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5 Reasons to Use a Personal Trainer

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Personal Trainer

I used to be one of those guys who said he could do it all himself in the gym. I resisted any suggestion that I use a personal trainer. After having used a personal trainer for the past 4 months I am disappointed in myself for not having done so earlier. Here are my 5 reasons why you should use a personal trainer.

  1. They will teach you how to lift correctly. A personal trainer doesn't care about your ego. All they care about is getting the best results. That requires working the muscle and working it hard. Yes, there are times when you should use heavy weight, but even then you need to have correct form in order to lift correctly and get the results you are looking for. Sometimes doing an exercise just slightly wrong winds up working the wrong muscle group. The personal trainer knows this and will point it out to you.
  2. They will push you further than you can push yourself. Again, the personal trainer is after the maximum results for their client. As a result, they will tell you to do 5 sets of 15 reps and they expect you to get 15 reps on every single set. They won't let you quit short of the goal. If necessary they will assist your reps, but you will be getting the prescribed number whether you like it or not.
  3. They will attack your body to achieve your goals. Too many people use cookie-cutter workout routines that just don't work in the long run. A personal trainer will attack your body in a way that will help you achieve your goals. They will mix up exercises in a way that will keep your muscles guessing at all times.
  4. They will coordinate your nutrition with your training. A good personal trainer will take a big interest in your nutrition because they know that's where the results truly come from. They will adjust your nutrition to match your training. One way would be to include high carb days on the days you train large muscle groups and low carb days when you train smaller muscle groups. 
  5. They will hold you accountable. Much like the fact that they will push you harder than you can push yourself, a personal trainer will also hold you accountable. They will make sure you work your abs after each training session. They will make sure you do the lifts at the proper tempo without cheating. They will insure that you follow your nutrition plan correctly.

As you can see, these 5 reasons to use a personal trainer are pretty powerful. I suggest that you give a personal trainer a try. If you do not currently use a personal trainer, please comment on your reasons why you don't. If you currently use a personal trainer, tell us your reasons.

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Cheat Your Way Thin

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Cheat

Cheat your way thin is something most people only wish they could do. Most people believe the only way to true and lasting weight loss is to eat a very strict diet. While this is true to an extent, there are important factors that will eventually stall you out when sticking to a strict diet. Even when being extremely strict about what you eat progress will eventually stall out. This is due in large part to a hormone secreted by your fat cells called leptin. Unfortunately, leptin will hit you whether you are eating too much or not enough.

Leptin Issues When Overeating

When you eat too much your fat cells fill with triglycerides. This increases the release of leptin into your blood. This causes the leptin receptors to signal the brain that the body is all fueled up.

Leptin Issues When Undereating

When eating below maintenance levels your fat cells will shrink. This causes them to release less leptin. This decrease causes your brain to think the body is hungry. This will then cause the brain to signal an increase in the appetite.

Leptin Resistance

Yes, you can become resistant to leptin. This is a condition where the brain can’t determine when body fat is at an acceptable level. The fat cells send the leptin into the blood and the leptin receptors bind to it, but there is no signal to stop eating. The worst part is that you are still very hungry and will continue to eat more food.

What’s the Trick to Cheat Your Way Thin?

Just as the picture above depicts, have a high calorie cheat meal. It will help you to lean out in the long run by balancing the leptin levels. It would seem that 1 to 2 cheat meals a week is optimal for this purpose.

Conclusion on Cheat Your Way Thin

The conclusion is obvious. Don’t be so strict with your diet. Make sure to eat right and to eat enough. At the same time, include 1 to 2 cheat meals every week. This will take care of the problems leptin can cause you.

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Water for Fat Loss and Performance

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Drink Water for Fat Loss and Performance

Does water really assist with fat loss? The research on this seems to be mixed at the current time. This is a problem when it comes to you and I and our quest for losing fat—or is it?

The original research said that drinking cold water could raise your metabolism by as much as 100 calories. This is a significant increase and could definite assist with fat loss. However, the latest research says that the original research was wrong. It is now believed that water has very little effect on the metabolism. Does this mean you don’t need to drink water?

Personally I place more emphasis on the things I see and experience myself. This is why I drink 2 gallons of water every single day. I have seen that being hydrated increases my performance and helps me to lose fat. This is something I can directly point to in my fat loss efforts. When I didn’t concentrate on drinking enough water my fat loss was very slow. As soon as I focused on drinking enough water, fat loss gained momentum. It all makes a lot of sense.

Science has already proven that dehydration can effect mental performance (Archives of Environmental Health, Volume 43, Issue 1, 1988, pp. 15-17) and physical performance (Journal of Applied Physiology, September 3, 1957). Thus, as someone who wants to be in great shape, I understand that I need to drink water to optimize my training performance.

Yes, I drink 2 gallons of water every day (and some days it is even more). This took a lot of getting used to. However, it isn’t as difficult as it sounds. In fact, drinking 2 gallons of water probably isn’t necessary for most people. Most people are so dehydrated when they start that any amount of water intake is better than they were doing previously. Thus, my own recommendation is to pick up a 1/2 gallon jug and fill it every morning. Insure that it is empty by the end of every day. This will go a long way towards rehydrating your body and improving your performance.

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Mission Grand Prix: 108 Days to Go – Why I Am Doing This

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Motivation

I have been asked several times during Mission Grand Prix: Why are you doing this? I have come up with 3 reasons and I share them with you today.

  1. I want to finish a goal I set 6 years ago. 6 years ago is when I joined the group shred hosted by Adam Waters. I was extremely serious about losing the fat. My problem was more about the methods I used at the time. I now want to hit 8% body fat and be in the absolute best shape of my life.
  2. I want to inspire others. I am a 47 year old guy who used to be totally out of shape. I know that if I can accomplish the goals I have set for myself, anyone can. I want to be an inspiration to others.
  3. I want to feel good about myself again. Being overweight is no fun at all. I am tired of it. I want to look at myself and feel good about what is looking back at me.
  4. I have placed positive pressure on myself. One thing the group shred taught me is the importance of positive pressure. I have told the entire world that I am stepping on stage on April 14, 2012. That means I am doing it no matter how I look. That is plenty of motivation to get into great shape.

You will note that all 3 reasons are about me and only me. This is because I have made this about myself. I am not doing this for anyone else. If I was, it would probably wind up failing. I have to approach the next 15 weeks like my life depends upon it. In a way, it does.

If I fail over these next 15 weeks I will have let myself down by not finishing the goal I set 6 years ago.

If I fail over these next 15 weeks I will have failed to inspire anyone.

If I fail over these next 15 weeks I will not be happy with myself.

If I fail over these next 15 weeks the entire world will know because I will step on stage completely out of shape.

I am not scared because I have focus. What about your journey scares you? Please share with us in the comments.

[pro-player width='530′ height='253′ type='video']http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhbuWEL_6Sk[/pro-player]

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Mission Grand Prix: 117 Days to Go — Deload Week

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Deload WeekThis week is a deload week for me. This is a very important part of the strategy for contest preparation. It gives my body some time to recover before we put it through the rigorous training that will start on January 1, 2012.

Cardio Training

Today was a cardio only day. While I am not fond of cardio, I am motivated to get it done because I want to be as lean as I possibly can. It is at times like this that I am thankful I have a trainer. Chris has told me not to over do the cardio. He specifically dialed back the amount of time I spend doing cardio. Had I been preparing on my own I am sure I'd have gone in the other direction.

My cardio training is now the high intensity cardio format. I am not doing intervals as much. I will be throwing them in after weight training workouts, but will not use them during dedicated cardio sessions such as the one I did today.

 

Cardio After Weights

One new wrinkle is that Chris has me doing cardio after my weight training. It is a very short (10 minutes) session of intervals, but it is designed to help us maximize my fat burning potential. After all the glycogen has been expended through a tough weight training session, this interval cardio has the potential to burn a tremendous amount of fat. This is another strategy that we are using for contest preparation.

Nutrition

Today was a banner day. I ate nothing but chicken, beef, sweet potato, spinach and water. The focus that was there before is getting even more laser guided. I can feel the difference. The anticipation of the start of 2012 has me bearing down more than before. I can see major changes in the pictures I posted on Saturday and I am looking forward to the pictures to come on this Saturday.

I'd love it if you would share with me your thoughts on getting lean. What has worked for you and what has not that you thought would?

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