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

Keep a Workout Journal

Today I want to tell you about the importance of keeping a journal when you do your workout training. By keeping track of your workouts, it’s easy to see your progress or if you plateau.

You can always go back through your old workouts and see your progression. This is one of the best motivators for you. I still write down each of my workouts in my log book. I think it is essential to a good fitness program.

It’s easy to see if I am making progress. You can also write some notes on the side. For example, if you did not have the usual energy for a workout and what the reason is: did you sleep well the night before, or perhaps it’s your nutrition.

By keeping a journal you will reach your goals faster. Do not skip this part. It’s important for you. I always found mine at the dollar store – composition book- and it’s work well for me and it’s cheap.

Write your program in your book and keep track of  the weight you use and number of sets and for how many reps.  Next workout try to do better. Don’t forget to write down  what time you start your workout and what time you finish it. It’s another key to keep your workout not too long and the next day or next week try to beat the time.  Keep your heart rate high.

Another great tips from ExpressFatLoss.com

Do This for a Big Difference in Your Life

Today you will see something can make a BIG difference in your life.
Do you have an idea? Not yet? Ok I will tell you!

SMALL CHANGES will make a big difference. Yes, you read right – if you start to make some small changes and you stick with them, then slowly you can make some more small changes after few weeks.  Keep going, and you will be surprised by the difference they can make to your life.

Don’t try to change everything all at once.  This is the worst you can do. It’s too hard, and you will not keep it up for very long. But if you learn to change your bad habits slowly, and replace them  with some good ones you are on the right way, my friend! Remember my first tip: JUST DO IT!

Make sure you get your F.R.E.E E-book on Nutrition and Weight Loss From ExpressFatLoss.com

Why am I sometimes weaker during my workout?

I received an interesting question by email this week – from Dave in Tennessee, USA.  Dave asked about how I design my clients’ programs, or even my own. Yes  I am still working out too!  Honestly if I don’t train at least 3 or 4 times a week I don’t feel good. It’s my lifestyle now for more than 20 years, and I feel great!

Dave’s question is:

I would like to know why sometime I feel very strong for my chest workout and the next program I’m not able to lift the same weight. This thing happened almost for every body part (chest, back, shoulders and arms).

My answer:

You have to take a few factors into consideration when you design your own program.

First, make sure you have enough rest in between workouts. You cannot train the same muscles group two days in a row. Your muscles need to rest at least 48 hours to be able to fully work the same muscle again. This is why if you like to do circuit training for a full-body workout, you are better off training every other day. On the days you do not do any strength training, you can do your cardio.

Now that you understand the importance of rest, we can take a look at how you introduce each body part into your program. Here’s an example.

If you train your chest on Monday,  and Tuesday – the next day- you are planning to train your shoulders, this is not a good program design.

Do you know why?  When you work your chest, your shoulders and triceps are also involved and getting a workout. Trust me, you will not be able to push too much weight with your shoulders the next day with this program because your shoulders don’t have enough time to recuperate from the chest workout. It’s that simple.

So you really need to understand body anatomy, and when you perform an exercise you need to know and understand which muscles are involved with the exercise.

To help you with your program design, here’s a few recommendations for you:

• Ÿ  When you perform a chest workout you also target your triceps and your shoulders.
• Ÿ  When you perform a back workout you also target your biceps.
• Ÿ  When you work your shoulders you also work your triceps.

Next time you design your program make sure to pay attention to those muscle groups, and really think about how the muscles work together.

For your program design, try to follow these different split workouts for 3, 4 or 5 workouts per week.

5-Day Split

Monday: Chest & Abs (Hit Shoulders and Triceps indirectly)

Tuesday: Back (Hit Biceps indirectly)

Wednesday: Shoulders & Abs (Hit Triceps indirectly)

Thursday: Quads, Hamstring & Calf

Friday: Arms & Abs

4-Day Split

Monday: Back, Biceps & Abs

Tuesday: Shoulders & Hamstring (Hit your Triceps indirectly)

Wednesday: Off – Give a break at your Triceps for the next workout

Thursday: Chest, Triceps & Abs (Hit your shoulders indirectly)

Friday: Quads & Calf

3-Day Split

Monday: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps & Abs

Tuesday: Off

Wednesday: Back, Biceps & Abs

Thursday: Off

Friday: Quads, Hamstring & Calf

Try out one of these plans, and I bet you’ll see a difference.  With enough rest in between, and alternating muscle groups, you’ll be more energetic, able to lift more weight or do more reps, and your technique will be better.  It all adds up to a better workout and better results!

Your Fitness Routine should continue after 12 weeks

Where are you with your program to get back into shape? When you decided to get back into shape, that was probably when you requested your F.ree E-Book or when you purchased the Express Fat Loss program.

A lot of people decide they want to make a body transformation for a special event like a New Year’s resolution, a wedding, a trip to the beach, a family reunion etc. But what happens after this is over?  Are you going to give up everything you achieved? Give up all your good work and go back to your old habits, feeling sluggish with no energy, increasing your body fat and then starting the same pattern over again for another event in a few months or next year?

Are you like that?  Can you recognize your behavior in that scenario?

Now that you have been in your routine for a few months, the trick is to keep going. So many people work hard to pass the 12 week point and after that, if something happens, they cancel their exercise time at the gym.  They think it’s probably not a big issue.  It’s only one time, but next week the same situation will come up again, and again the following week, and they end up missing more workouts.  I’m sorry to tell you that this usually signals the beginning of the end.

I have been in this business for so long that I know that at some point you will probably feel bored with your exercise program.  Maybe you will reach a plateau, and you may not see any obvious improvement in weight loss or muscle gain. You might start to lose your focus.

The other day, I read something by Mark Joyner. Mark Joyner is a 4 times best-selling author, and this phrase made a lot of sense to me. Make sure you apply this to your goals: he said, “Hit it until you hit it”. Whatever your goals are, apply this to your focus and you will ‘Hit It’ for sure.

If you have lost focus lately with your fat loss program, make sure you are still doing what you need to do to be successful. Here’s a few ways to get back on track:

Ÿ  Establish a routine – Make exercise part of your daily lifestyle. Exercise should come naturally like eating, sleeping or brushing your teeth.

Ÿ  Schedule – Make sure you set up some time in your agenda for time at the gym. Choose the best time for you and KEEP IT! This time slot is yours. It’s your time to think about your health.

Ÿ  Pay attention to your nutrition – Without monitoring your nutrition closely, it will be very difficult to achieve what you want. It’s a package deal: you need all of ‘wheels’ (Nutrition, Strength Training, Cardio/Flexibility and Rest)

Ÿ  Goals- Look back to the goal setting you did a few months ago and see if your goals were realistic.

Ÿ  Start keeping your nutrition and exercise journal again – Make sure you stay on track with both.

Ÿ  Push yourself little bit more at each workout session, perform maybe one extra rep or increase the weight of your lift.

Ÿ  Change your routine every 4 to 6 weeks to keep you interested and your muscles learning and getting fit.

Your fitness program should go beyond the first 12 weeks. First make a commitment for the first 12 weeks and then re-assess and make another commitment for another 3 months. Use a small time frame (12 weeks at a time) and aim to get fitter and stronger every time you set up fresh 12 weeks goals.  Remember what you learned about goal setting – keep it realistic, and measure your progress regularly to stay motivated!