Myths about Abdominals You Should Know

Myths about Abdominals You Should Know
Developing a great set of six-pack abs is really quite
simple once you understand the how to firm and flatten your
abs with this information, which includes two important
components:

1. A workout program consisting of carefully selected,
biomechanically correct abdominal exercises, and

2. A nutrition program that optimizes fat loss and
maintenance or growth of lean muscle tissue.

As simple as this sounds, I'll be the first to admit that
ab training can be an extremely confusing subject at first
because there is so much conflicting information on the
subject.

Opinions Are Just That! Opinions

Countless opinions, rumors, and theories about ab training
are continually being circulated by an endless parade of
"experts" including doctors, personal trainers, infomercial
gurus, and even friends, teachers, and parents. Some
information is valid, but most of it isn't. It's hard to
sort through it all, let alone know what to believe.
Abdominal mythology abounds, and some myths never seem to
die.

To help you cut through the myths and lies and lead you
straight to the truth that will help you develop the type
of body that you'll be proud to show off the next time you
hit the beach.

Before we discuss the anatomy and physiology of the
abdominal muscles or the actual training routines, the
first thing to do is clear your mind of the myths, lies,
and misconceptions that have been polluting your brain as a
result of gym folklore, false advertising, and bad advice
from self-proclaimed experts.

More bad information is published and told about ab
training than any other health and fitness subject, and
I've boiled it down to 14 myths that are particularly
damaging and pervasive. I will explain 3 of them in this
article.

Let's put them to rest permanently, shall we?

MYTH #1: If you train abs every day, you're guaranteed a
six-pack. One of the most common abdominal myths is that
training your abdominals every day is the best way to get a
small waistline and develop the six-pack look in your
stomach. This misconception was probably funneled through
the bodybuilding world, because so many bodybuilders train
their abs daily prior to competitions. Despite the fact
that bodybuilders appear on stage with incredibly ripped
abs, their abs come from their diet, not just their daily
ab workouts.

Daily training is not only a waste of time, it's an
approach that won't work for the average person who doesn't
use performance-enhancing substances or have a naturally
high recovery capacity.

There are two reasons that daily abdominal training is
unnecessary and does not guarantee you a six-pack.

First, the muscle tissue of your abs is virtually the same
as the muscle tissue in the rest of your body. Abdominal
muscles cannot become stronger and more developed without
time to rest and recover after each workout, just like any
other muscle group such as your biceps or chest. You
wouldn't do 100 barbell curls every day to "see your
biceps" or 100 bench presses every day to "see your pecs,"
so why do the same for your abs?

Second, even if you could achieve excellent muscular
development in the abs with daily training, you won't be
able to see your abs if they're covered with a layer of
fat. Daily abdominal training does not burn the fat off
your midsection! Fat is lost by creating a calorie deficit
through your diet. Build the muscle tissue with exercise;
burn the fat with diet.

During the initial phase of the Firm and Flatten Your Abs
program (Level 1), I recommend that you perform exercises
daily for the first two to three weeks. However, these
Level 1 exercises are very basic movements using only your
body weight, and they are designed to prepare, strengthen,
and neurologically program your body for the more advanced
exercises to follow.

For the long term, you can get fantastic results training
your abs every other day (about four days a week), and once
they're developed, you can maintain your abs with even less
frequent training.

MYTH #2: You can eat pizza and hamburgers and still
maintain a six-pack as long as you work out right after you
eat them. The truth is that developing your abs is achieved
through exercise, but seeing your abs is more a function
your diet than any other factor. You could have a great set
of abs completely covered with fat. The secret to
uncovering the abdominal muscles is nutrition.

Theoretically, you could lose the fat covering your abs
while eating whatever you wanted, as long as you still had
a caloric deficit. However, eating calorie-dense junk food
makes it much harder to maintain the caloric deficit you
need to burn body fat. Furthermore, eating fast food and
other nutritionally-void junk as regular daily staples in
your diet will eventually exact a serious toll on your
health.

You simply cannot expect exercise to cancel out poor eating
habits. It takes proper exercise and nutrition to get
optimal results. Go into your local fast food restaurant
and look around. How many people do you see that have an
envious abdominal region? Chances are, you won't see any!

MYTH #3: Sit-ups develop the abdominal muscles best. It's
ironic, but the sit-up, which is the most popular exercise
in the world for the abdominals, might be the absolute
worst exercise and could even be dangerous for some people
under some circumstances.

What most people don't realize is that the sit-up is not a
true abdominal exercise. During a sit-up, your main trunk
flexor, the iliopsoas muscle, often does the majority of
the work while the abs are not optimally recruited.

Because the iliopsoas muscle originates on the lower back,
the sit-up literally pulls on the lower back with every
repetition, especially if your feet are held down or
anchored, or the repetitions are performed quickly in a
jerky fashion. This is why too many sit-ups can lead to a
strength imbalance between the iliopsoas and abdominals, as
well as poor posture and lower back pain.

Some people who have very strong abs and lower backs may be
able to perform conventional sit-ups more safely than
others. There are also some safer and more effective ways
to perform sit-ups. One is the Janda sit-up. This exercise
uses the law of reciprocal inhibition, which means that if
one muscle is working, its antagonist (the opposing muscle)
must relax.

During a Janda sit-up, instead of holding your feet down,
your partner reaches around and holds your calves. As you
sit up, you contract your hamstrings and glutes by pulling
your calves back against your partner's hands. (You can
also press your lower legs back against small dumbbells or
a heavy weighted barbell.) When the hamstrings and glutes
contract, this shuts off the iliopsoas, making your abs do
more of the work.

If I prescribe sit-ups, I simply have my clients do Janda
sit-ups. However, Janda sit-ups can be difficult to perform
on your own and because of the injury potential from
sit-ups in general, and since there are so many other more
effective exercises, I have left sit-ups out of this course
completely.

It's incredible, but true: You can develop amazing abs
without ever doing a single sit-up!

----------------------------------------------------
David Grisaffi is a Sports Conditioning Coach and holds
multiple certifications including three from the
prestigious CHEK Institute. Plus he is also the author of
the popluar selling e book, "Firm and Flatten Your Abs,"
which teaches you how to develop a ripped abdominal region.
Lean how to shead bodyfat and eliminate low back pain and
recieve his free newsletter by visiting:
http://www.flattenyourabs.net

7 Ways to Get Motivated For Your Workout

7 Ways to Get Motivated For Your Workout
There will be days (everyday?) when you don't feel like
doing your workout.

Sometimes you don't want to get out of bed. Sometimes you
don't want to leave your office because you feel like there
are too many deadlines (but this is when you need a workout
the most!).

Sometimes you don't want to end story time with the kids
only to head down to the basement gym.

It even happens to me.

For example, just yesterday I was scheduled to do a final
test run through the February TT Workout of the Month (it's
a TT circuit!) and frankly, I wasn't up for it.

But I knew how I'd feel like a million bucks after the
workout.

And in the end, I know I can't let myself become "soft" and
start skipping workouts. I have to lead by example.

But if you are set on achieving a goal, then when it's
workout time, come heck or high water you've got to bear
down and do the job.

So here are some tips for you to get inspired to get
through your workout.

1) Reward yourself. Finish your workout and treat yourself
to a magazine, a TV show, some extra time with your family,
some new songs for your IPOD, or even a little extra time
for yourself. 2) Or set up a punishment for missing
workouts. Skip the workout, put $20 into a jar to spend on
home repairs. Make sure your spouse controls the jar.

3) Review your goals everyday and every night. Keeping your
goals fresh in your mind will help you stay on track.

4) Realize that the hardest part of the workout is often
getting your butt to the gym. Once you get 5 minutes into
the workout, you will be over the hump. So tell yourself,
"I'll just go in and do 1 set of the first 2 exercises,
then I can go". Next thing you know, you'll have done the
entire workout.

5) Visualize yourself doing a great workout and finishing
strong. Get yourself mentally prepared and you will
literally have better workouts each time.

6) Crank the tunes. Seriously, nothing motivates like music.

7) Get social support. If you have a workout partner,
you'll feel like crap if you let them down. Or become
accountable to everyone in the Turbulence Training workout
forums...if you don't post your workouts, they'll track you
down and demand to know why you've fallen off track! So
online or offline, get everyone on your side!

Now get out there and kick the fat to the curb,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

----------------------------------------------------
Find out what Craig Ballantyne say's about the "Dark Side
of Cardio" at http://www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Problems With Male Infertility

Problems With Male Infertility
Many people assume that having children is something all
people have the capacity to do, when they choose to. Most
of the efforts related to conception arguably involve
preventing conception from occurring to begin with. The
thinking seems to be conceiving children can always happen.
This however is not the case. There are any number of
people who would like to conceive a child but cannot. This
inability to produce offspring is often referred to as
infertility.

Contrary to what some males may believe, male infertility
can and does occur. Male infertility can be especially
difficult for a man to cope with from an emotional
perspective as general stereotypes of men as vital and
vigorous sexual beings often persist. When a man is unable
to produce a child, it can be seen as a direct failure of
the male to live up to expected standards. The term
impotent for example typically refers to males, not
females, who are unable to conceive children because of a
sexual dysfunction. At its root, the word impotent refers
to one who lacks potency, or strength. An impotent man then
may literally be considered a man who lacks strength. Most
men would likely consider it an insult for someone to refer
to them as being weak.

There are various causes of male infertility, but typically
male infertility comes down to one of two causes: an
inability to perform sexual intercourse, or nonfunctional
semen. The performance of sexual intercourse, thought not
absolutely vital, is the typical means for producing
offspring. When a couple is unable to have sexual
intercourse at all then, there's obviously going to be
problems with conception. While women can have difficulty
with intercourse, they may still be sexually functional. A
male who isn't functional sexually will find it highly
difficult, if not impossible, to have intercourse under any
means.

Males may generally take their ability to produce healthy
semen for granted, but the male's ability to produce semen
that is capable of fertilization can be compromised. There
are any number of ways that a man's semen can lose its
capacity to fertilize. An obvious way would be through a
vasectomy, a sterilizing surgical procedure. Physical
trauma to the testicles can also damage semen output, as
can excessive heat in the area of the testicles. Studies
suggest that smoking cigarettes can also damage semen and
potentially make a male infertile.

While the reasons for male infertility can and do vary,
infertility solutions for both men and women do exist. The
issue of infertility is broad enough that there are medical
facilities that treat infertility and nothing else. Some
men who are infertile may not consider their infertility to
be a problem. Those men who are infertile and do consider
it a problem have treatment options available, and should
seek them out.

----------------------------------------------------
Zinn Jeremiah is a freelance writer. Read more of Zinn's
work by visiting
http://www.hubonline.biz/website-content.htm . For intimacy
enhancement, visit
http://www.hubonline.biz/more-satisfaction.htm .

Bulimia Be Gone! Start Eating Right Again!

Bulimia Be Gone! Start Eating Right Again!
Bulimia is self-starvation due to the irrational fear of
becoming fat. It may sound too bizarre and even ludicrous
to think that anyone would starve to the point of death in
order to stay slim. However, bulimia is real because it is
a mental illness with a distorted perception of how an
individual may look. Bulimia is becoming a rampant eating
disorder in the Western world, especially among more
affluent individuals.

Bulimia is an eating disorder that is difficult to treat,
especially when the disorder has been left untreated for a
while. Such difficulty often deepens when the victim of the
disorder not only resists help but also resents
interference from people around.

The symptoms of bulimia are many, but often may not seem
too apparent until the disorder has deteriorated.

Many people may be unduly self-conscious of their body
weight that they count calories, watch food portions, and
even skip meals every now and then. However, despite these
abnormal eating behavior patterns, they may not be bulimic.
Symptoms of bulimia, which are more apparent, include over
exercising, cutting food into very small pieces, vomiting
after meals and abusing laxatives. Unfortunately, victims
of bulimia are often good at masking these symptoms of
their disorder by wearing baggy or loose-fitting clothes,
as well as vomiting and abusing laxatives in private.
However, there are still some tale-telling signs in their
abnormal behavior and difficult personality that might
reveal their eating disorder, such as withdrawal from
normal social activities; irritability, lack of trust,
secretiveness, and stubbornness.

If you suspect that a close friend or a member of the
family is bulimic, you should confront him or her, and seek
medical help. People suffering from bulimia are mostly
women in their twenties, often before twenty-five. An
absence of three consecutive menstrual cycles is a good
indicator. A distorted perception of size and shape
reinforced by obvious weight loss with no physical disorder
is another positive sign of bulimia. Other physical
indications may include cold skin with a bluish tinge, and
the development of fine body hair with loss of hair on the
head. A physician's diagnoses of low blood pressure,
abnormally slow heartbeat, severe constipation, difficulty
in swallowing, indigestion, fatigue, sleep problems, and
anemia would further confirm the disorder.

Is there a cure? How does one eat right again?

You must confront a bulimic individual head on.
Confrontation or intervention is the only solution that
might result in a cure. The patient seldom seeks
professional help voluntarily.

Family members or people closest to the bulimic patient
must intervene. However, they must not condemn or criticize
the patient.

A bulimic will not only deny but also resist any
intervention. At that point, standing firm is critical to
successful outcome for the patient. In addition, you must
arm yourself with facts and knowledge about the disorder.

To help the patient, you must not get angry or frustrated
yourself; you must acknowledge the patient's fear and
concern, while reassuring that changing eating habits is
difficult but necessary for ultimate recovery.

Time is of essence, and procrastination often leads to
ultimate failure in overcoming the eating disorder.

Once the eating disorder is acknowledged and identified,
seek medical and professional help. Find a program based on
the credentials and appropriate experience of the staff, as
well as the components of the program, such as the
assessment methodology, the in-patient component, and the
medication therapy available. Once a close
therapist-patient relationship is established, recovery is
only a matter of time.

Yes, there is a cure for bulimia, and eating right again is
an attainable goal.

----------------------------------------------------
Stephen Lau is a researcher, writing medical research for
doctors and scientists. His publications include "NO
MIRACLE CURES" a book on healing and wellness. He has also
created several websites on health and healing, including
the following:
http://www.longevityforyou.com
http://www.rethinkyourdepression.com

Natural Relief For Oak Pollen Allergies

Natural Relief For Oak Pollen Allergies
Anyone who lives in an area with a high number of oak trees
is all too familiar with the huge amounts of pollen that
these trees produce and the oak pollen allergy symptoms
that result. Looking almost like fuzzy little worms, the
pollen pods release the oak pollen into the air to be
carried by the wind, and the pods drop to the ground to
pile up and make a mess on the ground.

During the oak pollen season, the effects of the pollen are
everywhere, with cars and windows covered with the
orange-brown film the pollen creates. Even pavement where
the spent pollen pods accumulate will get stained brown.
For those allergic to oak pollen, the symptoms can be
severe. Massive sinus drainage, watery eyes, sneezing,
and/or coughing will develop that can defy almost any
allergy treatment available, at least until the oak pollen
subsides.

Oak allergies drive people to try any number of remedies,
with some even turning to drastic measures like steroid
injections. Some will decide to handle the situation once
and for all by starting allergy shots, even though the
needles are less than pleasant, without realizing that it
often takes years to finally get results.

Many oak allergy sufferers will seek out natural relief
from treatments like nutritional supplements, herbal
remedies, homeopathy and/or acupuncture, and all of these
forms of treatment will provide some degree of temporary
relief for the majority of people. But what if there was a
way to do more than just suppress allergy symptoms?

What if there was a way to actually get rid of oak
allergies and other allergies long-term as with doing
allergy shots, but in a way that gets results in days, not
years, and doesn't require one to get jabbed with needles?
Well, there actually is a way to do this, using "energy
medicine" techniques.

The most widely-practiced of these natural allergy relief
methods is NAET, which stands for Nambudripad's Allergy
Elimination Technique. Dr. Devi Nambudripad is a
chiropractor and acupuncturist from California who
accidentally discovered how stimulating specific
acupuncture meridians while being exposed to the allergens
one reacts to can reset the body so that it no longer
reacts to those allergens.

Since the development of NAET in the 1980's, other similar
techniques have been developed, and there are more
streamlined allergy elimination methods now in use, but
NAET remains the most widely practiced. To be sure, all of
the energy based allergy elimination methods are a bit
strange, and may seem a bit too good to be true, but in 8
years of practicing ASERT (Allergy and Sensitivity
Elimination and Reprogramming Technique, one of the newer,
more streamlined techniques based on the principles of
NAET), I have seen great success with even the most chronic
of allergy sufferers.

Because these techniques are so strange and because I
practice in San Antonio, an area where a high percentage of
the population is still extremely skeptical of alternative
medicine, I do the allergy desensitization on people and
let them experience the results before they pay me. I
actually work on the "honor system" - I don't collect any
money or payment information at all and let people try out
the allergy elimination technique and then they pay me when
they are satisfied that it worked for them. The vast
majority send me checks or call me with a credit card
number, which I thik is a dramatic testament to the
effectiveness of this technique.

The great part about these techniques is that the results
occur quickly. For seasonal problems like oak allergies,
people may have severe symptoms for a month or two, and are
looking for some type of natural allergy relief right away,
not something that will take years to be effective like
allergy shots, and not something that can have serious
side-effects like steroids. With energy-based allergy
elimination, relief usually occurs within a day and comes
without the risk of any serious side-effects.

Better yet, the effects of energy-based allergy elimination
last for several months to several years because these
techniques actually get rid of the allergies, not just
suppress allergy symptoms and inflammation. So, oak
allergy sufferers can usually go through multiple oak
seasons without any problems without ongoing treatment
after going through the allergy desensitization.

Although NAET practitioners often claim that the effects of
NAET are permanent, which they may be in some cases, it has
been my experience that allergies can re-develop,
particularly after somone is sick with a cold or flu, or
suffers a major trauma during a high pollen season. It
appears that the body may develop allergies in a "guilt by
association" manner in which an activation of the body's
immune system and inflammatory response from something
other than pollen may become associated with the presence
of a given allergen, thus triggering a reaction to the
allergen. In other words, if you catch the flu during a
time when oak pollen is high, it is not unusual to develop
oak allergies.

In any case, energy-based allergy desensitization is very
much for real, and it offers fast, effective natural
allergy relief for oak pollen allergies, as well as any
other type of allergy (including airborne allergens, foods,
and skin-contact allergies).

----------------------------------------------------
Dr. George Best has been doing natural allergy elimination
in the San Antonio area for 8 years. For more information
on oak allergies or natural allergy relief, visit
http://www.youniquehealthcare.com .

Five Simple Steps To Losing Your Belly Fat Fast

Five Simple Steps To Losing Your Belly Fat Fast
I am going to tell all of you about how to get rid of your
fat belly and how to get rid of your beer gut. I am going
to teach you fast healthy weight loss tips for rapid weight
loss.

So, any of you guys out there with the big ol' beer gut and
you want to get rid of it fast, then keep reading.

How do you lose weight fast?

A real simple tip is and we've all been taught it, from the
time we were kids from our parents, is increase our
vegetable intake, more specifically your non-starchy
vegetable intake. It's not to hard to choose a vegetable
that's non-starchy.

The main reason is, because you want to be able to eat
something that is not caloricly dense but nutrient dense
and non-starchy vegetables. They're a great source of
fiber which is very important for helping you feel fuller
longer and not encouraging you to eat 30 minutes later.
You're going to be full for a long time. The fiber takes
longer to digest, so the body has to work harder and you
keep your insulin levels in check which is big for
preventing fat storage.

What is insulin which I mentioned above?

When you eat you get sugar in your blood and your body has
to get that sugar out of the blood and either use it as
energy or store it for use at a later time. Insulin does
that. When you ingest food and you get these sugars into
your blood, your insulin increases and gets those sugars,
pull them out of your blood and either, like I said, burn
them for energy or store them to be used at a later time.
When all of your carbohydrate glycogen levels are full,
then the only other alternative is to be stored as fat.
Insulin tends to promote fat storage because most peoples
glycogen/carbohydrate levels are usually pretty full, so
the alternative is fat storage.

You want to keep that insulin response low, which is one of
the main goals.

Alright, number 2, protein at every meal. We hear so much
about protein; again, most guys are probably meat and
potatoes guys. Why is it so important - how do we make the
transformation to just eating fatty protein sources to
types of proteins that you should be eating to help lose
that gut.

Most men are definitely meat and potatoes type of guys so
it definitely should be easy to get protein into your diet
consistently, but you also do want to control the types of
protein you get in. A fried chicken breast, or 18 chicken
wings from Hooters, probably isn't going to be the best
source. Yes, its protein, but you are also going to pack
in a lot of extra calories that you really don't need if
you're trying to lose your gut. So, one of the things you
want to do is to look for those lean protein sources.
Skinless chicken breasts, lean beef and steaks, fish
grilled not fried. Eggs are another good source.

Dairy is also another good source. If you like cottage
cheese or yogurts or things like that, you can get in your
lean protein that way as well.

Tip number 3 Eat whole grain carbohydrates.

So now, what is a whole grain carb? What's a good carb?
What's a bad carb? When am I supposed to be eating some of
these carbs?

A whole grain carb would be carbohydrates that are
considered a good source of fiber. Staying away from the -
you've heard the thing of no white breads and things like
that and white rice, and to a point there's validity to why
people say that. I don't know that they always know why
they are saying it, but the reason that they should try to
limit those is because those are usually made with
processed carbohydrates and very little fiber content.
You're whole grain carbs are going to be anything that says
100% whole grain. Wheat bread is just white bread that
hasn't been bleached. So you need to look for the whole
grain or the whole oats/grain wording in it to find out,
and look at the fiber source. Most of them should have at
least 2 grams of fiber per serving, if not 3 to be
considered a good fiber source. So, that will help you get
you your answer as well with that.

Alright, rapid weight loss diet tip number 4. Eat more
healthy fats. Now, this is very confusing for people, I'm
sure. Healthy fats, unhealthy fats, Trans fats, why is
this going to be such a big deal when it comes to losing
weight fast?

Your healthy fats is what's usually called essential fatty
acids, and what that means is that it's fatty acids and
fats that we can not produce in the body on our own, so we
have to get them through diet. Why essential fatty acids
are so important is because there's hundreds and hundreds
of studies that are showing that it helps with numerous
diseases.

It helps prevent certain diseases such as heart disease and
cancer. The studies are actually now showing that it may
actually increase your metabolism by as much as 400
calories a day and that's the big one when it comes to just
specific weight loss.

If you want to just throw out all the numerous health
benefits of why essential fatty acids are good and just go
off of the fact for weight loss and fat loss, it actually
helps increase your metabolism and there's also some
studies showing that it may actually block what they tend
to call pre-fat cells from turning into permanent fat
cells. So, again, that's another huge step in regards to
weight loss and trying to prevent weight gain. And,
essential fatty acids primarily are, what you'll also hear
or read, as Omega 3 fats.

You'll see that fish is an excellent source of Omega 3
fats. Use olive oil because of the essential fatty acids
and the Omega 3s. Walnuts and Almonds are another good
source and they're actually a good protein source, they
contain good fiber, and they contain healthy fat.

So, if you want a healthy snack, throw some almonds in a
bag and take them with you to work, keep them at your desk.
They're a great snack to help you feel full; help boost
that metabolism and it's actually a really good food for
you in many ways. You're getting your fiber, you're
getting your protein, you're getting your healthy fat,
you're getting three of the five tips I'm giving you today
just in one food, with that.

How to lose belly fat tip number 5.

Eat frequent meals. I'm sure you've heard it before eat
smaller meals throughout the day. You're probably having a
muffin and coffee for breakfast, having a big lunch, maybe
not eating all afternoon, come home and eat a huge, huge
dinner. How are you guys going to get 4-6 small meals a
day?

You do have to do a little planning ahead, but if you use
the previous four tips, you could cut up some vegetables
ahead of time on a Sunday and just put them in bags so that
you have them available to put into your lunch or as a
snack. Protein choices you've got the yogurt, you could
hard boil eggs, you could have string cheese as a snack.
Almonds, as we talked about.

Doing those types of things and plan ahead to where you
don't have to think the morning of, "Alright what am I
going to eat for my snack today? What am I going to do for
lunch? It's all already in the fridge. If you do maybe an
hour of planning on a Sunday, all you have to do is pack
it. Put it in individual bags, throw it in your cooler and
put it in the refrigerator at work, so that it's available.
That way, the less thinking you can take out of it, the
better off you're going to be.

Every time you eat your metabolism increases to digest that
food. Your body uses calories to digest calories? So, you
want to keep that metabolism revved up every day.

What guy doesn't want to eat. The worst thing about trying
to lose weight is you think you have to starve yourself and
that's the exact opposite that you want to do if you're
going to lose weight. You need to feed yourself and you
need to feed yourself consistently because then the weight
will come off. If you restrict eating and that metabolism
plummets your body has to survive. It goes into a survival
mode at that point and it's going to do everything possible
to burn as little calories as possible because you don't
feed it frequently enough.

Apply these 5 tips today to lose belly fat fast.

----------------------------------------------------
If you're interested in taking your fat-loss efforts to an
entirely new level, go to the following site and grab a
free fat loss report which details 36 potent foods for
boosting your metabolism and losing belly fat -
http://getridofmygutdiet.com

The 5 Best Fat Burning & Firming Rules For Women To Lose Belly Fat and Slim Down Hips and Thighs

The 5 Best Fat Burning & Firming Rules For Women To Lose Belly Fat and Slim Down Hips and Thighs
Every week I get emails from women asking their fat burning
questions. The following is one that I received from a
subscriber.

Q. What is the best combination of fat-burning & firming?

A. In order to maximize your fat burning potential, just
doing one thing will not work. Also, a "one size fits all
approach", doesn't work either. It is a combination of
things that will help you achieve a lean, fit body. Many
women want to lose the belly fat, sculpt and firm up their
glutes, and slim down their hips but are following a plan
that does not work for them.

Women have different metabolisms and body types so what
works for one woman will not work necessarily work for
another.

The following are the 5 most important things you need to
know about fat burning and firming:

1. Whole body workouts. These are the best to burn fat
because you burn more calories per workout (using exercises
like squats, dumbbell presses, and rows are just a few
examples of exercises that you would include in a fat
burning workout)

2. Doing workouts that are worth your time. If you are
pressed for time, don't waste your time only doing workouts
that involve small muscle groups like shoulders.

Compound movements, will burn more calories and target your
shoulders as well. You can do a whole body workout at least
3x a week in order to get the maximum fat burning results.

3. Intensity is your friend. If you are not feeling it,
then you are not going to see the results you want (this
means challenging your muscles each time you workout) By
working out intensely you will burn more fat. This also
means using weight that makes you work. If you are afraid
of bulking up,it's okay because it just won't happen.

4. Eat your protein. I know speak about this a lot but so
many women out there aren't getting enough protein to blast
fat and firm up. You can have a great workout, but if your
nutrition is off then you won't see the results that you
want.

5. The right mindset. This is the #1 neglected part. It's
not about setting goals, it's about empowering yourself to
see no obstacle in your way of accomplishing the body that
you desire.

Putting the time and effort into this will pay off huge in
the end. I am talking about looking and feeling the way you
want.

Image yourself standing in front of the mirror and loving
what you see and feeling great. Keep this image in the
back of your mind and never let go of it until you have
reached your goal.

When it goes right down to it, you can have the best fat
burning and firming exercise and nutrition program, but
without the right mindset it will never happen.

----------------------------------------------------
Heather Picken, Female Fat Loss Expert, and Co-Founder Of
Fat Loss For Women online community:
http://www.fatlossforwomen.com
Shed your belly fat now and get your FREE fat burning
updates on the best workouts for women and nutrition:
http://www.mybodyisfitnow.com

5 Things A Health Club Won't Tell You

5 Things A Health Club Won't Tell You
Have you ever wanted to start on a fitness plan and weren't
sure where to start. So you just think the first thing to
do is join a health club or large chain gym.

It's a great idea - yes - if you use it.

However, here are 5 key things you need to think about
before you step foot into any gym or health club.

1. "We don't care care if you show up at our health club"

The sad fact is, the January rush ends in a cash surge for
the big Health Clubs and the same amount of members as
there were in the previous December.

Well intentioned fitness goals end up in health club
contracts, and a lack of motivation.

This is what Health Clubs expect, for you to trip up on
your plan and never come back, however, you'll keep paying
the bill even though you don't show up.

2. "Our trainers don't know what they're doing"

Chances are once you get a membership to a health club an
in-house personal trainer will try and sell you on their
expertise.

Spokane health club trainers need no accredited
certification to be out there on the floor flexing their
guns. $50 and a 10-min online quiz can get you a
certificate and title that sounds snazzy, but they aren't
worthwhile.

Look for quality personal trainers that can guarantee
results.

3. "We want you to pay forever for our health club"

If you think getting started on a fitness plan is tough,
try quitting your health club. Trouble canceling gym
memberships is one of the top complaints among gym members.

The big health clubs out to get your money and keep getting
it, month after month. They want you to keep paying, but
stay home. After all it doesn't do the health clubs any
good if you come into their gym.

Which in turn doesn't do you any good if your just paying
for a gym membership

4. "Your stuff isn't safe at our health clubs"

Think your belongings are safe in a big health club? Think
again?

A recent report explained how a group of burglars stealing
credit cards from lockers of health club members. You can't
be sure who is lurking around the health club locker room
while your working out.

Now you can't even bring anything with you to the gym.
You'll just have to carry your keys in your back pocket
while you workout in any health clubs.

5. "Sales is our #1 health club goal"

When they offer you a sales appointment at their health
club, what should you do?

While that offer sounds enticing, fast-talking and slicked
sales reps will ensure you leave with more than just more
information and insight, but a brand new long-term contract
you can't refuse.

Don't read the fine print, it will still apply to your
membership and contract. One such website of a large health
club promised a 30-day free trial membership. But the
catch, if you don't show up at least 12 times, you'll be
locked into a multiyear membership.

You can't rely on the health club sales person, you must be
on the defense and know what really matters when you
looking for a quality Spokane fitness solution

Don't fall for the health clubs Spokane gimmicks, go for a
quality personal trainer that guarantees results, no matter
what condition you're in right now.

----------------------------------------------------
Zach Hunt is the owner and head fitness coach of Physzique,
a personal fitness coaching service in Spokane, WA. Go to
http://www.spokanefitnesscoach.com/articles/health-clubs-spo
kane-health-club.html to find out more about this
incredible news. Or go now to:
http://www.spokanefitnesscoach.com/index.html
for immediately usable health and fitness tips.

Stress - How it Affects You and How You Can Treat It

Stress - How it Affects You and How You Can Treat It
Your life is full of stress! Any arguments? Didn't think
so. Your life is full of pressure, frustration, and
stress. Worrying about job security, being overworked,
driving in rush hour traffic, arguing with your spouse,
even dealing with medical bills - all of these create
stress in your life.

According to the American Psychology Association, more than
half of all Americans report being concerned about the
level of stress in their lives. Most people are feeling
overscheduled, overextended, and overworked. By far, the
most commonly reported source of stress is the workplace.

Studies suggest that stress is a contributing factor in the
development of chronic and degenerative conditions such as
heart disease and diabetes. High stress levels at work can
lead to job burnout, reduction in productivity, ill health,
job dissatisfaction, and absenteeism. As these problems
add up over time, you worry more about keeping your job
while your boss becomes more dissatisfied, leading to more
stress and an ever-growing vicious cycle.

When you experience stress, glands within your body respond
by releasing a hormone called adrenocorticotropic hormone -
we'll call it ACTH for short. When your glands send out a
burst of ACTH it is like an alarm system going off within
your body. ACTH tells other glands to flood your body with
the hormones cortisol and adrenaline. These two hormones
cause your heart rate and blood pressure to increase. They
shut down your digestive system and even alter your immune
system. When you remove yourself from the stressful
situation, the levels of cortisol and adrenaline decrease.
As cortisol and adrenaline decrease in your system, your
heart rate, blood pressure, digestive system and immune
system return to normal.

As you pile one stressful situation on top of another, your
body has no time to recover. If you are in a constant
state of stress, or experience many stressful situations,
your body's stress response system can disrupt nearly all
of your body's processes. Some of the effects can lead to
chronic illness and disease.

Stress affects the digestive system so much that
stomachaches and diarrhea become common. The hormones
related to stress slow down the release of stomach acid and
the process of emptying the stomach. The same hormones
stimulate your colon which speeds the passage of its
contents - a.k.a diarrhea.

Chronic stress dampens your immune system making you more
susceptible to colds and other infections.

Stress affects your nervous system and has been linked to
depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and dementia. Over
time, chronic release of cortisol can even cause damage to
several structures in the brain.

Stress affects your cardiovascular system by causing an
increase in heart rate and blood pressure and increasing
the risk of heart attacks and stroke.

Unlike most other diseases that affect Americans, there
really isn't any routine medical treatment for stress.
Some doctors prescribe antidepressants. But drugs have a
limited ability to alleviate stress.

The most effective way to reduce or relieve stress is
through lifestyle habits.

Lifestyle habits such as spinal alignment, exercise,
breathing exercises and coping strategies are the most
effective ways to reduce stress.

Exercise is a good way to deal with stress because it is a
healthy way to relieve your pent-up energy and tension. By
getting physically active, you can decrease your levels of
anxiety and stress, and elevate your moods. Numerous
studies show that people who exercise exhibit a marked
improvement in their ability to concentrate, sleep better,
suffer fewer illnesses, suffer from pain less, and report a
higher quality of life.

One of the consequences of stress is a tendency to
unconsciously tense up your muscles, especially in your
upper back and shoulder regions. This chronic tension,
coupled with poor posture, causes the vertebrae of your
spine to become misaligned. Misalignment causes
irritation. Irritation causes more tension. More tension
causes greater misalignment. And the cycle continues and
you continue to get worse. Most people experience a
notable improvement in their own stress levels almost
immediately after a spinal adjustment. You can reduce your
level of stress by visiting your local chiropractor to have
a spinal adjustment.

There are two types of nutritional supplements. There are
nutritional supplements that help reduce stress and there
are nutritional supplements that help the body better cope
with the effects of stress. Supplements that help reduce
stress belong to a class of herbs that helps the body
relax. Herbs such as chamomile, skullcap, valerian, and
lavender help to clear your mind and calm intense emotions.
Many of these herbs are taken in the form of a hot or warm
tea.

Supplements that help the body cope with the physical
effects of stress are the B-vitamins and zinc. When you
experience stress, your body needs more zinc and more of
the Vitamin-B complex. Your health suffers and you are
more prone to illness when you don't have enough of each in
your body. Taking a B-complex with zinc in the form of a
liquid nutritional supplement will help protect your body
from the negative effects of stress.

The final key to treating stress is healthy thinking. Most
stress is caused by two factors - dealing with change and
feeling out of control. While you can't predict the
changes that will occur in your life, you can - control how
you plan each day, - you can positively respond to change,
and - you can act with purpose.

The combination of these three positive thinking habits can
help remove stress from your life and diminish the effects
of stress. These three simple 'attitude adjustments' will
help you feel more in control and once adopted as a habit,
can be quite relaxing.

Don't let prolonged or repeated episodes of stress lead you
to chronic or degenerative disease like diabetes or heart
disease. Lifestyle habits such as spinal alignment,
exercise, breathing exercises and coping strategies are the
most effective ways you can reduce stress and the effects
of stress on your body.

----------------------------------------------------
Ronald Godlewski has published several dozen articles on
health, wellness, and the value of nutrition in disease
prevention. Visit http://www.pillfreesupplements.com for
more about nutrition, stress and how to receive your FREE
quart of a nutrient dense supplement that provides zinc and
Vitamin B to your body during times of stress. Questions?
Call Ron toll free at 1-888-LFI-CUST (1-888-534-2878) to
discuss your own feeling fit success story.