Mental Transformation

When a person makes the choice to change their lifestyle and begin a healthier way of life, it is more than just physical changes. Yes the body itself on the outside changes, the love handles disappear, the belly fat is reduced and the lean muscle tissue becomes more apparent.  Then inside of your body transforms as well, you blood flows better, your lungs can hold more breathe and your heart is stronger. We are always so focused on the physical changes and seeing the weight move on the scale that we forget about the mental transformation that our brain goes through.

The brain controls our impulses, our wants, needs and desires.  When living a healthier way of life one has to let go of those impulses, wants and desires for the lifestyle they are giving up. Having those extra drinks, eating dessert because you feel like it or stuffing your face to till you’re full because you had a bad day. Those impulses have to go and be replaced. From my personal experience this is the hardest part of your lifestyle transformation.

Our brain controls us but outside factors can control your brain. We all know these as cravings, the deep need to eat something you know you shouldn’t. We have all them; we crave sugar and salt typically found in snack foods and desserts. We transform our way of thinking; we have to overcome those (more…)

Benefits of Carbs Post Workout

Carbohydrates are the current hot button topic. Don’t have carbs! Have carbs! Only have carbs after sundown on the 4^th day. The rules of eating carbohydrates are constantly changing depending on who you talk to and what their current belief is. So let Fitastic clear up one major discussion on carb intake and that is post workout or post training carb intake.

You just gratifyingly finished your exclusive Fitastic training program for the day. You are a hot sweaty mess, your body is tired, your muscles ache but you feel good. Let’s keep that feeling going for inside your body. We all know to grab a quick protein meal/shake right after our workout but we often forget about the carbs we should be eating as well. Regardless of your fitness goals you need to have carbs post training. You need a good mix of fast acting carbs high in fructose (sugar) and slow digesting carbs.

Why?

Simple, carbohydrates are used by your body to restore muscle glycogen that was depleted while during exertion of physical activity. If your post workout meal doesn’t contain the appropriate carbs, your body may actually instead break down muscle tissue for this same purpose (which would suck). Carbs also create an insulin spike which helps to move nutrients into your muscle tissue quicker.

Examples of fast acting carbs would be raw honey, banana, apple, dextrose and jelly. (Be sure you are using actual sugars in your honey and jelly, not fake sugars like HFCS).  These sugars are necessary to covert quickly back into the muscle for a speedy and efficient recovery.

Examples of slow acting carbs would be brown rice, sweet potato, oatmeal and jasmine rice.

Now the crafty part is how much? (more…)

DUAL ATHLETE’S of the MONTH- PART 2

The reality of the Client-Trainer Relationship

The client-trainer relationship is often misunderstood or portrayed poorly. Usually what you see is a good looking well-built male trainer training a wealthy cougar or you see some young female trainer screaming like a drill instructor at a group of overweight people. Until now! Before Ed and Libertine were Fitastic Athletes of the Month; before they were National Level Physique and Bikini competitors; before they were great friends; they were client and trainer.

Instead of writing my interpretation of their story we are taking Part 2 in a different direction. I sent both Ed and Libertine questions for them to answer based on their client-trainer relationship.  Whether you are a client, a trainer, someone who enjoys working out or thinking about getting a trainer; we can all learn from Ed and Libertine’s experience and successes. Read along thinking about your experiences. Would getting a personal trainer or program be a success for you? As trainers, are there techniques you can learn from Ed? As clients, are you working as hard as Libertine did, are you following the program?

What were your initial first impressions of each other after doing your first workout?

Ed-Did you see potential in Libertine?

I usually screen most of my clients before I accept them as clients; I want to make sure they are dedicated and serious about their training and personal development.  That being said, I could tell Libby and I would get together just fine.  As you know, she is very amicable and upbeat—she established a solid foundation and I could see great potential.

Libby-Did you see or feel that Ed was the right fit for you?

After the initial consultation and session, I knew Ed was the right fit for me. He understood my goals to drop fat and gain lean muscle as well as my need for a variety of training methods to keep my interests piqued.

In the beginning what were some of the biggest hurdles you both had to overcome?

Ed-What did you have to focus on the most with Libertine? Diet? Prep? Workouts?

Every program I create is progressive–based on the current status of the individual client.  I don’t think there were any hurdles per se, more like accomplishments and achievements, always striving for something greater.

Libby-What where some of your early struggles/hurdles that you had to overcome?

I’m not sure that I had any struggles/hurdles that I had to overcome. If I had to pick something, I would say it would have to be nutrition.

Training (more…)

A couple of days ago I got a message on Twitter from someone who seemed fairly interested in my lifestyle. After a few various questions that I answered for them they then asked, “Out of interest, do you know the business opportunity behind Herbalife?” Truthfully, I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs considering I get this from some sort of “meal replacement” distributor every other week. Instead, I respectfully said, “I do. Please don’t take offense to this, but I am an advocate for eating whole foods for meals.” It continued on into a much longer drawn out explanation, but this sums up my point. At the end of our conversation they shared a video to further explain and asked if I’d watch it. Finally today I thought, what the heck? Maybe I’ll learn something useful from it.

So I pull up this video. One of the first points it brings up is that as a nation we are less active. This is why we have so many people that are overweight and/or unhealthy. Why do you think this is? Probably because there is a McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell or any other fast food place you can think of on every corner. People have become lazy and in too much of a hurry and now rely on convenience. Wouldn’t you rather be able to still have that meal, but know what is in it by making it yourself? This point coincides with the next. The next point was we have less time to prepare healthy meals. How much time do you spend in front of the tv a day? How many times do you hit the snooze button? How important is sleeping in on the weekend or your day off to you? It is not so much that we have less time it’s that we don’t make time. Isn’t your health important to you? We do only have one body to live in. Unless you’re a cat you don’t get many chances in it.

   Companies such as Herbalife, Shakeology, Visalus, Isagenix, Advocare, etc. give promise of weight loss and convenience. Sounds great, right? So what happens when you’ve reached your goal? (more…)

Looking for more oomph and intensity in your workouts!? Step it up and Superset your routine!
Supersetting is a more advanced way to stay active or workout involving doing two exercises, one after the other, with no rest in between. The exercises can be for the same muscle group, different muscle groups or even putting together different activities – e.g., a strength exercise followed by a cardio exercise.
The idea is to do one exercise and, instead of resting and doing another set, doing a different exercise and alternating those exercises for your desired number of sets and repetitions.

THE BENEFITS OF SUPERSETS

It’s a fantastic idea to add supersets as often as you deem necessary in order to avoid plateaus in your training regimen, as they offer a great way to completely alter how your body responds to the demand of physical activity.  Supersets will assist you in:

Saving time- Going from one exercise to another without rest will make your workouts shorter and more efficient.
Increasing intensity- If you choose supersets that work the same muscle, but with different exercises, you’ll add intensity to your workout and recruit your muscle fibers just a bit differently, so it feels like you’re getting a whole new set of exercises.
Overloading your muscles- By working the same muscle with one exercise right after another, you can overload your muscles without using heavy weights. This is great if you don’t have a spotter or don’t want to lift very heavy weights.
Making things interesting- If you’ve been doing straight sets forever, supersetting can make weight training more interesting, challenging and fun.
Easily setting up a workout- All you do is pick at least (more…)

Incineration!!!

If you’ve been following my posts on Face Book recently you may have seen that I have started a new fitness program with Fitastic. Thanks to Coach

The results of the Fitastic Strength Training Program

Steve’s talent I saw great results from the strength training program (highlighted heavily in past blogs). I gained massive amounts strength and changed up my entire body composition. That was the plan and we achieved it. SUCCESS!! However like all of us do, I hit a huge plateau post program.  From December till July I was trying out multiple programs. Ones that I wrote, ones I saw online and in books. I highlighted a few of them here on this blog; but I just wasn’t seeing the same kind of results I did on the strength training program.

It was a hard few months; I was bummed out, not motivated and stopped making the best food choices. I kept a lot of that to myself because I didn’t wanted to share a negative attitude with you guys. If you read last week’s blog, I let it all out. I had the conversation with myself.  Good thing timing was on my side. Just as I was coming to grips with reality, Coach Steve put the finishing touches on his Adipose Incineration program. A program designed to jump start the metabolism to encourage weight loss (more importantly fat loss) and lean muscle gains. With that I was back on a Fitastic program and oh does it feel so good!!

Only one week in and guess what I am down 3 lbs and feeling great. I feel like my old self again. Can’t wait to get to the gym, can’t wait to grab some (more…)

August presents a special month in featured inspiration and lifestyle transformation for Team Fitastic!  We are proud to announce a double punch to our Athlete of the Month showcase.  Each have been blogged in their entirety regarding the challenges, struggles, accomplishments, and future ambitions they have been gracious enough to share with us.

You can find each article here:

Mr. Ed Honn

Mrs. Libertine Grace Venzuela

Enjoy and be Inspired,

Team Fitastic

Female Athlete of the Month

Libertine Grace Venzuela

There comes a time in all of our lives when we are faced with a turning point. We see the direction our life is going and we either give in to the acceptance that “this is it”. Or we look around, realize that we are better than this and begin to the make the necessary changes to live the life that we want to live. It’s a road often less traveled because it requires change and work; the two things majority of people are not willing to do. Our Female Athlete of the Month Libertine, chose the path less traveled. She forged a new path after looking at the life she was living. She changed her habits, she changed her friends, and she changed her life.  As you read her inspiring story I want you to think about your path, your life and to know that if you are not happy, regardless of age you like Libertine can change it.

From the ages of 32 to 36 years old you could find Libertine at the bar. She would be the girl out partying, smoking and took pride in her ability to out-drink a man. She was a sailor at the bar and she loved every minute of it. She was free, she was on her own and she could do anything she wanted to. If she wanted to go out on Monday night and get drunk, well hell that’s what she is going to do. It didn’t matter; she was a cardio queen that would spend hours on that elliptical working on her fitness to offset these habits, so she thought.  For four years this was the life she lead, no one was going to stop her or get in her way of having a good time. However at the age of 36 she began to notice a few things about her body that were not quite right. First her face didn’t look 36 it looked 46. Her clothes weren’t as hot as they once were. The elliptical was no longer keeping her body tight and her belly from coming over her jeans.  It wasn’t  just looks either; she felt old, a lot older than 36 years old should feel. It was at this point that after four years the lifestyle of bar fly had caught up to her.

This is a point many women Libertine’s age come to. This is point where they need to make a hard decision or an easy decision. You can guess what most women do, they go out and by bigger clothes, they start to dye their hair and they keep the local makeup shop in business. They pretend nothing is happening and go on with their unhealthy lifestyle. Libertine is not most women. She looked at her closet and said hell no, I’m not going to spend money on new clothes. Hell no am I going to continue waking up in the morning with (more…)

I’ve knocked out the first two real and proven components of sustainable fat loss in recent blogs: Strength Training and Sound Nutrition.  I’m proud to bring these simple applications to the surface along with the final two pieces in accomplishing all fat and weight loss goals.  This blog will focus on a serious fat burner, it’s time to H.I.I.T. it!

H.I.I.T. (High Intensity Interval Training)-

It was once believed that “steady state” cardio was superior for fat loss because relatively more fat was being used by the body as fuel at lower exercise intensities than at higher intensities. The “Fat Burning Zone” shown on most cardio equipment as only 60%-65% of max heart rate is really a myth and is NOT optimal for burning fat. Yes, you burn more fat relative to glycogen when going for a walk, but what we care about is total fat burn. At higher intensities, you are burning far more fat, even though the fat/glycogen ratio is lower.

A primary reason for high importance to High Intensity Interval Training lies within its ability to keep you burning fat long after you leave the gym.  Your body isn’t able to bring in enough oxygen during periods of hard work. Therefore, you accumulate a “debt” of oxygen that must be repaid post-workout in order to get back to Normal. The result is that your metabolism is revved for hours after you leave the gym. Experienced trainers refer to this phenomenon as Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption or EPOC. The greatest way to use this strategy to your advantage is to make short, intense exercise bouts of activity a regular piece of your workout regimen. Implement H.I.I.T. directly within or at the end of your workouts, no matter if you are doing a total body or a resistance concentrated body part. Truth is that you may only burn (more…)

Athlete of the Month

Ed Honn

Let me be the first of many to congratulate Ed Honn as our Fitastic Athlete of the Month August. As you will read, Ed like all of our athletes is not a just a pretty face with a great physique in a pair of board shorts.  There is more to Ed then the sleek, stylish fitness modeling pictures you’ve seen on Face Book by great photographers like Pat Lee and FriousFotog. There is more than sponsorship and much, much more then pictures of ice cream and cheat meals.  Part 1 of August Athlete of the Month will focus on who Ed is, while Part 2 will focus more on who Ed is as a personal trainer.

Looking back fitness and health began for Ed at age 16 when he discovered his love for sports specifically track and wrestling.  In choosing those two particular sports, Ed began a path of hard work he didn’t even know he chose, but one he willingly accepted. As far as Ed’s past or story goes there really is not much to focus on. When I interviewed Ed he said “we all of our sad story, everyone has had horrible things happen to them”. He chooses not to focus on that; but instead to look ahead and rise above any challenge or hardship. So with that we will do the same; we also will not be focusing much on Ed’s competitive physique career, for again that is not who Ed is. Yes he loves competition, it brings out his best. Yes he loves to get up on stage and show off his hard work and yes he is a National Level competitor. He is honored to be a sponsored athlete with MuscleTech and of course the photo shoots are always fun. However more than all of those things Ed is the face of hard work, a life changing personal trainer and a future Officer with the United States Marine Corps.Hard Work

Ed learned the value of hard work when he started out in sports. In other team sports like Baseball, Basketball or Football you have team mates to fall back on. So if there is any area you are weaker in there is someone strong to help you. Not in track and not in wrestling. So from High School on, Ed had to work on any of his weaker areas for there was no one but him.  If Ed’s upper body strength was weak he had to work on it, if Ed’s conditioning wasn’t on point he had to work on it. It was constant work to always be better than the next guy. This followed Ed into college as a collegiate track athlete; this is also where Ed found his true love of weight lifting and bodybuilding. In the gym Ed did not only improve his strength and his physique; he met his buds, who then became roommates, who then became lifelong friends.  In addition Ed’s hard work has followed him in his professional career becoming a well sought after, in demand personal trainer at X Sport fitness.  There Ed instills his values of hard work on his client’s lives to help them reach (more…)