This last week I had a wake up call.
Someone I am very close to...a good friend and fellow fitness leader...called me out on something this week, and I have to admit that at the core of what he was saying, he was right.
In an effort to get the True Way to Fitness book ready and available by my self-imposed deadline, I started to lose focus of what the "True Way" is all about.
It is supposed to be something different and unique, more focused on the long term picture of fitness...not quick and gimmicky like so many fitness programs out there. Also, it was very dogmatic and started to not sound like me at all.
I was trying to cater to our human tendency towards instant gratification and quick results rather than developing an overall lifestyle of fitness focused on longevity.
I was really conflicted, because on the one hand I want to represent this concept of the True Way properly, and on the other hand I have this extremely effective fat loss program ("effective" because I really have gotten terrific short-term results with it myself and with my clients) almost completely finished and ready to go for you.
So I took a few days to reassess the situation and determine how to move forward.
And then it dawned on me. I am going to turn what might be "lemons" into lemonade.
The True Way to Fitness is going to be reanalyzed to ensure it's based on creating an ongoing lifestyle of fitness and proper periodization (program design over time). It is still the essence and heart of the True Way movement I am trying to inspire across the globe for complete fitness (mind-body-spirit)...it's just going to take more time to research, develop and test out.
In the meantime, a separate program has essentially evolved as a short-term jump start to the True Way.
The 28 Day Deadline Program will be launching in just a few short weeks to replace the True Way's release.
Essentially, it is the program I was developing under the True Way to Fitness name, but that didn't fit with the original vision.
It's a great program if you are in a time-crunch, have no equipment available and want to shed off some quick body fat within a short deadline...like by next month!
I am really excited about this because this is a great example of perhaps the most important principle of being a martial artist: ADAPTABILITY. My original plan wasn't going to happen the way I envisioned it, but we readjusted and are moving forward to overcome this obstacle. ("Man, I love being a turtle!"...lame reference to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I know...can't help it!)
We are going to have some fun with this 28 Day Deadline Program. I basically give in to what everyone keeps asking me for: a short-term, quick-fix program to either jump start your LIFELONG fitness pursuits, reignite your "going-through-the-motions-and-getting-no-results" program or to save your backside in a last minute pinch to get some results quick. (Of course, I EXPECT that you will continue your fitness pursuits after the deadline is reached!).
I am definitely taking into account the advice of my trusted friend and making it as scientifically-supported and honest as possible to prevent the perpetuation of some of the misguiding information that seems to permeate the fitness community (aka "carbs are 'bad'" or "supplements solve everything"). This is going to be as simple as possible so you can put it into ACTION and get results, while still giving you the WHY behind everything.
And as my inner circle of True Way followers and enthusiasts you guys are going to get hooked up with some cool bonus features (more on that later).
Okay, my rant is over for today, but I appreciate you all and wish you the best in your ongoing fitness training pursuits.
Watch over the next couple of days for:
1. Tons of exercise demonstration videos (my You Tube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/truewayfitness)
2. An article about selecting a quality supplement product/company in this crazy, scheming fitness world that's all about selling to you and not necessarily taking care of you (Yes, "Crusty," I will tell you my 2 favorite brands:)
4. And the release of my free report on vital nutrition strategies that you can easily apply right away.
Keep training...and stay on the True Way path!
Yours in Fitness,
Chad R. Johnson
truewayfitness@gmail.com
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Simplest Way to Get Protein in Breakfast with Oatmeal
If you are like me, ALL meals are on the go...but breakfast tends to be the one I'm most rushed for.
Either I have very early clients (5, 6 or 7am) or I am rushing to do my personal workout (which I typically do in the early morning so the day doesn't squeeze it out).
So recently I discovered a way to simplify things and kill two birds with one stone.
Nothing amazingly clever, and likely discovered by many before me, but no one taught me this trick previously so I thought I'd share it with each of you.
Just mix your morning oatmeal (1/2 cup) with 1/2-1 cup of milk (I'm a skim guy) AND your scoop of protein powder (I prefer chocolate, but you can choose whatever flavors you want).
Toss it in the microwave for 90-120 seconds and poof: you've got your complex carbs and protein breakfast meal all ready to go!
Scarf it down (or enjoy it at your leisure:), and you just took care of the first meal of the day.
By the time you get to work or your workout, you will already be reaping the benefits of some quality potential energy and you should feel ready to go.
I love it and I especially love that it's ultra quick!
See if that works for you, and if you have any other ideas, questions or comments, go ahead and drop me a message below.
Hope that helps and remember...keep training!
Sincerely in Fitness,
Chad R. Johnson
truewayfitness@gmail.com
chad@truewayfitness.com
PS- I have a big announcement coming out tomorrow, so be on the look out for that post in the AM!
Check out my exercise demo videos on YouTube as well: http://www.youtube.com/user/truewayfitness
Either I have very early clients (5, 6 or 7am) or I am rushing to do my personal workout (which I typically do in the early morning so the day doesn't squeeze it out).
So recently I discovered a way to simplify things and kill two birds with one stone.
Nothing amazingly clever, and likely discovered by many before me, but no one taught me this trick previously so I thought I'd share it with each of you.
Just mix your morning oatmeal (1/2 cup) with 1/2-1 cup of milk (I'm a skim guy) AND your scoop of protein powder (I prefer chocolate, but you can choose whatever flavors you want).
Toss it in the microwave for 90-120 seconds and poof: you've got your complex carbs and protein breakfast meal all ready to go!
Scarf it down (or enjoy it at your leisure:), and you just took care of the first meal of the day.
By the time you get to work or your workout, you will already be reaping the benefits of some quality potential energy and you should feel ready to go.
I love it and I especially love that it's ultra quick!
See if that works for you, and if you have any other ideas, questions or comments, go ahead and drop me a message below.
Hope that helps and remember...keep training!
Sincerely in Fitness,
Chad R. Johnson
truewayfitness@gmail.com
chad@truewayfitness.com
PS- I have a big announcement coming out tomorrow, so be on the look out for that post in the AM!
Check out my exercise demo videos on YouTube as well: http://www.youtube.com/user/truewayfitness
Sunday, August 22, 2010
High Protein Banana Yogurt Pancakes
Do you have a hard time getting adequate protein in your breakfast meal?
I know I get sick of eating eggs or throwing down a protein shake each morning to help fulfill my protein requirements each day.
And who doesn't like pancakes or waffles once in a while?
I especially like to do stuff like this on Saturday or Sunday mornings when I can slow down and enjoy it a little bit more:)
Try out the recipe below and let me know what you think of it. Was it delicious or what?!
(If you prefer waffles and have a waffle maker, this recipe works both ways...just pull out the waffle maker!)
High Protein Banana Yogurt Waffles
Ingredients:
1/2 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 scoop of vanilla protein
1/2 cup plain low fat yogurt
1/2 cup skim milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon zest
1 medium banana
Directions:
1. Preheat stove top (skillet) or waffle maker.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and protein powder together. Add the yogurt, milk and vanilla extract. Shave in the lemon zest. Mix well for about 10 seconds. If the mixture appears too thick, add a little water (1 tsp at a time) to lighten.
3. In a separate bowl, mash the banana with the backside of a fork and then add it to the other wet ingredients. Mix all for another 10-20 seconds. If batter needs thinner consistency, add a little more water (again, 1 tsp at a time).
4. Pour the batter into your skillet/waffle maker (follow the cooking instructions that accompany your particular model).
Makes about 2 servings
Should taste delicious and be a welcomed change of pace from oatmeal, cereal or the same old protein shake first thing in the morning.
Try it out and drop me some comments below about what you think. Do you have any breakfast recipes you especially like to use to add some protein and some flavor into that first meal of the day?
Keep training...and stay on the True Way path,
Chad R. Johnson
truewayfitness@gmail.com
PS-Check out my new YouTube videos and SUBSCRIBE to my channel today!
http://www.youtube.com/user/truewayfitness
More videos will be up throughout the week and I will be adding some tunes to them as well, so keep visiting the page and check 'em out!
I know I get sick of eating eggs or throwing down a protein shake each morning to help fulfill my protein requirements each day.
And who doesn't like pancakes or waffles once in a while?
I especially like to do stuff like this on Saturday or Sunday mornings when I can slow down and enjoy it a little bit more:)
Try out the recipe below and let me know what you think of it. Was it delicious or what?!
(If you prefer waffles and have a waffle maker, this recipe works both ways...just pull out the waffle maker!)
High Protein Banana Yogurt Waffles
Ingredients:
1/2 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 scoop of vanilla protein
1/2 cup plain low fat yogurt
1/2 cup skim milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon zest
1 medium banana
Directions:
1. Preheat stove top (skillet) or waffle maker.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and protein powder together. Add the yogurt, milk and vanilla extract. Shave in the lemon zest. Mix well for about 10 seconds. If the mixture appears too thick, add a little water (1 tsp at a time) to lighten.
3. In a separate bowl, mash the banana with the backside of a fork and then add it to the other wet ingredients. Mix all for another 10-20 seconds. If batter needs thinner consistency, add a little more water (again, 1 tsp at a time).
4. Pour the batter into your skillet/waffle maker (follow the cooking instructions that accompany your particular model).
Makes about 2 servings
Should taste delicious and be a welcomed change of pace from oatmeal, cereal or the same old protein shake first thing in the morning.
Try it out and drop me some comments below about what you think. Do you have any breakfast recipes you especially like to use to add some protein and some flavor into that first meal of the day?
Keep training...and stay on the True Way path,
Chad R. Johnson
truewayfitness@gmail.com
PS-Check out my new YouTube videos and SUBSCRIBE to my channel today!
http://www.youtube.com/user/truewayfitness
More videos will be up throughout the week and I will be adding some tunes to them as well, so keep visiting the page and check 'em out!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Shred Off 1%+ Body Fat a Week in Under 2 Hours of Exercise?!
I know it sounds crazy, right? How can you possibly lose that much fat (somewhere between 1-2 lbs. for most people) with such a small time investment?
Believe it or not, it is definitely possible...and it's not very complicated either. In fact, I use this with some of my clients...and I have even done it myself a few times over.
Hard, yes...probably because of the nature (intensity) of the work you'll be doing. But not unreasonably difficult. It just takes the right planning, the right science, 100% of your effort and execution.
Here I will lay out a few of the secrets to achieving such lightning fast results. You think you are ready for the challenge?
For any worthwhile endeavor, adequate and appropriate preparation will make all the difference in the world.
You need to be ready for anything that might come along to deter you from your goal, so proper planning gives you the best chance to succeed...and it saves you tons of time in the long run.
Take 1/2 hour to an hour to prepare for your week's workouts, meals and any other activities that make up your standard week (you know, like work and chores and dates and such) and set aside 10-15 minutes at the end or beginning of each day to ensure you are fully prepared for that day's needs.
This proactive approach alone will work wonders for increasing your daily effectiveness, and you will be giving up less than an hour to prevent several hours of wasted time otherwise.
A Resolute Mind:
Walk into the situation with your mind already resolved to follow through and succeed. This firmness of mind will help you to smash through obstacles standing in your way, or at least figure out how to quickly and efficiently get around them. Your mind is an amazingly powerful tool, and it's time for you to use that tool to the max!
Metabolic Workouts:
Now to the really fun stuff...the physical training!
Metabolic Workouts are basically a cross between resistance training and cardio. Utilizing a circuit format, a total body workout is usually performed in a minimal amount of time. They're quick and ultra-effective at shredding off unwanted body fat!
Besides burning off lots of calories during the workout, this style of training creates huge EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption)...aka the "afterburn"...which means you have elevated metabolism for as much as 36-48 hours following the workout where you burn even more calories. In fact, the "afterburn" effect of metabolic workouts AND HIIT cardio (to be described next) both result in as much as 9 TIMES THE FAT burned from traditional steady state cardio sessions (where you go pretty much the same pace the whole time for 30-60 minutes). Now that is what I call EFFECTIVE TRAINING!
I will get into more of the details on metabolic workouts in the next article, but the key is to hit all the major movements of the body (push, pull, rotation, core work, compound leg movements like squat and deadlift variations) for 15-30 second sets back-to-back-to-back(and maybe even one or two more consecutive exercises) with very brief transitional rest (like 15 seconds or less), before resting a whopping 30-60 seconds till you repeat the cycle.
It could take 30 minutes or less to do a thorough, butt-kicking metabolic workout...from warm up to cool down. You really only need 3 sets per circuit, and three different circuits of three exercises gets the job done and then some!
Knock these out 3 times a week (giving a day between sessions), and you'll see your abs in no time!
Metabolic workouts are certainly intense, but that's what we get for shortening the duration of our training time...besides, this is 9 times more effective anyway, so it's worth it!
HIIT Cardio:
HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training, and basically it's where you alternate between high and low level intensities during cardiovascular activities. You might run or bike as hard as you can for 20 seconds, then follow it up with 60 seconds of lower level recovery pace. The ratio of work to rest really depends on the duration of the work interval, but typically it's somewhere between 1:4 and 1:1 (work:rest).
You may only need to do 15 minutes or less of work because it takes just 6-12 repetitions to complete the workout.
This can be extremely strenuous, but not much beats this conditioning and the fat just melts off!
(Of course, for both metabolic workouts and HIIT cardio you'll want to warm up adequately, for physical AND mental preparation.)
Balanced Nutrition with a Caloric Deficit:
If you are looking to lose significant body fat, then you typically need to be in an appropriate caloric deficit. In general, that means you need to burn more calories than you consume...aka move more than you eat.
This is one aspect of fitness though, that gets highly misunderstood because simply cutting out the majority of your food (dramatic caloric deficit) quickly has a reverse effect.
Keeping it in simple terms, your body will do whatever it can to find stability, so if there is a significant threat of starvation (with holding from eating) then there are several bodily systems that kick in and basically bring your metabolism to a screeching halt until it approximately matches your intake. It doesn't want to lose that valuable stored energy, so it slows everything down to compensate instead (if it uses anything it will be that priceless lean tissue we call muscle...which we don't want to lose).
So we have to find the right type of a deficit without overdoing it.
For the most part that has been found to be a deficit of somewhere around 500-1000 calories per day. Since there are 3500 cals in a pound of fat, that's about 1-2 pounds per week (or our 1% body fat).
Now there are a lot of intricacies involved with caloric deficits, but one formula I like to use is the Katch-McArdle: 370 + (21.6 x your lean body mass in kilograms). It sounds complicated, but basically it's your Resting Metabolic Rate (the minimum amount of calories you need to sustain your body's major needs and maintain your lean body mass/muscle). It may be the bare minimum needed, but almost everyone UNDERcalculates their caloric consumption (at least 16%) so this way you leave a margin for error.
Either way, eating a certain amount of calories per day is not going to solve the problem on it's own.
You need to factor in the other two what I call "Undeniable Truths of Nutrition:" Nutrient timing and Quality.
To optimize your metabolism, you need to eat balanced meals about every 2-4 waking hours, or about 5-7 times throughout the day. "Balanced" here means the macronutrients...so protein, carbs and fat. Without getting into too much detail, protein has 4 calories per gram, carbs also have 4 calories per gram and fat has 9 calories per gram. I am a big fan of following how many GRAMS you consume of each macronutrient over the tedious task of actually counting calories. It's far quicker, easier and you can identify portion sides much better in grams.
The majority of people fall in a 30/50/20 ratio of protein/carbs/fat (or within 5% in any direction), so that means whatever your Resting Metabolic Rate is, 30% should come from protein, 50% from carbs and 20% from fat. That would be considered a "balanced" meal format. (There are several other ways to manipulate the ratios, depending on the goals how you organize your program, but this is the easiest way to look at it.)
Finally, we're looking at QUALITY. Simply enough, 1000 calories of burgers and fries are not the same as 1000 calories in chicken and broccoli. A calorie is NOT just a calorie....quality matters. We could go all day about what is "healthy" or ideal and what is not (this article is already far too long!), but the basic ideas are these: Eat foods that occur naturally, from the earth or from something living/formerly alive and avoid most things in a box (highly processed foods)...or at McDonald's (for example). You don't have to be PERFECT all of the time, but making a conscious effort to gravitate towards the quality foods that are high in nutrients and relatively low in calories and away from foods that are high in calories but low in nutrition is a significant step in the right direction.
Nutrition can be one of the trickiest parts of a fitness program, but beginning by taking the steps laid out here will work wonders for achieving your goal asap.
7-9 Hours Sleep per Night:
We all know that sleep is important. We all acknowledge that we need to rest. But most of us struggle with actually making it happen. (I am up 1/2 an hour past my bedtime just writing this article...)
To get to the point, all the work mentioned above will mean nothing if you don't allow your body the proper recovery time.
You put the stimulus on the body to change from the exercise you do and the nutrition you consume, but it actually does its changing while you are deep asleep. You need to hit that deep, REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep for the body to effectively do its thing in response to your workouts.
Despite how much sleep you've "gotten by on" for the past ump-teen years, you absolutely need a minimum AVERAGE of at least 7 hours of sleep a night. Some you will get more, others less. But the idea is that you need to hit about 2 cycles of that deep sleep for optimal (or at least decent quality) sleep.
Young people (chit'lins, teens, early adults) need more like 9 hours OR MORE because they have so many growth/hormonal things going on at night...and there's no point in stunting growth. That extra few hours of waking time is not worth that...
So allow your body to do what it does best at night when you sleep so you can do your best during the day when you are training or just plain living.
Those are the key points of making sure you getting the most from your training and really shredding off that unwanted body fat as quickly and healthily as possible.
Hope that helps you and I hope even more that it sparks even more questions and curiosity from you about optimal fitness (what I call "The True Way").
Do me a favor and drop any questions or concerns you have about this list and I will be back in the next couple days to answer them and give you more details on the individual items listed above.
Train hard and smart...just make sure you keep training!
Yours in Fitness,
Chad R. Johnson
PS-Post your comments/questions below and we'll see what kind of response we can get the next couple of days!
Believe it or not, it is definitely possible...and it's not very complicated either. In fact, I use this with some of my clients...and I have even done it myself a few times over.
Hard, yes...probably because of the nature (intensity) of the work you'll be doing. But not unreasonably difficult. It just takes the right planning, the right science, 100% of your effort and execution.
Here I will lay out a few of the secrets to achieving such lightning fast results. You think you are ready for the challenge?
- Organized Planning
- A Resolute Mind
- Metabolic Workouts
- HIIT Cardio Conditioning
- Balanced Nutrition with a Caloric Deficit
- 7-9 hours Sleep per night
For any worthwhile endeavor, adequate and appropriate preparation will make all the difference in the world.
You need to be ready for anything that might come along to deter you from your goal, so proper planning gives you the best chance to succeed...and it saves you tons of time in the long run.
Take 1/2 hour to an hour to prepare for your week's workouts, meals and any other activities that make up your standard week (you know, like work and chores and dates and such) and set aside 10-15 minutes at the end or beginning of each day to ensure you are fully prepared for that day's needs.
This proactive approach alone will work wonders for increasing your daily effectiveness, and you will be giving up less than an hour to prevent several hours of wasted time otherwise.
A Resolute Mind:
Walk into the situation with your mind already resolved to follow through and succeed. This firmness of mind will help you to smash through obstacles standing in your way, or at least figure out how to quickly and efficiently get around them. Your mind is an amazingly powerful tool, and it's time for you to use that tool to the max!
Metabolic Workouts:
Now to the really fun stuff...the physical training!
Metabolic Workouts are basically a cross between resistance training and cardio. Utilizing a circuit format, a total body workout is usually performed in a minimal amount of time. They're quick and ultra-effective at shredding off unwanted body fat!
Besides burning off lots of calories during the workout, this style of training creates huge EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption)...aka the "afterburn"...which means you have elevated metabolism for as much as 36-48 hours following the workout where you burn even more calories. In fact, the "afterburn" effect of metabolic workouts AND HIIT cardio (to be described next) both result in as much as 9 TIMES THE FAT burned from traditional steady state cardio sessions (where you go pretty much the same pace the whole time for 30-60 minutes). Now that is what I call EFFECTIVE TRAINING!
I will get into more of the details on metabolic workouts in the next article, but the key is to hit all the major movements of the body (push, pull, rotation, core work, compound leg movements like squat and deadlift variations) for 15-30 second sets back-to-back-to-back(and maybe even one or two more consecutive exercises) with very brief transitional rest (like 15 seconds or less), before resting a whopping 30-60 seconds till you repeat the cycle.
It could take 30 minutes or less to do a thorough, butt-kicking metabolic workout...from warm up to cool down. You really only need 3 sets per circuit, and three different circuits of three exercises gets the job done and then some!
Knock these out 3 times a week (giving a day between sessions), and you'll see your abs in no time!
Metabolic workouts are certainly intense, but that's what we get for shortening the duration of our training time...besides, this is 9 times more effective anyway, so it's worth it!
HIIT Cardio:
HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training, and basically it's where you alternate between high and low level intensities during cardiovascular activities. You might run or bike as hard as you can for 20 seconds, then follow it up with 60 seconds of lower level recovery pace. The ratio of work to rest really depends on the duration of the work interval, but typically it's somewhere between 1:4 and 1:1 (work:rest).
You may only need to do 15 minutes or less of work because it takes just 6-12 repetitions to complete the workout.
This can be extremely strenuous, but not much beats this conditioning and the fat just melts off!
(Of course, for both metabolic workouts and HIIT cardio you'll want to warm up adequately, for physical AND mental preparation.)
Balanced Nutrition with a Caloric Deficit:
If you are looking to lose significant body fat, then you typically need to be in an appropriate caloric deficit. In general, that means you need to burn more calories than you consume...aka move more than you eat.
This is one aspect of fitness though, that gets highly misunderstood because simply cutting out the majority of your food (dramatic caloric deficit) quickly has a reverse effect.
Keeping it in simple terms, your body will do whatever it can to find stability, so if there is a significant threat of starvation (with holding from eating) then there are several bodily systems that kick in and basically bring your metabolism to a screeching halt until it approximately matches your intake. It doesn't want to lose that valuable stored energy, so it slows everything down to compensate instead (if it uses anything it will be that priceless lean tissue we call muscle...which we don't want to lose).
So we have to find the right type of a deficit without overdoing it.
For the most part that has been found to be a deficit of somewhere around 500-1000 calories per day. Since there are 3500 cals in a pound of fat, that's about 1-2 pounds per week (or our 1% body fat).
Now there are a lot of intricacies involved with caloric deficits, but one formula I like to use is the Katch-McArdle: 370 + (21.6 x your lean body mass in kilograms). It sounds complicated, but basically it's your Resting Metabolic Rate (the minimum amount of calories you need to sustain your body's major needs and maintain your lean body mass/muscle). It may be the bare minimum needed, but almost everyone UNDERcalculates their caloric consumption (at least 16%) so this way you leave a margin for error.
Either way, eating a certain amount of calories per day is not going to solve the problem on it's own.
You need to factor in the other two what I call "Undeniable Truths of Nutrition:" Nutrient timing and Quality.
To optimize your metabolism, you need to eat balanced meals about every 2-4 waking hours, or about 5-7 times throughout the day. "Balanced" here means the macronutrients...so protein, carbs and fat. Without getting into too much detail, protein has 4 calories per gram, carbs also have 4 calories per gram and fat has 9 calories per gram. I am a big fan of following how many GRAMS you consume of each macronutrient over the tedious task of actually counting calories. It's far quicker, easier and you can identify portion sides much better in grams.
The majority of people fall in a 30/50/20 ratio of protein/carbs/fat (or within 5% in any direction), so that means whatever your Resting Metabolic Rate is, 30% should come from protein, 50% from carbs and 20% from fat. That would be considered a "balanced" meal format. (There are several other ways to manipulate the ratios, depending on the goals how you organize your program, but this is the easiest way to look at it.)
Finally, we're looking at QUALITY. Simply enough, 1000 calories of burgers and fries are not the same as 1000 calories in chicken and broccoli. A calorie is NOT just a calorie....quality matters. We could go all day about what is "healthy" or ideal and what is not (this article is already far too long!), but the basic ideas are these: Eat foods that occur naturally, from the earth or from something living/formerly alive and avoid most things in a box (highly processed foods)...or at McDonald's (for example). You don't have to be PERFECT all of the time, but making a conscious effort to gravitate towards the quality foods that are high in nutrients and relatively low in calories and away from foods that are high in calories but low in nutrition is a significant step in the right direction.
Nutrition can be one of the trickiest parts of a fitness program, but beginning by taking the steps laid out here will work wonders for achieving your goal asap.
7-9 Hours Sleep per Night:
We all know that sleep is important. We all acknowledge that we need to rest. But most of us struggle with actually making it happen. (I am up 1/2 an hour past my bedtime just writing this article...)
To get to the point, all the work mentioned above will mean nothing if you don't allow your body the proper recovery time.
You put the stimulus on the body to change from the exercise you do and the nutrition you consume, but it actually does its changing while you are deep asleep. You need to hit that deep, REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep for the body to effectively do its thing in response to your workouts.
Despite how much sleep you've "gotten by on" for the past ump-teen years, you absolutely need a minimum AVERAGE of at least 7 hours of sleep a night. Some you will get more, others less. But the idea is that you need to hit about 2 cycles of that deep sleep for optimal (or at least decent quality) sleep.
Young people (chit'lins, teens, early adults) need more like 9 hours OR MORE because they have so many growth/hormonal things going on at night...and there's no point in stunting growth. That extra few hours of waking time is not worth that...
So allow your body to do what it does best at night when you sleep so you can do your best during the day when you are training or just plain living.
Those are the key points of making sure you getting the most from your training and really shredding off that unwanted body fat as quickly and healthily as possible.
Hope that helps you and I hope even more that it sparks even more questions and curiosity from you about optimal fitness (what I call "The True Way").
Do me a favor and drop any questions or concerns you have about this list and I will be back in the next couple days to answer them and give you more details on the individual items listed above.
Train hard and smart...just make sure you keep training!
Yours in Fitness,
Chad R. Johnson
PS-Post your comments/questions below and we'll see what kind of response we can get the next couple of days!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Tasty and Healthy High Protein Fudge Balls
These delicious, well-balanced snacks are a breeze to make, and they store well refrigerated so you can make them last.
They're great for a meal replacement, for a dessert-like treat, or for quick pre/post workout nutrition.
They are far better for you than 80% of the JUNK out there…including the commercial brands of "fitness fast foods."
I love these high protein balls! They're a staple in my personal nutrition program because they're easy to prepare, everything is natural (as long as you choose an appropriate, quality protein powder! Comment below if you want to know the truth about what to look for in a supplement company and my 2 favorite ones that I do all my shopping with) and the key part is that they taste AWESOME! (Come on, let's keep it real…flavor is a pivotal factor for all of us!)
Make up a batch today and you'll be thanking me by the end of the day!
Ingredients:
- 8 scoops chocolate protein powder
- 1 cup oatmeal
- Cup natural peanut butter (I use Jif's or Skippy's Smooth version)
- 3 TBSP honey
- ½ cup skim milk
- 3 TBSP crushed nuts (I use walnuts, but peanuts/other nuts are acceptable)
Directions:
1. Mix together the protein powder, oatmeal, peanut butter, honey and milk.
2. Form into spoon-wide balls. I simply roll it in my hand to make 1-2" wide spheres (size will determine total quantity and the nutritional facts for each). Makes about 24 servings of 1" wide balls.
3. Place in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
4. Serve and store the rest in the refrigerator in an air-tight plastic container.
5. Enjoy!
Nutritional Facts:
(1 serving ~ 1 ball)
130 calories
11g protein
8g carbohydrates
6.5g fat
What do you think of this recipe? Will you try to make it today, or at least some time this week?
Leave a comment below, and if I get at least 25 responses I will be back in the next couple of days to post another awesomely easy and delicious recipe!!!
Monday, August 9, 2010
Oh Yes, He's Back
I have been working hard day and night, whenever I can get an hour or two, or ten...to finally get the True Way to Fitness ebook ready to go.
I will not hit my original deadline of this coming Thursday (8/12), but we are within 2-3 weeks from initial launch. It is exciting, and I'm pumped for each of you to get your hands on it as well!
Be on the lookout the next few days for my newsletters to pick back up and the link to download my FREE REPORT on the 17 Super-Effective Nutritional Strategies for Fat Loss. This thing is jam packed with valuable ways to maximize your fat loss and get the lean body you deserve. The strategies for this report come straight out of my book, and I don't hold anything back. You absolutely must read this if you are even remotely serious about your health!
What else would you like to see more info on? I simply LOVE debunking the myths about exercise and nutrition floating around the fitness world, so drop a quick request below in the comments section and let's see what fitness rumors we can squash!
In the meantime, hope you are doing well and that fitness is an integral part of your life. Get ready to take it to the next level with the True Way to Fitness!
Sincerely,
PS--Next post includes a delicious recipe for making your own High-Protein Fudge Balls. The awesome part is you probably have every one of the ingredients sitting in your cupboard right now! I will hit you up with the recipe in the next two days...till then!
I will not hit my original deadline of this coming Thursday (8/12), but we are within 2-3 weeks from initial launch. It is exciting, and I'm pumped for each of you to get your hands on it as well!
Be on the lookout the next few days for my newsletters to pick back up and the link to download my FREE REPORT on the 17 Super-Effective Nutritional Strategies for Fat Loss. This thing is jam packed with valuable ways to maximize your fat loss and get the lean body you deserve. The strategies for this report come straight out of my book, and I don't hold anything back. You absolutely must read this if you are even remotely serious about your health!
What else would you like to see more info on? I simply LOVE debunking the myths about exercise and nutrition floating around the fitness world, so drop a quick request below in the comments section and let's see what fitness rumors we can squash!
In the meantime, hope you are doing well and that fitness is an integral part of your life. Get ready to take it to the next level with the True Way to Fitness!
Sincerely,
Chad R. Johnson
Personal Trainer (ACE-CPT)
Strength Coach (NSCA-CSCS)
Youth Fitness Specialist (IYCA-YFS)
Martial Art Instructor (WTF Taekwondo 3rd degree)PS--Next post includes a delicious recipe for making your own High-Protein Fudge Balls. The awesome part is you probably have every one of the ingredients sitting in your cupboard right now! I will hit you up with the recipe in the next two days...till then!
The True Way to Fitness
Train your mind. Challenge your body. Unleash your spirit.
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