The Physique Formula

2011-10-18T12:25:00.000-07:00

The Henry Cavill Immortals Work out

Henry Cavill and the other actors in immortals had better have a good work out because there is no cgi in the movie like you saw in 300. What type of workout could the actors in Immortals possible use to give them a sculpted and lean physique?

For starters you first have to address how much time they had to get in shape. It wasn't like they just got off the couch 40 pounds over weight. As a matter of fact, most of them were already pretty lean to begin with. The real beauty of the Immortals work out was that it allowed them to train multiple functions without getting bored.

Here's what I mean.

Imagine that you can only go into a gym and train like a bodybuilder. Wouldn't you get bored after awhile? I certainly would. What if you could only train like a basketball player, would you get bored? I would.

The beauty in the immortals work out was that they trained with various disciplines from kettlebells to strongman to physique shaping methods. They ketp everything fresh.

Don't overlook the important of proper nutrition either. Sure the immortals work out was intense but if they didn't use a low carbohydrate diet, would they have gotten the same results? I highly doubt it.

I caution you about jumping into such an intense work out just because the actors did it. You need to train in a progressive manner as opposed to just jumping into the workout. The immortals work out is a high intensity program that uses various multiple joint exercises which may cause injury if you aren't careful.

2009-07-16T08:18:00.000-07:00

How To Lose Back Fat Fast

Most people that want to lose back fat think that it’s all about the exercises that they do or what type of reps or sets that they do. While that’s half way true, you’re not going to lose back fat without working out. Most people don’t focus on a back fat die that will help them burn adipose tissue and get the body that they want. Exercises are good but they aren’t the end all be all. Here’s some nutrition tips that you need to know.

Yes, back fat is caused by eating too many calories but which type of calories is the bigger issue. Most people don’t get enough fruits and veggies so they end eating too many scratchy carbohydrates. These types of bad carbs do nothing good and they raise your blood sugar, which when high will lead to the body storing adipose tissue around the love handles and low back. Now people think that eating less is better but that’s incorrect. The best thing that you can do is actually eat more food. You see by eating more food you stimulate your metabolism to work harder and that ends up burning more calories for energy.

Now the next piece of the puzzle is the exercise piece. Since most people think that they can just do some exercises that help to lose back fat, they make the mistake and think that it’s the only thing that they need to do. That’s false. Exercise is great but nothing can stop target any problem area. Instead, the smart choice is to do a combination of cardio and weights and burn the most amount of calories to lose back fat. So what are the best back fat exercises?

For starters, you need to focus on rowing movement. Not only do rows really work the upper body but they also work the hip area and that’s the stubborn area for most people. Focus on reps of 10-15 here. Another great back fat exercise is reverse hyper extensions, all you need to do is rock your body up and down and really target that back area. Now cardio is another missing piece of the puzzle. I suggest that you do cardio at least three times a week for 30 minutes. Why? If you want to lose back fat you’ll need to burn calories and cardio is a excellent way to continually burn calories even after your workout.

2009-06-18T10:50:00.000-07:00

Bodybuilding training guide

I was in the bookstore the other day and picked up this bodybuilding training guide that looked weird. It said that it could help me gain muscle but when I opened it up, all it did was show me exercises and how to do them. So I decided that I needed to write my own bodybuilding training guide. So here’s the deal, if you want to build muscle then you need to follow any type of program that follows a few important rules.

First, you need to train hard with intense compound movements like squats. Any of these movements that use multiple muscles and that use multiple joints help the body to realize more testosterone, which is your natural muscle building and bodybuilding hormone. So after you train this way your body will be primed for you to consume more calories. More muscle used meals more calories that can be consumed. This is a good thing since they won’t get stored in the body as fat and will be stored in the muscle cells.
Second, any bodybuilding training guide should advise you to do cardio at least tow to three times a week. Not only is it healthy for you but it will help your body stored calories in the muscle cell. Since cardio burns more calories, you can eat more food without worrying about having that food stored as new bodyfat. Focus on high intensity interval training for at least twenty minutes two to three time per day or else your body will burn a small amount of calories which isn’t the best.

Third, you want to add in some isolation movement. If you want to build big arms then you need to do curls. If you want to build wide shoulders then you need to do side laterals. Don’t ignore these movements and think that the only thing that you can do is shoulder presses or compound movements.

Fourth, you must have a post workout shake that consists of protein and carbohydrates. Don’t be concerned if it’s liquid or solid food, just make that you eat 2 grams of carbs for every 1 gram of protein that you eat.

So there it is, a bodybuilding training guide that actually gives you the tools that you need to succeed. Don’t get lost in the hustle and bustle of building muscle. Just focus on your training and food and you’ll have the body you want in a short time.

2009-06-18T10:41:00.000-07:00

Beginner Muscle Building Tips

A lot of beginner muscle building guys and girls come up to me to ask me questions about how I transformed my own body and how they can do the same. While the answer is never cut and dry like most people want it to be, it is easier then you think. I usually lay out a simple plan for them to follow or else they’ll end up making some big time muscle building mistakes.

The first thing that I tell beginner muscle building people is that they need to learn to eat food. Most people focus so much on the gym that they miss out on the true anabolic benefits of eating food. I mean, food really is the only thing that is going to make you grow today or tomorrow or any day of the week. With that being said, people need to understand that they have to eat the right kinds of foods. Focus on quality protein from whey, casein, chicken, beef and fish as well as good cars from brown rice, whole grain, oatmeals and yams.

The next step is to actually train hard. I suggest that you train for no more then four days per week when you start. When I say train, I mean train hard. Focus on compound movements like the bench press, squats, deadlifts and other compound movement to stimulate the most natural hormones and move on from there. Train in the four to five set range with eight to fifteen reps.

Rest is another important factor that really gets ignored. I mean think about it. You can’t train hard all day then fail to rest at night. Get six to eight quality hours of sleep in per night or else your body won’t have the downtime that it needs in order to recover and grow. You see the importance of rest is that when you sleep your body is preparing itself to grow when it pushes out powerful growth hormone. So don’t make the mistake that so many people do and eat crappy food before bed. Eat good quality food and your beginner muscle building program will be a success.

Finally, don’t get caught up on all the supplements that are on the market. Just eat a lot of quality food like I mentioned above and you’ll be fine. Eat six meals a day spread out from six to eight hours apart and you’ll never miss the chances to grow.

2009-06-16T13:28:00.000-07:00

Ketogenic Diets And Weight Loss

I get asked about ketogenic diets for bodybuilding or ketogenic diets for weight loss goals a lot. People always wants to know what he best diet is or what they can do to lose fat faster. Truthfully, most people have no clue what they are getting themselves into. While a ketogenic diet may work better then a low carb diet, I don't know if people are ready for them.

First off, a ketogenic diet is one where there are no carbs. Without carbohydrates the body turn to burn fat as the primary fuel source. Since this is happening the body can tap into stored bodyfat for energy and we can end up leaner. Well while that is possible we need to look at what may happen.

For starters your energy will be drained. Without carbohydrates your body won't know what energy source to turn to for a few days so you may experience feelings of weakness while you train or until your body becomes adapted at using fat. While this isn't a bad thing you must understand that you have to change your training intensity. There's no way that you can keep training with super high volume while you use one of these diets.

The next thing that you have to understand about using a ketogenic diet for weight loss or bodybuilding is that you need to eat more protein then normal. Since you don't have carbs, and carbs are protein sparing, you need to consume more protein so you don't lose muscle tissue. So make sure that you are eating at least 6 meals per day with a servings of protein coming every meal.

Then you have to make sure that you are getting enough fiber. Look to consume fiber from various sources such as green vegetables and fiber powder or pills like physillum husk. Now you need to add some healthily nutritional supplements since you want to make sure that you do your best to burn fat on these keto diets for weight loss and bodybuilding. First, make sure you consume healthy fats like omega-3 fish oils, cla, and gla. These fats will help to burn more bodyfat. Then you want to purchase a good branch chain amino acid powder as bcaa's help to retain muscle mass and prevent muscle breakdown.

So in conclusion, a ketogenic diet may be the best for weight loss or bodybuilding but you need to make sure you are eating enough and taking in the right nutrients or you'll lose too much muscle mass.

2009-06-09T12:11:00.000-07:00

How To Get Bigger Arms

I was recently asked by someone how they could get bigger arms. I had the individual email me a few pictures and low and behold there was almost nothing to him. I mean the guy didn’t weight more then about 175 pounds yet he was concerned why his arms wouldn’t grow. Honestly, this is a pretty common issue that I see with people of all ages, men and women. Here’s how you can build bigger arms.

First, you need to eat more food. People have this mythical idea that they can just sit there and train their arms for day and they’ll grow but the fact of the matter is that your arms will be just like the rest of your body if you don’t supply it with ample food. It’ll be small. Now I’m not suggesting that someone get fat just to build bigger arms. What I am saying is that you need to eat food when you train your arms if you want them to grow. There’s no way around it.

Another issue that I see in most people is that they end up wasting all of their time on these crazy arms routines that have them doing twenty sets or so. All that does is overtrain the muscles plus it causes you to need even more calories for growth and we know that most people don’t eat enough to begin with. The vicious cycle persists.

Next we have to look at exercise selection. I mean it’s absolutely crazy that we still have people doing concentration curls and other silly movement in hopes that they will get bigger arms. We need to be focusing on movement that will help us lift the heaviest amount of weight possible if we’re ever going to build a set of dream biceps and triceps. Compound movements like bicep curls and dips are a fantastic way to build bigger arms yet they are often replaced with various wacky movements. So if you really must do those movement make sure you do them after you’ve done the big movement.

Lastly, people are using super high reps. Don’t get me wrong, super high reps are great for a little while but like everything else that you do in the gym, your body will adapt to that. When that happens your arms will cease to grow. So make sure that you hammer your arms with more sets and lower reps if you really want to build bigger arms as soon as possible.

2009-06-09T10:05:00.000-07:00

Lower Ab Workout- The Best Ways To Get Lower Abs

Lower ab workout programs are the hottest topic now since everyone wants to see their lower ab muscle usually for the first time in their life. Truth is, most people never do enough to actually see their lower abs. You see endless crunches and other stomach movement don’t target that area to the point that you’ll actually see results. If anything, they might hinder what you’re trying to do. Here’s what you need to do.

First off, you have to focus on exercises that specifically target your lower abdomen. What exercises are those? Reverse crunches and leg lifts work amazingly well for really target the lower portion of your abs and helping to define that area. What you’ll notice about these exercises, however, is that they are bodyweight exercises. Most people think that they need to use weights to really hit their lower stomach but that’s not true. When you use heavy weight you end up making other back muscles to more of the work for you and you don’t want that when you want to target your lower abs.

Now once you’re working with the right movement you need to look at your rep ranges. Should you do super high reps like 15-20 or low reps like 4-6. What’s best for your lower ab workout? Well the answer lies in the middle and it’s both sets and reps. Why? Well for starters you want to make sure that you work with both rep ranges to get the visual definition in your lower abs that most people will never have. Secondly, these set and rep ranges will help you to train your abs more frequently,which is always a big deal. You must train your stomach to see results.

Lastly, we want to focus on the diet. Since most lower stomach fat is a direct result of stress we want to focus on eating a lower carbohydrate diet but consuming quality carbohydrates around our workouts and with breakfast. Focus on yams, oatmeal and brown rice. Second we have to make sure that we are taking in cortisol reducing supplements like omega-3 fish oil, glycine, zinc, magnesium, CLA and GLA. All these nutrition supplement help to radically reduce stress and help us to define our lower abs. Protein is another supplement that we must have in our diet. Protein not only helps us build muscle but it will satiate us as well. More protein, less carbs, more healthy fat and the right exercises will help us see our lower ab muscles.

2009-06-04T14:05:00.000-07:00

The Dangers Of Teflon Pans

How dangerous are Teflon pans? I get asked this question quite often so I decided that it needed to be addressed right now. First off people have been using Teflon pans for the longest time possible. Just now we’re hearing about just how Teflon pans are danger and that we need to stay away from them. Well what do we know for sure? The only real thing that we know is that once these pans are heated we immediately have to deal with the dangerous chemicals that come from these pans.

Think about this for a second. You’re cooking food in these teflon pans. All of the food that we consume is cook and therefore coated in all of these harmful chemicals. So now we ingest chemicals like fluoride that go into our system and turn into fat soluble chemicals. Why is this important? When we’re trying to lose stomach fat our body attempts to break down all of the chemicals out of our fat cells. Well these fat soluble cells can’t be broken down. So we’re left wondering why we can’t lose body fat. It isn’t because we have parasites or things like that. It’s because of all of these harmful chemicals.

Also all of our natural hormones are going to be affected including insulin. The whole point of a fat loss diet is to minimize rapid spikes in insulin.The problem is that once these chemicals come into our body we no longer are able to control our hormones through the normal diet and training methods. In addition, our brain neurotransmitter balance is off. This results in increased cravings and feeling of depression. So we’re less likely to go to the gym and workout hard and we’re more likely to cheat on our diet.

So what are a few ways that we can get rid of these chemicals if we have them in our body? First off, we should choose to eat more organic foods. We want to limit any new chemicals from entering our body. Second, we need to make sure that we heavily increase our ingestion of omega-3 fish oils. Why? Well omega-3 fish oils help to improve the hormonal balances in our body as well as detoxify our body on a regular basis. The best thing that we can do to avoid the dangers of teflon pans though is to not use them. Go out and grab some non-stick pans.

2009-06-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

How To Make It Look Like You Have A Six Pack

Most everyone wants a set of six pack abs but no one wants to put in the work in their diet and training programs to get that result. So here’s how to make it look like you have a six pack without actually having one. While I know this sounds weird but there’s actually a way to do it. That way is through hard work. I’m sorry if you feel disappointed but there’s nothing that you can do and there’s no product that anyone can sell to make you have a six pack without you putting in the work.

So if you want to know how to make it look like you have a six pack without actually having one that’s really easy. Just having a smaller stomach then you do now will lead to more people looking at you. Also, you need to understand that the general public has a different idea of what a six pack is then hardcore bodybuilders. So the first step is to understand that you need to do some type of abdominal training. It doesn’t matter if it’s crunches or isometric work like planks, just start doing some high rep and low rep ab training. Why do I suggest high rep and low rep training for someone trying to make it look like they have a six pack? Simply put, both rep ranges work the abs through various different mechanisms. Use both rep ranges.

Now a diet is a big part of any type of ab training or fat loss program. While I can go very deep into this topic, if you want to make it look like you have a six pack without having one then you need to eat less carbohydrates then you normally do. While carbs aren’t the enemy and you can certainly get fantastic results while eating them, you’ll lose water weight fast if you drop the carbs out of your diet. This is important because it gives you the immediate look of having a flat stomach.

So while I can’t tell you that this will work 100% of the time for everyone, it will work for most people. If you want a six pack you must understand that you have to lose some stomach fat. You don’t need to have a six pack to look like it. You just have to have a smaller stomach then you presently do.

2009-05-26T15:31:00.000-07:00

Six Pack Ab Workout

As soon as the weather gets warm, you’ll see a rapid rise in six pack ab workout routines in the gym. Everyone wants to get ripped for the beach and they think that the best thing for their stomach is to just do endless crunches. So they spend days training their abs with various types of crunches and high reps and hopes that they’ll see results. It never comes. What gives? Why?

First off, crunches don’t just make up a six pack ab workout program. Just doing ab movements don’t cut it. Ab training should be as calculated as everything else that you do in the gym. You should plan in how you’re going to improve and what happens when you reach that point. So the first thing that you have to o is design your six pack ab workout program.

The best way to do this is to break up your ab training into three separate days. Crunches, hip raises and rotation. You often see people throwing all three of these movements into the same workout but that’s not the best idea since you’ll never be able to fully target a area that way. You want to maximize your ab training to the fullest every workout. So by doing just all crunch variations (bodyweight, cable, swiss ball etc) in one workout you fully fatigue those muscle fibers.

While I’ll never tell you that you need to target your lower abs, I will say that hip dominant movements like reverse crunches will work the lower portion of your abs to a greater extent. It just has to since anytime you’re curling your hips the lower portion of your abs must engage. Lastly, we have rotation movement like cable chops and Russian twists. These movements will engage our obiliques more so that we don’t leave any area of our abs out.

Now we need to look at what steps and reps are used. Stop training with high reps in your six pack ab workout, they don’t work. We keep hammering your abs with high rep work and we give our stomach no reason to get stronger. So to do that we want to train with lower reps and more sets at certain times since we’ll increase the chances of creating more ab definition. So you should alternate by training each of your three ab days with higher reps, around three sets of twenty reps on week one and week two change your six pack ab workout to four sets of eight reps.

2009-05-21T13:58:00.000-07:00

Everyone gets so caught up when they think of nighttime nutrition or bedtime nutrition. See we know how important it is to be anabolic or in the state of muscle building and fat loss while we sleep but in recent years supplement companies have gone crazy with products that they claim can help us. So the average consumer gets too much information and they take no action. So without all the pricey supplements, what can someone do that wants to have a solid nighttime nutrition plan?

Well the first thing that you have to do is just relax and actually get a good nights sleep. See in todays society we are so stressed that we need things to relax us. So we end up eating a ton of sugar and fat which just causes us to gain weight and become depressed. As a result of this weight gain we have no energy,which causes us to drink more coffee so when we finally try to lay down at night we can’t. We end up getting very little sleep and we repeat the cycle the next day. So we just build fatigue. If we can’t get a solid nights sleep then how can we expect to be in a anabolic mode regardless of our nighttime nutrition?

So what’s the next step, assuming that we get a good nights sleep? Well the best plan for our nighttime nutrition is to consume a whey and casein protein blend. While most people just want to consume casein protein since it is slower digesting, they forget that whey protein will make you anabolic faster. So a good combination of whey and casein will elevate your protein synthesis immediately but also at a slower pace.

Fiber content is also huge in your nighttime nutrition plan. What most people don’t realize about fiber is that not only does it help us to digest our food slower, which means that we’ll have full for longer and our body won’t look to pull amino acids from our muscle cells. Plus, fiber will maintain a consistent blood sugar level,which is integral for our sleeping patterns. Since our bodies rely on 100% of fatty acid for energy while we’re sleeping, there’s no reason for us to raise our blood sugar levels and prevent fat burning.

So to sum up our nighttime nutrition plan we have to focus on getting about 30-40 grams of slow digesting protein with about 10 grams of fiber mixed in with water. It is also a good idea to add zinc and magnesium into your nighttime nutrition plan as they will help to elevate our anabolic hormones at night.

For a step-by-step process visit nighttime nutrition.

2009-05-19T07:52:00.000-07:00

2009-05-19T07:43:00.000-07:00

Setting Up A Six Pack Ab Diet

Most everyone wants a six pack. So they read a article or two and decide on a six pack diet that they feel will work for them. After a few weeks they have failed to get the results that they want so they decide to eat less calories. After they lose a pound or two they start to stop losing weight. So they had more cardio and weight training sessions in but they still can’t lose weight. What gives?

The problem with most of these diets that people try to get six pack abs is that they are too extreme. Any diet that is found in a book or magazine is for the mass population. Knowing how to set up a nutrition plan is the first thing that anyone looking to get a 6 pack should do. These pre-written diets don’t account for your individual metabolism, your muscle mass and your activity level. Most importantly, they don’t account for your body type. So what can you o today to set up a diet that will help you lose stomach fat?

First you need to determine your calories. While I don’t think that calories are the most important things, you do need to know how much you eat so that if you hit a plateau you can slightly lower your calories and continue making progress. So an easy formula is to determine your calories by your body type. After you a ectomorph, mesomorph or endomorph? Ectomorphs are people who are naturally skinny and have a hard time putting on muscle mass. A mesomorph is someone who has a naturally athletic build and a endomorph is someone who has always been chubby.

Mesomorphs : bodyweight x 15.
Ectomorphs :bodyweight x 16-17.
Endomorphs : bodyweight x 13-14.

So once you establish the base line of your calories, let’s say it’s 2500, you want to subtract your amount by 600. By reducing your intake by 600 calories you’ll lose about 1.2-1.3 lbs of fat per week. So 1900 calories.

From there, you need to determine your protein, fat and carbohydrates intake. As a general rule of thumb, hard training males should try to get about 1.5 g/lb of protein for their bodyweight and females should try to get 1.0-1.2 g/lb of their bodyweight. Now you need to realize that every gram of protein has 4 calories so please factor that in. So let’s assume this is a 200 pound individual getting 1.5 grams of protein so that’s 1200 calories.

To determine fats and keep your anabolic hormones at the optimum level, you want to shoot to have about 30-40% of your daily calories coming from fats. Let’s go with 35 grams of fat in this example. Each gram of fat contains 9 calories so that’s 315 calories from fat.

So with protein and fat that’s 1515 calories. That leaves 385 k/cals from carbs. That leaves us about 96 grams of carbs per day. You just divide 385 by 4, since one gram of carbs contains 4 calories. That’s how you determine a six pack diet.

Jimmy Smith Training Blog

2009-01-29T12:54:00.001-08:00

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http://www.jimmysmithtraining.com/blog

Fat Loss Tip 7

2009-01-22T12:46:00.001-08:00

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http://www.buildmuscleandsixpackabs.com

2008-09-11T12:40:00.001-07:00

Build Muscle And Burn Fat

The Build Muscle And Burn Fat podcast is back. This is a "buffet style" edition since I'm going to just drop muscle building, fat burning tip after muscle building, fat burning tip.

Plus I'm going to update you on what has been going on with me recently.

Remember, the Build Muscle and Burn Fat podcast is now a daily podcast so subscribe through itunes or enter your email above for your daily reminder.

Click below listen

Click here to download…

2008-08-28T11:14:00.000-07:00

Where Has Jimmy Been?

Sorry for the lack of updates but I've been crazy busy. You guys can get hour by hour updates of what's going on, what I'm eating, what my training is like and other useful pieces of info by using this free service called twitter and "following" me there.

Click here to follow Jimmy Smith

So here is what has been going on

1) I've been involved with numerous writing projects including a update to The Physique Formula. This has taken up the majority of my time but should be finishing up today.

2) I'm going to try something with jimmysmithtraining.com that hasn't been done before in the fitness industry (at least to my knowledge) so that requires me to devote the next few days to taking care of business.

But.........

That means big things for you. If things go according to plan I should have at least 50 pages of new and exclusive content up by the end of the long weekend.

Big things are coming....

2008-08-22T12:39:00.000-07:00

Burgers, Shakes And Fries

Google has this cool little tool called "alerts". You basically just enter any keyword about any topic that you like ( red cars) and whenever that topic gets brought up in blogs, on websites or in the press you get a email linking you to that article.

So I get a few a day and one of them is my own name, just so I can know what's being said out there.

Well I just so happened to get linked to a "experts" blog about why weekend diet binges wreck your progress.

Do they really though? I mean are a few pieces of pizza or some fries going to kill your gains? Like most things in the fitness industry, this individual tends to have a small, closed off mindset.

If you were good all week then go out tonight and have beers and wings. Your body will be in super compensation mode, which means that the calories you take in will be sucked up by your muscles. The chances of those calories being stored as fat are very, very small.

Here's another issue. We need to stop talking about calories and calories from fats and carbs and start talking about nutrients. Nutrients are what make you build muscle and burn fat. I can eat 3,000 calories and get the same benefits as someone eating 10,000 because of the nutrients in my food.

Back to this weekend...

What most people miss is the mental aspect of enjoying a meal or two on the weekend. These "chest" foods will boast your serotonin and dopamine levels thus increasing your mood and feeling of general well-being allowing you focus on your diet and training more.

I'm more worried about you worrying about that one meal then you actually eating it.

Jimmy Smith,MS,CSCS

2008-08-21T08:53:00.000-07:00

My New Post Workout Meal

We think about post workout nutrition way too much. I know it's a popular topic and I know all the supplement companies that sell post workout products tell you that it's so important but in reality it isn't.

Nutrition is the sum of all the parts. The meal before the workout and the meal after the post workout meal are just as important. Ronnie Coleman ( I know we all don't have the genetics to be Mr. Olympia) just eats a huge meal after his workout.

No post workout shake

No fancy carbohydrate powder

Just a huge meal.

So I go out to breakfast every Sunday morning at a little local place that has the best coffee I've ever tasted. Since they'll be closed next week I decided to head in there today for another meal.

Chili and egg omelet with some potatoes on the side.

It was good but what happened after was better. I never felt fuller, my arms never looked better. I mean the veins were just out of this world.

I'm typing this 60 minutes later and I was still full and I still held the pump.

Think outside the box with your post workout meal. Sure, the carb powders and the amino acid powders are really good but don't underestimate the power of a big meal.

Want to see every meal I eat? Follow me for free here

http://twitter.com/jimmysmithtrain

Jimmy Smith, MS,CSCS

2008-08-19T04:04:00.000-07:00

Olympic bodyweight training

Have you been watching the Olympics? No, not just swimming but gymnastics as well?

Do you see the bodies on those gymnasts?

Look at their Biceps, Triceps, Shoulders And Upper Back

Their muscular with almost no fat on their bodies but how?

After all, they're not in the weight room every day like the Olympic lifters or any of the other athletes that do weight training. It's hard to imagine that training with weights is still taboo for gymnastics.

That being said they are obviously doing something to build their impressive bodies.

Many gymnasts spend most of their time in their actual sport. It's not uncommon to see a gymnastic practice lasting 4-5 hours at a time. All they have in those practices is the rings or uneven bars and that's it.

No dumbbells sitting in the corner.

No flat bench or squat racking weight for them.

The only thing that they have is their bodyweight and static holds.

They have to stay in a iron cross for X amount of time.

But I thought you needed to consistently pound your body with more weight to grow?

How can they get so muscular with just static exercises?

1) They train for multiple hours at a time. This increases their caloric needs. More food in means more muscular growth. No, two ways around it. Plus, when you're training that hard you can eat slightly more carbohydrates and not worry about adding body fat.

2) They learned to master their bodyweight before ever getting up on the rings. You'd be surprise how many people can bench press 200 pounds but can't do a 10 jump push-ups. Gymnasts master their bodyweight training then get up on the rings.

3)They force their body to work at multiple different angles throughout a movement with different hand and grip placements. This is a really big aspect to training that no one is focusing on. A push-up with your hands wide versus with your hands close works the same muscles but the same muscles differently.

4) They train with static movements that force their bodies to hold their position. This increases muscle stress which increases muscle growth.

So instead of going to the gym and doing my workout yesterday I put together this Olympic Muscle Workout (which you'll get when you order The Physique Formula before Thursday August 21st)

A1)Overhead Squat Holds
Superset with
A2)Push-up Holds
3 sets of 12 reps with a 5 second hold on the bottom of each rep

B1)Lateral Side Lunges
Superset with
B2)Side Planks
3 sets of 15 reps

C1)Stability Ball Single Leg Hamstring Curls
Superset with
C2)Towel Push-up
3 sets of 12 reps

There it is, a time-crunched, effective bodyweight workout for Olympic muscle.

Jimmy Smith,MS,CSCS

P.S.Click Here For Short But Intense Muscle Building Workouts.

2008-08-15T03:29:00.000-07:00

how to lose weight

Lose weight, burn fat, weight loss, lose fat, those are just some of the thoughts that run through people's minds throughout the day. Sure changing your body is important but most people never understand that to lose weight, burn fat, achieve weight loss or lose fat you have to change your mind.

I recently sat down with my friend Scott Tousignant from 6 Pack Abs Mindset to discuss how you can create the mindset to get six pack abs.

Jimmy: You're very big into teaching people how to have the right mindset for fat loss results. Why is training your mindset so important for fat loss success?

Scott: The evidence is overwhelming. Relying on diet and exercise to achieve fat loss success is a recipe for disaster. The best diet and workout program in the world is useless if you don’t believe that you are capable of creating a lean body.

When you have an ‘Unstoppable Mindset’ you expect success. It’s no longer a wish or a dream. You become absolutely certain that nothing will get in the way of you developing the healthy and vibrant physique that you deserve.

An ‘Unstoppable Mindset’ will help you overcome any challenge or obstacle that gets in your way. An ‘Unstoppable Mindset will help you achieve the best results possible from any diet or workout program that you apply.

Jimmy: Most people have this idea that getting six pack abs is hard so they'll actually cheat on their diet thinking that it's impossible to get abs. When you come across this type of person what do you do to help them?

Scott: The first thing that I do is get them to accept that it is indeed going to be hard to get 6 pack abs. As crazy as it sounds, when you understand that it takes hard work to get in great shape and you decide that you are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve your goal, fat loss actually becomes easy.

The next step would be to compile a list of role models. You need new references, which demonstrate that achieving your dream body will happen. Seek out that 5% of the population and model their behaviors and actions.

Find people who were once in the same situation as you currently are. If you are a 60 year old woman who doesn’t believe it’s possible to achieve 6 pack abs after menopause, go find women who have done it. I came across dozens of women during my recent vacation who were in their 60’s and had 6 pack abs. It was pleasantly refreshing to see how they enjoyed the beach and oozed a zest for life. If someone tells you that your fat loss goals are unrealistic just show them a picture of your role models.

Jimmy: Can you give us 3 tips for building a mindset for long-term fat loss success.

Scott: Passion – This is wear it all starts. Set your goals from your heart. Forget about what the statistics say and any of your past failures. What does your dream body look like? How bad do you want it? Why do you want it so bad? How is your life going to change once you achieve it? Think of how much passion will come into your life once you are lean and sexy.

Look At The Big Picture - Achieving your goal does not have to happen over night. Small changes add up very quickly. A great strategy is to simply be better today then you were yesterday and better tomorrow than you are today. After 6 months you will be blown away with the improvements that you’ve made. 18 months from now you could be a fitness model. It’s true!

In order to experience this daily growth there are times when you will have to step outside of your comfort zone. You will have to increase the intensity of your workouts, prepare food in advance, write down your goals, spend some time visualizing, pass on the dessert, and other things that have not become a habit for you just yet. Accept discomfort and expect it. It’s an opportunity for you to become better than you are today.

Fun – Research shows that the people who choose activities that they enjoy are more likely to stick to their programs for the long term. You may read a book that lays out the best fat burning workout routine and nutrition program, but if you don’t enjoy it chances are you will not stick with it.

There are so many different workout programs on the market. Experiment with them and find the ones that fit best with your lifestyle and the ones that you enjoy the most. Don’t just stick with one. You need variety and variety will keep the enjoyment of activity at a high level.

Good stuff from Scott. He just told me he's personally working with some select people to achieve 6 Pack Abs Mindset but only if you visit his site before midnight tonight.

2008-08-14T03:39:00.000-07:00

How I Start My Day

One thing that always interests me is how successful people start their day. A common trend in people who achieve alot is how they perform the exact same tasks and activities as soon as they wake up day after day. After reading what amounts to about 1 biography of a successful person every 2.5 weeks I've come up with my own ritual to begin every day.

Wake Up 5:30 am-5:35am
Review daily goals and things to do plus review the previous days successes.

5:35-5:45am
Drink 20 gram protein shake with 1 multi-vitamin, B5,B6 and boil a cup of green tea.

(Certain days I will take a walk to clear my mind or on others I will get right to work)

5:45-6:15
Write daily email or blog and answer email questions.

6:15-6:40
Eat breakfast an get ready for work.

Now as you can see, I don't have a ton of time to work with but I do some very important thing such as reviewing my goals and asking myself a question. This all sets me up for some sort of success, no matter how big or small, during the day.

I don't have to get up at 5:30. I can get up at 6 and check my email then blend my breakfast and drink it on the road but I know waking up at 5:30 gets me just a little bit closer to my goals every day.

So today do one thing to advance yourself regardless of if it is in your training, nutrition or business.

It could be....

-Waking up 15 minutes earlier to stretch or foam roll some trouble areas.

-Spending 5 minutes with your feet on the floor right when you get out of bad to think about everything that you are grateful for or to review your goals.

-Getting up 30 minutes earlier to have a relaxing and healthy breakfast as you read the paper.

-Writing down one goal for what you hope to achieve in your training in 4 weeks from now.

Whatever it is, do it today.

Jimmy Smith,MS,CSCS

P.S. Take The No-Risk $4.95 Challenge To Build Muscle And Lose Fat Now

2008-08-13T13:29:00.000-07:00

Muscle building guide

I like the internet. After all, a good portion of my day is spent on it looking up the latest training and nutrition information. Needless to say, I come across a lot of muscle building guides, some good and some not so good. It's unfortunate that certain critical foundational steps are often missed in all of these muscle building guides. If your foundation isn't solid then how can you build higher?

Here's some criteria for selecting a muscle building guide

1)Does the muscle building guide advocate slow and steady cardio?

I know that there are still some people advocating slow and steady cardio. After all, old habits die hard. The truth of matter is that slow and steady cardio..

-Increases lower stomach and thigh fat.

-Inefficiently burns body fat. After 4-6 weeks you'll actually have to do more cardio to burn body fat.

-Raises levels of the muscle wasting hormone cortisol.

2)Does your muscle building guide require you to train with a body part split?

Sure, they might cause more short term growth in your bicep or hamstring but those results stop quickly. Body part splits are only good for short term improvements in muscle size since your body will only respond to a greater workload for a few days.

Good in the short term but bad for long term body changes.

3)Does your muscle building guide restrict your calories?

That's a big warning sign. Yes, you need to control your calories and carbohydrates but you don't have to restrict them. I often recommend chocolate milk for a post workout meal. How many muscle building guides recommend that? It's not about the food choices it's about what we do every day in our nutrition program.

There's no reason to limit your carbs or not eat foods that you want. Sure, you must make smart choices but a solid nutrition program is more about what you do every day not every meal.

Jimmy Smith,MS,CSCS

P.S. Try This Muscle Building Guide For $4.95

2008-08-13T03:01:00.000-07:00

Fast weight loss workout

I was really pressed for time yesterday since I had a ton of things I needed to get done and couldn't spend hours in the gym. That was fine with me since I'm dropping some bodyfat anyway and only needed to be in the gym for 30 minutes or so. Here's the fast weight loss workout that I used.

*Note:Everything is done in supersets and with 30 second rest in-between*

A1)Barbell Deadlift 3 sets of 12 rep
A2)Incline Barbell Chest Press 3 sets of 12 reps

B1)Single Leg Extensions 3 sets of 15 reps
B2)Seated Cable Row 3 sets of 12 reps

C1)Dips 3 sets of 12 reps
C2)Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press 3 sets of 10 reps

Total Workout Time: 31 Minutes

Jimmy Smith,MS,CSCS

P.S.-Click Here For Fast Weight Loss Workouts

2008-08-11T12:56:00.000-07:00

Hoodia Weight Loss-What Are The Side Effects of Hoodia

It doesn’t matter if you’re reading a health, fitness or bodybuilding magazine you can’t help to find ad after ad for Hoodia. It’s being promoted as the best supplement for fat loss, six pack abs and even to suppress your appetite. Hoodia is a plant from South Africa that has been long believed to stop your appetite, which would accelerate fat loss. Unfortunately for us, there are zero human research studies that are showing these type of results. Every positive piece of research on the market has taken place in rats.

Another interesting note is that big corporations like Pfizer have even looked into producing Hoodia. The biggest problem with Hoodia,and the biggest side effect, is that using Hoodia will lead to muscle loss. If your appetite is suppressed then you don’t want to eat and you’ll end up burning muscle for fuel. Muscle is the most metabolically active thing that we have so if we want six pack abs you must build muscle.

Another Hoodia side effect is that it doesn’t teach you long term dieting discipline. Make no mistake about it, dieting isn’t easy. If you use a supplement that drops your appetite then your body will get used to a certain level of incoming calories. Once you stop using Hoodia, you’ll automatically eat more food. What’s going to happen is that you’ll quickly start gaining fat around your midsection because you won’t realize that you are now eating more calories.

I like the idea of suppressing your appetite but if you want to do that then you should look to more natural means. Protein and healthy fats are very satiating and will also help you build muscle at the same time. Hunger isn’t a bad thing either. If you are training hard then your metabolism will be high which is a good thing. The more healthy calories that you consume during a diet the more fat you’ll burn and the more muscle you’ll build.

Jimmy

P.S. Skip the fancy supplements and click here to find on a proven, step-by-step muscle building plan.

2008-08-07T09:59:00.001-07:00

Warren Buffet’s 5 Fitness Secrets….

Warren Buffet is the foremost authority on investing in the world. He’s even friends with Lebron James, whom personally calls him for any investing advice at all. That being said most people know very little about Mr.Buffet. I was actually surprised to read a recent article about him that states that he still lives in the same small, 3 bed room house that he bought 50 years ago and spends most of his day playing online bridge.

Not what I’d think for a multi billionaire but hey, whatever floats your boat right? This article gave Warren’s 7 secrets for living a happy life but there’s also hidden fitness and nutrition messages in 5 of those secrets as well.

Secret #1: Live a simple life.
“I just naturally want to do things that make sense. In my personal life too, I don’t care what other rich people are doing. I don’t want a 405 foot boat just because someone else has a 400 foot boat.” -- Warren Buffett

Stop looking for fancy new programs or new methods, they don’t work. My bookshelf (maybe I’ll show you with a video, any interest?) has bodybuilding and strength books dating back to the 1930’s that I bought on ebay and craigslist and other auction sites. Needless to say, I have a lot of books and the early ones were all written before the era of steroids and high performance nutrition so if a trick exists that isn’t in those books then I don’t know it.

These tricks are not out there and no one is going to magically discover one. Train hard with consistent intensity and you’ll get results.

Secret #2: Think Simply.
“I want to be able to explain my mistakes. This means I do only the things I completely understand.” -- Warren Buffett

Do you remember when you were in the best shape of your life? What did you do and how did you get there? You should be able to tell me every detail of your training and nutrition. If you can’t then you are thinking too hard about “new” things.

Secret #3: Invest Simply.
“The best way to own common stocks is through an index fund.” -- Warren Buffett

The simple path is often the best path. If you want to build muscle you should be using 6-12 reps, full body routines and some isolation exercises. If you want to lose fat you should use 8-12 reps, full body routines, short rest and a little cardio on top.

Secret #4: Have a mentor in life.
“I was lucky to have the right heroes. Tell me who your heroes are and I’ll tell you how you’ll turn out to be. The qualities of the one you admire are the traits that you, with a little practice, can make your own, and that, if practiced, will become habit-forming.” -- Warren Buffett

Having a mentor is the most important thing you can do for yourself. Having success in training and nutrition isn’t hard. Find someone who has done it before with success over and over again and pay him or her for his or her time or buy his or her information. There’s a reason successful people achieve a lot. Heck, it might be the person in the gym who looks the way you want to look. Ask to train with them or just watch them train from a distance.

Secret #5: Making money isn’t the backbone of your guiding purpose; making money is the by-product of your guiding purpose.
“If you’re doing something you love, you’re more likely to put your all into it, and that generally equates to making money.” -- Warren Buffett

Getting to 8% bodyfat is a great goal but it’s not your guiding purpose. I want to gain 20 pounds of lean muscle by this time next year but it’s not my guiding purpose. Those are both goals and goals are essential when you’re training hard and eating right but don’t make it your purpose because if you do you’ll become frustrated. After 4 weeks of dieting, you’ll want to be ripped and if you’re not you’ll be upset and either train more or do something drastic that might screw you up.

Train Hard

Jimmy

P.S. Stop guessing about what you’re doing in the gym. Success leaves clue so follow the success of Ed Scow with The Physique Formula

“I am a skinny-fat guy to the core. I have small arms and legs and whenever I gain fat it’s right in the spare tire.
I don’t want to even think about what I’d look like if I quit working out. I’ve been training for close to 15 years and have been a trainer for nearly a decade and have never come across a program like Jimmy’s. His program took my training to another level and I saw results in a matter of weeks in my arms and shoulder.
My shoulders have never been more defined and my waist has never been this small, even when I was 30 pounds lighter. I even have to get a new suit jacket because my shoulders grew by a solid 1.5” in just over 4 weeks. Not only that my arms grew by a little over ¼ inch each in 4 weeks and my waist is now at 29.8 inches, which means I lost 2” off my waist…all in 4 weeks! That may not sound like much to some people, but you have to realize that I’m a personal trainer.
I wasn’t starting from scratch here. I was already in very good shape but Jimmy’s program helped get me in excellent shape. And the only reason I even mentioned the suit jacket was because I ad to wear my suit a little over a month ago and it fit fine, maybe a little snug but a perfect fit. I just tried it on again yesterday because I need to wear my suit in a few weeks and wanted to make sure it still fit because all the rest of my shirts are tighter in my shoulder.
Jimmy’s training knowledge and personal experience have made him an expert when it comes to getting skinny-fat guys like me in the best shape of their lives.”
Ed Scow, 29 Years Old, Trainer, Lincoln NE

Click Here => The Physique Formula

2008-08-06T03:17:00.000-07:00

Muscle Building Workout And A Lower Body Tip

I was in the gym yesterday and I saw a trainer with a girl doing some lower body work. You could tell the girl wasn’t a newbie, she had some muscle on her and I assumed she came to the trainer to help you reach a higher goal. Here’s what the beginning of her leg workout looked like….

Squats superset with the leg press

Dumbbell Squat superset with leg extensions

That’s a problem

4 primary quad exercises and nothing for the hamstring. Sure, you can argue that squats work the hamstring and glutes, which they do but her form said that she wanted all quads.

How much effort do you think she gave it on the 3rd or 4th set of squats after doing leg presses and leg extensions after it? Not very much

So when you are training your lower body make sure to alternate a quad exercise with a hamstring exercise like a deadlift or leg curl. You’ll cause the quad to relax by working the opposing muscle group and increase your ability to perform better on your next set of squats.

I was back in the gym after about a week off, I’m incredibly sore and my workout took me 20 minutes.

Squats superset with Chin-ups
3 sets of 10 with a strict stopwatch 30 second rest

Flat Dumbbell Bench Press superset with Seated Leg Curls
3 sets of 10 reps with a strict stopwatch 30 second rest

Incline Reverse Grip Barbell Rows superset with Seated Calf Raises
3 sets of 10 with a strict stopwatch 30 second rest

Kneeling Cable Crunches
3 sets of 12 reps

I was exhausted and I’m in good shape (have you seen my pictures?). There’s something to this workout that I’ll explain in a few days but I was covered from head to toe.

When you do something, make sure you do it hard.

Jimmy Smith,MS,CSCS

P.S-If You Want Burn Fat And Only Spend 20 Minutes In The Gym……

Click Here To Build Muscle And Burn Fat With A 20 Minute Intense Workout

2008-08-05T05:01:00.000-07:00

Top 4 Dumb Gym Things That Can Really Hurt You

I always pay attention to people. I love people watching. As a matter of fact I find myself spending the majority of my warm up time staring at what other people in the gym are doing. I get to laugh so I like anything that makes me laugh.

It's not funny,however, when you see the same things over and over again. Now it's starting to get serious. Like a well-intended friend screaming at this buddy to push more weight even though the bar is stuck on his friends chest.

Needless to say, there's somethings that go on in the gym that can cause some mighty big injuries that you might not even be aware of.

Dumb Gym Thing # 1

Doing a partial range of motion bench press. Granted, I often advise partial range of motion benching for specific purposes but this isn't what I'm talking about. Now lets take loading the bar with heavy weight out of the equation. Assuming the load is not too intense, there's no reason that you should be benching with half a range of motion.

For one, this potentially shuts off your subscap which is a rotator cuff muscle that stabilizes your shoulder. When you go back to full range of motion pressing you are going to have potential rotator cuff damage since you've caused the subscap to be inactive for so long.

Second, you expose your shoulder joint to extreme stress by staying in the top half range of motion. You're safer if you tuck your elbows in which you can only do on the bottom of the movement.

Dumb Gym Thing # 2

Another partial, this time partial range of motion squats. Not squatting deep doesn't force your body to recruit your glutes and VMO (a knee stabilizer) which leads to low back and knee pain. All of this is fixed with full range of motion squats.

Dumb Gym Thing # 3

Performing shoulder presses until the cows come home. There's 3 different types of shoulder joints yet most everyone advises overhead shoulder pressing for everybody else. I have a training partner who gets hurt everytime we do a lot of lateral flyes but my shoulder doesn't feel right pressing over my head. We have different AC joints. Pay attention when you press and if it hurts then don't do it.

Dumb Gym Thing # 4

Dips, Dips and more Dips. I'll agree that they are a great exercise and they are fantastic for both pec and tricep development but they are also a big culprit in shoulder pain issues. Very much like the top of a bench press, dips actually impinge the rotator cuff since we are exposing our shoulder to forces higher than it can stand. Either variation of the dip (chest or tricep) is the same so if you must do your dips then make sure you are doing it for low reps.

Click Here To Build Muscle While Avoiding Painful Exercises

Jimmy

2008-08-04T12:54:00.000-07:00

Six-Pack Abs - How To Get Six Pack Abs

Guest blog today from my good friend Vince Delmonte and Fast Hard Abs

By Vince DelMonte

One of the most popular requests among people in the gym is to get six pack abs. There is no doubt about it, obtaining this elusive goal not only takes hard work, but also demonstrates that you clearly know what you are doing in the gym. Learning how to getsix pack abs is definitely not the easiest thing in the world but it's also not the hardest, as long as you follow the right steps.

So, what should you be doing to get results?

Focus on your diet.
Without a clean diet, six pack abs will never be yours. One thing you must realize is that while exercise is important, it's only going to take you so far. No matter how many crunches or sit-up variations you perform, if you've got a solid layer of fat covering your stomach, your muscles are not going to be seen.

Try and focus on consuming enough protein to keep your appetite under control, supplemented with healthy fats for satiety and fruits and veggies for energy. It is important, however, that you are running a calorie deficit, because regardless of the food you eat, if you are consuming more than you burn off that day, you aren't going to lose weight.

Perform a variety of exercises
Next up on your quest for six pack abs, you need to make sure you change up the exercises you perform on a regular basis.

While it's fine if you have some that you generally like to stick with as you really feel it when you do them, try and alternate between at least a few from week to week.

The main reason for this is because your abdominal muscles adapt to change very quickly. As soon as they are finished adapting, you are going to stop seeing results - this is the truth about six pack abs.

By keeping them guessing as to what's coming, you keep the results coming as well. Don't make the mistake of doing the same boring workout, day in, day out.

Get Your Cardio In Line
Finally, step three for getting a nicely chiseled stomach is performing cardio properly. This isn't to say you should run out and start doing hours upon hours on the treadmill. We aren't aiming to turn you into a hamster here.

All you really need is a few quality sessions of cardio work a week. What's high quality? Sprint sessions. Skipping. Hill running. Anything your body is not efficient at.

Yes, these are going to be much more intense than plodding along at a moderate pace while you read the fitness magazine of the week, but trust me, you will get results a thousand times faster.

Crank that intensity up for twenty to forty seconds and then back it down again for another minute. Repeat this process eight to ten times and you'll have a workout that'll shed that body fat in no time.

So, next time you're admiring your physique in the mirror and are still longing for a better mid-section, take these three factors into consideration and you'll discover this is the truth about six pack abs.

Check out how Vince got his six pack at Fast Hard Abs

2008-08-01T21:30:00.000-07:00

Oprah Winfrey's 2008 Stanford Commencement Address

The 3 biggest lessons in Oprah's life.

2008-07-30T03:23:00.001-07:00

3 hidden health dangers

3 health issues affect countless individuals all whom have no clue that they are at risk.

They think their fine but their friends and family are going nuts and are worried for them.

Typically I don’t like or want to talk about these issues and quite frankly it’s painful since it was my issue as well.

Let’s get to the fireworks of the story….

A few years back I was really busy and doing a lot of work and I realized I just didn’t feel right….

I had a friend at the time who worked out with me and I said “Man I just don’t feel good.”

And he said “Well you don’t really look good but no one wanted to tell you.”

I turned to another friend who was with us and said “He’s full of it.”

He replied “No,he’s right you look awful.”

My workout partner then told me “Dude you better stop doing what you’re doing or else you’ll wreck your health. We’re just friends trying to help”

“Friends?” I replied

“With friends like that” I continued and he cut me off.

“How about we show you.” he said

Arrogantly, I replied “Fine.”

5 minutes later we were in the gym and I saw it

I looked in the mirror and realized I had 3 big health issues

-I had eaten and trained to build muscle all winter then had been dieting hard to get abs for the summer. The result? A beanpole that lost all his muscle, still had a gut and now had a screwed up metabolism. That’s the worst way to build muscle and burn fat.

-I was training using one of those “hard gainer” programs and my joints had taken a beating. I couldn’t squat anymore because my knees and low back hurt. I knew right there that no “hard gainer” program could ever have the training and nutrition correct for a skinny-fat guy like me. I needed a skinny fat program.

-I’d been following all those six pack programs that told me to eat like someone 5 inches shorter and 50 pounds lighter. I had no clue or no tools to track what I was eating. I was lost and my body was shutting down since I wasn’t eating much. I needed personalized nutrition software for my needs.

Re-telling that story makes me feel good. It makes me feel good to see how far I’ve come and how much fun I’ve had since I started getting everything right. After all, a healthy body is the first step to a successful life.

I feel so GOOD telling that story that I’ve included my personal nutrition program that skyrocketed my metabolism through the roof and the exact program for anyone who’s ever tried to build muscle in the winter and lost it all in the summer chasing a six pack with one of “those” programs but only until 11:59 tonight.

Go here to order now

Jimmy Smith

P.S.-Did I mention that you’ll also get my confidential report about how to have fun, drink beer and live life without wrecking your gym progress? I’ve never even heard of a report like this before and I’m so excited that I might just go have a beer and some bread now because I know the secret to eating whatever I want and not getting fat.

2008-07-29T12:31:00.000-07:00

muscle building programs

Muscle building workouts go hand in hand with the image of bodybuilders doing endless curls and bench presses out in California and on Muscle Beach. The problem is that these bodybuilders have two hours to train every day while the rest of us don’t have that time. Fortunately, we can take 6 muscle building workout tips from California to define our physiques.

I recently talked to a friend of mine named Ray who trains many fitness models out on the west coast and he shared some muscle building tips.

1)You have to use a combination of multi-muscle and single muscle movements. For too long our image of bodybuilders have been of people doing endless kickbacks and curls instead of chin-ups and dips. We have to make sure that we have the best of both worlds. Curls and kickbacks aren’t bad; they just have to be done at the right time. For example,a good arm muscle building workout would be the following.

Chin-ups superset with Dips
3 sets of 8 reps

Bent Over Dumbbell Rows superset with Incline Bench press
3 sets of 8 reps

Barbell Curls superset with Tricep Pushdowns
3 sets of 12 reps

2)Do more interval training and hurricane workouts instead of steady state cardio. Slow and steady cardio doesn’t burn fat as fast as intervals or hurricane workouts. Instead focus on sprinting 3-4 times per day for 20 minutes or so and make sure that your muscle building workouts include supersets and complexes to burn fat.

3) Do hybrid ab training. Get away from crunches and other useless floor ab exercises. Your core was meant to work through a big range of motion so use movements like planks, chops and exercises on the swiss ball. This way you’ll give your abs a different look then typical crunches and you’ll emphasize your obliques more to further tighten your waist.

4)Set a goal per week to beat. This can be in various fashions but my favorite method is the 50 method. You aim to perform 50 reps in each exercise of your muscle building workout on a particular day. Select a weight that you can typically complete 8 reps with and do as many sets as it takes until you complete 50 reps.

Let’s say that you can use 95 pounds on a barbell curl. You perform your first set of 12 reps, your second set 10 reps and your third set 9 reps. That’s 31 reps so far. You keep going until you do 50 total reps. Your body will then decide that the 85 pounds on the curl is too light and you have to get stronger, you’ll have no choice. Plus you set yourself up for success.

P.S. The only way to get the Nutriton Elite Software and No Fail Social Guide is if you order before 11:59 on Wednesday night. Plus you'll get 7 other bonuses. If you act now.

Click Here To Build Muscle Faster Than Ever

2008-07-28T11:17:00.000-07:00

3 secrets to build muscle and burn fat

I've wanted to write this email for a long time but I never could
do it. Today I'm going to tell you a story about how I solved
the problem of building muscle and not getting a stomach in the
process. I'm going to even throw in a sample Physique Formula
workout at the end.

I want to think back to December of 1999. I was being interviewed
by a local TV studio after a basketball game. They were asking me
the usual questions about the game, how I thought we played and
how we made a mid-season turn around to make the conference and
state tournament(which we got all the way to the finals as a # 24
seed).

Like anyone, I was excited to see myself on tv so I immediately
went home and watched the broadcast. I was embarrassed at how bad
I looked. It was winter time and I obviously had a sweater on
post-game but my stomach was noticeably huge. How could it be?
My arms with skinny.

Fast forward a few years to my bodybuilding years.

"Eat big to get big" is all I heard from anyone so I did.

"Bulk in the winter and cut in the summer" is all I heard from
anyone so I did.

"Eat a lot in the winter and do a lot of cardio in the summer" is
all I heard from anyone so I did.

My arms got big in the winter but my stomach got bigger.

My stomach got small in the summer but my arms got smaller.

I was "skinny-fat".

I knew I needed a way out. I went to college and slaved for
hours in the labs studying how the human body built muscle and
burned fat.

I saw that bodybuilding workouts weren't the best way. I was so
busy with school that I had no choice but to take the precious few
minutes that I had each day to get a effective workout.

I still wanted muscular arms though.

So I did multi-muscle movements with some curls thrown in and I
started seeing results in the time I had.

I used different nutrition methods to build muscle and stay lean.

Muscle just started appearing everywhere on me thanks to
workouts like this.

Superset #1
Bench Press
Dumbbell Row
3 sets of 8 reps

Superset #2
Curls
Dips
3 sets of 8 reps

Superset # 3
Squats
Hamstring curls

I was able to use the best of bodybuilding and strength training
research to build the best body I could. Just like these people

Busy Dad Ed Scow Loses 2 Inches Off His Waist And Adds 1.5 Inches
To His Shoulders In Just 4 Weeks Using
The Physique Formula.

43 Year Old Pierre Garcia Adds 46 Pounds of Lean Muscle, Gets A
Six Pack And Adds 2 Inches On His Arms With
The Physique Formula.

Top Amateur Hockey Player Andrew Penner Gets To Single Digit
Bodyfat With The Physique Formula.

41 Year Old Jamie Vanderheyden Lost 10 Pounds, Got Stronger,
Added Size To His Shoulders In 19 Days While Only Doing Cardio Once!

Go here to get fast results like those four
www.jimmysmithtraining.com

Jimmy

P.S. I have 9 limited time bonuses on available until Wednesday
at 11:59 pm. Click here now

2008-07-26T09:39:00.000-07:00

six pack abs

Here's a video with some of the exercises that you'll find in The Crazy Cuts Manual that comes with The Physique Formula. These are the exact ab exercises that I used in my personal transformation from...

This

To this

Which allowed me to go to the beach whenever I want and look like this.

Check out the video

2008-07-25T04:58:00.000-07:00

The Physique Formula Cookbooks

Today I interviewed Adam Mazer, the nutritionist who designed
The Physique Formula bonus cookbooks, Surefire Smoothies and
Cheap Cutting Meals. Check out the last part where I grill
Adam to give us 4 of his best nutrition tricks to have a better diet
today.

Q: You designed The Physique Formula bonus cookbook, Surefire
Smoothies, to include protein with every meal. A lot of people
have a hard time eating multiple protein meals per day. So why
should people have either protein and healthy fats or protein and
good carbs with each meal?

1. The reason I designed the Surefire Smoothie Cookbook to include
protein in every smoothie but only have certain smoothies
containing carbs and others with healthy fats is for few reasons.

I wanted the variety factor for those who consistently follow a
lower fat diet but still give them a treat to fit in their diet
plan and so they continue to get leaner.

I included protein with good carbs for those who need more carbs,
to give them a treat and allow them to stay on their diet plan.

The main thing to me is many smoothies just have too many simple
sugars and I wanted people to be able to still get good quality
nutrition and they'll find that in The Physique Formula Surefire
Smoothies cookbook.

(Note: The Surefire Smoothie Cookbook includes 52 smoothies that
can all be prepared in 3 minutes or less.)

Q: You include a lot of fiber in your meals in the second Physique
Formula cookbook, Cheap Cutting Meals. Why?

I feel fiber is important to overall health and the digestive
tract. Even if you are trying to put muscle on your body, you
still need fiber since it is important to keep our GI tracts
healthy and prevent constipation.

It might keep you full a little
longer but as you get leaner and speed up your metabolism, your
appetite should increase and you should be eating more often. Most
of us who take in too many calories trying to build muscle put on
unwanted bodyfat unless we have a super fast metabolism.

(Note: The Cheap Cutting Meals Cookbook includes over 40 meal
options that can all be prepared for under $12 and
with little time.)

The idea is to put on muscle but get leaner.

Q: Give us 4 tricks that someone can use right now to fix their
diet and have a better nutrition program.

Trick 1. The first thing I always tell people is to stay away
from liquid calories other than good quality smoothies listed in
the Surefire Size Smoothie Cookbook.
I do not recommend liquid calories from fruits drinks or sodas.
Get rid of them.

Trick 2. Use high reps and heavy weights like in The Physique
Formula workouts to turn on your metabolism and build muscle,
which will further increase your metabolism.

Trick 3. If you are hungry eat, even if it is late at night.
Try to have a high protein, healthy fat meal
with little,if no,carbs.

Trick 4. Rotate carbohydrate, protein and fat intake. This allows
you to have more energy on the days you workout hard. Plus on
days that you may be inactive, you won't store fat.

Jimmy

P.S. Have you checked out the blog lately? The newest edition of The
How To Build Muscle and Lose Fat Podcast Is Up.

P.P.S- Make sure you're by your computer on Monday at 12 noon. You
won't want to miss out on The Nutrition Elite Software.

2008-07-24T03:28:00.000-07:00

How to build muscle and lose fat podcast 12

2008-07-21T03:16:00.000-07:00

3 fast tips to stop rotator cuff pain

A recent research study estimated that 75% of all Americans experience some type of rotator cuff pain throughout the course of their life. That's a staggering number considering that most rotator cuff problems happen over time as opposed to a freak accident. That means that we are continually doing something to slowly tear down our rotator cuff. There seems to be some misguided advice about how to fix a injured rotator cuff and what you should do if you are faced with some ugly rotator cuff pain.

First, you want to honestly evaluate your posture. If you sit at a desk and have a nine to five job which keeps you at the computer then you have a very good chance of having some type of rotator cuff pain or issue. Try the doorway test. Standing as you normally would with your arms at your side walk through a doorway. What goes through the door first? Your hands or your chest? If it was your hands then you have internally rotated shoulders and you are wide open to rotator cuff pain. So the first thing you have to do is stretch your chest. Any type of chest stretch will help your shoulders to roll back and reduce pressure on your rotator cuff.

The second thing you must do to fix your rotator cuff pain is focus on improving your shoulder rotation strength. These are typically the exercises that you see baseball players doing on tv. Just rotating your shoulder outward with a light dumbbell lying either on your side or sitting on the floor will go a long way to increase the strength of your rotator cuff muscles that turn your shoulder outward. Even if you aren't at a computer, your shoulders are rotated inward so you must rotate them outward to reduce pain.

The last tip is to focus on your upper back strength. I go into detail about an upper back plan in The Physique Formula Rotator Cuff Guide but 90% of all cases of rotator cuff pain that I see is related to poor overall upper back strength. The most popular muscles to work in the gym are the ones that we can see in the mirror. The problem happens though when your chest strength exceeds your upper back strength and certain rotator cuff stabilizing muscles become weak and shut off. Performing movements like rows, pull-ups and pull-downs all work to increase upper back strength and relieve rotator cuff pain.

Jimmy

P.S. You have to hear what happened to David Boucaut.

Painful, Nagging Shoulder Injury Fixed While Also Building Muscle And Getting Stronger With The Physique Formula

"I've seen the word "expert" thrown around pretty frequently in the training industry. I can say without a doubt that after working with Jimmy Smith for just 4 weeks, he is a true expert. I sought Jimmy out in hopes that it would fix my shoulder, it didn't work. It gave me corrective exercise, fat loss, muscle size and strength increases all in one program. I highly recommend working with Jimmy to anyone who is serious about getting results.

David Boucaut Melbourne Australia, 29 years old

2008-07-18T13:25:00.000-07:00

3 Secrets For A Hard Core

Most people are completely confused about what effective core training really is. The popular way of looking at core training is to eliminate crunches, perform a ton of unstable training and rarely use any movement that isn't a chop or a plank. This very misguided advice can actually limit and prevent you from getting a hard core.

1) You must include one heavy crunch movement.
Crunches have gotten a bad name recently with new research showing increased spinal loads during the crunch but that doesn't mean there isn't a way to effectively perform them. The most effective and efficient way to perform crunches is on a swiss ball. You can limit your amount of spinal flexion(crunching all the way up) by working through a shorter range of motion.

I love the swiss ball as a core exercise for a hard core simply because it forces you to brace, stabilize and perform the movement. Adding some extra weight with a dumbbell, plate or swiss ball will help as well.

2) You must include one twisting movement.

Chops are popular for a variety of reasons but for a hard core, they are a must. Since they work the obliques like nothing else,you'll be forced to brace your core and resist being pulled back by the cable. This bracing movement further increases the activation of your various core muscles making chops a perfect core exercise.

3) You must include one reverse crunch movement.

These are probably the least popular of core exercises to perform because people don't feel them as much as the basic crunch. Being essential to getting a hard core, we have to do them. Decline board, on the floor or on the swiss ball are all good places to begin. Just make sure you flatten you abs and start the movement with your hips.

An effective exercise for a hard core would look like the following

Swiss Ball Dumbbell Crunches
3 sets of 8 reps

Low To High Cable Chops
3 sets of 12 reps

High To Low Cable Chops
3 sets of 12 reps

Decline Reverse Crunches
3 sets of 12 reps

That's just a sample of the hard core exercises that you get when you grab The Physique Formula and the special bonus ab program, The Crazy Cuts Manual.

2008-07-17T10:58:00.000-07:00

The truth about low carb diets

Low carb diets are here to stay regardless of how you feel about them but are low carb diets the best for fat loss and health? First we have to separate fact from fiction, which is harder to do with each passing day. More research keeps coming out and more people keep giving their opinion but almost everyone is missing a very important point. Carbohydrates are the only nonessential nutrient, which means that we need protein and fats to live off of but we don't need carbs. Our body can actually make energy and function fine with proteins and healthy fats.

Now that's not to say that we should eliminate all carbohydrates from our diet. That's not the case but we have to go on a controlled carb diet, not a low carb diet. There's a difference here. Researchers at the University of Connecticut have done numerous studies on low carb diets for both athletes and regular average joes. They found that when carbohydrates are eaten at specific times of the day our body actually uses them the way we were meant to. That is that they are stored in the muscle as opposed to stored as fat. Another positive case of low carb diets.

The best times to consume carbohydrates are

-First thing in the morning

-Before exercise

-Up to two hours post exercise

Those three times allow for our body to use carbohydrates as energy, something that is sorely lacking on traditional low carb diets. Another advantage is on our health. Metabolic syndrome is a prevalent disease in today's society, which comes from people eating too many carbohydrates. Diabetes, high cholesterol, chronic headaches and a host of other popular ailments are all as a result of high carbohydrate diets.

Carbs aren't the enemy however and that is what most low carb diets will have you believing. It's our timing of them that matters the most. So next time you are out, think twice before you order your meal.

Just look at the recent study, the first one to really look at long term low carb dieting.The New England Journal of Medicine looked at low carb diets for 2 years and found that when compared to low fat diet the low carb group had

-Greater Faster and Total Weight Loss
-Increase good cholesterol
-Improved liver function
-Decrease c-reactive protein

Not bad for a low carb diet huh?

The evidence just keeps coming out. Drop the carbs.

2008-07-16T17:06:00.000-07:00

how to build muscle and lose fat

Subscribe through itunes and tell a friend

2008-07-15T03:32:00.000-07:00

The truth about green tea

Pssstt....

Learn this guy's green tealess secret then learn the truth about green tea below

Green tea is one of the top three selling fat loss products on the market today but are the benefits of green tea real? Can it really help you burn fat? When green tea first hit the mainstream sleeves it was announced at the breakthrough in dropping body fat and getting six pack abs. Then natural health professionals and research started to tell us about all the benefits of green tea. Sales increased and the legend of green tea grew more and more. Does green tea really help you burn fat and what are the benefits of green tea?

Green tea contain stimulants such as caffeine, theobromine and theophlline which all has fat burning potential. It's why every fat burning supplement has some amount of green tea in it today. A study by Diepvens looked at 46 dieting women who were all in different phases of fat loss and found that no clinical markers of weight loss were seen. Those same researchers examined green tea on a low energy population and found no increased calorie burning effect. Another study done by Westerterp found increased fat loss when people on a low-caffeine diet consumed green tea. So it seems that the fat burning benefit of green tea exists.

The benefits of green tea come from the catechines (antioxidants) which have been proven in research to reduce body fat and the growth of cancer cells. A 2004 Harvard Medical School report found that the catechines in green tea inhibit the growth and reproduction of cancer cells and it is now established that green tea may prevent bladder, colon, esophagus, pancreas, rectum and stomach cancer.

A 2004 article in the Circulation Journal concluded that "the more green tea patients consume, the less likely they are to have coronary artery disease." So even though only about 10% of studies with green tea were done in humans we still do find a potential fat burning benefit of green tea. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition gave men green tea and found that they burned more calories than men who were given the exact same drink minus the green tea.

Another benefit of green tea has been found to lower blood sugar in animals and that green tea contains theanine, which increases the release of the neurotransmitter GABA, which exerts a calming effect on the brain. In addition green tea increases dopamine that increase the brains sense of pleasure. The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry found that green tea has protective mechanisms for the brain when dealing with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.

The benefits of green tea can be seen at 270-1125 mg's per day. One cup of green tea contains 100mg's so it would be in your best bet to drink at least three cups per day to really get the benefits of green tea.

2008-07-10T11:52:00.000-07:00

Can you get good at cardio?

A reader just asked me the following questions

"I have heard that by doing low intensity cardio for long periods you become more efficient at burning fat, which is a bad thing. Well if this is true then would the same hold true for ketogenic diets? I mean if one uses mainly fats for fuel, and become more efficient at this then over time one would burn less and less fat correct? Well just thought I would see what your opinion is on that."

While you do become more efficient at cardio thus burning less fat and "topping off" at the cardio, I've rarely seen it. Even bodybuilders only do cardio for 12-16 weeks and I haven't seen any specific time periods where this takes place. I also think that since most people aren't too hardcore cardio committed, this isn't going to be a problem.

Now about your question about ketogenic diets. No I can't see that happening.Ketogenic diets are tough and if you are able to stay on one for long, which some people do and feel good with burning fat at your primary fuel source then more power to you. Unless you have a specific type of condition why would you want to stay in ketosis for a long time? At some point you'd have to consume more calories or else your hormones will down regulate.

2008-07-09T03:14:00.000-07:00

A trick from Arnold Schwarzenegger

I can remember one of the first books I ever bought about strength training. It was Arnold Schwarzenegger's New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding. This over 400 page manual was filled with pictures of Arnold and other bodybuilders doing every exercise you could think of. Plus it had training advice straight from Arnold. I was hooked.

Just the joy of having this huge resource in my hands made me a jack of all trades in the gym. I remember trying every exercise in the book.

I can't count the amount of times that I've read through it but one thing always sticks in my mind.

It's Arnold talking about doing pull-ups and how he got so good at them.

To paraphrase, Arnold says that when he wanted to improve his back and get better at doing pull-ups he'd set a number, say 50, of pull-ups that he must complete before his time in the gym was over that day.

Now most people think in terms of sets and reps like 3 sets of 12 reps or 4 sets of 8reps. Arnold did it when he wanted to get better at pull-ups,he'd tell himself that he was going to do 50 reps.

I did it yesterday, here was my breakdown
12 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps, 8 reps,6 reps, 6 reps

That's 50. It only took me 6 sets but when I first started using this trick years ago it would take me around 8 to 10 sets. I still got it done though and I got really good at pull-ups to the point that they are my favorite exercise.

I did it today when I was incline barbell pressing. I picked a weight and did 50 reps of it. Get out of this mindset that you can't train too hard or you have to do what you've always been taught.

If you're not making progress like you want, stop following the rules you are following and get a new formula

Peter Tarr didn't follow the rules for 4 weeks and here's what happened....

P.S.Monday July 21st..The Physique Formula Is Here

2008-07-08T13:14:00.000-07:00

how to build muscle and lose fat podcast 9

July 4th hangover edition

2008-07-07T12:51:00.000-07:00

3 quick tips for lower back pain relief

Lower back pain ranks as one of the most disabling pains in society today and almost everyone is looking for back pain relief in some form or another. You have massage chairs, foam rollers and other gadgets that all promise lower back pain relief but manage to only fix one piece of the puzzle. Lower back pain is a typically a warning sign to more serious back pain or hip issues down the road.

The first area that you have to address is the hips. I know that this seems basic but the basics are what people usually skip. Sitting down and working at a computer all day is the number one cause of tight and dysfunctional hips. Sitting tightens our hip flexors, which attach to our lower back and cause back pain. So to get any type of back pain relief we must stretch the hip flexors and hamstrings during the day.

With tight hip flexors and hamstrings our glutes will become weak and not function to protect our lower back. Increasing glute strength through bridges and bent knee clams and other glute strengthening techniques featured in The Physique Formula Bulletproof Body program will increase our lower back pain relief efforts. Most people overuse their hamstrings and tight hip flexors and never really know how to use their glutes. You can do squats and lunges but even those movements don't directly hit your glutes the way that you need them to in order to stop your lower back pain.

The third thing that you have to do is increase your core strength. Not only is a strong core vital to maintaining healthy posture but it also provides lower back pain by keeping the back stable during dynamic activities. Core strength has become over hyped in recent years with the fancy balls and balance devices but direct ab workout, cable chops and planks will be all of the core work you need for your lower back pain

2008-07-02T13:40:00.000-07:00

how to build muscle and lose fat

podcast 8

Grab it here and subscribe through i-tunes

2008-07-01T03:32:00.000-07:00

fat burning cardio workouts

Wait! Before you read further I'd love for you to hear the 30 second story of how Ed Scow, a busy dad, 29 year old trainer and massage therapist completely changed his body in 30 days. Click play

Cardio workouts can be great for fat burning, as a matter of fact they are essential for fat burning but the way you're doing them is all screwed up. For starters, everyone seems to be missing the boat on what cardio really is. It's not a method to burn more fat or get tighter abs, rather it's a method to increase your metabolism and allow your body to better use the calories that you are eating. As a matter of fact, for fat burning cardio workouts to truly be effective you must actually eat more.

It never ceases to amaze me when I hear people talking about how they are training harder, doing more cardio, eating less but still not getting any fat burning effects. Lets think about this for a second. Most everyone agrees that you should eat a meal after you workout right? Most people don't even think this way they actually have no choice but to go home and eat after a hard workout. What if we did two workouts in one day or better yet two workouts back to back? Shouldn't we go and eat more?

Well that's what happens when we work out then go do our cardio workouts. Cardio is just a means to eat more calories and that should come as a very interesting piece of news to anyone who has been dieting with no gains and wants more out of their fat burning cardio workouts. Here's why

-After dieting for a few weeks our body responds by holding onto our fat. It's a means of survival. Our metabolism slows down and that isn't good for losing fat.

-Now our calories have been decreased even further since we are trying to burn fat but can't figure out why. We respond by increasing our cardio or the length of our weight training sessions.

-We continue to struggle dropping fat and add more cardio time.

Does this sound like something you've experienced? Well you are not alone since this is the most common thing that you will see with people who have trouble with their fat burning cardio workouts. So now what do you do from here? Please don't get frustrated or you'll end up saying that you tried but couldn't get that flat stomach.

In The Physique Formula I talk about exactly why you have those stubborn areas of bodyfat but it's important to understand that the best thing you can do is consume more calories.

If you want to enhance your fat burning cardio workouts you should

-Eat more healthy fat since our body will hold onto fat any chance it gets.

-Add some more carbs into your diet in the forms of fruits and vegetables. They'll give you more energy to increase the intensity of your fat burning cardio workouts.

-Alternate between high intensity and longer paced cardio. They both have different fat burning effects and work through two different ways. Why only do one? If you have the time add a day of longer paced cardio. Maybe go for a walk after work. This type of training will really increase your fat burning cardio workouts.

2008-06-30T13:38:00.000-07:00

How to turn fat into muscle.

This is something that has been on my mind for awhile. Is there a way to turn fat into muscle? I know it sounds out there but can you? Lets take the fact that you need to burn fat to see the muscle underneath it out of the equation. That's the mindset that most bodybuilders have, they get chunky during the winter and diet hard around the time of the contest or summer and hope that they will lose the fat and keep the muscle.

How to turn fat into muscle? Think about someone who is about 20 pounds overweight but has muscular but not defined arms. Sure they are overeating and that, along with poor hormonal signaling, is causing them to store more bodyfat and build less muscle. Is it as simple as dropping the calories and upping the cardio? Can that turn fat into muscle?

If you already have muscular arms or legs and start to eat better is that fat going to be turned into muscle? If you fixed your lifestyle, ate more fruits and vegetables and upped your protein you'd improve your anabolic hormones that both build muscle and burn fat.

The potential is there. If you work out and are a few pounds over weight you're not going to lose all the fat that you have and all of a sudden have muscle everywhere. You will however look more muscular.

So in that sense you can turn fat into muscle but how?

1)Do more interval cardio 3-4 times per week for 20-30 minutes.

2)Increase your training volume and focus on moving the heaviest weight you can.

3)Keep your calories high but drop your carbs.

4)Take it slow. If you just try to lose all the fat you'll end up skinny. Skinny isn't sexy. You have a solid base now you have to have the mindset of a sculptor.

2008-06-27T03:57:00.000-07:00

I'm getting personal.....

"There Is No Tomorrow"

I remember that one line from Rocky III sticking in my head from the first moment I watched it.

"There Is No Tomorrow"

Apollo takes Rocky back to the basics, to get the eye of the tiger. He takes him back to the beginning before he was a champion to when he was hungry.

The funny thing is, you know that happens. I know I haven't done the cardio I should of been doing to get as lean as I wanted to. I got lean, lean enough for 95% of the population. Well I need to be in that top 5%.

If I was then The Physique Formula would of been out by now. Honestly, it makes me angry.

I know I wasn't training and dieting hard like I was 2 years ago when I was a legit 8% bodyfat. I ran every day then. That was my goal.

Now other things are on my plate and I can't focus. I'm three weeks behind and I'm going to make it all up in the next week.

I lost that eye of the tiger.

Have you?

Jimmy

P.S-Here's a sample of a feature article in this month's Maximum Fitness about WWE Star Batista and his workout

http://maxfitmag.com/main.php?cat=2

2008-06-26T05:19:00.000-07:00

My Pizza Diet

I love pizza, it's my favorite food and I could eat it every single day and not get sick of it. The problem is that traditional diets like the ones that have always failed you tell you to stay as far away from pizza or any food you love for that matter.

Those foods are the devil. Fat and carbohydrate combined.

Here's my point of view and how I wrote the diet section of The Physique Formula.

When you are trying to lose fat, your body is looking for energy from anywhere it can get it. Your carbohydrates are lower than normal, or they should be if you listen to other diet advice, so your body feels weak.

Listen, at the end of the night your body doesn't decide if you had enough protein to build muscle or if you didn't have enough calories so you lose fat.

It's a continual process. You don't turn it on and off every 24 hours.

So I can eat really good for 5 or 6 straight days. High protein, low carbs, moderate healthy fat but then comes my weekend. I have pizza on Friday night and maybe some popcorn if I go to the movies.

On Saturday night, I can have pizza again or burgers or ice cream.

I get a mental break from dieting, I reset my fat burning hormones and I can sustain my efforts during the week to burn fat.

Don't be a robot.

2008-06-25T13:24:00.000-07:00

how to do cardio to burn fat

Podcast #7 is now online

2008-06-24T03:30:00.000-07:00

6 quick tips for 6 pack abs

I was in New York City last weekend and I decided to sit down and grab a meal. I headed into a pizza shop and really didn’t want to eat pizza. Well then why walk into the shop in the first place? Well I knew this particular place had some good chicken salads so I got one and sat down in their little seating area. Next to me were a man and a women and the guy started telling the girl that he wants six pack abs. He was eating pizza but he wanted six pack abs.

That got me thinking, if this guy asked me how to get six pack abs and I had to answer him in 60 seconds or less, what would I tell him?

So on the train ride home I thought about what six recommendations I could give him to get six pack abs.

1)Eat 4 junk foods meals per week. Am I serious? Yes I am, simply because getting six pack abs has a huge mental component to it as well. The bodybuilding magazines make us think that we need to be mindless robots 24 hours a day and eat very little carbs and no fat or else we’ll never get close to getting a rock hard midsection.

That’s a very narrow minded way of thinking. Eating 3-4 cheat meals per week of whatever you want not only revs up your muscle building and fat burning hormones but it also allows from a mental break of eating hard and training hard.

2)Do your ab work after you do cardio. There is some evidence that doing ab exercises after interval cardio workouts leads to greater ab fat loss. Now I have to believe that this is due to increased blood flow to the stomach as a result of your
cardio workouts.

3)Alternate between intervals and incline cardio. Most training experts only recommend one type of cardio training but I don’t agree in that. In the Physique Formula I talk about the benefits to both type of cardio workouts. It’s a mistake to only perform one type of cardio like intervals because the intensity of intervals only allows you to burn extra calories three times a week. If you are trying to get six pack abs you’ll need to burn extra calories every day.

4)Cut out the grains. I’m all for having some carbs during a diet but grains just stink. They wrecks our stomachs and lead to high blood sugar levels. Stick with fibrous carbs like yams, brown rice and oatmeal.

5)Add extra bodyweight workouts one day a week. Getting six pack abs means that you need to to raise your metabolism as much as possible. Going to the gym 3 or 4 times per week and doing 3 or 4 cardio workouts is fine but after awhile it isn’t enough. Bodyweight workouts like in the Physique Formula should be quick, around 30 minutes and should be able to be done in your basement, garage or bedroom and when your kids are asleep or when you have some free time. These extra bodyweight workouts are a great way to set your body up to burn more calories when you sleep too.

6)Stretch. Seriously, most people ignoring stretching and it really bites them in the butt when they start to train hard to burn fat. I always hate when I have to do cardio because my hip flexors and hamstrings are tight .So I started stretching them hard and my performance on my intervals increased and I got six pack abs faster.

Jimmy

2008-06-23T14:22:00.000-07:00

amy winhouse and emphysema

Doctors told Amy Winehouse, a popular soul singer; today that she has the lung condition emphysema. Amy Winehouse has emphysema, make no mistake that is serious. In addition to the recommendation to stop smoking, doctors have also advised her about her nutrition program as well.

For emphysema, doctors have told Amy Winehouse to

-Maintain a moderate fat diet with an emphasis on healthy fats such as omega-3’s since omega-3 fats like fish oil have been linked to the reduction of lung cancer.

-Reduce her blood sugar levels and keep them under control. This can be accomplished by eating fibrous carbohydrates like oatmeal as opposed to traditional carbs like bread and pasta. Since insulin is the only hormone that we can directly control, the Grammy award winners doctors have told her to keep her blood sugar low which will keep her bodyfat low and control her emphysema.

-Go on a short-term fasting diet to cleanse the liver and kidneys of any toxins that may be present. Cleansing the liver is the first thing that anyone with emphysema should look to do. Nutrients such as green tea, nac and grape seed extract all have fantastic research about there abilities to cleanse the liver.

-Eat plenty of foods that contain vitamin A and E. Generally you’ll find that that yellow vegetables like squash and yellow peppers have the highest amounts of vitamin A and E but you can also get them through nutritional supplements as well.

-Doctors have also advised Amy to treat her emphysema with supplements such as vitamin e, vitamin a, zinc, magnesium, copper and flaxseed oil.

Garlic is another supplement and food that anyone with emphysema should pay attention to. Not only is garlic anti-bacterial but it also increases liver health and helps the liver to clear out toxins. Any smoker will have higher amounts of man made estrogen in their body. Now when the liver attempts to detoxify that estrogen, it turns it into some pretty nasty toxins. That isn’t a good thing. So on top of healthy antioxidants like vitamin e, green tea and ala, garlic helps clear the liver and deal with the progression of emphysema.

2008-06-21T10:34:00.000-07:00

skinny-fat persons guide to glutamine

Glutamine has to be one of the most talked about nutrition supplements of the past decade or so. Sadly, when something becomes very popular like glutamine has someone smells dollars and starts throwing out bad advice to sell products. I was actually asked by my training partner today about glutamine after he told me that a friend of his uses it about four times during the course of the day.

Well skinny-fat people who have a pot belly but skinny arms need to be careful of using glutamine for a few reasons. Let me start out by saying that I think glutamine is a good product but like anything else,some company wanted to come out with a more advanced version of the product and tries to make you believe that this new type is better than the rest. Oh you couldn’t be more wrong.

For one, glutamine is a very good nutrition supplement because it actually can help restore proper and healthy function to the gut. Think of all of the bad food and stress that is in our lives today. Not to mention the hormones that are thrown into our meats as well. All of these things contribute to GI issues and an upset stomach.

Well glutamine helps to clean up the gut and that is a good thing. Another benefit is for low carb dieters. Without carbs in your diet, you’ll have a hard time recovering from intense training like you would with the Physique Formula so something has to give right? Well glutamine can act like a carb since our body will then turn glutamine into glucose to replenish the lost glucose in our muscles from our training session.

Glutamine has also been shown to speed recovery in burn patients. Now this is where I say that you have to be careful of glutamine. Sure it can aid in recovery and the ability to hold onto muscle but that is only when you take it through I.V. or when you use it in huge amounts of upwards of 40 grams per day. At that amount, glutamine becomes expensive.

So do I think that someone who is looking to build muscle and lose fat should use glutamine? If you have been training hard for awhile and need something to help you recover more then I would say go ahead and use large amounts of glutamine for a short period of time. That’s where I find glutamine most beneficial.

Now if you are trying to build muscle and lose fat then I think you need to focus on intense hard training, intervals and sound nutrition principles. Then look into glutamine.

2008-06-19T11:53:00.001-07:00

Hi Hater.....

2008-06-19T05:32:00.000-07:00

What Men Can Learn From Women.....

About training.

Lets make fun of the guys today.

1) Do more leg work.. period. Women love to squat and do lower body work while men typically "just happen" to skip their leg or lower body days. Not only can consistent leg work add at least 10 pounds of lean muscle onto your frame in a matter of weeks but leg work also accelerates upper body growth. That has everything to do with your body trying to maintain some form of structure and balance, do you really think you can build 20 inch arms while having chicken legs?

2) You have to stretch. Why is it always women that hit the stretch mats and tables at the end of their workout. Flexibility and mobility work keeps you healthy and allows you to train more efficently period.

3) The treadmill makes you lose fat. Guys either think in one of two ways when it comes to dropping bodyfat

A) Cardio burns fat and weights build muscle-Wrong
B) I don't need cardio, I can just train harder-Wrong

At some point you'll need to burn more calories regardless of how many times you bench press or how many full body training sessions you do.

4) Sweat. You're suppose to sweat after a grueling training session. Women are covered and men barely break it. Why?

Special thanks to Physique Formula beta-tester Jamie V for some of these ideas

2008-06-18T03:58:00.000-07:00

What Women Can Learn From Men.....

About building muscle and losing fat. Now I'm not trying to tick off any women who read my blog or newsletter, I just notice that men tend to create some advantages over women when it comes to what they do to build muscle and lose fat.

1) Men like to lift heavy.
It's sad to say but women are still afraid of lifting heavy because they still fear that they will get bulky. Lifting heavy is obviously relative to your strength level but women assume that they have to bench with the men and throw around heavy poundage's. No......

Remember the old saying that you have to lift heavy weights with high reps to build muscle? Well how do you do that? You technically can't because then the weight isn't heavy. The problem happens when people, especially women grab a weight that just won't force their body to grow. Sure they do 12 reps but the weight is too light.

Challenge yourself

2) Men love to eat.

There's just no way around this one. You need to feed the beast to grow. Now that doesn't mean that you need to always stuff your face with food, it's the type that you eat.

If one more woman complains that a protein shake has 100 calories I may go nuts.

I remember reading a interview with biggest loser trainer Kim Lyons and she talked about how she eats every 2 hours or so. Now the majority of people aren't going to think she looks manly or wouldn't want to look like her. Most people think she looks fantastic but she eats food. Real food.

If you're wondering why you haven't gotten leaner or don't look better in a bikini then stop eating 3 meals per day.

3) Men like to run fast for short periods of time.

I hate the term but I have to say it..."cardio bunny" refers to those women who spend their time in the gym on a treadmill just walking for 40 minutes. Men as a whole are lazier than women in the gym, they don't want to do any type of cardio exercise.

When they do it, they choose pick-up basketball or something else with high intensity. Even they do intervals in the gym. Women would rather walk for 40 minutes.

Again, if you don't have the abs you want then look at your cardio time.

Not trying to bash the ladies, just trying to help. Tomorrow it's the guys turn.

2008-06-17T13:14:00.000-07:00

Who Can Use The Physique Formula

Not just for people who want to get "big and jacked"

People who's schedule look like this

I work out in the early morning 2-3 times a week (with 1-2 weekend workouts).

4:30am: wake up
4:40am: can of tuna, fruit or a small bowl of veggies, water
4:50am: mix up a whey/waxy maize shake for the gym
5:00am: hit the gym
6:00am: get home and shower
6:30am: full breakfast -- scrambled eggs w/ bell peppers, spinach, or broccoli, carbs (quinoa or oatmeal), pineapple, green tea, supps (fish oil, multi, vit C, B-complex)
7:30am: catch the bus to work

Each evening, I always pack two meals for work the next day.

And for days filled like this..

"I know all about the morning rush! I have to fit in a workout or cardio, wake my 5 year old twin boys to get them ready for school and fed, and fix my mid-morning snack, and drop the boys off and be at work by 7:15! It's tough, but I usually manage."

Never stop training...

2008-06-16T13:40:00.000-07:00

Physique Formula Bullet Proof Body Workout E

Man was my body banged up today from this weeks workout or what? Two intense days of full body training plus sprints and I was just done. I knew I needed to get into the gym though and do something.

You have to do something, no matter how small or quick, every day to move toward your goal.

Combine my soreness with the fact that I was about 45 minutes late to the gym on the busiest training day of the week and you have one grumpy Jimmy.

I decided to take a step back and perform one of my Physique Formula Bullet Proof Body workouts. Now make no mistake, this wasn't easy. The whole purpose behind the Bullet Proof program is...

-To help someone with bum shoulders that limits what their upper body can do in the gym.

-To fix the knees that won't allow you to sprint as hard or squat the way you used to.

-To increase core strength and eliminate nagging back pain

-To improve heart and lung strength

So my workout today looked like this

Floor Dumbbell Neutral Grip Chest Press 4 sets of 6-8 reps
Superset with
Seated Neutral Grip Cable Row 4 sets of 10-12 reps

Single Leg Longer Eccentric Squat/Hip Flexor Stretch 3 sets of 10 5 second reps
Superset with
Cable Rope Pullthroughs 3 sets of 12 reps

Dumbbell Cuban Press 3 sets of 10 reps
Superset with
Single Leg Dumbbell Reach 3 sets of 10 reps

2008-06-13T04:00:00.001-07:00

15 fat burning foods

Certain foods are better than others for fat burning. As a matter of fact there is so much confusion about which foods are really good for fat burning that people just don't know what to eat. To make it simple, I came up with a list of the top 15 fat burning foods. Now these foods aren't listed in order so number 1 isn't better than number 15, all of the foods listed here are the best and most thoroughly researched fat burning foods.

Whey Protein: This quick and easy food supplement is the base of many health food nuts diets for good reason. Whey protein boosts glutathione, which is one of the most important anti-oxidants in the body. It also contains natural amount of ACE inhibitors that lower blood pressure and improve heart function. Plus, whey protein keeps you satiated for longer so you don't end up snacking on foods that wreck your diet.

Broccoli: This vegetable makes the top 15 fat burning foods list quite easily and can even be the best fat burning food. Broccoli contains sulforaphane and indoles, nutrients that protect against prostrate, gastric, skin and breast cancer as well as reducing bad estrogen in the body. When we reduce estrogen we raise our natural fat burning hormones. Broccoli is also high in anti-inflammatory properties, which will help our joints following intense exercise. Not to mention the fiber, which delays hunger.

Blueberries: My favorite fruit for fat burning because it has a very high antioxidant capacity which helps our cardiovascular system perform better during training. Blueberries also lower cholesterol which at times is associated with a high protein diet.

Wild Fish: Any fish that is caught in the wild such as tuna, salmon and cod have numerous health and fat burning benefits to land it on the top 15 fat burning foods list. Wild fishes biggest benefit is that they contain omega-3 fish oil that increases heart health, reduces heart attacks and cardiac arrhythimias as well as improving brain function, memory, skin health and kidney function. Not bad for some fish huh?

Beef: Preferably grass-fed, beef is very high in the fat burning supplement CLA that has been shown in research to improve the muscle to fat ratio. Also grass-fed beef contains omega-3's and is a great source of zinc and the vitamin B12 which both have positive effects on a anabolic hormone environment to help us burn more fat. Plus it has a decent amount of protein as well.

Natural Peanut Butter: I absolutely love this food when I diet down because the healthy fat content not only keeps me fuller for longer but it also contains heart health fats that increase heart health. Natural peanut butter is also high in B5 which is a essential nutrient for reducing stress and regulates the muscle wasting, stomach fat storing hormone cortisol. So in addition to being one of the top 15 fat burning foods a case can be made to put it on a muscle building food list as well.

Oatmeal: I know you think I'm crazy for including a grain and a carbohydrate on my fat burning foods list but oatmeal is a super carbohydrate in that it actually helps you get and stay lean. Not only is oatmeal high in fiber which can stabilize your blood sugar but the fiber that it contains is beta-glucan which has been shown in research to stabilize the blood sugar of type II diabetics better than other types of fiber. Dr. Richard Bernstein who is world renown for his work with diabetics even recommends that they have one bowl of oatmeal per day.

Grapefruit: Not only does grapefruit make my top 15 fat burning foods list but it also makes the mayo clinic diet as well. A study that appeared in the Journal of Medicinal Food compared grapefruit pills to grapefruit juice to actual grapefruit. The result? The people that ate the grapefruit lost substantially more weight and also improved their insulin resistance as well.

Avocados: This wonder fruit helps fat burning due to its high concentrations of monounsaturated fat specifically oleic acid that is found in macadamia nut oil. Not only does this type of fat turn on fat burning but it also lowers LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. Avocdos are also high in beta-sitosterol, which lowers blood cholesterol and has protective prostate properties.

Almonds: I eat almonds with at least three meals per day so I had to put it up as one of the top 15 fat burning foods. Exciting research has shown that when two dieters ate the same calories but one of them ate 520 of those calories from almonds that the almond dieter lost more fat. There's even research that points to the almond cell wall possibly limiting the amount of dietary fat that can be absorbed which might mean that not even all of the fat from almonds is absorbed. Almonds keep you fuller for longer and they are also high in ALA which is a omega-3 fat that helps with fat burning.

Macadamia Nuts: Doctor Atkins called them a "nutritional complete and safe meal" so that is good enough for me. Not only are they very high in monounsaturated fat which is higher than any other nut, they also have been linked to lowering heart disease and cancer. Research is even beginning to show that the oil in macadamia nuts can increase your metabolism by around 8-10%. That's a good fat burning food.

Walnuts: I personally don't like the taste of them but I force myself to eat them since they contain the highest amounts of omega-3 fats of any nut. More importantly, walnuts are high in manganese which is a trace mineral that aids in how we metabolize sugar and insulin. Controlling insulin and limiting sugar is so important when we are trying to get in better shape which is why they made the top 15 fat burning foods list.

Eggs: No fat burning food list could be complete without the ultimate food of champions eggs right? Well aside from there high protein content which is essential for fat burning, eggs are also high in phosphatidylcholine which is a nutrient that is used to both regenerate the liver and to calm people down. Think about how alert and amped up you are after a good workout? What about your inability to get to sleep? Since we know that sleep is important for fat burning, eating eggs that contain choline can help us relax and get to sleep.

Tuna: I almost didn't put tuna on the list due to its mercury content but one look at the protein in tuna and I knew that it had a place as one of the top 15 fat burning foods. One light can of tuna has forty-two grams of protein per can. That's a lot of protein and tuna even contains a decent amount of omega-3 fish oil as well.

Green Tea: No fat burning food list would be complete without mentioning green tea. Taking away the caffeine from it, the EGCG found in green tea has been associated with decreased risk of various cancers, less coronary artery disease as well as increased levels of dopamine, which improves our mood. More directly related to fat burning, green tea helps the liver to detoxify estrogen. When the liver can't detox man made estrogens we won't be in a fat burning mode as efficiently as we should be.

Take the top 15 fat burning foods list and get shopping.

2008-06-12T12:14:00.000-07:00

workout without weights

There are times when I just hate the gym. I mean I spend so much time in it training hard that I really want a workout without weights. I’ve been dieting hard to burn fat and get six packs abs and running on the treadmill or doing intervals on the bike wasn’t doing it. I was just bored so I’d work hard for 15 minutes then leave. Nothing really got accomplished in that time. So I’ve been heading to a local track here in Stamford and busting my butt outdoors.

Not only do I get the vitamin D from the sun and nice tan but I’ve actually seen noticeable fat loss improvements in just a few times. I was actually talking to a friend the other day about this and he said that he never really lose fat until he does “road work” as he calls it. Now this isn’t some long jog finished by running the steps found in Rocky. This is actually a intense bodyweight workout without weights that does nothing short of jump start my metabolism to burn more calories. Here’s what I’ve been doing

Warm-up with about 5 minutes of jumping rope alternating between fast and slow speeds.

Sprinting up about 15-20 stadium stairs followed by a walk back down then immediately sprinting up again.

Double leg hop up stadium bleachers for 6-8 sets.

5 or 6 100 meter sprints.

Now you may think that is too easy and to be honest the only thing that really gets me in that workout is the 100 meter sprints. Not only have I not sprinted for awhile but those things are just intense. It takes me about 30-45 seconds to recover and catch my breath The best part however is that I’m burning more sugar than fat which is an essential component of a workout without weights and I’m elevating my metabolism.

Here’s what I plan on doing next time I head out.

60 seconds of jumping rope immediately followed by 10 stair sprints immediately followed by 5 double leg hops up the stadium bleachers.

Again that may seem too easy but you have to continually trick your body when you’re performing a workout without weights. I mean you don’t have access to heavier dumbbells or anything to continually progress your body. Sure, I could run for longer distances but that would be doing more work not harder work. When you are doing a bodyweight workout it is all about the intensity not the duration of work.

There are literally 100’s of things that I could do in a workout without weights.

P.S- You can get six pack abs with the Physique Formula bodyweight workouts just like Chris

Jimmy Smith put 110% of his effort to all the work he creates, and this is no exception. The body weight workout is a fantastic workout. There are those winter days when the weather is so severe that you cannot make it to the gym, no problem this body weight plan is the answer. This workout is also just a great compliant to any workout plan as well. I have used this plan to compliment my running program and it has bought my running to a whole new level. On a recent 5k race I earned a personal record by thirty seconds! Also, my body fat has reached the ultimate standard 4-5%. Before I began utilizing this program I was around 7-8%. In all honesty, there is not one bad element to his body weight circuit.

Chris Barrett
Fairfield CT

2008-06-11T17:22:00.001-07:00

how to build muscle and lose fat

Podcast # 6 is now online....

email me at jimmy@jimmysmithtraining.com and let me know which topics you want me to cover.

Subscribe through itunes by searching for "how to build muscle and lose fat"

Train hard

2008-06-11T17:14:00.001-07:00

side effects of fish oil

Fish oil is one of the most popular and hotly debated supplements of all time but what about the side effects of fish oil? Look at all of the benefits, some proven in research, that omega-3 fish oil supplements may have on the body

-Improved blood sugar regulation

-Increased fat loss

-Lowered cholesterol

-Improved mood

-Decrease inflammation

As we can see, fish oil has a whole lot of positive health benefits but is there any side effects of fish oil? Are there really any negative consequences that come from taking this very beneficial supplement? Well first we have to define who should be using fish oil.

Now I believe that everyone should be taking fish oil. The bigger question is why aren’t you taking fish oil? Taking away all of those health benefits that I mentioned earlier, fish oil is a healthy source of fat. Most people’s diets are just too low in fat in general, not to mention healthy fats. These fats will also help people who are dieting and eating a low amount of calories stay full and not cheat on their diets.

What about the downsides though? If fish oil were really the magic pill then we’d know if there were any negative consequences right? Wrong, while I love fish oil and recommend it highly in the Physique Formula, I think we need to watch out about believing that fish oil is all good.

First, fish oil may not be the best thing for building muscle. I see some crazy high recommendations for the amount of fish oil that people should take and it makes no sense. To build muscle we need a pro-inflammatory substance known as arachidonic acid, which fish oil actually lowers. Arachidonic acid is found in red meats and actually increases our natural testosterone production so we can build muscle and lose fat. This can lead to side effects with fish oil

Using high doses of fish oil for prolonged periods of time will decrease arachidonic acid which isn’t good for muscle building purposes.

Another side effect of fish oil is that it can disrupt the absorption of certain important nutrients such as vitamin D and E. Vitamin D and E have numerous healthy benefits including reducing free radical damage, inflammation, and even cancer. Large amounts of fish oil may actually decrease the beneficial properties of these nutrients so we would need to supplement with vitamin D and E individually.

Vitamin E also helps with the ability for the body to absorb fish oil. Just popping fish oil doesn’t do it anymore. It’s the amount that we absorb not the amount that we take that matters.

While those two side effects of fish oil may seem small, we need to be aware of them. I’m not saying not to take fish oil, I take a good amount every day but we must be aware of the side effects of fish oil.

2008-06-10T12:53:00.000-07:00

vitamin d

The benefits of vitamin d are quickly spreading and the news just keeps getting better. Research has shown for awhile that the "sunshine vitamin" can increase calcium absorption, thus building strong bones

New studies published in 2007 suggests that the vitamin d has multiple other benefits: diets which are high in vitamin D may ward off diabetes, gum disease and multiple sclerosis and even cancer. The news on colon cancer is even more promising.

A large trial study showed men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study and women in the Nurses' Health Study who had the highest blood levels of vitamin D were half as likely to develop colon cancer as their peers with lower vitamin D.

Dr. Louise Parker, an epidemiologist and a world expert in the environmental exposures that can lead to cancer, says 1,000 units a day is well beyond what you can obtain from your diet. Vitamin D is a bit of a rare vitamin, appearing only in fatty fish, cod liver oil and egg yolks. Even if you were to sunbathe in southern climates, you would not take in 1,000 units.

“If you were to lie naked on a beach in the Bahamas, and I don’t recommend that because of skin cancer, you cannot get up to the equivalent of 1,000 units of Vitamin D a day,”say Dr.Parker

Interesting....

2008-06-09T14:01:00.000-07:00

muscle building nutrition

2008-06-07T15:24:00.000-07:00

muscle building bodyweight workout routines

I bet you didn't realize that you could build muscle with bodyweight workouts. After all, I've included The Garage Gladiator bodyweight workouts in the Physique Formula for a reason. I'm emailed countless times a day by men and women who really want to build muscle and lose fat bur for one reason or another can't get to the gym. That's ok, you don't need to be a gym rat with the Physique Formula. All you have to do is train hard for 3-4 days a week and 45 minutes at a time and you'll be all set.

Now the whole point of a muscle building bodyweight workout routine is to overload your body and cause growth in a different way than anyone who is swinging weights up and down in the gym. See my bodyweight workout routines are set so that you have to progress and you have to move up a level. The problem with most workouts is that they tell you to train for 12-16 weeks at a time and that's all. Anyone can write a muscle building bodyweight workout routine that gets your tired and raises your metabolism but what about building muscle?

By forcing you to raise your reps as you progress you also force your body to adapt to this new training stress. Just like you would in a gym, more reps and more sets means that you are building muscle and growing. Do you want to know the real secret to the Garage Gladiator muscle building bodyweight workout routines? It's getting a certain number of reps and sets done in a certain amount of time. If you give yourself 35 minutes to workout at night but are forced to do the same workout you did last week but in 10 less minutes then your body will have no choice but to grow.

Typically, I recommend a 5-minute warm up of all of the basic movements like squats and push-ups, glute bridges and some simple stretching. Once the body is warm it will allow the joints to move through their proper ranges, which is another mistake that most people make. It doesn’t matter how many reps you’re using, some exercises force you to use 10 or 15 reps while others force you to do as many as you can in 30 seconds, what matters is the quality of the movement.

Muscle building bodyweight workout routines are also healthier than the usual, boring gym workout because bodyweight movements are better on your joints. Who really wants a nagging shoulder injury anyway? Bodyweight workout routines that involve push-ups and the many variations of it are great for shoulder and shoulder blade health.

Yes, it is possible to get great muscle building bodyweight workout routines in your garage or basement or to use them to change things up in the gym.

Jimmy

2008-06-06T17:46:00.000-07:00

six pack abs

With summer in full effect, everyone in the gym is focused on one thing, six pack abs. Don't worry if you didn't start your diet 12 weeks ago or change your nutrition three months ago. There's still time to get six pack abs and show them off all summer at the beach. You just need to follow a few simple rules for a flat stomach.

1) Start eating whole food every two hours.

One of the biggest mistakes that most people make is trading quality food for the convenience of protein shakes. Now don't get me wrong, I think protein shakes are essential for building muscle and dropping fat. I also understand that most people are on the run all day and might not have the time or desire to sit down and eat turkey, chicken or fish all the time. Getting six pack abs is all about raising your metabolism.

That's ok and in those situations, a quality whey protein shake will really help. The problem is that when you eat whole food you speed up your metabolism even more than when you had liquid food because your body must breakdown the whole food. That results in more calories burned.

2) Stop overdoing the cardio.
Typically people that started dieting too late will try to compensate by overdoing cardio to catch up to where they think they should be. Now this leads to two problems. The first being that your workouts are now going to suffer more because you are so focused on doing cardio to get six pack abs.

Second, you won't give your legs enough time to recover, which makes your next cardio session less productive. Plus if you are doing intervals (which you should be) you really can't do more than 3-4 interval sessions per week effectively.

3) Sleep more
I know that we all wish we could sleep more but just trying to get to bed a hour earlier on the weekends will really make a difference. Since training for six pack abs require intervals, intense workouts and sensible dieting, your body is going to be fatigued more. We can't sleep during the day so just adding a extra half hour or hour to our total sleep time at night will make a noticeable difference in getting a flat stomach and six pack abs.

4) Decrease you rest between sets.
Another fantastic way to raise your metabolism and burn more calories during your workout is to decrease your rest time between sets. Your workouts should be set around high reps from 8-15 and exercises should be performed back to back to increase the amount of calories you burn. Recent research has pointed to fact that training like in the Physique Formula releases a fluid called lactic acid. Now science is telling us that the more lactic acid we produce the more we raise and increase your natural growth hormone levels. Well another way to do this and get six pack abs is to slowly decrease your rest seconds by 5 seconds every workout.

Jimmy

P.S-In 3 weeks he lost 3.3% bodyfat with The Physique Formula

Hey Jimmy, we'll its not quite three weeks yet and my bodyfat is already down by 3.3%. I'm pretty excited as i've added 1/2" to my arms and 3/4" to my quads. I have also lost 4lbs, and that's not water weight from carb depleated muscles, its fat weight. I've been working hard over the last few months with other programs, trying to loose even 1% of body fat - my body just seemed to hold on to fat. Using the physique formula workout plan the first thing I noticed were the much more intense muslce pumps and my heart rate was flying. These intensities are so much more than what I am used to, it was quite a shock to my body. Small changes in classic lifts, multiple joint exercises, classic powerlifting moves, efficient rest periods.. it all help me keep focused in the gym. The Physique formula showed me I'm capable of working a lot harder than I ever knew. I got extremely hungry after some of the workouts and worried about eating too much. Following the nutrition plan I always felt satisfied, never felt weak or depleated and didn't have any problems loosing fat - it just came off.

Thanks Jimmy,

Jeff Check

2008-06-05T07:35:00.000-07:00

My Trick To Get To 9% Bodyfat

Most anyone that follows my podcast, which you can download
through itunes by searching for "how to build muscle and lose fat"
or through my blog, knows that I have been dieting to get ready
for the upcoming release of the Physique Formula.

Well I'm always telling people that dropping bodyfat is easier
than you think and that you need to do three things

1)Perform high intensity cardio intervals

2)Train with high reps using full body movements with low rest
periods

3)Keep your blood sugar stable with a low carb, high fat diet.

Right?

We can add something else to that now and it's called neee.

Say it with me, neee

NEEE stands for Non-Exercise Energy Expenditure

Which means what you do outside of your workout to burn calories.

It really could be anything, it could be mowing the lawn, it could
be doing intense yard work. Anything that raises your metabolism
and makes you burn more calories.

It doesn't have to be anything long either. For me it's jumping rope
like Sly in Rocky.

I do it for about 4 or 5 minutes, am covered in sweat and have
burned probably another 200-300 calories on top of my workout.

Not bad right?

Train Hard

Jimmy

P.S. I get bored sometimes and that's when I use Ryan Lee's brand
new instant workout system. You click and point and you design a
program. Plus if you order before Friday I'll give you one free
month of the Physique Formula club where you'll get a workout,
article reviews, supplement facts and Tom Venuto's bodyfat assault
audio interview

2008-06-04T04:06:00.000-07:00

how to build muscle and lose fat podcast

Subscribe through itunes or download it right here.

2008-06-02T13:27:00.000-07:00

bill gates biography

Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this! To anyone with kids of any age, here's some advice. Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your
Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6 : If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7 : Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8 : Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9 : Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule: 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11 : Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

2008-06-02T13:07:00.000-07:00

carbohydrate counter

Q:I’ve heard you mention cycling carbohydrate and protein intake a couple of times on your podcasts, so I was wondering how much do you vary them by? I’m 145lbs, so I target taking about 145g of protein, but when I cycle should I vary between 100g and 160g, or something like that? And the same question with carbohydrates. I don’t really eat as much fat as I should, so I usually just fill in my calorie intake with carbs (fruits, veg, oatmeal, and whole-grain breads). So when I try to carbohydrate cycle, instead of trying to eat 2100 calories per day, I end up oscillating between 1700cal/day and 2500cal/day (and I synch up my higher calorie days with my lower body lifting). But is there a range of carbohydrates that I should cycle around?

A: Good question. The thing about carbohydrate cycling is that it is a necessity to remain lean while adding muscle. We just can not take in a large amount of carbohydrate at any time and thing they will help us build muscle. That only last for a small amount of time.

I like your thought process about cycling your carbohydrates in that manner. Don't count calories, just count carbohydrates. If you are eating 300 grams of carbohydrate on a "high" day then make your low day around 150 or if you are trying to get lean 100.

When you are eating 300 grams of carbohydrates, you can drop your protein slightly. Start with a 50 gram drop of protein and see how you train from there.

2008-05-31T09:28:00.000-07:00

christian bale batman workout

Christian Bale’s Batman workout for the upcoming “Dark Knight” sequel has turned the actor from skinny to jacked in a matter of weeks. For the Dark Knight, Christian Bale underwent an intense training regime to make sure that he was a believable Batman. Anyone who has ever watched Christian Bale’s workouts know that he can change his body for whatever the role calls for. Well for Batman, he had it tough.

Not only did he have to add substantial muscle since no one wants to see a scrawny and weak Batman but he also had to get lean and have a 6-pack for his out of suit shots. Just to make his training that much harder, he also have to be agility and increase his vertical leap slightly for some action scenes that he chose to do with a stunt double.

Now that’s tough training. Now I didn’t train him but if I did then here’s what I would of done with him.

For his diet he would of consumed lean protein and healthy fats with every meal. His carbohydrates would have been kept low and been limited to only carbs that contain fiber like yams, oatmeal and brown rice and we should have had his carbs center around his workout time so that they didn’t get stored as fat. This way we’d have fuel for his intense workouts without worrying about him getting a pot belly.

The proteins that he would of eaten would have been fish, beef, lean steak, chicken, and turkey and whey protein powder. We would have kept his healthy fats in a moderate amount since they’ll raise his natural hormones and keep him full. He also would have had unlimited vegetables since the fiber would of stop any cravings for cheat foods.

His training would have to be different from your typical gym training. Christian can’t afford to do bicep curls and tricep pushdowns since he has to have an athletic body that can move. Plus using compound movements like bench press and squats will keep his fat burning potential for one to two days post workout.

Not to mention that those exercises will help me to add muscle to multiple body parts at the same time. Each exercise would be done with eight to twelve reps for three to four sets since those are the best sets and reps to build muscle.

Each workout would need to have some type of explosive movement in it to increase his stamina instead of forcing him to do 30-45 minutes of cardio after his workout. He’s an actor and doesn’t really have any time after his day is done to go and just walk on a treadmill. I’d have him doing jump pushups, jump squats and jump lunges.

His ab training would have to revolve around heavy ab workout since only high rep, heavy weight core training will make your abs pop out. He’d use 8-12 reps with 3 sets for his abs and he would train them with movements like swiss ball crunches, kneeling cable crunches and cable chops.

Just a few little insights into what Christian Bale went through in preparation for his new Batman movie.

2008-05-30T17:05:00.000-07:00

acai berry

Acai berry is pretty popular. I mean I've heard of it but it wasn't until I got a few emails about my statement that blueberries have the most antioxidants of any fruit. I really began looking into it and found some interesting benefits to acai berry and acai berry juice.

The benefits of acai berry

Acai berry is a very unique tropical fruit that contains high levels of antioxidants also known as anthocyanins.Plus it contains omega fatty acids as well as having a good amino acid profile and various other vitamins and minerals. It is known to lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol as well as being in a unique class of antioxidants.

Anthocyanins are a group of flavonoids that have a very high ORAC(antioxidant activity level measure)value. According to some research Acai actually has the highest antioxidant value of any fruit. Acai Berries are also heart health and may benefit your digestive tract because of its unique blend of monounsaturated fats,fiber and phytosterols.

Mediterranean populations also report a lower incident of heart attacks and disease and many speculate that it is due to a diet high in acai berry since acai berry has a fatty acid ratio that resembles the very popular and health olive oil.

What Gym Chains Know

Acai berries are actually high in good, healthy carbs thus providing energy to sustain intense training like you would be doing in The Physique Formula. Oh by the way, they have twice the antioxidants that blueberries have.

2008-05-29T05:27:00.000-07:00

army physical fitness

army physical fitness is a popular thing. Popular in that many people know the workouts are tough since they have to be, after all you're "in the army now".Army physical fitness is a legendary but what does it consist of?

While most people think that bodyweight training and long jogs make up all of the training that goes on in the army, that isn't correct. They do have weight rooms these days but bodyweight training makes a good amount of their training. Lets look at a typical bodyweight exercise routine that would make up a army physical fitness program.

Push-ups-As many as you can for 60 seconds.

Chin-ups-Max. Keep going until you can't go anymore.

Close Grip Push-ups-As many as you can for 60 seconds

I could keep going on and on but I hope you get the point. The main thing behind army physical fitness is that you can do any exercise in the world, it doesn't matter but you must push yourself past your physical limits.

That's my point here. Army physical fitness is made out to be a exclusive, secretive thing. There's nothing secretive about it except that the guys get pushed past their limits.

Once you continually get pushed past your limits in anything you have no choice but to grow.

Jimmy

P.S- It's why The Physique Formula comes with a bodyweight program fit to be done in your garage with no equipment.

2008-05-28T04:31:00.000-07:00

The Rocky Story

The true story, as told by leading self-improvement expert Tony Robbins,behind the Rocky story.

"The greatest revenge is massive success"

"I knew my outcome"

"Massive action"

2008-05-27T03:13:00.000-07:00

Benefits Of Green Tea

The benefits of green tea are so numerous that I had to rerun my top 25 benefits of green tea.

1. Green Tea and Cancer
Green tea helps reduce the risk of cancer. The antioxidant in green tea is 100 times more effective than vitamin C and 25 times better than vitamin E. This helps your body at protecting cells from damage believed to be linked to cancer.

2. Green Tea and Heart Disease
Green tea helps prevent heart disease and stroke by lowering the level of cholesterol. Even after the heart attack, it prevents cell deaths and speeds up the recovery of heart cells.

3. Green Tea and Anti-Aging
Green tea contains antioxidant known as polyphenols which fight against free radicals. What this means it helps you fight against aging and promotes longevity.

4. Green Tea and Weight Loss
Green tea helps with your body weight loss. Green tea burns fat and boosts your metabolism rate naturally. It can help you burn up to 70 calories in just one day. That translates to 7 pounds in one year.

5. Green Tea and Skin
Antioxidant in green tea protects the skin from the harmful effects of free radicals, which cause wrinkling and skin aging. Green tea also helps fight against skin cancer.

6. Green Tea and Arthritis
Green tea can help prevent and reduce the risk of rheumatoid arthritis. Green tea has benefit for your health as it protects the cartilage by blocking the enzyme that destroys cartilage.

7. Green Tea and Bones
The very key to this is high fluoride content found in green tea. It helps keep your bones strong. If you drink green tea every day, this will help you preserve your bone density.

8. Green Tea and Cholesterol
Green tea can help lower cholesterol level. It also improves the ratio of good cholesterol to bad cholesterol, by reducing bad cholesterol level.

9. Green Tea and Obesity
Green tea prevents obesity by stopping the movement of glucose in fat cells. If you are on a healthy diet, exercise regularly and drink green tea, it is unlikely you’ll be obese.

10. Green Tea and Diabetes
Green tea improves lipid and glucose metabolisms, prevents sharp increases in blood sugar level, and balances your metabolism rate.

11. Green Tea and Alzheimer’s
Green tea helps boost your memory. And although there’s no cure for Alzheimer’s, it helps slow the process of reduced acetylcholine in the brain, which leads to Alzheimer’s.

12. Green Tea and Parkinson’s
Antioxidants in green tea helps prevent against cell damage in the brain, which could cause Parkinson’s. People drinking green tea also are less likely to progress with Parkinson’s.

13. Green Tea and Liver Disease
Green tea helps prevent transplant failure in people with liver failure. Researches showed that green tea destroys harmful free radicals in fatty livers.

14. Green Tea and High Blood Pressure
Green tea helps prevent high blood pressure. Drinking green tea helps keep your blood pressure down by repressing angiotensin, which leads to high blood pressure.

15. Green Tea and Food Poisoning
Catechin found in green tea can kill bacteria which causes food poisoning and kills the toxins produced by those bacteria.

16. Green Tea and Blood Sugar
Blood sugar tends to increase with age, but polyphenols and polysaccharides in green tea help lower your blood sugar level.

17. Green Tea and Immunity
Polyphenols and flavenoids found in green tea help boost your immune system, making your health stronger in fighting against infections.

18. Green Tea and Cold and Flu
Green tea prevents you from getting a cold or flu. Vitamin C in green tea helps you treat the flu and the common cold.

19. Green Tea and Asthma
Theophylline in green tea relaxes the muscles which support the bronchial tubes, reducing the severity of asthma.

20. Green Tea and Ear Infection
Green tea helps with ear infection problem. For natural ear cleaning, soak a cotton ball in green tea and clean the infected ear.

21. Green Tea and Herpes
Green tea increases the effectiveness of topical interferon treatment of herpes. First green tea compress is applied, and then let the skin dry before the interferon treatment.

22. Green Tea and Tooth Decay
Green tea destroys bacteria and viruses that cause many dental diseases.It also slows the growth of bacteria which leads to bad breath.

23. Green Tea and Stress
L-theanine, which is a kind of amino acids in green tea, can help relieve stress and anxiety

24. Green Tea and Allergies
EGCG found in green tea relieves allergies. So, if you have allergies, you should really consider drinking green tea.

25. Green Tea and HIV
Scientists in Japan have found that EGCG (Epigallocatechin Gallate) in green tea can stop HIV from binding to healthy immune cells. What this means is that green tea can help stop the HIV virus from spreading.

2008-05-24T08:52:00.000-07:00

Indiana Jones Quote

I know it's pretty random and out of the ordinary for me to
send you a email on a Saturday, especially Memorial Day weekend.

I just couldn't resist though.See it's not often that a single
line in a movie (well unless it is Pumping Iron) made me stop and
think about your progress in the gym.

So I saw Indiana Jones last night, now I won't spoil anything but
I thought it was good but had some parts that it could do without.

Nonetheless, there's a character in the movie who asks
"How much of life is wasted in waiting?".

I immediately thought "Woah, that's deep".

Sure it applies to training...

Why are you waiting to get your abs?

Why are you waiting to finally build the shoulders or arms that
you want?

Isn't it time you stopped making excuses and start pushing yourself?

I trained with a guy I know from the gym yesterday. He's about
5"9 210, just thick and muscular.

We trained our chest and back. He was stronger then me.

I hit 225-240 on the incline for 4 sets of around 6-8 reps, he hit it
for 10-12 reps.

He didn't let me give any excuse that my arms were twice as long
as his and you better believe that when we were rowing and
I was using 120's and he was using 90's that my response was

"What is this b.s?"

We pushed each other and today everything is sore.

Don't wait for someone else to come and push you. Hit it hard
today. Hit it hard now.

"How much life is wasted in waiting?"

2008-05-21T14:37:00.000-07:00

It Has Only Been Two Years?

I tend to try to take a few moments each day to reflect on my career and life. It's not planned reflection time or anything, I just tend to stop and think about things as they hit me.

That moment came yesterday on facebook(hey if we're not "friends" there then you better request me). I was checking it and popped open the instant messenger feature. Now there are times that I hate facebook since it kills my time management. This wasn't one of those times.

Within 2 minutes I had spoken with AJ Roberts, Geo Derice and Nate Green. Now unless you are into the fitness industry, you really have no clue they are.

Having conversations with all three of them made me realize that it has only been 2 years(actually it will be 2 years this September) since 4 guys just a few years removed from being teenagers met at one of the biggest conventions ever.

That was and still is our bond. Not saying that we are "somebodies" now but back then no one in the fitness industry knew our names. We were just like everyone else wishing that we'd be the "big dogs" in the fitness industry, get recognized at seminars, write for magazines, produce top products and have long and successful careers.

We actually were in awe of some of the more well known people in the industry.

2 years can either be a very short or very long time.

Life is what you make it.

We made it a very short time.

Life is what you make it.

In less then 2 years, the four of us have all managed to make names for ourselves and get to another level in our careers but all through different roads.

AJ went on to become a team member of the very well known elitefts Q'n'A staff, a integral part of various widely successful fitness products, a Maximum Fitness magazine contributor and a highly sought after and respected powerlifting authority.

Geo landed a position as Ryan Lee's VP of fitness marketing and was the key component in putting together the largest online seminar in the history of fitness and he'll become very successful helping fitness professionals reach their online goals.

Nate's not doing too bad for himself with his soon to be released in a bookstore near you "Built For Show" as well as being a contributing author to Men's Fitness and T-nation.

Jimmy, well I've got more to do but since that time I've become a contributing author to T-nation.com and three of the biggest newsstand magazines Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Natural Bodybuilding and Fitness and the soon to be released The Physique Formula: How To Transform From Being Skinny Fat To Muscular and Lean.

Now that's not to say that we've done anything or have made "it". I'm not speaking for those guys or tooting any ones horn, there's multiple lessons here. The whole point behind this message is that even at a young age in a industry where your experience, by many, is the measuring stick for it you have "it" or not.

4 young guys decided to...
-Know what they didn't want then decided what they did want out of their lives.

-Take immediate action and daily action toward their goals.

-Stayed driven when other people tried to tear them down.

-Had a laserlike focus on their goals.

-Found mentors that could distill hard earned advice.

-Kept taking hits but still pushed forward toward their dreams.

Just a few lessons, 2 years, that's all it been. I can't wait to write this post in 2 more years.

Jimmy

2008-05-21T03:28:00.000-07:00

effects of sugar on candida diet

What are the effects of sugar on a candida diet? What exactly is a candida diet? Well a candida diet is a nutritional approach to keeping candida (a healthy yeast that resides in the digestive tract) healthy. Generally everything is fine as long as your immune system is strong and you have a decent amount of probiotics which can be acquired through yogurt, some dairy, etc etc.

Why would someone needed a candida diet? Well I've seen various numbers recently but it is estimated by the CDC that at least 70%-90% of people worldwide have some type of parasites in their body. The CDC also states that between 20-40 million Americans have some type of parasite.

Scary right? Now you can live a healthy live with parasites, the body generally adapts well. Parasites aren't the healthiest things since they rest in your small intestine and take all your nutrients and amino acids.

Not to mention that they..

Make you tired

Give you low back pain

Give you joint pain

Give you acid reflux

Cause GI distress

Increase allergies

Just a few common symptoms. I've seen many people get on these candida diets to prevent the yeast growth from parasites but they make one mistake. They include too much sugar in their diet.

Sugar not only causes distress in your GI tract but it also decreases the positive effect of any probiotic supplement. Sugar also will cause your blood sugar levels to drop and cause your body to release more amino acids from muscle tissue which will then cause more muscle to be eaten up for energy.

Sugar actually causes the yeast to grow more, not something that you want at this stage!

Keep your sugar intake to small amounts during the beginning of the day and consume lean protein like turkey, fish, chicken and healthy fats like almonds and natural peanut butter the rest of the day. If you want to have carbohydrates then go with low sugar carbs like oatmeal, brown rice and yams.

Just whatever you do, no sugar on the candida diet.

2008-05-20T03:41:00.000-07:00

Indiana Jones Workout

Awhile ago I blogged about the Harrison Ford workout from the new Indiana Jones movie. He's training hard and is on a high protein, low carb diet and eating a a lot of fish for his omega 3 fatty acids. So what type of workout is he doing?

Here's what I would have him do to build muscle and lose fat for the new Indiana Jones workout.

Everything would be timed rounds. So he'd have to complete four exercises then rest. We'd do 3 sets of 3 different rounds, everything 12 reps.

1st round
Pull-ups
Push-ups
Bodyweight Sqauts
Bodyweight Lunges

2nd round
Dips
Close Grip Push-ups
Flat Dumbbell Chest Press
Box Jumps

3rd round
Jump Push-ups
Dumbbell Step-ups
Hi Cable Chops
Front Medicine Ball Squats

Try it

Jimmy

P.S. Look at what happened to Jeff Check's arms when he used the Physique Formula Get Jacked Fast Workout "the other two days I feel pumped as hell, not used to that feeling. My arms were in pumped like I can't believe".

2008-05-19T04:18:00.000-07:00

Who Will You Be?

Did you watch the video that I post on Saturday about Arnold?

Well I'll continue the theme today, a friend recently read "Just Who Will You Be?" by Maria Shriver, Arnold's wife.

Here's what my friend sent me, an excerpt from Maria's book.

Its a little bit scary
Exciting, too
To go out in the world
And find out...who is you!!
....
When you look in the mirror
It's an image you see
But down deep inside
JUST WHO WILL YOU BE?
....
Everyone's life
Is an uncharted course
So go out and live it
Without regret or remorse

Take time to be quiet
Hear what your own voice is
Learn who you are
By making good choices
....
Sometimes you'll feel lonely
Sometimes you'll feel lost
If you want to achieve
Sometimes that's the cost
....
If you don't stick your neck out
You'll be safe, it's true
But you also won't find out
Who is the real you

Doing only what's easy
Won't break you a sweat
But you also won't learn
Lessons you need to get

The lessons will teach you
What you need to know
To find out who you'll be
and which way to go
....
So its not on the outside,
The things you can see--
It's the stuff on the inside
That shows who you'll be
....
In the end all that matters
Is not in the bank
Not your money or home
Or the gas in your tank

It not just about
Your husband or wife
It's what's in your heart
How you live your own life

How much joy do you give?
How much love, how much laughter?
All the people you helped
And felt so good after

It's the last time I'll ask it
On this big day for you
JUST WHO WILL YOU BE?
Thats the question for you

If you follow your heart...
And just listen to me
You'll turn into you...
You are destined to be!

Jimmy

P.S. Who will you be in three weeks when the Physique Formula is released?

2008-05-17T09:40:00.001-07:00

Number 3

Get it through i tunes "how to build muscle and lose fat"

2008-05-16T18:29:00.000-07:00

If you want to be a champion...

"If you want to be a champion you can't have any outside negative force come in and affect you" Arnold

2008-05-16T04:10:00.000-07:00

how to get rid of skinny fat

Here's tip number 1

You’ve been doing the wrong types of cardio
Skinny-Fat Guy Science Fact: Exercise science is advancing faster than technology. In the last year alone, yet to be published research has looked at the mega powerful fat burning effects of incline cardio. This breakthrough research, which The Physique Formula is based on, allows you to finally get rid of that ugly stomach and it even promotes muscle growth at the same time.

In fact, you’ve completely wasted your time doing both long and slow cardio AND high intensity. You see while the experts debate all day if you should do 30-45 minutes of walking or 15 to 25 minutes of sprinting, The Physique Formula For Skinny Guys will shock you with the new and innovative method to do cardio on your treadmill, bike, elliptical or outside.

Seriously, every other program swears that you MUST do endless cardio exercise regularly to lose the fat covering your abs or you MUST do high intensity cardio. Most programs tell you to do at least 3 cardio sessions a week for 20-40 minutes after you’ve done your weight training. Who has that time?

Not only is it unnecessary but if you're really trying to get as lean and muscular as quick as possible then this type of cardio is the LAST thing you want to do. I’ll really explain this method in a simple and easy to follow way in the book, but basically this all comes back to supercharging your metabolism, maintaining and increasing your muscle mass and the hormonal responses that your body has to training plus how much bodyfat that you burn after your training session!

Take a look around your gym, do any of the people that live on the treadmill actually have a BETTER body then they did last month?

No Way !
What type of cardio do I recommend in the Physique Formula For Skinny-Fat Guys? I bet you’re thinking that I recommend interval training, right? Nope, you’re wrong. While I love interval training and think it’s great for fat loss, most people have never truly done correct intervals. Running for 30 seconds followed by walking for 45 seconds isn’t intervals. You’ve Been Lied To Again.

Jimmy

Get Lean Like Marc Ferrara from Chicago
"I'm loving the Physique Formula Nutrition method. Not only does it allow me to eat what and when I want but I don't have to do endless cardio either. Keep up the great work. I now have the 6-pack at 37 to prove it" Marc Ferrara, Chicago

2008-05-15T12:32:00.000-07:00

how much protein to build muscle

Everyone wants to know how much protein you need to build muscle.

Honestly, we don't need as much as most people think. I actually give you table for deciding how much protein that we should take post workout in my Physique Formula ebook. The amount of protein that we take in is dependent on how much carbs we are eating that day.

See carbs are protein spraing which means that the carbs get used for energy. In addition, when carbs are present we can actually eat less protein.

Why?

More protein is getting converted to muscle due to the insulin that is present from our carbs. Less protein can be broken down for energy as well which means more protein can be used to build muscle.

I'd love to give you a definitive answer but it all depends on the carbs we take in.

Jimmy

P.S- I'm on itunes, search for "how to build muscle and lose fat podcast"

2008-05-14T12:31:00.000-07:00

Physique Formula Surefire Smoothie Sneak peek

I'm going to let the cat out of the bag here and let you "look over my shoulder" and see a smoothie recipe from the Physique Formula Surefire Smoothie cookbook

This one tastes amazing....

Berrie and cream shake
Ingredients:1 Scoop whey protein prefer vanilla
1 Scoop Of Ice
1 Can Of Pineapple Juice
½ cup Of Mixed Blue Berries
200 cal, 17 g protein, 30 g carbs, 1.5 g fat

Not available in stores get on the first notice list at www.jimmysmithtraining.com

Jimmy

"Thank God for the Surefire Smoothies in The Physique Formula. I'm on my feet all day working so I really don't have time to sit down and eat a meal. These things take no time or effort to whip up at all. My favorite? That's got to be the Fortified Size Milkshake. A milkshake with little to no fat and low carbs? It tastes that good to."

George Dawson St.Paul,MN Mechanic

2008-05-13T06:07:00.000-07:00

muscle building supplements

I really find muscle building supplements pretty funny. On one hand I don't really think you need to take supplements at all when you are building muscle. Sure you're training hard but you should be eating more than normal which mean you'll have mo nutrients than normal. So it didn't matter how much you deplete yourself of zinc or magnesium or any nutrient since you are continually getting more.

I honestly only use and suggest a few supplements for. No when we're getting lean, that's when the fun start.

Stop being scammed by the fake "gurus" and magazines who tell you that you need three different type of hormone boosters.

Frankly it comes down to the amount of carbohydrates that you can use efficiently.

Since insulin locks up sex hormone binding globulin which limits the amount of teststerone that is around to build muscle and get lean, we'll need to take certain supplement just to make sure we are using our carbs wisely.

1) Fish oil

2) ALA

3) Fenugreek

Those three, aside from quality protein and branch chained amino acids, zinc and magnesium, there aren't really any other supplements that you need to increase your size.

Jimmy

P.S- Don't make things more difficult, follow the Nutrition Elite Software that comes with the Physique Formula just like Scott Mason from Scranton PA

"The best part of the Physique Formula was the Nutrition Elite Software. Most other programs just throw you a bunch of meal plans to follow. That works if you're a monkey but for anyone else who wants variety they stink. The Nutrition Elite Software has over 200 preloaded foods to choose me. Jimmy, the best part was that I just put in the carbs, protein and fat amounts that I wanted to eat and then it took me about 2 minutes to pick foods. Plus, I finally realize how little I was eating because the NES compares what I need to eat to grow against what I actually put in my mouth. I'm not complaining about 6 pounds of muscle in 15 days."

Scott Mason, Scranton PA

2008-05-12T13:05:00.000-07:00

Look Me In The Eyes.....

"I will become what I know I am"

2008-05-12T12:54:00.000-07:00

how to build muscle and lose fat

Podcast is now up. I have a lot to say so why not do it on itunes right? 5 minutes or so, one concept, take it to the gym and use it.

Subscribe through itunes so you get it while it's hot.

http://jsmith.audioacrobat.com/rss/how_to_build_muscle_and_lose_fat_podcast_1.xml

Jimmy

2008-05-09T04:48:00.000-07:00

what are the signs of overtraining

Q: Is overtraining real? I see some people training full body three or four days a week and doing a few cardio sessions and they look great and when I talk to them they say they always love coming to the gym. Then I see another bunch of people who train that way and they are miserable and haven't grown in months.

A: Honestly, many of the nervous system experts today are debating if overtraining is real or not real. I'm in the middle on this and don't think it's entirely a nervous system thing. We have a greater chance of overtraining if we're on a low carb diet right?

I feel that there are a few factors that affect if we overtrain or not

1) We either have it or we don't. You know how some people are just better athletes than others? Well the same goes for overtraining.

2)Natural hormones. People with higher anabolic hormones are going to be able to train harder and longer than people under stress or with less anabolic hormones.

3)Natural progression. Look around the gym and notice how many people actually track what they are doing, probably one in every ten. Now of those people who track things down, how many are building in more work over time and miss a week every twelve weeks or so? A very small percentage. Those are the people who can handle a greater workload.

They've built it in, most people don't even track anything and just want to do more, more sets, more reps, more cardio.

Another interesting point to factor in is grip placement. Zink et al did a study where they looked at a close grip, supinated grip, wide grip and wide grip posterior lat pulldown.

They found that the wider grips activated the lats and long head of the triceps more while the closer grips activated the posterior delts more.

That's interesting since you don't have to be a egghead to do this in the gym. Just switch your grip and you'll recruit different nervous system patterns.

Jimmy

P.S. The beta testers for the Physique Formula are flying in and their results are amazing me.

2008-05-08T08:21:00.000-07:00

muscle growth fast

Muscle growth fast, come on, we all think about about. Who doesn't want to get ahead of the curve and build pounds of muscle? Now the Physique Formula is a no b.s. true look at what it takes to build muscle and I actually came across a very cool way to add pounds of muscle growth fast.

1) Lower your total volume of sets. This isn't a Arther Jones like H.I.T one set to failure but if you drop a set from your training the now 2 or 3 sets you do will be that much more intense.

2)Perform at least 3-4 multijoint exercises each work. More muscle recruited and more total weight used is always a recipe for size.

3)Drop a training day once a week. Studies show that as you increase your size and strength your recovery abilities drop by 20-30%.

4)Consume the first four meals of the day with at least 50 grams of slow digesting carbs like oatmeal or yams and have the last three or four meals with around 20 grams of crabs, 10-15 grams of healthy fat and 5-10 grams of fiber.

Try it

Jimmy

2008-05-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

How to cut your workout time in half

Today's guest blog comes from my mentor Craig Ballantyne. Here's the reason why. See on Monday Craig turned 33 years old and has been partying it up. So as a result I wanted to share one of my personal favorite articles that he has ever written.

Check out Craigs article.

"Do you know the 2 biggest reasons men and women stop exercising?

1) Lack of time
2) Lack of motivation

Let's tackle "Lack of Time" today with 5 ways you can get your
workouts done faster. After all, no one should spend more than 50 minutes in the gym.

Here are 5 ways to cut time from your workouts.

a) Supersets

I use "non-competing" superset. This means, choose two exercises for different muscle groups - and preferably completely opposite movements. For example, choose a push and a pull. That way, one muscle group rests while the other works...and you cut the rest time you need between sets.

b) Choose a better warmup strategy

Don't waste 10 minutes walking on the treadmill. Instead, use a
total body circuit of bodyweight exercises as a general warmup, and then move directly into specific warm-up sets for your first two exercises.

c) Pair dumbbell and bodyweight exercises together in your
supersets

This saves you time at home (you don't need to change the dumbbell weight between exercises) and in the gym (you don't need to fight for 2 sets of dumbbells).

d) Choose Intervals over slow cardio

The latest research shows more weight loss when people use
intervals, and intervals take half as long to do.

e) Limit the use of isolation exercises

Pick multi-muscle exercises, such as squats, pulls, pushes, and
rows. If you have time, you can squeeze in some dropsets for arms and shoulders if you want. However, if you only have 3 sessions of 45 minutes per week, isolation exercises must be the first to go.

In addition, don't spend more than 10 minutes per week on direct ab training. It's not efficient and won't give you rock hard abs alone.

Workout less, live life more,"

Some good advice there.

Jimmy

P.S. Fat loss information like this can be found in Craigs TT For Cuts. If anyone purchases it before midnight tonight and sends me the receipt you'll get a free preview of The Physique Formula.

2008-05-06T04:49:00.000-07:00

Indiana Jones Workout

Harrison Ford is performing an intense workout regime in order for his upcoming blockbuster Indiana Jones 4. According to his girlfriend

"He’s on a strict high-protein diet. He’s eating lots of fish and vegetables."

I think it's pretty simple. I mean we can look at him and tell he's not using drugs which is often the reason that most people give for celebs getting in great shape. Plus we over complicate fat loss, it's alot easier than we think.

Now I'm not working with Harrison but I imagine his workout looks something like this.

3-4 days of full body workouts with multi joint movements

3-4 sets of 8-15 reps per set

Short rest, around 30-45 seconds between sets

Aerobic training 3-4 days per week for 30-45 minutes

I don't think he's taking a lot of supplements either. He's probably not even taking protein powder but just getting his nutrients from whole food.

Try that approach then lets see how stubborn that fat is.

Jimmy

P.S. For a fat burning and muscle building workout to get in movie star shape check out www.jimmysmiththingtraining.com and learn the muscle building secrets of the worlds best cover models.

"The Physique Formula beats any of the other muscle building programs I've ever tried. Not only does it come with a social guide so I don't feel like I'm ruining my hard work when I go out but the workouts are easy and quick but deliver fantastic results. I was able to drop my body fat from 14% to 12% in six and a half weeks. That was all done on the bulletproof body program too. 2% body fat lose plus my previously painful shoulder feels brand new"

Larry Gill Atlanta GA Sales Executive

2008-05-05T12:43:00.000-07:00

Skinny Fat Curse

Skinny fat isn't cool. For anyone who isn't familiar with what skinny fat is, it's a curse of certain body types for people who have skinny arms and legs but a big gut. As a matter of fact it's more like a disease almost. You see anytime you try to add muscle and you're skinny fat your gut gets big and anytime you try to get lean your arms get smaller.

This plague occurs in more people than you think. Just walk into any gym and look at the people in there. Their either big or small, no one is lean and jacked, well until now.

See in my upcoming book, The Physique Formula, I get into the heart of the matter to why people are skinny fat, how to eat if you are skinny fat and hand you the only step-by-step plan ever written for skinny fat people.

If you're a hardgainer or skinny guy then I'm not sure if I want you getting this product. It will work marvels for you but you don't need to be worrying about doing anything but eating more.

If you're skinny fat however, if you hate dieting and losing all of your hard earned muscle then I'm talking to you.

See here's three things I'm currently doing to beat the skinny fat sickness and that you can do until May 15th and the release of the Physique Formula.

1) Going on a high fat diet. I'm not just talking about a few fish oil caps here and there but 15-20 grams of healthy fats every meal. Natural peanut butter, macademia nut oil, almonds, walnuts, cashews and high doses of fish oil. I'm not full, I can go low carb longer and my workouts have never been fueled better.

2) Using skinny fat supplements. Yes there are only a select few supplements that actually work for skinny fat people. See our hormones are different, we have a fast metabolism and high anabolic hormones but we also have high muscle wasting hormones. Using just a few nutritional supplements in proper combination have me reducing fat on the skinny fat spots which are the gut, lower back and some small fat deposits on the upper/mid back.

3)Using skinny fat sets and reps. Most people think that 8-12 reps is the best for muscle building and it is but not for us. See research has shown that lower reps produce more natural testosterone while higher reps produce more growth hormone.

Being that we're skinny fat our testosterone is actually "locked" and we don't have a lot of useable test so we need to train with lower reps to save muscle when we diet and kick start our natural testosterone production.

Jimmy

P.S. Look for my email about the first 5 pounds of fat loss in your email tomorrow.

2008-05-02T13:49:00.000-07:00

Fat Lose Pills

Q:In terms of losing fat in May for the summer months, I sometimes switch to
more supplements as my protein source versus whole foods during most of the
day. Do you find any difference in fat loss results when people choose
supplements over lean sources like chicken and fish in the majority of their
diet?

A: Not at all. I actually see greater fat loss in people who use supplements when they diet versuses people who don't. The fact remains that for hard training people certain mineral losses are going to exist. Also, since when I'm dieting I'm eating bland, I really don't want to eat just chicken. I'll have full days where I just have a casein/whey shake with some nuts and veggies each meal. I'm a big supplement guy when someone is trying to get super lean.

Q:What have you found in your training experience could be the causes for knee pain during any squatting type movement with an overweight person? What ways have you found are best solutions to work around this?

A: While I do think that weight plays an issue since it puts extra stress on the hip and knee joint, I'd focus more on what is going on in the hips and quad. Basically most people have an issue when their knee comes too far forward. This isn't a big deal but the quad needs to be stretched first and foremost. Also hip control is essential as well. Focus on increasing the glute max strength and glute medius strength so that they have more control over the femur.

2008-05-01T09:25:00.000-07:00

Career Advice

Q: I am a 20 year old guy from England and I started training at the beginning of the year, and had a raging passion for improving my health and fitness, along with a great interest in the Fitness Industry itself. But after 4-5 months I am finding myself very confused about what to do, which has resulted in a major lack of motivation and loss of passion for it all. The one thing that is currently keeping me going is reading and listening to you on the fitcast. You are a very inspiring individual to me, you seem to know alot, and put in 100% of your effort to learn and understand everything and anything you can within the industry. I wish that I could know and be as self motivated as you are! Hopefully one day I can get back on track and do it!

Would there be any tips or help, books, websites, communities, things that I could learn from and meet like-minded people so that I feel more motivated to train again. Not having alot of support around my in life has taken its toll. And I would really like to be able to find people that I could talk to about training, people that would actually be interested in talking about the same things that I am interested in.

A: I always wanted to be in human performance and when I got out of college and decided that I was going to go for it full time I just knew that I wanted to be the best. Nothing but the best. Get that in your mind and never let anyone tell you that you can't do it. Become obsessed with being nothing but the best. Bookstores and libraries are free,spend your Friday and Saturday nights there. You may miss one of your drunk friends stumbling down the stairs but you'll have more money in your pocket and set yourself up for more success. Train your clients, go home and work on becoming the smartest person that you can be.

That's how I did it, I became obsessed and don't ever let anyone tell you that you are doing too much. When they tell you that then do more.

Go to every seminars that you can afford to within a few hours of you. I'm on the east coast so I'm lucky that there are a few seminars around my area but anytime there's a big fitness seminar in your area then attend it.

Never think of education as an expense. Only as a way to get better. It's not what the book will cost you to read but what will not reading it cost you?

Here's what I recommend for books

For Program Design

For Rehab and Mobility

For Nutrition

Start there today

2008-04-30T12:26:00.000-07:00

Fat Loss Motivation

Today's blog post is a guest blog post. I'm always reading everyone's information on this field and when I come across someone who I really think gets "it", I grab them. Today's guest blog is from Scott Tousignant

By 2015, 75% of Adults Will Be Overweight; 41% Will Be Obese. That’s a pretty scary statistic that was just released by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In fact they are calling it a public health crisis. So are you going to accept these statistics as inevitable? Or even worse, are you going to become a part of that statistic?
I don’t think so! You’re smarter than that. You realize that the only reality is this very moment and in this very moment you have a choice to take matters into your own hands and strive for the healthy and vibrant body that you deserve.

Since we’re talking statistics here I may as well bring up one that most of us are familiar with; 95% of all people who attempt to lose weight will gain it all back and more.
Pretty depressing huh? Most people will look at that and see the odds completely stacked against them. You on the other hand are beaming with excitement and enthusiasm. You see that 5% and you are absolutely certain that’s where you belong.

Those people who can’t seem to get their focus off the 95% are afraid to set a fat loss goal because they see the chances of failing are pretty darn high. There’s no way they’ll ever tell anyone about their dream of fitting into a 2 piece bathing suit, because it would certainly be embarrassing if they don’t accomplish their goal.

I guarantee that if you are afraid of failing to reach your weight loss goal you will fail by default. The problem is that these people are basing their dreams on logic. Doesn’t that kind of take the fun out of dreaming?
Do you really want to develop the ‘Unstoppable’ motivation that will drive you towards achieving fat loss success? Did I hear a ‘YES’? Sorry what I meant to say was, “Do you really, truly, from the bottom of your heart and every ounce of your being want to learn the necessary skills to develop the type of attitude and belief that absolutely nothing in this world or any other will ever get in the way of you and your dream body?

Can I get a Hell Ya?

That’s what I’m talking about! Allow me to share with you some of my top strategies that will ignite that ‘Unstoppable’ mindset within you. I’m not going to go into detail about goal setting, visualization, and positive thinking right now because I’m sure that you’ve heard a fair amount about that lately. It’s all great stuff, but if you really want that unstoppable attitude like you said you do it’s going to take much more than that.

1. Passion – This is wear it all starts. Set your goals from your heart. Forget about what the statistics say and any of your past failures. What does your dream body look like? How bad do you want it? Why do you want it so bad? How is your life going to change once you achieve it? Think of how much passion will come into your life once you are lean and sexy.

2. Growth – Achieving your goal does not have to happen over night. Small changes add up very quickly. A great strategy is to simply be better today then you were yesterday and better tomorrow than you are today. After 6 months you will be blown away with the improvements that you’ve made. 18 months from now you could be a fitness model. It’s true!

3. Comfort Zone – In order to experience this daily growth there are times when you will have to step outside of your comfort zone. You will have to increase the intensity of your workouts, prepare food in advance, write down your goals, spend some time visualizing, pass on the dessert, and other things that have not become a habit for you just yet. Accept discomfort and expect it. It’s an opportunity for you to become better than you are today.

4. Gratitude – It’s easy to be grateful when things are going well, but I find the practice of being grateful for who you are today and for the so called failures and challenges of your past is much more powerful. Each challenge or failure provides you with the opportunity to grow and improve yourself. If you want to be happy in your body start today! Love yourself unconditionally. Be grateful for all your past experiences because they have contributed to the lean and sexy person that you are about to become.

5. Become – This could very well be the most powerful word in your vocabulary when you use it properly. For example; “I have become UNSTOPPABLE!” “I have become Mary, the lean and sexy women who loves healthy foods and living the active lifestyle.”

When you ‘become’ something or someone it is no longer a hope or dream. It’s a part of who you are. You now hold these beliefs and attitudes that nothing will get in your way.

I knew that I became ‘Unstoppable’ when the alarm clock would go off at 5:00am so I could go for my morning walk, and it was no longer about fat loss. I was doing it because I loved it. It provided me with an opportunity to clear my head, plan out my day, enjoy the sounds of the birds chirping, listen to an educational audio on my Mp3 player, and more than anything it energized me first thing in the morning when I would typically be tired.

6. Fun – Research shows that the people who choose activities that they enjoy are more likely to stick to their programs for the long term. You may read a book that lays out the best fat burning workout routine and nutrition program, but if you don’t enjoy it chances are you will not stick with it.

There are so many different workout programs on the market. Experiment with them and find the ones that fit best with your lifestyle and the ones that you enjoy the most. Don’t just stick with one. You need variety and variety will keep the enjoyment of activity at a high level.

7. Role Model – You need new references, which demonstrate that achieving your dream body will happen. Seek out that 5% of the population and model their behaviors and actions. If someone tells you that your fat loss goals are unrealistic just show them a picture of your role models.

Will you join me in making sure that this recent statistic showing “By 2015, 75% of Adults Will Be Overweight; 41% Will Be Obese” never becomes a reality? After all, you deserve to be living in your dream body.

About the author:

Scott Tousignant, BHK, CFC is the creator of Unstoppable Fat Loss, "What separates the people who achieve fat loss success, from those who struggle to lose weight.”
Check out Unstoppable Fat Loss

2008-04-29T03:22:00.000-07:00

Bosu ball training

Q:Jimmy, I've been a fan of your writing for awhile and I know you know your stuff. But I'm confused why you bashed inverted bosu pushups in your t nation article: The 9 Keys to Productive Training

http://www.t-nation.com/article/performance_training/the_9_keys_to_productive_training&cr=performanceTraining

I assume it's simply because there's a general hatred by NSCA guys of the Bosu, and you consider it fluff or some similar reason. But here's my take. My assumption from the start is that you have no problem with the pushup:

1. I get the benefit of a pushup but by gripping the bosu with a neutral grip it really saves my wrists. I can't do regular pushups due to wrist pain, I can only do fist pushups. Pushups on the upside down Bosu feel great on the wrists and have all the benefits of regular pushups plus:

2. The instability seems to help teach scapular control, a major problem for someone like me who spent far too much time benching for too many years and developed some 'dumb' scapulae. Doing pushups on a swiss ball does not seem to do this because it's too akward to place your hands in exactly the right spot.

3. The resistance is increased by the fact that you're pushing air into the ground instead of contacting the ground. I can bench press my weight for sets of 10 but can only do maybe 15 Bosu pushups, even less when I do them at the very end of a workout. I can bang out about 40 pushups on my fists, so the resistance is considerable.

A: To be fair I didn't actually really bash bosu push-ups. Here's what I said.
I was talking about having a game plan in the gym and I said "When most people are left alone in the gym bad things happen. How else can you explain people doing BOSU push-ups?"

I agree with you on the first two points. I do think BOSU push-ups are very effective for upper body training for people with wrist and shoulder issues. As a matter of fact I do add push-ups and bosu push-ups in for people with rotator cuff and scapula issues. The unstable surface forces rotator cuff activation and control of the humerus. Plus, it puts you in a close chain which means it gives the shoulder more stability.

I'm not so sure about point three though. I wouldn't take the fact that you can do less bosu push-ups than you can bench press as a indicator that the bosu is superior. Its lack of stability makes it excellent for rehab training and not as effective for strength or power training.

I'm still not a fan of unstable training. I know that it can help synergist muscle recruitment but when we are trying to get strong and big we can't have lower muscular recruitment in our main muscles which is what happens in unstable training.

It really comes down to three questions.

For a trainer:
Who's the client?

What's their issue?

What are we training them for?

For someone training for themselves
What's my issues?

What am I training for?

What do I want out of my training?

2008-04-28T16:36:00.001-07:00

Video Update

2008-04-28T03:14:00.000-07:00

Why YOU even go to the gym

I don't really think anyone really looks into why they do what they do, that is why do you go to the gym to begin with? I don't know how many people I see in the gym that are there to just say that they "workout". Well first off there's a difference between "working out" and "training".

One implies that you are there to sweat and the other implies that you have a definite purpose. Definite purpose is one of Napoleon Hill's 12 principles of highly successful people that he describes in Think and Grow Rich. Knowing exactly what you do when you set foot in the gym every time you are there.

I was recently asked by someone how long I plan my training out. That is do I know what I'll be doing in four weeks.

Yes I do, I know exactly what I'll be doing. I plan my training in four week cycles, that is I do the same thing for four weeks after that I adjust based on my current goal, results or future goals.

Case in point, I knew that on May 1st I'd be dieting so the last few weeks of April were spent focusing on certain areas that I wanted to bring up.

Definite purpose....