The Scene; You’re driving in your Volkswagen on a cool autumn day. You gaze out the window to admire the colorful foliage when out of nowhere a toddler on a big wheel rolls directly in front of your car. You slam on the breaks, just barely avoiding disaster.

You can feel your heart in your chest. It appears everything has slowed down. Your vision seems to have narrowed. Your once clogged sinuses are now clear. That nagging tendonitis you have had in your elbow seems to have temporarily gone away.

Your body has just given you a powerful dose of Epinephrine.

Epinephrine/Adrenaline

The fight of flight hormone. Your body releases epinephrine in response to short term stress situations. These situations tend to involve extreme changes in the environment, like those of temperature, noise, bright light, or children running in front of your car. The purpose of this temporary doping is to allow increased oxygen to reach the brain and skeletal muscle in order to allow for momentary peak performance. The type of performance one might have needed to escape from a sabre toothed cat 2 million years ago. The software in our bodies hasn’t really updated much since then.

Testosterone

For our purposes I’ll skip the sex education speech and go into the not-so-familiar method of elevating testosterone; through exercise. Studies have shown that using complex movements like squats and pull ups as opposed to leg extensions and biceps curls has a much greater impact on our bodies ability to naturally increase its testosterone levels. Testosterone offers us a plethora of benefits such as increased libido, mental and physical energy, decreased fat mass, and increased protein synthesis and bone density. Not bad for anyone whose goal is to either shed a few pounds or gain some lean muscle. Aside from using compound movements studies also seem to favor using heavy weights when trying to stimulate greater testosterone levels.

Cortisol

Like epinephrine, cortisol is also released due to stress. Its job is to try to bring your body’s systems back to homeostasis after an event. It does this by increasing blood pressure, blood lipids, and blood sugar. It also temporarily shuts down the immune system in order to cater to the other more important bodily systems. Unfortunately, some negative side effects of long term cortisol release can leave you pretty beat up on the inside. Your body is now more likely to store fat close to the vital organs in your gut so that it is more readily available for the next stressful event. A good way to spot the stressed out guy at your office is to look for the beer belly.

Although this article did not focus completely around exercise and fitness, it should be easy to see how knowing a little bit about the way things work on the inside can affect the way you look on the outside. Understand and learn your body; that is a major key to success in any fitness program.

By Tom Venuto
Author of: Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle

It’s lunchtime, and you’re trying to decide what to make today. Normally, you would have your regular chicken salad with mixed nuts, but today is different. You’re going to a party in the evening, and even though you’re not quite sure what to expect, you know there will be a ton of food in an atmosphere of very little restraint. You decide that it’s probably best to eat a lighter lunch than usual, to prepare for the evening calorie-surge.

This is commonly known as “banking calories” which is analogous to saving calories like money because you’re going to consume more later.

I usually do not recommend this. Here’s why:

If you skip meals earlier in the day to “prepare” (bank calories) for a big feast at night, you are thinking only in terms of calories, but skipping meals is also depriving yourself of protein (amino acids), carbohydrates, essential fats, vitamins, minerals and other valuable nutrients that come from healthy food, as well as the small frequent meals which help control your appetite, stabilize your blood sugar and provide a steady flow of amino acids to your muscles. Skipping breakfast is especially detrimental.

Not only that, but eating less early in the day in anticipation of overeating later in the day is much more likely to increase your appetite, causing you to binge or eat even MORE than you thought you would at night when the big meal does arrive.

In fact, eating healthy, high fiber and lean protein food, as usual, earlier in the day is likely to make you LESS hungry for the holiday party meal and you’ll be more likely to eat only a harmlessly small amount of “party” foods.

I don’t like the concept of “banking calories” if it means skipping meals or if it’s used as justification for binge eating.

Even if it worked the way you wanted it to, the starving and binging pattern may cause more damage than an occasional oversize meal, even if only on a psychological level. Some dietitians might even argue that this kind of behavior borders on disordered eating.

A better approach is to stay on your regular menu of healthy foods and small meals through the entire day – business as usual – and then go ahead and enjoy yourself at your party by treating yourself to a SMALL amount of “BAD” food.

This is supported by the 2nd Corollary of the law of calorie balance:

“Small amounts of ANYTHING – even junk food- will probably not be stored as fat as long as you are in a calorie deficit where you are eating fewer calories than you burn.”

It should be a big relief for you to know that when you’re at a party, a banquet, dining out or eating at a relative’s house for a special occasion, you can eat whatever you want with little or no ill effect on body composition, as long as you respect the law of calorie balance ans as long as it is done infrequently.

However, you CANNOT starve and binge and expect not to reap negative consequences.

If you sincerely want to burn fat and be healthy, then you have to have the discipline to stick with your nutrition plan consistently and control your portion sizes.

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto CSCS, NSCA-CPT
Fat Loss Coach
www.BurnTheFat.com

To learn more about burning fat naturally in a healthy, sensible way, then be sure to take a look at Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle

About the Author:
Tom Venuto is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, independent nutrition researcher, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models (e-book) which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world’s best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com

By Tom Venuto
Author of: Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle

We’ve all been at the holiday get-togethers, and have quickly devoured something devilishly delicious with little thought. Some feel little shame for eating a cake or drinking half the bowl of punch, but others find themselves feeling guilty afterward and can’t help but think, “oops, I shouldn’t have eaten that.” I have to admit I do get a little chuckle out of the “accidental” part! Do you ever really “accidentally” eat anything? I think we are all responsible for everything we eat and how much we eat and until you consciously realize and accept this, and take the time to do some proactive meal planning, you will probably continue to have lots of “overeating accidents!”

After you overindulge, I definitely do NOT recommend skipping your next meal or skipping meals the next day to make up for it. I usually don’t even recommend cutting back either, although there may be exceptions where you could manipulate your meal size or macronutrient composition.

I generally recommend returning immediately to your “regularly scheduled meal programming,” because this continues to encourage the maintenance of positive habits such as eating 5-6 small meals every day.

I do suppose whether you cut back could depend on whether you’ve been on low calories a long time, how lean you were already, and on whether you were in a caloric deficit already. If you were in a calorie deficit for the day, then the extra calories might only bring you up to maintenance, not “over” your daily limit, which might not be as damaging as if you were in a calorie surplus.

If you were already very lean or had been dieting strictly for a long time (as in a bodybuilder coming off a competition), a large meal or entire high calorie day might not have any negative effect either. Your metabolism has a way of slowing down if you keep your calories too low 100% of the time.

With occasional (planned) higher calorie days, you’d be using the BURN THE FAT “zig-zag” or “cycling” principle, so eating more in this context can be a positive thing. (Note: You can learn more about this technique in the BURN THE FAT program at Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle). However, there’s a big difference between a planned “cheat meal” or a planned high carb, clean food “re-feed” day and a binge on junk food. Regardless of total 24 hour calorie intake for the day, you could still store body fat after heavy eating if it’s done at certain times and in a certain metabolic state.

Although I do prescribe calorie levels based on daily (24 hr) needs, I believe you should also pay attention to 3 hour “windows” when you’re thinking about adjusting your caloric intake. Calories and macronutrients (protein/aminos, carbs/sugar and fat) are partitioned into glycogen, muscle or fat tissue or burned immediately depending very much on present moment energy and recovery needs and on what’s going to happen over the next 3 hours or so as the food enters your system.

So, if you’re going to be plopping down on the couch to watch football games for the rest of the day and night after that big holiday meal, beware – you might just want to cut back on that next meal a little, especially starches and sugars.

Bottom line: It’s okay to eat small amounts of your favorite junk foods once in a while as planned “free meals,” and it’s a good idea to eat more in general from time to time to keep your metabolism humming along. However, your best bet if you’re really serious about fat loss is to avoid huge meals and avoid bingeing in the first place. ALWAYS practice portion control – even on holidays.

If you ever do slip, don’t beat yourself up, just get right back on the wagon with your next meal and remember, the past is behind you and today is a new day.

Your friend and coach,

Tom Venuto, CSCS, NSCA-CPT
Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle

P.S. If you’re interested in burning fat naturally in a healthy, sensible way, then be sure to take a look at Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle – it’s the best place to start your journey: Click Here

About the Author:
Tom Venuto is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, independent nutrition researcher, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models (e-book) which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world’s best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: Click here

Tom Venuto, author of best selling ebook “Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle“, answers the question ” what happens to the fat cells when you burn body fat?”.

Take it away Tom.

Tom:  Earlier this week someone in our discussion forum wrote, “I haven’t LOST any fat… I know EXACTLY where it went! I got a chuckle out of that because I “got” the joke, but truth is, most people really don’t know where the fat goes when it’s burned or how the fat burning process takes place, so this is a really good question.

When you “lose” body fat, the fat cell (also called an adipocyte) does not go anywhere or “move into the muscle cell to be burned”, as it was suggested to you (although that’s not too far off). The fat cell itself, (unfortunately) stays right where it was – under the skin in your thighs, stomach, hips, arms, etc., and on top of the muscles – which is why you can’t see muscle “definition” when your body fat is high.

Fat is stored inside the fat cell in the form of triaglycerol. The fat is not burned right there in the fat cell, it must be liberated from the fat cell through somewhat complex hormonal/biochemical pathways. When stimulated to do so, the fat cell simply releases its contents (triaglycerol) into the bloodstream as free fatty acids (FFA’s), and they are transported through the blood to the tissues where the energy is needed.

A typical young male adult stores about 60,000 to 100,000 calories of energy in body fat cells. What triggers the release of all these stored fatty acids from the fat cell? Simple: When your body needs energy because you’re consuming fewer calories than you are burning (an energy deficit), then your body releases hormones and enzymes that signal your fat cells to release your fat reserves instead of keeping them in storage.

For stored fat to be liberated from the fat cell, hydrolysis (lipolysis or fat breakdown), splits the molecule of triaglycerol into glycerol and three fatty acids. An important enzyme called hormone sensitive lipase (HSL) is the catalyst for this reaction. The stored fat (energy) gets released into the bloodstream as FFA’s and they are shuttled off to the muscles where the energy is needed. As blood flow increases to the active muscles, more FFA’s are delivered to the muscles that need them.

An important enzyme called lipoprotein lipase (LPL), then helps the FFA’s get inside the mitochondria of the muscle cell, where the FFA’s can be burned for energy. If you’ve ever taken a biology class, then you’ve probably heard of the mitochondria. This is the “cellular powerhouse” where energy production takes place and this is where the FFA’s go to be burned for energy.

When the FFA’s are released from the fat cell, the fat cell shrinks and that’s why you look leaner when you lose body fat – because the fat cell is now smaller. A small or “empty” fat cell is what you’re after if you want the lean, defined look.

It was once believed that the number of fat cells could not increase after adulthood, only the size of the fat cells could increase (or decrease). We now know that fat cells can indeed increase both in size (hypertrophy) and in number (hyperplasia) and that they are more likely to increase in number at certain times and under certain circumstances, such as 1) during late childhood and early puberty, 2) During pregnancy, and 3) During adulthood when extreme amounts of weight are gained

Some people are genetically predisposed to have more fat cells than others and women have more fat cells than men. An infant usually has about 5 – 6 billion fat cells. This number increases during early childhood and puberty, and a healthy adult with normal body composition has about 25 to 30 billion fat cells. A typical overweight adult has around 75 billion fat cells. But in the case of severe obesity, this number can be as high as 250 to 300 billion!

The average size (weight) of an adult fat cell is about 0.6 micrograms, but they can vary in size from 0.2 micograms to 0.9 micrograms. An overweight person’s fat cells can be up to three times larger than a person with ideal body composition.

Remember, body fat is basically just a reserve source of energy and fat cells are the like the storage tanks. Unlike a gas tank in your car which is fixed in size, however, fat cells can expand or shrink in size depending on how “filled” they are.

Picture a balloon that is not inflated: It’s tiny when not filled with air – maybe the size of your thumb. When you blow it up with air, it can expand 10 or 12 times it’s normal size, because it simply fills up. That’s what happens to fat cells: They start as nearly empty fat storage “tanks” (when you are lean), and when energy intake exceeds your needs, your fat cells “fill up” and “stretch out” like balloons filling up with jelly (not a pretty picture, is it?)

So you don’t actually “lose” fat cells, you “shrink” or “empty out” fat cells.

Take-home lessons:

1. Calories count!The signal that triggers your body to release adipose from fat cells is an energy deficit… you have to burn more than you eat.

2. Cut calories conservatively. Starving yourself may cause quick weightloss at first, but never works long term because it actually decreases the activity of fat burning enzymes that release fat from the cells. to avoid this “starvation mode” use exercise to BURN THE FAT, not very low calorie crash diets.

3. Get control of your weight now. If you are gaining weight, and especially if your weight is climbing upwards out of control, make a decision to STOP RIGHT NOW. Your fat cells might be multiplying, making it more difficult to burn fat in the future. NOW is the time!

4. If you’ve already lost weight, you must be forever diligent. Your fat cells are not gone, they have merely “shrunk” or “emptied out.” Fitness is not a 12 week program, its a lifestyle. To stay lean you have to eat clean and stay active

5. Genetics are only a minor factor. You may not have control over how many fat cells you were born with, but you do control the major factors that determine how much fat you store: lifestyle, exercise, nutrition, mental attitude.

Genetics are not an excuse. The past is not an excuse. Your present condition is not an excuse. You can either make excuses or get results, but you can’t do both.

So keep educating yourself about the science, read these newsletters, take action every day and go out there and make it happen!

If you need more help, Burn The Fat is the eating plan that turned it all around for thousands of others… why not you? visit:

www.burnthefat.com

About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilder, certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) and a certified personal trainer (CPT). Tom is the author of “Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using methods of the world’s best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com

By Mike Roussell PhD(c) http://thebuffgeek.com/warpspeedfatloss.php

Weight loss plateaus can be frustrating and detrimental to your fat loss if not dealt with swiftly and properly. Another way to look at weight loss plateaus is that they are actually your body settling in at a new body weight set point.

The set point theory is basically the idea that your body likes to be at a certain body weight and it will work to keep you there. Chances are you have experienced this in your own life. I’m talking about situations where you will gain or lose weight but inevitably after a couple weeks or months of trying to change you end up around the same body weight (I know for me 175lbs was a set point, in my own system for quite some time).

In order to break these body weight set points, it is important to understand the forces that you are working against (know thy enemy, right?). I’m talking about adaptive thermogenesis. Adaptive thermogenesis is the seemingly automatic reduction in energy expenditure that occurs when you diet. Many think that this is the driving force behind people’s body weight set point.

This is important so I want to make sure I’m explaining it clear enough so here’s an oversimplified example.

You are currently eating 2000 kcal per day. Your body is currently burning 2000 kcal per day. You decided that you need to lose weight so you cut 500 kcal from your diet. So in theory your body should now have to dig up another 500 kcal from body fat to fuel the calorie difference.

It doesn’t work that way. Studies show that your body adjusts its energy output so that it can now function on only 1500 kcal per day. This is adaptive thermogenesis. It has been demonstrated that adaptive thermogenesis occurs with both severe and modest calorie cutting.

What is the driving force behind this? Here are some candidates:

• Changes in body weight
• Changes in Leptin
• Changes in Insulin
• Changes in Thyroid Hormones
• Depletion of Fat Stores

 Fortunately you can beat all of these, prevent adaptive thermogenesis, and keep the weight loss coming.

The answer?

Exercise combined with diet.

This seems to help – but not in all cases. We know from research and anecdotal evidence that not all exercise prescriptions work. What does work is intense metabolic resistance training.

If you are currently stuck at a weight loss plateau, you need to break your body’s set point. To do this it is necessary to undergo a rigorous change in diet and training so that you can in essence shock your system.

Here’s what to do next. Once you break though your sticking weight using Warp Speed Fat Loss (or which ever method you choose), maintenance is very important. Get 5-15lbs below your old body weight set point and maintain that weight. Many people lose their fire and drive after they have lost the weight but you need to stay focused so that you can reset your body’s set point.

Maintain your new weight for 4 weeks (this is ideal – if you can’t go that long at least do 2 weeks) before you start losing weight again. This step wise approach will help reset your system to your new body weight and help fight its urge to return to the old set point. The key is keeping your body weight long enough so that your body ‘thinks’ that is the new normal.

About the Author/More Info:
Warp Speed Fat Loss is a complete 28 day diet and training system crafted to help you lose 10,15, or 20lbs of body fat in just 28 day. To start losing weight fast visit http://www.thebuffgeek.com/warpspeedfatloss.php. Mike Roussell is a nutrition doctoral student at Pennsylvania State University. Mike’s writings can be found in magazines such as Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, and Testosterone Nation. Mike specializes in fat loss nutrition and diets for busy men and women who need to lose weight fast without it interfering with their lives. Warp Speed Fat Loss (http://www.thebuffgeek.com/warpspeedfatloss.php) is a complete Done-for-You A-Z Fat Loss Blueprint that gives you exactly everything you need to eat to lose weight in record time.

So if you’ve been reading my stuff for a while then you probably know I advocate HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) for fat loss as opposed to the low intensity long duration cardio.

HIIT can be performed on just about any piece of cardio equipment; it’s all about the intensity and less about the modality.  

It involves a series of sprinting efforts split with moderate intensity efforts.  We call these work periods and rest periods for simplicity.  Because variety is important I often use several different work/rest ratios.  

Today I’ll be discussing what works best for the ultra beginner when it comes to HIIT or even just exercise in general.  Also, if you’re over 300 lbs these are a good introduction into a new type of training that’s going to help you to drop weight much faster.  This is the same exact cardio routine I use with my current clients when they are first starting out.  I’ve found that it is very unreasonable to expect “sprinting” from a complete beginner or someone whom is much heavier.  Even if it is low impact sprinting on a cross trainer, it’s rarely ever successful or productive.

First off; what I always use for beginners is the treadmill.  Providing they’re not special needs, I already know they can walk.  Maybe not comfortably, but it’s probably the closest, and most familiar bit of human movement that they already have mastered.  This will be important for the beginner because the first few sessions will be spent getting some actual work done and not just learning to adapt to a new movement pattern.  On your first bout of using the treadmill, you’ll want to find the right speed and grade that makes walking just a little too uncomfortable for you.  This should be just enough that you can only tolerate a minutes worth of work.  After that minute is up, safely get off of the treadmill, but keep it running*.  Be sure to record the speed and the grade that you are working at in a journal.  Using a stop watch or a clock, give yourself a 2 minutes rest.  Make the rest active if you can, pacing around, stretching and moving if it’s possible.  At the end of your 2 minute rest period get back on the treadmill and give it hell for another minute of work.  Repeat this 1:2 interval for another 6 rounds, or until you feel you can no longer continue do to cramping, pain, nausea, or exhaustion.  Remember, it’s supposed to be uncomfortable, but you definitely do not want to hurt yourself.  Listen to your body.  Complete this routine 5 days a week, 2 days on its own and 3 days after working out with weights.  If your goal is fat loss it is extremely crucial that you be working out with weights, but that’s a discussion for another day.

This routine should kick your butt for at least 2 weeks.  After that point you should try to shorten your rest periods to just 90 seconds, and then eventually down to 1 minute.  At that point you’re almost ready for some real HIIT. 

*Note: some treadmills have a safety mechanism that will automatically shut the machine down if you step off.  If this is the case at your gym, try speed walking out doors instead; 1 minute fast paced 2 minutes slow.

Because everybody likes FREE stuff right?  

Download all 3 of them here.

These are 3 very high quality ebooks with tons of great quality information.  I wouldn’t be pimping them if they weren’t.  

21st Century 6 Pack AB Training

Top Secret Fat Loss Strategies Revealed

Top 6 Sources of Omega-3 Fats

Just right click on the link and save as.

Seriously this is the type of stuff that blows away all that crap you’re being fed in most magazines. 

In an atempt to make my blog better I’m looking to hear from you the reader.  I want to know what you would like to see more of on this little blog of mine.

I am making it my goal to create a website full of quality content which will help to educate and entertain people of like interests.

Please email your questions and suggestions to thebuffgeek@gmail.com

Some suggestions

geek fitness

posture

pain relief through exercise

fat loss

exercise descriptions

warming up

gaming

animals

exercise science

chemistry

biomechanics

comics

movies

workout programs

fitness news

fitness tech

body weight training

Again please email any suggestions to thebuffgeek@gmail.com

A quick vid from Mike Roussell.

I like to think I know a thing or two.  But when it comes to nutrition Mike is the man.

I’ll try to put more from Mike up in the future.  He’s a pretty valuable resource.

Check out more about Mike here Warp Speed Fat Loss.

A brief update on what’s going on with me and my geeky fitness routine.

So the last 2 months I’ve really been trying to put on some lean muscle before the fat season begins.  I can’t say that I’ve “bulked up” but I put on a decent amount of weight without any additional fat mass.

I used a lot of heavy weights, large movements, and long rest periods.  Oh yeah, I also stuffed my face with plenty of healthy, organic and damn good tasting food.

On a side note; Whole Foods has this bacon that I swear is about as thick as a leather belt.  No joke.

From now until Thanksgiving I’ll be using a drawn out version of Mike and Alwyns Warp Speed Fat Loss.  It won’t be as intense, but all the principals will be the same.  I’m too much of a wuss to do their program.  Even if it is just 28 days long.  Way too brutal for me.  Plus, Halloween is right around the corner.  I loves me some kit kat bars, reeses, and M&Ms.  That’s really why I’m doing all of this.  So I can enjoy my favorite seasons without the worry of putting on too much body fat.

Well there it is.  My weak attempt at an update.  I’ll leave you with a clip from my last heavy workout I did this past week.  I eventually got my dead lift back to 365 pounds.  Not bad for someone who had a jacked neck and a dislocated rib just 4 months prior.