Joey’s Gym Class

This is a short lesson, but much needed due to the fact that summer is right around the corner, and I still see people performing crunches by the 1,000’s  with more effort than they put into any other portion of their program. Many of my clients always ask me why I don’t do crunches with them, and once they are with me for a while, they finally “get it”.

Most people want to feel that burn, they like it. But is it beneficial to get yourself that six-pack look? The truth is that if you have mare than an inch of fat on your stomach, that layer of fat should be addressed first and foremost. Crunches will NOT get rid of that fat, I don’t care what you say. Put all that effort into your daily diet instead, and watch the results skyrocket. Abs are made IN THE KITCHEN, not on the floor while you stare at a tile on the ceiling.

ABS - MADE IN THE KITCHEN!

So what is the problem with crunches??? Most peoples spines are already at risk of injury from excessive sitting as it is, then they come to the gym and further pull their body into that hunched posture by yanking on their necks thousands of times. Your spine is ultimately what suffers during the crunching movement. Constantly bending your spine under load is not a great idea and will eventually lead to what is technically called an ouchie.

Coach Mike Boyle has a great analogy here – it’s like a credit card.  Bend a new credit card back and forth and, initially, it bounces back.  But if you continue to bend that card, you eventually start to see a white crack.  Continue to bend it back and forth, and over time that crack leads to a break.  Your spine is not much different.

***Now don’t get me wrong, many people tend to get confused with all the info out there, when they read in magazines don’t do this, or don’t do that.  For many people that go to the gym, crunches are the heart of their workout, and they spend like 30 mins doing tons of crunch variations. Your ab routine should be 10-15 mins MAX! - More than that, and you are just wasting your time. ***

This brings me to another point - There are so many gimmicks out there, so many gadgets to train your abs, why do people think this is easy??? What happened to good old fashioned hard work to get to your goal???

“Train your abs for 3 mins a day!”-

Yeah. . . RIGHT! Every time I see one of these in someones house, I throw up a little bit in my mouth.

I know they haven’t used it, probably ever. . . (because they can’t find 3 minutes, I assume?) Its taking up an insane amount of room, it sticks out like a sore thumb, and they still have a gut.  COME ON NOW!

Train your abs with stabalization exercises over and over again instead, your spine will love you for it! Here are your goals -

Plank- 2 mins - NOTE - No sagging in the hips, keep the abdominals tight as if you are about to be punched in the stomach.

Side Plank - 90 sec each side - NOTE - No sagging, keep abs tight as if you are about to be punched in the stomach.

Then you can start with single arm or single leg versions of these movements. This should keep you busy for a while.

Another way to go is to use the Ab Wheel or the Ab Dolly, even a stability ball, and get some roll outs done. The motion of the roll out is a great way to work stabilization of the abdominal musculature, as well as allowing you to really feel a burn, if that’s what you are after.  Check out the video here -Stability Ball Rollout

To see your six-pack, in a nutshell -pay attention, this gets complex -

Breakfast - 2-3 Eggs, and some mixed vegetables

Snack - Protein Shake or fruit or handful of almonds or walnuts

Lunch - Stick to chicken and fish , with dark leafy green vegetables

Snack - Fruit, or handful of almonds or walnuts

Dinner - Stick to chicken and fish , with dark leafy green vegetables

Snack - Protein shake w/ water

*All liquids consumed throughout must contain 0 calories or less w/ the exception of green tea

See? This plan alone for 4-6 weeks will definitely yield some great results, without a doubt, considering you exercise about 3-5 times a week and don’t sit on your ass every night staring at the TV.

Protect your spine, eat better and watch your six pack form one day at a time!

Stay strong,

Joey

Ah yes, a great day out here in NYC. Its finally actually hot outside. We all know that means tanktops are coming back out! For all of those who worked their butts off, they will finally reap the benefits of their labor in the gym.

If you didnt make it to the physique you hoped to accomplish - it is OK! There is still some time to unveil yourself -

Below is a great message from the expert - Alwyn Cosgrove - on getting your goals right and keeping your head up over this Memorial Day weekend - Enjoy!

Well it’s here - Memorial Day Weekend. The official start of Summer. The great “unveiling” - when the shirts come off, the swimsuits go on and the entire. World knows exactly how good or bad your dieting and exercising was for the last 3-4 months.

My colleague Jason Ferruggia has called this weekend - Judgment Day!

Are you ready?

If not - you have two more BIG weekends this Summer in which to dial in your physique and make a huge difference. That’s right - it’s not over — you still have two more Judgment Days this year!

Goal setting is all about setting S.M.A.R.T. goals — and T stands for “Time line”. Athletes peak for National Championships, Trials and World events. Just because you’re training for fat loss or to look better naked - doesn’t change the fact that DEADLINES are extremely effective tools.

So we’re going to set two this Summer.

Your next goal is Independence Day((for my US readers) - July 4th - only five weeks away.

With a combination of a kick start plan, a solid workout and nutritional support program and a healthy dose of motivation - you could easily be 10-15 lbs leaner by then.

Your next goal is the end of summer - the Labor Day weekend (first weekend in September). This is currently fourteen weeks away. So if you’re looking a little flabby this weekend or feeling a little embarrassed about your physique — you can still make amazing changes. It’s never too late.

This is an opportunity for you to look completely shredded - rock hard legs and abs by Summer’s end.

But you still need to start now.

Here’s the fat loss basics (if you need more info see below):

1. You need to create a caloric deficit - no two ways about it - you must burn more than you consume.
2. The most effective way to create that deficit is to use a combination of diet and exercise
3. Your diet should consist of lean proteins, fruits and vegetables. Keep starches and refined carbs to a minimum. Keep your fluid intake high (water only), and try to eat at least 4-5 small meals per day. This will help maintain blood sugar levels and keep you from blowing your diet.
4. Exercise - interval training and metabolic resistance training will provide the most bang-for-your buck. Steady state aerobic training just doesn’t burn enough calories for your goals right now, and a bodypart training split will be less effective than total body training for fat loss.
5. Try to exercise at least six days per week - three days of interval based cardio and three days of resistance training.
6. Supplements: there is almost nothing that will make a difference. Sorry. Certain supplements can boost metabolism, or increase your energy somewhat and these may be useful - but in terms of real world “pounds of fat lost” I have yet to see anything that really made a difference. A multivitamin and a fish oil supplement are vital though - but more for your overall health. a protein shake or meal replacement powder can be useful for convenience but are nothing more than high quality food.

- AC

Where there is a will there is a way!

Let us not forget that this weekend is dedicated to all of our soldiers, past, present, and future. For those who have fallen to make this country what it is today!A special thanks goes to all of them for fighting for all of us!

Stay strong,

Joey

I very frequently get asked this question - “Joey, what supplements should I be taking?” - Everyone wants to know what pill or liquid in a bottle they should take to make them sexier. Whether it is bigger muscles, or less fat people want to take something - too bad there aren’t any supplements for prettier faces, I know this person below who could use two scoops of something like that.

Anyways - SUPPLEMENTS - here are my thoughts

1. They are necessary to balance out what you do not regularly get from your diet.

2. They should be of high quality. If you are going to put something in your body every single day, a few times each day, it better be very well made, all natural, and free of as many toxins and chemicals as possible.

With that said, here are the supplements -

A. Multi-vitamin -

This is number one, and the most common one I get asked about. Hands down The Vitamin Code Raw Multi is the BEST! Compared to other vitamins, this one blows the others out of the water!

First of all it is an all natural, raw multivitamin that has zero chemicals. All the nutrients your body will readily recognize and absorb (read - no more glow in the dark, neon urine, YAY!). The energy levels with this vitamin keep you feeling consistent all day long. I have yet to find a better one than this. Totally worth it.

They have them for Men and Women, and the Perfect Weight ones contain Ashwaganda which is an herb that is meant to help your body deal with stress.

Below is an excerpt from their website that describes what this vitamin is all about -

Imagine yourself 100 years ago describing the latest craze in health and nutrition, the “RAW” food movement, with someone living at that time. RAW Foods are natural, uncooked, untreated, unadulterated — NO BINDERS and NO FILLERS. Right after you finished sharing what you consider a groundbreaking concept of consuming foods in their natural state with that person, they would most likely stare at you and tell you that you just described the way they eat every day. What is now considered unique and advanced was for our ancestors the norm.

In today’s modern system of agriculture, the use of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and chemical fertilizers allows the average acre of farm land to yield more food than that same acre would have 50 years ago. The flip side of that is due to all of those chemicals, our food is not as nutrient dense as it once was. A comparison of U.S. Department of Agriculture food composition tables from the 1960s and 1970s to the present day reveals that the vitamin and mineral content of the nation’s breadbasket has declined 25 percent to 50 percent in just the last generation.

Our food is less nutritious coming off the farm. This fact is made much the worse when you consider what we do to our food after it leaves the farm. In the name of convenience, safety and even marketing, we subject that food to processing such as irradiation, chemical preservation, heating and treating. Food is created solely based on how well it can be packaged, shipped and sold and not in terms of the nutrition it should be providing. This whole concept supports the maxim that we are overfed and undernourished.

In order to overcome the “nutritional gap” created by an increasingly under-nutritious food supply, many people turn to multivitamins. Unfortunately most multivitamins are chemically isolated, synthetic versions of vitamins and minerals found in food. They are inorganic, lifeless.

We’ve replaced food with an anti-food. Until the Vitamin Code^®, there have been few options available for those who wish to supplement with a RAW, living multivitamin. The Vitamin Code represents the next breakthrough in multivitamins.

Each vitamin and mineral contained in The Vitamin Code multinutrient formulas is individually cultivated resulting in a process that mimics plant activity. In nature, plants transform inorganic material into useable and bioavailable nutrients. Similarly, the Vitamin Code Process transforms isolated nutrients, renaturing them into whole foods. The result is an innovative RAW vitamin, mineral or antioxidant that is surrounded by the probiotics, enzymes, phytonutrients and other co-factors that create a nutrient-rich source of fuel beneficial for the body. At no point during the cultivation process are the vitamins and minerals treated, adulterated or cooked. More importantly is what you won’t find on the label — no binders or fillers. The Vitamin Code nutrients are 100% active, meaning that every ingredient contained within them has nutritional value and purpose. The Vitamin Code represents a breakthrough in multivitamins: RAW, living multivitamin/mineral supplements.

B. Fish Oil -

If you have not been taking these, you better get on it and check out my blog post - Omega 3 Fats Plain and Simple and learn why they are so important.

I personally take Nordic Naturals, I just like the fact they have a lemon flavor. But Carlsons is another high quality brand, and even Kirkland Signature brand is pretty good.

I take 3-6 grams a day, this comes out to 4-6 pills, sounds like a lot, but it is worth it for your body. You will love the results you will see and feel.

C. Protein -

This is a tough one for beginners who know nothing about protein powder. I mean this isn’t even really a food per se. What it does is supplement your protein intake with a synthetic protein source usually derived from milk proteins. For this type of supplementation, this processed food is ok.

This usually comes in a powder or sold in ready to drink containers. Usually buying the powder is a lot more cost effective, just get yourself a shaker bottle to use with it.

There are two main types of protein, whey and caesin. I use a protein blend which contains both types of protein in it.The differences between the two types are simple -

Whey - Quick digesting and fst absorbing, exactly what you want pre and post workout.

Caesin - Slow digesting and absorbing, exactly what you want as a snack before bed, or as a shake for breakfast, it will keep you full a little longer.

Right now I use the EAS Premium Protein brand, but I do vary protein sources from time to time. This brand tastes great, and it mixes well with everything. I love chocolate, but I got the vanilla and I use it to cook with, whther I am making my own protein bars (yes, I am a geek like that!), usually adding a scoop to my oatmeal to get an extra 20 grams in.

There are other types of protein powder if you are a vegan or vegetarian, there are protein sources from rice, pea and hemp in case you cannot do the milk protein.

D. Greens Supplement

This is a great addition to any persons diet. 2 scoops adds in the equivalent of 4-5 servings of fruits and vegetables to your diet. BUT please keep in mind that THIS IS A SUPPLEMENT - Not an instead of ever eating broccoli ever again magic powder!

These supplements work great to balance out any acidity in your body, and do not taste half bad. The one I recommend is Lindberg Organic Greens and Fruits Plus - Well worth having to make you healthier.

E. Creatine

This one is a fairly new one for me to take. I know it is the most researched supplement in history and is something that is naturally manufactured by the body. More details on this will be in a future post. It really helps to enhance your performance in the gym. This is the only one I take that is specific to performance. I mean, if you thought you were strong before, this will take your workouts to a whole new level!

F. Maca Powder

This one is also new for me.

What it does - Optimizes your hormones for better functioning. It is a root that grows in the mountains of Peru. It has special qualities that make it adaptogenic, meaning it optimizes hormones from the pituitary gland. This means that it will make both men and women function better from a hormonal level. This root will increase energy and reduce fatigue. More specifically it makes sex hormones function at a higher level. Now if your sex hormones are working at full capacity, your entire life gets better!

More on this powder coming soon -

That’s it, it seems like a lot but I have my clients start with the vitamins, and the fish oils first. Let that become a habit. Then add in the rest. The Maca, Protein and Greens I usually add to one shake, or a glass of OJ in the morning, and get that down with breakfast, its not that hard.

Just remember these are to supplement your diet, none of these are magic, but with the right exercise and eating habits they can sure make you feel like they are something straight out of a Harry Potter novel!

Not that I would know that or anything . . .

Stay Strong,

Joey

Ummm  . . . could we NOT do this????

I see people holding on to the treadmill as they are doing their cardio for the ENTIRE TIME THEY ARE ON THE MACHINE! Why??? To make walking easier???

Very simply, holding on to the treadmill as you are using it for the 30-45 minutes reduces the effectiveness of it. You end up burning less calories as a result, do you really want to do that to yourself?

Also it:

• Turns walking into “make-believe walking” and running into “fake-running”
• Ruins posture and body alignment
• Reduces effects of incline
• Doesn’t build balance

Usually, the ONLY time my clients hold on is because they are recovering form an intense interval. That is OK. If you are checking your heart rate, that is OK.

BUT if you are holding on to the treadmill for a majority of the time you are on there, there WILL be a 30lb Kettlebell flung at your head from across the gym. . .

. . . I kid you not.

There are only two situations in your life when you will hold on to something when walking - they are as follows -

If you are an octo or nano-generian with the need to hold on to something for support -

OR . . .

You are food shopping - other than that  . . . LET GO!

This is one of the things that makes me want to go scoop my eyes out with a hot spoon - its just very ineffective and a sign of freakin’ weakness.

Chances are you are already weak and need to go lift some heavy things a few times. At least make your weak ass MORE EFFECTIVE and LET GO OF THE DAMN TREADMILL!

Thank you for your cooperation -

Stay strong,

Joey

Its been a few weeks since KFC released this ad campaign on their grilled chicken offering. Great timing too, considering Memorial Day is just over a week away. I thought it was great for KFC trying to do something healthy for a change, I mean they have to change with the times, right?

However how healthy is it for you really? After reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan goes into this whole explanation of how the grill marks are actually synthetic on most fast food chains chicken. Even their “fresh grilled” scent is merely a concoction of several corn products made to smell that way when its reheated.  I mean, its not like you will find a BBQ grill out in the back parking lot of your local McDonalds.

Below is a post from Bootcamp Instructor BJ Gaddour and he rants on this KFC Grilled Chicken, all I have to say is . . . MY SENTIMENTS EXACTLY!

BOOTCAMP INSTRUCTOR CALLS KENTUCKY GRILLED BS

By now, I am sure you have heard all about this new Kentucky Grilled Chicken.

And while I have no doubt that this is a better option than the fried chicken alternative, it’s still nowhere near an ideal food choice.

Congratulations! You are eating “grilled” chicken with a bunch of garbage on the side. Lord knows that mac and cheese and biscuits aren’t going help you look any better naked!

KFC says the grilled chicken has significantly fewer calories and fat, plus much less sodium, than its Original Recipe fried chicken that launched the brand more than a half-century ago.

After all, just as, if not more, damaging to our waistlines are the high calorie side dishes accompanying the chicken which are filled with refined starches and sugars and unnecessary amounts of saturated fat.

To me it’s like covering feces with a newspaper- it still stinks!

For too long now the fast food industry has made a killing on misinforming consumers about what is and isn’t healthy.

KFC claimed that it recently did switch cooking oils to eliminate all trans fats from their products- a noble effort indeed.

But upon further review, this does not look to be the case…

Here are the ingredients directly from their website:

KFC ® Grilled Chicken

Fresh Chicken Marinated with: Salt, Sodium Phosphate, and Monosodium Glutamate Seasoned with: Maltodextrin, Salt, Bleached Wheat lour, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed Oil, Monosodium Glutamate, Spices, Palm Oil, Natural Flavor, Garlic Powder, Soy Sauce (Soybean, Wheat, Salt), Chicken Fat, Chicken Broth, Autolyzed Yeast, Beef Powder, Rendered Beef Fat, Extractives of Turmeric, Dehydrated Carrot, Onion Powder, and mot more than 2% Each of Calcium Silicate and Silicon Dioxide Added as Anticaking Agents.

Contains Wheat and Soy

I don’t know about you, but this certainly doesn’t sound like a nutritional powerhouse. First of all, “Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed Oil” is not good for you and is a form of trans fat.

Trans fats are synthetic fats that are essentially foreign agents in our bodies. There is truly no room for them in a healthy diet.

Plus, a great rule of thumb is that the fewer ingredients in a food item the better it is for you, ideally less than 5 ingredients being a good marker. Well, if you count the ingredients in this “health” food, there are well over 20!

Fast food and convenience store marketing campaigns make it very hard for us trainers to do our jobs.

When a company says:

“Our _____ (name of product) is good for you because it’s low in fat or fat-free”

OR

“Our _____ (name of product) is good for you because it’s got no sugar”

OR

“Our _____ (name of product) is the perfect snack because it’s only 100 calories.”

In general, here are some great user-friendly guidelines to cut through all of the BS these money-hungry SOB’s are sending our way:

Beware of “Fat-Free or Low Fat” Foods:

These food choices are often high in sugar or contain added sugar to make up for taste lost which wreak havoc on your energy levels and prevent fat loss.

Look Out for “Sugar-Free” Products:

These food choices are typically made with artificial ingredients and sweeteners and/or are sometimes higher in fat to make up for taste lost and/or often contains sugar-alcohols that tear up your digestive system.

Stay Away From “100 Calorie” Items:

These low calorie bags contain ZERO nutritional value with little to no protein and are low in fiber and natural, healthy fats. Plus, these weight-gainers by another name do not fill you up between meals.

Probably the most infamous “healthy” marketing campaign is 100-CALORIE SNACK PACKS.

Which is better for you body: 100 calories of broccoli or 100 calories of mini-muffins?

GET IT?

I know personally I could easily eat 10 of these packs without getting stuffed- I guess that would be a 1,000-CALORIE SNACK PACK

Unfortunately, we live in a calorie-conscious society, and marketers truly take piggyback on this.

But you don’t need to be a dope like the rest of them.

Educate yourself.

Educate your friends.

Educate your family.

Remember, the market determines the direction companies will go. If we choose not to put this garbage in our bellies anymore, they will make less of it

Hope this was helpful - Grill your own chicken instead, its the easiest thing in the world to do. All the summer BBQ’s are right around the corner!

Stay strong,

Joey

OK, so totally geeked out this weekend and saw the new Star Trek movie, (it was awesome by the way) - I had never really been a fan of the show, but I thought the movie was great!

So, ummm . . . when do I get my Spock ears???

Now today is mothers day - so Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there, you ladies truly deserve a day like today! Earlier in the week I actually wrote up an exercise program for my mom to help her out. She has been having knee pain and has bi-lateral carpal tunnel syndrome, and a slight case of osteopoenia. She NEVER works out, and is always busy and on the go. She just needed something that would make her feel better.

Her program looks like this -

Perform 2-3 sets of everything

Woodchop - 15 reps

Reaching Lunge - 15 reps

Leg Drops - 10 reps

Hip Bridges - 15 reps

Birddogs - 16 reps

Broomstick Deadlift - 15 reps (Yes, I made my mom deadlift too!)

High knee step over - 10 reps each leg

Foot Alphabet - 1x each foot

Stick-ups - 12 reps

Calf Raises - 12 reps

There, short and sweet. This can be completed in 10-20 minutes. For most of my clients, this is their warm up. For mom, its her workout, its all relative.

Usually when someone has a knee issue, it is usually due to a mobility restriction in either the hip or the ankle. It is obvious that the hips are designed for mobility, just like the ankle complex, they move alot, whereas the knee only move back and forth. Any restrictions in movement of the hip or ankle will force the knee to work harder than it has to. Down the road pain will develop, it is usually cumulative and not acute.

Her hip mobility drill was the high-knee step over a low box - all I did was put a box down and she had to kick over the box a few times, and we challenged her by making it a little higher each time.

Her ankle mobility drill was the Foot Alphabet (BORE ALERT- the video is boring, but the exercise is important)

This drill is not the most glamorous, but definitely a necessity for healthy knees. I mean, we spend so much time giving the calf muscle all the love and attention, we forget about the anterior tibialis (muscle in the front of the shin) which also connects the knee and the ankle.

The foot alphabet is one of those movements that will be beneficial if you bang it out about 3 days a week. This you can do while you are watching TV, or wherever - it will go a long way to keep your knees healthy and happy.

Live long and Prosper -

Stay strong,

Joey

Today is a short one, I didn’t feel like writing, I’m still upset about the crappy weather we have been having in NYC this week! SOME SUNLIGHT NOW!!!!!

Well, this post was written by Jason Ferrugia who has produced some of the strongest, toughest athletes on the planet. When he speaks, all coaches listen! Pay attention -

Summer’s just around the corner. T-shirts will be coming off and bathing suits will be going on in just a few weeks. So I know that a lot of you are thinking of ways to get lean in a hurry. What you don’t want to do, however, is sacrifice any of your hard earned size or strength; right?

So how do you get ripped for summer, improve your athleticism for games of beach volleyball and football, while staying big and strong at the same time? Simple… you sprint. Flat ground sprints, hill sprints, sprints with a sled and sprints while pushing a Prowler.

Don’t waste your time jogging or doing any other traditional forms of slow, boring cardio. That will sap your strength and eat away muscle tissue. Just look at skinny, flabby, weak marathon runners for proof. Would you rather look like that or like a jacked and ripped Olympic sprinter?

Hugh Jackman was just on the radio recently talking about how he got in shape for Wolverine. He was discussing how he did sprints because he knew that jogging was bad news. Hugh told the interviewer, “Jogging wastes your muscles, you gotta run sprints.” While Hugh doesn’t have any degrees in exercise science he most certainly got shredded and is proof that sprinting is where it’s at.

For most of you I would recommend hill sprints, sprints with a sled or sprints with a Prowler. That’s because if you aren’t used to sprinting, doing so on flat ground can be quite tough on you and the risk of injury will be significantly higher. With the other methods the injury risk is essentially eliminated.

Start out with two sprint workouts per week. These should begin with a 10-15 minute dynamic warm up and you should ease into your first few sprints before you start letting it all hang out. Your total workout shouldn’t take more than 30-40 minutes, tops. These workouts can be done as a second session on lower body workout days, either 4-6 hours before lifting or 4-6 hours after lifting, or any other day of the week. It’s really up to you. Probably the only day I wouldn’t recommend sprinting would be the day right before an intense squat workout. But if that is your only option I wouldn’t get overly concerned. Eventually your body will adapt. The important thing is that you get it done.

Don’t wait till tomorrow. Get outside and start sprinting today. You will be at a pool party or on the beach before you know it. And you will regret what you didn’t do.

I totally agree with Jason, go find a hill and run it about 8-12 times. This will save your muscles and make fat disappear into thin air. Just get it done!

Stay strong,

Joey

***THIS POST CONTAINS SOME SERIOUS KNOWLEDGE BOMBS***

It is a rainy day out here in NYC, but we all know that the great sunny days are just around the corner, so I dont mind at all! Just gives me more time to sexify myself before the sun really comes out!

I weighed myself the other day and realized I dropped about 20 pounds - the only major change was my DIET!

I cleaned up my diet a ton in the last 2 months, cooking at home more often, switching my daily cup of coffee to green tea, and upping my fish oil intake to 2-3 grams daily. My breakfasts have been consistent, usually a 3 egg mixed veggie (onions, peppers, mushrooms) omlette with one yolk. Consistently eating breakfast is so important, research studies have shown that there is a high correlation between low body fat levels and consistently eating breakfast.

New research from Virginia Commonwealth University found that a high-protein breakfast (containing 40 grams of protein) is one key to weight loss.

In this eight-month study, obese individuals who ate a 600-calorie breakfast (and a small lunch and dinner) lost an average of 40 pounds, which is huge when you compare it to the weight loss results in typical diet studies.

I have heard it all - people always complain and say that they only have time for a bowl of cereal in the morning. . . if that! If you have been reading my blog, you know my thoughts on cereal and how nutritionally deficient a bowl of it really is.

The other day I was rushing to get out of my house, and only had time for a bowl of something - So I put some frozen berries in a bowl and nuked them in the microwave for about 40 seconds until they were room temperature. After that I threw in a handful of walnuts and was good to go!

The Berry Bowl - easy, simple, fast, healthy, energizing, and a meal choice that will effectively burn off fat over time.

People eat too much based on convenience, and we are conditioned to believe that we NEED a bowl of cereal for breakfast. Be creative and have a bowl of something healthy instead, this choice will do wonders for your body.

I have a lot more to say about berries -

• For starters - They taste great!
• There are plenty of different varieties with distinct flavors - strawberry, blackberry, raspberry  . . . and you can even even find them growing wildly in NY.
• Let’s get one thing straight - MONAVIE - ITS A F*CKING BERRY! - Why are people shelling out $40 a bottle when they get the same effect by eating more BERRIES?! COME ON PEOPLE!
• Berries are not only sources of concentrated flavor and sweetie goodness, but little packets of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. For example, a cup of sliced strawberries contains a whole day’s requirement for vitamin C. A cup of blackberries contain a day’s worth of manganese, while the same amount of raspberries supplies a third of our daily niacin needs.
• Blueberries and strawberries are surprisingly good sources of vitamin E.
• All berries contain between 4 and 9 grams of fiber per cup.
• Berries contain a ton of phytonutrients (such as anthocyanins, quercetin, and ellagic acid) that have an antioxidant effect -THIS MEANS - They counter the natural oxidation in the body that contributes to aging of the tissues and many degenerative illnesses such as cancer, dementia, and damage to the arteries.

In fact, it’s hard to think of a body part that isn’t positively affected by these nutrients.

So . . . eat them regularly and they will DEFINITELY help you develop that six-pack!

I usually buy a big bag of frozen berries, they keep very well frozen . . . this means NO EXCUSES!

Stay strong and get sexy,

Joey

FYI - TODAY IS MAY 2nd - ONLY 23 days to Memorial Day Weekend!

Most people try to battle their belly fat all by themselves. Now, some people are very self motivated and can actually make these changes happen, but they are VERY few and far between. Internal motivation is tough to get, and hard to maintain if you are not naturally predisposed to it. This is the kind of motivation that I usually see in the athletes I work with. Usually my sessions run 30mins, and if I tell them to run all of Queens Blvd in 20 minutes to finish off their workouts by themselves, they will.

Most people will not . . . unless they are in a group.

People will run through all of New York City in a group! Social support is the biggest aspect of fat loss that most people do not get. Let everyone know what you are trying to achieve. Get yourself a friend to workout with and eat some healhy lunches with a couple of times a week. Just having one person there will help push you much further to your goals, just make sure you have the same mindset. Most people fail because they go at this all alone.

Here is how to begin creating social support:

1. Let people close to you know what you are trying to achieve - they will support you
2. Get a partner to workout wih
3. Go out and eat some healthy meals a few times a week with people in the same mindset
4. No one around? Go online and log your information, workouts, meals on an online forum - these are usually really helpful because everyone is anonymous, and all going for similar goals.

Remember the old saying - “If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” -  Make some noise about your goals, and this will definitely help increase your motivation!

I am taking this one step further and going to train people in groups to increse their results. Now imagine working in a group with the guidance of a professional, now you are truly in a position to rapidly change your body!

Joey’s Gym Class - Semi-Private Coaching,

Small Group Training

@ Synergy Fitness Franklin Square

GET THAT BEACH BODY!

Stay Strong,

Joey

Now here is a woman with confidence in herself who is totally secure about her body, and still works at it to make it better. I mean she was blessed with a backside that makes most grown men wanna cry. She truly gets awarded the Badonkadonk of 2009 award in my book.

So, I hear Kim has released a new workout video titled “Fit into your Jeans by Friday”. Check out the trailer here - Fit into your Jeans by Friday

It seems to be a lot of aerobic work and some decent body weight exercises (I mean the fact that lunges will do something to shape a booty). But (pun intended), is it supposed to make you fit into your jeans by Friday . . . 2012??? No way will this yield results for someone who has been training for a while. For a beginner the video is fine, beginners just need to get their heart rate up, and move around a lot to get themselves started.

But ( =) . . . hehehe!) the video will only take you so far, you still need to challenge yourself with resistance to give more shape to your body, also, you just need to drop the doughnut now! Start eating right and move heavy things around and you will look fantastic!

Kim might have been blessed with some great plastic surgeons genetics, but we can definitely still make ourselves look the very best we can with some dedication.

Beach season is right around the corner!

FYI -  I just might have to get this video for some further  ummmm . . . research!

Stay strong,

Joey