5 Easy Ways to Drop 5 Pounds for the New Year

I'd like to share five simple strategies with you for shedding five pounds of fat before the holidays.

But first let me clear something up.

Weight loss can be put into two categories.

-The first is a fully concentrated effort. This is where you dedicate yourself to counting every calorie and slaving away in the gym. The pounds come off, but once you relax the regimen your weight goes right back to where it was.

-The second is a combination of simple lifestyle changes. This is where you change a few key factors about what you eat and how you exercise, without making it a fulltime job. This type of weight loss is gradual and permanent, since you are able to maintain it long term.

The five simple strategies below all fall into the lifestyle change category. These strategies may seem ridiculously simple, but do them over an extended period of time and you will see amazing, permanent results.

Strategy #1: Ditch Your Diet Soda

Studies are coming out that link diet soda to weight gain.
Researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio concluded that those who drank two or more diet soft drinks a day had the largest waistline increases—about five times more than that of non-drinkers. They stated, "Data from this and other prospective studies suggest that the promotion of diet sodas as healthy alternatives may be ill-advised: they may be free of calories, but not of consequences."

Bottom line: Artificial sweeteners are addictive, lead to waistline increases, and cause you to crave sugary foods. By cutting diet soda out of your daily routine, and replacing it with water, you will lose inches and pounds—effortlessly.

Strategy #2: Swap Sandwich Bread for Lettuce
Move over bread, lettuce is better.
It's time to re-define your sandwich. While bread has tradition on its side, lettuce wraps offer you weight loss and increased energy. Try my Tasty Tuna Lettuce Wraps recipe below.

Bottom line: Eating bread and other starchy foods always leads to extra pounds, so change your ways. Swap your sandwich bread for lettuce for 30 days and see how much you will effortlessly lose. I bet you'll feel more energetic after lunch too.
Strategy #3: Trade Slow Cardio for Intense Intervals

Doing slow cardio will not give you results.

In order to really make your workout effective, you need to turn up the intensity. If you love the treadmill, then do a series of sprints throughout your workout. If you're a swimmer, then push yourself extra hard every other lap.

Bottom line: Doing slow, easy cardio will not give you the streamline body you want. Only intense intervals will do that for you. Pepper your workout with bouts of intense cardio and watch as the fat starts to disappear.

Strategy #4: Avoid Sugar 99% Of The Time

Sugar will cause you to gain weight every single time.

There's really no way around that simple truth. Sugar is standing between you and your perfect body. If you're serious about looking and feeling great, then understand that sugar has no place in your diet.

Bottom line: If you avoid sugar 99% of the time, then you will be on your way to a lean and energetic body. If it's your birthday or a special holiday, then partake in a small amount of sugar, but make that the exception and not the rule.

Strategy #5: Exercise With A Professional (ahem ahem)

When I design your workouts, you know it will be good.

People who work with a personal trainer get better results than those who attempt to do it on their own. Just look at my clients and their amazing transformations, and you'll see what I mean. Each workout will push you to your limits, challenge your body and deliver the results you're looking for.
Bottom line: All of my clients expect to get the best workout of their lives each and every time they train with me, and my job is to over-deliver.
Call or email today and I'll get you started on a program that will get you to the body of your dreams.

A Bron Brief:Stair Push Ups

Push Ups...probably one of the easiest test of overall body weight strength for beginners. Chances are if a person can do a lot of push ups with legit form..their probably in shape. The only issue is most people can't do many and get so discouraged that they give up on doing them and just jump to machines or weights IGNORING how important push ups are to muscle balance and stability. Body weight exercises like push ups build the muscle around your joints that get you ready for heavy exercises so skipping them can slow your progress and lead to injury. So how do we improve your push up skill when you can only do 5 or 6 now? simple...do them on stairs..

Sample Weight Gaining Diet for Hard Gainers

This diet isn't for everyone, but if you are the kind of person who has always been very light and lean and are looking to put on some muscle then this is a good way to go about it, as your body won't store fat very easily.

GOALS: Gain Muscle

FOODS NEEDED: Basically anything in sight, but you'll be making extensive use of semi skimmed/ skimmed milk, and meat sources.

CALORIES: As many as possible until you are gaining weight regularly 1-2 lbs a week.

CARBS 40%
PROTEIN 30%
FAT 30%

EXAMPLE DIET:

Meal 1) Bacon, Eggs, Toast, Glass of Milk

Meal 2) Meat Sandwich (chicken, beef, pork) with a Glass of Milk

Meal 3) Any meal available with a large serving of meat

Meal 4) Meat Sandwich/ Piece of Fruit (depending on appetite) and a drink

Meal 5) Any meal available with a large serving of meat.

Meal 6) Meat Sandwich/ Piece of Fruit (depending on appetite) and a drink

As you can see this is somewhat of the famous see-food diet. As in if you see food, eat it, almost anything goes. A good suggestion to make sure you don't put on too much fat with this diet is to monitor your weight daily. If you gain much more than 1-2lbs a week, try to maintain that for the rest of the week. Make sure you are lifting weights regularly with this diet to make sure your adding the muscle which is the maim goal of the diet.

Basic Core Strength Building Routine for Athletes

This program is designed as a basic template to strength train athletes. With this it will increase basic core stability and strength and prime the athlete for more advanced programs which center around gaining muscle or increasing speed/ explosiveness.

GOALS: Build Strength Foundation and Increase Athletic Performance

DURATION: 6 Weeks

WORKOUT DAYS: 3 Days a week

WORKOUT A)
Squats: 3 sets of 10-8-6 (2020 Tempo)
Stiff Leg Deadlifts: 3 sets of 8-8-6 (2020 Tempo)
Calf Raises: 5 sets of 8 (2020 Tempo)
Abdominal Crunches: 3 sets of 10 (2020 Tempo) add weight if needed
Twisting Sit Ups: 3 sets of 10 (2020 Tempo)
Glute Ham Raise: 2 sets of 8 (2030 Tempo)

REST DAY

WORKOUT B)
Bench Press: 3 sets of 10-8-6 (2020 Tempo)
Incline Dumbbell Flyes: 3 sets of 10-8-8 (2020 Tempo)
Seated Low Pulley Cable Row: 3 sets of 8-8-8
Wide Lat Pull Down: 3 sets of 10
Underhand Lat Pull Down: 3 sets of 8
(2020 Tempo) superset the 2 as a extended set

WORKOUT C)
Seated Military Press: 3 sets of 10-8-6 (2020 Tempo)
Lateral Raises: 3 sets of 10-8-6 (2020 Tempo)
Rear Deltoid Raises: 2 sets of 10-8 (2020 Tempo)
Standing Barbell Curl: 3 sets of 10-8-8 (2020 Tempo)
Standing Hammer Curls: 2 sets of 10-8 (2020 Tempo)
Tricep Dips: 3 sets of 10-8-8 (2020 Tempo)
Skull Crushers: 2 sets of 10-8 (2020 Tempo)

REST DAY

REST DAY

Sample Top Performance Diet For Athletes

This diet is a good approach to keeping energy levels high for athletic performance and with a little manipulation of calories can be used to steadily gain muscle or lose fat at a steady pace without wild fluctuations of energy levels.

GOALS: Increase Athletic Performance

FOODS NEEDED: Oatmeal/porridge, Brown Rice, Protein Powders, Mixed Nuts, Lean Sources of Low Fat Meat (Lean Steaks, Beef, Chicken, Salmon), Canned Tuna, Canned Salmon, Low Fat Cottage Cheese/Yogurt, Flax Oil/Linseed Oil/ Cod Liver Oil, Multivitamins.

CALORIES: Around maintenance calories, if weight moves up or down unacceptably then adjust caloric intake accordingly.

CARBS 40%
PROTEIN 50%
FAT 10%

EXAMPLE DIET:

Meal 1) multivitamin, oatmeal/porridge with two tablespoons protein powder mixed in or egg whites

Meal 2) cottage cheese or yogurt with one piece of fruit (banana or apple etc)

Meal 3) 1 cup of brown rice with 1 piece of chicken breast (season with small amounts of a sauce for taste)

Meal 4) cottage cheese with fruit

Meal 5) 4oz lean beef with vegetables

Meal 6)protein shake with flax/liver oil

Sample Alternating Meal Combinations

This style of dieting is an excellent way to put on muscle while not gaining a lot of fat at the same time. It is imperative though that you follow the meal combination rules: Either eat fats and proteins together, with very little carbohydrates, or eat protein and carbohydrates together with very little fat.

GOAL: Gain Muscle

FOODS NEEDED: Oatmeal/porridge, Skimmed Milk, Protein Powders, Wholemeal Breads, Chicken, Turkey, Egg Whites, Fat Free Cheese, Potatoes, Canned Tuna, Canned Salmon, Low Fat Cottage Cheese/Yogurt, Flax Oil/Linseed Oil/ Cod Liver Oil, Multivitamins.

CALORIES: 500 Above Maintenance

CARBS 40%
PROTEIN 30%
FAT 30%

EXAMPLE DIET:

Meal 1) Small serving of Oatmeal with protein powder mixed in

Meal 2) Turkey Sandwich

Meal 3) Grilled Chicken Breast and small serving of Boiled Potatoes

Meal 4) Poached Eggs

Meal 5) Grilled Chicken Breast, one slice of fat free cheese

Meal 6)protein shake with cod liver oil

Help Support Breast Cancer Awareness With Style..

With October coming to a close as Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the walks/races winding down, you can still show your support. The innovative people behind BIONIC GLOVES are once again ahead of the curve by keeping up with the NFL model and making their own  Breast Cancer Awareness gloves.

Food For Thought: Creamy Parmesan Broiled Tilapia = 196 Calories

Quick, easy, inexpensive and surprisingly cheesy recipe. Can be used with any white fish I just happened to have Tilapia handy. 196 CALORIES

INGREDIENTS
2 Tilapia Fillets (5oz to 6oz each - if frozen, be sure to thaw fully before cooking)
2 teaspoons Light Mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Non-Fat Plain Yogurt
4 Tablespoons Shredded Parmesan Cheese
2 to 4 sprigs of fresh Dill
1 tsp Garlic Powder or Garlic Salt, divided
Black Pepper (use as much or as little as you like)
Non-Stick Cooking Spray


DIRECTIONS
Makes 2 servings, 5oz-6oz depending on size of fillets.

1. Place Mayonnaise, Yogurt and Parmesan Cheese in a small bowl, mix with a spoon until well combined.

2. Cover a cookie sheet with aluminum and spray with Non-Stick Cooking Spray of your choice.

3. Set oven to Broil on High (if you have that option)

4. Place Tilapia fillets onto cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart.

5. Divide the Cheese mixture and spread half onto each fillet with a spoon, using the back of the spoon to distribute evenly over fish.

6. Rub dill between your fingers to separate and sprinkle 1 to 2 sprigs worth of leaves over each fillet.

7. Sprinkle each fillet with half of the Garlic powder or Garlic Salt and desired amount of Black Pepper.

8. Place cookie sheet into oven about 6" below the broiler. (I used the first level down from the very top).

9. Watch fish carefully. Depending on the weight of the fillets it will take between 5-7 minutes to cook fully. When you notice the cheese starting to brown, check fish every 30 seconds to see if it's done. Fish will flake easily with a fork when fully cooked.

10. Turn broiler off and leave fish in oven about 5 minutes. (this is optional, but will ensure it's cooked all the way and give you a chance to finish the rest of your preparation)

11. Remove from oven and serve with side dishes of your choice.

NUTRITIONAL FACTS

FAT: 6.9g
CHOLESTEROL: 9.0mg
SODIUM: 213.2mg
CARBS: 1.2g
DIETARY FIBER: 0.0g
PROTEIN: 35.0g

UPDATE: FIRSTAR

The people at FIRSTAR were kind enough to send us even MORE cool gear. Along with shirts they also sent normal shorts and compression shorts (man boxers) lol. All of its high end with the same top notch quality as the T3 shirts I reviewed earlier. To get some of your own go to FIRSTAR or click on the link bar to the right.

The important thing is to be able, at any moment, to sacrifice what we are for what we can become.

SPORTIQUE: Man Perfected Natural Body Care

"Cleanliness is next to godliness" This ancient proverb is said by many but followed by very few. Nowadays while companies are trying hard to "man up" most body sprays and shampoos, the lotion and creme market is still pretty bland. You either smell like a sore 90 old person if you use pain relief cream or throw on some lotion and smell like cucumber grapefruit before your night on the town. I don't know about you, but as a man and a top level athlete neither really works for me. I'm guessing it didn't work for the designers of SPORTIQUE either.

SPORTIQUE sells itself as "Man Perfected Natural Body Care" and for all intensive purposes they have defiantly set the bar high. After reaching out to them they were kind enough to send me a few samples. And by samples, as you can see in the picture, they sent enough for me to start a small boutique in the mall. Trust me though, I'm not complaining because from what I've used their products work. And work well at that. I have not had a chance to test them all but did manage to try a few hand creams and pre/post work ointments from the line. The hand cream is rich without being greasy. The Shea butter goes on smooth and rubs right in. I even used it on my new tattoo being that they are all natural ingredients. The shaving oil is great and a little goes a long way. It moisturizes the skin and since it's oil you don't have to keep reapplying like you do with foam creme. The Warming Up creme was actually very impressive. A client of mine had a ankle bruise from a soccer game. Real nice black and blue shiner. So figured I'd try it and just have her rub some on. She didn't know what it was but agreed. The very next day she text me asking what it was since the discoloration in her ankle was pretty much gone. She even went as far as asking if it was some miracle creme. Now while I wouldn't go THAT far, you can't argue with the results. Same goes for the Get Going Creme that you Use prior to intense physical activity to loosen up or, soothe and invigorate.
The SPORTIQUE line is very upscale products that men won't mind using and women will enjoy it when they do. The scents are relaxed without coming off too metro or over the top. Each one is loaded with clean botanicals such as lavender, aloe, almond and all kinds of other great skin promotions oils. Even the containers, while basic, have enough style for a man to feel comfortable using. My only complaint is some of the containers aren't flight size friendly with these new airport rules (I learned first hand) but that's more nit picking than anything. I'd recommend them to anyone looking to bring a new element to the hygiene table. Also if you are someone like me who likes the peace of mind that your skin care products are natural and organic while still doing what it was supposed to do, keeping your body looking and feeling good, then SPORTIQUE is the way to go. Just don't share it too much or your friends might fall in love and you'll never see it again. I recently learned that first hand too.
SUMMARY
GET IT! Chances are you care about your hygiene (if your over the age of 9 you better start) and probably spending money on body care products anyway. While the products may be alittle pricey, their well worth it in that "you get what you pay for" sense. I'd definitely recommend the Joint & Muscle Gel, Warm Up Cream, and the Century Riding Cream although all of the products seem to work equally well so if you can get, get them all.

Chapfix: A man's chapstick

ChapFix
http://chapfix.com/

I feel kind of funny reviewing chap stick on a sports/fitness site but this product makes it worth it. On the market today there's pretty much two main kinds of chap sticks. Glittery girl raspberry ones with unicorns or lip stinging medicated ones that smell like moth balls on your lips. As a guy neither of those are appealing or manly. In comes Chapfix to "fix" the issue (see what I did there? Clever I know).

Chair-Pak Travel Chair

Chair-Pak
http://www.chairpak.com/home.html

40 years ago everyone expected us to have jet packs and cars that turn into suitcases like on the Jetsons. While we're not there yet, lovely inventions like the Chair-Pak, do give a idea of how much time could be saved when that happens.

In itself, the chair-pak is essentially exactly that, a backpack with a aluminum chair built in. Sure the idea seems overly simple, but it's actually very well designed to blend the two. The chair is crafted into the backpack so while people can still tell it's a chair if they look hard enough, it's still not some gaudy eye sore or too small to be useful. It's a normal sized book bag, perfect for lugging around hiking equipment, sports gear, etc without sacrificing much space .. And with removal of one elastic strap, the chair pops out and your ready to relax at your destination. As always, I looked to test it in real world situations, so I gave it to my mom to break in. Now my mom isn't some hulking figure so the first question was would it be too heavy for her to comfortably carry. That answer is a firm no. It's surprisingly really light, lighter than your basic steel folding chair and she could lift it with one hand and swing it onto her back like a 5th grader. The next question is, being that light, could it really hold anything up. Again the chair pack cruises through. On the tag it says no one over 230 lb should sit on it. I'm roughly 240 at 6'4 and was able to comfortably relax in it. Sure if I got a running start and cannonballed onto it, it would probably snap but for sitting and watching my nieces sports events it works perfectly. My moms only concern was how to wash it all, but for the most part it's fairly easy. She's even keeping it because it's much more convenient than carrying the huge hammock fold out chair or constantly looking for bleacher seats.

SUMMARY
The Chair-Pak is a good investment for any outdoors man no matter if your hiking, watching a sporting event or just lounging in the back yard. Being able to carry a chair without forfeiting space or comfort is a time saver and well thought out. Now hopefully Les, the Chair-Pak creator can get started on my suitcase Jetsons car next.

FIRSTAR Compression Shirt: the next big thing.

FIRSTAR Sports Shirts
http://www.firstarsports.com/

As everyone knows, I'm a under amour guy. Tops, shorts, hoodies, even ones that haven't come out yet, I have. I literally have two draws of just UA workout tops.Well those tops might be making room soon because FIRSTAR may have stolen some of the spotlight.

I contacted FIRSTAR about the compression shirts after hearing through the grapevine about them but not knowing much detail. I assumed it would be another Kmart type compression shirt jumping on the trend. I couldn't have been more wrong. Putting the T3 on you notice it's a lighter material than most compression shirts which is always a plus as long as the material is durable. Being that FIRSTAR was originally made for hockey players (it's a Canadian company ah) you know the material is meant to last. Now some confusion came after getting the shirt on as it wasn't as "compressed" as I expected around my upper back giving me a weird bat man cape look. After pulling on the shirt a little and lining it up better, it was form fitting and had a nice feel to it. At first glance, it passes the looks test with nice colors and smooth seams that don't restrict any motion, a issue most compression shirts seem to overlook. Also the way that the seams are done around the shoulders, the fabric has give where most outfits would pull. If I shoot a jump shot or do a shoulder press FIRSTAR gives me free range while my lovely under armor pulls up the rest of the shirt making it uncomfortable and constantly needing to be pulled back down or worse changing my form . FIRSTAR 1 - UA 0..The next step was to see how it held up in a workout setting. Now I'm no hockey player but I assume they don't sweat a lot on the ice but me ( I was later corrected that their actually pretty sweaty guys), but I sweat like Shaq. This is where FIRSTAR really raises the bar. While my face was dripping with sweat, my body felt perfectly dry. Always a big concern of mine was how if you sweat in most compression shirts, the shirt shows the sweat. But not FIRSTAR. After a hour workout and basketball that had my face dripping, the shirt was almost dry to the touch and "cold dampness" at very worst. No huge wet sweat mark, no body clinging sweaty shirty. When I got home it was already basically good to wear again. You can tell they really put effort in how to handle moisture when designing these shirt.

SUMMARY
FIRSTAR impressed me. What I expected to be pretty much another basic compression shirt turned out to be my new go to shirt on intense workout days. With its free range of motion and amazing moisture control, I like it so much I might even get some for my training staff to wear as uniforms. So when you get a chance, head over to FIRSTAR and get your self a pair before other people find out and they start getting pricey.

Jay Wolf's Star Shooter

Jay Wolf's Shooting Star
http://www.starshooter.net/

Basketball fundamentals are commonly overlooked now days in order to sell flash and style. I can name about 10 NBA all star stars who can't even hit a jump shot on a regular basis (I'm looking at you Ben Wallace). Well shooting coach Jay Wolf took it into his own hands to make that easier to rectify.

Now let me start off by saying there's TONS of shooting aids on the market. All make the same claims they can turn any kid into Ray Allen. And while they help, few helped as fast as Jay Wolf’s SHOOTING STRAP did with me. As a college player and even when I trained with the NJ Nets, I always had good form on my shooting hand, so most aids didn't really effect me in a positive way. They became more of a hindrance that made my shot awkward. The SHOOTING STRAP though wraps on the off hand instead which made a immediate difference. First off the STRAP wraps around your off hands forearm and loops onto your thumb. This set up stops your thumbs from pushing the balls off center during your release, something most people do without realizing. Secondly by isolating your shooting hand to this extent, it makes it even easier for the shooter to realize their mistakes upon release. Only having one hand to worry about, you can correct your arm and stroke faster just by how the shot comes off your hand. I'll admit the first day it threw off my shot to where I couldn't hit anything but once getting past the learning curve it became a fluid motion even after I took the strap off.

SUMMARY
I've accepted I'll never be Ray Allen from the 3 point line, but the SHOOTING STRAP defiantly made me more confident in my shot. While you can do form shooting for hours right under the rim, it's harder to form shoot on jump shots and off the dribble. With the SHOOTING STRAP you can and instantly see results just by dissecting your own release. So like me even if your not Ray Allen, eventually people will learn not to leave you wide open anymore. Its a good investment for any player on any level.

A Bron Brief: Quick Fitness Tip #1

One of the fastest way to correct your diet is to notice its flaws. Everyone thinks they eat good until they really set aside time to see what goes into their body....So today's fitness tip is to...wait for it....invest in a FITNESS JOURNAL...

Fat Gripz: Your Body Is Only As Strong As Its Weakest Link

The importance of grip strength is nothing new but still often overlooked. Tons of toys and tools have said they can fix your grip but it becomes so tedious that most gyms and clients completely ignore it. If you've read any of my other articles you know how grip strength effects your lifts. ALLL the big lifts need grip strength; deadlifts, rows, bench, even holding a bar during squats. So its still amazing how many people jump right over forearm and overall grip work. Well if this finally opened your eyes, don't run and get a wrist roller or super gripper. Just go to FATGRIPZ and get a few of these blue wonders.

Fat Bars have been around for a while but only the most hardcore and exclusive of gyms usually spent the time to get them. Whats a fat bar? By increasing the diameter of the lifting bar, your forced to grip harder and activate more muscle fibers. But since their so hard to come by, people have tried to rig up their own such as wrapping towels around bars or using squat pads. Fat Gripz had their own ideas. Fat Gripz are a hard rubber that you slip on to any bar or dumbbell (literally almost anybar) and it increased the bars size without any fancy bars or mcgyver towel wraps. As a athlete I had always been trained at places that had fat bars, so while I knew of Fat Gripz, I had never used them. Well I was recently given a pair to try and was quickly put in check. After a few reps you'll probably notice fatigue setting in the thumb areas of your hands. Now if have very big hands and even for myself it was a struggle to just bully these like I thought I was going to. After a routine of bench, lat pulldowns, rows and dips my upper body was shot. Oh and for the record, heavy lat pulldowns with Fat Gripz on are a evil evil exercise. If you doubt me try it yourself and have your friends watch as you struggle with your usual warm up weight. After the workout my hands were sore and I had some weird lobster pinch thing going on when I tried to grab things because my forearms were so tight but it still wasn't the "beware fat grips" type pain I was expecting after reading all the things on the site....until the next day. Me and my gf both were sore the next day. Like the "havn't worked out before, omg why does that muscle hurt" kind of sore. So I was impressed, while I wasn't going as heavy as I normally do because of the Fat Gripz, you couldn't have told my body that the next day. So yes, Fat Gripz work. They work so much that I apologize to any of my old workout buddies and teammates that I didn't have them before for them to use. But I do now so I will be passing on the pain.
SUMMARY
Step 1) Go to FATGRIPZ....Step 2) Buy some Fat Gripz.....Step 3)Have yourself a mans workout and build some muscle...
Train Harder AND Smarter


"The important thing is to be able, at any moment, to sacrifice what we are for what we can become."

Bionic Gloves: Stylish or Effective?

Next on the product review trip is the BIONIC GLOVE.
Bionic Glove is known mostly for their baseball and golf gloves and both are pretty effective. Lucky for me I was able to get my hands on some of their new workout gloves. Would these Gloves have the same standards as their golf and baseball ones?

When they got here the first thing I noticed was the style. I've never golfed but one of my concerns was I'd be working out with some funky looking attention grabbing glove. These are attention grabbers but not in a negative way. I ordered a pair of fingered gloves and cut off gloves just to see the difference.Their sleak look was more reminiscent of my wide receiver gloves from football than bulky lifting gloves or golf gloves. Theres a velcro wrist strap that is strong enough to give you support and keep the glove snug but not get in your way like other gloves. Also each glove has pads/notches built in to press your grip better in certain areas. When you get the gloves their "test" is to pick up a weight with a bare hand and one with the gloved hand. And while it worked and you noticed right away, its not a real test because lifting light dumbbells are not a real struggle for gloves. To spice things up and really push these gloves, I went to a lift that is all about grip strength, the deadlift. Deadlifting can be a struggle for most lifters because your grip goes before the rest of your body is tired. So if your body can deadlift 600, but your hands can only deadlift 300, well your deadlift is 300lbs. So I set up 315 on the bar just to see if the gloves made any difference and after the first rep you could tell. The gloves give a solid grip that would usually lead to your hands aching and stop the bar from rolling in your hands. After a couple sets the gloves were still doing their job. I went up to 405 just to finish up and my hands were still fine. Now my one complaint was that the gloves might be TOO nice. While at 405 the gloves still worked, but the material (suede or leather type stuff) on the glove did have alittle wear from the bar attempting to roll. It was nothing drastic or even really noticable if I wasn't purposly trying to push their limits in the review but it makes me wonder how long they will hold up and still look this nice.

SUMMARY

All in all the BIONIC GLOVES passed with flying colors. They fit nice, gave me added grip without being sticky or needing me to wear wrist straps. Also an important and overlooks glove aspect, they didn't stick after working out. Anyone who has been caught off guard by the smell of their sweat gloves knows what I'm talking about. The gloves performed well and outside of my little nit picking about the scratch the bar left, they were pretty much 100% effective. I'd recommend them to anyone working out looking to get a good grip or just keep their hand modeling career intact. Not to mention the price so its overall a winning situation. Go to BIONIC GLOVES check out all thier styles, maybe even pick up some nice driving gloves next.

"The important thing is to be able, at any moment, to sacrifice what we are for what we can become."

Diet and Starvation: Thin line

When most women talk diet, their first instinct is to stop eatting...EVERYTHING. Now some see results from this eventually but the news flash is, its actually kind of bad for you and pretty counter productive.

Portable Power Jumper: Short Cut to Hops?

LifelineUSA Portable Power Jumper

Now let's start this off with a disclaimer; I am not a beginner. I have played sports on literally every level minus NBA/NFL. I have been dunking since I was 14 and as of the last pro combine I went to, I had a legit 39 inch vertical. So this will not be some review about how power jumpers turned my vertical from 12 to 20 inches. But there in lies the beauty of the product, it works on everyone from soccer mom wanting to just do squats all the way up to advanced athletes. A kind of jumped ahead but had to point it out. You see most vertical leap programs and equipment work wonders for someone who has never touched a weight before but your gains fall into a plateau after your body adjusts to the new stress your putting it other. That's why 90% of testimonials follow the "omg I'm 16 and never dunked before now" template. It's rarely "hey this took my vertical from 35-45." A) Because improving an already astounding vertical is hard as anything. B) Beginners are almost guaranteed results by the simplest of workouts. Think of it fitness wise. Who will drop weight quicker, a obese person who has never worked out or someone who is already in elite shape and wants that last body fat percent drop?

Evidence Based Apparel: Is the the real deal?

I spend most of my mornings before clients get here scouring the net for athletic equipment and new things to add to my training collection. Recently I came across a site called Evidence Based Apparel. Now EBA makes posture apparel to, well....help with your posture. They claim their posture shirts and S3 will improve posture, reduce:neck, back, and shoulder pain, increase shoulder function, improve range of motion and increase strength. Now this all sounds fine and great but rule number one ESPECIALLY in fitness and sports, anything that seems too good to be true usually is. So I searched left and right for some super small "results are not typical and may vary" hidden escape clause that pretty much means you just wasted money on their product but couldn't find one. I reached out to one of their representatives about trying one out and she responded the next day saying sure. Now anyone who has read my other reviews here or on other sites knows, when a company allows someone to review their product for free its usually a HUGE THUMBS UP because it means their confident in their product. No ones going to let you review something for free if they know with explode the second you open the box, well unless your a super hero but i digress. So after a few short days I get the box in the mail and now look to answer the ultimate question....does it work?

Foam Rollers: My Love Hate Relationship

Now when your a professional athlete you get all the perks; money, cars, fame, friends* etc...but another thing you get is the massages...Ooo the massages. Massages, Stim, Ice Baths, Vibration plates. All of these things before and after games speed up recovery so you can live to fight another day and prolong careers. Now for Average Joe weekend warrior, things like massage perks can be a tad bit expensive. So as personal trainers we find ways around that. In to play comes the FOAM ROLLER...

Stretching is one of the most overlooked components of weight training programs. Everyone wants to lift lift lift and stretching gets pushed to the back burner leading to muscle imbalances, poor form and injuries.

Foam Rollers are used for Self-Myofascial Release which may sound a little adult but pretty much just means self massage. When you workout or train your muscles get tight creating lactic acid and "knots'. The foam roller rolls out the knots until they release increasing your circulation, range of motion and promoting overall general healing. Think of it as a rubber, and then tying it into a knot. With that knot, the band cant stretch nearly as far and will break with too much force applied to it. Now by taking the knot out bingo bango, your back to full efficiency.

Now you can find foam rollers on sites like performbetter.com ranging from regular to dense. The denser the roller the deeper the massage it gives and the higher the price ($30+0. You can also save some money and just buy a 5 dollar pvc pipe at your local hardware store and it works great but only keep in mind, pvc pipe has NO give and will be pretty painful to use for someone new to foam rolling. If your really crafty or have a mom with tons of free time, you can bedazzle your own padded foam roller with pvc pipe, foam packaging wrap, and some kind of spandex or Lycra to cover it all in like those old fashion book skins you had in middle school.

Your body has tons of trigger points that you would need to focus on with a foam roller. Your Quads (Front upper area of your legs), Hamstrings (Back upper area of your legs), Calves (Lower back area of your legs), IT Bands (Outer sides of your thighs and VERY important in your known for having knee pains), Glutes and Hip Pockets (General Butt area), and Lats/Traps (Upper back and armpit areas). Theres tons of videos on how to properly work the roller on each area and I'll be posting one myself very soon but these descriptions are the general idea. Work each muscle slowly u if until you find a knot (a pins and needles kind of tingling sensation) and hold pressure on it for 5-10 seconds then roll it out some more. Find, rinse, repeat. Now if your body is built like Frankenstein as mine currently is, your going to find ALOT OF KNOTS. And these knots will be VERY painful but only at first. So suck it up and massage them out. The more often you do it, the less painful there become and the better your body feels.

For those nagging hard to reach places such as shoulder blades and hips, things like tennis balls, softballs, medicine balls work wonders but again, they are very dense and will hurt at first. But for the 20 minutes you fight through all this will pay off in the long run when your days are alot pain free later on during everyday activities.

Building A Foundation: Properly Progressing

Lets say you have a brand new car, new tires, new interior. Everything is perfect except...theres no spark plugs. Does that shiney new car serve its purpose? No, you pretty much have a giant paperweight. The same thing goes for your body. What do i mean you ask? Simple, working out your big show/mirror muscles is great but not at the expense of the smaller "spark plug" motor muscles. This is where knowning how to properly progress from exercise A to exercise B and eventually C comes in handy.

For example, I train a big 300+ linemen right now. In order to get his strength on part with his size, his former trainer just jumped straight to heavy lifting with the goal of him benching 225 easy and maxing at like 315.

Sleep Your Way To Muscles

Now I know a lot of people got excited reading this title thinking it will be a excuse for their Garfield the Cat type habits (eat, sleep, repeat) but sorry, not the case. Unless your like my gorgeous friend Jessica Gott whose voice completely changes to a hot Disney character when shes tired, some people don't realize their body telling them when its time to shut it down for the night.

One of the main overlooked aspects of training, other than diet is your sleep habits. Everyone wants to workout for 4 hours a day, but completely ignores the rest habits to go hang out or party in a tight affliction shirt. Biigggg mistake.

Ouch, my kneeee!!! Avoiding Injuries and Playin Strong

This summer I had the joy of training my teammate Ray Stever back from his knee injury that cost him a season. Since some people would like to complain like they have the most original revolutionary ideas for how to avoid knee problems and then just mention squats but don't correct form or things like that, I'm going to take it to a whole different level. Keep reading to learn how to stay stronger longer.

What is a Torn ACL?

An ACL tear most often occurs during sporting activities when an athlete suddenly pivots causing excessive rotational forces on the ligament. Other mechanisms that can cause an ACL tear include severe trauma and work injuries. Individuals who experience ACL tears usually describe a feeling of the joint giving out, or buckling--patients also often say they hear a "pop."

Most Common Signs of a torn ACL:

Sudden giving way of the knee
Hearing a 'pop' at the time of injury
Sudden swelling of the knee joint
Pain in the knee when walking
Ready to erase your pain and raise every area of your fitness?

More Diets YAYY Part 2

I posted week one a few days ago and hopefully your moving along well with it. Below is part two which is actually HARDER. You'll see your gains at this point so it will be worth it but chances are your going to want to eat. Bare with me and if you get too hungry healthy snacks are allow. Avoid snacks loaded with sugar and excess calories. And on to Week 2...

Perception or Reality: Fat or Body Fat

Many people perceive overall weight as a general determining factor of just how “in shape” you are. Even things like BMI “body mass index” going off height and weight can really kill a person’s motivation (trust me, my WII fit character looks like a square with a head because of that). Sure being scale heavy sucks but more importantly, a high body fat REALLY SUCKS.

More Diets YAYY

In all my years of training (8 to be exact) it never ceases to amaze me just how many people don't understand the effect of diet while exercising. So many people give the "I don't get it, i work out 24/7 but the scale isn't showing it" response and usually all you have to ask is....how are your eatting habits..

So in order to one again do my job and make it easier for all of you reach your goals in a healthy and safe way, hears another diet to compliment your workout routines. Now before we get started, reminder, most diets are not to be done full time. Unless your turning vegan or something do it for a week or 2, see how your body handles it and guage from there. This one is to be done for 2 weeks..yes 14 days straight folks, no cheating, and see your results and let me know.

WEEK 1:

For breakfast each day: 1 grapefuit, 4oz low fat yogurt and 1 slice of ham.

For mixed greens you may use salt, pepper, oil and lemon juice, but NO dressings.

Day 1:
Lunch: 1 steak, tomatoes, coffee or tea
Dinner: Turkey or chicken cultet, mixed greens, 1 toast, grapefruit, tea.

Day 2:
Lunch: 1 beef patty, 1 grapefruit
Dinner: 1 steak, tomatoes, mixed greens, celery, olives, cucumbers, tea

Day 3:
Lunch: 2 eggs, spinach, tomatoes, tea
Dinner: 1 cutlet (pork), cottage cheese or yogurt (fat free), cabbage, 1 toast, tea

Day 4:
Lunch: 1 turkey, chicken or veal cutlet, spinach, tomatoes, tea
Dinner: 2 lamb cutlets, celery, cucumbers, tomatoes, tea

Day 5:
Lunch: 1 filet mignon, spinach, tea
Dinner: fish, salad, 1 toast, tea

Day 6:
Lunch:  fruit salad - as much as you want
Dinner: 1 steak, celery, cucumbers, tomatoes, tea

Day 7:
Lunch: grilled or roasted chicken, tomatoes, grapefruit
Dinner: 1 steak, tomatoes, cucumbers, tea


I will post week 2 in a few days. Now big KEY FACT, just like with workouts, I can give you the best diet but its up to you to use it properly. Follow it best as possible. Sure you can modify it alittle here and there but the general diet idea needs to stay that same. Also, eat in moderation, even a healthy food can make you put on weight if you eat 50 pounds of it in one sitting. Take your time, enjoy the meal and be health.