I’ve found that going on a walk or a quick bike ride is just as rewarding as a session at the gym. It may even be more rewarding cause I am walking or riding bikes with my wife and we can enjoy each others company. I also enjoy it more because it gives my brain, not just my body, greater stimulation. I’m outdoors, I hear the city all around me. I see things that I could never see being inside the gym.

For me, its more about the environment that I’m in and not as much about the physical activity. Lifting weights and jogging on the treadmill might be a better choice for exercise but walking in my neighborhood or taking a leisurely stroll on my bike is better for my brain, in addition to the physical stimulus.

Being active is an important part of weight loss, but you need to enjoy it for it to become a habit and part of your lifestyle. If, like me,  you can’t get motivated to go to the gym, consider other forms of activity:

• Walk around the block
• Go on a bike ride
• Play frisbee in the park
• Play tennis
• Shoot baskets
• Play with the dog in the backyard
• Attend free bootcamps like It Burns Joe Fitness (if you are in the Denver Area)

It doesn’t really matter what form of exercise you do, the bottom line is to be active.

Be well. Be active. Feel great.

One night, my wife and I were out to dinner with a bunch of friends. One lady made it clear that she was dieting and was not going to order an entree, just a salad. Everyone was impressed. But then dessert time came around and she ordered the double decker chocolate extreme. Most people thought nothing of it cause she saved up her dinner calories for dessert. But the way I saw it is that she really didn’t want to lose weight bad enough. You don’t order a dessert like that if you truly desire to shed pounds.

It comes down to this age old addage: mind over matter. If you don’t mind, then nothing matters. If you don’t mind that you can’t eat a candy bar, than the candy bar really doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is what you mind. So put your mind to being healthy and losing weight and it will be the only thing that matters!

Now I have a confession: I write this post not only to motivate others, but as a reminder to myself. I am 100% guilty of going crazy over the holidays and justifying it to myself one way or another. I wanted to put this down eternally so I can refer to it and let it resonate in my mind.

What are your tips for staying on track?

Feel Great. Be Well.

25 Pullups

50 Deadlifts

50 pushups

50 Box Jumps

50 Ab Floor Wipers

50 Dumbbell Clean-and-Press

25 Pullups

That equals 300 total reps. Remember, try and best your time each time you perform The 300. My current workout schedule has me doing total body circuit workouts on M-W-F and The 300 on T-Th-Sat. I was talking to a lady at my gym yesterday and she just finished The 300 with her personal best of 12 minutes and 30 seconds. Try and beat that!

Here is a demo of the workout so you can see how to do each exercise:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Good Luck!

Diet

LoseIt – This app is the most complete and streamlined weight loss application for the iPhone. Here are a few features:

• Set goals and establish a daily calorie budget
• Stay on track each day by recording your food and exercise
• Enter food and exercise easily using a searchable database
• Join together with friends for additional support and motivation
• Monitor your progress with detailed reports and metrics

LoseIt is 100% free! Not only do you get the iPhone app, but you also get access to the website that has amazing people participating in forums. One quick read through the forum and you will see that many people are losing weight with this app.

Nutrition

Restaurants – This free app is instrumental in eating the right foods when dining out. It has a database of nutrition facts for chain restaurants. When dining out, I consult with this app to see how many calories certain menu items have. This helps me stay on track!

Exercise

DailyBurn – This free app works in conjuction with their web site. You can establish a workout plan and it will be loaded into the iPhone app. Take your iPhone to the gym and you have your workout in your hand. Plus it tracks your workout!

I would really like to find a Pedometer app that works well. If you know of one, please leave a comment!

What fitness apps do you use? Are they worth the price?

• Gyminee
• Fitizens
• FitLink
• Gimme20
• FitFiend
• Traineo
• IntroPlay
• WalkingSpree
• PeerTrainer
• Run Fat Boy
• iTrainHarder
• MyFitTribe
• RunningAhead
• FitSpott
• Comotivate
• Diet Fitness

As with any social network, its best to sign up and give it a chance to see where you feel most comfortable. Not every site is for everyone, and I would bet that if you gave them a chance you will find a site that will help you achieve your goals.

As I try each one of these out, I will re-visit this post and leave a remark about my thoughts on each site.

Please leave a comment about your experience with any of these sites. If you know of other fitness social sites, please leave a comment and I will add it to the list.

HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is a great way to do cardio, however it is fairly controversial in the fitness world. Some think that HIIT is just a fad. However, many experts believe that HIIT is the best way to leverage the thermogenic effect of buring calories. Which is the best way to get the six-pack abs! HIIT is the cardio method used for Huge In A Hurry.

HIAH HIIT is split into 15 seconds/45 seconds intervals. You do a activity all out for 15 seconds and then rest for 45 seconds. This is done after the lifting portion of workout. There are hundreds of exercises that you can do for HIIT. Below is a list of the ones that I have done that I enjoy:

• Jump Rope
• Sprint in place
• Bodyweight Prisoner Squats
• Squat Thrusts
• Jumping Jacks

You can also do intervals on a treadmill, a stationary bike. You can use kettlebells etc. There are hundreds of exercises that can be done to achieve the results. The key, as always, is to do it!!

Please feel free to leave a comment and ad your favorite HIIT exercise!

Click here to view the embedded video.

1) Pick one!

Just pick a program that you have heard of and do it. This doesn’t always work because of time commitments, current fitness level etc.

There are a few programs that I would like to recommend, however, these programs are on the extreme side of programs (this site is called Extreme Workout!):

Turbulence Training, CrossFit, Huge In A Hurry, P09X

I have dabbled in all of these and strongly feel that are all amazing workouts.

2) Lifestlye

Many programs require working out daily. If you can’t workout daily due to other responsibilities, a daily workout program won’t work for you. You will never succeed on that program because you won’t be able to stick to it.

3) Functionality

There are several workouts out there that focus on a particular function or result. For example, CrossFit was developed to be “real life”. The workouts in CrossFit develop muscles that you use in real life. You wouldn’t use a CrossFit regiment if you are trying to compete as a bodybuilder. If you are trying to accomplish something particular, do some research as I would bet that there is a program designed for that.

4) Ask around

If you see someone at the gym who is fit or is built like a tank, talk to them. Ask them what program they do or ask them to shed some light  on how you can improve your workout. People at the gym like talking about themselves and more times than not, they are friendly and willing to help you achieve your goals.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that it really doesn’t matter what workout program you are doing as long as you are working out and being active.  Walking every night, jogging three times a week, weight training twice a week…whatever…just be active! But, like anything else, to succeed you need to stick to it! If you don’t stick to a regiment, it won’t matter what the name of the program is or who designed it.

Lastly, do some research. The top programs quickly rise to the top amongst all the wannabe’s when you spend a few minutes researching.

See, the problem is that too many people sell themselves short. They stop when their body tells them to instead pushing through. When the muscle sends a signal to the brain that its burning and in pain, the brain has the ability to tell the muscle to keep working.

Pain is an emotion, not a feeling. Therefore, pain is a mental pitfall and can be push aside. As soon as the first emotion of pain hits you, tell yourself to welcome it in and that it really doesn’t hurt. If you can push aside the emotion of pain for a few seconds, the emotion with subside and you can continue on.

There is always more in the tank, because the tank is your brain, not your body!

For this very reason, I am beginning a new workout program: “Huge In A Hurry”. This program is created by Chad Waterbury of T-nation.com and Men’s Health fame. This program has been created with a ton of science behind it, which really all makes sense. The program is well-defined and guided; not a “do this type of exercise” program. This program is gym-based, not home-based like P90X. So, unless you have an awesome hme gym, you will probably need to drag your butt to the gym! This program also has a meal/nutrition plan, although its not as detailed as the P90X plan. I might continue on the P90X eating program

I am beginning this program on Monday 9/14/09 and I look forward to updating this site as I progress. I am going into this knowing that I will hit a wall and will be going back to P90X. I plan to go back and forth as necessary.