The 4 Minutes That Will Prolong Your Life

Everyone says that life is too short, so cherish it. Once you lose a minute, or an hour of your life, you’ll never get it back. I totally agree with that. Carpe diem; Seize the day.

What if I told you that you can extend your life? Well maybe not extend it, but you can make it seem longer. What I'm about to share with you is a secret. Okay, it's not secret because many people know about it, but it's DEFINITELY something that is overlooked.
I’m going to discuss High Intensity Training (HIT) for a second. Now, when I mention HIT training, many people get a bad taste in their mouth and start to tune out. For those of you who are still with me, I’m going to discuss a very effective HIT workout, which is called Tabata training. This is a 4 minute workout that will undoubtedly extend your life. Why do I say that? Because while you are doing it, you will think that this is the longest 4 minutes of your life. So what is the Tabata workout, why is it so beneficial and how come it’s so tough?

Any exercise can be incorporated into Tabata training. However the basic outline of the Tabata training method is as follows:
• 4 minutes long (whole Tabata Session)
• 20 seconds of intense training
• 10 seconds of rest
• Total of 8 sessions or rounds

Typically this is used for cardio sessions such as a bike or an elliptical. But to make things extremely intense and fun, try to incorporate it into your weight training or even calisthenics.

To prove to you how much your life can be prolonged, try doing the Tabata workout with the front squat exercise. Only use 95 lbs on the bar. Do not get too eager and go heavier, especially the first time doing it. Follow the basic rules of Tabata with the additional rule of keeping your score. In the 20 seconds of work, count how many reps you perform for each round. The goal is to get as many reps as possible. Then record the total reps for the work out. Next time you work out, try to beat that score. There are other ways to keep score as well, but this is the simplest way. Trying to beat your total score will definitely be a great challenge.

Hope that you guys enjoy this because I just prolonged your life by quite some time.
Here is a video of my client Chris doing the work out. Check it out

To learn more about Tabata training and its origins check out http://tabatatraining.org/?p=18
Questions or comments email me at yuri@absolutefitnj.com

How Nutrition Has Direct Influence on Performance

Anyone who is serious about their health and fitness goals realizes by now that nutrition is what drives their progress. This is what sets you up for success or failure. How you prepare your meals and what you put into your system has a huge and direct effect on the work out. For example, I have a new client who is out of shape and overweight. I’ll call this client Bob. I discussed the importance of nutrition with him and everyone in his life that wants him to succeed. We have been training for 3 months now and slow, steady progression has been shown in both strength and in weight loss. Where this turned into an experiment is when I had Bob do burpees for time. Remember this is the first time that my client was introduced to this exercise, so it was expected that his first time should be the slowest, with the assumption that as this exercise is performed more often, the times should improve. So here is the work out as follows:

On Wednesday, 45 burpees took 16:45; first attempt at the exercise.
He ate a good breakfast, consisting of eggs and sausage.

The following Monday, 50 burpees took 22:06. Only 5 more burpees than the first workout and it took almost 6 minutes longer.
He felt lightheaded throughout the exercise.
He ate a poor breakfast; only had potatoes and orange juice.

Then Wednesday he performed 80 burpees for time. And since he was doing well, I decided to record the times for the 45 and 50 reps as well.
So for 45 reps, his time was 11:36, which is a great improvement from the first time doing it.
For 50 reps, it was 12:51 which is a 10 minute difference from the 50 reps 2 days prior. Finally, 80 reps for. 19:49; which crushed his time from the Monday work out by 3 minutes less with 30 extra reps of burpees.
His breakfast consisted of eggs and bacon with orange juice. A complete breakfast. All the macronutrients were present; protein, fats and carbs. This breakfast was exactly what his body needed to outperform his previous workouts, which is what’s to be expected when eating well and exercising: Improvement.

Many people exercise, but they don't realize how important nutrition is to their performance and results. Anyone can go to the gym and throw weights around, but for it to be an effective exercise program, many other aspects need to be filtered in, such as flexibly and mobility, nutrition, rest and recovery and the actual set up of the exercise program.

Train for success; don't waste your valuable time and effort at the gym.
This little experiment was a great way to demonstrate that what we do outside the gym such as sleep, rest, food and nourishment for the body is what gets us the most results especially when it comes to training at the gym.

Always go back to the basics. For a good basic guide on nutrition check out Nutrition101.

Choices We Make....

Many people dislike me for my ability to always stay slim. No matter what I eat, it’s extremely difficult for me to gain weight. Back when I was younger, I was on a "see food diet". For those of you that don't know what that means; it means that any food I saw I ate it. I was never much into junk food or fast food, because my parents raised me well by keeping me away from it, and I thank them for that, but I did have a huge sweet tooth. I used to eat lots of sweets, and so my dentist thanked me for that. Now even though I did not gain any fat, my slim appearance did not mean I was healthy. I used to get sick a lot in the winter and walk around looking sickeningly pale during those months. Not the best look.

Finally, when I started making changes in my lifestyle; sleeping better, recovering and stretching from workouts better and most importantly, eating better, my health began to improve. I stopped getting sick, and if I did, it was an extremely mild case and I would bounce back in a couple of days without using any medications. The reason I started thinking about this is because people are always looking at me and calling me a health nut or say I’m extremely lucky because of my genetics. What people don't realize is that I'm just like them. I too, love sweet things and junk food or whatever else that is bad for us, but I CHOOSE to stay away from it because I enjoy my health and my vitality MORE than the crap food. I also found out that there are many alternative ways to substitute things that I love. It has improved my performance tremendously and gives me way more energy through out the day. So I get to live a healthy lifestyle and still enjoy myself. Now that's the type of "diet" I can get behind.



To learn more about living a healthy lifestyle check out Nutrition 101.


Questions or comments email me at yuri@absolutefitnj.com

Peer Pressure

Peer-pressure is a serious thing, especially since it does not stop at the childhood or teenage years, it continues on into our adulthood. Most peer pressure is on young girls and women who see all of the magazines, the beauty products, the commercials and bulletin boards on how to stay young and good looking. Men and women in general are always bombarded with images from the media that make them feel inadequate. For a person who is out of shape and overweight, it is tough enough to be starting on the journey to better health and the look that they desire. So as soon as they start eating better, exercising and making some real progress, they go out with their friends and choose to get a healthy dish from the menu, and are looked at as a "health nut" and pretty much ridiculed or made fun of by their friends for making the healthy choice. For someone who has just begun this long journey, it can be extremely easy to succumb to the peer pressure and give into eating bad for one day, then two, then three, and before they know it they are back to where they started.

My question is when did being called a "health nut" become such a bad thing? And why do people consider being called a "health nut" a negative label? Let me tell you something; because you CHOSE to eat better and healthier, to train regularly and improve your health, you should be proud of the label "health nut". Think of it as a badge of honor that you worked really hard to get. The people that are calling you that recognize your hard work and that is why they say it. But they are a little jealous because it is really hard for them to turn down that piece of cake or the 7th cocktail that they are having at the office party. You do what you intended to do. Stay the course. Keep your goal in mind, which is getting healthier, living a better and longer life. Every time you are called a "health nut", take it as the highest compliment. Once you see things from this perspective there won't be any peer pressure for you and you will only do what you choose to do. Don't get me wrong, the peer pressure is for both women and men. For men it's mostly about looking macho and most of it stems from drinking. Who can out drink who? You would think that this behavior would be over in college. But that is just wishful thinking.

The bottom line is that no matter what kind of peer pressure you are exposed to, know that you are the one who is in control, because you are the one who chooses what to eat and what to drink. Make the right choice.

Questions or comments please contact me at yuri@absolutefitnj.com

What Am I Doing Wrong?....

I eat right and exercise a ton but I still cannot lose weight. What am I doing wrong? Sound familiar to anyone? I have been asked this question countless times and I always respond by asking some of my own questions. Everyone’s definition of eating healthy and working out properly is different. To see what my definition of health is check out my blog called “Different levels of health”. So I need to understand what their definition of healthy is. Most likely it is not what my definition is, and that is the "Aha" moment when we pinpoint the issue and can now hone in on it and fix it. What I'm getting at is that if you have been doing something for a very long time and you are not getting the results you want, the obvious answer is that it's not working for you. Whether you think you are working out hard or eating healthy, your body is telling you otherwise. Listen to it, your body does not lie. The simplest way to make a difference in your goals is to apply change in your life. That could mean better eating habits, workout routines, recovery, etc. etc. Books and well known health websites are great sources to use, (notice I did not say bodybuilding magazines because all they do is promote supplements that will magically turn you into hulk or a playboy bunny or both). If the amount of information is too much, then work with a professional who can narrow down your goals for you.

A great place to start on your nutrition is “Nutrition 101” and “Different Levels Of Health?”

Questions or comments email at yuri@absolutefitnj.com

Who Do We Need to Listen to About Health Advice...

In our society, celebrities are looked at as role models. In general, male athletes are role models for young boys and female celebrities are role models for women of all ages. Since these celebrities are looked up to, when they become a spokesperson for some sort of diet or product, or do a "health cleanse", many people follow in their footsteps.

Celebrities are just regular people who are fortunate enough to be in the spotlight. Just because they have all this money does not mean they are the healthiest, or that they make proper decisions. Oprah is a great example. She is a great person who has done so much with her life. She built a huge company from the bottom up, and has been a tremendous voice that has reached out to people for years. However, this does not mean she is the person to look to or listen to about nutrition. She has battled weight issues all of her life, always going from one diet to the next, or trying different master cleanses and exercise programs. Now mind you, this is Oprah. She has the best doctors money can buy, the best nutritionists and the best personal trainers. Yet still, for some reason, it's difficult for her to stay healthy and keep the unwanted weight off. Most of us are not fortunate enough to have all the money and help that she has, which is why we should not try to imitate the crazy diet fads that the celebrities are trying.



Keep it simple. Eating whole fresh foods is all you have to do to start your journey toward a healthier lifestyle. Do not follow crazy diets and master cleanses, because they do a lot of damage to the body. Adopt a diet that you can use for the rest of your life, and make it a part of your healthy lifestyle.

Check out Nutrition 101 and Different Levels of Health

Questions or comments eamil me at yuri@absolutefitnj.com

Malnourished

These two images have something in common. Can you guess what it is? Both of these images are of malnourished kids. They both have severe health issues, and the only way to get them healthy is by getting them nourished. Now you’re asking yourself, if they are malnourished, then why is one overweight and the other one extremely skinny?

In order to answer these questions, I will need to define a couple of words.

Nutrient- A substance that provides nourishment essential for growth and the maintenance of life. Ex, vitamins, minerals, water, etc.

Calorie- (definition that many people are familiar with) a unit equal to the kilocalorie, used to express the heat output of an organism and the fuel or energy value of food.

Every food that we eat has a specified amount of calories, but not necessarily nutrients. (Ex: processed floury and sugary foods). So the issue with overweight kids is that they are not getting enough nutrients into their body and their body is asking for more nourishment. Because they are eating crap food, such as fast food and junk food, their bodies are only receiving calories with little to no nourishment. The end result being, they gain extreme weight.

On the other hand, not only are the starving children not receiving any nutrients, but they are not receiving any calories either. This leads the body to cannibalize (eat away) its own tissues. Both of these are cases of malnourishment.

Before I defined these terms and explained how both children are malnourished, many people would never look at an overweight child or person and say they are malnourished. They would automatically say that the overweight person needs to stop eating so much and cut down on calories etc. etc.

The last thing we want to do with anyone who is overweight is to cut calories. For anyone who is trying to lose weight, listen up!! Instead of cutting calories, how about we start eating better by focusing on getting NUTRIENTS into our bodies. The most simple and most popular lifestyle out there now is the Paleo lifestyle. This lifestyle consists of meat, vegetables, fruits and....... that’s it. All of these foods are loaded with nutrients. For better nutrient content, seek out organic foods and grass fed meats.

Do the math. Let’s just say you wanted to eat a doughnut. It has 100 calories and 0 nutrients. Since the first thing we decided to do is cut calories, we now eat only half of the doughnut. Now we take in 50 calories but still 0 nutrients. There is absolutely NO nourishment for your body. Half of nothing is still nothing. So when you are trying to lose weight, don't focus on the calories. Focus on eating more nourishing food.

For more nutrition help take a look at Nutrition101Comments or questions contact at yuri@absolutefitnj.com