I started training in the early 1980′s and right from the start, I was engrossed with the bodybuilding style of training and eating. I think it’s always valuable to take time for reflection, and realizing this year that I had accumulated 30 years of training experience (including 28 competitions as a natural bodybuilder), I thought you would enjoy a post on my “lessons learned” that might help you in your own fitness endeavors, and hopefully help you shave a few years off your learning curve. I hope you find it helpful (and in parts, entertaining… so don’t take it all too seriously )…

“Prolonged sitting is making you fat and slowly KILLING YOU!” In the past few years, newspapers, magazines and TV have been broadcasting warnings about the hazards of too much desk time.  Now there’s a new twist to the story: The newest research says that even if you work out religiously, if you also have a sedentary job and spend a lot of time in a chair, you may still be at risk! Read on to find out if you’re an “active couch potato” and if so, what you should do about it …

Most of us worry about our weight, personal appearance, and much more. But these are not the only reasons for concern. Excess body fat has profound metabolic consequences, putting us at risk for heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer, and possibly depression. Nonetheless, the prevalence of obesity, a Body Mass Index of 30 or more, continues to rise in this country. Today, 33% of American adults are obese, compared with 15% in the late 1970s (1). Not to mention, kids are on the horizon for obesity, along with many health problems at such young ages.

My name is Bill, and I have always wanted to be the person with the before and after pictures. I can’t believe I finally accomplished a worthy transformation this.  Like so many people, getting leaner and healthier is something I have tried to do many times before; I entered the Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle challenge four times and dropped out every time. The 5th time, I not only finished the challenge and reached my goal (I lost 34 pounds in 3 1/2 months),  I’m also confident that now I have all the tools to continue on this journey, and make these changes last a lifetime.

Tom Venuto Book Club #1: Talking Back to Diet Gurus: An Un-revolutionary and Un-sexy guide to fat loss (kindle edition) by Mike Howard.  

I have read so many Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle success story articles since I originally became a member, that I’m amazed I’m now adding to them myself. After winning the Burn the Fat Challenge, and especially now that spring is here and I’m not hidden under layers of clothing, I get asked, “How did you do it?” quite a bit. I get the impression that most people want a simple answer like “no carbs” or “cut out all sugar”, but I tell them for me reading Tom Venuto’s Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle carefully and paying close attention to the mental training and goal setting in chapter 6 of the book are what made all the difference. It really does work! 

“Terror from within”… “What if our entire approach has been dead wrong”… “If a foreign nation were doing that to our children we would defend our families”… These are just some of the incendiary quotes from “Fed UP”, the documentary film directed by Stephanie Soechtig.

Strength training can benefit absolutely anyone, but it can be even more important, and perhaps even beneficial, the older we get. Before we proceed, I must tell you I’m not 40. Heck, I’m not even 30 (but I will be next year). However, I do have an amazing mom who’s a beautiful 53 years of age and strength trains regularly, and, she too is a personal trainer. In fact, she specializes in senior wellness; her oldest client is 90 years old and she strength trains three days per week, and has done so for over two decades….

There is no single best split routine or weekly training schedule for building muscle, despite what all the muscle-building “gurus” want you to believe. You can build a lot of muscle with a variety of different training splits. In fact, it’s possible to build a lot of muscle with no split at all – full body workouts have their place, especially for beginners, for time efficiency and for “back to basics” strength training. If all the conflicting advice from training gurus has you horribly confused about how to set up your weekly training split, look no further than today’s Burn the Fat Blog  Q & A post…

Calories have become a perfect target for diet book authors and gurus alike to play on the emotions of those who struggle with weight.  In the typical diet book and health blog world, calorie (and any mention of counting them) is met with an illogical amount of hostility.  It has become one of the greatest sources of confusion in the world of fat loss and has undoubtedly led to much frustration for those looking to shed pounds.  Rest assured you are not alone if you are befuddled by the whole thing…