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At some point during their weight loss journey, a lot of people may ask the question: why am I not losing weight.  What to do to lose weight may seem relatively simple: eat less and exercise more.  While this mantra may hold under ideal scientific conditions, as human beings there are other factors that go into the weight loss equation. Don’t get me wrong, at the end of the day I still think weight loss is driven by how many calories you consume versus how many calories you expend.  Ultimately this comes down to diet and exercise. Diet: One Way to Lose Weight In my opinion, diet should be the key area of focus when it comes to what to do to lose weight.  While most people will just try to eat less calories, I actually think there are 5 separate factors that influence diet: calories, appetite, taste, emotional eating, and nature vs. nurture. Calories This is where it all begins.  For a minute, let’s just forget about the quality of calories you eat....

As I was writing How to Get a Beach Body in 2 Months or Less, I got around to thinking about the best way to stay in shape.  Below is a 3 step, fool-proof way to stay in shape. 1. Exercise A simple 3 day split.  Day 1: Pushups, Day 2: Pull Ups, Day 3: Sprints; repeat for the next 3 days and give yourself a day off.  For pushups and pull ups, complete one max set.  For sprints, you’ll run 400 meters (1 lap around the track).  Here’s the trick.  Each workout you have to increase the number of pushups and pull ups you perform by at least 1 rep.  If you can’t beat your personal record in one set, you have to do 5 more sets, stopping one rep short of failure on each set and allowing yourself 2 minutes rest between sets.  For sprints, if you can’t run faster than your personal record, you have to do 5 more laps with 2 minutes rest between laps. 2. Diet You get to eat whatever you want.  Go to McDonald’s every day if you feel like it.  H...

A couple weeks ago, a colleague asked me about how to increase bench press.  Increasing bench press is something I used to train for a long time ago.  While it’s not one of my current goals, the first question out of a lot of people’s mouths in the gym is: how much do you bench?  However, the first thing you should be asking yourself is: why do you want to increase your bench press?  This question is important because you should adjust your bench press routine based on different end goals.  Below I outline how to increase bench press if your goal is simply increasing your one rep max, increasing muscle mass and strength, or just building a better looking chest. Increase Your Bench Press No matter what your goal, the first recommendation for increasing your bench press is to develop proper form.  A few pointers: Keep your feet flat on the floor, shoulder width apart Grip should be slightly wider than shoulder width Keep your shoulder blades together...

I recently started incorporating kettlebell exercises into my workout routine.  If you want to add a little variety and ramp up fat burning, I’d highly recommend utilizing kettlebell workout routines.  So, why should you start using kettlebells?  Because they’re great for increasing strength, losing body fat, and improving your cardiovascular health.  What more could you want out of a piece of equipment?  Another benefit I’ve found is that one-arm kettlebell exercises have helped me even out the strength between my arms. What is a kettlebell? As you can see from the picture, a kettlebell is a cannonball with a handle.  For some, the initial reaction to kettlebell workout routines is that you can perform the same exercises with dumbbells or a barbell.  In my recent experience, I’ve found the kettlebell provides a slightly different workout than either though.  It lies in the fact that you hold the handle to perform exercises which means the wei...

Are there any benefits of low intensity cardio?  With the emergence of high intensity cardio and other intense training routines, a low intensity cardio workout is not nearly as prevalent as it used to be.  Why have I started doing a lot more low intensity cardio for fat loss then?  Because it’s a great way to burn a few extra calories with very little risk of over training or injury.  This is an important component of Visual Impact Cardio and was mentioned in my interview with Rusty Moore as a great way to get the lean, Hollywood look. Low Intensity Cardio vs. High Intensity Cardio My definition of low intensity cardio is anything from walking to a slow jog.  It’s exercise that may require a modest amount of effort but something during which you could probably carry on a conversation.  High intensity cardio on the other hand would include sprints or interval training in which you have to focus on catching your breath rather than talking. High intensi...

As you get leaner, one of the biggest challenges is measuring body fat percentage and measuring muscle mass percentage.  If you’re trying to lose a lot of weight, the scale is just as good a tool as any.  However, when you’re trying to lose the last 5-10lbs of fat while preventing muscle loss, the scale alone won’t necessarily help.  How can you effectively measure your weight loss results if you don’t know your body fat percentage or muscle mass percentage?  Based my recent experience, your best bet is to combine a variety of different methods.  Even then, it’s tough to definitively determine anything in the short term. Measuring Body Fat & Muscle Mass I recently finished doing Joel Marion’s Xtreme Fat Loss Diet.  While I’ll be reviewing that program separately, I thought I’d highlight how I tracked my results.  First thing to note, this was an experiment and I would not advise taking your weight, measuring body fat percentage, and measuring m...

Have you ever wondered about how to make your strength training workout more time efficient and effective?  Then it’s time to consider a high weight, low reps superset workout routine.  The best way to build strength is by using a heavy weight that you can only lift for a few reps.  Ideally you want to give your muscles plenty of time to rest between sets so that you avoid training to failure.  However, this is terribly inefficient.  This is where superset workout routines can be helpful.  Rather than just resting between sets, you perform a different exercise.  I’ve discussed my preferred way to combine high weight, low rep training with a superset workout in Fitness in a Flash and How to Get a Beach Body but thought it might be worthwhile to provide a little more flavor. High Weight, Low Reps If you’re focused on gaining strength, then I’d highly recommend combining high weight training with low reps.  Muscle fibers experience the most growt...

While I generally think heavy lifting while avoiding failure is the best way to train, every once in a while I like to perform low weight high reps training to failure.  This is primarily used for sarcoplasmic hypertrophy which results in muscle mass gains.  Done strategically, training to failure can actually generate a nice “shrink-wrap effect” as well.  However, over the long term, I think low weight high reps training is best left to bodybuilders. Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy vs. Myofibrillar Hypertrophy Let’s get the technical stuff out of the way.  Low weight high reps training to failure results in sarcoplasmic hypertrophy while high weight low reps training avoiding failure results in myofibrillar hypertrophy.  So what’s the difference?  Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is characterized by bigger muscles.  However, that volume is in the form of sarcoplasmic fluid.  Fluids can’t contract so while sarcoplasmic hypertrophy results in muscles with mor...

Today I’d like to discuss branched chain amino acids.  You may have heard of BCAAs before but do they really live up to their claim of being effective for losing fat and gaining muscle?  While I’d say there are many benefits of BCAAs, whether you decide to supplement with them will depend in part on when you exercise and how restrictive your diet is.  For fasted training, I’d highly recommend using branched chain amino acids to help prevent muscle loss while maximizing fat loss.  Any other time, there’s probably only a marginal benefit at best. Branched Chain Amino Acids Let’s start with the basics.  What are branched chain amino acids?  In short, they’re the best building blocks of protein (essential amino acids known as valine, leucine, and isoleucine).  While your body cannot produce BCAAs on its own, you’re likely getting plenty of these amino acids from your diet, primarily through protein.  However, anyone pursuing a calorie restrictive ...

Why Gymnastics Training The amazing thing about gymnastics exercises is that you can get immensely strong.  Because gymnastics training is built around bodyweight exercises, a common misconception is that there is more of an endurance focus rather than strength focus.  This stems from the fact that many people can perform high reps of pushups, pull ups, and other bodyweight exercises.  However, gymnastics training can make these exercises significantly more challenging by changing angles and how much leverage you have.  The key to increasing strength is to increase the challenge of a bodyweight exercise to the point where you can only perform a low number of reps. Another argument is that the increased strength from gymnastics training won’t translate into strength in the gym.  In Building the Gymnastics Body, Coach Sommer describes some pretty impressive feats of a student who had only performed gymnastics exercises and had never used weights.  This s...

Is weight loss really all about creating an energy deficit by eating less calories than you expend?  Dr. John Berardi has challenged that notion with what he calls G-Flux.  This concept involves energy flux, and Dr. Berardi argues that you are better off eating more and exercising more to generate a caloric deficit.  Essentially you influence your metabolic rate and ultimately increase your metabolism leading to a great number of calories burned than if you tried to simply eat less.  On the surface, G-Flux is a novel approach that makes sense when viewed over the long term. Increase Your Metabolism What’s the easiest, most time efficient way to cut calories?  Simply remove them from your diet, right?  However, did you ever notice that your weight loss starts to level off as you get leaner and approach your target weight?  You could even get to the point where you’re eating less than 1,000 calories per day but still not seeing any results.  I...

Most people have heard how omega 3 essential fatty acids supplements like fish oil can help improve your health.  What are essential fatty acids though?  Should you take essential fatty acids supplements or simply try to get enough omega 3 fatty acids from fish and other food sources?  Just what is krill oil and are there any health benefits of krill oil vs. fish oil?  I’ll tackle these and other questions. What are Essential Fatty Acids? Essential fatty acids include omega 3s and omega 6s.  The body cannot produce these on their own, and it is therefore necessary to ingest these through food.  The problem is that the typical diet consists of plenty of omega 6 fatty acids but not enough omega 3 fatty acids.  While the optimal ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 should be less than 6:1 for disease prevention, it’s estimated that we are closer to 15-20:1 meaning that we’re getting far too many omega 6 essential fatty acids and too few omega 3s.  Why is ...

Over the past couple months, my fitness routine has included many of my favorite strategies to get six pack abs.  Combining a clean diet with ample strength training and cardio has allowed me to significantly reduce my body fat to a level I have never been before.  As such, I’d like to share my six pack abs workout routine and diet plan.  Additionally, I’d like to review some of my preferred six pack abs exercises.  While I can’t guarantee you’ll see the same results as me, I hope that many of these tips will help you learn how to get six pack abs. How to Get Six Pack Abs The fundamental key to getting six pack abs is that your body fat has to be very low.  Everyone is different, but generally for men, you’ll start to see your abs around 10% body fat.  You’ll look completely ripped if you get under 6% body fat.  For women, you’ll start to see a nice six pack when your body fat is around 16%.  Anything under 12% and you’ll have ripped abs. Wh...

I’ve been a long time advocate of intermittent fasting weight loss approaches.  While my experience and the experience of others clearly show how effective intermittent fasting for weight loss can be, the results and research from Dr. John Berardi go one step further.  For years, Dr. Berardi has eaten meals every 3-4 hours and helped 100,000+ clients lose weight by doing so.  He decided to experiment with intermittent fasting after reading numerous success stories.  As a researcher, Dr. Berardi was able to track every aspect of his intermittent fasting results, from weight loss to blood work changes.  His free report, Experiments with Intermittent Fasting, documents how he successfully used intermittent fasting to lose weight.  I’d like to summarize some of his key findings and show how they’re congruent with my experience. Intermittent Fasting to Lose Weight In general, there are two broad Intermittent Fasting Weight Loss Approaches.  There’s week...

If you’re looking for a way to gain lean muscle mass, then I highly recommend Martin Berkhan’s Leangains Guide.  While my work and family schedule prohibit following all of Martin’s recommendations, I’ve recently tried to implement as many as possible from the Leangains Guide.  Most people will have a hard time believing that a diet centered around intermittent fasting constitutes the best muscle building diet plan, but I’ve seen excellent fat free muscle mass gains when pairing the Leangains approach with the Visual Impact Muscle Building workouts. The Best Muscle Building Diet Plan Most muscle building diet plans focus on eating a lot of calories.  However, this subjects you to potential fat gain.  Whenever I’ve previously tried this approach, I always ended up eating too much and adding a good deal of fat to go along with muscle mass.  Then I would have to work really hard to eliminate the fat while trying to preserve muscle.  Generally known as the ...

As the year comes to a close, I thought now would be a good time to review my favorite workout programs and diet plans.  So what are the key components of the best workout programs and best diet plans?  In general, I think any good program provides some background and guidance as to why it is effective.  That should in turn help the reader understand and even construct their own workout program or diet plan.  Additionally, I find that the best workout programs and best diet plans lay out a recommended approach.  Obviously, this provides a starting point for readers.  Ultimately, I believe the best programs offer specificity as well as customization.  In other words, a reader can either perform an exact recommended routine or gain enough knowledge to create their own routine.  In this manner, the best workout programs and best diet plans can be effective for both beginners and experienced fitness fanatics. Free Workout Program and Diet Plan Bef...