O.K.

So despite your best efforts, you over-indulged on all things Thanksgiving.

So how can you start burning off all the extra calories?

What if I told you there was a way to do it, which involved something that you enjoy doing.

So what’s the secret?

It’s called shopping.

O.K.

You might be thinking,

I love shopping

But how is this going to help me burn off any extra calories.

Simple.

You exercise shop.

By this I mean, incorporating more exercise into your shopping than you normally do.

For starters do not circle the parking lot for an hour looking for that ultra-close spot.

No.

Park some distance away so you have to walk.

Second when you get into the store or mall and are done, and are going to move on to another store, don’t leave the store until you’ve done a lap around it.

Then move onto your next stop.

Of course, if you happen to be in a mall, the perfect thing to do is to take a couple of trips around the mall, and by trips I mean serious trips, no slow walking.

Really put some effort into to it.

Next, you take the stairs whenever possible—stairs are one of the best workouts that you can do.

Finally, do not count out the workout you get from carrying around all those shopping bags.

Lastly, make sure you steer clear of food court at the mall.

So your Little Nudge for this week is.

To find ways to turn your holiday shopping into a cardio workout.

UNTIL NEXT WEEK

THINK FITNESS

That’s right women should not lose weight.

Before you think I want women to do nothing but gain weight let me explain.

When I say women should not lose weight, I mean women should not focus on just losing weight.

They should focus on losing fat—and not worry about what the scale says.

Why?

Simple.

And this leads me to my first reason:

MUSCLE EQUALS STRENGTH

And to me muscle strength means health, it means that I am in shape and I am strong and can handle things.

So why exactly would you want to get rid of the muscle that is on your body.

O.K.

You might be thinking,

Who said anything about getting rid of muscle?

Well, that is exactly what can happen if you focus on just what the scale says.

For example,

When someone has a special occasion coming up, like a reunion or wedding what happens?

They have to go on a strict diet right away.

So they starve themselves and sure they lose some weight, most of it probably being water and some muscle.

Exactly what you don’t want.

Reason Number Two

MUSCLE BURNS CALORIES

Muscle is the most metabolically active substance on the body—meaning it burns the most calories.

Please don’t let anyone tell you that fat does not burn calories because it does just not as many as muscle.

Some of those early numbers that showed that muscle burned like fifty calories per day pure pound were wrong and honestly I don’t know how many calories per day a pound of muscle burns, but I do know muscle burns calories.

So for instance if a women starts going to the gym and trains with the intent of actually gaining muscle and not using those super small pink weights and gains ten pounds of muscle, that means she will have ten more pounds of muscle on here frame actively burning calories twenty-four hours a day seven days per week—sounds good to me.

So again, why would you want to just watch the scale go down, when as it goes down, so does, chances are, your metabolism as well, which means it will be harder and harder to lose weight.

Next up is reason number three

MUSCLE BRINGS CONFIDENCE

By this I mean, let’s go back to the above example.

Say our imaginary women, before she started going to the gym, was well skinny, but was not happy with her body.

Flash forward, as the months progress, she see her body change, muscle comes on while body fat goes down.

Even though the scale does not register much of a change.

Now when she looks in the mirror she sees a totally different person, she sees a lean, firm body, that doesn’t look starved.

It looks healthy and better yet, she knows that she has control over her body; she can change her shape for example, by gaining more muscle in her side delts, to make her already small waist, look even smaller.

SOME COMMENTS

For my money muscle is way better for burning fat and totally reshaping your body than aerobics.

But building muscle, for both men and women goes far beyond the muscle you gain.

It is the confidence it gives you.

For example, you can open that jar or move that couch or lift your kids, basically just live a better life when you are stronger.

I am not saying that aerobics, like a nice brisk walk, does not have its place because it does.

And for being totally healthy, I always recommend both, brisk walks done for thirty to forty-five minutes four times a week, being my preferred form of aerobics.

Also, I would like to make a comment on the myth that women will become too muscular if they lift weights, not so.

So for any women reading this, please do not worry about gaining too much muscle.

CONCLUSION

I hope from reading this post, women and yes men too, can see that just focusing on the scale, is not a good thing, it can strip away the one thing you actually want on your body, which is muscle.

Oh sure, you might be able to get away with a crash diet for a wedding or reunion without too much damage but to me it sets a bad precedent, one that can eventually lead to trouble.

Until Next Time

STAY SMART

I know I’ve touched on this before but with the holidays coming up I wanted to talk about it some more.

We all know that it is important to keep exercising though the holidays and through the cold weather in general.

Not only does this help us keep our weight down, but, if you stay in decent shape throughout the winter, chances are you will have any easier time of it when it begins to get warmer.

You won’t have to work-your-way into it, or at least not as much, like people who have backed off their exercise programs.

However, there is another pitfall out there lurking, that nobody really talks about, and yet most people despite good intentions, fall into

And this is the pig out.

Yes, bodybuilders do this all the time, where they have junk food days, but trust me; you do not want to get into the habit of doing this.

If you are wondering,

What exactly is a pig out.

Basically a pig out, is where you pig out all day on anything and everything.

Sure it sounds fun, but when the day is over and you wake up the next day, just not doing so well, you will be sorry you had your pig out day.

If you are also thinking,

I wouldn’t be that silly!

Hold on.

It is easy to do it, someone bakes brownies at work, so you have one, then you start thinking, hey that brownie was REALLY good, maybe I’ll just have one more and then…

The flood gates open.

Some people might think,

Well one day cannot possibly set me back all that much.

Maybe, but again it depends on how much you pig out.

A nine-to-five pig out is going to add up to a substantial amount of excess calories, most of which are going to come from junk food sources.

SOME COMMENTS

So your little nudge for the week, is to avoid pig outs.

If you want a brownie, or ice cream or cake, have some; just don’t turn the rest of the day into an all out eating fest.

If you do this, and always manage to keep yourself in check, you will save hundreds of calories over this coming holiday season.

And that along with keeping your exercise routine going through winter will help keep you right on track.

Until Next Saturday.

KEEP FIT

I was watching a show on the world’s largest man the other day when I saw him do something that I thought was very interesting.

They had put him on a diet (I won’t say which) and his goal was to be able to walk again.

Now that was not the interesting part.

What was interesting was the ways he found to exercise.

Because he was confined to his bed, he would dance (I believe to music) by moving his arms and moving his upper body from side to side.

I know this does not look like much, but when you consider—according to what they said I the show, and what I remember—he hadn’t left his apartment in five years, this is a lot of exercise.

Later, they also showed him laying in bed and bringing his arms over his head and then back down, he was doing this quickly.

COMMENTS

I know, to most people this would amount to almost nothing, but, my point is that no matter what, if you truly what to get in shape it can be done.

I remember reading an article by Bill Starr in which (sorry Mr. Starr if I get this wrong as I am doing it by memory) he said that he didn’t like getting up early but since this was the only time he’d have—he did it in order to get his run in.

If you are dedicated you will find a way.

O.K.

You might be thinking, what that T.V. show has to do with me.

Well.

Let’s say you have been meaning to get in some more exercise, either to help you lose some body fat, or just because you want more exercise.

But you never seem to have the time.

If you get an hour for lunch, spend a half-hour of it going for a nice brisk walk.

If like most people, with nine to five jobs you work five days per week that would be two-and-a-half hours of brisk walking per week.

And hey, you have to take your lunch break anyway, so why not use it to do something good for yourself.

Another point is this:

If you feel that you are so out of shape (and you probably are not) that you don’t want to go to the gym, start working out at home.

Start with some slow walking, either on a treadmill or outside and gradually work up to a half hour of brisk walking three days per week.

Next work in some weight work.

Does not matter if you do not have weights, use soup cans and those plastic one gallon milk containers.

One of those filled with water equals seven pounds, I believe.

Or you say you are so weak you can only do one push-up, no problem, start from that point and work your way up.

Within a year you will be cranking out push-ups like crazy.

My point here being, it does not matter how little equipment you have, if you want it bad enough you will find a way.

CONCLUSION

Getting In shape is not easy, but don’t let anyone tell you that it can only be done with a gym full of fancy equipment.

Not true.

Plenty of people have started on the road to fitness by simply walking around the block and going from there.

So please, if you feel that you simply cannot get in shape, think again, just start doing something everyday and before you know-it, exercise will be something that you want to do—

Not have to do.

Until Next Time

NEVER QUIT

Weight loss is a huge industry in-and-of itself, but did you know that there is an easy way to not only lose weight, but to keep better tabs on your calories.

A quick side note, I do not like the term weight loss because it implies that you just want the scale to go down and you do not care what kind of weight you are losing.

When in fact you could be losing mostly muscle, which is the worst thing you can possibly do, because muscle burns calories.

I will be writing a post on this topic in the future, so please keep an eye out for it.

O.K.

Rant over.

The method I am referring to is, using smaller plates and smaller glasses.

Yes, this method has been around, but it is probably needed more now than ever because of the way things have changed.

Food portions have increased; everything is bigger now than it was in the past.

Heck, drink down one of those big sodas and you’ve just about wrapped up your calorie needs for the day.

And the thing is we do it without thinking.

Or if you go to a place that serves pizza by-the-slice and you order two pieces, some of those places give you huge slices—without even realizing it you possibly just ate half a pizza.

I realize that when you go out you have less control, but even then, until you know the portions a particular restaurant serves, error on the side of caution.

At home though it is a totally different ball game.

So break out some smaller plates and cups and some of your normal plates and cups and do a comparison of how much food and liquid they will hold when full.

You might be surprised by how much can fit on a good sized plate.

So your little nudge or nudges in this case, for the week are.

To get some smaller plates and cups to use for eating at home.

And to make an effort to take note of the portion sizes you are eating when you eat out.

Also, don’t be afraid to ask for half sizes and take-home containers.

Doing so can save you a lot of calories over the course of a year.

Until Next Week.

THINK FITNESS

With Friday comes another random thoughts of the week post, where I am going to cover what has gone on this past week in bodybuilding.

Enjoy!

Up first I want to go back to something I touched on before, Dennis Wolf at the just past Mr. Olympia.

Reason being, is that, there is a big thread on what happened to Dennis at the Olympia, on one of the more popular bodybuilding sites on the web.

A Lot of people are saying that he should dump Chad Nicholas and switch to someone else.

Personally, I was not aware of all the people Chad has trained, but after reading the posts, I agree, I think he should get rid of Chad and try Pit Trenz or Charles Glass.

But again this is just my opinion.

Another thing that was pointed out on the thread was words to the effect that since he placed so low he will have less pressure, I agree with this, he can go back home, get his head together and just train and grow.

However, one point that Dennis needs to deal with now is qualifying for the Mr. O, as last year he was already in based on him placing in the top ten.

This means he will have to do at least one show, but maybe more, to qualify for the O.

But, in fairness to Dennis, this could be EXACLTY what he needs, because if something happens at the first show he enters, say he comes in flat, he can learn for this mistake and try and fix it for his next show.

Which can help him come prep time for the O.

I touched on this before, but Dennis has, according to what I’ve read, an extremely fast metabolism, so this can be a factor in why he just can’t get is condition spot on.

Another factor with Dennis, could be that his metabolism while still fast, it has started to slow, and since it was always very fast, he did not know how to deal with this.

Dennis is still young, as noted in a prior post I believe he is still in his twenties or just thirty, so he has plenty of time.

With another year of solid training under his belt Dennis can come back next year and really surprise a lot of people.

HANEY OR CUTLER

I saw this poll question and wanted to comment on it.

They are asking who has the better physique, Lee Haney or Jay Cutler

For those who don’t know Lee started his run of eight consecutive Olympia’s in nineteen eighty four.

To me it is no contest, Lee Haney all the way.

Better shape, small waist, to me he just looks better.

I realize Jay Cutler is big than Lee, but to me, again Lee just looks better.

O.K.

That’s all for this week.

HOPE YOUR WEEKEND GOES GREAT.

Until Next Week

WORK SMART

One sports figure that I really admire is Tiger Woods, to be honest I don’t admire him because he is a golfer I admire him because of the way he plays.

Let me explain.

I think Tiger has pretty much nailed it down so that even if he were to retire today he would go down as one of the greatest golfers in history.

Plus he has enough money to live the rest of his life the way he wants to.

But, he still wants to win more tournaments, get more trophies.

Wouldn’t you think it would be easy for him to wake up and say, well, I’ve done enough I really don’t need to do much more.

But he doesn’t, and that is what separates him for all the others.

Same goes for training, yes, you just gained ten pounds—six months ago.

Of course after an all out training blitz you do need a break, but not six months.

Or are you simply living off you past gains, and not really motivated anymore to train as hard as you need in order to make another ten pound weight gain.

To illustrate what I am talking about, I want to bring something up that I read by Ron Harris in the current issue of Iron Man Magazine.

He said that he got put through a biceps workout by six time Mr. O Dorian Yates and he realized that he really wasn’t putting out as much effort as he thought he was, in his own training.

Sorry Mr. Harris if I missed quoted you a bit, but I was writing the above from memory.

SOME POINTS

The thing to remember is, are you really putting in a great workout, or are you satisfied with just going through the motions.

Another thing to consider is your eating and sleeping habits.

What I mean by this is, if you are chronically tired from lack of sleep or really do not take in enough quality calories to make gains, you may think you are training hard, but the reality of the situation is that you probably are not.
So make sure you have all your bases covered, as it is easy especially for veteran lifters to think that they have it all under control, when if fact they have been slipping up little by little, like staying up later than they used to, or missing meals.

All the while thinking that they are doing everything right, but wondering why their gains have slowed.

CONCLUSION

The next time you find yourself loafing between sets; re commit yourself to working at a quicker pace and really giving it your all—on every rep and every set.

Same goes for your eating habits.

Examine them and make sure you are really getting in six to eight quality meals per day or have you been slipping up and have been too tired to get those last couple of meals in.

Over time those kinds of things can make the difference between making gains and making none or losing fat and losing none.

It doesn’t take much to get into the groove again, and one other thing you can try is sitting back one day and thinking back to why you got into this sport of bodybuilding in the first place—not to mention flipping through an old muscle magazine as this can bring the memories flooding back, and along with it your old zeal and excitement for training.

Until Next Time

KEEP WORKING

With temperatures dropping and winter slowly creeping its way in, it is easy to start winding down your summer fitness program.

Especially if you exercise outside.

However, this is exactly the time you should guard against it.

Why?

Because with winter comes the holidays, first up is halloween.

You might think no big deal

But wait.

First, it’s halloween candy, then, it is Thanksgiving and all the trimmings and before know it, you’ve put on ten pounds.

Sure you might think, no way I won’t put on any weight, because I will still be exercising, yes, but you have to be careful.

With the holidays, things get busy and it is easy to skip an exercise session here and then well I wanted to have lunch with friends, so another session gets pushed aside.

So this weeks little nudge is to guard again winter weight gain.

And here is one way that you can do it.

Take every opportunity to exercise, for example, got leafs, rake them up, it is terrific exercise.

Or if you don’t, help a neighbor who can’t do it, not only will you be doing a good deed, but you will be helping yourself stay fit and active over the winter.

And don’t forget, good old fashioned walking, yes the temperatures will be dropping, but as long as you bundle up and warm up before you start walking, you should be O.K.

You can also, hit the malls and walk around them—you’d be surprised how far a couple of trips around the mall really is.

Stay away from the food court though!

O.K.

So that is your little nudge for the week.

No matter what is going on, make time for exercise, even if it is just a brisk ten minute walk.

Until Next Time

STAY FIT

A couple of weeks back I was talking to a friend of mind, who knows that I am a bodybuilder.

And she said that she could never do what I do.

Meaning workout on my own.

Her way around this is to enroll in classes at our local park district.

So this is my little nudge for the week.

If you simply cannot stomach the thought of working out on your own, either with weights or walking or any other form of exercise.

Check out what your local park district has to offer.

Not only will it (hopefully) give you the incentive to exercise regularly —which in-and-of-itself is great, but you will also be out and about with other people and this is never a bad thing.

So that is your little nudge for the week.

Check out your local park district—and give a class a whirl

Who knows—you might find something you really enjoy doing and will stick with even when the class is over.

Until Next Week

KEEP MOTIVATED

For my money the best thing you can be when you go out to drop your hard earned money on something is—educated.

And that is EXACTLY what you will be—if you buy Bodybuilding Revealed—the next time you go out to drop big bucks on a supplement.

Why?

Simple.

In Bodybuilding Revealed Will Brink lays out everything you need to know about supplements—everything from Whey Protein to HMB.

Plus if you have a question all you have to do is visit Will’s private members only forum—which you get access to when you purchase Bodybuilding Revealed—and ask a question and either Will himself or one of his very educated moderators will answer your question.

And you know what—this feature alone will save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars per year on supplements because you’ll KNOW which ones are worth the money and which ones are pure garbage.

Honesty, if Will only provided this feature the book would be worth its weight in gold, but no, Will covers training with just as much zest and zeal as he did supplements.

Will hits it straight on covering everything from whole body programs to the classic three day split to four day splits as well.

Honestly, there is one section during the training chapter that I am glad Will talks about and this is—keeping detailed records—doing so is vital and really can make a difference in your progress.

Another thing that separates Bodybuilding Revealed from the amateur books out there written by so-called experts is the way Will put Bodybuilding Revealed together.

I’ve read hundreds of e-books and I can’t remember very many that were set up the way Will’s book is.

The side bar on the left gives you quick one click access to any chapter of the book—want to re-read that section on nutrition—simply click—saves you time by putting the information you want right at your finger tips.

Plus throughout the book there are links to Will’s forum—so for example if you are reading about whey protein ( Will’s information on whey protein is excellent I might add) you can simply click the link provided and it will take you directly to the members area so you can discuss this topic with other members of Will’s forum—or ask a question.

Again, this is just another little extra that sets Will’s book apart from the rest.

Will Brink’s Bodybuilding Revealed is a soup to nuts affair—everything and anything YOU need to improve your body is here.

From nutrition to cardio—Will covers everything you need to not only make informed buying decisions but, to also make informed choices about how to train and eat to make your body the best it can be.

Bodybuilding Revealed gets my highest recommendation for anyone who wants to learn how to burn fat, build muscle, and totally reshape their body using the power of solid nutrition, training and good honest supplements.

Note: Please if you do nothing else if you know anyone (but young men and women in particular) who want to start bodybuilding please buy them a copy of this book—so they can get started the right way—

Before they get brainwashed by all of the fancy ads and goofball information that is out there.

I wish I had access to this when I started training over twenty years ago!

Great job Will!

For more information on Will’s

Fantastic book—CLICK HERE.