First in a Series

Everybody wants to lose fat. But very few people want to address the profound lifestyle changes that would make that difficult challenge a reality.

The prime cause of the obesity epidemic in this country has been a radical change in lifestyles over the last forty years. Those of us with a trace of gray on the side can remember a time very different from the present. It’s not simply that we eat differently now and no longer appreciate “simple, honest cooking” or that we are rarely involved in passive activity such as walking to the store. It’s everything in our lives. When it comes to fat loss, so many people want to know, “What is the one thing I can do?” Well, truth be-told, the one thing is the whole thing.

Let’s understand the errors and plot a rock-solid course to change things once and for all.

Step one is to understand the errors of the past and change the future. With regard to diet, food choices have changed and basically we need to re-think everything. So let’s go with five basic rules to implement in the first thirty days:

• Never eat anything pre-packaged of from a box. This eliminates issues of deadly food additives including sodium nitrate, Acesulfame-K, Trans Fats, Potassium Bromate, MSG, Propyl Gallate, Olestra, Aspartame, BHA and BHT.
• Never drink soft drinks or drinks with artificial ingredients.
• Drive by the drive-thru. Never eat “fast-food”.
• Consume 10-15 vegetables a day at a minimum and stress the inclusion of cruciferous vegetables.
• Add one extra fruit and vegetable (i.e. 4-5 servings) with your breakfast and lunch and reduce one serving with your dinner.

Those five habits may seem simple, but they are life changing. They will rip fat from your body, build muscle, energize your life, radically improve your overall well-being and go a very long way to awakening general sexual health. If you want an added push, I heavily urge you to use the supplement stack found in “Simplicity Part 3“, a key entry in the Articles section of ProSource.net. In addition, I would further stress that all males over the age of thirty add BioQuest Oxygaine™ to their supplementation regimen. Oxygaine is the most comprehensive, wide-spectrum anti-aging support system that I know of.

Step two isn’t such a simple task. While the first series of rules involved habits, this series involves “hard work.” While many people can appreciate the advantages derived from hard work, few embrace the effort and commitment needed to fully incorporate it into their lives. I’ve learned from a very young age that “hard work” is the hidden ingredient to success. I recall in my youth, being quite ill, with my “back-against-the-wall” if you will. At this key interval in my life, baseball immortal Frank Robinson took the time to visit me and write me a simple message. “Things worth having are worth working for,” he wrote. To this day, I have tremendous gratitude and respect for Mr. Robinson, and I hope I can pass his inspiring message on to you. This won’t be “easy” for you. But in the end, you don’t want the easy path. When you work for something, you appreciate it more. The journey, the trials and tribulations made it worth it. Our plan is include some simple back-to-basics training in five easy steps.

• A Basic Rise-and-Shine Plan. Everyday upon waking up, you’re going to give me at least one set of “50/50’s”. What are “50/50’s”? I suppose they are a vestige of the past, because one of things athletes used to do the second they rolled out of bed was a set of fifty pushups followed by a set of fifty sit-ups. In fact, this would usually end up being two to three sets. Naturally if you are unable to complete this number bring it back to an amount that you can do but with a slight challenge. Then make it a daily ritual and never look back.
• Rope Skip. Skipping rope is fun, effective, safe, transportable and affordable. Ten to fifteen minutes a day provides a tremendous boost to fitness levels and should be a mainstay of your day. I prefer using three to four three-minute “rounds” with one minute rest but this is something you can easily build up to. Start with one-minute “rounds”, stretch your calves out between sets and gradually build up. Once you acclimate, increase the work-rate by adding “50/50’s” in-between the sets.
• General Physical Preparation (GPP). Basic body-weight calisthenics are some of the best exercises you can do. A simple grouping of basic jumping jacks, shuffle splits, burpees and mountain climbers can have a unbelievable impact upon general conditioning, fat loss and muscular development. Utilize those four movements, in the order prescribed for sets of thirty seconds each in a giant circuit fashion, whereby each set is two minutes in duration. Combine two to four sets each morning of four to eight minutes of tough-as-nails training that gets real results.
• Core postural holds. Taking a step above our “50/50’s,” I recognize that sit-ups are an inferior exercise to the postural holds in this section. However it is critical that we establish the firm precedent of “hard work”. With this in mind each morning we’re going to add the “Core Postural Hold Series” noted below. This is a daily regime with two to three continuous circuits of holds in the fifteen to thirty second range.
• Squat. Simply put, Squat. The more I am in this industry and the more I visit fitness facilities across the globe, the more I see how people have lost the ability to squat. The ability to maintain a stance is at the foundation of exercise dating back thousands of years but somehow modern society is forgetting this. Learning to squat properly, with an appropriate weight, will have an dramatic impact upon total body development. To learn how to perform the classic back Squat and appropriate training protocols please read through my entire six-part “Squat – Power” series at Prosource.

Tomorrow is day one for you and a new chance at making your dreams a reality. Remember the past so that you can forge a bright new future. Be focused and commit to your dreams.

J. Davies

Appendix
Core Postural hold series

Plank The basic Plank is a “simple” exercise that can have a profound, extraordinary impact. With toes and forearms on the ground, keep back flat and bring navel in. Hold stance for designated length of time.

Side Plank The side plank is an excellent, if not the best static exercise for strengthening and stabilizing the trunk. With hand against the ground, pointed away and top leg stacked atop the lower one with the navel drawn in; hold position with a totally balanced and straight line for designated length of time.

Horse Pose From the all four’s position, raise leg up and opposite arm up, maintaining a parallel position for approximately 30 seconds. Thumb should be pointed up and navel drawn in again. This seemingly simple static exercise will create havoc on the entire posterior chain from the hamstrings to the upper shoulders and build a solid trunk.

The Superman The Superman hits the posterior chain incredibly hard and will challenge anyone. Laying on your stomach, raise both hands / legs off the ground as high as possible. Maint

Second in a Series

This is likely a story that you might be reluctant to read. However the bedside delivery must be straight to the point, factual and without sugar-coating.

Our notions of “diet” tend to be peculiar. We can sit and answer questions honestly and yet we look into the market place and we see some of the most ridiculous ideas getting the headlines. Unfortunately, telling people to eat, healthy, natural foods isn’t quite as “sexy” as introducing a diet with a clever title and a peculiar “hook” based upon binging or deprivation. However, a radical shift is occuring, a shift far beyond the normal scope of the fitness-diet reader and one that will have an unmistakable impact.

Confined to the news reports or financial markets, commodity prices are creating a shift in the world’s economy. The cost of fuel is changing every consideration involved in the processing of food and bringing it to market. At the same time, many agricultural basins have disappeared with industry appearing in their place. Recently, in a special summit on the global food prices, UN chief Ban Ki-Moon called for a 50 per cent rise in world food production by 2030. Combined with the ongoing lack of proper crop rotation, soil contamination, nutrient erosion, questionable industrial farm practices, and genetically altered seeds, a food crisis is clearly on the horizon. The conscientious fitness diet-minded individual is headed for some very challenging times.

I look at “diet” as purely a manifestation of the style of life you live, so much that I have even used “A Style of Life” as the title of a book on diet that I will release later this year. My notions of diet are extremely simple and are in many ways a step back in time, when choices were fewer but consistently built upon wholesome and natural food choices. The problem of course is that, in lieu of food production facts, attaining a “simple” wholesome and nutritious diet is becoming nearly impossible.

Many healthy-minded individuals have realized that proper supplementation nurtures the body in ways that the dwindling quality of food no longer does. In fact, proper supplementation is such an impactful component of pro-active health care that many nations are considering revising regulations to ensure only the highest quality supplements are available in the market-place. Meanwhile, tax codes are being re-written to make certain types of supplements a deductible expense for end-users. In what is a highly unique turn of events, the obesity epidemic has jumped to uncontrolled proportions and governments have begun to put steps in place to curb its growth. (Witness the City of Los Angeles’ recent move to restrict the development of fast-food outlets.) The evolution of the supplementation as one of the best forms of pro-active health care is in the near horizon.

Now we must consider what supplements to take, while accounting for advertising claims that may seem confusing at times. Once again in an odd twist of fate, many of the most important supplements are not very high on the marketing list yet they should be within every individual’s budget like any other necessity. As I noted in my recent book on middle-aged fitness, “With Grace”, I personally have little, if any experience with the notion of “middle-age” and owe this to my take on exercise, diet and supplementation. I am a competitive athlete, facing competition that is often thirty years younger and find it nauseating to hear marketing ideas of “you’re as young as you feel” or the ever-present advertisements for ED (erectile dysfunction) medications. I actually feel damned great in every facet of my life and if I feel “poorly” about anything, it’s for the competition that finishes second to me. Age isn’t a liability, it’s an asset and I only wish that message would get told more often. Providing you take care of your body and mind with appropriate diet, supplementation and exercise, every facet of your life will improve. And if that wasn’t clear enough for those stricken with ED, much of the answer lays within those areas I just mentioned. I also wish to point out that these top five supplements are the most important within the “regeneration” world of anti-aging supplementation, so if that is your interest please take heed. With that said, I would strongly urge every individual to use the following supplements, not simply for the tremendous benefits of strength and esthetics but as a health maintenance plan.

• Phosphatidylserine: PS is one of the most important supplements you can find and should be within every individual’s program. It will enhance mood, learning capabilities, sharpen memory, suppress cortisol production and improve muscular recovery.
• Acetyl L-Carnitine: ALC improves fat metabolism as well as showing highly positive benefits in the treatment with Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.
• Alpha Lipoic Acid: ALA is an omni-powerful antioxidant that improves skin tone, complexion, decreases the storage of fat and accelerates muscular recovery.
• Omega-1250: Essential for the metabolism of fat, muscular recovery and immunity building qualities, Omega oil is an absolute must within supplementation. Unfortunately due to the poor grade availability of natural resources, farmed fish offers insufficient levels of Omega oil. Supplementation is becoming the best option.
• Branched Chain Amino Acids: The powerhouse of protein building blocks is an absolute must for muscular recovery and growth. Best used in the powder form or capsule form. While many will suggest smaller dosages, I prefer using 2.5 grams, 3-4 times per day.

I would further like to add BioQuest Oxygaine™ for men over the age of thirty-five as it contains a superb proprietary blend of Saw Palmetto, Pumpkin Seed, Ginkgo leaf, Vitamin E and Arginine Alpha-Ketoglutarate. Straight and to the point. A proper supplement program that will not simply supplement your diet but make up for weaknesses and help you live a healthier, better life.