I apologize for disappearing, but it was worth it!!!

I am truly sorry for disappearing, it has been a true roller coaster ride. I went from being near the top of the mountain to being homeless. All in a span of a year. I put all my eggs in one basket and it dropped, a great biomagnetic line of products, but a bad partnership (the bad partnership won, unfortunately). So I had to stop doing my fitness consulting, to try and restore my world that had collapsed.

So you can either do one or two  things. You can burn up and remain ashes. or you can burn up and become a phoenix and rise from the ashes. Your choice. I chose the latter.

I got rid of the bad partner. And while my wife and I lived in our car, I went to some of my old clients and asked if they had anything that I could do. (At this point in my life, washing cars, or walking dogs would have been a executive position.) One of my former clients and a good buddy, told me about an opportunity for me to continue doing my fitness consulting in a bigger and better way, IPTV( I well give you a brief explanation of it later).

I was offered to do a fitness series, a first of its kind. An interactive fitness series where people will be able through the IPTV system, ask on the spot questions and get real time answers. Also through the IPTV platform, I will be able to communicate live with you guys and gals out there. No more having to write and wait for an answer, you will be able to call and talk directly with me so we can work on your needs.

My goal is to still help as many people as I can, for God has truly kept me in his arms during all of this and I want to share the blessing. The show (The Fitness Game) will start March 30th, the first two weeks will be one on one sit downs with me, laying the foundation of the fitness game. This is for all the new viewers, you already have the foundation if you read my blog from the beginning. But it would not hurt you to watch, I will be covering new things.

You will be given the ability to call me and ask questions and I will help you to the best of my ability, at no charge. Here is what you need before March 30th. You need to go to www.safeworlds.tv and download the free software. Register with safeworlds and get started. As you will see the system is in the internet but not on the web. The system is totally safe and virus and spyware free.   The viewer will never be charged to watch any programming. It is truly amazing. Go online today and check it out. The Fitness Game will be in the Sports portal. Once the show starts you will be given my public address and all you will have to do is add me to your buddy list. Once you do that you can call me (both audio and video calls) whenever I am on the system. Simple as that.

I am very excited and look forward to speaking with you and seeing you soon. I might have time for one more post before the show airs, we will see. For all of you that I was assisting, if you go to www.safeworlds.tv, download the software and register, you can call me starting Wednesday(March 4th) and I will get you on track or answer any of your questions. My public name is Anthony Ussery. Add me to your buddy list and you will be able to call me. I look forward to hearing from you. Again I apologize for my absence, I hope you can forgive me.

And for those of you going through crisis, hang in there, do not stop fighting until the game is over. Also if you see light at the end of the tunnel as long as you don’t feel any rumbling you know its not a train and your almost out. By the way, if you do feel rumbling, run!!!! Its better to retreat at time than get run over.

Internet Protocol Television, the next step for visual media entertainment. Pretty soon all TV will be going through your computer, going through the internet. Well I was introduced to the man who invented a programming that would allow him to build a IPTV platform, that is self contained running through the internet, but does not run through the world wide web. It is the first of its kind, totally self contained, totally unhackable and totally free to the public. All the cable TV companies are going the IPTV way, it will definitely make the entertainment world more exciting.

My trip to China got me to thinking

I was called over to assist with a special project for the Olympics. I have done work for them before and I have also have worked in China and loved it. So it was hard to say no.

What my trip reminded me of is that America needs to get off the coach and back in the gym. We are a country that is not on our toes but on our butts. I have gotten many requests for help in other countries. But most of the ones I get here start off with how unmotivated people here are and how do you get that back. Motivation is a state of mind, no one can get you motivated unless you are ready to get motivated. Hence, you can cut out the middle man and get yourself motivated if you choose too. For example, you see a McDonalds, Jack In The Box, or Dairy Queen commercial. You just have to have what you saw on the TV. So you get dressed if your not already and you get in your car and drive to that place and you get your desired product. Did someone have to pull you, hold a gun to your head or bribe you to go, No. So it is not motivation we lack. It is the inner decision that we are going to get a particular thing done, and the willingness to sacrifice that we lack.

In China fitness is a primary way of life. They do not have the luxuries that we have here. Also the government and businesses can hold the people accountable for their fitness. Even the people overweight are still in pretty good shape.

Don’t get me wrong. Fitness is not the end all cure for our problems. It is however an important component to a complete package that we as individuals need, in order to be the best we can be. The complete package is our mental wellness, physical wellness and dare I say it, our spiritual wellness. When we have that complete package, we can be strong for ourselves, our families, our respected countries and our planet.

I know a lofty statement, but if we don’t start with ourselves then how can we hlelp others reach their potential. I am not a psychologist (I just play one on the blog) or a pastor. So I won’t give you all the reasons we need to be mentally and spiritually strong. But I can tell you that being physically on top helps with the other two components. When you are healthier, you are sharper mentally and spiritually. You have more energy and determination to take on whatever you encounter.

But understand, one component without the other two can be a good thing, but you still will have a sense of incompleteness. It seems that the stronger you get in one area you usually crave to be stronger in the others as well. You need them all to be the best you can be.

The cool thing is that they are all obtainable. When you get of the couch and get in the gym you will be working on the physical. When you sit back on the couch, don’t just turn on the TV, exercise your mind. Learn something new or learn more about something you know, do mind puzzles, read a book. Constantly challenge your mind and it will grow stronger just like when you exercise your body your body grows stronger.

Spiritually, I can only speak about what I know. I am a Christian so for me and other Christians, read your word more, pray more, walk the walk more. I won’t comment on all the rest of you guys and gals, only that you have to strengthen that part of your life for completion.

Remember, happiness and sadness are only emotions and should not be our end goal. Being content with ourselves is the true goal we should be tryig to reach. It takes all three components to truly reach that goal.

I will continue to do my part in the Fitness realm. I have a lot of you waiting for your Fitness Programs. I will get everyone of them out including all the new requests I am constantly getting.

Also, for all of you who have your programs. To make it easier for me to followup with you on a consistant basis, if you have MSN or Yahoo Messenger give it to me so I can stay in communication with you. I don’t want to give you a program and no support and email is cumbersome because of all the requests coming in.

I am headed back to China in 2 days, but while I am there I will be working on your Fitness Program. I also know, I still owe the Back Section of The Fitness Game and that is coming.

I hope what I have said did not offend anyone. If it did I am sorry, but I will not retract a word of it. I am speaking what I believe to be the Truth and from my heart.

Keep moving forward. Remember the word Can’t (when it comes to accomplishing a goal) only means you have not done it yet. Peace and good blessings to you all. Bye for now.

The Fitness War has started here!!!

Since I lasted posted about doing Free Customized Online Fitness Programs, the response has been and continues to be mind blowing. I did not expect that so many people were searching for assistance when it comes to fitness.

On the 1st day I got hundreds of requests for help and also shown appreciation for what I am trying to do. First of all I thank you for your kind words and second I am deeply humbled by the fact that you are taking the time to read what I have to say.

With that being said, the people that have requested or in the future will request my help I’m yours. You need to look no further, you now have your Personal Trainer. Anyone who has asked for my help will get it.

So you know what I’m doing. To be more efficient I am building a database so I can keep track of your progress. So far in my career I have a 90% success rate. The other 10% were people that wanted an easy way out of their problems. There is no easy way, this calls for hard work. I can’t physically be with you on a daily basis, but make no mistake I will be there, every step of the way to your success.

For the people I have not gotten to yet, please be patience, there will be no one left behind.

All of you that benefit from this I ask of you two things. First, please share your success with other people that need help. There are many people out there losing The Fitness Game, and that is just not acceptable. Especially, when we can do something about it. Second, love yourself right where you are today. Your worth it or you wouldn’t be trying to better yourself.

The Fitness War has started here for us and we will win it one person in need at a time. Know it or not with your success your going to inspire someone out there. They will be thinking if that person can do it so can I.

Again, Thank You for your kind words. Now get ready to work!!!

Free Customized Online Fitness Program

I have been asked why am I doing this. The bottom line answer is because a lot of people need fitness help.

I need to start from the beginning. Some of my fitness clients awhile back suggested that I share my knowledge and somewhat unique training method with others. They explained to me that there are a lot of people that need fitness help but can’t afford it or can’t find a good personal trainer.

My first thought was are you people crazy!!! Why would I give knowledge that I get paid for away for free. Their answer to that was it would be my legacy. So what do you say to that?

After looking at my schedule and client list. I realized that I did not have much more room in my schedule to add new clients. Between taking care of my old clients and being the assistant coach for my son’s high school basketball team my time was taken up.

So what was I really doing with the knowledge I had accumulated over the years. Only a handful of people would benefit from it and then what? So I thought about it. Should I write a book? I then thought about all those fitness books I had read. The problem I always had with them was that there is no follow up or support for the readers. So no book deal for me.

Again my clients made another suggestion, blogging. Blogging??? How in the world would I blog? I had read other people’s blogs, but I thought you had to be a web designer or have a web designer create a blog for you, to have your own blog.

When it was explained to me that I could get my own blog, write about anything I wanted to write about and interact with my readers, the light bulb came on (duh!).

So, I started The Fitness Game blog, which I use to share my knowledge and incite. It has grown from there.

Before I started the blog, a few of my clients asked me if I would help their friends and family members that did not live in my area. They asked me to customize workouts and email it to them. I also would support them online via email. I agreed to it and it worked out very well. I communicate with them as their personal trainer on a weekly basis. They have gotten excellent results.

Recently, I found out that a few of them have been promoting my blog and telling people about me doing customized workouts over the internet.

At first I was a little upset, because I started getting requests from all these people that I didn’t know. Then it struck me, isn’t this why I started this blog in the first place to help as many people as I can.

So I have embraced it and I am having the time of my life helping people. I do pledge that if you request my help you will get it. You just have to bear with me, if I don’t get right back to you right away.

I am trying to develop a system, so that those that have time sensitive issues, I deal with first.

I do have some rules.

1. If your not going to follow the program I have done for you, don’t waste your time and mine asking for it. There are other people who really want and need my help.
2. Don’t ask me to assist you in doing anything unhealthy for you, such as ask what steroids should I take or how do I make myself throw up. Not happening.
3. If I help you, you must communicate with me on a regular basis so I know how you are doing and if your going in the right direction. Your program might need adjustments from time to time.

So as you can see, I have committed to doing this. Lets see how long it will take me to pull my hair out. For those of you that are reading The Fitness Game, I will still be posting on a regular basis.

Until next time. Keep moving forward!!!

Getting Stronger is a Must – Part 4

Sorry it has been awhile since my last post. I have been doing a lot of free online customized fitness programs for people all around the world and it has been a blast. So I have not had the time to get to the Leg Muscle Section until now. So, lets jump right into legs (pardon the pun).

As I did with the Abdominal Area and the Front Section, I will give you my recommended foundation exercises. After that I will make a list of additional exercises for you to choose from.

The Leg Muscle Group consists of : 1. Quadriceps (Quads) 2. Gluteal Muscle Group (better known as the Butt Muscles) 3. Hamstring 4. Calves

You will notice later that most of the exercises dealing with the Leg Section is the same for the different muscle groups. There are only a few isolation exercises for the legs, except for the Calves.

The first group we will cover is actually a combo. We will be looking at the Quadriceps and The Butt Muscles together. The fact is that when your working out your Quads, your also working out your Butt. Each Group only has one isolation exercise.

The Quadricep is made up of 4 muscles that work in concert as one. The Quads are crucial for walking, running and standing. It is the set of muscles that give power to the legs. With that being said, it is the most attention grabbing muscle in the body, outside of the abs.

Next we will look at the Gluteal Muscles Group or the Butt Muscles. This group is made up of 3 muscles that work in concert as one. The Butte Muscles are one of the strongest muscles in the in the human body. It handles the pushing and pulling of the leg. It is always working with either the Quad or the Hamstring when the leg is moving.

Lets look at Quads / Butte Muscle Exercises. The 5 basic exercises I recommend are:

1. Leg Press – Combination

1. Position yourself on the leg press machine comfortably.
2. Put your feet up and hands on the grips at the side.
3. While keeping your back pressed against the support and head straight, lower the weight until there is a ninety degree angle.
4. Then raise the weight with your heels.
5. Repeat 4 sets of 25 reps

2. Dumbbell or Barbell Squats – Combination

1. Stand with feet hip- or shoulder-width apart.
2. With barbell on the rack (at shoulder height) approach it with the back of your shoulders having the weight. While keeping your back and head straight, lift the weight off the rack. With Dumbbells hold medium to heavy dumbbells in each hand just outside the thighs or with arms bent above the    shoulders.
3. Bend the knees and lower into a squat. Stop when your knees are at 90-degree angles OR before you lose the natural arch of your back.
4. Contract the glutes and legs while stabilizing your body with a strong torso.
5. Slowly stand back up without locking the knees and repeat for 4 sets of 25 reps.

3. Leg Extensions – Isolation (Quads)

1. To perform the leg extension, sit comfortably on the leg extension machine.
2. Keeping your back and head straight, raise the weight until it is straight (as shown).
3. Then proceed to lower the weight while holding onto the hand grips on the sides of the machine.
4. Repeat 4 set of 25 reps

4. Deadlifts – Combination

1. To begin the Deadlift stand with your feet shoulder width apart and while keeping your back straight bend at your knees to pick up the barbell (with an alternate hand grip).
2. Now, raise the weight using your legs and back until you are completely erect keeping the weight as close as you can to your body.
3. Keep your head up. The movement is completed when you roll your shoulders back and stick your chest out.
4. Repeat for 4 sets of 20 reps

5. Butt Kickbacks – Isolation (Butt)

1. Kneel down with one leg behind your body slightly raised and bent in a 90 degree position.
2. Now raise the leg as high as you can and slowly lower it to the starting position.
3. Repeat 4 sets of 25 reps

Additional Quad / Butt Exercises

1. Walking Lunges – Combination
2. Jump Squats – Combination
3. Smith Split Squat – Combination
4. Reverse Lunges – Combination
5. Step Ups – Combination
6. Clean and Jerk – Combination
7. Lunges – Combination
8. Exercise Ball Squats – Combination
9. Front Squats – Combination
10. Cable Squats – Combination

Next the Hamstring Muscle, its main job is to allow the leg to flex (bend) and extend. It also play the antagonist to the Quadricep.

Lets look at the Hamstring. The 3 basic exercises I recommend are:

1. Leg Curl or Hamstring Curl – Isolation

1. Lie on the machine comfortably while hooking your legs underneath the pad.
2. Then raise the weight until comfortable, while holding on to the hand grips (as shown).
3. Repeat 4 sets of 25 reps

2. Walking Lunges – Combination

1. To begin a walking lunge stand upright with or without weights in your hands.
2. Now take a lunge forward while never letting your knee go ‘over’ your toe.
3. Once at the bottom of the lunge (not touching the floor), push off with the back foot and then approach the standing position.
4. Repeat with the other leg.
5. Make sure to breath out on the way up and breathe in on the actual lunge.
6. Repeat 4 sets of 25 reps

3. Good Mornings – Combination

1. While standing, place a barbell across the back of your shoulders as you would for squats.
2. Keeping your legs rigid, bend forward at the waist, with head up, until your upper body is parallel with the floor.
3. Reverse the movement to bring your upper body back up.
4. Repeat 4 sets of 20 reps

Additional Hamstring Exercises

1. Exercise Ball Hamstring Curls – Isolation
2. Straight Leg Deadlifts – Combination
3. Walking Lunges – Combination
4. Hack Squats – Combination
5. Lunges – Combination

Finally the Calf Muscle is made up of 2 muscles. The main functions of the calf muscle is to stabilize the body when its in motion and to raise the heel.

The 3 basic exercises I recommend are:

1. Seated Calf Raises – Isolation

1. Sit on the machine with your thighs underneath the pads with your toes on the bottom pad.
2. Lower your heels as low as you can and then raise them as high as you can.
3. Repeat 4 sets of 25 reps

2. Standing Calf Raises – Isolation

1. While standing (as shown)lower the weight until you feel your calves stretch.
2. Then push the weight back up feeling your calves flex at the top of the exercise.
3. Repeat 4 sets of 25 reps

3. Step Ups – Combination

1. Start by looking at a bench in front of you and begin by lifting your any leg and then step-up onto the bench.
2. You can either return to the starting position or lift the opposing leg up working your hip flexor.
3. Once down at the starting position use the other leg for the next repetition.
4. Repeat 4 sets of 25 reps

In the next section I will be covering the Back Muscle section. Until then keep moving forward and if you have any questions or need help with your workout just let me know and we will get you going where you want to be.

Need Some Feedback

To start I want to thank ever one for their kind comments and emails. I hope I can continue give you information that will change your lives. For those of you that don’t know feel free to ask questions. The only bad question is the one that was not asked.

For those of you that have asked Part 4 is coming, I had some SPARQ Training clients that wanted some extra sessions, so it slowed my writing down.

Here is where I need your feed back. Quite a number of you have requested that I start a section for Tips of the Day. I need to know if it would be something you would want to see and do you think it would be helpful to you. Please let me know yes or no. The Tip Section would be in addition to my writing on the Fitness Game.

Also for the people who are having problems getting your fitness program together, write me and I will help you put a customized workout together. That it for now. Thanks for your time and Keep Moving Forward!

Yes I Detox – It has changed my Life

I have been getting a lot of questions about Detoxing. So you understand where I am coming from on it, I am making this post.

I am 49 years old and in great shape, because I actually do everything that I write about in The Fitness Game. Even being in great shape I was having energy problems. Some days I would have good energy and some day my energy would be in the toilet. I took vitamins and ate well but it would not change. Then I met one of the owners of World wide Detox. He came to me because he was looking for a trainer.

After a couple of training, the topic of Detoxing came up. At the time I knew nothing about it Detoxing at this point. Once he broke down what Detoxing was and what it did for you, I gave it a try.  It turn out to be the element I was missing in my program.

My energy levels started going up, and maintaining. My thought process was sharper and faster. All around I just felt better. I had all my clients get on the program and all have had the same results.

To answer your questions I have only used the Master Detox for detoxing purposes, I have not tried any other products because this one worked for me. No side effects or extreme internal changes occured. It was very mild and gradual. I take the product everyday. I did in the beginning do the combination of Master Detox and the Z Life product. But you only take the Z Life for a short period of time. It pulls all the heavy metals out of your body.

Again, I don’t have any part of their company or an endorsement contract. I know that we have mutually changed each others life. So yes I am telling you, you won’t go wrong using this product. And yes most of you need to detox.

Getting Stronger Is A Must – Part 3

Lets get right into this.

Just like I did for the Abdominal Muscles, I will be giving you my recommended foundation exercises. Then I will follow with a list of others you can choose from.

Also before I get into the actual exercises I want to discuss three important elements;

1. Percentage of weight you should use during the exercise.

I recommend that you use between 40% to 60% of your max weight. So if your max weight is 100 lbs then you would use 40 lbs minimum.

For you beginners, that don’t know what your max weight is, use the amount of weight that you can just barely finish your set with. It will take some experimenting, don’t get frustrated remember The Torpedo Principal.

2. Controlling the weight during exercise

When lifting make sure your not jerking or slinging the weight. Whether your pushing or pulling you want to have a smooth controlled movement.

This will accomplish 2 things. First, it will keep you from lifting with bad form and second, it will minimize injuries.

3. The rest periods between sets and exercises (single and partners)

I recommend that you keep your rest periods very low. Between sets 30 seconds to 45 seconds. Beginners 45 seconds to 1 1/2 minutes. Between exercises 1 minute to 1 1/2 minutes. For beginners 1 1/2 minutes to 2 minutes.

When working with a partner their is no rest periods.  Go right through the sets and the exercises. Your rest is while your supporting your partner.

Now lets look at the Front Muscle Group. Again, what I call the Vanity Group. The muscle group consist of the Chest, Triceps, Biceps and Forearms.

Quick note: I will be giving you two types of exercises, Combination and Isolation. Combination Exercises are exercises that have more than one muscle group participates almost on an equal basis.  For example the Bench Press. It actually includes the Shoulders and Triceps, along with the Chest. The three muscles almost equally share the work. Isolation Exercises are exercises that isolate a muscle, where it is doing at least 80% of the work. For example Chest Flyes isolate the Chest muscle about 90%.

I will be mixing the Combination and Isolation Exercises together, but I will tag each exercise so you know which is which.

Lets look at the Chest. The 3 basic exercises I recommend are:

1. The Chest Dumbbell Bench Press    -    Combination

1. Lie down on a bench, step or the floor. Begin with the barbell hovering just over the chest, elbows bent. Place the hands on the bar a bit wider than the shoulders.
2. Contract the chest and push the weight straight up over the chest without locking the elbows at the top.
3. Bend the elbows and lower the weight down until the elbows are just below the level of the chest.
4. Repeat for 4 sets 15 reps.

Tips

• Keep the abs contracted throughout the movement to protect your back.
• Keep the motion slow and controlled — try not to use momentum.

2. The Chest Dumbbell Flyes   -   Isolation

1. Lie on the floor, bench or step. Hold weights over the chest with the palms facing each other.
2. Keeping the elbows slightly bent, lower the arms out to the sides and down until they’re level with the chest.
3. Keep the elbows in a fixed position and avoid lowering the weights too low.
4. Squeeze chest to bring the arms back up as though you’re hugging a tree.
5. Repeat for 4 sets of 15 reps.

3. Pushups   -   Combination

1. Get down on the hands and knees, positioning the hands a bit wider than the shoulders.
2. Push the knees up so that you’re resting on the hands and toes. Keep the abs engaged and make sure your body is in a straight line from the head to the heels.
3. Bend the elbows and lower into a pushup until your elbows are at about 90 degrees.
4. Press back to start and repeat for 4 sets of 20 reps.

Tips

• Don’t lead with your chin. Keep your head down so that your neck is in alignment with the rest of your body throughout the movement.
• Avoid sagging in the middle. If you do, take both knees down to the floor to give the back more support.

Additional Chest Exercises

1. Incline Chest Dumbbell Flyes   -   Isolation
2. Incline Chest Dumbbell Press  -   Combination
3. Machine Chest Flyes – Isolation
4. Judo Pushups – Combination

Quick note: I recommend the Dumbbell exercises over the Straight Bar Bench Press. When using the dumbbells you must maintain balance and you can not cheat like you can on the Straight Bar. You can shift your body where your using your stronger side more to make the lift.

Lets look at the Triceps. The 3 basic exercises I recommend are:

1. Seated Tricep Extension   -   Combination

1. Sit on a bench or ball (more challenging) and hold a medium weight at one end with both hands overlapping one another.
2. Take the weight straight up overhead with the arms next to the ears.
3. Lower the weight behind the head until elbows are at about 90 degree angles.
4. Squeeze the triceps to straighten the arms without locking the joints.
5. Repeat for 4 sets of 15 reps.

2. Tricep Kickbacks – Isolation

1. Sit on a bench or ball (more challenging) and hold a medium weight at one end with both hands overlapping one another.
2. Take the weight straight up overhead with the arms next to the ears.
3. Lower the weight behind the head until elbows are at about 90 degree angles.
4. Squeeze the triceps to straighten the arms without locking the joints.
5. Repeat for 4 sets of 15 reps.

3. Tripcep Dips   -   Isolation

1. Sit on a bench or chair.
2. Begin with the hands next to or slightly under the hips.
3. Lift up onto the hands and bring the hips forward off the chair.
4. Bend the elbows (no lower than 90 degrees) and lower the hips down, keeping them very close to the chair.
5. Push back up without locking the elbows and repeat for 4 sets of 20 reps.

Tips

• Keep the shoulders down and away from the ears to protect them from injury.
• Keep the hips close to the bench or chair to keep the focus on the triceps and not the shoulders.
• To make it easier, move the feet to the floor.

Addtional Tricep Exercises

1. Dumbbell Tricep Press – Isolation
2. Overhead Cable Extension – Isolation
3. Tricep Pulldowns – Combination
4. Exercise Ball Pushup – Combination

Next lets look at the Bicep muscles. The 3 basic exercises I recommend are:

1. Bicep Dumbbell Curl – Isolation

1. Stand with feet about hip-width apart, abs engaged as you hold medium-heavy dumbbells in front of the thighs.
2. Squeeze the biceps and bend the arms, curling the weights up towards the shoulders.
3. Keep the elbows stationary and only bring the weight as high as you can without moving the elbows.
4. Slowly lower the weights, keeping a slight bend in the elbows at the bottom (e.g., don’t lock the joints and try to keep tension on the muscle)
5. Repeat for 4 sets of 15 reps.

Bicep Dumbbell Preacher Curl – Isolation

1. Holding weights, kneel in front of the ball and drape yourself over it, placing the elbows about halfway down the ball and parallel to one another.
2. Lower the weights until arms are almost fully extended.
3. Contract the biceps to raise the weights until the forearms are vertical to the back of the upper arm.
4. Repeat for 4 sets of 15 reps.

Tips

• This move can strain the front side of the elbow if you use weight that is too heavy or if you don’t position yourself correctly. If you feel any pain or discomfort, skip this exercise.
• Use control when lowering the weight to avoid injury.
• Don’t stop short of full range of motion. Try to lower the weights until your arms are nearly straight.

3. Hammer Curls – Isolation

1. Stand with feet about hip-width apart, abs engaged as you hold medium-heavy dumbbells in front of the thighs.
2. Turn the hands so that the palms face each other and squeeze the biceps to curl the weights towards the shoulders.
3. Keep the elbows stationary and only bring the weight as high as you can without moving the elbows.
4. Slowly lower the weights, keeping a slight bend in the elbows at the bottom (e.g., don’t lock the joints and try to keep tension on the muscle)
5. Repeat for 4 sets of 15 reps.

Additional Bicep Exercises

1. Dumbbell Alternate Bicep Curl – Isolation
2. Cross Body Hammer Curl – Isolation
3. Chinups – Combination
4. Concentration Curl – Isolation
5. Preacher Hammer Dumbbell Curl – Isolation

Finally lets look at the Forearm muscles. The 2 basic exercises I recommend are:

1. Palms Down Dumbbell Wrist Curl – Isolation

1. Hold two dumbbells and sit at the end of a flat bench with your feet on the floor about 20 inches apart.
2. Lean foreward and place forearms on upper thighs, palms up.
3. Place the back of your wrists over your knees.
4. Lower dumbbells as far as possible keeping a tight grip.
5. Curl dumbbell up as high as possible.

I have decided to end this session here, I want to keep each muscle group separate. Tomorrow I will deal with the Leg Muscle Group. Until then keep moving forward.

Getting Stronger Is A Must – Part 2

I apologize to all of you who read my blog for not posting this session sooner. I had to assist my son on his quest of being one of the top high school basketball players in the country. He has been going to a bunch of High School All-Star Camps and playing exceptionally well. I think that he will wind up being one of the top 10 players in the country after next season. (A proud father boosting moment).

So now I’m back in the saddle.

As I stated in Part 1, my goal in this session is to get you the foundation for setting up a good strength program. Don’t forget the strength program combined with your aerobic and good nutrition program wil be the working elements to ensuring your winning The Fitness Game.

First, remember FLAB (no I am not talking about the enemy here), it stands for Front-Legs-Abdominal-Back. This is the way I suggest you break your body into sections for exercising purposes.

Let’s take a look at the Front.  This group consist of the Chest, Triceps, Biceps and Forearms. They are our vanity muscles. The muscles people usually judge us by. People tend to work out this group of muscles more than the others (especially males). Later I wil break down the exercises for this group of muscles.

Next we will look at the Legs. I keep the legs as one group because you only have to worry about 4 areas, Quadriceps, Hamstring, Calves and Gluteus Maximus (Butt). It is very important that your lower muscles get worked. They are the largest group of muscles in the body and will help you burn the most fat when their engaged.

Also, you need strong legs to get through your aerobic exercises. Stronger legs also can give you more energy. It takes less effort to move from place to place. Later I wil break down the exercises for each of the lower muscle groups.

Next lets take a look at the Abdominal area or the core. This group of muscles make your body stable and transfer power to different zones in your body. This group of muscles consist of interior and exterior abdominal muscles (six pack)  and oblique muscles (side). This muscle group is the hardest to get in shape and maintain. The reason for this is that your core is under constant pressure and resistance even when your sitting. Later I will break down the exercises for this group of muscles.

Finally we look at the back muscles. This group of muscles consist of the Upper back, Lower Back, Deltoids and Trapezius. This group of muscles gets neglected a great deal when it comes to exercising. Even though the back is responsible for our posture and is asked to do a great deal of work. One note the lower back is really part of the core but is easier to deal with when keeping it in this group. Later I will break down the exercises for this group of muscles.

Now let me start breaking down the exercises for each group. I am going to throw you a curve because I am going to do them out of the order I introduced them to you. I will be breaking down the Abdominal first. The reason for this is that you should exercise this group at least 5 days a week, which you will see, will differ from the rest of the groups.

Remember I told you that it is the hardest group to get in shape and maintain, that is why I am dealing with it first. First things first, I want to get a myth about this group of muscles out of the way. Some people believe if you exercise this muscle group a lot you will lose the fat around your midsection. I dealt with the way fat is lost in a earlier session, but this bears repeating. There is no such thing as spot toning. If you do a lot of exercises with this group of muscle and your overweight, what will happen is that you will have very strong and well defined abdominal muscles, but they will be sitting under a layer of fat. Just waiting to get out and be seen.

Like I use to tell people when I was getting back in shape. I have a six pack underneath my keg. Don’t laugh. Well go ahead it is pretty funny.

The first thing you need to know is I don’t recommend situps. Neither I nor any of my clients do them. They are bad for your neck and back. I only recommend crunches and some forms of leg lifts.

To give you a starting point, I recommend the following 4 exercises:

1. The Basic Crunch

• Lie on your back, bend your knees, placing your hands on the sides on your head.
• Contract your abs and flatten your lower back against the floor.
• Slowly lift your shoulder blades one or two inches off the floor.
• Exhale as lift, keep your neck straight and chin up.
• Hold for a few seconds (don’t hold you breath).
• Slowly lower while keeping you abs contracted.

3 sets of 20 reps

2. The Reverse Crunch

• Lie on your back with knees bend and feet on the floor
• Place hands on the floor or behind the head.
• Bring your knees up towards the chest so they bend about 90 degrees
• Contract your abs and lift your hips off the floor in a very small movement.
• Lower and repeat.

3 sets of 20 reps

3. Crunches on Exercise Ball

Sit on the exercise ball with your feet flat on the floor.
Let the ball roll back slowly and lie back until your thighs and torso are parallel with the floor.
Contract your abdominals raising your torso to no more than 45 degrees.
To work the oblique muscles, make the exercise less stable by moving your feet closer together.

3 set of 20 reps

4. Side Crunches

Lie on your back with your legs bent over to the right while keep your back and shoulders square on the floor. Proceed to lift and crunch up as shown on the right.

3 sets of 20 reps

Lie on your back with your legs bent over to the left while keep your back and shoulders square on the floor. Proceed to lift and crunch up as shown on the right.

3 sets of 20 reps

To start you might use just one of the exercises or you might use a couple of them. There are more good abdominal exercises. I have listed them below. You can try one of these as you advance or stick with the 4 I describe above, just up the number of reps.

More Abdominal Exercises:

1. Captain’s Chair Crunches
2. Planks
3. Cross Over Crunches
4. Bicycle Crunches
5. Rope or Cable Crunches
6. Ab Wheel Crunches
7. Crunches with Medicine Ball or Weight
8. Alternating Supermans
9. Seated Oblique Twists with Medicine Ball

As you can see there are plenty of abdominal exercises for you to choose from, so choose and get going.

I have decided to end this session here and cover the Front, Legs and Back in Part 3 and Part 4. Part 3 will definitely be on no later than Wednesday. If you have any questions about what I covered in this session, please email me and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Keep moving forward, remember it is all about winning The Fitness Game.

Getting Stronger Is A Must!!! Part 1

If your not willing to do Strength Training you will never get in top shape. Muscle may weigh more, but when you increase your muscle composition, the body is able to burn more fat, even when you are resting, because your metabolism is higher. A pound of muscle will use 350 to 500 calories per week to survive, while a pound of fat only needs about 14 calories per week .

When we are inactive or have little activity in our lives, our body would rather store fat over muscle because it is easier. Research indicates that muscle loss found in elderly people doesn’t come from age, but lack of activity. Even a young person who doesn’t get enough exercise can lose muscle mass and strength.

So, if your not maintaining or strengthening your muscles you will lose strength. So lets get started. First, what is your goal?

Most of us would agree that our goal is to get in the best shape shape we can. We are not looking to be Mr. or Ms. Universe, we just want to be healthy and look our best.

There are many ways to train, in the future I will address them in detail. Remember you want to find the best training program for you, remember The Torpedo Principle. I am going to address the foundation of the training program that has best worked for myself and my clients. All of the programs are not the same, each client’s program is customized but the foundation is the same. We are going to discuss a low to medium weight, high repetition program.

For example, say your maximum weight you can bench press is 100lbs, you are going to use 30% to 60% of that maximum weight. So if your just starting out you would use in this example 30lbs, more advanced you would use up to 60lbs.

The average amount of repetitions someone would do for a basic strength training program is between 8 to 12 reps. And usually 3 sets of a given exercise. You are going to increase both repetitions and sets.

Your reps will be between 15 to 25. You will be completing 4 or 5 sets per exercise. Don’t panic yet, it is going to be hard work, but remember your only using low to medium weight.

The most important rule in this training program is your rest periods. You will only rest between 10 to 20 seconds in between sets and only 1 to 2 minutes between exercises. It is not a lot of time to rest.

The reason that you don’t get to rest a lot in this program, you want to keep the blood constantly pumping to the muscle. The blood flowing to the muscle is what breaks the muscle down. Ok lets stop right here and cover muscle breakdown.

If you don’t know how a muscle is built up, you need to know. This is important, it will give you a different outlook on what strength training is all about.

The muscle is made up of active and inactive fibers or muscle cells. When a muscle is in use these fibers are stressed. During normal usage muscle does not get stronger, because there is no need. If the muscle can handle the task it does not seek to grow and/or get stronger.

When a muscle is stressed beyond its capacity to function it will start the fiber recruiting process. It will start to make the inactive fibers active, in order to handle the stress you are placing on the muscle.

Muscle fibers are very fast to recover. If your not putting constant stress on them they will snap back to normal state quickly without any growth or strengthening.

Have you ever seen the guy at the gym that goes all the time but looks no different. You see him complete and exercise then walk around for 5 minutes before he does the next exercise. He doesn’t change because he is not working the muscle hard enough, he is posing.

To build muscle strength and growth, you want to keep constant stress on the muscle. Ladies, you don’t have to worry, unless you use hormone supplements or steroids, you will not get much bigger. You will get stronger and denser.

Now that you know how the muscle basically works you can see why we do high rep sets, with very little rest in between. I guarantee that for those of you that have a workout routine already in place, if you change you rest period over to what I told you. You will get a more intense workout without increasing your reps.

For those of you that don’t have a workout routine I will be covering that in Part 2. Understand that what I am giving you is part of a Strength Training foundation. Once you have the foundation you will be able to modify it to fit your personal needs.

Remember this is still about winning the Fitness Game and your well on your way. Part 2 will be on tomorrow. If you have any question feel free to email me and I will get back to you as quickly as I can.