Archive for the ‘Exercises’ Category

Hollywood Celebrity Workout Videos

I tracked down some of the hottest Hollywood Stars and put their workout secrets in this blog. Enjoy!

Beyonce Knowles

Gerald Butler

LL Cool J

Angelina Jolie

Jessica Biel, Wesley Snipes and Ryan Renolds

Thinking about a 5K?

When I mention a 5K to most people, usually their initial response is “I’m not a runner” or “I can’t do that!”.

Not being a runner myself, I can relate.

I’m been a professional fitness trainer for close to 10 years.

I’m a second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

I’ve hiked 30 miles in 3 days in Yosemite with giant blisters and a bruised knee, I’ve mountain biked some of the most wicked singletracks in the Bay Area, and I’ve participated in every sport known to man except figure skating.

But I’ve only done ONE running event in my life.

That event was a 5K.

It was the Carneros Valley Vineyard 5K at the Artesa Winery in Napa and it was awesome!!

This was a few years ago, and ever since I’ve really been sold on 5K’s, but haven’t done any…until now!

You see, I want to do something to motivate both myself, and YOU!

I’ve found that anyone can do a 5K. If you don’t believe me, click on this link:

http://www.active.com/running/Articles/6_Reasons_to_Run_a_5K.htm

If you want to join me and the others who have decided to challenge themselves with a 5K, just go to our 5K Club page. Make a commitment. You’ll be surprised at what you can do!

Hope to see you out there!

Your Trainer For Life,

Forrest

It’s True, Exercise Won’t Make You Thin

A Trainers Response to “Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin” by John Cloud in TIME Magazine and “For Losing Weight, Diet Beats Exercise” by Erin Allday in the SF Chronicle.

Recently, TIME Magazine published an article written by a man named John Cloud about how we have all been misinformed about exercise. In his argument, John suggests that “Exercise isn’t necessarily helping us lose weight. It may even be making it harder.” John then goes on to site various studies from experts such as Eric Ravussin, chair in diabetes and metabolism at Louisiana State University who says, “In general, for weight loss, exercise is pretty useless”.

As you can imagine, after this article was published, hundreds of personal trainers and exercise experts from all over the world published on the web their bitter responses as to how this article was by far doing the public a great disservice. Think about it…how hard have these trainers had to work to motivate their clients to sweat out their long hours in the gym? How many personal trainers, fitness magazines, fat loss experts, and exercise gadgets have their existence at stake in the name of the all glorious, all righteous path of exercise as being the holy grail of weight loss? I would say quite a few people’s lives might be affected by this controversial angle on exercise – even mine.

Then, if TIME Magazine wasn’t enough, on August 27, 2009 one of my loyal clients tells me about how the San Francisco Chronicle published “For losing weight, diet beats exercise”. The Chronicle? Now this was getting a lot closer to home. And if all my boot camp and personal training clients were privy to this info, I had better start looking into this! So I got ahold of both articles. I read them. I read them again. I came to a conclusion.

However, before I came to a conclusion my first gut reaction, as a fitness trainer of 10 years and owner of Fit For Life Solutions, a business specializing in fitness and fat loss boot camps and making exercise a way of life (www.FitForLifeSolutions.com), was that this was a bunch of bull! How dare these writers use this fitness propaganda to twist the minds of these poor misguided people who already have it hard enough, and now have to struggle through the dark and angled musings masked in highly-credible columns of TIME Magazine and the San Francisco Chronicle! Couldn’t I just as easily publish an article on how water isn’t necessary for good for hydration, and how it can even kill you!

So, as I said, I read the articles. And I read them again. And I came to a conclusion.

And my conclusion is…they are both absolutely right!

Exercise is not the key to weight loss. I tell my clients this all the time, “if you’re looking to lower the numbers on the scale, you have to focus on nutrition!” But here’s where I differ from the columnists, exercise IS MY LIFE – and the quality of my life has been improved tremendously through living a fitness lifestyle – so much so that words cannot express. Therefore, on behalf of myself, other personal trainers helping people around the world, the hundreds of people who’s lives we have touched here at Fit For Life Solutions, and the millions of people who love exercise, I have to say the following statement:

Exercise and fitness are not about losing, they are about gaining. Gaining energy, gaining muscle, gaining confidence, gaining respect for ourselves and our bodies, gaining friends, and gaining a power over our lives than we otherwise wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for this wonderful experience we call exercise and all the benefits it brings us.

There’s also another very important piece to exercise as it relates to weight loss. Here’s the thing…do people want to lose weight or lose fat? Fat of course! Instead of fat though, people often use the word weight, but losing weight could mean something quite different thing than losing fat. For example, let’s say you went on a diet without exercising and more specifically, lifting weights. Well, what would typically happen is you would lose weight, but not necessarily fat.

Let’s say you lost 8 lbs in two weeks. Sounds good, right? Not necessarily. You see, that 8 pounds you lost were probably a combination of fat, muscle and water weight (most diets have you severely restrict salt intake…that’s because they want you to think you’ve lost more fat than you really have!). So if you lost 3 pounds of fat, 3 pounds of muscle and 2 pounds of water weight, that would mean you lost 8 pounds on the scale. But losing that 3 pounds of muscle really means you’ve lowered your metabolism. That’s why when people go on diets, without exercise, they end up gaining the weight right back…and then some! (TIME Magazine didn’t tell us that, did they!).

I say stick with weights training to promote or at the very least maintain muscle mass. If you’re on a caloric restriction, you lift weights regularly (and properly), and you have adequate essential fat and protein intake, you’re on the road to successful FAT loss, not just WEIGHT loss. See the difference?

Thank-you Time Magazine and SF Chronicle for helping us to revisit why exercise is so important to our fitness lifestyle, how we indeed must focus on nutrition to lower the weight on the scale, and how we can choose merely to lose weight, or to really make a change and lose fat by transforming our bodies and our lives through exercise.

Your Trainer For Life,

Forrest Folen, MCT

Cure for Type II Diabetes?

As you may know, diabetes is one of the biggest problems with America’s growing obesity epidemic. I personally know quite a few people who are pre-diabetic, people with type II diabetes, and even type l diabetes (I have had 2 cousins with type l diabetes – it really sucks.)

My take as a fitness lifestyle and fat-loss pro is that we need to address the root of the problem. Granted, we can use exercise as a way to combat type II diabetes in a big way. The guys over at WebMD.com (full article at http://diabetes.webmd.com/guide/exercise-guidelines) said this:

Exercise is very important in managing type 2 diabetes. Combining diet, exercise, and medicine (when prescribed) will help control your weight and blood sugar level.

Exercise helps control type 2 diabetes by:

Improving your body’s use of insulin.
Burning excess body fat, helping to decrease and control weight (decreased body fat results in improved insulin sensitivity).
Improving muscle strength.
Increasing bone density and strength.
Lowering blood pressure.
Helping to protect against heart and blood vessel disease by lowering ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol and increasing ‘good’ HDL cholesterol.
Improving blood circulation and reducing your risk of heart disease.
Increasing energy level and enhancing work capacity.
Reducing stress, promoting relaxation, and releasing tension and anxiety.

Take a look at this video (keep in mind many, perhaps most, doctors say curing type II diabetes is impossible)

Snap Shot!

Lifting weights with Forrest, Chris and Bill was great Thursday night. We were playing around with the camera and got some awesome shots, we are going to add them to the gallery real soon. Just thought I’d share a quick snap shot of your beloved trainers :D

-R

PART ONE – HOW THE BODY GAINS WEIGHT

A 2-year study from the New England Journal of Medicine included a low-fat diet, a low-carbohydrate diet and a Mediterranean diet. The findings indicate that it’s not what foods you eat, but it’s the amount of foods eaten, that leads to weight loss.

I’ll even go one step further than them and say it’s the amount of foods NOT eaten that leads to weight loss.

But before we get into that, let’s talk about what leads to weight gain.

As you already know, the foods you eat are energy. The term we use for that energy is Calories.

Most people that are overweight gain weight as a very slow process.

For instance, if you gain 1 pound of fat, over the course of the month, you probably weren’t sitting around gorging on burgers, fries, and chocolate shakes all day during the whole month…well, hopefully not.

What you did do however was take in more calories than you were expending.

The body burns calories in 3 major categories. The first is the amount of calories your body burns while at rest (RMR). Your body burns calories just to work it’s normal metabolic functions and to keep you alive, keep the organs and brain working, and keep other systems, such as the cardiovascular system, in working order.

The second major category is your daily activity level. In other words, for most of your waking hours, what are you doing? Are you sitting at a computer or in front of a television all day – are you sedentary? Do you stand on your feet all day, like a retail clerk at a grocery store? Maybe you work for UPS and unload 50 lb boxes from trucks all day (I actually used to do that years ago at the Oakland hub). Whatever the case, your activity level is a factor for consideration when determining how many calories you need in a day to lose weight.

The last major category is your exercise. A 180 pound individual burns about 250 calories walking at a normal pace, let’s say 2.5 mph, in one hour. That means that to burn 1 pound of fat, you would have to walk for 14 hours! (I personally prefer higher intensity workouts, such as our bootcamp, to cut my workout time down to only 4 hours…but that’s another article.)

So if you gained 1 pound over the course of a month, that means you ate an extra 3,500 calories – ON TOP OF WHAT YOU NORMALLY EAT. Divide 3,500 calories over the 30 days for the month, and you get 116. That 116 calories per day is all you would need to have eaten over the amount that your body needed to gain weight that 1 pound in a month.

Some days you eat a little more, some days a little less, but your average still comes out to be at 116 calories over your daily need per day.

So let’s say you repeated that scenario over the course of 12 months. Well, that means you just gained 12 pounds, right? Let’s repeat that for 10 years. That means that you will have gained 120 pounds in ten years…JUST BY EATING 116 CALORIES OVER YOUR DAILY CALORIC NEED PER DAY!!

Now this is what I hear all the time. “Forrest, you’re gonna have to work me extra hard today…I just gained 2 pounds over the weekend!”

No you didn’t!

It may say that on the scale, but that’s just water weight (possibly from the alcohol and salty foods you ate at the Olive Garden the night before).

There’s NO WAY you gained two pounds of fat over the weekend. Not unless you ate about 12 big macs ON TOP OF the amount of food you normally eat in a day.

The way weight gain occurs in the real world is in small increments, calorie by calorie, day by day, month by month, and year by year.

So now that we have weight gain in perspective, we can talk about weight loss, and understand that the same concepts apply.

Weight loss, to me, means fat loss. In other words, I believe that when losing weight, it’s best to do weights training, not just cardio and diet, to reduce body weight.

That way, you can keep muscle, and keep your metabolism, and even add to your body’s ability to burn more calories.

More on how the body loses weight with Part II later.

Your Trainer For Life,

Forrest Folen, MCT

Fit For Life Bootcamp “300″ Challenge

Thanks to all who completed the Fit For Life Bootcamp “300″ challenge!

If you haven’t done it yet…don’t worry, you’ll get your turn. : )

The “300″ is 300 total reps of 6 different exercises, and it’s designed to be a intense, fat-burning workout and also a way to measure your current fitness level. The 300 reps are done for time, and on average it takes about 30 minutes to complete.

*Note – this is a modified version of the real 300 workout the actors from the movie 300 used to get in shape for the movie.

(more…)

5 Tips to a Slimmer Stomach!

1. Don’t waste time with crunches. In real life the deeper core used for stabilization and strength are the ones you want to develop. That means that variations of plank exercises are the best for a strong core. If you really wantto cut down that layer of fat to expose those abs of steel that are lying underneath, view #2 below!
2. Focus on compound movements and work them in a circuit. Compound movements such as Push-Ups, Squats, Rows and Lunges use the most muscles AND burn the most calories!
3. Concentrate on eating foods that are in their natural state. I call it “Eating Clean”. Brown rice, oatmeal, salmon, chicken breast, tuna, fresh fruits and veggies, avocados, almonds, egg whites, extra virgin olive oil, salads. In fact, if you stuck with just these foods for 2 weeks I guarantee you will see incredible fat-burning results as long as you….. view #4!!!!
4. Eat 6 small carb/protein meals per day. You want to eat every 3 and a half hours…. even if you’re not hungry! You’ll be doing yourself a favor by stabilizing your blood sugar levels, keeping your hunger at bay, and burning more calories through thermogenesis. But you still have to…… View #5!!!!
5. Stop making excuses for yourself to eat fat and sugar. Look, I like sweets as much as the next person, but if you keep reaching for that after dinner cookie or ice cream despite your desire to lose weight, you’re being controlled by an addiction. Do what i do, eat every 3 and a half hours to curb hunger, then eat a small piece of dark chocolate, savoring it, to satisfy that sweet tooth!!
    
   BONUS TIP!!!!!!
6. Join our fitness Bootcamp! Research shows that accountability and professional instruction are two key factors for success in any weight loss program. In fact we are having a limited time promotion to kick off our NEW Fit For Life Bootcamp membership!!!

You can catch the details here :

www.FitForLifeSolutions.com/bootcamp

Your trainer for life,

Forrest

P.S.- This promo expires Thursday the 25th at 11:59pm. Don’t Miss Out!!!!!

www.FitForLifeSolutions.com/bootcamp

BOSU Circuit for Fat Burn and Muscle Tone

When I work out, I like to make my workouts simple, yet effective, and have a little edge of challenge to them. That’s why I often incorporate the BOSU. BOSU is that blue little half ball, dome-shaped thingy that you see laying in the corner of most gyms. They’ve been getting more popular recently, and they are something I’ve used for years to make my workouts, and my clients workouts, more interesting and challenging.

The reason they benefit you when you use them is that they work on your muscle/brain/central nervous system communication pathways. The term we use in the training world is proprioception.

When you do squats on the floor, you work through a range of motion that puts a workload on the muscles of the quads, and gluteal muscles, along with some hamstring and core muscles.

When you incorporate a squat on the BOSU, watch out!! You have entered a whole new world! All of a sudden you have to balance, stabilize your core, and focus your mind on a whole new level.

Add a BOSU into a circuit routine and you’ve got a fun, challenging fat-burning circuit that gives you tons of benefits if you practice it regularly.

I’ve included a video of a workout you can do here that will help you burn fat using the BOSU!

Disclaimer: Remember, all our videos are for informational purposes only and we recommend using the guidance of a qualified trainer before progressing to these or any other exercises. Thanks!

Your Trainer For Life,

Forrest

3 Fitness Journey Tips and the Big Picture

Hey, I’m a fitness guy.  It’s my job to talk to you about weight loss, how to lose bodyfat more effectively, and exercise.

However, I’m also aware of the bigger picture.  Your life.

What’s practical.  What’s do-able.  What “fit’s in” to your unique situation.

It’s not the same for everybody.

Regardless of your unique situation, here are 3 things I’d like you to keep in mind during your fat loss and fitness journey.

1. The goal is important, but so is the journey. Make sure whatever activity you’re doing, to enjoy it! Hopefully you can find a friend or group to work out with that shares the same positive energy about exercise that you have. And what if you’re the one who has negative feelings about exercise. That can be changed too!
2. Attitude!! Your attitude towards fitness and health is the largest determining factor. If you believe you are a healthy person that stays fit, then that’s what you’ll become. But you have to believe it NOW. If you always tell yourself “some day” then that day will never come. (Huh…Someday Never Comes…is that a Creedence or Beatles song or something?)
3. If you’ve made the step and committed to the process of becoming fit and healthy, don’t make the BIGGEST FITNESS MISTAKE EVER! Don’t quit!!! Just because you don’t see results right away, doesn’t mean you should throw in the towel. Commitment to your exercise and to yourself isn’t a one-time thing. You have to re-commit, get back out there, and push forward!

…and when things get too crazy in life, click on this link to help you remember the big picture.

Your Trainer For Life,

Forrest

Ultimate Fat-Burning Cardio Video

I’ve gotten a lot of requests on cardio routines that burn the most fat. Our take on cardio at Fit For Life Solutions is that unless you have an extra 2 hours per day, you should skip the long, slow, boring treadmill routines and get started with some interval training.

However, if you’re just starting out, you may want to just do some easy 10, 20 or 30 minute routines to ease your system into it. As always, consult your doctor before starting any exercise program, and if you ever feel pain, stop immediately.

To make it easy Roy and I put up this video for you. It’s our ultimate fat-burning cardio workout!

Your Trainer for Life,

Forrest