Everyone wants to eat CHOCOLATE…especially today

(except our little daughter Matea who wanted her heart shaped candy lolipop for breakfast!)

But you can have your chocolate and abs too…here’s how…

PS. Hope you have a great VALENTINES Day with whoever you wish to spend it with. I am taking my wife out to dinner, then we are going to see The Goo Goo Dolls perform live here in town!

Enjoy your abs AND chocolate!

=> http://www.TTWorkoutDvds.com

So I asked him to share them with you before it appears in the magazine;-)

The 10 Best Weight Loss Tips
by Craig Ballantyne

You’re about to discover the most important weight loss and body transformation tips I’ve ever put together.

Over the holidays I spent 16 hours reviewing every article I’d ever written
and I’ve extracted these tips as the best ones to help you lose fat and get lean in 2011.

10 Weight Loss Tips for Success

1. Sit down and plan out your complete body transformation.

Plan everything from end goals, to getting started with nutrition changes, to overcoming all of the obstacles in your way. Sit and daydream about this for 15-30 minutes.

2. Clean out your pantry.

Listen, one of the best fat loss tips is simply, “If you don’t have it in the house, you won’t eat it!”

So get rid of as much junk food as you can – and avoid bringing more into the house. Simply cutting back on junk can help you lose fat fast.

3. Get social support in-person and online (research proven to help)

Surround yourself with people who are smarter and fitter than you. Talk to them EVERY day – both in person and online.

Scientific research proves that you will lose more fat if you have social support, both in “real life” and on the internet. So hook up with friends who are going to help you reach your goal.

I recommend getting started with Turbulence Training here and using the Turbulence Training forum to connect with people just like you who also want to lose fat.

4. Use a food journal.

Write down what you eat. This is another research proven tip to help you lose fat faster. Write down everything you eat. It will help you eat better.

5. Use a professionally designed workout program.

With a program from a pro – like Turbulence Training – you’ll save time when you do fat burning exercises. One of the biggest mistakes people make is not having a plan and that wastes time and you won’t get the results you deserve.

6. Change Your Mind.

No matter what you struggle with, you must change your mindset to be a successful transformation. You must go from a person who “can’t resist cookies” to the type of person that “doesn’t eat cookies unless they are part of a planned reward meal”. That is how you win transformation contests!

7. Stop doing slow boring cardio and switch to interval training.

Research shows that it takes up to 50 hours of cardio just to lose one pound of bodyweight. Who has that kind of time? No one!

Additional research studies show that interval training burns belly fat while slow cardio doesn’t. So skip the insanely boring cardio and start getting results with interval training (as you’ll find in the Turbulence Training workouts).

Research shows that resistance training and interval training can help you gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. Plus, you can burn belly fat AND boost your post-exercise metabolism. You MUST use this type of workout for guaranteed results.

8. You must be in the correct state of change.

The truth is that even the best transformation contest winners don’t lose 30 pounds of fat on their first try. They start, they stop. They begin, they give up. It happens. And it’s okay.

But when they get in the right state of change, that is when they finally breakthrough and transform! And that’s where you have to be.

9. Plan, shop, and prepare your food.

Take an hour or two on the weekend to go to the grocery store and buy all the whole, natural foods you need for the week ahead. Go home and prepare as many lunches and snacks as possible so you have the right food to eat while at work. This is a proven strategy to help you lose fat and avoid temptation!

10. Join a Transformation Contest

The deadline, social support, proven training program, and goal setting that go along with a Transformation Contest are all proven to help you lose weight.

If you want to lose fat and gain lean, sculpted muscle at the same time, there is nothing better to get you motivated and committed than a 12-week Body Transformation Contest.

But this week is the LAST CALL for you to enter the 10th Turbulence Training Transformation Contest. The last day to begin is Saturday, January 15th.

Not only can you dramatically change your body, but you can also win $1000 just for losing belly fat. At least, you can when you join the Turbulence Training Transformation Contest.

All you have to do is take your before photo, and start using Turbulence Training today.

But how do you enter?

After 12 weeks, simply email us your before and after photos along with a 300-word essay about your transformation and tell us your results and the programs you used. That’s all you have to do to enter.

It’s that simple.

Now let’s get started,

=> Start with the TT for Fat Loss program here.

PS. This is the final week for you to enter the 10th TT Transformation Contest,where you can win $1000 prize just for losing belly fat.

=> See $1000 Transformation Winners here

9. The New Rules of Lifting For Abs- Gotta be honest, this book was just released, so I haven’t read it yet but I KNOW before I read it that it will be the best ab training book you will ever read. From two of the greatest fitness minds in the industry, Alwyn Cosgrove and Lou Schuler, they release their 3rd instalment in the New Rules of Lifting series. I have the first New Rules of Lifting and gave my wife the second release of The New Rules of Lifting for Women. From the sneak peek I did get this book will get you off the dirty gym floor doing crunches, show you how your abs should be trained to prevent back pain and give you ab exercises that you never heard of but will quickly make it’s way into your workout program. Available at Amazon.com for $15.

10. The Paleo Solution Diet- Did a blog post about this book awhile back and further confirms to me how better I feel and many others when you eat the way our caveman ancestors did back in the day. Keep it real by eating mostly naturally raised meats, organic fruits and veggies, ditch the grains and gluten and you will look and feel better faster than you ever thought possible. With my bookshelf bursting at the seams I read this on my iPhone Kindle app but the hardcover is only $14 at Amazon.

11. ZMA- This is one of the supplements that I don’t want to do without. Originally created by Victor Conte the “supplement” guru behind the Barry Bonds steroid scandal and the founder of SNAC systems. He did do something right when he created this natural combo of Zinc, Magnesium and vitamin B6 and it’s ability to naturally support healthy testosterone levels (which have declined 30% in todays men compared to 30 years ago!) Most men these days are deficient in Zinc which is the key mineral in supporting testosterone, the man maker hormone. From lifting to libido, ZMA is also known to enhance sleep quality. But the BIG reason why I continue to pop 3 capsules every night before bed, is as a long-time migraine sufferer I have gone the longest in my life without having a migraine and haven’t had ONE migraine since using this supplement in the last 6 months! For anyone with migraines that’s a godsend when even prescription meds don’t offer much in relief. After doing some research I discovered that Magnesium supplementation has been proven in many studies to offer relief in the prevention and duration of migraines due to it’s calming effects on blood vessel dilation in the brain That’s good enough for me! Available at most health food stores.

12. Caffeine/ L-Tyrosine- I am not sure if I am the only person out there these days who don’t drink coffee, as I haven’t drank a cup in my life, just can’t stand the taste. Green or peppermint tea is more of my cup of tea but sometimes I need a caffeine jolt just as much as the next guy. I don’t reach for canned energy drinks so as someone who likes early morning workouts I use pure caffeine for a pre-workout energy boost and L-Tyrosine for enhanced mental focus. Simple 100mg caffeine tabs are dirt cheap at $10 a bottle and the amino acid L-Tyrosine is usually $20-30 a bottle. Even some of the preworkout powder supplements on the market are great to jack up workout intensity but are really high in caffeine with some up to 300mg per serving, which leads to a hard energy crash. It’ all available at online supplement retailers.

13. Elite FTS Hoodies- From the best company is the world for workout gear and gym equipment I love the Elite FTS hoodies for wearing around during the day or to stay warm when heading to the gym on those cold winter mornings. Keep it on during your warmup as well to increase body temperature faster. Plus if you purchase the Lift Strong apparel the proceeds goes to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. $30 at Elitefts.com

14. Stainless Steel Shaker- With the popularity of stainless steel water bottles these days (My family all loves our Klean Kanteen bottles) it’s about time they started making shaker bottles for protein shakes out of stainless steel.With Kerplunk stainless steel shakers you avoid the BPA plastics and the fowl odour that plastic protein shaker bottles can have after frequent use. Got mine at Walmart for $8. www.kerplunkbottles.com

15. JA Henkels International Knives- As a guy who loves to cook I have gone through many knife blocks over the years only to be disappointed by the knifes sharpness and quality. My knives never seem to slice through food like the pro chefs on the Food network. That’s because they don’t use knives that you can get at Walmart or from a late night informercial. Despite what you may think, you have a greater chance of cutting yourself with a blunt knife than a sharp one. With knives you get what you pay for so that’s why this year for Christmas, my parents got me a set of JA Henkels German Steel International Knives. The quality is outstanding and they seem to melt through any food with sharpness and precision. Well worth the $200 investment.
http://www.j-a-henckels.com

16. The H2O MOP- If you’re a modern day dad like me you do your share of cooking and cleaning. Well, this mop might not cook dinner for the kids but it will clean up after them and (in my best English accent infomercial voice “this new H20 makes cleaning a snap!” The H20 mop with Built-In Portable Steamer is designed not only to thoroughly clean floor surfaces, such as marble, ceramic, stone, linoleum, and sealed hardwood floor, but get your entire house clinically clean! The H2O MOP sanitizes and increases cleaning power by converting water to steam. It also uses a microfibre floor cloth to enhance absorbency and throws right in the washer for easy cleaning. After all our family having the flu during the holidays we just quarantined and cleaned our whole house with this steam machine! We got ours as a gift but they retail for around $100 in stores.

17. Ryobi 300 pc Drill Set- When I asked Santa for some new drill bits, well, he delivered with the Ryobi 300 piece Mega Drill Bit Set. Tired of looking for the right size bit to hang some family photos or just looking to scare the kids into going to the dentist? Then this set has every bit, shape and size you will ever need to drill any hole or perform little Johnny’s root canal. Even comes with extra screwdriver bits and wall sinkers so you now have no excuse to leave the house before your wife puts you to work. Folds up to half it’s massive size into a neat carry case…white lab coat not included. Available in most hardware stores for $50.

Well, there you have it my favorite things of 2010 that I hope will help you be healthier and happier in 2011. Now if I could just figure out if I should spell favourite with a “U” I would be all set…

I would love to hear what some of YOUR favorite things were in 2010 so be sure to share them in the comment section of the blog!

Yesterday afternoon it hit me like a ton of bricks! Chills, body aches, sore throat and the energy of a turtle.

…and I am not the only one, our 2 year old daughter Matea has it and is up half the night coughing and “asking Daddy, why am I coughing?”

It involves Wave Loading and Antagonistic Supersets to build strength AND build muscle at the same time!

It’s been a LONG time since I did some bodypart training and had an “Arm Day” but it’s been really fun to go old-school in the gym for a few weeks and focus on building some rock-solid muscle.

…and with these new techniques I can definitely see a difference in my muscle size and density after a few short weeks!

So if you’re looking for a NEW workout to build bigger and stronger arms give this one a try and you will be bursting out of your shirt-sleeves in no time!

Awesome Arms Workout

A1 Close Grip Preacher Curls, (7,5,3 Wave Loading), 1st wave set of 7, 5, 3, 2nd wave, set of 7, 5, 3, 90 secs rest

A2 Close Grip Bench Press, (7,5,3 Wave Loading), 1st wave set of 7, 5, 3, 2nd wave, set of 7, 5, 3, 90 secs rest

B1 Incline Hammer Curls, 4 sets of 6-10 reps, 60 secs rest

B2 Decline EZ-Bar Tricep Extensions, 4 sets of 6-10 reps, 60 secs rest

C1 Zottman Curls, 3 sets of 10-12 reps, 60 secs rest

C2 Rope Tricep Cable Pushdowns, 3 sets of 10-12 reps, 60 secs rest

A1-A2 means do one exercise set, rest and perform second exercise set, or if you’re in a rush for time don’t rest at all in between exercise supersets!

PS. If you want a cool new muscle building workout program from one of the most innovative trainers in the fitness industry, Nick Nilsson has just
released a program called “Mad Scientist Muscle – Build MONSTER Muscle With Science-Based Training” and I have to say, this looks like his best program yet.

Anyway, definitely check this out now!  This info could seriously save you YEARS of muscle-building frustration

==> Mad Scientist Muscle (click here now to check it out)

We have been having some late nights with our little daughter Matea as she has come down with a runny nose and a tough cough which is keeping her up at night.

When it comes to designing the best workout routines for men, don’t get Paralysis by Analysis by the 1,950,000 results looking back at you from Google.

..and please don’t try to follow some of the marathon bodybuilding workouts from the muscles mags on your local newsstand unless you want to break your body down instead of build it up.

No cookie cutter workout program works best for everybody, but most fitness experts would agree on what makes up a well balanced workout for busy dads with real life responsibilities.

So here are 6 Rules for a Perfect Workout to build real-man muscle, lose that beer belly, and say good-bye to those aches and pains once and for all.

Rule 1: Dynamic Warmup
Ex. (Bodyweight Squats, Pushups, Lunges)

Starting off the workout with a Dynamic warmup instead of stretching, increases body temperature and wakes up your nervous system by moving your body’s major muscles in a natural range of motion

Rule 2: Compound multi-joint exercise
Ex.(Squats, Deadlifts, Bench Press, Chinups)

Including a compound exercise first in your exercise routine works all major muscles by working in a lower rep range you build strength AND muscle right from the start.

Rule 3: Upper Body Antagonistic Superset
Ex. (BB or DB Chest Press & BB or DB Row)

Then by pairing opposing muscles groups in a superset fashion but in a slightly higher rep range you save time and keep your heart rate elevated to build muscle and burn fat faster.

Rule 4: Lower Body Single Leg Movement
Ex.(Lunges, Steps Ups, Single Leg Squats)

By including a single leg movement you help correct any lower body imbalances and work some inactive muscles like the glutes and lower back which build functional strength you can use in everyday life.

Rule 5: Abdominal Movement
Ex. (Planks, Mountain Climbers, Ab Wheel Rollout)

The best ab workouts involve the exercises that use your abs the way they are meant to function by stabilizing your spine and preventing rotation will give you rock hard abs that do more than look good on the beach.

Rule 6: Cooldown: Static Stretching
Ex. (Wall Chest Stretch, Wall Back Stretch, Lying Leg Stretch)

Ending your workout with static stretching relaxes your mind as well as your muscles by decreasing your heart rate and increasing flexibility.

Sample Workout:

Warmup

Bodyweight Squats, 10 reps
Pushups, 10 reps
Lunges, 5 reps each

Strength Training

1.   Barbell Squats, 3 sets of 4-6 reps,2 min rest
2A. Flat DB Bench Press, 3 sets of 6-8 reps,  no rest go directly to
2B. Bent Over DB Row, 3 sets of 6-8 reps, 60 secs rest
3.   DB Step Ups, 2 sets of 10-12 reps, 60 secs rest
4.   Abdominal Planks, 2 sets, hold for 60 secs

Cooldown

Wall Chest Stretch
Wall Back Stretch
Standing Bent Leg Quad Stretch
Lying Knee To Hip Stretch

Use these 6 Rules For a Perfect Workout to construct your own workout routine that will give you faster results with only 3 workouts a week.

September seems to be a busy month for everyone. Back to school, back to work and back to some serious workouts!

After talking with my buddy Craig Ballantyne of Men’s Health magazine I asked him to share his 5 best tips to help you guys get more energy to get through the busy fall season and here is what he had to say.

So use those tips and have more energy….

PS.Craig Ballantyne and my buddy Chris Lopez just released a new Kettlebell Fat Loss home workout program called Kettlebell Revolution. I can’t recommend Kettlebell workouts enough if you want to get bodysculpting results in 10-20 minutes per day.

So don’t miss your chance on these powerful new home workouts – heck, you can even do them at the park.

Get your Kettlebell workouts here:

=> Kettlebell Fat Loss Workouts

By “going with your gut” I don’t mean you should accept that beer belly hanging over your belt.

What I mean is that sometimes you have to go by how you feel if you want to stay motivated with your exercise program.

I have no workout scheduled for today so it’s my wife’s turn to hit the gym as I stay home with our baby daughter Matea for the afternoon.

It’s a cool rainy day here so I guess we will have to keep things inside. I hope Hokey Pokey Elmo can keep up!

I am looking forward to tonight though as it’s “date night” with my wife and Matea will spend the night with her nanny and poppy.

Not sure if we will go out or cook dinner at home…

Yesterday I went to the gym for a busy dad workout but when I got there I wasn’t really in the mood to do the workout I had planned.

I just wasn’t up for heavy deadlifts and I wanted to just do whatever I felt like doing for a change so I threw my training journal back in my gym bag and did whatever exercises I felt like doing.

This is something I rarely do so when I have days like this I know it’s time to change up my workout.

So here is what I came up with after my warmup.

Dumbbell Pushups off hexagon dumbbells supersetted with Inverted Barbell Rows.

3 sets each, 12-15 reps

V Bar Weighted Pulllups with a 10lb plate attached to a dip belt.

6 reps, 2 sets, with a 20 sec negative lowering for the last rep

Bulgarian Split Squats

8 reps each leg, 2 sets

Standing Dumbbell Curls/Hammer Curls

I supersetted a set of dumbbell curls with a set of hammer curls

2 sets each

Seated Calf Raises

2 sets of 10 reps

Ab Wheel Rollouts

2 sets of 10 reps

I really enjoyed this workout, I got a great pump, worked up a good sweat and it was mentally refreshing to just “wing it” at the gym for a change.

I have been doing the same Dad Fitness workout routine for the last 4 weeks so I will design a new workout program and start Sunday or Monday.

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