Sarah's Introduction

Fall is here. The signs are clear enough. Leaves turned from green to vibrant reds, yellows, oranges, even purple. Then they all fell. Now the trees are bare, stripped, grey, naked. Waiting for their fur coat of snow to make them look pretty again. Normally, that shouldn’t happen for another couple of months here though. In the mean time, it’s all bleak and bare outside.

The birds and squirrels have hoarded food for weeks now, months even. Preparing for the winter. They have also eaten much more than usual, getting nice and plump. Insulating winter fat, and energy reserves. Nature takes care of them that way. Instincts tell them what to do.

How about us humans? Our genes, our stone-age instincts tell us the same thing! Eat, store fat for the cold season. Well, we don’t need to anymore! Come on evolution, catch up to the computer-age already! There’s food available all year these days. We have heated houses. We do not want that added body fat! HELP!

The good news is, there is help to be found. By eating the way our instincts tell us (more), we would add body fat. But this is a perfect season to load up more on the barbells, to take the heavier dumbbells, press the muscles into higher performance and growth, making them burn more of that food we’re compelled to eating more of. For my part, I am starting the Optimum Anabolic  program by Jeff  “The Muscle Nerd” Anderson on Monday. He’s saying to keep going for that progressive overload, he uses and abuses supersets, love it!

There is also the great new idea Jon Benson and Janice Hauser had: the Every Other Day Diet! Perfect any time of year, but even more so in winter. You can actually have a cheat meal every other day if the idea of sticking to a 90% compliance nutrition plan is too much to handle when the wind is howling outside and the snow whipping against the windows. Or at the very least, it does tell you that it’s ok to have an extra treat mid-week as well as one on the weekend.

Since Jon released the book, Every Other Day Diet Lewis and I have tried the idea on for size, and our sizes have dropped! The system does work. Pounds of fat melt, inches are reduced, clothes fit better, and frankly … we do not feel like we’re watching our food all that much. Sure, we stick to the lean and clean, healthy foods most of the week. But gone is the kitchen scales and the weighing of each portion. Gone basically, is the stress of what can I eat and how much of it is ok? Not to mention how much easier it is when we go out either to a restaurant or to family and friends!

Especially thinking of the approaching Holiday Season with the eating parties everyone seems compelled to throw, the EODD is going to prove an invaluable ally and a great help in the fight against that winter-fat most of us seem to accumulate every year. If I were you, I’d grab a copy right now. No pressure of course, but … why wait? Why not get it right now, today, and get used to the simplicity of it, master the ideas and techniques (if I should call them that) before the big binging season starts? You’ll be one up on all your friends and family, colleagues and class mates, neighbours, everyone! 

 Check out Every Other Day Diet here !

7 weeks till Christmas people. Think of that nice dress and that elegant suit … do they still fit since last year? It’s not too late yet, grab your EODD copy and give yourself a great pre-Christmas gift!

 Until next week, stay fit and healthy!

 Sarah, CPT

PS, double up on your vitamin C dose this season, it’ll help ward off the colds.

Weekly Featured Fitness Article

 Unconventional Iron with Nick Nilsson

Secret Training Tip #991 - Trunk Twists With a Twist - Tighten Your Love Handles NOW

The "love handle" area on your sides is one of THE biggest targets for tightening up. While this exercise WON'T directly burn the fat off, it WILL tighten the muscles UNDERNEATH the fat so that you achieve the more streamlined waist you're looking for!

The "love handles" are the areas just above your hips on your sides. But I don't know many people who truly love theirs, which is why one of THE most common training goals around is getting rid of those things!

But here's the problem...sometimes, even fat loss doesn't always cut it when it comes to reducing the love handle area! Sure, you can peel off a lot of the fat, but even LEAN people sometimes find that this area STILL pokes out more than it should for the amount of bodyfat they carry.

It can be a VERY frustrating thing, knowing that you're doing all you can to lose fat and your love handles are still there.

But there IS hope (and it's NOT surgery)! I've got an exercise for you that will help to tighten up the muscles (the obliques) that lie directly UNDERNEATH the love handle area.

While this won't burn any of the fat that sits there (NO ab exercises will do THAT), it WILL help reduce the appearance and bulge of the area, giving you the more streamlined waist you want.

So what is this magical exercise? I call it the "Trunk Twist With a Twist." This technique was a favorite of legendary bodybuilder Serge Nubret for achieving the wasp-thin waist he was famous for.

On the surface, this exercise looks a lot like the regular broomstick twist you see people doing to warm up sometimes. Here's the difference...instead of just mindlessly rotating your torso from side to side, you're going to focus on SQUEEZING the obliques hard while keeping your head LOCKED in a forward position.

This squeezing technique will dramatically tighten the obliques and help you diminish those love handles once and for all!

How To Do It:

The setup for this exercise is simple! Put a bar or stick across your shoulders with your hands over the top and arms stretched out to the sides. Stand with your feet about a foot apart. Now begin to twist your upper body around to the left side.

Here is the key...while you are twisting, keep your head facing STRAIGHT FORWARD instead of turning your head along with your torso as you normally would. This is extremely important! If you turn your head, the exercise will be useless!

It's a good idea to do this exercise in front of a mirror (if you have one available), so you can see exactly what is going on. Look straight at yourself in the mirror and DO NOT move your head while you twist your torso (in fact, for a little extra squeeze, you can try to look as much as you can the OPPOSITE way).

Keep twisting all the way around until you've turned as far as you can. When doing this twist, I like to try to tilt the bar down a bit towards the side I'm twisting to. This helps to increase the activation of the obliques by bending the torso over to the side a bit.

At the height of the twist, squeeze the oblique area (right where your love handles are), contracting it AS HARD AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN and holding it for 3 to 5 seconds. This is the "money" part of the exercise. The actual twist only serves to get you into that position!

When you've squeezed everything out of the left side, rotate around to the right side and do the same thing.

Common Errors:

1. Going too fast

It is important to slow this exercise down and get a good squeeze on every single turn. If you simply bounce from one stretch to the other, you'll get nothing out of this exercise. The only good part is the contraction.

2. Not squeezing the obliques hard

As in #1, if you don't squeeze, you won't get results. Going through the motions won't do a thing for you.

3. Letting your head turn with your torso

If you turn your head along with your torso, the effect of the exercise will be greatly reduced. If you find that you have a hard time keeping your head forward, try turning it the other way as you turn your torso. This will help to put the squeeze on your sides.

Tricks

1. Raising the knee

To help increase the squeeze on the obliques, as you twist to one side, come up on your toes to raise your knee up towards your opposing hand as it comes around, e.g. if you're twisting to the left, raise your left knee to try and meet your right hand. This increases the contraction on the obliques by helping to shorten the muscle from the other end (below), basically the opposing action to tilting the bar down that I mentioned prior.

2. Breathe in and out

Hold the contraction for a few seconds and breathe in and out, squeezing out all the air you can on each exhalation. This will help get an even tighter contraction in the area.

3. Pull with one hand, push with the other

As you do the twist, push with the far hand and pull with the other for a greater contraction. For example, if you're twisting to the left, pull on the bar with your left hand and push it forward with your right.

4. Suck in your gut

As you come towards the full turn, suck in your gut. This places an even greater contraction on the oblique muscle, tightening it up even further.

CONCLUSION:

This exercise requires some practice to really get the maximum squeeze out of the muscles, but once you know how to do it, you'll love it! To get the best results out of this exercise, perform it at the end of every single workout you do. Do just one or two sets of between 15 and 30 reps.

This is not a power or resistance-based exercise. It's all about the squeeze and the contraction, which is why we're doing the higher reps here.

For pictures and video of this exercise in action, click on the following link: http://tinyurl.com/2kqoc5

About the author:

Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding e-Books including ";Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of

What Every Beginner Should Know by Marc David

Should You Avoid All Fats?

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The Beginner's Guide to Fitness and Bodybuilding System is the routine you've never done. Learn how to avoid boredom, discover sources for exercises and make the best gains of your life. Check it out at http://www.beginning-bodybuilding.com

GHF Weekly Recipe

Vegetarian Chili

Makes:
6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup powdered chiles
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 3/4 cup water
• 32 ounces crushed tomatoes
• 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 zucchini, diced
• 2 cups red beans, cooked
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 3 red potatoes, boiled
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 cup of vegetable broth

Directions:

• Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring for 3-5 minutes. Add the carrot, green pepper, and cook, stirring for 5-7 minutes. Add the powdered chilies and cumin and cook, stirring, 2-3 minutes, until the mixture begins to stick to the pan. Add the garlic and stir about 30 seconds. Add the water and stir 1-3 minutes, until the mixture is thick. Stir in the potatoes, tomatoes, oregano, and zucchini.
• Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 45-60 minutes, stir often.
• Stir in the beans and cilantro.

Nutritional Information:

• Serving size: 1 1/2 cups
• Calories: 250
• Fat: 2 g
• Cholesterol: 0 g
• Protein: 12 g
• Carbs: 46 g
• Fiber: 6.5 g
• Sodium: 250 mg

Lynn Bode Workout for You Fit Tips:

Being A Positive Fitness Role Model To Children

Raising a pre-teen or teenage daughter (or son) is not easy and can cause any parent a lot of stress.  There’s so much to worry about – dating, drugs, alcohol, sex, school grades, just to name a few.  But one crucial element often gets overlooked until it manifests itself in extreme ways (like through an eating disorder). I’m talking about self-image. It’s extremely important that parents ensure that their children have a positive self-image, especially in relation to their body.

The key to ensuring strong self-esteem and a positive body image starts with the parent. If you don’t feel positive about your self-image, then how can you expect your children to? While this is important for both daughters and sons, it is especially critical for raising a healthy daughter. And beginning the lessons when a girl is young is imperative, so don’t wait until it’s too late – teaching your daughter to feel good about her body needs to start at a very young age.

Eating disorder experts say girls are developing eating disorders as young as 5 and 6 years old. And a recent study indicated that 70% of the sixth-grade girls they surveyed said they began worrying about their weight between ages 9 and 11. Why are so many young girls thinking that they are fat? Many are obsessing about their weight because they have parents who are preoccupied with their own poor body images.

While the statistics are disheartening, the good news is that there’s a lot that can be done to help our children have positive self-images. And, even small changes that parents make can help. Here are few tips to help your children avoid warped and negative body images:

• Establish a “no diet talk” rule. When your children are nearby, DON’T talk about dieting or how fat you feel! This is extremely important. Remember, kids are listening all the time (even when you think that they aren’t – especially then). So, even though asking your spouse or friend “do I look fat in this?” may seem innocent, it can have a life-altering effect on your kids when they repeatedly hear it.
• Parents aren’t the only adults that influence their children. Set the “no diet talk” rule mentioned above for all adults that are around your children. This means you shouldn’t allow your friends, parents, siblings, neighbors, or anyone else to talk about being fat or being on a diet when they are around your children.
• Set a good example. If your children never see you engage in fitness or if they hear you complain about working out, then they are going to have a negative image of exercise. Let them know that you workout to stay healthy, to be strong and to have more energy and stamina (so you can keep up with them)!
• Get your kids involved in sports. Experts say that playing sports really helps build confidence and improves self-esteem (especially for girls).
• Teach your children to include physical activity as part of their daily routine. But don’t force them to exercise. Make sure that the physical activity is seen as something fun to do rather than teaching them to think of exercise as a necessary evil. Good activities include taking a nightly family walk, turning off the t.v. and instead turning music on that you all can dance to, or taking a weekend family bike ride.
• Try to prepare (or if you are short are time purchase) healthy meals. And teach them the importance of good nutrition. Don’t let them have the misconception that there are “good” and “bad” foods. If a kid thinks that candy is a “bad” food, then naturally they will just want it more. Just try to encourage your kids to eat a balanced diet each day and to eat sugary or fatty foods in moderation.

Remember that something as small as talking about losing weight in front of your kids can have very detrimental effects on their self-image as they age. Damaging behavior learned from a parent at a young age can take years for a child to overcome. So, the sooner you start incorporating the tips above into your life, the better for you child. But don’t forget that it has to start with you – make sure that you are incorporating healthy fitness and eating rituals into your daily routine and that you have a positive body image (no matter what your size or shape is)!

Workouts For You Fit Tipss
Bio:Lynn Bode is a certified personal trainer specializing in Internet-based fitness programs. She founded Workouts For You, which provides men and women of all fitness levels with custom designed workout programs for their individual needs. As an early pioneer in online personal training, she has years of success helping people through the Internet.

Danny M. O’Dell

Is your grip width destroying your shoulders?

Where you grip the bar may be the best predictor of how you will injure your shoulders. Research in England has determined that certain widths related to a person’s body size may increase your chance of becoming injured while performing the bench press. A closer look at the anatomical structure of the shoulder may help to explain why this is such a common occurrence.

The shoulder, unlike the hip joint which is a true ball and socket joint, is a semi and shallow ball and socket joint. This means the skeletal bones directly involved in the bench press motion are not mechanically secure. Unlike the hip, the integrity of the shoulder primarily relies on the muscles, ligaments and tendons to keep it intact and not the joint structures. Incidentally, in some literature the shoulder is not even considered a true joint. I consider the shoulder as a joint and as such will continue to refer to it as one.

One of the main primary structures within the shoulder is the glenohumeral joint. When bench pressing this part of the shoulder supports the weight and is subjected to the constant heavy loads of the active lifter.

While benching wide with the upper arms at or near perpendicular to the upper torso the shoulders are placed into external rotation. According to the research[1] ‘ninety degrees of abduction combined with end of range external rotation has been defined as the “at risk position” that may increase the risk of shoulder injuries.’

Now comes the ‘pay attention’ part of this article. These research findings have clearly shown that benching with a hand grip greater than or equal to ‘2’ bi-acromial widths-the distance between the acromion processes, i.e. shoulder width, is destructive to your shoulders. For the ease of conversation the bi-acromial width is basically measured at the ends of both of the collar bones.

In fact a grip width greater than 1.5 bi-acromial width increases the torque on the shoulder by 1.5 times when compared to that of a narrow grip less than 1.5 bi-acromial width.

For those of you who think that taking up a wide grip on the bar (100%-190% biacromial width) gives you additional pounds you are exactly right; it does. You may realize a slight gain of less than 5% total to your maximum with these extreme grip widths but over the long haul the cost to your shoulders may be prohibitive. At the outer ranges of width the recruitment and activation of your pectoralis major is nearly insignificant in comparison to the narrow and safer grip.

When using the narrower grip positions your triceps brachii are more involved thus making this an ideal triceps building exercise while at the same time saving your elbows from potential damage.

Summary: Constantly bench pressing with a wide grip on the bar is a prelude to an eventual shoulder injury. This is a classic case of risk versus benefit; is it worth your shoulder health to be able to bench a few more pounds?

Nicole Kuhl Transformation from the inside out 

WHAT’S THE HURRY?

While I was in New York, my friend and I decided to make a pizza (homemade with lots of veggies, of course).  My friend invited her boyfriend to join us.  He must be the fastest eater I have ever seen.  He ate 2 slices of pizza before we were even half way through our first slice.  My friend made a comment to him that really stuck with me.  She said, “what’s the hurry, you already have food in your mouth?”

I wonder how many of us have this same tendency.  We are bringing our fork to our mouths before we have even finished the last bite.  Our frenetic society has taught us to not only eat on the run, but to multi-task while eating.  This fast paced, mindless eating is yet another factor in the overweight epidemic.

Eating slowly improves digestion and increases nutrient absorption.  Modern food is nutritionally depleted as it is, and when we don’t chew and digest our food properly we fail to absorb all the nutrients.  Why spend time and money preparing nutritious (hopefully organic) food, if you are just going to inhale it?

Just as I like to say, “there is never an appropriate time to overeat”, there is also “never an appropriate time to shovel food in your mouth”.  In order to prevent overeating, it is important to not only eat slowly, but also mindfully.  This is a discipline that requires training.  After I graduated from basic training, I was still a super fast eater.  This is because we literally had 5 minutes to eat a meal.  It has taken me years to overcome this.

Here are some practical suggestions for training yourself to eat slowly and mindfully:

1)    Do not eat and multi-task – this includes TV.

2)    Use chop sticks

3)    Put your fork down after every single bite and do not pick it up until you are finished with the last bite.

4)    Chew each bite at least 10-20 times.

I know that many of us are busy and feel the need to maximize our time by eating on the run or multi-tasking, but this is a deleterious habit.  If we are honest with ourselves, we know that it is realistic to set aside 15-20 minutes per meal to sit back and mindfully enjoy the eating experience.  It takes 20 minutes for the satiety signal to kick in.  So, if you eat slow enough, you may even feel full before you finish your meal.  This will keep you reaching for seconds.  Remember: your taste buds are on your tongue, not in your stomach!

Marina Bradford Fit Club

How To Control Bingeing

We've all been there - one minute you're having a great diet day ... and the next, you're standing there in front of the fridge, madly and uncontrollably shoving the contents into your mouth like there was no tomorrow. It's almost like a feeling of starvation ... well, you're right!  Bingeing is not due to lack of willpower or self-control, nor is bingeing an eating disorder.  Bingeing is a sign that you are not eating enough AND you are not eating right!!

Your body needs more food than you think! Food is not your enemy - fat is! Hunger pangs and cravings are NORMAL! What's not normal is starving ourselves and skipping meals in order to lose weight. Less food means less energy, and you can't do much without Mr Energy.  To lose weight, you must eat!  And no, eating has not made you FAT!  Eating too much fat has made you fat ... dieting and starving yourself - then bingeing, has made you fat ... being inactive has made you fat!!

If you want to keep bingeing under control, here's what you need to do.

·         Don't skip meals  - eat regularly. 

·         Eat 5/6 Smaller Meals throughout the day. Small but regular meals will ensure that your blood sugar remains constant and that you feel satisfied. Don't allow yourself to get so hungry you end up bingeing on all the wrong foods.

·         Change the foods you binge on - Sometimes it's not the bingeing that's the problem, but what you binge on. Instead of bingeing on chocolate, biscuits, takeaways or crisps, be prepared with low-fat snacks such as a banana, a sandwich, a bowl of cereal, a piece of fruit loaf, a hazelnut yogurt or even some bread with a little chocolate spread or peanut butter.

About the author:
Marina Bradford is from Newtownards in Northern Ireland and has been in the fitness industry for 13 years as a personal fitness trainer and weight loss/fitness consultant. She also teaches various styles of fitness class, such as aerobics, step, circuits, weight training and Tae-bo. Once a week she writes a fitness column called PEAK FORM for "The Newsletter" which is one of Northern Ireland's biggest newspaper publications

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