Bodyweight Workout for Busy People

If you have a crazy busy day but still want an effective, intense bodyweight workout, all it takes is 20 minutes of your time.  You don't need to go to a gym and you will never be bored....you will burn major calories and fat.

Bodyweight cardio is a great way to change up your routine. Also, you will tone your body faster because of the strength component in the workout.

Because machines stabilize your body for you, bodyweight exercises help you develop strength that allows your body to stabilize itself.

Some of you don't get significant results with fat loss because you do the same thing for cardio exercise most of the time and you're not doing enough strength training.  Get the best of both with bodyweight workouts.

Do the workout this way (do circuit 3 times with 30 seconds rest between exercises):

--Step ups, knee high platform, 10 repetitions each leg
--Pushups, 10 repetitions, fast
--Cross-Body mountain climbers, fast, 30 seconds
--Inverted rows, 10 repetitions, moderate pace
--Clock (3-D) lunges, 5 each leg, moderate pace
--Rest two minutes and repeat circuit

Have a great workout today!

If you need bodyweight workouts that you can start at your own level, check out the Free download below (it has beginner, intermediate and advanced levels):

Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts. 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

How to Build a Hard, Lean Body with Six Pack Abs

Let's face it, if you had a choice, you would want a hard, lean body with six pack abs. You do have a choice. Its up to you to make it happen.

Here are some of my best articles, all in one place, for you to start building your best body:

10 Habits of Lean Bodied People

Shape your lean body and keep it that way with consistent daily habits. The main flaw with quick weight loss programs is that you can't continue those programs for very long. So, you will likely gain the weight back. 

10 Strength Training Habits to Make You Lean

To get the lean body you want and need, you must do regular full body strength training and burn fat on your total body. Just spot training your abs or upper body will not get the job done.

10 Habits of People Who Burn Belly Fat

Burn belly fat for your health. Burn belly fat to sculpt your six pack abs and look better naked or in your clothes.  You won't burn belly fat by chance even though you can surely gain it without trying.

Interview:  5 Fat Loss Secrets for Six Pack Abs and a Flat Stomach

An interview with Mike Geary of "The Truth about Six Pack Abs."  He was interviewed by a fitness professional from NYC, Certified Personal Trainer, Geovanni Derice. 

3 Tips to Stabilize Deep Core Muscles for a Flat Stomach

If you want a flatter stomach, strengthen and stabilize your deep core muscles. It is also critical to stabilize deep core muscles to protect yourself against injuries.  It is a mistake to focus on over-training the superficial abdominal muscles like the rectus abdominis (six pack abs). It would be like a thin crust of ice on top of liquid.

Get Six Pack Abs Sooner with Athletic Bodyweight Workouts

Use athletic workouts to help build your six pack abs and even more. Athletic bodyweight workouts will blast fat from your body like never before...just try a workout and see for yourself!

Get Six Pack Abs Sooner with Ab Ball Rollouts

Get your six pack abs on with the ab ball rollout. This exercise might be new to you or you may be afraid to try it....improve your six-pack abs, core strength and balance with the ab ball rollout.

Get Six Pack Abs Sooner with Ab Ball Jackknifes

Sculpt those six pack abs sooner by doing the ab ball jackknife exercise. Superset the ab ball jackknife with the ab ball rollout to build your six pack even faster! 

Work Abs Hard with Cross Body Mountain Climbers

You need to add cross body mountain climbers to your ab exercise routine. This exercise will build strength and help tone your "six pack" and obliques. Cross body mountain climbers also work the calves, quadriceps, glutes, back, chest, triceps and shoulders. You will need high levels of core strength to do this exercise the right way for each set. 

Get Six Pack Abs Sooner with Isometric Exercises

You need to do isometric core exercises to get your six pack abs. This is a surprise to many people. Isometric core exercises build up the deep stabilizing muscles and give tone to your entire core area. Isometric exercises help you build strength and burn fat without moving much.

Burn fat, lose weight and stay healthy!

If you need Motivation and Accurate Information to make your best body.......

Be sure and download your FREE 7-Day Body Makeover Jumpstart e-Course, which shows you how to totally remake your body a healthy and lean fat-burning machine!

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

8 Health Benefits of Juicing

Your juice will only be as good as the fruits and vegetables you put in it. I recommend fresh, organic produce to get maximum health benefits.

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

Do Cholesterol Medications Make You Fat?

by Kevin DiDonato, MS, CSCS, CES

Are you over the age of 45?

Do you exercise regularly?

Are you one of the 25 percent of adults that needs statins - the cholesterol-lowering medication?

If so, you may be impairing your body’s ability to adapt to exercise.

And this may not be good news for people who are not just older, but older AND overweight.

Before we get into the surprising findings, there is some background information you should know about…

Statins and Exercise
Statins are normally prescribed by doctors, cardiologists, and other healthcare practitioners as a way to lower your total cholesterol numbers, lower your LDL cholesterol, and in some cases, increase your HDL cholesterol.

This type of medication is used to control at least one factor associated with heart disease, and is also commonly prescribed after a heart attack or stroke has happened.

Statins are one of the FIVE core medications routinely prescribed to heart attack survivors and other people who are at an increased risk for heart disease or having a heart attack.

Now, however, current research suggests that statins may be linked to skeletal muscle myopathy (muscle disease often associated with weakness), and impaired mitochondrial function.

But, the use of statins and inhibiting exercise adaptions has not been fully investigated, or it’s unclear if statin use is a culprit.

Until now!

A new study released by Duke University shows that statin use may be linked to impaired adaptions to exercise.

Here’s what they found:

The study included 37 participants who were divided into an exercise-only group or an exercise and statin group.

They found that exercise alone increased cardiorespiratory fitness by 10 percent.

However, the participants exercising with statins showed a 1.5 percent increase in cardiorespiratory fitness levels.

Similarly, in the exercise-only group, muscle citrate synthase activity (measure of mitochondrial function) increased by 13 percent, but in the exercise and statin group, it decreased by 4.5 percent.

What did they conclude?

“Simvastatin attenuates increases in cardiorespiratory fitness and skeletal muscle mitochondrial content when combined with exercise training in overweight or obese patients at risk of the metabolic syndrome.”

Exercise and Statin Use
Exercise is an important – often vital – component to a healthy life.

For those who are at risk for cardiovascular disease, including walking, jogging, biking, or swimming may lead to improvements in blood pressure, cholesterol, and other factors related to heart health.

And for those who are 45 years and older, exercise may be one of the BIGGEST factors for improvements in health and longevity.

But, there is sad news.  Roughly 25 percent of people, who are 45 years and older, may currently be taking a statin in order to control cholesterol.

And this may pose problems for exercise and the adaptations related to exercise.

According to the study above, statin use may decrease the adaptions associated with exercise, therefore possibly reducing the positive effects that may be seen with exercise.

Although statins may be important for better heart health, they may disrupt how your body adapts to your current exercise program.

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES

Your Fitness University
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Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

4 Weight Loss Strategies with Lean Body Results

You want fat loss with lasting weight loss? You need a program that works over the long term to give you a lean, healthy body. Tired of hearing about the weekly new weight loss programs on infomercials? Want some fat loss and weight loss strategies that will work today, tomorrow and 10 years from now? Read on.......

4 Fat Loss and Weight Loss Strategies to Build Your Lean Body:

1. Shorten your strength training workouts to 40 minutes or less and ramp up the intensity. In other words, work harder for a shorter period of time and you'll get more fat burn and calorie burn during and after your workout.

Do as many compound strength exercises (with weights or bodyweight) standing up as possible. These types of exercises work major muscle groups and many times are full-body strength exercises.

Squats, deadlift, lunges, standing bentover rows, squat-to curl-to press and bench press are great examples. Full-body core exercises like planks and side planks work well also. Spend less time posing on "mirror exercises" like bicep curls, calf raises and tricep extensions.

Here is a good fat-burning workout:

Do each exercise one after the other with 30 seconds rest between exercises. Rest 2-3 minutes between circuits. Do the circuit 4 times.

--Bulgarian Split Squats, 10 repetitions each leg
--Plank, 12 repetitions, 10 second hold
--Pushups on Medicine Ball, 12 repetitions
--Step Ups with Knee Lift (knee high platform), 10 repetitions each leg
--Bentover dumbbell rows, 10 repetitions
--Clock Lunges, 5 repetitions each leg
--Standing dumbbell shoulder press, 10 repetitions
--Repeat circuit 2 more times.

This type of workout will torch body fat.

2. Shorten and intensify your cardio workout! Too many long, slow cardio sessions wastes time and eats away at your muscle mass. Short, intense cardio sessions also burn more fat and calories during and after your workout.

I'm talking about interval cardio sessions that are 20 minutes or less.

Here is an interval cardio session that I often do (or something similar):

--Jump rope, fast, 1 minute
--Walk 1 minute
--Mountain climbers, fast, 30 seconds
--Walk 30 seconds
--Jumping Jacks, fast, 1 minute
--Walk 1 minute
--Run-In-Place, fast, 30 seconds
--Walk 30 seconds
--Bodyweight Jump Squats, fast, 15 seconds
--Walk 1 minute

Repeat this circuit 2 more times.

If you don't like these types of exercises, then pick exercises that you like. I know that jump squats won't work for those with knee or back problems. As long as you change it up and keep it interesting, you will will make progress.

3. Make needed changes to your eating habits and reach your fat loss and weight loss goals faster.

Don't ruin great workouts by eating bad food with a million calories. Its possible to hide those hard-earned muscles with a thick layer(s) of fat. Don't fight against yourself!

We eat "too large" servings of food and that's without even "super-sizing" anything. Keep your daily food journal to track what, how much and why you are eating. This will help you with portion control.

It will be easier to keep your commitment if you plan your meals for the week. And, instead of eating out during the day, pack your food. This will protect you from binge eating and haphazard eating (i.e. grazing).

Here are some common sense do's and don'ts when it comes to eating:

Cut out these type foods: sodas, sugary fruit juice drinks, candy, cookies, donuts, fried meats and fried foods, fast foods, ketchup, mayonnaise

Add these type foods: oatmeal, nuts, low-fat dairy products, low-fat Greek yogurt, fruits, veggies, unsweetened tea, water, lean meats (baked, broiled or grilled), olive oil, cinnamon, mustard.

4. Shorten and intensify your workouts with jump training (plyometrics).

If you're having trouble sculpting your butt, hips and thighs then you need to do more plyometric training.

Plyometric workouts are advanced workouts. You need to perfect jumping and landing techniques or you will injure yourself. And, if you have knee and low back problems, high-speed plyometric training is not for you.

Try this jump training workout (take 30 seconds rest between exercises):

--jump rope, two feet, full speed, 1 minute
--squat jumps, 10, full speed
--lunge jumps, 10, full speed
--depth jumps (off knee-high platform), 10
--tuck jumps, 10, full speed
--jumping jacks, 30 seconds, full speed

Rest 2 minutes between circuits. Repeat the circuit 2 more times--20 minutes total workout time. Take more rest between exercises or circuits if needed.

Burn fat, lose weight and stay healthy!

If you need Motivation and Accurate Information to make your best body.......

Be sure and download your FREE 7-Day Body Makeover Jumpstart e-Course, which shows you how to totally remake your body a healthy and lean fat-burning machine!

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

7 Tips to Eat Cleaner

To eat cleaner, you may have to clean out your food pantry. You will eat the food in your house, whether its healthy or not. If you want your eating habits to improve, don't skip this step.

If you are having trouble with problem foods, try this trick:

Give up one bad eating habit a week. You could start with cutting excess sugar from your diet. For example, replace sodas and sugary fruit drinks with water and unsweetened tea. This one change will cut huge amounts of calories and body fat. The replacement method will make your diet changes more practical and less overwhelming.
But, you will still need to try and comply with your total meal plan at least 90% of the time.

Eating healthier is a challenge for many of us due to bad habits developed over a long time.

This is a comment posted by "Any Wife:"

"Great idea, except my problem would be that I could make it one week omitting or decreasing the intack of say sugar, but the next week when say I decided to increase my fiber intack I would start with the sugar again."

Here are 7 tips to try:

Note: Eating cleaner starts with eating whole, natural foods with one ingredient most of the time. Examples would be fruits, veggies, fish, eggs, oats and nuts. These types of foods also keep you fuller for longer on less calories.

1. Get an accountability partner (such as a friend, workout partner or personal trainer) to hold you accountable to your exercise and nutrition goals.

2. Keep a daily food journal to track your intended goals and actual eating patterns. Review and recommit to every nutrition goal every week. Once you get good at knowing what, how much and when to eat, you can stop keeping the journal.

3. Replace your "bad food" item that you like with a "good food" item that you also like. Unsugared fruit juice is a better choice than sugary juice drinks. Likewise, replace something like ice cream with low-calorie, natural smoothies. I think you get the idea. When you eat something you like, you are more likely to continue eating the healthier, low-calorie food choice.

4. Reward yourself every few days or once a week when you "stick to your nutrition plan." Having a small, sugary treat (or fill in the blank) will not hurt your nutrition plan.

5. You may need to start throwing away all the bad foods in your pantry and replacing them with healthy replacements.

6. Set your daily calorie intake based on your basal metabolic rate, activity level and goals. This way, you won't eat too much or too little.

Maintaining the right amount of calorie deficit (burning more calories than you consume) on most days is the key to burning fat and losing weight. For instance, if you eat 1,200 calories a day for too long, your body will store fat as a survival mechanism. It thinks you are starving.

7. Above all else, recommit yourself every day to your exercise and nutrition goals because its what you really want to do. Some call it willpower. You'll be healthier and happier.

Start taking these steps today to help you change your eating habits and burn more fat.

-Catherine Ebeling and Mike Geary are co-authors of the popular ebook, Fat-Burning Kitchen, which shows you how to totally revamp your kitchen to make your body a fat-burning machine!

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

Stand Up Desk, Stand Up Exercises Burns Calories and Fat

Use a stand up desk to burn more calories and fat. And, it will keep you more alert, especially early morning and after lunch. Some stand up desks also have treadmills attached to them (go right ahead if you want).

One more thing about a desk job: Long hours sitting at a desk (or any prolonged, daily sitting) puts you at risk for some fitness and health problems such as:

1. tight hip flexors, hamstrings and calves,
2. postural problems such as hunched, rounded shoulders and forward head position,
3. limited lumbar spine extension and a stiff thoracic spine,
4. tight external hip rotators with limits hip joint range of motion,
5. shoulder blade alignment problems and
6. miscellaneous muscle strains and muscle imbalances.

Postural problems can be corrected. See my posts on posture. Flexibility problems can also be corrected. See my posts on flexibility.

Some other things you can do:

a. Walk during work breaks. Just doing this will give you 30-40 minutes of moderate exercise during the day. This technique is an underestimated calorie burner.

b. Do flexibility stretches every two hours or so at your desk. Kneeling hip flexors, calf, hamstring, quad, neck, spine and other stretches will help keep you flexible and relaxed. Standing trunk rotations, arm circles, leg swings and pectoral exercises are also good.

c. Brace (like getting ready to take a punch to the gut) your torso as you stand to strengthen your core.

Benefits of Stand Up Exercises

Exercising on your feet works and activates more muscles and that's what you want. You will build more muscle mass faster and burn more calories and fat.

For instance, the standing shoulder press will not only work your shoulders and arms but will also activate your core muscles.

And, since you are standing, your lower body also has to do some work. Your legs will also help you lift more repetitions during a set.

The seated shoulder press won't allow you to build the type of strength you will need in every day movements. You will never try to lift a heavy load while sitting. The seated shoulder press is useful for beginners or those recovering from injuries.

Other standing exercises are squats, deadlift, bentover rows, lunges and medicine ball exercises.

So, if you want maximum fat-burn and calorie-burn, plan your exercise routine with more standing exercises. You can sit down after your workout!

Follow a regular strength (3 days a week) and interval cardio exercise (2-3 days a week) program. All it takes is 30 minutes a day. Among other benefits, this will give you needed muscle (and related fat burn), good heart health and strong bones.

Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts. 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

Shrink Your Body with a Fat Loss Diet

Shrink your body to lean with the right diet, a fat loss diet. You don't have a fat loss diet? Get one ASAP! A fat loss diet plays a huge part in the success of your fat loss and weight loss efforts.

Don't confuse a fat loss diet with a quick weight loss diet. They are totally different animals. How different? Check this out:

a. A quick weight loss diet leaves you hungry and sometimes starving. You might lose weight in the beginning but you will have low energy, slowed metabolism, a weakened immune system and your body will begin to store fat (starvation mode).

Ultimately, you will regain more weight than you lost when you start to eat normally again (yo-yo effect). You don't want to live like that, right?

b. A fat loss diet will help you maintain your energy. You will never be hungry or starving because you will eat every 3-4 hours. The food items will be whole, natural and nutritious and help you burn fat.

You will eat enough to fuel your intense weight training and interval cardio workouts. Without these workouts, its impossible to build muscle mass and lean out your body.

The Fat Burning Kitchen will Help you Makeover Your Food Pantry

If your basal metabolic rate is 1800 calories a day, 1000 calories of food intake is not enough food for you to function properly. Doing this will turn your body into a total wreck! Having a healthy body at a healthy weight and acceptable body fat percentage is the most important.

The only way to improve is to know where you went wrong (if that's the case). The truth behind your weight loss and subsequent weight gain can sometimes be painful.

If you want a healthy, lean body that will give you the best chance to live healthy for a long time, you need to know the reasons why your weight loss and fat loss efforts failed.

As a personal trainer, I have seen many reasons why people fail at weight loss and fat loss. Here are 5:

1. You MUST make a real commitment to change eating habits and exercise habits. A real commitment always includes willpower to succeed. That means you won't quit even if you lose some battles along the way. One bad day or bad week won't stop you---you will get back up and keep trying. Its also called perseverance.

If you have low self worth, it will affect everything you do, including your efforts to change your body and lose weight. Somehow, you must eat right and workout because you're worth it and its good for your health and lifestyle. This is a very positive behavior and will lead to permanent lifestyle changes.

2. If you are afraid to set goals for fear of not reaching those goals, then you will find some way to sabotage your efforts. For example, you set low goals or no goals and that's what you achieve---very little!

3. Don't try to burn fat and lose weight all by yourself. You need help to accomplish your body shrinking goals. That could be a trainer, a friend, a spouse or other family member. Research proves that those who have weight loss buddies are more likely to succeed.

4. Don't depend on a fat-burner supplement, powder or weight loss pill to change your body. Stop wasting your money!

5. If you experienced quick weight loss without exercise and without fat loss, that's not the type of shrinkage you want. In other words, you still have high body fat. You didn't build muscle. You lost muscle mass. The weight came back on with a vengeance when you started to eat again (and not starve yourself).

You can write down your own weight loss and weight gain adventures. It will be well worth your time. Ultimately, you will succeed if you learn from your failures and successes.

The Fat-Burning Kitchen, will show you how to totally makeover your kitchen pantry to make your body a fat-burning machine!

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

3 Butt-Shaping Cardio Workouts

If you want better "butt shaping cardio exercise," think more "out of the machines." Go hard on land my friend and you will have a better shaped butt, hips and thighs (and overall body).

Cardio machine queens and kings love treadmills and other machines to do cardio exercise. Although it is much better than doing nothing, you will get better and faster results doing your cardio on land. You get no help from the momentum supplied by machines.

If you want to further challenge yourself, burn more fat and really "lean out," then take your cardio act outside. There you will have to fight against gravity, inclines and wind.

So, here are 3 Butt Shaping Cardio Exercises on Land:

Note: Thankfully, all it takes is 20 minutes of interval cardio, 2-3 days a week to keep your heart healthy and burn fat...If you don't change up your cardio routine, your body will adapt and you'll be wasting your time. I know people who have done the same cardio routine for so long that repetitive stress injuries have set in!

1. Sprinting up stadium steps will get the job done. Doing interval cardio on stadium steps is simple: run up the steps and walk back down slowly. You might need a little more rest when you first start but that's okay.

2. Change up your cardio routine with lower body cardio blasts using bodyweight exercises like squats, mountain climbers, thrusters, squat jumps, step ups and lunges. Bodyweight exercises give you the dual benefit of strength and cardio. Busy people love this type of time-saving workout.

3. Sprint intervals on grass will torch the fat. Sprinting activates and shapes the bulkier, shapely fast-twitch muscle fibers. Just check out the sprinters at the next track meet you attend and see how toned their butt, hips and thighs are. Just run as fast as you can. The intervals should go something like this:

a. Run 50 yards
b. Walk back to starting line
c. Sprint 50 yards
d. Do this rotation for 20 minutes.

When this sprint workout gets easier to do, run on inclines to ramp up the intensity!

As easy as 1-2-3.....work your butt off!

If you need bodyweight workouts that you can start at your own level, check out the Free download below (it has beginner, intermediate and advanced levels):

Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts. 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 Signs You're Over-Training and Starving to Lose Weight

Are you starving yourself and working out like crazy just to lose weight? Is it worth it?

How do you know if you may be over-training? Here are some signs:

1. You are sluggish and listless during the day. Drinking 10 cups of coffee will only make you feel more tired.

2. You have trouble keeping your body under control during exercises. If you have trouble doing balance exercises or one-legged exercises, this may be a bad sign.

3. Do you need longer rest periods between sets? Thirty to sixty seconds should be enough rest between sets. And, for circuit training, there is little or no rest between sets. If you need 2-3 minutes rest between sets, that's not a good sign. And, your workouts would take forever to finish!

4. If you are exhausted before your workouts on most days, that's a sign you may be over-training (especially if you're sleeping enough).

5. Are you are stressed out after your workout? Exercise should be one of the best stress-busters you have available to you.

How do you know if you're starving yourself just to lose weight as fast as you can?

1. Quick weight loss programs often leave you hungry between meals because you're not eating near enough food. After about a week, your body will begin to think you are starving and start storing fat as a survival mechanism.

2. Are you trying to lose 30 pounds in 20 days? Bingo! You're starving yourself. Weight lost that quickly (without regular strength training) will be mainly water weight and lost muscle mass instead of fat mass (this will slow down your metabolism).

If you're focused on losing pounds as fast as possible instead of burning body fat burned and losing inches, you're on the path to yo-yo weight loss and regain.

3. And then there's severe calorie restriction dieting which leads to consistent low energy and slowed metabolism. Eating 1,000 calories a day is severe calorie restriction.

4. If you are a chronic starvation dieter, you can look forward to a damaged metabolism, a weak immune system, hormonal imbalances, sleep deprivation, loss of lean mass and increased body fat.

5. If you're at a point where you hate to eat, see a doctor. Something seriously wrong is happening with you. This is where illnesses such as bulimia and anorexia can set in.

I was talking to a friend last week who is trying to lose weight too fast. He is basically working out 2-3 hours a day. He had early success which is normal.

But now, he is always exhausted, over-training, under-eating and in a weight loss rut. This combination, if continued, is a recipe for fatigue, injuries, illness and little or no results. So his question was: "What's going wrong here?"

Instead of telling you my answers to him, I will let you see for yourself in the FREE PROGRAM below:

If you need Motivation and Accurate Information to make your best body.......

Be sure and download your FREE 7-Day Body Makeover Jumpstart e-Course, which shows you how to totally remake your body a healthy and lean fat-burning machine!

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

Top Exercise Increases Testosterone Levels

If you think you may have "Low T" (testosterone) levels, always look for natural remedies first. Don't rush out to spend big bucks on injections and hormone replacement therapies. Go natural first.....

One of the best natural ways to boost testosterone levels is with regular strength training. Build more muscle mass and "lean out" your body, whether you're male and female. Yes, females need adequate testosterone levels too, just not as much as males.

Do strength exercises that work major muscle groups such as squats and deadlift to elevate testosterone levels. Heavier squats will elevate your testosterone levels more. But, you don't have to "max out" on this exercise.

The squat is a must-do exercise to help you burn more fat and shape your body. Learn to love the squat exercise if you hate it! The squat gets a bad rap because people injure themselves by doing the exercise incorrectly.

There is probably no other exercise that has a greater impact on your body's muscle, metabolism and energy expenditure. Why? Because the squat is a complete-body movement exercise. This means your legs (especially quads, hamstrings and glutes), abdominals, lower back, arms and shoulders are targeted.

I would recommend doing squats without machines or weight belts. This will help you to learn how to stabilize your body without artificial support. 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, side squats, prisoner squats (pictured above), 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 my Top 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 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. Need I say more?

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 (as many fear).

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

Be sure and download your FREE Report, "How to Knock 20 Years Off Your Body." You will learn the top ways to naturally increase your testosterone levels.

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

5 Step Power Cardio Plateau Buster

If you need to burn fat sooner, power up your workouts. For sure, a plateau buster, power cardio will torch fat and shape your body better. Do more work in less time and get better results. Power is basically how fast your muscles can produce force. Power exercises will also help you push through boredom, which is inherent with repeated cardio exercise.

A common problem that exercisers run into all the time is---"I have hit a wall (plateau)!" All of the early success associated with starting an exercise program can send you into a tailspin when you reach a plateau. You become frustrated and wonder "what am I doing wrong?" You probably just need to change up your exercise routine and you'll be okay.

Have you been working out at the same intensity for the last 8-10 weeks. If you were "out-of-shape" when you started, you probably worked out at a slow pace.....that will stop working as you get better conditioned.....One of the best ways to "bust thru a fat loss plateau" is to speed up and shorten your cardio and weight training routines.

Doing these types of short burst workouts will change your hormones allowing your body to naturally regulate fat burning, appetite and moods. You will shape your bulkier, fast twitch muscle fibers when doing exercises at full speed.

Too many long, slow cardio sessions wastes time and eats away at your muscle mass. Short, intense cardio sessions also burn more fat and calories during and after your workout.

Here's an example: instead of doing cardio on the elliptical machine, do your cardio with 5 power exercises. All it takes is 20 intense minutes. It can go something like this:

1. Jump rope, fast, 1 minute
--Walk 1 minute

2. Sprint 50 yards, walk back and sprint 50 yards again
--Walk 1 minute

3. Jumping Jacks, fast, 1 minute
--Walk 1 minute

4. Barbell or dumbbell Power Step Ups (pictured above, knee high platform), 10 repetitions each leg, explosive with control
--Walk 1 minute

5. Bodyweight squat jumps, fast, 20 seconds
--Walk 1 minute

Rest 3 minutes between circuits. Repeat this circuit 1-2 more times.

If you don't like these types of exercises, then pick exercises that you like. I know that squat jumps won't work for those with knee or back problems. As long as you change it up and keep it interesting, you will will make progress.

Start changing your body today with the Bodyweight Strength Program below....it has 3 levels: beginner, intermediate and advanced.

Download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts now!

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

4 Tricks to Control Your #1 Fat-Burning Hormone

by BioTrust Nutrition

Hey it’s Joel, and today I want to talk to you about the one solitary hormone that can either make or break your weight loss journey…

In fact, if you don’t learn to control this hormone, you might as well forget about losing fat at all…it really is that big of a deal.

You see, back in my college days after struggling to lose weight over and over again no matter what I did, I finally stumbled upon the hormone that I now refer to as the “Fat Burning Hormone,” and that hormone’s name is leptin.

Leptin (derived from the Greek word leptos, meaning thin), is essentially the “master” hormone that more or less controls EVERY other weight loss hormone in your body… and your ability to burn fat as a whole.

You see, when you have leptin on your side, fat loss becomes easy.  When you don’t, losing even a single pound can become virtually impossible.

And here’s the unfortunate news:  just about everyone is unknowingly fighting a losing battle with leptin each and every time they attempt to lose weight.

You see, the REAL underlying reason you may have failed to lose weight in the past isn’t because you didn’t try hard enough, you have bad genetics, or there’s something physically wrong with you… the truth is that you failed simply because you didn’t know the simple ways to control your #1 weight loss hormone… leptin.

With that said, it’s pretty easy to see why so many folks, and perhaps you’re one of them, downright struggle to shed their unwanted body fat like I did, month after month, year after year.

Let me explain…

First, in order to burn fat, your body depends on these two things:

1) high levels of leptin

2) highly sensitive leptin “receptors” (which acts as the “lock” to leptin’s “key”)

Now for the bad news…

Anytime you go on a diet and reduce your calorie intake, leptin levels plummet and fat burning is dramatically reduced to a snail’s pace.

Why?

Because leptin’s main function is to protect your body against starvation, and in the midst of decreased food intake (i.e. dieting), your body unfortunately views your stored body fat as a huge asset to survival.

After all, body fat provides a vast supply of stored energy and warmth, both highly-valued resources when food is in short supply.

You see, when you go on a diet, your body isn’t aware of your hopes for a slim, tight waistline or your desire to drop 20 lbs in time for your high school reunion or summer beach season.  In fact, the only thing it does know is that your calorie intake is now below “normal”… and to your brain, that’s a big red flag.

The result: reduced leptin levels and dramatically decreased fat burning.

In fact, research has shown that leptin levels drop by as much as 50% after just 7 days of dieting.  That puts you at only 50% of your fat-burning potential just one WEEK in to your fat loss plan, and it only gets worse with each passing day.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, with every pound you DO struggle to lose, leptin levels fall even further, making it even more difficult for you to continue to lose fat.

Why?

Because, as mentioned, in the face of calorie restriction, your body views stored body fat as an asset to survival. The more fat you lose, the more “danger” your body senses, and the harder it is to strip away that next pound.

Hello, fat loss plateaus!

Now, I hate to continue to be the bearer of bad news, but the scenario I just explained is actually only HALF the problem.

The other unfortunate reality is that the vast majority of people are ALSO suffering from a condition known as “leptin resistance” due to years of high body fat levels and a diet full of processed foods.

Leptin resistance simply means that even at high levels, leptin is no longer able to properly signal fat burning to your body, dramatically decreasing its fat loss effects.

That’s a pretty disheartening truth for the fat loss enthusiast, but the good news is that there are 4 somewhat odd, but extremely effective strategies you can begin using today that will ultimately end your struggle with leptin once and for all and finally allow you to experience the excitement of seeing a thinner waist, flatter stomach, and a more defined body when looking back at yourself in the bathroom mirror each morning.

Learn more about this awesome fat-burning hormone.....

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES

Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

Post-Workout Nutrition Your Body Craves

Eat quality nutrition to fuel your workouts and daily lifestyle activity. What you eat matters big-time.

You have to eat enough of the right foods, all the time, for your body to work properly---whether exercising, working, walking or just plain living. Keeping your body in an anabolic state all the time aids your metabolism, muscle-building, body repair and overall long-term health.

Junk food like chips, pastries, candy, donuts and sodas aren't nutritious and have loads of calories. They also have you wanting to eat more in just a short time. Control your eating with a sound nutrition plan.

Hopefully, your nutrition plan includes protein with every meal. Eating complete proteins from sources like eggs, low-fat diary and fish gives your body a steady stream of protein throughout the day. Research has proven that protein keeps blood sugar levels more steady and helps you feel fuller for a longer period (slower digestion). Protein also keeps the hunger hormone, ghrelin, in check so your hunger doesn't spike so high.

What about eating for your workouts? Do you know what you should eat before and after your workout?

Post-workout nutrition is important to help your body recover from intense exercise (especially weight training). You don't need to eat immediately after your workout but there is a 30-45 minute window where replenishing your body's fuel will optimize your tissue's repair and growth. And, it will help you recover and get ready for your next workout.

How much do you eat? You cannot eat haphazardly and expect to reach your fat loss and weight loss goals. Research shows that people will underestimate the amount of calories they eat.

According to the True Results Health Honesty Survey, 46 percent of those surveyed are not honest with family members and 32 percent admit to lying to doctors. True Results is a team of leading weight loss experts based in Texas.

"Lying about your health and fitness, if even only a few times per year, can signify a fundamental issue in your ability to achieve your health goals," said Jessica Diaz, nutritionist and exercise physiologist for True Results. "Numerous studies have shown, the key to achieving any health or fitness goal is support from those around you and that cannot happen if you're not honest with yourself or others."

If you need help remaking your food pantry.....

The Fat-Burning Kitchen, will show you how to totally makeover your kitchen pantry to make your body a fat-burning machine!

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

Is it Sick to Diagnose Ourselves?

by Sandy Getzkey

Is it Sick to Diagnose Ourselves?
 or  

There is new medicine man in everyone’s home. The internet. Dr. Internet has provided us with everything we need to know about our personal ailments, from stretch marks to more serious problems. Many of us spend hours online looking for ways to confirm our worst fears. Self-diagnosis is more than just gratifying. It’s a phenomenon. Most people will ask a free search engine to diagnose their problems before consulting a doctor, and many stop looking when they think they have an answer.

A study conducted at BYU has recently called the validity of online self-diagnosis into question with an interesting find. The Internet is written by humans, and any information contained therein is subject to flaws in research demographics, health information included. Oddly enough, while most people have admitted to consulting the Internet before consulting a doctor, less than 15% of Internet users post their experiences with health issues online.

Think about that. Your primary care physician has a doctoral degree. Eight years of intensive research encompassing a huge range of health issues has found him in a position of trust and leadership among his peers. Dr. Internet is composed of the professional experiences of 15% of Internet users, who would you rather consult?

This imbalance poses a threat to the credibility of online self-diagnosis for more than one reason.

First and foremost, high accuracy can only be achieved in high numbers. Most long term studies involve thousands of patients, followed for years of data collection. 

If three people review a product and two find it to be insufficient, the next user will find either a low star-rating, or a 67% failure rate. True accuracy cannot be achieved without sufficient opportunity to present itself. If a thousand people were asked to review the same product, and over 900 approved of it, the two that didn’t wouldn’t tip the scales so dramatically.

Secondly, what we don’t post can hurt us. Users with first-hand knowledge of health issues are holding back, due to a desire for privacy. Patient confidentiality is taken seriously by physicians, but few things on the Internet are protected by law. 

However, failure to post important information leaves inconclusive studies and claims unchallenged. For this reason, the 85% of us who choose to post pictures of our pets over health-related topics would benefit from the occasional anonymous post. Instead, we wait for someone else to do it.

Fortunately, comment boxes aren’t the only things consumers focus on. Many consumers search for healthcare providers online, and they usually find what they’re looking for. Ultimately, knowledge is power, whether it’s sound or factually inaccurate. Self-diagnosis using the Internet is dangerous. Talk to your doctor. Then come back and tell us about it.

The author Sandy Getzky is an associate editor at ProveMyMeds, a medication review site for common ailments that plague people everyday. She also provides medical research for condition-oriented publications like the National Nail Fungus Organization.

Dead-Hang Pullups to Build Sculpted Muscle Mass

The dead-hang pullup is a great bodyweight exercise to build upper body muscle mass and burn fat.  You will also develop better definition and sculpt your upper body as you add sets and repetitions over time.  The best muscle building equipment is your body.   

Bodyweight exercises use natural body motions that don't limit your natural range of motion like machine lifting.  Bodyweight exercises allow you to develop strength that allows your body to stabilize itself. Also, no two people have the same exact motions. So, adjustments are made for your unique challenges.

Work to do exercises with technically correct movements before progressing to heavy weight exercises.  This will limit your risk of injuries.

The pullup is one of the best exercises you should be doing.  Don't be afraid of the exercise.  If you can't do any, start by doing 1 pullup and progress.  You could also strengthen your back muscles with the lat pulldown and dumbbell row.

The pullup is not just a back muscle exercise. Pullups work your lats (and other back muscles), core, shoulders, arms, chest, biceps and improve grip strength.

Do the basic overhand grip, dead-hang pullup this way:

1. Hang from a pullup bar with your palms facing away from your body, your arms straight and your feet crossed together with legs bent about 90 degrees. Pull yourself up until your chin passes the bar.

2. A wider grip (greater than shoulder width) will work your lats more. A closer grip (shoulder width or less) will work your middle back muscles more.

3. If you lack grip strength, you can use straps to help.

4. Don't jut your chin out (it strains your cervical spine).

5. Don't swing. It makes the pullup easier by using momentum. You need to pullup, not swing up.

6. Don't let your chest collapse because that puts too much stress on your shoulders.

7. Don't arch your lower back too much. You want your abdominal muscles to be engaged when you do the pullup. Keep your torso braced (as if taking a punch to the gut) during the pullup.

8. When you start the pullup, drive your shoulder blades down and squeeze them together. This will engage your shoulder stabilizers more.

Go for it!

Here is a great FREE DOWNLOAD below to get you started:

There are Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced levels for this Bodyweight Strength Program.

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

Are Whole Eggs or Egg Whites Better for You?

by Mike Geary, Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist
Author, The Truth about 6-Pack Abs

I was on a weekend trip with some friends recently and one of my friends was cooking breakfast for the whole group. I went over to see what he was cooking and saw he was getting ready to make a big batch of eggs.

Well, to my shock and horror, I noticed that he was cracking the eggs open and screening the egg whites into a bowl and throwing out the egg yolks. I asked him why the heck he was throwing out the egg yolks, and he replied something like this…

“because I thought the egg yolks were terrible for you…that’s where all the nasty fat and cholesterol is”.

And I replied, “you mean that’s where all of the nutrition is!”

This is a perfect example of how confused most people are about nutrition. In a world full of misinformation about nutrition, somehow most people now mistakenly think that the egg yolk is the worst part of the egg, when in fact, the YOLK IS THE HEALTHIEST PART OF THE EGG!

By throwing out the yolk and only eating egg whites, you’re essentially throwing out the most nutrient dense, antioxidant-rich, vitamin and mineral loaded portion of the egg. The yolks contain so many B-vitamins, trace minerals, vitamin A, folate, choline, lutein, and other powerful nutrients… it’s not even worth trying to list them all.

In fact, the egg whites are almost devoid of nutrition compared to the yolks.

Even the protein in egg whites isn’t as powerful without the yolks to balance out the amino acid profile and make the protein more bio-available. Not to even mention that the egg yolks from free range chickens are loaded with healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

Yolks contain more than 90% of the calcium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, thiamin, B6, folate, and B12, and panthothenic acid of the egg. In addition, the yolks contain ALL of the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K in the egg, as well as ALL of the essential fatty acids (EFAs).

And now the common objection I get all the time when I say that the yolks are the most nutritious part of the egg…

“But I heard that whole eggs will skyrocket my cholesterol through the roof”

No, this is FALSE!

First of all, when you eat a food that contains a high amount of dietary cholesterol such as eggs, your body down-regulates it’s internal production of cholesterol to balance things out.

On the other hand, if you don’t eat enough cholesterol, your body simply produces more since cholesterol has dozens of important vital functions in the body.

healthy whole eggsAnd here’s where it gets even more interesting…

There have been plenty of studies lately that indicate that eating whole eggs actually raises your good HDL cholesterol to a higher degree than LDL cholesterol, thereby improving your overall cholesterol ratio and blood chemistry.

And 3rd… high cholesterol is NOT a disease! Heart disease is a disease…but high cholesterol is NOT. Cholesterol is actually a VERY important substance in your body and has vitally important functions… it is DEAD WRONG to try to “lower your cholesterol” just because of pharmaceutical companies propaganda that everyone on the planet should be on statin drugs.

If you’re interested in this topic of cholesterol specifically, I have another article listed at the bottom of this page about why trying to attack cholesterol is a mistake, and what the REAL deadly risk factors actually are.

In addition, the yolks contain the antioxidant lutein as well as other antioxidants which can help protect you from inflammation within your body (the REAL culprit in heart disease, not dietary cholesterol!), giving yet another reason why the yolks are actually GOOD for you, and not detrimental.

To help bring even more proof that whole eggs are better for you than egg whites, I recently read a University of Connecticut study that showed that a group of men in the study that ate 3 eggs per day for 12 weeks while on a reduced carb, higher fat diet increased their HDL good cholesterol by 20%, while their LDL bad cholesterol stayed the same during the study. However, the group that ate egg substitutes (egg whites) saw no change in either and did not see the improvement in good cholesterol (remember that higher HDL levels are associated with lower risk of heart disease) that the whole egg eaters did.

So I hope we’ve established that whole eggs are not some evil food that will wreck your body… instead whole eggs are FAR superior to egg whites.

But what about the extra calories in the yolks?

This is actually a non-issue and here’s why… even though egg yolks contain more calories than just eating the egg whites, the yolks have such a high micro-nutrient density in those calories, that it increases your overall nutrient density per calorie you consume. Essentially, what this does is help to regulate your appetite for the remainder of the day, so you end up eating less calories overall. In addition, the healthy fats in the egg yolks help to maintain a good level of fat-burning hormones in your body.

Overall, this means that the extra fats (healthy fats) and calories from the yolk are so nutrient-dense that they actually HELP you to burn off body fat!

Also, your normal supermarket eggs coming from mass factory farming just don’t compare nutritionally with organic free range eggs from healthy chickens that are allowed to roam freely and eat a more natural diet. Your typical cheap grocery store eggs will have lower nutrient levels and a higher omega-6 level and lower omega-3 level. On the other hand, the cage-free organic eggs from healthier chickens allowed to eat more natural feed and roam freely will have much higher vitamin and mineral levels and a more balanced healthier omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acid ratio.

I recently compared eggs I bought at the grocery store with a batch of eggs I got at a farm stand where the chickens were free roaming and healthy.

Most people don’t realize that there’s a major difference because they’ve never bought real eggs from healthy chickens… The eggs from the grocery store had pale yellow yolks and thin weak shells. On the other hand, the healthier free range eggs from the local farm had strong thick shells and deep orange colored yolks indicating much higher nutrition levels and carotenoids… and just a healthier egg in general.

This is due to the fact that a free-roaming hen allowed to roam on plenty of land will eat a variety of greens, insects, worms, etc transferring MUCH higher levels of nutrients to the eggs compared to an unhealthy hen that is trapped inside a dark factory farm hen house in horrible conditions and fed nothing but piles of corn and soy. It’s a DRASTIC difference in the nutrition that you get from the egg.

So next time a health or fitness professional tells you that egg whites are superior (because of their “fat-phobic” mentality towards dietary fats), you can quietly ignore their advice knowing that you now understand the REAL deal about egg yolks.

And can we all please STOP with this sillyness about eating an omelete with 4-5 egg whites and only 1 egg yolk… If you want real taste and real health benefits, we’d all be better off eating ALL of our eggs with the yolks.

After all, do you REALLY think that our ancestors thousands of years ago threw out the yolks and only ate the egg whites? NOT A CHANCE! They intuitively knew that all of the nutrition was found in the yolks. But our modern society has been brainwashed with misinformation about fats and cholesterol.

Another interesting study about eggs…

I read a study recently that compared groups of people that ate egg breakfasts vs groups of people that ate cereal or bagel-based breakfasts. The results of the study showed that the egg eaters lost or maintained a healthier bodyweight, while the cereal/bagel eaters gained weight.

It was hypothesized that the egg eaters actually ate less calories during the remainder of the day because their appetite was more satisfied compared to the cereal/bagel eaters who would have been more prone to wild blood sugar swings and food cravings.

Oh, one last thing I almost forgot… I personally eat 4 whole eggs almost every day with breakfast, and I maintain single-digit bodyfat most of the year.

Enjoy your eggs and get a leaner body!

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer
Author, The Truth about 6-Pack Abs

The dangers of cholesterol lowering drugs, statins