RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Don't be mislead by magazines/DVDs/etc that promise if you do a certain ab routine you'll have a sexy six-pack. Bottomline, *if your body fat percentage is not low, you won't see a six-pack no matter how many crunches you do.* Your nutrition is the most important factor with your abs than any other muscle.

Read the May 12, 2010 tip from our RIO blog to see what your nutrition & exercise should be to have a nice midsection.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

There are two principles when doing abdominal exercising, breathing & keeping your abs tight.

If you're inhaling/exhaling at the wrong time, you're constricting the muscle at the wrong time, which isn't working it. You need to exhale at the contraction. For example, oblique side bends you exhale when you're bent, lower ab straight leg raises you exhale when your legs come toward you, upper ab crunches you exhale when you're going up into the crunch.

If you don't keep your abs tight when you do ab exercises they will develop & always stick out. Since we all want a nice FLAT firm tummy, that's a bad thing. To avoid that, you need to keep the abdominal muscles pulled in toward your spine. That does NOT mean holding your breath! Practice keeping your abs tight right now by repeatedly saying "Ssshhhh," like you're telling somebody to be quiet. It takes some getting used to, but you'll get it.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Next time you injury yourself & have a tear/bruise/sprain/strain, just remember RICER (Rest-Ice-Compression-Elevation-Referral).

REST: Immediately stop what you are doing! Without rest, continual strain is placed on the area, leading to increased inflammation, pain, and possible further injury.

ICE: Proper usage of ice can reduce the destruction over-response which can result from inflammation. A good method is ice 20 minutes of each hour.

COMPRESSION: Aims to reduce the edematous swelling that results from the inflammatory process. A cloth Ace bandage works well because it should be a snug fit, but still allow expansion for when muscles contract and fill with blood. Avoid neoprene bandages because the heat they generate will cause more inflammation.

ELEVATION: Aims to reduce swelling by increasing venous return of blood to the systemic circulation. This will not only result in less edema, but also aid in waste product removal from the area.

REFERRAL: When in doubt as to the severity of the injury ALWAYS see a physician immediately!

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Don't let injuries be an excuse not to exercise. If you hurt your upper body, there's no reason not to do a killer core/lower body routine or cardio. If you've hurt lower body, there's no reason not to do core/upper body. If you give up exercise entirely you'll have a higher mountain to climb to get back into shape, than if you had just worked around the injury.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

A great place to go if you're in a hurry & want some healthy choices is 7-11. That's right, 7-11! There is a lot of garbage there, but in their "Fresh-to-Go" section, they have such items as fresh already sliced fruit, plain pastas with sun dried tomatoes & grilled chicken (perfect post-exercise meal!), still in the shell hard boiled eggs, low-cal yogurt, and healthy salads (skip the dressing), etc. Skip the sandwiches which are processed meat & full of mayo. Everything is sealed to preserve freshness. Eating healthier doesn't have to be complicated, it's about making smarter choices, so check out the "Fresh-to-Go" section at 7-11.

http://www.7-eleven.com/Category.aspx?CategoryId=3001000

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

The Principle of Specificity means how you exercise is what you'll get better at. For ex, if you always use machines for weight training, you'll get better/stronger at pushing/pulling while seated. Do you ever push/pull in a seated position in everyday life? No. Start exercising how you move in everyday life, so you can get better at living and avoid injuries!

YouTube "functional training" for more info!

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Everybody (even personal trainers) has obstacles to getting/staying in shape. Whether it's poor nutritional habits, lack of physical activity, exhaustion, stress, etc. Identify what yours are & begin overcoming them. It won't be easy, but you will be successful! Start right now!

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Not seeing results with exercise/nutrition? How stressed out are you? High stress raises levels of cortisol which is the body fat production hormone. Start paying attention if there is a pattern each day of when you get most stressed. That way instead of dealing with the stress by eating/drinking alcohol/smoking, you can go for a walk/go get a drink of water/go to a quiet place to gather yourself for 10-15mins. Fitness is not just a lean & tone body, but it's also a healthy mind.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

What did you eat yesterday & already today? How much protein was on your plate? Starting around age 30, we all begin to lose approximately 3-8% of our muscle mass per decade. As well as bone density. Strength training can help preserve muscle, as can protein. 40% of your daily calories should come from healthy protein sources: LEAN meats (white), seafood, legumes, low-cal dairy products, tofu, beans and unsalted/raw nuts. Protein also promotes cellular repair/growth and boosts your immune system.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

If you want to see results faster, you can't be guessing what to do. Especially not with your nutrition which is 60% of seeing results. You need to know everything you're putting into your body, from calories (most important!), fats, carbs, protein, sugars, sodium, etc. A GREAT website to do that for FREE is LiveStrong.com

They have a database with every food/drink & restaurant menu you can imagine! You don't have to, to use it, but you can create a FREE account which will get even more specific to you & your habits; showing you what foods you're consuming too much/too little of and how you can improve. Check it out if you're serious about making a change in your life!

http://www.livestrong.com/diet-and-nutrition/

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Want to get rid of your cellulite?First thing is your nutrition. Cellulite is fat deposits under the skin, so the more saturated/trans fat (bad fat) you consume the more cellulite you will have. Start consuming unsaturated (good) fats contained in fish, unsalted/raw nuts, olive oil, flaxseed, etc, which help you "burn" bad fat.

Next is how you exercise. You need to be doing cardio *properly* to be burning majority calories from fat, NOT from energy. Jumping on a cardio machine for an hour is NOT the answer. Going on 5mile runs is NOT the answer. Doing high/low intensity intervals every 60sec for 25mins is! HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING is the answer to losing that jiggle. Both for cardio & weight training. YouTube it, and read the April 26, 2010 tip from our RIO blog for more.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Were you feeling/looking bloated after 4th of July weekend festivities? One likely cause, all the sodium you consumed, because sodium carries water in the body. How to avoid bloating:

1) Limit your sodium intake to no more than 1200mg/day.

2) Eat more potassium rich foods, because potassium helps to kick out excess water in the body. See the link for what foods are high in potassium.

http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/food/potassium-foods.htm

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

How many calories do you consume at a time? The body can only take in so many calories (approx 400cal) before it starts storing the extra as body fat. Start limiting your meals to 300-400cal, and snacks to 100-150cal. Also, do you know your daily calorie limit? If not, ask a qualified health & fitness professional to calculate it for you, so you can start staying within it.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

To see results quickly you need to boost your metabolism (how fast you burn calories). How you can burn calories faster naturally:

1) Exercise: Doing cardio keeps your metabolism high for 2hrs, and weight training keeps it high 24-36hrs.

2) After Exercise: Consuming a WHEY ISOLATE protein (Ex: ISOPURE Zero Carb) after exercise will help to build lean muscle tissue. The more lean muscle you have the more calories you will burn each day. To give you an idea, 1lb of muscle burns 50cal/day, so if you add 10lbs of LEAN muscle (not bulky mass), your muscles will burn an extra 500cal/day on top of what you burn during exercise!

3) Nutrition: Going hours & hours without eating or eating only 1-2/day slows down your metabolism, and your body holds onto your fat (stored energy) for a future energy reserve. Eating a SMALL meal (~350cal max)/snack (~150cal max) every 2.5-3hrs, makes your body burn the cal you consume like an inferno, because it knows it's getting another meal/snack right away.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

How to enjoy, but not ruin your nutrition this holiday weekend.
1) If you have to try everything, make it SMALL portions.
2) To help with small portions use smaller plates.
3) Have your alcohol on the rocks to avoid unnecessary cal with soda/juice.
4) Choose clear alcohol over dark to avoid toxins (less hangover).
5) Space out your drinks with water so you're not consuming too many cal at once.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

There are different ways to weight train: bodybuilding (gain muscle mass & strength, lean & tone (lose body fat & define muscles), athletic training, etc. Most people in gyms, even women, unfortunately do bodybuilding because of lack of knowledge. They'll do one set of an exercise, usually on a machine, then rest and repeat. That's bodybuilding, and the least effective way to lose body fat quickly & tone up.

For lean & tone: You have to do one exercise then a completely different exercise no rest in between. This will increase the intensity, and after the second exercise you rest 30-60sec & repeat for 3sets. Example: Doing 15lunges, followed by 60sec of jumping jacks with no rest in between; then after the jumping jacks resting & repeating for 3sets. It's called High Intensity Interval Training and it will accelerate you seeing results. YouTube it for more examples.