Quick Weight Loss Diet Is Short-Term Fix

Quick weight loss diets will never work for you long-term, unless you count "going in circles" as progress.

Quick weight loss diets will place you further away from your weight loss goals as you yo-yo back and forth with weight loss and more weight gain (and worsened health).

A "quick weight loss only goal" is a short-term fix for your weight problem and will not ultimately help you attain your goals! Establish eating and exercise habits that will help you burn fat and lose weight throughout your life.

The type of food you eat and timing of what you eat is very important for your metabolism to work properly.

Your body needs adequate amounts of the macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, fats) to function properly. Establish your foundational eating before trying other techniques like carb-cycling.

Increasing muscle mass is critical to permanently speed up your metabolism. Your body has to work harder to maintain muscle mass. And, increasing muscle mass will burn the fat off of your body. So, start doing your regular weight training workouts 2-3 days a week.

Protein's main role in your body is to repair and rebuild body tissues (especially so after an intense weight training workout). When your body doesn't get enough protein, it will take protein from other sources--mainly your muscles!

Obviously, you don't want that to happen. Including foods with protein in every meal will help you eat less during the day. This happens because it takes your body longer to digest protein.

Eat for health, fat loss and weight loss. You should not ever try a quick weight loss diet program to reach your long-term goals.

If you want “The TRUTH” when it comes to losing fat with proper nutrition, you have to check out my friend's site.

Isabel De Los Rios is one of America’s top nutrition experts and educators and the author of TheDietSolutionProgram.com.

She has helped hundreds of people lose weight. Don’t miss her Free Report “The Top 5 Essential Truths You Must Know Before You Go on Any Diet Ever Again.”

Isabel is the owner of New Body – Center for Fitness and Nutrition in New Jersey where she has personally educated and coached hundreds of people to realize their weight, health and fitness goals.

As a nutrition specialist and lifestyle coach, it is Isabel’s passion to educate, motivate and inspire people of all types to take daily action in order to realize their physical and personal dreams and goals.

Stop the guessing game when it comes to your eating habits and start shaping the body you always wanted! There are no fads, no pills and no starvation.

Visit Isabel's site now and start burning fat!

Mark Dilworth at My Fitness Hut

Top 3 Total Body Toning Tips

Total body toning is the key to burning more fat and transforming your body. You must make a major commitment to strength training.....In other words, "muscle up" (not bulk up) and the fat will melt away! Not only will your body's composition improve (less fat, more muscle), it will improve your overall health (including bone density).

Ready to go to work?

Here are my Top 3 Total Body Toning Tips:

1. Strength training should be tailored to your body type. We all have a body type due to heredity and lifestyle choices. A fitness assessment is important because a personal trainer identifies postural weaknesses and muscle imbalances. The fitness program is then tailored to fit your needs. Without this assessment, you are "shooting in the dark."

Achieving optimal muscular fitness requires flexibility, strength, endurance, power, and speed. These components should be included in an integrated training program.

Because of lifestyle habits, the dominant side of the body develops more than the non-dominant side. And, if certain patterns or muscular actions are performed repeatedly, muscles develop more in either the front of the body or the back of the body. As a result, some muscles become tight, lengthened or weak.

An integrated training program focuses on 3-dimensional muscular balance. This is done by training in all 3 planes of motion. This will help overall strength, burn more fat, prevent injuries and enhance everyday living.

Opposing muscle groups should be in balance. Focusing more on exercises like squats, deadlifts, rows, shoulder presses and bench presses will help you do this. Using more unilateral (one-leg, one-arm) exercises also improve muscular balance. Lunges, step ups and dumbbell exercises fit this category.

So, muscle-building is a never ending process. It is much more than haphazard weight training programs with no design. You need at least 3 weight training workouts per week, 20-50 minutes per session (depending on your training maturity and goals).

2. Your cardio exercise should aid in your fat loss and not waste away your precious muscle mass. Your cardio exercise should:

--Improve heart health
--Burn calories (during and after your workout)
--Burn fat
--Spare muscle mass

Keep your cardio workouts at about 20 minutes. That's all it takes to help you reach your goals. And, it will keep you from the boredom and muscle-wasting that's built into long cardio sessions.

Intense interval cardio workouts will increase your body's growth hormone. Research has also proven that the benefits of anaerobic exercise (like sprint interval cardio) is superior to aerobic exercise for fitness and heart health.

3. Eat for fat loss. You must eat enough to build muscle and burn fat. A balanced diet which contains the macronutrients (carbs, protein, fats) is best. You should calculate your calorie needs for reaching your goals. Starvation diets will not work. Nutritious calories are critical to build muscle.

For instance, you should eat protein with every meal. Protein is critical for rebuilding muscle tissues after workouts. Protein also helps you control calorie intake because you stay fuller for longer.

It is also a good muscle building tactic to eat protein before and after strength workouts. Protein drinks (particularly whey) work well for this purpose.

Work hard to build the body you want and need!

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4-Minute Fat-Burning, Body-Changing Workouts

A 4-minute bodyweight workout is a good way to burn more fat and get the body-changing results you want.

If you're looking for a way to break out of your fat loss plateau, try a 4-minute bodyweight workout.

Burn fat with shorter, more intense workouts in as little as 4 minutes. Long, boring workouts are a thing of the past. The research and my experience with clients proves that short bursts of exercise, such as circuit weight training and interval cardio, will sculpt your body better and faster.

This is a very intense interval training technique. It is a great way to burn more calories and fat during and after your workout! You will need one bodyweight exercise (like squat jumps or mountain climbers) and 4 minutes!

It works this way:

1. After a 5 minute warmup, choose a bodyweight exercise.

2. Do as many repetitions as you can for 20 seconds.

3. Rest for 10 seconds.

4. Repeat this cycle for 4 minutes! Make sure to maintain correct form as you get fatigued! You will be exhausted at the end!

As you progress, you can add more time but keep the 2-to-1 work to rest ratio. For instance, you could do a 30 sec./15 sec. work to rest ratio. Speeding up your repetitions will make this training even more intense!

The BodyBot delivers high-velocity weight loss results in as few as 4 minutes a day. The state-of-the-art BodyBot software is based on the exact same workout system developed by Ryan Lee that Men’s Fitness Magazine hails as “The World’s Fastest Workout”. Check it out below:

The BodyBot Software Program

Ryan’s belly-busting system was also featured on the cover of Millionaire Blueprints Magazine which went on to write an 8 page feature article calling his weight loss programs: “The Future of Fitness.”

The scientifically designed BodyBot was created to get you as fit as possible – quickly and easily. Watch as BodyBot creates a 100% fully customized 4-Minute Fat-Blasting Workout in just 30 Seconds flat.

I fully endorse BodyBot as a personal trainer who does athletic, intense workouts (and so do my clients).

The BodyBot Software Program

Mark Dilworth at My Fitness Hut

8 Take Action Fat Loss Tips

You need to take action now to burn fat and lose weight! The toughest thing to do to get started transforming your body is to GET STARTED ALREADY!

Unless you have a medical or physical limitation, you have NO EXCUSES for putting off exercise and eating better. So, take action and take charge of your health and fitness. No one can do this for you.

Note: You may need to get medical clearance before starting an exercise program, especially if you have been inactive.

Here are 8 Take Action Fat Loss Tips for you:

1. Do something you love. What physical activity do you love? Are you in an "exercise rut?" Forget all the exercise theories and articles! Just get started with an exercise activity you love and do this activity for at least 30 minutes on most days. Before you know it, you will have started exercising regularly again.

2. You don't have a meal plan yet? Here are some things you can start doing today to improve your eating habits:

--Drink only water or unsweetened drinks for beverages
--Severely limit candy, cookies, pastries, junk food and processed foods
--Eat at least one fruit or vegetable with every meal
--Eat protein with every meal, such as eggs, fish, nuts or lean chicken/beef/turkey
--Eat small meals, every 3-4 hours
--Start writing down what and why you eat to hold yourself accountable

3. Tell a friend about your immediate plan to start getting fit. It helps to have someone hold you accountable and its even better if that person will join you. You need help to accomplish your fat loss and weight loss goals. That could be a trainer, a friend, a spouse or other family member. Research proves that those who have weight loss buddies are more likely to succeed.

4. So, you're too busy to exercise? Not! Many days, I fit in 15-20 minutes of exercise while waiting for a client training session. Take advantage of "DEAD TIME" during your day and exercise. Twenty minutes of exercise here and 20 minutes of exercise there works just fine.

5. Are you afraid to set goals for fear of not reaching those goals? Since you need to take action, set a temporary goal of "just getting started exercising." You can set an appointment with a trainer to help figure out the rest.

6. You don't have any equipment or a gym membership? No problem. You don't need either one to get started. All you need is your body and a little time. Get FREE Fat Loss Workouts Here.

7. Once you have been active for a week, start working in 20-minute cardio sessions 2-3 days a week. Also, begin doing strength workouts 3 days a week. Use the free workouts you downloaded in item #6. You have to build muscle mass to transform your body to lean and toned.

8. Walk at least 30 minutes on your days off from exercise. This will help keep your fat burning enzymes active. As a general rule, walk every where you can instead of riding. All movement burns calories.

How will you start exercising and eating better today?

Get FREE Training and Nutrition Insider Secrets for a Lean-Body with Six Pack Abs! This ebook, created by Certified Nutrition Specialist & Certified Personal Trainer, Mike Geary, details over 27 specific metabolism-boosting secrets that you can use to strip off your stubborn body fat faster and easier and get your six-pack abs! Contains unique workout methods and nutritional strategies to slash body fat and take your body to a whole new level of leanness. Get Your FREE Book Now!

Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance is a Great Resource

Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer affecting the membrane lining of the lungs and abdomen.

Malignant mesothelioma is the most serious of all asbestos-related diseases. Although uncommon, mesothelioma cancer is no longer considered rare. The primary cause and risk factor for mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos.

Making a correct mesothelioma diagnosis is particularly difficult for doctors because the disease often presents with symptoms that mimic other common ailments. There is no known cure for mesothelioma, but treatments such as surgery and chemotherapy have helped to improve the typical mesothelioma prognosis.

Visit Mesothelioma.com

Pleural mesothelioma (affecting the lung’s protective lining in the chest cavity) represents about three quarters of all mesothelioma incidence. Peritoneal mesothelioma which affects the abdominal cavity and pericardial mesothelioma, which affects the cardiac cavity comprise the remainder.

Testicular mesothelioma is extremely rare and is typically present with metastases of the peritoneal variety. There are three recognized mesothelioma cell-types. Between 50 and 70% of all mesotheliomas are of the epithelial variety.

While prognosis is generally poor, these are considered less aggressive than sarcomatoid mesothelioma and biphasic mesothelioma, which comprise the remainder of diagnoses.

The cavities within the body encompassing the chest, abdomen, and heart are surround by a membrane of cells known as the mesothelium. Mesothelial cells assist in general organ functions.

The mesothelium is particularly important to organs which are commonly in motion, such as expansion or contraction of the lungs, stomach, or heart. Lubrication from the mesothelial cells allows free range of motion within the body.

Visit Mesothelioma.com

The mesothelium of the chest, abdomen, and cardiac cavity are called the pleura, the peritoneum, and the pericardium, respectively. Each of these groupings of mesothelial cells are extremely critical to the functions of the body structures which they encompass.

Malignancies (cancerous tumors) occurring within the mesothelial membranes are known as malignant mesothelioma, or simply mesothelioma. Benign tumors of the mesothelium are known to occur, but are much rarer than the more common mesothelioma cancer.

While tumors of the mesothelium were first recognized in the late 18th century, it was not until the middle of the 20th century that this particular cancer was studied and examined with more detail.

It was at this time where suspicions of the cancer’s causal relationship with asbestos exposure became more substantiated. A joint study through the Department of Thoracic Surgery at the University of the Witswaterand/Johannesburg General Hospital in South Africa provided the most compelling evidence of the nexus between asbestos exposure and the development of pleural mesothelioma.

Visit Mesothelioma.com

Incidence of mesothelioma is still quite rare, with only 2,500-3000 diagnoses in the United States each year. There was a spike in reported diagnoses between 1970 and 1984, which has been attributed to the latency period between diagnosis and the height of industrial exposures- which occurred roughly 40-60 years prior to this time.

Exposure was common in nearly all industries but was particularly common in the WWII-era military industrial cycle, including Navy Shipyards.

Although this cancer is much more common in men over the age of 60 (largely attributed to the industrial exposures within male-dominated industries), mesothelioma in women and children has been described as well.

Mesothelioma causes for diagnosis in women and children are mainly attributed to secondary exposure to asbestos, as it was not uncommon for men to bring asbestos back into the home on their body or clothing if proper cleaning facilities were not available on site.

Mesothelioma is diagnosed through a comprehensive combination of biopsy and imaging scans.

So, can exercise help those afflicted with mesothelioma? Yes, if the person's body and lungs can handle the stress of exercise. Being active can decrease joint stiffness, keep blood circulating better and keep muscles stronger.

There are also emotional benefits that come with regular exercise. And, the increased energy might help the person endure medical treatments better. The patient's age would impact the amount of exercise he or she could do on a regular basis.

Visit Mesothelioma.com

Mark Dilworth at My Fitness Hut

1 Strength Training Tip to Burn More Fat

Its no secret you have to change up your strength training routine to continue to burn fat. How do you do that? Cut out a workout in a magazine? Make it up on the fly? Keep doing your same workout?

Don't despair! If you need a tip to kick your fat burning into higher gear, try complex strength training. This method burns fat better than traditional strength training. Complex strength training should not be tried by beginners or those with inadequate body strength. It is a high-risk, high-reward type of superset strength training.

If you want to burn more fat, add higher intensity to your workouts! Complex strength training will force your neuromuscular system to adapt to new training stimuli. This will help improve your fat loss and weight loss results.

Power, or speed strength (how fast your muscles can produce force) is one of the best ways to improve your workout efficiency. Plyometric exercises help you to increase power. When plyometric exercises are paired with a similar strength exercise, your strength and body shape will improve faster.

Complex training to improve strength supersets a power exercise with a biomechanically similar strength exercise. An example would be pairing repeating full-speed squat jumps with barbell squats. The barbell squats would be performed 1-2 minutes after the squat jumps to get maximum neuromuscular adaptations.

You would do a set of full-speed repeating squat jumps (8-10 reps). Rest 1-2 minutes and then do 3-5 barbell squats at 85%-90% of 1RM. This is an advanced training method and should not be performed by those who do not have adequate stabilization strength and muscular strength.

Exercises like the squat works the major muscle groups. To recruit more muscle fibers during workouts and improve your fat loss success, focus more on multi-joint or compound exercises like the squat.

Compound exercises will help you burn more fat because of the intensity of working large muscle groups in your body. You will also burn more calories after your workout.

Other strength and plyometric exercises can also be superset this way (such as shoulder press/explosive medicine ball 2-handed upward throw).

Complex training to improve strength is designed to increase strength throughout the full range of motion.

Get FREE Training and Nutrition Insider Secrets for a Lean-Body with Six Pack Abs! This ebook, created by Certified Nutrition Specialist & Certified Personal Trainer, Mike Geary, details over 27 specific metabolism-boosting secrets that you can use to strip off your stubborn body fat faster and easier and get your six-pack abs! Contains unique workout methods and nutritional strategies to slash body fat and take your body to a whole new level of leanness. Get Your FREE Book Now!

Top 10 iPhone Weight Loss Text Message Motivators

If you're a big texter, use it to help you lose weight and burn fat.

So, texting nation out there: R U Xercising 2Day? R U Xercising 2Morrow 2? And so on.....U gt d idea (You get the idea). Use your TXT MSGs to help U n UR buddies Burn F@ (BURN FAT) n LUZ WGT (LOSE WEIGHT).

Why do people text so much? IDK (I don't know)! It seems easier sometimes just to talk to the person. I'm not a big texter on my cell phone but many of my clients and friends are so I'm GWTP (getting with the program).

So, hre R sum QIK WGT loss TXT MSGs 4 U 2 snd:

1. d/l My Fitness Hut WGT loss eB%K (Download My Fitness Hut's Weight Loss e-Course)

2. do BOD WGT XRcZs 4 Cardio (Do Bodyweight Exercises for Cardio). Download 4-Minute Fat Burning Workouts

3. e@ ryt 2Day n Evryday (Eat Right Today and Everyday)

4. gt XRcZ pRtnR (Get an Exercise Partner)

5. wlk 30 mins evryday (Walk 30 minutes everyday)

6. TXT pRsNL trainer a Q (Text personal trainer a question)

7. LUZ WGT n BURN F@ W intNse XRcZ of 20 min (Lose Weight and Burn Fat with Intense Exercise of 20 minutes)

8. do fun XRcZ lk danciN (Do Fun Exercise like Dancing)

9. wrt dwn wotU e@ (Write Down What You Eat)

10. *t xercising alrdy! (Start Exercising Already!)

Subscribe to my FREE Fat Blaster eNewsletter and get FREE eBooks: "10 Must Know Fat Loss Tips," Free Fat Loss Meals and Free Fat Loss Workouts!

"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

3 Steps to Help YOU Avoid Weight Loss Only Diets

Don't ever try a "weight loss only diet," "fad diet" or "quick weight loss diet!" Why? Because you will end up with what you don't want--more weight gained than what you lost!

If you try a "weight loss only diet," what are you going to do once that diet ends? Another diet? You still have a lifetime to go! Get the picture? Going on diet after diet will wreck your metabolism and health.

Being fit is much more than going on a diet. Fitness is a lifestyle designed to improve your energy, your health, your mood, your self image and your body composition (among other benefits).

Here are 3 Steps to Take to Avoid Weight Loss Only Diets:

1. Change your focus. Fat loss is more important than your weight loss. Burning fat is what really changes your body to lean and toned. Its possible to be skinny and still have high body fat. Belly fat, in particular, is dangerous to your health.

A "weight loss only” goal is a short-term fix for your weight problem and will not ultimately help you attain your goals! Establish eating and exercise habits that will help you burn fat and lose weight for a lifetime.

The type of food you eat and timing of what you eat is very important for your metabolism to work properly. Your body needs adequate amounts of the macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, fats) to function properly.

2. Increasing muscle mass is critical to permanently speed up your metabolism. Your body has to work harder to maintain muscle mass. And, increasing muscle mass will burn the fat off of your body.

Do full body circuit weight training 3 days a week (30-45 minutes a session). Also, do interval cardio training 2-3 days a week (20 minutes a session).

3. Follow a nutritious meal plan based on your basal metabolic rate and calorie needs. You must maintain a calorie deficit (burn more calories than you eat) to lose weight and burn fat.

You will never starve or feel hungry. You will eat enough to maintain your energy throughout the day and during workouts. Load your menu up with nutritious foods you enjoy. You are more likely to maintain a menu you enjoy. Shoot for at least 90% compliance with your meal plan.

Burn fat, lose weight and transform your body!

Get FREE Training and Nutrition Insider Secrets for a Lean-Body with Six Pack Abs! This ebook, created by Certified Nutrition Specialist & Certified Personal Trainer, Mike Geary, details over 27 specific metabolism-boosting secrets that you can use to strip off your stubborn body fat faster and easier and get your six-pack abs! Contains unique workout methods and nutritional strategies to slash body fat and take your body to a whole new level of leanness. Get Your FREE Book Now!

3 Ways to Burn Back Fat with Dumbbell Rows

There are 3 good ways to mix up the dumbbell bentover row lift to burn more back fat. They are: 2-arm DB bentover row, 1-arm DB bentover row and alternating 1-arm DB bentover row.



Burn back fat and build up your back muscles better with this exercise.

Bentover dumbbell rows allow you to work your lats using heavier weights. Your lower back will be worked more if you row with both arms at the same time. You will also work your obliques in the process.

If you experience back pain doing two-armed rows, then try doing one-armed bentover rows so you can support your body with the other arm and knee on the bench (see picture below).

Do two-armed bentover dumbbell rows this way:

1. With your feet about shoulder width apart, bend over and grab the dumbbells. Keep your back straight (don't bow or arch back) and keep your head in line with your torso. Look straight down during the exercise.

2. Pull dumbbells up to your side until they make contact with your ribs. Keep your elbows close to your side during the exercise. As you pull the dumbbells up, squeeze your shoulder blades together.

3. Don't curl the dumbbells as you lift. Curling will allow too much use of your biceps. This is primarily a back exercise. Return the dumbbells until your arms are fully extended. That is one repetition.

You can do three sets of 8-10 repetitions of rows this way:

Set 1) DB 2-arm bentover rows

Set 2) DB 1-arm bentover rows (do all reps for 1 arm and switch to other arm)

Courtesy: http://katiewbutler.com/

Set 3) DB alternating 1-arm bentover rows. Use the same stance as the 2-arm row and alternate lifting arms (one left/right rotation is one rep).

Build more back muscles and burn more back fat with bentover dumbbell rows.

Get FREE Training and Nutrition Insider Secrets for a Lean-Body with Six Pack Abs! This ebook, created by Certified Nutrition Specialist & Certified Personal Trainer, Mike Geary, details over 27 specific metabolism-boosting secrets that you can use to strip off your stubborn body fat faster and easier and get your six-pack abs! Contains unique workout methods and nutritional strategies to slash body fat and take your body to a whole new level of leanness. Get Your FREE Book Now!

Top 5 Fat-Burning Bodyweight Exercises

Bodyweight exercises are great fat burners that uses the best equipment--your body. No fitness gadgets are needed!

Bodyweight exercises use natural body motions that don't limit your natural range of motion like machine lifting does.

Bodyweight exercises allow you to develop strength that allows your body to stabilize itself. Also, no two people have the same exact motions. So, adjustments are made for your unique challenges.

Here are my Top 5 Fat-Burning Bodyweight Exercises (hard to limit to just 5):

1. The Burpee exercise sounds kind of gross but it burns body fat like crazy and its good for you! Always do burpees under control with good technique.

If you need to change up your high intensity interval cardio routine, here is a great choice----do full speed burpees for 20 minute intervals (1 minute burpee, 2 minutes walk).

The burpee is a great full-body exercise that will increase your strength endurance, power and anaerobic conditioning (remember, aerobics is an exercise done for more than 2 straight minutes).

Research has proven that anaerobic conditioning will give you superior fat loss and heart health.

Do the burpee this way: From a squat position with your hands on the floor, kick your feet back to a pushup position. Quickly return your feet to the squat position and jump as high as you can from the squat position. Repeat this exercise at full speed for 1 minute! Whew! Walk or jog for 2 minutes and burpee again!

2. Jump Rope with your bodyweight to burn more fat, improve your heart health and better lean and tone your body!

Jumping rope will also help improve your balance, coordination and overall core strength.

Buy a jump rope and practice for 5-10 minutes every day and soon you'll be jumping for 20-30 minutes. I can make you a promise if you will jump rope for about 20 minutes a day, 4-5 days a week: your body will burn fat and get leaner like never before!

Just do intervals for 20 minutes when you jump rope such as jumping for 1 minute and walking for 1 minute. As you improve, you can begin to jump faster and faster and burn more and more fat!

Be sure to look straight ahead, keep your body erect, your core braced (as if taking a punch to your gut) and use your hands/wrists to propel the rope. Keep your arms and body as still as possible as you jump. Land on the balls of your feet and not your toes.

3. Pullups/Triceps Dips on Bars. I am including this pair as one superset. You must include bodyweight pullups in your exercise routine! The pullup is one of the best exercises you should be doing! If you haven't done a pullup since grade school, you need to bring the pullup out of your workout closet! If you can't do any, start doing 1 pullup and progress (assisted pullup machine or a spotter are also options).

The pullup is not just a back muscle exercise. Pullups work your lats (and other back muscles), core, shoulders, arms, chest, biceps and improve grip strength.

Do the basic overhand grip, dead-hang pullup this way (pictured above):

--Hang from a pullup bar with your palms facing away from your body, your arms straight and your feet crossed together with legs bent about 90 degrees. Pull yourself up until your chin passes the bar.

--A wider grip (greater than shoulder width) will work your lats more. A closer grip (shoulder width or less) will work your middle back muscles more.

--If you lack grip strength, you can use straps to help.

--Don't jut your chin out (it strains your cervical spine).

--Don't swing. It makes the pullup easier by using momentum. You need to pullup, not swing up.

--Don't let your chest collapse because that puts too much stress on your shoulders.

--Don't arch your lower back too much. You want your abdominal muscles to be engaged when you do the pullup. Keep your torso braced (as if taking a punch to the gut) during the pullup.

--When you start the pullup, drive your shoulder blades down and squeeze them together. This will engage your shoulder stabilizers more.

Tricep Dips on Bars will give you the most benefit. Keep your hands by your side and don't lean forward when doing the exercise. Your core will also get work during this exercise. Add weight to increase difficulty when needed.

4. Bulgarian Split Squats (pictured below) - This exercise is very difficult to do correctly.

--Start by standing with feet shoulder width apart, like you’re going to do a squat. Place one foot on the bench, 2 feet behind you and stand on the front foot.

--Lower your body until the front leg is parallel to the ground.
Keep your back upright (90 degrees) and abs braced (like taking a punch to your gut).

5. Pushups - Close-grip pushups, pushups on stability ball, power pushups, regular pushups, incline pushups, decline pushups, uneven pushups.... take your pick! Pushups are one of the all-time best bodyweight exercises.

How to do the standard pushup movement: Keep your body straight and torso braced throughout the movement. Keep your head in line with your torso at all times. Lower your body down to the ground and back to starting position. Repeat as required.

Its hard to keep this list to five exercises. Step ups, inverted rows, prisoner squats, one-legged squats and mountain climbers are just a few that come to mind.

Subscribe to my FREE Fat Blaster eNewsletter and get FREE eBooks: "10 Must Know Fat Loss Tips," Free Fat Loss Meals and Free Fat Loss Workouts!

"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

Top 5 Painful Exercise Injuries to Avoid

When it comes to any exercise injury, prevention is best. You can avoid many injuries by training smart and listening to your body's warning signs.

Typical injuries I see in clients and others are many times related to soft tissues (i.e., tendons, ligaments, muscles, etc.). Treatment of any soft tissue injury during the first 24-72 hours is important to offset any further injury and inflammation. The general rule of thumb is to use the R.I.C.E.R. principle (REST, ICE, COMPRESSION, ELEVATION, REFERRAL FOR MEDICAL ASSISTANCE).

Here are my Top 5 Painful Exercise Injuries to Avoid:

1. Low back injuries and chronic injuries caused by over-training, poor technique, muscle imbalances and uncorrected postural deficiencies.

Chronic injuries come on gradually, so you are more apt to "play through the pain." Leave that attitude to people getting paid to compete. You need to take care of the only body you have.

Degenerative conditions can become non-reversible and many are associated with long-term joint problems. Sometimes, previously unrehabilitated injuries turn into degenerative conditions (low back problems, shoulder problems or knee problems). Some arthritic conditions are brought on by the cumulative effect of previous injuries.

2. Shoulder injuries are very common and they hurt awfully bad. The shoulder girdle is very important to your body's core structure, stabilization and efficiency. And, shoulder injuries tend to cause other injuries. Some common shoulder injuries are:

a. Frozen Shoulder - This condition affects the shoulder joint capsule. Joint stiffness and loss of movement are the primary symptoms. Anti-inflammatory medicine and physical therapy are usually needed.

b. Shoulder Tendonitis - This condition does not affect the joint capsule but does affect the muscles and tendons of the shoulder joint. Pain, weakness and inflammation accompany shoulder tendonitis. The two main causes are degeneration and wear and tear.

Since the shoulder is a very tendinous area, it receives very little blood supply. Massage is often used to increase blood flow and oxygen to this area.

c. Rotator Cuff Injury - This can be a muscle strain or tear due to heavy lifting or excessive force being placed on the shoulder (such as wear and tear from throwing a ball). The larger the tear, the harder it is to lift or extend the arm.

As with tendonitis, pain, weakness and inflammation accompany rotator cuff injuries. This condition also does not affect the joint capsule but does affect the muscles and tendons of the shoulder joint.

3. Shin splints are much more than shin soreness. Shin soreness happens through overuse of your shins during training. Soreness can be treated with the R.I.C.E.R. principle. Shin splints refer to a medical condition called Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome (MTSS).

Problems with your tibia (shin bone), fibula and the many muscles that attach to them cause shin splints. There are two main causes of shin splints:

a. Overloading - Exercising on hard or uneven surfaces bring on shin splints. Other common causes of shin splints are exercising with cheap shoes, exercising after a long layoff, a sudden increase in exercise intensity/duration and excessive uphill or downhill running.

b. Biomechanical Problems - The most common biomechanical problem is running with flat feet which leads to over-pronation (foot and ankle roll excessively inward) and splints on the medial or inside of the shin. Poor running mechanics can also lead to shin splints.

And, finally tight lower leg muscles (anterior tibialis muscles and calves) contribute to shin splints (usually lateral, or outside of your shin).

4. A knee anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury is the most common injury affecting the knee joint. According to research, about 70% of all serious knee injuries involve damage to the ACL. And, about 80% of these injuries occur without any contact (i.e., jumping, landing, etc.).

The knee ACL is located within the capsule of the knee and connects the thigh bone (femur) to the shin bone (tibia).

Most ACL injuries occur when you decelerate, come to a sudden stop or land with improper technique while placing too much stress on the knees. You should also dominate the hamstrings, hips and glutes during movement. The hips are often under-used when running.

5. Plantar Fasciitis is a common, painful injury that can go on for months. Plantar Fasciitis happens when the long, flat ligament on the bottom of your foot (Plantar Fascia) stretches too much, small tears develop and the ligament inflames. This is terrible pain!

Plantar Fasciitis usually develops over time. Many times, people continue to exercise when the condition first occurs. Big mistake!

Take these steps to avoid Plantar Fasciitis:

a) Keep your foot and ankle area flexible (including the Achilles tendon). Also, wear quality footwear.

b) Vary your running workouts to avoid repetitive type injuries and don't use bad running mechanics.

c) A sudden increase in the intensity or length of your workouts can cause injury.

Exercise hard, smart and safe!

Subscribe to my FREE Fat Blaster eNewsletter and get FREE eBooks: "10 Must Know Fat Loss Tips," Free Fat Loss Meals and Free Fat Loss Workouts!

"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

3 Massage Therapy Benefits That Helps Exercise Recovery

Massage therapy can be a huge part of your exercise recovery. It is not just for athletes! If you are serious about your exercise program, massage therapy should be a part of your routine. Find a massage therapist suitable for your tastes and needs.

Here are 3 Benefits of Massage Therapy:

1. You can perform self massage every day using self myofascial release with foam rolls. You can increase the elasticity in your muscles by improving your flexibility. The foam roller is one of the most effective techniques for releasing tension while improving mobility.

Foam rolling exercises will release and organize your muscles, as well as release and align your skeletal system. Muscle injuries such as strains and tears and broken bones can be avoided with proper flexibility and skeletal alignment. You'll immediately feel the effectiveness of SMFR.

2. If you treat your soft tissues (muscles, skin, tendons, etc.) better, you will find that your workouts will be more efficient. You will also be less susceptible to injuries. A tight, rigid and fatigued body is a precursor to certain injury.

The benefits received from pampering your soft tissues are: improved flexibility, improved circulation, relief of muscle tension and soreness (relaxation) and decreased fatigue/improved recovery.

Massage therapy between workouts will definitely shorten your recovery time and improve exercise performance. You should not do hard exercise after a massage. Wait until the following day to do cardio and weight lifting sessions.

3. There are hundreds of types of massage therapies. I will discuss a few just to give you an idea of what to look for.

a. According to ActiveBodyChiro.com: Active Release Technique® is a type of manual hands-on therapy that corrects soft tissue problems and injuries. Many types of injuries are treated using this technique. Some of the specific injuries that are treated include repetitive strains, adhesions, tissue hypoxia, and joint dysfunction.

The ART® practitioner finds the exact tissue that is injured or causing the problem and then physically works that tissue back to its normal texture, tension and length.

The ART® practitioner also finds muscles and other tissues that have developed adhesions between them. An adhesion, which is basically like scar tissue that builds up between the muscle layers, can act like a glue restricting the normal sliding motions of the various tissue layers.

ART® is used to break apart these adhesions and allow the muscles and nerves to move freely once again. Restoring proper nerve and muscle movement allows the body to perform at its most efficient level.

b. Swedish Massage - Its purpose is to increase circulation and blood flow. The massage strokes are often in the direction of the heart. Oil or other lotions are used to allow for smooth massage strokes.

c. Deep Tissue Massage - This type of massage is a favorite among exercisers because it focuses on joints and muscle groups. The massage therapist pinpoints deep layers of the soft tissues to relieve pain or stress.

d. Neuromuscular Therapy - This type of massage is used to address postural imbalances. The massage is used to reduce pain/tension and strengthen the soft tissues.

e. Myoskeletal Alignment Technique - Postural distortions are identified and corrected using Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) and myofascial techniques are used to lengthen tight muscles and tone weak or inhibited muscles.

f. Structural Muscular Balancing - Chronic contraction in the muscles are released through gentle massage techniques.

Use massage therapy as a tool to help you reach your fitness goals with as little pain and injury as possible.

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4 Steps to Faster Fat Loss

Reach your fat loss and weight loss goals faster with smart training and eating. You will need to make some changes to your program to be successful.

Here are 4 Steps you can take this week to give you Faster Fat Loss:

1. Shorten your weight training workouts to 50 minutes or less and ramp up the intensity! In other words, work harder for a shorter period of time and you'll get more fat burn and calorie burn during and after your workout!

Do as many compound strength exercises (with weights or bodyweight) standing up as possible. These types of exercises work major muscle groups and many times are full-body strength exercises.

Squats, deadlift, lunges, standing bentover rows, squat-to curl-to press and bench press are great examples. Full-body core exercises like planks and side planks work well also. Spend less time posing on "mirror exercises" like bicep curls, calf raises and tricep extensions.

Here is a good fat-burning workout:

Do each exercise one after the other with little or no rest between exercises. Rest 2-3 minutes between circuits. Do the circuit 4 times.

--Bulgarian Split Squats, 10 repetitions each leg
--Plank, 12 repetitions, 10 second hold
--Pushups on Medicine Ball, 12 repetitions
--Step Ups with Knee Lift (knee high platform), 10 repetitions each leg
--Bentover dumbbell rows, 10 repetitions
--Clock Lunges, 5 repetitions each leg
--Standing dumbbell shoulder press, 10 repetitions
--Repeat circuit 3 more times.

This type of workout will torch body fat.

2. Shorten and intensify your cardio workout! Long, slow cardio sessions wastes time and eats away at your muscle mass. Short, intense cardio sessions also burn more fat and calories during and after your workout!

I'm talking about interval cardio sessions that are 20 minutes or less!

Here is an interval cardio session that I often do (or something similar):

--Jump rope, fast, 1 minute
--Walk 1 minute
--Mountain climbers, fast, 30 seconds
--Walk 30 seconds
--Jumping Jacks, fast, 1 minute
--Walk 1 minute
--Run-In-Place, fast, 30 seconds
--Walk 30 seconds
--Bodyweight Jump Squats, fast, 15 seconds
--Walk 1 minute

Repeat this circuit 2 more times.

If you don't like these types of exercises, then pick exercises that you like. I know that jump squats won't work for those with knee or back problems. As long as you change it up and keep it interesting, you will will make progress.

3. Make needed changes to your eating habits and reach your fat loss and weight loss goals faster!

Don't ruin great workouts by eating bad food with a million calories! Its possible to hide those hard-earned muscles with a thick layer(s) of fat! Don't fight against yourself!

We eat "too large" servings of food and that's without even "super-sizing" anything! Keep your daily food journal to track what, how much and why you are eating! This will help you with portion control.

It will be easier to keep your commitment if you plan your meals for the week. And, instead of eating out during the day, pack your food. This will protect you from binge eating and haphazard eating (i.e. grazing).

Here are some common sense do's and don'ts when it comes to eating:

Cut out these type foods: sodas, sugary fruit juice drinks, candy, cookies, donuts, fried meats and fried foods, fast foods, ketchup, mayonnaise

Add these type foods: whole grain breads, whole grain cereals, oatmeal, almonds, nuts, low-fat dairy products, low-fat yogurt, fruits, veggies, unsweetened tea, water, lean meats (baked, broiled or grilled), olive oil, cinnamon, mustard. You get the idea!

4. Shorten and intensify your workouts with jump training (plyometrics)!

If you're having trouble sculpting your butt, hips and thighs then you need to do more plyometric training.

Plyometric workouts are advanced workouts. You need to perfect jumping and landing techniques or you will injure yourself. And, if you have knee and low back problems, high-speed plyometric training is not for you.

Try this jump training workout (take little or no rest between exercises):

--jump rope, two feet, full speed, 1 minute
--squat jumps, 10, full speed
--lunge jumps, 10, full speed
--depth jumps (off knee-high platform), 10
--tuck jumps, 10, full speed
--jumping jacks, 30 seconds, full speed

Rest 1 minute between circuits. Repeat the circuit 2 more times--20 minutes total workout time. Take more rest between exercises or circuits if needed.

Have fun burning fat faster!

Get FREE Training and Nutrition Insider Secrets for a Lean-Body with Six Pack Abs! This ebook, created by Certified Nutrition Specialist & Certified Personal Trainer, Mike Geary, details over 27 specific metabolism-boosting secrets that you can use to strip off your stubborn body fat faster and easier and get your six-pack abs! Contains unique workout methods and nutritional strategies to slash body fat and take your body to a whole new level of leanness. Get Your FREE Book Now!

Top 3 High Intensity Workout Tips to Burn Fat

If you want to burn more fat, add higher intensity to your workouts! Do more challenging exercises, more often, to force your neuromuscular system to adapt to new training stimuli. This will help improve your fat loss and weight loss results.

Challenge yourself with exercises that test your balance, coordination, strength and flexibility! This might require that you put that old favorite workout on the shelf and try something new!

Here are my Top 3 High Intensity Workout Tips to Burn More Fat:

1. Add more one-legged strength exercises such as power step ups, single leg squats, Bulgarian split squats, lunges, single leg good mornings and single leg medicine ball exercises to your workout routine.

These types of exercises are more intense than two-legged exercises. Doing these exercises with circuit weight training using supersets (with lighter weights) adds even more intensity to your workout.

One way to build more muscle mass (and speed up your metabolism) is through heavy weight lifting. “Heavy” is relative to your body weight and strength.

According to the research, doing this type of weight lifting will give you exercise-induced testosterone increases. Of course, this will help you build muscle mass. Women can lift heavy weights without fear of getting too bulky!

So, how much weight is heavy enough? Your repetition range for exercises should be between 3-5 (you would have a difficult time lifting these repetitions). You would typically do 4-5 sets of each exercise.

Doing some of these exercises with your eyes closed will improve limb position sense (proprioception), balance and will help you burn more fat and calories! Balance training also improves your core strength.

One last strength training tip would be to do combinations of one-arm and one-leg exercises such as single leg squat-to-single arm shoulder press.

2. Add more intensity to your workouts by exercising your body in all 3 planes of motion to improve multi-planar balance and add intensity.

An example would be a grouping of walking lunges, side lunges and transverse lunges.

Want more intensity? Exercise on different surfaces such as grass, sand, astro-play and soft surfaces to add more intensity.

3. Do cardio blasts between weight training sets. This is a very intense form of exercising. You will get great fat burning results.

Cardio blasts could work this way: between each weight training exercise set, do 30-45 seconds of a high speed cardio exercise like jump rope, mountain climbers, sprints or squat jumps. Try to do the whole 20 minute workout without any rest between exercises.

Add intensity, challenge yourself more and watch the fat melt away!

Subscribe to my FREE Fat Blaster eNewsletter and get FREE eBooks: "10 Must Know Fat Loss Tips," Free Fat Loss Meals and Free Fat Loss Workouts!

"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

Top 3 Reasons Squat Exercise Burns More Fat

The squat is a must-do exercise to help you burn more fat and shape your body. Learn to love the squat exercise if you hate it! The squat gets a bad rap because people injure themselves by doing the exercise incorrectly.

There is probably no other exercise that has a greater impact on your body's muscle, metabolism and energy expenditure. Why? Because the squat is a complete-body movement exercise. This means your legs (especially quads, hamstrings and glutes), abdominals, lower back, arms and shoulders are targeted.

I would recommend doing squats without machines or weight belts. This will force you to learn how to stabilize your body without artificial support. If you are not able to perform squats with barbell or dumbbell weights because of injury, then start with bodyweight squats.

There are many variations of the squat exercise. Some are: barbell squats, dumbbell squats, bodyweight squats, one-legged squats, Bulgarian split squats, side squats, prisoner squats (pictured above), sumo squats, sissy squats, hack squats and front squats. They are all good to work into your routine at some point. Keep in mind that one-legged exercises are more intense than two-legged exercises.

Here are my Top 3 Reasons to do Squats and Burn More Fat:

1. The squat works the major muscle groups. To recruit more muscle fibers during workouts and improve your fat loss success, focus more on multi-joint or compound exercises like the squat. Compound exercises will help you burn more fat because of the intensity of working large muscle groups in your body. You will also burn more calories after your workout.

2. You will tone your bulky and shapely fast twitch muscle fibers better with the squat exercise. I am talking mainly about your butt, hips and thighs. Need I say more?

3. Work your core with squats. Research shows that the abdominal muscles are engaged more when doing squats than they are doing many of the more popular ab exercises. Your lower back will also get quite a workout. If you do the exercise correctly, you won't injure your low back (as many fear).

The are many other reasons to do the squat exercise. Include some type of squat in every strength training workout.

Learn how to do the barbell squat exercise

Get FREE Training and Nutrition Insider Secrets for a Lean-Body with Six Pack Abs! This ebook, created by Certified Nutrition Specialist & Certified Personal Trainer, Mike Geary, details over 27 specific metabolism-boosting secrets that you can use to strip off your stubborn body fat faster and easier and get your six-pack abs! Contains unique workout methods and nutritional strategies to slash body fat and take your body to a whole new level of leanness. Get Your FREE Book Now!

125 Fat Burning and Weight Loss Tips Book

Stop waiting for the next big weight loss and fat loss secret (lie) to hit the market! Just get my latest ebook, "125 Fat Burning and Weight Loss Tips!"

These weight loss and fat loss tips will help you change your lifestyle to one of fitness and health. Do the little things EVERY DAY to change your body to lean and toned! Use these tips every day---in whole or in part.

Forget about weight loss and concentrate on fat loss. Building muscle mass will burn the fat and permanently speed up your metabolism. It will also transform your body.

You MUST know what to do, when to do it and how to do it. It usually helps to break down the fat loss and weight loss process into practical steps you can implement. Once you have the right information, you MUST work hard, persevere and make no excuses.

So, start taking the steps to commit to changing your lifestyle. Stop waiting for the latest diet plan to splash the news! Makers of weight loss pills, fat burn supplements and quick weight loss plans continue to get rich because people "buy in" and buy the products. Take real steps today.

Download your 125 Fat Burning and Weight Loss Tips now!

Mark Dilworth at My Fitness Hut