval for 60 seconds one will always start out of the gate slower than max effort in order to pace themselves through the entire 60 seconds. However when told to sprint for 10-15 seconds people will automatically go as hard as they can because they know they will be done very quickly.
If you have more than 5 hours a week to devote to working out then go ahead and add a few aerobic interval sessions in to your workouts. Most people have busy lifestyles and can it to the gym 3-5 hours a week. For this reason we choose the biggest bang for your buck training principals combined with anaerobic conditioning intervals. This combination of anaerobic intervals and proper strength training is the key to fat loss.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter and be sure to and stay updated with the latest training and nutrition tips on how to live a healthier, stronger life!
posted: August 24, 2011
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| Total Fitness & Health-Personal Trainer LA is officially up and running! |
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Total Health and Fitness is your best choice for a personal trainer in LA. Call today and get started on your 2-week free trial! Offer includes, fitness assessment, nutrition packet, individualized training programs, 2 coaching sessions, and 1 month free gym membership with Velocity Sports Performance. Whether you're looking to lose weight or gain muscle, we guarantee you'll get results or your money back! (310) 909-9021
posted: August 24, 2011
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| Why you’re Probably Not Eating Enough To Lose Weight: Part 2 |
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In the part 1 of this two part series we talked about healthy eating habits and ways to transition your current eating habits into new ones. Surely knowing what to eat, when to eat, and how often to eat is helpful but how does one know HOW MUCH to eat at every meal? This is the true deciding factor between someone trying to lose weight and someone trying to gain weight. Their diets may look relatively similar but the portions will certainly vary.
Often times when I look at my clients 3 day food diary’s the problem is most of what they’re eating is either A, not good, or B, not enough. To fix this problem one needs to know a few different things; what type of body they have, what their goal is, and what their current weight is.
Before we begin, weigh yourself and write it down on a sheet of paper.
Body Types
There are 3 different body types Ectomorph, Mesomorph, and Endomorph. Knowing which one you are plays a big role in figuring out how much of each macronutrient (proteins, carbs, and fats) you should have with every meal.
Ectomorph – Ectomorphs would be your triathletes, marathon runners, cyclists, etc. If you’re an ectomorph you typically have long limbs, low body fat, and a very lean body. These are your endurance pros or people who are constantly trying to gain weight but never seem to put on an ounce. You’re still athletic looking, just on the thin side.
Mesomorph – Your big sport athletes. Football, basketball, baseball, lacrosse…. did I just say lacrosse? Mesomorphs have a larger bone structure, broad shoulders, are cut and muscular, have maintainable levels of body fat, and a solid torso. Mesomorphs are your competitive body builders and people that naturally gain muscle easily. Clearly the category most guys want to be in.
Endomorph – If a mesomorph is your competitive bodybuilder then an endomorph is your competitive power lifter. These are the guys you see on world’s strongest man, a larger waist, larger bone structure, and higher level of body fat. Surely offensive lineman, and sumo wrestlers fit this type as well.
When trying to figure out what body type you are be honest, don’t chose mesomorph if you’re an ectomorph wanting to get bigger. Pick which most accurately represents you and write that down under your weight on your sheet of paper.
Macronutrient Percentages
Now that you have your body type, it’s time to pair it with a macronutrient percentage. These percentages will help to better structure how many grams of protein, carbs, and fat you’ll eat with every meal (that’s 5 not 3 remember). Look at the percentages associated with your body type and write that down next to your body type.
Ectomorph – 25% proteins, 55% carbs, 30% fats
Mesomorph – 30% proteins, 40% carbs, 30% fats
Endomorph – 35 % proteins, 25% carbs, 40% fats
Determine Your Goal
You should already have your goal in mind; otherwise I’m not sure why you’d be spending this much time writing things down! Look at the list below and choose the number which best fits your activity level and goal and write that down next to your weight.
Weight Loss
- Sedentary 10-12
- Moderately Active 12-14
- Very Active 14-16
Weight Maintenance
- Sedentary 12-14
- Moderately Active 14-16
- Very Active 16-18
Weight Gain
- Sedentary 16-18
- Moderately Active 18-20
- Very Active 20-22
Putting it all together
At this point you should have a piece of paper that has your current weight along with a number that represents your activity level and goal, and your body type with the macronutrient percentages next to that. So long as you’ve gotten that far lets crunch some numbers!
For example purposes I’ll use someone who is an endomorph weighing 190lbs, is moderately active (13), and has a goal of losing weight.
First your weight and multiply that by the number representing your goal and activity level, in this case 13. Write down your number, our example shows 2,470.
Second take that total and multiply it by each macronutrient percentage associated with your body type. Our example shows proteins at 864.5, Carbs at 617.5, and fats at 988.
Third take each of those numbers and divide them by the amount of calories represented in 1 gram of each macronutrient. Proteins = 4, Carbs = 4, and Fats = 9. Our example shows proteins at 216, carbs at 154, and fats at 110.
Last but not least, take each of those numbers and divide them by 5 (the number of meals you are going to be eating per day). The number for each macronutrient represents how many grams of the macronutrient you should be eating with every meal. In our example we have 43.2g of protein, 30.8g of carbs, and 22g of fat.
From here on out these are the only numbers you want to focus on until you reach your goal and then set a new one. Don’t bother counting calories any more, simply look at labels and see how much of each macronutrient your meal has in it.
This is not easy at first but don’t give up! “With persistence, you will win”! You’ve spent the time to sit down and figure out how much you should be eating with every meal, now don’t let this piece of paper get lost in the trash!
Here are a couple helpful websites to help figure out how many grams of each macronutrient are in each type of food, USDA Food Database www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/ and Nutrition Data www.nutritiondata.com
If you haven’t read part 1 of this 2-part article make sure to go back and read it! Together these two articles should give you all the insight you need to achieve your nutrition and fitness goals! Note this formula is not fool proof and is surely not the cure all for everyone, however for a vast majority of you this will prove to be a solid foundation in any workout program you are currently following.
Don’t forget to follow us on twitter @totalhealthfit and @chris_abbott1 and be sure to stay up to date with the latest nutrition and fitness tips. Till next time…
Move Better. Feel Better. Look Better!
Chris Abbott
posted: September 14, 2011
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| Holiday Tips to Keep You on Track! |
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This time of year there are plenty of excuses not to stick to your current workout routine. You’re traveling, don’t have the use of a gym, don’t have the equipment you’re use to using in the gym, not enough time, and the list could go on. I myself am staying put for thanksgiving but thought it was a good time to give some advice on how you can stay on track and possibly even increase your results over the holidays!
Tip 1: Try the nutrition tactic of intermittent fasting
If you follow me on twitter or are friends with me on Facebook you know I have talked about this topic a good deal in the recent weeks, Its because it works! As a society we tend to “think” that we are hungry much more than we actually are hungry. Intermittent fasting is a way to boost your fat loss and possibly even gain muscle when you go back to eating normally after your fast.
Here’s what I did:
Day 1 - normal food intake
Day 2 - Fast with a morning, mid-day, and evening shake of 1 scoop GreenSuperFood, 1 scoop whey protein, and 1 tbsp. of creatine monohydrate (Creatine is naturally occurring in the body and also helps your cognitive abilities so yes women can take it too). I also took my fish oil and green tea extract pills in the morning and took green tea extract once again with my mid-day shake.
Day 3 – Normal breakfast and a typical food intake day throughout the rest of the day
You can apply this nutrition tip to your thanksgiving meal whether its before, after, or both. Either way you’ll be surprised how you may look and feel when returning to the gym on Monday!
Tip 2: Use cardio strength training as a method of working out
Cardio strength training is a great way to workout, in fact it could be your only way of working out and you would see tremendous results! Here’s a quick explanation: Cardio strength training is a croup of a giving amount of exercises done in a circuit fashion with timed rest and work intervals or sets and reps. Typically exercises are ones in which you use your total body or big muscle groups, ie squats, push ups, pull ups, etc. Choose a load that’s about 60% of your 1RM and perform as many rounds of the circuit as you can in the given amount of time, you can put as many, or as few exercises as you’d like in the circuit. I recommend 5. There are many different options you have as far as work to rest ratios and how many sets and reps you could do but to keep it simple I’ll give an at home option and a gym option with two different methods.
At the gym:
Set a timer for 15 minutes; if you feel your fitness level is advanced then do 20.
Perform as many rounds as you can of the following circuit doing 8-10 reps per exercise. Choose a load that you feel you could do for 10 reps normally and take about 10-15 pounds off of that. Note – do not push yourself to finish the 10 reps if your form starts to falter. This is not crossfit! Simply do what you can and if you need to lower the weight slightly do so the next round.
A1. Dumbbell Incline Bench Press
A2. Goblet Squat
A3. Pull Up (use assistance if you need too)
A4. Romanian Deadlift
A5. Ab Wheel Rollout
At home:
For home we’ll use a different scheme. Because most people do not have access to added weights, bars, and benches at home, these exercises will all be bodyweight. The circuit will be done in an ON/OFF manner. For this example we’ll use 20/10’s, 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off. Again we’ll choose 5 exercises only this time your goal is to make it through 4-5 rounds.
A1. Burpees
A2. Push Up
A3. Reaching 1-Leg Single-Leg Deadlifts
A4. Squat Jumps
A5. Plank Arm March (resist rotation of the hips)
The workout would go burpees for 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds, push ups for 20, rest for 10, etc. These types of workouts are tremendously helpful in creating metabolic disturbance and increasing your results!
Combined, these two tips could leave you in better shape than you were when you left for the holiday! Continue to use these tactics when you return and you’ll see a tremendous difference in your strength, cardiovascular levels, and body composition!
If you have Twitter follow me @Chris_Abbott1 and @TotalHealthFit. Check out my Facebook page at Personal Trainer La and stay up to date with the latest fitness and nutrition information. Get motivational tips, and health and fitness advice to help you achieve all your goals and more! Live in LA? Come try out my services absolutely free for 2 weeks. Get unlimited personal training, unlimited group fitness classes, and nutrition coaching! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Move Better. Feel Better. Look Better!
posted: November 23, 2011
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