General Health Article Archive

The 6×6 Mind, Body, and Soul Workout

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Matt Posted in Cardio Training, General Health, Self Improvement, Strength Training, Training, Weight loss Leave a comment

Improve your mind, body, and soul to unlock your true potential.

Several weeks ago, I was bouncing around the web, checking out a few new health and fitness sites that had been recommended to me. I was just casually scoping things out, looking for a little inspiration, when suddenly, something hit me. Maybe it was the 16th article titled “Lose the Belly Fat Fast!” or the random blog commenter asking what she needs to do to look like Victoria Beckham (seriously? you want to look like a pipe cleaner with fake boobs?), but whatever it was, it was clear; fitness content around the web is losing sight of the big picture.

It seems like more and more these days, people are demanding, and creators are producing, content that is geared towards the superficial. It’s all about how can I look better. Now, before we go any further, I’ll admit, wanting to look good is not in and of itself a bad thing. If that’s what motivates you to get off your butt and go to the gym, so be it. Personally, it’s a big factor in what dictates my intense regimen. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to look good. But from a content creator side of things (you know, the person or people who are producing the workouts and fitness articles you’re reading) we’re doing you a disservice by not paying attention to all aspects of your being.

At least around here, I think I do a pretty good job of trying to balance posts that are….a bit superficial in nature, shall we say (Anyone Want a Bubblicious Butt?), with others that conveys important physiological health and wellness information (Why the Number on the Scale Doesn’t Matter). But the truth of the matter is, if you stumbled upon only one of our articles, you might not get the full picture of what we’re all about. I truly want to help you from top to bottom, while getting you into the best shape of your life, both inside and out. With that in mind, I got to work on the a plan that respects all aspects of your health; mind, body, and soul.

This mind, body, and soul workout is unlike anything else you’ll find on Share it Fitness. It takes a three-pronged approach towards you and your health. Not only is it focused on improving your health and aesthetics (things like flattening your stomach, toning your arms, etc) but it strives to strengthen your mind and nourish your soul. This was a bit of a challenge. How can a workout really improve your soul? Well, it took some careful thinking, a little consulting with a couple of yogi’s I know, but I think we successfully put together something that achieves all three goals.

The workout I created is tough, both physically and mentally. The physical aspect of the workout I’m about to share with you takes more than strength or endurance; it takes determination and will-power. You’ll quickly figure out if you have the will-power to make it through this workout, let alone, stick with it over an extended period of time. This is where the mental aspect comes into play. Far too often, workouts are created like a grocery list. You start at the top, perform each exercise, and move on. There isn’t enough structure to push you to your limits. With this workout, exercises are carefully balanced and rest times precisely placed to give you that “I don’t know if I can make it through this entire workout” feeling. That feeling is what builds mental toughness. Strong mental tenacity is at the core of almost every one of those insanely fit (and insanely healthy) people, so many of you are striving to be.

As mentioned, I wanted to delve a little deeper and design something that took a more holistic approach to your health and wellness. Those yogi friends of mine helped me put together a guided meditation practice that will feed your soul, just as the physical aspect of this workout feeds your body and physical well-being. By using meditation and learning how to turn your thoughts inward, you’re able to channel your energy and come away a stronger, happier, and healthier person in the long run.

Now, on to the workouts….

Working the Mind, Body, and Soul

The Mind and Body

The workout format is as follows:

Two strength exercises followed by one cardio exercise (in bold). Each exercise consists of 36 repetitions, broken up into 6 sets of 6 repetitions. On strength exercises, shoot to use a weight that is roughly 10-20% heavier than you would for a standard 3 sets of 10 repetition format. For example, if you typically perform 3 sets of 10 reps on bench press with 100 pounds, bump it up to 110-120lbs for 6 x 6. Only decrease weights if you are losing your form and/or unable to reach the full 6 repetitions in later sets.

What makes this workout so hard is the strict rest times. We’re going to overload the muscle, so be sure to abide by the times listed. Wear a watch, keep an eye on the clock on the wall…do whatever you have to do. Continue to push and don’t let those rest breaks deviate from what is indicated below.

Shoot to perform this workout two times a week to start. Feel free to continue with any additional cardiovascular or strength training you’re currently doing. Just be sure you aren’t over training sore muscles; give yourself a solid 48 hours between strength workouts.

6 x 6 Smith Machine or Barbell Squats, 30 seconds rest between sets
6 x 6 Kettlebell/Dumbbell Swings, 30 seconds rest between sets
6 x 6 Box Jumps (perform tuck jumps if no box/bench available), 10 seconds rest between sets
6 x 6 Bent Over Rows, 30 seconds rest between sets
6 x 6 Bench Press, 30 seconds rest between sets
6 x 6 Burpees, 10 seconds rest between sets
6 x 6 Pull Ups (do dead hangs if you can’t do pull ups), 20 seconds rest between sets
6 x 6 Lat Pulldowns, 30 seconds rest between sets
6 x 6 Twist Jumps, 10 seconds rest between sets
6 x 6 Farmer Walks (holding dumbbells in both hands, walk the length of the room; ~10 feet = 1 repetition). 30 seconds rest between sets.
6 x 6 Curl Press, 30 seconds rest between sets
6 x 6 Russian Lunges, 10 seconds rest between sets

The Soul

With the physically tough stuff out-of-the-way, we’re going to now turn our attention to nourishing your soul. A lot has been written about mindfulness and the physical benefits derived from meditation. Meditation transcends the physical and improves the things you simply cannot measure. Learning to meditate, clear your mind, and channel your energy within yourself can help you become a happier, more thoughtful human being, and open up new doors within the mind.

I’m not going to lie, meditation is hard if you’re brand new to the practice. My first attempt at meditation didn’t exactly go as planned. What was supposed to be a 30 minute meditation session turned into a two and a half hour nap, as I awoke to find myself sprawled out on the ground. Needless to say, I got a little too relaxed. To avoid running into issues of your own, we’re going to have you start slowly. For your “soul training” you’re only going to mediate for six minutes at a time, six days a week. That’s it. Six, short minutes.

6 x 6 Meditation Practice

Originally, I wanted to lay out a different meditative focus for each of the six days. The yogi’s, knowing better, suggested I leave that part to the individual. Following their direction, I’m simply going to list some meditative options that I think you may find interesting. Feel free to come up with your own if none of the below appeal to you.

Our precious human life
Death and impermanence
Remembering the kindness of living beings
Wishing love

For a full list, check out some others I found on this website.

Some other options I personally find beneficial:

Envisioning yourself attaining a goal
How to become a better human being
A particular teaching from your preferred religion, if applicable.
Nothing at all - keeping a clear and open mind, allowing thoughts to calmly flow in and out, like a wave on the shore.

Remember, when you meditate, try to keep all of your thoughts and energy on that ONE focus. While outside influences and thoughts may invade your mental space, do not fight them. Recognize them for what they are, allow them to come in, before allowing them to slowly fade away. Do not grasp on to them or attempt to banish them. Just realize this is all part of the process. Over time, your ability to stay focused and present in the moment will increase, as well as your ability to increase the length of your meditation sessions. Do what’s right for you and proceed with your “soul training” as you see fit.

This mind, body, and soul workout is probably unlike anything you’ve ever attempted. I’m a true believer that incorporating the unfamiliar and potentially uncomfortable into our lives is how we achieve maximal growth. This powerful workout plan is designed to help you improve your body, mind, and soul with a carefully constructed method that uses a holistic approach to improving you as a human being, inside and out. Use all, or parts of it as you see fit, and be ready and open to experience change like you never thought possible.

How to Change Yourself When the Idea of Change is Holding You Back

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Matt Posted in General Health, Motivation, Self Improvement 1 Comment

The decision to change yourself is scary. The idea of changing yourself is comforting.

I bet a lot of you are looking at that title and going….what?!

I’m not trying to be cryptic here, just attempting to shine some light on the human psyche and how I’ve seen wide-eyed people, full of hope and enthusiasm have their dreams slip away because the idea of change, at least for them, was greater than change itself.

You’re still probably saying…..what?! Bear with me a little longer here and you’ll see that the ideas behind today’s post transcend fitness and are completely relatable to any set of goals you may have in your life. Recognizing what we’re about to lay out below is the most powerful step you can take in turning raw motivation into something viable to change yourself for good.

Standing at the Front Door to the Rest of Your Life

Think back several years (and for some of you, many more than several!) to when you were in high school. You were still young, naive, and full of hope. At this point in time, almost anything was possible. You were free; able to go any which way you chose. You could become or change yourself into anything you wanted. You probably had limited responsibilities and were standing at the front door to the rest of your life.

As time wears on, slowly but surely (and whether we realize it or not) our options diminish. We assume more responsibilities, the consequences of our decisions begin to pile up, and generally, our point of view slowly becomes more similar to that of the mainstream. Your ability to change yourself becomes more limited. Over time, our ”dreams” slowly cement themselves as dreams, and nothing more.

Some dreams and/or goals are lost forever. I can say with absolute certainty, I will never play college football (this is more of an example than an actual dream). I’ve completed college, used up my NCAA eligibility, and will not be getting any more. This dream is gone and there’s nothing I can do about it. On the other hand, it has always been a dream of mine (actual) to complete an Ironman triathlon. This dream is still in the realm of possibilities. It’ll take a hell of a lot of hard work and determination, but it is a dream that is still achievable.

For most people, deciphering between the physically achievable and the physically impossible to achieve isn’t hard. Yes, maybe it was your lifelong goal to become a FBI agent…until you realize the past 10 years of your life spent in a cloud of pot might not look so good on the polygraph. For the majority of us, we learn to accept what we cannot achieve, and move on.

You Need to Feel Like You Can Still Change Yourself

As humans, we crave opportunity. No one likes to be boxed into a decision…especially if it’s a decision you didn’t make. We are keenly aware of goals and opportunities that ARE still under out control. We focus on these, because THESE are the things we can do something about. Deliver pizzas for a living but want to go back to college to study business? You have the power to change yourself and make this happen. Gained 30 pounds after your last baby but want to get back to your pre-pregnancy weight? This is achievable. No matter what our age, we look for and relish these potential opportunities. It gives us power. It gives us hope. It makes us feel that we still have some semblance of control over our lives. This feeling is useful. Many people are able to harness this raw emotion of hope and motivation and turn it into action. This action is how you bridge those obstacles standing in your way and change yourself for the better.

But, as I’ve noticed amongst friends, family, and clientele over the years….for many people, the idea of change is greater than change itself. I’ll give you an example..

I had a good friend I knew from college who, like many of us, took a job immediately after graduating that he wasn’t exactly in love with. He sat in his cube, punching buttons, not doing what he thought he was meant to be doing. We talked regularly and he’d often tell me about his grand plans. At one point he was going to go back to school to get his MBA. Next, he was planning to go to culinary school and realize his true passion of cooking. Later, he got the idea of law school into his head. Fast-foward 6 years…he’s still sitting in that cube, hating his job, living in the glow of the possibility of changing his circumstances.

Sometimes the idea that you still have the ability to change yourself or your circumstances. is enough to provide the mental satisfaction to continue carrying on. It gives hope; it makes you feel as though all is not lost. We feel we can still control our own destiny. It’s a good feeling. Unfortunately, that hope sometimes leads to inaction. That inaction is almost always the result of the single most damaging thing you can tell yourself; “I still have time”.

Why “I Still Have Time” is The Worst Thing You Can Say If You Want to Change Yourself

Sure, my buddy still has time to improve his circumstances. He’s only 27, he’s a smart guy, and he’s got one of those magnetically charismatic personalities people enjoy being around. The problem is, his attachment to the idea that he still has time to change himself, is preventing him from changing.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a bit of a procrastinator. I work hard everyday to overcome this tendency, but it’s still something that pops up every now and then. I don’t think I’m unique. I think a lot of people are willing to put off today what they feel they can do tomorrow. This feeling is at the very core of why so many people fail to ever accomplish what they set out to do.

So I’ve got 25 pounds to lose? No big deal, I’ve lost more before. I can easily drop 50 pounds, so many people have done that. No big deal. Sixty pounds? So what? The people on The Biggest Loser lose sooo much more. Okay, 70 pounds is gonna be tough, but it’s still doable, I used to be an athlete after all. Alright, I don’t know how I got 100 pounds overweight, but I’m still young enough to do this. I can do this.

And then boom…..

The doctor says I’m a diabetic. My knees are bad. My chest hurts when I run. My back is worse than ever. This weight just isn’t dropping like it used to. I wish I had done something sooner.

Changing Yourself Is Hard

Changing yourself is hard. Thinking about changing yourself is not. The idea that you have the power to drop X number of pounds gives you hope. Dropping X number of pounds is hard. This type of change requires hard work. In the romanticized version in your head, you simply focus on the fact you have the power to change. You may not be thinking about all of the steps required to achieve that goal. Perhaps you make a half-hearted effort at dropping those pounds, but upon realizing how hard it is, you recoil back and tell yourself “I can do it later. I still have time”. You go back to basking in the good feelings of knowing you can drop those pounds whenever you want…until you actually CAN’T because you’re too sick, old, fill in the blank.

Now, I’m no sports psychologist, so take what I’m saying as my personal point of view, and nothing more…

The good feelings that are associated with knowing you have the ability to change your job, get fit, meet someone new, etc. are, again in my opinion, no different from a drug. They produce good feelings in your brain, relieve your anxieties, and over time, you grow attached to this feeling. Trying to actually change yourself is uncomfortable. What if you fail? What if you realize you really CAN’T go back to law school because you simply aren’t smart enough? That opportunity is now gone. The good feelings that were derived from this possibility have now dried up. You might feel hopeless, lost, out of control of your own life. These feelings are all scary, and are the reason so many people would rather hold on to the hope that they can change, rather than actually try to change themselves.

What Can You Do About It?

This is a hard question to answer. Truthfully, I don’t have an exact answer for you. I believe it’s all about getting off that “drug” and facing your fear. Sure, you might not be as smart or as determined as you think you are. But at the end of the day…at least you’ll know. Think about it…you’re living in the world of make-believe when you envision all of these pie-in-the-sky possibilities. They make you feel good, but that’s all they do. They don’t help your current circumstances or bring about actual change in your life. In effect, these romanticized possibilities are preventing you from changing yourself.

You are setting yourself up for a world of “coulda, woulda, shoulda” many years down the road when you refuse to give up your attachment to these feelings. Honestly, for me, it’s just a matter of saying, screw it, I’m going to do it. I’m going to take the necessary steps to try to achieve this goal. If I fail, I fail. Sure, that opportunity is now gone, and it’s one less thing in my life I won’t do. But at least I’ll know.

I truly believe regret is one of the worst human emotions we can encounter. You don’t want to look back at your life when you’re old and gray and be faced with regret after regret. Do something to meet those goals, even if you fail, so you aren’t spending your later years regretting not knowing what might have been.

The great thing about opportunity is that it continues to present itself in various forms throughout our lives. While our dreams and goals may evaporate or change, new ones will continue to form. Just because you realize you may never reach some of your goals, doesn’t mean your life is out of your hands. You’ll encounter numerous other opportunities to change yourself and realize and new dreams as you grow older. The worst thing you can do is live in the fantasy world you’ve created in your head. Get out there and try to achieve. If you fail, so be it. If you succeed, more power to you. But either way, you’ll avoid regret down the road, and might just change your life in the process.

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Learn How to Get Fit By Avoiding The 7 Deadly Sins of Fitness

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Matt Posted in General Health, Motivation 4 Comments

Ever wonder what the difference is between the fit and…..not so fit?

The mantra around these parts has always been, fitness is simple. The goal of this blog has always been to show you how easy it can be to get fit. Whether it’s giving you healthy recipes or new workouts to try out, I try to simplify everything and make it as easy to follow as possible. Now, when I say easy, I mean in theory; losing weight, getting toned, getting ripped…whatever your goals may be, is easy. If you’re reading this, then you’re all human. As humans, your body will physiologically respond to well-designed workouts and diets. Getting from point A to point B is a matter of sticking to these workouts and diet. Simple right?

Of course, things in the real world are never as easy as they are on paper. That thing between your ears has a strangle hold on your thoughts, feelings, and motivation. Even an easy to follow, well-designed plan is able to be rendered useless if your motivation is sapped. In other words, we may know we need to take steps X, Y, and Z to lose the weight or simply get fit, but if we can’t get ourselves to consistently abide by steps A, B, and C, we’re never getting anywhere.

Why Some People Can Get Fit…..and Others Never Get Anywhere

In all my years in the fitness biz, I’ve seen a whole lot of people succeed…and I’ve seen a whole lot of people fail.

Have you ever wondered what separates the people who are successfully able to get fit and take themselves to a whole new level, from those who burn out, quit, and spend their lives stuck in a repetitive cycle that goes nowhere? In my opinion, understanding this difference is the best and most important bit of knowledge any fitness provider can have. You can develop the most amazing workouts in the worlds for your clients or blog readers…but if you can’t show them how to avoid the burn out and cycle to nowhere….your workouts are useless.

Because of this feeling, I’ve spent a lot of time observing which traits the successful individuals share. On the flip side, I’ve spent even more time trying to find commonalities between those who failed to reach their goals. By identifying the differences between these groups, I think I’ve uncovered what I like to call The Seven Deadly Sin of Fitness. These traits are increasingly common amongst those who failed to actually get fit or reach whatever goal they set for themselves.

By understanding the things to avoid, you should be able to put yourself in a better position to succeed and avoid the pitfalls that have claimed the fitness goals of many before you.

Sin #1: Too Much Too Soon

This is a common mistake I’ve seen a lot of very new exercisers make. Maybe they’re on a new fitness plan or just signed up for a new gym. Of course, they ran down to Lululemon and dropped half a paycheck on all new, fancy, cute workout clothes. They’re psyched up and ready to go. Their first day in the gym goes off without a hitch. They’re totally digging this whole healthy living/get fit thing. Day two comes and goes without a problem. By day three they’re convinced they’re already seeing a difference in the mirror and want to speed things up. They begin creating unrealistic expectations for themselves. They tell themselves they’re going to run 5 miles before work everyday, then hit the weights at night. They put themselves on a fitness plan that would make an even an Olympian shiver with fear.

Sure enough, within a matter of weeks or even days, they’ve burnt themselves out and as a result, experience a total let down and loss of motivation. This loss of motivation carries over and they find themselves missing workouts and falling back into the cycle of inconsistency which is the absolute biggest obstacle between you and the body and health of your dreams. Moral of the story? Take it slow and steady. I know you want that fitness mag cover model body NOW, but it just doesn’t work that way. Take it day by day and your motivation will INCREASE, putting you in a great position to slowly add longer and harder workouts in time.

Sin #2: Taking an Unbalanced Approach

When I say “get fit”, I mean, improve your cardiovascular endurance, build lean muscle mass, improve flexibility, and generally achieve a higher level of health. Too many people are focused on only ONE of the above goals and are ultimately let down by what they achieve. I’ll be honest, I used to be one of those people. When I was younger, I was only concerned with adding muscle mass. I did cardio maybe a dozen times a year. The end result? A disproportionate body, endless burnout cycles, and a poor level of health and fitness.

A solid fitness plan should incorporate both cardiovascular exercise, resistance training, as well as some sort of foam rolling and/or stretching routine. When we diversify our workouts, we’re less likely to burn out; believe me, lifting weights for the 10th day in a row gets tedious. But when you’ve got yoga one day, a complex workout the next, HIIT biking the day after that, etc. you’re always looking forward to something new. The people who are most successful have the most diverse types of workouts and unsurprisingly, the best and healthiest bodies. You want to get fit? Get balanced.

Sin #3: Forgetting the Most Important Piece of the Puzzle…Your Diet

You’ve probably heard it before, but I’ll say it again…your diet is 60% of the battle to get fit, lose weight…whatever your goal may be. The greatest fitness plan in the world isn’t going to do anything if your diet isn’t on point. Maybe you need to educate yourself as to what a clean, healthy diet is, but if you want any shot at getting fit, you’ve got to do it. I’ve seen so many people continue to eat what they pleased, or worse, indulged even more because they were now working out. Unpredictably, all their time in the gym led to very little progress and they inevitably got burned out and fell back into that cycle to nowhere. Really though, who can blame them? You put in all these hours at the gym and get nowhere…how do you not get disappointed and want to quit?

If you learn to make a concerted effort about what you’re putting in your body, your progress will exponentially increase. There’s nothing quite like seeing someone who has the workout stuff in check, but finally gets the whole nutrition thing. THESE are the people who everyone enviously stares at when they walk around the gym. You need to put as much effort into your diet as you do your workouts. Once you do that, the sky is the limit.

Sin #4: Becoming a Cardio Addict

Get fit AND look good in the process…

For those who aren’t tremendously overweight, and simply want to shed a few pounds while tightening and toning up, overdoing the cardio is one of the worst things you can do. A lot of you guys and girls out there ask me “how do I get toned?” Being “toned” simply means you have less body fat covering your muscles, thereby making them look more defined or “toned”. Without the muscle, you’re not going to achieve that toned look. You don’t need to explain it to me…you don’t want to be skin and bones. You want curves. You want muscular definition. You want to look athletic. I get it. While you may be hitting the weights, if you’re doing hours upon hours of cardio trying to get “toned” you’re going to burn away all the muscle your gaining, and then some.

It’s a huge mistake to think the best way to get lean is by loading up on the cardio. While cardio is an important part of any fitness plan, it can come around to bite you in the ass if you aren’t careful. If you want to look like a marathon runner, all skin and bones, go ahead and do hours of cardio. If you want to look like a lean, mean, athletic machine, take a balanced approach and respect the muscles you’ve worked so hard for.

Sin #5: Looking at/Emulating Others and Expecting Their Results

Each one of you is an individual. You have a different genetic makeup along with a different anatomical structure. What works for one person may not necessarily work for another. This is the reason some people can eat whatever they want, do a few crunches and have a “perfect” body. You on the other hand may have to work harder. You can’t look at that chick you see every night at the gym, do the same exercises as her, and expect to have an identical butt. So many people assume it works like this, then get disappointed and burnt out when they don’t get the results they want.

The goal when you try to get fit and improve your health is maximizing your God-given potential. You can only strive for YOUR best, not someone else’s. That said, don’t sell yourself short either. Push yourself to your personal limits, stay consistent, and have patience and you’ll be pretty amazed at the results.

Sin #6: Reading too Many Magazines…or Other Shady Sources of Information

Just last night, I was at the grocery store and I walked past a check-out aisle. I saw a women’s fitness magazine. Emblazoned on the front cover, right next to the ~~airbrushed~~ fitness model were the words; “Your Dream Body in 2 Weeks!”. I laughed to myself thinking about the ridiculousness of that statement, but then something dawned on me. A lot of people actually believe these type of things. Even if you’re an undying optimist….is a size 18 really going to achieve her “dream body” in just two short weeks? Get real, people.

These claims aren’t limited to magazines. Diet pills, exercise DVD’s, websites…they’re everywhere. Don’t fall into the “get fit quick” schemes. Just like you wouldn’t trust those emails from that banker in Nigeria who wants to give you $2,000,000 just for the hell of it, don’t trust too good to be true fitness claims. To get fit takes a little while. You’ll notice progress along the way, but it’s not going to happen in two weeks. It won’t even happen in 4 weeks. Fitness is a lifelong journey that doesn’t end. You’ll always get better, you’ll always improve, but you can’t set unrealistic expectations or you’ll simply lose motivation and burn out.

Sin #7: Fear

Fear strikes both men and women, and I’ve seen it countless times over. More often than not, the fear is fat. Exercisers are so afraid of fat, they’ll do anything to avoid it. The problem, and irony of it all, is what they’re doing to avoid the fat, is actually making them fat. I’ve seen women who wouldn’t go near the free weight section, or lift a weight heavier than a can of soup for fear of getting bulky (okay, not a fear of fat…but similar). I’ve seen guys who would pump all the weight in the world then go home and starve themselves because they didn’t want to add any fat to their bodies. The results for both groups, was a whole lot of wasted time and effort.

For you women out there…YOU’RE NOT GOING TO GET BULKY LIFTING WEIGHTS. I’ve beaten this issue to death on here. You aren’t men, you don’t have the same levels of hormones a man has, and you certainly aren’t eating like that bulky guy you’re afraid of looking like. You’re going to build smaller, defined muscles, which will help spike your metabolism and turn you into a fat burning machine.

For you men out there…if you don’t feed your muscles, you aren’t going to build muscle mass. Muscle mass doesn’t form out of thin air. If you aren’t giving your body the fuel it needs to grow new tissue, i.e. muscle, all of those weights you lift will be in vain. Feed yourself, understand you may gain a little body fat with that muscle, but it’ll be no problem to burn it off later on. Further to that point, if you’re eating clean and not loading up on junk, your fat gain should be minimal at worst.

The Only Thing That Won’t Let You Get Fit….Is You

YOU are the only thing preventing yourself from having the body and health of your dreams.

Think about that for a minute. The only thing that won’t let you get fit, is you. That’s both an exciting and scary notion. Exciting in the sense that, you have complete control over your ability to achieve the body and health that you want. Scary, because all along your brain has been fighting you and perhaps subconsciously preventing you from getting fit and achieving your goals. The lack of control can be a downright frightening thing.

Take control of your thoughts, emotions, and expectations and you’ll suddenly be more in control of your destiny. Get fit, live the life you want, and always keep pushing to go longer, stronger, and faster than the time before. Fitness is FAR more of a mental game than it is physical. Learn to view each workout as a challenge against yourself. Each time out, you’re competing against the last time you did that workout. Always strive to do better and continue to evolve into the best human being you can be.

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Finding The Fitness Plan That’s Right For YOU

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Matt Posted in General Health, Health in the News, Self Improvement 7 Comments

A thousand fitness plans…where do you start?

The web is littered with choice. With just a few clicks and a couple dozen keystrokes you can find pretty much anything your heart desires. In this day and age, we’ve come to expect an almost limitless number of options for whatever we’re looking for. Sometimes, this is a good thing. A simple search for “vegan recipes with kale and broccoli” returns over 1.4 million options to click…enough to ensure you could eat a different kale and broccoli recipe every night for the rest of your life. For those of you that are as food obsessed as I am, I’m sure you’ll agree this a good thing. But at what point does this plethora of choice become a bad thing? A Google search for “fat burning workouts” returns nearly 5 million results. Where do you start? What’s good, what isn’t? Which workouts were created by a professional with a PhD in exercise physiology and which were created by some 35-year old meathead living in his mom’s basement? And how do you know the anonymous PhD really isn’t a 35-year old meathead living in his mom’s basement? At some point, the virtually infinite number of options we’re given becomes a detriment. zzzzoverwhelmed, anxious, and confused are some of the most recurring themes I encounter when users talk about trying to find the latest and greatest fitness plan to help them ____________ (fill in the blank).

Whether it’s Pinterest, Facebook, your favorite blog, Twitter, or any of the hundreds of other options we have to seek out new information these days, fitness is everywhere. People are clearly more interested in, and more likely to seek out fitness information than ever before. Unsurprisingly, the number of fitness content creators ready to fill this demand is increasing as well.

Given the current landscape and the number of content creators pumping out the next “best” workout or fitness plan, there has become a dizzingy array of choices for the average exerciser to choose from. As such, the choice to start a new fitness plan or try a new workout has become absolutely overwhelming for a lot of people. Unlike walking into a grocery store and picking a can of soup from the 150 options on display, the decision to start a fitness plan is much more daunting. If the soup sucks, you throw it out, pick something new next time, and don’t think twice about the buck ninety-nine that’s been wasted. The thought of investing two months into a fitness plan, only to find out it was little more than a time-waster, on the other hand, is enough to paralyze even the most sure-minded individual.

Herein lies the problem; rather than make the (perceived) wrong decision, many people make no decision at all. They continue along doing what they’ve always done or bounce around from workout to workout, with no real direction or goal in place. They rationalize by thinking a little of this, a little of that will assuredly get them to where they want to be. Two months down the road, when they’re still not much better off than where they began, they assume they were using faulty workouts, hit the proverbial reset button, and repeat the cycle all over again.

What Makes a Great Workout Plan?

A great workout plan is designed with a specific focus, in my opinion. Taking a shotgun approach and trying to burn fat, build muscle, increase speed, agility, coordination, and balance, while also getting a bubbilicious butt in the process is the fast lane to nowhere. Sure, a fitness plan may help you in several areas, but it should almost always have a set focus. Doesn’t matter if it was created by the personal trainer at your corporate gym, or the meathead in his mom’s basement; if it’s built on the basis of knowledge, experience, consideration of a target audience, while maintaining a clear focus or goal, it’s got the potential to be very successful for you. Keyword in the last sentence is potential.

On the flip side, just because an “expert” has a PhD after his name or has been on the last four seasons of The Biggest Loser, doesn’t mean everything they produce is the word of God. Again, in my humble opinion, the best fitness plans on the web are generally those coming from content creators who have personally worked with a wide variety of people, approach each of their fitness plans with a clear focus, and don’t rely on gimmicks and/or fads to deliver results.

Understanding the Fitness Game

Sadly, some of the biggest content creators in the game are delivering substandard workouts and advice….and know it. They aren’t in the business of delivering results. They’ve gotten to such a point that people automatically assume them to be an authority figure and will throw blind faith into whatever comes out of them. These authority figures are the fitness magazines that line the shelves at grocery stores, the fitness site with a six-figure monthly SEO budget, or the celebrity trainer who is simply trying to appeal to anyone and everyone, all at the same time. Typically, when you’ve got advertisers paying you millions of dollars a month, your goals begin to change. You start creating content that attracts the largest number of readers or viewers. You write for the masses and forget about delivering specific advice. You use buzz phrases like “lose weight fast”, “hit the reset button on your life!” “drop 3 dress sizes in 7 days!” that stop impressionable viewers in their tracks. Think about it…how many times have you seen a fitness magazine make the same or similar claim on the cover of their magazine?

Wise up to the games a lot of the big content creators are playing.

It’s not only magazine who are guilty of delivering fluff. Big online content creators hire cheap writers out of third-world countries to write articles targeting specific search terms so they shoot to the top of Google rankings. The goal isn’t to deliver high-quality content. The goal is attract the largest number of page views possible, and writing for search engines instead of people is what brings in the traffic (along with a hefty SEO budget). Beware of the fluff. Seek out blog writers or sites that speak to YOU. Listen to your gut and if you feel a blog or site is simply trying to target a key word (does the phrase “lose weight fast” just happen to appear in the article about 37 times more than necessary?) instead of deliver actually beneficial information, you’re probably right.

Find What Works For You

This article isn’t my declaration that Share It Fitness is the best and everyone else sucks. I’m also not saying all of the really big health and fitness blogs and websites on the web are delivering half-assed content. I’ve got a handful of health and fitness blogs that I personally read when I’m looking for a new take on something. These people are out there. They are big and small. They are writing to a videogamer audience. They’re writing to a meathead audience. They are coming in all shapes and sizes. There is someone out there who speaks to you and whatever demographic you fall under. You just need to learn to read between the lines when seeking out these sources of information.

As you sort through the hordes of information being thrown at you, in search of that next great fitness plan, a few things to be mindful of:

Does the author speak to me personally?
Do I feel like I’m being sold something?
Does the fitness plan have a specific focus?
Do I have a specific focus or goal in mind?

Decide what your top two goals are. Find a source that you can connect with and can easily relate to. Examine the workout or fitness plan in question and see if it seems to align with your pre-determined goals. Sounds easier than it is, but with enough practice you’ll develop an eye for this kind of stuff and may even turn into the informed authority figure in the process.

The Share It Fitness Way

I started this blog (and subsequent website) back in 2010. I distinctly remember freaking out when we had our first 100 view day. I also remember when achieving 1,000 monthly visitors was a huge deal. Over the past 3+ years, we’ve grown quite a bit. We’re now approaching 1 million monthly views, but really, nothing has changed. We’ve been delivering the same type of content all along. Personally, I feel the reason our fitness plans and workouts go over so well is because each one of them is personally created by myself or someone on our team, tested on our mostly willing supply of real-life clients, family, and friends. We then take feedback, analyze any results, and tweak things as necessary before anything hits this blog. Believe me, it’s often an arduous process, and there are probably more workouts and fitness plans that didn’t make it to the blog, than did. The end result of course, is a library of workouts and fitness plans that actually work for real-life people, just like yourself.

Of course, I’m always looking for ways to make things better and more effective. General fitness plans can be great and work wonders for a lot of people. That said, a fitness plan or workout that is 100% personalized towards you and your goals is always going to be better. The problem is, this type of expert personalization is often expensive. Hiring a personal trainer to do this for you a few times a week can easily cost more than your rent or mortgage. Finding a way to deliver personalized advice and workouts while making it affordable has been something I’ve been working on for the past nine months.

In the near future, we’re going to have something on the Share It Fitness website that I believe achieves this goal. We call it FitPlan, and it uses an algorithm-based approach to deliver daily workouts designed with your goals and abilities in mind. As your abilities improve, the workouts get harder. As your goals change, so does your fitness plan. Essentially, FitPlan is a newer and smarter version of the fitness plans you see on our blog now. We’ve been filming, writing, and testing hundreds of workouts for the past year. We now have a way that allows the system to pull from this database and tailor a specific plan to your specific circumstances. If you’re interested in trying out our FitPlan, we’d love to have you give it a go and provide us some feedback. Simply leave a comment below and we’ll put you on our initial list of beta testers when we release things in the next couple of months.

In the meantime, continue seeking out fitness content that comes from genuine, original, and trustworthy sources. Whether it’s here or someplace else is not what matters. What matters is you continue to improve yourself, reach for higher goals, and earn the body and health you deserve. Good luck and as always, please feel free to leave any questions, comments, or concerns and I’ll be happy to get back to you as soon as possible.

Your Grandma Knows How To Build Muscle….Do You?

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Matt Posted in General Health, Health in the News Leave a comment

Now doesn’t this look better than those rail-thin “model” bodies?

Your grandma is stronger than you.

Grandma can do it…but can you?

Okay, maybe not today. But when she was your age, your grandma probably could have kicked your behind without even breaking a sweat. Don’t think so? Maybe you’re in the minority here, but recent evidence has shown a dramatic decrease in strength, lean muscle mass, and fitness ability among all humans, but especially noticeable in women.

How can this be? With a new fitness blog popping up every few minutes and a bevy of other sources telling us how to build muscle, how to lose excess fat, blah blah blah..it’s not for a lack of knowledge. There has got to be something else that is making evolution turn backwards…. Let’s take a look….

The Issue Begins

You remember those fitness tests we all took as kids in gym class? Sit ups, pull ups, shuttle run, maybe a mile run for good measure? If you were like most kids, you probably hated doing them. Well these things are still going on in schools across America, but it wasn’t until recently that Dr. Grant Tomkins, senior lecturer in health sciences at the University of South Australia decided to look into this data. In the US, UK, and Canada, it seems kids are growing weaker by the year. The ability to deliver repeated force (sit ups) has decreased roughly 10% since the 1980′s.

In a similar study, Dr. Gavin Sandercock, a sports science professor from Essex University tested the muscular strength of 315 kids in 2006, then compared the data to similar subjects in 1998. In just eight years time, the 2006 group of kids performed worse on arm strength (26% decline) and grip (7% decline). Clearly, current generations of kids are building less muscle, losing their strength, and realizing the consequences of (you guessed it) the sedentary American (or Western) lifestyle.

The Issue Perpetuated

The problem is two-fold though. Generations of Americans losing their strength and muscle mass isn’t the sole results of video game playing and junk food eating. Remember earlier I said the problem was particularly evident in women? Take a look why…

These magazines have a “best fitness program ever” on an almost weekly basis…

Make a run through the magazine aisle at your local supermarket. It’s pretty impossible to not see rows of stick thin bodies on the cover of these magazines. Every now and then you’ll catch a glimpse of a healthy looking woman and feel a bit better about yourself…until you read the caption: “Celebs who are letting themselves GO!”. Our entire media culture has created a disillusioned version of what fit and beautiful really means. By and large, women strive to be thin, not strong and healthy. The idea that thinness is the epitome of beauty is the reason so many women a) don’t know how to build muscle or b)care to build muscle. They associate muscle with bulkiness, masculinity, and everything a woman “shouldn’t be”, so there is no emphasis placed on building muscle, increasing strength, or building a well-rounded and fit body.

Many women these days seem to search for the best fitness program for weightloss…or the best fitness program to get burn stomach fat…or the best fat blasting fitness routine…you get the picture. This current generation of women, more so than any preceding generation has placed such an emphasis on weight loss and caloric burn, that all other aspects of health and fitness seems to get lost in the mix. In reality, the best fitness program isn’t one that simply focuses on weight loss or cardio, but takes a multi-pronged approach to helping you improve yourself. As a general guideline, a great fitness program will:

Cardiovascular endurance through cardio exercise
Increase lean muscle mass through resistance exercise
Improve flexibility through stretching and/or other techniques.

In my opinion, these are the three pillars of health that any “best fitness program” should include. If a fitness program isn’t helping or at least showing you how to build muscle, you should be showing it the door.

“I’m not an athlete. I’m not a dude. Why do I need to build muscle?”

I’m realize I’m beating a dead horse here, but judging by the amount I still hear this, here comes my spiel again. Weight training to increase muscle mass is vital to any human being, man or woman, athlete or not. Muscle building workouts increase bone density as well as improve metabolism (more fat burn). Since muscle serves as “armor” on your body, having an abundance will help protect your bones and joints against falls, as well as fight poor posture and accompanying back pain.

Many women hang on to a perpetuating thought that lifting heavy weights will turn them into Arnold Schwarzenegger. In an effort to avoid looking like a roided out bodybuilder, they forgo lifting anything heavier than a phone book. To make matters worse, they think they’re “toning” by lifting these light weights. Ladies, for the 247th time on this blog, lifting light weights won’t get you toned. Toning or toned simply refers to greater muscular definition, which is achieved by having an adequate amount of muscle mass AND burning the fat that covers the muscle so they become more visible or defined. That’s all toning is. You want to know how to build muscle? Put down the dinky weights, pick up something that actually causes your muscles to ache a little, and notice the difference between what you were doing and what you are now (hopefully) doing. It’s like night and day..and so are the results.

The Diet Problem

Now, with all of these women wanting to be so thin, they often maintain a poor diet in an attempt to imitate their pipe cleaner-bodied idols on the cover of those celeb magazines. More than lifting heavy weights, women seem terrified to actually feed their bodies the nutrients required to build muscle. Think about it. How can you expect your body to build muscle if you aren’t giving it the nutrients it needs to do so? Muscle doesn’t grow out of thin air. If you aren’t taking in adequate amounts of protein and calories, your body simply isn’t going to build new tissue.

Bodybuilders and other bulked up guys are eating a massive amount of calories each day. THIS is why they are so large and muscular. You don’t need to eat anywhere CLOSE to what they’re consuming to make noticeable gains. Don’t want to look like a bulky man? Simple; don’t eat like a bulky guy eats. Aim to consume roughly 13-14 calories per pound of body weight. Of these calories, shoot for roughly .5-1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. An average 130 lb woman who’s eating a (healthy) ~1,700 calories a day and ~100 grams of protein stands a good chance of adding lean muscle to her frame without experiencing unwanted fat gain and/or “bulkiness”. Of course, each individual is unique and you may need to experiment with those ratios until you find what works best for your body type.

How To Build Muscle Made Easy

So before you tell me you don’t have any idea how to build muscle because you don’t know what you should be doing, I’m going to make things easy. Below are three Share It Fitness tried-and-true programs that have delivered great results in the muscle-building department. Yes, we’ve got real-life women who have used these programs, ate healthy, and achieved the ”toned” look they’ve been after. And no, they didn’t get bulky in the process. Check out these three workouts that are designed to help you build muscle and improve your body and health in the process…

These are just three fitness programs we’ve put together that maintain a strong focus on heavy weights, complex lifts, and helping you add muscle mass to your frame. Again, the best fitness program is one that takes a comprehensive approach to your body and health, so consider including these with some high-intensity cardiovascular work or plyometrics to ensure you’re taking the best approach possible.

Hope on the Horizon

With the whole “fitness is a sport” campaign and the countless pictures of inspirational athletic looking women making their way around Pinterest and the like, mentality is beginning to shift. The idea that being strong and toned is sexy is slowly overtaking the rail-thin model look that has dominated (and still does) the media since the late Seventies. More and more, you’ll find women hitting the free weight section of their gyms or performing Crossfit-esque workouts in their homes or gyms. Slowly but surely, women are learning how to build muscle, seeing through the gimmicks and trickery of some of those “authority figures”, and understanding that the best fitness program probably isn’t one that’s been recycled umpteen times over by People magazine.

Remember, if your workouts aren’t pushing you outside of your comfort zone, it might be time to re-examine things. Shoot for a fitness program that focuses on helping you build a lean, limber, and athletic body. You’ve only got one body, so don’t let it waste away and succumb to the mold you think you should fall into. Go hard, go strong, and show a little work ethic that would make even grandma proud.

How To Get Fit: The 60 Day Plan For Transforming Your Body and Mind

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Matt Posted in General Health, Motivation Leave a comment

You want to learn how to get fit? This 60 Day Plan shows you how easy it can be…

So You Want to Get Fit?

You’ve made up your mind. You’ve had enough of looking in the mirror and not liking what you see. You’re sick of feeling sluggish and lazy. Maybe your motivation is sky high…maybe it isn’t. But no matter what, one thing is clear. You want to get fit, build the body of your dreams, improve your health, and live the life you know you deserve. Only one problem, you have no idea how to get fit.

Sure, you read your health magazines and maybe pick up advice here and there from the talking heads on TV, but nothing sticks. Nothing has worked so far, nothing keeps you motivated, and you’re still more or less where you started. Do you see all of these beautifully fit, toned, and active people and wonder how it seems to come so naturally for some people. I get it. I completely, 100%, without a doubt, get it. You want to know how to get fit. You want to know the most effective, efficient, and most importantly, lasting way to improve yourself.

Helping people improve their mind, body, and health has been something I’ve been perfecting for years. Teaching people how to get fit and improve themselves, when done right, is something of an art form. Sure, you can find a million and one blogs with workout tips, advice, etc. Getting fit is about so much more than doing a bunch of workouts and watching what you eat. It’s about developing a mindset and adopting a lifestyle that not only changes the current path that your on, but is so easily integrated into your daily life, that sticking to it doesn’t become a chore that quickly burns you out and steals your motivation. With this 60 day plan, I’m going to show you how to get fit, how to stay fit, and how to embrace and love your new healthy, happy, and FIT lifestyle.

This 60 Day how to get fit plan takes the slow and steady approach to helping you transform yourself. Unlike other advice out there…we’re not telling you to start counting calories, keeping a diet log, exercise log, eliminate all sugar, and run 8 miles a day, starting on Day 1. Below, you’ll see I constructed a timeline to help you reach the promised land. Use this as a guideline. Read through this entire thing, and incorporate elements of this 60 Day How to Get Fit at your own pace. The schedule listed below is what most people follow and produces the greatest, and most lasting results. One other key point, this plan assumes you are already working at least slightly. The workouts included in this plan are based on this assumption. If you are a complete beginner to exercise, then you’d be best suited starting with our progressive fitness plan for beginners. Otherwise, get ready to commence your 60 day transformation as outlined below…

How To Get Fit: The 60 Day Plan

Weeks 1-2

We’re starting off relatively easy the first two weeks(key word is relatively). We’re shooting for 3 workouts a week, which we’ve provided you below. These workouts are designed to provide you a very solid base and help turn up the speed on your metabolic pathways. Increasing metabolism, improving endurance, and building a base of lean muscle mass are building blocks for your fitness journey. This workouts utilize some key concepts which have helped many of our clients and blog readers improve themselves; HIIT cardio and total body workouts using compound resistance exercises. This type of training may be vastly different from what you’re used to, but learn to adapt to it because IT WORKS. Rest assured there is a method behind the madness and follow the plan. Over time we’re going to bump up the intensity and frequency, but for now focus on sticking to a three-day a week schedule with the workouts provided.

Workout 2 and 3 from the Metcon Challenge Workout
Day 1 from the HIIT Workout Plan

As far as your diet goes, I want you to begin cutting out, and replacing, bad carbs (simple) for good carbs (complex). I’m not asking you to give up everything you love, I’m simply asking you to make a few healthy substitutions. I want you to replace white bread with whole wheat (not what, but WHOLE wheat). Replace fruit juices/soda with water. Switch from white rice to brown, or better yet, opt for quinoa. You’ll probably need to make a quick trip to the grocery store to get this done. Don’t procrastinate, just do it and be done with it. Eliminating those insulin spiking carbs and excess sugars from your diet should immediately provide improved energy, less feelings of lethargy, and perhaps even a noticeable difference on the scale. These empty calories are a huge reason behind the obesity epidemic in America and have no place in a fit and healthy diet.

Weeks 3-4

They say it takes a full month of adopting a new habit and/or lifestyle to grow accustomed to it. Half way through that first month is a danger zone. This is the time people start dropping like flies. Trust me, keep up with what you’re doing, and going to the gym, making healthier food choices, and generally adapting to your new fit lifestyle will NOT seem like such a struggle. I realize that doesn’t do much for you right now, so focus on yourself. You wanted to know how to get fit, right? Well, this is how you do it. Small changes, repeated consistently, add up to a complete body and mind transformation. Stick with it, you’re almost to that one months mark and you’ll just start coasting. During weeks 3-4, we’re going to introduce another workout. Keep up with the MetCon Challenge and HIIT workout plan, while adding a fourth day to your routine.

In addition to the above workouts, you’ll want to add:

Day 2 from the HIIT workout plan

We’re now diversifying your cardiovascular work by adding a cycling element. This should increase your metabolism, help you shed more body fat, and build a lean, strong, lower body.

Continue making all of those healthy substitutions through weeks 3-4. Now, I want you to get familiar with cooking for yourself. Prepping your own meals is key to avoiding those mid day runs to the burger joint up the street. It also helps when you come home from work knowing you don’t have to cook…or order Chinese take out. This week, I want you to find one healthy recipe, your choice, and make enough for TWO lunches and TWO dinners. We want you to get accustomed to cooking for yourself and developing a better understanding of what’s going into your body. When most of our meals are away from the home, we often fill ourselves with highly processed junk which is loaded with tons of sodium, sugar, and saturated fats. The key to transforming your body is knowing exactly what you put into it. They say diet is 60% of the battle and I couldn’t agree more. Make your diet priority number 1.

Weeks 5-6

By now, you should be well into the swing of things. Your workouts should be coming along nicely and you should be feeling more confident and comfortable with what you’re doing. That’s great…because now, we’re changing it up a bit. Keeping variety and diversity in your workouts is the key to making real progress. Ah, and before I forget, please do yourself a favor and ignore your scale. Unless you’ve got tons of weight to lose, you’ll likely be putting on muscle while simultaneously burning fat…the result is a slower drop on the scale than you might expect. But understand a 130 lb body with 10% body fat is much more physically appealing than a similar 130lb body with 30% body fat. Your goal isn’t to drop pounds…it’s to drop body fat and improve your physique. Mark progress by taking measurements around your waist, neck, etc.

We’re bumping the intensity a bit this week, so check out your workouts for weeks 5-6:

Perform the Monday/Wednesday/Friday workouts from the INTENSE at Home Fat Burning Cardio Workout
On Tuesday/Thursday perform Day 1 and 2 of the Superset Complex Workout

You’ve now bumped up to 5 days a week. Since we’ve added an extra day, I’ve made it a little easier on you; three of the days are done completely at home. If you want to go to the gym, by all means, go for it…but you don’t HAVE to for most of these workouts. We’re continuing to train you like an athlete with these workouts which is a key concept. Everyone wants to look like an athlete, but trains like Suzy from accounting. If you want to look like an athlete, you’ve got to train like an athlete. If you want to look average, then go ahead and train average. These workouts are short and intense. The advanced plyometric work will continue helping you build lean muscle mass while turning you into a lean, mean, fat burning machine.

Your diet doesn’t have to be crazy. We’re not going to continue adding more and more requirements until you break. That’s the difference between my 60 day How To Get Fit Plan and other recommendations out there. You don’t want to go on a “diet”. You want to adopt a healthy lifestyle and eating habits. Continue reading nutrition labels, add another lunch and dinner of pre-cooked, homemade meals, and bring them to work/school with you. I want you to cut back on your sugary habits, i.e. ice cream, candy, etc. Slowly (SLOWLY!) phase them out of your diet. After a month of slowly phasing out soda or whatever your vice may be, you’ll start feeling better and crave them less. Like some drugs, it’s best to ween yourself off your sugar addiction, which so many Americans have. Over time, you’ll need less and less of it, until you finally find yourself no longer drooling over things like those nasty store-bought ~~sugar gelatin~~ fruit filled danish in the mornings.

Weeks 7-8

At this point, you’re flying. Your two months in and should already be seeing some been crazy differences. I told you these workouts work, didn’t I? You’re probably no longer wondering how to get fit; you already know. Your thoughts are probably shifting to, how do I STAY fit? Staying fit and maintaining the progress you’ve made is key. Keep up with the same workouts you’ve been doing, but give this article a read:

How to Burn More Calories WITHOUT Spending More Time Working Out

Now, you don’t have to start this week, but I want you to begin thinking about some healthy hobbies you may enjoy. Maybe it’s yoga or maybe it’s a pick up sports league in your area. It doesn’t matter what it is. At this stage of the game, you’re already well on your way to a fit body. You should be much more comfortable and able to engage in these types of things. As the above article points out, the most fit and healthy individuals are almost always doing more behind the scenes than you see at the gym. You want to improve your body and health? Follow suit and find something you enjoy.

Keeping a food log is tough. It’s tedious, it’s boring….I get it. The problem is, so many of us simply aren’t aware of the number of calories we’re eating each day. In general, we think we’re eating FAR fewer calories than we actually are. I’m not asking you to mark down every nutrient, every ingredient, etc. from everything you eat. Simply punch in your calories into your phone as you eat them, and at the end of the day, add them up. Only one number to keep. Start entering this number into an excel document and have it for reference. If you’re fat loss isn’t what you’d like it to be, consider cutting back these calories slowly, until you’re realizing the fat loss you want. From personal experience, I can tell you, overcoming my mental objections to doing this has been the best thing I’ve ever done for my body. Soon enough, keeping daily calorie counts become second nature and my body has never been fitter or healthier. Remember, at the end of the day, you’re not doing much work here. You’re adding up a handful of numbers and punching them into a spreadsheet; you can do it.

How to Get Fit…and Stay Fit.

Weeks 9+

This plan is designed to teach you how to get fit, but also, to help ingrain some healthy habits into your lives. For those that follow this plan to a T, they’ve found making the healthy choices and getting their workouts in is no longer something that seems hard to do. On the contrary, it has become something they ENJOY doing. That’s what getting and staying fit is all about. Always be looking for ways to motivate yourself or push yourself the extra mile. Your mind is your biggest ally and enemy through all of this. Those that fall off the wagon and revert back to their old selves are the ones who allow their mind to talk them out of making it to the gym and into making a stop at Baskin Robbins instead.

Understand no one is asking you to live a completely strict, no fun, follow all the rules, life. I can’t stress enough…the fad diets and insane workout plans that leave no room for deviation are what ultimately lead to burn out. Your goals are to get fit, improve your health, and become happier in your own skin. You can accomplish all of those goals with the occasional cheat meal or skipped workout. Remember, the more you put in the more you’ll get out. If there ever comes a time when you aren’t happy with your progress, simply hit the gym harder, pay more attention to your diet, and recognize your slip ups. Fitness isn’t a secret. It’s a simple equation that anyone can master as long as they are willing to put in the time and effort. Above all, remember, there is no finish line. Doesn’t matter if you’re 200 pounds overweight or an Ironman-competing triathlete. There is always room for improvement and ways to continue pushing yourself to the limit. View your lifestyle changes as a slow and steady marathon, rather than a finish line that needs to be sprinted towards. Good luck on your journey to a fit and happy life and please feel free to leave a comment below if you have any questions or concerns.

Better yet, consider signing up for our website, www.shareitfitness.com where you’ll get access to live expert advice, tons of OnDemand fitness video workouts, and an active, encouraging community of other people just like you ready to lend their support.

Like This Article? Then LIKE US on Facebook and don’t miss any of our exclusive workouts, fitness tips, and amazingly healthy and tasty recipes!

How to Burn More Calories WITHOUT Spending More Time Working Out

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Matt Posted in General Health, Motivation, Self Improvement 2 Comments

Nope…more squats are not in the cards today…

Based on the number of searches I’m seeing, “how to burn more calories” is something a lot of you guys are looking for a bit more info on. Most of the information you’re coming across tells you to do more HIIT sprints, lift heavier weights, spend more time in the gym…and so on. Well yeah, that goes without saying…you exercise longer and harder, you’re going to burn more calories.

However, these (helpful) suggestions, fail to recognize the real motivator behind all of those “how to burn more calories” searches. Let’s face it, there are a great deal of us who don’t love working out. Maybe you do it because you know your health depends on it. Maybe you do it because you just want to make all of your friends jealous when you’re laying by a pool. Love it or hate it, you want to maximize your time spent in the gym and get the most bang for your buck. You do have lives that need tending to after all. So, from that standpoint, a suggestion to spend MORE time in the gym, or to simply go harder than you already are, isn’t exactly what you were looking for.

This is NOT what I’m talking about…

I know what some of you may already be thinking. Am I really about to give you that golden bullet in a pill? The one that increases your heart rate, turns on your inner metabolic machine, helps you shed excess fat, and can be had for only 4 easy payments of $19.95? Please, you should know me better than that by now.

Nonetheless, I’m still saying YES, you can burn more calories, drop body fat faster, and achieve a healthier and better looking body WITHOUT having to exercise harder, longer, or spend even more time in the gym. Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Well, bear with me here, and you’ll see that it’s not.

How to Burn More Calories….The Easy Way

You guys have a pretty good grasp on how to burn calories, right? For those that don’t; lifting weights, sprinting, jumping, or anything else that engages your muscles, increases your heart rate, and forces your body to work harder than usual will speed up your caloric burn. Of course, those are all things we associate with “working out” or “exercise”. If you’re one of those fitness freaks who loves being in the gym and the suggestion of spending even more time in the gym doesn’t put you off, then god bless. But for those that have maxed out their weekly gym time, but still aren’t making the progress they want, keep reading.

Willing to bet she does more than just hit the gym and pose for cell phone mirror pictures…

You know those realllly fit people you see in the gym? Guys, girls, it doesn’t matter. You know who they are and they know who they are. Like many, you probably assume they spend an inordinate amount of time at the gym doing insane workout programs. You think about the hectic life you juggle and figure there’s no way you could ever be like them; you simply don’t have the time to commit. Well, let me tell you something…. you’re selling yourself short. WAY short.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret right now. Almost all of those fantastically fit people share a common denominator. It’s not the amount of time they spend on the treadmill, or the juice fast they do every few months. No, it’s simple, it’s easy, and it’s something you can seamlessly insert into your own life and get closer to the body and health you’ve always wanted. What is this magic bullet you’re wondering?

An active lifestyle. And no, an active lifestyle doesn’t mean more working out.

An Active Lifestyle is the Key To The Body of Your Dreams

Really? Is that it? That’s how to burn more calories? Lead an “active lifestyle”? Before you start sliding your cursor towards the upper-right hand corner, hear me out.

Sure, I told you I wouldn’t require you to exercise any longer or harder than you currently are. The thing is, we all have things we like and dislike. The things we like don’t seem like work. Finding time to squeeze them in is way easier than finding time to do something we dislike doing. By this token, finding an active hobby or two to include into your life, should be easy to accomplish. You see, all of those fit people are doing so much more than you see them doing at the gym. By and large, you’ll find them biking, taking yoga classes, hiking, playing pick up sports…..being active. What you won’t find them doing is spending every Sunday watching football and drinking beer. You won’t find them skipping out on going for an evening bike ride because they’ve got a date with their DVR and Toddlers and Tiara’s.

Putting in time at the gym is great. If can literally save lives and help you change your body for the better. But that said, if you want a picture perfect body and the health to match, you’ve got to find a way to overhaul your entire lifestyle. Four to five hours at the gym each week is good. Four to five hours at the gym each week plus 5 more hours of an active hobby or two is GREAT. Again, if you enjoy doing it, it’s not going to seem like “working out”.

The Real Life Impact of Living an Active Lifestyle

Think these little extra things don’t add up? Guess again. Almost any sort of physical activity is going to make a positive impact on your body and health over time.

Check out the calories burned during some active hobbies listed below:

Billiards: 93 calories
Bowling: 112 calories
Golf: 130 calories
Hiking: 223 calories
Soccer: 260 calories
Gardening: 167 calories
Cooking: 93 calories

*Calories burned are for 30 minutes of activity for a 155lb person.

For a wider range of activities and their calories burned please refer to the July 2004 Harvard Heart Letter.

Let’s take a look at the real impact here. Let’s say you’re really into hiking and gardening, neither of which I would consider “working out”. Say you hike for an hour and a half once a week, and spend two hours a week gardening. That adds up to roughly 550 calories burned each week. Keep in mind this is on top of everything else you’re already doing in the gym. Since we know 1 pound is equal to 3,500 calories, you’re looking at losing an additional pound of excess body fat (realistically, some muscle loss may occur but that’s a different discussion for a different day) every six weeks or so. Over the course of a year, you’ve burned an almost 9 additional pounds of excess weight. Who here wouldn’t feel a lot better if they could cut out nine pounds of unwanted fat?

These little things may not seem like much, but over time, they add up. This is the real life impact of maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle. Too often we get caught up in how many calories each exercise or workout is burning. We calculate down to the minute, how long we’ll be working out, and then try to figure out how much fat we’re going to lose. Instead of all of the over analyzing, why don’t you just sit down and think about some active things you may enjoy doing away from the gym. If you truly enjoy them you aren’t going to dread them like you very well may dread that 5 mile run after a long day at work.

Don’t Worry About How to Burn More Calories

Yup, forget about worrying how to burn more calories. In fact, stop worrying altogether. You have nothing to worry about. Replace the worrying with some thoughtfulness. Think hard about what you enjoy doing, as well as things in your lifestyle you could live without. If you could live without that hour of Honey Boo Boo, then go for a bike ride. If you wouldn’t die if you skipped that movie, go ahead, knock some walls down, and take that yoga class…you might actually like it. Find out things you can do without and start filling these newly created vacancies with your healthy and active hobbies.

Sooner or later your life is going to become a lot more active, and your body a lot more fit. Keep this train moving and always look to add or experiment with new, healthy habits and hobbies. Remember, it’s not going to seem like work when you actually enjoy doing it. Take pride in knowing that the things you’re doing are not only fun, but are helping you reach your goals much quicker than sitting at home on the sofa ever will.

And on that note, I’m going to grab my bike and hit the boardwalk.

A Death Wish: The American Lifestyle and Its Effect on Life Expectancy

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Matt Posted in General Health, Health in the News, Motivation, Self Improvement 2 Comments

Anyone else want to spend the final years of their life here?

As I was browsing the web last night looking for a little inspiration into today’s post, I stumbled across this CNN article which really struck a chord.

For those that don’t want to read through the article, I’ll summarize:

America’s life expectancy is growing at a slower rate than other high-income democratic countries.
Researchers reviewed health studies from 16 “peer countries” (Australia, Japan, Canada, etc) and compared them to American health studies.
Americans, on average, die younger and develop more disease and illness than international peers.

Let’s reflect on that a minute. America, the country which, per capita, spends more than any country on the planet on healthcare, is dying younger, and living less healthy lives than our peers. Shouldn’t the inverse be true? Shouldn’t America be the beacon of health the entire globe looks to as its role model? In theory, this might be the case…but in reality, we know this couldn’t be further from the truth.

The American Life Expectancy

One particularly interesting factoid illustrated just how behind we actually are in terms of life expectancy. An average life expectancy for men is 3.7 years shorter, and 5.2 years shorter for women, than in leading nations – Switzerland and Japan, respectively. Not only that, this is a gulf that is getting larger, not smaller. Since 1980 this is a trend that has been continuing, and recently has been continuing at a faster rate. If this trend continues, there may come a day when the difference between life expectancies in America and other peer countries is similar to the current life expectancy difference between America and sub-Saharan African countries.

Not only are we living shorter lives, but we’re living more disease-plagued lives and spending our final years overcome with illness, disability, and a diminished quality of life. Anyone else want to spend the last decade or so of their lives being shuttled from doctor appointments, to pharmacies, to hospital beds, all the while living in pain and sickness? Sounds absolutely miserable. Yet, when we look around the globe there are plenty of nations and communities within nations, where individuals are showing old age and disease don’t necessarily need to go hand-in-hand.

Why Is America Dying Young and Living Sick?

I know what a lot of you may already be thinking. America lacks universal health care, which the other peer countries, do not. If only poor, less educated, and under insured Americans were facing shorter lives and more disease, this argument may have a bit more ground to stand on. But researchers found that even “white, insured, college-educated Americans are sicker than their peers in Europe”. Yes, these are the people who actually have access to our health care system and aren’t falling through the cracks. These people are still dying younger and facing higher rates of chronic disease. What gives?

While I do agree that access (or lack thereof) to health care plays a part, it would be a cop-out to heave all of the blame on our health care system. Many experts believe (and I strongly agree with) that more than our health care system, our shorter life expectancies and poorer health are the result of the American lifestyle. The very (perceived) lifestyle that millions around the world envy and strive to emulate is doing us in…and it’s doing us in at an alarming rate. Let’s see why…

The American Lifestyle: The Ultimate Killer

As Americans, we have a very”right now” mindset to our daily dealings. We expect immediate gratification and when we want things, we want them immediately. This type of living pervades all aspects of our lives…

The American Diet

Much has been written about the American diet. We eat high fat, carb heavy, salty, highly processed foods. Roughly 32% of all meals were not prepared at home. We’re a society that is always on the go and regularly opt for fast food, frozen meals, and quick delivery options. These meals are almost always high in sodium, fat, bad carbohydrates, and other empty calories. To compound the problem, we eat fewer fruits, vegetables, and fiber than other nations. On the subject of calories, Americans on a whole consume more calories than individuals in peer countries. As a result, we have higher rates of obesity and heart disease as well… no surprise there.

The findings in this study demonstrate how decades of poor (and increasingly worse) food choices can catch up with an entire nation. We are literally eating ourselves into bad health and an early demise.

Americans and Exercise

American society is designed around the automobile. For hundreds of millions of people, walking, biking, or another form of physical transportation is not an option. We move less (yet eat more) than other nations, for which our waistlines are suffering. Americans have higher rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other lifestyle related illness because of our lack of movement. The majority of Americans that do in fact exercise, do not do so regularly enough to reap any real benefits. Other Americans are simply unable to find the time to exercise given their busy work/life schedules…which leads to another point.

Americans and Work

Compared to other countries, Americans are given far less time off work over the course of a year. In addition, Americans on average work longer hours each week and have less time to themselves and their families. We are an over worked, over stressed nation, focusing on all of the wrong priorities. The American lifestyle dictates 50 weeks of work a year, 40 hour work weeks (or more for many of us), and a sedentary, Office Space-esque existence. Is it any surprise Americans are having a hard time finding ways to fit in an hour of exercise each day? Granted, laziness plays a large part in this, but the American work schedule is slowly doing it’s part to ensure our early mortality.

How do you spend your average day? For many, the average routine looks like this: wake up, eat, work, eat, work some more, eat, sleep. Repeat for 40 years. Next, spend your Golden Years plagued by disease and disability. After spending the next decade or so going to doctor appointments instead of doing what you always said you would “when you had more time”, it’s time to die. How’s that for a miserable existence?

Is anyone ready to stop spending the prime of their lives overweight, sick, and cooped up in a small box 40+ hours a week…every week….for the next 10, 20, 30+ years….? Well, the good news is, you can change the course you’re on.

Stop Living Like an American

That’s right…stop living like an American. Stop driving the 2 miles to the grocery store. And while you’re there, opt for a bag of carrots instead of Cheetos. Eat healthy. Move more. Ride your bike after work instead of watching TV. Wake up a little early to exercise. Make fitness a priority. Maybe you can’t abandon the cubicle farm just yet, but work towards a career that allows for greater independence or at least a better work/life balance. Re-prioritize your life and what’s important to you. Understand more money will not buy you more happiness. On the contrary, the crap you have to go through to make a few extra bucks at the end of the year may very well be sapping you of the happiness you seek. Wake up to the game and do something to change it.

A quote from the Dali Lama that I absolutely love:

Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered, “Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

In today’s world, you have an abundance of information and health and fitness experts at your fingertips. You can stream a live yoga class being held in New York City direct to your Lincoln, Nebraska living room. You can join a gym for less than a ticket to a movie and a large soda. The web offers a host of health and fitness blogs with quality, daily information geared towards helping you build a happy and healthy life. Don’t know what to do to improve your health or diet? There are so many people out there encouraging you, telling you what you need to do to improve, and even showing you how to improve. All you have to do is look for them.

You Are Not Alone

I encourage all of you to seek out sources of health and fitness information that appeals to you. Follow these bloggers, websites, and industry experts. It may take some searching, but you’ll find the ones that speak to you. Once you’ve found them, keep up with them just like you do with your nightly reality shows. Learn to integrate the information they disperse into your lives. The web is abuzz with hordes of awesome people dishing out healthy recipes, workout ideas, meal prep advice….you name it. Above all, they are imparting their knowledge to you, in hopes of helping you become happier, healthier, and more fit. Best of all, most of these people are simply giving away their base of knowledge for free. All you have to do is be open to receive the information.

There are tons of fitness communities on the web where you can connect with other like-minded people, directly speak to health and fitness experts, and build a network which helps motivate and encourage you towards self-growth. Living a healthy life, eating clean, finding effective workouts you actually enjoy is not hard. It is not expensive. Yes, it takes some effort, but it has become increasingly easy in the Web 2.0 world we live in. It’s a new year, and you’re starting with a clean slate. Make 2013 the year you stop living like the typical American robot and reclaim a happy and healthy life now, and for years to come.

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How Long Until I See Results? What to Expect and How Fast to Expect It

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Matt Posted in General Health, Motivation, Self Improvement 6 Comments

We’re going to piggyback on yesterday’s Hot Body Maker post as we tackle something else that has been popping up amongst our readers; how long until I see improvement?

By nature, this is a tough question to answer. We’ve all got different work ethics, different genetics, different diets – all of these things affect how much, and how fast, we see improvement in ourselves. Of course, the more of a beginner you are, or the more weight you have to lose, the quicker you’re going to see progress. Writing a guideline for everyone under the sun is just impossible, so for our purposes today, we’re talking about your average, run-of-the-mill, “I-kinda-work-out-but-not-really”, might have a few pounds to lose, fitness goer.

Want to know where you stand? Check out The Ultimate 8-Point Fitness Test and see how you really stack up!

Again, this article is simply a guideline to help keep you on track, show you where MOST “average” people will be after X months of training, and hopefully help you keep your eyes on the prize. Something else to note – this is the progression MOST people will take, in my personal experience. If you find you’re progressing slower than what these guidelines indicate, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doing something wrong (although you very well may be). Just make sure you’re putting in max effort, keeping a clean diet, and keep trucking along.

Meet Miss Average

Average Alice, 27 years old, 15 pounds to lose, looking to increase muscle mass

Training Plan

Total body weight training workouts 2x a week
HIIT cardio sessions 2x a week
Complex workout 1x a week
Eliminated excess sugar, switched to whole grains, increased protein intake.

Week 1

As we see above, Alice is working on a 5x a week schedule, performing two total body workouts each week. Her first workout is geared towards hitting her upper body, her second strength workout is more geared towards her lower. In addition, she’s throwing in one complex workout a week which is hitting her entire body a second time, as well as helping her burn calories. To round things out, she’s putting in 30-40 minutes of HIIT cardio twice a week as well to maximize her fat burn.

What to look for: After just one week, Alice is noticing serious muscle soreness across her entire body. Her upper body feels as though it’s been absolutely punished and her legs so sore it’s tough to walk. If you’re brand new to fitness and aren’t experiencing any soreness, this may be a good indication that you simply aren’t going hard enough. Soreness doesn’t necessarily equal progress, but if you are just starting a new plan and aren’t feeling it, you may need to ratchet things up a bit.

Week 3

Alice has gotten into the full swing of things and hasn’t missed a beat. She’s stayed on top of all of her workouts, eating clean has been easier than she thought, and she’s starting to hit her “motivational stride”. Some workouts are still hard for her and she finds herself stopping for air or cutting her HIIT cardio sessions. Despite that, she’s got the resolve to keep pushing and is performing slightly better each time out.

What to look for: By week three, you may start feeling a little bit tighter; a little more slimmed down. While it’s probably not obvious to others looking at you, you feel like something positive is going on. You should feel stronger, tighter, and perhaps even see a reflection on the scale. You’re really starting to get behind this whole fitness thing and are eager to hit the gym each day. Capitalize on this sky-high motivation and make the most of it while you have it……there’s going to come a time when that motivation is gone.

Week 6

Surprising even herself, Alice has continued her fitness and diet plan, falling off track only once or twice since starting. She’s progressed in her workouts and is now completing them without having to take too many rest brakes. Her HIIT cardio sessions have become easier and she’s considering extending their length in the near future. During her complex workout she’s bumped her weight slightly and is gaining more confidence by the day.

What to look for: By now, you’re likely seeing a little definition forming in your arms, shoulders, and back. Your legs and butt should feel tighter, even if they don’t necessarily look it just yet. Weight loss and a reduction in body fat around the midsection shouldn’t come as a surprise at this point. Stepping on the scale, you’ll find you’re more than half way to your weight loss goal of 15 pounds. Motivation remains high and you’re loving the progress you’re seeing.

Week 9

After two solid months of working out, Alice begins to slide into a bit of an inevitable rut. Her workouts started grew a bit stale, getting to the gym seemed harder than it used to, and cheat meals reared their ugly head around every corner. To combat this, Alice mixed up her workouts; she added time to intervals, increased her sprint speeds, introduced new exercises to weight training days, and made sure to increase her weight used. The new variety helped keep her focused and determined to keep pushing herself towards her goals.

What to look for: This is the period most people begin to burn out. You’ve got a choice to make, do you burn out and fall into the unending fitness cycle you’ve lived your whole life, or do you push through and do something you’ve never done? Go to the gym even when you don’t want to, keep up with the workouts, trust the science behind all of this. At this point, you’re continuing to make progress, but it doesn’t seem to be coming as fast. On top of that, weight loss may not be as fast as you’d like anymore. This is where many people quit; but understand this….the muscle you’re building is outweighing the fat you’re losing. Start ignoring the scale and instead focus on your measurements, how you physically appear in a mirror, and how you feel. The scale can sap the motivation of even the most dedicated fitness freak…now is the time to start ignoring it.

Week 12

As tough as it has been, Alice has kept pushing through her spat of mental fatigue. Inside, she’s proud of herself for continuing on when she’d ordinarily quit and fall back to the drawing board. At the three-month mark, Alice can definitely see definition in her arms, legs, and butt. She’s got more confidence in her appearance and abilities at the gym. She no longer feels insecure heading over to the free weight section with all the meatheads doing their beach body workouts. She’s learned to ignore the scale, and even though her weight isn’t where she wanted it to be when she started, she realizes she’s really starting to turn a corner.

What to look for: If you’ve made it this far (kicking, screaming, crying notwithstanding) not only are you noticing some serious changes in your body, but other people are as well. By now, you’re running faster, lifting heavier, and performing better in the gym. You’re probably anxious for some newer, tougher workouts at this point. This is vital – you’ve got to continue pushing yourself. Once you allow yourself to fall into a comfort zone, you’re done. By now, you’re abdominal muscles are *beginning* to show through. You’ve built a solid layer of muscle on your body and are slowly but surely burning away the fat that’s covering them. Motivation may be increasing again.

Week 15

Since Alice has been keeping up on her diet and fitness information, she knows the only thing that can knock her off track is succumbing to that damn plateau. At this stage of the game, it is increasingly important to continue varying her workouts, formats, and exercises to keep making progress. She’s introduced some workouts she never thought she’d be able to do and has started running longer than she used to. Her motivation may have leveled off again, but this isn’t her first rodeo; she knows full well what to expect now.

What to look for: Right now, you should be noticing serious progress being made in the cardiovascular department. You’re able to run longer, faster, and better than ever before. You’re no longer gasping for wind the way you used to. Your complex workouts are getting easier to get through (hint: make them harder) and you’re putting up more weight on your complex exercises (bench, squat, deadlift, etc) than you ever thought possible. People at the gym are starting to check you out and you’ve begun developing that killer athletic physique everyone else is just wishing for. You’re not there yet, and still probably have some weight loss goals and excess body fat to burn through, but overall your definition has improved and you feel and look tight and fit.

This too can be you….

Week 18

After nearly 5 months of regular workouts and diet, Alice has earned a well-deserved break. By giving herself a week off, she allows her body to fully recover and gives her cardiovascular system a much-needed rest. By doing so, she’s going to come back even stronger and should be performing at an even higher level. Alice is using a variety of workouts at this point and is seamlessly tying them together to create the ultimate fitness plan.

What to look for: You should be able to easily and effectively pull different workouts to create an effective plan that keeps you working hard. You’re no newbie anymore, you know what’s a tough workout and what isn’t. Strength gains come a bit slower than before, but you’ve come to expect this. You haven’t stepped on a scale in weeks and are solely focused on your measurements; weight loss really isn’t your concern anymore. You continue to lose thickness from your waist, arms, and legs. Your body is changing into a lean, mean, athletic machine. Compliments about your physique come regularly, but you still realize there is more work to be done.

Week 21+

By this point, you’ve been at it for almost half a year. You should fully understand and anticipate the highs and lows and have found a way to get yourself off the motivation roller coaster. Gains don’t come nearly as fast as they used to, but that’s okay. You know by now that fitness isn’t something you do for a few weeks or months, hit your goal, and then stop. Being fit is a lifestyle. When you start seeing “the big picture” you stop obsessing about goals. Just continue putting in work, even on days you don’t think it’s going to make a difference, and good things will happen. By the 5/6 months mark, you’re ready to really up your game. Start looking into competing in races, challenges, anything at all that will keep you motivated. Finding ways to self-motivate is one of the secrets of the most fit individuals. Use whatever resources you have available (Share It Fitness anyone?) to keep introducing new and challenging workouts to your routine. Don’t grow comfortable with what you’re doing. Keep pushing, keep trying new things, and keep doing what you have to do to keep your motivation intact, and you’ll continue hitting levels you only used to dream about.

Need advice to keep pushing yourself harder? Want a fitness plan that is customized specifically to you? Drop us a comment below and we’ll put you on our list of pre-signups for our FitPlan, an interactive fitness plan designed by your very own personal trainer and completely geared towards YOU and your ever-evolving goals and abilities.

The Hot Body Maker: The 8 Things You MUST Do To Build The Body of Your Dreams

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Matt Posted in General Health, Motivation, Self Improvement Leave a comment

Why do you exercise? Do you do it to feel better? Look better? Improve your health?

If you’re like most people, it’s likely a combination of all three. But realistically, deep down, we often have superficial, vain, and completely cosmetic motives which override all others. But hey, who can blame us? What’s wrong with wanting to look amazing?

Based on a lot of emails I’ve been receiving from the SIF faithful, it’s obvious there’s a common theme amongst both our men and women readers…

Which exercises should I do to improve my ________________?

….fill in that blank with any random body part and I’ve likely received an email about it.

So I get it, you guys want to look amazing. You want people to stop and stare at YOU when you’re in the gym. With that in mind, I’ve put together a guide I like to call the “Hot Body Maker”. This guide details the 8 most important things you need to be doing if you want to turn that body from average to awesome in just a few months.

The key to a round, tight, and firm butt is a healthy dose of squats and deadlifts.

1. Deadlift/Squat Combo (butt and legs) – This power combo is an absolute necessity if you are trying to build a round, tight, and shapely butt and legs. Start with 4 sets of squat, followed by 4 sets of deadlift. Be sure you’re going HEAVY here. Obviously, you’ll want to keep your form because these exercises can really mess you up if you’re not careful, but increase the weight to a degree that your muscles reach fatigue after about 5-7 reps. Be sure to increase weight over time as your strength improves.

2. HIIT Sprints (overall fat burn) – Leave the long, slow jogs to the newbies. From now on, you’re doing your cardio in intervals. Short, intense bursts of all out intensity, followed by a longer and more relaxed period. Something like this would be a great place to start: 30 seconds all out sprint/1:30 jog, repeated 12-15 times. Gradually increase the length of your all out sprints and/or the number of times you repeat the interval as your abilities increase. Keep in mind, HIIT can be done on all sorts of cardio, i.e. stationary bike, jump roping, etc. Mix things up, but make sure you’re always going hard and using HIIT to achieve your goal.

Start treating your abs like any other muscle group…

3. Weighted Ab Work (core) – Doing hundreds of crunches sounds like a lot of work, but if you want to really build your core muscles you’re going to need to start training them like any other muscle. Start performing decline crunches while holding a weight, russian twists with a dumbbell, the ab crunch machine at your gym with the weight jacked up, cable crunches with a heavy weight. The point is, you want to fatigue your abdominals just like you do any other muscle. If you’re going heavy, you won’t be able to reel off 40 or 50 reps at one time. Mix up your exercises, but shoot for 8-10 sets total, with 10-15 repetitions per exercise. Again, make sure the weight is heavy enough that you’re inducing muscle fatigue by the time you’re finished.

4. Pull Up Combos (biceps, back) - This doesn’t matter if you’re a guy or girl, this complete upper body compound workout is going to leave you ripped, lean, and beautiful. If you can’t even do one pull up, it’s no problem. Use the pull up assistance machine and bang out your reps. Sooner or later, you’ll be able to use less and less weight until you’re going without any assistance at all. Bottomline, including a pull up combo into your workouts (especially if you aren’t already doing them) is going to help you build beautifully toned muscles all across your upper body. A great place to start would be 50 wide grip pull ups, 25 regular pull ups, and 25 palms in pull ups. Perform each type of pull up in as few sets as possible. Over time, increase the number of pull ups

5. Dip Burn Out (chest, triceps) – I’ll often include this right after the 100 or so reps of the pull up combo. Get on a dip machine, using assistance if necessary, and start rocking. A good place to start would be 100 dips, completed in as few sets as possible. Over time, you’ll increase the number of dips you can complete per set, as well as progress to using no assistance at all. Dips really help build your triceps and chest, helping you develop a lean, athletic, and sexy body. If you are really advanced, consider holding a dumbbell between your feet or using a weight belt to strap on additional weight, making your dip sets even harder.

6. Plyometrics (butt, legs, overall fat burn) – If you aren’t already, it’s time you unlock the numerous benefits of plyometric training. Not only will plyometric work help build your lower body, it’ll help spike your heart rate and lead to serious caloric burn, or in other words, fat loss. Consider performing plyometric work on days you’re doing heavy leg training to completely tax the muscles and make serious gains. Consider a routine consisting of four exercises, three sets per exercise, 25 reps per set, to start. Some great exercises to start with would be Russian lunges, squat jumps, Bulgarian squat jumps, and long jumps. If you want to really go the extra mile, consider adding some jump roping at the end of your leg/plyometric workout.

Going heavy on Clean and Press will give you a toned athletic look…not a bulky bodybuilder’s body.

7. Clean and Press/Bench Press Combo (chest, shoulders, triceps, and lower body) – These power movements are designed to help you pack on beautiful muscle in all the right places. Perform 4 sets of 6-8 reps per set, using a weight heavy enough to cause muscular fatigue on the last rep or so of each set. Consider including this exercise on days you’re doing other upper body work.

8. EAT RIGHT. Okay, so this isn’t an exercise, but it is arguably the most important thing on this list. You want to lose fat, build muscle, and generally develop a lean, mean, athletic physique, right? Those are some lofty goals, so your diet is going to have to be on point. Eliminate as much sugar and simple carbohydrates from your diet as possible. No more fruit juice, white bread, frozen dinners, etc. Avoid fast food like the plague. Make sure you’re getting plenty of protein and stock up on the veggies. Eat a simple, clean, and healthy diet, and all of the hard work you put in at the gym will be rewarded. On the flip side, understand that if you aren’t eating enough, your body will not grow new tissue, i.e. muscle. If you want a lean, fit physique, you’ve got to fuel yourself with the right kind of food to allow yourself to grow without adding unwanted body fat.

Putting it all together

Now that you know WHAT you should be doing, I’m going to quickly and easily show you HOW you should be doing it. Keep in mind, this is just a guide, and not set in stone.

Day 1: Deadlift/Squat Combo, HIIT Sprints

Day 2: Clean and Press /Bench Press Combo, Pull Up Combo, Dip Burn Out

Day 3: HIIT Sprints, Plyometric Work, Weighted Ab Work

Day 4: Rest

Day 5: Deadlift/Squat Combo, HIIT Sprints

Day 6: Clean and Press /Bench Press Combo, Pull Up Combo, Dip Burn Out

Day 7: HIIT Sprints, Plyometric Work, Weighted Ab Work

This is a 6 day a week workout guideline. The majority of these workouts are short and intense, so you’ll be able to get in and out of the gym in no time. Keep in mind, you should taking a rest every 4th day (or as needed), so don’t go back to Day 1 workout without giving your body time to rest. As I mentioned above, keep pushing yourself and shoot to increase weights, speeds, and times, as needed to keep yourself pushing.

One of the biggest mistakes people make is simply not pushing themselves hard enough, or with heavy enough weight. You can’t expect to develop a killer body if you aren’t pushing yourself to the max. If you feel pretty good after a workout, odds are you didn’t go hard or heavy enough. Look forward to that muscle soreness that sets in a day or two after a tough workout. Take pride in collapsing on the sofa after a tough cardio workout. By learning to workout this way, you’ll learn how to push yourself to the max and make the progress you never thought possible to make.