Whether you’re of Irish descent or not, St Patrick’s Day  seems to bring out the party animal in everyone! What better excuse to celebrate an Irish tradition than to head out to a  local bar or festival to down a few gallons of green beer with your friends!  But, before you reach for your next one, let’s take a look at the real effects of what you’re putting in your body.

No, I’m not gonna bore you with what you already know. Most  of us have already heard how bad alcohol is for you. We know that it can cause a host of health issues, including liver  and pancreatic cancer, kidney dysfunction, hyperglycemia, malnutrition and cirrhosis of the liver to name a few.

However, if that’s not enough to scare you away from excessive alcohol consumption, let’s talk about another way that it  can negatively impact your life. If you’re fitness-minded, let  me be the first to break the news to you that alcohol can (and will) single-handedly sabotage your fitness gains, and more specifically - your fat loss efforts!

Now, you may be thinking that I’m gonna give you a lecture on limiting your carbohydrates to control your weight, yada yada. But, no, alcohol has nothing to do with your carbohydrate  intake. Though you may only hear about light beers bragging  about being low carb, the fact is, almost all alcohol is low  in carbohydrates because they are burned off in the fermentation process. So, if you’re monitoring your carbohydrate intake (which you should be if you’re watching your waistline), alcohol  most likely will not be an influencing factor.

The real problem with alcohol is that it provides what are  known as empty calories, that is, calories that have no real  nutritional value. If you’re trying to lose weight, yet drinking even moderate amounts of alcohol, you’re not giving yourself a  good enough chance to create the caloric deficit that is absolutely necessary for weight loss. Sure, there are some lower calorie selections out there. For example, most beers only  contain about 120 calories, 4 ounces of wine only contain about 110 calories, and 1.5 ounces of most liquor only contain about 100 calories.

The trouble is, if you’re having a few “harmless” drinks with your meals, you’re adding up to 360 calories to your diet without any specific nutritional benefit. That’s at  least an extra 45 minutes of vigorous exercise that’s needed to burn off those extra calories…sounds like a lot of work to negate the effects of a couple of casual cocktails!

I encounter people everyday that are trying desperately to lose weight yet drink 8-10 beers every Friday and Saturday night.  Adding 2000 calories to your diet is not an intelligent path to weight loss! Furthermore, studies have shown that alcohol has a definite ability to increase your natural appetite, so people who are drinking typically consume more calories through their food intake as well. Unfortunately, most people don’t tend to  crave a medley of steamed vegetables while they’re drinking. The natural tendency is to reach for foods that are high in fat and starch to counterbalance the effects of the alcohol.

The other challenge that alcohol presents in the struggle for weight loss is its proven ability to slow the process of  burning fat. Your body recognizes alcohol as a poison (which it is), and therefore attempts to rid of as rapidly as possible. The result is that the process of lipid oxidation, which is simply the utilization of fat cells for energy use, is significantly delayed, since the body will burn off the alcohol for fuel before anything else. Research from the American Journal of Clinical nutrition has  proven that most people experience a 73 percent decrease in their lipid oxidation process for up to 24 hours after the consumption of  alcohol. This occurs mostly because alcohol not store as glycogen.  Instead, it converts to a substance know as acetate, which hinders the fat cells from being mobilized.

Weight loss aside for a moment, alcohol has also proven to lower testosterone levels. If you’re trying to develop a consistent exercise regimen, I dare you to try to do so with depleted testosterone levels. I know I wouldn’t be rushing to the gym to pick up heavy weights or go for a long run if I wasn’t feeling energized! The point is, alcohol can also hinder you from any fitness goal, even if you’re not necessarily trying to lose weight!

So go out and have a great holiday celebration. Just remember that before you reach for that next drink, your organs AND your waistline will thank you if you can keep your alcohol consumption to a minimum!

Happy St. Patty’s Day!!

by Steven Hefferon, CMT, PTA

If you go to the gym to get healthy and fit, look good, feel good and pamper your ego, then I urge you take a minute to think about something,

Do you remember the old adage, “People like to do what they are good at and comfortable with”? Are you living that old adage at the gym? Most people do. They have a set routine at the gym, yet it’s that very routine coupled with the mechanics of the equipment that can lead to trouble-either very quickly or over time.

As beneficial as we know exercise can be, there are some things you need to be aware of before starting. The challenge is in knowing injuries can happen and how to prevent them. There are two basic categories of injuries: the sudden accident (a.k.a. trauma) and what can be described as a process injury (in other words, the long, slow development of a condition.) My goal is to protect you from both types of injury.

Traumatic Injury at the Gym

Let’s start with the 5 basic concepts of working out in order to show you how easy it is to injure yourself in a traumatic way.

•    Intensity: How hard you work out.
•    Frequency: How often you work out.
•    Duration: How long you work out.
•    Progressive Resistance: Using more resistance with each set you perform.
•    Progressive Overload: Starting at a higher level of resistance at subsequent workouts.

Each one of these principles has the ability to cause injury. But when you couple them the drive to eek out one more  repetition as you fatigue, you go into all kinds of contorted positions to get the job done.

All of a sudden, Bam-O! A hundred different injuries can happen. And they will take a long time to heal. You will have defeated the entire purpose of going to the gym in the first place. Please understand that the body can tolerate a lot of abuse before you pay the penalty of an injury. Just know that injuries can happen in seconds and the effects can last a lifetime.

Injury as a Process

Traumatic injuries do happen. But more often it is the slow progression injuries that are far more sinister and very well may  be the root cause of some traumatic injuries. So I would like to focus on what happens over the long term so that you can make a change now to prevent injuries.

I have spent the last 10 years of my life dealing specifically with what are called muscle imbalances and their effects on the back and body. In describing the concept I will use some examples and try to make you aware of what possible injuries you could be facing.

Muscle imbalance can be defined as strength and flexibility of one muscle group compared to the opposing muscle group. So if you compare the strength and flexibility of the quadriceps to the opposite muscle group, the hamstrings, in nine out of 10 people the quads will be overly strong and overly tight compared to the hamstrings. That’s the definition of having a muscle imbalance.

How Back and Body Injures Start!

The quads are always going to be stronger then the hamstrings, so you may be wondering what is wrong with that. Let me give you some possible examples of what can happen if your quads are drastically stronger than the hamstrings. As I give this example, understand that there are other imbalances that often happen at the same time to develop this condition. For example, the hip flexors and the glutes can be out of balance too.

When the quads are out of balance with the hamstrings, there can be uneven and excessive wear and tear on the cartilage and ligaments of the knee.  The knee will not function correctly and conditions will develop to the point that running and other basic physical activities will be painful, or even impossible.

Second, balance between the quads and the hamstrings keep the pelvis in a neutral and stable position. But when you have overly strong and overly tight quads, your pelvis will be pulled in several different directions. In some cases the whole pelvis is pulled excessively forward. In other cases one side of the pelvis comes even more forward and the hip elevates,
causing the pelvis to rotate. This is very common in physically active women over 40.

When the pelvis is not in the most neutral and most stable position possible, the spine may go into abnormal curvature. It is that abnormal curvature caused by the muscle imbalance that can set you up for hip problems, SI joint problems, back pain and sciatica.

How Does This Happen?

The very equipment you are using at the gym is either directly or indirectly helping you develop your muscle imbalances and setting you up for future problems.

Let me give you some examples. You cannot help but develop raw quad strength when you use the leg extension machine. As I asked you before, do you stick to exercises that you like to do? Let’s face it, everyone hates to work the hamstrings because they are weak and it is difficult. So most people overwork their quads and under-work their hamstrings.

Another example is the calf raise machine. Again, the calf muscle will always be stronger then the muscles in front of the shin, but when you blast your calves and do not work the muscles in the front of the shin you are setting yourself up for plantar fasciitis, heel spurs, Achilles tendonitis and even knee problems.

To recap, working out with gym equipment puts enormous unnatural force through the joint, restricts movements to linear motions and can very easily overdevelop muscle groups. This combined with the development to muscle imbalances is a hidden root cause of most if not all physical injuries at the gym.

Action Steps

As with any new desire to make a change in your life, you must first have a starting point. There is no easier way to get started then to take an inventory of where you are right now. It will not help you at all to make subjective assessments about yourself and not be honest, so I have a few suggestions:

•    Take photos of yourself. I would not always recommend this.  But in cases were your health and wellness are at stake, why not? Here is what you can do. Put on a bathing suit and have someone take photos, front, back and both sides, making sure that you see head to toe. Then take a look–not with a judging eye but a caring eye, looking for areas that are not in balance. For example, is your head straight? Is your head over your shoulders or is it forward of your shoulders? Are your shoulders level? What about your hips, are they level? (Look at your side view and suit line as a guide.)

Those are just some of the areas that you can gauge yourself on. You can also use the photos as a reference of how you are now so you can look back at how you were then.

•    Feel the pain. The best way to assess pain is by asking yourself how you feel in the morning, during the day and at night. With this one you will need to be honest with yourself, and I suggest that you write this down. You can even mark up the photos you took by writing on them at the body part or parts where you feel pain.

•    Listen to your body. If you are working out and you feel a little something and you’re not quite sure what it is, rest assured it’s your body telling you it does not like what you are doing to it.

•    Build your awareness. If you live with fear, worry or doubt about your weight, health or medical condition, the best way to overcome that it is to build your knowledge on the subject. Study what others already know.Working with a professional fitness trainer can drastically improve your chances of developing a safe, sound and effective exercise program.

And remember to always stay enthusiastic about the process. That is the secret to achieving your goals. If you listen to your body, you just might learn something about it!

As you’ve heard me write about many times, I’m a big advocate for eating organic. The word organic encompasses many different practices for different types of foods. As a general rule of thumb, it means that no hormones, anti-biotics, or pesticides were used in the production of that food.

For live stock it means that they weren’t confined and fed a diet(corn) that wasn’t its natural diet. In the case of cattle, they roam freely and eat grass. Hence the commonly used term “grass fed beef”. Fish are caught wildly instead of raised in fish farm tanks. Chickens roam wildly eating worms and their natural diets instead of living in a case or overcrowded dark hen house walking on their own feces and trampling each other to death.

Recently I watched a documentary that has enforced my commitment to eating organically stronger than anything I could have expected. It’s a documentary called “Food Inc.”. In this movie they highlight so many cruel, un-sanitary, and downright ridiculous ways that everyday food is modified in order to increase profit, decrease price, and decrease nutritional value.

Our food has changed more in the last 50 years that it has in the previous 10,000. It is now cheaper to eat a bag of potato chips than a bag of carrots. A trend has been taking place in front of our very eyes where the poor are getting fatter, experiencing more disease than they did 50 years ago. The nutritional education we’ve received as kids and adults is a joke. The truth is that your everyday “conventionally” grown foods are poisoning you. The big food companies just like the big drug companies are doing everything they can to keep this information from getting out.

The US government has subsidized corn farming in the US to where its now they main ingredient in the majority of foods. It’s what we feed cattle, chickens, pigs, etc… Not what they were intended to consume. Anti-biotics and growth hormones are used so that a chicken can reach full maturity(larger than normal) for slaughter in 49 days instead of 90 days.

They actually show a side by side comparison of raising a chicken all the way through the slaughter process in both the conventional fashion and organic natural farming fashion. It’s pretty eye opening.

Check out the trailer for the movie:

I can’t do justice to the information shared with you in that documentary. All I want to say is that if you truly care about what you are putting in your body(and your families). Please watch this documentary. It will change your life.   Go to www.FoodIncMovie.com

Dedicated to your health,

Dennys Passeto, CPT
www.achieve-fitness.com

I can’t possibly count how many times people come to me and are struggling with losing weight but are working their butts off at the gym to do so. Though their effort is there and they’re putting the time in, they just can’t seem to lose weight or change their bodies. When I hear this scenario, I can almost instantly diagnose the problem nine times out of ten. It’s the result of having gone “cardio crazy.”

Generally, the people who fall into this category have the same frustration. They spend 1 hour a day, 5 days a week, sweating it out on the treadmill, the elliptical or the recumbent bike. Some of them burn up to 800 calories per workout, but are just not seeing the results. It’s difficult to understand because they’re burning such a high volume of  calories, and we’ve all been taught that it’s all about calories in versus calories out, right?

Yes, you DO need to expend more calories than you take in to lose weight. If this simple mathematic equation doesn’t add up, weight loss will be impossible. Unfortunately, however, this is NOT the only part of the weight loss equation. Let me explain…

The real key to losing weight, and more specifically burning fat is not how many calories you burn during your workout,  but what your body does to recover afterward.

Traditional cardio, like the kind I described above, usually  entails 30 to 60 minutes of a low to moderate intensity exercise like walking, jogging or biking at a pace that is sustainable for a long period of time. No one would argue that this type of exercise doesn’t have its health benefits and can produce some gains in fitness. However, the problem is, as soon  as you’re done performing this type of exercise, your body stops reaping the benefits of it. It simply does not take your body much to recover from the stresses of pure aerobic activity.

If you live in this zone of cardio, you WILL NOT see significant improvements in your fitness level or your weight loss efforts!

To truly improve your fitness level and increase your metabolism,  you must constantly vary the stimulus, and therefore constantly change the metabolic demands of your workouts. There are so many  ways to vary the stimulus provided by your workouts. These  variables include the modality of exercise,load, tempo (intensity), distance, duration of exercise and rest periods. Once your body fully adapts to any stimulus, the cardiovascular system stops being challenged, and therefore ceases to make further improvements.

One of the keys to getting more out of your cardiovascular  program is to periodically work out at an extremely high  intensity for shorter durations. This is where interval training becomes so powerful. Rather than running for 45 minutes at one speed, you can perform 30 second sprints at 90 - 95% of your maximum heart rate, resting one minute between each sprint.  If you push the pace properly, you only need to perform about 5 repeats of this interval to reap its metabolic benefits. Why? Because different work to rest ratios have different energy demands, and this will shock your metabolism way more than a leisurely 30 minute jog!

Study after study in exercise science has shown that the  higher the intensity of the stimulus, the longer the post-workout metabolic rate is elevated. If your current workload is not causing you to fatigue, it’s time to start pushing it further! Overloading is absolutely necessary in achieving any positive physical change in your body.

The problem with the traditional cardio programs that people  tend to follow is that they never challenge their anaerobic  threshold. Simply put, anaerobic activity occurs when the body cannot produce enough energy for the muscles with oxygen alone. The beauty is, you can train anaerobically using just about any modality. Sure, you can stick to running, swimming, or biking using interval training. But you can also push your anaerobic threshold using strength training, plyometrics, or body weight resistance.

Remember, variation is the key to success. Routine truly is the enemy when it comes to producing positive physical change. You  can get just as much benefit (if not more) performing fast- paced  intervals of air squats or push ups for 10 minutes as you can in a 45 minute aerobics class. Mix it up and watch your body transform!

It’s that time of year again! Ok, now that I have your attention, what I really mean is it’s that time when people typically feel tired, lethargic and drained of energy. The good old winter blues have struck again!

This is the time of year that people dread. The buzz from the holidays has worn off, the days are short, and it’s too cold to get outside and be active. Sure, part of these feelings  just seem to come with the season. However, there are also internal changes that occur within our body that make this time of the year seem unbearable.

One of the main reasons for these feelings during this time of year is due to the lack of sunlight.

There is hope, however, and the beauty of it is that we as human beings have the power to make a few small lifestyle  changes that can make the winter season just as happy and  productive as any other time of year. One of the most  powerful things you can do to keep you feeling energetic,  lively and enthusiastic through the winter season is by adding one of nature’s critical elements to your lifestyle.

What is this miracle substance that I refer to? No, it’s not a magic pill that I’ve discovered on the Wal-mart shelves. It’s one of nature’s healthiest nutrients for the human body, it’s called…..Vitamin D!!

The benefits of Vitamin D cannot be overstated. Vitamin D regulates growth in just about every cell of our body. It is absolutely critical to developing strong bones, teeth, and eyesight. It also aids in the absorption of other key nutrients, mainly calcium and Vitamins A and C. It has also shown to play a role in the prevention of various types of  cancer, as well as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and inflammatory conditions.

Vitamin D deficiency can cause some frightening effects  as well. It has been linked to elevated cholesterol levels and hypertension in older adults. Because of its critical role in calcium absorption, the lack of Vitamin D can also cause weakened bones, which in turn leads to severe joint pain and inflammation. People who have tested low for Vitamin D levels in the bloodstream have also reported lower energy levels, depression, and overall lack of motivation.

….Try combating the Winter Blues without it! No thanks!

So, where can we get Vitamin D. There are a lot of answers out there - in our diet, supplementation, and sunlight would be the most common. All of these are good sources.

Supplementation is a great way to get the necessary  Vitamin D3.  I usually try and take about 5000 IU’s per day.  It’s very inexpensive and effective at maintaining healthy energy levels.

Some great food sources for Vitamin D include eggs (particularly egg yolks), some meats (especially liver),milk, sardines, salmon, and cod liver oils. While these are all great resources for getting Vitamin D in your diet, ingested sources are generally insufficient for ensuring adequate Vitamin D levels. However, that doesn’t mean you should give up. Foods that are high in  Vitamin D usually contain other critical nutrients for overall health as well.

Sunlight may be the most effective way to get adequate amounts of Vitamin D. Conventional wisdom would tell us to avoid the sun at all costs, however, regular moderate exposure to sunlight is the best way to get Vitamin D that the human body can use.  Without getting adequate sun, you would need to drink almost 40 glasses of milk to achieve adequate Vitamin D levels. Excess Vitamin D is actually destroyed by the sun itself, so it is impossible to overdose on it through sun exposure.  The greatest benefit of getting sunlight is that the Vitamin D that is specific to sun exposure contains a natural mood elevator, something that can play a necessary role in
combating the Winter Blues!

So the solution to picking your spirits up this season? Eat a healthy, balanced diet with plenty of natural Vitamin D sources, and try to endure the cold and get outside, even if it’s just for a few minutes every day. Even if its just sitting by a window with sunlight coming through it for a few minutes per day.  Your body (and mood) will thank you for it, as you re-energize during this typically “down” time!

All of us, as human beings, require a certain level of stress in our lives in order to remain stimulated and motivated. If  stress existed solely for this purpose, it would be a purely positive thing. Unfortunately, in today’s world, stress levels are excessive in most people and for the most part are negative in their nature.

But what does that have to do with overall health, and more specifically, weight loss? The answer is - everything!

One of the ways the body reacts to stressful situations is  by releasing a stress hormone known as cortisol. Cortisol is a scary word, but it really shouldn’t be! After all, it’s a good thing! Cortisol is released by the adrenal glands for energy production to respond to stressful events. In the days of our ancestors, cortisol is what was generated to elicit the “fight or flight” response in the face of danger.

We certainly can’t argue that having this hormone running through our bloodstream isn’t a positive thing when it comes to evading danger. However, when the stress response is being triggered repeatedly over time, the adrenal gland becomes fatigued and eventually loses its ability to release cortisol at normal levels. Just like any other hormone in the body,when its levels are constantly elevated, it loses its effectiveness.

Now, in this day and age, chances are we’re not going to come across a Bengal tiger while enjoying a leisurely stroll through the National Mall. However, we are constantly in a  state of stress to meet the demands of the hectic pace of a busy, driven lifestyle. Battling traffic, fighting for  parking spaces, meeting deadlines at work and watching the  evening news elicit the same physiological responses as  running for your life! Unfortunately for us, however, these stimuli never go away.

Therefore, without proper stress management techniques in our lives, stress levels and cortisol levels remain chronically elevated. If you’re trying to lose, or even maintain your weight, this is a recipe for disaster. Chronic stress and elevated cortisol can lead to weight gain in several ways.

Sugar Cravings - When you’re stressed out, are you reaching for a nice bowl of mixed greens or are you gravitating toward the candy dish? My guess is the latter. People just tend to  use sweet foods as a coping mechanism for stress. This of course spikes the blood glucose levels and ultimately leads to excess fat storage.

Slowed metabolism - Another bad side effect of over an over-stimulated adrenal gland. Cortisol eventually slows down your metabolism, which in turn slows your body’s ability to use calories efficiently.

Emotional Eating - This is a powerful thing! Increased stress levels create excess nervous energy which can often cause people to over eat as a way to cope with a situation. I’m sure we’ve all found ourselves absent-mindedly munching on food when we’re stressed out even when we’re not hungry.

Sleep Deprivation - When stress levels are high, we generally  don’t sleep well. When the body doesn’t get enough rest, the first thing it will crave to achieve an energy boost is a  glucose spike. Where do we get glucose? From sugary, processed foods. And so the viscous cycle continues.

Decreased energy levels - Remember that the adrenal gland is responsible for producing hormones for energy production. If it becomes fatigued from over stimulation, so will your body. With declined energy levels, obviously the motivation to exercise decreases as well. With all the other demands on your schedule, the tendency is going to be to plop in front of your television from exhaustion, not to exercise.

So what’s the solution? You certainly can’t eliminate stress from your life all together. If I could find a way, I’d be the first to share it with you. The key to making stress manageable (and in turn making weight loss more manageable as well) is finding stress reduction techniques. Everyone is different, but there are a few things that you can do that tend to work for  most people. Among these are exercise, different forms of meditation and breathing techniques, Yoga classes and low glycemic eating. You have to find what works for you, but you will find your weight loss struggles drastically easier once you do!

Also, don’t forget that time is running out to get FREE Personal Training! January 31st is the last day to take advantage of our offer to get 3 FREE sessions when you purchase a package of 12 or more. Call Mike at 888-872-7961 ext. 1 to get signed up!

Throughout the last few years, the fitness industry has evolved faster than anyone could have imagined. One of its most significant improvements has been its adaptations to making exercise more convenient and more accessible to today’s working Americans.

As a result, home exercise video programs have become increasingly popular, as they deliver the workouts directly to your home, usually as a series of instructional DVDs. Some of the more popular programs have emerged as the industry leaders -P90X, Hip Hop Abs, and the Jillian Michaels Boot Camp series, to name a few.

It’s true that some people have achieved some great results  from these programs, but how effective are they overall? Let’s take a deeper look into some of the home exercise programs and if they truly deliver the results that they promise.

Hip Hop abs is a home workout program that contains high-energy dance routines that focus on abdominal strengthening. Most of its followers report that the workouts are fun, fast and produce a high calorie burn. While it certainly has its benefits, the program is too narrowly focused on aerobic training and abdominal strength. It neglects training through multiple modalities, therefore your body can easily adapt to the demands of the program. The result - you will plateau very quickly!

P90X, quite frankly, knocks it out of the park when it comes to avoiding plateaus. The program provides 13 different workouts that are performed at a random sequence and challenge multiple muscle groups. The power of this program is that it provides a total body focus, including upper and lower body strengthening, aerobic and anaerobic conditioning, flexibility and core strength and stability. Fundamentally, P90X is truly an effective exercise program. So, what’s missing? Well, if you’re performing the workouts consistently, you’re executing your form to perfection,and you’re maintaining the right intensity level, then the answer is….nothing! The question then becomes - how do you know if you’re really doing all these things?  This program is very intense for people who are not in some sort of shape.  One recommendation I give people who ask me about it is to start with just the first 20 minutes of each 60 minute CD per day. The following week move up to 25, then 30, etc…

The Jillian Michaels home workout series is another great program for burning fat, building strength and sculpting a lean, muscular physique. Jillian gained national recognition through the Biggest Loser and is a world-renowned trainer. The results she’s gotten out of the Biggest Loser contestants speak for  themselves. Her home workout programs aren’t much different.They combine high-intensity strength training with mostly anaerobic conditioning routines across various modalities, including plyometrics, core strengthening movements, fast-paced weight lifting, and body weight resistance. If you’ve never tried one of her workouts, I’d recommend doing so - they are brutal! So where is Jillian’s home workout program lacking? Again, if you’re consistent with the program and can hold yourself accountable day in and day out, her program is not fundamentally lacking anything!

The bottom line is that these programs were created by true  experts in the field and they certainly have the ability to  help people make significant fitness gains. However, once  the program is delivered to your home, what are you left with? You are still ultimately responsible to take the ride on your own with guidance of nothing more than a DVD.

NOTHING truly replaces the value of having your own fitness coach. You can have access to the greatest exercise program in the world, but if you’re not being held accountable to executing it, what good is it doing? Having the constant expertise and feedback from a fitness trainer is what really ensures the success of an exercise program.

That’s why, as you saw in one of my recent emails, we’ve decided to roll out our Virtual Trainer Program. I realized that despite the value that home gym equipment and home exercise programs provide to their trainees, they lack the true follow through and commitment from a fitness professional after the product is delivered. So why not have a personalized exercise program designed specifically for you, with the constant follow up and knowledge of a certified personal trainer? All of this  will be offered through our new program, which will be rolled out within the next week. Stay tuned!  If you’re interested, please reply to dennys@achieve-fitness.com to have your name put on the waiting list for the program.

Clients are always asking me advice about their diet. But more than anything, I get asked about the popular diet programs that are out there. Do they actually work? Are they actually healthy for you? Can you lose weight if you do them? In this article I will show you the advantages and disadvantages of the four most popular fad diets.

The Atkins Diet
Probably more than any other, the Atkins Diet has held a position of controversy. I mean, who would follow a weight loss diet that told you to eat fat and cut carbs. Well, tons of people! So let’s look at it more closely.

Pros — The diet has proven that people who follow it do in fact lose weight and improve their blood lipid profile(HDL LDL cholesterol and triglycerides). And if you love to eat meat and dairy and fats in large quantities this is surely diet heaven for you. However, you are steered away from eating carbohydrates, which is difficult for many people. That means that pasta, rice, potatoes, bread and whole grains and even fruits are off limits. Yet the diet claims that once you successfully cleanse these from your system by eating nothing but proteins and fats, their cravings disappear.

Cons – Since this diet is based on a no-carb regime, it begins losing its traction and benefits when even “low-carb” items are eaten. Atkins essentially eliminates an entire macronutrient all together. In terms of non-weight health issues, this diet does place a lot of stress on the body, forcing it into a state of relative ketosis, or the “I am sick” state. This creates marked energy loss, tiredness, and lack of energy available for exercise. If you’re going to stay active and exercise regularly, your body needs some carbohydrates from healthy food sources.

Conclusion — Making yourself ill to lose weight does not seem as important as being robust and healthy with the drive and energy for all life has to offer. In short, Atkins is an unhealthy way to lose weight.

South Beach Diet
Like Atkins, South Beach is a low-carb diet, but somehow managed to be structured in a way that didn’t bring on controversy.

Pros – The biggest pros of this diet is that it does bring with its weight loss aspect other positive health results, including reduction in triglycerides, blood sugar and blood pressure while raising good HDL cholesterol. The diet provides a simple form to follow, as it does not require people to track caloric intake with too much detail. It conveniently places foods in various lists to choose from. It also offer a tiered system designed to work back in more of the foods you would like to eat.  Thus making it a more sensible approach but with a definite shock factor to kickstart it initially.

Cons – The biggest complaint from dieters is the difficulty of the first phase of South Beach due to its tight food restrictions. In fact, they are so restrictive that even the author doesn’t recommend people stay there more than a few weeks. This makes it even more difficult for its followers to transition into the second phase of the diet where they are allowed to slowly re-introduce carbohydrates. There are no true guidelines to the quantities that are allowed in this phase and most followers report that the urge to carb load becomes extremely overwhelming.

Conclusion — For the most part this is not a terrible diet. It begins with a no-carb, low saturated fat phase then slowly brings you back into a more balanced eating approach. However, the diet is a bit “dated” in that it emphasizes the glycemic index of foods. This causes the diet to recommend quite a few foods that have a high glycemic load, as this concept was not really understood until after the book was written.

The Zone Diet
The Zone Diet isn’t a low carb diet but it follows a pie chart of macronutrients: 30% of the calories derived from protein, 30% from fat, and 40% from carbohydrate. And it is the strict balance of this equation that leads to the success or failure on the plan.

Pros – According to Dr. Sears, the founder of The Zone, if you are able to maintain a 30/30/40 balance of protein/fat/carbs then you will successfully maintain steady blood sugar levels. When insulin production is at the correct levels your body is able to effectively burn fat. The best part of this diet is that its proponents claim to have elevated energy and mental alertness and many athletes subscribe to it for this very reason. What’s more, with stable blood sugar comes a decrease in cravings for simple carbs and sugar laden foods, so weight is easier to keep off.

Cons – You have to follow a strict guideline of portion control, even when hungry in the initial stages. Also people say the rules are difficult to follow and the structure requires quite a bit of time to plan out meals and stick with its restrictions. If you don’t pre-plan your meals or portion them out in advance, it is extremely difficult to stay within the guidelines.

Conclusion – It is true that athletes say the diet gives them more energy. Yet many sports nutritionists and trainers are now saying their athletes are bottoming out during practice and games after long bouts of Zone dieting. This, they claim, is due to the lack of complex carbohydrate intake. Though, this is still avoidable within the Zone standards.

The Low Fat Diet
Pros - Eating low fat can be an effective way to eliminate harmful substances from your diet, including trans fats, hydrogenated oils and excessive amounts of animal fats. These, as we know, have been linked to several serious health issues including heart disease and various types of cancer.

Cons- Eating low fat substantially decreases your intake of an entire macronutrient that is critical to your overall health. As I’ve pointed out in other articles, there are definite benefits from eating the right fats, including the infamous saturated fats. Eating the right fats supports heart health and a healthy metabolism, and therefore is a critical tool for weight management.

Conclusion - Your body needs a steady, consistent intake of fat to properly dispose of stored fat, so why would you drastically restrict fat if you’re trying to burn it off? “Low fat” has also become synonymous with “high sugar” in most foods, so eating a low fat diet simply is not an effective weight loss tool.

The Bottom Line
All of these diets bring both positive and negative aspects to the table. So what’s the best approach to take? The best advice I can give is not to follow any fad diet. Rather, you must educate yourself in the pros and cons of all aspects of nutrition and focus on eating clean, quality calories.

When all is said and done, a healthy diet must contain a balanced combination of protein, complex carbohydrates, fiber, fruit, vegetables and plenty of water. This will ensure that you’re eating to support  ANY of your fitness and wellness goals.

So if you’re considering jumping on one of these diets in 2010 to meet your weight loss goals, you might want to reconsider. We are still offering a more effective way to achieve your fitness goals this year. Until the end of January, we are giving away 3 FREE Personal Training sessions when you purchase a package of 12 sessions or more. Don’t miss your opportunity to pursue your goals the right way this year. Call Mike at 888-872-7961 ext.1 to get set up for your free trial with one of the area’s best personal trainers!

Is Fitting Into An Old Pair of Jeans Better Than Sex?

Sorry for the provocative subject line but it is a quote I heard when watching the news the other night that left me to ponder its validity.

Here we are, starting out 2010 with a clean slate! This is a time when most people start reflecting on the improvements they want to make in the upcoming year. Amongst others, getting in shape seems to become an important goal for a lot of people as the new year turns.

However, here are the sad statistics…

Despite our best intentions, only about 5 percent of people
who set New Years resolutions actually achieve them. A big
part of this failure comes a result of not developing a true
action plan for achieving success. A goal without an action
plan is nothing more than a daydream!

This is where the help of a fitness professional can become
extremely powerful. Our personal trainers not only help you
create effective exercise programs, they also serve as fitness
and life coaches. They will help you set challenging, yet
realistic goals, then will assist you in executing a plan that
gives you the results you want, need and deserve!

So, I come to you today with a challenge AND an irresistible
offer. I don’t want you to be part of that 95 percent of
people who fail to achieve the goals they set out so eagerly
to accomplish in 2010. If you’re willing to put in the work,
our trainers are ready to help you achieve your fitness goals!

There may be several barriers that will make it more challenging for you to pursue fitness success, so I’d like to do my part in making sure that money IS NOT one of them! Until January 31st, you will receive 2 FREE Personal Training sessions when you sign up for a package of 12 sessions or more. Add in your free trial session, and that gives you 3 FREE sessions! Or 15 for the price of 12.

Here’s what one of our happy clients recently had to say:

“Yeah, it’s true that it’s not cheap to do this, especially these days, but I can safely say this was one of the best and easiest choices I’ve ever made, and given the chance I’d make the same choice over and over again. Working with Ashley was the absolute best investment I could have ever made in myself, and I hope to continue working working with her to get that PT score up higher and higher.  Thank you guys!”
- Jaime G

Like Jamie, we’ve helped over 400 clients reach their health and fitness goals.  So make the investment in your health like Jamie did.  But hurry, this special deal only lasts through the end of the month.

Stop making excuses and make 2009 the year you REALLY DO ITl! You can reach Mike at 888-872-7961 ext. 1 and he’ll get you matched up with the trainer that is right for you based on YOUR goals.  Then receive a FREE In-Home, 1 on 1 consultation with them.

You have nothing to lose except unwanted weight and fat! If our program isn’t right for you, there is no obligation to commit!

And heck, we even guarantee your success or you get your money back.  We know that if you do everything that your trainer lays out for you to do, you can’t not see great improvement in your health and fitness.

We can’t snap our fingers and POOF your fat is gone… but we can work with you step-by-step, showing you exactly what you need to do to get rid of excess fat once and for all… Forever!

So imagine yourself once again wearing that pair of jeans that has been hanging in your closet and that you haven’t been able to wear in years.  How good will that feel to put it on and button it up comfortably?

Here’s to a happy, healthy and purposeful New Year!

by Chad Ciri

The Crossfit prescription is simple, and involves “constantly varied, functional movements performed at a high intensity.” The Crossfit method of training prepares trainees for any physical contingency. Simply put, Crossfit’s primary objective is to increase work capacity. In essence, Crossfit’s specialty is achieving ANY desired fitness result through constant variation of physical training.

The core Crossfit movements are all “functional”, that is, they are universal motor recruitment patterns that duplicate movements that are applicable to the real world. They are performed in a wave that recruit muscle fibers from core to extremity. No aspect of functional movements is truly more important, regardless of your fitness goals, than their capacity to move large loads over long distances, and to do so quickly.  These variables (load, distance, and speed) qualify functional movements for the production of high power or intensity.

The Crossfit method of achieving fitness varies greatly from traditional strength and conditioning programs. Typically, fitness and health professionals will prescribe slow, isolated movements such as bicep curls, calf raises, leg extensions and lateral shoulder raises, etc followed by 20 – 30 minutes of traditional “cardio” performed on the treadmill, arc trainer or stationary bike.

Crossfit works exclusively with compound (multi-joint) movements and shorter, high intensity cardiovascular sessions. Leg extensions are replaced with squats, curls are replaced with pull-ups, and so on. Why? Because, simply put, this type of training has proven to be drastically more effective at achieving nearly any desired fitness result, including weight loss, toning, increased endurance,etc.

There’s a distinct benefit to this type of training (other than its results) in terms of efficiency. Busy professionals, parents, students or anyone else who has limited time to exercise because of life’s other demands can use this form of training very effectively without dedicating more than a few hours a week to their workouts.

To demonstrate this, here’s a video of one of Crossfit’s signature workouts called “Fran.” As you’ll see in the video, the athletes complete the entire workout in less than 3 minutes. While it takes a high level of fitness to be able to perform this workout in such a short time, even the most deconditioned people would likely be able to complete a scaled version of this in 15 minutes or less! Check it out:

The “Fran”

This approach of focusing on compound, functional movements and high intensity anaerobic cardio sessions has been scientifically proven to elicit greater fitness gains, even among elite athletic training programs (including military and police personnel, firefighters and any sports requiring complete physical prowess).

Crossfit looks at fitness as physical competence in each of ten recognized fitness domains. They are cardiovascular endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance and accuracy.

The view of their fitness model is that fitness is about performing well at any and every imaginable task. In practice, this would encourage you to separate yourself from any set notions of of sets, rest periods, order of exercises, and routines. Nature frequently provides endless unforeseeable challenges! The only way to prepare for that is to keep the training stimulus broad and constantly varied.

Now, this may seem a little intense for some people,  so don’t be surprised if you find yourself asking: “What if I don’t  want to be an athlete, I just want to be healthy?” Let’s take a look at what defines health. Health has several measurable parameters, including blood pressure, cholesterol, resting heart rate, metabolism, body fat, etc. The good news is that the Crossfit method will help you improve each and every one of these parameters. Furthermore, by focusing on performing functional movements at high intensity, you will be better prepared (and therefore “healthier”) to take on any task that requires you to be fit or healthy.

Probably the most unique benefit of a Crossfit training regimen is its ability to improve anaerobic function. It develops competency and training in each of the three metabolic pathways- the phosphagen, the glycolytic, and the oxidative pathways. The first two (the phosphagen and glycolytic) are anaerobic pathways, that is, they are accessed without the presence of air. They are challenged through short, powerful bursts of speed and intensity in exercises like sprinting, powerlifting, rowing, etc. The oxidative pathway is aerobic (accessed with the presence of air) and can be engaged through low power activities like distance running, biking, etc. Both forms of training benefit cardiovascular function and decrease body fat – all good baby!!

However,people who engage in activities where the majority of their efforts are spent in the aerobic zone will experience decreases in muscle mass, strength, speed and power. In addition, aerobic activity has a pronounced tendency to decrease anaerobic capacity. Unfortunately, many traditional weight loss programs over emphasize this type of training.

On the other hand, anaerobic activity has proven to be unique in its ability to improve overall strength, speed, power and muscle mass, or at least the maintaining of lean muscle.  In fact, anaerobic exercise is far superior to aerobic exercise for fat loss, contrary to popular belief.

Good news! Crossfit has tested its methods on people from all fitness levels and has proven to be effective for the sedentary, the deconditioned, the overweight, and the elderly.

While every person’s  goals and needs will vary greatly, the program will work with anyone! This can be done by scaling the load, the rep counts, the range of motion and the intensity level. You can duplicate the exact same movements that are prescribed in a Crossfit regimen and use them to get results without drastically changing the program. Remember that using something even as complex as an Olympic lift will duplicate critical motor recruitment patterns that are used in real world movements, therefore will help you comfortably perfect human movement!

If you think this is too over the top for you or if you feel like you may never be able to achieve a high level of fitness, have a look at this video. All the women in this video trained hard to get to this level, but it shows you what you can achieve when you dedicate yourself to fitness!

‘The Women of Crossfit’

We currently have trainers who are certified Crossfit instructors, so if you’re interested in taking on a new physical challenge and getting some truly amazing results, we have the resources to help you using this style of training! Also, don’t forget that we are offering Gift Certificates for our personal training services in any amount for the holidays. If you’re still stuck on gift ideas, why not give the gift of health to your loved ones! Call Mike at 888-872-7961 ext. 1 by December 19th to make sure you have your gift certificate by Christmas!

And Be sure to leave your comments about the videos and any questions you might have below.

Helping You Reach New Heights,

The Achieve Fitness Team