Former Fat Guy Blog

Advantages of Circuit Training

Rob — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 23:18:18 +0000

Cardiorespiratory training is traditionally thought of in terms of running, biking, and aerobics but the truth is the cardiorespiratory system is at work every moment of your life. When seeking cardiorespiratory enhancements through exercise it is in your best interest to spend less time running on the treadmill and more time performing circuit training.

What Is Circuit Training?

In case you did not know, circuit training consists of a series of exercises performed one after another using weights with little or no rest in between sets. A sample circuit training workout would be:

Exercise 1: Ball dumbbell chest press
Exercise 2: Standing cable row
Exercise 3: Standing overhead dumbbell press
Exercise 4: standing dumbbell curl
Exercise 5: Ball dumbbell triceps extension
Exercise 6: Ball lunge
Exercise 7: Brief rest

Advantages of Circuit Training to Traditional Cardiorespiratory Methods Such as Running and Biking

There are many advantages of circuit training.

Circuit training better enables cardiorespiratory enhancements because it involves every major muscle group: During this process the heart must work increasingly harder to deliver blood to all major muscle groups, thus increasing your hearts stroke volume. Consider one heart beat as one minute of work and the amount of blood pushed through the circulatory system per beat represents the amount of work completed in that minute. If the heart can carry more blood with each beat (stroke volume) it is performing more work in the same amount of time, thus burning more calories. If you were to simply run or ride a bike the heart would direct most of its focus on delivering blood to the legs which would limit its ability to become more efficient.
Circuit training produces greater levels of EPOC and strength: EPOC is short for excess post oxygen consumption which is the elevation of the body’s metabolism after exercise. Post-running or bike riding your EPOC is elevated for 30-60 minutes; however after a bout of circuit training your EPOC is elevated for as long as 72 hours. This means for 72 hours after your exercise is complete your body will burn more calories than it would had you choose to run or ride a bike. This is also known as “afterburn”.

The Afterburn From Circuit Training is 72x to 144x Greater!

The caloric expenditure during the time spent exercising is estimated to be identical for both traditional cardiorespiratory methods and circuit training, but it’s the EPOC or “Afterburn” where the real advantage of circuit training becomes evident.

Granted traditional methods such as running and bike riding seem rather insignificant at the moment, it is not. Among those who are very committed to exercise, overtraining tends to be a barrier that leads to a plateau. If you were to perform circuit training every day your body would soon resist by presenting feelings such as fatigue and weakness. This is your body saying “look we need a moment to recover” but this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t exercise. A brisk walk or a casual bike ride will do the trick. The truth is you should never have a day of complete rest, because an important part of recovery involves the delivery of oxygen and nutrients which is carried out by the circulatory system (blood). Low intensity exercise will increase blood flow but not by so much that it stresses your systems.

Mike Bluestone is a personal trainer at the St. Louis Weight Loss Club. I hope you find this article on the advantages of circuit training workout to be beneficial and do not hesitate to contact me with questions via my website or by using the comment section in this post. I will be sure to follow up.

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Halloween Ideas For Adults

Rob — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 19:42:14 +0000

Growing up in a small town offered many opportunities for great Halloween memories. As a child, the month long costume making sessions with mom, the school Halloween parties and the eventual trick or treating around my neighborhood. Small towns offered a safe environment for accepting candy from strangers and we never had to worry about town bullies taking our candy.

As an adult, Halloween costume ideas revolved around sex or creating a funny costume. Times have changed, we’ve grown up and instead of candy, Halloween brings thoughts of eating that pumpkin and looking for recipes on how to cook with squash.

Halloween Roundup

Over the past few years, various writers have shared their thoughts on these various subjects here on the blog, so I thought I’d put together a little summary of Halloween ideas for recipes, costumes, workouts and even some environmental tips. The authors would love to hear from you, so please leave comments where applicable.

Halloween Recipe Ideas

Squash is a most excellent food. If you’ve got pumpkins laying around after the holiday, make use of it’s nutritional goodness by making one of these:

Pumpkin Butternut Squash Curry Soup – Butternut squash is one of my favorite’s. Here it’s combined with pumpkin and then spiced up with ginger and curry. Lots of Vitamin A and Beta Carotene!

Pumpkin Pancakes – great recipe for any fall morning. Spiced up for the cold months too.

Pumpkin Corn Chowder – If you like a chowder, this makes a great Halloween recipe, suitable for sharing. My wife and I are still trying to come to a conclusion about “what makes a chowder anyway?”, so please leave a comment with your thoughts and help us settle it once and for all.

Halloween Costume Ideas

When I was a kid, I distinctly remember making a robot costume out of cardboard boxes. One for the head and a bigger one for the body. I also remember parading around our school gym for a costume competition where the teachers would vote on the best costume. The only other one I remember was a pirate costume.

Regardless, things are different now. With age comes a more mature theme.

Naughty Halloween Costume Ideas

Burn Off Those Calories

Scott Tousignant, personal trainer and author of many great exercise products including Fat Loss Quickie put together a outdoor workout that makes use of any decorations you may have used.

Check out the Halloween Fat Loss Workout video and start pumping your pumpkins!

Environmentally Friendly Halloween

For years, Scott Bird wrote many excellent articles on conservation including his series on how to save water. He’s from Australia and suffice it to say, they’re way ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to water conservation.

Once the holiday is over, what do you do with all the leftover “stuff?” Here’s an idea:

Environmentally Friendly Halloween – Check out the 10 ways to make your Halloween environmentally friendly.

As far as I’m concerned, when it comes to Halloween, I’m just happy if there’s no snow. I like to think we can make it through the holiday with out the slush, snow and cold weather, but that’s not always the case.

I hope you have a great time trick-or-treating this year and every year, and encourage you to make use of one or all of the Halloween recipe ideas. They’re seriously good, and not just in October. Soup is a wonderful way to keep filled up and make use of your winter squash. Next year? I’ll be growing them myself.

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2 Quick Recipe Tips

Rob — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 04:18:13 +0000

One of the most surprising benefits I’ve discovered for being engaged to a gal from the Middle East, other than the vast cultural exchange, is the cooking.

Oh, yes ladies… my gal COOKS!

Which is good since I am a lousy cook. : )

Hanna enjoys it… and she brings a Middle Eastern flair to some really boring fitness/bodybuilding foods that I want to share with you today.

Here’s just two quick tips from Hanna on making the ultimate in “boring” foods — egg whites and tuna (yuck) — taste incredible.

TIP 1:
Lively Egg White Omelette

Let’s face facts: Egg whites suck. At least that’s what I USED to think until Hanna decided to experiment with my morning omelette.

Now I eat this stuff like it was candy.

Here’s what she does:

1. She cooks the veggies separate from the egg whites. You’d think this would be common sense, but I never did it and I’ve seen a lot of people just toss it all in together.

2. Add 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil with 1/2 teaspoon of coconut oil to the veggies. This alone improved the taste tremendously.

3. Add 1/2 egg yolk to the veggies after cooking for 1 minute. This, again, is primarily for taste.

4. Garlic! If you love garlic, here’s your chance. Garlic ROCKS in egg white omelets.

5. Use Pam or another non-stick spray for the egg whites and cook them like you would a normal omelette. Then pour the almost-cooked veggies in the middle. Do the omelette dance.

6. Here’s the SECRET SAUCE… literally. This will sound nuts until you try it:

Shrimp Cocktail Sauce

Okay… Hanna’s bright, but this was an accident. She thought it was salsa. But I’ve NEVER gone back to salsa after stumbling on this incredible treat! I have no idea why it tastes so good, but it makes the omelette.

Try these tips and see if your egg white omelette doesn’t become your favorite meal of the day.

TIP 2:
Canned Tuna Extraordinaire

Again, I have the lovely Hanna to thank for this.

Like egg whites, I used to HATE canned tuna. Now, again, I can eat this every night without complaint.

Here’s what she does:

She cooks the veggies the same way as in the omelette above and then pours the tuna from the can into a skillet. That’s IT.

I’ve never had “tuna ala skillet” before… and I have no clue why this tastes so smooth and delicious, but it does.

If you hate canned tuna for being dry or tasteless, try this. You’ll never go back.

If you want 40 pages of recipes like this… very yummy and VERY healthy… then be sure to pick up my EODD “Favorite Foods” Dieplan.

Here’s more about it:

Favorite Foods Diet + Recipes <-- click.here.for.more

Remember:
Don’t Quit. Get Fit!

P.S. Most of the recipes that come with my EODD book can be prepared in 15 minutes or less… so do not let the clock become your enemy when it comes to getting lean!

And remember: You can eat your favorite foods several days per week on my plan and still get rid of excess bodyweight.

Why give up living when you don’t have to, right? : )

Favorite Foods Diet + Recipes <-- click.here.for.more

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

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[audio] Insane amount of free diet information!

Rob — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:58:52 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

Scott Colby, CPT just interviewed me recently for “Fit Pros Against Cancer.” My job: Help give away a TON of free fitness information to his listeners as they called into the show.

And I think I did a pretty good job.

You tell me… ; )

Here’s what we cover in just about 30 minutes…

How much fat can you burn (and inches can you lose) in just 6 days?…
How to make fatloss “easier” (not ‘easy’… but easier!)…
What to do about perimenopause and menopause stress and the fat-gain that comes with it… AND…
The “Stress-Free” dietplan for women who fight the “pooch” or who are going through perimenopause or menopause!
Is exercise worthless if you sit down while you work?…
What about fitness for “seniors”?… Can you gain muscle and shed fat past the age of 60?
An inhome exercise that lasts 7 minutes but that can increase the lifespan of women by up to 60%! …
The shocking truth about whole grains and disease…
The “myth” of shaping/building muscle AND dropping bodyfat at the same time… hear the TRUTH about this once and for all! …
How you can have your cake (literally!) and eat it too (i.e. get all the fatburning benefits while still enjoying desserts)…
How to “reboot” your key fatburning hormone using nothing more than the food in your refrigerator!…
This freee substance uses 90% or more of your calories… and you need more of it… find out what it is!…
The “Food Purist” versus the “Food Rebel”… which one are you?…
The one thing you can to TODAY without hardly any effort to improve your appearance and your health!…
2 simple exercises you can do at work to remove back strain and improve your abs (yes… ABS!)…
Why the “baby boomer” generation is literally being left out of most fitness plans… and a plan that’s perfectly suited for all boomers!…
The 1 trick I use to workout without nagging injuries! …
Why exrercise decreases 1 critical sex-hormone… and what you can do to prevent it (even increase it!) …
The importance of strength over the age of 30 (it’s not what you think… and it’s VITAL!) …
And more!

Listen By Clicking The Play Button Below!

Products + Free Video Mentioned In Audio Include…

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“Micro-Session” Cardio Works Best

Rob — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:23:21 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

Several recent studies have pointed to the validity of doing very short cardio sessions (10 minutes) several times a day as being as beneficial… or even better… than one longer session. I agree, assuming you do some form of interval work in your cardio sessions. In fact, unless you want to drop a lot of bodyfat, you can get by with one 9-minute session a day if you do it right.

Quick Start: Try three super-short sessions with at least a 2-3 minute higher-intensity ‘burst’ in the middle. You do not have to go to the gym to do this. You can do this by walking stairs, stepping up and down on a low platform, or even walking outside. Let’s face it: 10 minutes is a lot easier on the brain than 30 minutes… and just as good.

For More Information: When you pick up my book The Every Other Day Diet you’ll have a chance to get my book 7 Minute Body for 1/3 the retail price for a limited time only.

In 7 Minute Body, I cover my personal 9 and 15-minute cardio sessions, my 3-minute abs workout (no kidding… I do not train my abs for more than 3 minutes!) and more.

Watch the presentation on my Every Other Day Diet homepage or just click here now to just pick up 7 Minute Body now.

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The “Cost” of Eating Healthy

Rob — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 02:36:26 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

One of the biggest myths out there is the myth that eating healthy costs too much.

Just the opposite… and I’ll prove it to you in three ways.

#1: Cash

Here’s some sample figures courtesy of my friend Scott Tousignant’s fitness blog…

2 medium size sweet potatoes $1 or… small fries from a fast food joint

2 red peppers $1 or… a can of pop

Bowl of oatmeal with fruit & protein powder $2 or… large bag of chips

6 Chicken Breasts $10 or… a sub combo from a fast food joint

18 eggs $3.50 or… a burger from a fast food joint

2 salmon fillets $15 or… large pizza

Loaded chicken salad (homemade) $3 or… bag of cookies

Large bag of oatmeal $3.50 or… 4 chocolate bars

Not much of a comparison, it is?

Yet the foods on the left would feed a family of two or more for 4-7 days… the foods on the right? 2-3 days if you live through it.

Tips to make the most expensive part of eating healthy — the cost of quality meats — go further include…

1. Use tofu fillers in chicken and beef recipes. Even if you hate tofu, you can barely taste the difference when combined properly.

2. Buy your meats in bulk online. You can find less expensive grass-fed beef and naturally-raised chicken and have it delivered to you if you live near a large city. If not, check the local farmers.

3. Eat meat only 3-4 times per week and use black beans with rice or inexpensive tuna for your other days. I eat tuna cooked in a skillet with lots of veggies and some olive oil almost every night and I LOVE the taste!

My book The Every Other Day Diet has over 40 pages of recipes in it to help you eat healthy and cheap… and you can still eat out and consume your favorite foods several times per week.

#2: Your Health

Do we ‘really’ need to talk about buy new (usually larger) clothes every year or two? Or about the health care costs associated with being even 20 pounds over your ideal weight, let alone more? How about the time you miss from work with excessive colds?

Eating healthy and taking care of your body adds years to your life… and for the record, the years eating poorly takes away from your life, on average, costs each American over 80,000 in medical expenses.

Want to add that to your food budget?

#3: The Big Picture

Anyone who has been fit knows the joy it brings… the freedom you feel from wearing whatever you want… the productivity you see from increased energy… the pace at which you move during the day.

Not only are these gifts priceless, but they are also massive cash-savers. Your productivity alone can add thousands to your bottom line each year, well off-setting any costs associated with eating quality food.

The Bottom Line…

Like any good accountant would suggest, you need to look at your ROI (return on investment) if nothing else.

What does investing in a better body, greater health, and vibrant energy do for your life? How can that actually translate into more income AND less expense?

You will be surprised.

Remember:
Don’t Quit. Get Fit!

P.S. If you want some tips on getting started with shedding that excess weight… go here for a short video… and prepare to take some notes! …

it’s freee….

Weight Loss Tips <--- click.here

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THIS Makes You Gain Weight

Rob — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 05:03:18 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

Caution:

This sounds like a silly question, but it’s really the most important question you can ask:

“What REALLY makes me increase my bodyfat?”

Is it too many calories? Sure. That’s one part. But I know people who can eat 4-5K calories a day and not add an ounce.

Is it dietary fat? Rarely if ever.

Fat is necessary to melt bodyfat. It is true that fat has more calories per gram than protein or carbs, but let’s look at this logically:

40% protein; 40% carbs; 20% fat = 40% fat; 40% protein; 20% carbs

So… no. Increasing your dietary fat does not mean you’ll get fatter…

UNLESS… ready?

Your insulin levels are too high.

Elevated insulin is not only the prime cause of diabetes and a sign of being hypoglycemic, but it’s also the prime numero uno reason people get fat.

And insulin is stimulated most by too many carbohydrates… even the so-called “healthy carbs!”

HOWEVER… ready again?

You can still eat carbs… you do not need a “low-carb” dietplan every day in order to keep your insulin and bodyfat low.

You just have to know what TIME to eat the carbs.

There’s a time and place for everything and carbs are no exception.

I have a presentation here that tells you more about how important timing is and how you can eat your carbs (even sweets) and shed bodyfat…

… here:

The EODD System <--carb-friendly dietplan

That being said:

If I had to cut one thing out of my diet for 1-4 days it would definitely be carbs.

I need fat… fat helps melt bodyfat… and I have trained my body to use its own fat-stores for fuel.

( See how on the linked-page above )

I DEFINITELY need protein… and so do you.

Protein speeds up thermogenesis, or your body’s own fat-burning heat factory.

Protein also blunts your appetite so you naturally eat less.

Some carbs are healthy… and I do not recommend you cut out low-sugar fruits and green veggies… you need that stuff.

But you don’t need grains, breads, etc.

At least for a few days.

THEN… you need them… but only after you do two things.

Find out more here:

The EODD System <--carb-friendly dietplan

Remember: Don’t Quit. Get Fit!

P.S. My favorite “Feed Meal” (that’s what I call meals where I eat a lot of calories and carbs) is this:

Small serving of protein (1/2 my normal serving size) like chicken, tuna, etc.

Brown rice or baked potato

Slice of pecan pie (or Key Lime pie… yum.)

Then later that day I’ll have a few slices of New York-style pizza.

The next day I’m LEANER. It never fails.

The only time this can fail is if you do not set your body UP to receive these carbs and some junk food.

I call this my “Real World Favorite Foods Dietplan.” That’s not the name of my System but it could be! That’s exactly what it is.

I love it… so will you…

The EODD System <--carb-friendly dietplan

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5 Surprising Tips For Burning More Fat

Rob — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 05:23:17 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

There’s not many people who do not want to burn more bodyfat.

If you are in the fat-burning club, then these 5 easy tips are for you:

5 Easy Fat-Burning Tips <— quick tips

Enjoy, and feel free to share this blog post with others.

P.S. If you would rather watch a short video on 3 keys to greater weight loss, then go here:

3 Keys To Weight Loss <— video tips

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HDT: Better Abs In 3 Minutes?

Rob — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 07:20:41 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

Abs.

Everyone wants a tighter tummy.

Guys want a six-pack… ladies want a slim, firm waistline… and yes, some want a six-pack too.

Why be sexist? ; )

So needless to say people are freaked out to find that I train my abs in about 3 minutes.

Total.

Here’s how:

7 and 14-Minute workouts <---discount

Let me give you the dirty facts about my abs.

They are the worst part of my body… and one of the best parts at the same time.

The “worst” bit has nothing to do with muscles or even bodyfat most of the time… but SKIN.

Remember, I was obese… 46-inch waist and 38 percent bodyfat.

So my skin got pretty messed up. It never quite recovered from that and I have a “bit” of loose skin around my abs.

Drives me nuts. I may have it removed! ; )

But other than THAT… my abs are pretty good.

Here’s a pretty recent shot (after a workout taken with an iPhone… so hardly a professional shot… but you get the idea… )

This is after THREE MINUTES of ab training done 2-3 times a week.

Let me spell out my thoughts on this:

If you are training your abs longer than 7 minutes a week you are doing something wrong… or you’re just wasting your time.

Sorry to break it to you, but abs develop fast.

It’s the BODYFAT you need to focus on.

Still, you need abs… and my HDT-Style Training in 7 Minute Body and 7 Minute Muscle will get you those abs uber-fast:

7 and 14-Minute workouts <—about HDT

Go watch and read how it works now.

Before you do, let me give you a substitute exercise for one of the three I recommend during my “3-Minute Abs” routine (found in both books on the page above.)

Hanging leg raises… they are the best when done the way I show you in my book.

BUT some people do not have the gym or the straps I recommend.

So do this instead: Leg raises on a Swiss Ball, bench or even off the floor.

Here’s the tip: Raise the legs, pause at the top for 2 seconds and blow ALL of your air out. Contract your abs HARD at the top.

Then and ONLY then lower the legs slowly.

If you do this right there’s no way to get more than 15 reps. I get about 8 before my abs give out!

That’s all it takes. You do NOT need “high reps” to develop your abs. In fact LOW reps work better…

You just need resistance… and my way of training gives you plenty.

This means a LOT less time doing the exercises and a LOT MORE time enjoying the nice set of tummy muscles you’ve built.

Sounds like a plan.

P.S. Here’s the latest for those interested in my ongoing legal issues with selling rights to a publisher.

This concerns YOU as the price for 7 Minute Muscle and 7 Minute Body will NOT be under my control as soon as the contracts are signed.

This was supposed to happen today… but as luck (for you!) would have it, I got caught in Austin traffic at 5:30pm and missed my 6:00 meeting with the publishers.

The president leaves town tonight-Sunday.

SO NOW… I can extend my half-price (more than half-off the Advanced Videos!) for a few more days…

… so go here:

7 and 14-Minute workouts <—discount

P.P.S. In case you’re wondering, this is not a clever marketing ploy… 7MM and 7MB are both being acquired by a publisher.

The recognize the amazing benefits this style of workouts offer anyone at any age… fatburning and muscle-shaping…

Otherwise they would not be writing such a nice check… : )

I bought a Jeep with it. So it’s not making me a millionaire or anything, but it’s nice to have my hard work rewarded!

Even nicer than that, I get the chance to almost give away my “baby” to you if you don’t have it already…

When the deal is done, here is what you can expect to happen:

1. The page below WILL change, and that includes the price… they think the price is not right. (I think that means too low… ha… ; )

2. The specials will end due to the fact they will send millions of people to the site rather than a few hundred thousand (my readers and my] affiliates send about that much.)

3. The book will end up in some bookstore eventually… and that’s FINE unless they want to alter the content… which I have a provision to prevent.

Sorry to ramble on about this, but I want you to know the integrity of the guy sending you emails every day…

Sure, I like to make a living. Who doesn’t?

But I won’t sell my soul to do it.

I won’t give up what I KNOW works to make a buck or two… so that means I maintain TOTAL creative control over these books even after the publishers take over.

In fact I’m negotiating a position WITH this firm so I can make SURE I maintain control… and folks, I HATE working for other people!

But it is worth it… IF I can keep the quality of the materials where they are.

And they are 100% solid.

And right now they are 200% cheaper than normal… so if you don’t know what all the fuss is about with all of this “7 minute workout” stuff (I prefer the 14-minute advanced workouts, which you can get too) …

then hop over here:

7 and 14-Minute workouts <—discount

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HDT: Hyper-Density Training (More Results in Less Time!)

Rob — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:44:01 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

All this past week I’ve been telling you about this:

7 and 14-Minute Workouts here <---new.page

This is all about how shorter workouts (7-14 minutes) are better for fatloss AND muscle gain than longer workouts.

Naturally this freaks a lot of people out.

When they see me they assume I train for hours a day.

Wrong. I work out about 3 hours a week total in the gym when I’m not preparing for a photoshoot. When I am I increase the cardio… that’s it.

However, I spend HALF the year training about 1.5 hours a week in the gym using my 7 Minute Muscle workouts.

I like training longer, so I mix it up… but the results I get from 7 Minute Muscle are equal OR better than longer workouts so this next year I plan to train using ‘nothing’ but 7MM.

More here:

7 and 14-Minute Workouts here <---new.page

I’ve been getting swamped with questions about one thing in particular:

WHY are shorter workouts better for fatloss?

The secret behind this is a trademarked term (by me… : )

HDT
“Hyper-Density Training”

HDT is the most unique form of density training there is.

Density training is basically more work in less time.

This creates the demand for more energy.

More energy spent = greater fatloss.

More energy demanded = more lean muscle.

All of this in 7-14 minutes per day.

3-5 days per week.

I made a new website about HDT to explain it.

Go here now…

this comes down in a few days:

7 and 14-Minute Workouts here <—about HDT

P.S. HDT works for everyone, even those who workout in their home without weights.

Just by going to the new page you’ll learn how to use the principles behind HDT (freee) to help you with your workouts…

… and you can also get the “last-call” for my System that covers HDT and brevity training in detail…

… for a massive discount…

… here:

7 and 14-Minute Workouts here <—about HDT

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The Best 16-Minute Workout EVER

Rob — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 22:46:05 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

When I wrote “7 Minute Muscle” and “7 Minute Body” (the in-home version; both books come in the same package) I thought I was doing the muscle-mass crowd a huge favor.

I was right… and I was wrong.

I was right because the 7MM-style training has put serious muscle shape, tone, and size on people from all ages.

I was WRONG because it did more than just add lean muscle:

THIS makes people THINNER…

7 Minute Body workouts <– fastest bodyshaping workout EVER

The short version of the science behind why this happens and a sample workout routine is included in today’s newsletter.

Yep: the workout I intended people to use for building muscle turned into one of the fastest ways to melt body fat.

Weird.

I say “weird”… it’s not that weird to me. I know why it works so well. But it was kinda weird for my readers.

The secret is density training.

Density is basically getting the most amount of work done in the least amount of time. More work in less time = more energy.

More energy spent = greater fatloss.

Fatloss (and muscle-shaping) is not an issue of length of time as much as it is an issue of work divided by time.

The body was made to perform in bursts, not in long bouts. This is why our immediate fuel sources (which come mostly from carbohydrates) are WAY too efficient… so much so that we store incredible amounts of fat from consuming too many of the “fast-fuel” foods.

The best way to combat this fat-storing problem is to use your body the way it was designed to be used: In bursts of fat-burning power that are intense, short, and highly focused.

That’s the basics behind density training.

More here:

7 Minute Body workouts <– fastest bodyshaping workout EVER

Want a practical example? Great… let’s look at a 7 Minute Muscle chest workout followed by a 7 Minute Muscle “GXP” Cardio workout.

Your total workout time: A whopping 16 minutes.

That’s “TOTAL” workout and cardio time, minus a short warm-up.

After your warm-up, you would start with the first of two “Phases”:

The first 5 minutes is called The Power Phase.

This is followed by The Mass Phase (Mass is for adding lean muscle) which last only 2 minutes.

During the Power Phase, your weight you select for any movement (from a bench press to a push-up) stays the same. This makes it very easy to shorten your rest intervals between sets.

Your repetitions will be a maximum of 5 for your Power Phase using a weight that’s about 60% of your normal 5-rep max. You will rest as little as possible between sets.

The first few sets will feel light, but as time progresses this “light” weight will become more and more challenging. In fact you will drop your repetitions down quite low in order to complete the 5-minute Phase… and that’s GOOD.

That’s what we want: As many repetitions as you can get during 5 minutes, but never exceeding FIVE repetitions, during your Power Phase.

Your rest intervals are up to YOU… you can rest a short or as long as you need.

This is a very creative and personal workout!

Your goal is simple: Get more TOTAL reps (called “Aggregate Repetitions”, or “AR”) than your previous workout.

This is what makes 7 Minute Muscle so unique: The progression is built-in.

Most people fail to progress in the gym because they simply do not track their workouts carefully enough.

With 7 Minute Muscle you don’t have to track an entire workout: Only ONE number. The total number of repetitions, or your “AR”.

Simple!

Your Power Phase for a chest workout may look like this:

EXERCISE:
Incline Machine Press (upper chest)

5 reps (rest 20 seconds)
5 reps (rest 15 seconds)
4 reps (rest 20 seconds)
3 reps (rest 30 seconds)
3 reps (rest 30 seconds)
1 rep (rest 20 seconds)
1 rep (end)

]Total AR: 22 reps
Total Time: 5 minutes

Your goal next time is to get 23 repetitions using the same weight. Once you can get 5 repetitions every set it’s time to increase the weight for this movement.

You would then move to your Mass Phase (2 minutes) which would be a different chest exercise for TEN repetitions.

Same goal, same principles apply… beat your previous AR.

The end result is a 7-minute workout that shapes your chest AND burns a lot of fat due to the principles of time/energy expenditure and the fact that muscle burns calories.

You end your 7 minute workout with “GXP” Cardio. This is 9 minutes long… that’s it! But your body is primed to melt off a lot of fat after your 7 minutes of intense weight training… and you will drop the fat if you do this workout right.

You start with 3 minutes on the exercise device of your choice (I prefer the treadmill.)

You work your way up to 85-90% of your maximum heart rate, or a perceived exertion rate on a scale of 1-10 of 7 to 8. No more is needed to get the desired results.

You stay at this level for just 3 minutes.

Then you cool down for 3 minutes.

That’s IT.

That’s your entire cardio workout and weight-training workout… all in 16 minutes (about 20 with a warm-up.)

And you will progress faster, burn a lot more fat, and save SO much time you may have to take up a new hobby!

Get more info here:

7 Minute Body workouts <– fastest bodyshaping workout EVER

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SIRT1: Is Your Fat-Burning Gene Turned On?

Rob — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 03:18:49 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

You may have this gene.

It may be turned “off” right now… in fact it probably is.

There’s a problem with that:

This gene helps you melt off bodyfat.

It would be pretty nice to turn that sucker on, right?

Here’s the article on…

1. What SIRT1 is;
2. How you can “turn it on”
3. How to keep it on

What Is SIRT1?

Simply put, SIRT1 is a “rescue gene”. This gene is activated during times of fasting to, for a very SHORT period of time, access more stored bodyfat.

That’s a good thing.

The problems are…

1. Fasting is not good for the metabolism if done for more than a day;

2. This trick doesn’t work well over the long-run.

SIRT1 is practically dormant in most people as we have a surplus of food. We consume, on average, about 30% more food than our bodies require every single day.

It’s no wonder this gene went to sleep…

… and it’s time you wake it up.

How To Turn On SIRT1

As mentioned above, fasting for a day will activate SIRT1 if practiced for a few weeks. So you eat one day, fast the next, and keep this up for 1-2 weeks.

But… let’s face it. Most of us do not like the idea of NOT eating for a full day.

So I have two alternatives that work just as well to activate SIRT1 and NOT shut down your metabolism over the long-haul (as weekly fasting like this can do.)

TIP 1: Do a fruit fast instead

If you want to try a fruit fast every other day you can do so. This is much healthier and much easier on the body than an all-out fast.

However, for some people the sugar in fruit can trigger over-eating… and we don’t want that.

TIP 2: Stagger your calories

I teach this trick here:

Why This Works <--- click.here

But I take it a step further: I let you in on how you can stagger your “macronutrients” and your calories without having to think too much about it.

I call this my “Favorite Foods Plan” because it demands you consume high-calorie foods that you enjoy at specific times on specific days.

The other days are low in calories, higher in lean protein, but still contain real food.

Fasting is not necessary. The “starvation” switch that triggers SIRT1 has been shown to be triggered after only a day or two of low-calorie eating.

You just can’t do that very long without higher- calorie days… and THAT is the nifty trick you need to learn.

I wrote the book on the subject… literally. : )

My Guide To Fatloss <--- click.here

How Do You Keep SIRT1 “On”?

Simple: You stay on this cycle-your-calories dietplan… yep. That’s necessary. This is for LIFETIME fatloss… not a crash dietplan… they never, EVER get you what you want.

You want to be lean for life… no exceptions.

So to do that you need all the genetic help you can get…. and SIRT1 is part of that plan.

Turn it on today.

Go here now –

Turn On Your Fatburning Gene <--- click.here

Remember:
Don’t Quit. Get Fit!

P.S. I’ve made the science part of this article pretty straight-forward. Personally I love science stuff but I slept through most of the boring parts. ; )

However, this is science you can USE… as in right now… today…

And you definitely need to make sure SIRT1 is alive and well… working away to help you shed more weight…

Turn On Your Fatburning Gene <— click.here

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The Science Behind Shorter Workouts

Rob — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:03:59 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

A few years ago I released a book whose title was more reminiscent of a line out of “There’s Something About Mary” than a serious work on fitness. “7 Minute Muscle” — yep, it’s getting more and more difficult to distinguish fact from parody.

Since that time its kissing cousin, “7 Minute Body”, has been released, featuring a complete in-home version of the same workout principles covered in 7 Minute Muscle, as found below:

7 Minute Workout Solution <--61%Off

Here’s the real irony: Of the 127 testimonials I’ve received so far that I deem worthy of publishing on the web, over forty were from fitness professionals. I’m not talking about “doctors” with a gut as large as their paycheck. I’m speaking of men and women with both academic and real-world experience in the fitness and bodybuilding world.

There were exceptions of course. My friend John Berardi, while saying some nice things about the work, couldn’t endorse it due to the emphasis on shorter training sessions. That’s cool. Everyone has a different approach. But the overwhelming number of folks with consonants behind their names — those who read the book and applied the principles — had wonderful things to say.

There’s a reason for that: The workout protocol is based on the science of hypertrophy as well as psychophysiology, the study of the mind/body connection.

I will delve into the mental aspects of the protocols in a later article. For now, since most of you are experienced, educated and (dare I say it) hard-core, let’s delve into the meat.

7 Minute Muscle (and 7 Minute Body) is primarily a density-based training system. It demands varying rep ranges done within specific time periods. The protocol factors six of the primary variables of hypertrophy, or muscle growth: Intensity, Load, Volume, Density, Time and Force. (Time includes rest intervals as well as the time required to perform a given task.)

A layman’s take on one of the basic laws of physics states that time and energy are interrelated. Doing the same amount of work in less time demands more energy, which translates into more power. While power is a factor in training, our interest is focused on forcing muscle growth and adaptation. This is also an element of time and energy. More energy expended in less time = more power.

If you break down the typical 3-4 set bench press routine, with reps starting at 12 and ending in the 4-6 range, with longer rest intervals between heavier sets, you’ll find that the aggregate weight lifted is “less” than a protocol like 7 Minute Muscle, which uses ‘less’ weight (easier on the joints) but demands more work in less time. In other words, X amount of repetitions done with Y amount of weight in just 5 minutes (phase 1 of our two-phase protocol) ends up being greater than your typical 3-4 set protocol, despite the fact that more weight is used in the latter.

Other routines, of course, utilize this factor of density. Vince Gironda’s infamous 8 sets of 8, EDT and so-forth. 7 Minute Muscle goes a bit further by varying rest, load factors and repetition range. Reps will vary from as low as one rep to as much as ten, and all of this is at the trainee’s discretion.

They have only one real objective: Increase the aggregate repetition count from one training session to the next. Since time is limited (broken down into two phases: A Power Phase of no more than 5 repetitions and a Mass Phase of no more than 10 repetitions) the trainee is given a system that more accurately measure the seventh and most crucial factor of hypertrophy: Progression.

More work in less time. Variable repetition ranges. Variable rest intervals. And all in seven minutes (for beginners.) Intermediate and advanced-level trainees are given 14 and 21-minute protocols if they wish to implement them. I myself rarely go beyond 14 minutes, as that is all that’s required to stimulate muscle growth.

I will cover health factors, cardiovascular work, ab training, and the science of mind and body in future articles. For now, give 7 Minute Muscle a shot. There’s nothing funny about it, except for the fact that you’ll be laughing all the way home from the gym as you finished your killer workout while your buddies were still warming up.

And, for this week only, you can get it at a 61% discount. You’ll get everything: 7 Minute Muscle (the gym-based workout) and 7 Minute Body (the in-home workout) plus the six training videos today for less than the cost of a cheap dinner.

It’s a system and a price that’s impossible to beat.

Go here now:

7 Minute Workout Solution <--61%Off

P.S. You’ll thank me later for the months of time I’ve given back to your life… not to mention that new body in the mirror.

Remember:

Train Hard. Train Smart. And Train Cheap…

7 Minute Workout Solution <--61%Off

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FDA Nukes Yet Another B.S. Weight Loss Pill…YES!

Rob — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 05:20:00 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

I took a big, huge, massive sigh of relief today.

Finally… the FDA did something right when it comes to bogus “magic” diet-fatburn pills.

A panel of experts reviewed Vivus Inc.’s new wonder-pill “Qnexa” today.

They gave it the thumbs-down.

Why?

Oh… pesky little reported side-effects like… (are you ready for this?)…

Heart Attacks
Stroke
Increased Risk of Suicide (yikes!)
Memory/Concentration Loss

You know… “minor” stuff like that.

GEEZ. What the hell are these drug companies thinking?

Oh, right…

Quick-Fix =
Big-Bucks

Got it.

So, I am going to believe that YOU are much smarter than the morons who tried to get this drug past the FDA.

I’m going to assume you want a solution to this obesity pandemic and your own fatloss issues (if you have them) that do NOT involve risking your life for a thinner you.

“Oh, Marge… she looks so thin in her casket…”

THIS IS NOT A GOOD EULOGY! : )

Listen: I get it. I really do.

I’m an athlete and we are always looking for tricks to help increase our performance. But your body is simply too smart for these fatloss-pills people are trying to pass off as “a break-through medical discovery.”

Nonsense… more like heart-breaking medical waste of time.

One day… perhaps even in my lifetime… someone will invent a chemical that actually works to shed bodyfat without harming the body. That will be a great day for all of us.

Even so, I can all but promise you that this chemical will have its nasty side-effects and/or be limited in duration or power.

Nothing, repeat NOTHING you can pop in your mouth will give you the JOY that managing your dietplan and bodyweight can give you.

NOTHING!

It’s one of the greatest feelings in the world.

And here’s a fantastic clue for you: The reason we want to be thin is because of the FEELING it gives us. Most everything we do is based on feelings.

Quick-fixes negate the most powerful thing about feelings: Earning the right to have them!

Think of it this way: Would you feel more alive and powerful if you climbed a mountain or if you took a helicopter ride to the summit?

Sure, the helicopter is easy… but which is more personally rewarding?

Think of your own body transformation goals as your personal mountain to climb.

No helicopters… just really good guides (I volunteer) and solid climbing tools (like a great real-world dietplan, solid workouts that work WITH your schedule, and realistic but exciting goals.)

Your goals will become your base camps along your summit of your personal journey to the best you possible.

Color me silly, but I think that sounds FAR more empowering and rewarding that popping pills.

As you probably know I wrote one of the top books in the world on “real-world” weighttloss (spelled that way so the spambox won’t eat your email… : ) I made this dietary System as easy as possible… but NO plan is “easy” and there is NO quick-fixes out there without serious pricetags.

That said, I have some “rebel tricks” to share with you today… and they won’t put you six feet under before your time.

Just click on the page below and then click on “Articles”… then you’ll see it. It’s the first article, “3 Diet Secrets Revealed”.

Go here:

Video Plus Articles Homepage

You can’t sell this stuff in a bottle… but it works to get the bodyfat off and keep it off.

Remember:

Don’t Quit… Get Fit.

Sincerely,

J O N B E N S O N

—-> SPECIAL NOTE: On the article page above, be sure to read until the bottom. If you like that article you can now just click a button and share it with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, or any number of cool sites.

The button looks like this:

P.S. If you pick up my dietplan (on the article page above) you’ll find in the Member’s Area three supplements that actually DO work to help you burn-off-fat… but they do not work like magic. They work like they’re supposed to: Realistically, and without harming your body. I take them. So should you.

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Related Articles at Former Fat Guy Blog:

My “Dirty” Physique Shots

Rob — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 05:14:55 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

Hey… HEY! Keep your mind out of the gutter!

By “dirty” I mean down and dirty… as in taken with my crappy iPhone camera by my friend and guru trainer Roland… while looking into a mirror… with no lighting, tan…

Well, you get the point.

Here’s an example… this was me listening to Nine Inch Nail’s song Vessel so I wasn’t exactly all-smiles… but I like listening to aggressive music when I train. My training partner/trainer Roland took this shot while I was staring in the mirror contemplating the next Smith Machine Press set with only 40 seconds of rest and using 225 pounds… yikers… my aching delts!

Keep reading… I’ll explain.

First, notice the definition in the arms, delts, and chest… (kidding… : )

But I really am in the best shape of my career, or rather heading that way, carrying almost 30 pounds more muscle than my pictures from Fit Over 40 (taken right before my 40th birthday).

So…

What Gives?
A 7-Day Deal, That’s What!

Before I get to the REAL deal, I want you to get this:

I started my peak-cycle training only 3 weeks ago!

I’ve dropped almost 10 pounds of pure fat and added 2.7 pounds of lean mass during that time.

This, without drugs, at the age of almost 47.

I plan to have a ‘real’ photo shoot on my birthday, October 14th. So I’m WAY ahead of the curve.

Here’s a few more shots to let you see my progress…

Crapy, crappy iPhone pics… I know… but hey, give me a tan and a studio and I’d look better, not worse… so why not show you what I see in the mirror? It’s more fun that way. And more honest, although I do enjoy real photo shoots.

Now For The Really Good Part…

After these shots I enjoyed a huge slice of Key Lime Pie (my favorite) and some cheesy bread later in the day.

You see, I practice what I preach in regards to My Every Other Day Diet System of Eating … and that’s not all:

I trained my abs and calves today. Abs: 3 Minutes (using 3 Minute Abs, which comes with 7 Minute Muscle (it’s a whopping 1 page long… but worth the price of the book.)

Calves: 7 minutes (using the 7MM protocol.)

Are you getting the picture folks? This combo of diet and training WORKS.

Just For Bodybuilders?

Hardly. In fact I wrote both books for the masses. I just included advanced sections in each for athletes and bodybuilders like me.

Let’s be blunt: If you want “any” amount of muscle added to your frame (and you should… muscle burns calories around the clock and creates those nice curves you want) then you need to train with resistance. The only difference between the way I train and the way most people (non-bodybuilders) train is the level of intensity and (in my case) I train a bit longer than my 14-minute protocol during a peak. But as you can see, I’m already IN near-peak condition before my longer bouts begin in the gym. Body fat: 6.2% (measured with calipers.) Weight: 214 pounds.

Again, not bad for a (nearly) 47-year-old natural athlete!

But this isn’t about me… well, it kinda is as these shots were so “dirty” I really dig ‘em… I like the raw look better than the studio shots most of the time… : ) No way…

This Is About YOU!

I’ve combined both The Every Other Day Diet and 7 Minute Muscle (also called “7 Minute Body”) for a price that’s less than the original “7 Minute Muscle” … that’s hard to beat, and it won’t last but another week.

That’s right: EODD will no longer feature a discounted version of “7 Minute Muscle” starting NEXT WEEK. Sorry… all good things…

Also… and The Radical Fat Loss Blueprint, which currently comes with EODD for FREE, will be taken off the freebie shelf for good.

So, if you want:

1. The Every Other Day Diet (the EODD Plan I use is included, called “The Extreme Plan”)

2. 7 Minute Body (the workouts I use 50% of the time; the other 50% I like to train longer than 7-14 minutes because I’m a gym rat… but you DON’T HAVE TO… really. : )

3. AND The Radical Fat Loss Blueprint FREE (this is how I dropped so much fat so quickly… and you can shed up to 21 pounds in 21 days if you really work at it and you follow the supplement cycle)

Then go here and watch my video presentation on EODD:

My Every Other Day Diet System of Eating

After you purchase EODD you’ll be taken to a page to get 7 Minute Body at a massive discount… and you will ALSO get The Radical Fat Loss Blueprint FREE.

This ends next week… hop to it.

Your comments are welcome below… I’ll try to answer questions pertaining to training, EODD, 7MM, etc… but bear in mind I’m speaking at a fitness gathering this weekend so I’ll be hit and miss on my laptop.

Now there’s a better way to train (faster) and diet (with your favorite foods used as TOOLS to force more fat-burning)… it’s up to you to take it.

My Every Other Day Diet System of Eating

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3 tricks to suppress your appetite

Rob — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 03:21:22 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

Another good article appeared today in the fitness section of MSNBC.

Since you’re busy, I’ll do a quick summary of the article — the good stuff, the bad stuff, and what you need to do today to get started…

First, you need to know this…

And this will probably shock you…

Rarely, if EVER, do you need to suppress your appetite!

The real secret is to increase your metabolism… the rate at which your body uses food for fuel.

Then being hungry is a good thing… as long as you’re eating the right foods at the right time.

My “Favorite Foods” plan is a great way to do this…

My “Favorite Foods” Dietplan revealed <== click.

But let’s say you want to curb your appetite at night…. that’s the time most people really lose it on a dietplan. Even on a plan that ASKS you to eat frequently like mine, there are times where night-time cravings need to be put to sleep.

So use these tips from the article to ease the urge to eat at night:

1. Protein First

As I say in my dietplan, “Rise and shine with protein.” What does this have to do with night-time cravings you ask?

Everything.

Set the body up to use your own fat-stores for fuel by eating protein in the morning and your appetite FOR fatty foods goes way down during the day and the night. Protein is “thermogenic”, meaning it helps increase your metabolism. It also acts as a natural appetite regulator.

Notice I said “regulator” and not “suppressant.” That’s because you only need to regulate your appetite, no matter how much bodyfat you desire to drop.

I show you how here:

My “Favorite Foods” Dietplan revealed <== click.

Cool, right?

2. Go For The Grapefruit

In a study at the Nutrition and Metabolic Research Center at the Scripps Clinic in San Diego, people who ate half a grapefruit with each meal lost an average of 3.6 pounds in three months. That doesn’t sound like a lot (and it isn’t) but that’s ALL they changed.

It doesn’t matter for our purposes… we want to lower insulin at night. Why? Insulin is not only dangerous for your health in excess but it also can cause a LOT of fat storage if secreted too much at night. Enter the lowly grapefruit.

A great snack, especially if you have a few bites of lean protein with it.

3. Smell This!

This is a trick I didn’t know about until recently.

Smelling food can trick your brain into thinking you’ve eaten.

A recent study found that those who inhaled peppermint in scent form every 2 hours at (get this) 2700 calories LESS per week than they normally did.

Let me put that in perspective: That’s a fatloss of more than half a pound a week… from sniffing peppermint!

Vanilla also works. You can keep vanilla-scented drops or even candles around the office and take a wiff every few hours.

How easy is that?

The Bad Part

The MSNBC article goes on with advice like “eat potatoes” and “eat just a little bit of fat”, both of which are nonsense.

Potatoes may fill you up, but they are still starch – and starch should be consumed on your “off” days.

Potatoes are especially bad due to the higher-than-desired glycemic index of 85 (anything over 50 is too high.)

You also need dietary fat… and not just “a little.” You need a moderate amount to stay healthy and keep insulin regulated.

Olive oil and even coconut oil are excellent sources, as are naturally occurring fats in fresh fish, grass-fed beef, farm-raised chicken and whole eggs.

The rest of the article is common sense stuff: Workout, eat dense food that requires you to chew a lot (tire out the jaw muscles and you naturally eat less), etc.

The top 3 are the real winners.

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Engaged!

Rob — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 07:09:53 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

Just in case you missed the news… yep, I’m engaged!

My fiancé’s name is Hanna. She’s from Iraq… Baghdad actually. She grew up there and modeled in Lebanon, taught history, and then moved here 1.5 years go.

To let you know how clueless I was about the Middle East, I thought every woman from Baghdad wore burkas and were forbidden to speak! (I’m kidding… but I was almost THAT clueless!)

Hanna educated me on the reality of Middle Eastern culture, and from there a great friendship turned into a wonderful romance.

We met in Austin, Texas where we will both be moving in August. I’m leaving my part-time home in San Diego, despite the INCREDIBLE weather, to be around the dozens of friends we’ve already made in Austin.

For those of you not from Texas, Austin is widely-held as the coolest place to live in the State that loves to forget it’s own history. (See “Texas School Board vs Reality”, coming soon to a theater near you.) It’s still hot as hell, but it’s a very pretty town full of really Bohemian-style people… well, a mix actually. Fun place for music, too.

I’m excited as both Hanna and I will be training with world-class figure trainer (and bodybuilder) Dave “The Texas Shredder” Gooden. Dave and I met a few weeks ago and I think we’ll be able to push my 46 (nearly 47) year old body to the absolute max. Hanna has just started working out and already she’s finding toned legs and a curvy butt that makes her look even more beautiful than before… and that’s a feat! ; )

Until July 6th…

You can pick up a free “mystery” book (one of my top-selling e-books!) FREE when you pick up The Every Other Day Diet.

It’s my way of continuing the celebration of my engagement!

Go here:

Every Other Day Diet PLUS Free E-Book!

Enjoy the video on that page, and the free stuff coming your way.

Comments are welcome below…

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Eat THIS before your workouts

Rob — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 04:21:36 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

*** Short-cut Link:
*** My Favorite Foods Dietplan <== click here

One of the most common questions I get asked is:

“What should I eat before my workouts if I want to get rid of bodyfat?”

The answer?

NOTHING.

I’ve been saying this for almost a decade now… and research is catching up with the idea.

It’s nice to be right. : )

Several studies now confirm that exercising while your body is low on food may be a good way to trim excess fat.

European researchers found that cyclists who trained without eating burned significantly more fat than their counterparts who ate. Now, this is important: Cycling requires a LOT of energy. Far more energy than you need to get rid of bodyfat.

Working out with weights and doing moderate to intense (but short) cardio will take care of 99% of your needs when it comes to fatburning.

But with weights, and espeically with the cyclists that were tested, performance may be an issue.

In fact the members of the group of cyclists that didn’t eat performed worse on the intensive training. Still, they burned a higher proportion of fat to carbohydrates than the group that ate. (Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, the journal of the American College of Sports Medicine.)

Why? Simple. Your body’s blood sugar is lowest in the morning prior to eating. When you train, moderately or with intensity, most of your fuel comes from your bodyfat and NOT ingested carbs. Isn’t that cool?

Which would you rather burn… bodyfat or carbs?

Yeah, me too. : )

About performance: I have found that my performance only suffers slightly when fasting and training for the first few weeks. After that my performance increases. The body starts to burn its own bodfyat far more efficiently so I find I have PLENTY of energy.

This was not a lone study on fasting and training. In a 2008 study, Hespel and colleagues tested the effects on men who did endurance training without eating versus those who ate. In the athletes who hadn’t eaten, the researchers found a spike in the amount of proteins needed to process fat, meaning their bodies had been primed through fasting to get rid of more bodyfat.

So, now you know the answer to the old question: “What should I eat before training?”

Nothing… or as little as possible.

In my next email I’ll tell you what to eat AFTER your workouts to REALLY jack your fatburning through the roof…

… and no, it’s not “nothing”. It’s something special. ; )

P.S. If you want the best diet possible to turn your body into a fat-burning machine along with my personal workout plan for fasting cardio… and a plan that works in your favorite foods too … then look no further than this:

My Favorite Foods Dietplan <== click here

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Working Out Only 1 Day Out Of 3?

Rob — Fri, 21 May 2010 02:06:02 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

Can you workout only one day out of three and make gains?

I certainly can… and I bet you can too.

Today I begin my audio series where I address your questions and comments. Today’s question comes from Mike K. in NYC who asks…

“Hi Jon…First, I LOVE your Every Other Day Diet and 7 Minute Muscle books! But I was wondering if you could help me with a problem. I’m having a hard time finding the time to make it to the gym using 7 Minute Muscle. Obviously I’m not referring to the 7 minutes (ha!) but the 5-day-per-week Monday-Friday schedule you recommend for beginners. Is there any alternatives? Thanks!”M

Below you’ll find my response and a workout plan you can put to use today to make faster gains with less overall time in the gym. Just click the “play” button to listen in.

Enjoy!

Related Materials:

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Contest

Rob — Mon, 03 May 2010 18:45:49 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

Top 3 Responses To The Following Question
Will Win A FREE COPY Of The Power of Thin
Weight Loss Hypnosis Kit!

Question:

Tell me why you think you’re ready to try
REAL hypnosis (the kind used in the study
below, not the hokey kind you see on TV)
to increase YOUR fatloss…. starting NOW.

REMEMBER: Leave your response in the Comment area below. NO responses that involve financial reasons for winning will be considered, as the course is already more than half off! ANYONE can afford this… the question is WHY SHOULD YOU be given this Kit for Free!

Thanks, have fun, and good luck!

P.S. Contest Ends Wednesday, May 5, 2010!

———-

STUDY:

Hypnosis has long been used to help people lose weight. There have been multiple studies that have shown the long-term benefits of hypnosis on weight loss. In one meta-analysis, researchers found that after receiving several sessions of hypnosis, overweight women lost on average of 11.83 pounds while women who did not receive hypnosis lost 6 pounds. This means that the hypnosis group lost 97% more pounds than the non-hypnosis group.

What is even more astonishing is the follow-up that was performed on the participants of the study. Researchers found that those who received hypnosis lost an average of 14.88 pounds during the follow-up. This compares to only 6.03 pounds in the non-hypnosis group. The participants who received hypnosis lost 147% more weight than those who did not use hypnosis to lose weight.

This study shows that hypnosis is not only beneficial in helping people lose weight in the short term, but it helps people continue to lose weight even after treatment has ended. This is powerful information that can help a lot of people reach a healthier weight.

Kirsch, I. (1996). Hypnotic enhancement of cognitive-behavioral weight loss treatments: Another meta-reanalysis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64(3), 517-519.

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COMMENT BELOW AND YOU CAN WIN!

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“Fat-and-Happy”… Is It True? Study Tells All…

Rob — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 21:14:16 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

Ever heard the phrase, “Fat-n-Happy?”…

Of course you have. We used to refer to obese guys as a “jolly fat-man”… or perhaps someone who is overweight as “fat-n-happy”.

Is it true? Can (gasp) being overweight actually make you happy?

Rather than giving you my opinion on the matter, I take a look at three national studies on this page.

The presentation is only 5 minutes long… and I reveal the number one case for alarm in the United States and Canada.

Read that again: The Number 1 Cause For Alarm.

And I’m NOT an alarmist… I’m a rationalist. But stats like these do not lie.

They cannot lie.

And this deals with our children.

Please… go see:

click.here—> Fat-n-Happy Study

P.S. I can tell you from my own first-hand experience, which I document in “Fit Over 40″, that my personal 10-year-journey through the muck of obesity was ANYTHING but happy.

I was depressed, to the point of suicide at times (thankfully I never went that far.) I was socially hidden. I wore “fat-clothes” all the time. The few times I HAD to wear jeans or dress pants I rushed home to change into sweats because they were just too damn uncomfortable to tolerate.

Bottom line: I was “fat-n-miserable”.

I think most people who are overweight or obese feel more despair, sadness, or perhaps just really frustrated than “happy”. Of course you can be happy and be any size, color, shape, etc. But I’ll tell you from my experience that I am MUCH happier now that I’m fit and trim.

Part of that is just because I feel better. The other part is how the brain functions. When you’re more active, you release more “feel-good” hormones… and these are powerful anti-blues hormones… they really make you feel like a champ. At least that’s been my experience.

But go watch the 5-min video and see what you think…

click.here—> Fat-n-Happy Study

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My Medical Emergency; This Happened Today

Rob — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:56:55 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

Sometimes you have to nearly lose it all to realize what you truly have.

I can honestly say that I have come close to death several times in my life. I’ve had my share of accidents, medical emergencies, and a near-fatal accident while driving.

But there was something about just laying on the gym floor today with two doctors hovering over me that gave me serious pause.

Time for some major reflection.

Now, before you get too alarmed (for those who know me, or just think I’m a pretty good guy… ; )… fear not. I did not have a stroke or anything like that, thank goodness.

What I did have was a major drop in blood pressure… so much that I came dangerously close to entering the “coma” zone.

I kid you not.

And trust me… I felt like I was slipping fast.

My girlfriend was there with me. I had her kneel down and, just like Spock in an old episode of “Star Trek”, I had her slap me several times in the face. Hard!

“If my eyes roll back, hit me harder.”

The doctor probably thought I was nuts… but I know that’s one way to elevate my blood pressure.

So, what happened? Am I falling apart at the relatively young age of 46? Is my dietary and exercise advise dangerous after all?

No… and here’s why:

I actually VOLUNTEERED for this.

Before you think I’ve totally lost my marbles, hear me out. If you listen to the rest of the story, you’ll see that not only has my advice been of great value when it comes to exercise and dietary strategy… it actually ended up saving my butt!

—————————————–
Really Bad Genetics Meets
The Cath Lab: A Wild Encounter
—————————————–

First, the “volunteered for this” bit needs explaining… right? Right.

If you read my first book, published in 2004, called “Fit Over 40″ (read more at www.fitover40.com) then you may recall that I went into great detail about my poor genetics and horrible health in my early and mid-30s.

Since then, and knowing exactly how bad my genetics are for such things as high blood pressure (oh, the irony!), heart disease, and stroke, I adopted the dietary plan and exercise routine I use to this very day. The very ones I cover in “The Every Other Day Dietplan” and “7 Minute Body.”

(If you don’t have these books and want them, you can get both here… The Every Other Day Dietplan Revealed — oh, and I have a short video up on this page if you have not seen on a 1-minute fatloss tip… )

Now, let’s get real folks: Dietary power and exercise MAY not be enough to overcome really bad genetics when it comes to certain diseases. And being ever curious, I wanted to know exactly how my own health was doing on my plan. So a month or so ago I paid a visit to the hospital to have some tests ran. All my yearly check-ups were okay, but I wanted a closer look at my heart… and I mean “literally”.

I wanted to be “cathed”… this is where they insert a camera into your heart, going up the femoral artery in your right leg, and take a look around. If they find anything dangerous, like a clogged artery, they can fix it right then and there with a stent. A stent is a metal device that presses plaque against the artery wall and opens up a clogged artery.

Of course I hoped I would not find such a thing… and certainly nothing worse. I mean, can you imagine? “Mr. Benson, you need a quadruple bypass!”

I could not, that’s for sure… and I was fortunate because, as you probably guessed, I didn’t hear those words from my doc.

It’s hard to get a cath done as it’s a risky procedure. I can’t even tell you how I managed to pull it off … that’s how touchy the hospitals are when it comes to this kind of stuff. Afterwards, I volunteered to do 5-10 workouts at their heart care facility so I could hook myself up to some nifty gadgets. I get to watch my EKG (how my heart is functioning during cardio and weights… and it works like a charm!) and really nice doctor folks come by to check my blood pressure (which is always low) during the workout.

Yep… the doc and I wanted to put my workout plan to the test, I guess you could say. I wanted to do it just to make sure I was 100% healthy during my training. You never really “know” I suppose, so I was up for it. And my doctor wanted me to do it just in case what he found during the cath was serious. There’s a lot to this process, and there’s some details I don’t wish to cover for privacy sake… but anyway, back to my story.

It’s long, but it may save your life too. : )

—————————————–
The Good News… The Bad News…
And The Stupid Jon News!
—————————————–

Turns to find out I made a few mistakes… some pretty costly mistakes… but (get this) none of them had to do with my dietary or exercise plan.

During the cath, here’s what the doc said:

“Jon, your heart’s two primary arteries look good… hardly any obstruction at all. And they are nice and thick from exercise.” For a guy who has had a cholesterol level of over 400 before, and a history of heart disease in the family, this was really good news.

“However, your genetics are catching up to you in one of your arteries…. and you need to be more aggressive with your drug treatment to make sure we don’t have to go back in here one day!”

Er… what??

Yep… turns out that the only thing that saved me from a BYPASS (that’s right) was what the doctor called “an enormous amount of peripheral arteries formed from years and years of weight training and exercise.”

Wow.

“Look right here Jon…” (He showed me my beating heart on camera… freaky…) “See all these arteries? Well the average person doesn’t have them. You do. Congratulations… you earned them.”

Wow again. And remember, I only workout with weights 3-4 times per week and my workouts are rarely over 21 minutes (time under the weight.)

—————————————–
What I Did Right… And What
I Did Wrong… And Why This
Could Save Your Life
—————————————–

So, listen up folks as I’m about to tell you everything I did wrong for the past several years… how it ALMOST cost me dearly (a bypass?… no thanks!)… how I managed to prevent it… and how I ended up on the gym floor today with doctors all around me.

It’s all related. And again, sorry for the novel-like email, but (again) this may save your life.

First, here’s what my excellent cardiologist said I did RIGHT:

1. Exercise: “Jon, your exercise plan, to put it bluntly, saved you from a great deal of pain… in fact it probably saved your life as these blockages would have been far worse without it.” With it, I had only one artery with enough blockage to warrant the drug therapy that I should have been on for years… more on that in a second…

2. Dietary plan: “Jon, your diet is perfect for this condition… low in carbs, high in protein and healthy fats is all anyone can do in order to help fight this genetic killer.” Yep… again… prevention in the form of dietplan saved my butt. Or rather my heart. : ) But it wasn’t enough… at least for one artery. However, it WAS enough to prevent them from having to do surgery on me.

“Jon, the take-away here is simple: Exercise and dietary plans, even the very best, may not be enough for super high-risk people… but in your case your lifestyle saved your life. And it certainly prevented you from having to have any serious surgery to correct a truly broken heart.”

Talk about EXCITING news… yep… you CAN beat this killer, even when you have MY horrible family genetics. However, like me, you may need some help… more on that in a second.

3. Blood pressure: “Jon, your blood pressure is excellent. Your lifestyle and very low-dose diuretic has kept your formerly sky-high blood pressure (it was 200/110 when I was 32!) to an excellent 118/78.” But you know doctors… even “excellent” isn’t enough and they recommended a stronger BP med for “my intense weight training.”

So, I listened… and ended up on the floor today. You see, many doctors do not realize the POWER of weight training compared to cardio. My blood pressure never budges during cardio, but less than 3 minutes into a resistance (weight-training) session it goes down like the stock market after a bad news day.

I mean SHOOTS down. I tried to explain this by letting the doctor see the veins in my legs… “Doc, my veins are MUCH larger than the average person’s… trust me, my pressure is fine.” “Jon, just try it for a few weeks.”

Bad mistake…. like I said, I ended up on the gym floor today with a blood pressure of 72/45. If I hit 40, I’m literally in a coma. 5 points away… very scary. Needless to say the doc took me OFF these meds and let me do it my way: With my Every Other Day Dietplan (low-carb most of the days) and good-old exercise.

If you have high blood pressure, I URGE you to take up weight training or resistance (body-weight or band) training. Of course, ask your doc about it first… but I’ve seen first hand for three weeks now how powerful my weight training sessions are compared to intense cardio sessions.

They are night and day folks… weights RULE. Cardio is good, but weights are best. Both of course would be the best course for ultimate health, but most people do far too much cardio and far too little resistance training.

—————————————–
Oops…
—————————————–

Now, here’s what I did WRONG:

1. Cigars: “Jon, you cannot afford to smoke cigars… ever. They have lowered your protective HDL to a dangerous level. Stop NOW!” That’s all it took folks. Yes, I smoked cigars for many years, but fortunately I was never an addict. I quit that very day.

Guess what? 10 days later my HDL DOUBLED (no kidding)… and without drugs. Of course that’s not all I did…

2. Fat too LOW: “Jon, you’ve lowered your dietary fat too low… this affects your HDL.” Yep, I normally eat about 35% dietary fat… and I cut it down to 20% to help me get ready for a photoshoot. Now that I put it back to where it belongs, I still have my abs (yep!) and my HDL is raising as I type.

3. Stress: “Jon, you are simply working too hard not to do some form of meditation or de-stressing.” So I dove back into my meditation CDs. (I’ll tell you more about Holosync and my hypnosis CDs in my next email… very cool stuff.)

4. Advil: “Jon, you take 4 Advil before you train? You’re nuts! That stuff can cause sticky plaque formations!!” You know, I may never even had an issue if I had known this (and not smoked cigars) a few years ago. Live and learn!

5. And finally… oh, this hurt to hear… no drugs! “Jon, if you want to make sure you beat this thing, you simply must take some meds to help.” Okay, I resisted any form of statin drug for the past 15 years (drugs to lower cholesterol.) I opted to try natural stuff… but unfortunately for me I was never too consistent. And I paid the price.

So the doc and I came to a compromise: I would take the LOWEST dose of statin along with 400 mg of CoQ10 (scary, but this was my idea, not his, and statins deplete this heart-friendly enzyme!) But I wanted a natural solution to the real issue: small particle LDL. You see, I’ve known for years that I carry the gene that makes LDL “small”. LDL is not dangerous unless it is small… that’s why “total cholesterol” means nothing to me. I’ve seen folks have heart attacks with a cholesterol level of 130. No joke. But their LDL was super-small… like mine.

And guess what? Dietplans cannot really help this. Well, they can HURT it (too many carbs, too many toxic fats, etc.) but they cannot shift the LDL from small to large.

For that, you need plain old niacin. Just a simple B vitamin… but in not-so-simple doses. In fact it’s considered a drug at the dose you have to take, and you should NEVER take niacin over 50 mg without a doctor’s supervision as it can be very toxic to the liver.

—————————————–
The Conclusion: The Power
Is In Your Hands
—————————————–

In conclusion, I’m A-Okay… my heart pumps and functions “like that of a strong 20-year-old” (my doctor’s quote) thanks to the extra arteries I developed from my exercise program (how cool!) … but in order to keep that one artery in check, I’m taking his advice and taking much better care of myself than I have been.

Today I learned that this does NOT mean taking blood pressure meds…thankfully… : ) But I had to make some changes. Some of them were “stupid” changes… sure, I know cigars are not good for you. I know you need good fats in your dietplan. I could have used common sense and figured out that 4-8 Advil on workout days was… well, stupid.

But the good news, which is what I choose to focus on, is this: In the areas that 95% of people NEVER change, I didn’t have to change much at all.

Dietary plan and exercise.

Turns to find out that what I was doing works great… and it did, in fact, save my heart and quite possibly my life.

For more on my dietplan and exercise routine, go here:

The Every Other Day Dietplan Revealed

Thanks for reading, and I wish all of you good health!

P.S. I got lucky in many ways, but especially so when it came to my doctors. Both of my doctors are young and savvy enough to be up on the latest research on nutrition. They know NOT to buy into this “low-fat” nonsense for heart health. (I’d use a harsher word, but kiddos may be reading… : ) That only works for about 10-15% of the population. The rest of us need to lower our CARBS, not our fats… but the way I do it I get to keep my favorite carbs in my dietplan every week.

The little that I do eat keeps me happy as a clam, and keeps my heart nice and healthy too. A little bit of bad food will not hurt most people… but eating it every day can flat-out kill you.

Please… take this seriously. I promise, my dietplan and exercise routine is a PLEASURE to follow… but if you don’t follow it then find one that IS enjoyable for you to follow… and do it.

Life is too short, you know?

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1-minute fatloss tip for this week

Rob — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 06:15:50 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

Got a minute?

That’s all I need to share my first of many video-based 1-minute fatloss tips.

Go here for the first of many….

click—–> How To Eat Your Favorite Foods And Drop Bodyfat

My new design is something to see too.

I have my weekly live 1-minute video, tons of new features… even a “diet quiz” if you care to test your fatloss knowledge.

Plus my main presentation: “1 Tip To A Flat Belly!”

Just don’t laugh at my ballcap/unshaven look in the video… I wanted this to be super-casual, but I may have taken it a bit too far… ; )

Oh… speaking of a flat belly… I’d like to give you yet another reason to eat and workout the way I suggest in “Every Other Day Diet” and “7 Minute Body”…

I had to go to the hospital last week. No worries… I’m fine… just a bit of a scare. Definitely enough to wake you up from walking through life like it will never end! But fortunately for me, only a scare.

Anyway, the doctors in the hospital were amazed when they looked at my heart and lungs (they had to make sure I did not have any infection… and I didn’t.)

“Most 46-year-olds do not have these around their heart,” the doctor said as he showed me the pictures they took. You could see all these vessels around the heart and branching off the main arteries.

“Peripheral vessels… they were formed by your exercise program. Well-done! These help keep your heart strong and healthy.”

Every doc that listened to my heart said, “Wow… strong heart!”

Indeed… resistance training makes it so.

Before I left, after the scare went away, I asked the doctor his opinion on my dietary plan. “Well, obviously you are very lean and in fantastic shape for a man of any age.”

Thanks doc, but I wasn’t fishing for a compliment! Since this was a heart doctor I was curious as to his thoughts.

“If you had heart disease, or if you want to prevent it, this is the exact dietary plan I would recommend.”

While I expected to hear this, it was still music to my ears.

So, my higher-than-normal dietary fat and protein, lower-carb, and relatively frequent “fun food” dietplan is “ideal” to combat heart disease according to the good doc. And according to my family doctor.

Nice to know.

Laughing Yoga. My Experience.

Christina — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:22:57 +0000

Laughter is an instant vacation. ~Milton Berle

One day while on Facebook I saw an event called Laughing Yoga and before I knew it I had signed up and called the yoga studio to pay my registration fee. Originally, I had seen Laughing Yoga featured within the documentary film about yoga, Enlighten Up! and at the time it seemed to me like an interesting concept. What appealed to me most was that no yoga experience was required and all that was needed was the ability to laugh. I had never taken a single yoga class. But, this I could do and just thinking about it brought a smile to my face.

If laughter was an instant vacation, then what a trip I was about to embark on!

Definition: Laughter is an audible expression or the appearance of happiness or an inward feeling of joy (laughing on the inside). It may ensue (as a physiological reaction) from jokes it is in most cases a very pleasant sensation. Laughter is used as a signal for being part of a group — it signals acceptance and positive interactions with others. Laughter is sometimes seemingly contagious, and the laughter of one person can itself provoke laughter from others as a positive feedback.

Laughing Yoga was created in India by Dr. Kataria in 1995 with his first laughter club. It is Pranayama, “yoga breathing” and unconditional laughter. His concept: The scientific fact is that the body cannot differentiate between fake or real laughter. It has both physiological and psychological benefits to the individual. Laughter is simulated as a body exercise in a group; with eye contact and childlike playfulness, it soon turns into real and contagious laughter.

Today there are over 600 Laughter Clubs in 6o Countries throughout the World.

The yoga studio itself was quite beautiful and minimalist in its décor filled with bolsters, blocks and sticky mats. It was a perfect setting for the normal zen like calm that would soon erupt into hearty laughter.

Our instructor Graham welcomed us with a brief introduction into Laughing Yoga, what to expect and we introduced ourselves. He then asked if there was anyone who did not practice yoga and as I looked around at the small group of Lululemon wearing, Hippies, hard bodies and yoga experts. The voice in my head went, “Oh shit!” I smiled and timidly raised my hand. He quickly acknowledged that we wouldn’t be doing any difficult poses but it would include stretches and simple poses. I silenced the voice in my head and was relieved that I wasn’t going to have to contort my body into a pretzel!

We began our class with a 15 minute unison vocal meditation in lotus position (cross legged for those not familiar with yoga terms). During the vocal meditation, focus on the sound of the words and the effects on the different parts of the body. Vowel sounds were pronounced as we traveled through a series of yoga poses and stretches on our sticky mats. It was an interesting experience to hear the harmony, tones and musicality of the sounds in the different positions. What was particularly more interesting was how my body responded to the sounds. Throughout the several simple playful exercises, different patterns of breathing continued to bring more oxygen to the body and brain.

Yoga brings the body to a relaxed state and during the exercises you soon find yourself immersed in a giddy, joyous state connecting with your inner child. The one you continually push down. The one that wants to jump in puddles, laugh at in appropriate times or who laughs at cartoons or silly jokes. Throughout the class, I noticed the edges of my mouth curving in an upward state.

One of the suggestions is to fake your laughter if you are not “feeling it” through the exercise or “fake it ‘til you make it” and before you know it you are laughing spontaneously. Perhaps the moments of how absurd it looked contributed to the such moments. The laughter becomes contagious and before you know it, the whole room is laughing! There were times when I was laughing so hard that I could feel my whole body vibrating with energy. The energy filled my entire body as the laughter came from my core.

One doctor who has studied laughter says, “Laughter is a mechanism everyone has; laughter is part of universal human vocabulary. There are thousands of languages, hundreds of thousands of dialects, but everyone speaks laughter in pretty much the same way.” I was once again reminded that we are all connected. It was an amazing experience and one that I am blessed to have been a part of.

Next week, I begin my beginner’s yoga course and I will enroll in the next Laughing Yoga course. My smile has returned.

Namaste.

Christina

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3 Ways To Eat Fast Food And Drop Bodyfat!

Rob — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:54:57 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

Believe it or not you can get lean by eating fast food.

I know, it sounds crazy… but in a few weeks I’m going to prove it to the world with the release of my newest mini e-book “Fast Food Fitness: How I Dropped 40lbs Eating Fast Food Every Day.”

Do you think I’m joking? I’m not.

Of course there’s a WAY to eat fast food and drop the pounds. You can’t just eat like everyone else does. That’s common sense.

And believe me, there are more healthy ways to drop the pounds than eating fast food… for sure.

But the way I figure it: Would you rather be healthIER and lean or UNhealthy and overfat?

Silly question… so consider “Fast Food Fitness” a path to the lesser of two evils… and one that actually got me to 10% bodyfat (that’s pretty lean!) a few years ago.

Here’s how it started:

I simply hate to cook! I have since solved that problem… I hired a part-time chef (it’s cheaper than it sounds)… but until two years ago I was eating out every single meal… I mean EVERY MEAL.

Most of the time… not all of the time, but most of the time… these meals were fast food joints like burger joints and even fried chicken places.

But I had to keep my physique, so … what to do?

Well… you’ll have to wait. At least a few weeks.

If you want the book for half-price, you have to own a copy of “Every Other Day Dietplan”… everyone who owns a copy before “Fast Food Fitness” hits the Internet will get half-off.

So go here if you don’t have EODD yet …

click—–> My Favorite Foods Fatloss-Plan

Here’s 3 of my top 25 fast-food diet-tips… just these 3 will take you 1/3 of the way there…

First, use my Half-n-Half Principle. Order whatever you are going to order and then have the person behind the counter cut the order exactly in HALF.

Half to go… half to eat there.

Eat half now…. then the other half 3-4 hours later. Believe it or not you will store less bodyfat and even increase your metabolism eating like this.

Simple trick… give it a shot.

Second, ditch all the starch. That means buns, bread and anything made of flour. BUT here’s the “still tastes good” trick I use. I keep ONE of the pieces of bread from, say, my hamburger. Then I “pick” at it while I enjoy the meat and either a small diet soda or tea. Eat no more than 5 “picks” at the bread… about half a slice. You still get the exact taste of a burger with none of the stuff that makes most people over-fat.

Third, for you chicken lovers, split your order between fried and baked chicken. KFC has excellent baked chicken… try it. Then strip most of the skin off the fried chicken. Not all… most.

You still get the taste, but with far fewer bad food-stuffs and calories…. make sense?

Enjoy the tips… but remember, the healthiest (and tastiest) way to eat is still my Every Other Day Dietplan, which works in your favorite foods each week….

click—–> My Favorite Foods Fatloss-Plan

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I Just Lost 11 lbs of Bodyfat… On Vacation!

Rob — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:05:30 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

It was the weirdest thing …

I mean, I’ve been around you know? I’ve had just about every body and fatloss experience you can think of… the good, the bad, the ugly…

… and now the really bizarre.

Here’s the story:

I took off on an 8-day cruise to the Caribbean. This was a “business” cruise (yeah, right)… and I knew there was no way to eat the way I prefer to eat. At least not ideally. After that I had to speak in Tampa Florida at a fitness summit, then off to Las Vegas for yet another summit meeting.

All-in-all I was gone for almost three weeks.

First thing that I knew had to go was my “ideal” dietplan.

That’s my “Extreme” Plan on the Every Other Day Dietplan…

Every Other Day Dietplan

There are three plans in EODD: The Primer Plan, which is literally “every other day”. You get to eat your favorite foods within reason every other day or so on this Plan. It’s perfect for folks who ‘hate’ dieting because, let’s face it, anyone can diet-for a day, right? Right.

Then there’s the Lifestyle Plans. These are two days of “burn eating” followed by a day of eating favorite foods. Most people use this because it too is so simple to use.

Then for we athletes and fitness pros there’s the Extreme Plan. This is for ultimate bodyfat loss and muscle-shaping. I love this plan.

But hey… it’s a vacation. And so I decided to eat on the Primer Plan… remember, that’s every other day. So every other day on the cruise I had a small dessert (sometimes two), pizza, or pasta… whatever I wanted within reason. The days before I did perfectly, substituting my morning shake for egg white omelets with a bit of cheese and a lot of veggies. Yum!

Within three days I had LOST more than 4 lbs… or about 2 kg. Pure fat… well, a bit of water I suppose, but mostly that stubborn bodyfat around my middle that’s the last to go.

What the heck was going on?

Wait… the story gets better…

I move on to Tampa, and then Vegas, and now I’m 11 lbs (about 5 kg) down. My jeans ALL require a belt, only this time it’s not a fashion statement.

Frankly, I’m as surprised as you may be.

But I figured out why this happened. And I want to share it with you so you can use EODD (or another plan if you want… but mine is the best… : ) when you go on vacation or take a break.

Here’s why I dropped the last bit of my bodyfat:

First, I was on a VERY large cruise ship. I knew my weight training would not be as intense (the weights were not that heavy) but I also knew I could just make it work… train a bit more and go for the “pump”… just a good, quick workout. I ended up training 5 days on the cruise without a problem (and only ONE day of cardio for 20 minutes… you see, you do NOT need cardio to dump bodyfat!)

But the difference was in the WALKING. The ship was the largest ever built… the size of 2.5 football fields. And I walked everywhere… on the islands, on the boat, even to every meal. Just walking burned off FAR more calories than my normal lifestyle, which like most of you has a lot of sitting down to it. ; )

Walking… my favorite “Cardio” to this very day.

———————————————————————-|

My Supplement Tricks

———————————————————————-|

Second, I took extra potassium, along with all of my Radical Fatloss Blueprint Supplements. I carried them all on board.

You can read more about the supplements I take for “radical” fatloss here:

www.radicalfatlossblueprint.com

The two that really did the trick for me was the Aqualize (also known as Acquacil), only 1-2 a day, along with the amino acids.

Finally, I realized that I need MORE food than I’m eating now in order to increase my metabolic rate. Just a bit… about 400 calories a day more than I have been eating. Doing just that rebooted my metabolic rate and presto… 11 lbs of bodyfat and useless water is history. My abs have never looked better.

I hope this gives you some encouragement when it comes to being on the road or on vacation. With the right plan (like EODD and Radical Fatloss) you can actually improve your body…

… and best of all, I enjoyed every minute of my vacation!

P.S. An important note was that I made a decision not to drink on the cruise or elsewhere. I had one small glass of wine last night to celebrate with my largest affiliate and business comrade. He flew in from Israel just for this meeting, and it was the least i could do. Roei and I had a blast all day.

The reason drinking is a problem is that alcohol shuts down fat-burning for several hours… sometimes longer. But a glass of wine or two a week is not going to hurt you. I just made that one small “sacrifice” so I could enjoy ice cream, pizza (I ate four slices one night at 3:00am and woke up leaner!) and all the yummy food the boat had to offer.

So, my final tip: Make a decision to cut out just ONE thing when you’re on the road. Alcohol was easy for me as I do not drink that much as it is.

Read more about my personal dietplan and my supplement plan here….

Every Other Day Dietplan

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3 Reasons Why Obesity Is… A Disease?

Rob — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 17:50:31 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

I bet you didn’t know this …

Obesity…even being overfat… is a disease.

No, really.

At least that’s what several social groups wish you to believe. “Suffers Of Obesity” is just one of those groups. Their entire stance is obesity (which, btw, can be only 30lbs or so over your ideal bodyweight) is an actual disease.

Well, is it?

Yes… and no.

Comedian Ricky Gervais has a hilarious go at this stance… that obesity is a disease. You sometimes have to laugh, you know? ; )

“No… it’s not a disease… it’s greed. You just love to eat,” or so Gervais believes.

Well, in my first newsletter for 2010, a new decade with new ideas, I’m here to share a new idea with you:

We really need to redefine some words.

One of those words is “disease”.

Case-in-point: Wikipedia.com defines disease…

“In human beings, “disease” is often used more broadly to refer to any condition that causes pain, dysfunction, distress, social problems, and/or death to the person afflicted, or similar problems for those in contact with the person. In this broader sense, it sometimes includes injuries, disabilities, disorders, syndromes, infections, isolated symptoms, deviant behaviors, and atypical variations of structure and function, while in other contexts and for other purposes these may be considered distinguishable categories.”

Let’s think about that.

If you bump your knee against a sharp object, is this a new disease called “bumpuskneeitis?” Er… no. It’s an accident. Sure, it may ’cause’ a specific set of symptoms that could broadly (as in as broad as the back-side of a barn) be considered a “disease”, but … no. It’s an accident with biological consequences.

Social problems? So, if I decide to read 17 books on why my parents suck as a teenager and develop anti-social behavior, is this a “disease”? NO! This is the angst of youth combined, perhaps, with poor parenting! Sure, it can lead to mental issues that could be classified as “disease”, but guess what?

It’s totally within your control. No one force-fed the books to the teen. And no one is force-feeding you, or anyone you know.

That decision is yours and yours alone… and anyone, repeat ANYONE on the face of planet earth can change their behaviors and attitudes toward food.

Okay, some more thoughts on disease:

Let me give you a few examples of what is typically thought of as “disease”…

— Leprosy
— Cancer
— Hypothyroidism

We’ll just take three… there are thousands as you know.

Now, we can all agree that these three states represent true “disease”. The first you could catch by accident; the second is a combination of genetics, environment, and who-knows-what-else, and the third is almost always genetic.

One, cancer, is something you ‘may’ be able to do something about. For example, lung cancer. 90% of lung cancer patients contract the disease from smoking.

Let’s just cover these 90%, shall we?

And folks, I’m asking for an open mind here…

Is lung cancer, in the case of the 90%, REALLY a disease?

Or is it a biological consequence?

Sure, “cancer” is a disease. But what caused it in this case? Something involuntary? Hardly. Something that could not be stopped?

No way.

The 90% caused it. Period.

Welcome to the real world.

So, I propose this: We redefine “disease” as an abnormal biological condition that we DO NOT have direct cause or effect over.

Airborne viruses: Disease. Obesity: NOT a disease.

And yes, lung cancer in chain smokers: NOT a disease; it’s a biological outcome. The end result should be treated as a disease, of course, but come on: Where is the responsibility folks?

Life, if you want to life it fully and without fear, is ALL about taking total responsibility. That’s empowerment. Anything less is… well, LESS.

In our example, lung cancer is no more a “disease” than, say, me hitting myself over the head with a hammer every day and causing brain damage is a disease.

Brain damage (not self-induced) = disease.

Brain damage caused by self-inflicted hammer-hitting = biological consequence. In this case of sheer stupidity!

Now, one could (and many will) make the argument that I had a “mental” disease that caused me to WANT to hit myself over the head with a hammer… but… well…

At this point we need to redefine the word “disease” in my opinion. Here’s why:

First, if this were the case, I could say that all criminals have a disease.

They all have a mental disease that makes them want to kill, steal… you name it.

This may in fact BE true… we do not know… but do we hold them NOT responsible if it is? No, we do not.

And that brings us back to obesity.

Obesity and being overfat is not a disease folks…
—— > it’s a biological consequence.

And, with the exception of the extremely ‘rare’ cases of total glandular dysfunction from birth, obesity… your bodyweight… is your responsibility.

Period. End of story.

Sorry, but that’s the way the ball bounces.

Am I being mean? No. I was obese. I have a right to speak my mind about it, and trust me: My depression (a disease… sorta… some genetic, but a lot of it was caused by eating too much sugar) definitely aided in my obesity.

Then how come I’m not obese any more?

I found a better way to eat. I re-trained my body to crave this style of eating (and exercise) over stuffing myself with pizza and burgers every day.

Here’s what I use:

Click.Here———–> My No-Disease No-Obesity Wake-up Call!

It torches bellyfat… and it reprograms the body and mind to use food as fuel… especially if you use my “7 Minute Body” workout system (you can get it at 77% off after you pick up EODD on the page above… ; )

So be brave. Be fearless. And be responsible.

Oh… and be sure not to catch “internetemailitis”… its a disease that causes you to want to check your email more than 10 times a day.

I have it. So be careful… may be contagious. : )

P.S. In my journey from obesity to total leanness I had to overcome ‘real’ diseases, like pituitary failure from a high fever (i.e. viral pneumonia that almost killed me) and, yes, clinical depression (partially my fault; partially not… i.e. half disease, half biological consequence.) So I have sympathy, believe me. But I also know what you can do once you have a solid plan in place and a determined mind.

Then no “disease” can stop you… at least the ones that do not kill you.

So go for it… be brave, be responsible… and be lean!

click.here ——> My No-Disease No-Obesity Wake-up Call!

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6 Strange Dietary Bedfellows

Rob — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 20:49:42 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

What do these six things have in common?

– McDonalds
– Renée Zellweger
– Epileptic children
– Yours truly
– Most bodybuilding and fitness competitors
– Kiefer Sutherland

Give up?

All the above employ the strategies of the low-carb dietplan.

Recently researchers have found that low-carb nutrition plan reduced the number of seizures in epileptic children.

Most of the world’s leanest physiques get that way on a regimen, limited or not, of low-carbs and higher protein.

Even McDonalds is getting into the act.

Even Renée Zellweger.

Even Kiefer Sutherland.

Even me.

Kinda.

Read on and I’ll explain what I mean…

———————————————————————-|

Why Low-Carb Works

———————————————————————-|

When McDonalds starts counting carb grams in their food, you know someone is either jumping on a trend or finally seeing the light.

In this case, both — but it is a good thing. Low-carb dietplans. They work.

For the masses, they work because they are the easiest nutrition plan to follow when you’re busy.

McDonalds and stars like Kiefer Sutherland figured this out. The busy on-the-go guy or gal doesn’t want to make the time to prepare six meals per day and carry them around in Tupperware.

When choosing my own lifestyle nutrition plan, time and convenience played a major role. I looked at role models who were very busy, formerly obese, and very lean.

Most of them rely in some form or fashion on a low-carb strategy.

Low-carb also works, much to the hem and haw of traditional doctors and nutritionists, due to the way the body processes fuel.

For those of us fortunate enough to grow up on whole grains and very low-sugar mealplans, a moderate to higher-carb nutrition plan may work just fine.

But most of us grew up eating junk.

Processed foods, fast foods, and downright junk was the cornerstone of our dietplans. That puts your body on the “carb defense.”

After years of abuse the body becomes resistant to carbohydrates. The insulin they produce can cause all sorts of health issues, fat-burning problems, and more.

When carbs are removed, even healthy carbs like whole grains, the body has time to re-adjust.

In some cases, you can go back to a moderate-carb plan with whole grains and fruits after a period of time.

In others, you are a “low-carber” for life.

Guess which one I am?

Finally, low-carb works because you tend to eat less. Fat is very satiating, and most low-carb plans are fairly high in dietaryfat.

So, in recap:

— Easy and convenient;
— Metabolically important for carb recovery;
— Lower in total food volume (eat less)

Do not make light of that first point. Any plan that is not simple is one very few people will stick to. Making your plan simple and tasty is key, even if that plan is not “perfect” by nutritional standards.

Now, by far, the best low-carb dietplan in the world (yes, I’m bias for good reason!) is this:

click.here ——> My Favorite Foods Diet Presentation

EODD works so well because your carbs are low for “most” of the time. Not “all” of the time. And the times when your carbs are not low you can enjoy your favorite foods.

Personally I enjoy pizza and burgers on my non-low-carb days. You can enjoy whatever you want if you just keep it reasonable.

You see, there’s no need to diet-perfect.

Progress always trumps perfection.

———————————————————————-|

Why Low-Carb Fails

———————————————————————-|

There are two primary reasons for the failure of the low-carb nutrition plans: boredom and media bashing.

One causes irritability. The other, doubt. Unless you’re certain that your plan will work, you will eventually go off of it.

This is true of any plan, no matter how ideal it is. Certainty rules.

That’s why I believe in having a flexible, tasty plan like EODD.

Then boredom is easily solved.

I share my own unique ideas about “cycling” carbs and fats in the presentation here:

click.here ——> My Favorite Foods Diet Presentation

Using my cycle strategy you will rarely if ever become bored. And your body will burn more bodyfat too. It’s just a cheap metabolic trick…but boy, it works.

The second reason is media and medical bias. One study after another has proven that low-carb plans, even the Atkins plan, works and is safe to use for most people.

Check with your doctor first, of course.

I’ve seen researchers get down-right angry when the results come back. In one study, carried out for a full year, the low-carb plan out-performed the so-called “healthy” Dean Ornish plan.

Lower blood fats, more weightloss, and more energy were the results.

My preference always comes back to low-carb nutrition. I just cycle it in a way that allows me to get plenty of veggies, some grains, and ample fiber.

Even a slice of cheesecake here and there… : )

Hey…I said “low-carb”, not “low-life!”

Yours In Fitness,

J O N B E N S O N

P.S. One of these days the mainstream medical community will wake up to the fact that 90% of the population will never eat 15 servings of veggies per day.

While this may be “optimal”, it’s not at all practical. I’d rather give you down-to- earth practical nutrition advice that you CAN and WILL follow — and enjoy.

Makes sense, doesn’t it?

click.here ——> My Favorite Foods Diet Presentation

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A Rant: Why We REALLY Overeat

Rob — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 21:18:43 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

Fair warning … this one is a rant. It’s probably a bit long, but take the time to read it.

I have some things to get off my chest … and a lot of people reading this will find it refreshing.

We have a problem in this country… hell, this world… with people overeating.

Obviously overeating is one of the primary reasons people are struggling with bellyfat and excess bodyweight in general. The solution to this problem is not “don’t eat so much”, although that is the end goal.

The solution is to really, REALLY understand how your body uses fuel and how to create a dietplan that allows you to take advantage of it.

First, my rant.

You want to know why 99% of the people who fail to see results from my dietplans… or any dietplan for that matter… REALLY fail?

They do not understand how smart and powerful their bodies really are.

Look… no dietplan on earth will allow you to eat whatever you want every day. That’s fatloss suicide.

No pills will cure this. No surgery.

Only this will cure it:

Use your body’s own internal appetite mechanisms to your advantage.

I receive hundreds of emails every day from people who see results from my Every Other Day Dietplan.

But I won’t lie to you: I also get emails from people who do not.

Welcome to the real world, right? Some people succeed, others do not. It’s the same story no matter what your goals may be.

But in fatloss, the difference between success and failure, at least in the case of my readers, is NOT the dietplan… it’s the need to fully appreciate how and why it works.

Let me explain…

Here is a picture of me (excuse the quality; this was snapped with a mirror and a cellphone…)

Obviously I have abs… and I’m lean… and because I love to lift weights I also carry a lot of muscle… but the real power behind this picture is what you do NOT see:

–> You do not see what I ate the night before; half a pizza.

–> You do not see how obese I was ten years ago… yes, 70lbs over-fat with a belly that looked like I swallowed a basketball.

–> You do not see how I set my body up to receive this pizza and actually get leaner after eating it.

In case you think I’m on some magical dietplan or taking some fatburning-stimulants… wrong.

I just woke up 5 years ago after studying nutrition for 15 years and finally put 2 and 2 together.

So, here’s the facts.

My EODD Plan is build around a simple concept: Eat your favorite foods “frequently” and still drop the bodyweight you want.

And it works… not because it’s a gimmick, but because it uses the science of metabolism, natural hormonal manipulation, and psychology to prepare your body to eat more calories.

Now those calories could easily come from, say, three yams… but I prefer pizza. ; )

If you’ve tried EODD with success, you know what I’m talking about. If not… then read on.

First, EODD never promises you that you can eat however MUCH you want every other day (or in my case, since I’m athlete, every three days)… no, no, NO!

It’s whatever you want… not however MUCH you want. That is the sole reason a small fraction of my readers are not seeing the results they want.

Now, here’s the beauty of it all:

After about 3 weeks following my System of eating, you simply cannot overeat… well, you can, but you’d have to force-feed yourself in order to pull it off.

You’ve been feeding yourself frequently for the day or two before your favorite food meals. The higher protein and very low starch content of the nutrition plan (with plenty of veggies) ensures that your body’s metabolism stays elevated. BUT… and this is crucial… the amount of food consumed on these days before is not that much.

I’m never starving… I eat too frequently for that, plus the foods on my Plan curb your appetite. But I am not eating anywhere near my maintenance level of calories. I do not count calories (nor should you)… I just follow the System, which does the calorie-counting for me. Plus I know my body really well after all these years.

So, after days of eating enough to keep my metabolism relatively high, and right BEFORE it starts to slow down (your metabolism slows when you do not eat enough, bringing fatloss to a rapid halt) I hit the body with a lot of calories.

BUT… at the right time, and never at certain times.

And, please read this: I do not eat “however much” I want on my feed meals… I eat WHATEVER I want in reasonable portions. I don’t have to fight to not overeat, even when it’s pizza or burgers (my two favorite cheat meals.) Why? Because my body is set up to want more food, but also trained not to eat too much food at one sitting.

This is because I’ve been “grazing” — eating small, frequent meals the days before my feed day. And the body learns to adapt… quickly.

The brain is actually re-trained to signal the stomach that you’ve had enough food… yes, even when it’s dessert, or pizza, or whatever your favorite food may be.

So here’s the deal: Yes, you can lose all the bellyfat and bodyfat you want eating like this… but like anything else that works, you have to follow a few simple rules.

The result is a dietplan where you never feel trapped. You always know that tomorrow, or possibly the day after, you can have whatever food you want. Just in reasonable amounts.

If you ask me, this is the perfect trade-off. No starvation, super-healthy eating at least 4 days a week, and you get to eat your cake as well (literally if you want.)

It’s not magic — it’s science, and a bit of work on your part. Yes, work.

Nothing happens with effort. But put some effort into this System and boy… there’s not a better dietplan on the face of the earth.

Click the URL below and watch my full presentation on how and why this works…

Now, one more thing: I do take a few supplements to help the process along. I have a video on the Member’s Only page that explains what I take and why.

The good news: Not one of these supplements are stimulants or dangerous. In fact they’re all very healthy nutrients the body needs.

In conclusion, I like to think of The Every Other Day Dietplan as “The Thinking Person’s Dietplan.” Anyone who considers every angle of what it takes to shed bodyfat: Food you enjoy, freedom, a plan that’s easy to follow, and flexibility will recognize this right away as the ideal approach.

But, like all ideal approaches, it requires you to re-think the way you eat.

You eat for fuel… period. But you CAN (and should) eat for pleasure too. As long as you keep FUEL as the main reason you are eating in the forefront of your mind, your body (and mind) will follow. Your body will adapt and begin to use both healthy and “not-so-healthy” foods as fuel.

Fuel to power your workouts, help you burnoff that bellyfat and bodyweight you don’t want, and empower your sense of control.

Especially now, with the holidays upon us, “food as fuel first; food as pleasure second” should be carved into your dinner table. Because, let’s face it: When all that holiday overeating is over with, you will be left with a bigger belly, feeling sluggish, and just one more step away from the body you desire.

My alternative offers the best of both worlds. You just have to be willing to re-think some things and give your body a few weeks to re-learn what it already knows –

When to signal you that you’re full, and way before you overeat. And, believe it or not, you can (and should) do this by eating your favorite foods each and every week.

That’s the only way to keep your MIND satisfied and happy. And your mind is the key to your body’s success.

Thanks for reading.

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4 Common But Useless Fattburning Exercises

Rob — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:11:17 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. Jon is the author of the Seven Minute Muscle Workout]

You may be wasting your time in the gym or at home if you are trying to shape your body or get rid of bodyfat.

Most people are. That is when it comes to exercise for getting rid of bellyfat and getting into better shape.

I was in the gym today (nothing new… ; ) and I saw all 4 of these exercises being performed by various gym members (again… nothing new.)

And they are useless for 99% of the people on the planet.

Here they are…

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USELESS EXERCISE 1: Walking Dumbbell Lunges

———————————————————————-|

Okay ladies, this one is for you… although I see guys do this exercise as well.

This is where you take a pair of dumbbells and kneel with one leg, then the other, and so-on, walking around the gym as you go.

The idea behind this exercise is to work the butt, and to some extent the thighs… but it’s a joke. It’s something invented by trainers who should know better.

If you want to build and tone your butt, exercise one leg at a time. Lunges are a great exercise for this, but save your energy. Do them on a Smith Machine or with a barbell. Work one leg at a time, too. Do not alternate legs. This just wears you out aerobically before it has a chance to get to your glutes.

Here’s how I perform lunges: On a Smith Machine, with pretty heavy weights… one leg at a time. I will do 2-3 sets, or do them in my 7 Minute Body-style workout fashion. I will finish one leg (and one butt cheek) before moving to the other leg.

Why? Again, to focus on the muscle more intensely and to avoid turning a leg/butt workout into a cardio session.

I cover exactly how to work the butt area for the best results in 7 Minute Body and 7 Minute Muscle, found right here:

click.here —– > 7 Minute Workout Plan

———————————————————————-|

USELESS EXERCISE 2: The Sit-up

———————————————————————-|

I’m shocked that people still think sit-ups done the old-fashioned way actually work the abs. Even worse, most people have been fooled into believing this actually helps get rid of bellyfat.

Nonsense. Bellyfat is burned off when you have a good nutrition plan and through general exercise, not using exercises for the abs. Ab exercises are fine, but guess what?

I never train my abs more than 3-5 minutes. Today my ab workout took 3 minutes and 12 seconds to complete. And my abs are sore!

But without the nutrition plan, forget it… I’d never SEE my abs at all. I’d just have a nice wall of muscle with a bunch of flab covering it up.

The best nutrition plan for abs is my Every Other Day Dietplan, found here:

click.here —– > Every Other Day Dietplan

The best exercises to do for the actual ab muscles are hanging leg raises, done slowly, crunches (if you do them right)… and that’s really all you need.

———————————————————————-|

USELESS EXERCISE 3: The Bench Press

———————————————————————-|

I’m going to get a lot of flack from the guys out there who love to bench, but I’m here to tell you that this exercise for bodyshaping is all but worthless.

Why? Because most people are not built right body-wise to bench press on a flat bench with a barbell. I am not, that’s for sure.

Bench presses work if you have short arms, a relatively short torso, and your shoulders are genetically strong.

Protect your shoulders and really work your chest by doing incline dumbbell presses with your palms facing OUT, not in toward your head. This protects the rotator cuff, a part of the shoulder that is often injured using barbell bench presses.

Combine this with a good cable fly or press movement and you’re set. Again, you only need about 7-14 minutes of chest work tops to get the job done.

———————————————————————-|

USELESS EXERCISE 4: Most Cardio Exercises

———————————————————————-|

Yep… saved the best for last.

Here’s a fact: Most cardio (bike, treadmill, glider, whatever) is a waste to time… UNLESS you do it at the right time with the right nutrition plan.

The calories you burn from cardio will be easily negated simply by eating a bagel! Hardly effective for getting rid of bodyfat. Weight training and/or resistance training at home or with your body weight, as covered in 7 Minute Muscle, is your best bet for exercise that burns-off mega-calories and keeps on burning long after the exercise session is over.

Here’s how to use traditional cardio wisely:

1. Do it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach;
2. Keep your heart rate down to 75% of your max (220 minus your age x .75 will give you this number, at least approximately);
3. “Burst” for 2-3 minutes in your session up to 85-90% of your max heart rate.
4. OR, do cardio right after weight or resistance training when your heart rate is already elevated and your blood sugar is lower. Your body burns blood sugar first during exercise.

Cardio for most people only needs to be performed 3-4 times a week for 20 minutes. The only time I break this rule is when I want to get my bodyfat below 10%. Then I will do more, but only using the rules above.

Hope this saves you a ton of time with your workouts.

Enjoy your holidays!

P.S. You can get both of my books, The Every Other Day Dietplan and 7 Minute Body, for a big-time discount by going here and watching this presentation:

click.here —– > www.everyotherdaydiet.com/video.php

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