Smoothies for Halloween--Tasty and Low-Calorie

Celebrate Halloween with healthy smoothies and just a little candy! I like smoothies because they satisfy my sweet tooth without the cavities that candy give me.

If you like pumpkin, here is a great pumpkin smoothie:

PUMPKIN SMOOTHIE

2 cups of pumpkin (you could use sweet potato instead)
1 tablespoons brown rice syrup
1 tablespoon sucanat
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoons butterscotch flavoring
2 to 2-1/2 cups water
2 ice cubes (optional)
2 teaspoons sesame tahini (ethnic food department)

Bake pumpkins until tender. Let cool (in refrigerator when not too warm). Begin blending. After several seconds of blending, stop the unit and mix the ingredients, if necessary, using a long utensil. Reblend to a creamy consistency. Serve warm or chilled.

Here are two other tasty smoothies for your enjoyment:

QUAD BERRY QUENCHER

2 bananas
1 cup low-fat strawberry yogurt or frozen yogurt
1/2 cups cranberry juice cocktail
1-1/2 cups strawberries, hulled, frozen
1 cup raspberries, frozen
Place all the ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.

RAINBOW SMOOTHIE

10 ounces apple-cranberry juice
4 ounces strawberries
2 ounces pineapple chunks
2 scoops rainbow sherbet
1/2 banana
1/2 cups ice
Place ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.

Use smoothies for snacks or meal replacements. For you on-the-go people, smoothies are a perfect way to help you eat healthy with only a few calories.

Happy, safe Halloween!

As you can see, it doesn't take many ingredients to make smoothies so you will definitely save money. Get over 100 smoothies recipes in my FREE book below!

Download your free Smoothies Book now!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
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A Skinny-Fat Person Can Have a Good Body Mass Index

You need to know where you are fat no matter what your Body Mass Index may be. You can be skinny with high body fat (skinny-fat). You may also be normal weight obese. Too much body fat is not good even if you have a good Body Mass Index.

If you don't combine healthy, managed nutrition with consistent weight training and interval cardio exercise, you probably have high body fat even if you are a skinny person (probably due to genetics).

Many people are confused about what Body Mass Index (BMI) means as it relates to body fat. Keep in mind that it is just one tool to use when you are looking at your health. Scientists use BMI as a research tool to make objective comparisons as to how fat a person is. A person with a BMI of 25 or above is considered overweight and a BMI over 30 is considered obese.

Body Mass Index uses a person's height and body weight to measure a person's fatness. This method has some limitations because it doesn't consider a person's body type (slim, muscular, etc.).

For example, a fit person with high muscle mass will tend to have a high BMI which suggests that the person is overfat. This person would actually be fit and healthy with low risk for fat-related diseases.

So, even though you might use BMI as a starting point, a person's level of fatness is best measured using a direct method. Two methods used are under-water weighing and skinfold measurements. Under-water weighing is not readily available to most people. Having a skinfold body fat test with calipers done by a fitness professional is convenient and reasonably accurate.

Regular exercise, low body fat and increased muscle mass are all factors that should outweigh any health risks suggested by a higher BMI.

You should be concerned with burning total fat and shrinking your waist size. Doing so will reduce your risk of dying from diseases like cancer and heart disease. Researchers from the American Cancer Society warns us about the deadly risks of having too much belly fat. Read my article about waist-to-hip ratio.

What The Research Found:

Eric J. Jacobs, PHD, American Cancer Society strategic director, and his colleagues found that people with very large waists (47 inches or larger in men, 42 inches or larger in women) had approximately twice the risk of death compared to those with the smallest waists (35 inches in men, 30 inches in women) during the study period.

And, this is the interesting part about the study: it didn't matter if the person was normal weight, overweight or obese (according to body mass index).

“We found a pattern showing that expanding waist size was linked to a greater risk of dying regardless of body weight,” said Jacobs. “Similarly, people with the smallest waist sizes had the lowest risk. The take home message here is watch your waist size regardless of your weight.”

Get your body fat percentage checked today!

Be sure and download your FREE 14-Day Accelerated Fat Loss Program from My Fitness Hut and start burning fat and building muscle mass.

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

Diet Plans for Weight Loss vs. Nutrition Plans for Fat Loss

Checking out at a store's cashier station, I picked up a magazine and read an article about leading diet plans on the market today. The article discussed the pros and cons of about 25 different diet plans.

Some of the diets were pretty solid and some were a little wacky. Of course, each diet plan is trying to sell something (usually weight loss and not fat loss) and make money.

What you need to know as a consumer is this: the most sensible and successful (long-term) way to lose weight, burn body fat and maintain good health is to exercise regularly and eat nutritiously. History and research have proven this again and again.

A fad diet is not the solution to your diet troubles and will never work for you long-term. Actually, fad diets will place you further away from your weight loss goals as you yo-yo back and forth with weight loss and even more weight gain!

A "quick weight loss only goal" is a short-term fix for your weight problem and will not ultimately help you attain your goals! Establish eating and exercise habits that will help you burn fat and lose weight for a lifetime.

The type of food you eat and timing of what you eat is very important for your metabolism to work properly. Your body needs adequate amounts of the macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, fats) to function properly.

Increasing muscle mass is critical to permanently speed up your metabolism. Your body has to work harder to maintain muscle mass. And, increasing muscle mass will burn the fat off of your body. So, start doing your regular weight training workouts 2-3 days a week.

Again, your body needs the macronutrients at all times to function properly. When your body functions properly, your metabolism will also function properly.

That's why you should eat every 3-4 hours to give your body what it needs and to protect your vital muscle mass.

Eat for health, fat loss and weight loss. You should not ever try a fad diet program to reach your long-term goals.

Eat These 3 Foods to Burn More Belly Fat

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

Reduce Your Heart Attack Risks

I have lost family members and friends due to heart attacks.

I don't know if the deaths could have been avoided, but I do know some ways to reduce your risk of having a heart attack (genetic heart conditions don't apply here).

Prevention of medical problems is always best. Personal trainers are in the business of helping you obtain and maintain a healthy body.

Regular resistance training and cardio exercise combined with healthy, managed nutrition has been scientifically proven to decrease body fat, body weight, fatigue, stress, hypertension, bad (LDL) cholesterol and many other chronic diseases such as diabetes.

Here are the benefits of just 30 minutes of daily moderate exercise activity.

--lost weight
--reduced body fat
--lowered LDL (bad cholesterol)
--lowered blood pressure
--improved heart function
--reduced risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease (heart disease risks are reduced even more when doing anaerobic exercise also)
--improved appearance and boosted self-esteem
--increased energy
--reduced healthcare costs

And, the more intense your workout, the more benefit your body will receive.

You shouldn't just jump into an exercise program if you have been inactive for a while. When's the last time you had a complete medical checkup? Here are some of the medical numbers you should be aware of:

Blood Pressure (source: MedlinePlus):

Your blood pressure is highest when your heart beats (pumping the blood). This is called systolic pressure (top number). When your heart is at rest or between beats, your blood pressure falls. This is the diastolic pressure (bottom number).

--120/80 or lower is normal blood pressure
--140/90 or higher is high blood pressure (hypertension)

An example of prehypertension would be a reading of 130/85.

High blood pressure usually has no symptoms, but it can cause serious problems such as stroke, heart failure, heart attack and kidney failure. You can control high blood pressure through exercise, healthy eating and medication (if needed). I have seen cases where exercise and healthy eating made medication unnecessary after a period of time.

Cholesterol (source: MedlinePlus):

Research has proven that you can lower your cholesterol levels by exercising more and eating more fruits and vegetables.

Total cholesterol level

Less than 200 is best.
200 to 239 is borderline high.
240 or more means you're at increased risk for heart disease.

LDL cholesterol levels

Below 100 is ideal for people who have a higher risk of heart disease.
100 to 129 is near optimal.
130 to 159 is borderline high.
160 or more means you're at a higher risk for heart disease.

HDL cholesterol levels

Less than 40 means you're at higher risk for heart disease.
60 or higher greatly reduces your risk of heart disease.

Triglyceride Levels (source: MedlinePlus):

Normal: Less than 150 mg/dL
Borderline High: 150-199 mg/dL
High: 200-499 mg/dL
Very High: 500 mg/dL or above

High triglyceride levels can be attributed to (among other things) a diet low in protein, high in carbohydrates and uncontrolled diabetes. This is why a nutritious, balanced diet is always best. And, low triglyceride levels can be attributed to (among other things) a low fat diet and malnutrition.

Your fitness program may need to start with a thorough medical checkup! Schedule it today if needed!

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

Avoid Running Injuries with Dynamic Flexibility and Recovery

Runners are susceptible to frequent injuries because of the intensity associated with the exercise activity. Inflexibility and short recovery periods cause many running injuries.

Runners need to do weight training too! Strengthening your body will protect you from injuries and make you a more efficient runner. Proper strength training does not make you bulky and less flexible.

In fact, you will increase flexibility and muscle mass (burning more calories and fat) by performing strength exercises correctly with a full range of motion. Weight bearing exercise also improves your bone density.

Decrease your risk of running injuries by doing the following:

1) Don't over-train. Research shows that the lowest number of running injuries occur when you run three days a week. Each added day increases your chance of injury. Also, don't run too many miles in a week. Those who run 20 miles or less a week experience the lowest number of injuries.

Even the most enthusiastic exercisers need to take a break. One, or even two days off will not hurt your fitness efforts in the long-run.

In fact, resting your body will allow you to come back stronger the next day.

So, what are some signs of over-training?

--prolonged foot contact with the ground (i.e., no quickness or sluggish),

--low stamina,

--more than normal muscle soreness and

--inflammation of tendons or ligaments due to over-use. Lesson? Take a break and live a little! Five or six days of exercise is enough for anyone.

You need rest between exercise days and walk breaks during long runs.

2) Do a proper dynamic warm-up. Dynamic stretching has been shown to prepare your body best for strenuous activity. A sample dynamic warm-up could be a 5-10 minute progressive jog/run, prisoner squats, lunges, medicine ball chops, etc.

Dynamic flexibility is achieved by using your muscles to warm up your muscles. A more technical definition would be this: multiplanar soft tissue extensibility (in all 3 planes of motion) with efficiency throughout the full range of motion.

Athletes perform dynamic flexibility exercises to get ready for competition. But dynamic flexibility is not limited to athletes.

After your workout, do static stretches to return your muscles to their normal length.

3) Speed training increases your chance of injury. A dynamic warm-up is critical. Speed training can be done 2 days a week (not consecutive days) as part of your overall training program.

4) It makes a difference in your daily functioning and exercising when you practice good posture---standing, sitting, walking, running and exercising.

Always run with good mechanics. Bad posturing causes dysfunctions to happen in other parts of your body, and will eventually lead to injury. Common problems due to bad posturing include back pain, shoulder/neck pain and many other problems with your body's core.

If you feel sharp pain during any run or exercise, stop immediately and seek medical help if needed.

5) Use massage therapy to relieve your pain and realign your body. Here are a few methods to consider:

Active Release Techniques - Active Release Techniques are a collection of different “hands-on” soft-tissue techniques that treat changes in tissue texture and tension. If a muscle stays tight for a period of time, it weakens.

Muscle weakness affects your workout performance and leads to injuries. Active release techniques brings the muscles back to the tension and movement they should have.

Swedish Massage - Its purpose is to increase circulation and blood flow. The massage strokes are often in the direction of the heart. Oil or other lotions are used to allow for smooth massage strokes.

Deep Tissue Massage - This type of massage is a favorite among exercisers because it focuses on joints and muscle groups. The massage therapist pinpoints deep layers of the soft tissues to relieve pain or stress.

Neuromuscular Therapy - This type of massage is used to address postural imbalances. The massage is used to reduce pain/tension and strengthen the soft tissues.

Myoskeletal Alignment Technique - Postural distortions are identified and corrected using Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) and myofascial techniques are used to lengthen tight muscles and tone weak or inhibited muscles.

You can't burn fat and lose weight if you are injured!

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

Low-Fat, Low-Carb, Diet Pills, Energy Drinks and Weight Gain

Let's see....low-fat products, low-carb diets, diet pills, energy drinks and we still have a weight gain and obesity problem in our population.

There are no shortcuts to getting lean and fit. Don't place your fat loss and weight loss dreams on products and fad diets. Why? Keep reading.

1. Be careful when eating low-fat products for the purpose of losing weight. Low-fat doesn't necessarily mean low-calorie. Sometimes these products contain other ingredients such as sugars and carbohydrates to make them taste better.

Carefully check the "Nutrition Facts" label to determine the total calories in the food product. Remember, if you consistently eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight (regardless of the type of the food eaten).

And, if you are trying to lose weight and body fat by food deprivation, it probably won't work for you either. Why? Because your body defends itself by storing fat and slowing down its metabolism to compensate for the lack of nutrition.

This is the opposite effect of what you want. The main purposes of exercise (resistance and cardio) is to burn body fat, lose weight and speed metabolism. Exercise and plan a healthy diet. This will give you the long-term health and fitness that you seek.

2. If you are depending on weight loss supplements to lose weight, you will be disappointed.

Research has proven that these supplements have no long-term benefit. Also, some of these supplements could be harmful to your health.

Download your Free Report, The Truth about Diet Pills!

3. The energy drink business is a huge industry. So, how do energy drinks fit into your fitness program? First, know that any weight loss or weight gain goal achievements will be accomplished by your hard work and a well designed fitness program.

Second, you can accomplish your fitness goals without ever drinking 1 ounce from an energy drink.

Third, energy drinks often cause you to crash lower than the previous "energy high" provided by the drink. What was the question? Oh yeah, how do energy drinks fit into your fitness program?

And the answer is---you don't need energy drinks to accomplish your fat loss and weight loss goals. You will get plenty of energy from proper nutrition and adequate sleep.

Remember also that many energy drinks are loaded with sugar which might hinder your nutritional goals. Energy drinks are also usually loaded with caffiene. Save your money on energy drinks and try a good cup of coffee.

You may need help from a personal trainer. Here's one good way to tell if a personal trainer might work for you. YOU HAVE TRIED JUST ABOUT EVERY THING ELSE IN ORDER TO GET FIT AND NOTHING HAS WORKED LONG-TERM FOR YOU.

A qualified personal trainer is trained to not grasp for "quick fixes" when it comes to fitness and health and knows that longterm fitness depends on a systematic, progressive training program---and that takes time.

A personal trainer is trying to help you make "fitness become a way of life" and this will result in the PERMANENT BODY COMPOSITION CHANGES you want.

Eat These 3 Foods to Burn More Belly Fat

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

Active Lifestyle Helps Burn More Calories and Fat

Burn calories and fat all day by staying active during the day. Your fat-burning enzymes will shut down if you sit all day.

You don't have to wait until your workout to burn calories and fat. All movement burns calories.

Walking at a moderate pace for 30 minutes at least 5 times a week can lower your risk of heart disease by about 40%. This will get you started and progressing to higher intensity exercise which will lower your risks even more.

Once you have advanced, begin 20 minutes of cardio exercise, 2-3 times a week. Progress to 20-minute interval cardio sessions after 1 week. Also, include 3 days of full body strength training to build muscle, burn fat and lose weight.

On your days off, walk at least 30 minutes during the day to remain active.

Have you been trying to lose weight without much success? Maybe you need a more active lifestyle. Pick up hobbies that require movement like soccer, hiking, biking or swimming.

Basic physical fitness contains the following:

- Aerobic (cardiovascular) Fitness: The ability to take in and supply your body with oxygen during exercise. Interval cardio exercise has been proven to burn more body fat and improve heart health more than slow, long cardio sessions. All it takes is 20 minutes per cardio session.

Too many long, slow cardio sessions (like 60 minutes) also waste away your precious muscle mass.

- Muscular Fitness: Muscle strength, power and endurance. This includes core strengh. All movement begins with the core so it is essential to strengthen it.

- Flexibility: The ability to stretch muscles and move joints through a full range of motion. You will also avoid injuries with more flexible muscles.

- Body Composition: The proportion of body-fat mass to lean body mass. Increase your lean mass (increased muscle mass) and burn body fat with consistent weight training and healthy, managed nutrition.

More muscle mass will help speed up your metabolism because your body has to work harder to maintain metabolically active muscle mass.

To be at your best physically, include all of these basic components in your fitness program.

The Law of Thermodynamics

What puts on weight? Consume more calories than you burn. Want to lose weight? Create a caloric deficit (burn more calories than you consume) on most days. That is the law of thermodynamics. So what makes this such a complex process? Nothing. Just watch what and how much you eat and exercise.

Starvation diets (like eating just 1,000 calories a day for too long) will cause your body to store fat as a survival tactic. Your body thinks you are starving it so your metabolism slows and fat is stored. Calorie deficits of 400-600 calories a day is generally sufficient to burn fat and lose weight.

Calories are Not Your Enemy

Calories are just units of energy in the form of food and drink. Consider these facts:

one gram of protein provides 4 calories
one gram of carbohydrates provides 4 calories
one gram of fat provides 9 calories
one gram of alcohol provides 7 calories
vitamins and minerals don't provide any calories

Depending on your goals, you may want to gain weight (such as athletes) or lose weight. Proper weight training will allow you to do either without losing critical muscle mass.

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
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Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

Why Calorie Restriction Diets Increase Body Fat

Calorie restriction diets and quick weight loss will leave you fatter and less healthy in the longrun. When you begin to eat adequately again, you will regain the weight.

Since you don't burn fat when you lose weight so quickly, your body fat percentage will be even higher when you do regain the weight.

If you lose 25 pounds in 10 days, it will be mainly muscle mass loss and some water weight. Your body fat will still be there.

Eating just 1,000 calories a day for a prolonged period like 2-3 weeks will cause your body to shift into survival mode. It thinks you are starving and stores fat to survive.

The lost muscle mass will slow down your metabolism (your body has to work harder to maintain metabolically active muscle mass).

The best way to lose weight is to train regularly with weights (including bodyweight exercises), do interval cardio exercise and have managed, healthy meal plans. The weights will build muscle and you will burn fat and lose weight.

And the good thing is that the fat will not come back as long as you maintain your weight training, cardio and nutrition habits.

The musclebuilding and fat burning process takes longer, but the effects are lasting. And you will be much healthier. The fringe benefit? You will love your lean body!

Physicians and health professionals agree that the key to long-term health is proper nutrition and exercise.

Calorie restriction diets:

--Slows Metabolism
--Weakens Immune System
--Creates Hormonal Imbalances
--Aggitates the Nervous System
--Generates Loss of Muscle Mass
--Increases Body Fat, Decreases Energy Levels
--Disrupts Sleep Patterns
--Provides Short-Term Results
--Initiates Yo-Yo Weight Loss and Regain

That sounds like bad stuff to me.....and its not worth wrecking your body to lose quick pounds!

Download your FREE 14-Day Accelerated Fat Loss Program, start burning max fat and start building your lean, hard body!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
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Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

Subcutaneous Fat vs. Visceral Fat, What's the Difference?

All body fat is not equal...you need to know the difference between subcutaneous and visceral fat.

Subcutaneous fat is found just underneath the skin and may cause dimpling and cellulite.

Cellulite causes skin to dimple, pucker up or lump up. There are many factors that determine whether you have cellulite---your genes, gender, skin thickness and amount of body fat all play a part. There are no quick fixes for cellulite.

And, according to the International Journal of Obesity (and many other sources), butt fat is healthier than belly fat. Their research shows that belly fat increases risks of heart attack, stroke, diabetes and premature death.

Women tend to carry too much fat on the butt, hips and thighs while men tend to carry too much belly fat. The research showed that women with more butt fat/thigh fat than belly fat have better blood sugar levels, blood fat control and slower fat turnover (prevents inflammation and promotes metabolic health).

Visceral fat is located in the abdomen and vital organs (such as the liver) and it can be deadly. It can also infiltrate your muscles and heart. Even if you are skinny, you can have visceral fat.

A “skinny fat” person is one who is skinny with high body fat. Studies have shown that frequent yo-yo dieting increases visceral fat. Yo-yo dieters also regain the lost weight (and even more) because yo-yo diets slow down your metabolism.

Work to shrink your waist size. Doing so will reduce your risk of dying from diseases like cancer and heart disease. Researchers from the American Cancer Society warns us about the deadly risks of having too much belly fat.

In the research study led by Eric J. Jacobs, PhD, American Cancer Society strategic director, Pharmacoepidemiology, researchers examined the association between waist circumference and the risk of death among 48,500 men and 56,343 women age 50 and older who had taken part in the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort, a subset of the larger Cancer Prevention Study II (CPS-II).

Participants were tracked for 9 years. “We were interested in looking at waist size because it’s strongly correlated to fat tissue in the abdomen, which is the most dangerous kind of fat issue,” said Jacobs.

Jacobs and his colleagues found that people with very large waists (47 inches or larger in men, 42 inches or larger in women) had approximately twice the risk of death compared to those with the smallest waists (35 inches in men, 30 inches in women) during the study period.

And, this is the interesting part about the study: it didn't matter if the person was normal weight, overweight or obese (according to body mass index).

“We found a pattern showing that expanding waist size was linked to a greater risk of dying regardless of body weight,” said Jacobs. “Similarly, people with the smallest waist sizes had the lowest risk. The take home message here is watch your waist size regardless of your weight.”

So, I say its best to burn both types of fat with regular exercise and healthy, managed nutrition!

Burn total body fat by doing full body strength training. This will help you burn dangerous belly fat. Doing 500 ab crunches a day won't get the job done. If you want to do some extra work on your stubborn body fat areas (in addition to your regular workouts), that okay.

One tactic that will work to help you burn fat is mixing up your cardio workouts. Don't just do running on a treadmill or elliptical machine. You could do a different cardio workout every session to avoid boredom and repetitive stress injuries. Try these cardio workouts to blast fat:

--Bodyweight cardio
--Sprint intervals
--Jump exercise intervals

Mix up your strength workouts between heavy weight sessions (3-5 repetitions per set) and lighter weight circuit training sessions (10-12 repetitions per set).

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

10 Tips to Burn Fat Like an Athlete

You are an athlete and you can burn fat like one! Even if you don't make a living as an athlete, your body can still train with the intensity that athletes train with.

Athletes in speed and power sports are usually very cut and lean because most of their exercises are done with intervals at full speed.

Short bursts are proven fat burners and these athletes primarily train this way. We're talking workouts with major calorie and fat burn.

So, here are 10 tips to help you burn fat like an athlete:

1. Train your body in all 3 planes of motion. Using strength exercises that require rotations, turning, twisting and side-to-side motions will fit the bill.

Machine-based training concentrates on the sagittal plane (up-down, forward-backward movements). Do miminal training (unless you are rehabbing or a beginner) on machines because they limit your natural movement patterns.

Training in all planes of motion will definitely add intensity and variety to your workouts.

2. Training on your feet will lead you to do more full body exercises that burn more calories and fat.

3. Athletes have strong, muscular bodies, including the core. Muscle mass and intense workouts helps to keep their metabolisms humming around the clock.

Stabilize and strengthen the core first and limbs (arms and legs) later. This can be done using exercises like bridges, planks, bird dogs, cobras, supermans and back extensions.

You would later progress to full speed core exercises on your feet like medicine ball chops, medicine ball slams, 2-arm and 1-arm medicine ball throws and medicine ball rotational throws.

4. Include many bodyweight and dumbbell exercises in your workouts. This will help you exercise at higher speeds and burn more fat.

You can get to the heavier weights once your joints and muscles are stabilized and balanced. If you can't do bodyweight squats correctly then you won't do heavyweight squats correctly.

5. Concentrate on compound (multi-joint) exercises like squats of all types, lunges of all types, bench press, rows, step ups, and deadlifts.

These exercises work major muscle groups and help you build more muscle mass and burn more fat.

6. Improve your muscular balance. This will help you build muscle all over your body.

For instance, your quadriceps shouldn't be significantly stronger than your hamstrings. Likewise, the frontside of your upper body should have muscular balance with the backside of your upper body.

7. Train your muscles with all contraction types (eccentric, isometric, concentric). All muscles function eccentrically (reduces force or deceleration), isometrically (stabilizes force) and concentrically (produces force).

Eccentric contractions are able to produce the most tension development followed by isometric contractions and lastly, concentric contractions. If eccentric contractions are able to produce the greatest tension development, then more time should be devoted during training for eccentric contractions to reduce the risk of injuries such as knee ACL tears.

Also, strong eccentric contractions are critical for athletes to produce maximal power since all force production (concentric) must be preceded by force reduction (eccentric).

Lowering the bar on bench press 4 seconds (eccentric) and lifting the bar in one second (concentric) would be an example of eccentric contraction training. You could do the same thing with exercises like hamstring curls, shoulder press, rows and squats.

8. Improve your flexibility and correct postural problems in the early stages of your training to avoid injuries when you get to more intense training. You can't workout if your injured!

9. Progress to more intense exercises like plyometrics (jump training), speed training and full-speed sport specific exercises after you have stabilized and strengthened your core, joints and overall muscle structure.

10. Improve your rate-of-force production (how fast your muscles produce force) and dynamic balance. This will help you burn more fat because you will be able to do more challenging exercises.

Train harder, smarter, safely and burn more fat!

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

Natural Health and Organic Living--Reality or Buzzwords?

What comes to your mind when someone says their product is all natural and organic? Skepticism? Yeah, me too....how do I know your product is naturally healthy and organic?

If you are serious about buying healthy and organic products, you need to research the company. That's what I did.

Before associating with Global Healing Center, I did some research and found out that they are doing many goods things to improve people's lives.

Take a look at these 3 points:

1. They have a desire to help people. They want to help educate people to help themselves and not be dependant on a medical doctor for every issue, but to realize that the body has self-healing mechanisms to heal itself.

They are in existence to help eliminate and prevent disease by giving people the tools they need to live long, healthy lives.

2. They take the time to search the globe for “new” advanced technology in healthcare—whether it be evaluating current nutritional products on the market or developing their own products.

They look at the body as a whole instead of addressing one symptom at a time. They also teach you how to clean up the environment you surround yourself in. The definition of a doctor should be one who teaches, not one who prescribes.

That is what Global Healing Center is all about.

3. Global Healing Center offers a wide variety of products and home health equipment, to help you in all aspects of your life such as air purifiers, water purifiers, hi-tech supplementation, radiation protectors, books and educational material, custom designed health programs, personal consulting and more.

They research their products very thoroughly and with the highest of standards; therefore, they are able to offer you the absolute best available healthcare inventory.

Dr. Edward Group founded Global Healing Center in 1998 and is currently the Chief Executive Officer. Heading up the research and development team, Dr. Group assumes a hands-on approach in producing new and advanced degenerative disease products and information.

Dr. Group has studied natural healing methods for over 20 years and now teaches individuals and practitioners all around the world.

He no longer sees patients but solely concentrates on spreading the word of health and wellness to the global community. Under his leadership, Global Healing Center, Inc. has earned recognition as one of the largest alternative, natural and organic health resources on the Internet.

Dr. Group's mission is simple:

My desire is to help as many people as I can by providing them with the most accurate health information in the world. I want to help educate and heal the world, promote a clean environment, and bring back good health, positive thinking, happiness, and love.

I also want to expose to you the hidden truths behind the medical industry, such as how modern medicine treats just the symptoms of disease and not the root causes.

Let’s face it—the current healthcare systems are not working and the incidence of disease is climbing at an alarming rate. I want people to know that the root cause of disease stems from the accumulation of toxins in the body, and daily exposure to a toxic living environment.

These toxins come from air, water, genetically modified foods, pesticides, meat, dairy, soy, white flour, table salt, MSG (Monosodium Glutamate), microwaved foods, refined sugar, artificial sweeteners, caffeine, alcohol, electromagnetic radiation, heavy metals, parasites, industrial chemicals, prescription drugs and more.

If you're serious about living more naturally and organically, check out Global Healing Center!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES

Squats Build Muscle, Burn Fat and Speed Metabolism

Some form of squat exercise should be a part of every strength workout you do. The squat will help you build more muscle, burn more fat and speed up your metabolism. The squat will not injure you if you do the exercise correctly.

Learn how to do the barbell squat exercise to prevent injury.

There is probably no other exercise that has a greater impact on your body's musclebuilding, metabolism and energy expenditure. Why? Because the squat is a total body movement exercise.

This means your legs (especially quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes), abdominals and lower back are targeted. Even your arms and shoulders will feel the effects of the exercise.

I would recommend doing squats without machines or weight belts. This will force you to learn how to stabilize your body without artificial support. And, there's no reason to "max out" on squats. There are other ways to calculate your one-rep max on the squat exercise.

If you are not able to perform squats with barbell or dumbbell weights because of injury, then start with bodyweight squats.

There are many variations of the squat exercise. Some are: barbell squats, dumbbell squats, bodyweight squats, one-legged squats, Bulgarian split squats (pictured above), side squats, prisoner squats, sumo squats, sissy squats, hack squats and front squats.

They are all good to work into your routine at some point. Keep in mind that one-legged exercises are more intense than two-legged exercises.

Here are 3 reasons to do squats and burn more fat:

1. The squat works the major muscle groups. To recruit more muscle fibers during workouts and improve your fat loss success, focus more on multi-joint or compound exercises like the squat.

Compound exercises will help you burn more fat because of the intensity of working large muscle groups in your body. You will also burn more calories and fat after your workout.

2. You will tone your bulky and shapely fast twitch muscle fibers better with the squat exercise. I am talking mainly about your butt, hips and thighs. Everyone wants to shape these areas!

3. Work your core with squats. Research shows that the abdominal muscles are engaged more when doing squats than they are doing many of the more popular ab exercises.

Your lower back will also get quite a workout. If you do the exercise correctly, you won't injure your low back.

The are many other reasons to do the squat exercise. Include some type of squat in every strength training workout.

Again, be sure and learn how to do the barbell squat exercise to prevent injury.

Be sure and download your FREE 14-Day Accelerated Fat Loss Program from My Fitness Hut and start burning fat and building muscle!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
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Top 5 Interval Cardio Workouts to Burn More Fat

Use intervals for cardio and you will burn fat faster and start to see your body lean out sooner. High intensity interval training (HIIT) is a proven effective fat-burning cardio exercise method.

Also, HIIT is the best way to burn fat (while saving muscle mass) in the shortest amount of time as well as increase VO2 Max. All that's needed is 20 minutes per workout session.

Doing this type of cardio will burn more calories and fat during and after your workout. Exercise Post-Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) causes your body to burn more calories and fat after a tough workout. Your body has to work harder to get back to its pre-exercise state.

If you can do these exercises at full speed, you will get even more fat-burning benefits.

Here are my Top 5 Interval Cardio Workouts to Burn More Fat:

1. Sprints. After a proper dynamic warmup (like jog/run progressively for 5 minutes), sprint for 60 yards and walk back to the starting line. The sprint has to be at maximum effort. Do this rotation for 20 minutes.

To continually challenge yourself, progress this cardio exercise to surfaces such as inclines, hills and stadium steps. Weighted resistance, such as vests, could also be used.

2. Jumps. This includes exercises such as squat jumps, jumping jacks, jump rope, pike jumps, side-to-side hops, front-to-back hops and tuck jumps. You can use one exercise or 2-5 exercises during a workout. Do the intervals for 30 seconds and walk for 1 minute. Total workout time is 20 minutes.

3. Mountain Climbers. The mountain climber is a versatile exercise in that you can do it on level ground, on an incline, knee-across-your-body, as a warmup, as cardio or as a speed exercise. I like to include mountain climbers as part of a bodyweight cardio session.

Either way, include mountain climbers in your workouts more often. It is one of the best and toughest exercises out there. It is a compound exercise in that it works the calves, quadriceps, glutes, back, chest, triceps, abdominals and shoulders.

You will need high levels of core strength to do this exercise the right way for each set. Do the intervals for 30 seconds and walk for 1 minute. Total workout time is 20 minutes.

4. Bodyweight Cardio. Get strength and cardio benefits with this highly effective form of exercise. You could do a workout that includes squats, squat jumps, pullups, pushups, burpees and inverted rows. You won't get bored doing this type of workout!

Do the intervals for 30 seconds and walk for 1 minute. Total workout time is 20 minutes.

5. Cardio blasts. Between each weight training exercise set, do 30-45 seconds of jump rope, mountain climbers or squat jumps full speed. It's just that simple and that tough!

Try to do the whole 20 minute workout without any rest between exercises. Rest 2-3 minutes after completing a weight training circuit and repeat the circuit 1 or 2 more times.

All of these workouts are great for burning fat, building muscle mass and improving heart health. These workouts are not for beginners, those getting back into shape or those with health issues.

Do interval cardio for your cardio workouts and you will burn more fat!

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs