SCRANTON FITNESS PRO REVEALS THE TRUTH  ABOUT CARDIO VS. RESISTANCE TRAINING PROGRAMS

You are probably aware that most people who are absolutely nuts about cardiovascular exercise. They love running on the treadmill and riding their stationary bikes. Lifting weights? No thanks. And if you know many people, you probably know a bunch few weight lifting folks who would rather be sick and on bedrest than have to spend time doing cardio.

But not you. You’re wise to the ways of overall good health. You know the benefits that are offered through a well-rounded exercise routine that incorporated cardiovascular exercise as well as strength training. You’re just unsure how much to get of each and when each is appropriate.

I’m going to simplify this for you….

Before reading this article, there is something you should know. Everything from this point forward requires you to know what is best for your body. To understand what I am talking about, you need to have already spent time in the gym, trying out different routines, intensities, and durations to have an idea of how your body responds to a multitude of different exercises. If you’re already armed with this important knowledge, please continue reading.

You need to make sure you get in strength training and cardiovascular exercise on a regular basis. Strength training should definitely precede cardiovascular training and will yield the MOST calories burned if you have the “right” nutrition in place. Even better, if you can figure out how to create an exercise program training program that combines resistance and H.I.T.T. ( high intensity interval training) will be the most effective at losing body-fat, developing lean muscles, and keeping weight off. The reason being is that weight lifting doesn’t deplete your glycogen stores as bad as it does in cardio workouts depending on how intense you train.

So you still will have some of your glycogen stores left meaning that you can still get a descent cardio session. But for a more effective cardio session right after a workout, I recommend waiting at least 2 hours even more (If you have the time to do this) before doing your cardiovascualar routine..

In between this time it is very important you replenish your glycogen stores immediately, and stop protein breakdown as fast as possible. But if you don’t have the time it is still possible to do it right after weights. Just be prepared to have a less effective cardio session. Also, try to do schedule additional low and high intensity cardiovascular sessions on days that you aren’t performing resistance/strength training sessions, to help you burn more calories. Either way, performing cardiovascular exercise, mainly HITT,  after and during your strength training program combined with balanced nutrition, will give you the GREATEST caloric burn and help to improve and raise your metabolism.

If you need help creating a customized resistance training, cardiovascular, and nutrition program, feel free to let me know.

Healthfully,

Greg Anthony

Degreed Fitness Professional and Weight-loss Expert

Scranton Pennsylvania s #1 Pro Personal  Trainer and Expert Fitness Program Creator

www.gregworks.net

http://www.vipfitnesscamp.com/scranton-fitness-success-stories

How to Speed Up Your Metabolism by #1 Scranton Fitness Professional

What a faster metabolism can do for your body.

There’s a lot of talk about metabolism, and it seems that all the skinny folks have a large amount of it. But what exactly is metabolism, why is it important to your body, and what can you do to increase your metabolism? You’re about to find out!

What Is Metabolism?

Inside your body, a complex process is going on that involves hormones, enzymes, and food. Known as metabolism, this process is responsible for your body’s ability to take food and turn it into energy. Additionally, your metabolism determines if you take that energy and burn it off with ease or if it sits around on your body and goes nowhere fast.

Though you probably wish your metabolism was sky high (everyone wants that sleek body – right?), there are a number of factors you can’t change that determine the level of your metabolism. These include age, sex, and your genes. That’s right – being over 40 decreases your metabolism, as does being a woman or having a family history of slow metabolism.

Why Is It Important?

Ever wondered why the first few pounds of weight loss come so easily for some people? It’s because your body has to work a little harder when you’re overweight. So when you make a small lifestyle change, your high metabolism does the rest, helping shed pounds with ease. Unfortunately, keeping a high metabolism isn’t after you’ve lost the initial few pounds. But if you want to lose weight and keep it off, you’ll need to have your metabolism working for you.

How Can I Boost It?

While there are a handful of factors that limit your ability to increase or decrease your metabolism, you can take your low metabolism by the horns and give it a boost with the right steps. Since you know that muscle burns more calories than fat, you probably already guessed the first step to speeding up your slow metabolism.

Get more muscles. A little flab here and there won’t make a huge difference, but muscle burns energy faster than flab. So if you want the highest possible metabolism, you’ll need to increase your muscle mass. Do this by exercising on a regular basis (three days a week at the least), and be sure to mix in plenty of weight lifting with your running, bicycling, and swimming. If you’re over 40 years of age, you may need some extra time in the gym, as you also have to fight your metabolism’s desire to slow down regardless of your routine.

Get five meals. Eating three times a day may be how you did things growing up, but unless you want to grow out, you’ve got to eat up more often. By substituting three large meals for five or more small meals throughout the day, you give your body confidence that there will be plenty of food coming later. This confidence allows your body to burn off more calories all day long.

Get good foodsEating five or six times a day will have the greatest impact on your metabolism if you’re filling up on the right stuff. That means tossing the extra slice of cake in the trash and going for a handful of carrots instead. Or grab some oatmeal for a fill up that will provide a slow-burning boost to your metabolic low.

Breakfast: The Crux of Metabolism

Think you can have a high metabolism without ever chowing down on breakfast foods? You’re wrong. Without eating breakfast, you put yourself at risk for slowed metabolism.

Here are a few ways skipping breakfast will do the body bad.

1. 1. It makes you hungrier at lunch and other times than you should be. When this happens, you don’t make good choices – and you know it!
2. It gives you nothing to start with. When your stomach is empty, your body is doing everything possible to hang onto the calories at its disposal. Hence why you have no energy without breakfast!
3. It starts you off all wrong. Start your day with a poor dietary decision, and you’re sure to make more of them throughout the day.

by Greg Anthony

Degreed Fitness Professional and Weight-loss Expert

Scranton Pennsylvania s #1 Pro Personal  Trainer and Expert Fitness Program Creator

www.gregworks.net

www.vipfitnesscamp.com

You are Wasting Your Time…… LET ME EXPLAIN……

Time and time again we hear the same questions from clients and health club members and I respect the fact that you all want to know why we are having you do the things you do in here. However, when the same people ask the same question over and over again that tells …us you did not believe us the first time we told you or that you are looking for a different answer. Forgive me for saying so but we are the experts, which is why you came to us in the first place. The stuff we tell you works!

The one question that we hear the most is, “Why am I not doing any cardio?” First of all, if you are alive you are doing cardio…If your heart is beating and you are breathing you are doing cardio, simple. What you probably mean is, “Why am I not doing aerobic exercise?” To answer this question we must first look at your fitness goals. Typically this question comes from the clients who want to lose body fat. If fat loss is your goal research is showing over and over again that the last thing you should do is aerobic exercise, or as everyone likes to call it “cardio.” The reason for this is simple aerobic exercise does not help you lose fat, in fact it can cause you to gain fat from this fitness program.

First we should look at how aerobic exercise and class does promote health and why it became so popular. Aerobic exercise promotes heath by simply increasing your oxygen consumption. The counter to this is that resistance training will have the same effect on your oxygen consumption, however, resistance training has many more benefits including lowering body fat percentage, increasing lean mass and improving strength.

Now that we have eliminated the only reason to do it let us look at why aerobic exercise is not a good choice for people who want lose body fat. Without getting too scientific, aerobics simply decreases your metabolism. That means you burn less calories. Aerobic training decreases your lean tissue (the good stuff) causing you to burn less fat. Aerobic fitness  training also makes your fat cells more insulin sensitive; which makes it easier to store more fat.Right now you are probably saying that this can not be true I have seen people lose weight from running or a step class or something like that. This is easily explained… If you have not been doing any form of exercise doing something, anything will cause you to burn more calories. This will result in a loss of weight. Now I want to be clear about this, I said loss of weight not fat. After a very short period of time, your body will adapt to this extra calorie burn and since you have not gained lean muscle tissue and have probably actually lost lean muscle tissue your metabolism will lower, you will then gain back more fat. This should make it perfectly clear why aerobics is not a good choice for fat loss and will cause you to get fatter!

For more information about this, sign up for our frees Secret tips and tricks to weight loss and body transformations fitness program at  http://www.gregworks.net/freebies.html

by Greg Anthony

Scranton Fitness Professional and Pro Fitness Trainer

http://www.greworks.net

http://www.facebook.com/gwfitness

http://www.vipfitnesscamp.com

The Short and Sweet Routine by NePa and Scranton Top Fitness Trainer
The fastest way to keep your exercise routine regular.

If you’ve spent some time away from the gym, you may feel like taking on the world at your return. Sure, a three-hour marathon workout may make you feel like you conquered the world, but it takes regular exercise to get your body in good shape, so bite off a little at a time.
Need a little more convincing? Read on to get a few reasons why a short routine may be the best way to get and stay strong.
It’s Easier to Maintain

The thought of a prolonged workout may be intriguing at first, but getting to the gym the third and fourth time for an equally long workout won’t be easy. Nothing is as easy the second or third time – especially if it involves draining yourself of all energy with hours of nonstop exercise. Do yourself a favor by going for the short, the sweet, the manageable.
It Fits in Your Schedule

Along with a short routine being easier to maintain, it also fits into your schedule with greater ease. This means that while you may think you’ve not got time in your busy day to squeeze in a trip to the gym, you actually do. On those days when it seems impossible to hit the gym, it’s much easier to make it happen if your routine only requires 20 or 30 minutes, compared to some of the more time-intensive workouts.
It Gives You Variety

Short routines may seem stifling on your creativity. But if done right, they can provide a great amount of variety in your routine. Shoot for four exercises during each session and choose different ones every day. Go for two arm and two leg exercises one day, one arm, two legs, and an ab exercise the next. Keep things switched up by tossing in an all-aerobic day or a full body workout in the pool.
It Helps You Focus

One of the big problems of staying in the gym for too long is the ease with which you can lose your focus. You may have shown up with grand plans, but two hours into it, you realize you’ve been standing around shooting the bull more than you’ve been working out. By sticking to a short routine, you know exactly where you’re going from your first step into the weight room to the final lap in the pool, ensuring your body gets a workout throughout your time at the gym.
It Gives You a Partner

Finding yourself in the midst of a marathon weight-lifting session gets old fast for you and your workout partner. To make sure your spotter will always be there by your side to offer encouragement and join you on the road to better health, use a shorter routine. It’ll help you both stay on track.
Into the Long

Wonderful as a quick workout is, it’s not always the best choice. In fact, a longer routine may be called upon to help you meet your goals. So when is longer better?

Typically, a longer routine is best suited for body builders and people training for something that requires spectacular endurance. If you’re training for a triathlon, marathon, or other endurance sport, you should learn how to push your body as hard and as long as will be necessary to compete well during your chosen athletic event.

However, unless you’re a body builder and training to get six pack abs, you probably shouldn’t spend all of your time in the gym. You would be better off maintaining a short routine under the barbell and pushing your limits outside of the gym, practicing specifically for your chosen sport. That means learning how to swim for a mile without stopping, running for 15 miles or more, and riding your bicycle so you’ll be ready when the gun is fired at the starting line.

by Greg Anthony

Scranton Fitness Professional and Pro Fitness Trainer

http://www.greworks.net

http://www.facebook.com/gwfitness

http://www.vipfitnesscamp.com

The ABSOLUTE 10 Worst AB Exercises that you should NEVER do!!

The ABSOLUTE 10 Worst Ab Exercises:

1. Electronic Ab Stimulation

2. Bent Over Twists

3. Straight-Leg Situps

4. Roman Chair Situps

5. Two-Dumbell Side Bends

6. Straight-Leg Double Leg Raises

7. Ab Rocker

8. The Ab Wheel

9. The Nautilus Ab Machine

10. The Seated Ab Twist Machine

If you aren’t sure why these are really bad, then comment this document and add my Profile for more fitness tips and tricks…

www.facebook.com/greganthony99

Healthfully,

Greg Anthony

Degreed and Certified Fitness Professional and Trainer

Body Transformation Expert and Strength and Conditioning Coach

 
HOW TO GET SIX-PACK ABS IN 12 WEEKS WITHOUT EVER GOING TO THE GYM- WEEK 5

WEEK 5 INSTRUCTIONS:

All exercises are done in supersets (performing 2 exercises in a row without resting between the exerises) for a total of 3 sets.

For example: Perform “1a” and move right into “1b” and then take the appropriate rest time.

Do not rest within the superset (between “1a” and “1b”)

Rest for the appropriate rest time after “1b” before repeating the superset.

Repeat for 3 sets before moving to the next “superset.”

Perform this workout 3x for week 1

So it looks like this:

1a (x seconds) +1b (x seconds) + rest time (x seconds) = first set

1a (x seconds) +1b (x seconds) + rest time (x seconds) = second set

1a (x seconds) +1b (x seconds) + rest time (x seconds) = third set

*Week 5

1a= Downward Dog Push-ups
1b= Overhand Wide Grip Chins

2a= Squat Jumps
2b= Push-ups on Stabililty Ball

3a= Alternating Bicep Dumbell Curls
3b= Behind the Neck Tricep Extensions

4a= Planks with Side Lifts
4b= High Knees with Weights
4c= Crunches on Stability Ball
4d= Jumping Burpees

Exercise Tempo
For exercises 1a, 1b, 2a, and 2b, keep the tempo at 3 seconds
2 seconds to lower and 1 second to raise

Exercise Work Time and Rest Time

*Beginners-
20 seconds of exercise work time
45 second break in between supersets

*Intermediate-
30 seconds work time
35 second break in between supersets

-Advanced-
45 seconds work time
30 second break in between supersets

Perform high intensity interval training immediately after this workout

*Beginners-
-Sprint for 20 seconds (60% of your max)
-Walk for 30 seconds
Repeat for 4 rounds

*Intermediate-
-Sprint for 30 seconds (70% of your max)
-Walk for 30 seconds
Repeat for 6 rounds

*Advanced-
-Sprint for 40 seconds (80% of your max)
-Walk for 40 seconds
Repeat for 8 rounds

If you are indoors replace the sprints with very fast high knees in place.
Replace the walk with marching in place.

HOW TO GET SIX-PACK ABS IN 12 WEEKS WITHOUT EVER GOING TO THE GYM- WEEK 4

WEEK 4 INSTRUCTIONS:

All exercises are done in supersets (performing 2 exercises in a row without resting between the exerises) for a total of 3 sets.

For example: Perform “1a” and move right into “1b” and then take the appropriate rest time.

Do not rest within the superset (between “1a” and “1b”)

Rest for the appropriate rest time after “1b” before repeating the superset.

Repeat for 3 sets before moving to the next “superset.”

Perform this workout 3x for week 4

So it looks like this:

1a (x seconds) +1b (x seconds) + rest time (x seconds) = first set

1a (x seconds) +1b (x seconds) + rest time (x seconds) = second set

1a (x seconds) +1b (x seconds) + rest time (x seconds) = third set

*Week 4

1a= 1 Leg Decline Push-ups
1b= 1 Arm Squat and Press

2a= Close Grip Chin-ups
2b= Close Grip Push-ups

3a= Lunge and Curl
3b= Wide Grip Overhand Pull-Downs

4a= Double Crunches
4b= 1 Leg Stability Ball Hip Extentions  
4c= Side Planks with Leg Lifts
4d= Fast Side Steps

Exercise Tempo
For exercises 1a, 1b, 2a, and 2b, keep the tempo at 3 seconds
2 seconds to lower and 1 second to raise

Exercise Work Time and Rest Time

*Beginners-
20 seconds of exercise work time
45 second break in between supersets

*Intermediate-
30 seconds work time
35 second break in between supersets

-Advanced-
40 seconds work time
30 second break in between supersets

Perform high intensity interval training immediately after this workout

*Beginners-
-Sprint for 20 seconds (60% of your max)
-Walk for 30 seconds
Repeat for 4 rounds

*Intermediate-
-Sprint for 30 seconds (70% of your max)
-Walk for 30 seconds
Repeat for 6 rounds

*Advanced-
-Sprint for 40 seconds (80% of your max)
-Walk for 40 seconds
houlder Press

Repeat for 8 rounds

If you are indoors replace the sprints with very fast high knees in place.
Replace the walk with marching in place.

HOW TO GET SIX-PACK ABS IN 12 WEEKS WITHOUT EVER GOING TO THE GYM- WEEK 3

WEEK 3 INSTRUCTIONS:

All exercises are done in supersets (performing 2 exercises in a row without resting between the exerises) for a total of 3 sets.

For example: Perform “1a” and move right into “1b” and then take the appropriate rest time.

Do not rest within the superset (between “1a” and “1b”)

Rest for the appropriate rest time after “1b” before repeating the superset.

Repeat for 3 sets before moving to the next “superset.”

Perform this workout 3x for week 1

So it looks like this:

1a (x seconds) +1b (x seconds) + rest time (x seconds) = first set

1a (x seconds) +1b (x seconds) + rest time (x seconds) = second set

1a (x seconds) +1b (x seconds) + rest time (x seconds) = third set

*Week 3

1a= Decline Push-ups
1b= Dumbell Step-ups

2a= Inverted Rows or Chin-ups
2b= Squat and Dumbell Shoulder Press

3a= Band Row in Squat Position
3b= 1 Leg Stability Ball Curls

4a= Medicine Ball Rotations
4b= Alternate Split Squats

5a= Side Planks
5b= Hip Ups into Reverse Curls

Exercise Tempo
For exercises 1a, 1b, 2a, and 2b, keep the tempo at 3 seconds
2 seconds to lower and 1 second to raise

Exercise Work Time and Rest Time

*Beginners-
20 seconds of exercise work time
45 second break in between supersets

*Intermediate-
30 seconds work time
35 second break in between supersets

-Advanced-
40 seconds work time
30 second break in between supersets

Perform high intensity interval training immediately after this workout

*Beginners-
-Sprint for 20 seconds (60% of your max)
-Walk for 30 seconds
Repeat for 4 rounds

*Intermediate-
-Sprint for 30 seconds (70% of your max)
-Walk for 30 seconds
Repeat for 6 rounds

*Advanced-
-Sprint for 40 seconds (80% of your max)
-Walk for 40 seconds
Repeat for 8 rounds

If you are indoors replace the sprints with very fast high knees in place.
Replace the walk with marching in place.