Josh Hillis' Fat Loss and Fitness

Kristen Bell and Hayden Panettiere: Workout Buddies

Kristen Bell and Hayden Panettiere coming back from the gym.

One thing I tell my clients all the time is that I don't believe in will power.

And I only halfway believe in discipline.

More often than not, will power will fail.

There are two important ingredients for consistency:

1.) Structure

2.) Habit

And they are created in that order.

It takes a long time to cement a habit.

You can create a structure right now.

Structure is the beginning

A structure is anything outside of you that supports you in taking the right actions to achieve your goal.

A food log is a structure.

Weight Watchers meetings are a structure.

A sports team is a structure.

A coach is a structure.

Having a workout partner is a structure.

Workout Partners

Having a workout partner is one of the best structures you can put in place.

Any time someone else is relying on you, you're likely to make it happen.

It's a strong commitment that you've made to someone else - that you each are supporting each other in each other's fitness.

It sucks, but we're more likely to break a commitment to ourselves than one we've made to someone else.

We're more likely to follow through on our food plan when we've got a workout partner.

I would go so far as to say that having someone else involved in your goals is the most important ingredient.

If you've ever heard that "90% of success is just showing up", you get how important it is to have a commitment to someone else that you're going to show up.

What Does This Have To Do With Kristen Bell and Hayden Panettiere?

Everything.

It's no surprise that two of the fittest girls in Hollywood are working out together.

Success leaves clues. 

Wouldn't you want to workout with them?  Eat with them?  Even hear how they talk about fitness?

Wouldn't it be interesting to see how differently they treat their fitness than the out of shape people we all know?

They have a different level of fitness because they treat their fitness differently.  And the people they workout with, and the people they hang out with treat their fitness level differently. 

I've seen three different "Fittest Bodies in Hollywood" articles, and all of them had Hayden Panettiere on the cover.

Hayden has a trainer and a workout partner.  How many people do you have on your "fitness team"?

And everyone is talking about Kristin Bell's abs in her current movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Why we can't forget Sarah Marshall.

If you've ever played a sport and there was someone on your team that was right at your ability level and you pushed each other, then you know how powerful it can be to have a workout partner.

Who you are hanging around is a very powerful influence on how you work out, and how you eat.

Pull up a chair, it's story time

I started my athletic career as a way too skinny, gangly, uncoordinated and shy 13 year old.  I joined the Cross Country Team and the Track Team because I didn't have the coordination to do anything else.

I probably had the least natural talent of anyone on the team.  I lost every race I ran my first year.

But running with those champions, I was elevated.  I improved every single race.  While everyone else was winning races, I was winning awards like "Most Improved", every single year. 

I ended up being second man on a Cross Country team that won three league championships, county championships and CIF Championships.  In track I ran a 4:22 mile at CIF Finals.

I'm 100% clear that I wouldn't have gotten anywhere near that level without the guys I was running with.  Three years of working out with and hanging around with really kick ass runners elevated me to being a kick ass runner.

Three Tips About Getting the Right Workout Parnter:

1.) Your workout partner should add motivation and accountability.

Your workout partner shouldn't let you off the hook if you want to skip a workout.

If your workout partner becomes an excuse to miss workouts, fire them.  If your workout partner gives you an excuse to eat crap, fire them.

2.) Your workout partner should support you.

Your workout partner should have a positive impact on you.  They shouldn't make you wrong or make you feel bad.   

If you are both motivated by competition, then compete.  If you are de-motivated by competition, don't compete.  Either way is awesome, but know what works for you.

3.) Your workout partner should call out the best in you.

In a perfect world, everything your workout partner does is about holding you to your goal.  And your goal is the expression of yourself that you want to present to the world.  So really, your workout partner is holding you to be who you really are.

How To Find A Good Workout Partner

Be a good workout partner.

You don't get what you want.  You get what you are.

If you are is a really good workout partner, it will be that much easier for you to find someone who matches that.

And if you're really struggling to find a good workout partner, just hire one - get a really good personal trainer.

You Can Fly With Eagles Or....

It's no surprise that two of the fittest girls in the world are working out together.

Take a look at who you've got around you and their impact on your fitness.

Start to build yourself a fitness team. 

Find yourself a workout partner who wants it as much as you do.

And then have fun!  It's way more fun when you and your friends can do this together.

By Josh Hillis

Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds

Josh is currently finishing up his second book Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss

Josh is a fat loss expert, a kettlebell instructor and master personal trainer in Denver, Colorado.  Josh helps women and men lose stubborn fat.

© Joshua Hillis 2008

Stop Paying Rent... To Your Fat

About Fat

I've got good news and bad news.

The good news is - you don't own your fat.

Truth is, all of your fat is rented.

The bad news is, you really enjoy paying the rent on it.

You fat has rent.  You pay the rent with calories.  You pay the rent with crap food.

If you stop paying rent, then your fat gets evicted.

About Muscle

Muscle also needs rent.

You pay the rent with food and smart work.

The biggest benefit to having muscle is it gives you can eat more food - You can pay rent on muscle instead of paying rent on fat.

The next biggest benefit of muscle is that it's more expensive than fat. 

That means that if you have more muscle you can eat more, and you'll be smaller and leaner.

5lbs of fat is way bigger, and way jigglier, than 5lbs of muscle.

The (kinda) bad news about muscle - you may get to pay more rent, but it has to be higher quality.

The reason I say "kinda" bad news, is because if you aren't eating good food now, you'll be amazed at how much better you feel, how much more energy you have, and how much hotter you look when you switch to good food.  So it's actually good news.

You can eat way more food, but it has to be better food. 

This is ALL Good News

A lot of people have a story that fat is stubborn.

Trust me, I know.  Helping clients get rid of stubborn fat is my specialty.

The truth is, there's nothing stubborn about it.

You don't own your fat.  If you've ever made payments on a car, it's just like that. 

If you stop making your payments, they come and take your car away.

Stop making payments on your fat, and you won't be allowed to keep it either.

If you're making payments on your house, guess what happens if you skip a few payments?

How Often Do You Make Payments on Your Fat?

I grade my clients' food logs.

I add up the number of meals they eat in a week.

I check how many meals include protein and are made up of good whole foods like fruit, vegetables, or brown rice.

Then I check how many "crap" meals they ate.  How many meals included sugar, alcohol, processed food, soda, fast food, ect.  These are the payments you are making on your fat.

Notice I don't use the word "free" anymore.  I don't say "free meals!"  There's nothing free about Taco Bell.  It's crap food, I call it as I see it.

So we find out the percentage of "crap" meals in a week.  How many payments.

If 90% of the meals were rockstar fuel -  lean proteins and good whole foods like fruits and vegetables...  They get an A.

If 80% of the meals were rockstar fuel -  lean proteins and good whole foods like fruits and vegetables...  They get a B.

If 70% of the meals were rockstar fuel -  lean proteins and good whole foods like fruits and vegetables...  They get a C.

If 90% of your meals are rockstar fuel, and 10% of your meals are crap - you're doing awesome!  You're not making enough payments on your fat to keep much around.  In fact, you probably look like a rockstar.

It's about that simple.

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Josh News:

I got promoted to Master Trainer!

I train at 24 Hour Fitness in Denver Colorado.  Actually, I train out of the busiest gym in all of Colorado.  I love the energy.

A lot of people are surprised that I don't own my own studio, or run a full blown gym.  Truth is, I don't want to deal with any of that.  I like to show up, train my clients, and go home.

And that leaves me time to work on other projects - like writing about fitness.  New books.  Seminars.  Studying fitness.  Everything that's fun for me.

So I train with 24 Hour Fitness.  In the time I've been here I've gone from Trainer Fit Pro 1 to Trainer Fit Pro 3, and then Trainer Fit Pro Elite.  And now, Master Trainer.

So I'm really, really stoked.  Master Trainer is the highest level of trainer in the organization.

I'm really proud to be acknowledgment of my education and experience.  I already was Master Trainer.  It's awesome now to be recognized.

I think that's how most everything works.  You have to be it first for a time.  You have to produce consistent results.   

Then, formal recognition catches up with who you've already been being and the results you've already produced.

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By Josh Hillis
Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds

Josh is currently finishing up his second book Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss

Josh is a fat loss expert, a kettlebell instructor and personal trainer in Denver, Colorado.  Josh helps women and men lose stubborn fat.

© Joshua Hillis 2008

Ketherine Heigl and Kettlebell Workouts

Katherine Heigl now does her workouts with kettlebells.   Some other celebrities that use kettlebells include Jennifer Lopez, Penelope Cruz, Kim Cattrall, Kim Basinger. 

Yes it's true, kettlebells have been stolen from the Russian Special Forces, and are now being used to make hot women even hotter.

Mathew McConaughey works out with kettlebells, and the dude is solid muscle. 

He's proof that kettlebells aren't only for girls.

Have Fun Working Out Again

Katherine Heigl said: "I was probably in the best shape of my life for Knocked Up but I hated going to the gym...   I've now found a woman who teaches kettlebell classes. It's a mix of cardio and weight training but I only do it for 20 minutes twice a week and it's changed my body shape."

Many of my clients are amazed at how powerfully you can get results with kettlebell training, in a very small amount of workout time. 

The workouts don't look like much, but when you do them, it almost feels like too much.  The stimulus is very, very powerful.

Also, kettlebell training is fun.  And if it's fun, you'll do it more often and you'll bring a different intensity to it.

Katherine Heigl takes her kettlebell classes at the beach.  With summertime coming, it's great to be able to take a kettlebell to the beach or the park, and do a full body workout outside. 

If You Need To Take Your Clothes Off, Train With Kettlebells

UK's Red Magazine Asked Katherine about the last time she worked out: "Three days ago, I did kettlebells - I think everyone should do them. They are a great Russian secret. Normally, on Grey's, I'm in scrubs, so I don't have to worry about working out, because they hide everything. That leads you into some kind of false laziness, so then, when I have scenes where I have to take my clothes off, I'm like, 'Oh crap, I've got to get in shape!"'

I have all of my clients start off with the kettlebell swing.  We do the kettlebell swing with anything we can get are hands on - ideally kettlebells, but gripper plates or dumbbells work just fine.

Here is the "swing tools" video again, in case you missed it the first time.

I would go so far as to say that the kettlebell swing is the most powerful fat loss movement there is.

Once you get a good feel for the swing, you can move on to cleans and snatches and all kinds of fun stuff.  Eventually even kettlebell juggling.

Try doing that with your BowFlex.

All of the different kettlebell moves - swings, snatches, all of the different juggling moves - the swing is the foundation of them all.  The more advanced moves aren't more effective than swings.  The advanced moves are just more fun.  And fun makes a big difference.

Katherine Heigl said that she was in the best shape of her life before Knocked Up and she hated going to the gym.  Now, with kettlebells, she's in even better shape, and she loves working out with them.

By Josh Hillis
Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds and currently finishing up his second book Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss.

Josh is a fat loss expert, a kettlebell instructor and personal trainer in Denver, Colorado.  Josh helps women and men lose stubborn fat.

Besides being a level 2 certified kettlebell instructor (RKC2), Josh is an assistant coach at the RKC Instructor Certification in October.

"When we say Hillis...we mean awesome.  And when we say awesome...we mean Hillis!!!" - David Whitley, Senior RKC

© Joshua Hillis 2008

The Biggest Mistake That "Bootcamp" Fitness Programs Make

The biggest mistake that I see "bootcamp" fitness programs make is that that's the only thing that they do.

They only do high intensity circuits.  Nothing else.

Your Workout Program Has To Change

If your TV only had one channel, you'd be bored to tears.

If you only had day time, it would be hard to sleep.  If you only had night time, it would be hard to snowboard.

Your workout program has to change.  It has to change like seasons.

The technical term that most trainers use is "periodization".  A fat loss program is more effective when it has the proper periodization.  I prefer the analogy of seasons.

You can't argue with the seasons.  Likewise, you can't argue with how your workout program has to change.

Your sets and reps have to change every 3-6 weeks. 

If you're doing high intensity circuits, you should cycle off of that every 3-6 weeks.  High intensity circuits should be a phase, not what you do forever.

The Stubborn Seven Pounds has two phases.  They aren't "beginning" and "advanced", it's more like "winter" and "summer".  And, much like winter and summer, you could repeat them as a cycle.

My next book, Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss, has eight phases.  It's a more sophisticated cycle.  It's more fun. It's also coming very, very soon.  I know, people keep asking "When?" All I can say is that it will be very soon.  It will come with 24 videos, and right now I'm filming 3 videos per week to try and get it complete.

All Great Workout Programs...

All great fitness programs have phases or cycles.  All great trainers take their clients through different cycles or phases.  That's what makes great workout programs instead of just great workouts.

In fact, the way I know a trainer is good or not - are they talking about "workouts" or are they talking about "programs"?

It's one of the reasons that people with trainers get better results than people who don't have trainers.  All great trainers take their clients through different phases, whether it's Harley Pasternak, Alwyn Cosgrove, Gunnar Peterson, P90X, Holly Rigsby, Craig Ballantyne, Valerie Waters...  or of course Josh Hillis.

Just remember these 2.5 rules about workout programs:

1.) Intelligently changing your workouts will get you better results from your workouts.

2.) Planning to push your workouts hard sometimes and then back off other times will get you better results from your workouts.

2.5) You just can't push the same way, the same sets and reps, the same intensity all the time.  If you want the highest level of results possible, it's gotta change.

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Josh News:

I have a problem with over committing myself.  I'm taking too many courses and certifications this year. 

I'm addicted to learning about fitness.  When I found this whole Z-Health thing, I found an entire course of study I'd never even considered before.  I felt like - "I need to know EVERYTHING yesterday!"

And I'm addicted to writing books.  I'm finishing up one book, and I have three more already outlined.  I feel guilty for not having all of them written already.

But there's a cost to that.  People ask me, "What did you do this weekend?"  And I'm like "Ummmm...  worked on my book."  I've gotten so caught up in needed to learn everything now, and create everything now, that I'm missing out on normal chill time and hanging out.  I'm out of balance.  And I'm frustrated.

So I'm really taking on that there is nothing to do, and no where to get.

I don't need to know everything right this minute, I can take a leisurely amount of time to learn the things I'm committed to learning.  I don't need to be stressed out and down on myself that I don't know everything already, because I'm on track to learn it.  On top of that, there's nothing missing right now - I'm already really good at what I do.

In reality, I've hit all of the career benchmarks that I used to think would be the "end all be all ultimate for my career".  And it just made me feel like I had to do more.  So I'm going to enjoy being exactly where I'm at.

So right now I'm cutting projects, I'm keeping the certifications/seminars that I have scheduled for this year (four), but I'm committed to not adding anything new.  In terms of books, I have one more I need to write...  but it's short!  And I won't start until October.

It's opened up for me to be able to kick back and chill with my wife, and not have to think about business.

Instead of signing up for a another seminar (which I had planned to do), my wife and I just bought tickets to The Mile High Music Festival, with Tom Petty, Dave Matthews, The Flobots, and Michael Franti with Spearhead.

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By Josh Hillis
Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds

Josh is currently finishing up his second book Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss

Josh is a fat loss expert, a kettlebell instructor and personal trainer in Denver, Colorado.  Josh helps women and men lose stubborn fat.

"I've seen more results in 6 weeks training with Josh than I saw in the previous two years working out on my own" -Stephanie Weis

© Joshua Hillis 2008

Jessica Biel's Workout Week

Strong girls are hot

Day One: High intensity, time based circuits

Day Two: Sprints at the track

According to her trainer, Jason Walsh: "Usually sprints ranging from 200m at 75% to 100m at 100%. We do 6-8 sets depending on how she's feeling from the day before.

We'll sometimes end with some hops up stairs (single and double leg) and I'll let her recover to 120 BPM (beats per minute) to get better output during each rep."

Day 3: Regeneration and recovery work.  Lots of foam rolling.

Day 4: More high intensity, time based circuit training.

Day 5: Punching and kicking focus mitts, in rounds.

Day 6: Recreational sports

You'll notice that Jessica Biel does a lot of high intensity, time based circuits.  Does that sound familiar?

Chinups

Chinups and pullups are both pulling your chin over the bar - pullups are palms facing away from you, and chinups are palms facing you.  I have a tendency to use the term pullup for either one, but since people ask all the time, I thought I'd clear that up. 

Jessica Biel does chinups in sets of six. 

I throw this out there because typically my leanest girl clients are busting out, on average, six unassisted chinups per set. 

I wanted to highlight this for all the girls that "think they'll never be able to do an unassisted chinup".  The truth is, it's only a matter of time.  On average, my clients (girl and guy) take away about 10lbs of assistance on the assisted pullup machine every month.  That means that if you're using 70lbs of assistance right now, you're probably about seven months away from doing full, unassisted chinups.

Or there are the girls who "think they'd have enormous arms" if they did chinups.  Check out Jessica Biel's arms.  Case closed.

Jessica Biel's Movie Star Cardio

I put the full quote about the sprint day so you can see what movie star cardio really looks like:  Running 200m sprints and 100m sprints.

If you've never run at a track before, you might not be familiar with how short 200 meters is - it's half a lap around the track.  It's 1/8th of a mile.

So on one hand you've got all the people in the gym doing long... slow... mile after mile of cardio.  And you know how they look...  And then you've got Jessica Biel doing extremely short, fast sprints, and you know how fit she looks.

Also, there's a cardiovascular response to the kinds of circuits she's doing - all the squats, lunges, pullups, deadlifts, and even the punching and kicking drills.

Single leg squats and single leg deadlifts.

Well guess what?  Jessica Biel isn't doing Curves circuits.  She's doing circuits made up of really, really hard, big, intense movements like single leg squats and single leg deadlifts.  Two of my absolute favorite exercises.

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, I've beat the squat and deadlift thing into the ground.  I'll say it one more time: You will not get the body you want without learning how to correctly squat and deadlift, and then getting strong in those movements.

A lot of people don't know how to squat and deadlift, and a lot of people do it wrong.  If you're not a squatting and deadlifting pro already, find yourself a RKC (certified kettlebell instructor) or CPT (certified personal trainer) in your area to teach you how.  I'm forever grateful to my first trainer Dave Werner for teaching me to squat and deadlift.

If you get on a first name basis with squats and deadlifts, then getting the body you want is only a matter of time and consistency.

Seriously, it's worth the time and effort required to learn how to do single leg squats and single leg deadlifts.

You can also check out my other article: Jessica Biel Workout: Get the beach body

 

By Josh Hillis
Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds

Josh is currently finishing up his second book Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss

Josh is a fat loss expert, a kettlebell instructor and personal trainer in Denver, Colorado.  Josh helps women and men lose stubborn fat.

"I've seen more results in 6 weeks training with Josh than I saw in the previous two years working out on my own" -Stephanie Weis

© Joshua Hillis 2008

 

Does Every Workout Need to Kill You?

I get this question from time to time.

And I've been thinking about it a lot, considering the videos that I've been posting lately.

The answer is:

No, every workout doesn't need to kill you.

And

No.  Every workout does not need to be high intensity.

I've been posting videos of some of the high intensity, time based workouts that I do with my clients, and in my book The Stubborn Seven Pounds.

First off - we only do these workouts about half of the time.  The reason I video those workouts is because those workouts make for cool looking videos.

Even when we do high intensity, time based circuit workouts - most of them should be done at  80-90% intensity.

Your form should not break down.

I talked about it before on this post: How To Increase Intensity And Not Get Hurt

You only go all out when you have a "test".

Remember this rule:

As long as you are getting stronger, lifting heavier, or doing more rounds than you have in the past, you're making progress.

Some workouts you really kick some ass and push it. 

Some days you just survive for time. 

Some days you hit personal records, but it doesn't feel super hard. 

You'll have all those days, and it's all ok.

All you need to focus on is getting stronger, and eating things a caveman could hunt or gather. 

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Josh News:

I had my first session with my new personal trainer today. 

I know some people think it's funny when trainers have trainers.  But I figure it like this - if Tiger Woods has golf coaches, then I can have a personal trainer.

We're doing some really crazy drills working on how my vision has effected my movement patterns.  It's really wild stuff, and I'm totally stoked.

Three things I always enjoy:
1.) Teaching about fitness.
2.) Learning about fitness.
3.) Working on my own fitness.

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By Josh Hillis
Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds

Josh is currently finishing up his second book Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss

Josh is a fat loss expert, a kettlebell instructor and personal trainer in Denver, Colorado.  Josh helps women and men lose stubborn fat.

"I've seen more results in 6 weeks training with Josh than I saw in the previous two years working out on my own" -Stephanie Weis

© Joshua Hillis 2008

The Stubborn Seven Pounds - The Fun Workout

Here is another "lost" workout from The Stubborn 7 Pounds.

This workout didn't make it into the book because I figured most people don't have a medicine ball and a brick wall handy.

But if you do...

How many rounds in 20 minutes:
15 kettlebell swings
15 medicine ball throws
15 box jumps
15 situps

This workout started out as an experiment.

Ok, actually I was just bored.

So I started looking for other ways to think about workouts besides just the movements: push, pull, squat, and deadlift. 

I wondered, what if I thought about a workout as a full body extension, then flexion, extension, and flexion.

Writing this workout was an entertaining problem for me for about 5 minutes.

It turned out to be one of my clients' favorite workouts.

Especially when they are having a bad day.  I think medicine ball throws are the next best thing to hitting a heavy bag.

Enjoy!

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Where's Josh been?

I know the blog posts have gotten a little slower this last month.

I took two major seminars - one taking a drastically different look at neurophysiology and the way that the body responds to movement, and the other was about removing the mental barriers that hold us back.

I'm not sure exactly how this will all transform the way I train people in the long run, but it's really awesome to get to grow as a trainer.

As usual, I'm testing new stuff out on my clients, and when I get good at it I'll pass it on to you.

Other big news, I got glasses.  I can't believe how blind I was, I had no idea.  I feel like I see the whole world in HD.

The articles are going to start coming regularly again.  Thanks for being patient with me while I was off learning new stuff.

Josh

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By Josh Hillis
Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds

Josh is currently finishing up his second book Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss

Josh is a fat loss expert, a kettlebell instructor and personal trainer in Denver, Colorado.  Josh helps women and men lose stubborn fat.

"I've seen more results in 6 weeks training with Josh than I saw in the previous two years working out on my own" -Stephanie Weis

© Joshua Hillis 2008

The Stubborn Seven Pounds - The Lost Workout

How many times in 20 minutes can you complete this circuit:

kettlebell swings x 25 reps
lunges x 100 feet
bear crawl x 50 feet

Rest as often as you need to.  Your "score" is how many circuits you complete in that time frame.  You get a better score by resting less.

If you can get over 5 rounds, it's time to make it harder. 

Harder variation #1: Add dumbbells to the lunges and bear crawl, use a heavier kettlebell.

Harder variation #2: Add a pushup in between each bear crawl.

Most people are crushed by three rounds.  I've had a few (literally three) athletes bust up to six rounds of the harder variations.

By Josh Hillis
Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds

Josh is a fat loss expert, a kettlebell instructor and personal trainer in Denver, Colorado.  Josh helps women and men lose stubborn fat.

"I've seen more results in 6 weeks training with Josh than I saw in the previous two years working out on my own" -Stephanie Weis

© Joshua Hillis 2008

Magical Fat Loss Green Tea? Is this for real?

This is the kind of stuff that really pisses me off.

It's a company advertising that their green tea will help you lose tons and tons of weight.

Look, I love me some green tea.

But the kind of weight loss they are talking about, the tea would have to contain crack, ephedra, AND amphetamines.

It's ridiculous.

It's green tea people.

Check it out:

http://www.wu-yisource.com/index.php

What's really scary, is that they use some really, really amazing marketing.

Well crafted sales letter, great testimonials.

Hey wait - did you notice that they offer to BUY testimonials for $1000?  WTF?

People ask me about stuff like this all the time.  Look, Ephedra worked, back in the day.  But that's the thing about "instant magic fixes", if they actually work, they are soon made illegal.

Look - I have found magic in the fitness industry, it's just not as magic as we would want it to be.

When I found Pavel's Beyond Stretching seminar, I made spectacular "magical" gains in my flexibility.  And I'd never made any flexibility gains in my life before that.

The non-magic part?  It's way harder than normal "stretching", and I have to do it a few times per week.

When I found Z-Health, I found a neurological drill that magically took away all the pain in my knee, and at the same time made me twice as strong.  That's pretty magical.

The non-magic part?  My homework is to do that drill three times per day.  And the drill is very precise - it has to be done perfectly or it doesn't work.

With smart diet and exercise, I've seen magical weight loss in my clients. 

The non-magical part?  They actually had to do the work and eat right.

Do you want magical fat loss?  Here are five tips.

1.) Sleep an extra hour per night.  The hormonal response produced from getting the sleep that you really need, is truly magical.

2.) Eat breakfast.  When you break your night long starvation and feed yourself with the food that you need, it boosts your metabolism. 

3.) Keep a workout log.  Track how often you are really getting in to the gym, and how much stronger you are really getting.

4.) Keep a food log.  Track the number of meals that you eat each week that are unprocessed, whole food, and have protein.  Track the number of meals you eat that are crap.  Make sure you have good food at least 80% of the time.  Ideally 90%.

5.) Repeat steps 1-4.  They are the things you should be doing anyway.  Magical results come from doing the basics correctly, and with consistency.

By Josh Hillis
Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds

Josh is one of the five fat loss experts in The Ultimate Fat Loss Answers

Josh is a fat loss expert, a kettlebell instructor and personal trainer in Denver, Colorado.  Josh helps women and men lose stubborn fat.

"I've seen more results in 6 weeks training with Josh than I saw in the previous two years working out on my own" -Stephanie Weis

© Joshua Hillis 2008

12 Weeks Until Memorial Day + Workouts are Like Seasons

If you want to look fit, athletic and hot by Memorial Day, it has to start now.

One of my clients, Dave, was joking that he saw an advertisement last June and July that said "Get fit for SUMMER!" 

He asked, "Which summer?  Summer 2008?"  (keep in mind this was 2007)

It's sad, if you start working on getting fit for summer...  and it's already June...  guess what?  You missed it!

You've got to start now.

On the flip side, if you've been following your fitness program since New Years, and you've been kicking ass, you've already seen some awesome results.

It's time to take it to the next level.

Your programs (long term workout structures) have to change.

What got you here, will not take you to the next level, even if it was awesome.

The body adapts, and it adapts really quickly. 

You adapt to a workout program in 4-8 weeks.

When your body adapts, you stop getting results.  Even if it was a good workout program.

Let me repeat:

The body adapts, and it adapts really quickly.  You adapt to a workout program in 4-8 weeks.

When your body adapts, you stop getting results.  Even if it was a good workout program.

 

Workouts have to be like seasons.  Winter must be followed by spring, which must be followed by summer.  After summer, you must have fall.  And after fall it's time to have winter again.

You can't fight it.  It doesn't matter how well your workouts used to work.  Your workouts must change.  And they must change in the right order and for the right reasons. 

Smart personal trainers call this "periodization".  It's just a technical term for the fact that your workouts have to change...  like seasons.

In a month, I'll be releasing a six month, 12 phase "periodized" training program - "Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss". 

In the meantime - if you've been doing my program The Stubborn 7 Pounds, then maybe you should try Turbulence Training, or The Fit Yummy Mummy Workout.  If you've been doing The Fit Yummy Mummy or Turbulence Training, maybe it's time to try The Stubborn 7 Pounds.

What ever you've been doing - it's time for a change.   

If you need a change immediately, and you want few workouts to tide you over until you start your next program - you can get six free Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss.

By Josh Hillis
Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds

Josh is one of the five fat loss experts in The Ultimate Fat Loss Answers

Josh is a fat loss expert, a kettlebell instructor and personal trainer in Denver, Colorado.  Josh helps women and men lose stubborn fat.

"I've seen more results in 6 weeks training with Josh than I saw in the previous two years working out on my own" -Stephanie Weis

© Joshua Hillis 2008

 

Dumbbell Swings, Kettlebell Swings, Gripper Plate Swings - One awesome fat loss exercise, three different tools

My clients do swings almost every workout.

It's just like how my clients do some form of squat almost every workout.

They're essential movements for fat loss.

Swings were, until very recently, always considered to be a "kettlebell exercise".

Kettlebells have brought the power of explosive full body movements back to modern workout programs.  People tend to attach workout ideas to tools.  But the tool is less important than the movement.

But swings can actually be done with anything.

You could do swings with a rock if you could get a decent grip on it.

Most people are going to start doing swings with dumbbells, just because dumbbells are handy.

If you can get your hands on a gripper plate to do swings with, that's a significant step up.

Evenutally you'll want to invest in a kettlebell or two.  Or if you're like me, you'll get addicted to kettlebells and buy 16 of them. 

But if you've never done swings before, start with a gripper plate.

I start most of my female clients with a 25lb gripper plate.  I start my guy clients with a 35lb gripper plate.

Five Tips on Doing Swings Correctly

1.) Make sure the power in your swings come from your hips.  It should be all glutes and hamstrings.

2.) If your lower back feels bad-sore the next day, you probably did swings incorrectly.  If your butt and hamstrings feel sore, you've done them right.

3.) The hardest part, really, and what you always need to be practicing in your swings, is to not use your arms at all.  The best way to do that is to forget about "making the weight go up", and just try to snap your hips hard.

4.) You should snap your hips with power, like jumping, hitting a baseball, a tennis serve, or throwing a punch.

5.) Until you've gotten good at them, treat doing swings like practice.  When your form breaks down, stop and rest.

By Josh Hillis

Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds: Take Your Body from Good to Rockstar, and the upcoming Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss.

Josh is a fat loss expert, personal trainer, and kettlebell instructor in Denver, Colorado.
 

© Joshua Hillis 2008

Horrible Kettlebell Swing Form on National TV

Did you hear the screaming last Tuesday night?

It was me.  I was watching The Biggest Loser.

Bob was having his clients do "kettlebell" swings with dumbbells.  (I almost always call them kettlebell swings, even if my clients are using dumbbells or gripper plates.  It's just habit.)

So these contestants on The Biggest Loser are doing dumbbell swings...  with their backs totally rounded.  Which is wrong.  Very wrong.

I like Bob.  I think he genuinely cares about his clients success.  And that's super important.  I think it's the core reason his clients get results.

But it wouldn't be the first time I saw contestants on The Biggest Loser use bad form.  I've seen trainers on The Biggest Loser let their clients deadlift with their backs rounded forward.  Their exercise that day was moving logs, and they were all totally totally rounded forward picking up the logs.

You're on TV bro, you should do it right.

I don't let my clients pick up a pencil with their back rounded.

I know it's hard for people who are seriously overweight to do swings with proper form if they are using dumbbells. 

So they should have used gripper plates or kettlebells, instead of just doing it wrong with dumbbells.

To explain the difference between your back being "arched back" and "rounded forward", here is a page from my book The Stubborn 7 Pounds:

Big movements like swings, deadlifts, and squats are absolutely essential for a fat loss program. 

Learning how to do them right is essential for not getting hurt.

I tweaked myself when I first started doing kettlebell workouts back in 1999.  My sports medicine doctor recommended something shocking - that I get some coaching from an expert.

I'm forever grateful to my coach Dave Werner for teaching me how to squat, deadlift, do kettlebell swings and kettlebell jerks.   It was the foundation for all of my adventures in fitness to come.

 

By Josh Hillis

Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds: Take Your Body from Good to Rockstar, and the upcoming Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss.

Josh is a fat loss expert, personal trainer, and kettlebell instructor in Denver, Colorado.
 

© Joshua Hillis 2008

Nobody likes doing squats

I'm in the gym yesterday taking one of my clients over to the squat rack.  There is a guy standing my the squat rack, stretching, and kind of eying the squat rack. 

Josh: "Are you using the squat rack?"

The guy: "Naw, I can go do something else."

I say, "Are you sure, it's ok if you were going to use it."

He says, "Well, I was going to use it, but I'm happy to do something else.  After all, no one likes to do squats."

I say, "Oh man, I love doing squats!"

He says, to my client, "Run away!  Get a new trainer!  This one is evil!"

True story!  Here is the thing, squats are really hard.  They are harder than most of the things people in the gym like to do.  Especially squatting heavy. 

My clients do some hard squatting workouts.  I'm not evil.  Well, maybe a little =)  But the truth is, I just like things that work.  Squats work.

A workout isn't fun to me if it's not going to produce any results.  Squats produce results.  I'll take a hard workout any day if it'll get the results we want.  And getting results is really, really fun.

Some people have other legitimate reasons for not wanting to squat - they've heard that if they squat incorrectly they can get hurt.  True.  This is a good reason to learn how to squat correctly, not avoid them altogether.

There is a rumor in the fitness world that people are lazy.  I think the problem isn't laziness.  The problem is that people have been doing crappy workouts and getting no results for so long that they are just cynical and resigned about working out.  They know they need to work out, but they don't really want to put in a ton of effort if it isn't going to yield results.

It's the really hard exercises that make a difference.  It's worth the effort to do 'em, 'cause they'll actually produce results.

It's also the slightly more technical exercises that make a difference.  It's worth the effort to learn how to do them right.

If you put in the effort, you'll get the results.  Do the big exercises.  Add weight to the bar.  Watch your body transform.

By Josh Hillis
Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds

Josh is one of the five fat loss experts in The Ultimate Fat Loss Answers

Josh is a fat loss expert, a kettlebell instructor and personal trainer in Denver, Colorado.  Josh helps women and men lose stubborn fat.

"I've seen more results in 6 weeks training with Josh than I saw in the previous two years working out on my own" -Stephanie Weis

© Joshua Hillis 2008

This Blew My Mind

Clearly the United States is getting fatter.  And fatter.  Every year.

Two kinds of people come to my blog - the people that are part of these statistics, and the people that aren't.

If you're going to the gym, lifting weights, and doing cardio - with consistency - even if you're doing a workout program that really sucks, this probably isn't you.

If you are keeping an honest food log, then there is NO WAY that this is you.

The United States is getting fatter and fatter.  There is a total disconnect between food and body.

Food is fuel.

You can look at food as entertainment, or you can look at food as fuel for the high performance, rockstar hot body that you want.

Everything you eat is either taking you closer to your goals, or away from your goals.

Everything you are eating is taking you one step closer to being Princess Leia...

Or it's taking you one step closer to being Jabba.

And don't kid yourself.  You already know exactly which foods are which.

By Josh Hillis
Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds

Josh is one of the five fat loss experts in The Ultimate Fat Loss Answers

Josh is a fat loss expert, a kettlebell instructor and personal trainer in Denver, Colorado.  Josh helps women and men lose stubborn fat.

"I've seen more results in 6 weeks training with Josh than I saw in the previous two years working out on my own" -Stephanie Weis

© Joshua Hillis 2008

Doing the Work: Gold is tempered through fire

Ok the theme for January was keeping it simple.  The problem with simple is that simple isn't easy.

When we keep it simple, we're left with the hard part:
Doing the work.

We pretend like we don't know what to do, because what we need to do is hard.

We pretend it's complicated.  It's not complicated, it's hard. 

Most of the time the game is not figuring out what to do. 

The real game is doing what we know to do.

You gotta want it. 

You've got to want it enough to do it.

It doesn't take a million hours in the gym.  Or in the kitchen.

But the things you do you've got to do them in a way that's going to produce results.

It's about intention.  Fire.  Passion.  Put in your blood, sweat and tears, and make it mean something.

Workout like you're transforming you're  there to transform your body.  And eat like you are fueling that transformation.

People only resist doing the work because they don't connect it to the results.

People hate doing squats.  I tell you, if you knew how good they are for your results, you'd beg to get under the bar.

It's the basics that are the most brutal and effective.

I tell you, when you are eating like Jessica Biel or Kelly Ripa, you'll have a body like Jessica Biel or Kelly Ripa.

If you do the right things, you'll see results.  And the results will get addictive.

It starts to become like a video game.  If you can lose 2lbs of fat this week, you'll want to lose 2lbs again next week.

Doing the work starts to get fun.

Getting consistant results is fun.

Fun and effective is even better than easy.

By Josh Hillis
Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds

Josh is one of the five fat loss experts in The Ultimate Fat Loss Answers

Josh is a fat loss expert, a kettlebell instructor and personal trainer in Denver, Colorado.  Josh helps women and men lose stubborn fat.

© Joshua Hillis 2008