4 Pre-workout nutrition tips to get you lean!

1) EAT PROTEIN + CARBS WITH A LOW GLYCEMIC INDEX- Focus on doing this about an hour before exercise to ensure the best benefits.The low glycemic carbs will create a slower and gradual blood sugar increase that will give you enough energy while allowing your body to burn more fat stores. These foods will reduce muscle glycogen levels and increase the amount of fat available to burn.

Examples of foods with low glycemic index-

* Most veggies ( greens mostly focus )

* Beans or any legume

* Rye or spelt wheat bread

2) AVOID FRUTOSE-Is found in fruit and most processed foods all over the place. Frutose will not only limit you from using fat but will also make your cells more insulin resistant.

3) AVOID MILK- The proteins in milk will cause increased insulin levels

4) DRINK GREEN TEA- Real green tea that is, not the sugar loaded version. The antioxidants combined with the caffeine in the tea can increase fat burning potential up to 15%!

5 Things that will keep you from making progress

1) Being Inconsistent- This is the number 1,2,3 and maybe even 4 most important thing! You must be eating great and working out great consistently to get the results you want period.

2) Having unrealistic goals- You need to be honest with yourself and set goals that you can reach. Losing 20lbs in 2 weeks is just not going to happen. Losing 20 lbs in 6-8 weeks instead would be a very solid goal.

3) Letting things derail you off track-You will get stressed in life, you with have problems at work and at home but don't let all of these external factors knock you off of your track to success. Make you time and you will benefit.

4) Making too many changes too often to your program-Make yourself a plan and execute it. Bouncing around from program to program or from diet to diet will only lead to failure. Pick a plan and let it unfold.

5) Listening to the wrong people-Make this your goal and your objective and don't let anyone else keep you from succeeding. People will be jealous, ignore them. People will try to tempt you to sway away from your healthy eating ways,  don't and instead stay strong!

8 Things....

1) Farmers walks are one of the best exercises you can add to your program-This is the exercise most people relate to The World's Strongest Man episodes on ESPN they used to watch in which guys would carry massive weights in their hands as they walked. Farmers walks are great for your traps, grip, shoulder health and core stability. Some people refer to them as a "standing plank".

2) Keep rest periods brief is overall body composition is the goal- To get as lean as possible and drop body fat you need to keep moving through your workout and have short rests.

3)  Society sits way too much! Most people sit at a desk all day and everyday and therefore end up with tight hips and no glutes. When people cant fire their glutes and have tight hips low back problems will most likely follow. Make it a point to work on hip mobility in the gym to help. If you do need to sit then don't sit too still for long, aim to move around and change positions.

4) Start doing some single leg work-Keep your traditional squats and deadlifts if you want but start doing some unilateral work that will ease of load off the spine. Single leg exercises will help with balance, injury prevention and help you build those stabilizer muscles. Split squats and single leg deadlifts work great.

5) You need to foam roll and work on your tissue quality-I will be the first to tell you it took me a while to get on the bandwagon but since I have started to I notice a big difference in my body and how my muscles feel. Make foam rolling a priority and do it before your warm-up. Foam rollers are cheap and you can get one for under $25 for home use. Also treat yourself and schedule a massage every now and then.

6) Stop being a machine hopper- You know that person that goes from one machine to the next in the gym no matter what the exercise the person mindlessly walks around thinking they are working hard. Machines for the most part are worthless. Every so often I like to use them in a routine but they shouldn't be the brunt of your program. Start using more free weights for a bigger range of motion and better results. If you are super new into the whole workout thing, then go ahead and use machines but even then sparingly.

7) Dont worry about your strength training and cardio until you start taking your eating more seriously-I dont care how amazing your workouts are, they are nothing without proper nutrition. It is simple, either focus on dominating both or dont waste your time. Like they say " you cant out train a bad diet".

8) We all need more horizontal pulling- This means any variation of the row. You need to counterbalance your whole day of bad posture and slumped shoulders.

3 random things for your Monday

1) Besides the usual protein shake here are other ways to add the protein into your day

Option A) Iced coffee- Vanilla or chocolate protein will add great flavor and be a better option than milk, sugar or cream. The protein will satisfy you and the caffeine will help give you energy and stimulate your metabolism.

Option B) Greek yogurt- Adding  protein is a better choice than the sugary fruit that comes in some yogurt brands. Greek yogurt is high in protein already but the extra will help you and provide flavor. Try adding some almonds or pistachios as well.

Option C) Oatmeal-Add protein after you cook the oats and before it cools. Mix in some berries and nuts and perfect!



2)  Great Finisher to end your fat loss workout

A1) Pushups-15 reps
A2) Burpees-10 reps
A3) Sprint 100 M ( on treadmill )
Do 3 rounds, take 1 min between rounds



3) Combo to blast your triceps

* use your 10 rep max for the press and dips ( meaning you should be struggling to do another rep after 10 if you tried )
A1) Tricep close grip presses with barbell-10 reps
A2) Dips-10 reps
**No rest between sets, each round do as many reps close to 10 as you can. You are done once you cant do 1 rep of one exercise. Keep the weight the same throughout. It could look like this-

10,10
9,9
9,9
5,5,
4,4
2,2
1,1-done!

8 Things I've learned about training women

1) THEY TEND TO WORK HARDER THAN MEN-It hurts me to say this guys,but most of the women I train get more intense and bring it more consistent than the male clients I have.

2) NOBODY IS MORE MOTIVATED THAN A BRIDE TO BE-I have trained countless brides and let me tell you that they are hands down the most motivated out of anyone. I think its the thought of being in a white dress on the most important day of your life that seems to bring the best in women and keep them focused.

3) THEY LOVE WORKING THE BUTT AND LEGS-Well duh!!! I mean this is kind of obvious, but women just love any exercises that will make their butt better and legs slimmer.

4) THEY LOVE DOING LATERAL BAND WALKS- Band walks just give you an instant burn in your glute medius ( hip area ) that women just love. It is sort of instant gratification that I think they really like and makes them feel as though their hips are shrinking in real time ( when really they aren't since you cant spot reduce ).

5) THEY WILL REFER LIKE CRAZY FOR YOU-Once a woman trusts you as a trainer and knows you will back up your claims and get her results then she will tell everyone of her friends and bring you a bunch of new business.

6) THEY WILL ALWAYS HAVE AT LEAST ONE " FREAKOUT"- No matter the personality of the woman at some point she will have that moment with you as a client. It can be anything from being too anxious to not being happy with were she is at with her body. Most of the time this moment turns out to be a positive thing and helps them re-focus on their goals.


7) THEY ARE VERY HARD ON THEIR SELF IMAGE-Usually lines like-

" I'm still too fat"
" Do you think I look too bulky "
" I'm bloated and my stomach looks fat, ehhh I'm so fat"
" I feel like I don't look much different"- After training for only a week
" I wish I could look like that skinny girl, I hate her"

8) THEY ACTUALLY DO LIKE TO LIFT WEIGHTS ( WELL EVENTUALLY)- Once women get past the initial I don't want to get bulky by lifting mindset they start to enjoy their time throwing around some iron. When you see everything firming up and getting that tight feeling women realize that the weights are responsible.

Giant set for fat loss

For your Monday try this setup-

A1) UPPER BODY EXERCISE

A2) LOWER BODY EXERCISE

A3) CORE

A4) UPPER BODY EXERCISE
A5) LOWER BODY EXERCISE

A6) CORE

A7) UPPER BODY EXERCISE

A8) LOWER BODY EXERCISE

A9) CORE

Rest 2-4 minutes depending on your level. Do 4 total rounds

* For the upper body exercises follow this rep scheme

A1-15,12,10,8 ( each set reps increase, weight goes down)

A4-8,10,12,15 ( each set reps drop, weight goes up )

A7-Reps stay the same at 10

*For the lower body exercises follow this

A2-8,10,12,15 ( each set reps drop, weight goes up )

A5-A1-15,12,10,8 ( each set reps increase, weight goes down)
A8-Reps stay the same at 10

Improving your deadlift

1) Deadlift more often-usually when you want to get better at anything the answer is to do it more frequently. Deadlifting more often is especially important to those beginner and intermediate lifters who are trying to get down the lift. The stronger you are at the deadlift the less you need to train a week. For most of you out there you will want to deadlift 2x a week if your goal is to improve the lift. Look to do your hardest deadlift day early in the week.

2) Technique! By getting better technique not only will you lift more but you will be safer as well. Below are two Videos that show and teach proper form.




3) Build up your back-You will not be able to have a big deadlift without a stud back. Your back is important for stabilization during the lift. Make sure the following exercises are in your program often.

A) Pull-ups
B) T-Bar rows
C) One arm rows
D) Prone rows with chest on an incline bench

4) Fix your weak areas- You must be strong at all points in the lift to have an overall strong pull.

Issue A- Problems coming off the floor

**You need to focus on the hamstrings and start doing more deficit deadlifts, glute-ham raises, etc

Issue B-Problems in the mid range of the lift

**You need to focus on your mid back and low back. Any back exercises listed in # 3 works as well as low rack pulls and back extensions.

Issue C- Problems locking out at the top

** You need to work the glutes more. More glute thrusters and glute bridges will do the job

Hank Does Pilates

So I have been taking Pilates now for about 6 sessions and I gotta tell you its amazing. Deidra is my instructor and she is great with her cues and patience. Let me give you the things I really love about it

1) The core work-I feel like doing Pilates just gives your core a way different workout than doing exercises out on the weight room floor. The real challenge comes with avoiding just trying to use your brute strength and muscle up each exercise or to cheat. The transverse abdominals which often get neglected in most training programs get worked and worked often in Pilates which is a plus. Overall I love the way my core feels after each session.

2) It is hard-Every session I work to get through and each move challenges me. My flexibility is just not good and therefore It makes most moves tougher for me. I will say you dont feel as tired or worn out as you do after an intense strength training workout but it still is tough work.

3) Flexibility work- I will admit that I hate stretching and it is horribly painful but I need it and doing Pilates forces me to stretch which is a good thing.


Closing words......

If you have never tried Pilates than I highly recommend testing it out and see what you think. Don't buy into what some celebs say and think that you can do just Pilates and you will have a rocking body, that wont happen! If you do Pilates with strength training and interval cardio work than you will achieve a balanced training program and one which you can benefit! Pilates will not make your muscles longer, you cant change your muscle length, but you will get a stronger core and better flexibility.