I found this article last year about fall fitness written by Rob Williams of the Vancouver Province Newspaper. One of the things I have noticed this year is that I am really noticing the change of seasons and how it is affecting my attitude, energy, and workout patterns

Whether there are kids in the picture or not, September is a time when a lot of people do a mind-shift, putting the golf clubs, bikes and tennis rackets away for another year and establishing the habits and patterns that will shape their fall and winter schedules.

In fact, September is second only to January as a time when fitness springs to the top of the to-do list, with gyms and training studios buzzing with activity and motivated new members. At the same time, family and business commitments seem to increase, and the days get shorter and darker. Read the rest of this entry »

Looking to make a change and lose some weight? I have reviewed the top diet on the internet and you can go and read over 200 comments people have made about why this diet has worked well for them, as well as some of the problems.

Tags: Golf, ipod, Rob Williams, Tennis

As we age, the preservation and expenditures are sometimes more than we can afford to keep up our residence. As you grow older, your decisions have to modify to your affordability. In view of the fact, you may need to consider moving to a low-subsidized project. The housing communities make life simpler for you. In the end, you will pay less, which clears up stress. This leaves you room to plan for your future.

In the world are many housing projects, including the projects designed for seniors. You will find townhouses, condominiums and apartments in your area. You have many options, i.e. you can lease, rent or even buy some of the low-cost homes. If you lease or rent however, the owners usually take care of the lawn, which makes you life simpler.

When you move to areas where people are your own age, it often brings you rewards. You can meet new friends. New friends are great, which you can plan activities together as you work toward healthy aging. At clubhouses for seniors there is always something happening as well. The clubhouses often provide seniors with free meals and fun. Some areas allow you to enjoy bingo. For a diminutive fee, one can join these housings while enjoying two or three meals per day. The meals are balanced and in proportion, which gives you added convenience. You can save time cooking, as well as have three balanced meals each day.

Perhaps you enjoy golfing. Alternatively, you would like to learn how to golf. If you enjoy golfing perhaps, you can find low-cost housing in your community where golf is optional. Many communities have low-cost housing near golf courses. Some areas offer golf lessons. While enjoying golf, you can meet new friends here as well.

Our bodies demand that we enjoy activities on a daily scale. In view of the fact, you want to keep your brain and body in active motion. Of course, you need to take time out to rest, yet planning activities and enjoying them daily will help you live a healthier and longer life. Learning golf will teach you new skills, which is always a great thing to acquire. Learning new skills, artistic quality helps one to stay in touch with self.

Some community residential housing offers you the opportunity to enjoy musicals, poetry reading, lobbying and so on. In the lobby areas, you may enjoy watching the evening news with the new friends you have met.

In some areas, you will find projects that help to keep their seniors happy by taking them on short trips. You will enjoy people your own age while you learn, view new areas, and so on. Perhaps a group of seniors may visit supermarkets, shopping malls and so on. Some areas that offer you such convenience also provides you transportation. What an added gain, since you can cut back expenses of high-priced car insurance, gas, maintenance and so on.

As you meet new, acquaintances or potential friends learn how to manage your time wisely. You want to learn how to understand your friends by expressing your feelings. Expressing feelings is a great way to relieve the mind of stress.

Put together your new life by discovering the meaning of life and your purpose. Also, discover your peace of mind as you socialize daily finding new relationships to share your journey through life. Lastly, you want to listen to people around you, since you can learn how to manage your life by clipping out patterns which people have followed to live a healthy aging life.

Tags: Golf, high-priced car insurance

As you age you have probably found that you are not in as good of shape as you were when you were in your teens and twenties. Why would you want to be in better shape? Well to run around with the kids, to play better golf or tennis and finally of course you would want to improve your fitness so that you can have better energy and stamina to live life to the fullest.

Running around with the kids
When my kids were babies I was able to keep up just fine but now as my kids are getting bigger it is just that much more difficult. My kids are always wanting to play tag, go to the park, kick a ball around or just have me running around from one place to another. I need to be in much better shape then before just to keep up and really have a great time with the kids. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: energy, Golf, good tennis player, Jon Benson, Tennis

Some of the most astonishing miracles to come out of the nutrition laboratories in recent months have had to do with the mighty family of water-soluble vitamins grouped together under the head of the B complex.

When they use the term “B complex,” scientists are tacitly admitting that they do not know all the vitamins that compose it. Yet experiments with animals indicate that the B vitamins may turn out to be the most remarkable treasure house o£ human health thus far discovered.

The entire B complex (not the individual and better known B vitamins) appears to be a preventive o£ baldness and of gray hair, at least in animals, as we shall later see. Liberal B intake in animals is believed by many researchers to encourage greater resistance to infantile paralysis. Also, in very recent experiments, it has proved remarkably effective in preventing the development of liver cancers in laboratory rats. Right now there is a ferment of activity to relate these startling findings to human beings. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: alcoholism, anemia, b complex, b vitamins, B1 deficiency, baldness, beef liver, beriberi, chicken livers, constipation, cramps, delirium tremens, dizziness, energy, Energy-yielding carbohydrates, food, Golf, hallucinations, head, headache, heart failure, infantile paralysis, liver cancers, numbness, pain, peptic ulcers, poisoning, starvation, temperance lecturer, Tennis, thiamin, vitamin b1, vitamin deficiencies, water soluble vitamins, yeast

We need to all become more aware of this process and see where we fail. Plan, Execute, and Reflect. This three step process is very important so that you are not stuck just making the same mistakes over and over again.

Plan for Success

So what do you know about your next event, what do you need to do to make sure that you succeed? If your next even is a marathon or even a 10k or to lose 20 pounds then what can you glean from the past? What were your failings and strengths last time around and how can you leverage those strengths and minimize the effects of your weaknesses. Make sure that you have a plan and that you have a fallback in case you struggle with the plan. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: athlete, execution, food, goal in mind, Golf, marathon, motivation, plan, process, success

I never did post about our new Wii and the relationship that we are beginning to have with the box of plastic and silicon chips.

It has been a great time and all the family seems to be enjoying the Wii. On Christmas day we unpacked the box and hooked it up and just played a bit and then were out doing family stuff all day and into the night. On Boxing day (December 26th) we finally got to play the Wii lots and had a  great time taking turns with the sports games of the Wii Sports disk.

In Wii Sports there are Tennis, Golf, Bowling, Baseball and Boxing as well as a Wii Training, which is practicing for any of those sports and Wii Fitness which is a test that the Wii puts you through to see how good you are at using the controllers and your coordination. The games on the disk were easy enough to use with the two controllers. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: baseball, bowling, Boxing, boxing day, christmas day, Golf, pain, silicon chips, sports games, super mario galaxy, Tennis, wii, wii sports

One thing that seems to confuse a lot of people is the fact that the media shows us slim people with great six pack abs. This would lead most people to believe that if you want to reduce your stomach then you should just do sit-ups and you will lose the stomach. Sadly this is called spot reduction and it is not really possible to lose a bot belly by just doing sit-ups.

What your really need to know is how to do crunches

So to lose your pot belly you really need to do more to lose your overall fat and this can be done using two changes to your body.

To do that, you need to burn more calories than you eat. Abdominal muscles are not large muscles, so working them isn’t going to burn many calories. Walking and jogging are better calorie-burning activities.

The muscles in your abdomen, pelvis, lower back and hips are part of what is known as the core – The area of the body where your center of gravity is located. Developing a strong solid core gives you increased balance, stability and controlled movement that will help you improve performance. You use core muscles when you reach up to get a glass off the top shelf, bend down to tie your shoes, or swing a golf club. Strong core muscles also improve posture and protect you against back injuries.

What are the best abdominal exercises? For the beginner, nothing seems to beat crunches. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: abdominal muscles, back injuries, chair, cough, Golf, pain in your lower back, pot belly, six pack abs, spot reduction

I split up this interview between Tom Venuto of Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle and David Grisaffi. David Grisaffi is plugging a new, very good abdominal muscle development system and Tom interviewed him to talk about it. David’s new program is called Flatten your Abs. This info is gold, I hope you enjoy reading the rest of the interview and I will try to give you more of these in the future.

TV: Lets talk about six pack abs and flat stomachs, because that?s another one of your specialty areas and that’s what I really wanted to focus on in this interview the most. You wrote a course on abdominal training- it’s called FIRM AND FLATTEN YOUR ABS and you’re now offering it as an e-book download on the Internet and it’s starting to get really popular. What made you decide to write a book about abdominal training when there’s already so much information out there’

DG: Hmmm.’to be honest it was my friend Don Lemmon. He invited me to write a chapter about core conditioning in his book, and I said ’sure’. One thing lead to another and that one chapter developed into an entire e-book of my own. I had never done an entire book before with editing, pictures and so on, but I just took a lot of the information I had learned from experience and from all my mentors, put my head down, went to work and wrote the FIRM AND FLATTEN YOUR ABS e Book. It took me about 3 months. I guess one of my main motivations for writing it was because there is so much bad information and so many bad abdominal machines and devices out there’

TV: I noticed you don’t recommend ANY sit ups in your course. Why is that’

That’s correct. After studying many greats like Vladimir Janda, Diane Lee, Paul Chek, Richardson and Jull, I discovered that the hip flexors (illiopsoas) are frequently overworked and that can lead to muscle imbalances and low back pain. So I said, why continue aggravating the problem with sit ups’ In my e book this is a topic I cover in detail.

TV: So why are sit ups still so popular and why are they still used as a standard exercise in fitness testing and for sports or military conditioning’ Is there ever any reason that anyone would want to do sit ups or in your opinion is that an exercise you should NEVER do’

DG: People are hard to change, Tom. But once you learn what can happen from overusing exercises like sit ups, you’d be doing yourself (and trainers their clients) a disservice by continuing this practice. Many studies have also shown the hip flexors are recruited to do most of the work, so sit ups are not only ineffective but they can also strain your back. Now to be fair, there are correct ways to do a sit up. One is to take the Law of Reciprocal Inhibition into account. That means if one muscle is working, the other must relax. So if you’re doing sit ups, you contract your hamstrings and glutes by pushing your lower legs against someone’s hands, small dumbbells or over a heavy weighted barbell. This will shut off the illiopsoas and your abs will feel it in the morning because they are now doing more of the work.If I prescribe sit ups, I simply have my clients do Janda sit ups. For the e book, I left out sit ups completely because of the overuse and injury potential situation.

TV: Are there any other ab exercises that are really common in the gym but you wouldn’t recommend to your clients’

DG: Unfortunately, many of the abdominal exercise gadgets on the market are ineffective and sometimes even unsafe. I would stay away from the Ab Roller or Torso Track because these machines can create muscle imbalances. I’m also not a fan of machine crunches because these machines – like all machines – stabilize your body and isolate the rectus abdominis, which doesn’t allow for true functional movement. Let’s see, what else’ Russian twists on a roman chair with a plate sound like a good way to ruin your lumbar spine. Torso twists on a machine fall in that category too.

TV: Yeah, those rotary torso machines are always being used in every gym I’ve ever been in. What about the ab machines you see on TV ‘ ANY of them any good’

DG: The infomercial ads on TV try to make the machines and devices seem new, fun and easy. Everyone wants nice abs fast and easy. But nice abs do not come in a machine! The first step is a not a machine, it’s a proper diet based on the individual. I would say your E book Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle is one of the best on the shelves these days when it comes to nutrition and the motivational techniques to stay on the plan.

TV: So what’s probably on everyone’s mind now is that if sit ups and most machines are out, that must leave crunches as the exercise of choice right’

DG: Yes and No – crunches have become more popular because of the popularity of ab rollers and crunch machines. But like sit ups, crunches are overused and misused – frequently! Floor crunches also limit your range of motion compared to using a Swiss ball.

TV: A lot of people wonder about those giant exercise balls ‘ You call them Swiss balls, some people call them stability balls – I noticed you included quite a few ball exercises in your course. What’s so great about those things’

DG: Simple’it places more demand on the neurological system and that makes the abdominal workout more effective. According to some studies, the recruitment of the abdominals was almost double when the subjects used the Swiss ball. The oblique’s contribution was increased by over 4 times due to the Swiss ball. You also get an extra 15 degrees range of motion doing crunches on a Swiss ball compared to floor crunches. Plus, have you ever done an advanced exercise on a Swiss ball’ You sweat more and breathe more heavily. Why, because your nervous system and entire body are working harder to do all the stabilizing work. For example, the Prone Bridge exercise forces the rest of your body to stabilize you so you don’t fall off the ball. Think of it as a light switch turning on.

TV: So using a Swiss ball ‘flips the switch on your nervous system,’ I’ve never heard anyone put it that way before’ Interesting. So what are a few of your personal favorite exercises for developing a good-looking and strong set of six pack abs’

Well, my system starts with good neurological programming of the core muscles. Build the base and then add layers. Some of the exercises I personally like are:

* Prone Ball Roll
* Lateral Ball Roll
* Prone Jackknife on swiss ball
* Swiss ball Side Flexion
* Forward Ball Roll

It’s easier to see them than to try and describe them, so if you want a visual, you can see the pictures here On This Web Page. You can also see a total of 42 exercises including about a dozen ball exercises in my e-book, Flatten Your Abs and that includes multiple photos of each movement showing start and finish positions.

TV: Alright, next subject: what’s the deal on training abs every day ‘ you hear different opinions on this all the time – are you supposed to work them daily or not’ And why’

DG: There are different opinions on this. Personally, I think they should NOT be trained each day. There are situations where you could train muscle groups on consecutive days, like when you work different sections of the abs. I stand by the philosophy of lower abs first, obliques and then the rectus abdominus. Why’ Each takes a different degree of neurological programming. But in general, I follow a less is more philosophy for abs. I don’t want people getting over trained and injured. A good diet combined with an effective exercise program designed for the individual is the key for fat loss. Add in a good core exercise program such as Firm and Flatten Your Abs and you have the recipe for success.

TV: Okay, here’s another burning question that’s on everyone’s mind: A lot of people do abdominal exercises every day because they think that will burn the fat of the stomach. You and I know that doesn’t work. For the record, would you explain exactly why ab exercises don’t burn fat off your abs’

DG: For one thing, fat is stored all over your body and the distribution of fat stores is mainly genetic. Men tend to store body fat in their mid section first. Women have a hard time losing the hip and leg weight because of child-bearing genetic code. Second, and most important, abdominals come from low body fat and low body fat comes from good nutrition, not specific exercises. I really believe that you are what you eat. If you are “dirty” on the inside, you will be ‘dirty’ on the outside.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: athlete, back pain, Ball Roll, chemicals, David Grisaffi, Diane Lee, dollar chair, Don Lemmon, e-book, food intolerance, Forward, genetic code, Golf, knee surgery, machines and devices, muscular systems, orthopedic injuries, Paul Chek, physical therapist, Prone Bridge, roman chair, tom venuto, USD, Vladimir Janda, www.flattenyourabs.net

Everyone wants better abs and here is a bunch of great info on getting better abs now. I have just got this interview that Tom Venuto of Burn the fat feed the muscle fame, did with David Grisaffi. David Grisaffi has just created a kick ass workout system called flatten your abs that is designed to give you much better abs and I thought I would share this with you now to learn more about ab training.

The Abdominal Training Secrets Interview
With Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
www.BurnTheFat.com
And David Grisaffi, CHEK, CFT, PN
www.FlattenYourAbs.net

TV: Hi David, thanks for taking the time for this interview because I know how busy you are and that, among other projects, you run a training studio in Tacoma, you’re a wrestling coach and you keep a full client load. I’ve known you for a couple years now through the Internet and the emails we’ve sent to each other and you’re very well known within the fitness industry – especially in the sports training field. But on the off chance that some of the people listening to this interview don’t know who you are, would you give us a quick introduction and tell us little bit about your background, how you got started in this field and how you spend your time now?

DG: Well I was always a sports enthusiast my entire life. I can remember I was the only 9-year-old watching Monday night football and taking stats. I did all the usual sports – football, soccer, wrestling, swimming, baseball and tennis. Never did much with basketball. Being a genetically “blessed” Italian, I didn’t think the height requirement was going to be on my side. I excelled at wrestling. That sport alone taught me about nutrition, supplements, work ethic etc. I really have to thank wrestling for getting me into this field. I now coach high school wrestling, baseball and youth football. I keep really busy with my 3 children, Addision (13) Garrison (10) and my little man Carson (7). I taught school for a couple of years and then decided to go into personal training.

TV: You have quite a few certifications, one of them is certified personal trainer, one is certified golf trainer  or golf biomechanic to be exact – but what is a Corrective High Performance Exercise Kinesiologist?

DG: That’s an intense certification program where you learn from one of the foremost experts in the conditioning field, Paul Chek, who personally developed and cultivated the program. The certification revolves around the dynamics of kinesiology, physiology, functional anatomy and mind  body – spirit relationships. The program has four levels and I’m currently a level II, where we learn physical assessment, posture analysis, gait analysis, primal movement patterns, length-tension testing and range of motion testing. My Golf biomechanic certification is also from the CHEK institute. This is where we learn how the relationship between muscles and muscle groups affect the golf swing and how to improve it. In the winter of 2002 I also became one of the first Nutrition and Lifestyle Coaches from the CHEK institute. This program was developed to help practitioners deal with nutritional and lifestyle needs of their clients. The certification teaches how symptoms of disease and stress can be prevented through diet, exercise and stress management. I’m currently a level II Nutrition and lifestyle coach.I can’t say enough about how Paul has helped me become a better trainer and person. There is more to this than just exercise.

TV: And I understand that there’s only a small handful of people who have those credentials, is that right?

DG: Yes, I think, at last count about 1000 have received a CHEK certification but there are only about 35 in the world with all three certifications including the level two’s. So it all costs time, energy and brain work Tom, but for someone who wants something different and out of the box thinking, it’s great. Not to take away from any other certification programs; heck, I love the ISSA, Ian King, Charles Poliquin and many others

TV: That’s impressive, congratulations. So if I understand your philosophy correctly, the big difference between you and other trainers and especially trainers who only do bodybuilding and nothing else, is that you help your clients not only look good, but also with functionality, performance and correcting existing injuries or potential problem areas or imbalances that could lead to injuries in the future. Did I miss anything or would you say that’s a pretty good description?

DG: That’s right you have to evaluate your client thoroughly for strengths and weaknesses to get the best results. Sometimes without a good evaluation you can miss something that could help prevent or fix an injury or cause someone not to excel.

TV:I think it’s really important what you’re teaching people because as a bodybuilder myself, when I first started many years ago, the ONLY thing I cared about was looking good and having muscles and abs and low body fat, but true fitness is a lot more than just looking good. For one thing it’s health above all else. In addition to that, if you don’t have strong, flexible and balanced development, then sooner or later, you’re going to get injured or you’re going to find that you can’t enjoy the sports or recreation activities you want to, and ultimately you might even find yourself restricted from normal daily activities like squatting, bending and lifting things around the house, which is exactly what happens to most people when then get older. But still, the fact is, everyone wants to look good, they want the six pack; they want muscle definition. So how do you balance the form aspect  the looking good part  with the function aspect  which is the strength, flexibility, balance and performance part?

DG: I believe we develop from the inside out. If you have good insides, you will have a good outside. What I mean is that diet, nutrition and water intake have a great deal to do with how good you look on the outside. So to look good – the form part – I start with overseeing my client’s dietary intake. I don’t go as far as telling them exactly what to eat, but I give a lot of suggestions. As for the function, I always think of the body as a whole, not as parts. Yes, if you’re a bodybuilder and that is your gig, then heck yes, think in parts. This really depends on the client and their goals, but you always need proper flexibility, strength and balance in the whole body as a unit.

TV: You train regular people and you also train professional athletes, especially boxers and golfers. Is there a big difference in how athletes and regular people should train?

DG: Each of them has distinct differences. So to plop down a canned program for everyone would lead to failure and would reflect poorly on me. I take each client one at a time. In my Flatten Your Abs e-book, I provide many different levels so each individual can pick the level that fits them best when they start out. Everyone is not equal. The boxers in general, are more athletic, so one big difference is that I change their program more often to keep them fresh. Let’s say I have 6 weeks before a tough fight, I may change the workout 3 – 4 times. Their nervous systems are highly adaptable and need the change. Someone who just wants to start a basic weight-training program could stay on the same program for the entire 6 weeks and get results. This is because their nervous systems are not as highly developed.

Read the rest of this interview on my next Ab workout interview post!

Click here to visit David Grisaffi.s Flatten Your Abs Website to see what this great program has to offer you this year.

Tags: Addision, baseball, basketball, Carson, Charles Poliquin, coach, David Grisaffi, David Grisaffi.s Flatten, e-book, energy, existing injuries, football, Golf, Ian King, King, nervous systems, Paul Chek, personal trainer, soccer, sports enthusiast, sports training field, Swimming, Tennis, tom venuto, usual sports, wrestling, wrestling coach, www.burnthefat.com, www.flattenyourabs.net

I have found a list of 99 ways to get more exercise. These tips range from stuff to do at home and around the neighborhood to things to do around the city with your family and neighbors.

Exercise Getting started…

1. Schedule a regular time throughout the week for physical activity.
2. Take turns selecting an activity for the family to do as a group each week.
3. Start a log of daily fitness activities for each family member.
4. Adapt all activities to suit those with special needs and preferences.
5. Help everyone to find something active that makes them feel successful.

Exercise Tips for the Home

6. Designate indoor and outdoor play areas where rolling, climbing, jumping, and tumbling are allowed.
7. Buy toys or equipment that promote physical activity.
8. Select fitness-oriented gifts with the recipient’s skills and interests in mind.
9. Limit time spent watching television programs, videotapes, and playing computer games.
10. Use physical activity rather than food as a reward (e.g. family goes in-line skating).
11. Include grandparents, other relatives, and friends whenever possible.
12. Emphasize the importance of having fun and learning; avoid a push “to win”.
13. Get off the couch and change the channel manually — or better yet, turn it off!
14. Spend as much time outdoors as possible.

Exercise Tips for the Kitchen

15. “Pack your own” nutritious snacks and meals for family outings.
16. Keep fresh fruit and vegetables washed, cut-up, chilled and readily available for post-exercise snacking.
17. Have attractive containers of water available during and after workouts.
18. Take the family grocery shopping so everyone can learn to read the nutrition labels (find the cereal that offers the most fiber per serving; find the tastiest non-fat cheese).
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, co-worker, cycling, diabetes, family member, fever, food, Golf, hypertension, kite flying, modified backyard sports, Olympic, physical education teacher, school board, school physical education teacher, skiing, Softball, stroke, Tennis, volleyball, water sports