The Best Way To Not Feel Guilty About Thanksgiving Dinner
November 25, 2009
Hey there, I want everyone to have a wonderful and thankful Thanksgiving.The last thing I want is for you is not to enjoy all of your Thanksgiving favorites because it doesn’t fall in-line with your current fitness goals.
So what I have done for you is put together a great 10 minute metabolism super-charging workout! This 10 minute exercise will totally jump-start your metabolism to offset some of that delicious food.Do this workout FIRST THING in the morning. Be sure to come back to this page and leave a comment about how it went.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fBw8xE46e0
10 Minute workout
Perform each of the 4 exercises for 20 seconds with only 10 seconds rest
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TIME (seconds) REST (seconds)
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PUSHUPS 20 10
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JUMP SQUATS 20 10
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MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS 20 10
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SPLIT SQUAT JUMPS 20 10
“REPEAT for a total of 4 minutes”
Take 2 min. break
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ALTERNATING PUSH-UPS 20 10
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BODY WEIGHT SQUATS 20 10
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BURPEE PUSH-UPS 20 10
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FORWARD LUNGES 20 10
“REPEAT for a total of 4 minutes”
THAT COMPLETES YOUR 10 MINUTE WORKOUT
Not All Proteins Are Created Equal
November 19, 2009
Hey Everybody,
I had Dakota Low, owner of Elite Nutrition in Yukon, Do a guest post for my blog page that is all about protein. As a personal trainer I get asked about protein all the time. Read this and if you still have questions let me know.
Chad
So with out further ado, here is Dakota.
Imagine a nutritional ingredient that has been clinically proven to help build muscle, improve physical performance, sharpen your mind, help your body ward off disease, enhance circulatory system function, improve overall health and, to top it all off, has potent anti-aging effects. The secret is high-quality whey protein, and its special building blocks that your body needs most. Protein is the one nutrient we cannot live without; however, researchers are discovering that most of us are not getting enough of it.
Protein is essential for all living things, especially humans. Our bodies are mostly made up of various proteins. But not all of the proteins we eat are created equal. What proteins are made of has an impact on whether or not they work well in your body. Your body’s activity level, and the type of activity you perform will dictate what type of protein you need. Whey protein has gotten the reputation of being the “king” of all proteins, especially as a supplement. Its reputation is well-deserved, as the benefits of whey protein are confirmed in medical research, including sports performance scientific studies by some of the world’s leading researchers, universities and medical centers, from Shanxi Medical College in China to Harvard University.
Below are some of the functions of the main amino acids (the building blocks of protein) in high-quality whey protein that occur in significant amounts to promote beneficial effects. These functions are not only important to your good health, they are also of particular interest to the fitness-minded.
Benefits of Whey Protein’s Key Amino Acids
BCAAs (Branched-Chain Amino Acids)
* Increases endurance
* Prevents fatigue
* Improves mental performance
* Increases energy level
Phenylalanine
* Maintains nervous system health
* Relieves depression
* Elevates mood
* Decreases pain
* Boosts memory
* Suppresses appetite
Tryptophan
* Relieves mild to moderate depression
* Relieves insomnia and promotes restful sleep
* Promotes weight loss by suppressing appetite
* Reduces overall sensation of pain (i.e. migraine headaches, fibromyalgia, general muscle pain)
Arginine
* Increases growth hormone levels
* Protects against heart disease
* Lowers blood pressure
* Improves poor circulation
* Aids in the production of creatine, an important source of energy
* Lowers ammonia levels, which can be increased in athletes due to frequent exercise
Glutamine
* Boosts immune system function
* Maintains muscle mass
* Prevents muscle catabolism (breakdown)
* Enhances glycogen storage
* Aids recovery from exercise
* Promotes healing
* Increases growth hormone levels
Proline
* Rebuilds cartilage and bones
* Speeds injury repair
* Promotes tissue recovery following exercise
* Protects against overuse injuries (sprains, strains, tendonitis)
Casein is whey’s brother protein. They are both derived from milk and act essentially the same. The only difference being that when casein is exposed to stomach acid it clumps. This causes a slower release and a prolonged duration of amino acids into the bloodstream. The two main protein supplements today are Whey protein or a blend of whey and casein. The difference once again is the rate of release. Both whey and casein should be used depending on when you are taking your protein.
When to take
The whey casein blend acts in the stomach as a natural food with some digesting more quickly than the rest. This quality makes a whey casein blend better to take as a meal replacement and also before bed to maintain an anabolic state in the body while sleeping. Whey protein is best to take when the body needs protein and needs it fast, right before or after you workout given that you are going to eat solid food within a reasonable amount of time. Also immediately upon waking to return your body to an anabolic state, this is also assuming you will consume solid food in a reasonable amount of time.
How much to take
The amount of protein you should consume at each meal depends on your body weight. You should consume several small meals per day to keep your blood sugar levels stabile in a positive anabolic state. When you go several hours without consuming protein you enter into a catabolic muscle-wasting state. This means that the body is eating itself to attain the amino acids it requires for proper function. Your hard-fought muscle will then disappear and body fat will reappear.
The debate over how much dietary protein is necessary will continue. From the research, we have concluded that the RDA’s recommendation of 0.36 grams per pound of bodyweight does not account for outside stresses like exercise; further, fanatical recommendations of 300 to 500 grams a day are unfounded. According to the research, 0.8 grams a day per pound of bodyweight is a good range in which to maintain positive nitrogen 
balance, and enable the trainee to continue to make muscular gains. So, as your training increases in volume, duration or intensity, your protein requirements increase accordingly. And with the increased need for quality protein, you should consume foods that have a high protein efficiency ratio. Such foods are eggs, milk, meat and fish.
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Dakota Low
Elite Nutrition
714 S. Mustang Rd.
Yukon, Ok. 73099
phone: 405-256-6899
mobile: 405-414-1003
Is the Scale a Big, Bad, Bully?
November 17, 2009
IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW MUCH YOU WEIGH
Ok, so that’s not entirely true, but it is to a point. It is actually about body composition. Body Composition is the term used to describe different components that, when taken together, make up a person’s body weight. The human body is composed of a variety of different tissue types including lean tissues (muscle, bone and organs) that are metabolically active, and fat tissue that is not. There is a huge difference between body weight and body fat but most people focus on what the scale says and though it is a “fairly good” idea of how your body looks, it is not always accurate. After all of my years in fitness, this is still the biggest issue people struggle with. I have seen many people fail at getting into shape, because we have been programmed our whole lives that “the scale doesn’t lie” and when someone is not seeing quick, drastic, “weight loss” they get discouraged and give up. How someone views weight loss and fat loss will have a huge bearing on their attempts to become leaner. To many, weight loss and fat loss are viewed as the same, and often are used interchangeably in normal, everyday conversation without complication. But for many a distinction needs to be made. If you are one of these people, I hope I can shed some light and dispel this myth for you.
As I was saying, there is a huge difference in weight loss and fat loss. Weight loss is a reduction in total body weight whether it’s from reduction in body fat, muscle tissue, water weight, glycogen stored, liver glycogen stores or a combination of 2 or more. There are about fifty ways to tweak your weight without removing any actual fat. The removal of fat is what makes you look better and makes your body healthier. Just because you can fool the scale doesn’t mean you have really accomplished anything. One of the most common ways to do this is by reducing water weight. We have all heard that term and you would be amazed how much water your body stores. Removing this excess water can make the scale go down but will not make you look any different because you are just removing water not fat. I could wrap you in a trash bag, crank the heat up to 90, have you run on a treadmill for an hour and guess what, you would probably loose ten pounds but whoop-tee-do, it’s just water, it will come back the next day. You didn’t actually accomplish anything but for many people this 10 pound weight loss means more to them then a ten pound fat loss. Another thing that discourages people is when you sometimes “gain weight after a workout”, especially the day after a workout. The reason for this is not because you are gaining fat, it’s because you muscles store water and carbohydrates after they are worked out. This is how they heal themselves. This is also why your muscles look so big immediately after you work out. It’s not that they grew that fast, they are just full of water and carbs. This is a good thing!! You want this to happen because it means your muscles are getting such a great workout that they feel they have to heal themselves. When this process is manipulated, rapid weight loss is possible. Training depletes the muscle of carbohydrates and water, and if not replaced, the body becomes lighter on the scales and rapid weight loss is reported, albeit without a reduction in actual body fat. Basically what all that means is, if you continue to remove the excess water weight you will appear lighter on the scale, however, if your muscles do not have that water to repair themselves they cannot get healthy and they are the weapons that burn fat. 
HEALTHY MUSCLES BURN FAT. Fat is what makes your body look fat, not weight.
Fat loss is defined as a reduction in body fat only and can change even when the total body weight remains the same. For example, when someone follows a resistance training program, their muscle mass may increase and their fat levels may decrease, but because one change offsets the other, overall body weight can remain virtually the same. You are probably saying, “ that stinks, I do all of that work and I just stay the same because it balances out” Keep in mind muscle is sexy and hot, fat is not. You can start a training program and only loose ten pounds of “weight” but actually you lost thirty pounds of fat!! The scale may not show that. But your new rockin’ body will. The reason is, muscle weighs more than fat. I know you have all heard that but maybe nobody has never actually explained what that meant. Muscle is more dense than fat meaning, it takes up less space. If you laid out a pound each of fat and muscle side by side the muscle would be much smaller than the fat because it is denser. It weighs exactly the same but one is much smaller. It is the same concept when it is inside your body. You may weigh the same but if it is muscle weight rather than fat weight, you will be much smaller and leaner. So as long as your fat is decreasing, it doesn’t matter what your weight is. The good way to figure out if your fat is decreasing is by your clothes. If they fit better, you are losing fat. 
A more scientific way to figure out fat loss is by your Body Fat Composition %, which is what percentage of you body is made up of fat. This can be figured several different ways but I use a simple machine that can quickly figure that for you.
Unfortunately, too many people fail to see the difference between fat loss and weight loss and mistakenly focus on total body weight, thinking that to reach their “ideal size” their weight must be a certain number on the scales. This line of thinking has serious implications in terms of exercise adherence and motivation. For example, a minimal or non-existent reduction in total body weight can be seen as a failure even though a reduction in body fat has occurred. For those that fail, or simply refuse to distinguish between fat loss and weight loss, this may be enough to deter them from continuing with their exercise program.
Plain and simple, the old way of thinking is wrong. There is not an ideal weight. Everyone is different and they store muscle, fat and water differently so you can’t possibly look at a chart and say, “well, I am 5″8 and according to this my ideal weight is 150lbs.” It simply is not that simple!! That way of thinking is dangerously old fashioned. Scientists have learned so much since then and we now know that there is not a universal chart for everyone. You can have two women that are exactly the same height and weight but one of them looks lean and the other looks chubby. Again, that is because we are all different and we carry all of the components that make up our bodies differently. 
So just remember, as long as you are losing body fat and inches, that scale is just a big, jealous, bully who doesn’t want you to succeed. The better those skinny jeans begin to fit the more you can tell that scale, “I don’t have to listen to you.”