Elevate Your Thermogenic Rate And Keep That Fat Burning!

If you're looking for a way to jack your fat-burning sky-high, here's a great tip for you: focus on single ingredient meals, especially after 6:00pm.

Note: this is not a long-term strategy, nor is it something you should do every day. Aim for consuming 3-4 meals per week at first that contain only one ingredient.

Guess what ingredient that is?

--Protein.--

Eating hard proteins foods as I describe in "Simply Eat!" is a great way to get lean. You can do this using animal or vegetarian based protein foods.

The key is one ingredient. Consume your normal meal's calories all in protein. This will help elevate your thermogenic rate and keep that fat burning.

If you select a second ingredient, select celery -- and lots of it. Celery will fill you up and help expend even more calories in the fat-burning process.

For more tips on why "ingredients", not calories, are the key to long-term fat-burning and success, here is a great site to help you burn the fat

This will tell you all you need to know.

Sincerely,

Gregg Swanson

www.WarriorFitnessTraining.com

What Modern Science Says About Reversing The Aging Process

Practical Life Extension

What Modern Science Says About Reversing The Aging Process

There's an old proverb that rings with wit and reason: "Everyone wants to go to heaven but no one wants to die." So why do we want to live forever? According to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, author of "Chasing Life" and CNN's Senior Medical Corespondent, we do not.

The real quest isn't eternal life on earth according to Gupta, but rather an exceptional life.

While interviewing the foremost authorities on anti-aging and life extension, Dr. Gupta discovered three "universals" -- three principles that each researcher deemed critical to extending our lives naturally and empowering us to live exceptionally. They are:

1. Weight training


2. Good nutrition


3. Positive thinking and having purpose

Jon Benson, author of "Fit Over 40", explores each of these in great detail, as well as asking 52 men and women how they have managed to slow the hands of time down to a crawl. Benson does not waste time with hype and hypothesis. He focuses on real-world examples and applications we can all use to slow down the aging process and help prevent and reverse the conditions that can lead to disease.

Discover more today HERE

You too can live a longer, more exceptional life by simply adopting a smart, realistic and enjoyable lifestyle fitness plan. And if science just happens to catch up with Father Time, you'll be many steps ahead of the curve.

Gregg Swanson

Warrior Fitness Training

How To Burn Fat With Food

HOW TO BURN FAT WITH FOOD
By Tom Venuto, CSCS, CPT
http://www.burnthefat.com

"Burn fat with food?"

What the heck am I talking about? Food doesn't "burn fat", food is what makes you fat, right?
Not necessarily...

Food can burn fat or food can turn to fat.

There is actually a way that you can eat more food and eat more often, which will turn your body into a "metabolic furnace" that literally incinerates body fat and calories like tissue paper thrown into a bonfire!

The secret lies in choosing the right foods and in combining "5 food factors" that stimulate a process called "dietary thermogenesis" and optimize your body's metabolic and hormonal fat burning machinery.

However, before you can ever make use of these PHYSIO-logical factors that speed up your metabolism, you must address the crucial PSYCH-ological factors first.

Listen: You absolutely must re-frame way you look at and perceive food.

What does food MEAN to you?

What images, thoughts, and emotions do you associate with food?

***What do you think food is FOR?***

If you're struggling with body fat, I can almost guarantee that you're thinking about food in the wrong way.

You may be thinking of food like this:
• Food is the reason I'm fat
• I have to starve and eat hardly any food to lose fat
• I have to eat bland, tasteless "rabbit food" to lose fat

Other beliefs to consider include:
• Food is only for my own pleasure and "tastebud satisfaction"
• Food is the only thing that makes me feel better when I'm feeling bad
• Food is primarily for social occasions

And these are just a few common belief systems about food that may be programming you for failure.

Yes, it's true that food can be one of life's pleasures and is a focal point for social and family occasions.

The trouble is when that's the only thing food means to you, and you fail to realize the amazing power of food to transform your body and your health.

I want to suggest, as a first step, a shift in your mental attention and thoughts when it comes to food. You must redefine or "Reframe" what food means to you.

Here are four of the beliefs you must adopt if you want this to work for you:
• Food is for boosting energy (food is fuel)
• Food is for building muscle (food is construction material)
• Food is for burning fat (food is a metabolic stimulator)
• Food is for creating optimal health (food provides essential nutrients)

When you adopt these four beliefs about food as your dominant thinking, I assure you there will be a profound difference in your behaviors and your results.

If you don't adopt these beliefs as your dominant thought patterns, I can assure you that no Diet or workout will ever be of much use to you because you will continue to trip over your own self limiting beliefs. When you reframe what food means to you, it is often remarkable how quickly you stop wanting foods that are not good for you (and you learn how to achieve a healthy balance between social and "for taste" eating and eating to develop your body).

Most people struggle with food and emotional eating issues their entire lives, so they believe food is their biggest problem...

The truth is,
• Food is not your problem.
• Food is your solution.

Once this realization hits you, then and only then are you ready to learn the specifics about what to eat, how much to eat, when to eat, how often to eat and what to eat with what.

These are "the 5 food factors.", 5 food factors for burning body fat:
1. Quantity of food
2. Quality (type) of food
3. Combination of specific foods with other foods
4. Frequency of eating
5. Time of day food is eaten

Too much of ANYTHING will turn to fat - that is food factor number one - quantity of food.

However, it is absolutely true that some foods are more likely to turn into fat than others due to the way they affect your hormones and your metabolic rate.

Some foods burn fat, some foods turn to fat, largely because of a process known as "thermogenesis." Actually ALL foods are "thermogenic" because the body must use energy to digest food. This is known as the "thermic effect of food" (TEF), "the specific dynamic action of food" or "dietary thermogenesis."

Here's the s e c r e t: Some foods are MUCH more thermogenic than others. For example: if you eat a chicken breast with 300 calories, because the food is natural lean protein, your body must work much harder to digest the food, break it down into its constituent amino acids and deliver them to the cells where they are needed. Its possible that 25% or even more of the calories contained in that chicken breast are burned off in the process of digestion, that leaves a net of only 225 calories.

Lean meat such as chicken breast is an example of a food with a high thermic effect. By choosing foods with a high thermic effect, you increase your metabolism and you can actually eat more food and burn more body fat.

Combine thermogenic lean protein foods with the right amounts and types of essential fats, add in plenty of green vegetables and right amount of natural starchy carbs and whole grains to match your carb tolerance, and your body will literally turn into a fat burning machine as your hormonal and blood sugar response to the food is optimized.

That's food factor #3: the combination of lean proteins, natural carbs and the right types of fats in the proper ratios.

Food factors #4 and #5 are frequency and timing of the food you eat.

It is common knowledge among the fitness-savvy (such as bodybuilders and fitness/figure competitors), that eating small, frequent meals increases metabolic rate, increases gains in lean body mass and increases fat loss more than larger, infrequent meals.

It seems hard to believe that you can actually eat more often and lose more fat, but it's absolutely true. Pick natural foods with a high thermic effect keep your portions small and eat approximately every three hours and your metabolism will begin to speed up almost immediately.

Naturally, of course, there is much more to this process of using food to burn fat, and it would take an entire book to cover every factor in intimate detail. But by now, you understand the essentials you need in order to get started, including those four important beliefs you MUST adopt about food.

You can learn even more about natural thermogenesis using real food (not pills or powders) in my Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle e-book.

Also, for a limited time, you can get two three free reports about fat burning foods when you order the Burn The Fat, Feed the Muscle e-book:

(1) Foods That Burn Fat,
(2) Foods That Turn to Fat, and
(3) The A Food B Food Lecture: How To get Good Grades on Your Food Choices.

Your friend and coach,
Tom Venuto, CSCS, NSCA-CPT
http://www.burnthefat.com

Tips for Effective Core Training

Are you sure that you are getting everything you can out of your core routine? With all of the new developments in core training, it's difficult to keep up with the latest and most effective tools and techniques. Though the core has become a mainstream concept, most exercisers have a clouded view of what exactly the core consists of, its importance and what the best ways are to activate it.

The core includes the following muscles: Transverse Abdominis, Rectus Abdominis, Multifidus, External Obliques, Internal Obliques, Quadratus Lumborum and Erector Spinae. It provides a stable platform which launches all of our movement by stabilizing the spine. The core generates the rotational forces needed for many athletic movements including throwing, swinging, striking and twisting. It acts to resist or neutralize external forces such as gravity, contact or momentum. We are only as strong as our core. A weak core limits our strength capacity.

Four Tools to add to your Core Training Routine

TRX Suspension Trainer™
The TRX® is one of the most innovative additions to core training in recent years. It's a non-elastic, adjustable harness constructed of industrial-strength, nylon webbing which uses bodyweight as the sole source of variable resistance. The TRX allows for hundreds of exercises that can accommodate all fitness levels. It integrates the core's postural, stabilizer and neutralizer components in all of its exercises and the addition of the suspended planks, crunches and oblique capabilities make it one of the most effective tools on the market.

Stability Ball
The stability ball creates an unstable environment that requires more work from the core. Simple yet demanding, the stability ball can be used to add challenge to many exercises and modify others.

Heavy Ball
Most modern heavy balls are constructed of a textured rubber that is made to bounce. Heavy balls are the perfect exercise tool when training the core to control external forces, to stabilize the body while applying internal forces, and when working at higher speeds.

Balance Devices
Balance devices come in all shapes and sizes: wobble boards, balance discs, Bosu™ balls, Bongo™ boards and foam balance surfaces. They all destabilize the surface using a base of support in one way or another, making the core more responsive. A word of caution: Always evaluate possible danger versus potential benefit before attempting any exercise that destabilizes your base of support.

Fun and Challenging Exercises

The following six movements utilize some of the tools outlined above and offer a complete core training package. There are beginner, intermediate and advanced versions to address a broad range of abilities.


Prone Rollout (Stability Ball or TRX)
In a kneeling position, place hands on Stability Ball or TRX handles with elbows bent and hands positioned below chest. Assume tall posture and actively engage the core. Tilt body forward slowly transferring the weight into the hands. Slowly extend arms opening body as far as possible. Ensure that the body stays in a straight line and make sure the hips do not sag towards the ground. Stop where the core is challenged, but not overwhelmed and then reverse action, returning to the start position. The entire range of motion is very small (not greater than one foot of movement), and the movement speed is slow and controlled.

• Beginner: Small range of motion
• Intermediate: Deeper extension and longer holds in extended position
• Advanced: On the TRX, move to a roll out in a standing position

Body Saw with Crunch (TRX or Stability Ball)
Suspend the toes in the TRX or on top of a stability ball and position body in a prone plank on elbows. Engage core and open up at the shoulder joint, slowly pushing the body back in a saw motion. Do not allow hips to sag toward the ground. Pull body forward, lifting hips and pulling knees to chest in a suspended crunch action and then return to the plank position.

• Beginner: Body Saw
• Intermediate: Body Saw with Crunch (as described above)
• Advanced: Perform Body Saw with a Pike movement or attempt the Body Saw from hands

Heavy Ball Rotational Throw (Partner or Wall)
Stand facing a partner/wall in a lunge stance. The leg nearest to the partner/wall is forward. Maintain a tall posture. Receive the ball with outstretched arms absorbing and controlling the force by activating the core musculature and rotating away from the direction of the ball. Rotate back toward the partner/wall and release the ball with both hands. To progress, come to a narrow stance, increase the movement speed or increase the weight of the heavy ball.

• Beginner: Soft throw with a light ball
• Intermediate: Hard throw with a light ball or soft throw with a heavy ball
• Advanced: Hard throw with a heavy ball

High to Low Tubing Wood Chop (Rubber Tubing with handles)
Wrap your tubing around a pole and loop one handle over the other so that it's in single handle mode. Stand facing the tubing with feet together and arms outstretched at shoulder level. Grasp the tubing handle with a two-handed grip and keep the hips square. Allow the head to move with the hands and twist toward the pull of the tubing with the shoulders and torso. Engage the muscles around the core and stabilize the hips, twisting down and away from the pull of the tubing. The movement finishes with the hands at waist level.

• Beginner: Wide stance with light resistance
• Intermediate: Narrow stance with light resistance or wide stance with heavy resistance
• Advanced: Narrow stance with heavy resistance

Standing Hip Drop (TRX)
Stand facing the TRX, assuming a staggered stance where the inside leg is positioned forward. Place the TRX in single-handle mode grabbing with both hands and positioning on the crown of the head. Allow the hip to drop away from the body toward the floor, avoiding rotation of the torso.

• Beginner: Shallow position using a slow movement speed
• Intermediate: Position body at a steeper angle
• Advanced: Keep the body at a steep angle and increase movement speed

Side Plank with Floor Taps-(Elbow, Hand, Feet--Floor/TRX)
Turn on your side with one foot stacked on top of the other. Support upper body with one forearm, keeping hips square and core engaged while lifting off the floor. Keep elbow of supporting arm in line with shoulder. Focus on maintaining strong body alignment. An advanced progression is to add a piking action that is coupled with a rotational reach under the body followed by a return to the side plank position with the arm outstretched toward the ceiling.

• Beginner: Support on elbow with feet offset (outside leg in front of back leg)
• Intermediate: Support on hand with feet offset or support on elbow with feet in TRX
• Advanced: Support on hand with feet stacked on top of one another or support on hand with feet in TRX
  

Thanks to Fraser Quelch for this great article. Fraser Quelch is the Director of Programming and Education for Fitness Anywhere Inc. and is the founder of Storm Training Systems. He is also featured as an expert on Active Trainer.

Fitness Review Site Is Ready...Almost

We've just finished our Fitness Review blog and in a few days we'll have the official fitness review site up. Both of these sites will be a valuable resource for investigating and providing feedback on any fitness infomercials and online fitness programs. We'll be expanding both sites to include equipment, diets and supplements. I would recommended subscribing to the RSS/Atom feed so you'll be kept well informed.