For a minute, let’s forget all about the millions of workout programs, diets, and other variables in the fitness world. Each promises you’ll be looking great, feeling fantastic, and generally living the life you wanted if you incorporate (fill in the blank) into your life. Some of these claims are accurate, most are not. It can certainly be challenging to pick the right program; there is nothing more demoralizing than putting your time, effort, and sometimes money, into an exercise program that doesn’t work. The fitness industry is filled with contradictions abound; some people are so paralyzed by the fear of picking the wrong thing, they do nothing at all.

With that preface out of the way, let’s focus on some CONSTANTS. These things are tried and true, and have become habits of the most fit and healthy among us. Below, you will find 25 ways to start losing fat, building muscle, and developing the body you have always wanted. Most of these are incredibly easy to incorporate into your life TODAY. Read the points below, comprehend what you’re reading, and begin incorporating these simple, but profound, changes into your life.

Evenly Spaced Meals
Start spacing your meals evenly throughout the day. There is nothing worse than a next-to-nothing breakfast, followed by a huge lunch at noon, followed by nothing til a giant dinner at seven. Have snacks in regular intervals (every 3-4 hours) and avoid the huge meals. This will help control metabolism and help regulate fat storage.

Know Serving Sizes
It’s easy to run away with serving sizes and forget they are almost always smaller than what we are used to. Even healthy foods can start causing weight loss problems when over consumed. Read labels, measure things out if you must, but be keenly aware of how many servings you consume of each food you’re eating.

Know What Bad Foods Are
You’re fighting a losing battle if you are consuming things you think are healthy, but really aren’t. Understand the difference between wheat bread and whole wheat bread. Realize vitamin waters are nothing more than water plus a ton of sugar. Dressing is almost always fat, just because it’s on a “healthy” salad, doesn’t make it okay to eat. Avoid bad foods and avoid the excess calories that come with them.

Eat Enough Protein Protein is vital for building muscle, and the majority of exercising women, do not get enough of it. Further, taking a whey protein shake immediately following your workout is vital to maximizing the work you’re putting in. A protein shake or two a day, plus a chicken breast, plus some greek yogurt at night already has you consuming well over 100 grams of protein. It’s not hard to do, just make a conscious effort to do it.

Don’t Overdo It On Fruit
Fruit is healthy, it contains tons of anti-oxidants, vitamins, and phytochemicals that help your body function and fight off free-radicals. That said, some types of fruit are especially high in sugar. Limit consumption of highly sugary fruits, and don’t go on one of those “fruit only” diets. Aim for moderate consumption of high sugar fruits and a healthy (and larger) dose of low sugar fruits, like berries.

Forget Fad Diets

I’m not here to say certain fad diets won’t work. Of course, any diet that has you avoiding carbohydrates, consuming only liquid meals, or any number of other cheap tricks, will cause you to lose weight. Problem is, these fad diets are simply fads, because once you go off them, the weight comes right back. A few mindful dietary changes are all you need to realize slow and steady, but LASTING weight loss success.

Eat Breakfast

This one’s nothing new. In fact, you’ve probably heard it a bunch over your lifetime. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Breakfast is the metabolism kick-starter which gets your body burning calories and out of its sluggish, sleep state it had been in for the previous 6-8 hours. Eat a nice-sized breakfast first thing in the morning. Be especially careful to stay away from simple carbs (bagels, white bread, etc.) and high-sugar options (cereal, danish, etc.) Preferably start with some complex carbs (oatmeal for instance) and a protein (egg whites, protein shake) to really start noticing changes in your waistline.

Don’t Buy Food You Know You Shouldn’t Have
Avoiding “cheat” foods is so much harder when they are right in front of you. Keep the things you know you shouldn’t be eating out of your house. When you don’t buy them, you don’t eat them. If you find you must have something around, make sure you buy the smallest portion possible so you aren’t snacking on bon bons Monday through Friday.

Eat With Chopsticks
It may sound silly, but this tried and true method has been working for dieters longer than you’ve been dieting. The idea is to slow down eating, thereby reducing the food you eat, while not reducing your satisfaction. Try eating all your meals with chopsticks and see how much food you REALLY need to feel satisfied from a meal.

Make Water Your Best Friend
Your body is made of H20. Make this life-giving substance your new best friend. Consuming water before meals has been shown to reduce caloric intake on a whole. Keep your body hydrated, help it function the way it was meant to, and the pounds will start dropping before your eyes.

Stop Late Night Eating
Even occasional light night eating can kill the most determined dieter. When you eat a high-fat, sugary, and/or heavy meal right before jumping into bed, it will most likely all be stored as fat. Your body goes into sleep mode, your metabolism drops, and the calories you just consumed are stored away for energy use later. Avoid eating later in the evening.

Try Not to Combine Alcohol with Food

I’m not talking about a glass of wine or two with dinner. I’m talking about hitting the bars on a Friday night then getting a burrito, slices of pizza, etc. on the way home. Your body uses alcohol as its first source of energy, leaving the food you consumed to be deposited around your waist, thighs, and butt as stored energy, i.e. fat.

Re-Program Your Taste Buds
This may be the most difficult to accomplish on this list, but can easily become the most powerful. If you’re used to taking three teaspoons of sugar in your coffee, slowly cut it down to two. Once you can manage that, slowly cut it down to one. You get the idea. Your taste buds and brain can easily be re-programmed to not only tolerate, but enjoy specific tastes. While you may hate the taste of greek yogurt without a quarter-cup of honey at first, you will slowly learn to like the taste, and no longer need the excess sugar, salt, fat, etc. on your foods.

Stop Taking the Elevator, Parking Close, Etc.
The little things most certainly add up. Get a little extra fitness in your life wherever you can. By skipping the elevator, parking a couple hundred feet further away, or standing when you could be sitting, you’ll burn more calories. Burn just an extra 100 calories a day, and you’ve lost an additional 10 pounds a year (1 pound = 3,500 calories).

Utilize Body Diversity TrainingBody Diversity Training is the exercise methodology that involves training yourself with a variety of disciplines, instead of just one or two. Instead of only doing the treadmill or bike for cardio, or only taking yoga classes, Body Diversity Training would have you doing HIIT sprints on Monday, Vinyasa Flow Yoga on Tuesday, a compound lift circuit on Wednesday, mat pilates on Thursday, and a plyometric/weight combo workout on Friday. Cross-training your body using this format will help achieve far better results than sticking to a couple staples and never changing things up.

Exercise With Music
Study after study has shown exercising with music will help boost your intensity, increase the length of your workout, and ultimately, increase your total calories burned. Find high-tempo music you enjoy, put your headphones in, and get moving!

Sign Up For a CSAHow does organic produce, that is cheaper than the non-organic stuff you’d find at your grocery store, and is delivered right to your door, sound? Too good to be true? Nope. Join a CSA and get a healthy and hearty delivery of vegetables weekly or bi-weekly. Simple as that. CSA’s are a great way to incorporate more vegetables into your diet on the cheap.

Keep a Journal
Keeping a journal to document what you’ve been eating, as well as what you’ve been doing in the gym has been shown to improve performance in the long-term. Hold yourself accountable, know exactly what it’s time to bump the challenge, and stop leaving yourself in the dark as to what you’ve been eating. Knowledge is power; give yourself the power to make a change.

Go Extra Hard on the Weekends
Nothing feels better than waking up early on a Saturday morning, getting an insane workout in, going home and having a healthy breakfast, going about your day, then later on when things are getting lazy, hitting the gym for a second session. Use the weekends and/or your time off to really put in work. Two serious weekend workouts can have you burning a combined 2,000 calories, which will give you a great start on the week ahead.

Get Great Fitting Workout Clothes

This may sound stupid, but when you feel good about what you’re wearing to the gym, you’ll be more likely to go AND stay longer. Studies have shown those who are comfortable and perhaps feeling even a bit fashionable are able to workout with a higher frequency and intensity. Who cares what others think. If spending 100 bucks on a pair of Lululemon yoga pants will make you hit the gym more regularly, why not?

Stop Reading Fitness Magazines, Celebrity Trainers, Trend-Setters
These people are all in the business of making money. It’s common knowledge that fitness magazines simply regurgitate the same articles over in different ways over and over. Think about it; how many times have you seen a “Lose your belly now!” article or off-shoot on the cover a fitness magazine? It’s the same story told a million times. Watch out for fad workouts (just like their diet counterparts) and use the internet to find your information. With the rise of the digital medium, there are many dedicated fitness bloggers who simply enjoy spreading their knowledge and improving lives. They want to gain nothing from you, nor have a sale quota to make. Trust your gut and you’ll find the best information is right in front of you.

Buy a Half Size Smaller
This is an old trick that’s been used by many for motivation. When you’re out shopping and find something you absolutely love, buy a size that’s half too small for you. Use this as your motivation to lose the pounds/tone up, so you can not only fit into your new purchase. but look GREAT in it.

Surround Yourself with Healthy People
The company you keep can have a significant effect on your own personal well-being and health. This can of course be positive or negative. Hanging around people who eat fast food on the regular, don’t value exercise, and are content to sit around, drink beer, and generally do nothing while they wait to die are no good. This goes for friends and/or significant others. Personally, I could never date, let alone marry someone who didn’t value health and fitness. I’m not telling you to dump your couch potato boyfriend or girlfriend, but consider getting them involved and keeping company with friends who share some of the same values you do. You’ll find the hardcore fitness community is a very tight-knit group and are extremely welcoming to others with a healthy mindset.

De-Stress/Achieve Enlightenment

It’s no secret, stress kills. While it’s not always easy, find a way to de-stress, and do it regularly. Contrary to popular opinion, those under a great deal of stress often hold on to their fat, and even end up gaining weight. De-stress yourself, let go of what you cannot change, and realize all things will pass. From a strictly philosophical standpoint, learning about Buddhism is a fantastic way to deal with the stressors of life. Consider reading a book or two and move towards a calmed mentality and life. I’m not suggesting you replace your current religion with Buddhism, simply look at some of the principles behind the teachings and incorporate what you feel is compatible with your current faith.

I’d like to leave you with one final quote from the Dalai Lama which I think is profoundly enlightening and relevent….

When asked what surprises him the most, the Dalai Lama responded:

Man, because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices his money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then he dies having never really lived.

This is a post from Share It Fitness Blog. You can reach the original article by clicking here: 24 Ways to Lose Fat, Build Muscle, Live Healthier and Look AMAZING!

Running stairs, whether in the gym on a Stairmaster or outside, is a GREAT way to burn calories and build lower body definition.  As such, the stair machine is a staple for a lot of gym-goers.  At least at my gym, it’s almost always filled.  Predominately used by women, sometimes the occasional guy will venture away from the pack, exit the free weight section, and give it a whirl.  I’m not going to lie, doing stairs are a real pain.  I distinctly recall waking up at 6AM on Sunday mornings, and being forced to run up and down four flights of stairs in the back hallways of my high school for hours on end by a sadistic high school wrestling coach.  Stairs will always hold a place in my heart, although I can’t say I think about them fondly.

A strenuous stair workout is going to leave you absolutely sapped of energy.  To top it off, your entire lower body is going to be on fire and walking may be quite difficult the next day.  Quickly notice I said “strenuous”.  I’m not talking about the lazy pace some of the people (who shall remain nameless) at my gym take when they get on their stair machine.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; if you’re able to casually flip through your US Weekly magazine and actually do more than just look at pictures and headlines, you’re not working out hard enough.

Like most things in life (and exercise) variety is the spice.  Don’t let your body get too used to doing the same exercise or routine over and over.  Maintain variety, keep your body guessing, and you’ll be amazed at how much progress you continually make.  Contrary to popular belief, keeping things fresh doesn’t involve much effort, especially in this case.  Below we’re going to look at four tips to spice up this common exercise machine, and help you keep making that progress.

Leg Kick Outs

While using the stair machine, make a point to kick each leg out and up as you’re walking.  Straighten the leg, point the toe, and raise your league vertically as high as you can.  By doing so, you’ll be giving your upper hamstring and glutes a serious blast.  Do this regularly and expect soreness and a nice butt to follow suit.

Skip a Step

Pretty simple and straight forward.  Instead of stepping on every stair, skip a stair so you are doing every other.  This may not seem like much, but it’s enough to mix a workout up and confuse your body.  The human body is great at adapting to a given stimulus, so any variations requires more time to adapt.  As an added bonus, the larger step will require more muscle fibers in the quadriceps to fire, improving the muscle building effects of the stair machine.

Intervals

Like other forms of cardio, the stair machine completely conforms to interval training and/or HIIT.  While a little extra care should be taken not to overdo it on the stair machine since the potential to fall is greater, it is still something that can be done carefully.  Try alternating between 30 seconds of fast steps/30 seconds of your regular pace.  If you feel comfortable, try increasing the intervals times and/or speeds.  This is a great way to give your metabolism a boost and increase your cardiovascular endurance.

Side or Back Steps

Instead of only walking the up the stair machine forwards, try changing your direction.  When you take side steps, or even back steps, you hit different parts of your legs and glutes, giving you a more efficient workout.  Try something like 15 minutes forward, 15 minutes to both sides, and finally 15 minutes backwards for a full hour of work and some very sore glutes, hamstrings, quads the next day.

This is a post from Share It Fitness Blog. You can reach the original article by clicking here: Spice Up an Exercise Staple: Look at Stairs in a Whole New Way

The human body is a great and complex thing.  For those of you who train, this is both good and bad.  On the one hand, if every body were the same, there wouldn’t be a need for hundreds of different workout programs, philosophies, etc.  There would be a science to how things are done. There’d be one specific way to build muscle, lose fat, and generally look like a Maxim fitness model.  Life would be pretty easy wouldn’t it?  Unfortunately, this is not the case.  Every body has a different physiological response to a given stimulus.  Simply put, what works for some, may not work for others.

That said, there are some relative constants in the fitness world that are generally accepted to be especially beneficial to everyone.  For instance, running sprints in a HIIT fashion will boost your EPOC (Excess Post-exercise Oyxgen Consumption) and cause your metabolism to spike.  This is something science has figured out will work for just about every human being.  Another interesting and game-changing tid bit is the fact that lower body plyometric training COMBINED WITH lower body weight training will result in greater gains throughout the lower body.  Greater than what, you may be wondering.  The plyo/weights combo greatly outperformed the results of individuals who trained with ONLY plyo, or ONLY weights.  Participants utilizing the plyo/weight combo realized an increase in strength, definition, vertical jump, and speed.  Simply put, they became (and looked) more athletic.  Countless studies have replicated these results over time, leading us to believe that this is one of those relative constants I mentioned earlier.  One such peer-reviewed study, and what was used as reference for this article, can be found here.

I’ve had this knowledge and have been using plyo/weight combo workouts with clients for years.  The effects this method of training has is absolutely phenomenal.  Whether you’re an athlete training for a sport, or simply someone who wants to have that lean, mean, athletic look (and a great butt and thighs to go along with it) this is THE workout for you.  Expect a rounding and tightening of the backside and firm, lean thighs, hamstrings, and calves.  If you’re already doing another workout plan, don’t worry.  Go ahead and substitute these combo workouts in for lower body days.  Fitness is all about trial and error.  See what works best for you and then stick with it for a little bit, before changing it up to something more challenging.

Perform this workout 3 days a week.  If you are experiencing soreness, push your workout back until you can comfortably perform all exercises without pain.

Day 1 - Keep weights lower during this session.  If you see (4 x 10 exercise a/20 exercise b/rest), you should perform exercise b immediately following exercise a, and only rest at the end of exercise b.  Complete this combo for the total number of sets listed before exercise a.

• 4 x 12 Smith Machine Squats/30 box jumps/rest 60 seconds
• 3 x 20 Long Jumps
• 4 x 12 Bulgarian Squat
• 4 x 20 Four Point Hops
• 3 x 20 Reverse Dumbbell Lunges/20 forward lunges/rest 30 seconds (alternate legs)
• 3 x 2 minutes Plated Speed Skaters
• 3 x 1 minute Line Jumps
• 4 x 100 Speed Squats/10 X Jumps

Day 2 – This session is going to focus on fast explosive movements to really torch your hamstrings and glute muscles, before moving to the weights to finish things off.  Feel free to do the running parts on a treadmill or outside.

• 20 x 10 second all out sprints/rest 15 second between each sprint
• 5 x 2 minutes running in reverse (if using a treadmill start slow and gradually increase your speed)
• 5 x 30 Jumping Lunges
• 5 x 15 Tuck Jumps
• 5 x 15 Plated Box Jumps
• 3 x 10 Quad Extensions
• 3 x 10 Hamstring Curls
• 3 x 10 Leg Press Machine (first set feet wide, second set feet close, third set feet shoulder-width)
• 3 x 40 Calve Raises on Smith Machine
• 3 x 20 Side Barbell Squats (10 per each side)

Day 3 – We’re going to repeat the session from Day 1 with a few minor modifications to increase intensity. Also, be sure to increase weights as you’ll be performing fewer reps per set.

• 4 x 8 Smith Machine Squats
• 4 x 8 Barbell Deadlift (please make sure you are using proper form for this exercise!)
• 3 x 20 Long Jumps
• 4 x 12 Bulgarian Squat/1 minute jump rope/45 seconds rest
• 4 x 20 Four Point Hops
• 3 x 20 Reverse Dumbbell Lunges/20 forward lunges/rest 30 seconds (alternate legs)
• 3 x 2 minutes Plated Speed Skaters/1 minute jump rope/45 seconds rest
• 4 x 1 minute Line Jumps
• 4 x 100 Speed Squats/10 X Jumps
• 5 minutes jump roping (use as few rest breaks as possible)

Give this workout a try.  I will almost guarantee you’re not going to be able to walk straight after your first few times through.  Let the soreness fade, then get right back into it.  Run through this 3-day cycle for about 4 weeks, then increase weights, incorporate some new exercises, and continually keep pushing yourself.  Remember, the plyo/weight combo is THE way to develop a great butt and legs.  Keep at it and you’ll be ready to fill out that bikini bottom in no time!

If you liked this post be sure to stay connected to the Share It Fitness launch and ensure a free premium membership by signing up here, and remember to subscribe to our blog so you don’t miss any more of our body-changing workout programs.

This is a post from Share It Fitness Blog. You can reach the original article by clicking here: The Bubblicious Butt Workout: Using a Plyo/Weight Combo for Better, Faster Results

Since we first posted our Total Body Blitz workout series a few months ago, THOUSANDS of you have decided to step up to this challenge head on.  We’ve received tons of feedback and questions about this program over the last few months.  What we most often hear is; “does this program really work?  I don’t want to get big and bulky, or waste my time in the gym.  I just want to lose some pounds and add some muscle”.  Our response to which is always, we’ve personally seen the positive effects this program has in hundreds of people before you.  Just trust the science behind what you’re doing and good things will happen. 

Even still, this often isn’t enough.  So today, we’re posting a picture and review from one of our readers.  Mila Clark has just recently completed part one of this three-part workout series.  Below is her review on how things are going so far.  Give it a read, and hopefully use this as motivation to either get yourself started, or sustain the efforts you’ve been putting in.  There’s no reason all of you can’t put yourselves on a path to success the way Mila has.  For more info on Mila, check out her blog here.

We’re always seeking before/after pictures and/or reviews of our workouts; consider submitting yours today to not only motivate and inspire others like you, but to claim a free thank you gift! 

From Mila Clarke:

When I started working out in November, I didn’t realize what I was getting myself into. Very quickly, I became bored just driving to the gym every day, hopping on the treadmill, and seeing tiny bits of measurable results. It got me to a point where I really just thought “I should quit.”
 
One day I was browsing the Pinterest, and I saw a picture of a really toned, fit girl on a fellow pinner’s Pinboard. All it said was “do this, look like that,” so I clicked, and landed here at Share It Fitness, and the rest is sort of history for my workouts. 
 
Four weeks ago, I started the Total Body Blitz, Share It Fitness’ total body workout, after being a treadmill junkie for months. The thing that I can tell you about this workout is that it isn’t easy; it looks incredibly easy on paper, and while it is difficult, you’ll see that the work you put into it is well worth your time (which, by the way is only about 45 minutes to an hour a day just depending on your pace, and the day’s activity.)
 
All in all, this will totally keep your workouts interesting. You’ll see results, and you’ll learn about muscles you never even thought you had. This workout program has totally changed the way I looked at working out. I’m never bored, I’m always working hard (so I feel really good about being at the gym) and I’m not ever doing the same thing every day.  Most of all, it’s challenging, which is my favorite part. I get to climb a new mountain everyday, and I feel awesome after every week I’ve finished. I just finished Phase one, and I’m excited to start on Phase two!
 
Something that this workout did for me, that no other workout has, is push me out of my comfort zone. It taught me that if I stay where I’m comfortable, I’m never going to see the change that I want. The Total Body Blitz is giving me the confidence to break through barriers I never thought I would get through, and it’s making me much stronger and more fit than I ever thought I would be!

This is a post from Share It Fitness Blog. You can reach the original article by clicking here: Monday’s Motivation: Total Body Blitz Workout Success Story

Take It Up A Notch With A Yoga Teacher Training

Many people assume that yoga teacher training programs are just for those people who are interested in teaching professionally, it’ not. The truth is that only 20% of the students who attend one actually launch their career. The rest of them are going because they want to take their practice to a whole new level. So what is the benefit of a yoga training course?

Yoga Classes Are Mainly For Beginners

Yoga studios have a business to run so they need to think about who are most of their customers. Since it is still fairly new here in the US, most of the people attending are beginners. This means that if you have been practicing for at least a year, it can be hard to advance your skills and this is where a yoga teacher training can come in to play. Most studios can’t go into detail about many nuances of the practice which can make it hard for students to advance themselves and move further.

Dive Deeper Into Your Yoga Practice

In a yoga certification course, you are truly immersed into every aspect of what yoga is really all about. People here in the US tend to associate it with just being super flexible and getting into “pretzel” poses. The physical asana practice is really only about 25% of what yoga is really all about. Things like meditation, pranayama, philosophy, nutrition, and other components are what really summarize the entire practice.

Getting “In” Shape

In the East where yoga originated, it was originally started as a practice to move inwards. Whether you want to call this spiritual, holistic, enlightenment, or whatever, the main idea was about purifying your mind and body so that you would live your life from a balanced and joyful state of being. So many of us who focus on exercising tend to mainly focus on the outside, but the inside is actually more important. More so, the outside is a reflection of the inside (i.e. “inner beauty”). In a yoga teacher training, it provides the space for a student to have a personal transformation where they can explore more of who they are both mentally, emotionally, and physically.

So Who Would Benefit From A Yoga Teacher Training?

While a yoga instructor training is definitely not for everyone, it is for those people who are serious about their own well-being. Yoga is more about cultivating a lifestyle and taking ownership of your health. If you are seriously devoted to living a fulfilling life and educating yourself on what it means to be healthy, then a yoga teacher training would be a great opportunity to explore this further. However, you would have need to have a minimum of six to twelve months of a dedicated practice already under your belt.

As the founder of Yoga Training Guide, Sergio Diazgranados has been helping students go deeper into their practice and explore more of who they are as a person and spirit.

This is a post from Share It Fitness Blog. You can reach the original article by clicking here: When It’s Time to Advance Your Yoga Practice…

It’s time to stop enviously looking at that guy or girl in the gym and telling yourself you can never be them.  Or perhaps you’re reading about someone who has just completed their 10th Ironman, and you’re still struggling to get through a 5k.  You think the success these individuals have is all genetics, and rationalize their superiority.  Perhaps you even make excuses and use the dreaded, “at least I’m doing as best I can”.  That, my friend, is a cop-out.  A cop-out of epic proportions that is guaranteed to keep you from reaching your goals. 

Certainly, some people are blessed with great genetics, but largely, that is NOT the case.  Why are some people so fit? Why are their abdominals so defined?  How can some people compete so effortlessly in long-distance races?  The short (and unhelpful) answer, which is often repeated by fitness “experts” is, hard work, willpower, and determination…..

…Okay, great…thank you.  That really helps.  Let me go pick up some willpower and determination, and a healthy dose of hard work. 

That answer does nothing for you.  It doesn’t help you get into the minds of the people who are highly successful and very fit.  After spending time talking with many individuals, from all walks of life, and with varying degrees of fitness abilities and body types, it was clear certain specific traits are a common denominator in those who succeed and achieve a healthy body, inside and out.

By learning to adopt the following points into your life and fitness outlook, you should begin seeing changes in your body.  Unfortunately, our society is one that thrives on instant gratification; if something doesn’t bring about immediately measurable success, we are less likely to continue doing it.  This leads us to our first point…

1. Stop using a calendar to measure success.  Success should never be on timetable; everyone is different. Some will achieve that six-pack, or finally run a 6-minute mile, or any number of goals at different rates.  STOP comparing yourself to other people.  The very successful people learned long ago to compete against THEMSELVES.  Always strive to do better, always strive to improve.  Ignore fitness programs that promise total body transformations in only 30, 60, 90, etc. days.  Despite what pictures they show, the overwhelming majority will NOT look like the people in their promotional materials after such a short time period.  You are only setting yourself up for disappointment.  I’ll say it again…learn to treat fitness as a competition against yourself.
2. Prepare foods in advance.  It may seem strange to a lot of you, but eating clean is more important than all the miles you run and crunches you do.  Cut the crap out of your diet, and do it immediately.  Stop with the fast food.  Stop with the frozen food.  Stop with the late night bowl of sugary cereal.  You know you shouldn’t be eating this.  Stop rationalizing.  Grill up a week’s worth of chicken breasts on Sunday.  Make enough brown rice to last five servings instead of two.  It isn’t hard.  When you make enough food to get you through the week, you are less likely to rely on the quick crap that will destroy all the hard work you are doing.  Very fit people know this and enjoy feeding their bodies with healthy foods that help them reach their goals.  Food and exercise should be best friends; helping each other along the way…not fighting each other which leaves you going nowhere fast.
3. Stick out the times you think you are making no progress; success is just around the corner.  Overcoming the desire to quit when you have been putting in so much hard work and think you’re getting no where is tough.  Even the most physically fit individuals go through periods where progress slows to a trickle and/or stops completely.  Keep going.  The ones who look the way you want to look understand that sticking to the program and trusting the science behind what they’re doing will eventually lead to success.  EVERYONE goes through periods of burnout, thinking things aren’t working, etc.  This is a defining moment.  Most people will quit or trail off at this point.  The very fit put their heads down and power through.  Simple as that.
4. Chart your progress.  Far too many people simply go out there, run a couple of miles, lift some weights, and go home thinking they’ve done some good.  If you want to be average, keep doing average workouts.  If you want to be phenomenally fit and healthy, it’s time to start charting what you’re doing.  This doesn’t have to be highly detailed, just make notes of weights your lifting, times your running, personal bests, etc.  This feeds in to the earlier point of competing against yourself.  Always strive to run that mile a little faster, add a bit of distance on your bike ride, maybe bump the weight and reach a new max.  If you don’t chart, you don’t know where you are.  Keep a little excel file on your computer, and take 5 minutes to fill it in once or twice a week so you have an idea of where you are.
5. Variety is the spice of life.  Understand exercise isn’t an exact science.  What works for one person may not work for another.  Always be willing to adapt and try different things.  Do not get stuck in a rut doing the same routine time and again.  Your body will adapt and will stop responding to the effort you are putting in.  Constantly be on the look out to change things up.  Whether it’s the exercises you do, the weight you lift, how fast you run or bike, etc. there are thousands of ways to change things up.  Changes don’t need to be huge.  Just continually challenge your body (there’s that self competition thing again) and understand when things feel too comfortable, it’s time to change gears.
6. Fitness is a lifestyle, not something you do a few hours a week.  You think the super fit got that way by working out a few hours a week?  Of course not.  That said, you also don’t have to run on a treadmill 10 hours a week either.  Fitness is a lifestyle.  Those that come to love fitness and exercise, and all that it brings, are the most successful.  Varying your physical activities is the best way to achieve a healthy and fit body.  Maybe one day you’re running for distance, the next your cycling sprints, the following day you’re in the pool swimming laps, then your doing a compound lift circuit.  The day after that you wake up early for power yoga.  Over the weekend your playing basketball and some soccer on the beach.  It doesn’t matter.  Find several things you like, whether its yoga, pilates, dance classes, sports, weights, etc. and incorporate them into your life.  When you are doing something you like, it doesn’t seem like work.  Body Diversity Training, the concept of using multiple fitness disciplines at once to transform your body, is something I developed and is at the very core of Share It Fitness’ principles.  A healthy body is the greatest gift you will ever receive.  Now is the time to use it and engage in all the things you won’t be able to when you are old and frail. 

It doesn’t matter whether you’re 300 pounds and need to lose weight per a doctors recommendation or you’re already in great shape but want to break a plateau and finally compete in your first Ironman.  The concepts listed above apply to anyone.  The best part of all of this is, everything listed can be accomplished by simply changing your mindset and/or doing a few minutes of prep work each week.  Neither of which are hard to change.  Don’t be lazy about your diet, stop measuring yourself against others’ success, and learn to grit your teeth and bear it when things get tough.  That’s all you have to do to totally transform your body and health.  I really hope you take these things into consideration and actively work towards making these easy changes so you can finally reach your full potential and live the life you want.

This is a post from Share It Fitness Blog. You can reach the original article by clicking here: Change Your Life Forever: 6 Secrets of the Very Fit

Don’t need a gym to look like this…

You know that soreness you feel throughout your whole body?  The kind that feels like its transcended your muscles and has worked its way in your bones.  You feel tight and achy, but at the same time, it’s almost a “good” pain.  Squeezing your thighs or massaging your chest feels hurts so bad it feels good.  It almost becomes addictive as you sit there, unable to move.  For anyone who works out hard, you know exactly what I’m talking about.  The post-exercise pain associated with a really hard workout, new exercises or increased weight is a sign you are doing something right. 

I’ll admit, it’s hard to get this type of feeling in your  muscles when you are exclusively working out from home.  Naturally, gyms have the heavy weights, machines, and barbells that allow you to torch your body.  Getting your cardio in at home is no problem.  Following something like the intense routine found here, is no doubt going to strip away fat fast.  But what do you do when you want to add serious muscle to your frame? 

So many of you have written in looking for things you can do at home, when you don’t have access to all the heavy equipment and machinery.  Typically, the generic advice has been ”use soup cans, towels, and phone books in place of weights”.  Can we stop right here for a second?  

Does anyone really think lifting a 16 oz can of Campbell’s Chunky Corn Chowder is going to dramatically change their physique?  If working out was that simple and easy, everyone on the planet would look like this guy.   Get real.  Forget these grandma workouts using cans of soup and phone books.  You want that soreness that only comes from a serious workout? Of course you do.  Here’s what you do…head down to your local hardware store and pick up a couple of……….. water cooler jugs.  That’s it.  Get a few of these and you are more than set.

These things are PERFECT for working out at home.  Go for one 5 gallon jug and a couple 3 gallon jugs.  That’s all you need.  Keep in mind, 1 gallon of water weighs ~8.3 pounds.  Fill these to the brim and you’ve got 41 and 24 pound weights respectively.  However, that’s not the reason these things are so great.  The real reason these jugs provide such an awesome way to workout is the fact you DON’T fill them to the brim.  Say what!?  That’s right, you leave room.  What does room do?  Well, unlike solid hand weights, water is obviously in a fluid state.  As you lift these jugs, the water is going to shift from side to side, causing you to incorporate many more stabilizer muscles and motor heads to steady the load.  What does this mean?  This means you’re going to get a more efficient and effective workout by using an unsteady weight, like jugs of water.  Even the most fit individual, who has no problem snatching a 100 pound dumbbell, would find snatching 100 pounds of water a near impossibility. 

The beauty of these jugs is they can be used exactly like dumbbells or even kettlebells.  The same movements used for either of these two pieces of equipment, are not only replicated, but made MUCH harder.  Unlike weights where you have to buy many sets of varying weights, with your water jug, all you have to do is use more or less water.  I tried a full body water jug workout myself, and let me tell you, I was begging for back rubs, leg rubs, you-name- it rubs, for days after.  I work out religiously, but my body felt as though it had been put through the ringer.  Twice.  I’ve since incorporated this routine with my standard gym routine and have been seeing fantastic results. 

Looking for some effective movements that will help torch your body and help put on muscle mass?  Give these a try and experiment with different jugs and weights.  Again, substitute in your semi-filled water cooler jug for almost any dumbbell, kettlebell, or med ball exercise:

• Snatch
• Swings
• Squat and Press
• Plated Speed Skaters
• Bicep Curls
• Dumbbell Crunches
• Military Press
• Lunge and Twist

Any questions, feel free to leave a comment and we’ll get back to you shortly. 

This is a post from Share It Fitness Blog. You can reach the original article by clicking here: When You Don’t Have Equipment At Home….THIS is What You Need…

Have you ever heard of Food Revolution, the tv show hosted by Jamie Oliver? Well, it’s more than just a television program, it’s a global event coming up on Saturday, May 19. For more about its mission and to see Jamie’s video call to action, click here.

Of course, I’m getting pretty excited about this “holiday” – in my own science geek-nutrition nerd-foodie kind of way – and even if May 19 is just a regular day for you, perhaps it’s a good time for you to rethink your diet. And guess what? It’s not just about weight. Even if you’re at an ideal body weight, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re eating the way you should for long-term health and longevity. Having a lean physique isn’t equivalent to being metabolically fit, either, something SIF readers know quite well. Moreover, what we eat matters for many reasons beyond your own personal health, which is one of the themes addressed on my blog, Play a Good Knife and Fork.

All that said, as a nutrition scientist with expertise in obesity and chronic disease prevention, of course the way I cook and eat is designed to maximize your own health in the tastiest way possible. So, as we sail towards the summer, I thought this would be a good time to direct you to a few of my posts from January dedicated to rethinking your diet as well as your approach to food and nutrition. The times feel rather similar in some ways, don’t they? In January, most of us make new year’s resolutions to lose weight and get in better shape. In April and May, many of us are again – or still – thinking about weight as the warmer weather and its smaller-sized clothing looms ever nearer. (So long for now, bulky sweaters and boots!) Combined with the increased summer socializing that inevitably seems to lead to more eating and drinking, now is a great time to “spring your diet into shape.” (Yeah, maybe not, but you know what I mean.) 

To get started, I invite you to read the first short introductory piece in the series, Recalibrating Your Diet: Weight Loss and Beyond. This article seemed even more appropriate upon rereading it today since it has a Joss Whedon (The Avengers) reference in it, in case any of you are fans…

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You can follow Dr. Newby on her blog, Facebook, or Twitter; food porn is available on Pinterest. 

This is a post from Share It Fitness Blog. You can reach the original article by clicking here: The Food Revolution is Coming! Time to Rethink Your Diet?

All the HIIT sprinting, crunches, compound exercises, and everything else we tout on Share it Fitness isn’t going to make a lick of difference if you are still eating sugary, high-fat, simple carb-laden meals on the regular.  If you’ve changed your exercise lifestyle, congratulate yourself, but don’t stop there.  Now it’s time to change your dietary lifestyle. 

I’ve personally witnessed the body transformation of clients who adopted a healthy eating mindset first hand.  They went from looking semi-fit, but soft and average around the edges to a hard-bodied, toned, and HOT specimen of a human being.  The food you eat has THAT big of an effect on you and your physique.  The worst mistake you can make is underestimating the impact unhealthy eating can have. 

This article isn’t going to give you the same generic advice you’ve been given time and time again; eat whole wheat pasta in place of the white flour kind, swap turkey meat for ground beef in hamburgers, or sub out fried fish sticks for carrot sticks.  Come on people…that stuff is lame.  What you really want is practical and tasty meals to replace the crap you’ve been eating.  In addition, not only are these meals lower in calories and fat, but they are high in anti-oxidants and other vital nutrients that do everything from make your hair shinier to fight free-radicals and combat cancer.  These superfoods are not only great for your waistline, but for the functioning of your body as a whole.  

Below, are examples of what many of you are eating…and a comparable, healthy, nutrient-dense replacement.

Eat This: Cheesy Quinoa with Caramelized Veggie Medley Not This: Mac n’ Cheese 

Eat This: Guilt Free Blueberry Coffee Cake Not This: Fruit-filled Danish

Really, you can substitute any high-sugar breakfast pastry for the fruit-filled danish above.  These sneaky little snacks may make you feel as if you are eating healthy because you eating fruit (in reality, its fruit compote and a whole lot of sugar and gelatin), but they come in right around 400 calories EACH.  Not to mention, the high sugar content is going to spike your blood sugar levels and throw your body completely out of whack.  In its place is a whole wheat, high fiber, and extremely tasty (I can attest to this) blueberry coffee cake.  This stuff tastes so good you will be surprised it’s healthy.  At only a hair above 200 calories per serving you can afford to indulge in a sweet breakfast treat and not set yourself in a hole for the rest of the day.

 

For the full recipe, click here.

Eat This: Hearty Greek Nachos: Not This: Nachos Grande

Eat This: Lamb Tajine Not This: Chili

Eat This: Panko Crusted Baked Chicken Not That: Greasy Friend Chicken

Eat This: Watermelon-Cherryberry Sorbet Not This: Ice Cream Sundae

This is a post from Share It Fitness Blog. You can reach the original article by clicking here: Eat THIS…Not THAT!

A year ago today, Osama Bin Laden was brought to justice.  The people who personally brought that justice were some of the most skilled, physically fit, and professional soldiers on the planet; the Navy SEALS.  In honor of this anniversary and as another chance to recognize our military, I thought I’d take a small look at what it takes to be a Navy SEAL.  Below is a workout routine used by actual Navy SEALS to keep themselves in top shape.   This isn’t to say if you use their workout regimen you’ll be ready to become a Navy SEAL.  There is a lot more that goes into being a SEAL just being physically fit…but I’m sure you already knew that.

That said, this workout routine is obviously very tough.  Whether you use their program to give yourself a kick in the butt and finally increase the intensities of your own workouts, or you simply want to put yourself to the ultimate test and see how you stack up, utilizing this workout will reap serious benefits.  Expect a total body workout, improved cardiovascular function, and a lean, healthy, and fit body.  Man or woman, it doesn’t matter.  If you want to seriously improve the function of your heart, lungs, and muscles, this workout is for you.

A good friend of mine served as a Navy SEAL just before and after 9/11.  Seeing as he was the right person to turn to, I asked him for a little insight into what a Navy SEAL does to get, and keep, in top shape.  While there is no “Official Navy SEAL Workout Program” (despite what some unscrupulous bloggers may have you believe), he did fill me in on the training methods, philosophies, and workouts that he and his fellow SEALS used.  Navy SEALS workout in a way that is different from most of us; they don’t necessarily workout to look good, they work out to PERFORM to the best of their abilities.  Their functional training philosophies aim to stress muscle in their body, while improving cardiovascular endurance, and strengthening large muscle groups through compound exercises.  Their goal isn’t to develop big, bulky muscle.  Having a physique like that is great when you are trying to pick up girls on the beach, but when you are running, swimming, and climbing in a war zone, it is rather impractical. 

I’ll say it again, this is a workout program used by actual Navy SEALS; it is obviously very hard.  At the end of this, I’ll offer some ways to make things easier until you can work your way up.  Don’t get discouraged if you can’t do pull ups, or run as fast, or swim as far as they recommend.  This plan is a total body transformer; keep at it and you WILL work your way up to their levels.  How fast is dependent on how much work you put in.  Just know that with time and effort, you will progress.

First off, lets look at the standards of the Navy SEAL Physical Fitness Test.  In order to score highly, you must hit the following marks:

• Swim 500 yards: 8:00-9:00 minutes; rest 10 minutes
• Max Push Ups in 2 minutes: 90+; rest 2 minutes
• Max Sit Ups in 2 minutes: 90+; rest 2 minutes
• Max Pull Ups – no time limit: 15; rest 10 minutes
• Run 1.5 miles: 9 minutes or less

Those times and reps are tough to hit.  Below is a plan to follow to help you reach the ideal standards of the Navy SEALS fitness test.  Based on your current fitness levels it may take you longer than someone with a better foundation.  Whether you use the workout below until you can pass the SEALS fitness test or simply include these workouts here or there to keep things fresh, you’re going to be doing your body a world of good, and burn a ton of fat in the process.

Week 1

• Monday/Wed/Friday: Run 3 miles a day; 8:30 pace
• Tuesday/Thursday:  Swim continuously 20 minutes
• Saturday: Max pull ups, max sit ups in 2 minutes, max push ups in 2 minutes, 100 box jumps.  repeat 3 times.

Week 2

• Monday/Wednesday/Friday: Run 4 miles a day; 8:30 pace
• Tuesday/Thursday: Swim continuously 22.5 minutes
• Saturday: 5 x 15 bench press, military press, wide grip pull ups, close grip bench press. 5 x 30 sit ups.

Week 3

• Monday/Wednesday/Friday: Run 5 miles a day; 9:00 pace
• Tuesday/Thursday: Swim continuously 25 minutes
• Saturday: Max pull ups, max sit ups in 2 minutes, max push ups in 2 minutes, 75 burpees.  repeat 3 times.

Week 4

• Monday/Wednesday/Friday: 20 x 2 minute continuous jump rope, 1 minute rest between sets.
• Tuesday/Thursday: Swim continuously 27.5 minutes
• Saturday: 8 x 12 bench press, military press, wide grip pull ups, close grip bench press. 10 x 30 sit ups.

Week 5

• Monday/Wednesday/Friday: Run 6.5 miles a day; 8:00 pace
• Tuesday/Thursday: Swim continuously 30 minutes
• Saturday: Perform the Navy SEALS Physical Fitness Test

Week 6

• Monday/Wednesday/Friday: Run 7 miles a day; 7:50 pace
• Tuesday/Thursday: 20 x 2 minutes jump rope, 1 minute rest between sets
• Saturday: Perform the Navy SEALS Physical Fitness Test

This will take you through a month and a half’s worth of work.  This workout is largely cardio-based, but the compound strength exercises, swimming, and core work will help develop strength and definition in your muscles.  Unless you were already at a high fitness level, six weeks is probably not enough time to get you into Navy SEAL shape.  Feel free to continue cycling through this program, increasing intensities as you progress.  If you have a hard time with push ups, pull ups, or anything really, there is no shame in using the pull up assistance at your gym, or performing push ups from your knees.  The point of this workout is to make PROGRESS.  There will come a time where you don’t need to be on your knees to do push ups, and the weight used on the pull up assistance becomes less and less.  Keep pushing on, and one day, you’ll be as physically fit as a Navy SEAL.

This is a post from Share It Fitness Blog. You can reach the original article by clicking here: Osama Bin Laden Killers: Work Out Like Elite Navy SEALS