How LISS Cardio Changed My Life

Look, this is not going to be some post about the amazing amount of fat you can burn by doing this type of training. I still haven't changed my opinion on the vast majority of cardio as it relates to fat loss. I still thinks there are things that are much more important to changing your body other than hours of slaving away on the treadmill. In fact, this post isn't really going to be about the fat loss benefits of LISS at all, but the benefits I've received in other areas of my life since I started doing it.

Although that will be the case, I still want to give you some insight into what I've been doing. Low Intensity Steady State Cardio (LISS) is a form of cardiovascular training that is extremely beneficial but is very underrated. It is pretty much exactly what it sounds like; maintaining a low heart rate for an extended period of time in an attempt to use as much body fat for fuel as possible. It's simple, it's boring, but it might be the best type of cardio to lose body fat. The other super important aspect of LISS from this perspective is to do it fasted, which is usually the easiest first things in the morning. Here is exactly what I've been doing for my fasted LISS every morning.

• Wake up.
• Drink a glass of water and a cup of black coffee.
• Go to the gym and walked 30-60 minutes while keeping my heart rate between 90-110 BPM.
• Walk at 3 mph and increase the incline to get my HR to where it needs to be. Typically I start at 5 incline and increase as needed.
• I cycle my time by day to prevent burnout. So Monday and Thursday is 60 minutes, Tuesday and Friday is 45 minutes, and Wednesday and Saturday is 30 minutes, Sunday I take off. 

So the first question you may have from this is "Why low intensity? Doesn't higher heart rate burn more calories?". Well yes, a higher heart rate will burn more calories but we need to look at where those calories are coming from. The higher your heart rate gets, your body uses a higher percentage of carbohydrates to fuel the exercise. In lower heart rates, your body uses a greater percentage of fat. So while you're still going to use some fat for fuel at higher heart rates, the total amount you use will be less. 

The second question you may have from this is "Why fasted?". Long story short, because of the lack of insulin present increases the amount of body fat you will use for fuel because it becomes the most available fuel source. When you pair this with lower intensity exercise like walking, you maximize the potential to use stored body fat as fuel. 

Question three is usually "Can I do something other than walk?". The answer to that is yes, but you need to be careful about keeping your heart rate down in the lower range. It's pretty easy to get your heart rate too high with something like a bike or an elliptical, but it is an option you can use if walking is not a option for you. I choose to walk because I can, and because I am a human being who was literally designed to walk (also it's really helped me build up my calves).

So that's a quick rundown on what I've been doing and why I'm doing it. It's definitely not the entire story so if you do have additional questions then please let me know. Although I have lost some body fat from everything I've been doing lately (check that out here), that is not even close to the best benefit I've gotten from doing this cardio. The best benefit has been so much more important but we need to switch gears really quick to explain. 

Raise your hand if you listen to music when you do cardio. Don't lie because I know most of you do! But guess what, you're wasting some unbelievable potential by listening to music and not using that time to improve yourself. I was introduced to personal development 6 years ago about the time I started Grad School and I really haven't taken a day off of it since them. Every day I either read a book, listen to a podcast, listen to an audiobook, or watch a video about something that I want to improve on in my life. This is usually related to exercise, business, marketing, or leadership and I can never fully explain to you how much this has changed my life. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that I've learned more about exercise and nutrition AFTER I graduated Grad School than I did when I was there. That's not meant to say anything bad about my education, but just to show how much info there really is out there to learn (usually for free).

This is where LISS comes back in. That 30-60 minutes every day is 30-60 minutes of time you could be learning, improving, thinking, or building your ideas, career or business. It is impossible to explain to you how many ideas I've come up with (including this post), how much clarity I've gotten in my goals, and how motivated I've become just from the this time spent every morning. It's actually crazy how your brain just start to go. You usually latch on to a topic or sentence from what you're listening to and your brain just goes on it's own. You zone out and crazy things happen. But here's the thing, I also listen to the same programs on my 60 minutes of driving every day, but I don't get anywhere near the same number and quality of ideas that I do when I walk. There is something about listening and moment together that helps you get into a flow state where the combination of the two is more powerful than either separately. This has lead me to not only tolerate cardio every day, but actually look forward to it! I promise you that's not something that I ever thought I would say!

To finish up, I just wanted to give you a quick list of some of the podcasts (my go to lately) that I've been listening too when I walk.

1. The MFCEO Project by Andy Frisella
2. Empire Podcast Show with Bedros Keuilin and Craig Ballantyne
3. Renegade Radio by Jason Ferruggia 
4. The Mike Dolce Show

Again, these are typically more in the area of fitness, nutrition, and business but I would still recommend them to anyone, as they are all created for the every day person. You can chose to take my advice or not, because I know there still may be a weird stigma around "personal development" that can push some people away. But I promise that it won't take very long for you to understand exactly what I mean if you just decide to give it a shot.

We Did It! 84/84

Well it looks like I made it. 85 days ago I posted a survey on Facebook asking people what kind of content they were interested in hearing about. In total, 84 total answers were given which prompted me to commit to 84 posts in 84 straight days, every day with no excuses. When I started, I wrote out a list of everything I could think of to talk about and it wasn't even close to 84. I knew that I would have to learn a ton as I went and if definitely wasn't going to be easy. Most days, especially towards the end here, I laid in bed at 10:00 at night trying to figure out something worth your time to post about. I wanted to give up more times then I know but every comment left and everyone who randomly told me they loved my posts kept me going.

Two weeks ago I told my wife, Emily, that I wanted to stop. It was late one night and I hadn't put anything up yet. I thought no one was paying attention and wouldn't even realize if I stopped. She talked me into posting and told me I would be so mad at myself if I quit. The next morning, a comment on that post showed me that people were still listening, and still holding me to my promise.

"Can you see the light at the end of the tunnel? Only twelve more posts before you've held up your promise. Definitely awesome reading all this though! We don't know each other very well but I've learned a lot from your posts 1000 miles away haha"

That comment was from a friend named Ryan, someone who I believe I haven't talked to years, but someone who's been paying attention. So Ryan, if you're reading this, thank you for that. Seriously. It gave me a new spark to make sure to finish this.

I'm learned a ton through this process, I've had to to make sure I had something to post about. Often times I'd pull from an event from that day or a piece of info from a podcast I'd listened too, which forced me to look into topics I may not have known a ton about. I definitely didn't have a plan but I made it work. It's like what Grant Cardone talks about in "The 10x Rule"' commit first then figure it out later. You don't always need a plan, you just have to act.

Hopefully you guys learned a lot too. My goal was to try to increase my influence and increase the number of people I had contact with. I also had the goal to post free content that was better than what other guys make you pay for. I think I accomplished this goal based on the number of questions I got, free programs I sent out, and phone calls I made with old friends. I loved (and will continue to love) every second that I get to help someone. These topics change lives and I'm blessed to be able to bring that info to people.

Also, wether directly or indirectly, these months of me posting have been the most successful months of my entire career with Xperience Fitness. I don't know if it was the forced extra effort, the increase influence, or something else. It could just be correlation and not causation but regardless, something happened and I owe it to you guys.

Obviously I still plan on posting, but definitely not every day. Instead, it'll probably be more like 1-2 a week if I hear something good on a podcast or have a new program I want to post. I also plan on doing some book reviews for a few books I have lined up. Here's a few to look forward too.

- The sick bench press program I'm on right now that is blowing up my bench
- A review of "Unplugged", the book I'm currently reading
- A full review of "Estrogeneration" which is next on my book list and will go into more detail than my first post about it.
- Breathing techniques that can change your life

I'm being honest when I say I've posted basically everything I know and can conceptualize about health and fitness for you guys. Pretty much any question I could answer for you exists within the last 3 months of posting so please reference them when you need. I need to go back through and categorize everything and it should be easier to find info at that point. Regardless, please feel free to reach out if you have questions. I love getting on the phone with people, especially those who I haven't talked to in a long time. If you need help please ask, even if we don't talk, because I can probably help you. If I cant then I'll at least be able to point you in the right direction.

I appreciate everyone who's liked, commented, and shared any one of my posts and I'm going to ask you to do it one more time. You may not realize how that simple act could have affected someone's life so if you're reading this, please at least hit the Like button when you're done or, if you feel inclined, comment or even share it. Let's make this my biggest post yet and see how many people we can reach. The more people who can see these the better because that increases the amount of people we can help together. Some of my posts have been pretty popular but I want this one to blow them out of the water.

So one more time, thank you all, seriously, if you read even a single one of my posts. There's nowhere to go but to keep going up and I plan of delivering you guys the best free content that I possibly can.

What Works for You Doesn't Work for Everyond 82/84

I just wanted to write up a quick post to remind everyone of something; what works for you will not necessarily work for everyone, and whats working for you right how will not necessarily work forever. This can be about diet or exercise, both of which will change often during our lives. This goes back to my post a few days ago about the 3 goals of nutrition. Goals change and how you respond to stimuli changes, you must be ready to accept these changes and have a plan for when they come.

This thought also should raise up a big red flag to any quick fixes or blanket diets/ programs that spout off about how well they work.  Obviously, just because they worked for whoever is selling them doesn't mean they will work for you. This should also raise an even bigger flag to people who promote diets/ programs that they did and say you can get results like them if you use it!

Everyone is going to respond to things differently and that means that professionals like myself need to be ready to adapt with their clients. You need to have multiple nutrition programs that work as well as multiple exercise program options. And you need to be able to move through these fluidly and adjust to your clients needs so you can serve them the best. Have knowledge of keto, vegan, Paleo, IF, and traditional diets as well as having knowledge of bodybuilding, CrossFit, powerlifting, and endurance sports. You don't have to be an expert in each but you need to know enough to find what's best for you and your clients.

How I Lost 20 Pounds Without Cardio 81/84

It's about that time of year again and everyone knows it. The days are getting longer, the weather is warming up, and the amount of clothing you're going to wear on a daily basis is getting less and less. As you start to pack up the winter clothes and unpack your favorite summer attire, you start to notice something that concerns you.

Your favorite shirt is just a bit tighter than you like. You have just a little bit of something hanging over your favorite shorts. Your favorite summer dress just doesn't seem to sit right. You're starting to realize that you've added a couple more pounds than you had anticipated and you can no longer hid that fact under your baggy winter sweats.

So what do you do about that? You know you want to get beach ready but you don't know where to start. You probably just need to hammer out endless hours or cardio, right? Or go on some crazy restrictive diet, right? Keto, you probably have to do Keto... Right?

EDIT: I went back and made some changes to this post to reflect what I've been doing in my most recent cut. Those will be in bold just like this. The main points of the post stay the same but I felt it was good to add some new insight to this topic.

Back in March 2018, I decided that I was tired of not having all of my abs and that it was time for me to go through I cut to drop my body fat down again. At that point, I was on a maintenance phase after massing up to over 250lbs while keeping my body fat relatively low, just over 10% or so. Through that maintenance phase I started to get pretty lax on my diet and my body fat started to go up, just enough to bug me. For years I was super lean, getting down as low as 4.9% body fat in college, and maintaining that through CrossFit for a long time. I was very used to being lean, I prided myself on it,  and I wanted to get down back where I was. I also wanted to prove a point, actually a couple.

Those two points were these; that I wouldn't need to do cardio to lose fat, and that I didn't need to count my macros and track my food. I greatly dislike cardio, as most people do, and I wanted to see what kind of damage I could do to my body fat without it. Through these last few months, not counting playing volleyball, I did probably 2-3 bouts of actually cardio, and usually just to get my last few MYZONE MEPs for the month to stay on track. It's safe to say that what little I did did not really contribute much to my weight loss. Main edit number 1, this cut I added in fasted walking 5-6 times a week to my fat loss journey. In the past, I was not a fan of fasted cardio and, based on the research I read, it was no more beneficial than fed cardio, and neither of them did a ton for overall fat loss. But when two of your most followed and most respected mentors in this field can effectively explain how and why they use fasted cardio for their clients, you can give it a chance. Simply enough, all I did was 30-60 minutes of low intensity stead state (LISS) walking each morning, keeping my heart rate between 90 and 120 bpm. I have done very little moderate or HIIT conditioning outside of this so far. 

As for point number two, there's absolutely nothing wrong with tracking food, I think everyone needs to do it in some fashion until they can learn what good portion sizes are and how to eat without it. You see, that's the end goal, you should be able to live your life without having to keep track of everything you eat. And you should be able to stay lean and healthy without it. At the point where I was, I had been tracking my food a lot prior, for years, and had a very good idea of how much protein, carbs, and fat to eat each meal. I also had an idea built into my head of how I was going to reduce calories throughout my cut, starting with decreasing fat intake and then in to decreasing carbs when I needed to. Main edit number two, I absolutely prioritized real food in every meal. My goal is to eat as much whole and minimally processed food as possible while still fitting in the general guidelines in the rest of this post. Real food needs to be the goal ALWAYS. Examples would be swapping out Gatorade powder for orange and cranberry juice, and reducing my absolute reliance on energy drinks and protein bars. I still use protein powder a couple times a day for convenience sake for now. 

Those were to two experiments I wanted to do but that's not all that went into it. As you guys probably know, I love intermittent fasting so I was obviously going to use that to help me. I extend the time of my fast so I basically ate when I was finished with my morning clients, which usually got me home and eating around 12-1. I also added a ton more veggies into my meals and prioritized them along with protein. I started each meal by eating my protein and veggies first, then eating my carbs and fats. Main edit number three is that I did not use intermittent fasting this time around. Due to my new schedule in Cleveland, IF didn't make sense as I had to workout earlier in the day. I simply added some steel cut oats, fruit, protein, greens, and juice after my cardio and before my lift. 

For my workouts I did an average of 4 strength training days per week. Nothing crazy, just basic bodybuilding and strength training sessions to help me maintain muscle. The intensity wasn't even as high as you would expect and some sessions were only about 45 minute long. Generally, I went 2 upper body and 1-2 lower body days working up to only 2-3 heavy top end sets.

Here was my plan written out in list form

- Extend fast to 12-1:00pm
- Eat more veggies and make them a priority  (1-2 cups per meal)
- Eat enough protein
- Eat some fat but reduce the amount as cut progresses
- Eat slightly less carbs than I was, usually 1-2 servings of fruit and 1 serving whole grains
- Very little cardio
- Lifting workouts focused on maintaining muscle and building up problem areas
- Strategic cheats days later in Cut
- Daily weigh-in when I got to work each morning

That's what I stuck to for about 4 months to drop about 20 pounds from my highest at 256 to my lowest at 236. Now I've been sitting around 238 on average and I'm pretty happy here. In fact, I'm happier with the way I look now than I have been in a long time. The best part about this is that I didn't do anything that anyone reading this post can't do. There is no magic to what I did to lose that weight and get my body and confidence back. It's not too late for you to do the same but you need to start TODAY if you want to be ready for summer. Sign up for that gym, stop poisoning yourself, get a Coach. There's still time to get beach ready but don't wait any longer! If you have any questions about this process of my experience, or if you want any help with your own weight loss journey then please let me know! I'm always happy to help.

The Three Goals of Dieting 78/84

What is your goal with your diet? There are many different outcomes of nutrition but most of them can be categorized into three different goals. Each one of these has their benefits and they all have some crossover with each other but there are definite differences between each one. The three different goals are; body composition, performance, and health/ longevity. Let's take a look at the benefits of each as well as where to start.

- Body Composition

This refers to any changes you want to make to body fat and muscle mass. The most important dietary factors here are total calories and macronutrients as these are the two things that have the most effect on body comp. You absolutely have to eat the correct amount of food and have it partitioned in the correct ways to see the best results here. The foods you eat don't make a super huge difference as long as the numbers are hit. That being said I would always aim to get 90% of your food from fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean meats and healthy fats.

To start with a body comp diet I like to recommend a pretty even diet of moderate to high protein, moderate carbs and moderate fats. From here, changes can be made in carb and fat levels to increase muscle mass or decrease body fat. Usually I will add or subtract fats because they have the most calories per gram, so a small difference in foods makes a bigger difference in total calories. Just like in anything, finding what works did you is important but I would aim to keep protein higher, around .7g per pound to 1.0 grams per pound each day.

- Performance

This refers to anyone who wants to increase athletic performance, including strength training and increasing power. This is similar to body comp in that total calories play a major roll as well as macronutrients. I would still aim at the fruits, veggies, etc above but there are some differences in macros here. The biggest thing is that carbs usually need to stay higher to optimize performance. The exception to this is for endurance based athletes who get most of their fuel from fat, but for most athletes higher carbs will be better for them. This includes strength sports and most field sports that require fast burst of energy as well as sustained movement. Moderate to high protein, moderate to high carbs and moderate to low fat works great here.

- Health and Longevity

This refers to eating to just be healthy and have a good quality of life. This usually becomes a goal after one of both of the other two have been attempted and the person is ready to focus on the most important piece. Tons of people will go through this transition and it applies to training as well. When a person is younger and mainly focuses on one of the other two goals, health is not the main priority. But once that person has finished their athletic career or gotten to a desired body composition, then priorities switch to making sure that they live a long and healthy life. I feel like this should become just about everyone's goal eventually. Unlike the other two, food composition plays a much bigger role now. Outside of total calories, the foods you eat are the most important factor in increasing health. Again 90% of foods should come from fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean meats and healthy fats but there are some macronutrient changes compared to the other goals. The big one here is that, when performance is not a concern, a low carb or ketogenic diet can be very healthy. This is also true for vegetarian and vegan diets. While I know there are a handful of bodybuilders and pro athlete who are vegans, it's probably not the best option for performance, although it is possible to still be very athletic. From a health standpoint it is extremely good and can always been considered a good option. Ironically, ketogenic diets and vegan diets are basically opposites in practice but both can be very effective for long term health. As for macros, I would still start pretty moderate and adjust to what works. Going vegan for moral reasons makes the choice obvious and trying keto for the hormonal and body composition benefits can be great as well. It all comes back to finding what works for you as an individual and being consistent with it!

Stop Letting the Weekends Ruin Your Progress 77/84

I know we've all been there before. You nutrition is on point all week and then as soon as Friday night rolls around you start eating crap and reverting back to all of the bad habits you used to have. You can say whatever you want but weekend calories really do count. And you can't expect to eat great for 5 days and eat garbage for 2 and expect to make any real progress.

This seems to be a problem for so many people so I like to spend a lot of time trying to figure out why. The biggest thing is that you're out of your routine. We all develop routines throughout the week for when we eat, sleep, and workout. It's based mostly around your work schedule which makes it easy to figure out when you can fit everything in. Now, as soon as we get to the weekend, most people aren't working and that great routine becomes irrelevant. At this point, without a routine, people tend to rely on old tendencies and go back to old bad habits.

The second big thing is that the weekend has much more of a relaxing and party feel to it, leading people to drinking more alcohol and eating bad food. People go out more, go to lunch or dinner more, and do things like go to the movies more. It all plays into the nature that the weekend are supposed to be your escape from the work week and be time for you to be free and do what you like.

If you truly care about you progress you can't give into the weekend temptations, you have to make sure that you're just as disciplined as you are during the week. Make sure you have food prepped, make time for workouts, and have a plan for when your friends and family want to go out and do something. No matter your goal, make sure you still live your life, but you need to find ways to be responsible about what you're doing.

Influencing Your Subconscious 74/84

Wether you realize it or not, your subconscious is making tons of decisions for you every single day. It can be nothing more than just the smallest blip of a feeling when you're making a decision and all of the sudden your brain has made up your mind for you. You unconsciously make so many decisions every day that, if you can't control it, it can have a pretty devastating effect on your life.

Have you ever noticed how some people are just positive all of the time while some people are constantly negative? If you pay close enough attention, you'll realize that the positive people usually have more good things happen to them than the negative people do. They are usually more lucky and have more success. Do you ever wonder why that is? Part of the reason is that because they subconscious thoughts are more positive, leading them to more positive decisions and feelings, which in turn leads to even more positivity. Without them even needing to try, their brains automatically think happier thoughts and make them make more decisions that will make them happy. This, in turn, often attracts more luck and more success. No one wants to spend time with a negative person right?

So what can you do to become one of those people? How can you get your brain to automatically think positively? The biggest ways are to avoid negative things and people and to surround yourself with  positivity as often as possible. Even if you start off as someone who is always negatively thinking, enough positivity can start to switch your wiring a bit. The more often you do this, the more you can change your brain to default to positive.

The other half is to avoid negativity. Think of your brain as a glass of water. When you bring in negative stimulus like the news, tabloids, or you downer coworker, your water gets black and mucky. But when you constantly flush it with clean water from positive reading, thoughts, and people, the nasty water starts to clear out. The more often you can flush the black out with clean water the less effort it will take, and the less time you spend adding muck to your water the easier it is to flush as well.

Reading personal development books, inspirational videos of stories, and spending time with genuinely positive and upbeat people can really help your brain become and stay positive, and will be one of the most important decisions you make. Remember, you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with, so make sure you choose those people carefully and ditch anyone who's not going to the same heights as you.

Building New Habits Now 73/84

This post won't be as much of an informative post as it is a call to action. Even though most people don't want to hear it, Summer will be coming to an end soon. Today marks the first day of August which means the new school year and new schedules are right around the corner. Often times people use this period an excuse not to start to work out and get healthy because they need to take time to adjust to their new schedule.

Personally, I find it interesting that said people need so long to adjust when they could have already taken the time to build the good habits in he first place, meaning that they wouldn't need to wait because those good practices would already be instilled in them. What I'm trying to say is that NOW is the time to start working on building those habits, that way you are ready when schedules do change. If you try to wait until then, you're not going to do it. Start it right now so that you can be ready when you need to. All it takes is to make one healthy decision, get a gym membership, or higher a trainer to get you started on the road to a healthier life.

Needing to wait is just an excuse, plain and simple. If you want to make a change then don't wait. Start right now by doing something that you know will benefit you then build on that. If you need help getting started or are stuck and need something to break you out then let me know. I'll help you with whatever you need and guide you with whatever resources I can. Just make the decision to act and take that first step!

How to be Successful at Anything 71/84

What is your goal right now? Do you want to lose weight? Do you want to get jacked? Do you have a goal that's not even fitness related? Whatever it is, there are certain things you can do to damn near guarantee that you hit it. No, that doesn't mean it will be easy, but it will make it easier. Try these things out and see how much progress you start making.

Ok so I shouldn't even have to say this because it should be super obvious but YOU HAVE TO ACTUALLY BELIEVE THAT YOU CAN DO IT! If you want to accomplish anything you have to believe in yourself enough to make it happen. I know that sounds super cheesy but it's true. Plenty of people will tell you what they want to do but don't actually think they can do it. When you have that negative mindset then guess what happens; you actually become your own biggest obstacle in hitting your goal. Self-sabotage kills more dreams than any other single thing, except maybe not even starting. So many people are their own worst enemy. I'm not sure why this is but I'm sure someone does. I would guess that it has something to do with assuming your going to fail and wanting to do it on your own terms. Regardless of why it happens it still does all of the time. If you can actually convince yourself that you can hit you goal, it makes it 1000x easier for you to do it. So how do you do this? It's as simple as telling yourself you can. The great thing about this is that you don't even need to believe it, not at first at least. But the crazy thing is that once you say it often enough your subconscious starts to change. All of these negative things you've been telling yourself for years start to go away and they start to get replaced by positive thoughts instead. When this happens you'll start to realize that you DO believe you can hit your goals and your whole outlook changes. At this point, your head is in the right spot to conquer anything.

Another way to guarantee success is to set massive goals. This is epitomized in the book "The 10x Rule" by Grant Cardone, which I would recommend to anyone. Basically, the objective is to set massive, maybe even unrealistic goals, then take the action necessary to hit that goal. Even if you fall short, you probably still did a hell of a lot more than you thought you could. Here's an example.

- Right now it's almost August 1st so let's say my goal is to make $100,000 by the end of the year. And let's say last year in the same timeframe I made $15,000 (all of these numbers are hypothetical). That means that I would have to make $20,000 per month each month to hit this goal. For most people in most jobs around the world that is rather unrealistic and that's ok. But now I work backward and see what kind of action I would need to take to hit that goal. I make 10 times as many calls and book way more appointments than normal. I start to use alternative means to find clients and work extra hours meeting people. At the end of the year I only made $70,000, well under my goal of $100,000, but guess what, that's still $55,000 more than I made in the same time the year before! I didn't hit my goal but that's still pretty amazing (again, all hypothetical).
In this situation, by setting myself such a huge goal I more than tripled the amount from the year before and, although I fell short of the goal, I still made massive improvements. How can you use this mindset with your goals?

The last thing I wanted to go over to guarantee success is to take massive action. This came up briefly in my hypothetical example so let's do more detail. If you want to be successful you have to work 10x harder than you think you do, period. You need to go out and take huge  action that can set a fire under your butt and start building you some momentum. Massive action is the only want to make any real difference without getting stuck in average and mediocre. Want to lose weight? Massive action. Want to get big? Massive action. Don't just just try to do the minimum, no one ever guaranteed success by doing the minimum. And the worst thing you can do the the expected amount of action. Again you don't want to be average so why do an average amount of work? You need to do the maximum and then do even more. Do tons of research, change you unhealthy lifestyle, higher a personal trainer (!), and be ready to take action!

If you start to do these things you'll be surprised at the differences you can make. Start to think about these points and figure out how you can use them to help you guarantee success in whatever goal you want.

Go Join A Bar League Team 67/84

I've talking in the past about how important daily activity is and how it's really the most important exercise for losing fat. This can be anything from walking your dog to going for a bike ride. One other great way to get some weekly exercise is to go join a bar league or rec league sports team. It doesn't really matter what you want to do; volleyball, softball, basketball, soccer, just get out and play. One of the best parts about working out all the time is when you can actually use the fitness you build in the gym in the real world. Not only does it make all that gym time worth it, but if your workout program is any good then you will have a solid advantage over a ton of people you're playing against.

Outside of the fact that playing sports is just plain fun and it is obviously good exercise, it can also be a great stress reliever and help you get a mental break from the day to day norms. Just that hour or so a week can do wonders for clearing your head and preventing you from getting burnt out. Add that to the social aspect of meeting new people and making connections and you have some great benefits that aren't physical.

Another one of the great benefits is that being on a team gives you something to train for. Want to lose 10 pounds? Now you have that extra bit of motivation because you know you'll play better. When I got back into playing volleyball after a few years it was perfect timing for me. Since stopping CrossFit I wasn't really sure what goals I wanted to reach for, but playing again gave me something to work on and I was having fun in the gym again. I could focus on getting my vertical back up and healing up my knees to keep playing. It also forced me to drop some weight so I could be more athletic.

Here's a quick reference list of all of the benefits you can get from playing a sport

• Extra exercise
• Fat loss
• Increased cardiovascular strength
• Injury prevention
• Increased training motivation
• Decreased mental stress
• Meeting new people
• Winning free beer
• Showing off how awesome you are

Just about everyone played a sport a some time in their life, and if they didn't they probably have one that they love. You might as well get out and try it so you can reap the benefits as well. If you want a program to help you dominate the rec sports world then let me know. Programming for athletes is really a specialty of mine and I would love to get you some help. Shoot me a message or email and we'll get the ball rolling!

The Importance of Progress Pictures 59/84

I've talked in the past about using different metrics to track progress outside of just looking at the scale. I love using body fat percentage and circumference measurements to see a little more concrete progress but there's a way that's usually more important to people.

If you ask most people what their goals are they will probably tell you a weight or a pants size they want to fit into. but when you dig a little deeper, you find out the weight doesn't actually matter as much as simply what they look like. They feel that if they hit a certain weight, they will like the way they look, instead of just focusing on the mirror and forgetting the scale. So if people really only care about what they look like why not just use the mirror as their guide? This can be pretty tough because you can't see that much progress that quick day to day, especially if you're not tracking in any way. But, if you're keeping a record of what you look like, it can be an effective way to track progress that actually matters to you.

Obviously, this is where progress pictures come in. Taking pictures often and in the same position can give you a reliable means of seeing whats going on. Have you ever talked to someone who's lost a bunch of weight but they feel like they don't look any different? It happens all the time, and it happens because when all you do is look at yourself each day it makes it much harder to see the small changes over time. For these people, once you show them a picture of them at the start they automatically see a huge difference in the way they look. This is the magic of visual progress, instead of seeing the small changes numerous times each day, you can look back and see massive progress all at once.

Here's what I recommend to my clients when they take their pictures

- Take one from the front, side, and back
- Avoid baggy clothes so you can see the differences, underwear is usually best and remember, no one else needs to see them if you don't want too
- Take a picture each week in each position
- Try to do it in the same place with the same lighting and the same time of day
- Just like the scale, morning is best because your appearance can change drastically throughout the day
- After a month, compare week 1 to week 4 and you might be surprised at the difference.

Again, this is something that I recommend everyone do. If you still do weight and measurements then you may not need to take pics every week. I do mine about once a month because I understand how to use the scale without overthinking it.

I know that this is going to feel weird and super uncomfortable for some people but I promise you're going to love that you had that "before" picture one six months when you love the way you look. If you need help getting started then please reach out to me. I have a number of free programs on my site but sometimes a personalized plan is the best thing for you. I am also on a mission to drastically increase my Instagram following so if you want to help me out please follow me on there. I will be posting there most often for a bit to try and increase that media. You can follow me @Greg.The.Trainer and I wold really appreciate it!

No One is Going to Do It For You 58/84

Losing weight is hard! We all know this by now, it's no secret. Sure gaining muscle can be hard too depending on who you are but it's different. Losing fat means you need to be hungry and that's uncomfortable, plus you have to eat salads and they're gross. But in all seriousness it really is a tough job, if it weren't then everyone would be skinny right? But there are a few things that you really need to understand that can make the process so much easier for you. These fall more on the mental side of things, which in most cases can be much more important. Once you really embrace these, it liberates you and allows you to do what you need to do to see results.

1. Realize that you are in 100% control.

This is your body and your life, no one can make you do anything that you truly don't want to. This can be magical for the fitness world because it allows you to realize that you control everything, and that gives you all of the power. If you don't want to eat something then don't eat it, no one can make you. If you want to go to the gym then go! No one has the right to stop you. Once you embrace this, and stop letting other people try to dictate what you do, you will hit your goals so much faster. Have that hard conversation with someone if you don't feel like they're helping you the way they should, it will be worth it in the end.

2. Start taking 100% responsibility.

This is similar but also the opposite. If you're not taking full responsibility for everything, the losses and the triumphs, then you need to start and see what a difference it can make. If you keep trying to pass the blame to other people then you're never going to get as far as you could. You ate bad because your friends wanted to go out to eat? It's totally fine to go with but did they put the food in your mouth? Of course not, you chose to do it and you need to take responsibility if you want to be truly successful. But, do you know what the great thing about this is? It still means you have all the control. Since you're taking responsibility, you don't to the rely on anyone else (not that that's bad) and can allow yourself to reach your full potential.

Here's the bottom line on these two; it's up to you and no one else. No one will do it for you and no one can stop you. You have to put in the work and you have to make the sacrifices. But you also can't blame other people when things aren't going the best. There will be hard times and when you are able to embrace these two things then it will help you get through them even faster!  Hopefully this didn't come off too harsh, I've never been that kind of trainer and I don't ever expect to be, but sometimes saying the right thing at the right time may be exactly what someone reading this needs to hear!

No, People At The Gym Are Not Judging You 57/84

What is your mentality when you get to the gym? Are you a stud who walks around like you own the place? Do you hide behind a cardio machine because you don't know how to use the weights? Do you just stick with classes because you like having someone tell you what do to? For most people reading this, I'd be willing to bet it isn't the first one. Most people are too afraid of being judged or stared at to venture out into the heart of the gym and start lifting some weights. But do people really care? Is anyone actually judging you for doing it? These are all questions I will be answering for you.

Hitting the gym can be scary, I get that. I have been going to different gyms for years but to be honest I still get uncomfortable when I go to one that I'm not a regular at. I'm definitely not worried about doing exercises wrong or doing a program that looks silly, but it's still hard for me to walk in somewhere and own it. This let's me realize how excruciatingly hard it must be for someone who doesn't have almost 15 of lifting under their belt. At Xperience, we try to do our best to make sure that new members feel comfortable and know basic exercises and how to use the machines, but it still takes some time for people to really get accustomed to a place without feeling self conscious about being there.

I'm just going to be up front about this, unless you're doing something that is inherently dangerous to others, most people really don't care what you're doing. I'll also let you in on this secret, people are probably not staring at you, and if they are, it's because they are uncomfortable and looking to see what other people are doing! Just like you. 90% of people at the gym are self conscious, even if they don't show it or look like they own the place. Every dude in there is looking at the guys who are bigger then them and every girl is looking at everyone they want to look like, but no one is judging anyone for being there, I promise you that.

Once we realize that everyone is uncomfortable, we can start to get over our fears and start getting stuff done. Everyone is willing to support you and help you, and anyone will give you advice if you ask, just don't be afraid. If you want to get a head start on this, come see me at Xperience Fitness in Appleton or shoot me a message about what program would be the best for you to do based on your goals. Just having a good workout that you can feel confident in can make a big difference in increasing your confidence in the gym. Don't be afraid to ask because I will help you! Also, don't forget to subscribe to my blog while you're hear. You'll get a ton of free stuff like my Top Fat Loss and Muscle Gain Tips, a free macros calculator, and a free 30 minute consultation call with me to make sure that you're on the right track!

Why You Should Meditate Daily 56/84

For fitness goals everyone always focuses on diet and exercise, which is obviously important. But there are other major factors that people fail to even think about that could make or break your progress. One of those is sleep, which is arguably more important than diet or exercise for fat loss. The other is stress which, when too high, can absolutely kill any progress no matter what your fitness goal.  Here I am referring to the bad type of stress, called distress. Distress can make you fat, kill your gains, and totally wreck your hormones. We want to keep distress down as low as possible and in today's fast paced world it's becoming harder and harder. But there is one thing that can work for you better than anything in reducing stress and increasing mental health.

Normally when people think of meditation they tend to either think yoga or something a little more other-worldly. Most people don't think of it as something you should do each day to make your waistline shrink. While daily meditation won't have a direct effect on your body fat, it can have a very powerful indirect effect.  Meditation has been shown to lower cortisol levels and almost instant reduce stress, with the effects lasting for a decent amount of time. And as I said, lower stress means less fat.

Deep breathing exercises can also have a profound effect on posture and even back pain when done correctly. When you practice deep breathing through your diaphragm (not your chest) you start to relax the other muscle that are connected to it. All of our muscles are connected by a layer of tissue called fascia, and when a muscle is tight, it's fascia can pull on other muscles as well. As it turns out, the fascia of the diaphragm is connected to that of the psoas. Your psoas, which is a main hip flexor, is also connected to your spine. When your psoas is tight it pulls on your spine and can cause back pain, which is actually a rather common cause. This means that if you can learn to relax your diaphragm with deep breathing, you can give some relief to you psoas and thus your back pain. This alone, in my opinion, is reason enough to at least give meditation a try.

So here's where to start. Take 5-10 minutes out of your morning each morning and practice deep diaphragmic breathing. Either lay flat on your back (don't fall asleep) or sit up tall in a comfy chair. I have started sitting on the floor to help with posture. Breath in and out through you stomach, letting your belly rise and fall, and try to focus only on your breathing. Guided meditation can be great too. There are some awesome 10 minute or less videos on YouTube that can guide you through the process depending on what your goals are. Try this and let me know what you think, and keep in mind that mental health is just as important as physical health

How Your Morning Can Guarantee Success 51/84

I'm currently in the middle of listening to the audio version of a great book that I know is going to make a huge difference in my life. Obviously, because I have no yet finished the book, let alone take any action from it, there are going to have to be a few follow-up posts in the future. The book is called "The Miracle Morning" written by Hal Elrod and it's basically about how he used a daily morning routine to bring him back from 1. literally dying and 2. losing everything he had when the economy crashed in 2008. He goes on to detail the things he did each morning and how he used personal development to bring himself back from near-suicide to being even more successful then he was before the recession.

I was first introduced the Hal 3 years ago when he did an audio interview for Success Magazine. In that interview, he not only talked about how he came back from rock bottom, but also how he relearned how to walk, and overcame massive brain damage from an insane car accident. He said that the most important thing that helped him regain his life was his positive outlook, and he proceeded to say one of my all time favorite quotes ever. Although I was already somewhat practicing this, it was amazing to hear someone say what a huge impact on their life. I'm going to paraphrase because it's been years since I've heard the actual quote (and I can't find it anywhere) but it goes something like 'why would you waste your time and energy trying to change things that are impossible to change.' I love this and it really makes sense to me. Yes, you should be trying to change things in your life that you don't like, but there are some things that are out of your control and you should not waste your time, energy, or emotion trying to change them. Instead, accept the fact that you can't and spend you time changing the things you can.

Having a genuinely positive outlook on life can have an amazing effect on your mental and physical health as well as your relationships. I know this can be hard for some people, as often times people are pretty negative, but there are some strategies you can use to help change you mindset (I'm going to keep talking about this a lot) and make you more positive.

One of the biggest ways you can influence your day is by how you start your morning. This is what "The Miracle Morning" details so I'll give you quick synopsis of what you can try, but I encourage you to check out the book for yourself. Hal recommends things like; prayer/meditation in silence, writing in a journal, exercise, reading, using a dream board, and saying affirmations each morning to set yourself up for success for the rest if the day. All you need to do is spend as little 1 and as much as 20 minutes on each one of these each morning to completely change your day and your life. He mentions many times how this gets people excited to wake up each morning and even people who say they're not morning people start to get up even earlier so that they have more time to spend on their morning routines. I know a lot of this can sound kind of far out and other-worldly but it ties in to a lot of concepts that I have come across from other areas of personal development that I have done over the years and it can definitely be worth a try.

Although this book is meant to be more about being successful, you can adjust all of these things to help you reach your physical goals as well. I'll show you how each one of those pieces of the routine can help get you to your goal.

Silent Meditation: This has been used for centuries to help with physical and mental stress. Not only does it help calm your mind but it reduces mental stress and even blood markers of stress like cortisol. Lower cortisol levels help you workout more, recover better, and prevent you from storing so much body fat.

Journaling: Writing in a journal each morning can help you track progress throughout years of your life and help you express things you may have trouble with any other way. Obviously, keeping a journal of your workouts is a must, but a personal journal can tell you a lot about how you're feeling that day and what to focus on the rest of the day.

Exercise: Getting blood flow in the morning can have tremendous health benefits that last all day. It doesn't need to be long. A couple minutes of jumping jacks or yoga is plenty to get blood pumping.

Dream Board: A dream board is a physical board that has pictures of what you dream of in life. It could be a nice car, a house on the beach, or the body that you've always wanted. Use this board with mental imagery to see yourself being in the body you want and living the life you want.

Affirmations: This is repeatedly saying things out loud that you want to think about yourself, because how you feel about yourself is almost always how you're actually going to end up. Pick something that relates to you goals like "I am lean and healthy" or "I am strong and athletic" and repeat it out loud a number of times. You need to make yourself believe these things are possible if you ever want them to be.

I know some or all of these things can make people uncomfortable but you're never going to change if you keep doing the same things you have been. I plan of starting this tomorrow morning when I wake and I'm going to get back to you guys on how it goes. Until then, I would pick up the book for yourself and start working on your own Miracle Morning.

Injury Free Training 44/84

Let's be honest here. Most people's goals should be long term. Unless you're competing in a sport, part of your goals should include building healthy habits and a sustainable lifestyle. Usually this means the goal is to not get hurt, and make consistent progress over years. Getting injured can put a huge damper on any progress and make a lot of people give up entirely. Even though there's usually way more you can do when hurt than people think, it's always just better to not get hurt in the first place. Here a few tips you can take and use to help make sure that you're preventing injury while still making gains.

-Work in your mobility/ flexibility

Although being more flexible doesn't automatically make you less likely to get injured, it's still important to be flexible enough and mobile enough to be able to get in the proper positions for exercises. Take the deadlift as an example. Although an extremely important and effective exercise, if your hamstrings don't allow you to get your back flat when the bar is on the floor then it becomes rather dangerous and not worth it. I'm situations like this, decrease the range of motion to a point where you can do the exercise perfectly.

-Barbells are not all that functional

Should you train with barbells? Probably. Do you have to? Not necessarily. Are they really all that functional? Not really. During every day life you're more than likely not going to be lifting a perfectly balanced bar with a grip width that fits your hand perfectly. Although I do include them in all of my programs, you need to train with other implements such as dumbbells, kettlebells, sand bags, medicine balls, and bodyweight exercises. Getting a good mix of all of those and making sure you're moving them properly is going to help ensure longevity.

-Use single arm/leg for muscular imbalances

Have you ever watched someone do a back squat and it just looks like absolutely crooked garbage? I have, and that's part of the reason most of my clients don't do barbell back squats until a while into our programs. When I do have a person like this, I often take them away from two leg squats for a while all together and work on single leg squats, step ups, and lunges. Things like this can help identify  and fix imbalances that can cause issues. If you just try to power through bad technique you could end up hurting yourself.

-Don't train to failure

Training to failure is a great way to burn yourself out and kill progress. You should be pushing yourself but alway leave 1-2 reps in the tank. Not only can this help you stay in the game longer, but there's not even any real research to prove training to failure results in more muscle gain.

-Don't get overhyped

Again, a great way to fry yourself out and kill progress. Things that fall into this include tons of preworkout, smelling salts, getting slapped up, and yelling/ grunting through reps. If you're going for a big deadlift PR then these things can help you smash weights, but they are definitely not things you should do every day or even every week.

-Don't to hard every day

This is kind of a culmination of the last two. You don't need to go hard and give 100% every single time you go to the gym. Killing yourself on every metcon, hitting rep PRs on every lift, and crushing yourself every day is going to lead to over training, burn out, and potentially injury. Work hard and try and do a little more every week but don't kill yourself. You'll be better off for it in the long run.

How Your Mindset Can Guarantee Success 43/84

Before you've even started a new challenge you've usually already decided wether you're going to succeed or not, even before your first step. It doesn't matter if we're talking about health, fitness, business, relationships, or anything else: the attitude you have when you start is almost always going to decide if you're going to be successful or not. Do you want to lose weight? Then you need to have to mindset of weight loss from day 1. Do you want to make more sales for your job? Then you need to have the mindset of a successful salesmen each and every day. If you don't believe that you're going to be successful then you've already decided that you won't. Because if you have that negative mindset when you start then you're going to be your own biggest barrier preventing yourself from doing it. That might sounds crazy to some people, but it might sounds super familiar to others.

Think about a time you've tried something and failed. We've all been there before. At first, you're probably making good progress, but pretty soon progress starts to slow and you start to doubt yourself. As soon as you start doubting yourself you start to think of all of the reasons why you won't be successful. Or, you start to think of all of the reasons why you don't really NEED to be successful. You start to justify failure in you're mind, you come to peace with it, and you quite.

Not let's look at the same vague example with a success mindset. You start making quick progress and everything is great. Then, when progress starts to slow, you realize that success comes in waves and that you just need to hold out until the next wave comes. You survive through the down period, making slow progress, then BAM! The wave comes back in and you start making huge steps again. When everyone else would have quit, the fact that you decided on success from the very beginning got you through the tough times and allowed you to continue.

If you've ever had a successful sales based job you know exactly what I'm talking about. Sales are always based on momentum (like most success) and when you hit that momentum you need to ride it as long as you can and do whatever you need to go keep that momentum up as long as you can. This really goes for anything.

You need to check your mindset and see where your thought are taking you. Can you see yourself succeeding in all of your goals? Can you see yourself 50 pounds lighter with a new life? Can took see yourself making twice as much money as you are now, with a new house and car? If not then you need to work on it, because this can be the single most important factor in your success if you learn how to harness it.

The biggest thing that has helped me so far is to try and learn every single day. Whenever I'm driving I have my phone plugged in with an audiobook or podcast playing. Every single time. When I wake up I listen too or read a book while I'm getting ready in the morning because it helps me each day with the right mindset. For me it's usually something fitness based, but I also listen to a lot of business and success books since it is just as important for me to be a good business man as it is for me to be a good trainer.

Adopting daily disciplines like this can be absolutely life changing. Maybe not overnight, but maybe so. I've been doing this for a few years how and I can honestly say I wouldn't be where I am today if I hadn't, and you wouldn't been reading this right now.

So think about how you can take advantage of this. How can you change your mindset so that you guarantee yourself success? What books could you read or podcasts can you find that will make you better? We're about to start a new week of a brand new month, seems like there's not better time to start than right now, so go get after it!

See you tomorrow!

The Halfway Point 42/84

Hey everyone! Big day today. On May 21st I started my weird journey of 84 blog posts in 84 days with almost no idea of what I was doing. What I did know is that I wanted to put a ton of free content out to anyone who would be willing to listen and try and help as many people as possible. Working as a personal trainer, it's my job to help people and I seriously love it. But the only issue is that I really wasn't able to help that many people, seeing as I only have about 20-25 clients. I realized that if I wanted to reach more people then I was going to have to use the power of the internet to do so. So far, it seems like its working a bit, my Facebook followers and post engagement is going up as well as clicks on my page. Those things don't mean a ton but it does mean that people are seeing what I put out and, in turn, hopefully I'm helping these people in one way or another.

This blog alone (really with my Facebook page) has given me the ability to go from helping a few people to helping a couple hundred people, and that's totally amazing! But I want to go bigger. A few hundred people is great but I want to get to a few thousand, or a few million, because I know that I have information that really can change people's lives. So far, I haven't posted a ton of those life changing stories because people seem to be a little self-conscious about me posting their progress pictures (which is totally understandable), but you better believe the proof is out there, and it's coming soon. An interesting correlation to increase my online presence is that my clients are starting to make better progress then they ever have before. I'm not 100% sure why that is happening but I'm not complaining, and neither are they! It probably has something to do with that fact that I have had to increase my already high amount of personal development that I was doing each day in order to have enough content to post to you guys. It also probably had something to do with my mindset of success which naturally projected onto my clients (weird stuff like that happens constantly). But whatever it was it's happening, my client are absolutely killing it and I love it! Hopefully, soon I'll have some progress pictures that I can post for you guys so you can see for yourself, but until then you'll just have to take my word for it!

In honor of this half way post I want to talk a little bit about the future and some new things that are going to be coming so that I can expand my help to as far as I possibly can. Other than these posts, I plan on getting more into making videos for you guys as well. I talked about this quickly on my first video but  I want to continue doing more in the future. The big reason behind that is because I realize that not everyone (most people) don't want to have to read a written post every day. Personally, if I could watch a video or just listen to audio then I would rather do that most of the time. This is going to be a big part of opening up a new YouTube channel for all of these to be posted on, which will help me reach more people by itself. On that channel, I'm also going to start recording and posting exercise demonstration videos for those of you who like to do the free workouts I post. This way, I'll be able to hyperlink right from the post on there to the direct video on exactly how I like exercises to be done. This alone will decrease a ton of the questions that people have and make it easier for you guys to get the workouts done the best way. Honestly, that's my next big step and I don't want to reveal too many of my other secrets for the future.

As the other part of this half way post, I want to link in a few of my most popular posts that I have published since this endeavor started. Obviously, these are the posts that people enjoyed the most so I want to make sure that as many people see them as possible!

To date, my most popular post is about what supplements I take. You can read it HERE if you haven't yet

Not surprisingly, my posts that include free workouts are the next few that are getting the most attention. This post on my women's fat loss and muscle building program is super popular and I really love that workout. Actually, to a point where I have my wife doing it

My other big free workout is the one that I am currently doing which is the Anti Dadbod workout. I've been doing it for 3 weeks now and I'm loving it. You can see the workout explained in Part 1 HERE and Part 2 with the workout HERE

My super informative post on toning came in up towards the top too, which is awesome. I had a lot of people at the gym ask me about this one in person so I'm glad I could get some good info out there. Learn what toning really means HERE.

The last one I want to repost is not one of my top posts, in fact it's BAR FAR my lowest. I still have no idea why because I believe it's a pretty important post, but to date it has an astoundingly low 10 views (which is hilarious)! THIS post is about why you need to worry more than just what the scale says and some other metrics you can use to track progress.

I'm super excited for the future with you guys and definitely these next 42 days, even though I'm running low on ideas! At least good ones. But regardless there are definitely some big things coming and I'm really pumped to be able to help as many people as possible. Finally, my newest and possibly best program is finished but I want to make it available only to my subscribers long before I give it out to the public. If you want to be one of the lucky few to test this new program for me then check out my last post and make sure you subscribe ASAP! I want to get a small group of people together to go through this workout together so let me know if you want in! I'll only be accepting 10 people for this so don't wait.

 See you tomorrow!

Facebook: Greg Herceg - Personal Trainer
Instagram: @Greg.the.Trainer
Email: gsherceg@gmail.com

Intermittent Fasting Part 2 38/84

Here you guys go with Part 2. Like I said in Part 1, Intermittent Fasting is something that I'm pretty passionate about because it has been working so well for me for years. To be honest, this is  going to end up being a 3 part post because I have so much I want to say. So with that, today's post is going to be about the potential benefits and side effects of IF while part 3 is going to be about who should try it and who should stay away from it based on these potentials.

We've already looked at the different types of IF and as far as we can tell, the benefits are pretty similar between the different types. Of course there are some changes, but the big ones are pretty universal. I also want to say this at the beginning as well, there is not really that much scientific research that has been done on humans to prove or disprove the benefits that IF can provide. There are a lot of studies done on mice which show some pretty promising things, but apparently it's hard to find college kids who you can convince not to eat. I'm sure, eventually, we'll have the research to back up what we've seen, but until then we basically have the anecdotal evidence of personal and client experience to look at. Some people may not think much of that but I think that if it works it works, sometimes regardless of if the research has caught up yet.

So let's get into it, there are a ton of potential benefits that IF can provide which include decreasing some things and increasing others. One of the biggest benefits, and the reason that most people get into it, are the fat loss benefits. It has been pretty widely shown that participating in IF can help you burn more fat. NOW, it has yet be proven whether or not that fat loss is a result of the fast or just a result of the fact that you're probably eating less total calories. Personally, when I'm on a cutting phase I increase the time of my fast, and while I'm bulking I reduce it. It's super hard for me to get the 4-5,000 calories I need for a Bulk in just a few hours. What has been shown, though, is an increase in metabolism towards the end of the fast. This may be the exact opposite of what some people think and may be the opposite of what the bros might tell you. So many people think that if you don't eat for a couple of hours that your metabolism slows down to a crawl and sends you into starvation mode. This could not be less true and there is absolutely no backing that not eating for a couple hours slow metabolism at all.

On that note, by no means is it necessary to eat 6 meals a day ever couple hours to get lean. I'm not exactly sure when this myth came around but for some reason everyone believes it now. You'll probably hear me saw this a lot but meal frequency (how often you eat) has absolutely no effect on body composition (how lean you are).

So back on track, here more benefits that we believe you can get from adding a fast to your life; decreased blood pressure, decrease blood lipids, decreased inflammation, decreased risk of cancer, increased cellular repair, increase growth hormone levels, increased apatite control, and increased blood sugar control.

That seems like a pretty great list right? I think so too. There are some potential drawback too, though, and although the list is smaller, they can be some pretty important ones. Here are some potential side effects; increased stress response, increased strength of male sex hormones (bad for ladies), decreased strength of female sex hormones (also bad for ladies), amenorrhea, and symptoms of premenopause. Like I said, smaller list but there are some pretty big players involved. As a little spoiler for Part 3, IF and ladies do not really get along and you need to pay close attention to how you feel if you try it. Stay tuned tomorrow for the details.

So like I said, in Part 3 I will get into who should try it, who should avoid it, and what groups of people or character traits would and would not bode well with IF. Hopefully you guys are getting some good information from these posts and we're getting close to the halfway point on my daily posts! If you want to stay up to date on everything, get some free stuff including my Top Fat Loss and Top Muscle Building Tips,  nutrition plan, and access to my private Facebook group, fill out the pop up window on here to become a subscriber. Subscribers will also be the first people I go to for workout testing and free programs so don't wait! As always, if you have any questions at all, or feel like you need some help with this whole fitness thing, reach out to me and I'll do whatever I can to help!

See you tomorrow!

Facebook: Greg Herceg - Personal Trainer
Instagram: @Greg.the.Trainer
Email: gsherceg@gmail.com

Intermittent Fasting Part 1 37/84

I've been waiting to do this one for a while. I'm not sure why I waited so long but I wanted to make sure that I had as much info together as I could before I got after it. Then this week I found 3 podcasts by the experts as Precision Nutrition on the topic and it gave me the brain boost I needed to have enough content to make this. Intermittent Fasting (IF) is something I'm pretty passionate about because it has been working so well for me for so long, but I also understand that it is absolutely not the best option for everyone, and can even have some pretty nasty side effects for some people. In this post, I want to get into what IF is, variations of it that can all be used, the potential benefits, who it can be good for, and know it could be bad for.

All start by saying this, everyone does IF at some level already. Intermittent Fasting, by definition, is taking periods of not eating. At it's most basic level, this is the fast that you go through when you sleep. Most people are already fasting for around 10-12 hours from the time they eat their last meal at night until they eat their first meal in the morning. This is one reason why it's kind of funny to me when people freak out about the idea of extending that fast for just a few more hours.

There are a few different versions of IF that can all have some pretty good potential benefits. Some of the most popular ones right now include taking a full 24 hours without food each week, extending your fast until 14-16 hours each day, or doing a 36-48 hour fast. I'll go into a little detail on each one and you can decide for yourself if you want to try. \
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Personally, I do the daily 16ish hour fast, from about 9:00pm at night until about 1:00 the next day. Sometimes I eat my first meal earlier and sometimes I eat it later. I basically just depends on when  I finish with my morning clients. This one is really easy to think about because you basically just skip breakfast and wait to eat until lunch. This is something that I've been messing around with for years now. I started about as soon as I finished college volleyball in 2013 after reading a book call "The Renegade Diet" by Jason Ferruggia and I have only taken small breaks from using it since then. I also get reinvigorated by it every time I read the book "Engineer the Alpha" by John Romaniello and Adam Bornstein (maybe my favorite book of all time). Do you want to know the biggest reason I've been sticking with it for so long? Because it works for me. I've found my thing and I always encourage everyone to find theirs too. It's my go-to whenever I want to lean out a bit and I use it to help my stay leaner while I do a Massing phase. It has been working for me for years now and I plan on sticking to it.

The other two types of IF I listed are a bit different in that, instead if doing a short fast each day, you do and extended fast only one day out of the week. The 24 hour fast going from dinner one night until diner the next night without any food at all. If you decide to do this (with me because I'm going to try it soon) then I'll allow you to take some BCAAs, greens supplement and/or  tea or coffee during the day. But as you do it more often, you should try to stay away from those more (coffee and tea are still ok).

The 36 fast goes from diner one night, no food at all the next day, then breakfast the day after. This is obviously very similar the the 24 hour fast but just a little bit more extreme. Each one of these have their benefits and their drawbacks and if you want to hear about those then you're going to have to check back tomorrow. The potential benefits of IF can be amazing if you stick with it, but it can be hard and for some people it just doesn't work. Tomorrow I'll get into the detail of the benefits and side effects and let you chose for yourself if it is something that you can benefit from.