The Greatest Exercises

If your goal is to just burn fat and "lose weight" then go to any aerobic class in America and jump around doing your thing. But if you are interested in having a great looking physique with proper symmetry and muscle definition then I can help you. There is a reason why I don't have bells and whistles at my gym. There is no need for the hype. I find it interesting to see people work out at my facility. Those that don't want my help tend to have no idea what they are doing here. The equipment that I have has to be used in a specific way to get results. I think that when some folks join up here they want all those silly machines that do all the work for them. They believe that if they do those machines then they are working out and that they know what they are doing. Or if the machine is pretty and sleek then they will get a great looking body. My equipment has a specific purpose and if used incorrectly you won't see results. Here are just some the best exercises to develop the body that I perform at my gym.

1. High Stand Gironda Dips
2. Conant's Lat pulldown Specialization
3. Scapula Rotations
4. Neck Press
5. Body Drag
6. Spider Bench Curls
7. Kneeling Tricep Extension
8. 3 way Sissy Squats
9. Hack Slide
10. Push up Prone Leg Curl
11. Frog Sit-Ups.

These are the greatest exercises to develop the body. There is no greater feeling than engaging in an exercise that provides a pure contraction.

These exercises are hard to do without the right equipment. In fact, I have never seen any of the equipment that I use in any other gym. If I need to I will have a specific piece of equipment built. I find most machines out there useless. They are good for attracting naive people to join up at a gym. I find no advantage in Cybex machines over good ole fashioned dumbell exercises. Give me my dumbells!!!

If you would like to learn more about these exercises come to the Fitness Nut House and I will show you them personally.

tags: vince gironda, weight training, bodybuilding, nutrition, health, diet, fat loss, power lifting, steroids

Madly In Love

All I can say is I am madly in love with my baby girl. She is the cutest little thing. Holding a little baby is the purest love their is. Nothing compares to having children. I am truly blessed and honored to be able to have the responsibility of raising three beautiful children. Many guys I know feel that having children is some type of burden. Those bastards are selfish egotistical idiots that only care about themselves. My strength comes from my family. There is no greater love than the love of a son or daughter. The more responsibility I have the greater I become. I wasn't put on earth to sit around watching television and eating potato chips. I am here to work and to teach. Having children allows me to experience every facet that life has to offer. When I hold little Faith and put her on my chest nothing else matters at that time. The love swells my heart to the size of Texas and I feel completely content. She is truly a blessing. We all need a little Faith in our lives. The best part of my life is having a great wife and three beautiful fantastic children.

How We Look

When you wake up in the morning and you look at yourself in the mirror do you like what you see? What you see is what prompts you to exercise. Most people exercise just to look better. They feel that if they look better then they will feel better and have a better outlook on life. How you look has a direct link to your emotions. If your emotional well being is compromised then your body will reflect it.

Here is the cycle of events. A person wakes up one day and looks in the mirror they see cellulite, fat around the abdominals, jiggly stuff under the arms when they wave, double chin, loose skin. They immediately get depressed and vow that they want to change. They have a moment of self perseverance they join up at a gym believing that this will be the answer to there problem.
They join the gym. They do cardiovascular exercise (treadmill, elliptical). Maybe if they are brave enough they take a class and perhaps do a few weight machines. They go home look in the mirror and see no difference. This goes on for about 1 to 2 weeks. Still seeing no difference in their body. Their enthusiasm plummets and they lose interest in exercise and end up going back to their old habits. They except the fact they will never change the way they look.

The reason why so many people fail at changing they way they look is because of the following;

1. They train don't long enough to see a result. It takes 4-6 weeks for the neuromuscular system to adapt to the exercise. During this time minimal results are seen. It is after the 4-6 week period that morphological effects occur.

2. EXERCISE IS ONLY A METABOLIC BOOSTER. It does not fully solve the fat loss, cellulite problem.

3. Nutrition, nutrition, nutrition, nutrition, nutrition. I can't say it enough. It's all about nutrition. Lack of knowledge is the downfall.

4. Emotional distress. Get control of your emotions. Being stressed, anxious, afraid, upset, in a bad relationship, stuffing your feeling, angry, depressed, sad, bored, cynical, non-loving, hateful, non-compassionate all effect how your body will look. Emotions are directly linked to hormones. If your emotions are out of balance then your body will look the way you feel. People who are over fat suffer from something within their inner subconscious that has not been resolved yet. This will set off a cascade of events that will produce a shift in homeostasis releasing hormones. If this chronically occurs then excessive weight gain is the result. These folks will end up going to the gym to resolve their issues. But it never works. They will always remain over fat, unhappy, and searching for the next miracle machine or pill to make their body fat disappear. I see time and time again unhappy people coming to the gym trying to resolve their sadness, anger, frustration. Most of the time these folks are in a relationship, job, or situation that is unhealthy, destructive, abusive. The only way out is to either get out of the relationship, job or situation. However, due to insecurity factors most people can't break from what they live in. They become victims of their circumstances. They tend to use exercise and dietary manipulation as a band aid to the problem. It is amazing how people look once they get out of their difficult situation. They are able to lose fat, increase muscle activity, are happier and have a better outlook on life. Emotions play a big part in the success of losing body fat.

5. Not using supplements.

6. Performing too many exercises. And not knowing the exercises that actually work the best. There are only 8 exercises that you need to look your best.

7. Living in a state of unconsciousness.

8. Time Dependent Aging

9. Increase Acquired Aging

10. Lack discipline.

To create a great looking physique every aspect of your life must in balance. Other wise you are just another gerbil on the wheel.

A Rare One

One of My Favorite U2 Christmas Songs Enjoy

Merry Christmas To You All

Great Song

Digestion of Starch

The digestion of starch in carbohydrates begins in the mouth and then continues in the small intestine. As mentioned earlier, the main product of carbohydrate metabolism in glucose, or blood-sugar. In this form it enters our blood stream and first supplies the energy needs of our central nervous system. Any glucose not used immediately is stored in the liver or muscles as glycogen. The excess is converted to fat and stored throughout the body. Glycogen reserves are important because this is the primary fuel of hard working muscles, and supply of it is limited.

The body can store only a limited supply of glycogen: approximately 350 grams when the supply is at its peak. One-third of the amount is stored in the liver and the remainder in the muscles. Liver glycogen is available for immediate use. It is quickly converted into glucose when needed by the body. Muscles glycogen, however, does not have the necessary enzymes for this direct secretion into body fuel. It furnishes glucose indirectly. When the muscle contracts, glycogen is converted into Lactic Acid. The Lactic Acid is carried in the bloodstream to the liver and then converted into glycogen or glucose as needed by the body. For this reason, it does not reach the brain and nervous system as directly as liver glycogen.

The reserve of glycogen lasts 2-15 hours, depending on activity levels. Someone playing checkers can have enough to last most of the day. Body-builders in heavy training can use their entire supply of glycogen within 2-3 hours. The body will then switch to alternative, but, less efficient energy fuels. Muscle protein, for instance, can be converted by the liver into glucose in order to keep the brain and nerves supplied with fuel. However, this puts unnecessary stress on the liver. It also drains the supply of amino acids needed for building muscle and repairing the body.

Daryl Conant, M.Ed

Limiting Amino Acids

The term "essential" refers to a specific nutrient that the body is not capable of producing, but does not require.If the essential nutrient is not supplied through diet or supplementation, a deficiency for that particular nutrient may occur.

As with protein synthesis, if one amino acid is supplied in a smaller amount than necessary (i.e., incomplete proteins or low-quality protein), then, the total amount of protein that can be synthesized from other amino acids will be limited. When this occurs, body protein-synthesis is restricted. If one essential amino acid is completely absent, however, the other amino acids can not be utilized and are therefore, wasted by the body.

Daryl Conant. M.Ed

McKenna Dempsey 1991-2008

My thoughts and prayers go out to the Dempsey family this evening. It has been a year since the death of their son McKenna. He was a good son, brother and loved by many. His life was taken abruptly by uncontrollable circumstances. We all need to embrace every minute of this life and to love those that are closest to us. Life should never be taken for granted. Please take a moment and reflect upon your life and dedicate a moment of silence for the Dempsey's. They are a good family and this event is one of the saddest events I have ever been apart of. Nothing compares to the loss of a loved one. My heart truly goes out to them.

Am I Wasting My Time

I often wonder if anyone reads this blog or am I just wasting time. I know there are 14 people following this blog because they signed up for it. Sometimes it takes me 45 to write a blog. If no one is reading them then I don't want to waste my time writing them. It would be nice to know how many people are actually reading these entries. If you get a chance could you please sign in to this blog as a follower. It would give me a reason to keep posting articles. Thanks.

The Pain Threshold.

There is an old saying that goes "no pain no gain". As primitive as this sounds it is true. In order to change the body it is important to feel pain in the muscle. People who are incapable of handling the pain during exercise will never see results. When I refer to pain I am not talking about pain associated with an injury, I am talking about the pain of the hydrogen atoms building up in the muscle. When lactic acid builds up in the muscle it reduces the oxygen flow. The muscle gets engorged with blood and the blood has no place to go so it builds up in the muscle. Oxygen is flushed out of the area and lactic acid fills up in the muscle. This causes the pain that is associated with exercise. Most people can't handle the pain when it comes on, so they most likely use lower weight staying below threshold. Unfortunately, if you stay below threshold you will not see results. In order to gain muscle activity it is important to go beyond the threshold. This threshold is known as the lactate level. Lactate is a product of anabolic metabolism. The higher the lactate level the more intense a person can train without hitting the threshold. Pushing yourself into the threshold is what training is all about. You take the intensity to the point of the pain and then work against the pain a little bit more to boost the threshold. The pain you go through is only short in duration and is the only way to get feedback of knowing if the exercise is working. If you don't feel the burn by the end of the set then you are wasting your time. In order to get new growth patterns and to active more muscle tissue you have to go beyond threshold.

The nervous system needs to be challenged to establish greater synaptic activity and hormone production. Challenging the nervous system and endrocrine system is how you stay young. As long as you are activating new neuromuscular patterns the cells are constantly getting new stimulation. New stimulation means more cell recruitment. More cell recruitment means less inactivity. Inactive cells are dormant cells that atrophy and influences the aging process. As long as you are constantly regenerating new cells the body will keep hormone production high to keep up with the neural demand. If you don't establish new cell growth your hormone levels will drop and you won't be able to restore their levels ever again. Once a hormone is reduced in the body it is gone. This is why people resort to taking steroids when they get older because their body no longer produces enough hormone to keep their body in an anabolic state.

If there is a part of your body that is soft when you try to contract it then you have atrophied tissue and lost neural conductivity to that area. These soft areas can be recharged but they will not be what they once were. The motor units need to be activated and stimulated beyond threshold in order to force new growth patterns. Women, especially, suffer from atrophied muscle tissue and high fat areas. This is because they do more cardiovascular training than weight training. Cardiovascular training is the easy way to exercise. It is easy to walk or jog on treadmill or ride on a elliptical never achieving threshold. This is the easy way out. Weight training is the greatest muscle stimulator of all. People are taught to avoid pain. So when the pain comes on they run from it. They don't realize that this is what you are supposed to feel. Like I have said before if you don't exercise correctly you are wasting your time. You have to challenge the systems of the body to the point that the cells have to be recruited to respond to the intensity.

One of the byproducts of working against the intensity is that the capillary beds will increase. When capillaries increase they help deliver more water, oxygen and help clear out carbon dioxide in the muscle. Increase in capillaries is key for fat metabolism and muscle activity. It takes stress to the neuromuscular system to activate the growth of capillaries. Again, another reason why it is crucial to train with the right intensity. If you work below threshold you lose out on developing more capillaries.

You have to use the right intensities to achieve neuromuscular changes. If you train at the Fitness Nut House I will show you how to train to maximize your efforts. What I will show you will save you years of wasted efforts. I will not write in this blog how to do it. You must see me personally if you want the correct methods to knowing how to maximize your efforts in the gym.

Tags: fitness, nutrition, health, fat metabolism, oxygen, biggest loser, american idol, cliff lee, jason bay, red sox, bodybuilding, Fitness nut house, cardiovascular conditioning, tiger woods

An Appropriate Song

My Secret

I have been around weight training almost my whole life. What I have learned the most is how to save time in the weight room to get phenomenal results. I am often amazed at how many people exercise and they never look any different. It takes more than a room full of fancy equipment to get results. It takes proper physiology and kinesiology knowledge to get results. I remember when I was competing for a bodybuilding show in graduate school. I was completely ripped and in great shape. People thought I was taking steroids. This was a great compliment because that proved that my methods were working. Working so well that you couldn't tell the difference between me and the steroid users. The best part was when the guys asked me how long I trained to look so defined and muscular. I told them "I work out for only 20-30 minutes per workout 5 times a week. They were blown away! These guys would spend hours in the gym trying to get ripped (which they couldn't get). They would use all the fancy machines, cardio equipment and whatever bells and whistles the gym had to offer. All I used was the dumbell rack, a lat pulldown machine, cable crossover machine, dip stand, and smith machine. These are all the pieces that I used then and are the pieces I use now. I see changes with my physique all the time. I look better now than I did in graduate school. I have experimented with so many variations of exercises. I discard the exercises that don't work and keep the ones that do.

When I developed my business plan I only thought about the results that I could give people. I purchased only the equipment that I knew was important to getting great results. I don't need to spend 4,000 dollars on a bicep curl machine. I can develop great biceps with just dumbells. I don't need to spend 6,500 on a chest press machine. I have developed my chest by doing dips and dumbell exercises. As a gym owner my intent has always been to teach people how to get results and how to exercise correctly. My goal was not to just be a gym owner who puts a bunch of fancy machines in a room to win people over with sensationalism. People are creatures of hype. The more hype, the brighter the lights, the more fancy the bicep curl is the more they are attracted to it. The goal for these people is not to train hard and honest performing basic exercises. They are attracted to bells and whistles believing that if they use these machines that they will see a dramatic change in their body. Unfortunately, I have never seen anyone get a great looking physique from using machines only. The machines make you lazy and you lose connection with the contraction.

At my gym I am all about results. I don't care about the hype. The equipment I have at my gym is there for a specific purpose. People who are not interested in seeing results are not interested in my type of gym. They are searching for something else. Not body transformation. Here is my secret for staying ripped year round.

* I train for 20-30 minutes

* I use my specialized equipment to isolate the muscles. I have invented pieces of equipment that might not look fancy but they certainly work. I only care about the end result, not if the equipment is shiny and you can watch t.v. off it.

* I change up my routine all the time. I have developed a sequence of exercises that produce tremendous results. This type of knowledge can not be found in books. It takes years of experimenting. I see personal trainers train people and they never work out themselves. This is crazy. How can you teach an exercise when you don't know how it feels. I experiment with exercises and use the ones that work and disgard the ones that don't.

* I use the right amount of intensity. Not knowing how much intensity to use will result in failure.

* I only perform one to two exercises per muscle group.

* I change the sets and reps all the time.

* I eat differently throughout the week. Experimenting with all different types of supplements and foods to determine which combinations are best.

* I use only 2-3 pieces of equipment. The rest of the exercises are performed with free weight bars and dumbells. WHy should I spend thousands and thousands of dollars on machines that I would never use myself. It doesn't make much sense to me.

* I hypnotize myself during training to go into a higher level of consciousness.

* I use co-contractions.

* I enjoy and invite pain to enter the muscle and embrace it. I never give up when the pain comes. Too many people are afraid of the pain.

* I eat 5-6 meals a day.

* I take Supplements. If you don't take supplements you will fail at seeing the results you want to see.

* I see changes with my physique every month.

* I love training!!! It is my career and my passion.

Tags: exercise, nutrition, health, bodybuilding, muscle, fat loss, supplements, amino acids,

Caffeine

Caffeine is the most widely used drug in the world. It is a potent stimulant and may be consumed in a multitude of forms. These include: coffee, tea, cola drinks, chocolates, cold remedies, pain relievers and dozens of other over-the-counter drugs.
Caffeine also is a powerful stimulant to nerve tissues. It affects the higher centers of the brain, producing a wakening effect and a more rapid flow of mental processes. It assists the body in overcoming the sense of fatigue, however, it does not relieve it.

Caffeine Facts:

Two cups of coffee will cause an increase in hydrochloric acid (HCL) in the stomach for at least an hour. This is a problem for anyone suffering from an ulcer or over-acidity problem.

Caffeine slows the rate of healing of stomach ulcers.

One cup of coffee will cause a rise in blood pressure.

Caffeine decreases the body's ability the handle stress.

In pregnant women, caffeine will enter the fetal circulation in the same concentrations as the mothers. May be related to birth defects. Withdrawal symptoms tend to discourage people from giving up caffeine.

Continued use of caffeine may lead to insomnia, nervousness, restlessness and even tremors.

Caffeine masks fatigue when the body needs to rest.

Caffeine increases respiration rate, urine output and an increase of fatty acids into the bloodstream.

Caffeine also inhibits fat metabolism. Fat is released from fat cells but does not get metabolized through muscle tissue. The only benefit from caffeine could be for long distance athletes as an ergogenic aid. This is only for a boost in energy during long distance events.


Daryl Conant

Tags: caffeine, coffee, fat, muscle, strength, endurance, aerobic, fitness, health,

The Greatest Moments in Life

Faith is Born 12/3/09 6:01 p.m. 7 lbs 19 inches.
There are many defining moments in life. Experiencing the birth of a child is the greatest moment of my life. There is nothing that compares to the wonder of seeing my two boys and my new girl being born. This is what life is all about. There is no word to describe the feeling that over comes me. What I feel is beyond Love. I have done many great feats in my life and nothing compares to what I just experienced. The birth of Faith was so beautiful. My wife Joy is an amazing woman. Her strength and control during birth was unbelievable. She is truly a blessing to do what she has done. I love her very much and am very grateful for her devotion and fearlessness during pregnancy and giving birth. I am her biggest fan.

When my two sons saw their baby sister for the first time, that was another unbelievable experience. There is no amount of money that could buy that. I love being a Dad and I love my family. I thank God every day for allowing me to be a part of all of these wonderful moments.

One of the Best

My Dedication

loy⋅al⋅ty  [loi-uhl-tee]
–noun, plural -ties.
1. the state or quality of being loyal; faithfulness to commitments or obligations.
2. faithful adherence to a sovereign, government, leader, cause, etc.
3. an example or instance of faithfulness, adherence, or the like: a man with fierce loyalties.


Synonyms:
2. fealty, devotion, constancy. Loyalty, allegiance, fidelity all imply a sense of duty or of devoted attachment to something or someone. Loyalty connotes sentiment and the feeling of devotion that one holds for one's country, creed, family, friends, etc. Allegiance applies particularly to a citizen's duty to his or her country, or, by extension, one's obligation to support a party, cause, leader, etc. Fidelity implies unwavering devotion and allegiance to a person, principle, etc.

Antonyms:
1, 2. faithlessness.

Staying disciplined to your fitness regime for years and years is hard if you don't have a goal or an inner conviction. Being faithful to your own belief system is important for the success of staying fit. Someone asked me once how do I stay committed to exercise for over twenty five years. What drives me is different than what might drive you, however, once you develop a strong inner conviction believing in what you are doing it is hard to break from it. For me it has never been about looking like a displaced, mutated, mammoth muscle bound freak. Though the physical realm is fun and important to some degree, the main reason why I train and stay disciplined to training is to resolve the inner struggles within my own self conscience. What I mean by this is that there are moments in my life that inspire me and force me to be the best I can be. As humans we are always faced with negative and positive forces that direct us into making the right or wrong decisions. This dualistic opposition is the driving force of our motivation. We are the ones that make the ultimate decision of what we choose in this world. I have chosen to live the true natural bodybuilding life at an early age. Once I commit to something that I believe in I will never let it go. My dedication and discipline to exercise and nutrition is just a symbolic reminder for all those people who have forged through all the negativity life has to offer and continues to remain a positive light for generations to see. I feel that we all have a certain responsibility to this earth and to future generations. Keeping fit and going through the pain of training is only a small donation of what I can give to pay homage to those that have given their life for the pursuit of positivity. It is very easy to give up on life and to sit around getting fat, diseased, cynical,and being negative. I consider these types of people a waste of human space. Unfortunately, negativity is becoming the norm in this world. It is harder and harder to find people who actually embrace the ideas of positivity, love, peace, good values, good morals and everlasting acceptance. Staying positive is much harder than being negative. The social consciousness of this world has shifted so far into the negative that I don't think it will ever change. In fact, it is going to get worse.

Every time I train I dedicate each session to those great men and women who have lived their life in accordance to the laws of positivity and love. Many of these great folks gave their life for what they believed in. Imagine giving up your life for the belief of love. That is pretty amazing. I want to say thank you to all of the great people past and present who have inspired me to be the best I can be and to continue to live for the betterment of mankind. It is our duty as humans to take inventory of our own selves and to respect this world and to respect the human experience for generations and generations.

Digestion

What You Should Know About Your Body

Your body is approximately fifty-five percent (55%) water, twenty percent (20%) protein, fifteen percent (15%) fat, nine percent (9%) minerals, and one percent (1%) carbohydrates and vitamins.

These basic components must constantly be replenished through the foods we eat. But, not necessarily in the same proportions for each of us. Some foods enter our bodies as fuel and are burned on consumption to meet energy needs. Others become the basic building blocks of tissues and fluids. Still, others are vital to the delicate interactions required by the body's many functions.

Your Are a "One-of-a-Kind"

Throughout your personalized program you will continually hear how each of us is unique. We are all different. This holds true for our metabolic process as well. The metabolic process begins with digestion.

The digestion tract involves the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and the large intestine. The mechanical and chemical phase of digestion occurs in these organs.

Your Body is a Sophisticated Food Processor

The mechanical phase of digestion is responsible for sub dividing, mixing and propelling of food along the digestive tract. It includes chewing, swallowing, and the muscular activity of the walls of the digestive tract itself.

The chemical phase of digestion is responsible for the final breakdown of food particles. It is brought about by digestive enzymes. Enzymes act as catalysts in the body. They increase the rate of a reaction without becoming part of the final reaction product. Digestive enzymes aid in the breakdown of large nutrient molecules into smaller molecules. For example, carbohydrates are changed into simple sugars, fats into glycerol, and fatty acids and proteins into amino acids.

The Digestive Process

The process of digestion starts when food enters the body through the mouth where it is Chewed, broken into small pieces, and mixed with saliva. The fluid secreted by salivary glands contains digestive enzymes that can act upon carbohydrates. From the mouth, food passes to the stomach by way of the esophagus.

The digestion of certain foods continues in the stomach under the influence of the secretions and churning action of the stomach wall.

Ordinarily, a mixed meal leaves the stomach in three to four hours.

Carbohydrates leave the stomach most rapidly, followed by proteins. Fats remain in the stomach for a longer period. Thus, the sensation of hunger will occur sooner after a meal that is high in carbohydrates than after a meal containing adequate amounts of proteins or fat.

Beyond the Stomach

After leaving the stomach, the liquefied mass, called chyme, passes into the small intestine for further absorption into the body. The small intestine is affected by secretion from its walls and from the liver and pancreas. The undigested food residues pass from the small intestine to the large intestine or colon. This material also contains some of the end products of digestion such as water, as well as waste materials. These waste products travel through th e large intestine where they await periodic excretion from the body.

How Your Body Absorbs Nutrients

Absorption follows digestion. The function of digestion is to prepare the nutrients for absorption through the walls of the digestive tract. Most of this absorption takes place in the small intestine. However, water and small amounts of simple sugars and alcohol pass through the mucosa of the stomach into the bloodstream. And, various minerals and water are absorbed in the large intestine.

Located on the wall of the intestines and into the food canal, are finger-like projections called villi. They increase the absorption surface area about 600-fold. Each villus contains a network of tiny vessels that drink up the nutrients as they pass along the food canal.

Nutrients then circulate throughout the body in a manner analogous to diners at a cafeteria. As the blood flows by, cells take what they need. Excess nutrients may be stored, converted to more complex compounds, or excreted.

Daryl Conant

L-Carnitine Before and After Workouts

L-Carnitine is a vitamin like nutrient related to the vitamin-B family and is a physiological substance essential for energy production. This process takes place in the mitochondria inside the cell. L-Carnitine is actually responsible for the transportation of fatty acids into the cell.

The richest natural sources of L-Carnitine are meats such as sheep, lamb, and beef. A great source of L-Carnitine is my liquid carnitine. It bypasses the liver to get into the blood stream quickly. Put one tablespoon in your water before and during workouts and then consume one tablespoon after workouts. It is a safe and effective way to improve fat burning during the thermogenic effect. L-carnitine is just another way of maximizing your physiology to burn the fat.

Tags: amino acids, nutrition, fitness, exercise, body building, strength, functional training, obesity, fat, lean, supplements.

Train Hard, Burn Fat, Look Great

As well as duration, intensity plays an important role in the efficiency fat-metabolism during exercise. In general, the percentage of energy contributed by fat diminishes as the intensity of exercise increases.

Fat can only be broken down in the presence of oxygen. Oxygen serves as the catalyst that enables proteins and enzymes of the body to burn fat during an exercise metabolism.

The heart and lungs can provide only so much oxygen-- so fast. When muscle exertion is so great that the demand for energy outstrips the oxygen supply, the body cannot process oxygen fast enough. Therefore the body cannot burn fat. Instead, it reverts back to anaerobic metabolism and burns more glucose. This is present in weight training. However, the true benefit comes after weight training when you are resting. The oxygen supply in the muscle is high because of the work that was done anaerobically. The increase in oxygen also brings in more fat to the muscle. This thermogenic effect can last between 2-6 hours after a weight training session.

Exercise is only a metabolic booster. You will never gain muscle or lose fat in a gym. You gain muscle and lose fat after the workout session during the rest phase. I see time and time again people trying to lose all their weight in one month. They exercise for hours and never seem to make progress. These folks lack the ability to reason. I guess they think that they are made up differently than the rest of us and seem to be able to go against basic human physiology???? All I know is that they look the same today as they did 6 months ago. They lack the understanding of how to exercise, eat and REST to change their body. It is as if they are zombie's staring into the abyss, empty, unconscious and vacant. I don't know about you all but when I train hard I want to see the rewards. Train hard, train with short duration, eat and rest. Train correctly and you will see unbelievable results. There is nothing more gratifying in the sport of bodybuilding to see the muscles get defined from the exercises. If I don't see results I will invent ways to make the muscle fire off to get the effect I am looking for. Train with high intensity, burn sugar, then go home rest and burn up tons of fat. I love the thermogenic effect I get from training. When I wake up in the morning and look in the mirror I see the rewards from proper training, dieting and resting. I can see changes in my physique almost on a daily basis, it is fantastic. There is a formula to to looking great. I teach it every day at my gym. The Fitness Nut House. www.thefitnessnut.com.

Daryl Conant

tags: muscle, fitness, health, nutrition, strength, functional training, training, bodybuidling.

One of My Favorite's of all time

The Myths

Here are the myths of exercise and nutrition that I think you all should know.

* Eating eggs will increase your internal cholesterol levels? NOT TRUE. Eggs contain the healthy cholesterol that the body needs to maintain proper health. In fact, the egg is the most complete food on the planet.

• Eating saturated fats will clog your arteries and cause a heart attack? NOT TRUE. The body is designed to break down animal fats and can metabolize the hydrogen atoms rather well. It is not saturated fat that causes problems it is the hydrogenated, trans-fatty acid, and damaged fats that cause a problem.

• Eating a low fat diet will protect from having high cholesterol in the blood? NOT TRUE. Eating a high carbohydrate diet without the essential fat will result in an increase in internal cholesterol levels. When the body is getting in enough dietary fat it helps turn off the production of internal cholesterol.

• Exercising on treadmill is the best way to burn fat? NOT TRUE. Weight training is the greatest fat burner of all.

• Leg Raises are an abdominal exercise? NOT TRUE. They are 95% hip flexor. Not enough abdominal activation.

• To get benefit from exercise you have to exercise for 45 minutes to an hour? NOT TRUE. Growth hormone levels plummet after 30 minutes.

• Anyone over the age of 50 cannot receive benefits from weight training? NOT TRUE. Everyone can receive benefits from weight training no matter what age. It is very important to lift weight as we age to help maintain as much muscle as possible. Also, weight training helps boost hormone levels.

• In order to develop big biceps it is important not to perform too many abdominal exercises? TRUE. Over working the abdominals will cause a decrease in growth hormone levels making the biceps small.

• Weight training can help promote bone growth and help slow down the osteoporosis effect? TRUE weight training can help improve bone cell migration.

• Nutrition is the greatest way to change body composition. TRUE. You can exercise all you want but without proper nutritional support your time is wasted if you are trying to change the look of your body.

• 90% of all women obsess about their weight and how they look? TRUE. Most women are extremely focused on their looks and how they look in a mirror and in clothes.

• Over 75% of all Americans are obese. TRUE. America is the fattest country in the world. Congratulations!!! I would like to give a big shout out to our beloved food manufacturing companies. Thank you all for making America the fattest country in the world. Keep up the good work in destroying the American body.

• A daily mulit-vitamin is required for all people. TRUE. The earth is being depleted of essential vitamins and minerals. Unfortunately, we have to take in vitamins in pill form. Sad but true.

• Poor digestion can make you sick and fat. TRUE. improper digestion exchange of vital nutrients will deprive the body and cause illness.

• I can learn more about nutrition in Daryl's new book Diet Earth coming out soon. TRUE. You can learn more about myths and nutritional support in my new book. I am working on the last couple of chapters and will be having it out soon. Stay tuned.

Tags: nutrition, health, bodybuilding, fort hood, strength, muscle, diet, fat, obesity, new england patriots, boston red sox, daryl conant, vince gironda,

Lost in Cellular Complacency

I always find it amazing that people get accolades when they lose weight. People praise a person when they look good. They never praise a person when they look bad. This reinforcement of positive feedback is why so many people force themselves to exercise. They look good as long as they keep up with the exercise program. However, many people fall back into poor habits and end up having to do it all over again. I find this process of constantly battling going from fat to thin a paradox in the human experience. I don't believe the that body was designed to constantly be fluctuating in weight. If the person was fit then the need to be over consumed about having to lose weight would go away. They would have more time to improve other areas of their being. Humans should not have to constantly fight their weight. I believe that a person can be fit their whole life as long as they stay disciplined to it. Once you are fit and look the way you want, you should be able to stay that same size for most of your life. In fact, once you get in the best condition your genetics and age will allow you don't have exercise as much. Those that exercise for hours are not in the fit condition that is optimal to maintain their weight. They have to exercise for long periods, because they feel that this will in some way transform their body. But this only deters them from their goal.

I don't get the mentality of getting out of shape. It seems that people join a health club for the sole purpose of losing weight. There aren't too many people that I come in contact with that ever say that they exercise to better themselves as a human being. If it wasn't for the idea of dropping pounds of fat then I don't think many people would exercise. How many people reading this blog are actually enhancing their life through the use of exercise and dietary means? How many of you are actually wanting to experience greater levels of consciousness through the use of exercise? How many of you just want to workout unconsciously without any idea how to train in hopes to see results? I don't get the mentality of this country. People are so fixated on the body image idea that they tend to lose focus on the main purpose here on Earth. Those that only care about using exercise as a way of dropping a few extra pounds are doomed for failure in their physical transformation. The body, mind and spirit are all interconnected. When we only exercise in one dimension we become unfit in the other areas. This makes for an imbalance. I call the people who are stuck in their conscious development as "lost in cellular complacency". They become stagnant in their human body and are no longer striving to become something greater than they currently are.

Who really wants help? No one is talking about ways to improve upon all the other systems of the body. They are only concerned with losing fat and having people take notice of how thin they are. The physical realm of existence is the easiest to understand because it is always present in our eyes. However the real development and challenge lies within the deeper corners of how brain. This is something I strive to enhance. I am a teacher in the development of the "Whole" body not just fat loss. We have only just begun to tap into our inner greatness as humans. For some folks they will be lost in cellular complacency forever.

The Best Exercise for Developing the Outer Part Of The Bicep

The exercise for developing the outer part of the biceps is the Body Drag. Here is how you do it.

Grab a straight bar with a false grip. A false grip is putting the thumb on the same side as the fingers. Position your hands just a little wider than shoulder width. Stand with heels together and toes apart 45, knees slightly bent. Rest the bar on the thighs, look up to the ceiling. This allows for full extension of the biceps. Now begin to pull the bar up along the body, keeping in contact with the body the entire time you bring the bar up to the sternoclavicular notch. Look down as you bring the bar up to the sternoclavicular notch. Hold the bar there tightly for 2-6 seconds squeezing the biceps tightly. Now release and slowly- I mean very slowly- come back down the same way as you went up, dragging the barbell down the body. You don't want to rush the negative this is very important. Your brain will tell you to go fast because you will be in pain. Override the brain and take the pain. While you are going down I want you to press your arms close to your body and feel the total isolation tension on the biceps. . Focus on the tension on the outside of the arms. With practice you can master this movement. Once you understand it and follow it to the letter then you will notice how different your arms will look compared to doing the standard barbell curl. The standard barbell curl is useless, it activates more of the anterior deltoid than bicep. When the anterior bicep gets over developed it makes the biceps look small. The Body Drag is the best for developing the outside head of the bicep. Give it a try I guarantee you will get a tremendous pump.

Daryl


Tags: bicep curl, body building, vince gironda, nutrition, health, fitness, fat loss, weight loss, protein, steroids, ripped

There is No Greater Feeling

There is no greater feeling than you get from exercise. I absolutely love the rush I get from training. Anyone who has experienced this "high" knows what I am talking about. When I train I transcend into a higher level of consciousness that you can only get through intense training. The endorphin and enkephalin rush is phenomenal. I remember when I started training in my childhood home at the age of 12. I worked out hard then layed on the floor after I finished. I felt like I was floating in space. I can't describe the sensation, all I know was that it was a great feeling. When I train hard I can transcend into this state of consciousness. For me it has never been about getting huge or having an over inflated ego. It is all about developing new ways to enlighten consciousness. It is easy to exercise in an unconscious state. This type of training is boring for me and serves no purpose. I have to have a purpose in order to stay motivated. I don't fall into the gerbil on the wheel mentality. Knowing how the muscles work and totally focusing on every fiber brings new blood to the area and builds more muscle. To think that a person can totally transform themselves by lifting weights is remarkable. It is as we are changing our destiny in a way. I was not supposed to look the way I do according to my original DNA blueprint. An average build with no definition and possible fat around my waste was probably in the original plan. However, by exercising and building muscle I have altered my DNA into a different pattern. This type of DNA restructuring can help obese families become less obese. If you have two obese parents and they exercised regularly before you born. The chances of you becoming obese is still high, however, you wouldn't be as big as your parents because the genes would get past down. If they were exercising regularly they could have altered their own DNA to reduce fat. Now if you exercise regularly and you have children your kids would be less fat and the DNA structure would be changed once again. If this continued from generation to generation then the obesity gene could be removed from the DNA blueprint. So even if you think you are not doing anything or seeing results and are a future parent. I say keep up the exercise because what you do today will effect the generations to come.

Sorry for getting off on a tangent but I figured I would share a cool process of our DNA make up. Now getting back to how exercise makes you feel great. I must say that bodybuilding has changed my life. I couldn't imagine living without working out. I think of all the years I have trained and can honestly say that there is no greater feeling physically than to get the "rush" from an intense workout. I hope that you all get to experience this so that you can create a higher level of consciousness within your own self. Striving for higher consciousness is what it is all about. I feel that Americans have become complacent in their development. The intellectual level of society is still operating in a primal operating system. There really hasn't been too many significant strides made in human consciousness over the past hundred or so years. In fact, I believe that society as a whole has digressed into a lower intelligent life form. For me exercise is one of the tools to unlocking higher meaning and purpose in life. I feel most alive when blood is pumping in the body and oxygen saturation is high. This increase in oxygen levels feeds the brain which producing greater neuronal output. The more neurons you activate the more you "see". There is nothing like it...

Tags: bodybuilding, muscle, fitness, health, strength training, vince gironda, fitness nut house, DNA, consciousness.

Not Seeing Results Anymore

If you have been training for a while and are not seeing results anymore then you might want to do a colon cleanse. I believe that the colon develops a build up of proteins, and other wastes that form a mucous barrier along the lining of the intestines. This mucous barrier reduces nutrient exchange into the bloodstream. When nutrients are not able to get into the blood the body goes into a starvation sequence. During a starvation sequence the body holds onto fat and it usually collects around the mid-section. By eliminating toxic build up in the intestines it will re-establish healthy bacteria. Healthy bacteria is essential for breaking down food. I believe in nourishing all the essential organs of the body. Though there are many medical doctors that will disagree with cleansing the colon. They believe that this is not important and should be avoided. However, every time I cleanse my colon I can't believe the effect I get from it. I don't lose any muscle tissue and my abs become extremely defined. I have physically seen my waist go from a 31 to 29 inches within five days without any of my other measurements being effected. I don't care what the medical doctors say. I believe in my body and what I do to it. No one has to take my advice. I just give suggestions to what I feel works. All I know is this works for me and I know that it can work for you. A toxic colon is not something I have made up, it is real and can cause many health problems. Cleansing your colon can help improve digestion and help you break out of the rut.


tags: health, fitness, muscle, endurance, colon, cleanse, nutrition, vegetarian, body building,

Poor Ways to Lose Body Fat

Here are some poor ways for losing body fat. Things that don't work.

•Running on a treadmill for more than 15-20 minutes is a huge waste of time. I teach people how to train effectively. If I felt that treadmills were important I would have 20 of them in my gym. Hence the reason why I only have a couple of them in my gym. I never use treadmills to get lean. I stay ripped 4% body fat year round from my training methods and diet. So many folks are simply wasting time messing around with stupid ways of training.

•Swimming in a pool (I never see Sprinter type bodies from swimming in pools) you will never produce fat loss results.

•Not Weight Training Correctly.

•Not Knowing How to Eat. NUTRITION is 85% of the equation. I see people all the time exercise like mad but don't see the results they desire because their diet is poor.

•Not activating the thermogenic effect.

•Poor hormone levels (genetic, age, stress)

•Lack discipline

•Having no clue of how the body works. Its not about fancy machines and bells and whistles it all comes down to knowledge.

•Not using supplements.

I was there in 1992- Great Song Great Show

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The Danger Zone: Beyond The Obvious

Regardless of whether you are enrolled in a weight-management program or a muscle building program, there are plenty of "danger zones" that will inhibit your success. Beyond the obvious such as drugs, alcohol and tobacco, there are several danger zones that are not as obvious.

Food Processing

Modern technology has given us food processing. Let's take a look at how different types of food processing can affect us.

Exposure to Heat

Heat can create and adverse effect on foods. The following are just a few examples of how certain processes can affect the foods we eat.

• Fried Foods- The longer a food is fried and the higher the temperature -- the more vitamin and mineral potency loss will occur. Frying temperatures usually reach 375°F. Corn or safflower oils are best because of their higher smoke points of 450°F to 500°F.

• Canned Foods- Vitamin and mineral potency losses occur from blanching. Then, the foods lose even more nutrients through the sterilization process, which involves temperatures of 240°F or higher for 25-40 minutes.

•Frozen Foods- Many frozen foods are cooked before freezing. Higher quality foods are generally sold as fresh. Lower quality foods are generally used in frozen foods.

•Dehydrated Foods- The damage to food through dehydration is dependent on the quality of the product processed. Certain methods of commercial dehydration use temperatures of 300°F.

• Dairy Products- Many vitamins lose their potency or are destroyed by the pasteurization process. The homogenization process breaks down the normal-sized fat particles, thus allowing the formation of an enzyme called xanthine oxidase. The enzyme then enters the bloodstream and may destroy vital body chemicals that would ordinarily provide protection for the coronary arteries.

• Exceptions- Various nutrients have different degrees of stability under the conditions of processing and preparation. Vitamin A is easily destroyed by heat and light. Vitamin C also is affected by heat. However, it also is affected by contact with certain metals such as bronze, brass, copper, cold rolled steel, or black iron processing equipment.

Studies conducted on the canning of foods found that peas and beans lose 75% of certain B vitamins, and tomatoes lose 80% of their naturally occurring zinc content.

Exposure to Cold

Foods exposed to low temperatures also can be adversely affected. For example:

• Frozen Foods- Freezing may have only minimal effect on the vitamin and mineral potency depending on the method used. Also, the food is less effective if it's frozen shortly after being harvested. Remember, in most instances, the higher quality foods are sold fresh.

• Fresh Fruits and Vegetables- Sometimes, foods are harvested before they are ripe. They are allowed to ripen on the way to market. This may cause a reduction of some trace minerals.

Note Some foods may retain more nutrients because they are frozen shortly after being harvested. A Stanford University study showed that frozen spinach had 212% more Vitamin C than fresh. Frozen brussel sprouts had 27% more Vitamin C than fresh.

Note During processing, more Vitamin E is lose than any other vitamin. Wheat flour (not the 100% whole wheat flours) loses up to 90% of its Vitamin E value. Rice cereal products may lose up to 70% of their Vitamin E.

• Food Storage

How foods are stored plays a big part in determining how much nutritional value foods when they get to your plate.

• Preservatives- Preservatives help maintain freshness and prevent spoilage caused by fungi, yeast, molds and bacteria. Preservatives are used to extend shelf life or protect the natural color or flavors of foods.

• Acids/Bases (alkalis)- These agents provide a tart flavor for many fruit products. They also are used for pickling and making beverages "fizz" using phosphoric acid.

• Antioxidants- Antioxidants reduce the possibility of rancidity in fats and oils. The most common natural antioxidants are Vitamins C,E,A and Selenium. Artificial antioxidants are BHA and BHT.

• Taste Enhancers- These agents bring out the flavor of certain foods. MSG (monosodium glutamate) is a good example.

• Improving Agents- Examples of improving agents include: Humectants- which control the humidity of a food. (2) Anti-Caking Agents- keep salt and powders free flowing. (3) Firming and Crisping Agents- used for processed fruits and vegetables. (4) Foaming Agents- for whipped toppings. (5) Anti-Foaming Agents- keeps pineapple juice from bubbling over a filled container.

• Emulsifiers- These help evenly mix small particles of one liquid with another, such as water and oil. Lecithin is a good example.

Note Keep in mind that you are rarely aware of the quantity of additives you consume.

Food Additives

• Flavorings- There are approximately 1,100 to 1,400 natural and synthetic flavorings available. Scientists are most concerned regarding the toxicity of many of the flavorings. Flavorings make food taste better, restore flavor lost in their processing and can improve natural flavors.

• Stabilizers/Gelling Agents/Thickeners- These are used to keep products in a "set-state" such as jellies, jams and baby foods. They are also used to keep ice cream creamy. They generally improve consistency and will affect the appearance and texture of foods. The more common ones are modified food starch and vegetable gums.

• Colorings- Ninety percent are artificial and have no nutritional value. Some foods have a tendency to lose their natural color when processed and must be dyed back to make them more appealing to the consumer. An example of this is banana ice cream which is dyed yellow. Cherries are almost always dyed.

• Sweeteners- The United States' consumption of artificial sweeteners is estimated at approximately six pounds per person per year. These are designed to make the foods more palatable.

• Aroma Enhancers- An example is a yellowish-green liquid-diacetyl which is used in some cottage cheeses to produce an artificial butter aroma.

Food Preparation

• Washing/Soaking- Many vitamins are water soluble and will be lost through washing, scrubbing or long periods of soaking. Soaking carrots causes the loss of natural sugar, all the B vitamins, Vitamin C and D, and all minerals except calcium.

• Dicing/Slicing/Peeling/Shredding- The smaller you cut fruits and vegetables the more surface is exposed to temperature changes, the air oxidation, and light. Prepare as close to serving time as possible. Shredding for salads causes a 20% loss of Vitamin C and an additional 20% loss if the salad stands for an hour before eating it.

Note: The skin of fruits and vegetables contains at least 10% of the nutritional content of that food.

• Charcoal- Benzines may be produced by the fat dripping on the charcoal. These chemical substances are classified as carcinogens (cancer forming agents).

• Crock-Pot- Vegetables left in all day or for a long period of time lose a high percentage of their vitamins and minerals, as well as absorbing the fat from the meats. Steam vegetables first and then add them to pot before serving.

• Boiling- Stewing and boiling fruits and vegetables result in heavy nutrient losses.

• Steaming- This is by far the best method for preparing fruits and vegetables. They are subjected to high temperature for only a short period of time.

• Microwave- Terrible method. Microwaves change the molecular structure of the nutrients mutating the hydrogen bonds. The change in hydrogens make the food hard to breakdown in the body. It is advised that if you ever use a microwave that you go into another room while it is on. The reason for this is because of the microwaves that are emitted. I don't like microwaves and feel that they can cause cancers so I avoid them. I use the old fashioned way of cooking-- the oven...

• Frying- High heat causes nutrient losses in all types of foods. Meats will lose Vitamin B1 and Pantothenic acid.

Note: Refrigerate all foods as soon as possible, this will help you retain the potencies of the vitamins and minerals. Whole boiled carrots will retain 90% of their Vitamin C and most of its minerals, but if you slice before cooking you will lose almost all the Vitamin C and niacin content.

tags: nutrition, bodybuilding, strength training, flexibility, supplements, health, fitness, health, fitness nut, lifestyle, obesity.

Daryl Conant

How To Train

Here is a simple breakdown of how to train to maximize your results.

• Avoid doing too much (boring) cardiovascular exercise. Staying on a treadmill for more than 20 minutes I consider a waste of time. Long duration on a treadmill or any other piece of cardio is worthless and promotes boredom. Who wants to sit on their butt riding a bike for 60-90 minutes? Not me! Cardio is overrated and some people don't understand the premise of how much they actually need. Cardio equipment can be very beneficial for developing the cardio-respiratory system if utilize properly in conjunction with other forms of exercise. Don't waste time with doing insufficient long duration cardio training.

• Don't become dependent on using machines only. Weight machines are nice for developing a foundation of muscle, and are nice to incorporate a couple into your more advanced routine. But I would never follow a "nautilus type" program and expect to get great results. I believe the best way to force new neural pathways to recruitment more motor unit conductivity is through the use of free weights. A couple of machines incorporated into a workout is fine. However, too many makes the central nervous system to become complacent.


• Train with weights for no more than 40 minutes. Anything more than this is a waste of time.

• Avoid doing leg raises to work abdominals. Again, another wasted exercise that works only hip flexors.

• Don't lift more weight than you can handle.

• Rest only for about 6 to 7 deep breaths between sets.

• Change your routine all the time. Doing the same ole routine over and over for months on end will produce nothing. I have seen this time and time again. People doing the same thing every single time they workout and low and behold never seeing a change in their body. Not knowing how to change the program or exercises will result in adaptation and poor results.

• Get professional help. Exercise science is vast and there is so much more to getting fit then just walking on a treadmill for 30 minutes.

• NUTRITION, NUTRITION, NUTRITION I CAN"T STRESS IT ENOUGH. IT IS ALL ABOUT NUTRITION...

• Supplementation: To get the best result supplements must be taken.

• Avoid overtraining at all costs. Over training will set you back.

• Know how the body works to get the most of your efforts.

Please goto www.darylconant.com

Please goto www.thefitnessnut.com




tags: weight training, body building, muscle building. stress, nutrition, endurance, cardiovascular endurance

Imagine

Growth Hormone Secretions are TIME DEPENDENT

Anabolic hormones are key for building tissue of the body. As we age our anabolic hormones decline. However, depending on your activity level and acquired aging habits we can reduce the decline. If you know how to train correctly you can maximize the release of growth hormone. Growth hormone is one of the powerful anabolic hormones that helps with the production of testosterone and other key hormones to help build muscle. To metabolize off excess fat anabolic hormones must remain high in the bloodstream. When muscle cells are activated they become heated systems that burn off fat and sugar. This process is initiated by the release of growth hormone. When anabolic hormone levels drop too much, fat and sugar metabolism turn off.

Growth hormone levels are time dependent. What this means is that our body has a certain amount of time that the body releases growth hormone once we begin to exercise. If the body goes beyond a normal range of intensity and duration growth hormone levels deplete. When growth hormone depletes to low levels then the release of cortisol is increased. Cortisol is an inhibitory hormone that shuts off cellular metabolism. This is not favorable when we are trying to build muscle tissue.

As we age we want to keep growth hormone levels as high as we can keep them. This is the key to staying young. This is why you have heard about athletes and actors taking growth hormone. It is known as the "fountain of youth." Though it may seem like the cure for aging it isn't that simple. Growth hormone must be accompanied by other influencing factors and if a person were to take growth hormone injections without taking in all the other co-factors then serious side effects can develop. So taking injectable growth hormone is not the answer. Learning how to maintain and manufacture growth hormone within your own body naturally is the safest way to go.

Growth hormone is released in different ways. 1. Warm-up, 2, Endurance, 3. Heavy Resistance, 4. Fear. Knowing how many sets, reps, etc.. is important for taking advantage of your own natural growth hormone levels. I see too many people exercising for too long, or doing too many exercises for each body, overtraining, running on a treadmill for an hour followed by weight training for an hour (ridiculous), doing way too many ab exercises, doing leg raises to train abs.

What I do with each of my clients is teach them the appropriate amount of sets, reps and exercises to maximize their own hromone levels. I don't promote anyone working out for more than 30-40 minutes. Anything more than that I consider a waste of time and a cause for anabolic hormone depletion. I work out for 20-30 minutes five days a week and make substantial gains all the time. The difference between me and a steroid user is that the steroid user can train hard in the morning and then again in the afternoon. They can workout for 1-3 hours a day because they are injecting hormones into their body that would normally be depleted naturally from high intense exercise. I need more rest than the steroid user, however, I have the same muscle definition as a steroid user. We both have the same result but my way is much safer and natural without any side effects. Steroid users just don't know how to correctly to get the results they desire so they have to cheat to get it done.

So, the bottom line is train intense but keep it short. 30 minutes is all you really need. If you don't think that you can get a complete workout in 30 minutes then I challenge anyone of you to come see me and I will make sure that you won't leave my gym dissatisfied. Matter of fact I will give you your money back if you don't think you got a good enough workout in 30 minutes. It's all about knowing how to control the inner physiology of the cells to produce the greatest result. That is what I do for people. I give them what they want--RESULTS!!!!

Here is a list of other benefits of growth hormone:

• Increases calcium retention, and strengthens and increases the mineralization of bone
• Increases muscle mass through sarcomere hyperplasia
• Promotes lipolysis
• Increases protein synthesis
• Stimulates the growth of all internal organs excluding the brain
• Plays a role in fuel homeostasis
• Reduces liver uptake of glucose
• Promotes gluconeogenesis in the liver
• Contributes to the maintenance and function of pancreatic islets
• Stimulates the immune system

tags: growth hormone, muscle, body building, fitness, health, nutrition, gym, steroids, strength training, protein

I Was In the INNER Circle of this Monstrosity

Monstrosity

Snow Patrol Opened Up For U2: Great Song, Great Live

Can Stress Affect My Weight???

It's difficult to avoid stress. Stress enters our lives daily. It can impact your well-being and success on any type of fitness program. Here's basic information regarding stress and psychological factors regarding lifestyle changes.

Different strokes for Different Folks

Stress can mean different things to different people. A roller coaster ride is a thriller to one person -- a terrifying experience to the next. There is good and bad stress. Daily exercise is and example of good stress. Stress can be defined as: wear and tear of life; adjustive demands made upon individuals to the problems of day-to-day living, or any physical or psychological threat the a person's well-being. Stress is essentially a good or bad change which evokes a generalized physiological response of the body to physical, psychological, or environmental demands.

Warning Signs

Emotional and physical reactions to stress can become bothersome. Most of us would like to avoid the point where they overflow and disable us. Therefore our bodies have provided a warning system.

Feelings Feelings are a good signal (anxiety, depression, anger, etc.). Unfortunately, most of us learned to suppress feelings.

Bodily Reactions Body reactions are another good warning system to monitor stress including.

Easily overexcited, irritability, depression
Increased heart rate
Dryness of the throat
Impulsive behavior, emotional instability.
The overpowering urge to cry or run and hide
Inability to concentrate
General disorientation, alcohol or drug addiction
Accident proneness
Feelings of unreality, general weakness, dizziness
Fatigue- paranoia
Body trembling, increased medication use
high-pitched nervous laughter
Stuttering
Grinding of teeth (bruxism)
Insomnia, nightmares
Inability to take a relaxed attitude
Perspiring
Frequent urination
Diarrhea, indigestion
Neck or lower back pain
PMS
Migraine headaches
Loss of appetite
The Role of Hormones and Nerves

Throughout your body, all processes are precisely and automatically regulated by hormone and nerve activity. It is done so without conscious effort. The central nervous system acts as the control unit. It evaluates all activities both inside and outside your body to monitor and adjust to changing conditions.

The stress response illustrates how the entire body reacts to anything perceived as a threat to your stability or equilibrium.

Both physical and psychological stressors elicit the body's stress response. Major physical stressors include surgery, burns, and infections. Other major physical stressors include, an extreme hot or humid climate, toxic compounds, radiation, and pollution.

Also, chronic "little stresses" or hidden day-to-day issues can lead to real physical ailments. Good examples are

Family conflicts;
"I hate my jobs";
Lack of time, or lack of organization;
Too much responsibility;
"No one understands why I'm stressed";
Rush hour traffic.
And then there are major life changes such as:

Death or loss of a loved one
Serious illness or accident;
Divorce or separation;
Death of a close relative;
Getting fired or laid off of work;
marriage;
Major personal property loss (fire, theft, vandalism);
New household member.
Stress response begins when your brain perceives a threat to your equilibrium. The sight of a car hurtling toward you; the terror that an enemy is concealed around a nearby corner; the excitement of planning for a party, a move, a wedding; the feelings of pain; a snarled traffic jam or any other such disturbances perceived by the brain serves as an alarm signal.

Alarm Reaction

Once the body perceives stress, it prepares to fight or flee from potentially threatening situations. A chain of events unfolds through nerves and hormones to bring about a state of readiness in every body part. The end result is preparedness for physical action (fight or flight). Here is a brief description of your body's alarm reaction to stress:

The pupils of your eyes widen so that you can see better. Your muscles tense up so that you can jump, run, or struggle with maximum strength. Breathing quickens to bring more oxygen into your lungs, and your hear races to rush this oxygen to your muscles so that they can burn the fuel they need for energy. Your liver pours forth the needed fuels from its stored supply, and fat cells release alternative fuels. Body protein tissues break down to back up the fuel supply and to be ready to heal wounds if necessary. The blood vessels of your muscles expand to feed them better, where those of your gastrointestinal tract constrict; and gastrointestinal tract glands shut down (digestion is a low-priority process in time of danger). Less blood flows to your kidney so that fluid is conserved, and less flows to your skin so that blood loss will be minimized at any wound site. More platelets form, to allow your blood to clot faster if need be. Hearing sharpens, and your brain produces local opium-like substances, dulling its sensation of pain, which during an emergency might distract you from taking the needed action. Your hair may even stand on end-a reminder that there was a time when our ancestors had enough hair to bristle, look bigger, and frighten off their enemies.

Resistance

This tightly synchronized adaptive reaction to threat is one of the miracles of the human body. You may have performed an amazing feat of strength or speed during an alarm reaction to stress. Anyone can respond in this magnificent fashion to sudden physical stress for a short time.

But if the stress is prolonged, and especially if physical action is not a permitted response to the stress, then it can drain the body of its reserves and leave it weakened, worn,e disability and susceptible to illness.

Much of the disability imposed by prolonged stress is nutritional; you can't eat, can't digest your food or absorb nutrients, and so can't store them in reserve for periods of need.

All three energy fuels- carbohydrates, fat, and protein -- are drawn upon in increased quantities during stress. If the stress requires vigorous physical action, and if there is injury, all three are used. While the body is busy responding and not eating, the fuels must be drawn from the internal sources.

Stress to Exhaustion

As for other nutrients, they are taken from storage -- as long as supplies last. But supplies for some are exhausted within a day. Thereafter, body tissues break down to provide energy and needed nutrients. The body uses not only dispensable supplies (those that are there are used up, so to speak, like stored fat), but also functional tissue that we don't want to lose, like muscle tissue.

During severe stress, the appetite is suppressed. The blood supply is diverted to the muscles to maximize strength and speed. So, even if food is swallowed, it may not be digested or absorbed efficiently. In a severe upset, the stomach and intestines will even reject solid food. Vomiting, diarrhea or both are these organs' way of disposing of a burden they can't handle. To tell people under severe stress to eat is poor advise. They can't. And, if they force themselves to eat, they can't assimilate what they've eaten.

Stress, Overeating & Fasting

In times of less severe stress, a person may respond by overeating. Many people eat excessively in response to stress since food can have a relaxing effect. The release of some stress hormones often occurs when the body is in need of sugars. You can develop a conditioned response so that whenever stress hormone levels become high, you feel the need to eat. The stress hormone produces insulin resistance, which in turn leads excess insulin production, fat deposits, and inhibition of fat breakdown.

On the other hand, fasting is itself a stress on the body. The longer a person goes without eating, the harder it is to get started again. So, it can be a no-win situation. It is a downward spiral when people let stress affect them to the point where they can't eat. And, not eating makes it harder for them to handle stress.

Get a Handle on Stress

It's important not to let stress become so overwhelming that eating becomes impossible. To manage overwhelming stress may be a psychological task, and if too extreme may require the help of a counselor.

When you can't eat you will lose nutrients. If you can eat under stress do so. Try to consume all you can handle. Eat more often to meet your nutrition and energy requirements. Supplements can be useful to help prevent the risk of marginal vitamin and nutrient deficiencies.

Stress has a detrimental effect on muscle, vitamin and nutrients. What measures can we take to minimize them?

The best nutritional preparation for stress is a consistent, balanced and carried menu plan and lifestyle that meets your metabolic requirements. The right nutritional program combined with a regular exercise program will minimize the effects of stress.

Exercise is Stress Relief

One of the best ways to reduce the symptoms of stress is with exercise. Although the causes of stress may be mental, these are physical problems that are curbed with physical activity. Some factors which may explain the effectiveness of exercise for reducing psychological stress:

Exercise is a diversion which enables the person to relax due to change in environment or routine.
Exercise is an outlet to dissipate emotions such as anger, fear, frustration.
Exercise produces biochemical changes which alter psychological states.
Regular exercise may increase the secretion of endorphins in the brain. Exercise has an effect on your emotional reaction to stress. It does this by altering your mood. Fit people are usually in high spirits after a length exercise (runner's high). This feeling is associated with the presence of endorphins, which is released by the pituitary gland in the brain.

The word endorphin, comes from the combination of two words, Endo and morphine, meaning endogenously produced morphine. Endorphins are the body's natural pain reliever. It may be that the rise in fatty acids caused by long, gentle exercise acidifies the blood, which triggers release of endorphins.

Stress Therapy

Exercise is what your body wants to do under stress: It burns off some of the stress chemicals that tension produces, also note that a tired muscle is a relaxed muscle.

Regular exercises reduces anxiety and depression and allows you to cope more effectively with psychological stress. This is effective stress therapy. Relaxation may be induced through mental exercise as well.

Work on your attitude. One of the single most important points you can make about stress is that in most cases it's not what's out there that's the problem. it's how you react to it. A roller coaster ride is the same experience but the reactions are different. Think positive. Thinking about a success or a past experience is excellent when you're feeling uncertain.

Take several deep breaths. Act calm and be calm. When you experience stress, your pulse races and you start to breathe very quickly. Forcing yourself to breathe slowly helps to convince the body that the stress is gone, whether it is or isn't. What is the correct way to breathe? Abdominally-feeling the stomach expand as you inhale, collapse as you exhale.

Going To See U2 This Sunday It Will Be Magnificant

If You Can Contract It You Can Build It

If you can't contract a muscle then you will have a tough time building that area. I have seen many people perform abdominal exercises and when they are in the contracted position (shortening of the muscle fibers) the area is still soft. They are not engaging their abdominals. They are using momentum and other muscle groups to perform the exercise. It is important to know how to engage a muscle before actually lifting the weight. What I do is I will contract the muscle in the lengthened position. This isometric contraction will start to fire the neural conjuctions on the muscle and will allow for more muscle recruitment. The muscle spindles will begin to get stimulated and this will help provide a stronger contraction in the muscle as I lift the weight. It is important to know how to turn on the muscle on before you do work with it. A simple trick to do to see if you are able to activate muscle is to try and contract the area you are working as hard as you can. For example, many people have lower back fat (lateral-posterior oblique area) and they cannot contract the area. They will never burn fat from that area. I see many women who develop lower abdominal fat (below the belly button) and they feel that they are doomed to have to carry that fat for ever. But the problem is that they have lost neural innervation to the area due to inactivity. What they need to do is to practice learning how to contract that area to innervate more nerves.

We are told that a person cannot spot reduce. However, I believe that the muscle pulls fat out of areas that are closest to the contraction. Fat that is closest to the contraction gets burned up first. When you look at muscle you will see that fat is marbled in the muscle. That marbled fat is the first to be metabolized. When you heat up the muscle the intramuscular fat will burn up. Subcutaneous fat is the stuff under the skin and on top of the muscle. This is the type of fat that is metabolized when the there is no more intramuscular fat available. This is where the spot reduction theory comes in. You can't spot reduce subcutaneously, but you can active localized intramuscular fat.

If you can't contract the area that you are trying to work then the area will remain cold and you most likely will have developed a higher concentration of intramuscular fat in that area. This is why bodybuilders have such little body fat because they are constantly contracting their muscle. Body building poses force the muscle neural connection and this allows the muscle to develop proper contractibility. So, when the body builder trains they have the ability to control the muscle and to contract the area as hard as possible this in effect burns intramuscular fat. Weight training when performed correctly will produce the greatest effect on muscle contractibility. So, remember what ever exercise you do you must be able to feel the muscle contract if you can't feel it then you could be wasting your efforts and not see any change in fat metabolism or muscle definition.

Tags; fat metabolism, weight training, exercise, weight loss, obesity, fat, muscle, body building, fitness, cardiovascular, thermogenic effect

Are You Here To Watch T.V. or Workout???

Well another milestone has been achieved at The Fitness Nut House. I have been confronted with one of the most unbelievable phrases of all time. The other day I was taking a couple through a tour of my gym. I was explaining to them all the programs I offer. I showed them all the equipment that I use to help people transform their body. I explained in depth the reason why I have the kind of equipment I have. I spent about 20 minutes discussing my F.I.T. Program, nutritional counseling and all the other programs I offer. And then at the end the gentleman looks into my eyes and asks, " " WHERE ARE THE TELEVISIONS"??? I said in bewilderment "excuse me, I didn't hear you." He repeated the phrase and I was a bit speechless. Then I pointed to the 4 plasma 40inch t.v's I have hanging from the ceiling. He replied by saying that he doesn't want to have to look away from the machine to watch television. He told me that he was at a gym that has televisions right on the machines. I said "sir are your here to watch television or are you here to get results with working out?"

Folks I have to say that I am not in the entertainment business, I am in the business of transforming bodies and reducing risk factors. I didn't open up this gym to cater to the unconscious watching of television. I recently purchased 2 brand new pieces of cardio equipment. I know about the bells and whistles of new technology and I could have purchased treadmills with t.v's but I find television a negative entity and I am trying to create a positive environment. I was always against television in a gym because it only brings in negative ideas, and fear. Yet, everyone has to know what is going on every second of their day. Heaven forbid if CNN wasn't on 24/7 what would we do? Or if the stock channel wasn't on sending coded messages to only those that know what they mean. What would actually happen if we weren't always plugged in? A couple of years ago I broke down and purchased 4 plasma televisions because the demand from my members was so high. Reluctantly, I caved in and bought them. I figured I could have some control of what was being broadcasted. I hooked up DVD's to them. I like to keep my gym a positive experience to make working out fun. I broadcast seinfield episodes, cheers episodes, ski video's and music concerts, and have only one news station (which I don't like) and one sports channel. I figured that some people just need to have something to look at while they are plugged into either a wireless transmitter or their ipod. I never watch television when I workout it is too distracting. For some people they need to have something in the background to focus on to make the time go by.

The other night I took my family out to dinner. At the table you could see across the room to a television on the wall. There was no sound just closed caption. All the people who could see the television were watching it. Do you think anyone was having a meaningful conversation with the people they were with at the table? We are so fixated to television that we lose our own reality. To think that we can't workout without having to be plugged into a television set is crazy.

We walk around like drowns waiting for the unconscious box to tell us our next move. I have found that people that have to always be plugged in seem to have a tough time being alone.

Did you know that you don't actually need to spend a lot of time on a piece of cardio equipment anyway. 15-20 minutes is really all you need. That isn't even enough time to watch a full show. If I felt that cardiovascular was super important and that I wanted people to watch movies I would have all my machines with televisions on them and serve popcorn and soda. However, I don't feel the need to spend thousands of dollars on bells and whistles so that people can get caught up on their news, etc. This is another reason why you won't see rows and rows of cardiovascular machines at my gym. The best FAT BURNER OF ALL IS RESISTANCE TRAINING, not cardiovascular exercise. Come and see me and I will show you an exercise program that will burn more fat from your body than hours of running on a treadmill would ever do. Television-- are you kidding me.

It's All About Nutrition

Exercise is only a metabolic booster that breaks down protein from the body. It is essential to rebuild vital muscle tissue through diet. A person can exercise all they want and will NEVER see results unless they know how to effectively eat. I see time and time again people exercising frantically in hopes to see a change in their body but to no avail. These types of folks just don't seem to understand how the body works. You see it is not about taking more classes, or training for one to two hours more, or running on a treadmill longer than 30 minutes. IT ALL COMES DOWN TO NUTRITION. You can go to all the fancy exercise classes in the world being taught by all the greatest instructors in the world, but the bottom line is that you will not see the results you desire if you eat incorrectly.

The physiology of the body doesn't change just because a person is in a pretty room with fancy machines. Human physiology reacts the same way if you are working on a farm for 12 hours picking up hay bails or if you are lifting 100 pound bars over your head in a gym. Tissue breakdown is the same in both cases. Exercise only provides a metabolic boost to the body. It helps you to breakdown the tissue so that during recovery you rebuild more muscle tissue with proper nutrition. More muscle tissue means more activation of the enzymes to help burn sugar and fat more effectively. However, if you have no idea of the correct sequence of nutritional support following an exercise bout then you are doomed for FAILURE. I don't care how pretty the aerobic instructor is or how pretty the exercise facility is, or how great the music system is, or how many people are in a class, etc, etc, etc. IT IS ALL ABOUT NUTRITION!!!!

What I teach to my clients is the correct methods for losing body fat while increasing or maintaining vital muscle tissue. I offer a complete system that combines both education of effective exercise and nutritional support. If you are only performing exercise without proper nutrition you will FAIL in your attempt to transform your body.

Tags: nutrition, fat loss, aerobics, weight training, rehab, physical therapy, body building, sports conditioning, exercise, physiology, muscle

Supplementation

In this day and age it hard to get all the essential nutrients that we need to take in on a daily basis from diet alone. Taking supplements can help ensure that you get the correct amount of nutrients in your diet. I have been taking supplements for over 22 years and I attribute my body building results to them. I have tried to body build without supplements and I noticed a loss in my gains. Many people oppose the use of supplements and that is their choice. I have experimented for years on the validity of various supplements and have found that there are crucial ones that everyone should take. At my gym I don't ever tell anyone about supplements unless they ask me. The reason I don't talk about supplements to everyone is because people feel that they are being "sold" something. i am not a pill pusher or a fast talking salesman. I know what works and what doesn't. In a way it is like my little secret and I keep it to myself. Everyone has their own opinions about supplements and I don't want to get into who's right and who's wrong. I just know what works for me. When I want to lose body fat for a contest I will take the following supplements; Fat Burners, L-Carnitine, Liquid L-Carnitine mixed in water during the workout, digestive enzymes (everyday), dessicated liver tablets, free form amino acids, Sterol complex, Chromate, lipotropic plus, multi-vits, branched chain aminos, flax seed oil tablets. These are my supplements of choice they work phenomenally for me and I can get ripped in 4 weeks from taking them. In addition to taking these supplements I take in all the essential nutrients 5-6 times per day.

When I want to build more muscle I will take creatine monohydrate, free form amino acids, dessicated liver tablets, sterol complex, branched chain aminos, protein shakes, I consume about 1 to 2 dozen eggs a day along with all the essential nutrients needed to repair muscle tissue. My nutritional needs are different than the average person ,therefore, I can consume a tremendous amount of protein. I don't really care what the media and medical profession says about protein. I know what works for me and I only follow my own body's rhythm. Many folks freak out when I tell them how many eggs I consume. Well I don't advocate that they follow my diet. If my body couldn't handle the protein I take in I would have been dead years ago. I never conformed to the dietary rules set forth by the medical world and the FDA. I like to challenge nutritional rules because I feel that body builders push their body through limits that require advanced dietary methods in order to grow.

There are thousands of different supplements out there that I have yet to try. I found that the ones I use work so there is no need to change them at this time. I do find it interesting that at my gym I have a bunch of supplements on the shelves and only 2 people in ten years have ever asked me questions about them. I have them in the business because they work and I only sell products that I use myself. Yet, I will never approach people to sell my products. I figure that if someone wants my help then they will ask.

The bottom line is that supplements work and they can help propel the fat burning process, help muscle repair and re-growth, help bone repair, muscle metabolism, and balance electrolytes, improve immunity, and balance out the central nervous system. If you ever have any questions regarding what supplements you should take please email me at dconant2004@yahoo.com
I will tell you the ones that work for me.

tags: supplements, creatine, health, muscle, bodybuilding, weight lifting, nutrition, fitness, amino acids, vince gironda, fitness nut house, quest fitness, fat loss, weight loss, abdominal training