Father’s Day is an awesome day to celebrate…a time to honor dads who try so hard to be role models and who have worked so hard so we could have so much.

But there is also a darker side to this story…many dads (30+, 40+, 50+ years old) are now in the worst physical shape of their lives. Sad, but true.

A lot of fathers are suffering from a dangerous condition
called “Metabolic Syndrome X”.

One of the main indicators of someone who has this metabolic disorder
is “abdominal obesity” (as pictured here). The really scary part is
that far too many are in this exact shape.

One of the main indicators of someone who has metabolic disorder
is abdominal obesity, as clearly demonstrated in the picture above.
The scary part is that many of our father’s look just like this!



So WHAT exactly am I talking about? Please read below for a
description of Metabolic Syndrome from www.MedicineNet.com:

What is metabolic syndrome?

An association between certain metabolic disorders and
cardiovascular disease has been known since the 1940s.
In the 1980s this association became more clearly defined and the
term metabolic syndrome (also known as syndrome X or the
dysmetabolic syndrome) was coined to designate a cluster of metabolic
risk factors that come together in a single individual.
In more current times, the term metabolic syndrome is found throughout medical literature and in the lay press as well. There are slight differences in the criteria of diagnosis – depending on which authority is quoted. Regardless,
the concept of a clustering of risks factors leading to cardiovascular
disease is well accepted.

The main features of metabolic syndrome include insulin resistance,
hypertension (high blood pressure), cholesterol abnormalities,
and an increased risk for clotting.

Patients are most often overweight or obese.

Insulin resistance refers to the diminished ability of cells to
respond to the action of insulin in promoting the transport of
the sugar glucose, from blood into muscles and other tissues.
Because of the central role that insulin resistance plays in
the metabolic syndrome, a separate article is devoted to insulin resistance.

How is metabolic syndrome defined?

The definition of metabolic syndrome depends on which group of experts is
doing the defining. Based on the guidelines from the 2001 National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel (ATP III),
any three of the following traits in the same individual
meet the criteria for the metabolic syndrome:

1. Abdominal obesity: a waist circumference over 102 cm (40 in) in men and over 88 cm (35 inches) in women.
2. Serum triglycerides 150 mg/dl or above.
3. HDL cholesterol 40mg/dl or lower in men and 50mg/dl or lower in women.
4. Blood pressure of 130/85 or more.
5. Fasting blood glucose of 110 mg/dl or above. (Some groups say 100mg/dl)

And though Metabolic Syndrome actually affects more women than men, there is certainly no shortage of men 40 years and older who have that “deadly beer gut” that literally makes them a ticking time bomb for a slew of serious medical conditions.

But there is good news amongst this frightening reality: The most common cause of metabolic disorder is of course a vicious combination of a lack of exercise and poor diet.

OK, fellow dads…here are my top 3 fitness tips to help save your life.

If not for yourself, do it for those that love you!

Life Saver Tip #1. Ease up on the brew-hahas.




For most, it’s no secret how a lot of daddy bellies end up looking more like a keg than a 6 pack…beer…and lots of it.



It is truly amazing how detrimental alcohol can be on your body composition
…check it out:

How Alcohol Makes You Fat

-Alcohol first passes through the esophagus as it travels to your stomach.

-From there, 20% of the alcohol is absorbed immediately by your bloodstream.

-The remaining alcohol travels to your intestines and is absorbed from there.

-The alcohol in your bloodstream then travels directly to your liver.
It is here that the body breaks the alcohol down, something that is
absolutely essential since alcohol is toxic to the body.

-Alcohol brakes down into acetate and acetaldehyde which IMMEDIATELY
signals to your body to stop burning fat. Even worse, another waste product of
alcohol, acetyl CoA, actually starts to make more body fat.

If you’re boozin’, you AIN’T losin’!

What Does this Mean?

-Your body can only effectively process 0.5 to 1 ounce of alcohol per hour

-How much damage? A 12-ounce beer contains about 0.6 ounces of alcohol. If
you consumed 5 of these, your body would be inhibited from fat burning for up to
6 hours. This is aside from the fact that your body will actually be storing fat
during these 6 hours!

The more you drink, the longer your body is inhibited from
burning fat in addition to a greater fat build up from excess acetyl CoA.

As you can see, just one day of over the top drinking can set you back days (probably more like a week) when it comes to fat loss!


-What’s the worst-case scenario? Mixing alcohol with sugary beverages
promotes even further fat gain due to the resulting insulin surge
that triggers fat storage (e.g. regular beer or cocktails mixed with
soda, juice or “energy drinks” like Red Bull)

The Bottom Line?

If you want to be lean and keep your fat burning furnace stoked to the max, you must minimize ALCOHOL consumption!

If you just gotta drink:

a.) Choose wine or hard liquor and “light” beer
b.) Limit alcohol consumption to 1-2 days per week with a 1-2 drink per day max
References:
Campbell and Volek, “TNT Diet: Targeted Nutrition Tactics”

Life Saver Tip 2.) Spend less time working on the “Mirror Muscles”.

Most dads I see in the gym just want to imitate the meatheads they read about
in the latest fitness magazine, emphasizing the mirror muscles…”big chest, big biceps, big chest, big biceps” as they spend a good majority of their workout
focusing on these areas.



Look, I think I know why most guys won’t spend the same amount of time working their legs…unless they wear a speedo to the neighborhood pool party (please, fellas – don’t), legs are not the first thing on display.



Do not underestimate the power of strong, muscular legs…they are the key to torching your gut. After all, the majority of your body’s muscle mass, and thus metabolism, is contained within your lower body.

Not giving proper attention to your lower body is like going to a gun fight without a gun, and here’s why:

a.) Training your whole body (legs included) not only helps you burn more calories each workout, it also maximally depletes your body’s glycogen stores (the sugar in your muscles) to allow for more total body fat burning

b.) The more lean muscle mass you have in your lower body the more calories your body will be burning 24-7-365 outside of your workouts

c.) Whenever you work your legs you generate the largest increases in natural anabolic hormone levels which translates into more total body muscle and less ugly, unwanted body fat

So in other words, if you want better abs, you better start working those legs in total body fashion! This can be easily accomplished with 3 full body workouts per week that train your upper body, lower body, and core within the same workout.


Life Saver TIP 3.) The “no pain-no gain” mentality will beat your body into serious submission.

The “no pain, no gain” mantra is quite possible the most misunderstood battle cry inside the gym.

“Pain” is a good thing as long as it’s the right “type of pain”, as explained here:
When a workout BURNS YOUR MUSCLES and you working them to fatigue, that’s a good pain.

This means you are now pushing past your comfort zone to inspire change, working with intensity to torch calories and build muscle, and burning sugar so your body can burn fat for hours and hours after your workout.

When a workout HURTS YOUR JOINTS that’s a bad pain- it means you are quickly wearing down the structural integrity of your joints and will soon be unable to do anything without pain or stiffness. This is most often caused by a combination of using too heavy of loads, poor exercise form and technique, strength imbalances, and lack of mobility and/or flexibility- more reason to seek professional fitness guidance!

So there you have it. Nothing is more disheartening than watching dads who don’t train for longevity…and in turn, are not able to fully play (or keep up) with their kids or grand kids, or even participate in everyday recreational activities with their buddies.

Do yourself, your family and friends a huge favor stop training like such a meathead when it comes to working out.

Take good care of yourself and I wish you the best of luck!

PS: I love you Dad!

(photo below is my little boy Lincoln with my dad, Curtis Sr.
…yes, I am Curtis Jr. ;))



##########

So you are at home with the kids, but you still want to get
a good, total body fat-burning interval workout in.

What do you do?

Try this 4 minute 20-10 interval sequence with "weighted"
push ups and "loaded" squats. :)

Enjoy...

This is a bonus post I wanted to throw up in addition to our earlier workout related post that went up this morning...since nutrition is 80++% responsible for optimal ab fat loss, it's worth the time.

There are all sorts of crappy supplements on the market you don't need. Some of the stuff is flat out useless. Some of the stuff is good, but the actual product and brand is lousy.

And then, there are some products that are just flat out amazing for you.

Bottom line: The health benefits associated with a quality Krill Oil supplement are just too powerful to ignore. I don't know if I can be any more blunt about it.

Besides the fact Krill Oil doesn't cause "fish burps" like fish oil capsules do, its just one of the best sources of Essential Fatty Acids.

Krill Oil can also:

Help protect your heart

Improve your memory

Strengthen your immune system

Minimize the damage caused by free radicals

Reduce joint pain and PMS symptoms

Aid the fat loss process

I'm telling you, it really is one heck of a powerful supplement. And the only brand I recommend is the brand I personally trust is - Prograde Nutrition.

Their EFA Icon is the best Krill Oil product on the market, as far as I'm concerned.

Crank the intensity!

Curtis

PS - Again, believe me when I say that there are all sorts of lousy supplements on the market. But a solid Krill Oil product is NOT one of them. It's an extremely powerful nutritional product with extraordinary benefits. For the best quality Krill Oil get Prograde Nutrition's EFA Icon

PPS - Prograde also includes the research studies on Krill Oil. Just click on one of the links above to check those out. You'll find them at the bottom of the page.

2 “Healthy” Foods You Should NOT Eat for Flat, Sexy Abs

1-Lean Cuisine – Glazed Chicken (listen, it doesn’t really matter which Lean C product we look at – they are all processed the same way).



There is nothing “lean” about it – especially if you are talking about eating something to help create a sexy, toned and strong body.

Let’s get past the marketing buzz words and nice pretty packaging and get the heart and soul – the all important ingredient list!

Check it out (direct from the product website):

Ingredient List:Cooked chicken tenderloins (chicken tenderloins, high fructose corn syrup, water, corn oil, modified cornstarch, lemon juice concentrate, sodium phosphates, salt, caramel color, potassium chloride, garlic, onion, paprika, spice), water, blanched enriched long grain rice (rice, ferric phosphate, niacin, thiamin mononitrate and folic acid), green beans, mushrooms, onions, blanched wild rice, modified cornstarch, sugar, salt, cultured whey, chicken fat, lemon juice concentrate, caramel color, dehydrated onions, spices, dehydrated garlic, paprika

Yeaaaah…um, I think I’m gonna have to pass…and if I were you, I would too!

2-“Multi-grain” Wheat Thins



Ohhh, but it says “multi-grain” – it must be healthy, right?

Wrong.

Again, let’s skip the marketing buzz word crap and flip over to the ingredient list…and we find:

(taken directly from Wheat Thin’s website) –

Ingredient List: Enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), folic acid, whole wheat flour, vegetable shortening (partially hydrogenated soybean oil) rolled oats, sugar, high fructose corn syrup...

Don’t get me started on how horrible “partially hydrgonented…anything” is for your body…

Yup – gonna have to pass on this one too ;)

Leave me a comment here on the blog – what so-called “health” foods have you stopped eating lately?

Boot Camp Workout of the Week: (5-7-09)

30/60/90 Super Circuit #1

30/60/90 DB Chest Press
60/90/30 Single Leg Hip Extensions
90/30/60 Scapular Front Pillar (Forearm OK)

ACTIVE RECOVER JOG – 1 Min

30/60/90 Super Circuit #2

30/60/90 DB Bent Over Row
60/90/30 Front Loaded Plie Squat
90/30/60 Mountain Climbers/Squat Thrust
The numbers next to each exercise represents the number of seconds you are using peak intensity for each exercise in each of the 3 rounds.

This one had ME doubled over and abs crying out for mercy ;)



Boot Camp Workout of the Day 5-11-09

50-10 Legs, Lungs & More
Push Up – Elevator Pillar Variation
Single Leg Lunge and Press Variation
Side Pillar Reach & Rotate*
Squat + 2 Upright Row Variation
Core Chop – SA DB Swing Variation



OHH…and here is that sweet little approved dessert recipe my friend Mike Geary suggested.

Let me what you think!

There is a reason few people reach their goals and make their dreams come true.

Know what that reason is?

It's because they actually HAVE goals written down. The vast majority of people on this planet do not.

And not only do people that achieve goals actually set goals, they also create a a plan to make sure they make things happen.

So where does that leave you?

Do you keep telling yourself you are going to "lose some weight?" Or do you have specific goals and a plan to reach them?

Do you have a plan for what you're going to eat each day so you're not tempted to fill up on fast food? Do you have a deadline for when you're going to reach your goal?

Here's another one: you KNOW you need to be eating breakfast every day. Do you have nutritious food in the house you PLAN on eating each morning?

If not have you looked into taking advantage of a delicious meal replacement shake like Prograde Lean?

This is YOUR life. Whether you want your body to look better naked, you want to improve your health, you want to have more energy, or whatever your goal is, you MUST have written goals and a plan to achieve them.

Till next time everyone...

Curtis

PS - Fail to plan, plan to fail. Life is easy when you plan for it to be.

OK, so we laid out a pretty reasonable plan for the Super Bowl buffet food spread...now it's time to grab a quick halftime body weight only workout.

Check it out and let me know how it goes!

Join us for FREE boot camp workout that will have you burning fat, gaining lean muscle and benefiting local food banks all at the same time!

What: Arizona Fitness Boot Camp’s “Can The Fat” Charity Workout

Where: Paseo Highlands Park, 3435 W. Pinnacle Peak Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85027 (just west of the I-17 on Pinnacle Peak/35th Avenue) (We will gather near basketball court)

When: Saturday, Jan. 24 from 9:00am-9:30am. Please arrive by 8:45 for proper warm-up and instruction.

Expect: Interval-based fat loss and strength training circuits using bodyweight exercises only.

Cost: FREE with donation of at least one canned food item to benefit local food banks.

What to Bring: Exercise Mat, Water and Lots of Energy. For best results, please be sure to have a small breakfast 1 hour prior to workout. Don't forget your canned food donations!

Bonus #1: Each person who donates 10 or more canned food items will be entered into a drawing for a FREE 1 MONTH MEMBERSHIP to Arizona Fitness Boot Camp!

Bonus #2: ALL participants will receive a FREE 2 WEEK MEMBERSHIP to Arizona Fitness Boot Camp!


Visit www.ArizonaFitnessBootCamp.com to learn more about our unique fitness program.

More Ways You Can Help This Special Event:

1. If you can’t attend the workout, you can still help by stopping by and dropping your canned goods starting at 8:30am.

2. Spread the word! Let everyone know about this event. Encourage them to participate, donate or just come out and watch everyone get some great exercise.

It's true...you can jump start your fitness, build muscle and send your body into serious "afterburn" mode torching calories continually for the next 24-48 hours.

In just 4 minutes.

You're busy. A load of things to get done. I get it.

But here's the deal...give yourself a high-intensity 4 minute interval workout, working at maximum effort for 20 seconds of exercise followed by 10 seconds rest and repeating this 30 second sequence for just 4 minutes will get you started, help you stay on track and introduce you to the most effective fat loss/strength exercise protocol...high-intensity interval training!

Special thanks to my superstar boot campers for helping make this TV appearance possible...Marty (our Canadian contingent), Stephanie, Katie (our new moms) and veterans Cory, Susie and Laurie. I couldn't do it without you; I appreciate you all very much!

TIME SENSITIVE MESSAGE:

You can't really miss it on the Internet these days. Seems like everywhere you look there's another company promoting the nutritious Acai Berry as a weight loss miracle.

And that's why I thought it was critical to write you today. I want to make sure you know my opinion on the subject.

First, you know better than to believe you're going to pop some pills - ANY pills - and have the pounds and inches melt off like magic. If you've been listening to me for any length of time you know true fat loss comes from a variety of factors, including exercise and proper nutrition.

Second, any fitness expert worth their fees will tell you that any diet that promotes you eat any one food all day long and then eat a sensible dinner, well, don't bother. Yes, you will lose some weight short-term, but as soon as you go back to your old eating habits - and you know you will - you know exactly what happens.

Third, the Acai Berry contains VERY powerful antioxidants and it is getting a lot of good press for that very reason. Yes, antioxidants as in the extraordinary nutrients that help fight the free radicals associated with aging, cancer risk and other degenerative diseases.

And while on the subject, I wanted to fill you in on something that has recently come to light. Did you know that coffee berries (the berry that covers the coffee bean) is one of the most powerful antioxidants on the planet? It's something researchers have discovered in recent years.

What's really cool is my friends at Prograde Nutrition have just created an amazing Whole Foods based Anti-Aging formula called Prograde Longevity that includes both Acai Berry and Coffee Berry. Oh, and it also utilizes Green Tea, Pomegranate, Wolf Berry and Biovin Grape (Red Wine extract.)

Just to give you an idea of how powerful this formula is, well, you'd have to eat an entire POUND of raspberries to get the same ORAC value. And in case you're not familiar with the term, ORAC stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity.

The best part is their having a Thanksgiving Week sale to celebrate the launch of Prograde Longevity. From now until Friday you can get 11% off Longevity or any of their other exclusive products they offer.

You can check out Prograde Longevity for yourself HERE.

FYI: If link above doesn't work, here is the full version:
http://curtis.getprograde.com/longevity

Just be sure to enter this coupon code in when you checkout: (yes, it's all lower case)

thanks

Oh, and just so you know, you can't find Prograde products in stores anywhere. They're so exclusive they only let fitness experts work with their company to help them get the word out.

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

Curtis Hoekstra
Arizona Fitness Boot Camp

PS - Remember, Prograde's 11% off Thanksgiving Week Sale ends this Friday at Midnight EST, so be sure to get over to their new, redesigned website before then to stock up now.

Can you believe it? Thanksgiving is almost here…AGAIN! I love to go to Mom’s house and watch football while waiting for the big bird to come out the oven. Oh, the appetizers, mashed potatoes, corn, stuffing…people tend to relate this massive meal with sinful excess and horrible food comas (yes, we’re all guilty of slumping into the easy chair after we stuff our faces, resulting in the “I’m so bloated” feeling).

Now you can blame the stuffing, all the buttered-up mashed potatoes and gravy, maybe the pumpkin pie for all the extra calories and waistline invasion, but leave that terrific turkey out of it!

After all, turkey is packed with lean protein that simultaneously elevates metabolism and promotes fat burning and lean muscle growth. It is also a lean protein, meaning there is very little fat in it, as long as you remove the skin.

Protein is the PRIMARY macro nutrient responsible for building, repairing and revitalizing your muscles (fat and carbs simply provide your body’s energy source).

More specifically, regular, quality protein intake is vital in accelerating the repair of muscle damage from high-intensity activities like strength training and cardio interval training (as you see in our boot camp program). In addition, adequate protein intake every two to four hours is essential in maintaining your current levels of lean muscle mass. This is important because the more muscle you have the larger your metabolic engine, thus the more calories (and fat) you burn on a daily basis since muscle tissue requires lot of energy to sustain itself. Protein is also the least likely macro nutrient to be stored as body fat and the mere act of digesting protein requires more than double the energy to digest than carbohydrate and dietary fat.

So, what does all this mean? If there is ONE food choice that you can truly get away with overeating this holiday season, it will be turkey.

Another key benefit to eating turkey is that it is easy to prepare in bulk and thus will save you much needed time in meal planning and preparation during the busy holiday season. You can roast a big old turkey and then have tons of meal options for days.

Just think of what you can do with all those Thanksgiving leftovers! (I love grabbing a few strands of cold turkey breast from the leftovers in the fridge, delicious!)

To inspire your turkey consumption efforts I’ve got some awesome Rapid Fire fat blasting recipes that you can create with turkey as your lean protein foundation. Enjoy!

Turkey Salad

Ingredients:

- 6-8 oz. Turkey Breast chopped into small cubes

- 1⁄4 red bell pepper

- 1⁄4 green bell pepper

- 1⁄4 red onion

- 2 Tbsp canola or olive oil mayo

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together and enjoy over a bed of greens.

Makes one male serving and two female servings.

Turkey Cranberry Cream Cheese Roll-up

Ingredients:

- 6-8 oz. Sliced Turkey

- 1 Tbsp Fat Free Cream Cheese

- 1 Tbsp Dried Cranberries 1⁄2 Clove of Roasted Garlic Salt and Pepper to taste

- 2 Whole Grain Tortillas

Directions:

Soak cranberries in water for 20 minutes or microwave until soft if you are short on time. Mash the 1⁄2 clove of garlic. Mix cranberries, garlic, and cream cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spread the mixture into the inside of the tortilla(s). Add turkey breast. Fold up sides, roll up, and enjoy!

Makes one male serving and two female servings.

Turkey Medallions With Cranberry Glaze

Turkey Medallions:

- 6-8 oz. Turkey

- Non-stick spray Turkey Seasoning

Cut Turkey Breasts into small medallions, sprinkle lightly with seasoning. Reheat in a pan sprayed with non-stick oil on medium heat until lightly browned on both sides. Drip Cranberry glaze (below) over the medallions.

Cranberry Glaze:

- 1 Cups Dry white wine

- Turkey or chicken stock, as needed

- 1 1⁄2 Cups Dried cranberries

- 1⁄4 Cup of Pine nuts, toasted

- Pinch of Salt

Add 1⁄2 cup of white wine and 1⁄2 cup of turkey stock to pan. Add other 1⁄2 cup of turkey stock, cranberries, pine nuts and pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat until reduced in volume by half, about 4 cups.

Makes one male serving and two female servings.

Turkey Shepherds Pie

Ingredients:

- 2 cups cubed cooked turkey

- 3⁄4 cup turkey gravy

- 1 small can whole kernel corn

- drained 1 cup of chicken stock

- 1 cup of water

- 3 cups steamed cauliflower

- 2 cups celery, chopped 2 carrots

- chopped 1 onion chopped 2 cloves garlic

- minced 1 bell pepper, any color

- chopped Salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. First you must make the gravy. Take the garlic, 1 cup of celery, carrots, onion, bell pepper, chicken stock, water, vegetables, salt and pepper to taste. Add to a pot, boil until vegetables are soft and blend in a blender or food processor.

Next, you will take the steamed cauliflower and mash it, or place it in a food processor until the consistency is like that of mashed potatoes.

Next, in a baking dish, layer the turkey, gravy, corn, remaining celery and mashed cauliflower. Bake, uncovered at 325 degrees for 45-50 minutes.

Makes 2 male servings and one female serving.

Turkey Florentine

Ingredients:

- 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach

- 2 tablespoons smart butter

- 1 cup cooked whole grain fettuccine

- 2 cups diced, cooked turkey

- 1 cup turkey or chicken stock 1

- (8 ounce) package fat free sour cream and onion dip

- 1⁄2 teaspoon onion salt

- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

- Non-stick cooking spray

Directions:

Cook spinach according to package directions; drain. Stir in smart butter. Place noodles in a non-stick sprayed baking dish; top with spinach. Combine turkey, stock, onion dip and onion salt and spoon over spinach. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees F for 25 minutes or until bubbly.

Turkey Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

- 1 bag of frozen green beans

- 6-8 oz. of cubed cooked turkey breast

- 1 can of organic cream of mushroom soup

- 2 cups Kraft all natural fat free cheese

- Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients into a casserole dish and bake for about 30 minutes or until completely hot. Makes one male serving and two female servings.

Fire it up and have a great Thanksgiving!

Curtis Hoekstra

http://www.ArizonaFitnessBootCamp.com

If you are ready to make REAL progress, RIGHT now…keep reading.

Growing up, I was fortunate enough to never really struggle with severe weight gain and all the challenges it can bring. However, as a fitness professional, I do know a thing or two about maintaining a healthy weight and burning fat off your body. As a real world fitness expert, I am always asked what the best exercises are for losing the most fat in the shortest amount of time…oh, and building lean muscle tissue while you're at it.

Cool. No problemo.

I’ll keep this as simple as possible. The best exercises for fat loss are also the best exercises for muscle gain and visa versa. These exercises all have one thing in common: they provide a UNIQUE challenge to your body AND involve as many muscles in your body as possible (known as compound movements).

Both the scientific research and the real world case studies have shown that total body workouts are superior for maximal fat loss and muscle gain. But let’s take this one step further…
Let’s dramatically accelerate results by preferentially selecting TOTAL BODY EXERCISES within each TOTAL BODY WORKOUT! For example, squats are well known for being one of the best muscle-builders with a serious a fat-shredding effect. However, the squat goes from great to UNSTOPPABLE for changing your body for the better when you make it a combination movement by adding a row or press to each squat rep.

It’s obvious that you can reap more benefits this way since you have now involved your upper body into the king of lower body exercises. Also in that same amount of time you added in an extra exercise without making your workout longer. Remember our key here is to get the best bang for your buck in that busy schedule you have.

It’s as simple as the Dream Body Equation below:

Performing Total Body Exercises Within Each Total Body Workout:

More Muscles Involved =

More Calories Burnt + Greater Muscle-Building Stimulus =

Greater Fat Lost + Greater Muscle Gain

I must be honest in that I have a true love-hate relationship with the following movements I am about to share with you. Love because of the unparalleled fat-melting, muscle-building results they provide to help maximize my results. Hate because they are hard work, only meant for the determined. Not for the weak of heart, for sure.

Without further delay, here is the top 10 list of my favorite exercises for fat loss and lean muscle gain (in no particular order):

Exercise#1- Lunge to Curl to Overhead Press Combo

Exercise#2- Squat to Overhead Press

Exercise#3- The Alternating Dumbbell Swing

Exercise#4- Reverse Lunge plus Row to Press

Exercise#5- Push Up with Knee Ins

Exercise#6- The Alternating Dumbbell Chop

Exercise#7- High Pulls with Snatch & Press

Exercise#8- Squat with 1 Arm Dumbbell Press

Exercise#9- Rear Foot Elevated Deadlift plus Curl to Press

Exercise#10- Burpee with Double Pushup

Bonus exercise and one of my favorites - Spiderman Push Ups!

Well I hope you take my expert advice and shake up your training with these 10 deadly total body combination exercises. I guarantee you better results in less time by regularly employing these movements into your workouts. Of course it’s now up to you to take your workouts, and your body, to the next level.

In the coming days, I’ll be sharing some video examples and more great exercises for those specific trouble spot areas (e.g. legs, butt, abs, chest, arms, etc.) that might be holding you back from unleashing your hotness within! ;)

Fire it up!

Curtis Hoekstra
http://www.ArizonaFitnessBootCamp.com
623-486-6622

Alright everyone, yesterday I showed you a simple fat loss circuit using just your bodyweight.

We used a 50-10 Five Exercise routine. Using the same protocol, we are changing up the exercises and adding a pair of dumbbells.

Ladies, grab a pair 8-15 pounds...guys, you can grab some 15-30 pounders...

Let's fire it up!

A colleague of mine, Craig Ballantyne, recently shared 3 Olympic Predictions:

Have you caught any of the Olympics yet?
Have an amazing week!

Greetings Everyone!

Allow me to be the first to welcome you to the Arizona Fitness Boot Camp blog! I am so excited to share my passion to help you live a more healthy, fitness oriented life. Since we opened our first camp at 5:30am on March 31, 2008 (special thanks to our "first to arrive at 4:45am" camper, Kim). This photo is "post-opening day" workout. To date, we have more than doubled the number of campers...due to WORD OF MOUTH referrals only...and I couldn't be more grateful for that. Over the past 7 weeks, we (as a camp team) have witnessed outstanding weight loss and fitness level improvement in everyone...ask Kristy about her new fitness lifestyle, ask Brenda about being in better cardiovascular shape; the list goes on...with so much more to come. Be sure to bookmark our site, www.ArizonaFitnessBootCamp.com because there will be exciting additions and announcements regarding new fitness workouts, nutritional supplements, and our exclusive Youth Fitness and Conditioning programs. Again, a heartfelt "thank you" for being part of Arizona Fitness Boot Camp!