Burn Fat While You Sleep

I know that sounds like a late night TV commercial for the newest miracle pill but it isn't. I am talking about a solution based on scientific research on the sub cellular level. I am referring to the tiny power plants within the millions and millions of cells within our bodies called mitochondria.

The function of mitochondria is to burn up all of the calories we eat and to produce energy. all of our energy is made in these little factories, each about the size of bacterium. Cells that require a lot of energy, such as muscle cells, have thousands of mitochondria while others that don't need much energy ( such as fat cells) have only a couple of hundred.

The more mitochondria we have the faster our metabolism. One solution to your sluggish metabolism is fairly simple, make more mitochondria.

Unfortunately, you can't get more of them by eating them. Instead, we need to get our bodies to make more of them. There is only one proven way to make that happen, build more muscle and exercise. By building more muscle and doing more exercise we increase the number of muscle cells as well as increasing the number of mitochondria in each cell. Do this on a regular basis and metabolism will improve tremendously.

To build muscle you need resistance training of some sort. I recommend concentrating on the largest muscle groups as found in the hips, thighs, hamstrings an buttocks.

Aerobic exercise in your target heart zone, combined with interval training will burn up fat stores. Adding a couple days a week of muscle building into your program will go a long way to increase those all important mitochondria.

27 days until your Resolution?

Many of us try to put off getting into shape. We know we need it and we know we want it but the (perceived) agony of dieting and exercising during the busy holiday season seems overwhelming so all eating plans start on:
tomorrow
Monday
at the first of the month
Jan. 1st.

For the next 10 days I will give you 10 habits to help get through without the typical holiday weight gain.

Habit #1
Eat every 2 0r 3 hours.
One of the worst things almost all dieters do, especially women, is to skip breakfast in a misguided attempt to save calories. This does not work and will backfire by slowing your metabolism and causing a ravenous appetite in the evening.
Each person meal sizes and number of meals are different depending on their gender, body size and composition and activity levels. For the standard of how many meals to eat, take the number of hours you are awake and divide by 3. example: 15 hours / 3 = 5 meals.
I don't really like to differentiate between meals and snacks because they are all meals in their own right, some just smaller. Every time that you feed your body you have the opportunity to make your body better or make it worse.
In the end do your best to stick to habit #1. -eating every 2 0r 3 hours without making it a source of frustration and confusion. If you would like more help with this first of 10 habits feel free to drop me an email through the gym's website www.springfieldhealthandfitness.com

Don't wait for that resolution

Thanksgiving dinner is over and hopefully all of the leftovers are gone as well. There is quite a bit of time between now and the New Year when most people make their resolutions. If you get started now you will be that much farther ahead of the crowd.

I know that there will be plenty of parties coming up but that is all the more reason. If you eat with a purpose throughout the week, that indiscretion on Saturday night won't be such a problem.

The problem with waiting until the first of the year is obvious. How much weight can you GAIN in that amount of time?

Back and Bicep Day

The thing about back day is it can be tough as you want it. After back day yesterday I had a little sorness in my lats, love it!

Lat Pull down 3 ways - 9X8 ( that's right 9 sets )
T-Bar 3x10
cable cross over from the bottom ( called x's)- 4x8
One arm rows- 6x4
Pup ups- 5x3

Ladder curls - begin with a set of 1 and ladder up to 10 and back to 1
Cable curls - 5x8
concentration curls - 4x10

Military sit ups - 20
Mason Twists - 10
Reverse Twists -10
Wide leg sit up - 10


Breakfast
small apple
protein water

Snack
missed snack - not good

Lunch
Turkey with low carb wrap, lettuce and tomato

Snack
almonds

Dinner
low carb pita with turkey lettuce and black soy beans
cup of grapes

Transformation Tips

1.Don't eat high glycemic carbohydrates right before bed. Carbohydrates are those that contain sugar or are highly processed. These would include most breakfast cereals, breads, snack foods, candies, and even fruits and juices. Eating these foods immediately prior to bedtime will likely result in increased fat deposit and will prevent your body from maintaining a successful fat-burning mode.

2. Increase your muscle mass! The more lean muscle you have, the more calories your body will burn even at rest. Muscle is extremely active metabolically. Do some resistance training, add some muscle, and crank up that metabolism.

3. Never let yourself get too hungry, or too stuffed. It really is all about moderation. Time your meals so that you eat before you are starving . . . doing this one simple thing will cause you to almost always eat less. When you do eat, stop when your satisfied not when you are so stuffed you cannot even get down another bite.

4. Double up on your cardio training. From time to time it may be beneficial to the fat-burning process for you to split your cardio training into two short sessions rather than one longer one. Studies suggest that people who do 30 minutes of morning cardio and then 30 minutes of evening cardio lose more fat than those doing just one 60 minute session.

5. Eat more high fiber foods. Most of us do not get enough fiber in our daily diets, and that’s just a shame. Fiber not only promotes overall general health, but also can significantly aid in your fat-burning efforts. Leafy greens and salads are ideal sources of fiber. ____________________________________________

Spinning is not the horror story you heard

I know that you have heard the stories about screaming instructors, strobe lights and a workout so difficult that you have to lay on the floor afterwards and wait on the ambulance. The Spinning classes at Springfield Health and Fitness Center are not that way. We have all of our classes geared for the beginner and people who are not in the greatest shape but have the desire for a better life.

We will teach you to set up the bike to fit you and all of the terminology needed to make it through any class, ours or at another facility.

If you really want that bone crunching, 800 calorie an hour workout we will send you to the facility that has that but for us, it is a more low key exercise class.

One of our instructors , Phil, pictured here is 69 years old.

Check the website http://www.springfieldhealthandfitness.com for class times.

A Few Reasons Why Women Should Lift Weights

Picking up the dumbbells isn't just a "guy" thing anymore. More women are getting into weight lifting and feeling better for it.

Get Stronger
Increasing your strength will make you far less dependent on others for assistance in daily living. Chores will be easier, lifting kids, groceries an laundry will no longer push you to the max. If you strength is increased, daily tasks and routine exercise will be less likely to cause injury. Research studies conclude that even moderate weight training can increase a woman's strength by 30 to 50 percent. Research also shows that women can develop their strength at the same rate as men.

Decrease Body Fat
Studies performed by Dr Westcott from the YMCA in Quincy, Massachusetts found that the average woman who strength trains two to three times a week for two months will gain nearly two pounds of muscle and lose 3.5 pounds of fat. Generally speaking, for each pound of muscle you gain, you burn 35 to 50 more calories a day.

Gain Strength Without Bulk
Researchers found that women typically don't gain size from strength training because women have 10 to 30 times less of the hormones that promote muscle growth. You will develop muscle firmness and definition.

Decrease Your Risk of Osteoporosis
Weight training can increase spinal bone mineral density and enhance bone modeling by 13 percent in six months. This, coupled with an adequate amount of dietary calcium can be a good defense against osteoporosis.

Reduce the Risk of Diabetes
According to the studies of Dr. Barry Franklin of William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak Michigan, weight training may improve the way the body processes sugar, which may reduce the risk of diabetes. Research indicates that weight training can increase glucose utilization in the body by 23 percent in 4 months.

Spinning Lite

For those of you who love spinning but don't have an hour to spare during lunch, Springfield Health and Fitness Center now offers "Spinning Lite". This is thirty minutes of spinning at noon on Monday , Wednesday and Friday afternoons.

The cost is $3 a class for members and $6 for drop ins.

Join us and burn off those calories and still have time for a healthy lunch.

Congratulations to JT

Congratulations JT "Big Willie" Hall for another world record

New lower cost options available

Springfield Health and Fitness Center along with the Underground continues to offer "No Contract" option but now also is offering a lower cost option consisting of 12 and 24 month contracts with payments as low as $34.95 a month!!

This will include both gyms and aerobic classes!

Happy Anniversary

Downtown business celebrates anniversary with expansion


A year ago this week when personal trainer , world record holding power lifter and boxing coach, Pat Frock, purchased the Springfield Health and Fitness Center it was the realization of a lifelong dream of helping people get in shape and live longer and healthier lives.
Now after a year of operation, the Springfield Health and Fitness Center has expanded to include the Springfield Health and Fitness Underground. Clients now get two completely different and separate health clubs for the same price. The Health and Fitness Center is on the second floor of the Bushnell Bldg. 14 E. Main St. and the Underground is operated in the lower level.
The Springfield Health and Fitness Center continues to offer a full array of aerobic equipment, classes, dumbbells and machines while the “Underground” is more suited for the heavy lifters, complete with the atmosphere to keep you working hard and coming back. Both areas have private showers and changing room with free towel service.
The clients at the club have enjoyed being able to work out in both areas depending on their individual needs.
In addition to free weights for the weightlifter, bodybuilder and power lifters the new Underground addition offers Mixed Martial Arts instruction, boxing training and five personal trainers with differing specialties.
Pat plans to hire additional sales staff, trainers and attendants this year and to expand further throughout the year.
The website is www.springfieldhealthandfitness.com and the phone number is 937-325-9770.

The Underground

I am happy to be back to my blog. The blog publisher had "lost" the blog address and I was posting to nowhere. But for the good news, the annex to the Springfield Health and Fitness Center is now open and is in full swing.

We have avaiable for you:

Free weights

Spinning

Powerlifting equipment

Mixed martial arts training

Boxing and much more.

Be sure to visit the website http://www.springfieldhealthandfitnesscenter.com/ for a free one week membership.

Old school Annex

The old school annex is almost ready to have equipment added to it. Be ready for a boxing , weight lifting flair, complete with brick walls and wood floors. I think it is quite cool.

Boxing Fitness and a lot more

It is getting a lot closer guys. It should be within two weeks that we add on to Springfield Health and Fitness Center in the Bushnell Bldg. downtown. Along with our already great amenities there will be a power rack, bench pressing, more classes and showers with a good selection of punching bags for the boxing and martial arts enthusiasts.

The annex will also be a retail outlet for Ringside boxing gear along with some supplements, sports drinks, and much much more.

Keep a look out. It won't be long now!!

Expansion

It's getting closer and closer with more excitement brewing. The fitness center in the basement is moving and Springfield Health and Fitness Center is expanding to that location as well. With it will come bench presses, squat rack, and a boxing training center. We will also be a retail outlet for Ringside boxing gear.

Watch for new trainers, new equipment and new classes.

Classes will include
Zumba
Boxing Fitness
Bootcamp
Plyometrics
Women's self defense
and much more!!!

Fat Loss misconceptions

Are fat loss lies ruining your chances of success?
I sincerely hope that your 2009 workout and nutrition plan is already wildly successful and that you are well on your way to achieving your fat loss and fitness goals. But if you aren't, let
me know why and what I can do to help.Many people's programs suffer from misconceptions about fatloss - i.e. that cardio must be done everyday - and also false perceptions about how well they are eating.
I have one question on my feedback form that asks the client:"Do you eat lots of fruits and vegetables?"Almost every time the client's answer is "Yes".
On the next page, I have the client list their food intake.And guess what rarely shows up?
If you guessed fruits and vegetables, you'd get a prize if I were giving them away. There are too many inconsistencies in our thoughts and actions whenit comes to weight loss.And the misguided notions that well-meaning fitness articles heap on us simply adds to the ever-growing confusion.Here I want to shed some light on some of the most common misconceptions about training and dieting for fat loss. The more I discuss weight loss and read the research, the more I realize fat loss results come from your nutrition, and that training is just a relatively small part of the equation. But knowing this "truth" allows me to confidently design shorter fat loss workouts than most people traditionally use or expect arenecessary.
Listen, you can spend 60 minutes on a cardio machine if you want.Sure you will burn 500 calories during that session, but your metabolism won't be significantly elevated after exercise AND you'll still have to find some time to do the mandatory strength training that a beautiful and healthy body requires. Or you can do what I suggest... Scrap the long, slow, excruciatingly boring cardio workouts and instead stick to a much more manageable approach of... A bodyweight movement warm up (10 minutes) Strength Training Supersets (20 minutes) Interval Training (20 minutes) Done only 3 times per week, these 45 minute workouts still burn plenty of calories during training (300-400 calories), but theworkouts also boost your metabolism for hours and hours (some research suggests up to a day and a half!), therefore burning far more NET calories AND fat than slow, mind-numbing cardio. All you really need are some short intense training sessions to boost your metabolism and sculpt your body. And then you really just have to trust your nutrition to strip the fat.
Look at it this way...imagine you are carving an ice sculpture outof a block of ice. Your nutrition would be responsible for lopping off the big chunks to get down to only the amount of ice you need...and the Turbulence Training workouts would be responsiblefor chiseling in the details of your final sculpture. As no matter how much confusing information there is about exercise, the debate over the best way to eat for fat loss is always much more ridiculous.(That's why I went to a credible and sensible source - Dr. ChrisMohr, Ph.D. - for the TT Fat Loss Nutrition Guidelines.)
As far as dieting misconceptions go, I think too many nutritionists are trading political correctness for results. In my opinion, PCdiets don't work. Take a look at the American Diabetes Association...they still make room for sugar in a diabetic's diet - because they don't want to deprive anyone of sugar. Well that's not going to work. You have to make sacrifices. You have to stick to at least a 90% nutrition compliance if you want big-time results. You can't go with the political correct approach of "having alittle bit of your favorite foods everyday so that you don't deprive yourself".Think about the person that has your dream body - whether it's a cover model, your neighbor, a TV star, or the fittest person down at your gym. Do you think they haven't made sacrifices? Of coursethey have. They've done the work to get their reward. Now its your turn! You have to get strict and stick to whole, natural foods (fruits,vegetables, meat, fish, and nuts) if you want to succeed. You need to accept that every action has consequences... If you want to live a lifestyle where you don't deprive yourself of daily treats, that's fine. But realize the consequence of this action will be that you will always remain a few pounds of fat away from your goal.
According to your actions, you value your treats higher than you value your fat loss success. But if you place your desire for fat loss success above your desire to eat junk, than the consequences will be that you will reach your body composition goals. It's that simple. We all get what we deserve and unless someone is holding a fork to your mouth, you are responsible for your own success.
And my last "non-PC" tip on dieting...almost all the people that tell me they are eating very well are lying to themselves and to me - as I mentioned before based on my client feedback experiences. So do what Dr. John Berardi calls a compliance grid.
Take a piece of paper and make a 6x7 grid (6 meals over 7 days). Then check off each time you eat according to plan and mark an "X" for each time you miss your goals. Realize that you only have 4 mistake meals for an entire week if you want to stick to the 90% compliance. Most of the time this is a bucket-of-cold-water-to-the-face wake up call to people. They quickly realize their nutrition compliance is much closer to 75% than 90%...and that explains why they aren't getting anywhere.
So the bottom line for fat loss: 1) Nutrition is where the hard work really is for fat loss. 2) The workouts don't have to be super-long to get fat loss results. You just need short, intense, and efficient. And that'swhat my workouts are all about. Nothing fancy, no rocket science,just FUN workouts that are over quickly...and who wouldn't want that considering today's busy lifestyles.

I'm too busy to diet

An hour of preparation on Sunday can ensure that you have plenty of healthy snacks available for those of us on the go. Here are some examples of both items that can be prepared ahead and stored in meal/snack size portions for your busy week ahead.

Baked or broiled skinless chicken breasts (available cooked in the freezer section for the non-cooks)

Hard boiled eggs

Clean and cut mountains of cucumbers, celery, cabbage and radishes

String cheese (already comes in 1 oz. portions)

Hard cheeses such as cheddar and swiss (cut into 1 oz. portions for snacks)

Tuna and Salmon in a pouch

Sardines

Frozen cooked shrimp & peeled shrimp

Beef Jerky

Pumpkin seeds

Mixed Nuts (portion these out ahead of time as they are high in calories and easy to over eat)

Whey Protein (in the infant section of the department store is a formula carrier that just happens to carry 4 individual scoops of Whey)

Low Carb yogurt (Kroger has a good one called Carb Masters)

Sam’s Choice brand of trail mix-Nature’s Trail (has no candy or junk food) portion in ¼ cup servings (I get this at Wal-Mart)


Compliments of:
Pat’s Personal Training 937-206-3864 PatFrock@woh.rr.com

Eating for Results from Testosterone Nation

Because Everybody Eats
As we say in the muscle-building world, nutrition is responsible for 50% of your results. Or is 75%? Heck, I've even heard 90%!
Whatever. We'll let the experts argue numbers. But this much is certainly true: If you aren't paying attention to the foods you eat, you're severely hurting your chances of building a muscular, lean, healthy body.
But let's go a step beyond the obvious.
Tell me, what do fat people and scrawny people have in common? What does the powerlifter have in common with the competitive bodybuilder? The pro athlete and the weekend warrior? The 17 year old newbie and the 25-year veteran?
Answer: They all eat. Every day. Several times per day. And if they aren't getting the results they want, then I'll bet you a shiny new quarter that their diet is a big cause of the problem.
And that's why I love to read, edit, and write nutrition articles: They apply to everybody and they can give your physique-building efforts a blast of nitro.
Do you eat? Good. This article is for you.
Power Foods, 2009
A few years ago, TC wrote a great article about what he called "power foods." There he listed 13 foods that have powerful, drug-like effects on human physiology — foods that not only make you healthier and potentially boost your lifespan, but also foods that support your physique and athletic goals. In other words, foods that make you look good nekid and keep you looking good for years to come. Here's TC's list:
Broccoli
Wild Salmon
Grass-Fed Beef
Walnuts
Olive Oil
Blueberries
Flaxseeds
Pumpkin
Spinach
Tomatoes
Turkey Breast
Yogurt
Shiitake Mushrooms
Pull up a chair. Let's eat!