Hype-Free Fad-Free Fitness By Pete

Today I’m going to get a little more technical, but hang in there because this is one of the biggest secrets to getting rapid results, sticking with exercise and avoiding injury.

In mistake #1 of the 10 Biggest Workout Mistakes we talked about having a plan and structure to your workout.  There is a catch.  You can take this too far.  Some believe following a circuit of machines in the gym or the same routine is having a plan.  While this is better than nothing, it usually leads to no longer seeing any progress, boredom, overuse injury and ultimately a lot of frustration. 

Having the right plan and structure that constantly progresses is the key to finding the right balance of a good plan that avoids the dreaded plateau.  A good plan and structure actually gives you a baseline to be able to adjust your routine and progress your workout with a new stimulus.  

A common fad out there that is even perpetuated by some personal trainers is not ever doing the same workout twice.  In other words, every time you workout it’s something new and random.  The rationale behind such a program is keeping the workout “fresh”.  While this may sound good in theory, the problem is never having a baseline to gage your progress and systematically make adjustments that create specific physiological response to keep you progressing.  In other words, you are working out every day doing something different and HOPING something good happens.  

The chart above represents the relationship between having a workout plan that constantly progresses creating a new stimulus that helps you avoid a plateau and ultimately decrease your body fat if that is your goal (or increase strength, endurance or just about any other goal).

The chart represents what happens when trying to improve your fitness or decrease body fat over the long term.  You see, plateaus are necessary for our survival.  They are your body’s natural mechanism for adapting to the physiological and psychological stimulus you impose on it.  Your body has no idea you are on a treadmill or running on the road.  It has no idea if you are lifting heavy box or dumbbells.  Its goal is to adapt to this new work if you continue to repeat it.

The bad news is that we don’t want it to adapt to our workouts if we have not achieved our fitness or fat loss goals yet.   We want our body to continually adapt and change to new workouts.  This continual adaption can be an improvement in strength, cardiovascular conditioning, body fat loss and more.

You can see by the graph that each plateau includes a period of no progress, followed by a slight "sliding back" before you progress again. Additionally, each subsequent plateau occurs at a faster rate than the previous one, and is usually a smaller progression each time. This phase length varies from novice to experienced trainees. Novices can likely progress on the same program for far longer than an experienced trainee - although changing the routine can be useful psychologically.

The key to "breaking" plateaus is to manipulate your nutrition and exercise programs SLIGHTLY. A subtle change is often enough to 'kick start' progress.  The progression of a single variable like load (weight or resistance) used in an exercise can keep forcing adaptations even when other variables remain the same.  Other variables can be reps, sets, rest periods, tempos and exercise selection.

A good coach is always trying to stay one step ahead of any plateaus by manipulating the training variables to ensure continued progress. For example, we change repetitions, sets, rest periods and tempos sometimes once a week for our clients and at the least every two weeks.  During a particular workout phase typically lasting 4 weeks we will also progress their exercises slightly depending on how well they progress and we absolutely make sure to completely change workouts every four weeks.  Depending on a clients progress and our monitoring of heart rates and respiration we change the resistance (example: weight) every workout, the nutrition program as needed, cardiovascular exercise prescription and energy system training.

The bottom line is to keep your program progressing to avoid physiological and psychological plateaus.  Don't get stuck on the circuit of machines just because it was the "program" they gave you when joining the gym.  But remember that eventually hitting a plateau is not necessarily a bad thing.  In fact, our ultimate goal IS a plateau - to reach a favorable body composition range and stay there.  We just don’t want to hit a plateau before we achieve the fitness and body composition we would like to maintain!

In good health,

Pete Piranio BS, CSCS

Owner/Fitness Consultant

Fitness Together

www.FitnessTogether.net

P.S.  If you would like us to design a program for you, schedule an Introductory Session and Consultation.  We’ll assess you current fitness level, ability level and personal situation, then give you a recommended program to get you to your goals.    You can learn more here:  www.FitnessTogether.net/freeconsult.html

Our Health Partners Advanced Lipidology are sponsoring a private "meet and greet" with 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist Shawn Johnson and Local Olympic Medalists Paul and Morgan Hamm.  Come meet these great athletes and at the same time learn what Advanced Lipidology is all about. Wednesday, November 12th from 6pm-8pm.

Tickets are free, but are also required.  Tickets can only be obtained from Fitness Together (Brookfield, Wauwatosa and Delafield) or Salto Gymnastics.  Stop in to one of the training centers and get your tickets today.  Hope to see you there! 

On my last post I gave you the 10 Biggest Workout Mistakes
we commonly see when doing a fitness analysis and consultation
with a new client.  Today we'll go into some of the details
about the first one on the list.  Let's get start...

1. No plan or structure: "Winging it"

This is probably the most common problem we see.  People
going to the gym jumping on some of the equipment, working
up a sweat and hoping it works.

Unfortunately, as they say, "if you fail to plan, you plan
to fail". Not having a specific workout plan for the day,
week, month and months ahead drastically decreases your odds
of success. Not to mention you'll eventually get bored and
frustrated by not being able to see progress.

I'm not placing blame on you. Designing an effective workout
plan is more complicated than people think.  It requires
knowledge in exercise physiology, biomechanics and the
study of methods proven by research - not new stand magazines.

With that said, let's make sure you are at least armed with
some basic knowledge that will help improve what you are
currently doing.

First, going to the gym and hopping machine to machine will
not get you the results you want. Setting aside the fact that
machine based exercise programs are faulty in the first place.
If you are a member of a gym and they have a "personal trainer"
give you a "workout program" that simply has you moving
machine to machine, you will need to evaluate the program
yourself.  Make sure these BASICS are in the program design:

1. You are performing large muscle group exercises before small.
For example, Legs, shoulders, back or chest before arms.

2. Your Core Training (abs, back, obliques, etc.) is done at
the end of your workout to prevent injury.  Reason: you use
your Core muscles in all exercises.  If you pre-fatigue these
muscles before you do other exercises you are increasing the
chances of being injured. The Core muscles support your back
and provide stability to all of your other exercises.  If
your Core is already tired it's like trying to shoot a
cannon from a canoe. 

3. Are your sets, reps, rest periods and tempo's appropriate
for your goals? For example, if you are trying to increase
your strength you should not be doing over 8 repetitions per
exercise.  You should also allow yourself enough rest between
sets for the muscle to recover. If you are trying to increase
muscle size or add muscle tone, the tempo of the exercise is also
important to create the appropriate physiological response
that creates hypertrophy (muscle growth). If you want to
lose weight you need to have repetitions, sets, rest periods
and tempo's need to be appropriate to maximize calorie expenditure,
oxidization of fat as energy and to create a post workout
metabolic boost.

There are many more basics that must be in an effective program,
but I can't cover all the basics in a blog let alone
advanced techniques, but this should give you a jump start to
know if you are on track or getting good advice.

There will be some other important program design elements that
will come up as we address the other 9 mistakes throughout this
week, so come back soon!

In good health,

Pete Piranio BS, CSCS
Owner/Fitness Consultant
www.FitnessTogether.net

P.S. If this has your head spinning or more confused, come in to
see us for a Introductory Session and Consultation and we'll help
you design an effective program. You use it on your own
or if want the ongoing coaching and guidance we can recommend
an individualized program for you.  You can contact us for a
free consultation here: www.FitnessTogether.net/FreeConsult.html

P.P.S.  Let's not forget another big part of the fitness success
equation -nutrition! Give your body the right nutrition to support your
workouts. Attend Milwaukee's Original Grocery Shopping Tours with
Fitness Together.  You'll learn what the food companies don't want
you to know, how you can forget about diets and learn everyday
nutritional tips from our fitness consultants. Find the closest
tour at a grocery store near you: www.FTGroceryShoppingTours.com

Yes, I said I would write about The 5 Biggest Workout Mistakes, but I just couldn't help myself. They just kept coming to me after I reflected on most of the problems we see when doing an initial fitness analysis and consultation with a new client.

Today I want to leave you with some food for thought you can chew on over the weekend with your hype-free fad-free guide for the key strategies we'll be covering next week.  You won't want to miss this information if your workouts haven't been getting the job done, you’re constantly hitting a plateau, you're bored, you're always sore from your workouts, you've never experienced an energy increase and instead you feel more tired than ever, your joints hurt, you never feel or see any progress or this work out thing is just a mystery. 

We'll solve these problems next week, but let me leave you with some hints that create these problems for most. Let's dive right into The 10 Biggest Workout Mistakes I see people making every day.  These killers are not what most people think about, when the frustration of hours of workouts in the gym produce zero results:

1. No plan or structure: "Winging it"

2. Repeating the same workouts or same circuit of machines

3. Every workout is different or falling for the newest hyped buzz word "Muscle Confusion".

4. Doing cardio before resistance training

5. No Progressions to your exercise selection

6. Using mostly machines and single joint/isolation exercises

7. No pre or post workout nutrition to get maximum benefit from each exercise minute.

8. Exercising without a specific purpose for the day, week or month.

9. Training only some of the muscles or trying to "spot reduce".

10. Working muscle groups in a random order.

There you have it. If you don't have this list right you are making exercising and achieving your fitness goals harder than it needs to be.  The good news is I've got answers.  See you next week!

In good health,

Pete Piranio BS, CSCS
Owner/Fitness Consultant
Fitness Together
Brookfield 262-780-6350
Delafield 262-646-5444
Wauwatosa 414-453-9800
www.FitnessTogether.net 

P.S. If your workouts are great, but you're struggling with nutrition attend one of Fitness Together's Original Grocery Shopping Tours.  You'll learn what the food companies don't want you to know and everyday nutritional strategies from our fitness consultants. Go here: www.FTGroceryShoppingTours.com 

P.P.S. If learning all of this is just too much, confusing and frustrating you don't have to do it alone. If you want help, guidance and coaching come on in and see us:www.FitnessTogether.net/FreeConsult.html

As you read in my previous blog it has been a busy couple of months.

Even with everything going on it was hard not to see the bad

economy news every day. A slowing in the economy wasn't really

a surprise to me.  If you look at history we were bound to have

a down cycle, but the market dropping at record levels was an

eye opener.  It sure wasn't anything I expected. 

Today, I would like to suggest a short and long term investment

strategy you won't read in the Wall Street Journal or from Mad

Money's Jim Cramer, but it will pay BIG dividends.

I believe right now is an opportunity to really evaluate what's

important to you. It's very easy for us to get caught up in the

everyday rat race and not take the time for what's really

important. I can't tell you how many people I've worked with

that have been stuck in the race at the sacrifice of their own

health. Times like these can be a big wakeup.

I believe now is an opportunity to evaluate what are your best

investments for short term and long term returns.  Evaluate

where you spend your money and how this fits into your real

priorities.

One priority that can pay a long and short term return is to

invest in yourself - your health!

This might sound like a lot of motivational hype or you might

be saying, "get real Pete, you fitness geek, I live in the real

world."  Well, let me give you some hard facts and numbers to

consider. 

Let's step away from what theoretically sounds good and let me

prove to you how this is an actual REAL investment that can

give you BIG returns.

We don't often look at investing in a fitness and nutrition

as an investment, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Many large and small companies are seeing positive ROI in

investing in preventative wellness programs and improving their

bottom line by decreasing health care costs, disability cost,

less sick time and improving recruiting and retention.  They

wouldn't be making these investments if it didn't improve

the bottom line. 

Healthcare costs have increased from 8-14% for many companies

(our company personally increase 21% and we are fit pro's!). 

This is threatening companies of all sizes and more of these

costs are having to be passed on to the employee.

Need more...

From 1960 to 2002 the prevalence of overweight people increased

from 44.8% to 65.2 and during this same time the prevalence of

obesity people more than doubled from 13.3 to 30.5.

Being overweight or obese are known to create the following

health conditions, that will cost you money, quality of life

and could be the biggest threat to enjoying any investment you

socked away for retirement:

• diabetes

• coronary heart disease

• high blood cholesterol

• stroke

• hypertension

• gallbladder disease

• osteoarthritis and osteoporosis

• sleep apnea/other breathing

• some forms of cancer

The lack of exercise has also been shown to contribute to ten

serious health conditions including stroke, diabetes, cancer,

osteoporosis and mental health decline. In a groundbreaking

study of 5700 women, it was found that those who were unable

to reach 85% of their age-predicted exercise capacity had twice

the risk for serious heart disease and death.

These are not just interesting statistics. Chronic illness,

including heart disease, diabetes and obesity, accounts for 75%

of health costs, according to the American Public Health

Association.

According to the Wall Street Journal, health care costs per

capita will reach $7,500 this year, more than double the $3,470

per person in 1993. Of most concern is the fact that the rate

of inflation in this arena continues to grow at an unsustainable

annual rate of 8-14%.

Excluding the indirect costs, the U.S. spent 15.3% of the entire

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on health care in 2004, a figure

that is clearly expected to escalate as newer data becomes

available.

Whether you own a company, are an executive making financial

decision for your company or an employee, the costs to not

investing in preventative  health are profound.  Increases in

premium costs, deductibles and other costs are now being passed

on to the consumer - you!

Keep in mind that direct health care costs are far from being

the only expenses tied to your bottom line. Several other

factors play a notable role as well, including:

• Absenteeism from work

• Productivity and energy, what is commonly referred to as

“Presenteeism”

• Physical capacity to handle stress

• Mental capacity

• Your overall value to your company

Now that I've given you a exorbitant  amount of "logical" proof

for investing in yourself and how it is truly an economical

winner, let's finish by looking at the intangible returns:

What is it worth to enjoy a long quality life with your family? 

What is it worth to increase your energy, decrease stress, not

getting sick as often and just feel good every day?

What good are investments you can't enjoy because of poor health?

I think you know the answers to these questions. It's why you are

reading this blog.

In times like these it's nice to know you've made wise investments. 

I think what one of our clients said says it all:

“The best investment in myself I’ve ever made! Having made the

“rounds” of gyms, health clubs, and group exercise. I finally found

fitness success. 1 Client 1 Trainer 1 Goal really works!”

– Bonnie Koch, Delafield

Come back soon to learn the 5 Biggest Workout Mistakes.

In good health,

Pete Piranio BS, CSCS

Owner/Fitness Consultant

Fitness Together

www.FitnessTogether.net

Brookfield 262-780-6350

Delafield 262-646-5444

Wauwatosa 414-453-9800

Woodbury, MN 651-436-8137

P.S. - Watch the videos of some of our clients who decided to make

their health a good investment and made a dramatic improvements in

their health: www.fitnesstogether.net/real_people.html

If you have any questions or comments about this blog, our services

at Fitness Together, or anything at all having to do with health and

fitness, just call us at 262-646-3055 or post here and ask away...:)

All content provided for information purposes only. This is not intended to

treat or manage disease. Be sure to check with your doctor before engaging

in any dietary or fitness changes and/or routines.

Dear Fitness Enthusiast,

Holy cow has it been a busy couple of months!  I just finished the last
seminar of the year that was part of a seminar tour that took me through Boston,
San Diego, Connecticut and Denver three times.  Oh, and did I mention that
we just opened our newest Fitness Together location in Woodbury Minnesota
while continuing to make people skinny here in Brookfield, Wauwatosa and the Lake
Country.

Yes, some may say I am crazy, but when you’re addicted to fitness you have extra
gas in the gas tank that many don't. This doesn't mean some balls didn't get dropped
along the way.  I am only human after all. 

This blog was one of the balls.  If they only had the internet on planes I would have
been fine!

I don't like people making excuses so I'll stop there and instead make up for it
by giving you an arsenal of fitness, nutrition, weight loss and health information
in one big shot!  A big fitness jumpstart to this blog and a killer tool that will
make every future post I make more meaningful, motivational and useful. A tool that
will help you take my tips and strategies on future posts and get all the nitty
gritty details that will make implementation even easier.  After all, implementation
is what it's all about anyway.  Great advice is only advice until you put it in
action.

Ok, Ok, here it is...

To get us caught up on Hype-Free, Fad-Free Fitness and Weight Loss tips, tools and
strategies - to finish 2008 feeling good - to make 2009 our best year ever - I've
got a great gift for you:

Introducing the Hype-Free, Fad-Free Health, Fitness and Weight Loss Toolkit.  This
196 page toolkit will make up for any gap in Motivation, Nutrition, Workout, Supplement
and Fitness advice you've missed from me over the last few weeks. And it's yours Free! 

Oh yeah, I feel that guilty about not guiding you through the health and fitness maze
the last month.

Here's a little of the information packed into this toolkit:

• Tons of healthy recipes for every occasion. Your guest or family will never know
   your scrumptious meal was healthy.
  
• 10 plus illustrated, step by step workouts you can start using tomorrow.
  
• Got questions about supplements.  The answers are in the toolkit.
  
• Real world trainer tips about what works and what's hype.
  
• And much more...
  
  

Click here to get it now

Here's the only catch...

It can't go on the shelf!  You have to crack it open and get going!  And you have
to make sure you check back in on this blog often and I'll help you put that toolkit
into action.

Plus, here is what's coming...

I will be posting our Biggest Loser Contestants video updates of their progress,
daily trainer notes and meal plans.  You can join right in and transform your
body right along with them!

Until then, thank you for allowing me to guide you through the health and fitness
maze!

In good health,

Pete Piranio, BS, CSCS
Owner/Fitness Consultant
Fitness Together
Brookfield 262.780.6350
Delafield 262.646-5444
Wauwatosa 414.453.9800
www.FitnessTogether.net

P.S.  Get your Hype-Free, Fad-Free Health, Fitness and Weight Loss Toolkit Here:
http://fitnesstogether.net/toolkit.html

Attention Greater Milwaukee Residents Who Are Ready to Get (and Stay) Healthy and Fit:

 Announcing Grocery Shopping Tours with Fitness and Nutrition Experts from Fitness Together Guaranteed to Stop Your Grocery Shopping Confusion Forever and Help you Get Fit Fast!!

• Do you get a brain cramp trying to figure out FOOD LABELS?
  
• Are you confused by claims like no carb, low carb, light, low fat and no fat?
  
• Do you find yourself frustrated trying to make sense of food label ingredients that you can't pronounce?
  
• Are you confused by marketing hype and fancy packages?

• Discover the best (and worst!) places to look for food
• Learn how to decipher deceptive food labels
• Separate the read health food from the "fakes"
• Avoid the most common shopping mistakes
• Shop for a week's worth of food in only 45 minutes!!

If you missed my last blog regarding Olympian Dara Torres or
you're not familiar with her story go to part 1 of this
two part blog and you can get up to speed, and then come
back and this will mean a lot more to you.

Today, I want to share with you 7 key components we make sure
to integrate into our clients programs to get age defying
results.  If you're somewhat skeptical about the results you
can achieve it's time you leave that belief behind because
it may just be the one big thing getting in your way.

I've seen mountains of evidence in all the research studies
that show age is not a factor in getting your body back to
it's 20 or 30 year old form.

Dara and many other Olympians this year are not just proving
it in a lab study, but demonstrating this to you and the world
in the Olympics in Beijing.

I am not saying that the body isn't different than it was in
your 20's or 30's.  It is. Where it is a factor is in 'how'
you go about getting your body back. The plan definitely has
to be different and if this is done you can get terrific results.

I can't tell you how many clients have been surprised by how
much we have been able to increase their fitness level without
the process feeling like a boot camp.

It's all in the training methods and planning. This is what
many experts are attributing the increased age in Olympians
competing this year - improved training methods.

Yes, I know you don't want to be an Olympian, but the same
principles apply to the mom who needs the fitness to manage
a busy house hold or the corporate executive that needs the
fitness to handle stress and have the energy to produce the
companies expected results.

If you make sure your program contains these 7 key components
you'll feel better than you have in years and get results
that will amaze you:

Recovery: This is the most often overlooked area of fitness
and nutrition program, but can have the biggest bang for your
buck.  If I had to make one change in persons program that was
struggling to achieve results and my life depended on it,
it would be to plan their recovery better.  Not only exercise
recovery, but post workout nutrition to accelerate their recovery.
When you finish your workout don't just hang up your shoes and
call it a day.  Get the maximum bang from your efforts by
consciously providing your body with the essential amino acids
and carbohydrates needed to accelerate muscle recovery and
glycogen replenishing.
 
Nutrition: Supporting your exercise program with the right
nutrition is a must.  Too often people think of nutrition as
dieting, but they really need to look at it differently.  The
mind set should be, eat to support your workout and workout recovery. 
Be conscious of your nutrition throughout the day to make your
workouts easier.  Don't think about it as dieting, think about
putting the right gas in your gas tank so your car runs well.

Also, eating healthy and eating to lose weight are two different things. 
You need to know specific strategies to eat specific to your goals
if you want the fastest results.  And this also means eating
specific to your age.

Phasing Workouts: Utilizing different exercise stimulus week
to week and month to month is absolutely necessary to allow
the baby boomers body to recover properly and avoid injuries. 
The proper planning and sequencing of strength, hypertrophy,
endurance, transition and active recovery phases is the difference
between working out and working out to produce a specific result. 
If you hired a personal trainer and you ask them for a Periodization
Schedule and they give you a blank stare, then you hired the
wrong one.

Functional Resistance Training (including Core strengthening):
Training the body how it functions in everyday life, not only
helps the baby boomer enjoy activities later into life, but
also decrease the specific stressors to joints and tendons. 
This type of strength training also increases the metabolism
with an increase or maintenance in muscle. The baby boomer
wants to avoid machines with fixed planes of motion as much
as possible.  They take away the balance training that is needed
and add joint stress.

Stretching: Is critical to allow the body to keep good range
of motion in all the joints, decrease joint stress and enhance
your bodies recovery.

Balanced Approach: Having a well designed program involves
resistance training, cardiovascular exercise and nutrition in
a synergistic approach.  What Fitness Together calls the FT
Essentials. This is probably the biggest mistake I see people
make. They put way too much emphasis on one of the three versus
a balanced approach. They all work together if you want the
fastest results - plus you'll enjoy more.  

Well Designed Plan: Just like retirement planning is important
for a baby boomer to enjoy life, a good wellness plan is important
to getting maximum enjoyment and fulfillment from life. 
Good retirement planning is more than just saving your money
and a good fitness program is more than just sweating.  A well
design program contains all six of the aforementioned components
seamlessly integrated, but also practical, allowing you to enjoy
the process.

There you have it, 7 key components to getting the results you want
at any age. Make sure you're mindful of all of these components and
you'll get the gold in quality of life.

In good health,

Pete Piranio BS, CSCS
Owner/Fitness Consultant
Fitness Together
www.FitnessTogether.net
Brookfield 262-780-6350
Delafield 262-646-5444
Wauwatosa 414-453-9800

P.S - Listen to a few of our clients and how these 7 Key Components have
made a dramatic in their fitness results: www.www.fitnesstogether.net/real_people.html

If you have any questions or comments about this blog, our services
at Fitness Together, or anything at all having to do with health and
fitness, just call us at 262-646-3055 or post your comments now and ask away...:)

All content provided for information purposes only. This is not intended to
treat or manage disease. Be sure to check with your doctor before engaging
in any dietary or fitness changes and/or routines.

Copyright 2008 Piranio Fitness Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved

I have something very important to share with you today that
could be the one thing that gets you over the fitness hump
or like me, has added fuel to my current fitness fire.

Even we fitness pros need a little something to help us get
back on track or take our fitness to new levels.

Personally it's perfect timing for me.  You haven't heard from me
in a while because I was the key note speaker at a two day
seminar in Boston and I am writing you right now from Denver
where I have been helping develop Fitness Together's plan
for the future.

Speaking for two days, high level thinking and traveling can
sure be exhausting. I'll be 34 in October, but the last few
weeks can sure make that number seem higher. If fitness and
healthy eating were not part of my lifestyle I can't imagine
how I would feel. 

Then I caught a story today in USA Today about how USA Olympic
athletes ages are at the highest ever.  Dara Torres, the
41 year old Olympic swimmer is really the one who has helped
me work a little harder in my workouts and inspired me to reach
to new heights with my fitness. If you're not familiar with Dara
watch this video: 

Let's look at a few more facts about Dara:

-- She's 41 years old - a generation older than most of her
competitors. She was medaling in her first Olympics in 1984...
before many of them were even born.

-- She will go to the Beijing Olympics as the oldest-ever member
of the US swim team.

-- She's a mother - and still has maybe the most impressive
abs I've ever seen on a women.

-- She's considered to have the purest and most efficient
swimming stroke...of any woman in the world.

-- She's medaled in four consecutive Olympics...Beijing will
be her fifth, and she's favored to at least medal, possibly win
the 50 meter freestyle.

-- She owns 8 Olympic medals

-- She retired from swimming after 2000 Olympics in Sydney...
and now she's BACK!

-- And she is amazingly fit.

If you're 40 or older, not happy with your body and have
accepted your weight, de-conditioned body, low energy and
physical appearance because of age, then I am hoping Dara
and the many other "older" Olympians are changing your
paradigm.

This is the biggest secret to getting age defying results.
If you don't change your beliefs about what is possible
you will never get your body back.  Subconsciously you'll
always sabotage your attempts because psychologically
your telling yourself it can't be done.

This is why I'm bringing this to you today.  I could stand
up on my fitness soap box at 34 and say anyone can do it
at any age - which I know is a fact.  But the only way I can
help change your beliefs is showing you the proof. 

We've seen the same type of "amazing" results from many of
our clients, achieving results they didn't think were possible.
From a few clients we have that are 85+ to the majority who are
50+. 

Am I saying that your fitness or nutrition should be the
same as a 20 or 30 year old?  Absolutely not!  In fact, a
disturbing trend I am seeing in personal training is group
personal training and boot camps lead by personal trainers
(glorified group exercise classes).

If you want results like Dara Torres you can't participate
in an exercise program that is one size fits all.  Not too
mention you increase your exposure to injuries because with a
workout not tailored to your fitness level or current physical
limitations (I'll have more on this trap coming soon).

I don't mean to brag, but personally I believe we are the experts
in getting phenomenal results for the baby boomer and there are
very specific reasons why. They are many of the reasons
Dara Torres is getting the fitness results she is and we'll
get to the nitty gritty details of 'why' next time, so stay tuned...

In good health,

Pete Piranio BS, CSCS
Owner/Fitness Consultant
Fitness Together
www.FitnessTogether.net
Brookfield 262-780-6350
Delafield 262-646-5444
Wauwatosa 414-453-9800

I don't want to make the above statement without showing you
proof. If you're skeptical about our claims go to:
www.FitnessTogether.net/real_people.html

Would you like more information on our programs and hear
what other greater Milwaukee residents think about our program?
Request our complimentary DVD and information package and we'll
also send you a voucher for three free sessions and a consultation:
Go here: http://www.fitnesstogether.net/FreeDVD.html  

If you have any questions or comments about this course, our services
at Fitness Together, or anything at all having to do with health and
fitness, just call us at 262-646-3055 or reply to this blog.

All content provided for information purposes only. This is not intended to
treat or manage disease. Be sure to check with your doctor before engaging
in any dietary or fitness changes and/or routines.

Copyright 2008 Piranio Fitness Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved

’ll never forget when I was working with a client that looked like he was going to have a heart attack.  No this guy wasn’t extremely overweight or out of shape.  In fact, I had helped him lose 40 pounds and we were really starting to have some fun because his fitness level was terrific.  We had come a long way.  He was looking great and enjoyed the new fitness challenges I brought to him in each session.

What was the problem?

He was really laboring with every exercise I had him doing and sweating profusely.  This just wasn’t right for him.  Then he started looking worse so I had him stop and get some water.  He wanted to push ahead so I checked his heart rate and blood pressure – it was through the roof!  I said no way pal! 

I had him sit down and continued to monitor his heart rate and blood pressure making sure it was dropping.  During this time I asked him, “Did you eat today and if so what?”  I also asked him about his water intake.

Then it struck me! 

He had to have ingested some sort of stimulant.  He was a busy and driven professional always squeezing hours out of the day.  So I asked him, “How many cups of coffee have you had today?”  “What about soda?”  He said he had only one cup of coffee in the morning.  

Then he realized I was asking about any kind of stimulants (caffeine) he might have taken.  We had talked a lot about minimizing caffeine because of its dehydration effects and other reasons in the past.  So he mentioned, “You know Pete, I did start taking a pill today that’s for increasing my metabolism.”

WHAM!  We found our problem.  I told him unfortunately we were done for the day and I need him to do two things:

1. Drink a lot of water.

2. Throw that crap away!

You see, this gentleman was looking for another edge to get that last bit of fat off.  He wanted to increase his metabolism and didn’t realize all these metabolism boosting pills are all the same.  They are a bottle full of stimulants that jack up your heart rate.  Add an already increased heart rate to exercise and you get a fit individual gasping for air and sweating profusely.  This is a dangerous combination!

If you don't increase your body's burn rate or metabolism, you won't be able to burn the fat you want to get rid of, but you don’t get this through a pill!

So what can you do to boost your metabolism, lose inches, and eliminate that belly fat?

But doesn't your metabolism slow down with age?  Yes, it can, But...if you follow the tips I outline below you'll stop your metabolism from slowing down.

Heck, you'll actually increase your metabolism, thanks to your new fat burning habits.

However, some heavily marketed metabolism boosters are BS...so here's the truth about the top 4 metabolism booster and how you can use them to burn fat.

Strength training should be at the core of any fat loss program. It boosts metabolism up to 10% after a training session.   Muscle is metabolically active.  Therefore, every pound of muscle you add will increase your bodies calorie needs by 30-50 calories.  In addition, you will have an increased metabolism for 48 hours after a weight training workout.    The fact is you lose lean muscle with age if you don’t do anything to maintain it.  A decrease in muscle is a major contributor to the slowing metabolism people experience with age.   Metabolism is not a mystery or magical thing.   The lean muscle that strength training helps you build will firm and tone your body like nothing else out there.  Strength training must be a part of your fat-loss workout routine.

Research shows eating breakfast is associated with successful weight loss. Breakfast increases metabolism because it breaks your overnight fast.  So make it a habit to consume some protein, fiber,& fruit (& even veggies) at this time. This will keep your appetite in check till your next meal.

Eating 5-6 small meals per day boosts metabolism and helps create hormonal changes that support fat loss.   Infrequent meals are the classic mistake that slows your metabolism, because your body perceives its starving.   Try and split  up your meals into smaller meals that can be eaten over the course of the day. This one simple tactic can be the difference between becoming a fat burning machine or storing fat.

Interval training causes a greater increase in post- exercise metabolism than regular (steady state) cardio.  It’s important to burn calories during a workout, but what matters most is how much you burn after the workout.  Interval programs burn more calories during and after a workout, leading to more weight loss than a long, slow cardio training program.

Hard work and proper nutrition burn more calories and help you lose fat. On the other hand, magic pills and potions just don't work, but that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

My advice?

Add strength training, intervals, mini-meals, and breakfast to your weight loss plan and you'll burn body fat fast thanks to your increased metabolism.

Are you ready to increase your metabolism with weight training, but find it intimidating or you just don’t know what to do?  Not sure how to do interval training that boost your metabolism?  Or is nutrition you biggest hurdle?  Call any of my offices and greater Milwaukee’s best degreed and certified fitness consultants will be glad help or go here: www.FitnessTogether.net

In good health,

Pete Piranio BS, CSCS

Owner/Fitness Consultant

Fitness Together

www.FitnessTogether.net

Brookfield: 262-780-6350

Delafield: 262-646-5444

Wauwatosa: 414-453-9800

P.S.  If you're ready to stop wasting your time on false promises and solutions that go nowhere and start getting serious health, fitness, and weight loss result now then request a complimentary introductory session and consultation at www.FitnessTogether.net/freeconsult.html 

Not Ready Yet?  No problem, request our free DVD and information package here: www.FitnessTogether.net/FreeDVD.html

The evil sweet tooth is a common problem our clients are asking for solutions to. 
Today I'm going to share multiple solutions and one very tasty one!

First, it's important to understand that sweet tooth cravings are not
genetic or a disease.  Too often I have conversations with people that make
excuses for not eating to support their goals.  "I've always had a sweet tooth
problem" or "My mother had a sweet tooth and so do I".  We make "sweet tooth"
sound like something that should be listed on the CDC's (Center for Disease
Control) top ten list. 

I know this may sound a little unsympathetic, but in order to make lifestyle
changes that support our goals and the quality of life we want, we have to
identify our obstacles and come up with the solutions to over come
them - not excuses.  It's human nature for our mind to come up with an excuse or
no effort rationale behind our behaviors, but this is what keeps people
locked up in a body they don't want. So let's look for solutions instead of excuses:

Sugar cravings often come from skipping meals and not eating frequently enough. 
Infrequent eating creates low blood sugar levels and when blood sugar is low your
body calls for sugar.  You end up eating high sugar foods because your body
craves sugar to raise blood sugar levels, your insulin spikes in response to
elevated blood sugar, which in turn slows your body's secretion of Glucagon.

This is a big problem because Glucagon is a hormone that helps release fat
cells for oxidation and energy use.  In other words, it's what helps you
"burn fat".

If you want to reduce sugar cravings and lose body fat, you have to implement
frequent meals and snacks in to you nutrition plan.  The goal is to stabilize
sugar levels throughout the day.  This will not only have a positive fat loss
effect, but you'll notice tremendous energy increases.

Don't reach for caffeine when your energy is low, reach for a quality protein
and carbohydrate snack or meal.

Does this mean that I can't have a treat or enjoy ice cream on a summer day?

Absolutely not! 

In our EAT! Nutritional program we teach the use of a "Throw Out Day", which
is a day you can eat anything you want.  In previous e-mails I've explained
the benefits to implementing this strategy. If you missed that e-mail, shoot
me an e-mail and I'll resend it to you.

Here's the tasty tip that can also be a great solution to the evil sweet tooth:

Did you ever think that chocolate ice cream could be healthy, taste delicious,
and promote fat loss? It can, and I think you're going to love this recipe.

The finished product tastes great and has a smooth and creamy texture that's
similar to brand name ice cream, but instead of an overload of fat, sugar,
calories, and chemicals, you'll get 12 times the protein, 3 times the fiber,
half the calories, a lot less fat, and only 1 gram of sugar.

This recipe is for a very large batch (you're going to need a very big
bowl), though you could certainly cut each ingredient down by half.

1.) 12 -14 cups chocolate protein powder (I use Optimum Nutrition 100%
Whey)
2.) 10 cups water
3.) Two 2.1 oz. boxes of instant Jell-O sugar free, fat-free choc. pudding
mix.
4.) Two 29 oz. cans of pumpkin (I use Libby's)
5.) 1.5 to 2 cups of all-natural peanut butter

Mix the first three ingredients together in a VERY large bowl and then add
in two large cans of pumpkin and continue mixing on high. Then add peanut
butter and mix well on high for about 3-5 minutes until completely blended
and smooth. Pour into Tupperware containers and freeze.

I realize that the pumpkin might sound strange, but trust me, after letting
it freeze over night, it is very good. I'm not sure why, but the longer I
allow this to freeze, the better it tastes.

You can leave the pumpkin out if you'd like and it'll be thicker and richer,
but have less fiber and other beneficial nutrients. I personally like the
taste and texture (and nutritional profile) better with pumpkin included.

You can modify the above recipe to fit your personal preferences. For
example, you might like a thicker and richer taste. Try adding a little
more pudding or peanut butter...or use a little less pumpkin and/or water.

Because this doesn't have any additives, preservatives, and other gums and
junk that ice cream does, it'll be hard as a rock right out of the freezer.

So, I always take it out of the freezer for an hour or so before eating it
so that it gets nice and soft. (Or you can microwave it for 30 to 90
seconds, depending on container size).

Here's how I use it each day:

I've yet to meet someone that doesn't like this recipe (even my kids and
"junk-food junky" friends enjoy it). It's a pretty forgiving recipe, so if
it doesn't taste right, you may have skipped something. Let me know and I
can offer tips or clarify any confusion.

We share a lot of these health recipe treats in our EAT! Nutritional Program
and we are constantly updating recipes and done for you meal plans as we
find new ideas our clients like and I personally enjoy.

If you've got the exercise habit down and don't need our expert exercise
program design, but need work on your nutrition? No problem, schedule a
complimentary nutrition consultation to see if our EAT! Nutrition
program is right for you and if any supplementation is needed to fill holes
in your nutrition plan. You don't need to be a personal training client
to participate in our nutrition coaching programs.
 Go here now: Nutrition Consultation

In good health,

Pete Piranio BS, CSCS
Owner/Fitness Consultant
Fitness Together
www.FitnessTogether.net
Brookfield 262-780-6350
Delafield 262-646-5444
Wauwatosa 414-453-9800

I’m on vacation right now so I thought I would lighten things up a little. The object of the game is to get as far as possible on the treadmill without falling and being subsequently dumped into water. As you get further along you must eat the cookie which speeds the treadmill up. I do get creative new ideas when I’m on vacation.  Maybe I could start a new exercise class based on this …       

 Oops!  I may have damage my credibility here J   Well, hopefully this will help me get it back.  Click here   In good health,

Pete Piranio BS, CSCS

Fitness Together

Now that we've laid the ground work for this blog, let's get to some "nitty gritty" details that will get you on the road to a successful body transformation.