Some of these opinions look at certain food groups as the culprit.  Products have also been developed from these ideas.  For instance The Atkins Diet created by Dr. Robert Atkins in 1972 has been very popular.  Lately the South beach Diet created by cardiologist Dr. Arthur Agatston and Dietitian Marie Alman has also been extremely popular for years.  Both single out carbohydrates as being the main reason for North America’s obesity epedimic.

Before the South Beach Diet and shortly after The Atkins diet, Low fat diet’s were also very common in the 1980′s.  As the name implies, limiting fat intake was what was needed to maintain or improve a healthy body composition.  This was mainly pushed by the USDA.  There are numerous other diet’s limiting the intake of certain food groups or putting emphasis on others all with a similar objective.  Which is portraying a single food group, nutrient, or combination of foods as being the soul reason for everyone’s weight issues.

There seems to have been something forgotten in all the hype of the new fad diet on the market.  It’s the reason why some of these diets are experiencing short bursts of success in the first place.  The underlying reason the majority of these diets are producing some short term positive results is mainly because they are CREATING A CALORIE DEFICIT!  This is usually what happens when you start limiting the intake of whole food groups, you naturally start eating fewer calories.  Throw some exercise into the mix and you’re on your way to body fat loss.

So when you take a good look at everthing out there, it all seems to come back to a tried and true method that has stood the test of time.  That method or rule is “you must burn more calories then you consume“.

So what do you need to do?  

• Eat real food!
• Limit processed products as much as possible.
• Get your carb intake mainly from plant sources.
• Reduce your daily intake of calories per day, slightly (200-300 cal.).
• Burn some calories through exercise, which will create more of the calorie deficit as well as added health benifits.

There you have it, a solid plan for long term body fat reduction while still maintaining a well balanced diet.

If you have had long term success with any paticular diet let me know.  I’d love to hear about it.

I will get a bit more in depth with this concept in future posts.

Talk to you soon.

While surfing around a few of the blogs I follow, I stumbled upon this great interview on exercisesforinjuries.com with Brian St. Pierre.  Brian St.Pierre Is a Certified Sports Nutritionist and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist.  He is also the owner of BSP Training and Nutrition.  Brian has worked with all levels of athletes as well as the general public.  The Interviewer and creator of exercisesforInjuries.com is Rick Kaselj.

Rick is a Kinesiologist who focuses as the name of his web site implies, on injuries and corrective exercises.  He also has put out numerous informational products related to injuries.

In this interview Brian talks to Rick about:

• Food recommendations
• Eating frequency
• Supplements
• Intermittent fasting
• Nutrition Bars
• and the benefits of coffee just to name a few of the topics

So without further ado, just click on the link below and enjoy.

=====> Brian St. Pierre interview by Rick Kaselj <=====

Anyone have any thoughts about one or more of the topics discussed by Brian?  Let me know in the comments. Thanks.

Talk to you soon.

Scott Ward

Lets take a look at free weights.  This is probably the method of training for muscle strength and mass which gives you the most bang for your buck.  Barbells, dumbbells, kettle bells, and functional cable machines have one thing is common.  They all force the individual to stabilize an object and give that person free range of motion to move that object.  By allowing this freedom, the individual is capable of training muscles and groups of muscles through very specific functional ranges of motion.  The great thing about this is that these specific exercises can be customized to fit a sport, job or any everyday activity that you may perform.  Free weights are also a really good option for maintaining muscle mass while trying to loss body fat through metabolic training.

Some cons to free weights would be the need for a lot of stability and control that may not be ideal for someone beginning a rehab program with a fairly acute injury.  Also free weights may be to advanced for an elderly individual without the capability or strength to stabilize the weights safely.

When we take a look at weight machines, which I personally don’t recommend anyone utilize to often.  The pros you can probably figure out from taking into account the cons of free weights.  Someone who is coming off of an acute injury and lacks the strength to safely control the resistance.  Weight machines would definitely fit the bill in this case.  The elderly individual as well would benefit from the balance and stability that machines have to offer.  Weight machines would be a safe alternative which allows strengthening without the need for stabilizing an implement or balancing yourself for that matter.  However, a quick transition from the use of weight machines to free weights should be the objective of anyone.  Just keep in mind, safety first.

So there you have it.   The main reasons why I tend to lean towards the use of free weights as opposed to weight machines.  how ever as you can see there is certain times when machines are appropriate.  Let me know in the comments section below, what some of your favorite free weight exercises are or why you may prefer weight machines.

Hope to hear from you.

Lets take a closer look at weight loss.  You can jump in blindly, cutting calories, exercising, restricting certain foods and so on, without any clear outcome in mind.  This method usually ends up in disappointment.

What your missing is a goal with a path of smaller mini goals along the way to keep you going.  What you need to do is pick the goal weight that you would really like to obtain and then DON’T FIXATE ON IT!  This will only get you discouraged when you haven’t been able to get there in a week or two or three.  Your next step is to plot mini goal weights which can be accomplished in 2-4 weeks. The purpose of these is to keep you motivated and on the right track.   Also along the path to your ultimate goal and along side your mini goals are the habits and behaviors that need to be applied.  These habits and behaviors are what will keep your plan together.

There are a few points worth noting to assure your weight loss success.

Firstly, once you begin your weight loss journey, you can not just put everything on autopilot.  There will always be circumstances that arise, it’s called life.  What you need to do is make minor adjustments here and there to keep everything on course.

Secondly,  don’t get so involved with the plotting of your plan and all the systems you’re going to use, that you never take action!

And lastly, enjoy the process.  This is something that you won’t be doing for just a few weeks and your done.   These are changes that will need to become part of a new lifestyle.  So take the time to enjoy the journey and learn what works best for you.

Now go out there and crush it!

Wait a minute, I haven’t totally given up on mankind. I know we still need to set goals.  What I do think is that the majority of people are just going about it the wrong way.

What I feel is the key to setting a goal and achieving it is the transformation of bad habits into good habits.  I definitely think this is the number one reason people succeed or fail.  And by the way we should never be afraid to fail.  Now I know this may sound like common sense, but believe me you would be surprised.  A simple example of this would be drinking more water then pop.  Another one could be switching from white processed carbs to whole grains when cooking.

Creating a good habit from a bad habit will take time.  Experts have found that it takes roughly 40 days to learn a new habit.  If you can stick to the transformation for a solid 2 months you should have a great chance of success!

You know what else can sabotage a lot of people?  Trying to change too many behaviors at once.  All this seems to do is overwhelm us.  It eats away at our will power until we break.  What so many people do is change their eating habits, training routine, recreational activity, social life, family life, and a host of other behaviors at the same time.  It’s too much for most people.  What I find works best is taking one action every couple of weeks and concentrating on that single behavior.  It’s less stressful and gives us the feeling that we can do this. There is not the pressure of trying to change everything all in one shot.

All these changes will add up.  The result being less fat, more muscle, and a highly functioning body.  Again the key is changing these habits one at a time, over several weeks.  This will definitely give you a much better chance of making these behaviors  part of a new and improved lifestyle.

I hope this tip will help you make New Years Resolutions the goal setting ritual it was intended to be.  Make 2012 your best year ever!

Next up I’ll dive into some goal setting tips to get you off to a good start.  Talk to you soon.

 The sure sign that someone is in exceptional peak condition can easily be discovered by looking at their abdominal region.  If they have a set of ripped abs you generally know this person has a fairly high degree of fitness.  The abs being, probably the most pinnacle of all body parts when it comes to health and fitness.

After 16 years of training people the definite consensus of the majority of my clients work out goals has been losing the belly. Getting a good looking set of abs, whether they are male or female has always been a top priority.

Everything you need to obtain a ripped set of abdominals will be in this site.   You will learn about how to get an aesthetic good looking set of abs. You will also gain insight into creating a functional athletic body, ready for anything and everything you dish out.  As you know elite athletes have great bodies, but they aren’t just for show.  Athletes push their bodies to perform to their absolute limits. They rely on those abdominals, as well as all their other muscles to get the job done.

 This site will give you the real deal, not a bunch of filler.  Everything you get here will be quality, usable tips and information to take you to the highest level of health and fitness.

So there you have it, what you will get out of AthleticAbs.com is the abs you want, the glut’s you want, the arms, shoulders, and quads that you’ve been dreaming of.  You will also get the performance and function of an athlete that will take you anywhere you want to go.  I’ll give you everything you will need, the rest is up to you!

Just sign up for the newsletter in the sidebar and immediately receive as a bonus, 5 TIPS FOR AMAZING ABS along with periodic posts, tips, and the most up to date quality information available.

Thanks, and hope to hear from you.