Valentine’s day is usually a great excuse to hook up with your significant other and over-indulge in foods that are not good for you. For example, CHOCOLATE! Don’t get me wrong, I love doing that every now and then too. But how about this year, you use Valentine’s Day to mix things up and get into shape with your significant other in the comfort of your own home?
Read more on Markham Boot Camp Trainer Introduces The Lover’s Workout for Valentine’s Day…
I’m baaack! For those of you that don’t know, I took off for a week to enjoy some sunshine, swimming, and good eats in Negril, Jamaica MON!!! The trip was quite simply amazing. Not a day of bad weather. The resort and beach was gorgeous. We had great service. All in all, it was a nice getaway for my girlfriend and I. Which by the way, we were also there to celebrate her birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY once again!)
Read more on Markham Boot Camp Trainer's 12-Minute Post Jerk Chicken Fat Loss Workout…
Winter in Toronto is upon us, and as I write this it is a ridiculous -30 degrees outside!!!
This time of year is usually when people are the least active. In Toronto, it’s pretty obvious that people just don’t want to leave the comforts of a warm home to go out and exercise. Understandable. BUT, cold weather should not be an excuse to not exercise!
Read more on Markham Boot Camp Trainer offers a quick but effective workout…
In the past, the cornerstone of most resistance training workouts has been performing exercises in a straight set format. Essentially, this means you perform a certain number of reps for a given exercise or you perform as many reps as possible for a given exercise and then you rest anywhere from 30 seconds to five minutes based on your training goals before repeating this set a certain number of times based on your goals. For more of a fat loss and lean muscle gain emphasis shorter rest periods are ideal. For more of a strength or power emphasis, longer rest periods are prescribed.
Read more on Richmond Hill Personal Trainer Shows How To Build The Ultimate Circuit Training Program For Fast Fat Loss…
Here we are again, another snow filled winter in Toronto! And with the snow, comes A LOT of unnecessary back injuries as a result of shoveling snow. I’ve been doing this personal training thing for a long time now, and I cannot tell you how many clients I’ve had tweak their back in their zealous attempts to keep a clear driveway.
Shovel smart! It’s not worth risking a back injury. Today I am going to reveal my top safe shoveling secrets. For those of you who do not live in Toronto like I do, read this anyways. Why? Because with the global epidemic that is climate change you really never know when snow is coming your way. It snowed in Las Vegas last month! It snowed in the desert?!?!?!
Anyways, here it is….my top 5 shoveling tips:
1) Warm-up 5 mins. before shoveling
Shoveling is hard, physical labor. Your body needs to be prepared before it takes on the upcoming workout. So, just as very few people properly warm-up before intense exercise, so do many people fail to get their bodies ready for the rigors of shoveling snow. Let’s face it, snow, especially when it’s wet, is a real beast to move around. And if your body is tight and cold then you will dramatically increase your chances of short or long-term injury.
I have designed a great shoveling specific five-minute warm-up to get your body ready to scoop and toss. There is a special emphasis on opening up the hips and chest to save your back and shoulders, which are the two most commonly injured areas when shoveling.
Perform each exercise in the following warm-up circuit at a slow, controlled tempo for 50 seconds with a 10 second rest and transition between exercises. Do this warm-up indoors to better increase core temperature and total body blood flow:
Exercise#1- Run on the spot, and get those knees high
Exercise#2- Jumping Claps (modified jumping jacks with arms moving across chest level, palms facing)
Exercise#3- Alternating Forward Lunge, Overhead Reach, and Twist
Exercise#4- Alternating Lateral Lunge with Opposite Hand to Toe Touch
Exercise#5- Prisoner Squats (hands behind head with finger interlocked)
2) Keep a wide, split stance when shoveling
Back pain is probably the biggest complaint for shovelers. In most cases, a sore or tight back stems from restriction at the hips (see the warm-up above to take care of this). More specifically, using a parallel stance puts your lower back at a greater risk of injury due to the greater likelihood of excessive flexion of the lumbar spine that often leads to back spasms in the short run and herniated discs in the long run. However, the simple switch to shoveling with a split stance, where one leg is forward and the other leg is back, will not only help prevent this hyper flexion while bending over and moving snow, but will also actively stretch and open up those tight hips at the same time. Be sure to keep things in balance by doing an even number of shovel strokes with both legs forward by alternating every 10 reps or so.
3) Point Your Toes In Same Direction of Shoveling This is a continuation of the last tip. Even when you split your stance, you can be susceptible to injury whenever you perform a rotating back extension (e.g. a shovel toss to your rear). So, to further bolster your body, be sure to always shovel snow in the direction that your toes point to minimize excessive spinal rotation that can literally wrench your back.
4) Shovel EQUALLY to BOTH Sides This is a further continuation on the last two tips. Another big mistake people make is that they always shovel to their strong sides causing further strength and flexibility imbalances that can put your body at greater risk for injury. So, we now know you want to split your stance and shovel in the direction your toes are pointing, but you should also be sure do an equal amount of shovel tosses to your left AND right. Do 10 shovel tosses to your left with your left leg forward and then do 10 shovel tosses to your right with your right leg forward. Repeat until your driveway or sidewalk is crystal clear.
5) Buy a snow-plow machine
Seriously!!! Better yet, buy a condo!!!
HAPPY WINTER EVERYONE!!!
Read more on Markham Boot Camp Instructor Teaches You How To Save Your Back, Shovel Safe – Pain Free Snow Shoveling…
First off, on behalf of Bye Bye Body Fat Boot Camps, Happy Father’s day to my dad, your dad, your dad’s dad, and to rest of the dads!
Yesterday my family celebrated Father’s Day by having a bbq! It was a beautiful day, everyone was in a great mood, but I couldn’t help but sit back that look at the reality of it all. Most dads today are in some of the worst shape of their lives! I don’t want to be a downer, but if you can’t see it yourself, then you’re either completely oblivious, or just refuse to face this reality.
I didn’t even have to pull up any scientific evidence to support this. All I had to do was look around, and what I saw was a lot of men with “big bellys.” The sad truth is that more and more are suffering from a very scary condition called Metabolic Syndrome.
Please read below for an excellent description of Metabolic Syndrome from www.MedicineNet.com:
What is metabolic syndrome?
An association between certain metabolic disorders and cardiovascular disease has been known since the 1940s. In the 1980s this association became more clearly defined and the term metabolic syndrome (also known as syndrome X or the dysmetabolic syndrome) was coined to designate a cluster of metabolic risk factors that come together in a single individual. In more current times, the term metabolic syndrome is found throughout medical literature and in the lay press as well. There are slight differences in the criteria of diagnosis – depending on which authority is quoted. Regardless, the concept of a clustering of risks factors leading to cardiovascular disease is well accepted.
The main features of metabolic syndrome include insulin resistance, hypertension (high blood pressure), cholesterol abnormalities, and an increased risk for clotting. Patients are most often overweight or obese.
Insulin resistance refers to the diminished ability of cells to respond to the action of insulin in promoting the transport of the sugar glucose, from blood into muscles and other tissues. Because of the central role that insulin resistance plays in the metabolic syndrome, a separate article is devoted to insulin resistance.
How is metabolic syndrome defined?
The definition of metabolic syndrome depends on which group of experts is doing the defining. Based on the guidelines from the 2001 National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel (ATP III), any three of the following traits in the same individual meet the criteria for the metabolic syndrome:
1. Abdominal obesity: a waist circumference over 102 cm (40 in) in men and over 88 cm (35 inches) in women.
2. Serum triglycerides 150 mg/dl or above.
3. HDL cholesterol 40mg/dl or lower in men and 50mg/dl or lower in women.
4. Blood pressure of 130/85 or more.
5. Fasting blood glucose of 110 mg/dl or above. (Some groups say 100mg/dl)
The World Health Organization (WHO) has slightly different criteria for the metabolic syndrome:
1. High insulin levels, an elevated fasting blood glucose or an elevated post meal glucose alone with at least 2 of the following criteria:
2. Abdominal obesity as defined by a waist to hip ratio of greater than 0.9, a body mass index of at least 30 kg/m2 or a waist measurement over 37 inches.
3. Cholesterol panel showing a triglyceride level of at least 150 mg/dl or an HDL cholesterol lower than 35 mg/dl.
4. Blood pressure of 140/90 or above (or on treatment for high blood pressure).
And though Metabolic Syndrome affects more women than men, there is certainly no shortage of men 40 years and older who have that “deadly beer gut” that literally makes them a ticking time bomb for a slew of serious medical conditions.
But there is good news amongst this frightening reality: The most common cause of metabolic disorder is of course a vicious combination of a lack of exercise and poor diet.
See below for the top 7 fitness tips to help save our father’s lives:
1) Lay off the beer
It’s no wonder why our dads have more of a keg for a gut than a six-pack. See below for the best way I know of explaining how detrimental alcohol can be on your body composition:
How Alcohol Makes You Fat
-Alcohol first passes through the esophagus as it travels to your stomach.
-From there, 20% of the alcohol is absorbed immediately by your bloodstream.
-The remaining alcohol travels to your intestines and is absorbed from there.
-The alcohol in your bloodstream then travels directly to your liver. It is here that
the body breaks the alcohol down, something that is absolutely essential since
alcohol is toxic to the body.
-Alcohol brakes down into acetate and acetaldehyde which IMMEDIATELY
signals to your body to stop burning fat. Even worse, another waste product of
alcohol, acetyl CoA, actually starts to make more body fat.
What Does this Mean?
-Your body can only effectively process 0.5 to 1 ounce of alcohol per hour
-How much damage? A 12-ounce beer contains about 0.6 ounces of alcohol. If
you consumed 5 of these, your body would be inhibited from fat burning for up to
6 hours. This is aside from the fact that your body will actually be storing fat
during these 6 hours! The more you drink, the longer your body is inhibited from
burning fat in addition to a greater fat build up from excess acetyl CoA. As you
can see, one day of binge drinking can set you back days if not a full week when
it comes to fat loss!
-What’s the worst-case scenario? Mixing alcohol with sugary beverages
promotes even further fat gain due to the resulting insulin surge that triggers fat
storage (e.g. regular beer or cocktails mixed with regular soda and/or fruit juice)
The Bottom Line
If you want to be lean, you must minimize ALCOHOL consumption!
If you must drink:
a) Choose wine or hard liquor and “light” beer
b) Limit alcohol consumption to 1-2 days per week with a 1-2 drink per day max
References:
Campbell and Volek, “TNT Diet: Targeted Nutrition Tactics”
2) Quit being such wuss and work your lower body
Most dads just want to do the typical meathead workout that emphasizes the upper body only. If you are going for the “tooth-pick-for-legs” look where you are built up top with chicken legs for wheels, then keep doing what you’re doing.
However, it is important to note that strong, muscular legs are the key to torching your gut. After all, the majority of your body’s muscle mass, and thus metabolism, is contained within your lower body. Not working your legs is like going to a gun fight without a gun, and here’s why:
a) Training your whole body (legs included) not only helps you burn more calories each workout, it also maximally depletes your body’s glycogen stores (the sugar in your muscles) to allow for more total body fat burning
b) The more lean muscle mass you have in your lower body the more calories your body will be burning 24-7-365 outside of your workouts
c) Whenever you work your legs you generate the largest increases in natural anabolic hormone levels which translates into more total body muscle and less ugly, unwanted body fat
So if you want better abs, you better start using those legs! This can be easily accomplished with 3 total body workouts per week that train your upper body, lower body, and core within the same workout.
3) Do something besides bench presses and curls
Look, I get why guys don’t want to train their legs. Unless you are wearing a speedo, no one is going to see them! So there is simply not as much motivation to put the time and effort into your lower body as there is for your upper body which is always on full display at the beach or poolside.
However, if you are trying to develop a really nice upper body, you need to start venturing outside the realm of bench presses and curls. Don’t forget, you do have muscles on the backside of your body too!
In fact, your lats (the wings that extend from your arm pit to the bottom of your rib cage) are the biggest muscles in your upper body and when developed they really help promote that V-shaped torso that both makes your waist look smaller and your wife happy
Start doing at least the same amount of pulling as pushing (if not more) unless you want to end up like the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Lastly, only do isolation movements like bicep curls if you have extra time after your main workout. Compound movements like rows and pull-ups work your biceps just as hard and since they allow for the use of heavier loads, they also provide a better growth stimulus to maximize results in minimal time.
4) Don’t eat like those idiots from NutriSystem (Yes, I said Idiots!)
Here’s my take on how NutriSystem was created:
“I’ve got an idea for an incredible product and marketing campaign:
Let’s gather a group of genetically gifted former professional athletes that have put on some pounds since ending their playing days. We’ll have them all get their asses kicked by top personal trainers while following a restricted calorie diet so we lean them out real nicely.
But then we lie to the overweight male coach potato consumer and tell them that they got these results from eating the same food they are currently eating- you know, pizza, lasagna, sweets, etc. Except we’ll make the meals the size of a dime so they can still technically eat what they want and lose weight at the same time.
To make it even better, we’ll pre-package all of their meals for them to buy from us so these lazy bastards don’t have to do anything besides nuke it up and eat it!
We’ll make millions!”
Well, that’s exactly what has happened – thousands of sports-loving, ESPN-watching dads have been swindled to buy into this gimmick that you can eat whatever you want and still lose weight without exercise- because Dan Marino did it!
Listen, if you honestly think you can keep eating the same foods that got you that gut in the first place, then I’m not sure how much more I can help you. And yes, there is portion control within the system, but to me it’s a like a big terd versus a small terd… IT’S STILL A TERD!
5) Accept the fact that you probably need some professional fitness advice
Read more on Richmond Hill Boot Camp Trainer’s Father?s Day Special: 7 Tips To Becoming A Fit Father…
First off, on behalf of Bye Bye Body Fat Boot Camps, Happy Father’s day to my dad, your dad, your dad’s dad, and to rest of the dads!
Yesterday my family celebrated Father’s Day by having a bbq! It was a beautiful day, everyone was in a great mood, but I couldn’t help but sit back that look at the reality of it all. Most dads today are in some of the worst shape of their lives! I don’t want to be a downer, but if you can’t see it yourself, then you’re either completely oblivious, or just refuse to face this reality.
I didn’t even have to pull up any scientific evidence to support this. All I had to do was look around, and what I saw was a lot of men with “big bellys.” The sad truth is that more and more are suffering from a very scary condition called Metabolic Syndrome.
Please read below for an excellent description of Metabolic Syndrome from www.MedicineNet.com:
What is metabolic syndrome?
An association between certain metabolic disorders and cardiovascular disease has been known since the 1940s. In the 1980s this association became more clearly defined and the term metabolic syndrome (also known as syndrome X or the dysmetabolic syndrome) was coined to designate a cluster of metabolic risk factors that come together in a single individual. In more current times, the term metabolic syndrome is found throughout medical literature and in the lay press as well. There are slight differences in the criteria of diagnosis – depending on which authority is quoted. Regardless, the concept of a clustering of risks factors leading to cardiovascular disease is well accepted.
The main features of metabolic syndrome include insulin resistance, hypertension (high blood pressure), cholesterol abnormalities, and an increased risk for clotting. Patients are most often overweight or obese.
Insulin resistance refers to the diminished ability of cells to respond to the action of insulin in promoting the transport of the sugar glucose, from blood into muscles and other tissues. Because of the central role that insulin resistance plays in the metabolic syndrome, a separate article is devoted to insulin resistance.
How is metabolic syndrome defined?
The definition of metabolic syndrome depends on which group of experts is doing the defining. Based on the guidelines from the 2001 National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel (ATP III), any three of the following traits in the same individual meet the criteria for the metabolic syndrome:
1. Abdominal obesity: a waist circumference over 102 cm (40 in) in men and over 88 cm (35 inches) in women.
2. Serum triglycerides 150 mg/dl or above.
3. HDL cholesterol 40mg/dl or lower in men and 50mg/dl or lower in women.
4. Blood pressure of 130/85 or more.
5. Fasting blood glucose of 110 mg/dl or above. (Some groups say 100mg/dl)
The World Health Organization (WHO) has slightly different criteria for the metabolic syndrome:
1. High insulin levels, an elevated fasting blood glucose or an elevated post meal glucose alone with at least 2 of the following criteria:
2. Abdominal obesity as defined by a waist to hip ratio of greater than 0.9, a body mass index of at least 30 kg/m2 or a waist measurement over 37 inches.
3. Cholesterol panel showing a triglyceride level of at least 150 mg/dl or an HDL cholesterol lower than 35 mg/dl.
4. Blood pressure of 140/90 or above (or on treatment for high blood pressure).
And though Metabolic Syndrome affects more women than men, there is certainly no shortage of men 40 years and older who have that “deadly beer gut” that literally makes them a ticking time bomb for a slew of serious medical conditions.
But there is good news amongst this frightening reality: The most common cause of metabolic disorder is of course a vicious combination of a lack of exercise and poor diet.
See below for the top 7 fitness tips to help save our father’s lives:
1) Lay off the beer
It’s no wonder why our dads have more of a keg for a gut than a six-pack. See below for the best way I know of explaining how detrimental alcohol can be on your body composition:
How Alcohol Makes You Fat
-Alcohol first passes through the esophagus as it travels to your stomach.
-From there, 20% of the alcohol is absorbed immediately by your bloodstream.
-The remaining alcohol travels to your intestines and is absorbed from there.
-The alcohol in your bloodstream then travels directly to your liver. It is here that
the body breaks the alcohol down, something that is absolutely essential since
alcohol is toxic to the body.
-Alcohol brakes down into acetate and acetaldehyde which IMMEDIATELY
signals to your body to stop burning fat. Even worse, another waste product of
alcohol, acetyl CoA, actually starts to make more body fat.
What Does this Mean?
-Your body can only effectively process 0.5 to 1 ounce of alcohol per hour
-How much damage? A 12-ounce beer contains about 0.6 ounces of alcohol. If
you consumed 5 of these, your body would be inhibited from fat burning for up to
6 hours. This is aside from the fact that your body will actually be storing fat
during these 6 hours! The more you drink, the longer your body is inhibited from
burning fat in addition to a greater fat build up from excess acetyl CoA. As you
can see, one day of binge drinking can set you back days if not a full week when
it comes to fat loss!
-What’s the worst-case scenario? Mixing alcohol with sugary beverages
promotes even further fat gain due to the resulting insulin surge that triggers fat
storage (e.g. regular beer or cocktails mixed with regular soda and/or fruit juice)
The Bottom Line
If you want to be lean, you must minimize ALCOHOL consumption!
If you must drink:
a) Choose wine or hard liquor and “light” beer
b) Limit alcohol consumption to 1-2 days per week with a 1-2 drink per day max
References:
Campbell and Volek, “TNT Diet: Targeted Nutrition Tactics”
2) Quit being such wuss and work your lower body
Most dads just want to do the typical meathead workout that emphasizes the upper body only. If you are going for the “tooth-pick-for-legs” look where you are built up top with chicken legs for wheels, then keep doing what you’re doing.
However, it is important to note that strong, muscular legs are the key to torching your gut. After all, the majority of your body’s muscle mass, and thus metabolism, is contained within your lower body. Not working your legs is like going to a gun fight without a gun, and here’s why:
a) Training your whole body (legs included) not only helps you burn more calories each workout, it also maximally depletes your body’s glycogen stores (the sugar in your muscles) to allow for more total body fat burning
b) The more lean muscle mass you have in your lower body the more calories your body will be burning 24-7-365 outside of your workouts
c) Whenever you work your legs you generate the largest increases in natural anabolic hormone levels which translates into more total body muscle and less ugly, unwanted body fat
So if you want better abs, you better start using those legs! This can be easily accomplished with 3 total body workouts per week that train your upper body, lower body, and core within the same workout.
3) Do something besides bench presses and curls
Look, I get why guys don’t want to train their legs. Unless you are wearing a speedo, no one is going to see them! So there is simply not as much motivation to put the time and effort into your lower body as there is for your upper body which is always on full display at the beach or poolside.
However, if you are trying to develop a really nice upper body, you need to start venturing outside the realm of bench presses and curls. Don’t forget, you do have muscles on the backside of your body too!
In fact, your lats (the wings that extend from your arm pit to the bottom of your rib cage) are the biggest muscles in your upper body and when developed they really help promote that V-shaped torso that both makes your waist look smaller and your wife happy
Start doing at least the same amount of pulling as pushing (if not more) unless you want to end up like the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Lastly, only do isolation movements like bicep curls if you have extra time after your main workout. Compound movements like rows and pull-ups work your biceps just as hard and since they allow for the use of heavier loads, they also provide a better growth stimulus to maximize results in minimal time.
4) Don’t eat like those idiots from NutriSystem (Yes, I said Idiots!)
Here’s my take on how NutriSystem was created:
“I’ve got an idea for an incredible product and marketing campaign:
Let’s gather a group of genetically gifted former professional athletes that have put on some pounds since ending their playing days. We’ll have them all get their asses kicked by top personal trainers while following a restricted calorie diet so we lean them out real nicely.
But then we lie to the overweight male coach potato consumer and tell them that they got these results from eating the same food they are currently eating- you know, pizza, lasagna, sweets, etc. Except we’ll make the meals the size of a dime so they can still technically eat what they want and lose weight at the same time.
To make it even better, we’ll pre-package all of their meals for them to buy from us so these lazy bastards don’t have to do anything besides nuke it up and eat it!
We’ll make millions!”
Well, that’s exactly what has happened – thousands of sports-loving, ESPN-watching dads have been swindled to buy into this gimmick that you can eat whatever you want and still lose weight without exercise- because Dan Marino did it!
Listen, if you honestly think you can keep eating the same foods that got you that gut in the first place, then I’m not sure how much more I can help you. And yes, there is portion control within the system, but to me it’s a like a big terd versus a small terd… IT’S STILL A TERD!
5) Accept the fact that you probably need some professional fitness advice
Read more on Richmond Hill Boot Camp Trainer's Father?s Day Special: 7 Tips To Becoming A Fit Father…
This past weekend, I attended the Can-Fit-Pro Conference in Toronto, which is probably the largest conference in all of Canada. The whole weekend was an amazing experience, as I was surrounded with hundreds to thousands of fitness enthusiasts from all types of fitness backgrounds. You name it and they were there! I was also able to attend workshops and lectures with some of the most respected fitness professionals in the industry. I learned a lot, and came out with tons of information that I can apply to myself, my clients, and to you!
Read more on Richmond Hill Boot Camp Trainer discusses Muscle Shark Circuit Training…
Being Canadian, I could not help but be caught up in the “Obamania” that has surround the media these last few months. For us Canadians, we just rapped up a Valentine’s Day long weekend. While we all enjoyed Family Day, our neighbors down south celebrated President’s Day.
Read more on Markham Boot Camp Trainer’s Obama-Style Workout…
Being Canadian, I could not help but be caught up in the “Obamania” that has surround the media these last few months. For us Canadians, we just rapped up a Valentine’s Day long weekend. While we all enjoyed Family Day, our neighbors down south celebrated President’s Day.
Read more on Markham Boot Camp Trainer's Obama-Style Workout…
