RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Most people think that if they're sore after exercise that means what they did worked. Being sore after exercise is a bad thing! Soreness is lactic acid that has built up in your muscles. This acid buildup is slowing down how quickly your muscles recover & regenerate, and since the more lean muscle tis.sue you have the more calories you will burn a day, slowing down that process is a bad thing. Consume a whey isolate protein like ISOPURE Zero Carb after EVERY time you exercise (weights & cardio) & mix it with one tablespoon of Glutamine (an amino acid which is what protein is made of) and you'll minimize soreness. The less sore you are the more you can exercise and the quicker you will get results.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Don't get obsessed with weighing yourself once you start a new exercise and/or nutrition program. A better measure of progress is if your body fat % is coming down, because it is possible for you to lose body fat and for the scale number to not move (you've diminished fat tissue & increased muscle tissue which weights more than fat). It is also possible for you to lose 20lbs on the scale but none of it is body fat (i.e. you've lost muscle/water weight/etc). Your gym should have these Omron body fat analyzers for you to start seeing if you're losing body fat with all your hard work. If not request they have them! Make sure you're becoming lean & toned not skinny & flabby!

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

If you love the abs on Mike "The Situtation" Sorrentino from MTV's Jersey Shore, then watch this video to listen to him explain how YOU can get your own sexy abs.

Seeing Your Own 'Situation': Mike reveals how you can get your own Situation-esque abs.

RIO Fitness Chicago® keys to nice abs:

*With abs, your nutrition is the biggest piece to the puzzle more than any other muscle group. Avoid refined sugars (desserts, candy, soda, juices, etc.) and foods high in sodium because sodium carries water in the body which will make you look & feel bloated. Avoid alcohol or limit it as much as possible, because alcohol triggers cortisol hormone to rise which will begin producing body fat.

*Do your cardio properly to burn calories from body fat not calories from energy (glycogen). Doing more than 30mins of cardio will only burn energy calories (that's why you feel so drained when you do 45-60mins of it). So to burn primarily calories from body fat, you need to do high/low intensity intervals every 60sec for just 25mins.

*Do NOT work your abs EVERY day! They need time to heal, recover & regenerate like any other muscle. Give them 48hrs in between each time you hit them. So for example, if you do them on Mon, 48hrs in between would Thurs. If you work them on Thurs do them again on Sun.

*Train your entire midsection! Obliques (side-side/twisting movements), Lower abdominals (bringing knees inward/straight leg raise movements), upper (crunch/situp movements), and finally lower back when you finish your abs to strengthen your core from front to back.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

You may not realize it, but spending time with your significant other may be making you gain body fat or preventing you losing any. Most couples bond over food & alcohol while doing sedentary activities like watching movies/TV or standing/sitting at a bar/restaurant. All that overconsuming of calories plus inactivity is over time contributing to what we call "love chub," because fat gain = consuming more Cal than you are burning. Here's a few ideas you can do with your sweetie that doesn't involve food/alcohol and will get you moving around while having fun:

1) Go ice-skating Downtown @ Millenium Park. Inexpensive & really romantic at night with the city skyline lights.

2) If you're going to go to a club, put on your dancing shoes and try a Latin club for some salsa dancing. Can burn 200Cal in just 30mins! Check metromix.com to find one.

3) Looking to stay in? Invest in a Nintendo Wii. They have numerous games which will get you up & having fun.

4) Make some love! Just 30mins of love making can burn up to 170Cal!

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

It's a new year, but your stress from work, relationships, family, school, financial status, and so on, may have carried over from last year. Being stressed is causing you to gain body fat & preventing you from losing any, because stress increases levels of the body fat production hormone cortisol. Here's some simple tips to reduce stress & make your day run smoother:
EXERCISE <--- BEST stress reliever.
Get a massage.
Take a walk.
Write a daily journal of thoughts/emotions.
Go to bed 30mins earlier.
Get up 20mins earlier.
Before bed prepare for the morning.
Don't wear tight clothes/uncomfortable shoes.
Listen to your favorite music.
Keep extra cash around.
Be polite to others.
Laugh out loud every day.
Read a good book.
Keep an extra set of keys.
Smile more.
Always keep things in the same place.
Don't gossip about others.
Keep at least half a tank of gas always.
Pay attention to someone else.
Make your bed.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

If you watch MTV's Jersey Shore, you might notice that Mike "The Situation" is always eating something. There's a reason. It's because to stay lean, you have to get a SMALL meal/snack in your system every 2.5-3hrs to keep your metabolism (rate at which you burn Cal) fast. If you only eat 1-2/day or go hours & hours without eating, your body is starving. When you starve your body it: 1) Holds onto your body fat (stored energy/Cal). 2) Stores any Cal you do consume as body fat for a future energy reserve. 3) Since the body holds onto your body fat, it will start eating your muscle to use as fuel to keep you going (catabolic state). Muscle helps you burn more Cal all day long, so that's a bad thing! Not to mention you'll look skinny & flabby, not lean & toned.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

If you want to pay double the price from wholesale for you nutritional supplements go to GNC, Vitamin Shoppe, and gym supplement shops. If you want to save money & still get the same supps go to http://www.supplementwarehouse.com/
Their supp prices are lower than wholesale, and they give away for FREE supps like protein bars & multi-vitamins. Also if you google "Supplement Warehouse promo codes" you get even more money off your purchase. Check it out.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

The winter season is linked to kidneys, adrenal glands, and the bladder; when these bodily systems are out of balance, it depletes energy and leads the way to illness. During the cold months of winter, people are more prone to colds, flu, poor circulation, low vitality, and seasonal mood disorders. To stay healthy, happy, and vital:

1) Get your 8 hours of sleep every night. Try taking a 20-30min easy walk before bed to improve the quality of your sleep.

2) Light therapy. Studies show that exposure to sunlight stimulates the pineal gland, which affects the production of other brain chemicals such as serotonin, the neurotransmitter sometimes called the "mood chemical." It also boosts your immune system, waking up the activities of the natural killer cells that patrol our borders looking for intruders and cancer cells.

3) Avoid cold and raw foods, reducing salt to protect your kidneys, and increasing bitter flavors (like kale). Have a warming diet including leeks, onions, and turnips. Iron-rich foods also can help warm you up: try spinach, broccoli, dried plums, oats, quinoa, sunflower and sesame seeds, walnuts, yams, squash, kale, garlic, scallions, and parsley.

4) Drink warming tea to keep your vitality fired up. Steep 1 teaspoon of any of the following in 1 cup of hot water: ginger, cinnamon, and clove. Or try Winter Tea to expel cold, warm your kidney/adrenal system, and stoke your sensual fire.

5) Herbs can protect your energy reserves and boost your immunity. Astragalus and ginseng are considered to be adaptogens -- natural substances that improve the body's resistance to physical and environmental stress, thereby enhancing the immune system.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

If you want to lose body fat, tone your muscles, and start seeing results quickly, you need to start consuming a WHEY ISOLATE protein after EVERY time you exercise (weights & cardio). When you exercise (more so with weights) you breakdown & tear your muscle fibers. They naturally repair, but without protein you won't build any more. To look lean & toned you need to build muscle, because 1lb of muscle burns 50Cal/day, so the more you have the more Cal you'll burn all day long on top of what you burn during exercise.

Not all whey proteins are the same. For a lean & tone look you want ISOPURE Zero Carb. It comes in a liquid or powder form with which you mix 8oz of cold water with ONE scoop. The reason you want ISOPURE Zero Carb is because for one scoop it's only 110Cal, .5g of fat, 0g of carbs, and 25g of whey isolate protein which is highest quality of protein you can consume.

With other brands of Whey protein absolutely you can gain weight, because they can be 2, 3, 400 calories per serving. That's why I'm recommending ISOPURE Zero Carb because for one scoop it's only 110Cal. Remember, losing body fat & toning up is all about burning more calories than you're consuming, so that's why ISOPURE Zero Carb is perfect for a person with a lean & tone goal!

Also, on a side note, whey protein digests & absorbs quickly. This means they should only be consumed post-exercise and NOT used a meal replacement which some people do.

http://www.supplementwarehouse.com/viewitem.asp?idproduct=144297

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Doing more than 30mins of cardio is burning Cal from energy (glycogen) NOT body fat. Over an hour of cardio will now start burning muscle. The proper way to do cardio to burn Cal from fat is just 25mins of HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING.
Example:
Warmup 60sec on treadmill @ 3.0 speed
Minute 1 - Speed 5.0
Min 3 - Speed 5.0
Min 5 - Speed 5.0
Min 7 - Speed 5.0
Min 9 - Speed 5.0
Min 11 - Speed 7.0
Min 13 - Speed 7.0
Min 15 - Speed 7.0
Min 17 - Speed 7.0
Min 19 - Speed 7.0
Min 21 - Speed 9.0
Min 23 - Speed 9.0
Cooldown 60sec @ Speed 3.0
That's it just 25mins of cardio to burn body fat! All the even numbered mins (2,4,6, etc) you come down to Speed 3.0
That was just an example. Modify it to your stamina level. You could do 4.0 for 5mins, 5.0 for 5mins, and 6.0mins for those final two high interval mins. Try it, you'd be surprised that you'll actually be able to do it, even if you have to hold on initially. It'll get easier the more you do it.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Exercise doesn't only have to be at the gym. If you can't make it in this brutal weather/don't want to pay an expensive membership, don't worry, cause you can get it done & done well at home for free. For cardio use the stairs in your home to run/jump up & down. Use tables & chairs for tricep dips & pushups, which is one of the most effective ways for strength training because it uses your own body weight for resistance. Anything with some weight like cans or full water bottles can be used for free weights with which you can perform endless exercises. No excuses in 2010! If you want to look & feel better get it done!

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Five MORE quick & simple tips to bring your sexy back in 2010! 1) Pack a lunch for work/school, so you're not starving & searching for unhealthy food. 2) Make simple swaps like salsa for butter/dip/sour cream & 100% whole grain brown rice for white rice. 3) Squeeze in extra exercise by walking at lunch... or when you're on the phone. Do push-ups, lunges and squats during TV commercial breaks of your favorite shows. 4) Limit sugar consumption & replace with natural sweeteners (honey/agave nectar). 5) Reward yourself (get a massage/buy ONE new clothes item) for reaching each small fitness goal without food/alcohol/cigarettes.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Five quick & simple tips to bring your sexy back in 2010! 1) Watch portions and serving sizes. Don't go back for seconds. 2) Replace soda, alcohol and juice with water. 3) Get at least eight hours of quality sleep at night. 4) Eat more whole foods like fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and whole grains. 5) Stay away from fast-food and limit dining out.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Two tips to shed that body fat weight in 2010! 1) Keep a daily food journal. Writing what you're consuming daily will help keep you accountable with your nutrition which is 60% of reaching your specific goal. It will also help you identify which times of the day are your trouble times. www.CaloriesPerH...our.com is a great site to keep track of everything you're putting in your mouth. *Remember, losing body fat is all about Cal consumed vs Cal burned!* 2) Amount of sweat has nothing to do with fat loss, but if you're not sweating or able to watch TV/read a book while you're exercising you are not exercising intensely enough. Kick up the intensity ASAP, so you can start burning more Cal than you're consuming which is the key to fat loss.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Happy 2010! All this week we're going to tell you how to shed the holiday weight gain: 1) No quick-fixes! No diet pills/fad diets/detoxes that help you temporarily drop the scale # but not body fat. NO substitute for proper exercise & nutrition for long lasting results. 2) Set attainable short term goals. 20lbs in two weeks is unrealistic and will discourage you once you fail. Be realistic with your goals by setting a healthy body fat pound(s) loss of 1-2lbs/wk. 3) Do NOT starve yourself to be a size 4 by Super Bowl Sunday in Feb. Starving yourself will send your body into a catabolic state which means the body will start eating muscle to fuel itself. Muscle weighs more than fat, so yes, you will weigh less, but you still have your body fat, and once you start eating again you will weigh more than when you started.