Fusion Fitness Studio News

The New Year is still young, and if you’ve decided to make this your year for losing the weight and tightening your abs, you’re in luck.

Getting a flat midsection and tight waistline really boils down to two things:

1) Getting rid of the fatty layer that is covering your abdominal muscles
2) Tightening and toning your oblique and abdominal muscles.

The following 7 Tight Waist & Abs Tips are your Fast-Track ticket to getting a flat, attractive midsection this year.

Tight Waist & Abs Tip #1: Perform challenging strength training oblique and abdominal exercises at least three times each week. Your abs are like any other muscle in your body—they need to be consistently challenged in order to become stronger and tighter.

Tight Waist & Abs Tip #2: Stop eating junk. Processed foods, refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup do NOT belong in your diet if, especially if you want tight abs. Cutting these items from your diet will allow your body to maintain stable blood sugar levels, alleviating your body’s need to store excess sugar away in fat cells.

The fat stores created by excess sugar intake most often accumulate around your wait, covering up your abdominal muscles. Cut these items from your diet and replace them with real whole foods such as lean meats, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and fruits.

Tight Waist & Abs Tip #3: Stop doing long and slow cardio workouts. Instead, use HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) for your cardio workouts. HIIT training uses intense bursts of cardio peppered throughout your workout. This is a sure-fire way to rev up your metabolism and to get your fat stores to shrink.

Tight Waist & Abs Tip #4: Use resistance with your abdominal exercises. Twists and crunches are great, but your body quickly becomes accustomed to the motion, rendering it less effective. Hold a medicine ball or dumbbell at your chest as you perform your crunches—this will force your abs to work harder, and will achieve better results. And use bands and cables for your twisting exercises.

Tight Waist & Abs Tip #5: Don’t be fooled. The market is flooded with ‘lose weight’ products and products that claim to flatten your stomach. Never waste your time or money on:

- So-called packaged health food that comes with weight loss claims. If it’s processed in a package with a bunch of chemical additives then it will not help you achieve flat abs.
- Abdominal exercise gimmicks as sold on late night infomercials – all you really need is your own body weight, an exercise ball, bands and dumbbells or a medicine ball.
- So-called weight loss supplements. The magic pill for flat abs doesn’t exist, so you’d be wasting your health and money on a bogus product.

Tight Waist & Abs Tip #6: Target your lower abs. It’s easy to neglect the lower abs, but they are an important part of the equation. Incorporate the V-Up, an old-school favorite, into your exercise routine:

Starting Position: Sit on the edge of an exercise bench; lean back to a 45 degree angle. Extend your legs out until they are level with the floor.

Movement: Exhale and bring your knees and upper body close together, while contracting your abdominals. Inhale as you slowly release your legs, returning them to the starting position.

Tight Waist & Abs Tips #7: Challenge your core often. Again, twisting exercises are paramount! Those are the muscles that actually pull the waistline IN making it smaller. And don’t limit your abdominal exercise to the gym, incorporate core strengthening during daily life and throughout each workout. A strong core is the foundation for flat, tight abs.

There you have it! Seven tips that, when diligently applied, will help you shed the fat and tighten your abs.

*But, keep in mind that your results will be seriously hindered if you do the same exercise routine over and over. Your abs need a progressive challenge in order to transform. This means NEW exercises, different resistance and increased challenge.*

Call or email today to get started on a program that will challenge you, motivate you and transform your body.

Availability is limited — act now and achieve a slimmer you once and for all this year. 

 
Fernando Paredes, CPT, NASM, NSCA, YFS1
Bucks County’s #1 Fitness & Performance Coach

It’s a New Year, and you have a clean slate.

I don’t know if you are one to make New Year’s Resolutions or not, but either way you’re probably thinking about how you can become fitter, healthier and happier than you are right now, right?


These 27 Fitness and Fat Loss Tips will get you on the right track this year:

1. Visualize the accomplishment of your goals each and every day.  Experience the taste of success and feel that sweet satisfaction.
2. Push the intensity of your workouts.  Don’t kill time, burn calories by maintaining a challenging intensity.
3. Use smaller plates at home.  This effortlessly reduces calorie intake and promotes weight loss.
4. Build accountability into your workouts so that you resist the temptation to take days off.  The best way to ensure accountability is to work with a personal trainer either one-on-one or in a group training setting.
5. Believe in yourself. Know with conviction that you CAN accomplish your goals.
6. Drink water throughout your day.  Do this by carrying a water bottle and opting for water rather than calorie-filled beverages.  This simple action is extremely beneficial.
7. Maintain your metabolism by eating a healthy snack or meal every three hours.  This food should be unprocessed, low in fat and high in fiber.
8. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
9. Incorporate High Intensity Interval Training into your cardio workouts by performing bursts of high intensity rather than exercising at a single steady pace.
10. It’s not about will-power, it’s about want-power.  You have to want it.
11. Do not eat processed foods.  These items are high in empty calories and contain a plethora of chemicals that are harmful to your health.
12. Stop talking about losing weight.  Start doing it!
13. Fat contains twice the caloric density of carbohydrates and protein, so limit the amount that you consume.  Fill your diet with lean protein and carbohydrates from plants and whole grains.
14. Be wary of products that are labeled as ‘health food’.  Always read the nutrition labels.
15. Find a workout partner who is in better shape than you, or better yet work with a personal trainer to guarantee dramatic results.  : )
16. Make a habit out of reading nutrition labels.  Avoid items that are high in fat and carbohydrates.
17. Destroy negative self talk.  It’s self-sabatoge.
18. Avoid the trap of high-calorie beverages after your workouts.
19. Be consistent with your workouts.  Exercise three to four times each week.
20. Expect more of yourself.
21. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) should not be in your diet.  It is high in calories and will quickly derail your weight loss efforts.
22. Challenge your body with each workout.  Use different weights, do different exercises and break through plateaus.
23. Eat lots of whole plant foods.  Vegetables, fruits and whole grains are filled with fiber and antioxidants, vital for your good health.
24. Do your cardiovascular exercise after weight training to ensure more fat burn.  Your stored sugars will be depleted during the weight training then your body will rely on fat stores to get you through the cardio workout.
25. Set specific, measurable goals.
26. Start each day with a healthy breakfast.  This important meal should be a balance of carbohydrates, protein and fat to get your metabolism going strong.
27. You deserve better…go get it!

After writing these tips, I realized how powerful and inspiring they are.  Print this list and place it somewhere that you’ll see often – this will keep you motivated and pumped up to accomplish your goals.

If your New Year’s Resolution has to do with losing weight and getting into great shape (and whose isn’t?) then guarantee your success by working with a fitness expert who can guide you to success.

I’d love to team up with you – together we will transform your body in 2010!

Call or email to get started today.

Fernando Paredes, CPT, NASM, NSCA, YFS1
Bucks County’s #1 Fitness & Performance Coach

I am on a mission to bring back the methods and mindset of the old-school Physical Culture back to where it belongs.  

Here’s why: 

Performance-enhancing drugs has set Exercise Science BACK 40-50 years because they have influenced MOST programs that people follow today.  Is it any wonder that most people are not happy with their results?  They are following programs that really only work if you are on steroids.

How did people train BEFORE steroids existed? 

THAT is what you need to learn - if you ever hope to attain the type of health, fitness and performance you desire.

Especially since THOSE methods still work so much better than anything else out there today.

And that is what I began to teach with my NEW group – The Bucks County Physical Culture and Barbell Club.  Anyone can join and it’s FREE.

Here are some pictures of our FIRST meeting:

We’re getting started and I’m handing out the agendas..

Introducing myself and getting the discussion started. I am very excited and raring to go!

I stared by stating this SIMPLE Reality:

1. The Problem: Every year health & fitness indicators get worse…
2. The Solution: Every year we have more and more fitness & diet “solutions”…
3. The Result?: See #1…

Hmmm…does anyone see a problem here? We live in an age where there are MORE fitness books, diet books, DVD’s, videos, audio programs than ever existed before….WHY aren’t they helping?

I know why….and I shared it with the group.

So far everyone’s listening…good!

If you’d like to register for our next meeting visit my official Meetup Page at => The Bucks County Physical Culture and Barbell Club to sign up – and it’s FREE too.  How can you beat that?

I know…you think that ALL the modern stuff  HAS to be better at creating the healthy and fit body you want because there are, well….modern.

And ‘modern’ automatically means ‘better’, right?

That mentality couldn’t be more WRONG when it comes to the TYPE of training that the human body responds best to. 

Which is why MANY of the OLD systems, tools and methods still work better than any so-called “new” machine-based methods being touted today.  

And in THIS situation, tools like the ROPE fit in VERY nicely…and they ALWAYS will.

Training on the ROPE is a phenomenal way of working your strength, cardio, core, torso, arms all at the SAME TIME. 

The body LOVES it when you’multi-challenge’ it in this way and WILL respond by delivering the results YOU want in a much BETTER and FASTER way.

Here are some pictures I took yesterday during a training session with one of my clients, Mike, as he’s preparing to start his series of movement patterns using the ROPE.

Allright, Mike – on your mark…get set….->

GO!
And go as FAST as you can!

Here’s Mike starting his ROPE cycle with and alternating up-down pattern…

Here’s a side view of Mike doing the same alternating up-down pattern.  Cool, huh?

Now Mike is moving into the ‘outside-cirlce’ pattern…

Mike was really MOVING hard and fast through those exercises to MAXIMIZE his benefits. That’s how it works with the ROPE….the faster – the better!

So if your workouts and body have gotten stale, nothing seems to be working anymore and you don’t know why….give us a call.

Maybe your body just needs to be re-introduced to some “old” friends.

Fernando Paredes, CPT, NASM, NSCA, YFS1
Bucks County’s #1 Fitness & Performance Coach

A Success Story

Had a GREAT workout with one of my GREAT clients, Bridget, the other day.

She’s training for the NYC Marathon, and over the past few months we’ve been achieving some EXCELLENT RESULTS together.

Her running time is getting better…
Her running mechanics have improved dramatically…
She has less aches and pains…
Her conditioning is better…
Her core is stronger…
Her body is better balanced…
Her muscles are sculpting up…
And her waist is getting smaller…A LOT smaller!

In fact, I’ve had to start calling her “tiny-waist”.  Not a bad nickname to have, huh?

Which leads me to the title of today’s post…

The last time Bridget was here at the studio, she was VERY upset with me!

She had a SERIOUS problem.

Seems like her jeans were getting SO loose and baggy around the waist, that she just couldn’t stand it anymore. 

And she actually had to go shopping to buy some NEW jeans…2 sizes SMALLER!

Oh…the horror of it all.

I am very sorry to put you through all that Bridget…but, I don’t think there’s a lot of people out there that are going to feel your ‘pain’.

I don’t know…do YOU?