**as you can see in the picture of the circumferences of each leg they are the same but one has more muscle mass (tone look) and the other has depleted muscle (skinny flat non tone look). FACT: It is not possible to be very lean and be toned WITHOUT MUSCLE!!

Difference between fat loss and muscle building approaches:

Fat loss has two foundational differences from muscle building. First is that the person must be in caloric deficit to allow any fat loss. And weight training for weight loss should be more metabolic and functional styles that combine strength training. Also focus on eating consistently and accurately at correct calorie levels are a must. Timing isn’t as important than in muscle building but learning to keep insulin levels balanced is very important. If the client is someone who is accustomed to pre/post meals then timing could be utilized to increase lean mass while losing body fat.

Muscle growth’s nutritional Focus is eating more at a maintenance or surplus caloric intake. The workouts are focusing mostly on hypertrophy type workouts with proper progressions every week. To maximize growth and development not only is eating the right ratios of F, C &P; timing is very very important in making sure glycogen levels are where they need to be so the body can use protein to rebuild muscle. ***check out my article on pre/post meals

I feel it is much more important to focus on the development of muscle in the process of losing body fat because muscle is what allows calorie burning, movement, strength, etc. If we lose muscle we end up hurt or weak and have less abilities to move thus causing less calories to be burned and weight gain. If you only lift 5lbs Dumbells because they say to not lift heavy then when you get older you will only be able to lift about 5 lbs in real life. Does that sound reasonable only be able to lift 5 pounds when you get older. To have the best quality of life you must maximize all fitness levels: strength, endurance, strength endurance, flexibility, range of motion in different planes, reaction, agility, stability, stability strength, Power, posture, balance, and proper movement mechanics. This may sound like a lot but a fitness professional should be able to help you with all areas not just one or three but all areas. If you have anymore questions please contact me at my email address or comment below.

Calorie requirements are varied from person-to-person. It depends on their body weight, daily activity level, and goals.

Bodyweight:
There’re a few reasons why bodyweight has to be taken into account. First fat and muscle requires a certain amount of calories to be maintained. To maintain 1 pound of muscle it could take up to 7 cal per day and body fat a little bit less. Add to these variables the amount of weight you carry around burns a certain amount of calories. For example someone that weighs 350 pounds is going to burn more calories moving around the same amount as someone weighing 250 pounds. So as a general guideline someone that weighs more will need to eat more calories to burn body fat than someone that weighs a lot less than them. The reason being so they don’t lose energy, motivation, or ability to do exercise because of a too large deficit of calories. The effects of going to low in calories causes a depletion of glycogen which causes premature fatigue. Another fact is it causes increased appetite that is uncontrollable and an increased risk of overtraining syndrome.

Daily activity level:
Daily activity levels range from sedentary to extreme sports. The person that is sedentary weighing the same as another would eat less calories than someone that was participating in extreme sports with practices and games. Literally it takes calories to burn calories! For example if you’re wanting to burn say 500 cal with a given activity, and you under eat and don’t get the right amount of calories that can make you prematurely stop and only end up burning less than you wanted.

Goals:
People goals really determine if they should eat at a caloric deficit (fat loss), at a maintenance level (maintenance), or at a caloric surplus (muscle gain). The person should know all three levels to make fitness a lifestyle. With my clients not only do I teach them their calorie level to hit their goals but also I teach what calorie levels are needed to reach the other two goals.
Maintenance level is the calorie level that a person burns in it 24 hour period that equals resting metabolic rate (the amount of calories you burn laying still) plus the amount of calories you burn with your typical activity in a day like work etc.
Proper caloric deficit would be 500 calories below calorie maintenance levels if volume and exercise is light, 400 cal deficit if exercise and volume is at medium levels, and 300 calorie deficit if workouts are high volume and real intense. The importance of tracking calories is essential to success. It takes 3500 calories to be burned above consumed calories to lose 1 pound of fat.
Proper caloric surplus for muscle gain is same as above but in the above maintenance zones. It is very important that one does not over eat because fat increase will happen. It takes 3500 calories to be stored to gain 1 pound of fat. So by over eating just 100 cals per day will increase fat levels 1 pound every 35 days. That’s 10.5 pounds of fat gain a year!

In conclusion these three variables that determine the amount of calories you need are the foundations in determining your magic number. This is what works to make this a life long achievement. Fad diets are ways to get you to eat extreme low calories. Make a choice to do it right! Have real success!

There are two types of motivation, internal and external. Motivation is essential to maintaining the drive and want to succeed even when there are forces wanting to bring you down.
The external Motivation:
is a trainer, spouse, etc is not the magic bullet, but does assist. This form has been dramatized on TV by the biggest loser and such as being why people reach their goals. Yelling and being a drill instructor is the last thing a person wants the rest of their lives. The ones who depend on this motivation eventually lose ground when it isn’t around because they never had a solid internal motivation foundation.
The Internal motivation:
is the bread and butter! There are people that say they want to lose weight but they really don’t do what is necessary because they really don’t want it. The ones who want it down to their core and existence are the ones who have huge success no matter the negative influences. The variables that cause loss of internal motivation are from all the misconceptions and mis-education given to the public by fitness “experts” themselves. This is a huge problem but misleading the public is what keeps the public coming back for more. This is sad because as a fitness expert we are supposed to be in it to change people’s lives the right way not using yo yo tactics that depend on repeat customers . Very unethical.
Back to the external motivation, the fitness pro’s job should be in educating the truth and keeping our clients away from bogus fitness garbage that cause premature failure. Education is superior to Hot Air!
Goal setting is also very important in reaching one’s goals. As a trainer designing programs I must know all the goals to be able to design a program that gets the client there efficiently.
Most the time goals are very vague! For example one would say I want to lose fat around my stomach. Or I want to be More toned. It is the fitness professionals or your job to find out what the real deep goals are. For example, “I want to be around for my kids as they grow up, not have a heart attack, walk the flight of stairs without being totally exhausted”, etc. When we search for the root goals they become our internal motivation. The emotional connection is what gives motivation. So both motivation and goal setting goes hand in hand.
So if you haven’t found that life time motivation follow these steps:
1) list your vague goals like fat loss or whatever it is
2) underneath each goal list as many in-depth goals as possible, like I want to lose weight so I don’t run out of breath going up stairs, etc
3) remind yourself of #2 goals everyday!

If you don’t have motivation or let others stop you from your goals then it is likely you’re really not serious about it!

If you remember my post about success and The Hip Hop Preacher’s Motivational speech,click here if you haven’t watched the video. It’s a must see!! There is always talk about ambition but this video explains what it takes past ambition.
In this segment I want to talk about what holds together ambition and the want, so success is reached- PATIENCE & DILIGENCE.
Very often a person puts so much into attaining their goal but because of this overload of “want” they lose their sense of patience and diligence.
If you have a sound system and your effort is maxed out, then you must believe and trust it is going to work. Don’t let perceptions of what is thought should happen in a given time frame make you act on making changes. These changes will cause a negative end result.
I like using analogies. For example when a farmer sews the field, plants the seed, and then fertilizes the crop, he doesn’t see the benefits right away. He is the expert who has mastered his system of making a plentiful harvest. He doesn’t wake up the next week looking out the window to look to see if any seeds have sprouted. And if they haven’t he doesn’t lose confidence and re-tills and lays a new round of seeds and fertilizer. He has patience and trusts that everything is going to happen perfectly and the crop will be prime at the time of harvest.
The main point is be patient & trust your system because if you are doing everything correctly and your want for success is pure, you will accomplish any goal you strive for. The most successful people had to be more patient than you could ever imagine.

Do you want to be successful or do you just say you do?

Hold your breath, fight it, fight that urge to take a breath until you just can’t take it anymore. And pay attention to how bad you want that gasp of air!
The amount you wanted that gasp of air is the amount someone really successful wanted to be successful. At that moment you didn’t think about what TV show was on or if you needed sleep or if you even need to eat. All you want is to accomplish the task at hand and you will do anything to make it happen. Just like at that moment you wanted that gasp of air! It is easy to say you are committed when there isn’t anything else going on but when somethings fun or tempting is available…that’s the true test.
So evaluate your goals and if you really want to be successful with fitness, health, career, or whatever you are going for, get your thoughts and priorities to where they need to be. No more BS excuses……let’s be more successful this year than ever before!

HOW TO MAX MUSCLE GAINS WHILE LOSING FAT!
Pre and post workout meals are very important (there are actually 4 stages!). New studies show that the timing of nutrients is critical in maximizing performance and increase potential muscle development and recovery. Truthfully the difference between fat loss and muscle building has to do with the amount of calories you eat in a day to what you burn. Fat loss requires a person so be at a deficit in calories and to max muscle gains it requires to eat at a certain surplus of calories. But with timing, the fat loss clients can maximize muscle gains while losing body fat. Timing of nutrients studies started with Athletes because most of the time when an athlete needs to lose some body fat they still need to have peak performance!! The same goes for any client of mine.

The problem is many “experts” use parts of this research and do not understand it as a whole.
I currently work with pro to youth level athletes and people wanting to maximize muscle and recovery.
What is published in most muscle mags are far from the truth and in efforts to sell products. Others are getting into an area that they just do not have experience with or mix myths with science. For example you would never ask a heart surgeon to do brain surgery even though both are very smart people.

Pre workout meal:
This MUST be in a liquid form because remember the timing of nutrients I said earlier? Those nutrients must be absorbed into the bloodstream to be used at a specific time. Digestion takes time to break down solid foods. So the most feasible thing to do is drink a meal replacement shake. When I say meal replacement I don’t mean a protein shake. It needs to have 20 to 40g of carbohydrates and 10 g of protein and 1 to 2 g of fat. Believe it or not chocolate milk is a great option but you could also use certain meal replacement powders. You want to drink this 20 to 30 minutes before your workout having time for it to digest and get into your system. The reason for the carbohydrates is to increase your glycogen because this is what your body uses when it does intense workouts. Low glycogen levels equals low performance = fewer calories burned. The importance for very low fat is because fat slows down digestion. So you can bet if you drink or eat something with fat in it that the nutrients will not get to where they need to be in time. The body doesn’t go, “well if I wait another hour then I’ll get what I need”.

During the workout:
During workout drink can be important if you’re doing a long or intense workout. You want to use a low-carb solution and Gatorade is a pretty good choice. An added plan is to drink a Branched Chain Amino mix. Studies have shown that Leucine, Isoleucine, and Valine are important when it comes to preventing muscle break down. I suggest for my athletes or bodybuilders to do this to maximize results. Just make sure the quality is high. I only trust APEX fitness group and DotFit.

Post workout meal:
Your post workout meal is going to be within 20 to 30 minutes after your workout. Again this needs to be a liquid and no solids because of digestion. Those nutrients need to be in your system in that 20 to 30 minutes time frame. I usually suggest 20 minutes to play it safe. This time it needs to be around 20-30g of carbohydrates, around 20 g of protein a little bit higher than last time on the protein, and still 1 to 2 g of fat. Again it’s really important to get your glycogen levels back up after the workout because your body will not utilize the protein unless the glycogen levels are back up.

Fact: after work out when your glycogen levels have dropped your body searches to replenish those levels first. Hormones that have dropped are testosterone and insulin levels. These are the most important in building muscle and losing fat. If you slam down a bunch of protein your body will attempt to convert it to the sugar glycogen to restore its reserve. That is inefficient and takes more time and energy. In addition your testosterone and insulin levels continue to deplete and cause more harm than good. Most that swear by just taking in bunches of protein are really on illegal enhancement drugs and can get away with that until the side effects of using those things cause other health issues. Your body doesn’t try to rebuild muscle first, it’s main concern is replenishing energy. When it restores the energy levels, glycogen, the body will then start building muscle tissue with the proteins or amino acids that you ingested.

Post workout #2:
This should be done two hours after the workout or an hour and a half after you drink your post drink. This time it needs to be solid food something really rich in complex carbohydrates.(A couple of examples below) The reason for this meal is to continue the glycogen storage so the body could use the protein to rebuild any muscle tissue needed. Remember the focus is the carbohydrates.

In conclusion this method is based on people that are natural not using any enhancement drugs and using the body’s natural energy system to maximize performance and increase recovery time.

Many people asked me why are there so many variations of how to build muscle, recover or increase performance. The answer is there are a few people that take enhancement drugs and explain the way they increase muscle which is totally different than staying natural. And there are people who are bias because of an idea or product. For example holistic eating, diet or protein powders, gluten-free diet, and the list goes on and on. Sticking with the foundation of science is always right. Any other version usually has hidden varibles that make it seem right. Becareful in any health endevour you take on.

Strawberry Banana Blast pre/post workout drink
Ingredients:
?? scoops Pre & Post Workout Creamy Vanilla
.5 Medium banana
2 large strawberries
.75 cups nonfat milk or 2% milk
Directions:
1. place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.
2. Add crushed ice as desired for a rich milkshake effect.
Nutrition Facts (per serving):
Calories
260
Fat (g) 2
Saturated Fat (g) 1
Cholesterol (mg) 23
Sodium (mg) 173
Carbohydrate (g) 40
Fiber (g) 3
Protein (g) 15
Calcium (mg) 396

Banana Raspberry Bread post meal #2 example 1
Ingredients:
Vegetable-oil cooking spray
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 large ripe or overripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup skim milk
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
Instructions:
Heat oven to 350°F. Coat an 8″ loaf pan with cooking spray. In a bowl, combine flour, sugar,
baking powder, baking soda, and salt; whisk to blend. Make a well in center; set aside. In a bowl,
combine bananas, milk, egg, and vanilla; fold in raspberries. Pour batter into center of dry
ingredients; fold together until combined. Do not over mix. Pour batter into pan; bake 1 hour or
until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10
minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely. Slice before wrapping individually.
Serves: 8
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
Calories 254
Fat (g) 1
Saturated Fat (g) 0.3
Cholesterol (mg)
Sodium (mg)
Carbohydrate (g) 57
Fiber (g) 7
Protein (g) 4
Calcium (mg)

Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges #2 post meal example 2
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Kosher salt and pepper
4 pounds small sweet potatoes, each peeled and cut into 8 wedges
8 sprigs thyme
Preparation:
Heat oven to 400° F.
In a large bowl, combine the oil, sugar, nutmeg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add
the sweet potato wedges and toss to coat.
Transfer to a large rimmed baking sheet and arrange in a single layer. Scatter the thyme over
the top and roast, turning once, until the edges are dark brown and the wedges are crisp, about
1 hour.
Make-Ahead Note: The sweet potatoes can be cut and seasoned up to 2 hours before cooking.

Over 12 years in industry I’ve have About 32,000 training hours. Work with Youth to pro athletes. My methods are based on real science, common sense, & experience. Check my websites out and you’ll see the success from using my methods. It’s not hyped up fitness. WARNING: I teach the truth which sometimes people don’t want to hear.
I praise all who are fighting obesity changing youths lives one at a time. It is very hard work and takes an unbelievable commitment. The issue of youth obesity is growing faster than the attempts to fix it. Here are a few reasons I personally feel are why this is happening. It isn’t all but these are my main points:

A). Childhood obesity is on the rise because of more than one issue.
To start, every time this topic is brought up for discussion the talk is so one dimensional. Just as it is with the subject of adult obesity. For example the sugar debate! Fixing a complex situation takes understanding all components not blaming one entity. It is just ignorant!
List of some reasons why childhood obesity is on the rise:
1) the mis-education of the fundamental foundation (law of thermodynamics) of what really causes fat loss (energy deficit) and fat gain (energy surplus). “It becomes a waste of time when misconceptions lead the train of thought in trying to fix an issue of reality.”
2) the misconceptions on what is thought to be right is so ingrained into mainstream society that now these thoughts and methods are being taught to our youth and in essence is becoming part of tradition.
3) parents are more concerned with their kids being HAPPY instead of teaching fundamentals of boundaries, control, and healthy habits. *teaching these fundamentals is what makes them HAPPY down the road because they don’t get weight related diseases or bullied for being overweight.
4) Society and Technology!! Schools decreasing activities, kid can’t go outside as much, videos games, etc, etc, etc! Well these are actual things that could contribute but don’t act like there are not options to counter act this. How bout boys and girl club, Sports, Wii fit, biking with your kid, telling your kid that he or she can’t eat that huge candy bar, and the list goes on. Come on ADULTS! Look at the picture above. Your KIDS follow YOU!!

In conclusion to solve this epidemic we must teach the right education and limit money driven info, parents and adults get responsible, and quit blaming entities that really would never fix the problem alone. COMMONSENSE!

To get more information on helping your child or others please contact me at wmfitness.warren@gmail.com or call 501-472-1177.

Reward systems are very important when it comes to reaching a goal and even maintaining them. Most of the time a “good job” or a “pat on the back” just doesn’t do it! Some will go shopping for some new clothes or shoes because you have done so well but most will head for that favorite food. Now sometimes if done right this is ok but let’s get real. Food is what our lives evolve around (parties, going out, holidays, celebrations, deaths, and welcoming are just a few examples). The picture above was something a client sent me, and I thought it was funny. Then I thought about it, and I thought again here is another phrase that is far from the truth. So if you think you will not like food or need it then you have been fooled.
TIP:
1) Do not ever try to permanently replace a reward food that you like for an inconvenient food even if you like it. I can tell you that you will eventually stop eating the inconvenient food and might find a worse reward food when you feel frustrated of failing.
2) ALWAYS replace a food with another you like. For example (this is my preference, you will have another) if you are trying to stop eating the couple of 270 calorie candy bars each week, don’t eat an apple because it doesn’t satisfy you because the candy bar was a REWARD and very few think of an apple as a reward! Try 2x 40cal nature own honey wheat bread with 50 cal PB (1/2 tbs) and 75 cal Nutella (3/4 tbs). All that equals 205 cals. Not only is it a treat but it saves you 65 cals!!!
3) Rewards should progress like your fitness and health does. When you began you should reward yourself for things like sticking to your eating, doing all workouts, giving 100% effort, stuff like that. Then a little down the road you shouldn’t get rewarded for doing all workouts or giving 100% because by then it is expected!! You should reward things like doing an extra 5-10 minutes every other workout or an extra day. Or increasing on intensity levels or increased abilities. And when you are we’ll advanced you reward yourself by helping others! And your largest reward is you living longer, looking better, etc.

MOTIVATION is a topic that every fitness pro has talked or written about. Motivation is a must in anything you want in life. BUT it doesn’t guarantee success! SUCCESS is what we all want the outcome to be. You fitness trainers how many stories have you seen the motivation was high but total success wasn’t reached. This video explains the missing part.

SUGAR DEBATE – This is what made me post this topic…..……

A CLIENTS EMAIL:
So what do u say to the 150 calories per day of refined sugar?

ME:
8 ounces of milk has 56 calories of sugar carbs so don’t drink more than 24 ounces a day I guess. This is just ignorant ramble on TV.

CLIENT:
Besides, this another doctor on Fox, not Dr Manny, said today people should limit consumption of refined sugar to 150 calories per day. Most candy bars have at least 200, right?

ME:
Ok I’ll explain this all for you. It’s comical TV!! Realistically it should be dependent on the needed calorie level of the individual. There are two types of carbs, simple and complex. Complex takes longer for the body to break down to be used for energy. NOTE your body and brain use simple sugars for energy so I guess we are all going to get brain cancer and other cancer from what our body converts food to. All food is broken down and converted to sugar for energy or fat to be stored.
Now with that quick and short note let’s get back to how there are variables that these TV reports are not acknowledging.
Here is one example. The two extremes would be:

1) an athlete who works out or practices 2 hrs per day, 210 male, and is active with everyday life style (hikes, plays with his nephew outside, takes stairs not elevators, etc)
- this guy will burn up to about 3900 cals a day. This means if he eats less than 3900, he would lose weight. It would be impossible to not eat sugar with this amount of calories and he would feel horrible if he didn’t have sugar in his diet because of the demands he puts on his body day to day. He needs quick energy (sugar) and long energy (whole wheat).
150 cal a day is a joke to a high level athlete.

2) the lazy couch potato who weighs 350 burns in a 24 hr period about 3500 calories. If they eat less than 3500, there would be weight loss. And a weight gain if more is eaten.
NOTE: this type of person has the highest rate of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and strokes. Now these Doctors are saying his obesity isn’t the cause of these problems, it is SUGAR?!? Come on we don’t need to have a PhD to have common sense. The real studies show having a fatty pancreas causes diabetes and having a fatty liver causes the health issues along with a fatty heart.
Let’s do a study and get a 300 pound person eating 2100 calories. Have 50-60 percent of the calories carbs (20% sugar & 80% complex), 15-30 percent fat, and 20-25 percent protein, and watch that person melt off fat because now he has energy to build up his fitness level and do longer and more frequent bouts of exercise and doesn’t feel like he is dieting.

Now do you see if the extreme active person is overweight it is because he eats more than 4000 calories per day and if the lazy person gains weight he would have to eat over 3500 a day. It’s not directly the sugar!

What does this tell you. Eating too much sugar, fat and protein is all bad, when you over eat calories to what your calorie burning levels are per day.

I feel these doctors and others in these media outlets just don’t fully understand it all. Remember they didn’t go into weight management to get a PhD. They went into medical/medicine, unfortunately these doctors try to be experts in areas above their scope. Don’t get me wrong there are points made that have truth but when the facts are put in the wrong context the result is unethical.
Sugar can cause problems with energy and appetite control. I recommend to never eat a large amount of any simple sugar (fruit or candy) unless you expect to get hungry again shortly after. Always eat it after a meal that has fat and protein. But make sure by the end of the day you have hit your target calories. You can reach any fitness goal if you erase all the hype and stuck with complete real science an common sense.