How to Lose Fat – The TRUTH About Fat Loss

February 15, 2012 By Angela Leave a Comment

How to Lose Fat – The TRUTH About Fat Loss

Even though the main impetus of Music Strong is to help people create stronger, less pain-riddled, more mobile, fully functioning bodies (with an emphasis on musicians) as a personal trainer, the majority of my clients still come to me with one main goal in mind: FAT LOSS. That’s why YOU would hire a personal trainer, right? Even though exercise can have a great impact on body composition (within the realm of gaining shape, muscle, more definition, etc.) the results you do or do not achieve when it comes to fat loss are directly related to what goes in (or does not go into) your mouth.

With every program I write, I give each client some general nutritional advice. My goal is to educate my clients on good food choices that will help them achieve their goals, but most can’t, won’t or just don’t seem to follow it because I’m “too vague”. You see, most diets today use gimmicks to achieve results. They have one thing in common though, and that is that they achieve the same goal, the one true thing that will achieve fat loss, A CALORIC DEFICIT. If you do not eat less than you need, you will not lose weight/fat, period.

I don’t care if it’s organic, vegan, vegetarian, home-grown, scratch-made or anything else – you eat more than you need you won’t lose. PERIOD.

Weight Watchers has you track points. You stay at your points or under and you lose weight because you have created a CALORIC DEFICIT.
Adkins eliminates all carbs = less calories = CALORIC DEFICIT
Paleo eliminates processed foods and grains, this has you eating less calorically dense foods which can = a CALORIC DEFICIT.
“Clean Eating” has you eliminate most processed foods (which are more calorically dense) and focus on “clean” foods (i.e. 1-ingredient, non-packaged items) causing you to fill up faster on less calories which = A CALORIC DEFICIT.
Even Slim Fast: 2 shakes per day and a “sensible dinner”. What the heck does that mean? You know, deep down what that means, it’s common sense, it’s what your ENTIRE diet should be comprised of, however, since you replaced 2 meals with liquid you have created a CALORIC DEFICIT.

See a trend?

Sadly, most people think that the balanced approach won’t work for them because it’s “too vague”. Sure, it’s more vague because you don’t eliminate entire food groups, you have less rules and you know what the real problem is? It makes you WORK for it. It means you have to educate yourself. You have to read labels, count calories, write down your food and most of all PAY ATTENTION. This is the main problem for our country, we have no attention span and when it comes to fat loss, which is hard enough on its own, telling us to work for it by:

cooking meals yourself (not pre-packaged diet foods via Lean Cuisine, etc)
Reading nutritional labels
writing down what you eat
counting calories – yes ALL of them
planning out what you are going to eat for the day with each meal having protein, carbs and fat, and not just eliminating a food group or a meal all together…

Yes, it’s harder, but it’s also worth it. Why? Because you can eat like a normal person, just less and lose. And the kicker is, when you get to the weight at which you want to be, you can maintain that weight doing the same things that got you there, only eating a little bit more. What happens when Atkins is over? You eat carbs again, you get fat again. Why? Because you didn’t change your HABITS.

More work, but worth it. Enough of my ranting, listen to the author below (full link is above to the blog) – they say it so eloquently.

How To Lose Fat – The TRUTH About Fat Loss

There’s a million reasons why people fail to lose fat, but somewhere at the top of that list is just a fundamental lack of understanding of the scientifically proven principals of how to lose fat.

To show you exactly what I mean, let’s start this off with a list of things that DON’T cause fat loss.

Things That DO NOT Cause Fat Loss:

Eating healthy.
Eating “clean.”
Eating less carbs.
Eating less fat.
Eating less junk food.
Eating less sugar.
Eating 6 smaller meals per day/every 3 hours.
Eating “good” foods instead of “bad” foods.
Not eating after 7pm.
Cardio.
Weight training.
Building muscle and/or getting stronger.
And MUCH more.

These are all things that can definitely HELP a person lose fat and can definitely assist in the overall fat loss process. But, in and of themselves, not a single thing on that list actually causes fat to be lost.

They never have, and they never will. In fact, not a single one of these things actually needs to be done. You can do the complete opposite of every item on that list and still lose fat just fine so long as one specific thing IS being done.

So, what is this “thing?” What actually causes fat loss? Let’s find out…

How To Lose Fat: The One Absolute Requirement

Simply put… a caloric deficit. That is the scientifically proven “secret” to losing fat. It literally can’t happen any other way.

So just what is a caloric deficit? It’s what happens when you burn more calories than you consume (or consume less calories than you burn… just another way of saying the same thing).

Basically, every single person has a unique calorie maintenance level. This is the amount of calories that your body requires each day to burn for energy to perform all of the tasks it needs to perform. From intense exercise like cardio and weight training, to simple daily tasks like brushing your teeth and getting dressed, to the various physiological functions needed to keep you alive (like digesting and breathing).

Calories are what our bodies use for energy to do all of these things, and we provide these calories via the foods we eat. As a result, 3 things can happen…

The 3 Calorie Intake Scenarios

If we consume the SAME number of calories that our bodies need to burn each day, we will be at our maintenance level. Our weight will be maintained because all of the calories we needed were provided. No more, no less.
If we exceed this amount and therefore consume MORE calories than our bodies need, all of the left over calories that weren’t burned will then be stored on our body in some form for later use. And guess what form it’s most often stored in? Yup… body fat! This is known as a caloric surplus, and it is the one and only cause of fat gain.
But what we’re interested in is the opposite of this… a caloric deficit. This is what happens when we consume LESS than our maintenance level amount. What happens then is that our bodies are forced to find some other source of energy to burn instead. And guess what that source most often is? Yup… your own stored body fat! And this is the one and only cause of fat loss.

So if you maintain your current weight eating 2500 calories per day (just an example), you will gain weight (mostly in the form of body fat) if you consumed 3000 calories per day. However, you would lose weight (mostly in the form of body fat) if you consumed 2000 calories per day.

This all remains true regardless of what the source of those calories are (carbs, fat, protein, healthy, unhealthy, clean, dirty, processed, unprocessed… whatever) or when/how they were consumed (after 7pm, in 3 large meals, in 6 small meals, every 2 hours, every 5 hours, whatever).

Exercise Can Play A Role, Too

See how it works? These are the proven fundamentals of how to lose fat, and that was a simple example of how to create the required caloric deficit via your diet alone (by eating less calories). I mention this because that same deficit could have also been created via exercise (by burning more calories).

Meaning, you could have still eaten 2500 calories for the day in the previous example, but then burned an additional 500 through exercise thus creating the same caloric deficit. Both scenarios would effectively cause fat loss, as would a third scenario where you did a combination of both (diet AND exercise).

But no matter which way you choose to do it, one absolute requirement ALWAYS stands. In order to lose fat, you MUST create a caloric deficit. Nothing else works.

But Then How Do Other Fat Loss Diets Work?

This is the point when various stubborn, misinformed or just annoyingly stupid people like to mention that other diets cause people to lose fat all the time, and those diets have nothing to do with creating a caloric deficit.

I mean, people lose fat on low carb diets, low fat diets, paleo diets, vegan diets, raw food diets, diets that involve eating “clean” instead of “dirty” or not eating after a certain time at night, and countless other types of diets that involve every gimmick, fad and method you can think of except the specific task of creating a caloric deficit. But yet, they have all caused people to successfully lose fat.

What the hell? How can that be? If the only requirement for fat loss is a caloric deficit, and all of these diets have nothing to do with a caloric deficit, then how do they work? Obviously I must be wrong about all this calorie stuff, right?

Wrong.

You see, all of these diets and methods just indirectly cause you to create that caloric deficit.

What I mean is, any diet that actually causes you to lose fat did so because it caused you to create a caloric deficit. That’s a fact. There is literally NOTHING else that could possibly make it happen. This is the most basic proven science of the human body. Calories in vs calories out (aka the law of thermodynamics) is ALWAYS the basis for fat loss (or gain).

These diets and methods might never come right out and admit that or say you just need to eat less calories (partly because it doesn’t fit with their gimmick, partly because people don’t want to hear that they have to [GASP!] count calories or [GASP!] eat less of them, and partly because it’s hard to make money off of something that is simple, obvious and free.)

BUT every successful fat loss diet makes you do it anyway. How? By getting you to do things that just so happen to restrict or reduce your calorie intake. For example…

Eating less carbs means you’re eating less calories.
Eating less fat means you’re eating less calories.
Eating less “dirty” junk food means you’re eating less calories.
Eating less processed foods means you’re eating less calories.
Eating less grains means you’re eating less calories.
Not eating after 7pm causes you to eat less calories.
A raw food diet, vegan diet, paleo diet or any remotely similar diet eliminates many of the foods you were regularly eating, which means you’re now eating less calories.

Noticing a trend? In every single case, less calories end up being eaten. And like magic, it causes you to lose fat. But what some people incorrectly think is that it was the reduction in carbs, or fat, or grains, or sugar, or junk food, or processed food, or not eating after 7pm or whatever else that made it happen.

It wasn’t.

It was the reduction in calories that indirectly came as a result of all of these other things. Sure, these “things” are what caused the deficit to be created, but the deficit itself is what actually caused you to lose fat.

And that’s how various fat loss diets/methods work despite not directly making you eat less calories. They just get you to do things that make you eat less calories anyway.

There’s A Ton Of Ways To Create Your Deficit… Pick Your Favorite

Now, if you want to create your caloric deficit by using any of these diets and methods, that is perfectly fine by me. If any of these or other manners of eating appeal to you for whatever reason, then I’m all for you using it to reach your fat loss goals.

But if you’d rather just directly create your ideal caloric deficit and then get the calories you do consume from a nice balance of protein, fat and carbs comprised solely of foods you actually enjoy eating in a format that is actually convenient and preferable for you, then that’s fine by me too.

In fact, it’s what I personally do and most often recommend. I explain exactly how to do it (for FREE) right here: The Best Diet Plan

The point I’m making however is that in every single case with every other diet or method, the reason it works is simply because a caloric deficit was present. And if it didn’t work, then it’s simply because a caloric deficit wasn’t present.

There is no other magic or voodoo involved in the actual cause (or lack thereof) of fat loss. It always comes down to calories in vs calories out.

But wait, what’s that? You think I’m lying? You think I’m making this all up? You think this is just my opinion or gimmick?

If for whatever reason you still aren’t convinced that what I’m saying is true and accurate (likely as a result of years of nutritional brainwashing), then allow me to present some additional proof.

Still Don’t Believe Me? Here’s Some Proof…

There is such an overwhelming (and seemingly infinite) amount of legitimate evidence showing that everything I’ve explained thus far is 100% true and accurate that I honestly don’t even know where to begin.

So, here now is just a SUPER TINY sample of some of the MANY examples that come to mind…

Metabolic and behavioral effects of a high-sucrose diet during weight loss.
This study took 2 groups of women and put them on similar hypocaloric diets (meaning below maintenance level so that a caloric deficit was present). The only difference between the diets of the two groups is that 43% of one group’s daily calorie intake came from sucrose (aka table sugar), while just 4% of the other group’s daily calorie intake came from sucrose. Guess what happened? Despite one group eating a VERY high sugar diet and the other group eating a VERY low sugar diet, they both lost equal amounts of weight and body fat. Why? Because it’s NOT the source of your calories that causes fat loss, it’s the presence of a caloric deficit.
Increased meal frequency does not promote greater weight loss [...]
This study took 16 overweight men and women and split them into 2 groups. They then had each person in each group create the same sized caloric deficit and then consume that same calorie intake every day for 8 weeks. HOWEVER, they had one group eat 3 meals a day, and the other group eat 6 meals a day. Guess what happened? They all lost the same amount of weight. In fact, the study showed that there was no difference at all in fat loss, appetite control, or anything similar. Why? Because meal frequency doesn’t affect your ability to lose fat or gain fat. Calories do.
Comparison of isocaloric very low carbohydrate/high saturated fat and high carbohydrate [...]
This study took 83 subjects, estimated the daily calorie requirements of each person (aka their maintenance levels), and then created a caloric deficit of 30%. They then divided them up into 3 groups. The first had only 4% of their total daily calorie intake coming from carbs. The second had 50% of their total calorie intake coming from carbs. The third had 70% of their total calorie intake coming from carbs. Guess what happened? Even though some people were eating a VERY LOW carb diet and others were eating a VERY HIGH carb diet… they all lost the same amount of weight and body fat. Why? Because low carb or high carb isn’t what makes us gain or lose fat. Calories are, regardless of how many of them come from carbs.
Similar weight loss with low-energy food combining or balanced diets.
This study divided 54 obese patients up into 2 groups, both of which were put on low calorie diets (meaning a caloric deficit was present) and fed similar percentages of protein, fat and carbs. HOWEVER, one group was given a more balanced diet comprised of meals that contained protein, fat and carbs, while the second group had their carb and fat calories separated so they were not eaten together in the same meal. Guess what happened? They all lost the same amount of weight and body fat. Why? Because the manner in which you combine foods, organize your meals and consume your daily calories isn’t what causes fat loss. A caloric deficit is.
Fat loss depends on energy deficit only, independently of the method for weight loss.
This study divided its subjects up into 2 groups, and had them both create the same sized caloric deficit. HOWEVER, the difference between them was the manner in which this deficit was created. One group did it by eating less total calories (diet alone), but the other group did it by eating less total calories AND burning more calories by doing cardio (a combination of diet AND exercise). But again, the total weekly caloric deficit was the same for both groups. Guess what happened? They all lost the same amount of weight and body fat. Why? Because a deficit of X calories is a deficit of X calories regardless of whether you burned those calories off via cardio or just didn’t eat them in the first place. Fat loss isn’t about how you create the deficit, it’s just about the deficit itself.
The Twinkie Diet
You know what? This one is so F-ing fantastic that a quick bullet point just doesn’t do it justice. So…

The Twinkie Diet

And finally, here’s the holy grail of proof for anyone that’s still even remotely skeptical that this whole calorie thing (and by “thing” I mean scientifically proven fact) truly is the singular answer to the almighty “how to lose fat” question.

In 2010, Mark Haub (who is a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University) wanted to prove the very same thing I’ve been explaining: that fat loss and fat gain always happen as a result of calories in vs calories out, and that a caloric deficit will ALWAYS cause a person to lose fat no matter what food sources those calories come from.

To do this, Mark took things to a very extreme point-making level that I would never actually recommend, but absolutely love for the purpose of proving that calories are what matter most.

Specifically, Mark went on a 10-week diet comprised primarily of snack foods. Twinkies, Little Debbie cakes, Doritos, Oreos, sugary cereals like Corn Pops and other equally crappy foods that are all highly processed, lacking in nutritional value, loaded with sugar and “bad” carbs, high in “bad” fat, contain trans fat, and possess other similar traits that are common among typical “junk food.”

But, he also created a caloric deficit.

He went from eating 2600 calories per day (his estimated maintenance level) to eating about 1800 calories per day instead. He just so happened to get the majority of those 1800 daily calories from the most junky foods you can think of.

The purpose? To prove that despite his daily diet being loaded with sugar-filled garbage and junk food, he’d still lose fat just fine because a caloric deficit was present.

The result? He lost 27lbs in 2 months and reduced his body fat percentage from 33.4% to 24.9%.

The conclusion? A caloric deficit is the sole cause of fat loss. Even if those calories come from the shittiest sources known to mankind, fat will STILL be lost. It’s not the source or the quality of those foods and the calories they provide… it’s the total quantity of it all.

The Opposite Is True, Too

And even though Mark didn’t do a reverse version of this “experiment,” the opposite would be true, too. Meaning, creating a caloric surplus, regardless of the content of those calories, will ALWAYS cause those excess calories to be stored on your body in some form (most often as body fat).

This is equally true whether those calories come from only the healthiest, “cleanest,” most natural and nutritious foods on the planet, or the same type of junky garbage eaten in Mark’s experiment. What matters is the caloric surplus itself, not the form or manner in which that surplus was provided.

Or, to put it another way, eating too many “healthy” and “clean” foods will make you fat just the same as eating too many “unhealthy” and “dirty” foods will. It’s always the “eating too much” part that causes this to happen, not the specific foods that were or were not eaten.

The Example Is Extreme, But Understand Its Point

Yes, what Mark did is a CRAZY extreme example, and NO, I’d never recommend anyone try to actually eat like that. I’m all about getting a sufficient amount of protein, fat and carbs primarily from higher quality, natural, nutrient-dense foods you enjoy, and keeping the typical junkier foods to a sane yet enjoyable and sustainable minimum.

What I want you to do however is look at this example for what it is… clear undeniable proof that fat loss occurs strictly as a result of eating less total calories.

It doesn’t happen as a result of what you eat, when you eat or how you eat. It happens solely as a result of HOW MUCH you eat. And if a dude losing fat while practically eating nothing but Twinkies and Oreos still doesn’t prove this to you… then you are a lost cause.

Feel free to get together with the others who are just like you (of which there are unfortunately and pathetically plenty), and continue to dispense your horrendously bad diet and exercise advice together while quoting various inaccurate sources of information.

Summing Up Fat Loss

So, for anyone who wanted to know how to lose fat… here’s how. Create a caloric deficit. That is ALL that EVER works.

Yes, there are a million other factors and components of your diet and workout that play important roles in successfully, permanently and efficiently getting you to lose fat (while also maintaining lean muscle mass and being healthy), and a million ways to go about creating that deficit in a way that is as easy, enjoyable and sustainable for you as possible.

Once again, I fully explain how to do all of that right here: The Best Diet Plan

However, the big point I’m getting at is that ALL OF IT is completely irrelevant and useless to your goal of losing fat in the absence of that required caloric deficit.

Anyone who disagrees or claims otherwise is often either wrong or just trying to sell you something that is definitely NOT worth buying. In other words, they should be ignored completely 100% of the time.

Oh… and mocked, too.

How To Lose Fat – The TRUTH About Fat Loss

To show you exactly what I mean, let’s start this off with a list of things that DON’T cause fat loss.

Things That DO NOT Cause Fat Loss:

Eating healthy.
Eating “clean.”
Eating less carbs.
Eating less fat.
Eating less junk food.
Eating less sugar.
Eating 6 smaller meals per day/every 3 hours.
Eating “good” foods instead of “bad” foods.
Not eating after 7pm.
Cardio.
Weight training.
Building muscle and/or getting stronger.
And MUCH more.

So, what is this “thing?” What actually causes fat loss? Let’s find out…

How To Lose Fat: The One Absolute Requirement

Simply put… a caloric deficit. That is the scientifically proven “secret” to losing fat. It literally can’t happen any other way.

So just what is a caloric deficit? It’s what happens when you burn more calories than you consume (or consume less calories than you burn… just another way of saying the same thing).

Calories are what our bodies use for energy to do all of these things, and we provide these calories via the foods we eat. As a result, 3 things can happen…

The 3 Calorie Intake Scenarios

If we consume the SAME number of calories that our bodies need to burn each day, we will be at our maintenance level. Our weight will be maintained because all of the calories we needed were provided. No more, no less.
If we exceed this amount and therefore consume MORE calories than our bodies need, all of the left over calories that weren’t burned will then be stored on our body in some form for later use. And guess what form it’s most often stored in? Yup… body fat! This is known as a caloric surplus, and it is the one and only cause of fat gain.
But what we’re interested in is the opposite of this… a caloric deficit. This is what happens when we consume LESS than our maintenance level amount. What happens then is that our bodies are forced to find some other source of energy to burn instead. And guess what that source most often is? Yup… your own stored body fat! And this is the one and only cause of fat loss.

Exercise Can Play A Role, Too

But no matter which way you choose to do it, one absolute requirement ALWAYS stands. In order to lose fat, you MUST create a caloric deficit. Nothing else works.

But Then How Do Other Fat Loss Diets Work?

Wrong.

You see, all of these diets and methods just indirectly cause you to create that caloric deficit.

BUT every successful fat loss diet makes you do it anyway. How? By getting you to do things that just so happen to restrict or reduce your calorie intake. For example…

Eating less carbs means you’re eating less calories.
Eating less fat means you’re eating less calories.
Eating less “dirty” junk food means you’re eating less calories.
Eating less processed foods means you’re eating less calories.
Eating less grains means you’re eating less calories.
Not eating after 7pm causes you to eat less calories.
A raw food diet, vegan diet, paleo diet or any remotely similar diet eliminates many of the foods you were regularly eating, which means you’re now eating less calories.

It wasn’t.

And that’s how various fat loss diets/methods work despite not directly making you eat less calories. They just get you to do things that make you eat less calories anyway.

There’s A Ton Of Ways To Create Your Deficit… Pick Your Favorite

In fact, it’s what I personally do and most often recommend. I explain exactly how to do it (for FREE) right here: The Best Diet Plan

There is no other magic or voodoo involved in the actual cause (or lack thereof) of fat loss. It always comes down to calories in vs calories out.

But wait, what’s that? You think I’m lying? You think I’m making this all up? You think this is just my opinion or gimmick?

Still Don’t Believe Me? Here’s Some Proof…

So, here now is just a SUPER TINY sample of some of the MANY examples that come to mind…

Metabolic and behavioral effects of a high-sucrose diet during weight loss.
This study took 2 groups of women and put them on similar hypocaloric diets (meaning below maintenance level so that a caloric deficit was present). The only difference between the diets of the two groups is that 43% of one group’s daily calorie intake came from sucrose (aka table sugar), while just 4% of the other group’s daily calorie intake came from sucrose. Guess what happened? Despite one group eating a VERY high sugar diet and the other group eating a VERY low sugar diet, they both lost equal amounts of weight and body fat. Why? Because it’s NOT the source of your calories that causes fat loss, it’s the presence of a caloric deficit.
Increased meal frequency does not promote greater weight loss [...]
This study took 16 overweight men and women and split them into 2 groups. They then had each person in each group create the same sized caloric deficit and then consume that same calorie intake every day for 8 weeks. HOWEVER, they had one group eat 3 meals a day, and the other group eat 6 meals a day. Guess what happened? They all lost the same amount of weight. In fact, the study showed that there was no difference at all in fat loss, appetite control, or anything similar. Why? Because meal frequency doesn’t affect your ability to lose fat or gain fat. Calories do.
Comparison of isocaloric very low carbohydrate/high saturated fat and high carbohydrate [...]
This study took 83 subjects, estimated the daily calorie requirements of each person (aka their maintenance levels), and then created a caloric deficit of 30%. They then divided them up into 3 groups. The first had only 4% of their total daily calorie intake coming from carbs. The second had 50% of their total calorie intake coming from carbs. The third had 70% of their total calorie intake coming from carbs. Guess what happened? Even though some people were eating a VERY LOW carb diet and others were eating a VERY HIGH carb diet… they all lost the same amount of weight and body fat. Why? Because low carb or high carb isn’t what makes us gain or lose fat. Calories are, regardless of how many of them come from carbs.
Similar weight loss with low-energy food combining or balanced diets.
This study divided 54 obese patients up into 2 groups, both of which were put on low calorie diets (meaning a caloric deficit was present) and fed similar percentages of protein, fat and carbs. HOWEVER, one group was given a more balanced diet comprised of meals that contained protein, fat and carbs, while the second group had their carb and fat calories separated so they were not eaten together in the same meal. Guess what happened? They all lost the same amount of weight and body fat. Why? Because the manner in which you combine foods, organize your meals and consume your daily calories isn’t what causes fat loss. A caloric deficit is.
Fat loss depends on energy deficit only, independently of the method for weight loss.
This study divided its subjects up into 2 groups, and had them both create the same sized caloric deficit. HOWEVER, the difference between them was the manner in which this deficit was created. One group did it by eating less total calories (diet alone), but the other group did it by eating less total calories AND burning more calories by doing cardio (a combination of diet AND exercise). But again, the total weekly caloric deficit was the same for both groups. Guess what happened? They all lost the same amount of weight and body fat. Why? Because a deficit of X calories is a deficit of X calories regardless of whether you burned those calories off via cardio or just didn’t eat them in the first place. Fat loss isn’t about how you create the deficit, it’s just about the deficit itself.
The Twinkie Diet
You know what? This one is so F-ing fantastic that a quick bullet point just doesn’t do it justice. So…

The Twinkie Diet

To do this, Mark took things to a very extreme point-making level that I would never actually recommend, but absolutely love for the purpose of proving that calories are what matter most.

But, he also created a caloric deficit.

The purpose? To prove that despite his daily diet being loaded with sugar-filled garbage and junk food, he’d still lose fat just fine because a caloric deficit was present.

The result? He lost 27lbs in 2 months and reduced his body fat percentage from 33.4% to 24.9%.

The Opposite Is True, Too

The Example Is Extreme, But Understand Its Point

What I want you to do however is look at this example for what it is… clear undeniable proof that fat loss occurs strictly as a result of eating less total calories.

Summing Up Fat Loss

So, for anyone who wanted to know how to lose fat… here’s how. Create a caloric deficit. That is ALL that EVER works.

Once again, I fully explain how to do all of that right here: The Best Diet Plan

However, the big point I’m getting at is that ALL OF IT is completely irrelevant and useless to your goal of losing fat in the absence of that required caloric deficit.

Oh… and mocked, too.

Filed Under: Fitness, Nutrition Tagged With: change, Cooking, fat loss, fitness, Health, Personal trainer, What to Eat

Florida Flute Convention 2012

January 23, 2012 By Angela Leave a Comment

Are you going to be going to the Florida Flute Convention this year? I am and am excited to announce that I be giving two presentations.

Being A Flutist in the National Guard – Friday 4:30 PM

The first presentation will be Friday at 4:30 PM and is entitled “Being a Flutist in the National Guard”.

Drawing on my 8 years of experience as a member of the 129th Army National Guard Band and as a recruiting assistant,I wool be bringing you all kind of information to let you know about this viable job opportunity, the demands and the perks of joining. So many musicians know about the Premier bands and Active Duty band but are unaware that there is a part time military band opportunity that offers fool time benefits but would allow you to go to school, finish school, keep your job and not even have to move to live somewhere else. There will be time for Q&A and LOTS of FREE goodies to everyone who comes. If you have a question you would like answered, feel free to leave a comment below, email me at Angela@Music Strong.com, or leave a message on the facebook page.

Morning Mobility – Sunday 9 AM

The second presentation wool be given in Sunday morning at 9AM and is entitled “Morning Mobility”.

This presentation will be more of an interactive workshop as I will lead you through a property whole body warm yup to address your muscle imbalances, increase your mobility, and get you ready to play for the day. Exercises and stretches learned will be appropriate for preparing fits the practice eton out the weight room. In addition, the equipment used in class shook be available for purchase right then: $15 for a foam roller and $5 for a mini-band. This will save you cost plus shipping if you were to buy them online and this way tippy learn how to use them right in the class and can take them with you to start using right away whereas if you wait to buy you might forget how to use them. Again, if you have specific areas our questions you would like addressed, leave a comment below, email me or leave a message on the facebook page.

Special Bonuses for Flute Convention Attendees!

Bonus #1 FREE Assessment

As a special bonus for those already at the convention,I will be offering FREE live assessments and consultations, to get yours all you need to do is email me to let nd know you are interested and we will set up a time. There is no cost and no obligation for this, the info is free and I will be able to show you your probable individual muscle imbalances and exercises and stretches to help you address them.

Bonus #2

As a secondary bonus, I will also be offering single training sessions at a reduced rate. If you would like to get a free assessment with me AND an individualized workout where I can lead you through a proper workout for you to take home and do on your own, I will be offering training sessions in the hotel gym for $40 for a whole hour, that’s a reduction of from my usual hourly rate of $65 – a $25 savings! Again, this offer is only good through Sunday the 29th. I will be arriving at the hotel Thursday night and will have time that evening, Friday morning and select hours thereafter to lead you through your workout. Contact me TODAY!

Bonus #3

As a thank-you to all convention attendees, if you sign up with me for 3 months, you will get 50% off your first month with me! With online training only costing $100/mo, that’s a $50 savings and you get SO much: an assessment, individualized plan, access to online meal tracking softwear and video demonstrations, goal tracking information, motivational emails, Skype session, nutritional information and more! This is a deal that can’t be beat, so make sure to sign up with me at the Convention, because this deal expires on Sunday the 29th.

So, to reiterrate, here are your bonuses if you are going to the convention:

Free assessment
Special reduced price of $40 for 1-hour on-site training session
50% off first month of training with me when you sign up for 3 months of training

What do you need to do to take advantage of these offers?

Contact me via Facebook: www.Facebook.com/MusicStrong
Send me an email at Angela@MusicStrong.com
Leave a message below this post
At the convention, you can get ahold of me by texting/calling 931-698-3130.

See you in Orlando!!!

Filed Under: Fitness, Flute, Travel

Top 10 Fitness Gifts for 2011

December 20, 2011 By Angela Leave a Comment

Merry Christmas!

Hard to believe it’s here, isn’t it? While you’re out doing your Christmas shopping, admit it, occasionally you buy your gifts with an ulterior motive. Sometimes you buy your husband a gift certificate to Netflix, a restaurant or the movies…because you know you will benefit from it, too. Well, fitness gifts can have that reputation, too. In fact, if you gave a person you love a gift certificate for personal training, even though they say they want to get in shape, isn’t it usually given to the spouse or loved one that you really wish would get healthy/lose fat/insert ulterior motive here?

Of course you do!

Whether you have ulterior motives, you are looking for good gifts to help the ones you love feel better, or you’re just looking for a good deal for yourself for the Christmas and heck, why not treat yourself? Isn’t one of the best gifts you can give your spouse is taking care of your health?

That said, I’ve compiled a list of my top 10 fitness gifts for this year.

Foam Roller

If by now, you don’t know why I love foam rollers, you obviously haven’t been reading many of my posts? Why give yourself or someone you love the gift of a 1-time massage when you can give the gift of daily self-massage? Foam rollers provide just that. They break up adhesions, release trigger points, increase mobility and circulation and just feel GOOD!

From Lee Burton, PhD, ATC, CSCS

“Using sticks and foam rolls can be a great way to prepare your body for a more dynamic warm-up or movement prep activity. These can provide an increase in blood flow or create more extensibility in the tissue which will allow for more effective mobility and flexibility work. These two pieces of equipment also play an integral role in recovery after a workout to help alleviate soreness, trigger points, or tightness in tissue. Sticks will provide more isolated pressure over a specific area of a muscle which may be sore due to a trigger point. Foam rolls provide general pressure which will help increase blood flow, assisting in alleviating generalized soreness after a workout. Both are self-help techniques which should be part of a both the warm-up and recovery phases of training.”

The Stick

Funny name, but that’s exactly what it is: a stick with rolling individual spindles that increase blood flow and massage the knots out of your body. These are excellent for those who cannot use foam rollers (like the elderly, those with osteoporosis or the obese) or those who desire a more concentrated pressure than the foam rollers provide.

Spikey Ball and Thera-Roll and/or Tennis Ball

These three are along the same lines as the first two, but they provide more targeted treatment. These items are small and can get into hard to reach places like the rhomboids (in between the shoulder blades), the arch of the foot, in the rotator cuff, the neck, the attachment point of the chest muscles to the arm, etc. If you’ve ever had a massage, you know that these areas are rife with trigger points and are usually painful. The great thing about all these items is that they are very small, portable and just as effective.

Gymboss Interval Timer

I first found out about this little guy through Martin Berkhan on his Leangains site. Why do I like it and what is it for? We all know intervals suck and it’s super easy to take longer than necessary to rest. Sticking to prescribed rest times in a program (besides tempo) is one of the hardest things to do. The Gym Boss Timer will beep out your intervals for you after you set them and since it keeps going, you have no excuse not to keep going, too! Much better than a stopwatch because this is hands free. You set it and go.

Makes workouts easier to plan and execute with more consistency
Auto mode repeats intervals; manual mode acts as a countdown timer.
1 or 2 different time intervals can range from 2 seconds to 99 minutes
Alarm beeps, vibrates or both in durations of 1, 5 or 10 seconds.

Plate Mates and Fractional Plates

I love these little gems. If you’ve ever done the Dogg Crapp 5×5 program or a similar program that has you progressing in a certain way over time, you know that eventually you get stuck and going up 5 lbs. is just too much. These little guys are magnetic and come in much smaller increments; mine add 1 1/2 lbs.

The fractional plates break it down even smaller, into 1/4 lb.s, 1/2 lbs, 3/4 lbs, 1 lb, etc. which is a huge motivation booster because when you are trying to bust through that plateau on your deadlift, squat, row, bench, whatever and you only have 5 lbs, you are going to be stuck at that weight for quite a while. If you have these little guys, you can see progress almost each and every time you go because you are going up in such small increments, you aren’t stalling!

Bumper Plates

I know very few gyms who have these and it drives me crazy. Why? Well for one, I’m a short lady at only 5’3″ and two, I had to completely scrap my deadlift technique and start over from scratch. What does this mean? It means that unless I get boxes, and keep stacking them under the plates and bar, I CANNOT practice setting up correctly for a deadlift because the proper deadlift height is the 45 lb. plates. I’m sorry, but when you’re new to training, you can’t start out with that much weight, and picking the bar up from the floor with 5′s or 10′s is asking for an injury. Bumper plates allow you to add only 5-10 lbs. per side but they are the same size as 45 lb. plates. Problem solved.

Mini Bands,JC Travel Bands and Super Bands

These bands, in my opinion, are indispensable for several different reasons. First off, bands are the easiest and most portable workout equipment you can use. They fold up into just about any suitcase, backpack, gig bag, you name it and can you say that about a dumbbell? Even if you don’t belong to a gym or are travelling and can’t get in your normal workout, you can come pretty close to it with bands. Here are my favorites for what to do with each:

mini bands:

wrap around ankles for lateral band walks for glute activation, place around knees when squatting or pressing as tactile cue to keep knees out
JC Travel Bands: just as good as the full-length version but smaller and easier to take when traveling. Favorite feature? The loop in the middle with the knot at the end. Perfect for shutting in a door or wrapping around a door knob to do rows, pull downs, face pulls, even bicep curls.
Super bands

: Best way to improve your pullups: band-assisted pullups. Also great for x-band walks, partner rows, band-resisted squats, RDL’s and even pushups.

Boot Camp Gift Card

Ok, so ANY exercise class can make you tired. Why not join a class that will leave you feeling energized, enthused and give you results and the tools you need to carry through on your goals in everyday life? There are a ton of “boot camp classes” out there, and you have to be careful whom you pick. Align your goals with the instructor; is the instructor there just to collect money or do they have a vested interest in each and every camper and in getting them their specific results? That’s for whom you want to look. Sure, we usually think of getting these kinds of things for ourselves, but this really can be a great gift. I just ran a special and had a few people buy registrations to my boot camp classes for several reasons:

her granddaughter is home-schooled and needs more “PE”
her sister is overweight and doesn’t fit into the gym scene, but desperately wants to lose weight and be motivated by other people
A husband bought it for him and his wife so they could get fit together this new year. She wanted it for Christmas!
She wanted a boot camp class in which she could involve her whole family, not only as a fitness experience, but as a bonding experience, so she bought gift cards for everyone!

As you can see, there really aren’t many reasons not to get in on this one, especially if you join them!

Want to sign up for my boot camp classes or give a gift of a class? Click here, add your class to the cart and upon checkout, write a note in the “note” box specifying that this is a gift! Include the name of the person and their email address and they will receive a special email note letting them know of your gift to them.

In fact, I’ll make it sweeter for you. Enter the code NEWYEAR at checkout and get 25% off each registration. That is their first week free!

Personal Training Package

The ultimate in gift giving – the gift of fitness. Cliche? Sure, but with good reason. If you can give someone the gift of one on one time with a personal trainer, or even sign them up with some friends (maybe even including yourself or your family) in on a semi-private group training session, everyone gets in on the experience. They end up not only with

better self esteem and more confidence
fat loss or muscle gain
better balance, bone strength and mobility
a more positive outlook on life
Organization and self-discipline that can easily spill over into other areas of their lives
a new wardrobe (they’re buying it, not you! )

It’s a great option for those who lack the motivation to get in shape, and really need someone right there to show them what to do, help them along, write out the plan for them, and motivate them. But it’s also a great gift for those who are dedicated “gym rats” who might need some training tweaks or want to train with friends or heck, just could use the extra motivation and guidance once a week or so. In any case, I’ll say this, I would LOVE for someone to buy ME a package of personal training sessions. So if they have complained forever about losing the weight or changing their bodies, etc., why not help them stop complaining and start getting the results they want?

Become a Personal Trainer!

Do you know someone who would love to be a trainer but they don’t know where to begin or they just don’t have the money? It’s not cheap, but getting certified is the first step towards helping countless other people ietheir results, be it muscle gain, strength gain, fat loss, increased mobility, athletic achievement or just getting over all healthier and getting to live without pain. My job as a trainer is so rewarding to me, and especially as I can see how strength training helps those dearest to me, the musicians in pain get over their imbalances and return to playing with renewed vigor and strength, the payoff is priceless.
So, in today’s tough economy, this is a great way to help someone get a job. If you or someone you know has been thinking about becoming a trainer, go with the best, go with the only one who will teach you how to ASSESS people and build a plan based on proven, science-backed training model, not bodybuilding myth and media hype. Give them the best, and get them a certification or a specialization through NASM.

Filed Under: Fitness

Commit to Making Your New Year’s Resolutions Happen This Year

December 16, 2011 By Angela Leave a Comment

Can you believe the New Year is almost here? We will be celebrating the arrival of 2012 in 2 weeks, and at the stroke of midnight, thousands and thousands of people will be making the resolution that “ok, this is the year I will FINALLY get in shape, lose the fat,etc.”

We know how those usually happen, right? Well, why not take the steps to actually going through with it? It’s tough to do it on your own, and Panama City Beach Boot Camp is here to help you make it happen!

We’ve got 3 classes in which you can register:

Beginner’s
Advanced
Women’s Only

The Beginner’s and Women’s Only classes will meet 12 times during January (roughly 3x’s a week) and the Advanced class will meet 17 times (roughly 4x’s a week). If you would like to see the class schedule (soon to be finalized), you can view all class dates, times and locations here: www.pcbeachbootcamp.com/classes.htm

Boot Camp classes make great gifts, too, so if you’re stuck on what to get someone, why not give them the gift of health? Heck, why not get one for yourself, too and then you BOTH can go together?

Why should you join PC Beach Boot Camp instead of any other exercise class?

It costs less than a personal training session
For a whole month of workouts it’s less than a gym membership with group training sessions
You get individualized attention
Each camper will get a FREE individualized assessment
Any exercise class can make you tired, our class will actually make you healthy, fit and teach you HOW to reach your goals in a lasting way. But you’ll get tired, too!
You will get nutritional information, guidance and recipes
You will get goal tracking tools
Weekly encouragement from your trainer
The cameraderie of being in a motivational close-knit class where everyone is meeting their goals together. Peer support (and sometimes pressure) can be one of the most important tools to reaching your fitness goals.
We will help you overcome your specific muscle imbalances by showing you HOW to take care of yourself inside and outside of class.
Access to HFPN.com – the online resource for exercise tracking, instruction, meal tracking and sample meal plans made out by registered dieticians, goal tracking, you name it!
Discounts on Music Strong Personal Training packages!
Discounts with Massage Works!

So as you can see, there are a myriad of reasons you should join, and not a whole lot of reasons why you shouldn’t. So stop with the excuses and commit to finally making it happen. Fat loss should be a short-term journey, not a life-long one. Get it done, get fit, get healthy, get mobile!

To register for classes, go to either www.PCBeachBootCamp.com/store.htm

http://www.musicstrong.com/shop/panama-city-beach-boot-camp/

And just to sweeten the deal, if you need a little incentive to sign up, how about a discount?

If you purchase NOW, through the Music Strong site, you will get your first week FREE. That’s 25% off a whole month!

And when you join, you’ll be given the option at your first class to trade that in for an even SWEETER deal…but you’ll have to register to find out what THAT is.

So go to www.MusicStrong.com/shop/panama-city-beach-boot-camp/ and add your class to the cart. At checkout, enter the coupon code NEWYEAR for your discount and then watch your inbox for goodies, your information packet and all kinds of fun stuff about the classes.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: boot camp, training

A New and Improved Shoulder Circuit for Musician and Desk Jockey Health

December 12, 2011 By Angela Leave a Comment

Today I bring you a post from Coach Nick Tuminello. He has written a whole series on the rhomboids, lower traps, and all those key areas that can be problem spots to musicians and desk jockeys alike. Whether you spend your day locked in a practice room or locked behind a desk and yearn to have strong shoulders and a pain free back, this article is for you.

I can’t highly recommend this series enough. The rhomboids are a muscle that has become chronically stretched and weakened in our “bent over” society: when one bends over a steering wheel, table, computer or music stand the arms pull forward stretching the upper back muscles (and the rhomboids) forward when their main job is to contract and pull the shoulder blades BACK. This can cause weakness, pain and ultimately lead to injury.

The YTWL is a warm-up that I have been seeing and using for quite a long time, sadly, I hardly ever see anyone in the weight room using these movements and if I do, they do them incorrectly. Read and learn and if you want more detailed information he has a whole series on his blog, but he sums it up pretty nicely here.

Love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below!

LYTP – A New and Improved YTWL!!!

To conclude my whole TRUTH about the YTWL Shoulder series. I wanted to do a recap summary of everything that was covered in my recent posts. – If you have already read/watched each post. Its still a good idea to read this because I’ve thrown a few key points that have yet to be covered. If you have not seen any of the TRUTH about the YTWL posts. I highly suggest you take a close look at each of the videos. -

An Swift and Orderly Change

- First off, the YTWL is no longer Y-T-W-L It’s now the L-Y-T-P – The L’s are put first for the simple reason that they are the hardest / weakest movement. It only makes sense, if you place the weakest movement last, as in the traditional method, you’re more likely to have a harder time doing it correctly due to fatigue. – I’ve never understood why any one would put the weakest movement first. I guess we all just went in the order of the name YTWL. The L came last in the name so it came last in training. Well, no more! It’s L’s first from now on! -

Better Positioning = Better Results

Another issue that needed to be resolved is the traditional body positioning before performing the YTWL. Most folks are doing these from one of two positions – 1. Standing, bent over in a similar fashion to an RDL or how a Baseball short stop would stand. 2. Lying prone on the floor or on a bench. – Along with my good friend and colleague Mike Robertson,I really like the standing version! As Mike says “its a great way to integrate the torso”. How right he is! – Standing with the torso at a 45 degree angle is also a great way to change the force angle of the LYTP series. That said, I do have a problem with the prone version. – While doing the prone version from the floor or bench, there is nothing preventing you from extending your lumbar spine and reenforcing a compensatory/ dysfunctional pattern. – By using a stability ball and a bent knee position, you eliminate all possibility of the lumbar extension. – Plus, as Mike Robertson says “lying prone on a physioball so that they are forced to extend their t-spine actively versus passively”. – Mike is one of the best in our field because he understands this stuff and I highly recommend reading his Blog and checking out Mike’s products. -

Check out this video for more on how to use a swiss ball to improve your LYTP shoulder exercises.

A Quick Disclaimer

Before I move on to cover the rest of the letters (YTW), I wanted to make something very clear. My recommendations for each of these applications is very general and based on what I fell to be best for most healthy, uninjured people. – With these and any other exercise applications, there is never just one way to do things. I’m most certainly not claiming that these techniques are the best and only right way to do your shoulder pre-hab training. – As a Strength Coach, it’s my job to find methods that maximize success and minimizes error. I will tell you with confidence that, each of these techniques has been well thought out and battle tested successful in my setting with 100′s of clients and athletes of all levels. Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, lets talk some more shop!

A New Angle on Y’s

The first thing I want to address here is hand position. – When your hand goes over head as they do when performing Y’s, the safest position for your shoulder to be in is the neutral position. This is with your thumbs point toward the sky, if you’re lying prone. – This is not a new concept and fairly understood among coaches and trainers. However, I have seem some coaches performing Y’s while holding a dowel rod. This is problem because holding the dowel takes you out of neutral and places your shoulders into some internal rotation. In doing so, there is NO added muscular benefit, only an increased risk or shoulder irritation and impingement issues. -

This is why I choose not to use a dowel rod or to keep the palms flat while doing Y’s. So, when doing Y’s, keep those thumbs pointed up, toward the sky! -

Why Don’t Your Y’s Look Like Y’s?

The next mistake folks seem to be making, is the angle at which they are performing the Y’s. In many cases, people place their arms next to their ears (parallel to one another) as in a superman position. – First off, this arm position doesn’t even make a Y, it makes an I. – Secondly, and more importantly, this is not the best strategy to maximize recruitment of the lower traps which is the intended goal of the exercise. – Here’s a quick anatomy lesson. trapezius As you can clearly see in the picture, the lower trap muscle fibers run at a 45 degree angle. The best way to stimulate a muscle is to line up the force vector with the line of muscle (fibers) pull. – In other words, in order to perform Y’s effectively, the arms should be placed at 45 degree angle ( in the same line as the low trap fibers). – Some folks do Y’s with their arms at more of an angle. But, in most cases the angle is not as wide as it should be relative to the angle of the fibers in the low traps.

You can watch the video below to see the angle I recommend.

No More I’s

Certain folks are actually doing I’s (arms parallel) along with the rest of the letters. I recommend against this because there is no added muscular benefit, only more room for error and compensation. -

How to get Maximal Lower Trap Recruitment

I could make this part a long and complicated discussion. But, its not my style. So, I’m going to hit the ground running.

If your arms are at the correct 45 degree angle, as I described above, there is no need to consciously pull your shoulder blades back and down as most coaches recommend. – In fact, doing so will more than likely cause you to compensate and use your lats as the primary muscle. This is also described in the below video. -

A great way to prevent compensation and maximally stimulate the lower traps, is to use a technique I learned from world renowned physical therapist Mark Comerford.- Once your ams are fully lifted into the Y position, attempt to reach outward away from your body. In other words, try to make your arms longer. If your arms are at the correct angle, you will NOT shrug your shoulders and compensate by using levator scap. – Due to the fact that lower trap is primarily a low load, local stabilizer muscle, this reaching out of the arms action will cause lower trap to activate to create scapular stability. -

Its also important to note, that due to fact that lower trap is primarily a low load stabilizer, it should be trained in a different load/ rep range than the rhomboids. Meaning, you will use a different rep range doing Y’s than you would doing doing T’s. – When doing Y’s, I recommend performing 5-10, 3-5 second isometric reps. I would also keep the weight low.

(as a side note, you can see my other blog post about recruiting the lower traps)

See this video for more on Y’s

A Small Twist for Big Results on T’s

The goal of T’s is to hit primarily the rhomboids and mid traps. In order to do this, two adjustments from the traditional method need to be made. – First, when doing T’s its not necessary to external rotate your shoulders (keep your thumbs up). This has been recommended to add the additional stimulation of the external rotator muscles. – The problem with this is that most people don’t have weak external rotators as we once thought. Instead, we tend to have overused external shoulder external rotators. See the TRUTH about W’s video below for more on that. – Hard training on already overworked and irritated tissue is never a good idea. So, again, no need for that added external rotation.

If in the case you do actually have weak external rotators (which should be determined by a qualified physical therapist – not a trainer/coach who just attended a weekend assessment course), this weakness can cause them to struggle while doing T’s and interfere with the quality of the movement. – It can also distract them from the primary goal of this exercsie, which as I’ve said is to strengthen rhomboids and mid traps. As they say, if you chase two rabbits, you’ll never catch either. – In short, L’s are designed to strengthen your external rotators and therfore are better suited for that purpose. -

How to Maximally Recruit Your Rhombiods

While doing T’s, keep your shoulders and hands neutral (palms down while prone). – As you raise your arms to the side, pull your arms toward the mid-line of your body. – anatomy-rhomboids-256x300 Don’t think of retracting you shoulder blades back and down. – Your rhomboids are responsible for scapular retraction and elevation. So, if your pull your shoulder blades down, you decrease rhomboid activation. – Plus , if you just think of puling your shoulder blades downward, you end up using your lats instead of rhomboids.

To reduce any chance of mistakes/compensation and maximize rhomboid recruitment, attempt to shorten your arms as if some one were trying to pull them out of the sockets. – Yes I know, this is the complete opposite of what I recommended earlier for performing Y’s. – It’s different for good reason!

Your Rhomboids are primarily mobility muscles. Where as you low traps are primarily stability muscles. – Put simply, muscles with different functional roles require different training protocols. – Unlike the low traps, the rhomboids are high load dominat, mobilizers muscles. Therefore , we take a more traditional approach to training them by using heavier loads, with normal tempos for 8-12 reps. -

See this video for more on T’s…

Out with W’s, In with P’s

I’ve already given you more than enough smarter strategies for shoulder training to make your head explode. So,to keep you from having a brain overload, I’m going to keep this one short and to the point. – The W is the most useless of all the letters in the YTWL shoulder circuit. I explain exactly why in the video below. – I have replaced the W’s with P’s. The P stands for Pivot Prones, which are demonstrated in the below video as well. -

If you are wondering where the idea for the pivot prone comes from, the name originates from a neural developmental position we all learn before we start to crawl, while lying prone (on our belly) as infants.

“At approx 5 months of age the child develops an interesting skill that contributes to their pelvic and scapular mobility.”“During the Pivot Prone posture or pattern, the upper extremities assume the high guard position with the scapulas adducted by the rhomboid muscles. The upper limbs are horizontally abducted at the shoulders and flexed at the elbows. This retraction of the shoulder girdle and posturing of the upper extremities enhances trunk extension. To assume the pivot prone posture, the anterior muscles must elongate.” Pediatric Physical Therapy, By Jan Stephen Tecklin, pg.34, Publisher:Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Fourth Edition edition (October 1, 2007)

Now, that you understand the origin of this movement pattern, you can better appreciate the important role that pivot prones can play in regaining and maintaining a fundamental movement pattern that we all should posses. _ – Well, there you have it! I’ve given you the knowledge and the tools to improve your shoulder strength, stability and overall health. -

Enter the L,Y,T,P Shoulder Exercise Circuit

Filed Under: Corrective Exercise, Fitness Tagged With: fitness, flute health, Health, healthy musician, Muscle, Scapula, Shoulder, shoulder pain, Shoulder problem, strength, Weight training

Panama City Beach Boot Camp 81% OFF!

December 6, 2011 By Angela Leave a Comment

One of the products of Music Strong is the Panama City Beach Boot Camp. I decided that it was a shame to not have any boot camp classes in a non-gym-membership type setting available. I checked into it and sure enough while we do have the world’s most beautiful beaches, there were no boot camp classes being offered! And thus, the PC Beach Boot Camp classes were born.

Just recently, the classes have gotten a complete overhaul in terms of how they were structured, payment, types of classes offered and we even added a new indoor location! To kick off the revamp, the Panama City News Herald Deal of the Day has featured us all this week, December 5-10th, by offering our best option, the Month of Unlimited Boot Camp Classes, a $149 value, for ONLY $29!!!

To take advantage of this sweet deal: GO HERE
You only have a few days left to get in on this deal, and after this weekend prices will go up to normal rates:
4 Weeks: $109

6 Weeks: $129

Unlimited: $149

So get in on this while you can and try the new and improved PC Beach boot camp for only $29! That’s less than a dollar a day and with 13 classes a week to pick from for 4 weeks, you can go to as many or as few as you want and you’ve still got the best value possible.

For full details, class schedules and updates, visit the Panama City Beach Boot Camp website at: www.PCBeachBootCamp.com

Again, this offer is only available from December 5-10th, 2011 and classes begin the week of January 1, so don’t miss out! Go here to purchase and check out the deal!

Filed Under: Boot Camp, Fitness, Motivation and Success, Special Thanks

New Rates Announced!

November 26, 2011 By Angela Leave a Comment

After much research and deliberation, I am very happy to announce Music Strong’s new training rates. We are also very excited to announce the launch of our new training option: Semi-Private Group Training. Here’s a quick overview of our programs and rates. Keep a lookout for updates to be able to purchase! For now, if you are interested, please contact me at Angela@MusicStrong.com and we can get started.

One-On-One Private Training: I will come to your home, condo, or place of business and train you personally. Excellent choice for those new to training, or those who are self-motivated but just need an individualized, periodized training program written for them and motivation 1-2x’s per week.

Semi-Private Group Training: Get the benefits of training with your friends while still getting an individualized program!

Online Training: Perfect for those who do not live in the Panama City area and are self-motivated, but want the stress of designing a periodized, goal-specific training program put into the hands of a NASM-CPT (soon to be CES!).

All programs come with a FREE assesssment to determine your individual muscle compensations and possible weaknesses.

Rates:

I love flexibility, don’t you? I’ve designed my training packages to give as much flexibility as possible. Have a unique situation? Contact me for a unique quote.

Semi-Private Group Training

I offer four different choices for in-home training. Where you get the most bang for your buck is Semi-Private Group Training. Most people love the cameraderie and motivation that comes with training in a group and as we all know, having someone to be accountable to is one of the keys to reaching your goals. Our most effective option, this option is great for several groups:

Best friends
Walking partners wanting to take fitness to the next level
Families
Couples
Mothers and Daughters
Fathers and Sons
Brides and bridesmaids

You get the point! Isn’t it more fun to workout with your best friend? A little friendly competition makes you work harder, which means you get to your goals even faster! Each client will get an individual program unique to your needs and goals, but because the training session is shared, it’s more cost-effective.

Group training can be done in the home of one or another individuals or outside.

Our Semi-Private option is ideal if you:

Love the cameraderie and support of training with a group but need an individualized program.
You are looking for a cost-effective way to hire a personal trainer.

Short Term Commitment: Annual Commitment:

1 x week: $199 per month x 3 months 1 x week: $179 per month x 12 months

2 x week: $384 per month x 3 months 2 x week: $344 per month x 12 months

3 x week: $539 per month x 3 months 3 x week: $539 per month x 12 months

**Cost is per person

One-On-One Personal Training

For those clients who need more supervised instruction, require the utmost in privacy and attention to detail, 1:1 training is your package. This is a great precursor to group training, as you will learn the skills you need to progress into training within a group. This option is ideal for those who:

are largely overweight and lead a mostly sedentary lifestyle
Have little to no previous strength training experience
You have been referred by a doctor, chiropractor, or other medical professional
You require detailed technical instruction and closely supervised practice
You prefer the additional privacy of 1:1 training

The beauty of this program is that, just like group training, I will come train you in the comfort and privacy of your own home, and you have no fear of failure in front of others. There will be no other people to make you feel uncomfortable, no need to feel inadequate or out of place and you get 1:1 time with me. You will still receive a FREE assessment where I will determine your possible muscle compensations and weaknesses and from there you will get an individualized training program that I will go through with you, step by step, exercise by exercise as you gain confidence and knowledge.

We offer three options, with the monthly option being the best value. Not only are the rates reduced per session, with the 3 month commitment, you will have the opportunity to see your strength, fat loss or muslce gain, balance and coordination progress.

Short Term Commitment

1 x per week: $200 x 3 months ($55/session)

2 x per week: $400 x 3 months ($50/session)

3 x per week: $540 x 3 months ($45/session)

With the individual packages, this is a good option for those who:

are largely self-motivated
have a good amount of training experience but could use the supervision and motivation of a trainer 1-3x’s per week

Individual Session Packages

Single Session: $65/hr

4 sessions: $60/hr

8 sessions: $55/hr

12 sessions: $50/hr

24 sessions: $45/hr

Online Training

This option is excellent for those who are not in the Panama City area, but would like to still have a periodized training program that is designed specifically for them with their individual compensations addressed and goals in mind. With this option, you will have access to HFPN.com. I will design your training and/or cardio programs and they will be laid out for you on your own training calendar there. You can log in, see your program laid out, complete with exercise videos and descriptions of each exercise. You can also keep track of your diet, log your food, take your measurements and see your progress graphed on your chart.
All this for a commitment of only $100 a month.

Gift certificates are also available. If you are interested in supporting Music Strong and giving the gift of fitness, please contact us with the package you would like to purchase and the details of the person to whom it is being given. We will give you instructions from there. We will have the kinks out of the system soon and the option to purchase up very soon, so please bear with us as we go through this transition period of update.

So stop dreaming and start achieving; let’s get started today!

Filed Under: Corrective Exercise, Fitness

3 Lean Body Secrets No One Has Told You

November 22, 2011 By Angela Leave a Comment

3 Lean Body Secrets No One Has Told You | Articles.

Oh how I love this article. Why? Because it speaks the truth about what it actually takes to not only GET that lean body but more importantly KEEP it. In fact, as we approach Thanksgiving, the time dedicated for giving thanks for our many blessings…and promptly celebrating those blessings with eating as much of the “special” foods as we can, this article can help you address participating in that, without ruining your life.

It means being weird, sometimes. Or what your friends might perceive as weird.

You might be riduculed.

Once you get off the fat train and onto the weight loss wagon you might notice the amount of discouragement you receive from your peers. Those people you thought would support you instead try to sabotage you! They see you losing weight and their first instinct is to bring you food and say “oh one donut won’t hurt, why not go off your diet for one day”? And in the long run, they are right, but what they don’t tell you is that they will try to do this to you EVERY day and that WILL hurt you.

In fact, let’s talk about that for a minute.

Those of you who have lost weight, were you surprised at the amount of people, friends even, who didn’t support you? They got mad at you, turned their backs on you, became snotty or what have you while they saw your success? Sure, they liked you when you were fat, but when you actually did what you said you were going to do and started taking the weight off, suddenly they didn’t want to hear about your struggles any more?

There are a few reasons for that.

It makes them realize that THEY are all talk because they see what it takes to get it done and they don’t want to admit their laziness.
It’s true. If you don’t do the work to lose weight (and come on, you KNOW what it takes, deep down, right?) then you are not putting forth the effort, you aren’t doing the work, it’s YOUR FAULT. Nobody makes you fat but you, and no one takes that weight off but you. It’s easier to complain than to do the work and that’s why your friends don’t like you all the sudden, because it’s so much easier to have a friend to complain with and share in the blame game, than it is to actually suck it up and quit with the extra nibbles. I know, because I have been there. I like the extra bites. But I know that when it comes down to it, those extras add up, and suddenly, I’m whining about not losing and my friend is.
Your success makes them feel like you are bringing their weaknesses into the light. Aka: you call them out without meaning to.This goes along the same lines as the first point, but isn’t it true? Why do we envy people? They have what we don’t. Some times we can change that. If they have more money, well, get off your butt and go MAKE more money. The government won’t give it to you, you have to, as Dave Ramsey says “get up, leave the cave, go kill something and drag it home”. YOU are not entitled to anything. This includes money, cars, fame, or that hot body that you want. You want it? Go after it and do what it really takes. Stop kidding yourself. You KNOW what you need to do but most people would rather complain about why things aren’t happening than looking inside saying “you know, this is going to be a butt-load of work, but I want it, so I’m going to do what it takes”. This includes fat loss. It takes HARD work to get that body. It was hard to pass up the extra bites out of the candy dish at work. It was hard to get up and go do your walk every day like you know you needed to. It was hard to drag yourself out of bed early to go to boot camp class. or to workout with a trainer, or to pass up that extra whatever it is and eat more protein. Fat loss sucks because it’s HARD. That’s why so few people succeed. We’re not good at doing hard. We want it and we want it now because I exist I have the right to have it.
NO, you don’t.
You have the right to go out and do it and get it, but you don’t have the right to just become it. That’s why you’re still fat. Ouch. The truth hurts. And that’s why your friends don’t like you. You going out and DOING it brings light to the fact that being fat IS your fault, you CAN do it and all they are doing is complaining. No one likes to be called out.

Oh wow, it’s easy to get on a soap box isn’t it?

What I said might hurt and you might be saying “but I have a medical condition! It’s genetic! My parent’s fed me too much junk as a kid which meant I was a fat kid and I can’t be anything but fat!”

Ok, fine. It’s still your fault.

No, it’s not your fault that you have a condition, you have “fat genes” or your parents didn’t know the difference between a box of Swiss Cake Rolls and an apple. What IS your fault is what you are going to do about it.

If you are sitting here saying those things, then the answer is, you’re going to complain and blame….and stay right where you are.

I can say that, because I have fit in that category for too long.

Brief Explanation of Why I Can Say This Stuff

I wasn’t a fat kid, my parents aren’t fat and I didn’t struggle with body image growing up.
HOWEVER….

I was doomed.

You see, my mom, her mom and her grandmother ( my great-grandmother) AND my dad’s mom (my grandma) all have hypothyroidism. To varying degrees, and I may be the worst out of the lot, only because I’ve had more tests done than they have. You see, I competed in a figure competition and while I wouldn’t change that experience for the world (I did some seriously hard work and I reaped the rewards of watching my body change almost daily before my eyes), I did go about it blindly and stupidly and probably had a hand in wreaking my own health without knowing it. I hired a well-known coach (he produces Olympians so I thought “get the best!”.) who did not provide hardly any support, would not sub out anything (I hate asparagus and cream of wheat but no, I had to eat them several times a day….really??) and gave me cookie cutter programs of 6 days a week training and 2x’s a day cardio. Sadly, the norm in the competition world. If you see that, it’s the mark of a man or woman who doesn’t know the science behind it all, but sees it work on a few (maybe themselves) and gives it to many. This is otherwise known as “bro-science”.

In any case, the addition of “fat burners” several times a day probably did nothing for my pre-disposed thyroid.

What happend? Well,after the post-competition rebound weight gain of 20 lbs, I developed a habit of binge eating that destroyed my relationship with food that lasted for 2 years and culminated this past year in the resulting weight gain of my highest weight: 156. I gained 20 lbs. in only a few months. On a 5’3″ person, not so good. My competition weight? 114 lbs. A couple years ago I kept trying to lose weight, couldn’t and finally got to the point where the brain fog was so bad and lack of energy so pronounced as that I couldn’t get out of bed (literally) that I saw a doc who ordered tests, finding out 1) my thyroid had shrunk almost in half on one side 2) It hardly worked at all 3) what it did produce did not convert to the active form.

What does that mean? Means I am on Armour Thyroid meds (combo T4 and T3) for the rest of my life and the dosages will have to be constantly tweaked according to my lifestyle.

Also means I have a NASTY time losing weight.

Point in case. I was 156 in March. My fighting weight is a happy 120. If you’ve seen my wedding pictures, that’s where I was. I decided that after much therapy I had broken the addiction to food and binging and was ready to try weight loss.

I lost 3 lbs in 5 months.

Says to me something’s wrong right? First trip to the doc showed T3 levels were still about the levels of an 80 year old man. So I upped the meds. Came back in July and everything showed great! Doc gave me the standard I have no idea what’s wrong with you answer “you’ll just have to work at it a little harder”.

He must not have heard me because at the time I was

biking up to 100 miles/week
leading 2 beach boot camp classes (participating as much as leading)
Lifting 3 x’s a week
Training several times a week
Alternating trying to run with swimming (due to a hip injury that won’t heal)
Restricting calories

Yeah, the mantra “move more, eat less” didn’t seem to be working. Until my massage therapist opened my eyes. She said
“Are you being consistant”?

The truthful answer was NO, I wasn’t. I was tracking “everything” but leaving an awful lot out of the log, so I hit my 1500 calories but in reality was eating more than that. No idea, because the extra bites of cereal, grapes, peanut butter, candy, you name it, didn’t go into the log.

I said ok, enough, I am the problem. Let’s fix this.

So I have been HONEST with myself, logging everything. Hitting my protein more often than not and my calories almost daily. Yes, I’ve had slipups and those days have cost me progress, but I’m aware and honest and guess what? I hit a new low today of 144.6! Not that much but mind you, this is a learning process and every little ounce of fat loss is a victory for me. I am staying consistant. Consistant with my tracking methods, honest, consistant with EVERYTHING.

I bemoaned my state for so long saying it had to be something else, my meds weren’t right, blah blah blah. But really, I wasn’t being honest with myself.

So if you are fat, more than likely, you are the problem. BE HONEST. What are you not counting, not logging, lying to yourself about? Just write it down and don’t feel like you have to make yourself have a large deficit, make it a small one, stick to it, and on days you feel like you can go lower, go lower.

Did I mention most of my weight loss has come in the last few weeks when I have been LESS active? Yeah, I’ve gone to 2x’s a week lifting, not participating in boot camps and the cycling has come down. Mostly this is due to the hip injury I’m getting looked at, but the good news is, my body responds positively to less. That’s also a bummer

I can also say that the journey will be more difficult for some than others. Maybe you have medical conditions, maybe you don’t. Maybe you have an unsupportive family/spouse, maybe you are surrounded by people rooting for you. Whatever it is, just go for it! It’s your life, and life is too short to live in excuses.

There is, obviously by my case, more than one way to lose fat/weight. Sometimes people can lose by just moving more (not in my case), some by just eating less, some by just being consistant. The equation is always the same: Calories in vs calories out, you have to burn more than you consume. Period. How people’s bodies respond to different styles of training, different foods etc. are all different so the specifics of that formula will change as well.

Some respond better to heavy exercise
Some respond better to very light exercise
Some do better on larger deficits
Some do better on smaller deficits
Almost everyone responds well to cycling programs (be it calories, carbs, both…)

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach as that figure coach made me believe. Your body is different, so go find out what makes you different, how you respond. But believe that weight loss is possible, because it IS! Give it time, but go do it. Don’t live another day under your own excuses. And if you need help, well, that’s why I’m a trainer. I can train you, I can point you to fat loss experts (Leigh Peele is one – I highly recommend her Fat Loss TroubleShoot if this article rings a bell with you. Lyle McDonald is another, and you can see the items of his that I endorse on the boot camp site or on my fluteangel.net site. He is the expert at this and can teach you so much, I HIGHLY recommend his books, especially the Guide to Flexible Dieting), and I am here for you.

Contact me and we’ll get started!

So, QUIT WITH THE EXCUSES! If you want it, go get it!

And read the article above. Well, shucks, I’ll post it here.

3 Lean Body Secrets No One Has Told You | Articles.

I’ve said this before…weight loss is easy. It is keeping the weight off that is difficult. The difficulty is due to the fact that maintaining a lean body over the long haul has little to do with grams of protein, fish oil, or block peroidization of you’re exercise program. Lifetime leanness is achieved not through nutrients per se it is achieved through persistence, fostering a lean culture, and feeling good (maybe superior?)about your achievements. Here’s what I mean.

Persistence

I’ll talk about this a little later in the post, but one thing you need to realize is that in order to consistently attain a lean body you will be fighting an uphill battle, especially with your diet. When you travel, no one is waiting for you at the gate with a grilled salmon salad for you to take on the plane with you. No, there is a 16 year old working at Qdoba that wants to sell you a 3 lbs burritos which contains 1/2 cup of sour cream. When you go out to eat at the local wing joint with your buddies, the waiter isn’t asking you if you’d like to order off the menu something healthier, no he just wants to know if you want blue cheese or ranch. This is why you need to be persistent. You need to be persistent about what you need to stick to your plan. Last week I was out to eat with some friends and my buddy Joe (how maintains 6% bodyfat) displayed the ultimate level of dietary persistence. We’re at Buffalo Wild Wings. Joe looks at the menu, sighs, the waiter comes over and asks what he wants -

Waiter – “Breaded or boneless wings? 12, 25, or 50?”

Joe – “I’m going to order off the menus.” Joe puts the menu down and doesn’t look at it. “Can you make me a big green salad, lots of vegetables, and then I’ll have two blackened chicken breasts on the side.”

Waiter – Blank stare. “Oookay. What kind of dressing would you like?”

Joe – “Do you have olive oil and vinegar? I’ll have that on the side.”

Waiter -”I don’t think we have olive oil….yeah we don’t have that.”

Joe – “Can you go check with the kitchen for me?”

Waiter – Visibly annoyed. “I’ll be right back.”

That is persistence. Joe knew what he needed for dinner and he asked for it. The waiter didn’t have all the answers so Joe asked him to go find the person that did. There were at least 3 opportunities where Joe could have given in, but he didn’t. He was persistent and he got what he wanted. It is going to be a rare occasions that you can order directly from the menu. It is going to be a rare occasion that you will wake up 10 minutes before your alarm goes off energized to hit the gym. That is why you must be persistent.

Culture

I cringe a little using the word culture because it is has become such a buzz word in business nowadays but it is the best way to describe this key. You need to create and foster a culture of healthy habits so that you aren’t making healthy decisions because you are forcing them upon yourself but because that is what you do. Here are two examples to illustrate my point. My kids eat fruits and vegetables at every meal and when they snack on baby carrots and red pepper strips during the day they say things like “Ummm that is delicious.” They eat broccoli, they eat peas by the handful (literally, it is a struggle to get Peter to use a spoon). They eat this way because that is just how we eat. Eating vegetables was never an issue for them because those are the foods that we eat. Fruits and vegetables were never signaled out as foods that we don’t really want to eat but do because we have to. We just eat them, that is the culture at our house.

In that recent trip to a seminar with Joe we got to discussing food choices and eating out (how could you not after that encounter with the waiter). He said that at his gym, all the trainers eat really clean as that is the culture. If you came to the gym with unhealthy food ‘you’d get made fun of.’ Sometimes you need that. Sometimes you need the added peer pressure when your tired and your guard is down so that you order your burger without the bun and to substitute the fries for vegetables instead of eating it as is on the menu. The point about culture is that you want to work to immerse yourself in a culture where the healthy habits you hold important are the norm. This is key for maintaining a lean body for the long haul.

Superiority

Okay, so this last one is a little controversial and I debated not including it. Andrew Carnegie once said that one of his keys to ultra achievement was carefully measured arrogance. This was mirrored by marketing and small business consultant Dan Kennedy when he applied Carnegie’s view to his own life regarding time and project management

I will tell you where my sense of superiority comes from: my control of my life, compared to everyone else’s lack of control.

A sense of lack of control is the worst thing. This is a common characteristic among chronically overweight people that I have worked with. So when you get control and are working your plan, feel good about it. Geez, near 70% of the U.S. population is overweight or obese. You’re succeeding against all odds! Against 99.8% of all food marketing. Against every gadget that makes life ‘easier’ so you can move and do less. Against all the thoughts flying in and out of your mind each day telling you to skip the gym or have the pancakes! Fostering a feeling of superiority doesn’t have to have negative connotations, it doesn’t mean that you are putting others and their dietary foils down – it means that you recognizing that you’re doing something great, something that pretty much everyone wants to do but can’t consistently.

Like I said at the beginning, it isn’t about nutrients and supplements. It is the mental stuff. It is knowing what you want and getting it whether it is the right food at a lousy restaurant or a quick workout at your in-laws house. It is about creating an culture where healthy behaviors are normal and then surround yourself with people who also feel that way. And it is about giving yourself credit for raging against the machine, doing what most people won’t, and then using that good feeling to fuel your persistence even more.

Technorati Tags: featured, mental fat loss tricks, weight management

Tags: featured, mental fat loss tricks, weight management

Author:Dr. Mike

You Asked: Increased Cardio but Gaining Weight (fitsugar.com)
Personal Health: Why Even the Most Resolute Dieters Fail (nytimes.com)
10 Nutrition Tips to Burn Body Fat and Lose Weight (herfitnesshut.com)
10-Minute Fat Loss/Weight Loss Plateau-Buster (herfitnesshut.com)

Filed Under: Fitness, Motivation and Success, Nutrition

Sleeping Booty: Anterior Pelvic Tilt and Sleeping Butt Syndrome Part 2

November 21, 2011 By Angela Leave a Comment

What Can Be Done?

This is, by no means, the definitive work and end-all be-all answer to this question. I am not a doctor, a therapist or other medical practitioner and EACH situation is different. Therefore, understand that these are suggestions, to be used in conjunction with possible other training modalities and may be contraindicated by your specific issue, so check with your doctor first if you have any concerns.

The answer depends on what your specific muscle imbalances are. For you, what is tight, what is weak and what has caused your body to have these imbalances? If you try to correct the imbalances without changing the lifestyle situation that caused them, guess what, you are fighting an uphill battle, just like walking the wrong way on an escalator. If your situation is caused by trauma, this is different, but if you are the victim of a lifestyle issue (which is extremely common) understand that you can do all the stretches in the world and if you don’t change your posture on a daily basis (being aware of your body in daily life is the first step) then you will probably see very little improvement.

So, back to the problem at hand: what can I do for my J-Lo booty?

The first question is why are your glutes not firing properly? Do you sit all day? Do you have an anterior pelvic tilt? The most likely culprits are:

tight hip flexors
tight quads
poor core strength
stretched hamstrings
or other problems causing your lack of function.

There can be many other muscles contributing to the imbalances but these are the main ones I will address.

Tight Hip Flexors

If you have tight hip flexors, and most of the population does (with or without sleeping glutes) your first plan of attack is going to be static stretching, which we will follow up with dynamic stretching. Actually, I would put foam rolling first as Self Myo-fascial release has been found to be most beneficial to decreasing the tension in chronically overactive muscles, however, it can be difficult to reach your hip flexors on a foam roller and with a tennis or lacrosse ball…well, honestly that’s just too much pain for me to handle and I’d rather a massage therapist work it out for me; they are the best option in any case.

Quick anatomy lesson; what are some of the hip flexors?

In human anatomy, the hip flexors are a group of skeletal muscles that act to flex the femur (thigh bone) onto the lumbo-pelvic complex, i.e., pull the knee upward.

The hip flexors are (in descending order of importance to the action of flexing the hip joint):^[1]

Collectively known as the iliopsoasor inner hip muscles:

Anterior compartment of thigh
- Rectus femoris (part of the quadriceps muscle group)
- Sartorius

One of the gluteal muscles:
- Tensor fasciae latae

Medial compartment of thigh

Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch

Kneel with one foot on the ground and the other leg having the knee resting (“take a knee”).
Tilt your pelvis to a posterior tilt and squeeze your buttocks on the “down” leg. This motion alone should light up your hip flexors, especially if they are tight. In fact, you might not need any more than that.
To progress this stretch, maintain the glute activation by squeezing and keeping the pelvis tilted and bend your front knee forward just an inch or two. That should be enough of a stretch, but if you wish to intensify it, you can raise your arm on the side bein stretched, up and over and then back and twist just a bit to try to get to the psoas.
If you are not on a padded surface, you might wish to put a mat or something under your kneeling leg.

Quadriceps Stretch

This is one that I like to do with the top of my rear foot laying on a bench with the bottom knee on the floor. If you are quite flexible, you might find that this stretch works better for you. Flexible is a bit of an oxymoron in this case since we are talking about stretching tight muscles, but if you are hypermobile in your joints to a degree (like myself) or have an otherwise good range of motion, you might not fee this stretch as shown above and may need to modify it to this stretch.

External Hip Rotators and Piriformis

These can be some nasty little muscles, and I HIGHLY recommend starting out your foam rolling session on the piriformis. I have not progressed to the tennis ball yet, as mine is usually tight. If you sit on a foam roller, cross one knee over the other, place your hands behind you on the ground and lean to the side that has the foot up and begin to roll, you might find what feels like a “bone” in your butt. As you can see from the pictures above, there is no bone there, but that tiny muscle called the piriformis which can be a nasty little guy. In fact, it even has its own syndrome “piroformis syndrome”, which can be a common cause of sciatica as when the piriformis muscle becomes tight it can put pressure on the sciatic nerve. Other symptoms may be aching in the leg or pain in the low back.

Make sure to give it lots of attention by this foam rolling move and stretch below.

To foam roll your piriformis, here is a video: http://www.sharecare.com/question/how-do-i-foam-roll-my-glutes-piriformis

Lie on your back with one leg crossed over the other. Put your hands behind the back of the knee facing away from you and pull it towards you, thus causing both knees to come towards you. You will feel a deep stretch on the outside of your hip. Hold anywhere from a minimum of 30 seconds to 3 minutes. Remember to breathe.

Side Lying (Band-Resisted) Clams

This one might make you feel really awkward, so maybe don’t do it in the gym, but do it at home….or if you really don’t care what other people think, go ahead and do it in the gym, all the while staring at the guy with no butt, scoffing at him while he does his 1/4 squats in the smith machine with 8 plates and you know you are actually doing something functional and useful…..uh, sorry, you probably want to leave out the staring and scoffing bit.

To do this, lie on your side with knees bent and feet stacked one on top of the other.
Draw your navel in, contract your glutes and lift your top knee towards the ceiling.
Make sure you keep your hips level, they should not move back and forth and your Range of Motion (ROM) should be fairly small with this. If you find you can go fairly wide with no problem and no feeling of tightness in your glutes, shift your hips forward and try again.
You can wrap a mini-band around your knees to progress this.

Lateral Mini-Band, X-band or Tube Walks

These are one of my favorites, and it incorporates some movement into your streching, otherwise known as Dynamic or Active Isolated Stretching. Depending on the type of band you have, these will differ somewhat, but the end result is much the same.

With a mini-band around your ankles, squat low, to parallel if you can, and take a wide step laterally (to the left or right). Focus on picking the feet up and moving the knees apart.
With a superband put the tube underneath the arches of your feet, cross the band in an “X” across your body and hold the top of the band. If you have a resistance band with handles, put the band underneath the arches of your feet and hold the bands at your side. The higher you raise the band the more resistance you get.
Keeping the legs relatively straight and staying upright, move your leg out to the side (left or right) and take a large step laterally. Make this movement slow and when you bring the other leg in, focus on that leg coming in slow, too. You want to resist the tension in the band – do not allow it to “snap” your legs together. That defeats the purpose. Walk the length of the room and back several times, not allowing the feet to fully come back together and keeping your low squat position.
This video from Perform Better shows a lot of exercises for the mini-bands. The Lateral walks are at the 2.30 mark.
Take about 10 steps in either direction and if you are doing this correctly you will feel a burn in your outer glutes (the glute medius)

Bridges

Bridges have to be my go-to all time favorite exercise. They are simple and effective, albeit they do look rather awkward. If you can get over the social awkwardness of these, your body will thank you.

Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor
lift your hips into the air, forming a straight line between knees to shoulders
squeeze your butt HARD and hold for 2 seconds before descending slowly. Repeat for up to 20-30 reps.

Now all these exercises have focused on warm-up and activation exercises for the glutes, what about progressing to training them as part of your workouts? Bret Contreras, otherwise known as “The Glute Guy” is the definitive source on the subject, seeming to have done more research than any body so far on the topic.

Weak Core

I also mentioned that whether you have an anterior pelvic tilt or you have sleeping glutes, you may also have weak core musculature. The pelvis is considered part of the core, when it is out of alignment, the deep stabilizing muscles may become stretched, inhibited or weak.

There are a huge amount of muscles attaching to the pelvis, from the back muscles to include the quadratus lumborum, multifidus and erectors spinae and lats to the transverse abdominis, pelvic floor muscles and obliques. The job of these muscles varies from holding you upright, keeping in your internal organs, giving you stability to keep you from falling over, helping you bend side to side, to the front, and even to the back, among other things. When your pelvis is tilted, these muscles can become compromised, shortened, lengthened, tight, weak, etc.

Balance is key to core stability and you may find that as you start upon training your balance capabilities, that they are not as good as you once thought. Having good balance is imperative for not only preventing you from falling and hurting yourself, but in maintaining core strength and optimal length-tension relationships. Here are three exercises I would perform on a regular basis:

Single-Leg Balance

As you progress, begin to stand on increasingly unstable objects: a pillow, a dyna-disk, a bosu ball, upturned bosu ball, half foam roll, etc.

Stand with your hands on your hips, feet shoulder width apart.
Keeping knees bent, contract your glutes and bring one foot beside the ankle of the other foot.
Do NOT let your leg go behind you – this makes it too easy to balance. Keep your leg beside the other leg, a bit in front if you wish.
Hold for up to 20 seconds to 3 minutes. You will feel your underactive muscles begin to fire and start to burn as they work to hold you stable.

Bird Dogs

Bird dog exercise

Planks

How to:

Lie face down on mat resting on the forearms, elbows directly underneath your shoulders.
Push off the floor, raising up onto toes and resting on the elbows.
Keep your back flat, in a straight line from head to heels.
Tilt your pelvis and contract your abdominals to prevent your rear end from sticking up in the air or sagging in the middle. Squeeze your butt hard!
Hold for 20 to 60 seconds, lower and repeat for 3-5 reps.

What I see when I see people doing this wrong? They sag in the middle. They don’t squeeze their butts or abs. They sink in between their shoulder blades. Do this with a partner and have them look at you. If you don’t look exactly like this, you’re doing it wrong. In fact, most people claim they can do it for 3 minutes no problem. More than likely if you can, you’re doing it wrong. Squeeze your butt while you do this and tell me THEN if you can do it for 3 minutes.

Putting it all together

So this would be just a sample of how to incorporate all these different exercises together into a program.

A. Foam Roll: Piriformis, IT band, quads, calves, lats, and do thoracic extensions

B. Static Stretching: – hold for 20-30 seconds each.
B1. Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch
B2. Quad stretch
B3. Piriformis Stretch

C. Dynamic Stretching (Activation work) with Balance and Core
C1. Bridges 2-3×12-20
C2. X-band walks 2-3 sets length of room
C3. Bird Dogs 2-3×12-20
C4. Planks 2-3×30-60 seconds
C5. Single-Leg Balance 2-3x 30 seconds to 2 minutes each (depending on ability)

So, you would foam roll first, go through all of B, follow that up with C, going through the entire circuit of C once before repeating for sets. If you train with me, this is the stuff you do BEFORE you even get to the resistance training portion of the program. This, in and of itself can be done as its own program, especially if you suffer from sleeping booty, or, it can be the warm-up to any lifting program. In fact, this is part of a warm-up I use almost every workout. If you do this, your body will be well on its way to restoring proper length-tension relationships, force-couple relationships and just moving a heck of a lot better.

Which means, after all that, you probably don’t want to spend another 30 minutes doing 4 kinds of bicep curls. Train your big movements with purpose and get out.

For further reading and where I got some of my material

http://laurensfitness.com/2007/12/24/tight-hips-tips-to-loosen-your-hip-flexors/comment-page-2/#comment-86519

http://www.niashanks.com/blog/Wake+Up+Your+Glutes

http://posturecorrection101.com/nyc-posture-correction-training/muscles-that-cause-muscular-imbalances/anterior-pelvic-tilt-correction/

Filed Under: Corrective Exercise, Fitness Tagged With: Abdomen, core, fitness, Gluteus maximus muscle, Hip flexors, Physical exercise, Strength training, strong core

Changes are A-Comin’!

November 19, 2011 By Angela Leave a Comment

I’m happy to announce that there are some great changes coming to Music Strong and Panama City Beach Boot Camp in the VERY near future. We are completely re-designing our training packages at Music Strong and I’m happy to share that for my online clients you are getting a brand-new feature. When you sign up with me, after your initial Skype session where I give you a free assessment, you will be able to log into HFPN, the online platform that will allow you to see your workouts, in detail (and on a calendar so you know exactly what you are doing each day), complete with videos, coaching cues and more. It even allows you to track your steps, log your food, customize your goals and see your progress on a chart!

This brand new feature is already available! – so if you’d like to sign up, you can purchase your plan on the Shop page under “Online Personal Training”. Cost is $100/mo and includes all of the above: HFPN log-in with workouts, initial Skype session, free assessment, constant email contact and encouragement and when you sign up, you’ll be billed on a continual monthly basis, allowing you to progress quickly and evenly through your workouts, seeing strength gains, balance improvements and body weight falling off (or coming on depending on your goals) with the convenience to cancel anytime. Suggested minimum time for most improvement is three months.

As for the Panama City Beach Boot Camp – we are completely redesigning the program. Classes have been put on hold while these changes are taking place, but keep a look out here, and on the camp website: www.PCBeachBootCamp.com for updates on when classes will resume with all the great new changes. You can look forward to

updated classes with more flexibility
more times
new locations
discounted pricing.

You’ll know when all the different classes will be each month, and we will be hosting regular “Get Fit Challenges” along with

beginners specific classes
advanced classes
women’s only class
possibly even a new mom’s class.

If you have suggestions you would like to see added to the classes, please feel free to contact me at info@panamacitybeachbootcamp.com or through this website. Thank you to those who have already given me great ideas, you will see them in action soon!

On an additional note, please keep a lookout for a very special Deal of the Day through the News Herald for both the Panama City Beach Boot Camp classes and my personal training.

We will keep you updated as things change! Thank you for your patience, your encouragement and I want you to know that I am always here for you. I want to see you achieve your dreams and leave the healthiest, pain-free life you can.

Filed Under: Boot Camp, Fitness Tagged With: change, fitness, Personal trainer, Physical exercise, Strength training, Weight training

How To Lose Fat – The TRUTH About Fat Loss

Things That DO NOT Cause Fat Loss:

How To Lose Fat: The One Absolute Requirement

The 3 Calorie Intake Scenarios

Exercise Can Play A Role, Too

But Then How Do Other Fat Loss Diets Work?

There’s A Ton Of Ways To Create Your Deficit… Pick Your Favorite

Still Don’t Believe Me? Here’s Some Proof…

The Twinkie Diet

The Opposite Is True, Too

The Example Is Extreme, But Understand Its Point

Summing Up Fat Loss

How To Lose Fat – The TRUTH About Fat Loss

Things That DO NOT Cause Fat Loss:

How To Lose Fat: The One Absolute Requirement

The 3 Calorie Intake Scenarios

Exercise Can Play A Role, Too

But Then How Do Other Fat Loss Diets Work?

There’s A Ton Of Ways To Create Your Deficit… Pick Your Favorite

Still Don’t Believe Me? Here’s Some Proof…

The Twinkie Diet

The Opposite Is True, Too

The Example Is Extreme, But Understand Its Point

Summing Up Fat Loss

An Swift and Orderly Change

Better Positioning = Better Results

Check out this video for more on how to use a swiss ball to improve your LYTP shoulder exercises.

A Quick Disclaimer

A New Angle on Y’s

Why Don’t Your Y’s Look Like Y’s?

You can watch the video below to see the angle I recommend.

No More I’s

How to get Maximal Lower Trap Recruitment

See this video for more on Y’s

A Small Twist for Big Results on T’s

How to Maximally Recruit Your Rhombiods

See this video for more on T’s…

Out with W’s, In with P’s

Enter the L,Y,T,P Shoulder Exercise Circuit

Persistence

Culture

Superiority

Author:Dr. Mike

Related articles

A Recent Performance:

Tweets from Angela

Blogroll

Entrepreneurship and Career

Ladies Who Lift

Meical Practitioners

Music Blogs

Musicians Specializing in Health

Nutrition

Resistance Training

Tags

Cart