Fitness Contrarian

I’ve never been a fan of the Biggest Loser. In general, I always felt that the show is sending a negative message to America about exercise and fitness. I can almost go as far as saying that the show has single-handily set back the fitness industry decades (….)

At least once in your life you have to count calories if you want to be successful in long term weight loss. When my personal training clients complain to me that they can’t lose weight no matter what they do, my first question to them is “How many calories are you eating each day?” I know a lot of the popular diets over the years claim that you don’t have to count calories to lose weight, but in my opinion you do (….)

Being a personal trainer I hear this all the time, “why can’t I lose weight?”. I have had clients come to me who have read every diet book, been to a number of trainers and have even been to weight loss hypnotism but still can keep the weight off.

So why can’t they lose the weight?

Let’s take a look at a couple of case studies of two typical people that I have come across in the gym over the years. The first one Susan and the second Debra(….)

You have to be very careful when choosing stretches for lower back pain. Sometimes stretching the lower-back can be the worst thing you can do. If you have the type of back pain that hurts when you sit or flex your spin (round your back) then doing some of the most commonly prescribed stretches for back pain can actually make your back worst.

Probably the most common type of back sufferer is people who have backs that are flexion intolerant. Whenever they round their back too far it hurts. This type of condition is typical for someone who has bulged or herniated discs that protrude posterity from the lower-back (…)

For most people, how many carbohydrates they eat will determine whether they are gaining, maintaining or losing weight. Limiting your carbohydrate intake is probably your best weight loss option.

Figuring out what your Carbohydrate Sweet Spot is for Weight Loss can be confusing. We all need to eat nutritious carbs like fruits and vegetables for good health. We want to cut back; however, on the empty calorie carbs like breads, pasta, rice and processed high carbohydrate foods such as soda, cake and cookies. In addition, we have to take into account how active we are. If you’re sitting behind a desk all day you should obviously be eating less carbohydrates then someone doing manual labor all day (…)

I got an e-mail a few weeks ago from a woman who could not get rid of what she calls her belly pooch. She told me she has been eating right and working out and has lost some weight but her stomach is still sticking out. In response, I told her I will make a video explaining what I think might be the problem (…)

Now it’s time to start thinking about you’re fitness plans for 2013. After the first of the year I always sit down with each of my personal training clients and talk about what worked for them in 2012 and what did not. What I have learned over the 25 years of training clients is to capitalize on the success my clients have had in the past. The mistake (….)

You can’t focus your whole life around food if you want to lose weight. A number of my personal training clients who have a hard time losing weight seem to schedule their lives around meals and spend a lot of their time talking about or focusing on food.

I have over weight clients and friends who would never think about missing a meal. They are always talking about what restaurant they went to. Or they can’t wait to get home and have a big dinner. They spend a lot of their mental energy thinking about food all day and are very frustrated when they can’t seem to lose weight no matter what they try(…)

Coffee and caffeine can enhance athletic performance. Up until 2004 the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) banned caffeine for its unfair advantages. If an athlete had over 1,200 mg of caffeine or about 8 cups of strong coffee in their bodies they could have been banned from competing. In 2004 the WADA lifted the ban but not without controversy since many exercise physiologists believe that caffeine can be a powerful aid in enhancing athletic endurance and performance(….)