Josh Hillis' Fat Loss and Fitness

The Jessica Alba Workout vs. His Number One Sex Fantasy

The cover of Cosmopolitan just jumped out at me.  One the left side it says "His #1 Sex Fantasy", and the picture next to it is Jessica Alba.  At first I wasn't sure if it was two seperate articles. 

I was curious about both and I did read both articles in line at the supermarket.  (I'm not emberassed to read Cosmo.  Really.) 

I can barely remember what the article about what my number one sex fantasy is supposed to be...  but I can remember word for word what Jessica Alba's answers were to the questionaire they put at the end of her interview.

Out of all of the celebrities out there, my clients most often come to me saying they want a body like Jessica Alba's.  The second most often requested is that they want a body like one of my other clients.  And the third most requested is a body like Jessica Biel.

Before you scream "Wait Jessica Alba is a genetically gifted super freak!  I'm sure everyone in her family looks like Greek gods!", remember, she's said in a bunch of interviews that most of her family is overweight.  She started cooking her own food at age 12 'cause she didn't want to be overweight also.

The Sun reports Jessica Alba saying: “When I eat breakfast I’ll have an egg-white omelette and fruit, or cottage cheese and a peach.”  Look, I'm sure no one out there thought that Jessica Alba ate Fruit Loops for breakfast.  And no one reading this thinks that she skips breakfast.  It's not that surprising to find out what the secret is:  Jessica Alba eats several small meals per day made up of good whole foods.   

And, as I've written about before - Jessica does really smart circuit training workouts and she includes some my personal favorite big compound movements like squats lunges. 

Back to the story from Cosmo.  Look, every month they publish 73 trillion new things a girl can do to drive her boyfriend wild!  Or how to seduce any man in the supermarket, no matter what aisle he's in!  Or how to be her guy's ultimate sex fantasy!  I think it's a little simpler than they usually make it seem:

I think every guy's biggest fantasy is a girl who eats good whole food, in several small meals per day, and does circuit training that includes big movements like squats and lunges.

Feel free to do some lunges right now.  You can pick up the fruit, veggies and lean meat on the way home. 

Actually, lets do it Cosmo style - "5 things you can do right now to be 10x sexier!" 

1.) Try a circuit of 16 lunges (8 per leg) and 8 pushups (can be full pushups, knee pushups, or hands on a table pushups).  See how many circuits you can do in 10 minutes, resting as needed. 

2.) Interval cardio: 15 minutes - alternating between one minute sprinting and two minutes walking. 

3.) Go to the supermarket or local farmer's market and stock up on your favorite in-season fruits and vegetables.  You might also want to get some brown rice and oatmeal.

4.) At the supermarket, fish market or local butchers, get some fish, chicken, pork, bison or lean beef.  Get your favorite, or a variety - but get enough so you've got some good protein for the whole week.

5.) Cook up the meat, fish or chicken with your favorite spices and veggies.  Portion it out for individual meals, and refridgerate or freeze it in perfectly portioned meals.

Have fun!

 

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

National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer (NASM-CPT) and Performance Enhancement Specialist (NASM-PES),
Level 2 Russian Kettlebell Challenge Certified Instructor (RKC2)

© Joshua Hillis 2007

Jessica Biel Workout: Get the beach body

For some reason the papparazzi likes taking pictures of Jessica Biel at the beach.

Maybe it's because she's famous.  Maybe it's those great action shots of her playing some sort of paddle ball in the surf. Or maybe it's because she's in really awesome shape and she looks unbelievably awesome in a bikini.

Jessica has had a couple big name celebrity trainers, and here is what the workouts she has done with both trainers had in common:

1.) Jessica did circuit training workouts.
2.) They focused mostly on big movements: Pushing, pulling, squatting, and deadlifting.
3.) They used some sort of explosive finisher: Jason Walsh likes having Jessica do stair jumps.  (I love stair jumps also, and I'd also add kettlebell swings)
4.) They had Jessica doing interval training cardio and sprints.

It all boils down to one thing: Intensity.

The more intense workout will always burn the most fat.

We've entered a new era.  In the past there were celebrities who did relatively low intensity workouts, and made up for it with long hours in the gym and  unbelievably perfect diets.  Now we're in a new world of powerful, smart, time efficient workouts. 

Everything I do with my clients is about smarter workouts and more intensity for faster and better results.  The trainers that are getting their clients better results are all doing the same four things that Jessica Biel's trainer's did, and the girls and guys that are leaning out fast are all doing the same four things that Jessica is doing.

Your workouts should be short, hard, and full body.  If you're spending two hours in the gym, ask yourself why.  If it's for fun - cool.  If it's because your workout is low intensity and it takes two hours to feel like you did something, you need to kick it up a notch.  What if you needed to be in and out in 45 minutes?  What changes would you make to your workout to get everything important in?  What low intensity fluff would you cut out?

You can also check out my other article: Jessica Biel's Workout Week

By Josh Hillis
Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds: Take Your Body from Good to Rockstar.

National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer (NASM-CPT) and Performance Enhancement Specialist (NASM-PES),
Level 2 Russian Kettlebell Challenge Certified Instructor (RKC2)

© Joshua Hillis 2007

   

The Greatest Workout Known To Man

Last month I wrote about how lifting heavy, and the full body nature of Olympic lifts, makes girls lean and hot.  I thought I'd post an article about lifting heavy, and the full body nature of the Olympic lifts, makes guys lean, strong and muscular.

I found this video of Pyrros Dimas, one of the strongest men in the world, working out. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVB_rQFSsEg

This video led me to this Article:

http://health.yahoo.com/topic/fitness/overview/article/mens-health/24722

"The Greatest Workout in the World" by Tim Folger for Men's Health.  Also features some awesome advice by Alwyn Cosgrove, who I've mentioned several times is the author of one of my favorite books on fat loss, Afterburn. 

*Alwyn is also the only trainer I know to put out a really comprehensive book FOR TRAINERS on how to design fat loss programs, the Real World Fat Loss Manual for Fitness Professionals.

The first thing is that Alwyn mentions in the article most of the benefit (for adding muscle and strength) of the Olympic lifts is in the explosive "first pull",

On the other hand, most of the technical aspects of the Olympic Lifts are in the "catch".   The catch on both the clean and the snatch require some flexibility specific to those lifts, that the average gym goer doesn't have.

So Alwyn just eliminates the catch.  Lets take 95% of the benefit, and cut out 50% of the learning curve.  I totally agree.  The result is doing a "high pull" instead of a "clean".

the high pull - All the benefit of an explosive full body lift.  Much less flexibility required than a clean or snatch.

Being a kettlebell instructor, I tend to lean towards doing the Olympic lifts with a kettlebell.  This simplifies both the pull and the catch.  In fact, everything you have ever heard about "how great kettlebell workouts are"can be attributed to the fact that they are based around the Olympic lifts - the snatch and the clean and jerk.  Kettlebell lifting is just a simplified version of, and usually a higher rep version of the Olympic Lifts.  Kettlebells, because of their design, lend themselves to being very safe for high rep Olympic lifting, which is why they fit very well into "bootcamp" style fat loss circuits.

For fat loss clients, I always like to mix up hard fast bootcamp style kettlebell workout days with heavy lifting days.  All of my clients squat and deadlift - not nearly as heavy as Pyrros Dimas, but they are always getting stronger and progressing to heavier weights.  Note - heavy doesn't mean stupid.  Progression is slow and smart.  If you've never put together a periodized strength program before, I definately recommend getting Power to the People by Pavel.

By Josh Hillis
Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds: Take Your Body from Good to Rockstar.
Josh Hillis is a specialist in getting my clients lean, fast.  Josh usually works with the hardest clients to lean out - women who are already in good shape. He likes the challenge of burning off the stubborn fat.  Josh's book is about how anyone can get that that lean rockstar body they've always wanted.

© Joshua Hillis 2007

 

Most Overlooked 300 Actor Training Video

Everyone saw the 300 video from the 300 movie website.  But did you see the video on the Gym Jones website?  For those that don't know, the 300 actors worked out at Gym Jones with trainer Mark Twight.  The Gym Jones video "Captain" shows Vincent Regan working out - it's awesome.  Vincent played the Captain in 300, he's also known for playing Eudorus in Troy. 

Check out the video:
http://www.gymjones.com/video.php#
It's the third movie down, called "The Captain"

 

The video above, from metacafe, is only half of the video - you definitely do not want to miss the second half.  Catch the whole video in all it's glory here: http://www.gymjones.com/video.php# - It's the third movie down, called "The Captain"

Things you may notice in the video - Vincent is working his ass off.  He's doing full body movements, and apparently he did a shit-load of deadlifting.  During the course of the training Vincent Regan lost 40lbs of fat.  In 10 weeks he took his deadlift from  205 to  355.

The deadlift is a full body, spartan soldier strength exercise.  There is nothing more powerful and functional than lifting a whole lot of iron off of the floor.  The deadlift is a measure of raw power - right up there with the barbell squat. 

If you don't know how to deadlift, you must learn how.  If you don't know how to put together an intelligent training program for strength, here is your opportunity to start training smarter.  If you want to learn how to deadlift, get Power to the People, by Pavel.  It's also the first book/dvd I would recommend if someone wanted to know the mechanics of getting stronger.

Vincent is deadlifting blindfolded in the Gym Jones video.

In Power to the People Pavel talks about strength as as skill.  It takes intelligence and practice to build real serious strength.  Pavel dicusses the reasons for lifting blind in the book, but I'll give you the cliff notes version here:  Deadlifting blind builds deadlift specific body awareness.  It forces you to listen to the feedback that your muscles and tendons are giving you about the movement.  Instead of just mindlessly banging out reps, you're listening to your body for feedback.  Hone the movement.  Search out leakages in your strength. 

If strength is a skill, then developing the skill will lead to heavier lifts.  Heavier lifts build more strength, and more strength, more power, more fitness, and higher output is the access to the body you want.  The protocol is to lift blind every other set.

The other thing you may notice, deadlift wise, is that Vincent is doing single leg deadlifts with kettlebells  Single leg deadlifts build stability around all of the muscles in the leg.  Building one legged balance, strength, coordination and stability is useful in that most sports you spend a significant amount of time on one leg. 

For all the people that are totally addicted to bosu balls and stability balls - Doing single leg squats and deadlifts on stable ground is usually a more sport applicable way to build stability than doing two leg squats and deadlifts on an unstable surface.  How many sports and how often in real life are you really standing on an unstable surface?  Surfing maybe?  On the flipside, you have most of your weight on one leg all the time.

If you are serious about building a solid, strong, athletically muscular body, you have to deadlift.  Teach your body to work as one piece.  Pull heavy loads of the ground.  Get stronger.  Learn how to do it right.

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

National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer (NASM-CPT) and Performance Enhancement Specialist (NASM-PES),
Russian Kettlebell Challenge Level II Certified Instructor (RKC2) and Combat Applications Specialist

© Joshua Hillis 2007

 

LeAnn Rimes can bench press her bodyweight

Girls: Ok, lots of women are scared to death that if they lift heavy they'll bulk up like a guy. 

On the flipside, hot girls are not afraid of lifting heavy.  Lifting heavy is usually how they got hot.

Guys: Ok dudes, if you can't bench press your bodyweight, then it's time to re-think your workout program.   Maybe you should take a look at your workouts and try to figure out why LeAnn Rimes is pound for pound stronger than you are.

LeAnn Rimes in the lastest Shape Magazine mentions she loves how strong she is now, and that she can bench press her own bodyweight.  And surprise, surprise - she looks wicked hot.

If you haven't noticed already, I'm a big fan of Shape Magazine.  Why?  Because typically they focus on celebrities had who had to work for the bodies they have.  They do smart workouts, and work hard.

I think I read once that all Catherine Zeta Jones does is tango, and that she doesn't work out at all.  Ok, mental note: Catherine Zeta Jones is genetically gifted.  Nothing against that.  I'm stoked for her.  But I have a feeling that if all you had to do to look like that was tango, you probably wouldn't be reading my articles.  You'd be tangoing.

No shock about the rest of LeAnn's workout details - big movements, circuit training, and intervals on the treadmill.  Some things ALWAYS work.  Why not put them all together at the same time?  Works for LeAnn.  Works for my clients.   

To recap: 

1.) If you want to get lean, you've got to focus on getting stronger.

That means you should be lifting progressively heavier weights.  You might not go load up the barbell equal to your bodyweight and try to bench press it tomorrow...  but why not work on benching your bodyweight in 2008?  Why not have an eye on doing your first unassisted pullup?  Or your tenth pullup?  Or your first butt to the ground one legged squat?

2.) Circuit Training Works.

It does work - Do it.   Circuits of full body movements (like squats, bench press, seated row) work better than circuits of small isolated movements (curls, tricep pushdowns, leg curls, leg extensions).  Bodyweight circuits are awesome also (lunges, pushups, box jumps, inverted body rows).

By Josh Hillis
Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds: Take Your Body from Good to Rockstar.
Josh Hillis is a specialist in getting my clients lean, fast.  Josh usually works with the hardest clients to lean out - women who are already in good shape. He likes the challenge of burning off the stubborn fat.  Josh's book is about how anyone can get that that lean rockstar body they've always wanted.

© Joshua Hillis 2007