Lose the fat around the…

If you live in the Atlanta area and are looking to lose fat and inches around the midsection, belly, hips, thighs, or any other body pat I can help.

Through bodyweight exercises, weight lifting , and some hard work I can help you get the body you want and have imagined.

Send you contact info to weightworkout@yahoo.ca to get the help you deserve.

Atlanta Personal Training For Fat Loss of the THIGHS, HIPS, and STOMACH

Nutrition tip of the Week

Mood Eating

Most people eat based on their mood and/or some subjective feelings of hunger. They don't eat based on what their bodies need. Think of it this way: you're about to take a long drive on a stretch of highway with no gas station. Do you fail to stop for gas before you hit the road because you're 'not in the mood?' Of course not. Think of eating in the same way. Eating fuels your metabolic engine. So it's time to start feeling like eating so that you can stop feeling like you're scrawny. by Dr. John Berardi

SEE ALSO: This tip is sponsored by Precision Nutrition - our pick for the best nutrition and supplement resource currently available. Containing system manuals, gourmet cookbook, digital audio/video library, online membership, and more, Precision Nutrition will teach you everything you need to know to get the body you want -- guaranteed.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

A Unique Exercise For Shredding the Upper Abs

Lying Cable-Curl Crunches

Want your six-pack abs to jump out and demand attention? When
you properly develop the upper abs, you can actually look
like you've got an 8 pack!


The abs are the showpiece area of your body, no question about it. And this exercise will hit your upper ab area in a way that is totally unique.

You will be doing a regular crunch movement, but at the same time you'll be putting tension on the abs from the top-down by pulling down on the cable. It's the combination of the two tensions (pulling yourself up with the crunch and pulling the cable down at the same time) that will set your abs on fire!


How To Do It:

For this exercise, you'll need a high pulley set-up (an adjustable-height pulley is best but a regular high pulley will work as well). Use a bar attachment on the high pulley - if you have an adjustable-height pulley, set it to about 2 or 3 feet off the ground.

Set the weight stack with a light to moderate weight the first time you do this. You don't need heavy weight for this exercise to be effective.

Lie on your back on the floor with your head directly under the pulley. If you're using the adjustable-height pulley, reach up and grasp the bar with a regular curl grip. If you're using the standard high pulley, you'll need to first grab the bar then sit down on the floor then lay down.

Hold the bar with your arms bent about 90 degrees. Your legs will be bent 90 degrees and your body will be in the start of the regular crunch position.

Now comes the trick:

Begin the crunch movement - as you do the crunch, pull the bar down towards your chest, until your elbows touch the floor. Crunch yourself up as high as you can and hold it at the top. Squeeze your abs hard - the upper/middle area will be on fire even on the first rep.

Lower your torso slowly to the floor and let the bar back up. Don't let your arms go fully straight but keep a 90 degree bend at the top.

By the time you've done 6 or 8 reps of this exercise, your abs will be VERY strongly worked.

And if you really want to burn your abs out, do 2 sets of this exercise then immediately do 2 sets of Abdominal Sit-Ups.

http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Newsletter-archives/issue9-ab-tip.htm

For pictures of how to do the Lying Cable Curl Crunch, click on the following link:

http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Newsletter-archives/issue43-abs.htm

Atlanta area personal trainer that comes to you.
Looking for a Personal Trainer in Atlanta?
Contact me Here.
 jason@inthegym.info


Friday, September 21, 2007

Tighten Your Love Handles

Trunk Twists With a Twist

By Nick Nilsson

Work the core and abdominal area with this exercise.

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 tighen 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.

NOTE: This exercise can be found in my abdominal training book "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of." Be sure to check out the special limited-quantity offer I've posted just below!

For pictures and video of this exercise in action, click on the following link:

http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Newsletter-archives/issue54-twist.htm

Atlanta area personal trainer that comes to you.
Looking for a Personal Trainer in Atlanta?
Contact me Here.
 jason@inthegym.info


Friday, September 14, 2007

Weight Training Certifications

Certifications

The Atlanta, GA area has lots of personal and sport performance trainers to chose from. Depending on your goals and needs what certification your trainer has will be important. My style of training is more sport orientated, I tend to stay away from the fads and the typical commercial gym type training and stick with the classic lifts. If you are an athlete looking to improve you game or looking for an intense workout in the comfort of your home in you favorite Atlanta park take a look at my certifications and see if matches your desires and needs or just looking for something different email me and we can talk.

Level 1 Track and Field - both in Canada and the US

NSCA, CSCS - Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists (CSCSs) are professionals who apply scientific knowledge to train athletes for the primary goal of improving athletic performance. They conduct sport-specific testing sessions, design and implement safe and effective strength training and conditioning programs and provide guidance regarding nutrition and injury prevention. Recognizing that their area of expertise is separate and distinct, CSCSs consult with and refer athletes to other professionals when appropriate.

USAW, Sport Performance Coach
- A focuses on the Olympic lifts and their assistance exercises, plyometrics and medicine ball training to the realm of sport specific training, power development and injury prevention.

In developing this course we have combined the time-proven teaching and training methodology from the sport of Weightlifting along with the practical experience of some of the most innovative and successful professionals from the field of athletic development and professional sports training. Our hands-on approach to learning insures that the participant gains a more thorough understanding of the complexities and the difficulties of learning these movements. This experience along with the knowledge gained into the areas of program design and practical considerations provide the participant with a comprehensive foundation to successfully implement this training into the programs of their athletes or clients.



Atlanta area personal trainer that comes to you.
Have a question? Contact me Here.

Sunday, September 9, 2007

14 Things To Do and Not Do

When First Starting an Exercise Program 14 Things To Do and Not Do

Starting an exercise program for your very first time?

Learn the do's and don'ts here.

1. DON'T wait for the "perfect" time to start. There will never be a perfect time. Learn a few of the basics and start as soon as you can. Putting it off is a great way to have nothing change.

2. DO take it slow when you begin. Rushing into an intensive training program when you are just starting out is sure to be overwhelming. You'll have a much greater chance of sticking with it if you work into it gradually.

3. DON'T change everything all at once. Think of how traumatic it would be if you suddenly went from relative inactivity and poor eating to a high-powered program and a strict diet. I would recommend you start with an exercise program. Keep at it for 3 weeks consistently then think about gradually modifying your nutritional habits.

4. DO make a commitment to exercise. One of the keys to establishing exercise as a habit is to make a commitment to it. If you go in with the attitude that you'll do it when it's convenient or when you feel like it, your chances of sticking to your exercise program decrease.

5. DON'T expect infomercial-level results. I'm not going to tell you won't see great results - you will. Just don't expect it to happen in 2 weeks.

6. DO learn as much as you can about training and exercise. Knowledge is very important. If you don't know what to do, take a little time and learn first. The rewards will be huge!

7. DON'T assume you must exercise 2 hours a day to see results. You don't have to exercise nearly that long. You can see results with as little as 20 to 30 minutes done 3 times per week.

8. DO ask questions. If you don't know something, there is no shame in asking. I will readily admit I don't know everything about exercise and fitness (though I do know quite a lot). If you have questions, please feel free to ask me! (betteru@fitstep.com).

9. DON'T work your muscles to absolute failure when you begin weight training. You will most likely make yourself so sore, you won't want to training anymore. Take it fairly easy for the first few session then gradually increase your intensity.

10. DO tell other people your goals. One of the best ways to ensure you keep your promise to exercise is to tell your friends and family what you're doing. This way, you make yourself accountable to people other than just yourself.

11. DON'T feel you need to buy all the latest training equipment in order to start exercising. You can exercise without any equipment at all! Walking doesn't cost a dime and bodyweight exercises such as push-ups are completely free too!

12. DO stretch and warm-up. Stretching during and after your workouts promotes flexibility. Warming up prepares your muscles for more strenuous work to come.

13. DON'T give up all your favorite foods all at once. A great way to make yourself focus on a certain food is quit eating it. For example, if you love chocolate cake and tell yourself you can never have it again, are you going to be thinking about chocolate cake a lot? Chances are, yes. Treat yourself now and again. It will keep you from stressing and begining later.

14. DO try to eat more natural-state, unprocessed foods. Processing adds fat, salt and sugar, all of which can contribute to health problems. You don't have to cut them out completely but see if you can shift your focus to more unprocessed foods.

If you are thinking about starting an exercise program or have just started one, these tips should help keep you on the right track.

If you know someone who is considering starting an exercise program, please forward this article along to them. Many people don't start a program because they simply don't know where to begin. By passing along this information to them, you may be giving them the best gift of all: better health and fitness.

For more information on how to start an exercise program, including sample exercises, stretches, nutritional information and tips on how to put it all together, contact me here Get Fit Atlanta

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Article by: 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 eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.



Atlanta area personal trainer that comes to you.
Have a question? Contact me Here.