Lose Stubborn Fat!

Gina Carano's Wicked Abs

There are a lot of things about Gina Carano that might surprise the average girl working out.

First, Gina trains to fight in MMA (Mixed Martial Arts, formerly known as Ultimate Fighting or Cage Fighting), and she's wicked hot.

I think when most girls think "cage fighter" they think of a chick that looks like a dude.

Surprise, Gina is a really hot girl who happens to be wicked strong and could also kick your boyfriend's ass.

Here is something else I like about Gina - her last weigh in, she came in at 144.5lbs.

Check out those abs:

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It kind of smashes the whole theory that girls have to be 110lbs to look hot.

The truth is that with a little bit of strength, a girl can look wicked hot with a higher body weight than you would think...  and get to eat more food.

I know... it's hard to wrap your head around.

This is the difference between body fat percentage, and scale weight.

You can have a really low scale weight, and still have a pooch.

But if your body fat percentage is low, you are going to have abs.

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This is also a great illustration of the kind of abs a girl gets when she isn't afraid to get strong.

Gina is Training For Performance

She's not trying to get abs, she's trying to create a body that will knock someone out or tap them out in the ring.

Gina Carano is a strong strong woman.

And fighter workouts are wickedly intense.

The body she has comes with the performance.

That's why athletic based training programs are so wickedly effective for fat loss.

If you train for performance, you always get the body.

And for all of the women that are scared of "bulking up" if they get too strong...  just look at Gina Carano.  Strong = hot. 

Scale Weight vs. Body Fat Percentage

As a personal trainer, scale weight and body fat percentage tell me very different things.

Scale weight tells me -

 - Tells me how many calories someone ate vs. how many calories they burned.

Body fat percentage tells me -

 - Tells me the quality of food you ate.

 - And the quality of your workouts.

To get to where you are going, you may need to change both.

Body Fat Percentage = Abs

Gina Carano has famously been struggling with her weight lately.

She's been coming in too heavy to fight in her weight class.

For someone who is a fighter, this is a really big deal. 

If you don't make the right weight for the fight you are signed up for, you can't fight. 

Imagine if you had to weigh in before you could go to work!

For someone who has a goal of looking really lean, it totally illustrates how unimportant scale weight is.

Gina clearly has a very low bodyfat percentage, which is why she has the abs everyone wants.

Assuming you aren't a pro fighter -

Would you really care what the scale says if you looked awesome in a bikini?

By Josh Hillis, RKC2, NASM-CPT/PES

author of

Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss

and

Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss For Women

Two wickedly effective fat loss programs inspired by conditioning for fighting sports

The Three Biggest Fitness Trends for Summer 2009

The Theme for 2009 is Old-School meets New School

1.) Kettlebells

Despite the sad state of kettlebell swing form in the national media, the fact is that we are seeing kettlebells in every fitness magazine, TV, newspaper, online, everywhere!

At first it was a big deal that Katherine Heigl was working out with kettlebells, that they were in Rolling Stone, Oxygen, Men's Fitness, Jennifer Lopez, Matthew McConaughey has used kettlebells, Penelope Cruz, Sylvester Stallone, Tim Ferris author of the Four Hour Work Week, they were on The Biggest Loser, Bravo's Workout, the list goes on and on.

Kettlebells are everywhere. 

 You simply don't find a more intense workout than kettlebells anywhere.

Kettlebells will rock your world.

I've been kettlebell lifting for six years, and I'm still shocked at how hard-core a workout they are.

It's the fact that it's more work in less time.

More work + less time = higher intensity,
and intensity does magical things in terms of fat loss.

Kettlebells are the ultimate old-school fat loss tool, they've been "cutting edge fitness" since the early 1800's. 

For the last 100 years they've been the mainstay of hardcore russian military units.

The last 10 years they've been adopted by hardcore US miltary and law enforcement, boxers and cage fighters.

And now, in 2008 and 2009, kettlebells have made the  jump from military fitness to really hot hollywood starlets. 

Hollywood likes kettlebells for the same reason as the military:

The Military needs to be wicked fit - their lives depend on it - and kettlebells are brutally effective at getting results.

Hollywood needs to be wicked hot - their career depends on it - and kettelbells are brutally effective at getting results.

2.) TRX - Suspension Training

TRX Suspension training puts a really cool new twist on some oldschool bodyweight training.

TRX is starting to pop up everywhere. 

It works for the same reason that gymnasts have wicked bodies - it's a full body workout that's really freakin hard.

Seriously, have you ever seen a gymnast that wasn't ripped?  Bodyweight training can kick ass.

They've done some really cool things, like adding foot straps, so you can do a million new variations.

What's even better, is that it can meet you at whatever fitness level you are currently at.

Changing the angle slightly changes the difficulty level completely.  So you can make it easier or harder in a second.

Like kettlebells, because you can get a full body workout all in one package, you end up with a quicker, faster, more intense full body workout.

Pushing, pulling, squatting in powerful, quick circuits.  It's everything that I ask for in a workout, all in tight, compact, portable package.

3.) Boxing

Told you this summer is old school.  

How is it that every starlet in Hollywood is doing boxing and circuits of strength training?

It just works.

Boxing only goes out of style every couple years, then it comes back. 

It just keeps coming back because it produces results.

It's full body, high intensity interval training - It's the very definition of what works for fat loss.

Boxing produces a powerful fat loss result for the same reason that kettlebell lifting does - explosive full body movements in intervals.

I originally put together Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss and Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss for Women to get the same results, without having to fit a boxing class into your schedule.

And boxing is definitely doing a good job of keeping Lauren Conrad looking lean these days.

By Josh Hillis

Right now the platinum coaching group is kicking serious ass.  If you feel like you need a good kick in the ass on your summer workout routine, you ought to check it out.

Josh is the author of the ever-popular fat loss e-book: The Stubborn Seven Pounds

If you've already completed The Stubborn Seven Pounds, take it to the next level with one of these two programs:

Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss or
Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss for Women

"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

Hugh Jackman's Wolverine Workout

There are a lot of people talking about how Jacked Hugh Jackman looks in Wolverine.

And there are a lot of people asking him about his workout.

But they seem to be glazing over some of the most important points.

Hugh Jackman has been working on the Wolverine Body for a year.

Building muscle takes longer than losing fat, and it's going to take some serious dedication to make that happen.

Unfortunately, today's quick fix society, people try something for a few weeks, they don't look like they're a member of the X-Men, they stop and try something new.

Switching to another program is quitting.

Pick a program, follow it exactly, and stick with it until you get results.

The Wolverine Workout is Big, Loud, Hard and Heavy

So what did Hugh Jackman do for a year?  Mostly big lifts.

This shouldn't surprise you, he moved heavy iron.  Bench press, barbell rows, heavy barbell lunges, squats, ect.

He rocked the big, hard lifts.

He didn't say how much he was squatting, but he did mention he's benching 315.

If he benches 315, I'd imagine he's squatting at least 315 also. 

Food for thought - Get real about what it takes in the gym:
If you want a body like Wolverine, you should be working on benching 315 and squatting 315.  How ever long it takes.

Why would you waste your time on the crunch machine?  What are you doing on the eliptical machine?  Machine curls, are you joking?  Seriously?

You'll notice next time you go to the gym - the people doing big lifts have ripped superhero bodies.

The girls and the guys.  The guys get jacked, the girls just get wicked lean.  Big lifts work for everyone.

The people who avoid big lifts "because they're hard" or "because they don't know how to do them" don't have a body that anyone is going to notice, much less a superhero body.

If Wolverine is stronger than you, fix that first.
It took Hugh Jackman a year.

If you have to learn the form...
If you have to put in the work...
If it took you a year, wouldn't it totally be worth it?

Do what ever you want, after you get strong in the major lifts - pushing, pulling and squatting. 

So grab yourself a barbell, and start the long, rewarding task of building real strength on the bench, the bent over row, and the squat. 

The Wolverine Workout Cylces

And check this out - Hugh is smart enough to cycle his Wolverine workout.

People tend to make one of two mistakes: They either never change their workout, or they change too often and change too much.

He doesn't do the same thing forever.  He sticks on a phase long enough to cause a result, and then he changes.  For him, that's every three weeks.  (note: More advanced lifters can do three week phases, intermediate lifters should do 4-6 week phases, beginners should do 8 week phases -JH)

Hugh does three weeks of heavy sets, with lots of rest.

Then he does three weeks of lighter sets, with slower tempo (3 seconds down, one second up.  Or 4 seconds down, 2 seconds up).

The last phase of the cycle is three weeks of explosive lifting.

Rinse and repeat.  The movements don't change, but the amount of weight he uses, the speed he lifts it, and the amount of rest, all those variables change.

I've often said that your workout should be like seasons, it should change systematically.  

How Would Wolverine Do This Workout?

This is key - 

Hugh would actually imagine he was wolverine while he was doing the workout.

He wasn't lifting like Hugh Jackman would workout.  He didn't want a Hugh Jackman body.

He wanted a Wolverine Workout, so he lifted like Wolverine.

That included growling and screaming, and attacking his lifting like his life depended on it.

I ask my clients this all the time: "Who do you want to look like?"

And once you get an idea in your head of how you want to look, imagine how that person eats, imagine how that person works out, imagine how that person talks about eating and working out.

Wolverine wouldn't make excuses about going to the gym.

And Wolverine wouldn't punk out on his workouts.

Hugh Jackman set that as the standard he had to live up to.  And he then he just did live up to that standard.  

The body came as a natural consequence of that.

And What Do You Feed a Wolverine?

Hugh's diet was simple - he ate a 1000 calories more than he normally eats.

That pre-supposes something though - to eat 1000 calories more than you normally eat, you'd have to be keeping a food journal, and know how many calories you are eating now.

No one ever gets a really hardcore body without tracking what they are putting in their body for fuel. 

If you aren't keeping a food journal, you have absolutely no chance of looking like Wolverine, no matter what you do in the gym.

You Earn Your Body

Hugh definitely earned his.

The only difference between you and Hugh Jackman, is what you eat and what you do in the weight room

I don't care if you want a body like Wolverine, or a body like Kayla Silverfox, you earn your body with the work you do and choices you make.

The Wolverine Body came as a natural consequence of Hugh Jackman being Wolverine every day, in the gym and in the kitchen.

By Josh Hillis

Josh is the author of the ever-popular fat loss e-book: The Stubborn Seven Pounds

If you've already completed The Stubborn Seven Pounds, take it to the next level with one of these two programs:

Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss or
Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss for Women

"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

 

 

 

Denver Fitness Expert Donates Free Fitness Resources To World's Largest Health and Fitness Gift Giving Bonanza

For Immediate Release

Local Fitness Expert Donates Free Fitness Resources To World's Largest Health and Fitness Gift Giving Bonanza

Denver fitness expert Josh Hillis today announced a very special invite to take part in the world's largest ever fitness information gift-giving, www.12daysoffitness.com where an estimated 500,000 people will benefit from the combined fitness expertise of over 250 personal trainers, physical therapists and nutritionists.

Josh was chosen to represent Denver, Colorado from among thousands of fitness experts in recognition of his specialist knowledge in the areas of fat loss and kettlebell training and is expected to make quite an impact when he releases his lastest video workout program called 7 Wicked Fast Fat Loss Workouts which is aimed at helping women and men to safely and rapidly lose stubborn fat.

Josh said "The reason I created this workout video series is because I believe that losing stubborn fat has become a real problem for so many women and men who have tried all of the traditional approaches to working out and yet still failed to get the rockstar-hot-body they want.  People working out these days are stuck with extra fat, or just as bad they are skinny fat, and they're not happy about it.  I wanted to give people a simple, straightforward, yet wickedly effective means to lose stubborn fat fast and get their body all rockstar-ed out"

Josh continued, "what makes the release of this report so awesome is that it's going to be part of a much bigger and impactful program as part of Dax Moy's '12 days of fitness' program where we anticipate that over 500,000 people will receive advice and help with achieving their health and fitness goals for 2009. To have been selected for such an important role within the project is a great honor, and I'm totally stoked about it."

You can receive your own free copy of Josh Hillis' 7 Wicked Fast Fat Loss Workouts and hundreds of others for free by visiting www.12daysoffitness.com and getting your name onto the gift list which will begin delivering fitness gifts worldwide from December 10th.

Increasing Pullup Strength

Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss, the most kick ass, intense fat loss program you can do, is still on SALE:

Fat Loss Workouts Thanksgiving Sale

By Josh Hillis, Level 2 Kettlebell Instructor

"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

I've been featured in USA Today and The Denver Post.

© Joshua Hillis 2008

Train Like 007

The more you train like Daniel Craig trained and the more you eat like Daniel Craig ate... 

scratch that -

The more you work out like James Bond would work out, and the more you eat like James Bond would eat, the more you are going to have the James Bond body.

And I've got good news, when you're carrying that much muscle, your metabolism will be cranked up enough that you can even have a James Bond Martini once in a while.

Daniel Craig was doing a ton of pullups and dips.  If you can't do a bodyweight pullup yet, you've got some work to do.  All the girls I train can do at least 3 pullups.  One of the girls I train can do 14.  All of the guys I train can do at least 10 pullups.  One of the dudes can do 20.  I'd be shocked if a double "0" agent can't do 20 pullups without breaking a sweat.  Time to get yourself in on the Internet Pullup Challenge.

And Daniel Craig talked about benching his bodyweight.  He did that in the middle of circuit workouts.  I've got news for you, even LeAnn Rimes can bench her own bodyweight.  So if you aren't there yet, that's another benchmark you should be working towards.

He never said what he squatted, but you might as well be working towards a single leg squat, Russian Navy SEAL style, 'cause it's ridiculous hard, it builds wicked strength, and it's a cool party trick.  Most guys can't even do one.

Daniel Craig is as strong as he looks.

And then you can't say military fitness without saying kettlebells.  So I'd throw in the Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss Fighter Workout Test.

You'd also want to throw in The Secret Service Snatch Test: Using a 52lb kettlebell, you see how many kettlebell snatches you can do in 10 minutes.  For the Secret Service, you're totally useless if you can't do at least 200 reps.  The real badasses in the Secret Service do 250 reps.  This, of course, is also far...  far beyond the fitness of most dudes in the gym.

I'm trying to impress upon you, that if you want a body like a Double "0" Agent like James Bond, a lot of the guys reading this may to have to get a lot stronger and fitter than they are now.  It could take a real investment of time to build this kind of fitness. 

If you already are that strong and fit, but you don't have the body you want, then the issue is entirely food.

For most guys, it's going to be about taking both your workout and your nutrition to the next level.

Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss, the most kick ass, intense fat loss program you can do, is still on SALE:

Fat Loss Workouts Thanksgiving Sale

By Josh Hillis, Level 2 Kettlebell Instructor

"I ripoff Josh Hillis' workouts to use with my clients on a regular basis." - Dave Whitley, Senior Russian Kettleball Challenge Instructor

Josh has been featured in USA Today and The Denver Post.

Quantum of Solace Workout vs. Casino Royale Workout

Daniel Craig changed it up a little from Casino Royale.  The Casino Royale Workout was all weight training.

For Quantum of Solace he took out some weight training (click here to see what his weight training program looked like), and added in boxing.

In other words, he's changing from just looking like he could kick some ass, to actually being able to.

He also said he's doing a lot more sprinting and jumping.  In Casino Royale he was required to do a lot of sprinting and jumping during filming, but he wasn't really prepared for that, and he got a lot of injuries during the shoot.

For Quantum of Solace, he's doing enough sprinting and jumping to prepare him for the demands of the shoot.  Once again, he went from just looking the part to being able to live the part.

Look The Part or Live The Part

For adding muscle and leaning up, it's hard to beat big, compound movements.  It's not shocking at all that Daniel Craig's weight training is circuits of pushing, pulling, squatting, and clean and jerks. 

And it's wicked smart that he's doing specific training for his "sport" - stunts.  To prepare to do his own running and jumping, it's shocking - he's doing running and jumping.

In essence, all of the Casion Royale workouts were based around looking like 007, for Quantum of Soloce the workouts are balanced between looking like 007, and actually being 007.  Working out to be able do the things that James Bond actually needs to do.

007 Cardio

For the cardio intervals, instead of always doing sprints, I'd mix in some boxing pad work in the same intervals of work and rest.  And then other days we'd mix in box jumps, in the same intervals. 

If we're going to do a Daniel Craig James Bond Workout, we might as well add in the exact same stuff that Daniel Craig added into his Quantum of Solace Workouts. 

The take away you guys should get is that cardio doesn't have to be running on the treadmill.  You could totally take a boxing class.  (I recommend a real boxing class, not a "dance group x class")

In Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss, people do their cardio intervals some times with things as simple as running.  Other times their cardio intervals are kettlebell swings, burpees, box jumps, pushups, or lunges. 

Get yourself out of the cardio box that big gyms want to put you in, and actually develop some real fitness for a change.

Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss, the most kick ass, intense fat loss program you can do, is still on SALE:

Fat Loss Workouts Thanksgiving Sale

By Josh Hillis, Level 2 Kettlebell Instructor

"I ripoff Josh Hillis' workouts to use with my clients on a regular basis." - Dave Whitley, Senior Russian Kettleball Challenge Instructor

Josh has been featured in USA Today and The Denver Post.