How to 'Tone' your trouble spots like bingo wings, arm fat, love handles, chest fat and belly fat. . what if told you you couldn't?

I know i told you i was going to tell you how to 'Tone' your trouble spots like bingo wings, arm fat, love handles, chest fat and belly fat. . what if told you that this was impossible and you couldn't? I know it would come as a shock but it actually is an impossibility to tone just your trouble spots.

Tone is another big misconception among the general training population! I even seen a television programme recently with some dumb arse trainer, he had an overweight woman doing tricep kick backs, and mislead her into thinking it was going to 'tone' her arms and help her lose fat on her arms. . You can't tone fat! My apologies but I may get a little antagonistic here. . I get angry when I hear the term 'Tone' as it causes so many dedicated people to do things all wrong!

The word TONE is a big misconception! There is no such thing as 'TONING' a muscle muscles either get

1.Bigger

2.Smaller

Now i know what your saying. . .

'I don't want big muscles!!!!!'

I understand that... women will not get big muscles no matter how hard they try... unless of course you have a good anabolic steroids dealer? Do you? Women lack adequate amounts of the anabolic hormones men possess: testosterone! So you have nothing to worry about! All training heavy and hard is going to do is burn fat, 'tone' and make you lean and sexy!

Now your muscles may get A LITTLE bigger but you will lose fat at the same time and you will remain the EXACT same size... just look far better?!

Sounds like a plan eh?

That is 'TONE'. . well at least what people are looking for when they refer to tone.

----> Reduction in body fat and simultaneous maintenance or slight increase in muscle

I know what you are thinking now. . .

'Ok so do i do this?'

You have one or more of the following: bingo wings, bat wings, upper arm fat, love handles or man boobs so it makes sense to focus on those areas, right? Nope! At first it seems to makes sense, but after thinking about it you'll understand why focusing on your trouble spots is not the solution to fixing them. This is the biggest obstacle trainees face is listening and changing their training. This is essential, especially when it comes to fat loss.

I like to describe it like this. .

'If I take a bucket of water out of the corner of a swimming pool, the water comes from the swimming pool as a whole...not just one section of it'

You get the idea? You have to train your whole body as a unit to reduce bodyfat, your blood stream supplies the energy (in the form of fat) to your muscles, yes? You cannot select where the fat comes from, your body does! It may seem logical for your body to go to fat stores closest to the muscle for energy but it doesn't! Blood flows around your body and the fat that is being used may have been picked up from your thighs or your back not your belly or bingo wings! You don't have control over this aspect of fat loss! Live with it.

Fat will be lost, more often than not, in the reverse order it was put on. Almost everone started puttin on weight in one are first then another etc and the last place to put on nasty bodyfat is usually the first to lose it. Metabolic type work and a clean diet is the key to fat loss, doesn't matter where the fat is!

Copyright (c) 2009 Athleticbodysystem

Bryan Kavanagh Bsc. CSCS

Find out more

----> http://www.athleticbodysystem.com

For social support and helpful tips and example workouts click below

---> http://myathleticbodyspace.ning.com

Protein Shakes – Are They Worth It? Or Are They a Waste Of Money?

First i would like to introduce an exciting study carried out in 2008 that involved 3 groups of people.

1. A Control (CON)
2. Exercise only (EX)
3. Exercise and Protein (EXPRO)

It revealed that ingesting 2 EXTRA protein shakes (extra calories) per day (EXPRO) for 10 weeks caused a ~10% decrease in fat mass and +2% increase in muscle mass. Not bad for 10 weeks of training! This is compared to (EX) who underwent exactly the exercise programme and their diet was adjusted so that they ingested exactly what EXPRO did minus the protein drinks. (Lockwood, 2008)

So what caused the increase in muscle mass and decrease in fat you ask?

This part was not in the study and is merely my own hypothesis.

1. Satiety

My 1st hypothesis is not very scientific but makes sense Ingesting a protein shake in the morning would increase satiety and thus decrease the RISK of that individual heading for the cereal press (god I hate cereal) and eating 3 pieces fruit in the morning. No carbs + No insulin = ↑ Fat loss! Dont get me wrong fruit is great! Full of nutrients and goodness but it also contains calories, it is NOT a magical food that disappears once you eat it. . just think about it next time you eat 3 banana's on the way to work after having a bowl of cornflakes!



NO NO NO!!!

2. Timing

I am assuming the second shake was ‘post workout’ and ingestion of a post workout shake speeds up protein synthesis and actually boosts metabolism via thermogenesis (heat generation) on it own (workout or no workout!)

Also, depending on the rate of digestion/ absorption prevents muscle breakdown and increases recovery time. Whey hydrolysate (in ---->PROMAX<---- and ---->PROMAX AMINOS<----) will illicit the largest of these responses and next in line is whey isolate. Whey concentrates and milk proteins (casein) are too slow to digest (Barr, 2008) and they would not result in nearly as much fat loss or muscle gain.



3. Most people are in a caloric deficit anyway!

Most people are not consuming enough calories in the first place but their diet consists of mainly high glycemic foods and the resultant decrease in metabolism/ fat release from cells will result in a decreased 'basal metabolic rate' (number of calories your body need to survive) The excess calories along with the increase in metabolism results in a net increase in protein synthesis but increased fat loss also! You have the best of both worlds!

4. Their Strength increased!

Assuming both individuals were similar size/weight/limb length etc. If Individual A performs an exercise with 50 kilograms and individual B performs the same exercise with 100 kilo. Who has performed the most work and thus burned more calories and further stimulated protein synthesis?. . . duuhhh. . . ?

5. They 'broke the fast'

Ingesting the protein shake first thing in the morning broke the overnight fast (sleep) kerbed muscle breakdown and kickstarted protein synthesis. The post workout shake kerbed muscle breakdown and kickstarted protein synthesis post workout also. Individual B has a headstart and will accumulate more muscle and recover from his sessions sooner than individual A.

Take home message. .

Take a protein supplement! It will benefit you if your training or not! What I failed to mention was the EX group also lost 4.5% fat compared to the 10% the EXPRO group lost. . that’s 5.5% more fat lost my consuming MORE calories. . . huh? I thought extra calories make you fat? . . . well that’s another article

Promax

References:
1. Lockwood et al. Nutr Metab 2008, 5:11
2. Barr, Anabolic Index, 2008.

Bryan Kavanagh BSc. CSCS

PS

You can see me rant about this subject more by clicking HERE We hava 'Protein Debate' going on over there!

Just click Here ---> http://myathleticbodyspace.ning.com

Here’s some things I have noticed lately that just make my blood boil.

In the past 2 weeks I almost lost hope. It seems that there are traps and pitfalls everywhere for people that are the PRIMARY cause of the current WORLDWIDE obesity and laziness epidemic. . and do you want to know the killer? They are just unavoidable! I was in Newry (northern Ireland) last week and seen this. . .





Come on! spinal surgery anyone? This sort of nonsense, crunches, sit ups, cat stretches, them weird looking push up stretches where the persons pelvis is still on the floor and they’re looking at the ceiling interesting stretch. . all completely contradictory to what your spine and the surrounding musculature is suppose to do! Stretching and mobilising a structure that is made for stability. . tut tut. . no wonder half the people I meet are complaining of back pain.. the INSTRUCTIONS on the products they are buying tell us to do these things and blindly we follow! Ever buy a set of dumbbells with a set of instructions of ALL the possible combinations of exercises are on there. . we, the buyer, feel compelled to do all of them then! Think we know it all and then weeks down the line we are injured! GREAT!

A couple days before I sent th interesting picture above I seen this. . I’m grinding my teeth as I write this by the way. .




Oh now processed sugar is good for you : ) haha

High carbohydrate low fat diets are good for you now. . .interesting. .

Ahh the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes has nothing to do with sugar now? Cool I’m going to buy a bag of it right now!

How in the name of s#@t can they make these label claims and sleep at night! Grrrrrr

And even better . . a member recently directed me to this video! LOL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEbRxTOyGf0

Oh dear. . don’t blame me if I inflict harm on HFCS company owners in the near future : )

This ones better

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbMkwc3Qe1k&feature=related

Its true! We are being fed horse crap everyday! Think of the original food pyramid? 8-10 portions of grain a day. . did somebody say hippopotamus? Haha

Only eat meat or eggs 3 times per week or some crap I can’t remember? Its like they are trying to kill everyone or make them fat and weak!

Ugh I do NOT have a clue where im going with this but ill keep going . . .

Til next time

Daily Mugshot

Daily Mugshot

Sprint Session

This is one i done today!

Sprint ONE length 20 m

Walk the Width 8 m

Sprint the OTHER length 20 m

Walk width 8m

now it gets fun. . .

Sprint up and back on one side 2x 20 m

walk ONE width

Sprint up and back 2x 20 m

Malk one width

Even more fun. .

3x20m

walk width

3x 20 m

rest one minute. .

repeat x 3

took all of 8 minutes or something like that i will time it next time (20 mins warm up)

(i warn you i am still sweating and that was over an hour ago)

get it into you :-)

Bryan

Stages Of Change

The majority of the population are in one of two stages of change. The are either in ‘precontemplation’ i.e. they are completely oblivious to the fact that training could be good for them or that they need change! They may or may not decide to EVER take part in training of any kind and this is possibly down to good genetics and the fact they don’t store fat easily. Yay for them! Sucks for us! Another large percentage of the population are the ‘contemplation’ stage of change. They are considering changing for the better and undergoing a transformation, albeit muscle gain, fat loss or conditioning. The problem is they have it in their head that its ‘hard’ to stay in shape. . that it’s a chore or something! Well it isn’t. . It shouldn’t be but the gym users have it all wrong! They have lost the drive to train!

Training is fun!

Training should be enjoyable . . not a chore! If you are finding it hard to motivate yourself and you are literally falling asleep lying on the bench maybe something needs to change? Change the damn workout! Do something different!

‘I’m bored stupid of this workout and getting nowhere but ill keep doing it anyway . . maybe next week I wont be bored of it’

HUH? YOU ARE BEING RIDICULOUS!

Competitive edge!

All training/’working out’ (what a lame ass term anyway . . working out WHAT? Maths? The meaning of life? Get working hard!) Train for something! Set a GOAL and strive toward it. . don’t ‘work-out’ or you are setting yourself up to be a gym creep and fail miserably. . your training should have a competitive element. Not necessarily with an opponent but compete with yourself! Your previous unconditioned/flabby/skinny self. Beat Him/Her! TRAIN harder than Him/Her! Train like an ATHLETE! TRAIN TO WIN! Working out is for chumps!

Motivational!

Get MOTIVATED! As I said above. . you will get nowhere if you find yourself standing in the middle of the gym floor sleezing on somebody with a cute ass that just walked by. .save it for when your FINISHED the session. . your mind should not wander you have a job to do! GET WORKING! Set a goal for that particular session! don’t have a vague notion of ‘someday I will get in shape’ maybe next month . . or year. . GET STARTED NOW! Or you will NEVER get in shape, you will never achieve your goals, you will never WIN!

The misconception that someone who is in shape spends everyday all day in the gym, all day doing curls and running on a treadmill is complete nonsense! The ones who are in shape are those who have a purpose. The ones that are there for a reason! The ones that have made the conscious decision to TRAIN and train HARD! GENETICS MY ASS maybe you can look ‘OK’ if you have superior genetics but in order to look ‘GREAT’ it doesn’t matter what end of the genetic spectrum they are on it demands hard work! They train hard too ya know?!

The stereotype that the person in shape has no life and the common statement that being in shape is ‘not worth it’ has to abolished!

‘Its too much sacrifice’

‘its too hard’

‘I have a life’

What a load of nonsense. . so having a life is eating garbage and making a nuisance out of yourself nowadays?!

‘Obsessed is a word lazy people use to describe the dedicated’-

I don’t know who wrote it and I’m too lazy to find out

The ones in shape enjoy training, its fun to them but they do NOT over do it. . the only ones who overdo it are the ones who go for it hammer and tongs for 6 months then give up because they approached it all wrong! They didn’t take it like it is. . a change in lifestyle. A CHANGE! You don’t simply add the gym into your schedule. It becomes so much more than that but you have to make the decision first! You have to decide what you want and what you are willing to sacrifice for that ideal body you desire. It can be as simple as re arranging things in your life not taking over it. give it a go NOW not in January when you have put on 10 pounds. The 10 pounds you put on will take a whole lot longer to lose. Make the right decision and START NOW and stop procrastinating and putting it off!

P.S.

Let me take this opportunity to tell you to get on over to the ‘12 days of fitness’ website and sign up to grab your free gifts! Seriously, I’m a contributor and I’m still going in to see what I can get for F.R.E.E. . you pay nothing. . it really is a no brainer! There is something in there for everyone!

Muscle Gain

Fat Loss

Lifestyle Management

Sports Specific programmes

Avoiding The Christmas Bulge (I wonder who wrote that one haha)

Come don’t just sit there go sign up here: http://www.12daysoffitness.com

There have been nearly 20,000 sign ups so far, don’t be left out!

Tell you friends we really want to make this BIG and we need your help!

Twitter

Face book status! COME ON! give us a dig out! Spread the news!


Thanks in advance!

Bryan Kavanagh BSc. CSCS

P.P.S.

I know I can be persistant! Haha

Http://www.athleticbodysystem.com

It’s Been Long Road!

Did you know someone that just doesnt listen? Yea sure they took in the information but they didn’t LISTEN! They knew exactly what you were saying, fully understood, but still they done the exact opposite of what you are saying? I’ve had a few clients like that. . they tried my patience! One in particular though really took the biscuit! He had to get it REALLY wrong for him to realise that he needs to change something! He took all the wrong turns along the way. He made all the mistakes possible. Maybe sometimes you need to make the mistakes and learn from them in order for you to really stick to something. Otherwise you are just following blindly . . like a groupie or something. . .

Let’s start from where it really got interesting, you see I had been helping him for quite some time, helped him make weigh-ins and helped a little with pre fight nutrition.

In summer 2007 we had just boxed in an international tournament against a Nordic team (comprised of Swedish, Norwegians, and Icelanders. Instead of keeping on track the dumb antelope bought ‘The New Encyclopaedia of Modern Bodybuilding’ and after losing an small amount of bodyfat (and muscle because he wouldn’t listen and used to run 15 miles 3 times per week and thought that would burn fat??) in the previous few months, he was actually starting to get lean ~10% bodyfat but then he decided to follow Arnolds recommendations and eat 3500-4000 calories per day and train using bodypart splits and a bodybuilding style of training and ceased to train athletically! The result? He put on weight alright. . ! shot up to about 14+% bodyfat! For an international boxer that is a horrible bodyfat percentage to be at! After a summer of mistakes and 3-4 kilo’s of fat later he finally decided to listen to me!

He started on the programme early October. . he listened and trained hard. . but it really was too late! He just barely made the weigh-ins for the all Ireland boxing championships 2007. Tired and drained and not performing he boxed with all his heart in the 1st fight. . heart wasn’t enough against the slippery opponent. . heart will only get you so far he needed to change his whole outlook on his training and lifestyle!

Up until a year ago his training tools involved a skipping rope, a sweat suit, a treadmill and a sauna. No wonder he wasn’t performing. . he was training to lose weight, NOT FAT and certainly NOT TO BOX!

‘Weights? Ah they will just slow me down’ common misconception among boxers and couldn’t be further from the truth!

"An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a narrow field." - Niels Henrik David Boh

Robert spent more time in the weights room conditioning his body and even longer in the kitchen preparing food that will FUEL his ambitions not hinder them than he did in the ring for 6 months after!

Fast forward less than a year and 3 solid months sparring with the best in the world in TOP RANK boxing gym in Las Vegas. . . .



Lean, Athletic, All Ireland Champion. .(he's still ugly though) : )

Find out more about the system Robert used here:

Http://www.athleticbodysystem.com