What should your body fat percentage be?

Body fat percentage is talked about a lot in the fitness industry these days.  Here is my way, and the best way to find a body fat percentage you will be happy with!

This is one of the most common questions, I get asked. What should my body fat percentage be?  Does this question concern you?  Do you think you should be at 10%, maybe 12% or even lower than, say 7%.

A lot of people ask me this question. They also ask me what my body fat was when I did my first show on the picture below. Do you know what my body fat is in this picture? No?  Me either! Do you know why? When I was training for my first show (the Natural Caribbean Grand Prix) in the Cayman Islands and before I become a personal trainer, I met the president of the Natural Bodybuilding Federation of the Cayman Islands.  I asked what my body fat should be for the show.  I knew at that time that I asked the right guy because the year before he had won the Natural Federation Mr. Universe competition.

His answer to my question was a big “I don’t know”! I was shocked.  How come he doesn’t know? He is Mr. Universe! My second question was, “What was your body fat when you won Mr. Universe?” His answer: “I don’t know.” Wow, I almost fainted!  He simply told me, “This is all ‘BS’. Do you know how to check if your body fat is right for you? It’s when you look in the mirror and you are happy with what you see.”

Wow, that is simple! I have a member at the gym ask me almost every 2 weeks if his six pack is good enough. He lifts his t-shirt every time and asks me, “So what do you think? Do you think it is good enough?” I told him what I learned in Cayman and asked him if he was happy with what he saw? If yes, just maintain it, if no keep working on it.

For all of you who are trying to reach a number for your body fat, forget it and look in the mirror. See how you look. Some people look great at 15%, others don’t.  You don’t need fancy equipment. Look in the mirror and keep track of your measurements on a regular basis (every 4 to 6 weeks). This is the best way to look good and be happy with what you see.

But remember, you need the 4 wheels of the Express Fat Loss Program to be able to reduce your body fat and to keep the weight off for good. If you miss one wheel, you may lose your chance to ever be happy with what you see.

To read more on the express fat loss program visit: www.expressfatloss.com

Why I still keep a workout log?

How are you today? It’s always nice to talk to you on regular basis. First, thank you for taking the time to read my series of tips. I’m sure if you’ve really taken note of what you’ve learned with me so far you should be seeing some great improvements. I know you have a busy life and this is why I like to keep these email tips short but informative!

But remember all the knowledge you have won’t give you anything without “Action”. I know some very smart people, but despite being smart they are overweight. Their nutrition habits are horrible and they know it. They don’t do any exercises but they always say they want to lose weight. This is why they are in this situation – they don’t take “Action”. Without action all your knowledge will come to nothing. Remember this.

I don’t know if you think all the tips I give you are just good for you and I don’t apply those to my lifestyle. But trust me, I walk the talk! This is the best way to stay connected with my clients.

The other day I was doing my workout and one of my old clients – I haven’t seen see him for at least 6 months- was surprised to see me writing down the weight I use and the number of reps I do for each exercise. He asked me “You still write down your workout?” Of course I do! This is the only way you can keep track of your progress.  Let’s say you do a different body part for your workout and do 3 or 4 exercises for your chest workout and each exercises is 3 set of 8-12. So you have to remember how much weight you used at your last workout and for how many repetitions. If someone tells me he remembers it all without writhing down, then I can tell you they don’t push enough and they probably always use the same weight and do same number of reps every time. Remember , to get results you have to challenge your muscles. It should be hard to complete your number of reps you need to achieve, and that makes it hard to remember!

So trust me, all the advice I’ve given to you since we start this series of tips – this is the post 68 – I do everything so far. This is my life. I will never ask you to do things that I don’t believe or I don’t do.

Make sure you read the tips, but the most important thing is to take “ACTION”. I know so many people who told me they want to do this and that but nothing happened. They forget the word ACTION.  If you learn something you can take some notes, but it’s more important that you try them at your next workout. Do not just read the tips, you have to apply them to be successful!

What is your best tool for Weight Loss?

What is the best tool you can get to help you with your weight loss program?  Is it your cardio session? Or what about the strength training?

It’s probably not the strength training, right?  The cardio machines are always full at every gym, and you see so many people on the step master or elliptical machine, sweating like crazy for an hour or more. So you probably imagine they know what they doing, if they always doing it all the time. It must be working, right? So you copy what they’re doing and jump on the cardio machines to burn some calories and reach your dream body.

You are wrong. Strength Training is more effective than cardio when it comes to weight loss! But how can that be?

Let me explain…

Don’t get upset over all that time on the cardio machines, but I’m telling you the whole truth and nothing but the truth. When you did your cardio session, what happened?  You burned some calories and that was great. What is not so great is when you step back from the cardio machine, then what happened? Nothing That’s right.  Nothing happened and you didn’t burn any more calories.

I want to tell you something about cardio.  I do some cardio as well, but only after my strength training, and I do interval training for my cardio routine. I don’t just slog away at a cardio machine for hours.

Now when you use some weight training, weight lifting, strength training or pumping some iron, call it what you will – it’s all the same, you burn calories during your workout.  Trust me, if you move fast between sets and you push yourself you will feel your heart working too. You train anaerobically – without oxygen, so you’re really burning calories here too.

The beauty of the strength training is you will be able to increase your muscle mass. What happens when you muscle mass increases? Yeah you are right, you speed up your metabolism. And when your metabolism runs higher, you burn more calories during the day, at night and even when you sleep. Now you start to figure it out!

This is good for men and women. especially for you ladies, don’t be afraid that you’ll wake up one morning looking like Arnold when he is competing for Mr. Olympia. It will not happen. Why?

For 2 GOOD reasons

Reason #1- You don’t have enough of the hormone Testosterone in your body. Testosterone is the hormone that helps you to build muscles.

Reason  #2- It will not happen….Period!

Change your mind about your weight loss program approach and start to lift some weights. It will help you to look thinner and more toned and you will look really GOOD.

If you are not confident using free weights or the machines at first, ask at the staff members at your gym to show you few basic exercises to help you started with your strength training. If you want, you can always purchase my E-book the Ultimate Guide to Express Fat Loss with a full program for your weight training with pictures and descriptions or each exercise.

In my Express Fat Loss you will also discover all the different aspects of weight loss – Nutrition, Strength Training, Cardio and Flexibility- everything you need is in this e-book. And did I tell you about the 60 day guarantee? If you are not satisfied with my product you have 60 days to ask for your money back, no questions asked!.

To buy the Ultimate Guide to Express Fat Loss: Click Here

Why you shouldn’t train like a Pros

In the gym I can see new members with the latest issue of different bodybuilding magazine. Oh Boy! What a mistake. Why?  The guys in the magazine, their full time job is to train to get the best physique. They have sponsors and train twice a day, 6 days a week. It’s a real job for them.  Also, there is still a great deal of drug abuse in bodybuilding.  Drugs like steroids and human growth hormone (HGH) can help bodybuilders lift heavy and the recuperate much faster than you and me, but the potential effects on health can be catastrophic..

If you are a beginner don’t try to imitate them.

The last thing you want to do is pick a magazine and fellow their routine. This is the best way to injure yourself. This is why the  Express Fat Loss Program is based on a steady progression in exercise.  You will strengthen not just your muscles but your ligaments and tendons as well. You can get the Ultimate Guide to Express Fat Loss  today with a full 60 day guarantee. If you are not satisfied with the program you can send me an email and I will refund your money and you can keep the program. I can do this because I am 200% confident that you will love it and get results.

You have nothing to lose except some stubborn fat and everything to win like a great physique.

Keep Moving, Stay Fit!

Martin Bolduc

ExpressFatLoss.com

Change Your Program to Get the Best Results

Why you need to change your workout program for Express Fat Loss and building muscles?

Do you know the best way to avoid plateaus and get the best results – Express Fat Loss – from your workout program, is to change your program regularly. When I say regularly, I mean change your workout program at least every 6 weeks.  Why do you need to change so often? It’s simple – your body will adjust to your workout program, work more efficiently, and you will not be challenging your muscles
any more.  You reach a plateau and start to ask the question: ‘why am I not getting results anymore with my workout program?’

This is why for my own program or for my clients, I never keep the same workout program  longer than 4 to 6 weeks. This way I keep the muscles working at their maximum potential and keep the gains. Your body composition will continue to change. You will gain more muscle and reduce your body fat – Express Fat Loss. This is the way to do it. Keep challenging your muscles! The last thing you want is to let your muscles get on cruise control.
This wastes your time, and I’m sure your time is precious.

To get the maximum from your Express Fat Loss program, change your routine every 4 to 6 weeks.

To get the secret on how to break plateau, read this article : Changing Your Workout Program

Stability Ball For a Strong Core

Nice to talk with you again. Today I will show you a piece of equipment you really need to integrate into your fitness routine to get a strong core and a nice mid section. The good thing is it’s not expensive, you can do a lot of exercises and it’s good for men and women.

What is this piece of equipment?

I’m talking about the Stability Ball. Yes guys, the stability ball is for you too!  If you really want to improve your core strength and achieve a six pack, you really need to work with the Stability Ball. I make sure my clients do a lot of exercises with this equipment. In my book, “The Ultimate Guide to Express Fat Loss”, all my exercises are chosen carefully to maximize your time and to make sure you burn the maximum amount of calories in the shortest time. Everyone is busy and you don’t want to spend 3 hours at the gym to make your workout efficient.

But make sure you use the right size stability ball for you. I see people using the ball at the gym all the time. The ball is often too big or too small for them. How do you make a good choice if you decide to try one or buy one?  It’s simple: sit on the ball and make sure your hips are level or just slightly higher than your knees.

Usually the common sizes are 55cm, 65cm or 75cm. These are the sizes you usually find in the gym. Also, you can use this table as guidance:

55 cm (21 in.) – 4′11″ – 5′4″
65 cm  (25 in.) – 5′5″ – 5′11″
75 cm (29 in.) – 6′0″ – 6′ 7″

The stability ball forces you to engage more muscles during the exercise. If you use more muscles during an exercise, you will burn more calories when you workout. I call this – Lose Fat Exercise.

You can do a lot of exercises with the Stability Ball. The next time you perform a bench press with dumbbells, try to use the ball instead of a regular bench. When you use the ball, you need to engage your glutes, abs, hamstrings, quads, as well as your chest, shoulders and triceps. When you try this for the first time, lower the weight a little bit because you need to stabilize more muscles and the feel of the exercise is different.

Sit on the ball and slowly move your legs forward and roll the ball backward over your back. The perfect position is when only your head and shoulders are touching the ball. Make sure you form a straight line with your knees, hips and shoulders. When you are done with your set, slowly come back up to the starting position (sitting on the ball).

If you are overweight or obese and want to try the ball but you are not sure if the ball is strong enough to support your weight, don’t worry because balls can hold between 400 to 600 pounds. Stability Balls are for everyone.

Here are a few things you can do with the Stability Ball:

• Weight Training.
• Abdominal Training.
• Sitting Around: Use the ball to sit on in front of the computer. This will help you maintain good posture and will strengthen your core as you sit. Try lifting one foot from the ground whilst staying straight on the ball. Alternate legs.
• Flexibility and Yoga.
• Playing around: I have a ball in the living room and my son likes it. He plays with the stability ball and I can see his development even at his young age. Make sure you keep an eye on them so they don’t hurt themselves!

Next time you hit the gym, try the stability ball for new exercises.

What is Super Foods?

This post  is about Super Foods. What are Super Foods?  They are foods that are  packed with good nutrition. These foods are low on calories and high on the nutritional side. They are rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants.

I will tell you my 10 favorite Super foods. The list could go on way more than 10, but I want to give you an idea of what kind of foods are the best for you. All of these 10 foods help to keep your blood sugar more stable and this is very important for your weight loss program. In my E-Book the Ultimate Guide to Express Fat Loss, there is a full chapter on the Glycemic Index, and which foods keep your blood sugar more stable.

1- Sweet Potatoes
One of the best vegetables you can eat. They’re loaded with carotenoids, vitamin C, potassium, and fiber.

2 –  Grape Tomatoes
They’re sweeter and firmer than other tomatoes, and their bite-size shape makes them perfect for snacking, dipping, or salads. They’re packed with vitamin C and vitamin A, and you also get some fiber, some phytochemicals, and great flavor.

3- Broccoli
It has lots of vitamin C, carotenoids, and folic acid. Steam it briefly and add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes and a sprinkle of lemon. I love broccoli.

4- Wild Salmon

The omega-3 fats in fatty fish like salmon can help reduce the risk of heart attacks. And wild-caught salmon has less PCB contaminants than farmed salmon.   5 – Crispbreads Whole-grain rye crackers, like Wasa, Ry Krisp, and Ryvita — usually called crispbreads — are loaded with fiber and often fat-free.

5. Berries
Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, cranberries. These Colorful berries are packed with antioxidants. Add some berries in your smoothies.

6- Brown Rice
Brown rice is easy to prepare and more nutritious than enriched white rice. When the grain is refined, you lose the fiber, magnesium, vitamins E and B-6, copper, zinc, and phytochemicals that are in the whole grain.

7- Spinach and Kale

These standout leafy greens are jam-packed with vitamins A, C, and K, folate, potassium, magnesium, iron, lutein, and phytochemi.

8- Oatmeal
Oats are a good source of complex carbs and fiber. Great for breakfast. I also like to add some oats in my protein shake. It slows the absorption of the protein powder.  Oats help reduce cholesterol. Research shows that one bowl of oatmeal per day can reduce cholesterol by up to 23%.

9- Citrus Fruit

Great taste and rich in vitamin C, folic acid, and fiber. Perfect for a snack or dessert. Try different varieties: juicy Minneola oranges, snacksize Clementines, or tart pink grapefruit.

10- Beans

More than just a meat substitute, beans are so nutritious that the latest dietary guidelines recommend we triple our current intake from 1 to 3 cups per week. Beans are high in fiber and antioxidants. beans aren’t just good for the waistline, they may aid in disease prevention, too

Make sure you add these top 10 Super Foods to your nutritional program. By including these foods in a healthy diet on a regular basis, you can easily gain many health benefits, and they will help you lose a few pounds as well.

www.ExpressFatLoss.com

How to Stimulate Your Muscle Fibres?

What’s the secret to getting the most from your strength workouts and fat loss exercises?  It’s not a piece of equipment, it’s not a new exercise.  In fact, the secret has been yours all along!

When I go to the gym, I see many members there who are working hard, trying to build a better, more athletic physique (fat loss).  Some are lifting heavy weights, some are lifting weights higher, some are lifting faster.  Some display good form and technique, while others abandon good form to lift a weight that is really too heavy for them.  I would like to give them some advice, because if you can follow some simple principles, your chances of building lean muscle and fat loss will be greatly improved.

I’m going to give you one of the best tips that for building a great athletic physique. You are probably asking yourself what kind of tip it could be and whether it is simple and easy. Always remember that you need to concentrate on getting the right nutrition on top of physical exercise for fat loss. But what is this magic piece of advice?

It’s not a piece of equipment, it’s not an exercise…it’s much more important than that: it’s your technique and your attitude. To be able to gain lean muscle you need to push yourself enough in order to stimulate your muscle fibers. Most people know that.  Next time you go to the gym, look around and see how people work out, just like I did. I’m sure you will see some good technique and a lot of technique that is not so good!

The reason I’m telling you this is quite simple: when you perform exercises, you need to stimulate your muscles so that you actually cause microscopic damage to the muscle fibers. With proper nutrition and the right amount of rest, your body will repair these damaged fibers, and this is what leads to muscle growth. I know that you probably already know already this, but remember: muscles don’t grow at the gym, they grow while you rest and sleep.

The most important point is your attitude. When you are trying to gain muscle and achieve fat loss, you need to lift heavy. But remember to always maintain the right technique for the movement you are performing.

Let me ask you a question… do you think your muscles know which dumbbells you are using for your Incline Chest Press? Of course not! Your muscles have no idea how much weight you are trying to lift. Your muscles will ONLY react to how you stimulate your muscle fibers. It doesn’t matter if you use 25 lb, 50 lb or 75 lb dumbbells. How you stimulate your micro-fibers will depend on how you do your workout.

The important factors are how many sets you do, how many reps, and the ‘Time Under Tension (TUT). TUT depends on the speed you do your reps. You can lift a heavy load a little bit faster in your reps, and then during the next set, use a lighter weight and go little bit slower.

Make sure you remember this for your next workout. Your muscles don’t react to the number on the dumbbells, the bar or the machine. Your muscles will react to how you train and stimulate your muscle fibers.

One more very important piece of advice: if you train, for example, your biceps, make sure you feel the pump in your biceps and nowhere else. Feel which muscle you are trying to work out. If you cannot feel it very well, try to modify your technique. Maybe the angle is not right, or maybe you are moving your elbows too far, working your shoulders more than your biceps.

Building a great physique with fat loss is a fine line. It is like an artist who paints. Sometimes he needs a broad brush and sometimes a small one. Make sure you don’t use only the broad brush to build your physique!

The most important thing to remember from this blog article is this:

Your Muscles Have No Idea Which Weight You Are Trying to Lift. Your Muscles Will React Only To How You Stimulate Your Muscle Fibers. So be precise to get the results you want!

What are the principles of strength training?

To get good results with your weight loss program (Express Fat Loss), and build some lean muscles to be able to increase your metabolism, you need to do some strength training. But to make sure you will get the maximum results from your workout I will explain principles of strength training.

By the way, this is a segment from my e-book the Ultimate Guide to Express Fat Loss.

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What are the principles of strength training in the Express Fat Loss?

Once the body has adapted to increasing ‘overload’ of exercise it will function more effectively and efficiently. You can get overload by manipulating various combination of exercise frequency, intensity, duration and type of exercise.

• Overload

To see gains in strength you must always stimulate the muscle more than it is accustomed to.

• Progression

The active muscle must continue to work against a gradually increasing resistance in order to meet overload.

• Specificity

Gains you get are dependent on the muscle group used, and movement pattern performed.

• Strength (maximal force)

If you are interested in strength gains you want to train with higher weights and lower repetitions.

• Endurance (submaximal force that is repeated)

If you are interested in gains in endurance, you should concentrate on lifting lower weights and higher repetitions.

• Progression and Frequency

Progressive resistance is the key to any well designed strength program like the Express Fat Loss program. This means that as your muscles adapt to a given exercise, you need to gradually increase the resistance or the repetitions to promote further gains. You should start out with a weight that allows you to do at least 8 repetitions of a particular exercise. Once you can complete 12 repetitions with that weight, you increase the weight by about 5 percent. Now, you’re doing 8 repetitions with the slightly heavier weight. Once you’ve worked up to 12 repetitions with the  heavier weight, you increase it by another 5 percent  (or no more than 10%) and go back to doing 8 repetitions.

The idea is to keep alternately increasing repetitions and resistance, so that you continue to see results.

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Increases in muscle size and strength don’t occur while you’re training, they occur during the rest period between workouts. This is when your muscles recover and rebuild, gradually becoming bigger and stronger. The recovery process takes at least 48 hours. For this reason, strength training sessions should be scheduled no more frequently than every other day. If you prefer to train more often, you should avoid hitting the same muscle group on consecutive days.

Now you understand more about the principles of strength training from the Express Fat Loss Program, the next time you go for your workout put those principles in practice. You’ll get great results for your Express Fat Loss and at the same time build some lean muscles!

Post workout shake

As you know now, good nutrition is very important for you to be able to reach your goals. One of my Golden rules in my E-Book, The Ultimate Guide to Express Fat Loss,  is the post-workout shake.

Your muscles have a reserve of glycogen (sugar) and when you exercise, you use this reserve. In reality, it takes around 24 hours to restore your glycogen levels to the maximum. I’ll tell you a secret. After I finish my workout, I take my protein shake mix with 1 cup of orange juice. By getting some simple sugars right away after my workout, I start to replenish the sugar in my muscles more quickly, and at the same time, the simple sugars give me a little boost of energy.

You need to do this right after your workout. Don’t wait until you are back at home. It will be too late to get the most out of your post workout shake. I carry my protein powder (dry) in my bottle and when I’m done with my workout, I add the juice and drink it right away. You need to try Strawberry Protein Powder with Orange Juice, this is a real treat after a tough workout and it’s taste so good. You can add little more water if you like your post workout shake more liquid and not too sweet. This is up to you and how you like your shake.

After your post workout shake, wait around 60 to 90 minutes before you take a good meal with lean protein, vegetables and some complex carbs.

Start taking your post workout shake and you will see better results and faster recovery.

Keep Moving, Stay Fit!

To your health,

Martin Bolduc

Certified Personal Trainer

Lean Body Challenge 2008 Champion
Author of The Ultimate Guide to Express Fat Loss