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Welcome to all our new subscribers, and I extend my appreciation to everyone who forwards this newsletter to friends. One friend telling another is how we grow, and I deeply appreciate your support. If you know anyone who might like it, please forward this newsletter to them or send them this link: http://www.FitnessMovtivatorNewsletter.com

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IN THIS ISSUE:

1. Greetings from the Editor
2. Article—Real Muscle Real Fast!
3. Article—How To Create An Effective Weight Loss Road Map
4. Article—The Single Most Important Factor in Fitness
5. Article—Is Splenda As Splendid as the Manufacturer Wants You To Believe?
6. Inspirational Quotes
7. Web Sites Worth A Look

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Dear Fitness Friends,

I hope this finds you all well. In the last newsletter, I mentioned that I wasn't sure if I would be able to maintain, let alone lose weight while I was sedentary while I was recovering from my foot surgery.

When I went to the doctor's and got weighed last week, I was happy to find out that after 3 weeks of inactivity following my surgery, I had lost another five pounds. A month after my surgery last year, I had gained 10 pounds--so you can imagine my delight. As of last week, my weight loss has been almost 20 pounds since the start of my new eating habits.

Fall brings fresh, cool air to most parts of the country. I am hope you use this time to get active outside before the cold winter weather arrives, and you will be forced to get more of your exercise indoors. How do you plan to stay active this winter? Drop me a line and let me know. I will post the five ways most-mentioned in the next issue.

Do you have a success story you would like to share? Please e-mail me with your information and you may be highlighted in an upcoming issue!

Stay healthy and happy!

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"If you are truly flexible and go until ... there is really very little you can't accomplish in your lifetime."

~~Anthony Robbins

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Adding muscle seems to be a mystery to most, yet if you pick up a copy of any fitness or bodybuilding magazine and you’ll almost always see a headline like this: “Gain 15 Pounds of Muscle in 6 Weeks.”

If it were so easy you’d have millions of muscle-heads running around. Even though building muscle tissue can be a challenge, I’m going to outline some very specific principles that can pack on the muscle faster than you can throw away that copy of “Muscle and Fiction!”

Before we get started though I want to clarify a few points.

1. The ridiculous claims made by most fitness and bodybuilding magazines are only there to get you to buy that issue – nothing more!

2. If you are serious about strength training you need to be reading books and NOT cheesy fitness magazines

Ok… here we go.

In order to add muscle tissue you must force the body to add it. Your body won’t just add a pound of muscle just because you followed a 3-set workout that you read about in Muscle + Fitness. You need to give the body a reason to make improvements – in this case add muscle tissue.

You have to provide what I call a “stimulus.” This can be done in many ways and I’ll address a few in just a moment. Basically, you need to force the body to add muscle by subjecting it to levels of stress it is not used to. Some methods are more obvious than others but all can work. Here are a few examples of how this can be done effectively.

First, the basic and common methods:

1. Increase weight or resistance
2. Perform more repetitions
3. Perform more sets
4. Move the resistance slower
5. Rest less between sets and exercises

Now for the more advanced methods:

1. Pre-exhaust (perform an isolation exercise first and immediately continue with no rest on a compound movement. ex. chest flye and then chest press)

2. Static holds (hold the resistance in the hardest position of the range of motion. ex. the top position during a leg extension)

3. Partial reps in weak range (perform a portion of the rep where you are weakest. ex. the top half of a rep of leg extensions)

4. Strip-set (after a warm-up set, perform 3 sets back to back with no rest while starting with the heaviest weight possible and each time strip off some weight to allow you to continue)

5. 1 ½ reps (perform one full rep and then on the second rep only perform half the normal range of motion and then return to starting position to begin the next rep. ex. one full rep of lat pulldowns, pull second rep all the way down, resist weight back up but only half way and then pull back down)

These are just a few examples of methods of increasing intensity to ensure progress. The key point to remember is that whatever you do it must be progressive in order for it to elicit a physical change. This is even more critical for those looking to add muscle size.

Although this article is geared towards individuals who are interested in gaining muscle size, the principles can also be used for individuals who want to build strength, increase metabolism, or tighten and tone muscles.

Here are some general recommendations for different goals…

If your goal is to tighten and tone muscles:

- Focus on increasing reps, decreasing rest, and changing exercises frequently
- Train each muscle group twice per week
- Perform fewer sets of many different exercises (1-2 sets per exercise)

If your goal is to increase strength and power:

- Focus on increasing weight
- Train each muscle group once every 7-10 days
- Perform multiple sets of each exercise (2-5 sets per exercise)

If your goal is to increase muscle size:

- Focus on shocking muscles by changing variables frequently (exercises, set and rep schemes, rest time, etc)
- Train each muscle group on a variable schedule (experiment by training a muscle group 3 times a week and then once every ten days)
- Perform multiple sets for a while and the perform single sets for a week or two

Some final reminders:

The recommendations above are general and of course would need to be adapted and adjusted for your personal goals and experience. For those of you who are advanced and may be thinking there’s no way you can build strength by training once every 10 days I challenge you to try it for at least 4 weeks, or those of you who think that you need to stick to the same basic movements like bench to build size I challenge you to try shocking the muscles by changing the exercises you perform each week for 4 weeks, and those of you with little experience I hope that you’ll throw away the fitness magazines and learn what really works.

If you have any questions about the techniques described in this article please feel free to contact me. You can jesse@achieve-fitness.com or call 240-731-3724. I highly recommend you get a copy of APEX as it covers so much ground including advanced training techniques, mental training + preparation, body transformations + competitive bodybuilding, nutrition and recovery, too much to even try and list here. Do yourself a favor and get a copy of APEX now - you'll save yourself time, money, energy, and frustration. To order your copy go to http://www.seriousstrengthtraining.com/real_muscle.htm


Jesse Cannone is a certified personal trainer, nutritionist, and best-selling fitness author. Sign up to receive his free email course, Muscle Building Tips which is full of powerful tips and techniques for maximizing strength and size. http://www.seriousstrengthtraining.com

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Vita-Mix® 5000 For Nutrition You Can Taste!

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" The best way to predict the future is to invent it. "

~~Alan Kay

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How To Create An Effective Weight Loss Road Map

by Lynn Bode

We all know that losing weight and improving your overall fitness are things that don't happen overnight. But, did you know in order to be truly successful that important steps need to be taken before you even start a diet or exercise program? The first thing you should do is identify where you fall on the behavioral change spectrum. There are five distinct stages of behavioral change. Do you know what stage you currently fall under?

Knowing what stage you are at will help you to create a road map to the subsequent stages and ultimately help you to be successful in your fitness goals. Below are the five major phases.

1. Precontemplation: This is the point where you don't feel that any change in your lifestyle is necessary. You may be thinking that exercising just takes too much time or that fast food is just too convenient to even consider giving up. Starting a fitness or diet program during this stage would probably result in failure. The best thing you can do during this phase is educate yourself further about health, diseases and risks.

2. Contemplation: During this stage you may start thinking that a change is necessary. So, you think that maybe cutting back to eating fast food only three times a week is not so bad and you might be able to at least take a walk once in awhile. This is a good time to learn more about the benefits of healthy eating and regular exercise.

3. Preparation: At this point you are getting more serious about taking action. You've penciled in a walk with your friend for next week and are planning to go grocery shopping to cook a home meal. You may want to research exercise equipment, gyms, personal trainers, and diet programs to learn more about what you can do (with the help of professionals and/or equipment) to get in better shape.

4. Action: Here's where you actually take the first step. The first step may be as simple as taking a daily walk, reducing your fast food visits to twice a month or just cutting back on daily sodas. Or, you may go as far as hiring a personal trainer or joining a gym. During this stage it is very important to learn coping mechanisms that will help you avoid re-lapse into your old ways. One way to avoid being a part of the high exercise dropout statistics is starting slowly into a new program and making permanent lifestyle changes versus temporary ones.

5. Maintenance: This is, of course, the phase that everyone should strive to be at. This means that you have been doing a regular fitness program consistently for quite some time and that you continue your new lifestyle. It's important throughout this stage (which should last a lifetime) that you include a variety of workouts that change frequently. You should also seek social support of friends and family.

So, now can you identify what stage you are at? You may find that you are in the precontemplation stage for nutritional habits but that you are in the preparation stage for exercises. That's okay. It's not critical for you to force both areas into the same stage. You can work on changing your nutritional and exercise habits separately.

The key to success is first identifying your stage and then taking steps to advance to the next level (unless, of course, you are already at the Maintenance stage). Use the suggestions mentioned above in each stage to help you move to the next phase.

For example, if you are in the precontemplation stage, then research and read as much as you can on the subject of health risks and how they relate to an individual's lifestyle. From there you will probably want to learn more about the consequences and benefits of specific lifestyles. Education is a powerful thing. The more you fully understand and can relate directly to the causes and effects of your action, the more inclined you will be to change.

It's also important to tune-in to your fears, past struggles and expectations. Making nutritional and exercise changes is not easy and should be approached slowly. Remember to make small changes. Don't try to go from a completely sedentary lifestyle to an hour of continual exercise in just one day. Build up slowly starting with even just 10 minutes. And lastly, be sure to inform your family and friends of your plans and enlist their support. Support is extremely important for your success.

Lynn Bode, author and certified personal trainer, offers her services online through WorkoutsForYou.com. Workouts For You provides affordable online exercise programs to help even the busiest of people lose weight, tone-up, build muscles, increase stamina and more via the Internet. We'll provide you with weekly customized workouts designed just for YOU! Visit: http://www.workoutsforyou.com for a free sample workout or to subscribe to our newsletter.

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"The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential ... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence. "

~~Eddie Robinson

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The Single Most Important Factor in Fitness

Just the other day, someone asked me what I thought the single most important factor was in determining how fit you become.

They wanted to know if it involved abundant amounts of cardio and weight training or if it had to do more with healthy eating and proper nutrition.

I think my answer may have puzzled him a bit because I said it was neither of those.

After I thought about the question for a few minutes, I told him that there was a more important factor that preceded any of those he mentioned.

I told him it was your attitude, first and foremost, that determined your fitness levels and what type of conditioning you achieve.

You see, proper nutrition, cardio exercise, and weight training are all important factors, but it's your attitude that determines how hard you focus on each of those areas.

Generally speaking, your attitude is simply how you view things in life and how you perceive something to be.

More specifically, you either have a positive view, or slant on things, or you walk around most of the time with a negative view.

This attitude shines through in all that you do, including fitness and working out.

If you generally have a good, positive attitude towards fitness, then you're going to approach working out with more intensity and more meaning.

You realize that in order to achieve and maintain a certain level of conditioning, you have to "pay the price" and put in some hard work.

But working out does not seem to be a "chore" with a positive attitude.

You look forward to it and feel positive knowing that the steps you take in and out of the gym are going to bring you closer to the body that you want.

On the other hand, if you approach fitness and working out with more of a "negative attitude" you're either going to:

1. Do nothing at all as far as working out and eating healthy because it all seems like so much hard work to get in great shape.

Since working out seems like a chore, you find it much easier just to sit back and complain about your current situation and do nothing to fix it.

With a negative view, you label "working out" as too much hard work so you don't take the necessary steps to get the body you want. That's why it's important to view working out in a positive light and not a negative one.

Focus more on what you want rather than what you don't want.

Or, with a negative attitude:

2. You're going to do the bare minimum when it comes to working out and watching what you eat. With a negative mindset, you're maybe going to go to the gym once in a while and once there, not give it your 100% all.

When it comes time to maintain a healthy eating regimen, you're not going to be quite as strict as you should be and you're going to give in to "instant pleasure." The long term rewards seem so distant and far away.

So the first step in reaching your fitness potential is being more aware of your mindset and attitude when it comes to working out and getting fit.

Like motivational speaker Zig Ziglar says, "Do a check-up from the neck up."

If you approach your fitness with a positive attitude, you ARE going to take the necessary steps to get in shape, even when it would be so much easier to stay in and watch TV.

You realize that persistence will pay off and that all of these workouts and times skipping the pizza WILL get you where you want to be.

Conversely, approach your workouts and nutrition with a negative mindset and you're setting yourself up for failure.

View working out and healthy eating with a negative viewpoint and you're not going to give your best when doing them.

As I'm sure you're aware, you only get in return what you give. In other words, you harvest what you plant.

Be more positive in all areas of your fitness approach and you'll get the body you want much faster.

Recieve the most valuable fitness tips available online! Get a "real-world" fitness tip sent to your email box each and every day for an entire year! http://www.shawnlebrunfitness.com/daily-fit-tips.html

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"You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you think you can."

~~Jimmy Carter

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Is Splenda As Splendid as the Manufacturer
Wants You To Believe?

By Lena Sanchez

I have been saying for quite some time now that Splenda is going to be the next sweetener with disastrous deaths and/or illnesses showing up sometime down the road.

So far we know that research in animals has shown that sucralose (Splenda) can cause many problems such as:

Aborted pregnancy Atrophy of lymph follicles in the spleen and thymus Decreased red blood cell count Decreased fetal body weights and placental weights Diarrhea Enlarged liver and kidneys Extension of the pregnancy period Hyperplasia of the pelvis Increased cecal thickening Reduced growth Shrunken (up to 40%) thymus glands

If that's not enough:

There was no human research done regarding Sucralose!

According to the Medical Letter on Drugs & Therapeutics, " Its long-term safety is unknown." According to the Sucralose Toxicity Information Center http://www.holisticmed.com/splenda the "Manufacturer's '100's of studies' were clearly inadequate and do not demonstrate safety in long-term use, some even shows dangers." You bet they have not released that to the general public.

According to Consumers Research Magazine, "Some concern was raised about sucralose being a chlorinated molecule. Some chlorinated molecules serve as the basis for pesticides such as D.D.T., and accumulate in body fat. However, Johnson & Johnson emphasized that sucralose passes through the body unabsorbed." NOT! As shown above, a substantial amount of sucralose is absorbed in order to create those problems!

The FDA says that sucralose is produced at an approximate purity of 98%. So what is that other 2%? The final sucralose product contains small amounts of potentially dangerous substances such as: Heavy Metals (e.g., Lead, Arsenic, Triphenilphosphine Oxide, Methanol, Chlorinated Disaccharides, Chlorinated Monosaccharide.

I don't know about you but I don't need arsenic or other toxins in my body if I can help it!

If you have to have sweets, sugar will be your best bet, just don't overdo it! Of course for diabetics, if you continue to be diabetic saccharin or fruit to fill that sweet cravings, is the safest artificial sweetener! I know that diabetes is reversible and is being reversed as I write this…

Use your good sense and play it safe! Lena

Lena Sanchez Author of "Handbook Of Herbs To Health & Other Secrets," "Antibiotic Alternatives To Preventing Mega Bacteria," & "Dangers & Secrets Doctors Refuse To Tell You." Found online at http://www.antibiotic-alternatives.com and Editor of "Natural Environmental Health Facts & Your Home Business Coach" ezine subscribe at http://www.envirodocs.com/newsletter.htm

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Web Sites Worth a Look

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If you need more motivation and some group support, feel free to subscribe to the Exercise Your Willpower mailing list. We have a great group of people who help motivate each other. To get more information, visit our website at: http://www.exerciseyourwillpower.com

Check out the many online fitness and health tools.

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