“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

~ Neil Armstrong

41 years ago, Neil Armstrong took the first step on the moon.  His famous line, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind” will live on forever.

You know, it’s always that first step that can be so scary.  However, when the goal is special and your “WHY?” is big enough, it’s also extremely exciting.  And, that’s exactly how it should be.  In fact, Bob Proctor always says, “If you’re goal doesn’t both excite you and scare you it’s probably not worthy of you.”

So, do you have a BIG GOAL with a BIG “WHY?” that would have you so excited to achieve, yet your too scared to get started?

Allow me a few minutes to put it in perspective, and give you 7 Tips to Getting Started on a Weight Loss & Fitness Program. 

Read the rest of this entry »

We have a great month of new boot camp workouts locked and loaded for you!

As you know, we spend an inordinate amount of team researching and testing exercise variations and workout templates to best ensure that we bring the cream of the fitness crop your way each and every month.

Lots of other boot camps simply seek to just beat you down and get you tired with no rhyme or reason behind what they do. This results in limited results and lot of unwanted injuries.

However, everything we do at Look Great at the Lake Boot Camp in Chanhassen, MN and Look Great at the Lake Boot Camp ONLINE is based on sound exercise science and battle-tested, in the trenches real world experience.

I have always felt that it’s important to know why you’re doing what you’re doing when it comes to fitness because it helps reinforce the implementation of the necessary habits to get into the best shape of your life.

So I just wanted to take the time to briefly explain the method behind the madness of the incredible, cutting-edge Continuous 20-Minute Workouts coming your way this month.

Read the rest of this entry »

Traditional fitness programs isolate only one or two factors. The truth is all factors MUST be in place in order to bring about a lasting, positive physical change. If any one factor is neglected or missing, the program will fail to produce results.

This week I’m going to share the Five Factors of Fat Loss. There’s just no getting around them.  You can’t skip one.  When you incorporate all five factors, you’ll be able to take complete control over how your body looks and feels.  You’ll achieve a consistent results, and enjoy a long-term fit and healthy lifestyle.

Factor One: Supportive Nutrition

Nutrition has by far the greatest impact on fat loss. Eating supportively will not only allow you to improve your health and energy, it also provides the ideal environment for your transformation – maintain lean muscle while reducing unwanted fat.

If your goal is to lose body fat, you must eat slightly fewer calories than you burn.  This may seem simple, but when calories are reduced, the body becomes imbalanced.  It is the body’s job to restore balance, and it inevitably does so by either reducing the amount of calories it burns for energy ( by using muscle instead of fat) or by forcing you to eat more through hunger and cravings.  This is one of the main reasons why fad diets do not produce long term results.  The goal of well-rounded program is to ensure that you lose fat, not muscle.

Most fad diets are simply low-calorie diets disguised by great advertising or a clever marketing gimmick.  There are currently thousands of diets listed with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  This number alone proves that no one diet works long term.  If a magic diet or formula for fat loss existed, everyone would be on it and no one would be overweight.

But why is it that some people do lose weight on diets?

The immediate success most people experience from fad diets is due to water loss, eating fewer calories or a combination of the two.  However, less than five percent of these dieters are able to keep the weight off.  Diets simply don’t work long term because of improper nutrition and the failure to change exercise and eating habits for life.

America is fatter as a society today because we consume approximately 300 to 500 more calories per day than we did 10 years ago, yet we move less because of advances in technology such as computers, escalators and other labor-saving devices.

Supportive nutrition can be mastered by understanding that everything you eat and drink can either positively or negatively affect your fat loss goals. Always ask yourself this simple question before you eat anything, “Will eating this take me closer to or further from my goal?”

Not sure?

For more education on nutrition, check out Jayson Hunter’s book The Carb Rotation Diet.  Yeah, it’s got the word diet in it, but it’s not some fad program.  Jayson is a Registered Dietitian who specializes in fat loss.  He understands the importance of balancing good nutrition with exercise.  I like his program so much that I incorporate into Look Great at the Lake Boot Camp and Online Video Boot Camp.

Oh yeah, I should probably plug my own book as well.   Chapter 5 of The Science of Getting Fit is all about nutrition.  While I’m plugging my favorite books, I should also mention the new, totally awesome, and only $4.95 meal plan resource from my partners at Prograde:  197 Healthy And Delicious Phat Burning Recipes.

Have Faith & Take Action!

Justin Yule, B.S., CPT

Your friendly neighborhood Chaska / Chanhassen boot camp instructor and online personal trainer.

Burn 9x more fat at a fraction of the cost of other personal training programs.

P.S. – For a FREE 2-week Trial to the area’s number one weight loss & fitness boot camp visit www.LookGreatAtTheLakeBootCamp.com

P.P.S. – For a $9 30-day Trial to the first and number one Online weight loss & fitness boot camp visit www.OnlineVideoBootCamp.com

OK.  Bear with me, as I may be going off the reservation for some of you.

Let me start from the beginning…

Janell and I decided to have a little contest this first quarter to see who could lose the most weight (quality weight that is – not water weight, and certainly not muscle!) before our vacation at the end of March.  Now, the reality is we’re both in pretty good shape.  We’re certainly not fitness models or Greek statues, but we take pretty good care of ourselves.  Point being, this contest is going to be interesting.

One of the other things I really wanted to do was step up the care of the inside of my body.  I eat really well, but have been wanting to try a dietary cleanse and begin taking some health supplements like additional probiotics, greens and others.

I did some homework, and here’s what I came up with and what the results have been so far.

Read the rest of this entry »

Today was the first day of my Chaska, MN Rapid Fat Loss & Fitness Boot Camp – Look Great at the Lake Boot Camp.  We had a great group and they all did really well.  I look forward to their potential.  By the way, there’s still room left – Get your FREE 2-week Trial here.

Anyway, what would a boot camp program be without push-ups? 

If you struggle with push-ups, like most beginners and even intermediate trainees, this post is definitely something you want to spend some time with.  It’s a long one, so go to the bathroom, grab your coffee, or whatever else you gotta do!

The Push-up.  It is probably the most basic and most popular exercise of all time – from gym class to group fitness classes around the world.  But being popular in this case doesn’t necessarily mean being well liked!  In fact, I think it is safe to say that the majority of people really HATE push-ups.  More specifically, the push-up tends to be the undying nemesis for people who carry extra body weight and for most females who feel they do not have the upper-body strength to ever be able to do anything but “wuss-ups,” or modified push-ups on the knees.

The goal of this article is to address everything you need to know about performing the push-up with proper form in addition to learning how to do more push-ups ASAP.  Remember, people only hate what they are not good at it.  In other words, I am confident that though you may currently hate push-ups, by following this program you will finally unveil your true push-up potential.  And though you may never be madly in love with push-up, you’ll at least be able to stomach them!

Read the rest of this entry »

Before I get into it, let me quickly answer the question, “Should I jog or do sprints to raise my metabolism and lose fat” with two questions of my own:

2.  Have you ever seen a fat sprinter?

OK, now let’s get into it.

We’ll start with the obvious and not so obvious, move into the science and then finish with the practical.  I’ll also lay out my training program schedule for you.

Read the rest of this entry »

Traditionally, the cornerstone of most strength training programs has been performing exercises in a straight set format – perform a specified number or reps for a given exercise, rest for 30 seconds to a few minutes, and then repeat before moving on to the next exercise.  Fat loss and endurance programs typically prescribe shorter rest periods, while strength and power programs prescribe longer rest periods.

So, what’s the problem with this format? 

Read the rest of this entry »

July 4th, 1776 – America declares its freedom

We really do live in an amazing country.  The freedoms we have are beyond incredible compared with other countries.  And, the opportunities are endless.

The 4th of July holiday marks a time for us to stop and think about how great we really have it.  It’s a time where we traditionally celebrate with friends and family at BBQs and fireworks shows.  It really is, and should be, a wonderful time.

Today’s post isn’t going to be about fitness or fat loss.  I’m not going to talk about good eating and drinking in moderation – I covered that enough yesterday.

Instead, I first want to say THANK YOU to the men and women of the armed forces who provide for our freedom everyday.  Secondly, I want to share with you an inspirational video and book I came across this week.  It’s called A Tender Warrior.

Everybody likes to throw a few back with friends -

some a little more than others

But, if you’re on a weight loss plan one night of drinking can really set you back.  The obvious reason is the excessive calorie consumption, but it goes way beyond that.

Check this out:

How Alcohol Makes You Fat

-Alcohol first passes through the esophagus as it travels to your stomach.

-From there, 20% of the alcohol is absorbed immediately by your bloodstream.

-The remaining alcohol travels to your intestines and is absorbed from there.

-The alcohol in your bloodstream then travels directly to your liver.  It is here that  the body breaks the  alcohol down, something that is absolutely essential since alcohol is toxic to the body.

-Alcohol brakes down into acetate and acetaldehyde which IMMEDIATELY signals to your body to stop burning fat.  Even worse, another waste product of alcohol, acetyl CoA, actually starts to make more body fat.

If you booze, you WON’T lose fat!

What Does this Mean?

-Your body can only effectively process 0.5 to 1 ounce of alcohol per hour

-How much damage?  A 12-ounce beer contains about 0.6 ounces of alcohol.  If you consumed 5 of these, your body would be inhibited from fat burning for up to 6 hours.  This is aside from the fact that your body will actually be storing fat during these 6 hours!  The more you drink, the longer your body is inhibited from burning fat in addition to a greater fat build up from excess acetyl CoA.  As you can see, one day of binge drinking can set you back days if not a full week when it comes to fat loss!

-What’s the worst-case scenario?  Mixing alcohol with sugary beverages promotes even further fat gain due to the resulting insulin surge that triggers fat storage (e.g. regular beer or cocktails mixed with regular soda and/or fruit juice)

The Bottom Line

If you want to be lean, you must minimize alcohol consumption!

If you must drink:

a.) Choose wine or hard liquor and “light” beer
b.) Limit alcohol consumption to 1-2 days per week with a 1-2 drink per day max

References:

Campbell and Volek, “TNT Diet: Targeted Nutrition Tactics”

I’m not saying you can’t have some fun this weekend.  Just be conscious of what you’re consuming.

Have a great time, but be safe out there…

Have Faith & Take Action!

Justin Yule

P.S. – Do me a favor and leave a comment to this post to let me know how this helped you out or changed your thinking – were you shocked?  Thanks!

Earl Nightingale’s classic, The Strangest Secret, earned the 1st Gold Record for the spoken word, with sales exceeding one million copies and became the 1st recording of the spoken word to become platinum. There’s a reason. This may be one of the most powerful books you will ever read.

I’ve been STUDYING this program hard for the past couple months.  It’s funny; I’ve been a fan of personal development material for many years now.  I’ve read a variety of authors and have been to multiple seminars.  I’m amazed how much of the information I’ve learned has its routes in The Strangest Secret – some things are word for word!

Without spoiling it for you, I will tell you that you’ll find invaluable information throughout the lessons – the biggest one being, “you become what you think about.”

Do you think of yourself as a healthy, fit, lean and energetic person OR
Do you think of yourself as a sick, out-of-shape, fat and lazy person?

Where you are today is a result of what you have been thinking.  If you want to change your results (lose fat, tone up, build muscle and strength, have tons of energy and live a long & fruitful life) you better start thinking that way!

YOU BECOME WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT!

Check out this video and pick-up a copy of The Strangest Secret.

I promise, if you apply the information, it will change your life.

Have Faith & Take Action!

Justin Yule

P.S. – Share your thoughts on the video by posting a comment.  Thanks!