Archive for January, 2009

Training for Breast Augmentation? YES WE CAN!

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

Living in South Florida, there’s an increased pressure to look your best. With the beach and the year round hot temperatures, as well as the Latin influence, it’s a place that shows more skin than any other area in the U.S. Vain or not, like or not, this is the reality of South Florida. It’s no surprise that South Florida is a mecca for cosmetic surgery. There’s probably more ‘enhanced’ breasts in South Florida than corn in Ohio. And more power to the women who gettem’. But over the last year, I’ve noticed an interesting phenomenon. A majority of my female clients who have not had any sort of surgical augmentation have mentioned to me that other folks have asked them if they had gone under the knife. Because these women were re-shaped by their fitness programs, other people actually thought they had gotten breast implants. Of course, my clients were pretty thrilled about this.

At first, I didn’t even believe it. I was skeptical. My old position on breasts and fitness (we have position statements about all sorts of weird things!) was that the more fit you got, the leaner you got, the smaller they got. Sorry. But my clients have told me that it’s more like, excuse my terminology,’turning back the boob-clock’. Essentially, they tell me that as the muscle tissue around the breasts has become strengthened, their breasts look more like they did when they were younger. Not a bad thing…

So, no, although strength training won’t take an A-cup to a DD, it seems that it will create a visual appearance that actually mimics some of the augmentation that’s often done surgically.

So if you or someone you know has considered breast augmentation, you may want to consider what you can do naturally with a good strength training and fitness program before you take on the expense, dangers, and invasiveness with breast implants.

It doesn’t take any newfangled gimmicky exercises to do this. The main thing to remember is that you want to do an equal amount of upper body ‘push movments’ and ‘pull movements’. You also want to do an adequate amount of core exercises to help your posture.

You can get all the exercises you need in my exercise guide which you can download for free at:
http://www.UltimateExerciseGuide.com

Oh… and keep me posted on your results!

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I Have a Dream….

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009

 

In  celebration of our remembrance of MLK today, I thought I’d share with you some of my own dreams for our society…
 
Here goes…
 
 
I have a dream…
 
that someday soon, we will realize that Movement is Magic…
 
that we will say no to drug companies pushing their pills through the media rather than doctors…
 
that we will live in a culture where it’s not so hard to sit around the dining room table with the family at night…
 
that we will live in a society that reaches out and helps instead of judges…
 
that people will undertand that natural foods will always be superior to foods made in a lab…
 
and that all people will have affordable access to healthy foods and safe areas to exericse…
 
that more people will reach for their dreams and not put down the dreams of others…
 
that more people will realize that exercise is a powerful way to improve their minds and attitudes…
 
that we focus more on health-building, rather than sick-care…
 
that more of us will care and stand up and fight for what is right…
 
On this day of remembrance of the vision and leadership of Martin Luther King Jr., I’m wishing you the best.

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Are Different Proteins Ideal at Different Times of the Day?

Thursday, January 15th, 2009

 

One of my best clients, Josh Venis, recently emailed me regarding my thoughts on what type of protein supplement he should use.
 
His question brought back visions of grad school where one of the girls I worked with who was completing her RD (registered dietician license) pretty much thought I was the devil and that I was going to die young because I drank protein shakes… looking back, it makes me smile… happy times…
 
Suffice to say, her beliefs were more emotional in nature, rather than accurate.
 
In the six years since that time, I’ve probably gotten more mainstream and conservative on the importance of protein intake for fitness and strength development.
 
Nowadays, depending on the circumstances, I might not have a protein shake for a few weeks, or I might have a few shakes in one day.
 
While I don’t focus on supplements too much anymore, there is still a science to it that I try to keep up with and Josh’s email allowed me to showcase that knowledge.
 
You can read his question and read my answer here:
http://www.south-florida-personal-trainer.com/protein-supplementation.html

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Take the Anti-Special K Challenge!

Friday, January 2nd, 2009

Happy New Year!

I hope you are starting it off on the right foot.

Both at home and at Personal Fitness Advantage, we are starting it out with a bang!

After going hog wild with my diet when Emily and I visited my folks in Ohio, I started cleaning up my act immediately when I got back to Florida last week.

So I had zero alcohol on New Year’s Eve (which didn’t help my salsa moves down in SW Miami that night), and got to it yesterday with an intense lower body workout while most people were sleeping off hangovers.

Sore glutes, hams, and quads…that’s the way to start off 2009, Baby!! :)

Onwards…

Being the new year, I’m seeing ads flood my TV for weight loss products. A couple days ago I saw the cereal Special K promoting the “Special K Challenge”. It’s pretty similar to the Slim Fast Diets.

In my professional opinion, I can describe both diets in two words: “they suck”.

The Special K Challenge goes like this:

Breakfast: Special K
Lunch: Special K
Dinner: Your choice

Optional: fruits, Special K snack bars, and Special K Protein Water drinks

Yeah, there’s a winner of a diet (please note the sarcasm).

So I’ve created the Anti-Special K Challenge:

Breakfast: Oatmeal with skim milk and your choice of fresh fruit

Lunch: Salad of mixed greens with your choice of lean proteins mixed in (grilled chicken, lean beef, fish, salmon, etc.)

Dinner: Lean protein source (grilled chicken, lean beef, fish, salmon, etc.) with your choices of greens and 1/2 or whole regular potato or sweet potato

Optional: fruits, veggies, and limited portions of nuts as snacks between meals if necessary

Here’s the deal: While the Special K Diet may help people lose weight if their diets are already poor, it’s clearly not an ideal diet for maximum health.

Truth be told, my Anti-Special K Diet is much, much healthier than the Special K Diet.

So if you are looking for a healthy diet kickstart instead of another gimmick, try my Anti-Special K Diet, rather than Special K’s marketing gimmick.

Take my Anti-Special K Challenge and improve your health’s bank account, rather than the bank accounts of corporate titans.

Next week, we’ll be announcing the winner of the Personal Fitness Advantage Fall Fitness Challenge. I’m very proud of her. Look for the details next week!

Dedicated to your health, fitness, and human potential,

Doug Jackson, M.Ed.,CSCS

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