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Release Your Inner Hulk. Just forget the 'Roid Rage.

2009-03-16T06:28:00.000-07:00

So now we know it doesn't take steroids, or any artificially-enhanced supplements to get big, real results will come by hitting the three major muscle groups. I tell all clients, and train them by using this rule-of-thumb; begin every weight training session by hitting the legs, chest, and back.

Exercises that use these compound muscle groups means that you're hitting at least three muscles at a time which means maximum effort in a minimal amount of time. This equals= more muscle gains, less time at the gym. Then after hitting these groups, go back and hit smaller muscles such as biceps, triceps, shoulders, hamstrings, and calves. Abs can be put anywhere in the workout.

For these four exercises, complete 3 sets of 4-6 reps to bulk up and build with 2 minutes rest between sets. 10-12 reps with a one minute rest between sets if you're unfamiliar with these exercises and want to build and have a cardio/aerobic effect.

All of these exercises are performed with a barbell. Barbells can weigh anywhere from 25-40 pounds by themselves so keep this in consideration at the gym. I always have my clients, progress to barbells after comfortable with machines as they require core strength/stabilization through the movements and help build more muscle by having freedom of movement. Before beginning set, always do one set with barbell only to warm up the muscles.

Squats:

1. Adjust bar on rack so that it is about shoulder-heigth. When loading bar on to shoulders, keep your body in a straight line and keep your body this way to maintain good posture. This will help prevent injury.
2. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, bend at the knee until your body comes to waist-height.
3. Push up through your legs until you come back to the standing position.

Bent-over Row:

1. Load the barbell to rest on the ground.
2. Bend at the knee and get a shoulder-weigth grip on the bar. Pushing through your legs, come to a standing position and then bend at the waist so that your back is flat like a table-top.
3. Hold this position, lower the bar keeping your elbows slightly bent, and pull the bar to your chest. Make sure that your shoulder blades come together at the end of the movement.

Bench Press:

1. Pull shoulders back before lifting and make sure elbows are drawn in 45 degrees to your side.
2. Get a shoulder-width grip on the bar and lower just below nipple line coming an inch above the chest.
3. Push through the movement bringing the bar to eye level, arms fully extended.

Weighted Crunch:

1. Lie down with feet flat on the floor, knees bent 45 degrees.
2. Hold weight flat on chest. Using the abs, pull upper-body off the floor, coming up high enough so that the shoulder blades leave the floor.
3. Slowly return to original postion.

Putting Steroids to Shame

2009-03-13T06:18:00.000-07:00

Whatever you may think about either steroids, or the people who use them, its probably not good. Logically, steroids should scare everyone away because of their negative side effects. Not only are they illegal but they cause many hormone problems to both men and women. Most people link steroids with getting big, really big. Truth is, America recently found out this isn't necessarily true when NY Yankee Alex Rodriguez admitted to steroid use.

Athletes have fallen prey to steroids because of their ability to prolong fatigue within the body. They are in pursuit of being Bigger, Stronger, Faster. There is now a recent documentary with first-hand accounts of pro athletes who abused steroid use. Check out Bigger, Stronger, Faster which is now available in stores on DVD and on Netflix.

Build muscle, stamina, and endurance naturally.

Building Size:

1. Think major muscle groups; perform squats, deadlifts, and rows.
2. Lift faster. Lifting quickly at the beginning of the movement and ending slowly, while maintaining control, will activate the maximum muscle fibers and burn fat.
3. Take a break. Only lift every other day. Try and stay at three days a week with weight exercises. Your muscles need time to recover and your strength will grow faster with rest.

Building Stamina:

1. Be consistent. Before hitting weights or cardio too hard, focus first on schedule. Whatever you goal is, two, three, four, five days a week; take the first couple of weeks to make it a habit to hit your schedule.
2. Start slow and end BIG. Choose a length of time to reach your goal. Say two months. Know where you want to end with strength and cardio, then backtrack. What you lift, run, toss, walk, or throw the first week should only be about 1/4 of what you can do at the end.
3. Get some shut-eye. Sleep happens to be the biggest pitfall or failure to hit and maintain fitness goals. Get at least 7 hours of sleep each night and you will see your game improve.

Building Endurance:

1. Start with sprints. Interval training can be done with both weights/cardio. Turn your 45 minute run/weight training into 20 minutes by moving faster and taking short breaks in between quick bursts. Do this two or three days a week and on the third or fouth day, go back to the 45 minute workout and see how your training has improved.
2. Use lighter weights, higher reps. Many athletes don't train for size. They train to last. Ramp up your weight training to 20-25 weights with lighter reps. Move faster and take shorter breaks between exercise.
3. Focus on core. Everyday movements, including athletic activities, require core strength. With every exercise, include stabilizing or using your abs in the movement.

Eating Campbell's Chunky Soup Not Only Way To Make Mom Happy

2009-03-04T15:41:00.000-08:00

Want to know what foods that will boost your muscle gains and prime your energy fuels? Take one from the team, the NFL that is. If you have been around for the past 10 years, you have seen the Campbell soup commercials with the proud mom's endorsing chunky soup as the best addition to their son's diets. Well, that's true, but no one can live on Campbell's soup alone.

During football season, players aren't trying to lean out or gain mass. These diets are reserved for the off-season. These guys are on the field warming up and playing for hours on end so they need foods that will keep them in the game and performing at their best.

The average person does not need to take in as many calories as an NFL player, however, the foods outlined below are designed to help bring your game to the next level. Leslie Bonci, the Pittsburgh Steelers' team nutrition consultant, says it best, " Men should learn to treat their bodies like a business, like the NFL players do."

Eggs - Muscle-Building, Immunity, Vision
Waffles - Cardio Fuel
Fruit – Hydration
Milk – Strong Bones, Muscle Contraction
Chicken Breast – Lean Muscle, Energy, Memory
Fish - Anti-inflammation, Muscle Repair, Immune Function
Vegetables – Hydration, Muscle Repair
Pasta and Rice – Energy, Speed Recovery
Sports Drinks – Hydration, Prevent Muscle Cramping
Sodium-Rich Foods – Retain Water, Prevent Muscle Cramping
Ice Cream – Cool Down Treat

Get Dynamite Arms Like Pop-eye's

2009-02-22T15:27:00.000-08:00

Not sure who was a symbol of strength, stamina, and endurance when you were a kid. For me, it wasn't Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hulk Hogan, or even the famed Hulk. Pop-eye was the one who modeled for me the perfect physique. As funny as this may sound, it does make sense. Not only was he able to take down big, bad guys with brute strength, and sometimes by accident, but he also stayed at peak health by eating spinach. Can't ask for a better role model!

There are countless ways to build your biceps. Truth is, your biceps only account for 3% of muscle in your entire body. That also amounts to about one pound of muscle for both biceps combined. Spending too much time on your biceps is a waste of your time as you still have 97% more muscles to hit before you leave the gym.

Hit your biceps with one exercise. This practical and efficient exercise will not only build your arms but your shoulders and back as well.

Chin-ups:

1. Grab the bar with an under-hand grip, hands shoulder-width apart. Keeping your legs straight, pull your body up and make sure your chin passes the bar.

2. Lower your body, making sure that you come all the way down with your elbows slightly bent. Repeat as many times as possible.

Not ready for the chin-up bar? Try this, Rope-Pulls:

1. Load the rope bar on the cable machine with the rope attached to the top pulley. Grab the rope with an under-hand grip.

2. Sitting with your knees on the ground, pull the rope with both hands to your chest. Slowly release bringing the rope above your head and elbows slightly bent. Load as many weights as you can handle for no more than 20 reps.

Beer and Wine, Feelin' Fine

2009-02-14T18:40:00.000-08:00

Beer and wine can be your worst enemy or your best friend. We all know too much of it can and will sabotage your gut, hence the phrase "beer belly." However, continuous alcohol abuse will also destroy your gains in the gym by causing your body to turn carbs and sugars into fat. This will also hinder your body from building muscle.

The American Heart Association reports that to reap from the benefits of drinking beer/wine without going overboard, it should be consumed in moderation like anything else. This translates to one-two drinks a day for men and one drink a day for women. In this case, a drink is 12 oz. beer, 4 oz. wine.

See how consuming beer/wine in moderation will benefit your diet:

1. Beer: Contains vitamin B which aids in lowering risk of heart disease.

2. Beer: Suppresses tryptophan, amino acid found in turkey that makes you tired, which means beer gives you an energy boost that can also help you lose weight.

3. Wine: Grape skins are full of powerful antioxidants which have anti-aging components that keep your organs young and healthy.

4. Wine: These same antioxidants, known as flavonoids, are also known to lower risks of cancers.

5. Still, the best added benefit of beer/wine is that its a positive reinforcement tool to use in your regular diet/workout plan. Everyone should be rewarded for their hard work, especially if you've been hitting the gym.

Keep in mind, beer/wine do have calories and that should be taken into consideration when structuring your diet. However, most light beers and wines hit around 100 calories. Not making too big of a dent, or better yet, bulge on your belly.

Click here for a healthy list of beers.

And here for more info. on wines.

Blast to Strength

2009-02-09T07:09:00.000-08:00

Before hitting the weights during your next workout, try explosive movements to bring your game to the next level. A study at the College of New Jersey found that during a two-month study, adding explosive chest movements before hitting the bench press enabled lifters to push 5% more. This was done one to two times a week prior to workouts.

Try this body-weight routine two times a week either one set before your workout, or three sets as your entire workout.

Squat Jumps

1. Begin with feet shoulder-width apart and drop down to waist height with hands behind the head, same as prisoner squat.
2. Using your legs and core, jump as high as you can off the ground and land softly with knees slightly bent. Complete 20-25 reps.

Push-up Thrusts

1. Begin with hands shoulder-width apart, elbows at 45 degrees, drop down with chest just above the ground.
2. Thrust upward, coming off the ground high enough to where your hands leave the ground. Complete 20-25 reps.

Bicycles

1. Begin with hands behind the head one leg raised at knee height, other leg raised just above the ground, bring right or left elbow to opposite knee.
2. Alternate between opposite elbows and knees, pumping your legs in a bicycle fashion. Complete 100 reps.

Sprint to Freedom

2009-02-05T11:22:00.000-08:00

Break out of traditional cardio. Some bodybuilders swear by their 5 days-a-week, 45 minutes of cardio that keeps the fat off their sculpted bodies. True, this form of cardio does help them because they want to do low-resistance cardio to keep from burning muscle. For the rest of us who want to burn fat and build muscle, sprinting is the way to go. Not only does it help us reach our fitness goals efficiently, but also quicker, meaning we can spend less time at the gym.

Science News also reports interesting information related to our bodies and sprinting. A group of Scottish researches found that sprinting exercises completed every couple of days cuts your risk of diabetes. A group of 16 males were studied after doing intense exercise over a period of time and found that regular workouts lead to a decrease in risk of cardiovascular disease and type-two diabetes. Some participants were not able to stick to the program of every two days, but even those who did just a couple of short workouts showed a significant descrease in risks.

Try this 20-minute sprint work-out on any cardio machine or even on the pavement:

Warmup for two minutes at a low resistance. Move into :30 sec. of high resistance at 90% effort, followed by a minute of low resistance. Continue this pattern and finish with two minutes of low-resistance recovery.

Advanced: Start with :30 of high resistance at 80% effort, next move to 90%, next to 100%, and then repeat.

Juiced on Java

2009-02-02T18:51:00.000-08:00

Before heading out to your local vitamin/supplement store, consider adding nature's own energy supplement to your diet. Coffee has been used by many fitness enthusiasts, but its also been given a bad rap in the past. Studies have shown coffee raises your blood pressure and heart rate which can lead to heart problems during and after exercise. Coffee has a strong dose of caffeine which can lead many to become addicted and numb to its powerful effects.

For many, people either drink tea or coffee. This is in no way to demote tea; it has other powerful components that also have benefits. Green tea is a chock full of strong antioxidants that protect the body from disease and keep your mind and body young and sharp. Black tea also gives the caffeine boost you need but also the added benefit of antioxidants which will enhance your concentration and lower cholesterol.

For best results, drink coffee on your training days. At least 1 1/2 before your workout and a follow-up cup of coffee later in the day. Check out what coffee can bring to your A-game:

1. Acelerates energy. Caffeine is a natural stimulant that fuels your muscles and gives you the extra boost you need at the gym. Australian researchers have found that even a small amount of coffee allowed athletes to perform up to a third longer than those who took no caffeine.

2. Raises metabolism. Coffee contains caffeine which has proven effects to raise metabolism and burn fat.

3. Aids recovery. Studies have shown that caffeine aids in uptake of glucose and insulin to muscle tissue which fuels your muscles faster and keeps you from walking around sore the next day.

4. Decreases risk of dementia. The New York Times recently released an article about Danish and Swedish researches who conducted a study of the effects of coffee on 1,409 middle-aged men and women. Studies showed that over the period of 20 years only 61 people showed signs of dementia and only 41 were diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease.

5. Lowers risk of type 2 Diabetes. Dr. Kivipelto from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm suggests that this is one of the primary reasons why coffee is able to lower risk of dementia. One of the reasons may be that coffee has an antioxidant effect in the bloodstream.

Squat Your Way to Strong Abs

2009-01-26T15:29:00.000-08:00

Currently, your ab workout most likely consists of some type of crunch and then repeat. Crunches are best to save for the end of your workout as you don't need a lot of energy to complete and you use your abs during traditional exercises so you don't want them to be too worn out at the beginning.

Some bodybuilders are even known to have washboard abs without doing a single crunch. If executed correctly, you can utilize your abs in complex exercises such as the squat, bench press, or row. Its a matter of how you carry the weight when you lift and tightening your abs through the exercises.

For now, continue the crunches, planks, bicycles, hanging leg raises, medicine ball twists, dumbbell lifts, cable cross-overs, or any combination of ab workouts you may be doing. However, try this exercise on for size based on this principle that comes from Cameron McGarr, C.S.C.S. at Results Fitness in Santa Clarita, CA:

Braced Squat

1. Feet shoulder-width apart, stand with arms outstretched holding the plate at chest level. Men; start with a 25-pound plate, women; start with a 10-pound plate.

2. Drop down as in the traditional squat with hips coming to knee height, keep abs tight, pause for four seconds at the bottom and then push through with your heels to the starting position.

Why: The the longer your body, the weaker you become. When the distance between your muscles and the end of the object you are lifting is greater, you decrease your body's leverage. Therefore, by holding the weight far away from your body puts more stress on your core to lift the weight because its no longer placed only on your legs like in a traditional barbell squat.

Abs of Steel

2009-01-24T09:24:00.000-08:00

You asked for it, you got it. One of the #1 muscles guys want to focus on when they come to the gym is their abs. Most women don't mind them either. Men store fat differently than women, leaving a nice spare tire around their mid-section if they don't have the right eating habits or neglect to engage the abs correctly.

Building a strong core starts outside the gym. The mid-section is the most difficult place on a man's body to lose weight. Any excess fat knows right where to go. For women, fat stores on their hips because their bodies are preparing itself for reproduction. Fat storages are essential and healthy to protect organs and nourish the body. Healthy fat percentage for active men range from 8-19%, for women its 21-33% for people 20-40 yrs. of age. After age 40, it increases by 2% every 20 years according to the National Institute of Health and World Health Organization.

Add these healthy habits to your daily life for a stronger core:

1. Good posture. Whether you're a desk jockey or an everyday lifter, check your posture. Keep your shoulders pulled back and in line with your back at all times. To check yourself, roll your shoulders back and pull your shoulder blades together, this will naturally align your body. However, if you're sitting, slightly lean back against the back of the chair, keeping your shoulders pulled back to keep from knotting the back or causing injuries in the gym.

2. Water, water, water. Do you see a pattern here? Water helps keep you active in many different areas. With abs its no different. Drink water at least 15 minutes after rising from bed and you will jumpstart your metabolism and fill the stomach. Keep hydrated all day to keep your fat burners charged.

3. Eat up. Start with breakfast everyday to replenish your energy stores that emptied during the night's sleep. You'll ignite your metabolism and keep yourself from splurging during the day. Pack your lunch. Bringing lunch to work or wherever you're going will not only save you money, but also keep you from over-eating at restaurants.

4. Weights and then cardio. Always start with weights if you're lifting on the same day as your cardio. Lifiting requires more energy and you don't want to be dripping all over the weights and machines after an intense cardio session. A study at the University of Southern Maine showed that 30 minutes of lifting burns as many calories as running at a 6-minute-per-mile pace at the same duration. Another reason why building more muscle starts with weights that require more energy.

5. Get some shut-eye. Aim for at least 7 hours each night. Try not to go over 10 hours, over-sleeping can also lead to weight gain. Lack of sleep disrupts hormones that enable your ability to burn fat and slows your metabolism.

Take 15

2009-01-17T15:32:00.000-08:00

Boost your metabolism with this quick 15-minute workout. Its designed to boost your metabolism and demolish fat. From the owner of turbulencetraining.com, Craig Ballantyne, C.S.C.S., M. Sc., created a three exercise workout that is great for people who have little time at the gym. You can also do this right from home if you have dumbbells and a pull-up bar.

You will complete the exercises in this order shown and repeat as many times as you can in 15 minutes with a 1 minute rest between each sequence. So completing all three exercises one time is one sequence.

1. Dumbbell split squat.

With both dumbbells on each side of the body, bring either foot forward as far as you can reach. Keeping your back straight and your hips aligned, squat until your thigh is parallel to the floor. Raise yourself back up in this position and complete 8 reps total. Repeat on the next leg.

2. Mountain climbers.

Coming into the pushup position, keep your abs pulled in and tight. Bring your left knee as close as you can to your left shoulder and repeat on the other side. It should feel as if you're climbing up a wall except your hands stay put. After you have brought your left leg to left shoulder, thats one rep. Complete 10 reps alternating, left to right.

3. Chin-ups.

Grab the bar with an under-hand grip, hands shoulder-width apart. Keeping your back flat and legs straight, pull yourself up so that your chin is even with the bar. Lower yourself and complete 10 reps or as many as you can.

Alternate version: If you're not at a place where you can complete chin-ups with your body weight, use an assisted pullup machine and match the weight to where you can complete 10 reps. If there is no pullup machine, use the lat machine and complete 10 reps. Keeping your back flat, wide grip, pull the bar to your chest and pause. Slowly release the bar above your head until your arms are almost straight and repeat.

Biggest Loser

2009-01-16T13:10:00.000-08:00

Want to drop some serious weight? Want to continue to build lean muscle and also burn excess fat at the same time? Take advice from the pros. Best way to speed your metabolism and shave off the pounds is to do it naturally. Stay clear from store-bought "metabolism-enhancers" that have not been proven by the FDA to actually help you lose weight. In addition, false metabolic-enhancers can create damage by excelerating your heart rate and pumping an overload of caffeine into your system which will skyrocket your blood pressure.

R.D. and nutritionist Cheryl Forberg from NBC's Biggest Loser offers tips on sheding the pounds:

1. Eat three meals a day. She advises to eat a snack in between each meal which confirms the recent popular belief that eating six meals a day raises your metabolism.

2. Guzzle more H20. Drinking water will help you feel fuller, longer and will keep your body operating as it should to help rid itself of all the fiber ingested during meals. It also helps replenish your body after exercise.

3. Think calcium. Down low-fat yogurt and cheese, string cheese is the quickest snack to take with you. Calcium is important to increase your bone mass which will improve your game in the lifting room and help avoid injury.

Madelyn Fernstorm, PhD, CNS, and founder of University of Pittsburgh's Medical Center Weight Loss Center debunks metabolic and weight loss myths:

Myth: Have a pre-workout sports drink.
Fact: Sports drinks are loaded with sugars that the average person doesn't need. Even though you see basketball and football players guzzling these during games doesn't mean you need one to replenish your hour-long workout. Ball players are continously moving for long periods of time and need the extra sugars to replenish their energy stores. Instead, water and a pre-workout coffee or tea is plenty to speed metabolism and prep your body for workouts.

Myth: Exercise is the only factor in affecting metabolism.
Fact: Although exercise does lower metabolism and eating consistently throughout the day as well, age has more of an effect on your total gains or losses. After age 30, your metabolism drops about 5% every 10 years. That means that every 10 years we need to cut back our diet 100-150 calories a day in order to maintain our weight.

Myth: Eating 6 small meals a day is better than eating 3 full meals.
Fact: While she doesn't say that eating six small meals won't help raise metabolism, she does bring it up to advise a word of caution. Your blood sugar can regulate fine with three meals and it might help "grazers" from over-eating. Giving the green light for people with over-eating problems to eat six meals might cause more problems with weight gain. If its three or six meals a day, make sure each meal has a balanced mix of proteins, carbs, and fats.

When taking in consideration tips that will aid weight loss, above all exercise your intuition. If you're unsure of whether or not what you're consuming will help you lose the pounds, research and know what you're doing. Otherwise, you could be running around with weight gainer bars that you're enemy swore to you would help you lose the extra pounds. Ever seen Mean Girls? People can be cruel.

Minimal Damage

2009-01-10T14:45:00.000-08:00

To kick off the New Year workouts, understand that the damage from the holidays is not as bad as you might think. Looking at anyone's fitness journey over long periods of time, one will find that it ebbs and flows, missing a couple weeks here or there is pretty irrelevant.

So where do you start?

1. Don't be tardy. Pencil your work out time into your schedule just as if you are keeping a doctor's appointment. Its unfair to your body and mind to skip. Plus, leaving the cold, dark winter days and heading into a brightly lit gym will increase seratonin in your brain making you happier and healthier.

2. Make a goal. Before running around the gym like a chicken with its head cut off, decide where you're headed. Don't say I want to tone and lose weight. Instead, say I want to lose 2 inches on my waist and be able to do 12 pull-ups on my own. Thats a goal.

3. Choose your weapons. Take some time to learn your way around the gym. If already familiar, decide what tools are going to effectively help you reach your goals. If you don't know, find a work out buddy or consider hiring a trainer.

4. Recreation. The winter is the most difficult time to find something outdoors to do for more than a few minutes long. Get creative, take some laps at an indoor pool, shoot hoops at the local Y, ski/snowboard, shovel snow, or even go wild on a friend's drum set.

5. Eat better. Slowly move away from the holiday sweets and fattening foods and begin to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into every meal. Stay off sugar-laden juices and drink more water during the day. This will help elevate your metabolism, keep you hydrated, and make you feel fuller.

Begin with the basics:

Before beginning a new and strenuous work out, survey where you are with the following exercises. Grab a note book and write down how many reps you can do until failure, which means do it 'til you drop.

1. Push-ups: Hands shoulder-width apart. Keep in your back flat and shoulder over your hands, elbows tucked in your body at a 45 degree angle.

2. Squats: Grasping you hands behind the head, feet should-width apart. Bend at the knees until you come to waist-height.

3. Crunches: Place an exercise ball in the small of the back, feet flat on the floor. Hands behind the head, careful not to lift your head with your hands, come off the ball just high enough to where your shoulder blades come off the ball and then return to the starting position.

Depending on where you are, you may be able to do 5 push-ups, 60 squats, and 100 crunches or 20 push-ups, 20 squats, and 50 crunches. Don't focus on how many you can do initially, but keep note so in a few weeks you can try them again and see that you've improved. These three exercises are great because you can take them anywhere and they will hit every major muscle group in the body.

2009-01-03T13:25:00.000-08:00

Hello and welcome to my new blog. This is a place where I hope you can learn something new, pick-up a quick exercise to take to the gym, or gain inspiration to get off the couch and move. We're three days in to the new year and you, like many others, have probably made or at least thought about some sort of New Year's resolution. You may want to buy a new home, seek the promotion at work, bring a relationship to the next level, take out the neighbor's annoying dog, water your lawn more often, or start biking to work to save on gas money. Or you could join 20% of America, according to Chicago Tribune, and resolve to drop some pounds.

If losing weight is your goal this year, you may have already thought about dieting. But what diet? Recent fads have been the low-carb, high-protein diet, cottage cheese diet, grapefruit diet, even the cookie diet! The hottest diet to hit the scene is the GI (glycemic index) diet which was originally created for patients that are diebetic to regulate their sugar intake. What do these things have in common? They all work, they lose the weight. Meanwhile, they don't provide a balanced intake of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients your body needs. Also, 40% of Americans said they will most likely not stick to their resolutions this year. For dieters, the percentage is even higher for weight gain as diets are intended for short term loss. This year, say no to dieting. Instead, resolve to eat well-balanced meals and get moving. When exercise and activity begin, the "diet" and healthy eating soon follow. Your body craves what it needs. Living an active lifestyle requires that your body receives an a balanced mix of protein, carbs, and fat to give you the energy you need.

Speaking of active lifestyle, consider joining a gym. In this blog I plan to speak about nutrition and being active but with a focus on cardio and weight training. The New Year is a good time to join a gym as many have cheaper rates than at any other time of the year. Also, having a weight loss goal or even a weight gain goal can be the motivation you need to get your butt in the door. However, do not be like 70% of Americans who join a gym and quit going after three months. In fact, do not even go to the gym unless you have have a plan on how you will reach your goal. It seems with many resolutions, especially weight loss goals, that we are our own worst enemy and we have to make our plan bullet-proof or failure is sure to come. For me, its setting the alarm on my cell phone and putting it in another room so that I have to physically get up out of my bed and turn it off. It works like a charm. For others, it may be to hire a trainer, buy gym equipment for home use (although there is great room for failure here), drink a cup of coffee before hitting the weights, reward yourself after a hard work-out, or get a buddy to work out with you.

Whatever your resolve; be realistic, be successful, and have fun.