Looking For a Fun Way to Get in Shape for 2009

Try giving an outdoor fitness class a try. Jon and I have started a class in Clovis with several times and locations available. We, of course are certified, experienced trainers with degrees in Exercise Science and will lead you through fun and challenging workouts lasting roughly one hour.

Super Fat Loss

When most people think of fat loss, their minds immediately turn to steady state aerobic workouts. Today I'm going to teach you a method of stripping away unwanted fat, The Tabata Method. Dr. Tabata is a Japanese researcher that authored a study in 1996 in the Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports & Exercise that described the benefits of high-intensity intermittent training. The participants in his study showed fantastic results; in 6 weeks of testing, Dr. Tabata noted a 28% increase in anaerobic capacity in his subjects, along with a 14% increase in their ability to consume oxygen (V02Max). The interesting thing about this way of exercising is that it can be performed in only four minutes! How hard can four minutes be... extremely! What you do is pick an exercise, try to pick one that uses the greatest amount of muscle: squats, thrusters, sprints, jump ropes, etc. Now perform that exercise as fast as you can for twenty seconds, then rest for ten seconds, repeat seven more times, now... pass out of exhaustion. That's it just eight reps of do much as possible in twenty seconds followed by ten seconds of rest. It's easiest with a partner telling you when to start or stop, but I've used a wall clock with a large second hand, or a good watch with an interval timer. There are different ways of "scoring" or progressing yourself. If your using a stationary exercise then count your reps during each of the eight sets; the total is your score. Next time you do that exercise try to improve on it. Another way of progressing, if your doing a mobile exercise, which is pretty simple is to track how far you go, and then try to go farther on your next attempt. Lastly, try messing around with the times, if twenty seconds is too easy try twenty five seconds with ten seconds rest, or twenty seconds on with five seconds of rest. While this may sound easy, don't underestimate it, it is extremely difficult! If you are not in good shape you may want to modify it to make it easier. I would start it off by increasing the rest intervals to twenty seconds, and maybe only do six sets. As this becomes easier decrease the rest intervals by five seconds, and then when you are comfortable with that decrease it by another five seconds. When six sets become easy, increase it to seven sets, but also increase the rest to twenty seconds. Then start decreasing the rest interval just like before, and again when this gets easy add the eigth rep in. Try the Tabata Method a couple times a week in addition to your normal stregth training, and you start to see some of that extra fat burn right off! Contact me at info@180ft.com with any questions.

Apple Muffins

Looking for some yummy muffins that fit your low carb lifestyle? Give these a try.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
1 and 1/4 cup flax seed meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
Artificial sweetener equal to 3/4 cup sugar (1/2 cup can be flavored sugar-free syrup)
4 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup liquid (flavored syrup or water)
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 medium apple, chopped fairly finely
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Preparation:Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 12-muffin tin very well.1. Mix the dry ingredients together, then add the rest of them.2. Let batter stand 10 minutes, then put into the muffin pan and bake for about 18 minutes until toothpick comes out clean and muffins just barely start to pull away from the sides of the tin.

Nutritional Information: Each muffin contains 2 grams link ecc effective carbohydrate plus 5 grams fiber.

from:http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/breads/r/appleflaxmuffin.htm